Tag Archives: good reads

Cover Crush: My Sister’s Secret by Tracy Buchanan

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Cover Crush banner

My sisters secretThis cover really appeals to me. Maybe it is the picture of the beach…it certainly gives a realistic view of the ocean and walking along the shore. One can imagine the sound of the waves and the birds calling above. Most of all how the two girls portrayed (one walking behind the other, starting after her) gives you a since of mystery and that there is a secret to be revealed. This cover also gives me the longing to visit the beach again! I bet this would be a great beach read. You think? Ha!

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My Sister’s Secret by Tracy Buchanan

What if everything you’d built your life on was a lie?

Willow’s memories are happy: full of smiles, love and laughter. But a mysterious invitation to a photographic exhibition exposes a secret that’s been buried since a tragic accident years ago.

Willow is forced to question everything she knew about Charity, her late mother, and Hope, the aunt she’s lived with since she was a child.

How was the enigmatic photographer connected to Willow’s parents? And what is the secret Hope has been keeping from her sister for so long?

Willow can’t move forward in her life without answers, but no-one wants to give them.

Is there anyone she can trust?

A gripping, page-turning and emotionally powerful story, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.

Be sure to check out my last cover crush here!

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated with Erin at Flashlight Commentary.

Here are some of other great cover crushes from a few of my friends this week:

Heather @ The Maiden’s Court -Coming soon

Magdalena @ A Bookaholic Swede

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired 

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation -Coming soon

Wish-List 5: Sebastian St. Cyr Series by C.S. Harris

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I adore mystery and historical Fiction combined into a story. Today I am sharing with you, the Sebastian St. Cyr Series by C.S. Harris. I am currently reading, What Angels Fear and hope to continue with the other books this year. So little time! Anyhow, below are the ones I want to get to next plus the one I’m reading right now. What is on your wish-list? 

What angles fearWhat Angels Fear -Currently Reading

It’s 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III’s England. Then a beautiful young woman is found raped and savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol discovered at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.

Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian calls upon his skill as an agent during the war to catch the killer and prove his own innocence. In the process, he accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including the enigmatic beauty Kat Boleyn, who broke Sebastian’s heart years ago. In Sebastian’s world of intrigue and espionage, nothing is as it seems, yet the truth may hold the key to the future of the British monarchy, as well as to Sebastian’s own salvation…

When Gods DieWhen Gods Die

Brighton, England, 1811. The beautiful wife of an aging Marquis is found dead in the arms of the Prince Regent. Draped around her neck lies an ancient necklace with mythic origins-and mysterious ties to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. Haunted by his past, Sebastian investigates both the Marchioness’s death and his own possible connection to it-and discovers a complex pattern of lies and subterfuge. With the aid of his lover, Kat Boleyn, and a former street urchin now under his protection, Sebastian edges closer to the killer. And when one murder follows another, he confronts a conspiracy that threatens his own identity…and imperils the monarchy itself.

Why Mermaids SingWhy Mermaids Sing

It’s September 1811, and someone is killing the wealthy young sons of London’s most prominent families. Partially butchered, with strange objects stuffed into their mouths, their bodies are found dumped in public places at dawn. When the grisly remains of Alfred, Lord Stanton’s eldest son are discovered in the Old Palace Yard beside the House of Lords, the local magistrate turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.

Ranging from the gritty world of Thames-side docks to the luxurious drawing rooms of Mayfair, Sebastian finds himself confronting his most puzzling–and disturbing–case yet. With the help of his trusted allies–young servant Tom, Irish doctor Paul Gibson, and his lover Kat Boleyn–Sebastian struggles to decipher a cryptic set of clues that link the scion of a banking family to the son of a humble Kentish vicar. For as one killing follows another, Sebastian discovers he is confronting a murderer with both a method and a purpose to his ritualized killings, and that the key to it all may lie in the enigmatic stanzas of a haunting poem…and in a secret so dangerous that men are willing to sacrifice their own children to keep the truth from becoming known.

Where serpents sleepWhere Serpents Sleep

London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor- and one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent’s cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian powerbroker quashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter’s unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.

Working in an uneasy alliance, Hero and Sebastian follow a trail of clues leading from the seedy brothels and docksides of London’s East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family with dark secrets to hide. Risking both their lives and their reputations, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.

What Remains of heavenWhat Remains of Heaven

Another gripping mystery in the series that has won six starred reviews, set in the glittering yet dangerous world of 1812 London, where nobleman and former spy Sebastian St. Cyr courts personal disaster in his effort to expose a murderer.
The latest request for help from Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin–from the Archbishop of Canterbury, no less–is undeniably intriguing: The bodies of two men have been found in an ancient crypt, their violent deaths separated by decades. One is the Bishop of London, the elderly Archbishop’s favored but controversial successor. The identity of the other seems lost in time, although his faded velvet attire marks him as gentleman of the eighteenth century.

