A Splendid Defiance by Stella Riley - #blogtour #excerpt

 

I am very happy that I am part of the blog tour for this book. A Splendid Defiance by Stella Riley is a historical romance and I have an excerpt of this book for you today.

However, here is a little bit about the book first...

The Blurb

For two years England has been in the grip of Civil War.  In Banbury, Oxfordshire, the Cavaliers hold the Castle, the Roundheads want it back and the town is full of zealous Puritans.

Consequently, the gulf between Captain Justin Ambrose and Abigail Radford, the sister of a fanatically religious shopkeeper, ought to be unbridgeable.

The key to both the fate of the Castle and that of Justin and Abigail lies in defiance.  But will it be enough?

A Splendid Defiance is a dramatic and enchanting story of forbidden love, set against the turmoil and anguish of the English Civil War.

ISBN: 978 1499262599

Publisher:  Create Space Independent Publishing

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  370 (paperback)

Special Tour Price: E-book £1.95 / US $1.95 (and equivalent) for the duration of the

tour!

The Excerpt

The Murderous Spy

Mistress Rhodes’ door was slightly ajar.  Justin entered without knocking, closed it behind him and slid the bolt home.  Startled, Anne looked up from the array of powders and potions that littered her table and shot to her feet.

‘How dare you walk in here like this?  Get out!’

Justin gazed meditatively on the bottles and jars. ‘Which one of those contains the belladonna?’

She sensed danger.  ‘What makes you suppose that I have any?’

‘I know you do.’  He began lightly touching them.  ‘Is it this?  Or this?  Abigail Radford is still alive, you know.’

Her eyes had narrowed but she shrugged and said carelessly, ‘I have no idea what you are talking about. And I’d like you to leave.’

‘I daresay.  But I’m going nowhere – and neither are you.  We’re going to have a little chat, you and I.’

‘I have nothing to say to you.’

‘You may think that now – but you’ll have plenty to say before I’m done. Ah no!’  His hand shot out, imprisoning her arm as she attempted to hit him.  ‘That really isn’t a good start.’

She twisted in his hold and brought her free hand up to his face, the nails poised to rip and tear. Justin felled it using the hard edge of his palm.  Then, smiling, he forced her down on the stool.

‘As I said … a little chat about Abby Radford and Tom Mayhew and Sir Samuel Luke.  You see, sweetheart, I know it all – or nearly all – and you are going to tell me the rest.’

‘I’ll see you damned before I tell you anything.  And you’ll never prove it.’

‘Oh but I will,’ he assured her calmly.  ‘You really shouldn’t have poisoned Abby.  Her brother is a little annoyed with you.  And he still has the last letter you trusted him with.’

Shock rendered her temporarily speechless.  Then, her voice losing every vestige of gentility, she said, ‘That bloody little daisy.  I should have seen to him.’

‘I’m sure you’d have got around to it in time.  Why did you kill Tom Mayhew?’

She curbed her rage, aware of the perils of saying too much.

‘I didn’t.’

‘You did.  But not with nightshade.  What did you use?’

‘Nothing.  And that’s all you’ll get from me.’

‘You think so?’  His fingers strayed at random through the clutter of the table until they 

encountered the bone handle of a small knife. ‘You are taking me for a gentleman and it’s a mistake – particularly now.  For you will talk … one way or another.’  His hand closed on the knife and, turning a glacial smile on her, he added conversationally, ‘I learned a lot at Naseby.’

The blue eyes widened a little. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘No?  You don’t know me very well, do you?  I don’t hold women sacred.  I have known others like you, you see.  And I don’t make empty threats or baulk at soiling my hands when the devil drives.  So you will do well to believe what I say for I’ll use any means I have to, short of actually killing you.  And that is for the law to do.’

(all media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

10 Ten Exciting New Book Releases in May 2024

 

In my small corner of the world there is a carpet of bluebells. In fact, I have a few growing in the garden. They come up every year and fill me with joy. However, this year, the puppy seems rather keen on rolling about in them so I am constantly behind her shooing her off.

Both puppy and the spring make me happy... as do shiny new books to read. Here are ten new releases that I am looking forward to getting my hands on.

Goyhood by Reuven Fenton

When Mayer (née Marty) Belkin fled small-town Georgia for Brooklyn nearly thirty years ago, he thought he'd left his wasted youth behind. Now he's a Talmud scholar married into one of the greatest rabbinical families in the world - a dirt-poor country boy reinvented in the image of God.

But his mother's untimely death brings a shocking revelation: Mayer and his ne'er-do-well twin brother David aren't, in fact, Jewish. Traumatized and spiritually bereft, Mayer's only recourse is to convert to Judaism. But the earliest date he can get is a week from now. What are two estranged brothers to do in the interim?

