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Monday, July 24, 2023

Blog Tour: Loving Miss Tilney by Heather Moll

Posted By amy @ 6:05 am | No Comments

Blog Tour Loving Miss Tilney: A Variation on Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey
by Heather Moll

Publication Date: August 1, 2023
Excessively Diverted Press

Genre: Historical Romance/Regency/Austenesque

 

 

She’s forbidden to wed a nobody. He’s nothing in society’s eyes. Will their desperate schemes backfire before they find a way to be together?

​Northanger Abbey. Eleanor Tilney can’t bear her lonely life any longer. Distraught when her tyrannical father throws her friend out of the house because the girl lacks an inheritance, the long-suffering general’s daughter decides anything is better than a future all alone. So in a frantic bid for freedom, she puts aside her tender feelings for a man of no standing to pursue a wealthy husband.

Philip Brampton understands that fortune is against him. And he tries gallantly to bury his distress and support his lonely beloved, even after she starts pursuing an arrogant buffoon. But when he catches the fellow about to kiss her, their resulting harsh words cause a heartbreaking rift.

Stiffening her spine in a world that refuses to acknowledge her value, Eleanor attempts to navigate the impossible situation without quashing her desires. And though his shy nature abhors a scene, Philip braces himself for a confrontation with her cruel and abusive patriarch.

Do these childhood sweethearts have any hope of achieving lasting happiness?

Amazon

About the Author

Heather Moll writes romantic variations of Jane Austen’s classic novels. She is an avid reader of mysteries and biographies with a masters in information science. She found Jane Austen later than she should have and made up for lost time by devouring her letters and unpublished works, joining JASNA, and spending too much time researching the Regency era. She is the author of An Appearance of Goodness, An Affectionate Heart, Nine Ladies, and Mr Darcy’s Valentine, among others. She lives with her husband and son, and struggles to balance all the important things, like whether to buy groceries or stay home and write.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | BookBub | Goodreads | Newsletter

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, August 1
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Wednesday, August 2
Review at Michelle the PA Loves to Read

Thursday, August 3
Excerpt at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Friday, August 4
Review at Locks, Hooks, and Books

Monday, August 7
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Tuesday, August 8
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective

Wednesday, August 9
Review at Novels Alive
Feature at Reading is My Remedy

Thursday, August 10
Excerpt at Passages to the Past

Friday, August 11
Review at Adventures in Lit

Monday, August 14
Excerpt at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review at Cover Lover Book Review

Tuesday, August 15
Excerpt at Coffee and Ink
Review at The Enchanted Shelf

Giveaway

Enter to win an eBook of Loving Miss Tiley!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on August 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Loving Miss Tilney

Thursday, June 8, 2023

The Legacy of Longdale Manor by Carrie Turansky

Posted By amy @ 7:26 am | No Comments

The Legacy of Longdale Manor
by Carrie Turansky

Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Bethany House Publishers

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

 

 

Two women–a century apart–embark on a journey to healing, faith, forgiveness, and romance.

In 2012, art historian Gwen Morris travels to England’s Lake District to appraise the paintings and antiques of an old family friend, hoping to prove herself to her prestigious grandfather. While at Longdale Manor, she meets David Bradford–the owner’s handsome grandson–who is desperate to save the crumbling estate by turning it into a luxury hotel. When Gwen stumbles upon a one-hundred-year-old journal and an intricately carved shepherd’s staff similar to one in a photo of her parents, she’s left searching for answers.

In 1912, after her father’s death, Charlotte Harper uncovers a painful family secret she can only confess to her journal. She and her family travel to the Lake District to stay on a sheep farm, hoping eventually to find a home with Charlotte’s grandfather at Longdale Manor, but old wounds and bitter regrets make it a difficult challenge. As Charlotte grows closer to shepherd Ian Storey and rebuilds her shattered faith, she must decide whether she will ever trust in love again.

