Author Jennifer Cody Epstein is embarking on another virtual tour with HF Virtual Book Tours for the paperback release of The Gods of Heavenly Punishment from January 7 – 21.

Paperback Publication Date: January 13, 2014
W.W. Norton & Company
Paperback; 400p
ISBN-13: 9780393347883

One summer night in prewar Japan, eleven-year-old Billy Reynolds takes snapshots at his parent’s dinner party. That same evening his father Anton–a prominent American architect–begins a torrid affair with the wife of his master carpenter. A world away in New York, Cameron Richards rides a Ferris Wheel with his sweetheart and dreams about flying a plane. Though seemingly disparate moments, they will all draw together to shape the fate of a young girl caught in the midst of one of WWII’s most horrific events–the 1945 firebombing of Tokyo.

Exquisitely-rendered, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment tells the stories of families on both sides of the Pacific: their loves and infidelities, their dreams and losses–and their shared connection to one of the most devastating acts of war in human history.

Praise for The Gods of Heavenly Punishment

“Epstein’s second novel (after The Painter from Shanghai) is bursting with characters and locales. Yet painful, authentic (Epstein has lived and worked in Asia), and exquisite portraits emerge of the personal impact of national conflicts—and how sometimes those conflicts can be bridged by human connections.” (Publishers Weekly)

“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a page-turner thanks to its high-stakes adventure, torrid love affairs and characters so real they seem to follow you around. And in the end, this gripping novel asks us not just to consider a lost chapter of a famous war but also to explore what it means to be lucky—and what it means to be loved.” (Amy Shearn, Oprah.com)

“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment showcases war’s bitter ironies…as well as its romantic serendipities.” (Megan O’Grady, Vogue)

“With stunning clarity, Epstein has re-created Tokyo both before and after the bombing in a novel that raises still-unanswered questions about the horrors of war, the cruelty associated with it and the lasting impression it can make on a person, a people or a place.” (Shelf-Awareness.com)

“An epic novel about a young Japanese girl during World War II underscores the far-reaching impact that the decisions of others can have.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Sweeping….[A] harrowing novel of destruction and creation that will appeal to fans of historical fiction” (Library Journal—starred review)

Buy Links

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
Powell’s

About the Author

Jennifer Cody Epstein is the author of The Gods of Heavenly Punishment and the international bestseller The Painter from Shanghai. She has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Self, Mademoiselle and NBC, and has worked in Hong Kong, Japan and Bangkok, Thailand. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, two daughters and especially needy Springer Spaniel.

For more information, please visit Jennifer Cody Epstein’s website and blog.  You can also find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, January 6
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, January 7
Review & Giveaway at Found Between the Covers

Wednesday, January 8
Review at Lit Nerd

Thursday, January 9
Review at From L.A. to LA

Friday, January 10
Review & Giveaway at Drey’s Library
Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection
Giveaway at Bibliophilic Book Blog

Monday, January 13
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at The Maiden’s Court

Wednesday, January 15
Review at Cozy Up with a Good Read

Thursday, January 16
Review at The Lit Bitch

Friday, January 17
Review at Doing Dewey
Review at Reading the Ages
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Monday, January 20
Review at bookramblings
Review at Carpe Librum
Interview & Giveaway at Doing Dewey

Tuesday, January 21
Review at Too Fond Beth
Review at Books in the Burbs
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Please join Shari Vester as she tours virtually for Degrees of Courage from January 13 – 24.

Publication Date: June 19, 2012
Mill City Press
Paperback; 574p
ISBN: 1938223233

The book follows the story of three generation of women from 1900 through 1970, seven decades of wars and hardship. At the turn of the century, an era of strict moral codes, Angela falls in love with a priest who abandons her and her unborn child. She overcomes rejection and misfortunes, including losing her right hand, and brings up her daughter, exuberant, stubborn Ilonka. In spite of the stigma of her illegitimate birth, the girl finds happiness in love and marriage, raising five children, among them Sarika, independent and high-spirited, much like herself. With the outbreak of WWII, however, their lives change drastically, followed by equally hard times as the country falls under Soviet-style dictatorship. When an attempt to free the country in 1956 fails and people start to flee retributions, Sarika and her brothers join the exodus to the West. With her family torn apart Ilonka never recovers her strength.

