Tilting at Windmills

Linden Corners #1

by Joseph Pittman

This lyrical debut novel celebrates the joys and tears of love lost and found, and of a life renewed--in a most unexpected place. . .

At thirty-four, Brian Duncan has it all. A trendy Manhattan life, a high-powered PR job, and a gorgeous fiancée with an exciting future of her own. Then, in a single moment of deception, Brian's world crumbles. Bitterly betrayed, he decides to toss away all he has worked for. Irresistibly drawn to the road, he leaves the city's busy streets behind. . .

On a hillside along New York's Hudson River Valley, Brian is transfixed by the beauty of an enormous windmill. Running toward it is a lovely little girl and her alluring mother, Annie Sullivan, who owns the windmill. The two strike a chord in Brian's heart and soon he discovers the small-town charms of Linden Corners--and of Annie, whose elusive quality matches his own questions about life. And as their relationship deepens into passion, through the force of nature and the hand of fate, Brian will learn that love comes in unexpected ways.

Pittman's debut novel is a feel-good fantasy. . . a nice feel for pace and place."-- Publishers Weekly

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

JOSEPH PITTMAN is the author of the Todd Gleason Crime Novels, including the novels LONDON FROG, CALIFORNIA SCHEMING, and THE CANNES CON. Two collections of novellas are TWO TODD TALES, and TWO MORE TODD TALES, which are available in eBook and audio.

He has also written the beloved Linden Corners novels, which include TILTING AT WINDMILLS, A CHRISTMAS WISH, A CHRISTMAS HOPE, A CHRISTMAS DREAM (formerly The Memory Tree) and CHASING WINDMILLS. The first three titles are available on audio.

His nonfiction works include THE SHADOW DIARIES: A Year in the Life of a Rescue Dog, and THE BROADWAY DIARIES: 30 Years from Aisle to Stage.

His other novels include WHEN THE WORLD WAS SMALL, LEGEND'S END, BEYOND THE STORM, all available in eBook and audio.

He has also published the serialized suspense novel, THE ORIGINAL CRIME, which was released as a three-part eBook special under the part titles REMEMBRANCE, RETRIBUTION, REDEMPTION. All three volumes are available in eBook and audio.

Under the pseudonym Adam Carpenter, he is best-known as the author of acclaimed Jimmy McSwain Files, a detective series set in New York City. Titles include: HIDDEN IDENTITY, CRIME WAVE, STAGE FRIGHT, GUARDIAN ANGEL, FOREVER HAUNT, FRESH KILL, SECOND SHOT, and FALSE JUSTICE*. All are available in print, eBook, and audio,

Two novellas featuring Jimmy McSwain will be published Fall of 24: SILVER SHIELD and HEART BEAT.

*no audio yet

Reviews

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I won this from a Goodreads give away this could easy be one that I would have bought for my book collection. I am looking forward to reading the other biiks in the series juts in time for the holidays I can't wait. I am just so moved by the story and the characters. It is just a touching love story between a man a woman, and girl, and a windmill. It is just a beautiful touching story that I could not put down.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was beautiful but incredibly sad. I loved the relationships explored but couldn't get past the sadness and downright unfair tilt at Life which has definitely coloured my judgement overall. There is a sequel - I have yet to decide whether I will read that or not. I can usually cope with sad books but I expect something to inspire me as well. This left me with such overall sadness that the inspiration hasn't yet surfaced.

[Joann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never read this author before but I loved this book. Really great way of mixing the present & past in a story!

[R.J. Vaccarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story. Full of twists and adventure. Kept me guessing the whole way through. This was a book that was hard to put down once you started reading!

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written touching love story in the male perspective for a change.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. The characters I fell in love with as well as the windmill!

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Page turner. Couldn't put it down. Had to find out what happens next.

[McKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read. Totally envisioned it as a Hallmark movie!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! I will definitely look into other Linden Corners novels!

[Martta]

Helmet 3/2025 Kirjan päähenkilö on nuorempi kuin sinä =>
📖 Joseph Pittman, Tuuli kuiskaa 👍

Helmet -lukuhaaste viikko 3

Miten herttainen rakkaustarina ❤️, kirjailijaa ei turhaan verrata Nicholas Sparksiin. Kirja on kirjoitettu ärsyttävän koukuttavaan tapaan, se jää usein kesken eri aikatasojen ja kappaleiden vaihtuessssa, ja silloin on tietenkin pakko lukea lisää, jotta saa selville, mitä seuraavaksi tapahtuu… 🤔

Kirja sopii hyvin lomalukemiseksi 🏖️, se on sopivan kevyttä lukemista, vaikkka sen sanoma onkin aika syvällinen. Välillä on hyvä pysähtyä ✋🏻 ja pohtia kuten kirjan päähenkilö Brian että, ”mikä elämässä on tärkeää” 💭. Kirjan takakannessa muistutetaan, ”ettei ihminen voi koskaan tietää mitä huominen tuo tullessaan” 🔮 ja ”vastoinkäymisetkin saattavat joskus olla tie onnellisempaan tulevaisuuteen” ❤️‍🩹.

