I'm excited to announce our reader review event for Vacancy by Jann Alexander. We'll be celebrating the event's launch by sharing reviews from our community and giving you a chance to win a copy of the book and an Amazon gift card. Also, don't miss hearing Jann talk about her writing journey in upcoming podcast episodes.
But before we get into what our readers thought, here's more about the book:
Helen is childless and widowed after a long marriage and gets a second chance with a long-lost love. But she's grieving her hidden regrets. She bonds with her quiet kindergarten student and doubts the girl's struggling single mother, Charlene, is fit to parent.
Charlene's hiding a secret of her own, and she resents Helen's interference. She's determined to make a better life for her young daughter, the teenage boy her ex left behind, and the baby on the way when a scarred veteran offers to lend a hand.
A tragedy no one sees coming forces the two women to unite, as small-town bias threatens to destroy innocent lives. But first, Helen and Charlene must confront the vacancy in their hearts. As they do, can they find new strength, acceptance, and a second chance at love?
Publisher: Black Rose Writing (September 2026)
ISBN-13: 978-1685137984
ASIN: B0H7XL45TB
Print length: 320 pages
Vacancy is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org. You can also add it to your Goodreads list.
About the Author, Jann Alexander
Jann Alexander is an author, photographer, and public speaker. Her characters face down their fears in novels that are as close to true as fiction can get. As a central Texas resident for over two decades, she created the Vanishing Austin photography series and speaks on all things Texas to groups and book clubs. Jann’s lifelong storytelling habit and her passion for Texas history merged to become The Dust Series, comprising the historical novel Unspoken and the fictionalized true-crime novel Vacancy. She holds a B.S. from the University of Maryland. When Jann is not reading, writing, or creating, she bikes, hikes, skis, and kayaks. Jann always brakes for historical markers.
You can find her online at:
Her website: https://www.jannalexander.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jannalextx/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jannalextx/
-- Interview by Nicole Pyles
WOW: Congrats on your book, Vacancy! What inspired your book?
Jann: Thank you! Vacancy had been germinating since 2005. That’s when two articles on the front page of a major newspaper’s Metro section jumped out at me. One story was joyful, the other horrific, and the characters in each were unrelated. But I wanted to understand how the two events came about, and why blame was being cast in a small, rural town.
WOW: I love that real events in the news inspire you. Can you tell us more about that inspiration?
Jann: I was inspired to meld two unrelated true stories (from 2005) together into one novel, to explore the complexities of each situation. I created a mythical town in the Texas Panhandle for its small-town environment, where scenarios of second chances, and tragedies nobody saw coming, were believable. Names and locations were changed, and new fictional characters added, in my effort to work through how a terrible tragedy can envelop even those who are innocent.
WOW: I think that's amazing that you did that. You also have a skill for vivid setting! How do you capture such realistic scenes and surroundings?
Jann: Thanks for crediting me with vivid settings! I was an art director, photographer, and painter before I turned to writing novels, and that visual sense never leaves you. My eyes are like a camera that’s constantly clicking and recording, and I study everything around me in a scene. It’s a game I play, absorbing all the details. And when I am writing, I research, which involves lots of old photographs and old maps. That helps me visualize what I’m putting words to.
WOW: I'll bet! I love that you set your book in Texas, your own home state. What do you love most about setting your books there?
Jann: The funny thing about Texas is that it’s my home state now, but not until I moved here from the D.C. area in 2004. In order to get to know my new state, I began to research it, travel around it, explore it, and once I uncovered some of its hidden histories and its wacky past, I couldn’t resist creating a mythical town in the Texas Panhandle as a setting for my books. Vacancy was actually the first novel in "The Dust Series" I wrote, but it’s second to be published. Each book in the series can stand alone, with the setting in small-town Texas tying them together, as characters connect, or move in, and move out, of subsequent books. Like people do, in towns across Texas.
WOW: It seems like Texas pulled you right in! What draws to writing historical fiction?
Jann: I have always had a passion for times past, and since I can’t travel back in time, the next best thing I can do is imagine it—and write it. This gives me a reason to dig into old photographs, old maps, old paintings, oral histories, and out-of-print books for visualizing how things once were. I collect things from my favorite eras in U.S. history, too, such as a 1930 typewriter, 1940s Bakelite radios, even older boxes of cartes-de-visites, 1950s fold-out post cards, 1930s-40s refrigerator pitchers, hand-tinted photographs, colorful fruit crate labels, even books about the architecture, styles, and décor from former eras.
WOW: That's a fun collection to have! Where do you like to write? Can you share pictures?
Jann: I have made myself a great writing studio that can double as a research center, art studio, and place to read. I love going into my writing studio, and can’t imagine writing anywhere else. I have shelves for lots of books with my collectibles interspersed, storage for art and photo supplies, a great view of live oak trees and birds, a door to our deck for my Texas mutt, Ruby, and a door that’s sized for me, too.