Amazon

Praise for The Legacy of Longdale Manor

“This novel will stir your faith–and your desire to visit England’s Lake District!”–JULIE KLASSEN, bestselling author

“Turansky opens the door of Longdale Manor and invites readers to explore the secrets hidden inside.”–MELANIE DOBSON, award-winning author

“A beautiful book to warm and lift the heart.”–CATHY GOHLKE, Christy Hall of Fame author

About the Author

Carrie Turansky is the award-winning author of more than twenty inspirational novels and novellas and a winner of the ACFW Carol Award, the International Digital Award, and the Holt Medallion. She loved traveling to England to research her latest Edwardian novels including No Journey Too Far, No Ocean Too Wide, Across the Blue, Shine Like the Dawn, and Edwardian Brides series. The title of her next novel is The Legacy of Longdale Manor, which releases in September 2023. Her novels have received stared reviews from Christianbooks.com and Library Journal. They have been translated into several languages and enjoyed by readers around the world. Carrie loves to connect with reading friends on Facebook, Instagram, and via her website and blog: carrieturansky.com.

Thursday, June 8, 2023

Blog Tour: The Boy in the Rain by Stephanie Cowell

Posted By amy @ 6:01 am | No Comments

The Boy in the Rain
by Stephanie Cowell

Publication Date: June 1, 2023
Regal House Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

It is 1903 in the English countryside when Robbie, a shy young art student, meets the twenty-nine-year-old Anton who is running from memories of his brutal childhood and failed marriage. Within months, they begin a love affair that will never let them go. Robbie grows into an accomplished portraitist in the vivid London art world with the help of Anton’s enchanting former wife, while Anton turns from his inherited wealth and connections to improve the conditions of the poor. But it is the Edwardian Era, and the law sentences homosexual men to prison with hard labor, following the tragic experience of Oscar Wilde. As Robbie and Anton’s commitment to each other grows, the world about them turns to a more dangerous place.

“The Boy in the Rain transports us to another time and place in this powerful, sensual and lyrical novel that literally took my breath away? the love is so visceral, the pain so deep, the beauty so real, and the danger so palpable!” —NYT bestseller, M.J. Rose, author of The Last Tiara

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookShop.org

Praise

“A masterpiece of longing, love, and empathy.” —Lauren B. Davis, author of Even So, The Empty Room, Our Daily Bread and others

“Shadows of E.M. Forster and Oscar Wilde haunt this tender, moving novel of illicit passion and enduring love. I was captivated by both the self-discovery of young artist Robbie and the redemption of his lover Anton, tormented by past regrets. A vividly immersive portrayal of the heady joys of youthful romance and the heartbreaking cruelties of Edwardian England.” —Myrlin A. Hermes, author of The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet

“A tender and immersive love story such as you’ve never read before… Cowell evokes the glamor as well as the underbelly of Edwardian England, a place rife with prejudice and social injustice, where the book’s protagonists—a working-class artist and a well-born socialist crusader—search for love, meaning, and redemption. The characters, the story, and the landscape are utterly immersive, utterly compelling.” —Barbara Quick, author of Vivaldi’s Virgins and What Disappears

“Poignant, engrossing, and evocative. I know of no writer who captures place, period, and emotion better than Stephanie Cowell. “ —Mitchell James Kaplan, author of Rhapsody and Into the Unbounded Night

“At its core The Boy in the Rain is a sweeping love story–complex, bittersweet–reminiscent of Wuthering Heights.” Janet Goldberg, author of The Proprietor’s Song

“The Boy in the Rain is a poignant love story about two Englishmen set at the beginning of the twentieth century when homosexuality was a crime. As Robbie tries to launch a career in portraiture, Anton fights his demons to give voice to his socialist beliefs. How they collide, come apart, and try to rekindle their romance against forbidden yearnings, kept me turning the pages.” —Martha Anne Toll, winner of the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction, and author of Three Muses (forthcoming September 2022)

“The Boy in the Rain is a novel I hated to put down and was sorry to see end. It’s rare for that alone, but it’s also an important novel about injustices that linger on today. Stephanie Cowell is a wonderful writer.” —Sandra Gulland, author of the internationally bestselling Josephine B. Trilogy

