Look Unto the Land
by George Rollie Adams

Publication Date: August 22, 2022
Barn Loft Press

Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: Small Town Race Relations, Book 3

 

 

A Riveting Story of Love, Hate, Greed, and Thirst for Revenge in an Oil-Drenched 1920s Southern Boom Town

When Henry Grant returns home from WWI, he finds his family decimated by violence, death, and debt. He blames it all on one man and aims to make him pay.

In 1922, Henry follows the fellow from Indiana to Berrytown in southern Arkansas, site of the nation’s latest oil boom, a good place to hide and a hard place to search. It’s overflowing with lease hounds, roughnecks, drillers, bootleggers, and gamblers. Crime is rampant, and the Ku Klux Klan is gearing up against booze, prostitution, and Black people.

Meanwhile, Mary Dutton, a near-destitute Berrytown widow with a twelve-year-old son, is struggling to survive. The owners of the pharmacy where she works are forcing her to sell marijuana, cocaine, and heroin under the nose of federal agents.

Otis Leatherwood, a farmer who is Mary’s uncle, likes moonshine and is unaware of the drug traffic. His problem is with the oil. He believes drilling is ruining the environment, and he’s willing to risk everything to stop it. Even though his best friend and Black neighbor Isaiah Watson sees it as a means of escaping bigotry in the South.

As Berrytown grows apace and oil blackens the land, each of them faces life-changing decisions.

Amazon

Praise

“A captivating tale of love and hate that captures the essence of the time with skill and authenticity.” – David F. Rankin, President Emeritus, Southern Arkansas University

“Brings a little-known period of history alive with characters that move in a world as dark as the oil-field setting.” – Gerald George, past director, American Association for State and Local History

“A meaningful tale of loss and love told with page-turning style.” – Celeste Schantz, Editor, Mason Street Review

“A carefully plotted and well-paced story about issues of deep relevance today, including environmental justice and racism.” – Timothy W. Kneeland, Chair of History, Politics, and Law, Nazareth College

“Mystery, romance, industrial expansion, environmental degradation, race relations, and more—all woven into a masterful tapestry of daily life in the rural South.” – Susan Asbury, Assistant Professor of Public History, Middle Georgia State University

“A vivid picture of one of Arkansas’s most tumultuous periods.” – Samantha Bynum, past curator, Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources

About the Author

George Rollie Adams brings a storytelling background, historian’s eye, and educator’s passion to historical fiction about the Jim Crow and Civil Rights-era South.

A native of southern Arkansas, he creates authentic characters, writes true-to-life dialogue for them, and puts them in settings and plots inspired by real places and real events.

A former teacher, biographer, and museum director, Adams has lived and worked in Nashville and New Orleans and resides currently in Western New York’s picturesque Finger Lakes Region.

His novels South of Little Rock and Found in Pieces have received ten publishing awards for historical, regional, social issues, and race relations fiction. Together with his latest novel, Look Unto the Land, they form the Small Town Race Relations Series.

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The Baronet’s Lady Biologist
by Alissa Baxter

Publication Date: February 28, 2023
Vinspire Publishing

Genre: Traditional/Sweet Regency
Series: The Linfield Ladies Series, Book 3

 

 

Georgiana Linfield is a lady biologist who is determined to travel the world. Upon arriving in London for the Season, she decides the best way to fulfil her dreams is to find an amenable husband to indulge her every whim. Refusing to give up her interest in natural history for a dull domestic life, she sets out to forge a different path for herself.

When her father’s elderly cousin asks her to set his natural history collection in order, she accepts his request with joy. However, the task brings her into almost daily contact with his godson, Sir Giles Tavistock, a renowned entomologist, who regards her with some suspicion. When Sir Giles discovers her skills as a scientific illustrator, he asks her to sketch his South American butterfly collection, and they forge an uneasy truce.

Their tenuous connection is shattered, however, when Sir Giles believes a rumour casting Georgiana in a far from flattering light. Vowing to have nothing more to do with him, she keeps him at a distance. But when the baronet’s butterflies attract unwanted attention, a series of events unravel that make Georgiana wonder if the famous collector might have done the impossible and captured her heart.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Alissa Baxter wrote her first Regency romance during her long university holidays. After travelling the world, she settled down to write her second Regency novel, which was inspired by her time living on a country estate in England. Alissa then published two chick lit novels, The Truth About Clicking Send and Receive (previously published as Send and Receive) and The Truth About Cats and Bees (previously published as The Blog Affair).

