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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Kate Forsyth on tour for Bitter Greens, February 25 – March 22

Posted By amy @ 1:10 pm | 1 Comment

Please join Kate Forsyth as she tours the blogosphere for Bitter Greens from February 25 – March 22.

Bitter GreensPublication Date: February 25, 2013
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Hardcover; 350p
ISBN: 0749013621

Bitter Greens is an historical novel for adults which interweaves the Rapunzel fairytale with the true story of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, a 17th century French writer who wrote the version of the fairytale we know best, while locked away in a convent by the Sun King, Louis XIV, for her bold and unconventional views on love and society.

Charlotte-Rose has scandalized the court by falling passionately in love with a young nobleman, then dressing up as a dancing bear to rescue him from imprisonment. Banished to a strict Benedictine convent by the king, she remembers her life and loves at the magnificent and corrupt court of Versailles. Charlotte-Rose is filled at despair at her imprisonment, but she is comforted by an old nun, the apothicairesse at the convent, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the secret history of a young girl in 16th century Venice, who is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens …

Margherita’s parents love her dearly but the penalty for stealing in Venice in the late 16th century is cruel, and so they agree to give up their child at the age of seven to Selena, a courtesan whose walled garden is famous for its herbs and flowers. Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Titian, first painted by him in 1513 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-one years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition. Selena is determined to never surrender the power that her beauty gives her, and so she turns to black magic and a spell that requires the blood of a virgin. Yet in the decadent world of Renaissance Italy, where courtesans supped with kings, where convents were hotbeds of illicit love, and where a girl’s virginity was sold many times over, how was Selena to ensure her spell would work, not just once, but over and over again? The only way was to build a tower without door or stairs, deep in the forest … and this is where she locks Margherita at the age of twelve. As Margherita grows into womanhood, she sings in the hope someone will hear her. One day, a young man does and climbs her rope of hair into the tower … and so begins a beautiful love story that retells one of the world’s most mysterious and enduring fairytales.

The story of Margherita’s escape from the tower is interwoven with flashbacks that recount Charlotte-Rose’s tragic childhood and her scandalous life at the Sun King’s glittering court, and also the dark and tragic story of the courtesan Selena and how she came to be Titian’s muse. Three women, three lives, three stories, all braided together to create a compelling story of desire, obsession, black magic, and the redemptive power of love.

Praise for Bitter Greens

“Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens is not only a magnificent achievement that would make any novelist jealous, it’s one of the most beautiful paeans to the magic of storytelling that I’ve ever read.” – C.W. Gortner, author of The Queen’s Vow and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici

“History and fairytale are richly entwined in this spellbinding story. Unputdownable!” – Juliet Marillier, author of Daughter of the Forest and Heart’s Blood

“In Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth delivers a tale of beauty, strength and gravity. Her fierce respect for the art and power of storytelling shines through every page.” – Booklover Book Reviews

About the AuthorKate Forsyth 1

Kate Forsyth is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 books for adults and children , translated into 13 languages. She was recently named in the Top 25 of Australia’s Favourite Novelists. Since The Witches of Eileanan was named a Best First Novel by Locus Magazine, Kate has won or been nominated for many awards, including a CYBIL Award in the US. She’s also the only author to win five Aurealis awards in a single year, for her Gypsy Crown series of children’s historical novels. Kate’s latest novel, Bitter Greens, interweaves a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale with the scandalous life story of the woman who first told the tale, the 17th century French writer Charlotte-Rose de la Force. It has been called ‘the best fairy tale retelling since Angela Carter’ and ‘an imaginative weaving of magic, fairy tale and history’. A direct descendant of Charlotte Waring, the author of the first book for children ever published in Australia, Kate is currently studying a doctorate in fairy tales at the University of Technology in Sydney, where she lives by the sea, with her husband, three children, and many thousands of books.

Please visit Kate Forsyth’s WEBSITE and BLOG for more information. You can also find her on FACEBOOK and follow her on TWITTER.