“Stephanie Cowell’s The Boy in the Rain centers on two young men, worlds apart in experience, navigating a passionate, once-in-a-lifetime romance against the backdrop of England in the first decade of the 20th century. Their love unexpectedly mirroring both the ecstasies and the agonies of a world on the brink of momentous change.” —Lance Ringel, author of Flower of Iowa and Floridian Nights, Foreword Reviews INDIES Finalist in the Romance category and Lambda Literary Award Finalist

About the Author

Stephanie Cowell has been an opera singer, balladeer, founder of Strawberry Opera and other arts venues, including a Renaissance festival and an outdoor arts series in NYC. She is the author of Nicholas Cooke, The Physician of London, The Players: A Novel of the Young Shakespeare, Marrying Mozart, and Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet. Her work had been translated into nine languages and adapted into an opera. Stephanie is the recipient of an American Book Award.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

One More Seat at the Round Table
by Susan Dormady Eisenberg

Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Atmosphere Press

 

 

What if the most conflicted lovers in Broadway’s Camelot aren’t Lancelot and Guenevere?

Set backstage during the out-of-town chaos of Lerner and Loewe’s now-classic 1960 musical, One More Seat at the Round Table portrays the struggles of feisty drama school grad Jane Conroy, who lands a plum Gal Friday job, and Bryce Christmas, a gifted, if insecure, actor on the verge of his big break. When Jane and Bryce fall helplessly in love during Toronto tryouts, their relationship is tested by mistakes they make and endless work woes: Camelot’s four-hour length, poor reviews, the illness of librettist Alan Jay Lerner, and the near-fatal coronary of director Moss Hart who quits.

As Lerner, composer Loewe, and their stars, Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, trudge on to Boston, doubts besiege Jane who hopes to buck convention and skip marriage and Bryce who wants a wife. They also discover hidden strengths as Jane gains agency backstage and Bryce takes charge of his talent. But will Jane’s commitment phobia derail their future? Will Camelot become a glittering hit? These questions create a tense roller-coaster ride to the end of Susan Dormady Eisenberg’s wise and witty novel, a story about the transformative power of love and the luminous pull of Broadway as it casts its spell on performers and fans alike.

Amazon

Praise

“The creation of the star-studded Broadway musical Camelot takes center stage in Eisenberg’s historical novel. The author’s research is impeccable. An appealing fictionalization for readers with a love for the stage.”
–Kirkus Reviews

“A delightful discovery awaits all who are smart enough to purchase this novel, One More Seat at the Round Table, and succumb to its inherent pleasures. It’s a love story for all who are curious about the theater and the American musical form, as it delves accurately into the intricate evolution from the rehearsal process to a series of opening nights ultimately landing on Broadway. The two man characters who romantically find their paths through their respective places within the art form and into each other’s lives reflect the obstacles to having a career in the professional musical theater. Ms. Eisenberg is a vivid storyteller, and her incorporation of the historic personages who populate the original Camelot production provides a colorful adventure as the novel embraces theatrical history.”
— Joseph V. Melillo, executive producer emeritus, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)

“A wonderful, suspenseful, and engaging novel about the making of the musical Camelot, replete with famous historical figures such as Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. We see the real streets of New York City, both the glitz and the seamy side, then go backstage with the actors and witness the grit it takes to create a show that mesmerizes audiences and lasts through the ages. The real story, though, is the evolution of the two main characters, Jane and Bryce; how Jane fights for autonomy and must prove herself to be seen and heard in a man’s world; and how even with obstacles and road-blocks, both art and love triumph.”
— Louise Nayer, award-winning author of Narrow Escapes, A Memoir and Burned, A Memoir

“In One More Seat at the Round Table, Eisenberg spins a delicious, surprising concoction of a story, gving a true insider glimpse of one of the most iconic Broadway musicals. Replete with dramatic ups and downs, off-stage romances and rivalries, and sparkling with wit, this book should be required reading for every theater geek or lover of musicals.”
— Susanne Dunlap, award-winning author of The Portraitist and The Courtesan’s Daughter