Many years later, Alissa returned to her favourite period with her Linfield Ladies Series, a trio of Regency romances that feature women in trend-setting roles who fall in love with men who embrace their trailblazing ways…at least eventually. Alissa currently lives in Johannesburg with her husband and two sons. She is a member of The Beau Monde – Regency Fiction Writers.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, February 28
Excerpt at The Lit Bitch
Feature at Coffee and Ink

Wednesday, March 1
Review at Reading is My SuperPower
Feature at Books, Ramblings, and Tea
Feature at Books in Their Natural Habitat

Thursday, March 2
Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Friday, March 3
Review at Historical Fiction With Spirit

Monday, March 6
Review at Bookworlder

Tuesday, March 7
Feature at I’m Into Books

Wednesday, March 8
Review & Excerpt at Elodie’s Reading Corner

Tuesday, March 14
Feature at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, March 16
Excerpt at Lisa Everyday Reads
Interview at Jorie Loves A Story

Saturday, March 18
Review at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

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

The Baronet’s Lady Biologist

A Gentleman Will Never…Forget a Lady
by Emily Windsor

Publication Date: December 1, 2022

Genre: Regency Romance
Series: The Governess Chronicles, Book 3

 

 

Get swept away to a romantic and rugged land in this joyful and heart-warming Christmas tale…

Having lost her beloved, Lord Tristan, to a storm at sea, Lady Gwen Evans is planning a life of travel, writing books on her adventures.

But will the arrival of a dark, scarred gentleman one December’s eve disrupt all her plans?

With wassailing on frosty nights, dragon myths in the snowy Welsh hills, a rather unladylike list of D.I.S.G.R.A.C.E. and Hide and Seek in the seductive dark, this will be a Christmas never to forget…

‘Witty and wonderful. The storyline is unique and intriguing. And the amount of love in this story is absolutely beautiful.’ ★★★★★ Once Upon A Time

“Christmas is but a few weeks away. A time for wonder.”

Praise for ‘A Gentleman Will Never…Forget a Lady’

‘The only word that could describe this book is enchanting. I loved every moment.’ ★★★★★ Reading Rebel Reviews

‘…brimming with emotion. Filled with wonderful characters, secrets, longing, healing, new beginnings, ghouls, wassail… ’ ★★★★★ Flippin’ Pages

‘An achingly beautiful novel… I LOVED this book!’ ★★★★★ Gloria’s Happily Ever Afters

‘…breathtakingly resplendent. You will become just as enchanted with Windsor’s creations as I have been because it’s utterly magical.’ ★★★★★ sammstormborn reviews

‘Emily Windsor continues to write beautiful stories, and I was totally captivated by this one, as Tristan and Gwen found their way back to each other. I love the warmth, the family connections, and the satisfying resolution, which occurs during the Christmas holiday, the season of miracles.’ ★★★★★ Roses Are Blue Romantic Fiction Reviews

Amazon US | Amazon UK

About the Author

Emily Windsor grew up in the north of England on a diet of historical romance and strong tea.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t study Regency slang, so she did the next best thing and gained a degree in Classics and History instead. This ‘led’ to an eight-year stint in engineering.

Having left city life, she now lives in a dilapidated farmhouse where her days are spent writing, fixing the leaky roof, battling the endless vegetation and finding pictures of well-tied cravats.

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Book Blast Schedule

Monday, December 19
Passages to the Past

Tuesday, December 20
Reading is My Remedy

Wednesday, December 21
Dive Into a Good Book
History from a Woman’s Perspective

Thursday, December 22
Gwendalyn’s Books

Friday, December 23
Booking With Janelle

Monday, December 26
Elodie’s Reading Corner

Tuesday, December 27
Novels Alive
The Cozy Book Blog

Wednesday, December 28
CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, December 29
Coffee & Ink

Friday, December 30
Michelle the PA Loves to Read

Saturday, December 31
Lisa Everyday Reads
What Is That Book About

Giveaway

Enter to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on December 31st. You must be 18 or older to enter.