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, February 25
Guest Post at Historical Tapestry

Tuesday, February 26
Review at Historical Tapestry & The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Wednesday, February 27
Review at Read Write Reviews

Thursday, February 28
Guest Post at Read Write Reviews

Friday, March 1
Interview at Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf

Monday, March 4
Review at One More Page…Diary of a Book Lover

Tuesday, March 5
Guest Post at One More Page…Diary of a Book Lover

Wednesday, March 6
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, March 7
Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Friday, March 8
Review at A Bookish Affair

Monday, March 11
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Tuesday, March 12
Review at The Little Reader Library

Wednesday, March 13
Review at Tiny Library

Thursday, March 14
Review at The Broke and the Bookish
Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Friday, March 15
Review at The Worm Hole

Monday, March 18
Review at A Words Worth

Tuesday, March 19
Interview at A Words Worth

Wednesday, March 20
Review at Unabridged Chick
Review at Kincavel Korner

Thursday, March 21
Interview at Kincavel Korner

Friday, March 22
Review at The Calico Critic
Interview at Unabridged Chick

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Richard IIIOn February 4, 2013 scientists from the University of Leicester made a monumental historical announcement, that the skeletal remains found under a car park in Leicester, England were those of King Richard III! To celebrate this monumental historical discovery author and Richard III historian, Anne Easter Smith, will be launching a pre-publication tour for her upcoming novel, Royal Mistress, from February 7 – 22.

From AnneEasterSmith.com…

King Richard III was the reason I became an author. After reading Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time in my early 20s, Richard became a bit of an obsession. Well into my 50s, after developing some writing skills as a newspaper editor, I decided to attempt a novel about who I thought the real Richard was. It was a labor of love and was eventually published as A Rose for the Crown by Touchstone at Simon & Schuster.

Richard is either a minor character or is made mention of in all of my books. From that first book where I looked at him through the eyes of a young woman who loved him, to my newest, Royal Mistress, Richard went from being a protagonist to an antagonist as I was forced to look at his actions from other people’s point of view.

So when the discovery of a skeleton beneath a car park in Leicester was made and the bones thought to be those of my favorite king, I was very excited. Richard is the only crowned king of England whose grave has never been found. The news has rekindled interest in the man, and Ricardians throughout the world!

Royal MistressPublication Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Touchstone
Hardcover; 512p

From the author of A Rose for the Crown and Daughter of York comes another engrossing historical novel of the York family in the Wars of the Roses, telling the fascinating story of the rise and fall of the final and favorite mistress of Edward IV.

Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore—but her heart belongs to another. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane Shore from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain and friend, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows his King will find her irresistible.

Edward IV has everything: power, majestic bearing, superior military leadership, a sensual nature, and charisma. And with Jane as his mistress, he also finds true happiness. But when his hedonistic tendencies get in the way of being the strong leader England needs, his life, as well as that of Jane Shore and Will Hastings, hang in the balance.

This dramatic tale has been an inspiration to poets and playwrights for 500 years, and told through the unique perspective of a woman plucked from obscurity and thrust into a life of notoriety, Royal Mistress is sure to enthrall today’s historical fiction lovers as well.

About the AuthorAnne Easter Smith

Anne Easter Smith is an award-winning historical novelist whose research and writing concentrates on England in the 15th century. Meticulous historical research, rich period detail, and compelling female protagonists combine to provide the reader with a sweeping portrait of England in the time of the Wars of the Roses. Her critically acclaimed first book, A Rose for the Crown, debuted in 2006, and her third, The King’s Grace, was the recipient of a Romantic Times Review Best Biography award in 2009. A Queen by Right has been nominated by Romantic TImes Review for the Best Historical Fiction award, 2011.