So begins the Belkins' Rumspringa through America's Deep South with Mom's ashes in tow, plus two tagalongs: an insightful Instagram influencer named Charlayne Valentine and Popeye, a one-eyed dog. As the crew gets tangled up in a series of increasingly surreal adventures, Mayer grapples with a God who betrayed him and an emotionally withdrawn wife in Brooklyn who has yet to learn her husband is a counterfeit Jew. 

The Nightingale's Castle by Sonia Velton

In 1573, Countess Erzsébet Báthory gave birth to an illegitimate child. The infant, a girl, was swiftly bundled up and handed to a local peasant family to be brought up in one of the hamlets surrounding the Castle. Many years later, 15-year-old Boróka reluctantly leaves the safety of the only home she has ever known in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Trusted members of the countess's household have been sent out to gather new serving girls, and the kindly old man who has taken care of Boróka for almost all her life knows that it is dangerous to turn them away.

Boróka struggles to find her place at Cachtice Castle: she is frightened of the countess's reputation as an alleged murderer of young girls, and the women who run the castle are terrifyingly cruel. When plague comes into the heart of the castle, a tentative bond begins to form between Boróka and the Countess Báthory. But powerful forces are moving against a woman whose wealth poses such a threat to the king: can the countess really trust the women who are so close to her? And when the show trial begins against the infamous 'Blood Countess' where will Boróka's loyalties lie?

Threadbare by Jane Loeb Rubin

Threadbare recounts the story of an innocent but tenacious young girl who chooses marriage to Abe, a lonely widower, rather than follow her farming community north as urban development transforms rural Harlem. Convinced Abe will help her attend high school on the Lower East Side, she faces a rude awakening to the filth and disease of the tenements. Through the following decades, Tillie turns her energy and intelligence to partnering with Abe as he builds a thriving button business while she and her neighbor Sadie launch a unique garment company. Pushing back against anti-Semitic Victorian values dominating the time, she acquires wealth only to have her life upended by a devastating, unforeseen challenge.

Identity by Nora Roberts

What turns someone into a monster? Are they born that way, or is it a choice? I suppose it can be either or both

Morgan Albright dreams of owning her own bar one day but she's bartending for now - working hard, saving money. Life is hectic but she loves sharing a house with her best friend, Nina, and she is even finding time to date for the first time in what feels like forever.

When a seemingly random attack turns Morgan's life upside down, she must leave the city to return to her family home. She hopes that moving back to a small town where she can feel safe will help her to put the horror of that day behind her but, as Morgan soon discovers, sometimes your past just doesn't want to let you go...

The Happy Hour by Cressida McLaughlin

Jess is happy working in Greenwich market selling trinkets to well-heeled locals and excitable tourists.

Then one Sunday, Jess is thrown together with handsome, funny Ash, as they chase a pickpocket through the market, and before long they are making a habit of running into each other at the same time each week.

Jess starts to realize that their hour together is the brightest part of her life. But Ash isn’t telling her everything – can she discover the truth before it’s too late?

The Peasenhall Murder by Neil. R. Norman

In May 1902, a great storm hit the small village of Peasenhall, Suffolk. The following morning, the body of Rose Harsent was found in the house where she worked. Whilst originally believed by the doctor to have been suicide, her brutal injuries, alongside evidence of an attempted fire, told a different story. When looking for a murderer, there were very few suspects, but as more details unfolded, the evidence started to point towards one William Gardiner. William was a respected figure in the community, with a loving family, a job as a foreman carpenter at the local Seed Drill Works, and several positions within the local church. However, the previous year, William had been involved in a scandal that suggested an affair between him and Rose; one that had brought an inquest into the matter and could not be forgotten in such a small village. This made him a person of interest for the police, and when a medicine bottle filled with paraffin was found near her body with the Gardiner family name on it, alongside letters from him amongst Rose's things, it comes as no surprise he was arrested for her murder. Rose was also pregnant at the time of her death; was this the motive? _The Peasenhall Murder_ explores the crime in great detail, from the original scandal through to the aftermath of the trial. It's the perfect read for lovers of true crime and a murder mystery, and those with an interest in Edwardian England.

Old Girls Behaving Badly by Kate Galley

Something old, something new, something stolen…?

Gina Knight is looking forward to the prospect of retirement with her husband of forty-three years. Until, to her surprise, said husband decides he needs to 'find himself' – alone – and disappears to Santa Fe, leaving a Dear John letter in his wake.

Now Gina needs a new role in life, not to mention somewhere to live, so she applies for the position of Companion to elderly Dorothy Reed. At eighty-nine, ‘Dot’ needs someone to help her around the house – or at least, her family seems to think so. Her companion’s first role would be to accompany Dot for a week-long extravagant wedding party.

But when Georgina arrives at the large Norfolk estate where the wedding will take place, she quickly discovers Dot has an ulterior motive for hiring her. While the other guests are busy sipping champagne and playing croquet, Dot needs Georgina to help her solve a mystery – about a missing painting, which she believes is hidden somewhere in the house.