To Sebastian’s consternation, the last person to see the Bishop alive was Miss Hero Jarvis, a woman whose already strained relationship with St. Cyr has been complicated by a brief, unexpectedly passionate encounter. It also soon becomes obvious that her powerful father has reasons of his own for wanting the Bishop out of the way. In an investigation that leads from the back alleys of Smithfield to the power corridors of whitehall, Sebastian amasses a list of suspects that ranges from some of the Prince Regent’s closest cronies to William Franklin, embittered son of famous American patriot Ben Franklin. Each step Sebastian takes toward the killer brings him closer to a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who–and what–he really is.

Where Shadows DanceWhere Shadows Dance

Regency London: July 1812. How do you set about solving a murder no one can reveal has been committed?

That’s the challenge confronting C.S. Harris’s aristocratic soldier-turned-sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr when his friend, surgeon and “anatomist” Paul Gibson, illegally buys the cadaver of a young man from London’s infamous body snatchers. A rising star at the Foreign Office, Mr. Alexander Ross was reported to have died of a weak heart. But when Gibson discovers a stiletto wound at the base of Ross’s skull, he can turn only to Sebastian for help in catching the killer.

Described by all who knew him as an amiable young man, Ross at first seems an unlikely candidate for murder. But as Sebastian’s search takes him from the Queen’s drawing rooms in St. James’s Palace to the embassies of Russia, the United States, and the Turkish Empire, he plunges into a dangerous shadow land of diplomatic maneuvering and international intrigue, where truth is an elusive commodity and nothing is as it seems.

Meanwhile, Sebastian must confront the turmoil of his personal life. Hero Jarvis, daughter of his powerful nemesis Lord Jarvis, finally agrees to become his wife. But as their wedding approaches, Sebastian can’t escape the growing realization that not only Lord Jarvis but Hero herself knows far more about the events surrounding Ross’s death than they would have him believe.

Then a second body is found, badly decomposed but bearing the same fatal stiletto wound. And Sebastian must race to unmask a ruthless killer who is now threatening the life of his reluctant bride and their unborn child.

And of course…. the rest of the series!

Here are some of the wishlists from a few of my friends this month:

Heather @ The Maiden’s Court 

Magdalena @ A Bookaholic Swede 

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired 

Erin @ Flashlight Commentary – Coming soon

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation 

 

I Blame Flashlight Commentary: For What, You Ask?

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Gah! Erin with Flashlight Commentary has just sent me back over to the dark side! Ha! I have been very careful NOT to click on NetGalley and search for titles. I am in the middle of research for my WIP thriller about the Reconstruction of the South. While doing that I am trying to get through my remaining books I need to review. Leave it to Erin to entice me with books! Though I have to admit, it’s a book bloggers lot in life. We can’t help ourselves when it comes to books. Sigh. I will say that these titles look so good! AND check out the covers. Beautiful!

The 9 45 to BletchleyIn the midst of the Second World War, and charged with taking vital equipment via the 9:45 train, Ena Dudley makes regular trips to Bletchley Park, until on one occasion she is robbed. When those she cares about are accused of being involved, she investigates, not knowing whom she can trust. While trying to clear her name, Ena falls in love.

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All Because of You by Isobel Blackthorn

Infused with gentle optimism, eleven uncompromising stories explore, each in its own way, the nature of sacrifice.

Mum and Nan struggle to contrive a sense of normal family life in the emotionally charged environment of a women’s shelter. A visual artist faces the return of her wayward daughter, who brings home her new boyfriend, the lumbering behemoth, Zol. A bereaved woman lies restless and alone in bed, her thoughts troubled by the plaintive cries of the dog locked in next-door’s laundry.

At once dark, poignant and witty, Isobel Blackthorn’s first collection of short stories depicts intimately and honestly the travails and heroic responses of women and men confronting the pith of their lives.

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The Light of Paris by Brown, Eleanor

From the bestselling author of THE WEIRD SISTERS comes an enchanting tale of self-discovery that will strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt they’ve lost their way.

Chicago, 1999.

Madeleine is trapped – by her family’s expectations, by her controlling husband – in an unhappy marriage and a life she never wanted. But when she finds a diary detailing her grandmother Margie’s trip to Jazz Age Paris, she meets a woman she never knew: a dreamer who defied her strict family and spent a summer living on her own, and falling for a charismatic artist.

When Madeleine’s marriage is threatened, she escapes to her hometown to stay with her disapproving mother. Shaken by the revelation of a family secret and inspired by her grandmother’s bravery, Madeleine creates her own summer of joy. In reconnecting with her love of painting and cultivating a new circle of friends, the chance of a new life emerges – but will she be bold enough take it?

Wish-List 5: Christian Fiction

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I am a Christian but generally do not read Christian Fiction. There are very few authors who write in this genre well, in my opinion. Often I find these stories to be too preachy or unrealistic. Or the characters seem artificial to me. I want real life, raw, vivid situations, real human struggles, real emotions and happiness-yes-but believable. I don’t like sugar coated stories. I want to see characters overcome hardships in the face of evil. I want truth. I want to be inspired. 

I came across this titles on gooderads and I really like what I saw. Now I am really looking forward to reading these in the near future!

