Thursday 28 April 2022

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT - Beheld: Godiva's Story by Christopher M. Cevasco #HistoricalFiction #AngloSaxons #BlogTour @cevasco_m @maryanneyarde

 



Beheld: Godiva's Story

By Christopher M. Cevasco


Publication Date: 10th April 2022. Publisher: Lethe Press. Page Length: 242 Pages. Genre: Historical Fiction / Psychological Thriller

A darkly twisted psychological thriller exploring the legend of Lady Godiva’s naked ride.

Having survived a grave illness to become one of 11th-century England’s wealthiest landowners, Godgyfu of Coventry (Lady Godiva) remains forever grateful to the town whose patron saint worked such miracles. She vows to rebuild Coventry’s abbey and better the lives of its townsfolk. But the wider kingdom is descending into political turmoil, and her husband, Earl Leofric, starts to break under the strain. Godgyfu finds her own plans unravelling the moment she meets Thomas, a Benedictine novice with perverse secret desires. Three lives become dangerously entangled in a shocking web of ambition, voyeuristic lust, and horrid obsession. Can Godgyfu escape the monk’s menacing wiles and Leofric’s betrayals to secure her future in a changing kingdom? Perhaps, but first she faces a dark test of wills leading her perilously closer to a legendary ride...


You can pick up this book at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and Lethe Press


Christopher M. Cevasco



Christopher M. Cevasco was born in New Jersey and spent a memorable decade in Brooklyn, New York, but he feels most at home in medieval England, Normandy, Norway, and Green-land. A lifelong passion for history and fiction led him to earn degrees in Medieval Studies and English and later to embark upon a writing career that merges these two loves. 

Chris was the founding editor of the award-winning Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction from 2003 to 2009. His own short stories appear in such venues as Black Static, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Distant Echoes (Corazon Books, UK), and the Prime Books anthologies Shades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War and Zombies: Shambling Through the Ages. 

A long-time member of the Historical Novel Society, Chris currently serves on the society's North American conference board as registration chair for the upcoming 2023 conference in San Antonio, Texas. 

Chris lives with his wife and their two children in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Social Media Links:

WebsiteTwitterFacebookAmazon Author PageGoodreads 


Tour Schedule





Sunday 24 April 2022

Read an #excerpt from The Lake Pagoda by Ann Bennett #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalWomensFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @annbennett71 @maryanneyarde



The Lake Pagoda
By Ann Bennett



Publication Date: 26th April 2022. Publisher: Andaman Press. Page Length: 310 Pages. Genre: Women’s Historical Fiction

Indochina 1945: Arielle, who is half-French, half-Vietnamese, is working as a secretary for the French colonial government when the Japanese storm Hanoi. Although her Asian blood spares her from imprisonment, she is forced to work for the occupiers. The Viet Minh threaten to re-veal dark secrets from her past if she won’t pass them information from her new masters.

Drawn ever deeper into the rebels’ dangerous world, will Arielle ever escape the torment of her past? Or will she find love amidst the turmoil of war? 

A novel of love, loss, war, and survival against all odds. 

Trigger Warnings: Violence

Excerpt

Now, Arielle got dressed in the bathroom adjoining their bedroom and wandered down to the kitchen. The staff were all sitting round the table eating breakfast, as she walked down the passage she could hear their laughter and chatter echoing in the tall room. They put their forks and spoons down and hastily got to their feet as she entered, their chairs scraping on the tiled floor. 

‘Please. Don’t get up,’ she said in Annamese.

There was a short silence during which they all stared at her.

‘Would madame like breakfast in the dining room?’ one of the maids asked, stepping forward. ‘What would you like? Croissants? Pains au raisins? Baguettes?’

‘Oh no. Some of that beef pho you’re all eating if you don’t mind,’ she smiled broadly at the group who looked back at her nervously. Two of the women were only a little older than herself she noticed. How she would love to have made friends with them, asked them to sit down with her and share her breakfast, but as she stood there, she realised that could never be. She was the mistress of the house and they were her servants and that gulf would always divide them. 