Because, after all, who would suspect two old ladies of getting up to mischief?

Blame My Virgo Moon by Freya Nicole Woolf

Hilarious follow up to Never Trust a Gemini featuring Cat Phillips, astrology aficionado and chaotic teen lesbian, as she struggles to balance romance, friendship and a star turn onstage.

Life should be Gucci gooseberry gorgeous for loved-up Cat. And it is … until her über-cool and swoonsome girlfriend, Morgan Delaney, takes on Cat’s friend – and the most powerfully popular influencer in Lambley Common – Siobhan Collingdale, for the hotly contested spot of Head Girl.

With her loyalties put to the test, Cat throws herself into the gender-indifferent school production of Romeo and Juliet. (A decision she soon regrets...)

Magicalia: Race of Wonders by Jennifer Bell

FEEL THE MAGIC. CONJURE THE IMPOSSIBLE.

When her dad is kidnapped by a woman with a giant hamstoceros, Bitsy and best friend Kosh are swept into a secret world of ancient meteorites and strange beasts called magicores, each conjured using a different emotion. Using a powerful bestiary called Magicalia, the friends must quickly become conjurors themselves, before following a trail of clues that will take them from London to India to Paris, in a race to rescue Bitsy’s dad from a mysterious villain…

Devil in Profile by Kimberley G. Giarratano

In this sequel to to 2023's Death of a Dancing Queen, New Jersey P.I. Billie Levine finds herself at the forefront of a new crime adventure... perfect for fans of Veronica Mars and Serial.

Unlicensed P.I. Billie Levine is trying to bank some extra cash, so she picks up hours working as a process server for another investigative firm. Mindless and mostly 9 to 5, Billie is content to simply hand over court documents until during a routine stakeout, she stumbles upon the corpse of an elderly man, an art collector with ties to Nazi Germany.

Compared to Billie, the dead man has it easy. Billie is feeling on edge lately. Maybe it’s because her father is insisting his estranged kids come to his wedding in Sedona, or that David is making plans to move out, or that a smug teaching assistant is getting underfoot on her latest case.

Although, it’s possible she could use the help when the cops zero in on Billie’s boyfriend, Aaron, and his connections to an international art ring. Turns out, Aaron’s stint in Israel has left him with more than just a thick scar across his neck. The woman he screwed over wants revenge, and she’s determined to leverage Billie’s murder case to get it.

With the detectives focused on Aaron, Billie sets her sights on stopping a killer who is tying up loose ends ― Billie being one of them.

The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Four weeks ago, a man died. He fell - out in the wildest part of the grounds where the nettles are, where ivy and bindweed have climbed up the plinth of an old stone cherub so the cherub can't be seen now...

***

Florence Butterfield has lived an extraordinary life full of travel, passion and adventure. But, at eighty-seven, she suspects there are no more surprises to come her way.

Then, one midsummer's night, something terrible happens - so strange and unexpected that Florrie is suspicious. Was this really an accident, or is she living alongside a would-be murderer?

The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day.

And Florrie - cheerfully independent but often overlooked - is the only person determined to uncover the truth.

As she does, Florrie finds herself looking back on her own life . . . and a long-buried secret, traced in faded scars across her knuckles, becomes ever harder to ignore.

***

Florrie, the main character in this wonderful book, is an octagenarian amputee living in a retirement home. She is also spirited and quick witted, and she is a delightful character to become aquainted with in this novel.

One night Florrie witnesses the apparent suicide of someone at the retirement home. However, she is not as convinced as the police that it should be attributed to suicide. Appearing quiet and unassuming, she and her new friend, Stanhope, investigate what exactly did happen. This becomes a classic did she jump or was she pushed scenario.

There has been a number of books published in the last year or two set within a similar environment. However, compared to some others which I have read this one is much more absorbing than many of those.

It has been well-written and the characters well portrayed. I found the book engrossed me from the very beginning.

The pace of the book is gentle, mirroring the genre and I really liked that. I enjoy books that have a more sedate pace as they provide opportunity to absorb the story and the characters. That said, this is not a slow book and much happens to keep a reader interested.

The mystery running throughout is compelling and at times I worried for Florrie's safety as she continues to investigate. 

There are several flashbacks to Florrie's past, and I enjoyed reading her backstory. There are moments of both sadness and humour and the author has created a marvellously well rounded character in Florrie.

 The book is a great addition to the cosy crime genre and I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 1787637412

Publisher:  Bantam

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages: 448 (hardback)

About the Author:

Susan Fletcher was born in Birmingham and studied English Literature at the University of York.

Whilst taking the MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, she began her first novel, Eve Green, which won the Whitbread First Novel Award (2004) and Betty Trask Prize (2005). Since then, Susan has written seven novels - whilst also supplementing her writing through various roles, including as a barperson, a cheesemonger and a warden for an archaeological excavation site near Hadrian's Wall. Most recently, she has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Worcester.

She lives in Warwickshire.

(book and media courtesy of Random Things Tours)

(all opinions are my own)

The Falconer's Apprentice by Malve von Hassell - #spotlight #blogtour

 

I love the sepia tones on the cover of this book. Today I am so pleased to be shining the spotlight on this historical fiction novel as part of the blog tour.

The Blurb

The Falconer's Apprentice is a story of adventure and intrigue set in the intense social and political unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the thirteenth century.

“That bird should be destroyed!” 

Andreas stared at Ethelbert in shock. Blood from an angry-looking gash on the young lord’s cheek dripped onto his embroidered tunic. Andreas clutched the handles of the basket containing the young peregrine. Perhaps this was a dream—

Andreas, an apprentice falconer at Castle Kragenberg, cannot bear the thought of killing the young female falcon and smuggles her out of the castle. Soon he realizes that his own time there has come to an end, and he stows away, with the bird, in the cart of an itinerant trader, Richard of Brugge. 

So begins a series of adventures that lead him from an obscure castle in northern Germany to the farthest reaches of Frederick von Hohenstaufen’s Holy Roman Empire, following a path dictated by the wily trader’s mysterious mission. Andreas continues to improve his falconry skills, but he also learns to pay attention to what is happening around him as he travels through areas fraught with political unrest. 

Eventually, Richard confides in Andreas, and they conspire to free Enzio, the eldest of the emperor’s illegitimate sons, from imprisonment in Bologna. 

***

ISBN: 978 1737101185

Publisher:  Malve von Hassell

Formats:  e-book and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  214 (paperback)

About the Author:

Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer, researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell's memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994). 

She has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer. 

Malve has published two children’s picture books, Tooth Fairy (Amazon KDP 2012/2020), and Turtle Crossing (Amazon KDP 2023), and her translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012).

The Falconer’s Apprentice (2015/KDP 2024) was her first historical fiction novel for young adults. She has published Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, and The Amber Crane (Odyssey Books, 2021), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945, as well as a biographical work about a woman coming of age in Nazi Germany, Tapestry of My Mother’s Life: Stories, Fragments, and Silences (Next Chapter Publishing, 2021), also available in German, Bildteppich Eines Lebens: Erzählungen Meiner Mutter, Fragmente Und Schweigen (Next Chapter Publishing, 2022), and is working on a historical fiction trilogy featuring Adela of Blois. 

(all media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

Hard Times for the East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride - #bookreview #blogtour

Cordelia walked towards the corner of her street, her mind on the Christmas she'd just spent with her parents. It had been a subdued holiday. Her father was furious that much of their house was to be requisitioned by the army as a convalescent centre...

***

As the war hits London, they’ll band together…

War strikes close to home for chief librarian Cordelia when her flat is bombed, and her beloved Robert is called up and sent abroad. Fortunately, her colleagues Mavis and Jane can help see her through hard times.

The three friends find purpose in making the Silvertown library a friendly sanctuary for their deprived and devastated community. But sinister forces, from callous bureaucrats to crafty criminals, still lurk among the stacks. Worse, Jane’s soldier husband is injured and suffers both physically and mentally.

With so many struggles Cordelia and her friends might need more than books to survive war's shadow. Can they find light in the darkness?

A captivating tale of resilience and determination, perfect for fans of Lizzie Lane, Elaine Roberts and Lesley Eames.

***

Last year I read the first book in this series, The Library Girls of the East End, and if you would like to read my review please click here. I enjoyed that book very much, so I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to read the next book in the series for a blog tour.

I enjoyed the opportunity to spend more time with the three main characters, Cordelia, Jane and Mavis. Their personalities are developed further in this book, and by the time I had finished reading it I definitely felt as though these three women were my friends.

They are all employed by the library and are alone with their men away at war. In this book, we meet a new library volunteer, conscientious objector, Tom, as well as a range of visitors, each of who have something to add to the colour of the story. 

The library is also to be used as an IIP centre by the Red Cross, where people can come to look for their missing friends and relatives. In addition, they set up a quilting group to enable those who have lost or are lonely to come together to talk, share and to produce a quilt dedicated to those they have loved. The library becomes the real heart of the community.

The author is a great story teller and has the skill to bring her characters alive on the page. She is also accomplished at creating a setting which is completely believable. It is a very engaging story with much to commend it and demonstrates the importance of friendship and community. I highly recommend it.

Although this book is the second in a series, it would work equally well as a stand alone novel.

ISBN: 978 1835180105

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-books, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  264 (paperback)

About the Author:

Patricia McBride is an author of heartwarming World War II sagas featuring fierce female friendships. She resides in Cambridge, England with her husband. When not writing, Patricia enjoys curling up with a cup of tea and books about strong woman in war time. Patricia's latest series follows the adventures of three librarians living and working in London's impoverished East End during the Blitz. The first book, The Library Girls of the East End, introduces posh Lady Cordelia Carmichael, bold Mavis and more timid Jane. Despite their differences, the three band together to keep their beloved library running amidst food rationing, air raids, and family troubles. And of course, romance.

