Shattered Pearl: A Taming the Twisted Novella

by Jodie Toohey

Publication Date: August 26, 2019
Wordsy Woman Press
eBook & Paperback; 127 Pages

Series: Taming the Twisted (Book 3)
Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Pearl should be happy. She just married the love of her life, Lester Sinkey, and is ready to assume the role of wife and mother she’d dreamed about since she was a little girl. There’s just one thing standing in her way. Every time she and Lester try to consummate, Pearl feels a searing pain like she’s being sliced open with the clamming knives her family uses camping along the Mississippi River every summer. Disturbing memories of her great uncle, Mason, a veteran of the war between the states, soon resurface, and she fears something more sinister her mind is preventing her from recalling happened to her. Deciding it’s the only way, Pearl gets herself committed to the insane asylum where Mason had also been a patient, a dire mistake.

Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

About the Author

Jodie Toohey earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Iowa State University with Honors and Distinction with the focus of her honors program being creative writing. She has written as a hobby for over thirty years including poetry, essays, fiction, humor, and non-fiction. In February 2012, Toohey won first place in the Bettendorf Public Library’s Love Poem Contest for her poem “Out of the Blue.” “The Other Side of Crazy,” a poetry collection including this poem was released by the 918Studio publishing company in September 2013. One of her other poetry books, “Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls,” was published in 2008 with a second edition published in 2015. She published “Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks” in 2017. Jodie also has four novels: “Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters” released in 2012 (2nd edition, 2015), “Melody Madson – May It Please the Court?” released in 2014, “Taming the Twisted” released in 2015 (2nd edition, 2018), and “Taming the Twisted 2 Reconstructing Rain” released in 2018. Her next novel, “Shattered Pearl,” will be published in late 2019. When she is not writing poetry or fiction, Jodie helps authors, soon-to-be-authors, and want-to-be authors from pre-idea through the reader with craft advice, editing/proofreading services, and book marketing planning services through her Wordsy Woman Author Services company. She lives in Iowa near the Mississippi River with her family.

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Beyond the Moon
by Catherine Taylor

Publication Date: June 25, 2019
The Cameo Press Ltd
eBook & Paperback; 496 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction/Time Travel

 

 

Outlander meets Birdsong is this haunting debut timeslip novel, where a strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War and a young woman living in modern-day England a century later.

*Shortlisted for the Eharmony/Orion Write Your Own Love Story Prize 2018/19

In 1916 1st Lieutenant Robert Lovett is a patient at Coldbrook Hall military hospital in Sussex, England. A gifted artist, he’s been wounded fighting in the Great War. Shell shocked and suffering from hysterical blindness he can no longer see his own face, let alone paint, and life seems increasingly hopeless.

A century later in 2017, medical student Louisa Casson has just lost her beloved grandmother – her only family. Heartbroken, she drowns her sorrows in alcohol on the South Downs cliffs – only to fall accidentally part-way down. Doctors fear she may have attempted suicide, and Louisa finds herself involuntarily admitted to Coldbrook Hall – now a psychiatric hospital, an unfriendly and chaotic place.

Then one day, while secretly exploring the old Victorian hospital’s ruined, abandoned wing, Louisa hears a voice calling for help, and stumbles across a dark, old-fashioned hospital room. Inside, lying on the floor, is a mysterious, sightless young man, who tells her he was hurt at the Battle of the Somme, a WW1 battle a century ago. And that his name is Lieutenant Robert Lovett…

Two people, two battles: one against the invading Germans on the battlefields of 1916 France, the other against a substandard, uncaring mental health facility in modern-day England. Two journeys begun a century apart, but somehow destined to coincide – and become one desperate struggle to be together.

Part WW1 historical fiction, part timeslip love story – and at the same time a meditation on the themes of war, mental illness, identity and art – Beyond The Moon sweeps the reader on an unforgettable journey through time. An intelligent read, perfect for book clubs.

For fans of Diana Gabaldon, Amy Harmon, Beatriz Williams, Kate Quinn, Kristin Hannah, Kate Morton, Susanna Kearsley and Paullina Simons.