With a sigh, she turned away and went into the dining room at the front of the house, where the ceiling fans whirred ceaselessly, high above the polished table. She sat alone, listening to the sounds of the city outside, the horns of the cars, bells of the cyclos, shouts of the pho sellers. Loneliness washed over her again, as it had when she’d entered this house as Etienne’s bride less than twenty-four hours before. 

How she missed her schoolfriends, many of whom had already returned to France, going on to further education or secretarial school or even finishing school. Papa had insisted on Arielle attending the French Lycee in Hanoi, where the majority of the pupils were well-bred French girls, the daughters of wealthy businessmen or diplomats. There were only a smattering of girls with Annamese  blood, and after leaving school the previous year, they had all either gone on to university or returned to their families in other parts of Indochina. They’d all left in dribs and drabs over the past few months, while Arielle’s attention had been consumed with Etienne and preparations for their wedding. And now she’d surfaced, she felt as though she’d been left behind.

She felt neither wholly in the French camp, nor the Annamese one. She sipped her noodle soup and thought about how little she knew of her native culture, even though she’d been brought up in the capital city of her homeland. She’d been raised as a French girl, even though she could speak the Annamese language fluently, but now she suddenly experienced a longing to understand her roots. Now she was here, in this quintessentially French mansion, the wife of a Frenchman, she was afraid of being cut off completely from her mother’s culture. 

You can pick up your copy of this book at the following bookstores: Amazon UKAmazon USAmazon CA and Amazon AU

Ann Bennett 

Ann Bennett was born in Pury End, a small village in Northamptonshire, UK and now lives in Surrey. Her first book, A Daughter's Quest, originally published as Bamboo Heart, was in-spired by her father’s experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway. The Plant-er's Wife (originally Bamboo Island) a Daughter's Promise and The Homecoming, (formerly Bamboo Road), The Tea Panter's Club and The Amulet are also about the war in South East Asia, all six making up the Echoes of Empire Collection.

Ann is also author of The Runaway Sisters ,The Orphan House, and The Child Without a Home, published by Bookouture.

The Lake Pavilion and The Lake Palace are both set in British India in the 1930s and 40s. Her latest book, The Lake Pagoda, set in French Indochina in the 30s and 40s, will be published in April 2022.

Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and works as a lawyer. For more details please visit www.bambooheart.co.uk

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Thursday 21 April 2022

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT - A Ha’penny Will Do by Alison Huntingford #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @ahuntingford9 @maryanneyarde

 


A Ha’penny Will Do
By Alison Huntingford


Publication Date: 31st January 2022. Publisher: Austin Macauley. Page Length: 368 Pages. Genre: Historical Fiction

Love, dreams and destitution.

Three members of one family are linked by their struggle to survive poverty and war at the turn of the century.  

Kate, a homesick, lonely Irish immigrant, dreams of being a writer.  After difficult times in Liverpool she comes to London looking for a better life.  Hoping to escape from a life of domestic service into marriage and motherhood, she meets charming rogue William Duffield.  Despite her worries about his uncertain temperament, she becomes involved with him. Will it be an escape or a prison? 

Fred is a restless elder son, devoted to his mother yet locked in a tempestuous relationship with his father.  War intervenes and he secretly signs up to serve abroad.  Is his bad reputation deserved?  What will become of him?

Joe, too young to sign up for WW1, is left to endure the hardships of war on the home front and deal with his own guilt at not being able to serve.  He starts an innocent friendship with his sister-in-law which sustains him through hard times.  Will he survive the bombs, the riots, the rationing and find true love in the end?

These are their intertwined and interlocking stories recreated through the medium of diaries, letters and personal recollections, based on the author’s family history covering the period of 1879 – 1920. The truth is never plain and rarely simple. 

This novel is a fresh and compelling look at life for the working-class poor in England at the end of the Victorian era.  Covering issues such as the struggle for home rule in Ireland, the hardships of domestic service, marital strife, the suffragettes and the horrors of World War 1 on the home front and abroad, this is a realistic and gripping tale which keeps the reader involved in their human plight all the way.