Years of fear and political pressures hasten her descend into depression, and when she loses her husband too, she finally gives up. Alone and completely on her own, Sarika finds her way to America, and begins a new life full of opportunities and most importantly, free of fear.

Watch the Official Book Trailer

About the Author

As a young woman, author Shari Vester fled her native Hungary in 1956 after the defeat of a patriotic uprising against the country’s Soviet-dictated regime. She was granted asylum in the United States to begin a new life. After a year living in New York she moved to Los Angeles, married, and worked as an insurance account manager. Recently retired, she and her husband relocated in the Palm Spring area, where she finally found time to write. Her debut novel, Degrees of Courage, is a historical fiction drawn on her family history. It paints a sharp contrast between life as we know it in America, versus a time and place where today’s “Let it be” mentality was simply impossible.

For more information please visit Shari’s website. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, January 13
Review at Bloggin’ ’bout Books
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, January 14
Interview & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, January 15
Guest Post & Giveaway at HF Connection

Thursday, January 16
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Friday, January 17
Review at Closed the Cover

Monday, January 20
Guest Post & Giveaway at Bibliophilic Book Blog

Tuesday, January 21
Review at Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, January 22
Review & Giveaway at Words and Peace

Thursday, January 23
Review at From L.A. to LA

Friday, January 24
Review at Silver’s Reviews
Review at Books in the Burbs

Please join Sam Thomas as he tours virtually for The Harlot’s Tale from January 6 – 24.

Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Minotaur Books
Hardcover; 320p1250010780
ISBN-10: 1250010780

It is August, 1645, one year since York fell into Puritan hands. As the city suffers through a brutal summer heat, Bridget Hodgson and Martha Hawkins are drawn into a murder investigation more frightening than their last. In order to appease God’s wrath—and end the heat-wave—the city’s overlords have launched a brutal campaign to whip the city’s sinners into godliness. But for someone in York, whipping is not enough. First a prostitute and her client are found stabbed to death, then a pair of adulterers are beaten and strangled. York’s sinners have been targeted for execution.

Bridget and Martha—assisted once again by Will, Bridget’s good-hearted nephew—race to find the killer even as he adds more bodies to his tally. The list of suspects is long: Hezekiah Ward, a fire and brimstone preacher new to York; Ward’s son, Praise-God, whose intensity mirrors his father’s; John Stubb, one of Ward’s fanatic followers, whose taste for blood may not have been sated by his time in Parliament’s armies. Or could the killer be closer to home? Will’s brother Joseph is no stranger to death, and he shares the Wards’ dreams of driving sin from the city.

To find the killer, Bridget, Martha, and Will must uncover the city’s most secret sins, and hope against hope that the killer does not turn his attention in their direction.

Buy Links

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound
iTunes
Powell’s

About the Author

Sam Thomas is an assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He has received research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Newberry Library, and the British Academy. He has published articles on topics ranging from early modern Britain to colonial Africa. Thomas lives in Alabama with his wife and two children.

For more information, please visit Sam Thomas’ website and blog. You can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, January 6
Review at Unabridged Chick
Review at Words and Peace

Tuesday, January 7
Review at A Bookish Affair
Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, January 8
Review at Broken Teepee
Interview at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, January 9
Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Monday, January 13
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Tuesday, January 14
Review at Impressions in Ink
Interview & Giveaway at A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, January 15
Review at Book of Secrets
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Thursday, January 16
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Friday, January 17
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Monday, January 20
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading
Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, January 21
Review at The Most Happy Reader

Wednesday, January 22
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Interview at The Most Happy Reader

Thursday, January 23
Review at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Friday, January 24
Review at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Review at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Please join Heather Webb as she tours virtually for Becoming Josephine from January 1 – February 7.