Articles on the Discovery

BBC news: DNA confirms Richard III is found
New York Times: Bones under parking lot belonged to Richard III
Facial reconstruction: How Richard may have appeared, as reported by BBC

Anne talks to NPI’s The World

Virtual Blog Tour Schedule

Thursday, February 7
Guest Post at Let Them Read Books

Friday, February 8
Interview at The Maiden’s Court
Guest Post at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Monday, February 11
Guest Post at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, February 12
Interview at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, February 13
Guest Post at Ageless Pages Reviews

Thursday, February 14
Guest Post at Books, Belles and Beaux

Friday, February 15
Interview at Unabridged Chick

Monday, February 18
Guest Post at So Many Books, So Little Time

Tuesday, February 19
Guest Post at The True Book Addict

Wednesday, February 20
Guest Post at A Bookish Libraria

Thursday, February 21
Interview at Enchanted by Josephine

Friday, February 22
Guest Post at Tanzanite’s Castle Full of Books

Monday, February 25
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, February 26
Guest Post at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, February 27
Interview at Muse in the Fog Book Reviews

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Please join author Holly Bush as she tours virtually for her novels, Romancing Olive and Reconstructing Jackson, from February 18 – March 12.

Romancing OlivePublication Date: November 1, 2011
BookBaby
205p

In 1891, spinster librarian, Olive Wilkins, is shocked to learn of her brother’s violent death at a saloon gaming table and her sister-in-law’s subsequent murder, traveling far from her staid life to rescue her niece and nephew, now orphans. She arrives to find the circumstances of her brother’s life deplorable and her long held beliefs of family and tradition, shaken.

Accustomed to the sophistication of Philadelphia, Olive arrives in Spencer, Ohio, a rough and tumble world she is not familiar with, facing two traumatized children. Her niece and nephew, Mary and John, have been living with a neighboring farmer, widower Jacob Butler, the father of three young children of his own and a man still in pain from the recent loss of his wife.

Real danger threatens Olive and Mary and John while Jacob and his own brood battle the day-to-day struggles for survival. Will Olive and Jacob find the strength to fight their battles alone or together? Will love conquer the bitterness of loss and broken dreams?

Reconstructing JacksonPublication Date: September 25, 2012
BookBaby
191p

1867 . . . Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family’s plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over.

Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks and holds together her family’s meager property. A violent brother and a drunken father plot to marry her off, and gain a new horse in the bargain. But Belle’s got other plans, and risks her life to reach them.

Reed is captivated by Belle from their first meeting, but wheelchair bound, is unable to protect her from violence. Bleak times will challenge Reed and Belle’s courage and dreams as they forge a new beginning from the ashes of war and ignorance.

Praise for Holly Bush

“A poignant read, ROMANCING OLIVE is an inspired, emotion-packed historical story that will touch your heart.” – Romance Junkies

“Put away your notions of romancing. Dust off your ideas of shocking and pick up a copy of ROMANCING OLIVE by Holly Bush, a family saga reminiscent of THE THORNBIRDS.” – Susan Russo Anderson Author & Book Blogger

“. . . Reconstructing Jackson . . . reminds me why I love novels by Holly Bush. Her ability to place you into a previous time period and enthrall you with a story so compelling that you can’t put it down is incredible.” – Author Deanna Lynn Sletten

About the AuthorHolly Bush1

Holly Bush was born in western Pennsylvania to two avid readers. There was not a room in her home that did not hold a full bookcase. She worked in the hospitality industry, owning a restaurant for twenty years and recently worked as the sales and marketing director in the hospitality/tourism industry and is credited with building traffic to capacity for a local farm tour, bringing guests from twenty-two states, booked two years out. Holly has been a marketing consultant to start-up businesses and has done public speaking on the subject.

Holly has been writing all of her life and is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, particularly political and historical works. She has written four romance novels, all set in the U.S. West in the mid 1800’s. She frequently attends writing conferences, and has always been a member of a writer’s group.

Holly is a gardener, a news junkie, has been an active member of her local library board and loves to spend time near the ocean. She is the proud mother of two daughters and the wife of a man more than a few years her junior.

