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Spotlight & Giveaway: Turning Toward Eden by Cate Touryan

Pull up your favorite reading chair, friends, because today’s spotlight is shining on a story brimming with grit, heart, and a dash of danger. Turning Toward Eden by Cate Touryan takes us to a California beach town in the 1970s, where mystery lurks between poker tables, pier fishing trips, and Cold War whispers. With a $25 Amazon gift card giveaway to go with it, this is one bookish stop you don’t want to miss!

About Turning Toward Eden

Turning Toward Eden Young Adult Mystery/General Fiction: Coming of Age, Historical Mystery, Literary Setting – California 1971 Publisher : Winged Publications Publication date : May 6, 2025 Print length : 350 pages ISBN-10 : 1965352766 ISBN-13 : 978-1965352762 Digital ASIN : B0DRRGK3W5 AUDIOBOOK COMING SOON!

“Chasing the truth, huh? Sure you’re not running from it?” Hollis might be her only friend, a lanky boy Mama calls her “beau,” but Eden Lewis has no time for his hogwash. She’s got a mystery to crack. For most fourteen-year-olds, California summers in the early 1970s mean sun and surf, despite the Cold War chill. Not for Eden. Her AWOL father has sent her life into a tailspin, landing her in a shabby beach town, stuck caring for her severely disabled brother. Caught in her parents’ own cold war, Eden ditches Dex at every chance—pier fishing with Hollis, playing poker with the grizzled card sharks, and caterwaulin’ in the church choir, laying plain to the Almighty that singing terms ain’t the same as speaking terms, what with the hand he’s dealt her.

Then Raven arrives mid-ninth grade—an elusive Soviet girl rumored to rain black-winged curses over the fearful town. When a rash of petty crimes escalates to bloodshed on the beach, suspicion falls on the “commie”—and then Eden. Desperate to prove herself innocent, and Raven guilty, she embarks on a reckless game of chase. But for the truth to set her free, she must risk Dex’s life. Will she go all in, no matter the cost?

An evocative story laced with mystery, Turning Toward Eden weaves nostalgia with grit, sorrow with humor, and despair with faith, offering hope to anyone who has sought to belong in a world that rarely plays fair.

“This is storytelling at its most atmospheric—brimming with quirky, well-drawn characters, razor-sharp prose, and the kind of setting you can almost smell. The writing is lyrical, grounded, and often laugh-out-loud funny—even in the midst of deeply poignant moments. With a cast of endearing misfits and a tone reminiscent of Southern Gothic charm, this story lures you in from the very first line and doesn’t let go. Cate Touryan has a truly original voice, a rare gift for language, and a special ability to render a world so vivid you feel baptized in it.” — Zena Dell Lowe, Screenwriter, Story Coach, and Founder of The Storyteller’s Mission

Audiobook Coming Soon! The audiobook edition of Turning Toward Eden is in production and on its way to Audible, iTunes, and beyond. Stay tuned for a richly narrated experience, perfect for readers who love stories on the go.

About Cate Touryan

Cate Touryan writes fiction and creative nonfiction that reach for the story beyond the story and the beginning beyond “The End.” Her complex, realistic narratives often touch on themes of faith. While she avoids gratuitous violence and profanity, keeping any romance clean, she does not shy away from portraying the grit and beauty of real life, instead writing the truest story she can, infused with heart and humor. Her fiction will delight young adults and adults still young.

Cate invites you to journey with her into lives both real and imagined, wherein might lie glimpses of your own story beyond the story and an ending redeemed. Author Links

• Website: https://catetouryan.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CateTouryan/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catetouryan/
• X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/catetouryan
• Purchase Link (Amazon): Amazon

Tour Participants

• July 30: Hall Ways Blog – Spotlight
• July 30: Novels Alive – Review
• July 30: fundinmental – Spotlight
• July 31: Maureen’s Musings – Spotlight
• August 1: Jody’s Bookish Haven – Spotlight
• August 2: Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – Spotlight
• August 3: StoreyBook Reviews – Spotlight
• August 4: FUONLYKNEW – Spotlight
• August 5: Christy’s Cozy Corners – Spotlight
• August 6: Ascroft, eh? – Author Interview
• August 7: Boys’ Mom Reads! – Review
• August 8: Sarandipity’s – Author Interview
• August 9: Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Author Interview
• August 10: Reading Is My SuperPower – Author Interview
• August 11: Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – Spotlight
• August 12: Salty Inspirations – Spotlight
• August 12: Reading Authors Network – Spotlight

I supposed the KGB story did stretch credulity, but rumors are spun from threads of truths. And better fantastical stories for shadowy newcomers than phony bless-your-heart commiserations for a defective brother. Better a raven than an albatross.

Duty was about the ugliest four-letter word I’d ever heard, a mess of worry I didn’t have time for, and she must have seen it on my face, because she’d looked hard at me and said, “Duty is an act of love, Eden Mae.”

There was still a chance I could make it to Cappy’s, catch the last few rounds, spring a trick or two on Jake, courtesy of my father. Wouldn’t that be a hoot. Even as I was takin’ a shine to the idea, I was onto myself. Sometimes the only way to endure a bad situation is to count your chickens before they hatch.

Statues lurked in various corners, though it took some mighty squintin’ to be sure they weren’t real folks—saints in supplication and sorrowful women, though come to think of it, they might be one and the same.

On the rare occasion when I struck a truce with God, and that seemed less and less lately, Mama’s words filled my heart with pride—and not a little consternation that, accordin’ to the Good Book, the proud of heart will not go unpunished. Mostly though, I grumbled at the weight of my halo and wondered at the fairness of God, how it was that he made me a gift but Dex a burden.

Mama’s tea finished, she clipped the stems of dandelions picked from among the cattails, weeds, according to my father, who had dumped the yellow flowers from a vase one afternoon. “Weeds are only those things we don’t want,” she’d replied, rooting for them in the trash.

“Nothing is more unlovely that a person who won’t love the unlovely.”

“It’s a hard lesson, Eden. We mustn’t let the wrong things matter … Where there are promises, they will fail. Where there are dreams, they will die. But love never fails.”

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If Turning Toward Eden has you curious, you’re in good company.

I love discovering new stories and sharing them here on the blog. Keep an eye out for more guest author spotlights, plus news about my own cozy mysteries filled with small-town charm, humor, and a happily-ever-after or two. Be sure to explore the other featured authors, enter the giveaway, and grab a new favorite read. Happy reading, and good luck!

As always, thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations!