Sunday, 8 October 2023

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Drumbeats by Julia Ibbotson

 


Drumbeats 
By Julia Ibbotson



Publication Date: re-published June 21st, 2023, Publisher: self-published / Archbury Books, Page Length: 230, Genre: Historical Romance / Historical Mystery (20th Century)

It’s 1965, and 18 year old Jess escapes her stifling English home for a gap year in Ghana, West Africa. But it’s a time of political turbulence across the region. Fighting to keep her young love who waits back in England, she’s thrown into the physical and emotional dangers of civil war, tragedy and the conflict of a disturbing new relationship. And why do the drumbeats haunt her dreams?

This is a rite of passage story which takes the reader hand in hand with Jess on her journey towards the complexities and mysteries of a disconcerting adult world.

This is the first novel in the acclaimed Drumbeats trilogy: Drumbeats, Walking in the Rain, Finding Jess.

For fans of Dinah Jefferies, Kate Morton, Rachel Hore, Jenny Ashcroft.

You can pick up this novel at Amazon.



Award-winning author Julia Ibbotson herself spent an exciting time in Ghana, West Africa, teaching and nursing (like Jess in her books), and always vowed to write about the country and its past. And so, the Drumbeats Trilogy was born. She’s also fascinated by history, especially by the medieval world, and concepts of time travel, and has written haunting time-slips of romance and mystery partly set in the Anglo-Saxon period. 

She studied English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in linguistics. She wrote her first novel at age 10, but became a school teacher, then university lecturer and researcher. Her love of writing never left her and to date she’s written 9 books, with a 10th on the way. 

Julia is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, Society of Authors and the Historical Novel Society.


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Read my #BookReview of Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne by Rebecca Rosenberg

 


Champagne Widows, the first woman of champagne
By Rebecca Rosenberg


EDITORS CHOICE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY This engrossing historical novel by Rebecca Rosenberg follows Veuve Clicquot, a strong-minded woman determined to defy the Napoleon Code and become a master champagne maker. In 1800 France, twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherits her great-grandfather's uncanny sense of smell and uses it to make great champagne, despite the Code prohibiting women from owning a business. When tragedy strikes and she becomes a Veuve (widow), she must grapple with a domineering partner, the complexities of making champagne, and the aftermath of six Napoleon wars. When she falls in love with her sales manager, Louis Bohne, she must choose between losing her winery to her husband to obey the Napoleon Code, or losing Louis. In the ultimate showdown, Veuve Clicquot defies Napoleon himself, risking prison and even death. If you enjoyed books like 'The Widow of the South' by Robert Hicks or 'The Paris Seamstress' by Natasha Lester, you'll love 'Veuve Clicquot'.


Madame Pommery, Creator of Brut Champagne
By Rebecca Rosenberg


EDITORS CHOICE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY
“A-Tour-de-Force” Publisher’s Weekly BookLife Prize

MADAME POMMERY, Creator of Brut Champagne
 
"A tour-de-force of historical fiction, Madame Pommery is a deeply fascinating work that blends true-to-life details with artfully crafted elements." --Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize

Madame Pommery is a story of a woman's indomitable spirit in the face of insurmountable odds. Set in Champagne, France in 1860, Madame Pommery is a forty-year-old widow and etiquette teacher whose husband has passed away. Now she must find a way to support her family. With no experience, she decides to make champagne, but no champagne makers will teach her their craft. Undeterred, Madame Pommery begins to secretly excavate champagne caves under the Reims city dump and faces numerous obstacles to achieve her dream. From the Franco-Prussian war that conscripts her son and crew to the Prussian General Frederick Franz occupying her home, Madame Pommery perseveres. She even must choose between her champagne dreams and a marriage proposal from her former lover, a Scottish Baron. Inspired by a true story, Madame Pommery is a heroic tale of a woman's strength and determination to create a champagne legacy. If you enjoyed the novel Sarah's Key, you will enjoy Madame Pommery. 
 

Review

Book Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚⭐ = A book in a million
📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend it.
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.
📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.
📚📚 = It was okay.
📚 = Um...! 😕

📚📚📚📚📚⭐ = A book in a million
Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot
 (Champagne Widows Novels) 
By Rebecca Rosenberg

There are no words that can say how good this book is. I was completely swept away by the story and the characters.


