Sofia is trained in secret as a painter in her father’s workshop during a time when women did not paint openly. She loves her work, but her restless spirit leads her to betray her extraordinary gifts to marry a man who comes to despise her for not producing a son.

After Sofia’s father is crushed by his own fresco during an attack motivated by a vendetta, Sofia realizes she must escape her loveless marriage. She flees to Siena, where, disguised as a boy, she paints again. When her work attracts the notice of a nobleman who discovers the woman under the dirty smock, Sofia is faced with a choice that nearly destroys her.

**********

This story richly displays 14th century Italy and the world of painters of that time. I must admit though, I struggled to find my balance in this story. What does that mean? I sympathized with Sofia and her loss, the fact that she had to paint in secret, the relationship with her husband but towards the middle of the book, my feelings towards her to begin to change and I felt the story wasn’t holding my attention at first despite Sofia’s situation and the imagery the author sets. This is a wonderful period to write about, I adore the premise and feel this story has all the themes that readers want to read about. The story did pick up for me and I enjoyed the character development and the tone. I could really feel what Sofia was going through and I felt the author did a marvelous job with the secondary characters. I have rated this book three and a half stars.

Stephanie M. Hopkins

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

After witnessing her parents’ brutal murders at the hands of red-eyed creatures, Meaghan narrowly escapes the same fate. Her best friend, Nick, tells her the creatures are Mardróch. They come from another world and so does she. Now that the Mardróch have found her, she must return to her homeland of Ærenden or face death.

Left with little choice, she follows Nick into a strange world both similar to Earth and drastically different. Vines have the ability to attack. Monkeys freeze their victims with a glare. Men create bombs from thin air. Even Meaghan’s newly discovered empath power turns into a danger she can’t control.

But control becomes the least of her worries once the Mardróch begin targeting her. When Nick confesses he knows the reason they want her, she learns the truth behind the kingdom’s fifteen-year civil war–a long-buried secret that could cost Meaghan her life.

Kristen spent her childhood at the feet of an Irish storytelling grandfather, learning to blend fact with fiction and imagination with reality. She lived within the realm of the tales that captivated her, breathing life into characters and crafting stories even before she could read. Those stories have since turned into over a hundred poems, several short tales, and five manuscripts in both the Young Adult and Adult genres. Currently, Kristen is completing the five-part Ærenden series from her home office in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

Author Website

Links to buy the book here

Jonathan Strange meets Jonathan Creek in this blistering crime debut set in Victorian Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, 1888. A virtuoso violinist is brutally killed in his home. But with no way in or out of the locked practice room, the murder makes no sense. Fearing a national panic over a copycat Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult. However, Frey’s new boss, Detective ‘Nine-Nails’ McGray, actually believes in such nonsense. McGray’s tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond reason. And once someone loses all reason, who knows what they will lose next…

The Strings of Murder is Muriel’s opening novel to what I can see as the author’s outstanding career in writing. The story opens in London and moves to Victorian Edinburgh. I must say I don’t believe I have read a crime thriller that is set in Edinburgh during the era mentioned. I was truly captivated by the atmosphere the author sets. Not only that…but the author’s command of different personalities. You can say…wonderful character development and a truly wonderful study of the human condition when one meets danger, complete depravity and evils beyond imagination. Ripper’s murders almost pale in comparison…I kid you not. This story is not for the lighthearted and I caution anyone who hasn’t read in-depth the details in gruesome murders before. Having said that, I was captivated by the story and I was finding myself getting frustrated when distractions got in the way reading this book. The String of Murders flows beautifully and you can almost hear the music floating from the pages.

Brilliant title and premise and the perfect setting and period for the story.

McGray and Frey’s interaction with each other will intrigue you as their partnership in solving this heinous crime develops. I am hoping the author will write more stories involving these two and look forward to what comes next…

Stephanie M. Hopkins

A married couple (Gerald and Netty) whose marriage is rocky at best due to a loss so bad they can’t escape or heal from the pain. It haunts them and to try to put the painful past behind them, the Gerald finds an old house on an ancient land- where tragic events happen- in the woods of the Dordogne and moves there with Netty.

Does history repeat itself? You question that while reading this story.

The moment they arrived Netty does not have a good feeling about the house and its surrounding. She tries to make a room in the house her own and as they settle in and meet people and venture out to do a bit of sigh seeing and things start to happen as the story unfolds…

There is an ominous past that is still present in the house and land that gives it a dark, unsettling feeling. I longed to reach out to Netty and tell her to get out of there throughout the story. The people she and her husband meets also are different or they seem unique and haunted themselves-if you will-through their situations in life. There is more to the story than meets the eye and you have to really go into this story with an open mind. Its style of writing is written differently than you might be used to and the ending was quite different than I expected.