You can pick up a copy of this book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones

Alison Huntingford 


Alison Huntingford has a degree in humanities with literature, and has always enjoyed reading, especially, the great writers of the 19th century. 

She is an only child of two only children and so has always felt a distinct lack of family. This has inspired her to research her family history and most of her writing is based on this. Her debut novel, The Glass Bulldog, was published in 2019, and was nominated for the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. This is her second full length novel, although, she has also written several short stories. 

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their pets, listening to music, going to the cinema, and gardening.  She lives in Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor.

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Tuesday 19 April 2022

Read an #excerpt from The Professor’s Lady (The Thompsons of Locust Street, Book 3) by Holly Bush #americanhistoricalromance #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @hollybushbooks @maryanneyarde

 


The Professor’s Lady
(The Thompsons of Locust Street, Book 3)
By Holly Bush


Publication Date: 25th January 2022. Publisher: Holly Bush Books,. Page Length: 216 Pages. Genre: Historical Romance Gilded Age

Meet the Thompsons of Locust Street, an unconventional family taking Philadelphia high society by storm…

1870 Kirsty Thompson is determined to begin her own business bringing beloved Scottish fabrics and yarns to Philadelphia but first she must meet the men and women who weave the plaids and spin the wool. How will she ever escape her protective older siblings and sail to Scotland?

Albert Watson is a medical doctor focusing on research, especially that of Joseph Lister and his sterilization techniques. He speaks at universities in America and in England while visiting his London relatives. As he prepares to sail for just such an engagement, Kirsty Thompson boards his ship to beg him to take her with him. What’s a gentleman to do? Albert cancels his trip across the ocean to escort Miss Thompson back to Philadelphia and finds there is danger afoot for her and her family.

Soon he comes to realize there is also danger for his heart, even for a man who rarely pulls his nose from a medical journal. He finds himself unable to put Miss Kirsty Thompson out of his thoughts, where they belonged, because certainly a beautiful, ambitious, and charming young woman could have no interest in him. Or could she?

Excerpt

Muireall Thompson woke with a start from where she’d been dozing in the parlor of the Thompson home at 75 Locust Street, Philadelphia. “Has anything happened?”

“Nothing,” James said. His wife, Lucinda, was upstairs in one of the beds trying to sleep, although he doubted she would. Nothing had happened as of yet, he thought, but James was sick with fear that the men after their family, especially after his younger brother, had taken Kirsty just like they’d taken Elspeth two years ago to hold her for ransom. There but by the grace of God she’d been rescued before anyone had harmed her more than could be healed. And in the end, Elspeth, always quiet and seemingly fragile, had killed a man with a knife as he beat her with his fists. He glanced at her as she came through the door. 

“Mrs. McClintok is making some sweet rolls for us, and I’ve got tea,” Elspeth said as she carried the tea tray awkwardly on her swollen belly. Her husband, Alexander, jumped to his feet. 

“Let me carry that,” he said. “You should be off of your feet.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can’t, Alexander! I can’t sit still for one more minute worrying about Kirsty. I have to do something!” 

“It’s after four in the morning, Elspeth,” James said. “We don’t need tea.”

“I’ll have tea,” Muireall said. “Where is Payden?”

“In the kitchen with Mrs. McClintok and Robbie, sound asleep on his arms at the table. I tried to get him to go to his room, but he will not listen to me,” Elspeth said as her lip trembled.

“Elspeth, darling,” Alexander led her to the settee, “please sit. You are upsetting yourself.”

She looked at him and wobbled a smile. “I am being silly, am I not? But I just can’t help myself.”

“Is this what I have to look forward to?” James asked.

Muireall arched a brow, and their great-aunt Murdoch’s eyes flew open. “What are you saying, boy?”

He shook his head and returned to peering out between the curtains to the street. “Someone is coming.”

Alexander jumped to his feet and followed James to the front door. “Could you see who it was?” he asked. 

“It looked like one of those telegram messengers,” James said. 

The brass door knocker clattered, and James pulled the door open quickly, yanked the man inside, and shoved him against the wall.

“Hey,” the man yelled, losing his cap. “Whatcha doing? Leave me be!”