WOW: Where you like to write is beautiful! What are you working on now that you can tell us about?
Jann: I’m doing final edits on my third novel in The Dust Series, titled Overdue: Riding the Rails Across Texas in Hard Times. In the Texas Dust Bowl, fourteen-year-old Will Becker sets out for home but keeps riding the rails, chasing education, work, and a way to save his family farm—until history turns every detour into a reckoning.
Thanks for asking such fun questions!
WOW: And thank you for joining us! I hope everyone enjoys your book.
Here's what WOW! Readers had to say about Vacancy by Jann Alexander:
"I was pulled right into Jann Alexander’s Vacancy. She knows just how to create a scene that captures each character's emotions and evokes vivid physical sensations and settings. There are multiple POVs throughout the book, but Jann knows just how to rope the reader into each perspective without taking them out of the story. Chapters are short, so the pacing is perfect. My heart went out to each character as they navigated the changes in their lives. Definitely recommend this one!" ~ Nicole P.
"This novel follow two women whose lives become intertwined and after a tragic accident they realize maybe there was a reason they were brought into each other's lives. Helen a widowed school teacher has taken an interest in a new student Jillie. She feels something isn't right at home and reaches out to her mother to try to get a little more insight. But the mother continues to ignore the meetings and calls from Helen.
"When Helen's worst fear comes true, she carries the guilt that she should have done more. Charlene, a young mother stuck in a bad relationship just found out she is pregnant again. How could this happen? He didn't even want the first child and he never takes the time for his first child, the teenage son she helps care for. She needs to get out and finds the strength to do all it takes to get out of this situation. With the help of some friends, she gets out of there with Mick and Jillie, but the struggle is hard.
"While stepping away for a few moments to make a phone call, a terrible accident happens and now the fear of her new life she was starting hangs in the balance as the town points fingers at her and labels her as another negligent mother that shouldn't have had children. With the strength of her friends and Helen who continues to reach out, Charlene has to learn to live for the new child growing within her and the guilt of what happened. I really enjoyed this read, the struggles these women had how they gave each other strength to move forward." ~ Chelsie S.
"There have been many books written about men hurting women, but have you ever read about a secret hiding place abusing the person who trusted it? How could that be? No, this is not sci fi, and yes, the main characters are hiding unspeakable secrets despite the love and trust that are shared in Jann Alexander’s Vacancy.
"Kindergarten teacher Helen is childless and widowed. She’s grieving her hidden regrets though an administrator sees right through her and advises her to see a psychologist. She stalls while she bonds with shy girl in her class and fears that the girl’s struggling single mother, Charlene, is not parenting well.
"Charlene’s hiding a secret too, while doing the best she can to keep her daughter and the teenager her ex left behind safe. She resents Helen’s judgments and interference, but she resents her former husband’s drunken violence more. When she meets a scarred veteran who offers to lend a hand, hope flourishes, until she begs for time.
"After an unexpected tragedy Helen and Charlene bond despite the harsh judgements of people who speculate about what really happened. Helen and Charlene must confront the vacancies in their hearts, creating an opening for new love.
"Author Jann Alexander is a skillful storyteller. Her characters resonate and you’ll find yourself reeling at the problems life brings to them. She has written an earlier book in the same series, Unspoken.
"If you’re drawn to women’s fiction, other people’s problems, or the Texas panhandle, this book is for you." ~ B. Lynn G.
"Vacancy is great from start to finish.
I felt for all the characters.
Helen is both a widow and kindergarten teacher.
Charlene is a single mother with a little girl, and her brother, a teenager, who both go through more than anyone should.
Vacancy is raw, gripping, and had me hooked. It’s memorable and had me thinking about it long after I finished.
It demonstrates life’s struggles very well in the characters, their backstory, and what they experience. It’s also about resilience.
Thanks to Jann Alexander and to Women on Writing. It was a pleasure to take part in the reader review event for this novel." ~ Katherine H.
"This is a touching novel of two women whose lives cross as they face the tragedies in their lives. They find strength, making it through to new life. Second chances give hope to them both. Alexander has written an emotional novel in which the women eventually find healing and strength to overcome tragedy, remorse and guilt and experience forgiveness and hope.
Potential readers should be aware that the tragedies include the death of a spouse and a child's death. Those may be trigger situations for some. There is also a threatening and dangerous past boyfriend. Those are hard experiences but the women find the strength to go on." ~ Joan N.
Listen to Jann Alexander on Podcasts
Beach Chair Chats
Bookaholic
Connor Reads Books
Sustaining Creativity
***** BOOK & GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY *****
Enter to win Vacancy by Jann Alexander and a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Fill out the form below for a chance to win. The giveaway ends September 20th at 11:59 pm CT. We will randomly draw a winner the next day and follow up via email. Good luck!
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