The Book Bandit's Library : May 2024

Wednesday, 22 May 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Stumbling Stones by Bonnie Suchman

Stumbling Stones
By Bonnie Suchman

Publication Date: May 9, 2024. Publisher: Black Rose Writing. Page Length: 282. Genre: Historical Fiction.

"Alice knew that Selma sometimes felt judged by their mother and didn't always like it when Alice was praised and Selma was not. Alice glanced over at her sister, but Selma was smiling at Alice. In what Alice understood might be Selma's last act of generosity towards her sister, Selma was going to let Alice bask in the glow of Emma's pride toward her elder daughter. Then the three shared a hug, a hug that seemed to last forever."

Alice Heppenheimer, born into a prosperous German Jewish family around the turn of the twentieth century, comes of age at a time of growing opportunities for women.

So, when she turns 21 years old, she convinces her strict family to allow her to attend art school, and then pursues a career in women's fashion. Alice prospers in her career and settles into married life, but she could not anticipate a Nazi Germany, where simply being Jewish has become an existential threat. Stumbling Stones is a novel based on the true story of a woman driven to achieve at a time of persecution and hatred, and who is reluctant to leave the only home she has ever known.

But as strong and resilient as Alice is, she now faces the ultimate challenge - will she and her husband be able to escape Nazi Germany or have they waited too long to leave?

Amazon

Bonnie Suchman

Bonnie Suchman is an attorney who has been practicing law for forty years. Using her legal skills, she researched her husband's family's 250-year history in Germany, and published a non-fiction book about the family, Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany. Bonnie found one member of the family, Alice Heppenheimer, particularly compelling. Stumbling Stones tells Alice's story. Bonnie has two adult children and lives in Maryland with her husband, Bruce.

Social Media Links:

Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Read an excerpt from Autumn and The Silver Moon Stallion by V P Felmlee.

Autumn and The Silver Moon Stallion
By V P Felmlee

Publication Date: November, 2023. Publisher: TCS Publishing. Page Length: 280. Genre: Young Adult / New Adult Fiction.

An abused, neglected filly is abandoned on a remote country road, left to die.

A young woman grieves the loss of her best friend, the champion horse she had built her life and future around.

The heir to one of the largest ranches in Wyoming comes home to face the ire and disappointment of his grandfather.

A world-renown scientist clashes with the U.S.government over a brutal, decades-long war to decide the fate of thousands of mustangs, a beloved icon of the American West.

Autumn and The Silver Moon Stallion is their story of love, hatred, and death. Will their struggles give them hope to fight for their beliefs, or tear them forever apart?

Excerpt

The filly was coaxed out of the old trailer and down the sagging wooden ramp by the man and led several feet away. Her halter was taken off. She had always worn these tight pieces of leather around her muzzle, and it was strange not feeling them bite into her flesh.

The man walked back to the trailer. Her ears flicked in curiosity. The door slammed with a loud "Bam!"

The truck started, gears ground, and it pulled away. The empty trailer rattled and bounced over ruts and rocks.

Seconds later, she was alone.

Hmm, she thought. This was a strange field. No fences. No gates. Her tail whisked back and forth as she stepped forward a few feet. She bent down to pull at a strand of wild grass. It was sweet, and tasted better than her usual feed. She saw another patch, and ate it, too.

Now she was thirsty and smelled water. Following the scent, it led her down a gentle slope to a river bank. She had never seen a river before, and watched the strong current rush by for a few minutes.

She carefully stepped over and around small stones, then splayed her legs to bring her muzzle to the water, pursed her lips, and drank deeply.

This water was good, fresh, and clean. Much better than the dirty, rancid water she was usually given. The water was swift and she was careful to stay on the bank and out of the mud.

Dusk was settling in. She wasn't concerned. She was always outside, in a field with no shelter or covering against wind or cold or heat, so this was normal for her. Better than normal.

All in all, she thought, I'm in a better place than I was before.

Amazon

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

V P Felmlee

V P Felmlee is the author of The Abandoned Trilogy: Price Tadpole & Princess Clara; Good Boy Ben; and the third book in the series, Autumn and the Silver Moon Stallion. A former newspaper reporter and editor, she has a degree in geology, and has been active in historic preservation and animal welfare issues. Her articles have appeared in several magazines and she has won numerous awards.

She will be the 2025 president of Women Writing the West and lives in Grand Junction, Colorado, with her husband, two dogs, and six cats.

Social Media Links:

Monday, 13 May 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! The Lost Women of Mill Street by Kinley Bryan

The Lost Women of Mill Street
By Kinley Bryan

Publication Date: May 7, 2024. Publisher: Blue Mug Press. Page Count: 300. Genre: Historical Fiction

1864

As Sherman’s army marches toward Atlanta, a cotton mill commandeered by the Confederacy lies in its path. Inside the mill, Clara Douglas weaves cloth and watches over her sister Kitty, waiting for the day her fiancé returns from the West.

When Sherman’s troops destroy the mill, Clara’s plans to start a new life in Nebraska are threatened. Branded as traitors by the Federals, Clara, Kitty, and countless others are exiled to a desolate refugee prison hundreds of miles from home.