“A poignant and stirring love story… Taylor’s accomplished, genre-bending book succeeds as a WW1 historical novel and a beguiling, time travel romance… The sharply written narrative deftly moves back and forth between the past and present.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A time travel romance, yet so much more than that. It is also an unflinching portrait of the horrors of war, and a look at the torturous extremes a human soul can endure. It is a sonnet to the transformative power of love, even as it is also a criticism of the futility and pointless destructiveness of war.” — Shaylin Gandhi, author of By The Light of Embers

Amazon | IndieBound

About the Author

Catherine Taylor was born and grew up on the island of Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. She is a former journalist, most recently for Dow Jones News and The Wall Street Journal in London. Beyond The Moon is her first novel. She lives in Ealing, London with her husband and two children.

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Josephine: Singer Soldier Dancer Spy
by Eilidh McGinness

Publication Date: December 1, 2019
eBook & Paperback

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Josephine Baker is born into poverty in racially segregated America. Desperate to escape she flees to France where she embraces the hedonistic lifestyle on offer for those who dare, in the Paris of the Roaring Twenties.

Hitler’s rise to power in Germany forces her to face her true self. Determined to protect the Liberty Equality and Fraternity she has found in France, she becomes an ‘honorable correspondent’ for the French Secret Service. So, beginning a journey which will take her from the Red Cross Shelters in Paris to the cruel deserts of North Africa. She will find love and enduring friendship but she must also face dangers which will threaten not only her life but all she holds dear…..Can she find the courage to fight for what she believes in….no matter what the cost?

Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

About the Author

Eilidh McGinness has always loved fairy-tales, history and other world fantasies. She is never happier than when reading a good book. Writing is a passion which she finds time for by studiously avoiding ironing and a whole manner of other household chores. Eilidh has four children. The elder two have now fled the nest and the younger two live with her in South-West France. Eilidh was born in Scotland and although now based in France during the school term spends as much time as she can in Scotland and travelling.

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The Road to Delano
by John DeSimone

Publication Date: March 10, 2020
Rare Bird Books
Hardcover; 320 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond―as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died under suspicious circumstances ten years earlier, he’s had to be the sole emotional support of his mother, who has kept secrets from him about his father’s involvement in the ongoing labor strife.

With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don’t become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father’s shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack’s father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can’t control his impulse for revenge.

While Jack’s girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to so anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to L.A., after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother’s land. When Jack’s efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian―the son of a boycotting fieldworker who works closely with Cesar Chavez―in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects. Jack uses his wits, his acumen at card playing, and his boldness to raise the money to spring his friend, who has been transformed by his jail experience.

The Road to Delano is the path Jack, Ella, and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

About the Author

John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He’s been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. His recent co-authored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan (Little A Publishers), and Courage to Say No by Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His published novel Leonardo’s Chair published in 2005.

In 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete his most recent historical novel, Road to Delano. His novels Leonardo’s Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition.

He works with select clients to write stories of inspiration and determination and with those who have a vital message to bring to the marketplace of ideas in well-written books.

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Diamond in the Rogue
by Wendy LaCapra

Publication Date: November 11, 2019
Entangled: Scandalous
eBook; 289 Pages

Series: Lords of Chance, Book 3
Genre: Historical Romance/Regency

 

 

In an act of revenge, Lord Rayne kissed Lady Julia and was sent packing to America. But now he’s back to settle his affairs and give away his sister in marriage, until he meets up with the alluring yet innocent Lady Julia again. He doesn’t regret their first kiss, but he was never good enough for her.

Lady Julia had two years to forget the moody and mercurial Earl of Rayne. But one look, and she knows they’re meant to be together. Be damned with his and her brother’s objections, she’ll just jump on the back of Rayne’s departing carriage and compromise them both thoroughly.

Only, Julia never expected her forbidding Lord to be so good at resisting temptation…

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo

About the Author

Wendy writes Historical Romance with a touch of intrigue & suspense. Her debut series, a trilogy about three Ladies who refuse to play by society’s rules, was released by Entangled Scandalous in 2015. Her first indie, Her Duke at Daybreak, finaled in Romance Writers of America®’s RITA® contest.