(ARC and all media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

Goodbye Birdie Greenwing by Ericka Waller - #publicationday #spotlight

 This is my second spotlight post today. I could not resist shining a light on this book which I cannot wait to read. Goodbye Birdie Greenwing which published today looks like a fabulous read. I am sure you will agree.

The Blurb

Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget ...

Birdie Greenwing has been at a loose end ever since her beloved twin sister and husband passed away. Too proud and stubborn to admit she is lonely, Birdie’s world has shrunk. But then some new neighbours move in to the house next door.

Jane has come to Brighton for a fresh start, away from her ferociously protective mother Min. While Jane finds it hard to stand up for herself, her daughter Frankie has no problem telling people what she does and doesn’t want. Ada Kowalski has come to England to follow her dreams, but her new life is harder than she expected.

When a series of incidents brings their lives crashing together, the three find that there is always more to a person than meets the eye …

Goodbye Birdie Greenwing celebrates relationships in all their quirky, complicated uniqueness. It is a story about the choices we make and how we justify them. About finding out who we are, not who other people think we should be.

ISBN: 978 0857527257

Publisher:  Doubleday

Formats: e-book and hardback

No. of Pages:  352 

About the Author:

Ericka Waller lives in Brighton, by the sea, with her husband, three daughters and dogs. She loves reading (anything and everything), writing, and 1970's interior design (some may call it 'tut'). She has rheumatoid arthritis but can still talk the hind leg off a donkey. Always time for a cup of tea and some book recommendations.

(author media courtesy of Curtis Brown)

(all opinions are my own)

Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis - #publicationday #spotlight

 Now here's a book I fancy reading. Spitting Gold looks fabulous and is a debut novel by author Carmella Lowkis. Today is publication day and I am shining the spotlight on this gorgeous looking book.

The Blurb

Paris, 1866. When Baroness Sylvie Devereux receives a house-call from Charlotte Mothe, the sister she disowned, she fears her shady past as a spirit medium has caught up with her. But with their father ill and Charlotte unable to pay his bills, Sylvie is persuaded into one last con.

Their marks are the de Jacquinots: dysfunctional aristocrats who believe they are haunted by their great aunt, brutally murdered during the French Revolution.

Sylvie and Charlotte will need to deploy every trick to terrify the family out of their gold – until they experience inexplicable horrors themselves.

The sisters start to question if they really are at the mercy of a vengeful spirit. And what other deep, dark secrets threaten to come to light...?

Spitting Gold is a darkly atmospheric and propulsive historical debut that twists and turns, blending gothic mystery with a captivating sapphic romance.

ISBN: 978 0857529466

Publisher:  Doubleday

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages:  336 (hardback)

 

About the Author:

Carmella Lowkis grew up in Wiltshire and has a degree in English literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick.

After graduating, she worked for some years in public and academic libraries, before moving into book marketing. She is currently a Brand Executive at Vintage, Penguin Random House, and lives in North London.

Her debut novel, Spitting Gold, is set in 19th century Paris and follows two estranged sisters – formerly celebrated (and fraudulent) spirit mediums – as they come back together for one last con.

(author media courtesy of Mushens Entertainment)

(all opinions are my own)

Before the Swallows Come Back by Fiona Curnow - #bookreview

A knock on the door. 'On you go, sweetheart. It's for you.' His words, slow, breathy, like they had been pushed from somewhere very deep, very narrow. Charlotte grinned at her father, tip-toed to the door, let out a deep sigh, and pulled it open. The delivery man stood there with her birthday present. There was only one thing it could be. The size of it. The shape of it...

***

Tommy struggles with people, with communicating, preferring solitude, drifting off with nature. He is protected by his Tinker family who keep to the old ways. A life of quiet seclusion under canvas is all he knows.

Charlotte cares for her sickly father. She meets Tommy by the riverside and an unexpected friendship develops. Over the years it becomes something more, something crucial to both of them. But when tragedy strikes each family they are torn apart.

Charlotte is sent far away.

Tommy might have done something very bad.

Before the Swallows Come Back is a story of love, found family, and redemption that will break your heart and have it soaring time and time again as you sit on the edge of your seat desperately hoping.

***

I can hardly put into words how beautiful this book is. In all honesty, I had never heard of it until one of the members of my Book Group mentioned it. She was gifted a copy for Christmas and suggested that we all read it. I am so very glad that she did as it was a five shiny star read for me.

It is set in Scotland and the vivid descriptions made reading this visceral. In fact, I think the environment in this book is every bit as important as the characters. This is a book to get lost in. The natural world is so beautifully depicted I was completely immersed.