There are-I believe-historical themes throughout this story and I liked how they were weaved through the book. It’s hard to explain how I felt about the characters. I had raw emotions with most of them. Netty stood out to me the most. She is different, tragic and I wanted to see her become a stronger and more independent women. To make better choices but I think the house and land she moved to, kept a deeper grasp on her than the pain and loss she experienced before moving there. She was trapped. I hope that is not a spoiler. You just need to read the story to understand what I mean.

I rated this book three and a half stars.

Stephanie H. Hopkins

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

Determined to rescue friends imprisoned in his beloved France, Ryan Lemmon finds there a cauldron of deception and unbridled cruelty. Torn by German exploitation and French collaboration, the occupied country now teems with unforeseen dangers:

A dying British intelligence agent whose help may prove deadly. A beautiful partisan whose cold heart could make or break his mission. A former lover trapped between Nazi operatives and the violent Parisian underworld. And deep in the shadows, a ruthless enemy playing a treacherous games of cunning and subterfuge.

Lethal confrontation looms in this sequel to the award-winning thriller Corridor of Darkness: A Novel of Nazi Germany, praised by Kirkus Reviews as “…an intriguing early WWII spy yarn set in a well-researched, authentic Germany.”

Author Website

From critically acclaimed historical novelist Diane Haeger comes “The Ruby Ring,” an unforgettable story of love, loss, and immortal genius . . .

Rome, 1520. The Eternal City is in mourning. Raphael Sanzio, beloved painter and national hero, has died suddenly at the height of his fame. His body lies in state at the splendid marble Pantheon. At the nearby convent of Sant’Apollonia, a young woman comes to the Mother Superior, seeking refuge. She is Margherita Luti, a baker’s daughter from a humble neighborhood on the Tiber, now an outcast from Roman society, persecuted by powerful enemies within the Vatican. Margherita was Raphael’s beloved and appeared as the Madonna in many of his paintings. Theirs was a love for the ages. But now that Raphael is gone, the convent is her only hope of finding an honest and peaceful life.

The Mother Superior agrees to admit Margherita to their order. But first, she must give up the ruby ring she wears on her left hand, the ring she had worn in Raphael’s scandalous nude “engagement portrait.” The ring has a storied past, and it must be returned to the Church or Margherita will be cast out into the streets. Behind the quiet walls of the convent, Margherita makes her decision . . . and remembers her life with Raphael–and the love and torment–embodied in that one precious jewel.

In “The Ruby Ring,” Diane Haeger brings to life a love affair so passionate that it remains undimmed by time. Set in the sumptuous world of the Italian Renaissance, it’s the story of the clergymen, artists, rakes, and noblemen who made Raphael and Margherita’s world the most dynamic and decadent era in European history.

Diane Haeger, who also writes as Anne Girard, is the author of 15 historical novels, most of them based on true stories from history. Her stories are drawn from a range of countries and eras including the French Renaissance, Georgian England, the American Civil War, to a series called In The Court of Henry VIII. Her most recent novel, Madame Picasso, details an early love affair in Paris between the famous artist and his muse. Her next novel, to be published later this year, is Platinum Doll, about 1930’s movie star Jean Harlow. Haeger holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a master’s degree in clinical psychology. She lives in California with her husband and children.

Website

Publication Date: January 1, 2015 Thomas & Mercer Formats: eBook, Paperback Pages: 368p

Genre: Historical Thriller

A triumphant sequel to Powell’s acclaimed historical thriller The Fifth Knight. A desperate king trusts a lone knight to unravel a web of murder.

England, 1176. King Henry II has imprisoned his rebellious Queen for her failed attempt to overthrow him. But with her conspirators still at large and a failed assassination attempt on his beautiful mistress, Rosamund Clifford, the King must take action to preserve his reign.

Desperate, Henry turns to the only man he trusts: a man whose skills have saved him once before. Sir Benedict Palmer answers the call, mistakenly believing that his family will remain safe while he attends to his King.

As Palmer races to secure his King’s throne, neither man senses the hand of a brilliant schemer, a mystery figure loyal to Henry’s traitorous Queen who will stop at nothing to see the King defeated.