📖 Joseph Pittman, Tuuli kuiskaa

Sopii Helmet lukuhaasteessa 2025 kohtiin:
3 Kirjan päähenkilö on nuorempi kuin sinä (päähenkilö noin 35v)
6 Kirjassa on prologi eli esipuhe
20 Kirjasta tulisi mielestäsi hyvä elokuva tai tv-sarja
30 Kirjassa on häät tai hautajaiset

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for me, this was very cliche and overly saccharine. I am also confused by the title. Tilting at windmills means to be delusional. Perhaps it was in reference to Annie? I was also thrown off by the character sharing a name with such an important real life figure - Annie Sullivan taught Helen Keller. The use of her name as a fictional character was odd to me. There are so many possibilities, why use that one?

[Kelsey Quick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to stay engaged and the ending was super predictable. I liked the characters in the book but just couldn’t get into it; forced myself to finish the novel.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed something light and this was perfect.

[Paulette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommend to any reader looking for a romantic, dramatic, story of love list and found and with many twists.

[Nichole McClure · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an unexpected tale of love after heartbreak. Modern meets the good ole days and just better than I thought it'd be. Had me hooked as soon as George and Gerta entered the story.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried reading this a long while back and was unable to get past the first few pages, so when I rediscovered it at my local library for sale (cheap!), I decided to give it another try. Then I started wondering why I had trouble getting into it in the first place. It started out in an intriguing fashion; NYC businessman Brian Duncan living the NY life, complete with a woman he loves. But when an unfortunate event occurs, he leaves his life behind and heads to Upstate NY. I really enjoyed reading about his journey because as someone who has only been to NYC, I found myself wanting to follow in his path, even though the city he visits is most likely fictitious, the author has a way of describing it beautifully.
I loved that he was so drawn to the windmill and through that encounter he met Janey and her mom Annie.
I wanted to give this book more than three stars because I really like the way the author writes with such detail. The problems I had with it that knocked the rating down are as follows; Annie is a widow and even though this book is fairly short, I felt that their relationship and the way they fell in love was a little hard to believe. It didn't seem to progress naturally and it felt somewhat rushed. I also didn't like the way the book began to wrap up by having Brian's past come back. It took away from the overall feel of the story and although I know they needed to show some 'closure' in that respect, it made the book feel like a bad Lifetime movie. The worst, though was even further to the end, which was the whole premise of the book. I won't give it away but it was written so stupidly and it felt so rushed that I had doubts about whether or not it would be included in the book at all (having read a "spoiler" on the sequel that follows this one). But not only that; the actions of Annie in that scenario made her seem like the most idiotic person on the planet and it cost her. It also made me dislike her character, wondering why she would risk everything for such a stupid action. It's hard for me to explain more without spoilers, so I won't say anymore about it. I will say that I am going to read the book that follows because I do like the author's writing.
I may not have cared for the overall story line but the author's descriptions and the way he made me feel like I was there in the story is deserving of four stars.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this... a quick read, compelling. I appreciated the push and pull of how the main character chose to deal with difficult situations. I tended to agree with the main character far more often than his "helpful friends." I noticed in some other reviews that many people were disappointed by the ending. I personally don't need for everything I read to have a happy ending. So, it didn't bother me.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book about a young man on the corporate fast track who through a series of circumstances and heart break takes his life a different route. I tend to read sweet and clean books. There was some strong language at the beginning of the book but ironically enough once the story leaves New York the language dissipates. It is a touching read and I like the path the story takes with a widow and her young daughter. Good read. Recommend.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't know much about this book before I started it and I'll acknowledge that it is well-written, but the ending was so upsetting that I couldn't really like it. This is why I primarily read romances, which almost always end on an upbeat.

[Donna]

I did not think I would like this book but I could not stop reading it. I bought it at our library book sale. I really enjoyed it and would like to read the sequel A Christmas Wish. I was really sad the way it ended.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling story that brings the reader into contact with real life people, those who love and those unfortunately who are betrayed.
Human emotions are described with the author's excellent intuition thus forming a bond between the reader and the characters.
A very good read.

[Vicki Lanzendorf]

Finding love after loss is the basis for this story. Starting over, rebuilding. Good, easy read. Somewhat of a surprise "ending", but the story continues in the second book in the series, A Christmas Wish.

[Kathy Jund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book one in the Connors Corners series!!!

[Faye Feinstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay. you do want to see what happens to the characters in the future.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good until I realized that it was too sad. Couldn't finish it.