The main characters are Charlotte, a young girl who cares for her ill father, and Tommy, a Tinker who, with his family, set up camp every summer in the woods and fields a bike ride away from Charlotte's house. Every summer they meet and become the unlikeliest of friends. However, this bond strengthens as the years progress and it was a sheer delight to follow. Their friendship represents the coming together of two alternative lifestyles. 

One of the things which I loved about this book was the gentle pace at which it moved along. However, about half way through there are a couple of dramatic events which I definitely did not anticipate. From there, the book becomes more people centric with the dialogue and prose being every bit as engaging as its leisurely the first half.

The book is a love letter to the natural world and the environs of Scotland. The writing is exceptional and beautiful to read. I was mesmerised by it. It is one to be savoured. At times I slowed down my reading to take in its beauty, and I can well imagine reading this book again as there is something very special contained within it's covers.

This is a fabulous book and is an independent publication. If Ms. Curnow's other books are anything as gorgeous as this one, then I want to read them all. I highly encourage you to read it.

ISBN:  978 0995531499

Publisher:  Curnow

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  414 (paperback)

About the Author:

Fiona was the winner of the Federation of Writers (Scotland) short story competition, 2023. 

Her writing has been described as, "Human experience impacted upon by political situation, interwoven with a love of nature."

She dropped out of school aged fifteen, because being the consummate rebel, she hated it! After becoming a single parent she decided to return to education, graduating in 1996 with an honours degree in primary education. Ah, the irony! 

As soon as she graduated she packed everything she owned into her Renault 11, including her daughter, two dogs and a cat, and headed off to Estonia to become an international school teacher. 

After travelling the world teaching for fifteen glorious years she returned home to pursue a long held ambition of committing herself to full time writing.

She lives on the east coast of Scotland where her days are spent dog-walking and writing.

She has written four books under the name F J Curlew. She now also writes under her given name of Fiona Curnow.

(author media courtesy of https://fjcurlew.wixsite.com/author/bio)

(book and all opinions are my own)

Looking for Lucie by Amanda Addison - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Dad walks into the dining room carrying a showstopper of a cake. All eighteen candles flicker above the raspberry and pistachio topping...

"A work of art, Steve," says Nana Pat...

"Baking is pretty similar to building; cake for the bricks and cream for cement. Just on a much smaller scale!" laughs Dad...

***

Looking for Lucie is a contemporary YA novel that explores identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship as an 18-year-old girl sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history.

"Where are you really from?"

It's a question every brown girl in a white-washed town is familiar with, and one that Lucie has never been able to answer. All she knows is that her mother is white, she's never met her father, and she looks nothing like the rest of her family. She can't even talk about it because everyone says it shouldn't matter!

Well, it matters to Lucie and-with her new friend Nav, who knows exactly who he is-she's determined to find some answers.

What do you do when your entire existence is a question with no answer?

You do a DNA test.

***

Publishing on 18th April, you only have to wait a couple of days to be able to get your hands on this fantastic book for young adults. Having said that, it has been many years since I could call myself young, but I enjoyed every word of this book. 

It is aimed at a secondary school-age audience, so roughly 11-18 year olds.  The main character, Lucie, has her eighteenth birthday at the beginning of the book, and she is on the cusp of going to university to study art. She is also having an identity crisis. She has never looked like her family, mum, step-dad and sister, Maisie. She is darker skinned and has always been unable to answer the question when people ask "Where are you really from?" and the answer, Norfolk, did not satisfy. Her mum has never talked about her biological father, and she is desperate to know more about him and his ethnicity. This leads her to secretly taking a DNA test. Lucie was a wonderful character and she was very easy to identify and engage with. I was rooting for her every step of the way.

The book moves along at an appropriate pace for the genre. There were some surprises along the way which kept the plot moving forwards nicely. 

The book considers what it means to belong, as well as personal identity and working out how we fit into our individual world. I enjoyed following Lucie's journey as she grappled with some of these questions.

The majority of the chapters are written from the perspective of Lucie and her new friend, Nav. Later in the book we also get to hear the viewpoint of Lucie and Nav's mothers. The multiple perspectives enable the reader to understand that family dynamics and how or where we belong are never simplistic. This book performs an excellent job of demonstrating that situations can be viewed differently, and will vary with each individual.

If you have a young person in your life, I suggest buying them a copy of this book... but I would have a sneaky read of it before you pass it to them! Both young adults and adults alike will adore this book, and I heartily recommend it.

ISBN:  978 1911107682

Publisher:  Neem Tree Press

Formats:  Paperback

No. of Pages: 272

About the Author:

Amanda Addison is an award-winning author of books for adults and children. Her writing has been translated into German, Greek, Italian and Ukrainian. Her picture book, Boundless Sky, was nominated for The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal, and her YA novel, Looking for Lucie, was listed for the Searchlight Writing Novel Opening Award. A graduate of Chelsea school of Art, her writing and artwork are inspired by travel, textiles, and the natural world. Amanda holds an MA in Writing the Visual and lectures in Art & Design and has also led workshops in Creative Writing at the National Centre for Writing. Amanda lives in Norfolk, UK, with her family.

