The Vatican Must Go: An American Tale of Government Power and the Glory of Faith
by D. Grant Fitter

Publication Date: June 3, 2020
Paperback & eBook; 361 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

It’s the 1920’s, Pancho Villa is gone, and Mexico is just settling into a new, post revolution form of democratic government. Vatican influence over the psyche of the country remains an enemy and so, power brokers south of the border have written a new constitution containing articles to strangle the power of the Catholic church over the citizenry and detaching it from Vatican control.

And so, Christ goes to war.

Back in United States, the possibilities are a welcome sight to certain people of power in a country where Protestant evangelism is a hallmark of the American Way.

If only a Mercenary Force could be dispatched to represent those American interests.

Enter Soldier of Fortune, Charlie Coates, who stealthily managed the bloody John D. Rockefeller strikebreaking campaign during the infamous Colorado Coalmining Wars.

The government of Mexico tried to disown the atrocities and battles of the early 20th Century Cristero War which claimed over 120,000 lives. It was a long and dirty war selectively forgotten by the official history curriculum.

The Vatican Must Go is one historical fiction account of what might have brought about all-out warfare against government attempts to stamp out Catholic Church control over the soul of Mexico.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

D. Grant Fitter is a citizen of North America. Born in Ontario, Canada and educated in Colorado, USA, he is convinced he was Mexican in his previous life. How else to explain such a strong attraction to all things Mexican, including his wife, Rita.

His business career includes long stints of work in Mexico City before yielding to a strong urge to pursue a livelihood in freelance journalism for seventeen years. Meanwhile, Fitter’s Mexico roots continued to call.

The Vatican Must Go is his second novel set in Mexico. His first, City of Promises, which is also available on Amazon, takes place in 1940s Mexico City and Veracruz during the glorious years of Mexico’s Golden Age. He likes to say you can’t know Mexico until you know Veracruz and Mexico City.

Be sure to look for Fitter’s third historical fiction novel to be released late this year. Sivia’s Story is set in the time period after The Vatican Must Go and immediately prior to City of Promises.

D. Grant Fitter lives in Woodbridge, Ontario and whenever possible, in the Colonial Jewel of a town, Taxco, Guerrero.

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His Castilian Hawk
by Anna Belfrage

Publication Date: September 28, 2020
Troubador Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

For bastard-born Robert FitzStephan, being given Eleanor d’Outremer in marriage is an honour. For Eleanor, this forced wedding is anything but a fairy tale.

Robert FitzStephan has served Edward Longshanks loyally since the age of twelve. Now he is riding with his king to once and for all bring Wales under English control.

Eleanor d’Outremer—Noor to family—lost her Castilian mother as a child and is left entirely alone when her father and brother are killed. When ordered to wed the unknown Robert FitzStephan, she has no choice but to comply.

Two strangers in a marriage bed is not easy. Things are further complicated by Noor’s blood-ties to the Welsh princes and by covetous Edith who has warmed Robert’s bed for years.

Robert’s new wife may be young and innocent, but he is soon to discover that not only is she spirited and proud, she is also brave. Because when Wales lies gasping and Edward I exacts terrible justice on the last prince and his children, Noor is determined to save at least one member of the House of Aberffraw from the English king.

Will years of ingrained service have Robert standing with his king or will he follow his heart and protect his wife, his beautiful and fierce Castilian hawk?

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England.

More recently, Anna has published The Wanderer, a fast-paced contemporary romantic suspense trilogy with paranormal and time-slip ingredients. While she loved stepping out of her comfort zone (and will likely do so again ) she is delighted to be back in medieval times in her September 2020 release, His Castilian Hawk. Set against the complications of Edward I’s invasion of Wales, His Castilian Hawk is a story of loyalty, integrity—and love.

Find out more about Anna on her website or on her Amazon page. You can also follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Blog Tour Schedule

Saturday, October 24
Review at Pursuing Stacie

Monday, October 26
Excerpt at Coffee and Ink

Tuesday, October 27
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews

Wednesday, October 28
Guest Post at Novels Alive

Friday, October 30
Excerpt at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Sunday, November 1
Interview at Reader_ceygo

Tuesday, November 3
Review at YA, It’s Lit

Wednesday, November 4
Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Friday, November 6
Review at Passages to the Past

Monday, November 9
Excerpt at I’m Into Books

Tuesday, November 10
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, November 12
Excerpt at Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings
Excerpt at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals

Monday, November 16
Review at Reader_ceygo
Review at Just One More Chapter

Tuesday, November 17
Review at Books and Zebras

Wednesday, November 18
Review at Novels Alive
Interview at Jathan & Heather

Thursday, November 19
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Friday, November 20
Feature at The Lit Bitch
Review at Bookramblings
Interview at Books & Benches

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away two paperback copies of His Castilian Hawk! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

The giveaway is open internationally and ends on November 20th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Castilian Hawk

You are cordially invited to the Online Launch Party for Tonya Mitchell’s A Feigned Madness! Join us on Monday, October 5th from 7:00-9:00pm EST to learn more about Tonya’s new release about Nellie Bly! We will have giveaways too! Hope to see you there!

The party will happen HERE! RSVP today to reserve your spot!

A Feigned Madness
by Tonya Mitchell

Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Cynren Press
Paperback & eBook; 394 pages

Genre: Historical Thriller

 

 

The insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island is a human rat trap. It is easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out. —Nellie Bly

Elizabeth Cochrane has a secret.

She isn’t the madwoman with amnesia the doctors and inmates at Blackwell’s Asylum think she is.

In truth, she’s working undercover for the New York World. When the managing editor refuses to hire her because she’s a woman, Elizabeth strikes a deal: in exchange for a job, she’ll impersonate a lunatic to expose a local asylum’s abuses.

When she arrives at the asylum, Elizabeth realizes she must make a decision—is she there merely to bear witness, or to intervene on behalf of the abused inmates? Can she interfere without blowing her cover? As the superintendent of the asylum grows increasingly suspicious, Elizabeth knows her scheme—and her dream of becoming a journalist in New York—is in jeopardy.

A Feigned Madness is a meticulously researched, fictionalized account of the woman who would come to be known as daredevil reporter Nellie Bly. At a time of cutthroat journalism, when newspapers battled for readers at any cost, Bly emerged as one of the first to break through the gender barrier—a woman who would, through her daring exploits, forge a trail for women fighting for their place in the world.

Praise

“Simply addictive… Set in the 1890s, Mitchell’s meticulously researched, gripping novel tells a fictionalized account of the daredevil journalist Nellie Bly’s journey of breaking through the gender barriers as she sets on a path to unravel dark secrets of authorities at a mental asylum. The institutions for the insane on Blackwell’s Island in New York City’s East River are notoriously famous for one thing: it’s easy to get in, but once there, it is impossible to get out. Disgusted by the unfair gender-based practices, the ambitious Elizabeth Cochrane, aka Nellie Bly, takes on a dangerous assignment of exposing corrupt authorities at one of the asylums to prove her expertise as a reporter, putting her life at risk. Through Elizabeth’s journey, Mitchell sketches a vivid and at times horrifying portrait of the asylum, revealing a bleak picture of institutional failure. The audacious scenarios Elizabeth finds herself in ring with authenticity. Brilliantly tackling Elizabeth’s past and present, Mitchell has delivered a satisfying and riveting tale. Historical fiction lovers are in for a treat.” -The Prairies Book Review

“Mitchell takes us on a journey through the gates of hell to a place as mesmerizing as it is dark. A compelling read for anyone with an interest in Victorian history.” -Pam Lecky, author of The Lucy Lawrence Mystery Series

About the Author

Ever since reading Jane Eyre in high school, Tonya has been drawn to dark stories, particularly of the gothic variety. Her influences include Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker. More contemporarily, she loves the work of Shirley Jackson, Agatha Christie, Victoria Holt, Margaret Atwood, and Laura Purcell.

​When she landed on a story about a woman who pretended to be insane in order to write a newspaper story, she knew she’d landed on something she was meant to write.

Tonya received her BA in journalism from Indiana University. Her short fiction has appeared in The Copperfield Review, Words Undone, and The Front Porch Review, as well as in various anthologies, including Furtive Dalliance, Welcome to Elsewhere, and Glimmer and Other Stories and Poems, for which she won the Cinnamon Press award in fiction.

She is a self-professed Anglophile and is obsessed with all things relating to the Victorian period. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society North America and resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and three wildly energetic sons.

A Feigned Madness is her first novel.

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Life and Other Shortcomings: Stories
by Corie Adjmi

Publication Date: August 4, 2020
She Writes Press
Paperback & eBook; 170 pages

Genre: Literary/Short Stories

 

 

Life and Other Shortcomings is a collection of linked short stories that takes the reader from New Orleans to New York City to Madrid, and from 1970 to the present day. The women in these twelve stories make a number of different choices: some work, others don’t; some stay married, some get divorced; others never marry at all. Through each character’s intimate journey, specific truths are revealed about what it means to be a woman―in relationship with another person, in a particular culture and era―and how these conditions ultimately affect her relationship with herself. The stories as a whole depict patriarchy, showing what still might be, but certainly what was, for some women in this country before the #MeToo movement. Both a cautionary tale and a captivating window into women’s lives, Life and Other Shortcomings is required reading for anyone interested in an honest, incisive, and compelling portrayal of the female experience.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

Praise

Included in 2020’s Best Beach Reads by Parade “A compelling collection that captures the mystery and menace beneath love and family life. ” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Corie Adjmi has a flair for dramatizing scenes. She homes in on the killer moment, and her dialogue is so honest that I was cringing at times . . . It is just so vivid. ”
―Susan Breen, author of The Fiction Class

“Corie Adjmi’s stories are sharply written, unsparing, and spot-on. With wisdom and humanity, Life and Other Shortcomings plumbs the mysteries of adult life: the menacing underside of love, the protean nature of grief, and the baffling difficulty of staying true to ourselves and the things we value most. Assured in her storytelling, Adjmi writes with force and perception. Her stories are a must-read.” ―Elyssa Friedland, author of em>The Floating Feldmans and The Intermission and Love and Miss Communication

“Pitch perfect and very haunting, Life and Other Shortcomings is a true delight. Adjmi’s interlocking stories are as funny as they are tragic. Her characters are so real and relatable, you’ll find yourself rooting for them, even as they get into trouble. Adjmi is a great new talent.” ―Alison Espach, author of The Adults

“All that glitters is not gold in Corie Adjmi’s wonderful short story collection Life and Other Shortcomings. Adjmi exposes the fear, envy, and yearning that simmer just beneath the surface of her characters’ beautiful lives. Her writing is both elegant and powerful. I was hooked from the first page to the last.” ―Ellen Sussman, New York Times best-selling author of four novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons and On a Night Like This

About the Author

Corie Adjmi grew up in New Orleans. She started writing in her thirties, and her award-winning fiction and personal essays have since appeared in over two dozen publications, including North American Review, Indiana Review, South Dakota Review, and, more recently, HuffPost and Man Repeller. In 2019, Life and Other Shortcomings was a finalist for the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for short fiction from BkMk Press. When she is not writing, Corie does volunteer work, cooks, draws, bikes, and hikes. She and her husband have five children and a number of grandchildren, with more on the way. She lives and works in New York City.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Naked Truth or Equality, the Forbidden Fruit
by Carrie Hayes

Publication Date: February 29, 2020
HTPH Press
Paperback & eBook; 322 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

From Washington Heights to Washington D.C. comes a true American Herstory. Filled with intrigue, lust, and betrayal, this is the fight for sexual equality.

1868, on the eve of the Gilded Age: Spiritualist TENNESSEE CLAFLIN is smart, sexy, and sometimes clairvoyant. But it’s her sister, VICTORIA WOODHULL, who is going to make history as the first woman to run for President of the United States.

It starts with the seduction of the richest man in America. Next, they’ll take New York City and the suffragist movement by storm, because together, Tennessee and Victoria are a force of nature. Boldly ambitious, they stop at nothing, brushing shoulders with Harriet Beecher Stowe and Susan B. Anthony, using enough chutzpah to make a lady blush.

That is, until their backstabbing family takes them to court, and their carefully spun lives unravel, out in public and in the press.

“Unsexed!” – New York Herald, 1872

“Short Haired Women and Long Haired Men.” – New York World, 1872

“Nothing More Than A Shameless Prostitute and A Negro.” – The Guard, Eugene Oregon, 1872

Told from shifting points-of-view and using actual news reportage from the era, Naked Truth is a riveting inside look into the struggle for women’s rights after the Civil War.

“Sometimes it is not enough to be the news, sometimes you have to make the news as well.” –James Gordon Bennett, Jr., Proprietor of the New York Herald

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

Praise

“Divisiveness. Chutzpah. Seduction. Politics. Oppression. Spirituality. Gender relations. Betrayal. Healers -vs- scam artists. Fortitude. Dismay. Against-all-odds battles. Fighting the good fight. Just like the plight of humanity today, the historical and excellently well-crafted novel, NAKED TRUTH: OR EQUALITY THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT by Carrie Hayes has it all.” ***** – INDIE READER

“Hayes writes with such care and authenticity that the reader will likely be unsure where the history ends and the fiction begins.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Naked Truth: Or Equality, the Forbidden Fruit is a rich, balanced, and deftly written story that is as moving as it is entertaining.” ***** – Readers’ Favorite

“(Hayes) has found a fascinating chapter in history to explore, and Victoria and Tennie are compelling protagonists: fiercely determined, morally ambiguous, and deeply complicated. Readers with an interest in first-wave feminism, New York history, and detailed storytelling will enjoy mining this debut, which nicely sets up a sequel.” – Book Life