The Blood of the Fifth Knight is an intricate medieval murder mystery and worthy sequel to E.M. Powell’s acclaimed historical thriller The Fifth Knight.

Review:

First, I’d like to say that this stories setting and time is one of my favorites in English history. A year ago when The Fifth Knight came out, I was truly impressed with the book and the author’s writing style, her grasp of England’s medieval history and culture had me thoroughly engrossed. Not only that, her characters were wonderfully written, so intriguing and I was engrossed with the characters plights. What an adventure! Waiting a year for the next installment of this story was extremely taxing…in a good way. Is that possible?

I do love a good mystery thriller and a historical one to boot. The Blood of the Fifth Knight was to my expectations and more. I was so thrilled to be reading about Benedict and Theodosia again! They are two characters you will love and will always remember. Fantastic book cover. Atmospheric. True to culture. The historical details plunges you in England 1176 and you will not want to come back to your reality for a while! A must read.

Stephanie M. Hopkins

Review Praise for The Fifth Knight

“Powell does a masterful job. Highly recommended.” Historical Novels Review

About the Author

E.M. Powell is the author of medieval thriller THE FIFTH KNIGHT which was a #1 Amazon Bestseller. Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State) she now lives in the north west of England with her husband and daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She is a reviewer of fiction and non-fiction for the HNS. Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

The Blood of the Fifth Knight Blog Tour Schedule

Thursday, January 1 Review at Flashlight Commentary

Friday, January 2 Spotlight at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Monday, January 5 Review at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Thursday, January 8 Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Monday, January 12 Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee Character Interview at Boom Baby Reviews

Tuesday, January 13 Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, January 14 Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Friday, January 16 Review at Historical Fiction Obsession

Saturday, January 17 Interview at Dianne Ascroft Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Obsession

Monday, January 19 Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Tuesday, January 20 Review at Books and Benches Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Wednesday, January 21 Review at Just One More Chapter

Monday, January 26 Spotlight at Susan Heim on Writing

Wednesday, January 28 Review at Kinx’s Book Nook

Friday, January 30 Review at Bookramblings

Saturday, January 31 Spotlight at Caroline Wilson Writes

Sunday, February 1 Review at Carole’s Ramblings

Monday, February 2 Guest Post at The Lit Bitch

Tuesday, February 3 Review at Layered Pages Spotlight at Let them Read Books

Wednesday, February 4 Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, February 6 Review at The Never-Ending Book

I’d like to welcome Author Wendy J. Dunn to Layered Pages today to talk about her writing. She is an Australian writer who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of two Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, and The Light in the Labyrinth, her first young adult novel.

While she continues to have a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder, serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channeling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Wendy is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter—named after a certain Tudor queen, surprisingly, not Anne.

Wendy tutors at Swinburne University in their Master of Arts (Writing) program. She also works as a literature support teacher at a primary school.

Why do you write?

Why do I write, Stephanie? Writing is the way I achieve a complete life. Text is my mirror to look at myself and my world, and one of my means to achieve personal growth. I have learnt through writing the truth of Jacques Derrida’s words: “human beings require the mediation of consciousness, or the mirror of language, in order to know themselves and the world” (Derrida Online). Through the act of writing, life, that glass darkly, becomes less dark and clearer. I see writing as a space that creates and builds empathy – not only for the reader, but for the writer, too.

How has writing impacted your life?

Writing has not only impacted on my life, but also moulded it into an authentic life. I was only eight when I committed myself to writing. At ten, I won my first writing competition for a poem. I was also ten when a friend gave me a child’s book of English history and I read its story of Elizabeth I. As an unwanted and seemingly unloved daughter of a father who valued only sons, I connected to the story of another seemingly unwanted daughter. That book changed my life and began my lifelong desire to learn and then write about the Tudors.

Writing shaped my identity, my life and continues to do so. Writing is my life-tool. I re-storied and reshaped my life through writing.

My father came from the slums of London. Growing up for him was a constant struggle against adversity and deprivation. The tragedy of my father’s life was similar to many of his generation. He received no opportunities to fulfil his potential and this left him a tormented man. He believed he did his children no favours by giving them a happy childhood. He also believed you could not change the narrative of your life: if you were born poor, you died poor. But, like many Cockneys, my father was a born storyteller; his occasional bedtime story was one of the best times of my childhood. His vivid retelling of history, folklore and family stories fed my imagination, and built the first stones to my writerly self.

My father devoured books. Once he read them, he discarded the books into our spare broom cupboard. I burrowed my way through them: history, philosophy, the complete works of Shakespeare, politics and classic novels. My love of reading increased my daydreams of a future as a writer.