“Masterfully researched and artfully written, One More Seat at the Round Table is historical fiction at its best, offering production intrigue, vocal rivalry, death, hospitalizations, and romances within Lerner and Loewe’s 1960 hit Camelot. Prepare to lose your entire day as Susan Dormady Eisenberg’s Gal Friday protagonist guides us in a riveting story of love, courage, and sacrifice. The book is peppered with utterly captivating insights into Broadway show-doctoring and the elements needed to transform a production from disaster to shining splendor.”
— Henry A. Young, Jr., former executive director, the New York City Center Joffrey Ballet

“An utterly engrossing, hilarious, and often tender novel of how one hundred-plus creative people made Broadway’s Camelot from scraps and sheer determination. Told from the points of view of a clever Gal Friday savoring her first job and a rising baritone hoping for his big break, the plot depicts the 1960 out-of-town tryouts when the show’s in trouble. One More Seat at the Round Table is an original, charming book. I loved it and was sorry when it ended. All I wanted was to be in the author’s chaotic, marvelous world of musical theater.”
— Stephanie Cowell, award-winning author of Claude & Camille and The Boy in the Rain

“Susan Dormady Eisenberg’s One More Seat at the Round Table is a charming account of the hypothetical development of the musical Camelot…it is a delightful read that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good love story, musical theater, and history.”
— Literary Titan

About the Author

Susan Dormady Eisenberg has written two novels, “One More Seat at the Round Table: A Novel of Broadway’s CAMELOT” and “The Voice I Just Heard.” She has published arts profiles in newspapers, “Classical Singer,” “Opera News,” and “Huffington Post.” She’s drafting her third novel about American icon Annie Oakley, and has also written for companies and organizations throughout Greater Washington, D.C. In her first career, Ms. Eisenberg was director of marketing for The Joffrey Ballet/NYC and publicist for Syracuse Stage and Goodspeed Opera House. She makes her home in Maryland with her husband, a senior care executive, and is a proud member of the Authors Guild. You can visit her web site at www.susandeisenberg.com.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Blog Tour: Petunia 1949 by Leah Brewer

Posted By amy @ 8:35 am | No Comments

Petunia 1949
by Leah Brewer

Publication Date: May 1, 2023

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Spitfire, Petunia Hollings was born in 1935 in the deep South. She spends her childhood working the cotton fields and longing for her daddy to love her as he does her siblings.

Spending time with her best friend Opal is one distraction Petunia looks forward to. Opal’s skin color was never a problem. Or so Petunia thought.

After young love sweeps Petunia to a new life in Chicago, she learns to accept love as it’s offered instead of expecting more than one can give.

When circumstances force her to return home, her friendship with Opal helps Petunia’s fractured heart start to heal.

Then a new, even more dangerous threat surfaces. Will Petunia find the strength to overcome the hatred surrounding her?

Amazon

About the Author

Leah Brewer is a multi-genre author who writes clean novels. Even though she was the youngest of six and the only girl, she had a lot of time on her hands. She was born to her parents in a small town in Central Arkansas later in life. Growing up, you could find Leah playing make-believe near the White River or as she waded through water deep in the woods.

Leah is a Writers Ink of Northeast Arkansas member and is currently working on her third installment in her Seeds of Faith series.

Before she started writing, you could find Leah behind a computer working her telecommunications job that she’s had for over twenty-five years.

Leah spends her spare time with her husband, Mark, their grown children, and her brand-new granddaughter, Charlotte.