I know next to nothing about making champagne so this book was certainly very enlightening. Likewise, I do not know a great deal about the era this book is set in. I therefore found this book both informative and entertaining. 


There is quite a cast of characters in this book, including Napoleon. I thought each character brought something fresh to the story and they certainly kept me engaged. 


It did take me a little while to get into the style of writing, but the further I got into the story I found the writing style quite exciting and engaging. 


This is a wonderful book, that I thoroughly enjoyed. 


You can pick up your copy of Champagne Widows and Madame Pommery here:

Madame Pommery: https://books2read.com/u/bW6GL1

Champagne Widows:  https://books2read.com/u/3kBekW 


Rebecca Rosenberg


Rebecca Rosenberg is an award-winning novelist, champagne geek, and lavender farmer. Rebecca first fell in love with methode champenoise in Sonoma Valley, California. Over decades of delicious research, she has explored the wine cellars of France, Spain, Italy, and California in search of fine champagne. When Rebecca discovered the real-life stories of the Champagne Widows of France, she knew she’d dedicate years to telling the stories of these remarkable women who made champagne the worldwide phenomenon it is today. 

Rebecca is a champagne historian, tour guide, and champagne cocktail expert for Breathless Wines. Other award-winning novels include The Secret Life of Mrs. London and Gold Digger, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.


Author Links:

Website

Facebook

LinkedIn

Instagram

 Book Bub

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads 




Thursday, 5 October 2023

Read an #excerpt from The Ghost of Greyson Hall (British Agents Series, Book #4) by MK McClintock


The Ghost of Greyson Hall
British Agents Series, Book #4
By MK McClintock


Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023, Publisher: independently published, Page Length: 169, Genre: Historical Romance Mystery

Once a year, an ancient secret walks the corridors of Greyson Hall, a place shrouded in mystery and whispered legend.


When Devon Clayton inherited the stately mansion in England’s wild north from his uncle, he never imagined what secrets lurked within its walls, hidden for centuries. When his friends and brothers join him for the holiday, the British Agents and their families discover that their most unusual case will bring new meaning to Christmas spirit.

They must now unravel a century-old mystery if they are to break the curse and save a love that transcends time.

A long novella set in Northumberland in December 1782 and 1892.

***


Also Available:

Alaina Claiborne 
Blackwood Crossing
Clayton's Honor


Note: The British Agent series books are written to be read as stand-alone novels. However, they each have cross-over characters, meaning characters from each book will appear in the others. The only reading order is chronological, but each title can still be read as stand-alone.


Praise for the British Agent Series:


"Ms. McClintock succeeds in masterfully weaving both genres meticulously together until mystery lovers are sold on romance and romance lovers love the mystery!" 

—InD'Tale Magazine on Alaina Claiborne


"This book was perfectly-paced with mystery, romance, adventure, and so much more. I am definitely recommending that everyone who loves historical fiction in general read this book. I cannot wait to start reading the next book in this series."
—Dreams Come True Through Reading on Blackwood Crossing


"MK McClintock has spun an enchanting tale deeply entrenched in the lands of Scotland and England that will leave you riveted to your chair until you turn the last page." —My Life, One Story at a Time on Blackwood Crossing


"Clayton's Honor by MK McClintock is a clean historical romance that will keep your heart beating and your palms sweating. This is definitely a novel that is going on my 'read again' shelf! A really good and smooth read!" —Readers' Favorite 

 Excerpt

Candlelight danced near the shadows within while a tempest wailed beyond the stone walls. Flames fluttered, and the subtle scent of beeswax mingled with the rosewater Grace favored after a bath. The white muslin shift clung to her skin across the shoulders where drops of water remained.

She twined the string of pearls she wore at their evening meal, momentarily focused on the gentle clack they made against the vanity’s wooden surface. Dinners were always a formal affair at the insistence of the earl, her husband of two years. Night after night, she dressed in the finest silks, sipped Madeira wine, and listened to her husband turn the plight of the Revolutionary War onto himself, where he suffered for the colonials’ impudence.

“Alexander is returning home. Perhaps as early as Christmas. This letter is dated three months past.”

Grace peered into the dressing-table mirror and watched her husband pace as he read the misplaced letter, delivered into his hands only this evening. “You have missed him.”

“You will like him, my dear. Upon his return, we will host a grand reception here at Greyson Hall.”