“Where is she?” James growled and tightened his hold on the man’s neck.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about! Just delivering a message to 75 Locust Street!”

“Let him talk, James,” Alexander said and held up the cap he’d picked up from the floor. “It says ‘Bernardo’s Messenger Service’ on this card on his hat.”

James released the man and stepped back. “What are you doing here? Who sent you?”

The man grabbed his cap from Alexander. “I’m here because my boss paid me extra to deliver the message in my satchel in the middle of the night. Special delivery from New York City.” He looked up with wide eyes at Alexander, who was aiming a pistol at him. 

“Slowly,” Alexander said. “Pull out that message slowly.”

“Here,” the man said and handed over the recognizable telegram envelope to James. 

“He might be telling the truth.” Alexander lowered his weapon. Muireall slipped into the entranceway, coins in her hand. 

“Here is a tip for your trouble.”

“Don’t want no money, ma’am. Just want to get out of here.”

James opened the door, and the man ran down the steps, glancing over his shoulder as he did. He handed Muireall the letter. “It’s addressed to you.”

Muireall took the telegram and went into the parlor. She slit the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. She unfolded one and plopped down on the seat behind her, her hand over her mouth. 

“What is it?” Elspeth asked. “Tell us!”

“She’s fine.”

Elspeth burst into tears, and James dropped down to his haunches in front of Aunt Murdoch. “Where is she?” he asked.

Muireall scanned the letter. “In New York. At a hotel. With Albert Watson.”

“Albert? What is she doing with Albert?” Alexander asked. 

Muireall began to read: 
Couldn’t get off the boat. I am fine, with Mr. Watson in NYC hotel, someone tried to kill me, be home soon.

“A New York hotel? I’m going to kill her,” James said. “I’m going to f—”

“James,” Lucinda said from the doorway. 

“And then I’m going to kill Watson!” James said. 

Muireall held up her hand:
Miss Thompson safe but not out of danger. Escorting her home on the 16th. 

“He is the one that took her into dinner on the night of your party, isn’t he, Alexander?” Muireall asked. 

“He is, and although this is highly unusual, Albert is to be trusted. He’ll guard Kirsty with his life if necessary.”

“What could possibly be the reason she got on a boat?” Elspeth asked. 

Lucinda walked into the room and sat down on the arm of Aunt Murdoch’s chair. “I believe I know. She told me she wants to visit Scotland to meet the people she’s been corresponding with about importing wool. She knows that Mr. Watson travels back and forth to England because he still has family there and for his work in medical research. She was going to ask him to escort her and a companion on a voyage to Scotland since he would be traveling there anyway.”

“That is absurd! Albert would never agree to escort her,” Alexander said. 

“But it does sound so much like our dear Kirsty,” Elspeth said and patted her eyes.

“How did she know what ship he would be on?” Muireall asked.

“That is my fault,” Lucinda said. “My aunt’s stepson has been meeting with Mr. Watson and getting help from him with some advanced studies. Kirsty was at our house the day Geoffrey told us of Mr. Watson’s plans to sail on the Maybelle on the fourteenth.”

“Good God, that girl will be the death of me,” Aunt Murdoch said. “And she’s going to have to marry this Watson person after this escapade.”

“We must not jump to conclusions, Aunt,” Muireall said. 

“Be realistic, Muireall. Kirsty, our Kirsty, sleeping in a room alone with a handsome man—and I think he was, if I remember correctly. She’d be . . . energetic,” Aunt said. 

Alexander looked away, and James gritted his teeth. 

“If he has touched her, I’ll kill him, regardless of how energetic she was,” James growled. 

“I fear this is my fault.” Lucinda turned to Muireall. “Of course, I discouraged her plans before that day with Geoffrey, but I never in my wildest dreams thought she would board the Maybelle.”

“Kirsty can be . . . unpredictable, Lucinda. You could not have prevented this.”

“Also, energetic,” James said and shook his head. “I’m going to kill her.”

Payden McTavish Thompson, the Tenth Earl of Taviston, moved from the door where he’d been standing, listening to the telegrams Muireall read. “But more than any of it, they are back. Plowman is back, and we must be on our guard.”