You can find Leah at facebook.com/writingleahbrewer or leahbrewerauthor.com.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, May 1
Excerpt at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, May 2
Review at Tammy Reads

Wednesday, May 3
Review & Excerpt at Connie’s History Classroom

Wednesday, May 10
Review at Older & Smarter

Thursday, May 11
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews

Friday, May 12
Review at Novels Alive
Review at Girl Who Reads
Review at Reading is My Remedy

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of Petunia 1949 by Leah Brewer + $25 Amazon Gift Card!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on May 12th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Petunia 1949

Monday, March 27, 2023

Blog Tour: The Courtesan’s Daughter by Susanne Dunlap

Posted By amy @ 9:28 am | No Comments

The Courtesan’s Daughter
by Susanne Dunlap

Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Atmosphere Press

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

What happens when a daughter’s dream and a mother’s sordid past collide?

New York, 1910. Seventeen-year-old Sylvie and her French-immigrant mother Justine eke out a living doing piecework in a tenement on the Lower East Side, while Sylvie attends school so that she can escape their life of poverty by becoming a teacher.

At least, that’s what her mother believes should happen. Sylvie, though, has a different dream. She wants to be a star in the new moving pictures, just like the beautiful Vitagraph Girl. When she meets a dangerously handsome Italian boy at church one Sunday and he encourages her ambitions, she begins secretly taking steps toward the career she knows her mother won’t approve of.

But Sylvie isn’t the only one with secrets. Justine has kept her sordid past from Sylvie ever since they came to New York fifteen years before, stitching together a fabric of lies along with the shirtwaists she finishes every day, doing everything in her power to keep the truth from her daughter-that she fled Paris as a courtesan after committing a crime that could still get her arrested, or worse.

When Justine’s past catches up with her in a single act of brutality, Sylvie witnesses what she thinks is her mother’s betrayal and runs away during a freak blizzard, putting them both in grave danger.

Ambition, survival, and unexpected alliances combine in this mother-daughter story that proves love can conquer all-at a price.

“A blisteringly smart novel of resilience and the pursuit of one’s dreams. The Courtesan’s Daughter draws readers in from the first page with its beguiling beginning. As it hurtles ahead, it holds you rapt up to the last page. Undoubtedly, this story is a tour de force from an author with absolute command of the genre.” – Chanticleer Book Reviews

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Susanne Dunlap is the author of twelve works of historical fiction for adults and teens, as well as an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach. Her love of historical fiction arose partly from her studies in music history at Yale University (PhD, 1999), partly from her lifelong interest in women in the arts as a pianist and non-profit performing arts executive. Her novel The Paris Affair won first place in its category in the CIBA Dante Rossetti awards for Young Adult Fiction. The Musician’s Daughter was a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bank Street Children’s Book of the Year, and was nominated for the Utah Book Award and the Missouri Gateway Reader’s Prize. In the Shadow of the Lamp was an Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award nominee. Susanne earned her BA and an MA (musicology) from Smith College, and lives in Biddeford, ME, with her little dog Betty.

For more information, please visit Susanne Dunlap’s website. You can follow author Susanne Dunlap on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest, and BookBub.

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, April 25
Review at Book Reviews and More
Review at A Potpourri of Opinions

Friday, April 28
Review at Novels Alive
Review at Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings

Monday, May 1
Review at Adventures in Lit

Wednesday, May 3
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Friday, May 5
Review at Reading is My Remedy
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Monday, May 8
Review at Cover Lover Book Review

Thursday, May 11
Excerpt at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, May 16
Excerpt at Books, Cooks, Looks

Friday, May 19
Review at Coffee and Ink

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of The Courtesan’s Daughter by Susanne Dunlap.

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on May 19th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

The Courtesan’s Daughter

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Blog Tour: Madame Pommery by Rebecca Rosenberg

Posted By amy @ 10:11 am | 1 Comment

Madame Pommery
by Rebecca Rosenberg

Publication Date: March 21, 2023
Lion Heart Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, crisp wine to be enjoyed anytime. When champagne makers refuse to teach her their craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of champagne caves under the Reims city dump.

Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, the Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies Madame Pommery’s house as his army headquarters. Undaunted, Pommery uses her secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for France, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above the caves.

