Spotlight & Giveaway: The Wondrous Life and Love of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Brionni Nwosu to HJ!

Hi Brionni and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Wondrous Life and Love of Nella Carter!

 
Hello and thanks so much for having me! What an honor to be featured on Harlequin Junkie.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter is the story of a dying, enslaved woman, makes a deal with Death to prove that humanity is worth saving. We follow her journey, all her loves, losses, and life, as she spends her immortality collecting evidence through her experiences and writing it up for Death, hoping it’ll be enough.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

Death kept his pace on the lane to Hampstead House—gait steady, limbs just the right amount of loose.
The time was marked by the bright June sun hanging high overhead, beaming down on the tender green cotton shoots, the first true leaves bursting through. Three vultures circled lazily on the horizon, black slashes on the blue sky, as they spiraled lower toward their prey, doing their job—as was he.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The book comes out almost exactly three years to when it was started.
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott chapters feature Jo Ann Robinson, the real and catalyzing force for the movement.
• The story spans 300 years of history, starting from colonial America, Spanish Nouvelle Orleans, France under Napoleon, London during
• Industrialization, the Harlem Renaissance, to the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, to the modern era.
• Throughout the book, we get visits with Death for his perspective.
• I created a playlist while writing the book and the lead song was Death by Martin Czerny.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Intellect and wit is the spark of many of the relationships throughout the novel, with many of them being skilled in an area of their life. For Nella and Dr. Moore, there is a shared love of history and the written word that binds them together, along with a lot of old fashioned physical attraction. To have lived as long as Nella, you’d need to capture her mind to have any chance at her heart.
 

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

For crying, there is a significant illness during her time and New York and Nella pleads to save the life. I can’t share without giving it away, but it’s the argument of whose life is worth saving.

For blushing, Nella’s had lots of loves and we see some of those in action. I was definitely blushing knowing my Mom would one day read the book.

Readers should read this book….

if they’re interested in history from a unique perspective and if they’re fans of the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I adore both and loved the opportunity to explore how a Black woman born in the colonial period, transversing through time, would explore both. Early reviews have noted the quality of the prose, the timeliness and message and the story, and the importance of a story focusing on hope and joy.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m working on novel centered on the role of fate in people’s lives and also a crafty cozy mystery. I hope to be back here in a year with lots of good news and upcoming projects for 2027.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway:  A print copy of The Wondrous Life and Love of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu

To enter Giveaway, please share this post (FB – Twitter) and Leave a comment to this Q: Do you think humanity is worth saving? Why or why not? If you had to find proof of the goodness of man, what would you offer as evidence? Would you have taken the deal with Death?

This giveaway closes 3 days from the date of this post.

Excerpt from The Wondrous Life and Love of Nella Carter:

Death sat nestled into a high-back velvet chair in the private section of the dining room, swirling a brandy snifter. The chandelier winked overhead, each crystal a blazing star, casting sparkles throughout the room.
An odd mood descended upon him as he waited for Nella. He drained the brandy snifter and motioned for another one. The waiter topped it off and he downed that one too. The liquid burned inside his body, making it hot.
He’d almost done it, wiping the world clean, all bets aside. It’s what they deserved after the horror of World War I: millions more souls for him to collect, leaving blasted bodies strewn across Europe, men cut down like marionettes, and for what?
So, he had allowed influenza to creep forward, leaping from port to port, town to town, house to house, and bed to bed, with entire families gone in mere days. The young soldiers stacked up like driftwood in the barracks, small children languishing in their government schools, their elders dying in their villages, all victims of the purple fever, their faces blueish black as their bodies starved for oxygen, red, wet lungs so engorged with liquid that the people drowned, struggling to draw air.
He could have let it rage on, claiming every soul . . . when he’d stopped.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A young woman at the crossroads of life and death embarks on an extraordinary journey across time in an epic novel about beauty, hope, endurance, and endless loves.

Most humans cower in the face of Death. Not Nella May Carter. She sees him. She doesn’t hide. Instead, she bargains.

Born enslaved in eighteenth-century Georgia, Nella still believes in the will to survive amid the most untenable of conditions, in the glory of life, and in the ultimate goodness of the human race. She asks that Death, doubtful and curious, allow her to live long enough to prove it. He’s giving Nella all the time in the world.

Challenged, Nella embarks on an epic journey across the globe and centuries. Each new incarnation records the joys and losses, and the friendships and heartbreaks, throughout her lifetimes. When she meets handsome and passionate professor Sebastian Moore—the first man to whom she has ever revealed her secrets—Nella yearns for the mortality that escapes her. She can’t bear to leave this love behind.

As Death keeps watch, has Nella’s journey come to an end? Or is a new one just beginning?
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Brionni “Bri” Nwosu is a writer who believes in the power of community, connection, and living with intention. Born and raised in Atlanta, she now lives in Nashville with her husband and three kids, where she spends her days sneaking naps, perfecting writing tools, and falling into research rabbit holes.

Before turning to fiction, Brionni spent over a decade as an educator, instructional coach, and graduate advisor, training and supporting new teachers across the country. Named after two book characters, she was destined to fall in love with storytelling—a passion that led her to become a 2021 We Need Diverse Books Mentee, where she worked with the acclaimed author Rajani LaRocca.

Her debut novel, The Wondrous Lives and Loves of Nella Carter, is a sweeping, centuries-spanning tale about love, loss, and one woman’s fight to prove that humanity is worth saving, perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and A Love Song for Ricki Wilde.
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