Kiss of NightCenturies ago, Raphael was a blasphemous knight who fought in the Crusades purely for his own mercenary benefit, and to satisfy his taste for killing. Now, condemned for his evil passions and hypocrisy, he wanders the earth a vampire, cursed with first-hand knowledge of the supernatural world he once denied existed. The powerful relic he still possesses from his days as a Crusader has been stolen by a rival vampire who has recruited an army of soulless underlings to aid him in spreading evil. At the time he learns this, Raphael has been hunting this vampire for nearly a century, and it seems the final battle is destined to take place in Prague.br For help in this quest, Raphael must enlist the aid of two humans, David and Susan, who suddenly find themselves immersed in a world they never imagined, entangled with supernatural forces they can’t control. Susan, in particular, finds herself conflicted as she struggles with her inexplicable attraction to Raphael. In the end, both Susan and Raphael will be called upon to exercise courage and faith, and in the process, the question, “What would happen if a vampire truly accepted God?” is answered.

 

The Mermaid in the BasementA wealthy widow of a nobleman, daughter of a famous scientist, and skeptic who only trusts what can be proven.

Meet Serafina Trent. A woman about to take 19th Century London by storm.

It’s London, 1857, and everything is at stake for Serafina Trent. A woman of means . . . but not the typical Victorian lady who feels her place is to be seen and not heard. When her brother’s most recent female dalliance, a beautiful actress, is found murdered, all evidence points to him. Especially since the actress had just rejected him in a most public manner. Now everyone believes Clive is headed for the gallows. Everyone, that is, but Serafina.

Determined to prove her brother’s innocence, Serafina finds herself working with unlikely allies–including Dylan Tremayne, a passionate storyteller and actor with a criminal past. This novel will hold fans of mystery and history spellbound until the very last page.

Victorian England comes alive in this intriguing new series from one of Christian fiction’s favorite authors.

 

Whisper A Scream Noche Files II know evil exists, I met it face to face Solomon Noche is a therapist in the seemingly normal small town of Retselville, Kentucky dealing with displaced anger toward God after his family dies tragically. Nightmares encapsulate him where an ancient demonic cult sacrifices children in Retselville. Despite Sol’s protest, God chooses him to stop them. This discovery thrusts him into a journey where reality and psychosis blur as a nightmarish figure torments him with riddles and time-traveling horrors. The first riddle leads Sol to unearth a preacher’s journal from the 1800’s in a secret cellar in his yard. It details Elijah Darius’ mission to stop the cult and his eyewitness account of a demon named Miyah and its demand of child sacrifices to the ancient god Dagon. The journal intertwines with Sol’s life, and guides him to expose more secrets about Retselville, and the evil hidden history of the grounds where he works. As each riddle is solved, more horrors are uncovered including finding a sacrificial altar, a ritual dagger, and a well of children’s skulls. The closer he gets to the truth, the more sinister the secrets become as he believes all of Retselville may be part of the cult and their centuries’ old secrets. More than Sol’s life hangs in the balance, as Miyah tempts him with unfathomable choices. But resolves his only hope is in repentance as only God can save him and defeat this demon and its’ followers. Sol confronts Miyah in its appalling, fallen form a final time, in a battle beyond Retselville and Solomon Noche, but innumerable souls. Whisper A Scream is a supernatural thriller with demons, cults, and time-traveling nightmares. It becomes an intense thrill-ride of suspense, seizing you until the last page, with an addictive story that falls off the edge of horror. Dread seeps into your soul as you awaken to find yourself walking down the mysterious path with Sol and cower at the sights and sounds encountered. Pray your voice is heard as you WHISPER A SCREAM!

 

Yesterday's TomorrowVietnam, 1967.

Independent, career-driven journalist Kristin Taylor wants two things: to honor her father’s memory by becoming an award-winning overseas correspondent and to keep tabs on her only brother, Teddy, who signed up for the war against their mother’s wishes. Brilliant photographer Luke Maddox, silent and brooding, exudes mystery. Kristin is convinced he’s hiding something.

Willing to risk it all for what they believe in, Kristin and Luke engage in their own tumultuous battle until, in an unexpected twist, they’re forced to work together. Ambushed by love, they must decide whether or not to set aside their own private agendas for the hope of tomorrow that has captured their hearts.

A poignant love story set amidst the tumultuous Vietnam War.

 

A Voice in the WindThe first book in the bestselling Mark of the Lion series, A Voice in the Wind brings readers back to the first century and introduces them to a character they will never forget—Hadassah. Torn by her love for a handsome aristocrat, this young slave girl clings to her faith in the living God for deliverance from the forces of decadent Rome.