But when her former lover, a Scottish Baron, unexpectedly proposes marriage, Madame Pommery must choose between nobility and her passionate quest for fine champagne and the most beautiful winery in the world.

Based on a true story, Madame Pommery is a heroic novel about a mother and widow who fights the Prussians, the social class system, champagne patriarchs, and champagne tastes to create a champagne legacy.

“The sun-drenched vineyards of France, a real-life heroine who against all odds refuses to give up her dreams… and champagne. What’s not to love?” Barbara Davis, Best-selling author of The Echo of Old Books

Amazon

About the Author

California native Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where she and her husband founded the largest lavender product company in America. A long-time student of Jack London’s work and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian, Rosenberg is a graduate of the Stanford Writing Certificate Program. Her books include: GOLD DIGGER, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, Lavender Fields of America, and the Champagne Widows series.

For more information, please visit Rebecca’s website and blog. You can also find her on Amazon, BookBubFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, March 21
Review at Amy’s Booket List

Wednesday, March 22
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Thursday, March 23
Review at A Girl Reads Bookss

Friday, March 24
Excerpt at The Book Junkie Reads

Monday, March 27
Review at Book Reviews and More

Tuesday, March 28
Review at With A Book In Our Hands

Thursday, March 30
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, March 31
Review at Reading is My Remedy

Monday, April 3
Review at My Reading Getaway

Friday, April 7
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective

Monday, April 10
Excerpt at I’m Into Books

Friday, April 14
Review at Novel Nerd Blog

Monday, April 17
Review at Novels Alive

Wednesday, April 19
Excerpt at Books, Cooks, Looks

Saturday, April 20
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Wednesday, April 26
Review at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

Enter to win a Champagne Swag pack including champagne earrings, champagne jellybeans, and champagne ornament.

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on April 21st. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Madame Pommery

Monday, March 20, 2023

Blog Tour: Nothing Left But Dust by Melissa Geissinger

Posted By amy @ 11:01 am | No Comments

Nothing Left But Dust
by Melissa Geissinger

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

Genre: Young Adult/Historical Fiction

 

 

Nothing Left But Dust is a powerful tale of love, loss, and hope set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Follow Jo, a young woman struggling to heal after her Papa’s death, as she tries to break free of her uncle’s indentured servitude and secure an apprenticeship at a mapmaking shop.

And Otto, a privileged young man with dreams of running away to become an artist, as he battles to escape the clutches of a ruthless crimp who means to have him shanghaied.

When the city is struck by the devastating earthquake on the morning of April 18th, their lives are forever changed. While it sets Otto free, it takes everything Jo holds dear and unearths a dark family secret.

As they traverse the burning ruins of the city in search of answers, Jo and Otto must find the strength to survive and the courage to confront their families, all while navigating the unfamiliar landscape of falling in love.

Nothing Left But Dust is a must read for fans of Young Adult Historical Fiction. It’s an edge-of-your-seat, coming-of-age survival story that will leave you inspired by the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Melissa Geissinger is descended from survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and is herself a wildfire survivor. A neurodivergent optimist, Melissa is predisposed to following her dreams as well as every shiny side quest along the way. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner, her five-year-old heart warrior son, and a menagerie of fur kids. She enjoys the outdoors, soaking up knowledge, and connecting with other passionate creators. Nothing Left But Dust is her first novel.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Justin Newland Historical Fantasy Blog Tour

Posted By amy @ 10:15 am | No Comments

The Genes of Isis
by Justin Newland

Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Troubador/Matador

Genre: Historical Fantasy

 

 

Akasha is a precocious girl, born into a world where oceans circulate in the sky waters. She dreams of releasing the Surge, the next evolutionary step for an embryonic human race. But it’s dormant, trapped inside every human.

Horque is a Solarii, a tribe of angels who’ve manifested in human form and settled in ancient Egypt. Desperate to return home, they must first undo the devastation caused by the Helios, another tribe of angels who came to Earth to deliver the Surge and instead left humanity on the brink of extinction and sired a race of interspecies monsters: the hybrids.