Cut off from all they've ever known, Clara clings to hope while grappling with doubts about her fiancé’s ambitions and the unsettling truths surrounding his absence. As the days pass, the sisters find themselves thrust onto the foreign streets of Cincinnati, a city teeming with uncertainty and hostility. She must summon reserves of courage, ingenuity, and strength she didn’t know she had if they are to survive in an unfamiliar, unwelcoming land.

Inspired by true events of the Civil War, The Lost Women of Mill Street is a vividly drawn novel about the bonds of sisterhood, the strength of women, and the repercussions of war on individual lives.

Amazon

Kinley Bryan

Kinley Bryan's debut novel, Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury, inspired by the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 and her own family history, won the 2022 Publishers Weekly Selfies Award for adult fiction. An Ohio native, she lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children. The Lost Women of Mill Street is her second novel.

Social Media Links:

Sunday, 12 May 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Their Castilian Orphan by Anna Belfrage

Their Castilian Orphan

By Anna Belfrage

Publication Date: 23 March 2024. Publisher: Timelight Press. Page Count: approx. 400. Genre: Historical Fiction, Romantic Historical Fiction, Historical Romance

It is 1294 and Eustace de Lamont is back in England after five years in exile. He will stop at nothing to ruin Robert FitzStephan and his wife, Noor d’Outremer.

Robert’s half brother, Eustace de Lamont, has not mellowed during his absence. He is more ruthless than ever, and this time he targets Robert’s and Noor’s foster son, Lionel.

Lionel is serving King Edward as a page when Eustace appears at court. Not only does Lionel become the horrified witness to Eustace’s violent streak, Eustace also starts voicing his suspicions about Lionel’s parentage. The truth about Lionel’s heritage is explosive—should King Edward find out, all would be lost for Robert and Noor.

In October of 1294, Wales rises in rebellion. Robert must leave his family unprotected to fight the Welsh rebels on the king’s behalf, comforted only by the fact that Eustace too is called to fight.

Except that Eustace has no intention of allowing his duty to his king—or a mere rebellion—come between him and his desire to destroy Robert FitzStephan . . .

Amazon

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Anna Belfrage

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England. Anna has just released the final instalment, Their Castilian Orphan, in her other medieval series, The Castilian Saga ,which is set against the conquest of Wales. She has recently released Times of Turmoil, a sequel to her time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and is now considering just how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her characters are demanding. . .

All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.

“A master storyteller”

“This is what all historical fiction should be like. Superb.”

Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, www.annabelfrage.com

Social Media Links:

Twitter

Thursday, 9 May 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! A Rose In The Blitz by Ann Bennett

A Rose In The Blitz
By Ann Bennett

Publication Date: 29th March 2024. Publisher: Andaman Press. Page Length: 270. Genre: Historical Fiction / Historical Romance

Escape into the dramatic world of London during the Blitz in this sweeping family saga of love, war and betrayal.

Northamptonshire: 1980: Wealthy landowner, Hadan Rose, is dying. His daughter, May, rushes to his country estate, Rose Park, with her daughter, Rachel, to nurse him through his final days.

In the afternoons, while Hadan sleeps, May tells Rachel about her wartime experiences.

In 1940, Three of the four Rose sisters leave Rose Park to serve the war effort. May, the youngest is left behind. But she soon runs away from home to join an ambulance crew in London. She experiences the horrors of the Blitz first-hand but what happens to her there has remained secret her whole life.

In 1980, at Rose Park, Rachel wanders through the old house, looking at old photographs and papers, uncovering explosive family secrets from ninety years before. Secrets that her grandfather wanted to take to his grave.

At the local pub, Rachel meets Daniel Walters, a local journalist and musician who takes an interest in her. But can she trust him, or does he have an ulterior motive for seeking her company?

As the secrets of the past gradually reveal themselves, both Rachel and May realise that their worlds are forever changed.

Fans of Lucinda Riley, Dinah Jeffries and Victoria Hislop will love this escapist wartime saga, Book 1 in the Rose Park Chronicles.

Amazon

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Ann Bennett

Ann Bennett is a British author of historical fiction. Her first book, Bamboo Heart: A Daughter's Quest, was inspired by researching her father's experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and by her own travels in South-East Asia. Since then, that initial inspiration has led her to write more books about the second world war in SE Asia. Bamboo Island: The Planter's Wife, A Daughter's Promise, Bamboo Road: The Homecoming, The Tea Planter's Club, The Amulet and her latest release The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu are also about WWII in South East Asia. All seven make up the Echoes of Empire Collection.

Ann is also the author of The Lake Pavilion, The Lake Palace, both set in British India during the 1930s and WWII, and The Lake Pagoda and The Lake Villa, both set in French Indochina. The Runaway Sisters, bestselling The Orphan House, The Child Without a Home and The Forgotten Children are set in Europe during the same era and are published by Bookouture.

Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and lives in Surrey, UK.

Social Media Links:

BookBub