 

 

 

 

INTERESTED IN MORE WISHLISTS?
CHECK OUT WHAT MY FRIENDS HAVE BOOKMARKED:

Erin at Flashlight Commentary
Magdalena at It’s a Mad Mad World
Heather at The Maiden’s Court
Colleen at A Literary Vacation 
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired

Book Addiction-A Problem Never Solved…

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and a problem I don’t mind having…

By Stephanie M. Hopkins

A few weeks ago I was headed out to a Sunday School Social with my mother. I decided to tag along because I know the women in her class. Nice ladies. We had a great time! Anyhow, we had some time to spare beforehand and we decided to go to Costco. For book lovers, you know what that means! Great deals on books! As we walked in the store-with a gleam in my eye-I headed straight to the books. I know. I have it bad. Really bad. Books are a major part of my life. I am always on the hunt for the next read and while my shelves are over flowing, I never stop hunting. All those words waiting to be read. All those characters waiting to be heard. All the life experiences and places ready to be explored. To live thousands of lives through the character’s eyes. The best way to escape reality is through a book.

Look at me. Getting caught up in why I read. Let’s get back to what I was saying about heading straight to the books. I made a bee line to the books, I could feel the excitement in the air. Or was that just me? It was like a gravitating pull. As I approached the tables. The books were piled high. I browsed through the books and came across these beauties and of course I had to have them. And at a great price too! Enjoy! 

Stars over sunset BLVD

Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister’s vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie…

Los Angeles, 1938.  Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and lands a job on the film-set of Gone With the Wind. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star who is now a fellow secretary. Audrey’s zest for life and their adventures together among Hollywood’s glitterati enthrall Violet…until each woman’s deepest desires collide.  What Audrey and Violet are willing to risk, for themselves and for each other, to ensure their own happy endings will shape their friendship, and their lives, far into the future.

300 days of sun

Combining the atmosphere of Jess Walters’ Beautiful Ruins with the intriguing historical backstory of Christina Baker Kline’s The Orphan Train, Deborah Lawrenson’s mesmerizing novel transports readers to a sunny Portuguese town with a shadowy past—where two women, decades apart, are drawn into a dark game of truth and lies that still haunts the shifting sea marshes.

Traveling to Faro, Portugal, journalist Joanna Millard hopes to escape an unsatisfying relationship and a stalled career. Faro is an enchanting town, and the seaside views are enhanced by the company of Nathan Emberlin, a charismatic younger man. But behind the crumbling facades of Moorish buildings, Joanna soon realizes, Faro has a seedy underbelly, its economy compromised by corruption and wartime spoils. And Nathan has an ulterior motive for seeking her company: he is determined to discover the truth involving a child’s kidnapping that may have taken place on this dramatic coastline over two decades ago.

Joanna’s subsequent search leads her to Ian Rylands, an English expat who cryptically insists she will find answers in The Alliance, a novel written by American Esta Hartford. The book recounts an American couple’s experience in Portugal during World War II, and their entanglements both personal and professional with their German enemies. Only Rylands insists the book isn’t fiction, and as Joanna reads deeper into The Alliance, she begins to suspect that Esta Hartford’s story and Nathan Emberlin’s may indeed converge in Faro—where the past not only casts a long shadow but still exerts a very present danger.

City of Women

It is 1943—the height of the Second World War. With the men away at the front, Berlin has become a city of women.

On the surface, Sigrid Schröder is the model German soldier’s wife: She goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and dutifully cares for her meddling mother-in-law, all the while ignoring the horrific immoralities of the regime.

But behind this façade is an entirely different Sigrid, a woman of passion who dreams of her former Jewish lover, now lost in the chaos of the war. But Sigrid is not the only one with secrets—she soon finds herself caught between what is right and what is wrong, and what falls somewhere in the shadows between the two…

The Sound of glass

It has been two years since the death of Merritt Heyward’s husband, Cal, when she receives unexpected news—Cal’s family home in Beaufort, South Carolina, bequeathed by Cal’s reclusive grandmother, now belongs to Merritt.

Charting the course of an uncertain life—and feeling guilt from her husband’s tragic death—Merritt travels from her home in Maine to Beaufort, where the secrets of Cal’s unspoken-of past reside among the pluff mud and jasmine of the ancestral Heyward home on the Bluff. This unknown legacy, now Merritt’s, will change and define her as she navigates her new life—a new life complicated by the arrival of her too young stepmother and ten-year-old half-brother.

Soon, in this house of strangers, Merritt is forced into unraveling the Heyward family past as she faces her own fears and finds the healing she needs in the salt air of the Low Country.

Major Pettigrews last stand

“In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countrside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson’s wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: hnor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But, then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But, village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?”

Hello New Books!

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Yesterday I made a declaration on Facebook. To read two full novels a week until the end of September. I normally read about one and a half. Considering most of the books I read have 400 pages or close to that. That’s pretty good but….

So here on out it will be about eight books a month. I am doing this because instead of getting caught up with my reviews on NetGalley, I am getting behind. My shelf is getting fuller rather than slimmer. Its looking daunting and that is not a good thing for a book reviewer/blogger.

Alas, there is something I did not mention. Ahem. I’ve got to work on not requesting so many books! I rarely get turned down for one and therefore my shelf gets bigger and bigger. I blame NetGalley though. If they didn’t provide reviewers with so many great reads, I would not have this problem. I know for a fact that a few of my fellow book bloggers have the same problem. Personally I think it’s the cover art that attracts us. Then we read the blurb and it’s all over. We are hooked. It’s a ploy I tell you. A devious but marvelous one at that.