Her writing includes flash fiction, short stories, picture books and novels. She explores themes of home and belonging, and enjoys using the juxtaposition of rural and city life. Her characters are often artists or scientists, as their curiosity about the world around them are two sides to the same coin, and the exploration of art and science can give us meaning and purpose in life with its infinite avenues of discovery. Amanda’s debut YA novel, Looking for Lucie, Neem Tree Press 2024, explores the above. It is a contemporary story of identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship. Lucie, an 18-year-old art student sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history with her new scientist friend Nav. Together they unravel family secrets.

Amanda believes in the power of stories as a window on the world, and a mirror to better see ourselves and is passionate about stories which are empowering and inclusive. When not writing she can be found swimming in the North Sea or running in the countryside, and that is when she gets some of her best ideas!

(book and media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

Yellow Bird's Song by Heather Miller - #excerpt #blogtour

 

Today I am thrilled to be bringing you an excerpt from Yellow Bird's Song by author, Heather Miller. But first, a little about the book...

The Blurb

Rollin Ridge, a mercurial figure in this tribal tale, makes a fateful decision in 1850, leaving his family behind to escape the gallows after avenging his father and grandfather’s brutal assassinations. With sin and grief packed in his saddlebags, he and his brothers head west in pursuit of California gold, embarking on a journey marked by hardship and revelation. Through letters sent home, Rollin uncovers the unrelenting legacy of his father’s sins, an emotional odyssey that delves deep into his Cherokee history.

The narrative’s frame transports readers to the years 1827-1835, where Rollin’s parents, Cherokee John Ridge and his white wife, Sarah, stumble upon a web of illicit slave running, horse theft, and whiskey dealings across Cherokee territory. Driven by a desire to end these inhumane crimes and defy the powerful pressures of Georgia and President Andrew Jackson, John Ridge takes a bold step by running for the position of Principal Chief, challenging the incumbent, Chief John Ross. The Ridges face a heart-wrenching decision: to stand against discrimination, resist the forces of land greed, and remain on their people’s ancestral land, or to sign a treaty that would uproot an entire nation, along with their family.

***

ISBN:  978 1962465229

Publisher:  Historium Press

Formats:  e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  370 (paperback)

***

The Excerpt

John Rollin Ridge, West Dessert, Utah, 1851

Instead of other travelers along this desert route, we’d found wagon carcasses, adding ours to the lot. Whether human corpses decayed inside, I couldn’t say. I didn’t stop to find out, ridding myself of guilt for not burying the dead. My body couldn’t have done it properly with so little water, not without following directly behind them. 

As the afternoon waned, we dismounted and walked beside our thirsty animals. In the desert, a man’s horse becomes too weak to carry him. So, he travels on foot, closer to the dust, breathing and clogging his mind with villainous grains. Packs double their weight with worry, heavier with one last blanket of self-preservation. Yet, parched though he may be, his mind sings songs, like uprooted choruses from a withered elder, telling his trials to impatient warriors who already know the legend’s end.

Expanses of grass shrunk into patches, peeking through worn spots in the desert, like leg hair peeking through worn and holey farmhand pants. We found the pooled water brackish, the color of tea from iodine, salt mixing with sparse rainwater. It wasn’t potable for man or beast. With each disappointment from the lack of soluble water, our progress trickled, nearly stopping entirely. 

The sway of horses and pack mules found their rhythm, sluggish though it was. Heat rippled across the sand to just repel back to us from wide mountain berths. Thorny bushes turned pale, a shade lighter than the sand at our feet, desperate for water deep in their roots. Snakes could not reach it and fled, finding no shade. 

We pressed forward into the sun, past the mountains near Salt Lake. Each pull at the rim of our hats remained where it was stretched. Bandanas covered our mouths, eyes asquint, leaving each of us absent identity. 

Aeneas coughed, attempting to break his silence, rallying saliva enough to articulate some question or another. One which I’d likely have no answer to. He said, “How are we gonna feed the horses, Rollin?” 

I was right. 

Wacooli answered behind me. “Anee, we’ll have to search for grass on foot and bring it to ‘em.”  

From my brother’s response to Wacooli’s lack of enthusiasm, I knew Aeneas stewed in his thoughts. His concern for our animals was more about him than the beasts. 

Aeneas said, “You know what I’m hungry for? Grandma’s fried bread, Mama’s glazed chicken, Honey’s pole beans boiled with fatback, and strawberry pie.”

“Damn it, Aeneas! Doesn’t do us any good thinking about it.” I took the fatal risk of putting my thoughts to voice while lingering in Aeneas’ conjured savory tastes. I bit my tongue and swallowed twice. “Aeneas, do you remember Papa asking Mama to take all the seeds out of his strawberries?”