“I thought this novel was brilliant from start to finish. It is fresh, it is vibrant, and the story is one that has been waiting to be told.” ***** – CoffeePot Book Club

“Naked Truth is a smooth fast read. Carrie Hayes’ marvelous interlacing of history with the narrative sparks an American story as well as a woman story. She has made this pair of wily sisters and their slickster father vivid and timeless.” – Gail Godwin, three time National Book Award Finalist

About the Author

Over the years, Carrie has tried a lot of things. She’s sold vacuum cleaners, annuities and sofas. She’s lived at the beach and lived in Europe. She’s taught school and worked in film. For a while, she was an aspiring librarian, but she fell in love and threw her life away instead. Back in the States, she started over, then met an architect who said, “Why don’t you become a kitchen designer?” So, she did. Eventually she designed interiors, too. And all that time, she was reading. What mattered was having something to read. Slowly, she realized her craving for books sprang from her need to know how things would turn out. Because in real life, you don’t know how things will turn out. But if you write it, you do. Naked Truth or Equality the Forbidden Fruit is her first book.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 19
Review at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, October 20
Review at Bookworlder
Feature at I’m All About Books

Wednesday, October 21
Review at YA, it’s Lit
Review at andreajanel_reads

Thursday, October 22
Review at Bitch Bookshelf

Friday, October 23
Review at Bri’s Book Nook
Excerpt at The Caffeinated Bibliophile

Saturday, October 24
Review at Reading is My Remedy

Sunday, October 25
Interview at Passages to the Past

Monday, October 26
Review at Books and Zebras
Review & Guest Post at Jorie Loves a Story

Tuesday, October 27
Review at Novels Alive

Wednesday, October 28
Interview at Novels Alive

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, one lucky reader will win a copy of Naked Truth by Carrie Hayes!

The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on October 28th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Naked Truth

The Boy King
by Janet Wertman

Publication Date: September 30, 2020
Paperback & eBook; 374 pages

Series: The Seymour Saga, Book 3
Genre: Historical Fiction/Biographical

 

 

The Unsuspecting Reign of Edward Tudor

Motherless since birth and newly bereft of his father, Henry VIII, nine-year-old Edward Tudor ascends to the throne of England and quickly learns that he cannot trust anyone, even himself.

Edward is at first relieved that his uncle, the new Duke of Somerset, will act on his behalf as Lord Protector, but this consolation evaporates as jealousy spreads through the court. Challengers arise on all sides to wrest control of the child king, and through him, England.

While Edward can bring frustratingly little direction to the Council’s policies, he refuses to abandon his one firm conviction: that Catholicism has no place in England. When Edward falls ill, this steadfast belief threatens England’s best hope for a smooth succession: the transfer of the throne to Edward’s very Catholic half-sister, Mary Tudor, whose heart’s desire is to return the realm to the way it worshipped in her mother’s day.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Janet Ambrosi Wertman grew up within walking distance of three bookstores and a library on Manhattan’s Upper West Side – and she visited all of them regularly. Her grandfather was an antiquarian bookdealer who taught her that there would always be a market for quirky, interesting books. He was the one who persuaded Janet’s parents to send her to the French school where she was taught to aspire to long (grammatically correct) sentences as the hallmark of a skillful writer. She lived that lesson until she got to Barnard College. Short sentences were the rule there. She complied. She reached a happy medium when she got to law school – complicated sentences alternating with short ones in a happy mix.

Janet spent fifteen years as a corporate lawyer in New York, she even got to do a little writing on the side (she co-authored The Executive Compensation Answer Book, which was published by Panel Publishers back in 1991). But when her first and second children were born, she decided to change her lifestyle. She and her husband transformed their lives in 1997, moving to Los Angeles and changing careers. Janet became a grantwriter (and will tell anyone who will listen that the grants she’s written have resulted in more than $30 million for the amazing non-profits she is proud to represent) and took up writing fiction.

There was never any question about the topic of the fiction: Janet has harbored a passion for the Tudor Kings and Queens since her parents let her stay up late to watch the televised Masterpiece Theatre series (both The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R) when she was *cough* eight years old. One of the highlights of Janet’s youth was being allowed to visit the Pierpont Morgan Library on a day when it was closed to the public and examine (though not touch!) books from Queen Elizabeth’s personal library and actual letters that the young Princess Elizabeth (technically Lady Elizabeth…) had written.