So now you know I have a serious problem. Books and more books. There is no end in sight. But a problem I don’t mind having! Now, let’s get to the latest books I have acquired on NetGalley. They do look lovely.

The Art of Exile

John Freely is a renowned travel writer and, as the first to popularise the history of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire for a general audience, he is one of our last great globe-trotting storytellers. After returning home from WW2 aged just 19, he fell in love with a beautiful girl who sang the blues. His own Penelope. Together they signed a blood pact to spend their life travelling the world.

This unforgettable memoir takes the reader from the streets of New York to the corridors of provincial campus life; from World War II in the Pacific to the shores of the Bosphorus and from Ancient Troy to the isles of Dionysus and Ariadne. It is the story of a remarkable odyssey that has spanned nine decades, several continents and one great love.

Nothing short of dying

Hailed by the bestselling writer William Kent Krueger as “the year’s best thriller debut,” this rollercoaster read features a Jack Reacher-like drifter protagonist with lethal skills whose mission to rescue his abducted sister pits him against a meth kingpin seeking to control all the trade in the Western United States.

Sixteen years. That’s how long Clyde Barr has been away from Colorado’s thick forests, alpine deserts, and craggy peaks, running from a past filled with haunting memories. But now he’s back, having roamed across three continents as a hunter, adventurer, soldier of fortune, and most recently, unjustly imprisoned convict. And once again, his past is reaching out to claim him.

By the light of a flickering campfire, Clyde received a frantic phone call for help from Jen, the youngest of his three older sisters. Then the line goes dead. Clyde doesn’t know how much time he has. He doesn’t know where Jen is located. He doesn’t even know who has her. All he knows is that nothing short of dying will stop him from saving her.

Tagging along with Clyde on this strange, desperate, against-all-odds rescue mission is a young woman named Allie whose motivations for hurtling into harm’s way are fascinatingly complex. As the duo races against the clock, it is Allie who gets Clyde to see what he has become and what he can be.

Out of nowhere

Zen student and stunt double Darcy Lott wonders whether she can trust her own brother in this intriguing mystery.

Darcy Lott is thrilled to be reunited with her brother Mike, who disappeared twenty years earlier. But her joy at bringing him home to San Francisco turns to fear when she learns that he has become the victim of escalating attacks – and he has no idea who is targeting him. Darcy determines to find out who is after him and why – before the attacks turn deadly.

However, when Darcy searches Mike’s apartment, a disturbing discovery makes her question whether she really knows her brother any more . . . or trusts him.

And…. here are two B.R.A.G. Medallion books I am dying to get my hands on this Summer!

Of Sea and Seed

OF SEA AND SEED launches The Kerrigan Chronicles, the story of three generations staggered by love, betrayal, war, and the effects of a tsunami that ravages the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland in 1929. Family matriarch, storyteller, and ghost—Kathleen Kerrigan—confesses that heaven does not open its gates to women of her ilk. In her afterlife she is adrift, doomed, like some ancient mariner, to atone for mortal sin by telling repeatedly the story of her downfall. With the lyrical voice of Kathleen at the helm and through the voices of her children—the duty-bound Kevin and the strong-willed Clara—mysteries fall away until the core of Kathleen’s crime is revealed.

Set against the backdrop of the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean, The Kerrigan Chronicles is an unforgettable family saga with a riveting undercurrent of suspense, one that will capture the imagination of readers everywhere.

Sanyare

A woman torn between honor and survival…

Raised in a realm where humans are no better than slaves, Rie Lhethannien has struggled for decades to earn a meager post in the High Court messenger service. Even training as an elite fighter isn’t enough to earn the respect she craves. Scorned by the high elves who rely on her loyalty, Rie’s closest allies are the fierce carnivorous pixies that travel by her side.

When she’s attacked on a routine delivery by assassins from the enemy Shadow Realm, Rie’s martial prowess keeps her alive…and frames her as a traitor. Facing execution at the hand of an unmerciful king, Rie must forsake her oaths and flee into enemy lands to prove her innocence. With surprising help from a dark elf prince and a blood sidhe merchant’s son, Rie searches for the truth behind the attack. The secrets she uncovers may threaten more than her honor or even her life…for war is looming in the nine faerie realms.

Sanyare: The Last Descendant is the first book in the Sanyare Chronicles, a fast-paced dark fantasy adventure. If you like kick-butt heroines and action-packed fantasy filled with mythological creatures, then you’ll love the first novel in Megan Haskell’s debut series. Start your journey across the nine faerie realms today!

Stephanie M. Hopkins

 

 

Book Blast & Giveaway: The House of Barlic by Jillian Bald

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02A_Shield's DownThe House of Baric Part One: Shields Down

Publication Date: December 5, 2015
Hillwalker Publishing
eBook & Paperback; 440 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction\Romance

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READ AN EXCERPT.