You can pick up your copy of this book at the following bookstores: Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books.

Holly Bush 

Holly Bush writes historical romance set in the U.S.in the late 1800’s, in Victorian England, and an occasional Women’s Fiction title. Her books are described as emotional, with heartfelt, sexy romance. She makes her home with her husband in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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Thursday 14 April 2022

Read an #excerpt from When The Mermaid Sings (A prequel story to The Sea Witch Voyages) by Helen Hollick #MermaidSings #HistoricalFantasy #BlogTour @HelenHollick @maryanneyarde

 


When The Mermaid Sings
(A prequel story to The Sea Witch Voyages)
By Helen Hollick 



Publication Date: 21st June 2021. Publisher: Taw River Press. Page Length: 190 Pages. Genre: Historical/Nautical Fantasy.

A prequel short read story to the Sea Witch Voyages of Captain Jesamiah Acorne

When the only choice is to run, where do you run to?
When the only sound is the song of the sea, do you listen?
Or do you drown in the embrace of a mermaid?

Throughout childhood, Jesamiah Mereno has suffered the bullying of his elder half-brother. Then, not quite fifteen years old, and on the day they bury their father, Jesamiah hits back. In consequence, he flees his Virginia home, changes his name to Jesamiah Acorne, and joins the crew of his father’s seafaring friend, Captain Malachias Taylor, aboard the privateer, Mermaid.

He makes enemies, sees the ghost of his father, wonders who is the Cornish girl he hears in his mind – and tries to avoid the beguiling lure of a sensuous mermaid...

An early coming-of-age tale of the young Jesamiah Acorne, set in the years before he becomes a pirate and Captain of the Sea Witch.


Trigger Warnings:
Sexual content, adult language.


Praise

“Ms Hollick has skillfully picked up the threads that she alludes to in the main books and knit-ted them together to create a Jesamiah that we really didn't know.” 
Richard Tearle senior re-viewer, Discovering Diamonds

“Captain Jesamiah Acorne is as charming a scoundrel as a fictional pirate should be. A re-sourceful competitor to Captain Jack Sparrow!” 
Antoine Vanner, author

“Helen Hollick has given us the answer to that intriguing question that Jesamiah fans have been aching for – how did he start his sea-going career as a pirate?” 
Alison Morton, author

“I really enjoyed the insight offered into Jesamiah's backstory, and found the depiction of our teenage hero very moving.” 
Anna Belfrage, author

“I loved this little addendum to the Jesamiah series. I always had a soft spot for the Lorelei stories and enjoyed that the author cleverly brought her over from the Rhine valley to fit into the story.” 
Amazon Reviewer


A DISPATCH FROM THE AUTHOR

A brief bit about the Sea Witch Voyages: 

I wrote the first Voyage (Sea Witch) back in 2005 after thoroughly enjoying the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Like most avid readers, however, I wanted more than just the movie, I wanted to read something that was as entertaining and as exciting. A nautical adventure with a charming rogue of a pirate captain, written for adults (with adult content) but with a dash of supernatural fantasy as well – elements of which had made that first movie such fun to watch. I found many nautical-based novels, but they were all ‘serious stuff’ – Patrick O’Brian, Alexander Kent, C. S. Forrester ... all good reads but without the fantasy fun, and barely a female character in sight. I simply could not find the book I wanted to read. So, I wrote my own.

The first Voyage led to more books in the series, and also generated several emails from fans who wanted to know how Jesamiah had become a pirate in the first place.

When the Mermaid Sings answers that question.


Excerpt


Atlantic Ocean -  June 1709

On the far side of the Sargasso Sea, the wind gusting with more strength, they sighted yet another ship. Excitement flew around Mermaid’s decks, accompanied by laughter and chatter, with men leaning over the rail to point and look. Was she friend or foe? Was she a Spaniard coming into their clutches laden with treasure? Despite Taylor repeating, several times, that she might be Spanish but she was outbound so would not be carrying gold and silver, no one paid him heed. The disappointment was deep when she was identified as Dutch. Taylor would not touch English, Portuguese or Dutch shipping. Anything else was fair game. Except, nothing else appeared to be sailing neither east nor west across the Atlantic Ocean this June month of 1709.