When Akasha foretells the falling of the sky waters and falls in love with Horque, her life becomes an instrument for apocalyptic change.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

The Old Dragon’s Head
by Justin Newland

Publication Date: October 8, 2018

Genre: Historical Fantasy

 

 

Constructed of stone and packed earth, the Great Wall of 10,000 li protects China’s northern borders from the threat of Mongol incursion. The wall is also home to a supernatural beast: the Old Dragon. The Old Dragon’s Head is the most easterly point of the wall, where it finally meets the sea.

In every era, a Dragon Master is born. Endowed with the powers of Heaven, only he can summon the Old Dragon so long as he possess the dragon pearl.

It’s the year 1400, and neither the Old Dragon, the dragon pearl, nor the Dragon Master, has been seen for twenty years. Bolin, a young man working on the Old Dragon’s Head, suffers visions of ghosts. Folk believe he has yin-yang eyes and other paranormal gifts.When Bolin’s fief lord, the Prince of Yan, rebels against his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, a bitter war of succession ensues in which the Mongols hold the balance of power. While the victor might win the battle on earth, China’s Dragon Throne can only be earned with a Mandate from Heaven – and the support of the Old Dragon.

Bolin embarks on a journey of self-discovery, mirroring Old China’s endeavour to come of age. When Bolin accepts his destiny as the Dragon Master, Heaven sends a third coming of age – for humanity itself. But are any of them ready for what is rising in the east?

Amazon US | Amazon UK

The Coronation
by Justin Newland

Publication Date: November 5, 2019
Matador
Paperback & eBook; 299 pages

Genre: Historical Fantasy

 

 

It is 1761. Prussia is at war with Russia and Austria. As the Russian army occupies East Prussia, King Frederick the Great and his men fight hard to win back their homeland.

In Ludwigshain, a Junker estate in East Prussia, Countess Marion von Adler celebrates an exceptional harvest. But this is soon requisitioned by Russian troops. When Marion tries to stop them, a Russian Captain strikes her. His Lieutenant, Ian Fermor, defends Marion’s honour, but is stabbed for his insubordination. Abandoned by the Russians, Fermor becomes a divisive figure on the estate.

Close to death, Fermor dreams of the Adler, a numinous eagle entity, whose territory extends across the lands of Northern Europe and which is mysteriously connected to the Enlightenment. What happens next will change the course of human history…

“The author is an excellent storyteller.” – British Fantasy Society

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes and Noble

The Abdication
by Justin Newland

Publication Date: July 28, 2018

Genre: Historical Fantasy

 

 

The town of Unity sits perched on the edge of a yawning ravine where, long ago, a charisma of angels provided spiritual succour to a fledgeling human race. Then mankind was granted the gift of free will and had to find its own way, albeit with the guidance of the angels. The people’s first conscious act was to make an exodus from Unity. They built a rope bridge across the ravine and founded the town of Topeth. For a time, the union between the people of Topeth and the angels of Unity was one of mutual benefit. After that early spring advance, there had been a torrid decline in which mankind’s development resembled a crumpled, fading autumnal leaf.

Following the promptings of an inner voice, Tula, a young woman from the city, trudges into Topeth. Her quest is to abide with the angels and thereby discover the right and proper exercise of free will. To do that, she has to cross the bridge – and overcome her vertigo. Topeth is in upheaval; the townsfolk blame the death of a child on dust from the nearby copper mines. The priests have convinced them that a horde of devils have thrown the angels out of Unity and now occupy the bridge, possessing anyone who trespasses on it. Then there’s the heinous Temple of Moloch!

The Abdication is the story of Tula’s endeavour to step upon the path of a destiny far greater than she could ever have imagined.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

About the Author

JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical fiction and crime, to supernatural thrillers and mystery. His stories deal with the themes of war, religion, evolution and speculate on the human’s spiritual place in the universe.

Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he found his way to the creative keyboard and conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.

Next came the historical fantasy, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.

His next historical fantasy, The Coronation (Matador, 2019), speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.