Marriage matches for the Venetian nobility were not preordained by God in heaven. They were skillfully negotiated by fathers looking to enhance their own prestige and wealth. A young lady could overlook petty shortcomings in her future husband, if he were rich, held a title, and was easy on the eyes. The young Baron Mauro Baric was such desirable yet flawed match.

Mauro was the last of the House of Baric, and he required a wife to provide him with sons. Resi Kokkinos was not interested in marrying an aristocrat any more than Mauro wanted a common, Ottoman Greek girl as his bride. Betrothed as children to repay Resi’s father’s debt to the Barics, they had no choice in their paired future.

Resi made the best of her sequestered adolescence in Thessaloniki while she waited to be summoned to the Venetian colony of Croatia to marry. Since her fate had already been decided, Resi’s mother allowed her to be tutored with her brothers. She did not need to learn the skills her friends focused on to entice a desirable husband, so she used her freedom to read every book she could find.

Mauro’s bachelor years of soldiering gave way to burdensome responsibilities as a baron and a new husband. Personal and political conflicts added more challenges to the couple’s awkward first year of marriage. Dear friends and unexpected visitors would bring their own troubles to the House of Baric. Through it all, Mauro could no longer deny that his complicated and unpredictable wife might be his perfect match after all.

Set in the summer of 1649, you are a fly-on-the-wall into their intriguing and adventurous world. Love, war, hating, and mating were perhaps not so different back in the seventeenth century. These memorable characters only wanted to steer their own destinies in search of happiness, and you will find yourself rooting for them to succeed in their quest.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | Smashwords

02B_A Brother's DefenseThe House of Baric Part Two: A Brother’s Defense

Publication Date: March 16, 2016
Hillwalker Publishing
eBook & Paperback; 526 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction\Romance

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Book two of this fast-paced tale of aristocratic life in the 17th century Venetian Empire begins where book one left off: the mercenaries arrive to visit Resi and her new husband, Baron Mauro Baric.

Part One: Shields Down introduced you to the colorful characters of the House of Baric, their loyal bonds of friendship, willing romances, arranged marriages, political conflicts, and suspicious deaths. Mauro’s family secrets and buried pain can no longer be ignored. In Part Two: A Brother’s Defense, he must face his demons. But first, his new brother-in-law stirs up trouble, while the elegant Venetian guests fill their idle time at the Baric castle with new romantic pursuits.

Set in the summer of 1649, this gripping rendition of the saga of love, revenge, and redemption do not disappoint. Questions will be answered, and more will come to light, as this engaging trilogy speeds along. Swords will be drawn. The House of Baric must be protected. But from whom?

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About the Author03_Jillian Bald

Most of the novels in Jillian Bald’s library take place in the far past or the far future, so it came naturally for Jillian to set her first novel in the year 1649. She has always enjoyed discovering new things, and historical fiction is an entertaining path to learning. After working in business management and living in France and Germany for several years, Jillian moved with her husband across the country while taking time off to raise her boys. Writing is a new occupation to Jillian, but she has always had a story churning in her imagination. “The House of Baric Part One: Shields Down” is Jillian Bald’s first published work.

Connect with author Jillian Bald on Facebook and Goodreads.

Book Blast Schedule

Tuesday, April 19
The Book Junkie Reads

Wednesday, April 20
The Never-Ending Book
Eclectic Ramblings of Author Heather Osborne

Thursday, April 21
The Reading Queen

Friday, April 22
The Writing Desk

Monday, April 25
Passages to the Past

Tuesday, April 26
Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Friday, April 29
Book Nerd

Monday, May 2
Laura’s Interests

Thursday, May 5
Let Them Read Books

Friday, May 6
Layered Pages
CelticLady’s Reviews

Monday, May 9
To Read, Or Not to Read

Wednesday, May 11
What Is That Book About

Giveaway

To enter to win a signed copy of The House of Baric Part One: Shields Down please enter the giveaway via the GLEAM form below.

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– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on May 11th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
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– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The House of Baric Book Blast

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The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls by Mercedes Rochelle

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02_The Sons of Godwine

Publication Date: March 7, 2016
Sergeant Press
eBook & Print; 306 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Emerging from the long shadow cast by his formidable father, Harold Godwineson showed himself to be a worthy successor to the Earldom of Wessex. In the following twelve years, he became the King’s most trusted advisor, practically taking the reins of government into his own hands. And on Edward the Confessor’s death, Harold Godwineson mounted the throne—the first king of England not of royal blood. Yet Harold was only a man, and his rise in fortune was not blameless. Like any person aspiring to power, he made choices he wasn’t particularly proud of. Unfortunately, those closest to him sometimes paid the price of his fame.

This is a story of Godwine’s family as told from the viewpoint of Harold and his younger brothers. Queen Editha, known for her Vita Ædwardi Regis, originally commissioned a work to memorialize the deeds of her family, but after the Conquest historians tell us she abandoned this project and concentrated on her husband, the less dangerous subject. In THE SONS OF GODWINE and FATAL RIVALRY, I am telling the story as it might have survived had she collected and passed on the memoirs of her tragic brothers.