Grace turned to face her husband. “Spencer, dear, Christmas is but a fortnight hence, and it is a dangerous journey to this part of England in such weather. Perhaps in the spring.”

“You would deny Alexander the celebration he is due? He fought for England, our interests, and our son’s future.” Her husband approached from behind, watching her through the mirror rather than looking directly at her. His hands slid over her bare shoulders and brushed aside the heavy locks of fair hair, tickling the base of her neck. “It is what I desire, dear one.”

Grace faced the mirror and met Spencer’s dark eyes. How did they not burn a hole through the glass and into her skin? His smooth fingertips caressed the sides of her throat and gently turned her face to his. She accepted the press of his warm lips against hers and caught the exhale of his breath before he eased his head, then his body away.

“See it is done.” Spencer turned on his heel and walked to his adjoining dressing room.

He expected her to be ready for him, waiting as she always did. “A marriage of happy possibilities,” her father once promised before he succumbed to a weak heart one month after her wedding. Too despondent to live as a widow, her mother followed soon after. Whispers among society wondered if Grace’s mother realized the ice had not fully formed over the pond that took her life or if she chose that warm winter day to surrender her demons.

Excerpt from The Ghost of Greyson Hall copyright © MK McClintock.

You can pick up this novel at Amazon


MK McClintock is an award-winning author who writes historical romantic fiction about chivalrous men and strong women who appreciate chivalry. Her stories of romance, mystery, and adventure sweep across the American West to the Victorian British Isles with places and times between and beyond. 

Her works include the following series: Montana Gallaghers, Crooked Creek, British Agents, Whitcomb Springs, and the stand-alone collection, A Home for Christmas. She is also the co-author of the McKenzie Sisters Mysteries.

MK enjoys a quiet life in the northern Rocky Mountains. Visit her online home at www.mkmcclintock.com, where you can learn more about her books, explore extras, and subscribe to receive news. 

Tour Schedule





Wednesday, 4 October 2023

My review of The King’s Command: For God or Country By Rosemary Hayes @HayesRosemary @cathiedunn



The King’s Command: For God or Country
By Rosemary Hayes


Publication Date: July 3rd, 2023, Publisher: Sharpe Books, Page Length: 415, Genre: Historical Fiction

16 year old Lidie Brunier has everything; looks, wealth, health and a charming suitor but there are dark clouds on the horizon. Lidie  and her family are committed Huguenots and Louis XIV has sworn to stamp out this ‘false religion’ and make France a wholly Catholic country. Gradually Lidie’s comfortable life starts to disintegrate as Huguenots are stripped of all rights and the King sends his brutal soldiers into their homes to force them to become Catholics. Others around her break under pressure but Lidie and her family refuse to convert. With spies everywhere and the ever present threat of violence, they struggle on. Then a shocking betrayal forces Lidie’s hand and her only option is to try and flee the country. A decision that brings unimaginable hardship, terror and tragedy and changes her life for ever.


 Book Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚⭐ = A book in a million
📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend it.
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.
📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.
📚📚 = It was okay.
📚 = Um...! 😕

.My Review
The King’s Command
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.

A story of bravery, injustice and faith.

The King's Command is a compelling story about family love, unshakable faith and an edict that threatens all those who defy it. 

There are several characters whose story we follow, but mostly it is about Lidie and how she risks everything for her faith. I thought Lidie was a believable character who is determined to live and praise God the way she chooses no matter what the consequence. I thought her incredibly brave, although at times I thought her life would be much easier if she recant her faith as other family members had. She occasionally has a holier-than-thou attitude, along with her mother and her father-in-law about those who did recant, which I found a little unsettling, but I guess that was how they had been brought up. I could sympathise with their plight, but I don't think I would have put my children in such abject danger. Call me a coward, but the welfare of my children would definitely come before everything else. 

The story did open my eyes to the plight of the Huguenots and it was very well written. It was thankfully a book that does have a happy ending, which makes the journey Lidie went on kinda worthwhile!

You can pick up your copy of this book on Amazon

Rosemary Hayes

Rosemary Hayes has written over fifty books for children and young adults. She writes  in different genres, from edgy teenage fiction (The Mark), historical fiction (The Blue Eyed Aborigine and Forgotten Footprints), middle grade fantasy (Loose Connections, The Stonekeeper’s Child and Break Out)  to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages.