Wendy was born a Jersey Girl, though most of her extended family lives in Maine. Trekking up and down the Northeast coast in the backseat of a car gave her plenty of opportunity not only to fight with her sister, but to read, to listen to her dad tell stories from history, and to dream up stories of her own.

She lives in NYC with her husband. Things she loves besides writing and reading and being an aunt to seven nieces and nephews include travel (50 states and all 7 continents), old things, pine trees, wine and pasta.

If you’d like to join her infrequent, never-shared mailing list for freebies and new-release information, sign up here: http://bit.ly/GetWendyNews.

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Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 11
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Tuesday, November 12
Review at Historical Romance Lover

Wednesday, November 13
Feature at What Is That Book About

Thursday, November 14
Review at The Book Junkie Reads

Friday, November 15
Excerpt at Passages to the Past

Sunday, November 17
Review at Liberty’s Literary Loves

Monday, November 18
Review at Rose is Reading

Tuesday, November 19
Feature at @ya.its.lit

Wednesday, November 20
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Friday, November 22
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Monday, November 25
Feature at The Lit Bitch
Excerpt at Coffee and Ink
Review at The Romance Dish

You’re invited to celebrate the release of Diamond in the Rogue by Wendy LaCapra!

Join Wendy on Thursday, November 14th starting at 6pm EST to learn more about her new historical romance and win some great prizes!

The event will take place on Facebook and you can RSVP here:

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/572931636579912

 

Diamond in the Rogue
by Wendy LaCapra

Lords of Chance, Book 3, Stand Alone

Publication Date: November 11, 2019
Entangled: Scandalous
eBook; 289 Pages

Genre: Historical Romance/Regency

 

 

In an act of revenge, Lord Rayne kissed Lady Julia and was sent packing to America. But now he’s back to settle his affairs and give away his sister in marriage, until he meets up with the alluring yet innocent Lady Julia again. He doesn’t regret their first kiss, but he was never good enough for her.

Lady Julia had two years to forget the moody and mercurial Earl of Rayne. But one look, and she knows they’re meant to be together. Be damned with his and her brother’s objections, she’ll just jump on the back of Rayne’s departing carriage and compromise them both thoroughly.

Only, Julia never expected her forbidding Lord to be so good at resisting temptation…

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo

About the Author

Wendy LaCapra is a RITA® award-finalist whose heart-pounding historical romances bristle with temptations, secrets, and scandal. Though she loves wandering, she lives in NYC where she indulges her life-long, unquenchable passion for books, history, and happily-ever-afters. For new release information, join Wendy’s newsletter at http://bit.ly/GetWendyNews.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon

The Girl I Left Behind
by Andie Newton

Publication Date: October 3, 2019
Aria Fiction
eBook & Paperback; 368 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

What would you risk to save your best-friend?

As a young girl, Ella never considered that those around her weren’t as they appeared. But when her childhood best-friend shows Ella that you can’t always believe what you see, Ella finds herself thrown into the world of the German Resistance.

On a dark night in 1941, Claudia is taken by the Gestapo, likely never to be seen again, unless Ella can save her. With the help of the man she loves, Ella must undertake her most dangerous mission yet and infiltrate the Nazi Party.

Selling secrets isn’t an easy job. In order to find Claudia, Ella must risk not only her life, but the lives of those she cares about.

Will Ella be able to leave behind the girl of her youth and step into the shoes of another?

Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The German Midwife and Kate Furnivall.

Available on Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo

Praise for The Girl I Left Behind

‘A gripping historical page-turner about an audacious eighteen-year-old girl in Nazi Germany, who finds herself at the heart of the Reich. It’s a thrilling tale of female friendship, young love, and extraordinary courage, laced with chilling reminders of the fate Ella will face if her treachery is discovered. A powerful debut!’ Gill Paul, USA Today bestselling author of The Secret Wife.

‘A captivating story with a twist of romance threaded throughout,’ Glynis Peters, USA Today bestselling author of The Secret Orphan.

‘A compelling tale of friendship, courage and espionage in a frightening and uncertain world,’ Charlotte Betts, author of The Dressmaker’s Secret.