The Boy King is third book in the Seymour Saga, the story of the unlikely dynasty that shaped the Tudor era. The first book, Jane the Quene, tells the story of Jane Seymour’s marriage to Henry VIII; and The Path to Somerset, chronicles Edward Seymour’s rise after Jane’s death to become Lord Protector of England and Duke of Somerset (taking us right through Henry’s crazy years). Janet is currently working on a new trilogy about Elizabeth, and preparing to publish her translation of a nineteenth century biography of Henry. And because you can never have too much Tudors in your life, Janet also attends book club meetings and participates in panels and discussions through History Talks!, a group of historical novelists from Southern California who work with libraries around the state.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 19
Review at Pursuing Stacie
Feature at I’m All About Books
Review at WTF Are You Reading?

Tuesday, October 20
Review at Amy’s Booket List

Wednesday, October 21
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews
Interview at Novels Alive

Thursday, October 22
Review at Donna’s Book Blog

Friday, October 23
Review at Books and Zebras
Feature at What Is That Book About

Saturday, October 24
Excerpt at The Caffeinated Bibliophile

Sunday, October 25
Excerpt at Passages to the Past

Monday, October 26
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Tuesday, October 27
Guest Post at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals

Wednesday, October 28
Review at Impressions In Ink

Thursday, October 29
Review at A Books and a Latte

Friday, October 30
Excerpt at Coffee and Ink
Review at Little But Fierce Book Diary

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a copy of The Boy King by Janet Wertman! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on October 30th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

The Boy King

The Light at Wyndcliff
by Sarah E. Ladd

Publication Date: October 13, 2020
Thomas Nelson
Paperback & eBook; 352 Pages

Series: The Cornwall Novels, Book 3
Genre: Historical Romance/Regency/Christian

 

 

Set in 1820s Cornwall, this Regency romance evokes the captivating worlds and delicious dramas of Jane Austen, Daphne DuMaurier, and Winston Graham.

Raised on the sprawling and rugged Wyndcliff Estate near the dangerous coast of South Cornwall, Evelyn Bray lives with her grandfather, a once-wealthy man reduced to the post of steward. Evelyn is still grieving her father’s death and her mother’s abandonment when a passing ship is dashed against the rocks. The only survivors, a little girl and her injured mother, are rescued and brought to Wyndcliff Hall.

Liam Twethewey is just twenty-two when he inherits Wyndcliff Estate from his great uncle. His optimistic plans to open a china clay pit to employ the estate’s tenants meets unexpected resistance, and the rumors of smuggling and illegal activity challenge his new-found authority. Though wise beyond his years, young Liam quickly finds himself out of his depth in this land where long-held secrets and high-stakes agendas make no room for newcomers.

Brought together by troubling questions surrounding the shipwreck, Evelyn and Liam uncover even darker mysteries shrouding the estate. But as they untangle truths from deceptions, their loyalties separate them—and their budding love might not be strong enough to overcome the distance.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

About the Author

Sarah E. Ladd has always loved the Regency period — the clothes, the music, the literature and the art. A college trip to England and Scotland confirmed her interest in the time period and gave her idea of what life would’ve looked like in era. It wasn’t until 2010 that Ladd began writing seriously. Shortly after, Ladd released the first book in the Whispers on the Moors series. Book one of the series, The Heiress of Winterwood, was the recipient of the 2011 ACFW Genesis Award for historical romance. Ladd also has more than ten years of marketing experience. She holds degrees in public relations and marketing and lives in Indiana with her family and spunky Golden Retriever.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | BookBub | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, October 13
Review at Hallie Reads
Feature at Momfluenster

Wednesday, October 14
Review at McCombs on Main
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books
Review at Probably at the Library

Thursday, October 15
Review at Jessica Belmont

Friday, October 16
Review at Bitch Bookshelf
Review & Excerpt at Bookworlder
Review at View from the Birdhouse

Sunday, October 18
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at WTF Are You Reading?

Monday, October 19
Review at Book Bustle

Tuesday, October 20
Review at Books and Zebras
Review at Robin Loves Reading
Review at Into the Hall of Books

Wednesday, October 21
Review at The Lit Bitch

Thursday, October 22
Review at Faery Tales Are Real
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Friday, October 23
Review at Lu Reviews Books

Saturday, October 24
Review & Excerpt at Nursebookie

Monday, October 26
Review at The Caffeinated Bibliophile
Review at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals

Tuesday, October 27
Review at Captivated Reading

Wednesday, October 28
Review at Heidi Reads

Thursday, October 29
Review at YA, it’s Lit

Friday, October 30
Review at A Darn Good Read
Review at Read Review Rejoice

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away 5 copies of The Light at Wyndcliff! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on October 30th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

The Light at Wyndcliff