My father balked (or maybe panicked) at the thought of supporting two daughters (my older sister was a gifted Mathematics student and that pushed her through the door) during the years of university and pulled the plug out of my hope to complete High School. I left school and home at seventeen, and became a shop assistant.

Not long afterwards, I met my husband, married him at eighteen and had our first child ten months later. But my desire to write never left me.

Years later, I entered a local University through their early leavers’ scheme, academic success gave me the confidence to return to writing and pursue a career in education. Employed as an Arts and Craft teacher, I decided to a complete a Graduate Diploma in Visual and Performance Arts. It immersed me in the creative process and the floodgates opened to the novel I had started to write in my twenties. Words poured out of me. I emerged from the end of the course with the first draft of my first historical novel, Dear Heart, How Like You This? Over ten years later, and lots of re-writing during my summer breaks from teaching, an American small press publisher offered to published it in 2002.

Writing is a way of being to me now rather than a way to earn a living. That no longer matters so much because I have something richer in its place, a deeper appreciation of how writing has helped me to grow and claim my true identity.

More than a decade ago, a year or two before my first novel was published, the very lovely Sandra Gulland (LOL – she does not remember this!) told me: Perseverance furthers. Smile – it became and remains my creed. Following it, I may not have achieved what society regards as true success for a writer, which tends to be measured in money and fame, but I have experienced a wonderful and exciting life adventure.

What advice would you give a beginner writer?

Write because you’re passionate about the craft of writing, not because you see it as a way to make money or become famous; very few writers support themselves purely through writing.

Join a supportive writing group and strive to be a supportive member. Keep reading. Reading is a serious and necessary tool of study for the writing craft. (I always find myself bemused when another writer tells me they don’t read books. In my humble opinion, reading is the other side of writing.)

One of my most favourite sayings is this: ‘Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it, but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself’. If you love to write, then write and aim at the sun.

Bibliography:

Jacques Derrida Assessed online

Author Website

Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Cool Gus Publishing
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 168

Series: The William Shakespeare Detective Agency
Genre: Historical Mystery

“My name is William Shakespeare. No, not that Shakespeare; and no jests please, I’ve heard them all. I’m the other one, the ne’er do well cousin, the loafer, known to family and friends as the dunce, the one who could not recite Cicero or Horace, who could never be as good as his clever cuz, the one who has just come to Bishopsgate from Stratford with silly dreams in his head and a longing to make something more of himself than just a glover’s handyman.”

What he finds in London is Lady Elizabeth Talbot, who is willing to pass a few shillings to this blundering brawler if he will help her find her husband. Poor William does not realize the trail will lead to the truth behind the death of Shakespeare’s great rival, Christopher Marlowe – or to a lifelong love affair with a woman far above his station.

Each book tells the story of William’s adventures as England’s first gumshoe, set against turbulent Elizabethan politics; of his romantic pursuit of the impossible Elizabeth Talbot; while charting the career of his up and coming dramatist cousin, the bard of Stratford, but just Will to his family.

Buy the Book

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About the Author

Born in London, Colin first trialed as a professional football player in England, and was eventually brought to Australia. He went to Sydney and worked in TV and radio and freelanced for many of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines. He has published over twenty novels and his work has so far been translated into 23 languages.

He travels regularly to research his novels and his quest for authenticity has led him to run with the bulls in Pamplona, pursue tornadoes across Oklahoma and black witches across Mexico, go cage shark diving in South Africa and get tear gassed in a riot in La Paz.

He currently lives in Barcelona.

For more information please visit Colin Falconer’s website. You can also find him on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

The School of Night Blog Tour Schedule

Saturday, January 10
Spotlight at Historical Readings and Views

Monday, January 12
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, January 13
Spotlight at Layered Pages

Thursday, January 15
Interview at Teddy Rose Book Reviews

Friday, January 16
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Monday, January 19
Spotlight at Susan Heim on Writing

Tuesday, January 20
Review at Book Nerd

Thursday, January 22
Review at Just One More Chapter

Friday, January 23
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Saturday, January 24
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Obsession

Sunday, January 25
Review at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Monday, January 26
Review at Boom Baby Reviews

Wednesday, January 28
Review at Carpe Librum

Thursday, January 29
Interview at Mina’s Bookshelf
Interview at Books and Benches
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book

Friday, January 30
Review at Brooke Blogs

Friday, February 6
Spotlight at Passages to the Past