A Gentleman Will Never Forget a Lady

Sisters of Castle Leod
by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard

Publication Date: January 19, 2023
Black Rose Writing

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Finalist – 2022 American Writing Awards

Millions are fans of Diana Gabaldon’s popular Outlander books and television series, but few know that Gabaldon’s fictional Castle Leoch was inspired by a real Scottish castle, Castle Leod. The two sisters who lived there at the turn of the twentieth century were among the most fascinating and talked-about women of their era.

Lady Sibell Mackenzie is a spiritualist, a believer in reincarnation, and a popular author of mystical romances. Petite and proper, she values tradition and duty. Her younger sister Lady Constance, swimming champion and big game hunter, is a statuesque beauty who scandalizes British society with her public displays of Greek-style barefoot dancing. The differences between the sisters escalate into conflict after Sibell inherits their late father’s vast estates and the title 3rd Countess of Cromartie. But it is the birth of Sibell’s daughter that sets in motion a series of bizarre and tragic events, pitting sister against sister and propelling Sibell on a desperate mission to challenge the power of fate.

Sisters of Castle Leod, by award-winning author Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, is the emotionally charged story of two sisters torn apart by jealousy and superstition, and the impossible leap of faith that could finally bring them together.

Available for Pre-Order

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-a-Million

Praise

“Heartbreaking and redemptive…a thoroughly engrossing story that will have readers quickly turning the pages.” -Megan Chance, bestselling author of A Splendid Ruin

“This expertly written novel is a beautiful example of how historical facts can be researched and transformed into a work of art. To say this novel was difficult to put down would be an understatement. From the first page, I knew this would become one of my favorite historical novels.” -Sublime Book Reviews

“A magical, mystical, mesmerizing tale of two real-life noble sisters of Castle Leod, caught up in shocking passions that cast them in opposition, yet desperate for reconciliation.” -Rebecca Rosenberg, triple-gold seed-winning novelist of Champagne Widows

“With shocking revelations and twists throughout the book, the reader is never sure what each new chapter will bring. Overall, with an excellent plot and character development, this book is awe-inspiring.” -Pacific Book Review

“Whilst the historical element of this novel can easily be compared to some of the great historical novelists, like Sharon Kay Penman, the ghostly apparitions and contact with the spirit world add an original view of a woman who was, in so many ways, ahead of her time.” -Readers’ Favorite

“The stage is set for sibling rivalry [in this] grand novel about two fascinating sisters of the Scottish Highlands at the turn of the 20th century.” -Sheila Myers, author of The Truth of Who You Are

“…a carefully researched historical novel with a touch of the supernatural.” -Gail Ward Olmsted, author of Landscape of a Marriage: Central Park Was Only the Beginning

About the Author

Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard is the author of two Amazon bestsellers: THE BEAUTY DOCTOR, a compelling historical novel steeped in mystery with strong elements of a medical thriller (Readers’ Favorite), and TEMPTATION RAG: A NOVEL, a resonant novel … about the birth and demise of ragtime … luxuriously crafted (Publishers Weekly). Her books have been finalists for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and National Indie Excellence Awards, received a gold medallion from Book Readers Appreciation Group, and been named a historical fiction Discovered Diamond.

Elizabeth and her family live near Phoenix, Arizona.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, December 19
Review at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, December 21
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Friday, January 6
Review at Novels Alive

Thursday, January 12
Feature at I’m Into Books

Friday, January 13
Instagram Feature at Dive Into a Good Book

Monday, January 16
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Wednesday, January 18
Review at Little But Fierce Book Diary

Friday, January 20
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective

Monday, January 23
Review at jypsylynn

Monday, January 30
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews

Thursday, February 2
Review at Coffee and Ink

Friday, February 3
Review at Cover Lover Book Reviews

Giveaway

Enter to win a paperback copy of Sisters of Castle Leod by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on February 3rd. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Sisters of Castle Leod

A Shape on the Air
by Julia Ibbotson

Publication Date: October 9, 2021

Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: Dr. DuLac, Book 1

 

 

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay

Can echoes of the past threaten the present? They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day. The other is forced to marry the man she hates as the ‘dark ages’ unfold.

How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past? Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?