This book is part two of The Last Great Saxon Earls series. Book one, GODWINE KINGMAKER, depicted the rise and fall of the first Earl of Wessex who came to power under Canute and rose to preeminence at the beginning of Edward the Confessor’s reign. Unfortunately, Godwine’s misguided efforts to champion his eldest son Swegn recoiled on the whole family, contributing to their outlawry and Queen Editha’s disgrace. Their exile only lasted one year and they returned victorious to London, though it was obvious that Harold’s career was just beginning as his father’s journey was coming to an end.

Harold’s siblings were all overshadowed by their famous brother; in their memoirs we see remarks tinged sometimes with admiration, sometimes with skepticism, and in Tostig’s case, with jealousy. We see a Harold who is ambitious, self-assured, sometimes egocentric, imperfect, yet heroic. His own story is all about Harold, but his brothers see things a little differently. Throughout, their observations are purely subjective, and witnessing events through their eyes gives us an insider’s perspective.

Harold was his mother’s favorite, confident enough to rise above petty sibling rivalry but Tostig, next in line, was not so lucky. Harold would have been surprised by Tostig’s vindictiveness, if he had ever given his brother a second thought. And that was the problem. Tostig’s love/hate relationship with Harold would eventually destroy everything they worked for, leaving the country open to foreign conquest. This subplot comes to a crisis in book three of the series, FATAL RIVALRY.

Available at Amazon

TOSTIG REMEMBERS

Not long after we were comfortably housed in Flanders, Judith and I attended church with Matilda, Baldwin’s only surviving daughter, and her ladies. Matilda was a tiny thing, but a spirited little bundle of energy nonetheless, and very pretty. She would have fit under Judith’s chin. But she was the pride and joy of her parents, well-educated and very conscious of her lineage; her mother was the king of France’s sister, and Baldwin’s ancestors have ruled Flanders since the ninth century.

It had been raining that day and the sun was just peeking from the clouds as we finished the services in the church of St. Donation, which stood only about 400 meters from the castle. As we were leaving, Matilda led her little procession; I was far back in the crowd when the commotion began. Women were screaming, arms were waving, and people were pushing into each other trying to fall back. By the time I elbowed my way through the door, craning my neck to see over all the heads, Matilda was lying face-down in a puddle of mud. She was sobbing for all the world like she had just taken a beating. The poor girl was covered from head to toe with muck, and her beautiful dress was ruined. As she pushed herself up by the arms, I shook the girl next to me.

“What happened?”

“It was him,” she sobbed, pointing. Looking up, I saw a somewhat disheveled man riding away. There was no time to catch up with him—not with poor Matilda in need of assistance. I ran to her side and rolled her into my arms, picking the unresisting girl up like she was a child. She put her arms around my neck, smearing mud and tears all over my tunic.

“Take…take me home,” she coughed between sobs. She didn’t need to tell me that!

By now we had drawn a crowd, but they all parted respectfully as I carried Bruges’ favorite daughter back to her father’s castle. I heard the murmurs as we passed by.

“William the Bastard,” said somebody.

“The Duke,” said another. “He must be punished.”

“Poor girl,” said a third. “He just grabbed her by the back of the neck and threw her in the mud.”

“He beat her!”

“No, he kicked her!”

“He rolled her in the mud then got on his horse.”

I was shocked. That was the Duke of Normandy?

Murmuring words of encouragement, I carried Matilda up the hill to the castle. We passed between rows of soldiers and into the citadel where her ladies ran ahead of me to prepare her chamber. I laid Matilda on a pile of covers and she rolled on her side, hiding her face. Her father rushed in the door and knelt by her bedside.

“Oh my poor child. What happened?”

At that, she sat up and threw her arms around Baldwin’s neck, covering him with mud, too. After a few moments of sobbing, she pulled herself together.

“Oh father. It was Duke William. He was waiting for me at the church. When I came out, he accused me of humiliating him! I told him I would not lower myself to marry a mere bastard, when he grabbed me and threw me into the mud. He pushed me back and forth until I was totally covered then got on his horse and rode away.”

She took a cloth from one of her ladies and blew her nose in it.

“Outrageous!” spit the Count. “I will have his head for this!”

Turning Matilda over to her women, he rose and tried to look dignified. But he was all bespattered like myself, and decided to leave the room, taking the witnesses with him. He put an arm around my shoulder.

“Thank you, Tostig. Poor girl.” He tried to straighten out his tunic then gave up. “Right before you came to Flanders, Duke William sent an embassy asking for Matilda’s hand in marriage. You can imagine how quickly she sent them packing. William was beneath her station, and a bastard on top of everything else. She is not shy, my little Matilda!” He laughed briefly. “But we weren’t expecting this!”

The more he thought about it, his face became redder and redder.

“How dare he shame my little girl! Come, Tostig. We cannot let this go unavenged!”