Rosemary has travelled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service and runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults.

Rosemary has recently turned her hand to adult fiction and her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by the French Huguenots during the reign of Louis XIV.





Sunday, 24 September 2023

Read an excerpt from Dancing in the Ring by Susan E. Sage @SusanSage @cathiedunn

 


Dancing in the Ring
By Susan E. Sage

Publication Date: June 22, 2023, Publisher: Black Rose Writing, Page Length: 350 ,Genre: Historical Fiction / Historical Romance

Detroit in the 1920s proved to be the Paris of the West for many – including Catherine McIntosh and Robert Sage. These two law school students become as passionate about each other as they are their dreams.

From a poor family in the Detroit neighborhood of Corktown, Catherine learned early on, the necessity of being resilient. She becomes one of the first women in Detroit to obtain a law degree. Bob, the ‘battling barrister,’ boxes in order to pay for law school. Despite his gruff and tough-boy personality, my great uncle Bob was a friend to all:  judges, cops, and even a couple members of the notorious Purple Gang. The couple becomes legendary in legal circles for their commitment to social justice causes – as well as notorious in the local speakeasies and dancehalls.

At first, their optimism seems boundless, as it had for so many following an era of trauma and challenges that include the 1918 flu pandemic. It isn’t long before their passionate courtship turns into a tempestuous marriage. Then the Great Depression hits and their lives are forever changed. 

Excerpt

Why was Bob telling Catherine so much when he simply wanted to find out more about her? It was like words were flying out of his mouth before he knew he was saying them. Show some control, you blathering eejit! That’s what his mother would say.

Meeting her in the library wasn’t the same as lunch. Soon they’d be parting ways and he had to say something more—not only to get her attention, but to make him stand out from the male attention, she no doubt, regularly received. She’d be gone in a few minutes. 

“Just know that one day I’m going to marry you!”

His shout caused all heads but hers to turn his way. He needed to run away. Fast. Why had he mentioned marrying her? He didn’t even know her yet, though he felt like he did. Maybe all the boxing was affecting his brain.


You can pick up your copy of this book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Waterstones.

Susan Sage


Susan Sage has published three novels: Insominy (2015), A Mentor and Her Muse (2017), and Dancing in the Ring (2023). Her writing has appeared in various literary magazines and journals. She received her English degree from Wayne State University where she was a recipient of the Tompkins Award in creative writing. 

Although a Detroit native, she has resided most of her adult life in Flushing, Michigan with her husband and two cats.  

Author Links:

Website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, BookBub, Amazon Author Page, Goodreads 






Sunday, 13 August 2023

Read my #BookReview of The Duke's Wayward Wallflower (Charmed, I'm Sure Book 1) by Maggie Dallen

 
The Duke's Wayward Wallflower 
(Charmed, I'm Sure Book 1) 
By Maggie Dallen


“A Duke's taciturn demeanor does not necessarily indicate a black heart.
Although . . . sometimes it does. Tread with care.” — Lady Greta, a truly dreadful chaperone

There's no love lost between this shy wallflower and society's most formidable duke. The Duke of Mandrick has made it clear he's only aiding Felicity's successful entrance into society because he's taken pity on his friend's poor country relation.

Luckily for Felicity, her chaperone Lady Greta has agreed to tutor her in the art of flirtation. And since the coldhearted duke is the last man to fall for her charms, he's the perfect man to practice on. However, when her attempts to flirt are an epic fail, it's the duke who comes to her rescue. And when she faints on the dance floor in front of all of society, it's his strong arms that are holding her when she wakes. Gazing up into his warm, dark eyes, she's left with one crucial question.

If the duke caught her on the dance floor . . . why does she still feel like she's falling?

ook Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚⭐ = A book in a million
📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend it.
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.
📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.
📚📚 = It was okay.
📚 = Um...! 😕

My Review 
The Duke's Wayward Wallflower 
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.

Be prepared to be swept off your feet by this beautifully written sweet romance. 

The story is as one would expect from a Regency Romance. There is a dashing, if not somewhat aloof Duke and a poor woman who has recently lost her father and gone to live with her cousins. Never the twain shall meet, but of course, they do, and they then spend the rest of the novel trying to ignore their mounting passion for each other. 