Available on Amazon

Praise for Julia Ibbotson and A Shape on the Air

“In the best Barbara Erskine tradition … I would highly recommend this novel” Historical Novel Society

“Amazing …a really great book …I just couldn’t put it down” Hazel Morgan

“a beautiful tale … a must-read for fans of time-slip and time-travel” Cathie Dunn

“gripping, with a very real sense of sense of threat and danger, an enthralling mystery focused on hidden treasure, a wholly convincing romance, all across both timelines! Anne Williams

“Lovely identifiable heroines in both time periods … I love the strength and vulnerability” Melissa Morgan

“Meticulously researched and wonderfully evocative. Loved it!” Anne Harvey

About the Author

Acclaimed, award-winning author Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She read English at Keele University, England (after a turbulent but exciting gap year in Ghana, West Africa) specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. She wrote her first novel at 10 years of age, but became a school teacher, then an academic as a senior university lecturer and researcher.

She has published a number of books, including memoir, children’s medieval fantasy, a trilogy set in Ghana, and medieval time-slip, as well as academic works. Apart from insatiable reading, she loves travelling the world, singing in choirs, swimming, yoga and walking in the countryside in England and Madeira where she and her husband divide their time.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, February 13
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Tuesday, February 14
Review at The Book Countess

Wednesday, February 15
Feature at I’m Into Books
Feature at Books, Ramblings, and Tea

Thursday, February 16
Feature at CelticLady’s Books
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective

Friday, February 17
Review at Novels Alive

Monday, February 20
Review at Bookworlder
Feature at Tammy Reads

Tuesday, February 21
Feature at Books, Cooks, Looks
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Wednesday, February 22
Feature at What Is That Book About

Thursday, February 23
Feature at Carole’s Ramblings

Friday, February 24
Feature at Coffee and Ink
Feature at Reading is My Remedy

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of A Shape on the Air by Julia Ibbotson!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on February 24th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

A Shape on the Air

Campbell’s Boy
by Mary Kendall

Publication Date: November 21, 2022
Moonshine Cove Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

Heartbreak…with an underlay of hope.

California plains in the 1850s. After losing his mother to cholera on the wagon train out west, Emmet Campbell mostly fends for himself in the boom town of Colusa, California where he and his busy and ambitious father settle.

Coming of age for Emmet means hiding in the corners of his father’s new saloon, scrounging for food in the local brothels and finding refuge in tunnels underneath Colusa’s Chinatown.

While fighting off town bullies, an evil Irish stepmother and his own learning disabilities, Emmet struggles to find his footing but never loses his curiosity about the world around him and the people in it.

When forced into a court case to establish his identity and rightful inheritance after the untimely death of his father, Emmet must find family and identity in places he might not have reckoned for. But can he?

With equal measures of the dark and the light, CAMPBELL’S BOY is a tender tale about a boy whose fractured beginnings lead him on a journey through life that reveals what it can mean to be human.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Mary Kendall lived in old (and haunted) houses growing up which sparked a life-long interest in history and story-telling. She earned degrees in history related fields and worked as an historian for many years. Her fiction writing is heavily influenced by the past which she believes is never really dead and buried.

Fueled by black coffee and a possible sprinkling of Celtic fairy dust, she tends to find inspiration in odd places and sometimes while kneading bread dough.

The author currently resides in Maryland with her family (husband, three kids, barn cat and the occasional backyard hen) who put up with her mad scribbling at inconvenient hours.

THE SPINSTER’S FORTUNE , a mystery set in Georgetown, Washington DC, is her debut novel and is a twisty, tangled dive into a web of family deception murky with gothic undertones.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | BookBub | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 21
Feature at Passages to the Past

Friday, November 25
Feature at CelticLady’s Reviews

Tuesday, November 29
Instagram Feature at Dive Into a Good Book

Thursday, December 1
Review at Bookworlder

Sunday, December 4
Review at Reading Is My Remedy

Monday, December 5
Feature at I’m Into Books
Instagram Feature at Tammy Reads

Thursday, December 8
Feature at Coffee and Ink

Friday, December 9
Review at Novels Alive

Giveaway

Enter to win a paperback copy of Campbell’s Boy by Mary Kendall!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on December 9th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Campbell’s Boy

1887: The Day They Turned off the Water
by A.E. Wasserman

Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Archway Publishing

Genre: Historical Thriller/Novella

 

 

This historical mystery thriller, a novella in the Langsford Mysteries, takes readers back to the American Old West where the fight for water in California is just beginning.