Connect with Holly Bush: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTERGOOGLE+ | PINTEREST

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, February 18
Review at nomadreader (Romancing Olive)
Giveaway at History Undressed

Tuesday, February 19
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee (Romancing Olive)

Wednesday, February 20
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair (Romancing Olive)

Thursday, February 21
Review at Flashlight Commentary (Reconstructing Jackson)

Friday, February 22
Review at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader (Reconstructing Jackson)
Giveaway at A Writer’s Life: Working with the Muse

Monday, February 25
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time (Romancing Olive)
Review & Giveaway at The Life and Times of a Book Addict (Romancing Olive)

Tuesday, February 26
Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Wednesday, February 27
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie (Reconstructing Jackson)

Thursday, February 28
Review at Book Drunkard (Reconstructing Jackson)

Friday, March 1
Interview at Tribute Books

Monday, March 4
Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books (Romancing Olive)

Tuesday, March 5
Review at Raging Bibliomania (Reconstructing Jackson)
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks (Romancing Olive)

Wednesday, March 6
Giveaway at Layered Pages

Thursday, March 7
Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books (Reconstructing Jackson)

Friday, March 8
Review at Raging Bibliomania (Romancing Olive)
Review at The Novel Life (Romancing Olive)

Monday, March 11
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks (Reconstructing Jackson)
Review at Books in the Burbs (Romancing Olive)
Interview & Giveaway at The Novel Life (Romancing Olive)

Tuesday, March 12
Giveaway at Passages to the Past

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

Nancy Bilyeau on tour for The Chalice, February 26 – May 3

Posted By amy @ 3:29 pm | No Comments

Please join author Nancy Bilyeau as she tours the blogosphere for The Chalice from February 26 – May 3.

The ChalicePublication Date: March 5, 2013
Touchstone
Hardcover; 512p
ISBN: 1476708657

In the next novel from Nancy Bilyeau after her acclaimed debut The Crown, novice Joanna Stafford plunges into an even more dangerous conspiracy as she comes up against some of the most powerful men of her era.

In 1538, England is in the midst of bloody power struggles between crown and cross that threaten to tear the country apart. Joanna Stafford has seen what lies inside the king’s torture rooms and risks imprisonment again, when she is caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting the King. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna understands she may have to assume her role in a prophecy foretold by three different seers, each more omniscient than the last.

Joanna realizes the life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are in her hands—hands that must someday hold the chalice that lays at the center of these deadly prophecies…

Read the The New York Observer article on author Nancy Bilyeau, former editor of Entertainment Weekly, and the release of The Chalice.

 

Nancy Bilyeau Gives an Inside Peek Behind THE CHALICE

Official Book Trailer

Praise for The Chalice

“Rarely have the terrors of Henry VIII’s reformation been so exciting. Court intrigue, bloody executions, and haunting emotional entanglements create a heady brew of mystery and adventure that sweeps us from the devastation of the ransacked cloisters to the dangerous spy centers of London and the Low Countries, as ex-novice Joanna Stafford fights to save her way of life and fulfill an ancient prophecy, before everything she loves is destroyed.” – C.W. Gortner, author of The Queen’s Vow

The Chalice offers a fresh, dynamic look into Tudor England’s most powerful, volatile personalities: Henry VIII, the Duke of Norfolk, Stephen Gardiner and Bloody Mary Tudor. Heroine and former nun Joanna Stafford is beautiful, bold and in lethal danger. Bilyeau writes compellingly of people and places that demand your attention and don’t let you go even after the last exciting page. – Karen Harper, author of Mistress of Mourning

“An exciting and satisfying novel of historical suspense that cements Nancy Bilyeau as one of the genre’s rising stars. The indomitable Joanna Stafford is back with a cast of powerful and fascinating characters and a memorable story that is gripping while you are reading and haunting after you are done. Bravo! The Chalice is a fabulous read.” – M.J. Rose, author of The Reincarnationist

About the Author

NancyNancy Bilyeau Bilyeau, author of The Crown, is a writer and magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of InStyle, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. Her latest position is features editor of Du Jour magazine. A native of the Midwest, she graduated from the University of Michigan. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Connect with Nancy Bilyeau:  Website | Facebook | Twitter

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Tuesday, February 26
Review at She Reads Novels

Wednesday, February 27
Review at The Wormhole

Thursday, February 28
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Friday, March 1
Review at A Bookish Affair

Monday, March 4
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, March 5
Review at The Broke and the Bookish
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Thursday, March 7
Review at Turning the Pages

Monday, March 11
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, March 12
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, March 13
Review at The Eclectic Reader
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, March 14
Review at Let Them Read Books

Friday, March 15
Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Monday, March 18
Review at Peppermint, Ph.D.
Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, March 19
Review at Loyalty Binds Me
Review at Impressions in Ink

Wednesday, March 20
Review, Interview & Giveaway at A Bookish Libraria

Thursday, March 21
Review at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Friday, March 22
Guest Post at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Monday, March 25
Review at The Novel Life
Review at Devourer of Books

Tuesday, March 26
Review at Historical Tapestry & Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Wednesday, March 27
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Tapestry

Thursday, March 28
Review at Layered Pages

Friday, March 29
Interview at Layered Pages

Monday, April 1
Review at Words and Peace

Tuesday, April 2
Giveaway at Words and Peace

Wednesday, April 3
Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book

Thursday, April 4
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, April 5
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks

Tuesday, April 9
Review at One Book at a Time
Review at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, April 10
Review at Jenny Loves to Read

Thursday, April 11
Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Friday, April 12
Review, Guest Post & Giveaway at Drey’s Library

Monday, April 15
Review, Interview & Giveaway at The Lit Bitch

Tuesday, April 16
Review & Giveaway at Ageless Pages Reviews

Wednesday, April 17
Review & Giveaway at Library of Clean Reads
Guest Post & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Thursday, April 18
Review at The True Book Addict

Friday, April 19
Interview at Griperang’s Bookmarks

Monday, April 22
Review at Book Drunkard

Tuesday, April 23
Review at A Book Geek

Wednesday, April 24
Review & Giveaway at Review from Here

Thursday, April 25
Review at Historical Novel Review & Great Historicals

Friday, April 26
Review at Enchanted by Josephine

Tuesday, April 30
Review at Tea at Trianon
Review at Writing the Renaissance
Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book

Wednesday, May 1
Interview at Writing the Renaissance

Thursday, May 2
Review at Tanzanite’s Castle Full of Books

Friday, May 3
Interview & Giveaway at Tanzanite’s Castle Full of Books

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Please join V.E. Ulett as she tours the blogosphere for Captain Blackwell’s Prize from January 21 – February 1.

Publication Date: June 18, 2012
Fireship Press
274p

A romantic adventure from the days of wooden ships and iron men, Captain Blackwell’s Prize is a story of honor, duty, social class and the bond of sensual love.

A small, audacious British frigate does battle against a large but ungainly Spanish ship. British Captain James Blackwell intercepts the Spanish La Trinidad, outmaneuvers and outguns the treasure ship and boards her. Fighting alongside the Spanish captain, sword in hand, is a beautiful woman. The battle is quickly over. The Spanish captain is killed in the fray and his ship damaged beyond repair. Its survivors and treasure are taken aboard the British ship, Inconstant.

Captain Blackwell’s Prize features sword fights and sea battles alongside the manners, ideas, and prejudices of men and women from the time of Nelson and Napoleon.