Publication Date: December 31, 2013
Plume Books/Penguin
Paperback; 320p
ISBN-10: 0142180653

Rose Tascher sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris to trade her Creole black magic culture for love and adventure. She arrives exultant to follow her dreams of attending Court with Alexandre, her elegant aristocrat and soldier husband. But Alexandre dashes her hopes and abandons her amid the tumult of the French Revolution.

Through her savoir faire, Rose secures her footing in high society, reveling in handsome men and glitzy balls—until the heads of her friends begin to roll.

After narrowly escaping death in the blood-drenched cells of Les Carmes prison, she reinvents herself as Josephine, a socialite of status and power. Yet her youth is fading, and Josephine must choose between a precarious independence and the love of an awkward suitor. Little does she know, he would become the most powerful man of his century- Napoleon Bonaparte.

BECOMING JOSEPHINE is a novel of one woman’s journey to find eternal love and stability, and ultimately to find herself.

Praise for Becoming Josephine

“Heather Webb’s epic novel captivates from its opening in a turbulent plantation society in the Caribbean, to the dramatic rise of one of France’s most fascinating women: Josephine Bonaparte. Perfectly balancing history and story, character and setting, detail and pathos, Becoming Josephine marks a debut as bewitching as its protagonist.” –Erika Robuck, author of Hemingway’s Girl

“With vivid characters and rich historical detail, Heather Webb has portrayed in Josephine a true heroine of great heart, admirable strength, and inspiring courage whose quest is that of women everywhere: to find, and claim, oneself.” –Sherry Jones, bestselling author of The Jewel of the Medina

“A fast-paced, riveting journey, Becoming Josephine captures the volatile mood of one of the most intense periods of history—libertine France, Caribbean slave revolts, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars—from the point of a view of one of its key witnesses, Josephine Bonaparte.” –Dana Gynther, author of Crossing on the Paris

“Vivid and passionate, Becoming Josephine captures the fiery spirit of the woman who stole Napoleon’s heart and enchanted an empire. –Susan Spann, author of The Shinobi Mysteries

“Spellbinding . . . Heather Webb’s novel takes us behind the mask of the Josephine we thought we knew.” –Christy English, author of How to Tame a Willful Wife and To Be Queen

“Enchanting prose takes the reader on an unforgettable journey . . . Captivating young Rose springs from the lush beauty of her family’s sugar plantation in Martinique to shine in the eighteenth century elegance of Parisian salon society. When France is torn by revolution, not even the blood-bathed terror of imprisonment can break her spirit.” –Marci Jefferson, author of Girl on the Gold Coin (Thomas Dunne Books, 2014)

Buy Links

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound

About the Author

Heather Webb grew up a military brat and naturally became obsessed with travel, culture, and languages. She put her degrees to good use teaching high school French for nearly a decade before turning to full time novel writing and freelance editing.

When not writing, Heather flexes her foodie skills or looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.

For more information please visit Heather’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Wednesday, January 1
Review & Interview at HF Book Muse-News
Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Thursday, January 2
Review at Let Them Read Books
Review & Giveaway at WTF Are You Reading?

Friday, January 3
Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Monday, January 6
Review & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, January 7
Review & Giveaway at Scandalous Women

Wednesday, January 8
Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, January 9
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Friday, January 10
Review at Turning the Pages

Monday, January 13
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, January 14
Review at Unabridged Chick
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Wednesday, January 15
Review at Book Lovers Paradise
Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Thursday, January 16
Review & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Monday, January 20
Review at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, January 21
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks
Interview & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, January 22
Review at A Book Geek
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, January 23
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Saturday, January 25
Review at Book-alicious Mama

Monday, January 27
Interview at Erika Mailman Blog
Review & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Tuesday, January 28
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Wednesday, January 29
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Thursday, January 30
Interview at HF Connection

Friday, January 31
Review at Books in the Burbs

Monday, February 3
Review at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Wednesday, February 5
Review at A Bookish Libraria

Friday, February 7
Review at Silver’s Reviews