Spring 1887. Melting snowpack from the High Sierras will soon turn California’s central valley into lush fields, but an armed man with a Sharps rifle shut off a headwater gate to a watery-ditch and stood guard. After an unexpected confrontation with Double B Ranch owner, Jake Sanders, along with ranch-hand Kacha, this gunman now lies died and Jake along with wounded Kacha, are both jailed for murder.

The unscrupulous lobbyist who “steals to get the office and who gets the office to steal,” Billy “Boss” Carr, claims to know nothing about the man or the situation, in spite of owning the land where the headwater gate is. Water is profitable for Carr, however, and he is aligned with both the prosecutor and judge. It is up to Jake’s wife, Sally, to find a way to prove Jake and Kacha’s innocence: the truth of the matter. But with these powerful men stacking the odds against her, can she?

“Few writers can do what Wasserman has done: weave a historical thriller around the early battles over California water rights and the entrenched racism toward Blacks and the region’s Native Americans. Authentic characters enrich this crisp, exciting legal/thriller.” – Pamela Sheppard, Publishing Consultant

“A thrilling read, with twists and turns up until the very end.” – Will Klipstine, Hollywood Screenwriter/Producer

About the Author

The daughter of a newspaperman, A.E. Wasserman grew up in a household filled with books and stories. At age 14, she wrote her first novella and never stopped writing.

She is the author of the mystery/thriller Langsford Mystery Series–think Sherlock Holmes meets Downton Abbey. When Lord Langsford stretches the boundaries of Victorian Society, he finds himself in dire situations and must save others as well as himself from spies, thieves, and murderers.

Wasserman’s work, critically acclaimed as “richly atmospheric,” is being noticed by readers and critics alike, and has garnered international attention, not only in the U.S., but Europe and the U.K. as well. She recently received top honors from Writer’s Digest for her work.

After graduating from The Ohio State University, she lived in London, then San Francisco. Currently, she resides in Southern California with her family and her muse, a Border Collie named Topper.

Visit the author’s web site at www.aewasserman.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 21
Feature at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, November 30
Review at Bookworlder

Friday, December 9
Review at Reading is My Remedy

Wednesday, December 14
Excerpt at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, December 15
Review at Novels Alive

Monday, December 19
Feature at I’m Into Books

Friday, December 23
Feature at Coffee and Ink

Tuesday, December 27
Feature at Books, Ramblings, and Tea

Friday, December 30
Review at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of 1887 The Day They turned Off the Water + a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

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

1887

A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower
by Patricia Bernstein

Publication Date: March 7, 2023
History Through Fiction LLC

Genre: Historical Fiction/Christian

 

 

A thrilling tale, based on a true story, of one woman’s tremendous courage and incomparable wit in trying to rescue her husband from the Tower of London the night before he is to be executed.

The heroine of A Noble Cunning, Bethan Glentaggart, Countess of Clarencefield, a persecuted Catholic noblewoman, is determined to try every possible means of saving her husband’s life, with the help of a group of devoted women friends.

Amid the turbulence of the 1715 Rebellion against England’s first German king George I, Bethan faces down a mob attack on her home, travels alone from the Scottish Lowlands to London through one of the worst snowstorms in many years, and confronts a cruel king before his court to plead for mercy for her husband Gavin. As a last resort, Bethan and her friends must devise and put in motion a devilishly complex scheme featuring multiple disguises and even the judicious use of poison to try to free Gavin.

Though rich with historical gossip and pageantry, Bethan’s story also demonstrates the damage that politics and religious fanaticism can inflict on the lives of individuals.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Praise

“A riveting tale of one woman’s courage and determination! Bernstein has crafted a dazzling heroine in Bethan Glentaggart. After enduring the religious fanaticism of Protestants, the vain heroics of Scottish lords, and the insipid insecurities of King George I, Bethan must devise and carry out a daring plan to rescue her husband from the Tower of London before his execution for treason. Her forceful personality makes A Noble Cunning a gripping page-turner!”

– David Blixt, author of What Girls Are Good For and Her Majesty’s Will

“I love a good historical novel about women with brains, heart, and courage. In A Noble Cunning, Patricia Bernstein’s finely-spun yarn of Jacobite sympathizer Countess of Clarencefield-inspired by the true adventures of Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale-the author brings both the Scottish Lowlands and Hanoverian London vividly to life with a keen eye for period detail and a heart-stopping denouement.”