‘The Girl I Left Behind made me cry and left me wanting more, which to me are signs of a truly wonderful book, one that will stay with me long after I’ve finished reading,’ Lana Kortchik, author of The Story of Us.

About the Author

Andie is an American writer living in Washington State with her husband and two boys. She writes female-driven WWII historical fiction. Her debut novel, THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND, was published by Aria Fiction in October 2019. THE GIRL FROM VICHY, her second novel with Aria Fiction, will be released in July 2020 with a third untitled novel due to release in 2021. She has a Bachelor’s degree in History from Washington State University and a Master in Teaching. She would love to say she spends her free time gardening and cooking, but she’s killed everything she’s ever planted and set off more fire alarms than she cares to admit. Andie does, however, love spending time with her family, trail running, traveling the world, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Andie would love to be a guest at your next book club! You can find discussion questions for her novels on her website www.andienewton.com. You can also find Andie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, BookBub, and Goodreads.

The Slightest Chance
by Paul Letters

Publication Date: June 7, 2019
Blacksmith Books
Paperback; 296 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction/Military/WWII

 

 

In war, you can pretend to be someone you’re not. Yet, in war, people find out who you really are.

Hong Kong, 1941. Anglo-Australian civil servant Dominic Sotherly’s colonial sojourn in Hong Kong becomes complicated by his double life in both war and love. Enigmatic Englishwoman Gwen Harmison possesses secrets of her own – plus an unrelenting desire for liberty.

From gaiety at the Peninsula Hotel to persecution both inside and outside of internment, the story journeys from war-ravaged Hong Kong to war-weary China.

From real history, meet the Chinese admiral who led Hong Kong’s daring ‘Great Escape’ and the Japanese Christian soldier who risked his life for the enemy. And, uniquely during the occupation of Hong Kong, discover how one Englishwoman made history in her defiance of Imperial Japan.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Paul Letters is a novelist, journalist, broadcaster and part-time teacher of history and politics. He moved from London to the jungled fringes of Hong Kong in 2001. His earlier World War II novel, A Chance Kill, topped the South China Morning Post book charts.

In addition to historical features, he writes opinion pieces and magazine articles. Paul also broadcasts on Radio Television Hong Kong. His ‘This Month in History’ segment can be found as a podcast. Paul and his son James also present the chart-topping history podcast for kids and adults, ‘Dad and Me Love History’.

His website, and his daily on-this-day-in-World-War-Two twitter feed, can be found at paulletters.com.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 21
Review at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, October 22
Excerpt at The Book Junkie Reads
Review at Al-Alhambra Book Reviews

Wednesday, October 23
Feature at Maiden of the Pages

Saturday, October 26
Interview at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, October 29
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books

Thursday, October 31
Review at Coffee and Ink

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a paperback copy of The Slightest Chance by Paul Letters! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on October 31st. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Paperback giveaway is open to the US only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.

The Slightest Chance

You’re invited to the Online Launch Party for Cynthia Sally Haggard’s novel, Farewell My Life!

Please join us on Tuesday, October 29th from 6-8pm EST to learn more about the book, ask the author a question, and win some cool prizes!

Click HERE to RSVP! Hope to see you there!

Farewell My Life
by Cynthia Haggard

Publication Date: April 7, 2019
eBook & Paperback; 586 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Angelina led a life which required her to fib. When Angelina, the black sheep of the Pagano family, meets the mysterious Mr. Russell, she has no idea that she has seen him before…in another country. And so begins Farewell My Life, a novel in three parts, which spins an operatic tale of dangerous love and loss.

The Lost Mother, the first part of this novel, slices back and forth between time and space, opening in the charming village of Georgetown, Washington D.C. while reflecting a family’s troubled past in the lovely village of Marostica in the Italian Veneto.

An Unsuitable Suitor, the second part of the novel, is a Cinderella-ish tale with not-so-charming princes who inhabit the edgy setting of 1920s Berlin.

Farewell My Life, the last part of the novel, set again in Berlin, Germany, during the dark 1930s as the Nazis gain power, takes comfortable lives, assumptions and civilizations and crumbles them into ash.