An hour after dawn, two days out from the first of the Azore islands, another vessel was spotted – behind them, not ahead, and coming up fast. This time the activity was anxious, not excited. She could be a treasure ship, a trader, another privateer, or she could be Stannis come to find them and wreak revenge. Taylor, doubted it would be him, but took prudent precaution by ordering the guns made ready and more sail set to take advantage of the sprightly wind. Mermaid was sleek and fast, but this vessel coming up behind was faster still. 

On edge, constantly looking over their shoulders or up to the crosstrees of the mainmast where Hench sat on watch, the men were restless. None of them cared a hoot for the risk of a fight, but it was the waiting that gnawed at the nerves and frayed them raw. What vessel was she? Why was she pursuing them so doggedly? 

Then a laugh, a hearty cry plunged from the masthead, followed swiftly by Hench himself, descending hand-over-hand down the backstay to the deck, his face split from ear to ear by a wide grin.

“She’s the Barsheba!” he announced. “It’s Jennings!”

Whooping and cheering, they stood the guns down, took in sail and waited for Captain Henry Jennings to catch up; one of the best privateers in all the Northern Oceans.

How I met Jesamiah Acorne (the tru-ish) story - click here.


You can pick up your copy of this book at the following bookstores: Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU This novel is available to read on #KindleUnlimited


First published in 1994, Helen Hollick became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She is now branching out into the quick read novella, 'Cosy Mystery' genre with her new venture, the Jan Christopher Murder Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant.

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She lives in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon, runs Discovering Diamonds, a review blog for historical fiction, and occasionally gets time to write... 

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Wednesday 13 April 2022

#FREE on #Kindle - Escape the Choice (The Choice Series, Book 1) by Ellie Yarde #YoungAdult #Romance @readingalnight

 


Embrace the Choice
(The Choice Series, Book 2)
By Ellie Yarde


Publication Date: 12th April 2022> Publisher: Independently Published. Page Length: 47 Pages. Genre: Young Adult / Contemporary Romance

How do you deal with choices when you don’t know how?

Lena has always been a quiet and private person, who only talks to people she knows and doesn’t stray outside of her comfort zone. She refuses to admit to anyone but herself that she has a crush on Tyler, the roommate of a friend’s boyfriend.

When Tyler starts making excuses to spend time with her, she can’t help but like the attention, however awkward she may find social interaction. The problem is, Lena knows next to nothing about dating. Everything she knows has come from a romance book, and she is too socially inept to be able to act like the women in her books. Will she be able to summon the courage in order to go on the date she so desperately desires?

A quick read filled with friendship, love, and trashy romance books.

Amazon  

This novel is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Escape the Choice (Book 1) 

is free on Amazon for a limited time.


Ellie Yarde



Ellie Yarde is primarily a reader and blogger. She writes short stories, which are published on her blog, Reading All Night, where she also shares her reviews.








Tuesday 12 April 2022

Read an #excerpt from Shake Loose the Border (Thunder on the Moor, Book 3) by Andrea Matthews #TimeTravelRomance #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @AMatthewsAuthor @maryanneyarde


Shake Loose the Border 
(Thunder on the Moor, Book 3)
By Andrea Matthews


Publication Date: 22nd November 2021. Publisher: Inez M. Foster. Page Length: 356 Pages. Genre: Historical Time Travel Romance.

With Will and Maggie’s wedding just a week away, the last thing they need to stumble upon is Johnnie Hetherington’s dead body tied to a tree, especially one that’s so close to their cottage. Recognizing it as a sure sign that Johnnie has betrayed the family once too often, Sergeant Richie Carnaby gathers Will and his family together for questioning, though it seems obvious only a fool would kill a man on his own land. Then who did murder the rogue, and why?