– Leslie Carroll, author of Notorious Royal Marriages

“This is a riveting and largely unknown story, based on true events, about a remarkable woman’s strength, love and courage against formidable odds. Set amidst English and Scottish hostilities in the early 1700s, and the terrible religious persecution of the period, Patricia Bernstein brings the countess’s extraordinary tale to dramatic life.”

– Karen Brooks, International Best-selling Author of The Good Wife of Bath and The Locksmith’s Daughter

“Wow! This spellbinding historical novel captures the religious aspects of an intriguing and true story. I was especially taken by the extraordinary Countess, the unsung Catholic heroine in a time of unrelenting persecution of Catholics in England and Scotland. Her dedication to her Catholic faith and especially to the Virgin Mary, her unstoppable courage, unimaginable cunning, and unflappable determination exceeded most women of her day. I also loved that Bethan Glentaggart, based on the true story of Winifred Maxwell, performs her audacious feat with the help of a group of devoted and courageous women friends. Patricia Bernstein adds dramatic flair and suspense that capture you to the very end. It is a must-read.”

– Sister Jane Meyer, O.P., Former Head of St. Agnes Academy, Houston, an all-girl secondary school

“Patricia Bernstein’s sumptuously detailed historical novel, A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower, is set in 18th century Scotland and is based on the remarkable true story of a fiercely courageous woman fighting tirelessly against political and religious tyranny to save her husband, imprisoned and condemned to die in the Tower of London.”

– Kathleen Kent, NY Times Bestselling author of The Heretic’s Daughter

“In A Noble Cunning, Patricia Bernstein paints a compelling and dramatic portrait of Scotland in the perilous time of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, seen through the eyes of the courageous Bethan Carlisle Glentaggart, Countess of a Clarencefield, a Catholic noblewoman who defies danger to undertake an ingenious plot to save her husband from a traitor’s terrible death. Fans of historical fiction will find much to enjoy in this immersive tale of adventure, rich with period detail.”

– Gillian Bagwell, author of The September Queen

About the Author

Native Texan Patricia Bernstein grew up in Dallas. After earning a Degree of Distinction in American Studies from Smith College, she founded her public relations agency in Houston. In 2018, her third book was named a Finalist for the Ramirez Family Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. The Austin American Statesman named the book to a list of 53 of the best books ever written about Texas. Patricia’s nonfiction was previously published by Simon & Schuster and Texas A&M University Press. Patricia lives in Houston with her husband, Alan Bernstein, where she pursues her other great artistic love, singing with Opera in the Heights and other organizations. She also basks in the glory of her three amazing daughters. A Noble Cunning is her debut novel. You can learn more about Patricia and her work at PatriciaBernstein.com.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, May 15
Review at Books, Cooks, Looks

Tuesday, May 16
Review at A Potpourri of Opinions
Review at Michelle the PA Loves to Read

Wednesday, May 17
Review at Bookworlder
Review at Novels Alive

Thursday, May 18
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Saturday, May 20
Review at Rajiv’s Reviews
Review at Novel Nerd Blog
Review at Reading is My Remedy

Monday, May 22
Review at Cover Lover Book Review

Tuesday, May 23
Review at Linda Ulleseit
Guest Post at Author M.K. McClintock

Wednesday, May 24
Feature at Passages to the Past

Friday, May 26
Review at Coffee and Ink
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of A Noble Cunning by Patricia Bernstein. We have 3 copies up for grabs!

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

A Noble Cunning

In the Shadow of The Apennines
by Kimberly Sullivan

Publication Date: October 13, 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

An American divorcée. An Italian shepherdess.
Separated by a century, united by common dreams.

The sleepy little Abruzzo mountain town of Marsicano seems about as far as Samantha can flee from her failed marriage and disastrous university career. Eager for a fresh start, Samantha begins to set down roots in her Italian mountain hideaway.

At first, the mountain retreat appears idyllic, but an outsider’s clumsy attempts at breaking into the closed mountain community are quickly thwarted when the residents discover Samantha’s snarky blog ridiculing the town and its inhabitants.