Amazon | IndieBound

Praise for Farewell My Life

“A unique, deftly scripted, and extraordinary novel by an author with a distinctive narrative storytelling style that will hold the readers dedicated attention from beginning to end, “Farewell My Life: Buona Notte Vita Mia” is an impressive and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. One of those rare novels that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished.”–Mid-West Book Review

“The author knows her characters very, very well; this shows in the consistent and very individual way they act. This is not a plot-driven story; it’s character-driven. In this book, the characters are the jam which holds everything together. The best example of this is Grace, the talented violinist, who, simply, jumps off the page. I loved her.”–Wishing Shelf

“This is not your typical mystery; it’s for fans of thrilling action and historically­-inspired events…Contra to the status quo of the genre, the men are the romantics – though in a deranged manner – and the women showcased are the core strength of the novel.”–BookLife Prize.

“The author…adeptly summons the era in all its manners and details with her descriptive prose…Her omniscient, third-person narrator effectively flits through the heads of various characters, offering momentary glimpses of their inner lives.”–Kirkus Reviews

“I loved the elaborate descriptions of all the places in this book. This is the kind of book that shows instead of just telling. The characters are very well-developed and interesting to read about. Angelina is a fascinating character, as is Grace. Along the duration of the book, Grace learns a lot about herself. I was amazed by her quiet yet vibrant personality, and her brilliant talent.”–Pavani Mathur (The Voracious Bibliophile)

About the Author

Cynthia graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University, Cambridge MA, in June 2015.

Her first novel, Thwarted Queen, a frustrating tale (hence the title) of Lady Cecylee Neville (1415-1495) who was nearly crowned Queen of England, was shortlisted for many awards, including the 2012 Eric Hoffer New Horizon Award for debut authors. To date, sales have surpassed 38,000 copies.

Her forthcoming novel, Farewell My Life, is a Cinderella-ish tale with not-so-charming princes who inhabit the edgy setting of 1920s Berlin.

When she’s not annoying everyone by insisting her fictional characters are more real than they are, Cynthia likes to go for long walks, knit something glamorous, cook in her wonderful kitchen, and play the piano. You can visit her at www.spunstories.com. You can also find Cynthia on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Ruby Moon
by Jenny Knipfer

Publication Date: May 5, 2019
eBook & Paperback; 430 pages

Series: By the Light of the Moon, #1
Genre: Fiction/Historical/Christian

 

 

Ruby Moon embodies a tale of grief, guilt, and romance set on the shores of Lake Superior in Ontario during the mid 1890’s. Jenay, a young woman of mixed French and Ojibwe descent, must survive the trauma of causing a horrific accident. Her maturity accelerates as the challenges of grief, and romance enter the scene.

Amidst this drama, Jenay is caught in a web spun by Renault, a rich, charming man who once threatened ruination of her father’s shipping company but now seeks something even more valuable–Jenay. Renault, her past enemy, suddenly becomes her friend then something more . . . Will she leave the man she loves for this new found affection?

Jenay must find where her strength lies in order to face the challenges life brings her or be washed away like driftwood on the tumultuous shores of Lake Superior. Life’s richest dramas are played out under the banner of two ruby colored moons and become the hidden gems which forge her into a mature strong woman. Jenay realizes God is by her side, using even the harsh events of life to create something precious in her.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

About the Author

Jenny lives in Wisconsin with her husband and pet Yorkie, Ruby. She is also a mom and loves being a grandma. She enjoys many creative pursuits but finds writing the most fulfilling.

Jenny’s education background stems from psychology, music, and cultural missions. She spent many years as a librarian in a local public library but recently switched to using her skills as a floral designer in a retail flower shop. She is now retired from work due to disability.

She is the author and performer of a self-published musical CD entitled, Scrapbook of a Closet Poet. Jenny is a first-time author and acquires joy in the journey. Ruby Moon, the first title in her historical fiction series, is available in eBook and paperback formats through Amazon.

Jenny’s favorite place to relax is by the western shore of Lake Superior, where her novel series, By The Light of the Moon, is set.

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