Feeling confident it wasn’t any of the Fosters, Richie allows Will and Maggie’s wedding to proceed, but the couple has barely exchanged vows when the Armstrongs attack in force. Geordie is determined to rescue his niece from the clutches of Will Foster, whether she wants to go or not. And if he happens to make her a widow in the process, so be it. Will senses the danger and implores Dylan to get Maggie away to safety, no matter where — or when — that may be.

Though Maggie protests, Will assures her he will follow as soon as he is able. Yet how can that be possible when Dylan whisks her back to the twentieth century? Sharing her fears about Will, anTd unable to forget his own love, Annie, Dylan attempts to return to the past one last time despite his growing concerns over the disintegrating amulet stone. But will he make it in time to rescue Will, or will the villainous Ian Rutherford, who has already killed in cold blood once, win the ultimate battle and see Will and Maggie separated forever?

EXCERPT


The hall was full of Will’s family and friends, but as the day progressed, a heaviness settled on Maggie’s heart. Only Dylan was there for her. How she wished her kin could have been there as well, especially Connie or her Uncle Andy. Even Geordie would have been a welcome sight. She imagined what it would have been like if there had been no feud, if her father and Uncle Eddie were still alive. It truly would have been one big, happy family. The kind she’d dreamed of as a child.  

Will was busy serving his guests and the musicians had started a lively reel, so Maggie slipped outside into the cooling evening air. She breathed in deeply, the earthy scent of falling leaves underlined with the subtle aroma of pine bringing with it the memory of her father, and an overwhelming sense of loss engulfed her. 

Scurrying down the steps, she stole around the side of the peel, prepared to have a quiet cry for herself, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted her cousin Connie slipping amongst the shadows of the barmekin. At first, Maggie thought it was a mirage of some sort, brought on by her current state of melancholy, but then she caught another glimpse of the girl, ducking behind the stables. 

Maggie’s heart leapt at the thought of seeing her cousin again. After shooting a quick glance up the peel tower forestairs to make sure no one was watching, she darted across the barmekin yard but stopped short when a sobering thought occurred to her. What if her family had indeed come, not to celebrate her nuptials, but to take her back to Scotand . . . and Ian.  

A chill ran down her spine, her heart pounding against the tight-fitting bodice of her gown. Scanning the yard for any unusual movement, she inched her way back to the safety of the peel. If she screamed, would anybody even hear her? She was just passing Graham’s cottage when she heard a faint whisper and Connie poked her head out of the shadows. 

“Maggie, ’tis me, yer cousin, I’ve come to wish ye well.” 

Maggie peered into the darkness, listening carefully for the sound of shuffling feet or the clink of cold, hard steel, but all she could see was her cousin’s terrified expression. 
Reaching out, she took the girl’s hands.  

“Connie, come inside, please. I’m so glad you came.” 

“Nae, Maggie,” Connie said, her voice infused with a deep sadness, “I canna.” 

“But why?” Maggie said. “No one will harm you. I’ll make sure of that. Besides, Will’s family doesn’t blame you for what your kin did.” 

“They were yer kin once too, Cousin.” 
“And they chose to sentence an innocent man to death on the word of another.” 

“Has yer love for that scoundrel blinded ye so ye canna see the truth?” 

“And what truth is that?” 

“Will killed yer father, during a foray, ’tis true, but still the guilt is nae less his.” 

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Why won’t anyone believe me? It was Ian who killed my father . . . in cold blood.” 

“Nae, Maggie! Those are Bonnie Will’s words, and his kiss has poisoned yer heart.” 

Maggie’s temper flared. “No! Those are Ian’s words!” 

A look of annoyance crossed Connie’s face. “Ye already told me what Ian said, and while his words werena kind, they were hardly an admission of guilt.” 

Though Maggie longed to say he had confessed just that, she couldn’t lie to her cousin. “Well, no, not exactly, but that’s what he meant.” 

“What he meant?” Connie shook her head, a look of pity in her eyes. “Or what ye wanted him to mean, Cousin? Oh, Maggie, come home and beg me father’s forgiveness. Me uncle’s outside waiting for me. He’ll understand. Will’s a dandy all right, and he bewitched ye with his smile. Ye didna ken what it was ye were doing. Deliver Will to their hands, and all will be forgiven.” 