There is one thing I can say about Count Baldwin; he is a very decisive man. He wasted no time in calling together his scribes and composing letters to his knights and captains. He summoned his household steward and demanded an accounting of all supplies. He called for his banker so he could determine how many funds he could raise. He worked long into the night.

The following day, as Baldwin was busily giving orders, Matilda walked into the great hall, trailing her women. There were no signs of the previous afternoon’s dishevelment; in fact, she had regained her proud bearing. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her.

“Father, I have made a decision,” she said evenly. “You may stop preparations for war. I have decided I will marry Duke William of Normandy.”

You could have heard a feather drop in the room. We were all stunned into silence.

“You what?” her father finally muttered.

“I will have no one else.”

Apparently used to Matilda’s strange behavior, her father leaned back and put the quill down.

“And what has brought about this change of mind?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

She appeared to think for a moment. “It must be a brave and powerful man who would dare do such a thing, right in the middle of your territory.” A brief smile flicked across her face. “I understand him better, now.”

Baldwin looked around at his courtiers. “There you have it. Cancel our preparations.” I detected a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but he was quickly obeyed. He held out a hand to Matilda.

“Come, my child. Sit beside me.”

Someone brought a chair and Matilda obliged, taking her father’s hand.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he said gently. “He may prove to be a dangerous husband.”

“I will manage him. After all, he really didn’t hurt me.”

Baldwin didn’t even try to reason with her. Given time, he told me later, she might change her mind again.

Mercedes Rochelle

About the Author

Born in St. Louis MO with a degree from University of Missouri, Mercedes Rochelle learned about living history as a re-enactor and has been enamored with historical fiction ever since. A move to New York to do research and two careers ensued, but writing fiction remains her primary vocation. She lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.

For more information visit Mercedes Rochelle’s website and blog. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, April 18
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, April 20
Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

Friday, April 22
Excerpt & Giveaway at Queen of All She Reads

Sunday, April 24
Excerpt & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Monday, April 25
Review at Book Nerd

Wednesday, May 4
Excerpt at Layered Pages

Thursday, May 5
Review at Impressions In Ink

Friday, May 13
Interview at Passages to the Past

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Review: I Let You Go by Clare MacKintosh

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I let you go

I Let You Go by  Clare Mackintosh

On a rainy afternoon, a mother’s life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street . . .

I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.

At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them. Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner, says, “I read I Let You Go in two sittings; it made me cry (at least twice), made me gasp out loud (once), and above all made me wish I’d written it . . . a stellar achievement.”

My thoughts:

This story has so many twist and turns in the plot it’s hard to know where to begin. However, I think I will start with the character development. I have to say that I found Jenna Gray’s character to be better written in the story than the two Bristol Police Investigators.  The personal intersection between the two fell flat. I felt absolutely no chemistry between them and I felt it did not add to the story. I was disappointed in that.

Also, Ray one of the investigators, has a troubled son and I was wondering where the author was going with that in the story. It could have been a good back ground story if it played in the main plot some but it didn’t. So I felt that could have been left out.

Jenna Gray is a complex character that a reader can sympathize with. She has faced many hardships-to put it lightly and as you read through the story, it unfolds what those hardships are. Truly suspenseful and gripping.

Though in the beginning I wasn’t sure about the pacing and I wanted things to become clearer a little sooner than later. I know there is some build up to the suspense but I felt it could have happened a little sooner than later.

As for a psychological thriller, this makes a truly good one and for that I am wanting to read more stories by the author.

I have rated this book three stars.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Stephanie H. Hopkins

Side note: I had the pleasure of buddy reading this book with a fellow book blogger and we had great fun with it. It was also refreshing to see that we were eye to eye about a lot of aspects of the story.

Cover Crush: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

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Cover Crush banner

I have said this before and I will say again. I am not a cover designer but I do have an artist’s eye and can agree that cover design plays an important role in the overall presentation of the book and gladly admit I judge a book by its cover. Overall presentation is important to pull a reader in. When I read a story I want to be completely immersed. A grand cover helps that along. Imagery and all-if you will. Check out this book description below and then be sure to read what I have to say about the cover and the premise!

In the time of the butterflies

Book Description:

It is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—“The Butterflies.”

In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters—Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé—speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human cost of political oppression.

My thoughts:

I have to admit; I’ve never cared for the authors name to be larger than the title on book covers. I’ve heard all the arguments on the other side of that opinion and it still does not change my thoughts on this. Having said that, In the Time of the Butterflies caught my attention immediately. I was the in the bookstore with my daughter and saw this book sitting beautifully displayed. I believe it was the use of colors and the glass jar. To me it sets the tone for a sultry summer read.  As I looked closer, I saw the butterflies. The one captured in the jar really drew me in and the title had me intrigued. I thought to myself, “How does the title of the book blend with the elements to the story? What is the story about?” As I read the blurb on the back of the book, my fascination grew. I am really looking forward to reading this story in the near future and I will be sure to share my thoughts with you!

My friend Holly’s cover crush at  2 Kids and Tired Books: Cover Crush..The Cake Therapist

Stephanie M. Hopkins