Blog
Opium in 1940’s Shanghai – A Hidden Vice
The Hidden Vice of Opium in 1940s Shanghai One of my characters in The Enemy’s Wife gets caught up in the grip of an opium addiction. The setting of The Enemy’s Wife is Shanghai – the Paris of the East. Beneath its dazzling and glamorous appearance, it was also a...
Heroica – Roma Nova Stories by @Alison_Morton #CoffeePotBookClub #Rome
Even the strongest state is vulnerable to its past. 2020, Roma Nova. Carina Mitela investigates a potential rebellion but discovers the long-buried secret that ignited the attempted uprising links directly to her own powerful family. 1683, Vienna. As Europe...
An Excerpt from #NewRelease Sarah’s Destiny by Vicky Adin #CoffeePotBookClub #Victorian #Saga
Sarah's Destiny - Excerpt Sarah returned to the barroom as quickly as she could. She’d washed and changed into a black skirt, clean apron and fresh cream blouse with a pretty collar, coiling her hair up and holding it in place with a tortoiseshell comb. Her sister...
Bride of the Devil by J P Reedman #CoffeePotBookClub
Historical Fiction Spotlight on Bride of the Devil: Agnes, Wife of Robert de Belleme Medieval Babes by J.P. Reedman She is a great heiress; he is the wickedest man in Normandy. Known to men far and wide as 'The Devil,' Robert de Belleme terrorises France alongside his...
Both Sides of the Pond by Barbara Kent Lawrence #WW2 #TrueStory #CoffeePotBookClub
In January of 1939 when Barbara Greene, a beautiful young British actress, met Joe Kennedy, Jr., son of the American Ambassador, she could not have expected that their relationship would lead to her emigrating to the United States and learning to pilot a plane....
Love Lost in Time by Cathie Dunn #Historical #DualTimeline @MaryAnneYarde @CathieDunn
Review A brilliant historical mystery spanning two timelines, this was a really engrossing story. I loved the setting of Carcassonne in the 8th century and the present day, and found the French house incredibly atmospheric, and haunting. If I were Maddie I would...
Circus Bim Bom by Cliff Lovette #Circus #ColdWar #Adventure
I'm delighted to welcome Cliff Lovette to my blog to tell us about Circus Bim Bom. CIRCUS BIM BOM By all accounts, the Soviet circus that toured America in 1990 was a small blip on the radar of the Cold War’s end. It barely received national news coverage. So how do I...
Deborah’s Newsletter – The Astonishing Past
I send my newsletters every month and every now and again I put one on the blog so you can see what kind of content I send out. Hello readers and book-loving friends. It’s a bit late to wish you all a Happy New Year, but better late than never! This month I’m working...
Red Anemones by Paula Dáil – Read an Excerpt #CoffeePotBookClub #HistFic
Moving among generations of a German-Jewish-American family, “Red Anemones” is a poignant exploration of the intricate bonds, untold secrets, and unspoken legacies our ancestors bestow upon us. Natalie Barlow’s journey of self-discovery begins when her estranged...
Spotlight on The Relic Keeper by Heidi Eljarbo
The Relic Keeper Inspired by Gerrit van Honthorst’s masterpiece, The Adoration of the Child, and the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Italy, 1620. Angelo is an orphan, lonely and forgotten. Having been passed on from one family to the next, he ends up as a...
Christmas and Holiday Greetings to all my readers
A quick post to wish all my readers and book friends a very happy holiday season, and plenty of reading for the new year. This year I have published two books - Last Train to Freedom set in WW2 and The Cameo Keeper, set in Renaissance Rome. There will be a fifth book...
The Prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall by J C Briggs #WW1 #Gothic #Mystery
The Prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall The raven sits on the ravenstone, And his black wing flits O’er the milk-white bones… Manfred, by Lord Byron England, 1919 Catherine Sisley is home from her nursing role in the war and mourning the death of her beloved, Captain Leo...
Red Snow in Winter by Max Eastern #Thriller #NewRelease #Espionage
NEW RELEASE SPOTLIGHT ABOUT THE BOOK January 1945: Haunted by a secret love affair in Nazi-occupied Prague, American Intelligence officer Julius Orlinsky is pulled into a lethal conspiracy when a routine Washington assignment spirals into murder and blackmail. Chasing...
Ravenscourt by Samantha Ward-Smith #GothicRomance #CoffeePotBookClub #HistFic
He wanted to be gone from the dark enclosing room, with its mocking misery, to be gone from this house of nightmares, of shattered dreams, and discovered secrets which could not be put back in the box. Venice, 1880. Alexander, Viscount Dundarran, seeks refuge from...
Inês by Catherine Mathis #CoffeePotBookClub #Excerpt #HistoricalFiction #Portugal
A Bride and Her Lady Xabregas Palace, Outer Lisboa Early to Mid-August 1339 Inês heard the intake of breaths as they rounded the corner and stopped at the entry to the great hall. She longed to pull at the linen chemise clinging to her damp skin in the midday heat....