“Will is my husband,” Maggie said, her tone turning cold, “and I would no more betray him than I would myself.” 

“Ach, it winna matter a whit anyway. Da’s sent word to the bishop to have it all annulled.” 

“He what!” Maggie clenched her fists, trying not to take her anger out on her cousin. “On what grounds?” 

Connie reached out, touching Maggie’s arm. “’Tis for the best, Cousin. That priest ye had wed ye was defrocked, and Will has nae proof ye made any other vows. He didna even give ye a wed.” 

Maggie cursed herself for not paying more attention when her father talked archaeology. “What’s a wed?” 

“A token of sorts to show the vows were made in earnest, usually a ring or such.” 

“But he did.” She held out her hand to reveal her grandmother’s ring. 
Connie gave a tut and shook her head. “D’ye think me a fool? Will didna give ye that. ’Tis our granddame’s ring. We all ken she gave it ye, so it proves noucht.” 

“Well, it doesn’t matter. As I’m already carrying Will’s child, there’ll be no doubt that our union was consummated.” 

“D’ye mean to bring shame upon yerself and the bairn?” Connie scowled at her. “Ye’re fortunate Ian is willing to claim it as his own, and since ye were already betrothed to Ian, no one will be the wiser or care two pence about yer handfast to Will.”  

Maggie fought to keep her voice low. “I was never betrothed to Ian. Nothing had been agreed to, no pledges made. But Will and I did exchange marital vows on the church steps this morning, before a fully ordained priest and with plenty of witnesses this time, wed and all.” She gave a nod to punctuate her triumphant revelation. 

“This morn! But the wedding’s not to take place till the Sunday.” 

Maggie shrugged. “Father Michael has to be in Bewcastle tomorrow, so we got married today instead. Why does that matter?”  

Someone whistled from outside the wall, and both girls looked toward the sound before Connie spoke again. “I have to go, Maggie. I just came to wish ye well and to give ye these few things. I hoped to give them to ye afore the wedding, but . . .” She opened a small sack and took out some money wrapped in a linen handkerchief as well as a delicately embroidered tablecloth and what looked like matching napkins. 

“Uncle Andy says this money was yer da’s, and as such ’tis rightfully yers. Besides, he winna see a niece of his marrit without a proper dowry.” 

Maggie took the money, a tear trickling down her cheek, but when Connie handed her the tablecloth, it turned into a flood of emotion that neither girl could control. 

“Me mother helped Auntie Marion and I finish it just last night. We want ye to have it, Maggie, to mind us by.” 

“I’ll never forget you, Connie . . . or Uncle Andy. Won’t he come to talk to me, just for a moment?” 

“He’s risking enough already, Cousin, coming to ye like this. If me father ever kent he gave ye that money . . . As far as most of the family’s concerned, ye dinna deserve a pence of it. Ye forfeited it when ye betrayed yer surname. Me uncle could be hangit himself just for bringing me here.” 

“I know.” Maggie sobbed softly. “Tell my uncle I bear him no malice, for in him I learned the true meaning of honor.” 

“And he bears ye none, but his heart’s breaking all the same. Ye were like a daughter to him.” 

“Then twice I’ve lost a father.” 

Connie wiped away the tears, her lips curving into a warm, understanding smile. “Aye, ye have that, Cousin, but I must go now. God bless ye and keep ye, Maggie 
Armstrong, for I fear our paths winna cross again.” 

You can pick up your copy of this book at the following bookstores: Amazon UKAmazon USAmazon CAAmazon AU, (and #KindleUnlimited),

Andrea Matthews


Andrea Matthews is the pseudonym for Inez Foster, a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogical speaking. She has a BA in History and an MLS in Library Science, and enjoys the research almost as much as she does writing the story. In fact, many of her ideas come to her while doing casual research or digging into her family history. She is the author of the Thunder on the Moor series set on the 16th century Anglo-Scottish Border, and the Cross of Ciaran series, where a fifteen hundred year old Celt finds himself in the twentieth century. Andrea is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Long Island Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel Society.


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