Increasingly isolated in her mountain cottage, Samantha discovers the letters and diaries of Elena, a past tenant and a survivor of the 1915 Pescina earthquake. Despite the century that separates the two women, Samantha feels increasingly drawn into Elena’s life, and discovers startling parallels with her own.

Available on Amazon

Praise

“A poignant and hopeful story of one woman’s search for herself.”-Kirkus Reviews

“An emotionally nuanced thrill ride. Sullivan’s expert prose allows a deeper look at her protagonists’ feelings, fears, and vulnerabilities. The novel succeeds as both a contemporary fiction and a thoughtfully told story of a heartbroken woman trying to come to terms with the new circumstances of her life. A tale of heartbreak, grief, courage, and self-realization that will resonate with many.” -The Prairies Review

“A compelling literary work. Sullivan’s novel is romantic in the way only foreign travel can be, with the prose beautifully describing the sights and sounds of Italy, as well as unveiling the captivating story of two women’s seemingly disparate lives woven together across time.” -Self-Publishing Review

“From the start, Sullivan’s remarkable storytelling drew me in and had me hooked to the end. The story is filled with delightful descriptions of Italian culture, the breathtaking Apennine Mountains, and details about the hardworking, courageous people who have called Abruzzo home for centuries. This is an unforgettable story about hope, finding the strength to face the past, and embracing new beginnings.” -Readers’ Favorite

“In author Kimberly Sullivan’s newest novel, Samantha Burke unearths comfort and solace in Italy’s idyllic towns and cultures and an awe-inspiring journal of fortitude and adversity. A fascinating fiction with resonant themes.” -Feathered Quill Review

About the Author

Kimberly grew up in the suburbs of Boston and in Saratoga Springs, New York, although she now calls the Harlem neighborhood of New York City home when she’s back in the US. She studied political science and history at Cornell University and earned her MBA, with a concentration in strategy and marketing, from Bocconi University in Milan.

Afflicted with a severe case of Wanderlust, she worked in journalism and government in the US, Czech Republic and Austria, before settling down in Rome, where she works in international development, and writes fiction any chance she gets.

She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and The Historical Novel Society and has published several short stories and two novels: Three Coins and Dark Blue Waves.

After years spent living in Italy with her Italian husband and sons, she’s fluent in speaking with her hands, and she loves setting her stories in her beautiful, adoptive country.

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The Suicide Skull
by Susan McDuffie

Publication Date: September 23, 2022
Liafinn Press
Paperback & eBook; 285 pages

Genre: Historical Mystery/Medieval

 

 

Scotland, 1396: Euphemia MacPhee lives alone in a witch’s cave with her healing herbs and an ancient skull for company. Her reclusive life shatters the day she learns that her four-year-old son, fostered on the Isle of Barra, has mysteriously fallen ill. Euphemia sails to remote Kisimul Castle to nurse the boy and soon discovers he has been poisoned. Why would someone strike at an innocent young child? Can she trust anyone there to help her fight this evil?

Euphemia must utilize every remedy available to confront ancient malice and long-buried wounds, as she struggles to save her son and to clear her own name.

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About the Author

A fan of historical fiction since childhood, Susan McDuffie spent such vast amounts of time reading stories set in the past that she wondered if she had mistakenly been born in the wrong century. As an adult her discovery that Clorox was not marketed prior to 1922 reconciled her to life in this era. Susan’s childhood interest in Scotland was fueled by family stories of the McDuffie clan’s ancestral lands on Colonsay and their traditional role as “Keeper of the Records” for the Lords of the Isles. On her first visit to Scotland she hitchhiked her way through the Hebrides, and her initial visit to Colonsay and the Oronsay Priory ruins planted the seeds for her medieval mysteries. Those seeds have grown into the Muirteach MacPhee mysteries, set in medieval Scotland during the Celtic Lordship of the Isles. The series includes A MASS FOR THE DEAD, THE FAERIE HILLS (2011 New Mexico Book Awards “Best Historical Novel”), THE STUDY OF MURDER (New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards Finalist 2014), and THE DEATH OF A FALCON. Susan frequently presents at workshops and conferences and regularly reviews historical fiction books for the Historical Novel Society’s “Historical Novels Review.

Susan lives in New Mexico and shares her life with a Native American artist and four cosseted cats. She enjoys taking flamenco dance classes in her spare time. Susan loves to hear from readers and can be contacted via Facebook or through her website.