His fourth, The Abdication (Matador, 2021), is a supernatural thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.

His work in progress is a two-book series, The Island of Angels, set in Elizabethan England. The first novel, The Mark of the Salamander, explores the significance of Francis
Drake’s circumnavigation of the world. The second, The Midnight of Eights, culminates in the repulse of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

He was born three days before the end of 1953 and lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Blog Tour: The Good Time Girls by K.T. Blakemore

Posted By amy @ 12:11 pm | 1 Comment

The Good Time Girls
by K.T. Blakemore

Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Sycamore Creek Press

Genre: Historical Fiction/Western
Series: Wild-Willed Women of the West

 

 

A novel of wild women, the bonds of friendship, a harrowing road trip, and help found in the least likely places.

In 1905 Kansas, ex-dancehall girl and outlaw Ruby Calhoun has settled into a (mostly) quiet and (mostly) lawful life. But out of the blue her past comes hustling into town when her ex-friend and ex-dancehall partner, Pip, shows up with a grim message and dangerous mission: Cullen Wilder, an old enemy with a long memory, wants them dead and the only way to survive is to kill him first.

With Cullen’s henchman hot on their heels, Ruby and Pip hightail into the hinterlands of Kansas to save another friend from Cullen’s vengeance. Unprepared for the journey, their trip is filled with mishaps and mayhem, blunders and bounders, con artists and the circling noose of the law.

Through it all, Ruby is tormented by the memories of her life years ago in Arizona Territory, when the upstairs girls at the Paradise Saloon and Dancehall kept her safe, and the dreadful day when it all went wrong.

Will Ruby have the guts to face her turbulent past, or will she cut and run like a coward one more time?

Amazon

Praise

“Magnificently written, Good Time Girls is a tough, gritty and often humorous wild ride of danger, death, narrow escapes and yes, love. K.T. Blakemore owns the time period as if she had lived through it, and the characters as if she knew them personally. Open up the book, but hang onto your hat.” – James Robert Daniels, bestselling author of The Comanche Kid

“The Good Time Girls is an expertly crafted tale of two women whose endearing friendship aids them in conquering their fears and the men who made them. Told in humorous, and sometimes touching, McMurtry-esque prose, this book will keep you entertained and glued to your chair far into the night. If you like bold women and stories of the West, you will love this literary adventure!” – Kari Bovee, award-winning author of the Annie Oakley Mystery Series and the Grace Michelle Mysteries

About the Author

K.T. Blakemore grew up in the west and never left. Her novel THE GOOD TIME GIRLS is the first in the Wild-Willed Women of the West Series, featuring women who take no prisoners and succeed through sheer grit, determination, and a parcel of luck.

She also writes award-winning historical suspense and young adult historical fiction under the pen name Kim Taylor Blakemore. Awards have included a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, Tucson Festival of Book Literary Award, and a WILLA Award for Best YA Fiction.

Memberships include Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Women Writing the West.

She has hung her hat in California, Colorado, and currently the Pacific Northwest. The rain does not deter her research whether it be train timetables from 1905 or the best way to catch a loose horse.

K.T. also runs the Novelitics ranch, providing developmental editing, workshops, and a writing community for novelists.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | BookBub | Amazon | Goodreads

Giveaway

Enter to win an eBook of The Good Time Girls by K.T. Blakemore!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on April 26th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Good Time Girls

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, April 4
Guest Post at Author MK McClintock Blog

Thursday, April 6
Feature at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, April 7
Feature at Dive Into a Good Book

Tuesday, April 11
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books

Wednesday, April 12
Review at Novels Alive

Friday, April 14
Feature at Cover Lover Book Reviews

Sunday, April 16
Feature at Reading is My Remedy

Monday, April 17
Review at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, April 19
Review at Tammy Reads

Thursday, April 20
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews

Friday, April 21
Feature at Books In Their Natural Habitat

Monday, April 24
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective

Wednesday, April 26
Review at Coffee and Ink