I read this novel in an afternoon and I thought it was very well written, with likeable characters. The story may have been somewhat predictable but I still enjoyed it immensely. I will certainly be looking out for other books in the series. 

If you love a good old-fashioned Regency Romance then you will certainly enjoy The Duke's Wayward Wallflower.


Maggie Dallen

Maggie Dallen is a big city girl living in Montana. She's written more than a hundred romantic comedies in various subgenres, including young adult, historical, and contemporary 

Tuesday, 14 February 2023

Read my #BookReview of A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage @abelfrageauthor @cathiedunn



A Rip in the Veil
By Anna Belfrage


Publication Date: Originally, 2012, but the new, re-edited version January 2023. Publisher: Timelight Press. Page Length: 370. Genre: Historical Fiction, Time Travel Romance

On a muggy August day in 2002 Alex Lind disappears. On an equally stifling August day in 1658, Matthew Graham finds her on a Scottish moor.  Life will never be the same for Alex – or for Matthew. 

Alexandra Lind is thrown three centuries backwards in time to land at the feet of escaped convict Matthew Graham. 

Matthew doesn’t know what to make of this strange woman who has seemingly fallen from the skies—what is she, a witch? 

Alex is convinced the tall, gaunt man is some sort of hermit, an oddball, but she quickly realises the odd one out is she, not he. 

Catapulted from a life of modern comfort, Alex grapples with her new existence, further complicated by the dawning realization that someone from her time has followed her here—and not exactly to extend a helping hand. 

Potential compensation for this brutal shift in fate comes in the shape of Matthew, a man she should never have met, not when she was born three centuries after him. But Matthew comes with baggage of his own and on occasion his past threatens them both. At times Alex finds it all excessively exciting, longing for the structured life she used to have. 

How will she ever get back? And more importantly, does she really want to?


 Book Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚⭐ = A book in a million
📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend it.
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.
📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.
📚📚 = It was okay.
📚 = Um...! 😕

My Review 
A Rip in the Veil
📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.

Alexandra Lind was never going to make it to that important meeting, and the only certainty she knew was that her life was never going to be the same again. Thrown through time she finds herself in the year 1658, and her only companion is an escaped convict. Her life hangs in the balance, her fate now dependent on Matthew Graham's ability to keep himself and her alive.

A Rip in the Veil is a compelling story, filled with non-stop action and a heavy dose of romance. Initially, I did not take to Matthew as he did not come across as a very likeable character, and by the end of the book, I did feel rather torn about my opinion of him. I did not hate him, but nor did I particularly like him. Alex, however, was another story all together. I really like her, not only because she is extremely likeable but because despite being thrown back three centuries she is incredibly strong. I really enjoyed reading about her.

The plot has a very Outlander feel to it, and at times there were many similarities between Belfrage's book and Gabaldon's - although the hero was less likeable in Belfrage's. I thought the story moved along at a very steady pace. This book does contain a lot of profanities and sex, so if that is not your cup of tea then this book is not for you, but I thought the plot was very engaging and it held my attention throughout.

If you enjoy time-travel fiction then I think this book is one that you will undoubtedly enjoy. It is a really good read.


You can pick up your copy of this book over on Amazon


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 two absorbing interests: history 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 also published The Wanderer, a fast-paced contemporary romantic suspense trilogy with paranormal and time-slip ingredients.
 
Her Castilian Heart is the third in her “Castilian” series, a stand-alone sequel to her September 2020 release, His Castilian Hawk. Set against the complications of Edward I’s invasion of Wales, His Castilian Hawk is a story of loyalty, integrity—and love. In the second instalment, The Castilian Pomegranate, we travel with the protagonists to the complex political world of medieval Spain. This latest release finds our protagonists back in England—not necessarily any safer than the wilds of Spain!

Anna has also authored The Whirlpools of Time in which she returns to the world of time travel. Join Duncan and the somewhat reluctant time-traveller Erin on their adventures through the Scottish Highlands just as the first Jacobite rebellion is about to explode! 

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.

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

Social Media Links:
Website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon Author Page, BookBub, Goodreads





The Midnight Carousel (A Forest Falls Frolic) by Hanna Park

    The Midnight Carousel (A Forest Falls Frolic) By Hanna Park Publication Date: 22nd September 2026 Publisher: Baisong Press  Print Length...