PRAISE FOR CAPTAIN BLACKWELL’S PRIZE

“… a satisfying page-turner. Ulett’s characters are as convincing as her naval action is credible.”  – Julian Mackrell, Historic Naval Fiction

“a fine story … Highly recommended for those who enjoy a romantic tale with a little action included as well.”  – Jeff Westerhoff, Historical Novels Review

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A long time resident of California, V.E. Ulett is an avid reader as well as writer of historical fiction. V.E. is a member of the National Books Critics Circle and an active member and reviewer for the Historical Novel Society. Eighteenth and nineteenth century journals and letters inspired the writing of CAPTAIN BLACKWELL’S PRIZE. The sequel takes Captain Blackwell and Mercedes to the far side of the world, on a new personal, and cultural adventure.

Connect with V.E. Ulett: WEBSITE | GOODREADS

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, January 21
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, January 23
Author Interview at Historical Boys
Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Friday, January 25
Review at The Book Garden

Monday, January 28
Review at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Friday, February 1
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie

Monday, February 4
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Alana White on tour for The Sign of the Weeping Virgin,
February 11 – 22

Posted By amy @ 11:15 am | 10 Comments

Please join Alana White as she tours the blogosphere with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for The Sign of the Weeping Virgin from February 1122.

Publication Date: December 9, 2012 
Five Star Publishing
384p 

The year is 1480, and celebrated Florentine lawyer Guid’Antonio Vespucci and his nephew, Amerigo, return home to Italy from a government mission to find their dreams of peace shattered. Marauding Turks have abducted a beautiful young girl and sold her into slavery. Equally disturbing, a revered painting of the Virgin Mary is weeping in Guid’Antonio’s family church. Angry and fearful Florentines interpret these stunning events as signs of God’s wrath for their support of the city’s leader, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Lorenzo’s refusal to end his war with the Pope.

Faced with losing control of the city, Lorenzo enlists Guid’Antonio, his friend and staunch political ally, to investigate the tears. In an evocative tale that brings the Italian Renaissance gloriously to life, following a seemingly unrelated trail of clues–a name whispered in the marketplace by a hooded monk, a secret message painted by Sandro Botticelli on the wall of the Vespucci family church–Guid’Antonio and Amerigo chase across Florence to the workshops of Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, to churches where frescoes seem to fly off the walls, from Florence to the village where the girl disappeared, and, finally, to the hilltop of Vinci itself.

In The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, a finely wrought story that will appeal to lovers of medieval and renaissance mysteries everywhere, Guid’Antonio uncovers the thought-provoking truth about the missing girl and the Virgin Mary’s mystifying–and miraculous?–tears, all pursued as he comes face to face with his own personal demons.

PRAISE FOR THE SIGN OF THE WEEPING VIRGIN

“A Florentine lawyer must solve a murder to keep his city from imploding. One hopes that White’s clever tale, meticulously researched and pleasingly written, is the first in a series that will bring Florence and its many famous denizens to life.” – STARRED Kirkus Review

“Fans of historical mysteries will thoroughly enjoy this chance to visit the Italy of 1480 in the company of real-life historical figure Guid’Antonio Vespucci, a Florence lawyer. Backed up by sure-handed storytelling and scrupulous research into the period, White creates richly evocative descriptions of Renaissance-era Florence certain to please the amateur historian and armchair tourist.” – Publishers Weekly Review

“Intrigue and danger…White’s debut Renaissance mystery is overflowing with historical details and fascinating subplots…the author’s knack for describing settings is stellar. Ian Morson writes historicals with a similar tone.” – Library Journal

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alana White’s fascination with the Italian Renaissance led to her first short historical mystery fiction, then to a full-length novel, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, forthcoming from Five Star Mysteries in December 2012. Set in Renaissance Florence, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin features lawyer Guid’Antonio Vespucci and his adventurous young nephew, Amerigo Vespucci, as they investigate crime in Renaissance Florence. Alana’s articles and book reviews appear regularly in Renaissance Magazine and the Historical Novels Review. In young adult+ books, she is the author of Come Next Spring, a novel set in 1940s Appalachia, and a biography, Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark. She is currently working on her second Guid’Antonio Vespucci mystery.

www.alanawhite.com

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, February 11
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Interview & Giveaway at Enchanted by Josephine

Tuesday, February 12
Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, February 13

Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Guest Post & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Friday, February 15
Review at The Novel Life
Review & Giveaway at Words and Peace

Monday, February 18

Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, February 19

Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, February 20
Review & Giveaway at Ageless Pages Reviews

Thursday, February 21
Review at A Bookish Libraria

Friday, February 22
Review & Giveaway at The Book Garden
 
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cynthia Haggard on tour for Thwarted Queen, February 11 – March 1

Posted By amy @ 8:34 am | 1 Comment

Please join author Cynthia Haggard as she tours the blogosphere with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for Thwarted Queen from February 11 – March 1.

Publication Date: October 29, 2012
CreateSpace
496p

THWARTED QUEEN is a portrait of a woman trapped by power, a marriage undone by betrayal, and a King brought down by fear.

Cecylee is the apple of her mother’s eye. The seventh daughter, she is the only one left unmarried by 1424, the year she turns nine. In her father’s eyes, however, she is merely a valuable pawn in the game of marriage. The Earl of Westmorland plans to marry his youngest daughter to 13-year-old Richard, Duke of York, who is close to the throne. He wants this splendid match to take place so badly, he locks his daughter up.

The event that fuels the narrative is Cecylee’s encounter with Blaybourne, a handsome archer, when she is twenty-six years old. This love affair produces a child (the “One Seed” of Book II), who becomes King Edward IV. But how does a public figure like Cecylee, whose position depends upon the goodwill of her husband, carry off such an affair? The duke could have locked her up, or disposed of this illegitimate son.

But Richard does neither, keeping her firmly by his side as he tries to make his voice heard in the tumultuous years that encompass the end of the Hundred Years War – during which England loses all of her possessions in France – and the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses. He inherits the political mantle of his mentor Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, and become’s the people’s champion. The rambunctious Londoners are unhappy that their country has become mired in misrule due to the ineptitude of a King prone to fits of madness. Nor are they better pleased by the attempts of the King’s French wife to maneuver herself into power, especially as she was responsible for England’s losses in France. But can Richard and Cecylee prevail? Everywhere, their enemies lurk in the shadows.

This book is filled with many voices, not least those of the Londoners, who forged their political destiny by engaging in public debate with the powerful aristocrats of the time. By their courageous acts, these fifteenth-century Londoners set the stage for American Democracy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in Surrey, England, CYNTHIA SALLY HAGGARD has lived in the United States for twenty-nine years. She has had four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer and novelist. Why does she write historical novels? Because she has been reading them with great enjoyment since she was a child. Because she has a great imagination and a love of history that won’t go away. And because she has an annoying tendency to remember trivial details of the past and to treat long-dead people as if they were more real than those around her.

Cynthia’s biggest influence was her grandmother, Stephanie Treffry, who had a natural story-telling ability. As a widow in 1970s Britain, Grandma Stephanie didn’t drive a car, so would spend time waiting for buses. Her stories were about various encounters she had at those bus-stops. Nothing extraordinary, except that she made them so funny, everyone was in fits of laughter. A born entertainer, Cynthia tries to emulate her when she writes her novels.

In case you were wondering, she is related to H. Rider Haggard, the author of SHE and KING SOLOMONS’S MINES. (H. Rider Haggard was a younger brother of her great-grandfather.) Cynthia Sally Haggard is a member of the Historical Novel Society. You can visit her website at www.spunstories.com.

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, February 11
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Tuesday, February 12
Review at The Book Garden

Wednesday, February 13
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, February 14
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Friday, February 15
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Guest Post at Flashlight Commentary

Monday, February 18
Review at The Lit Bitch
Review & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Tuesday, February 19
Interview & Giveaway at The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, February 20
Review at A Book Geek

Thursday, February 21
Review at Psychotic State Book Reviews
Feature & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Friday, February 22
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Monday, February 25
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, February 26
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, February 27
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, February 28
Author Guest Post at A Chick Who Reads

Friday, March 1
Review at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

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