“Nope. Too little. You can hold Papa in your thoughts better than me, Rollin. You’ve got more stock.” 

When I didn’t answer right away, he asked, “What did Papa say?”

“Said they got stuck in his teeth, and she needed to remove them.”

“Did she throw something at him?” Aeneas smiled briefly and tried a laugh, but his throat was too dry to form the sound. 

“No. She kissed him, as I remember it.” 

The memory was as sweet as the fruit. Our lives were so predictable then, freedom through synchronicity. Running Waters will always be home, not the cabin in the West at Honey Creek, or Mama’s dogtrot in Fayetteville, but our home, Running Waters, in Cherokee Nation East, settled among valley lands in the foothills of the Appalachians. 

My parent’s extensive farm stretched into the valley on a high hill, crowned with a fine grove of oak and hickory, with a large clear spring at its foot. The orchard was on the left, wheat and cornfields to the right, pastures of cows, goats on one side near the house, and sheep grazing on the other.3 Behind the house, the running spring gave our home its name. After Grandfather’s New Echota Treaty in 1835, we, too, would run over rock, slip on moss, and fall downhill with only brief plains to pool. 

The ground whitened under our horse hooves, salted sand gathering in random odd-shaped lines. Only God could articulate their rhyme and reason. Boot tracks marked our path northwest. Each saunter brought another thought: some forward, most backward. Where we’d been, what we’d lost. My thoughts rambled without any respite.

***

About the Author:

As a veteran English teacher and college professor, Heather has spent nearly thirty years teaching her students the author’s craft. Now, with empty nest time on her hands, she’s writing herself, transcribing lost voices in American’s history.

(all media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

Whitechapel Autumn of Error by Ian Porter - #bookreview #blogtour

 Many of the women employed in the world's oldest profession were part-timers, spending much of their lives earning a pittance for long hours of tortuous work in other industries. Some attempted to live a double life of apparent respectability, keeping their night work a secret.

Maud Nash was such a woman...

***

Whitechapel 1888; a killer is on the loose and the newspapers are ensuring the nation knows all about not just the crimes but the terrible living conditions in which they are being perpetrated.

Nashey, a tough, scary yet charismatic man of the night, whose mother had to prostitute herself when he was a boy, knows the identity of the killer but keeps it a secret. He believes the publicity generated by the murders is forcing the authorities to address the poverty and degradation in the area. He allows the killer to remain free (whilst ensuring no more women are attacked) so the unsolved murders continue to dominate the headlines. He meets Sookey, an eccentric middle-class slummer and civilising influence. The two of them share a mutual friend, Mary Kelly, a fiery young prostitute whose back-story tells of how she was reduced to such a life.

To fund his surveillance of the killer, Nashey agrees, against his better judgement, to assist an old adversary to commit a daring night robbery under the noses of the huge police presence in the area.

Is it too late for Nashey and Mary to correct their mistakes?

***

Set in London's East End during the late 1880's when Jack the Ripper was a name on everyone's lips, the author has done a great job of capturing the menacing atmosphere in which people lived.

It has been well researched and there is more emphasis on the victims rather than Jack the Ripper himself.  The author demonstrates the poverty that Whitechapel's inhabitants lived vividly. It is obvious why so many people turned to crime and prostitution.

I liked the main characters of this book, namely Sookey, Nashey and Mary. Three very different individuals whose lives become intertwined as they experience the squalor of the area. They were well fleshed out and easy to engage with, although I did find Sookey's character took me a while to understand. However, there were women like her, Beatrice Webb/Potter springs to mind. Women who were committed to researching the lives of the poor.

The author describes the degradation and terror of living through such a time extremely well. A lifestyle that is fuelled by poverty, worry over where the next meal or nightly roof over their heads is coming from, coupled with the fear experienced of being on the streets after dark and becoming the Ripper's next victim.

Nashey discovers the Ripper's identity fairly early in the book, which gave this story a slightly different edge to the norm. The reader is let into this secret, and we follow Nashey's journey as he plots to reveal the Ripper's identity.

It is a moderately paced novel with a sufficiently interesting plot to keep the reader engaged. I think anyone who likes fiction set during this period will enjoy this book.

ISBN: 978 1805143987

Publisher:  Matador

Formats:  Paperback

No. of Pages:  384

***

About the Author:

Ian Porter is a historian, lecturer, public speaker and walks guide. He has a particular interest in women's history and social history. His novels are renowned for being extremely well researched and historically accurate. Whitechapel Autumn of Error is a typically feminist, social history novel that brings the dark streets of the East End 1888 to life. He has written several other novels including the highly acclaimed Suffragette Autumn Women's Spring, set during the fight for the vote for women, and a Plague On Both Your Houses, set in both London and Berlin in 1918/19 during the final months of the Great War and the Spanish Flu. Ian is getting on a bit (well, aged 69). His grandparents were young adults living in East London at the time of the Whitechapel Murders.

(book and media courtesy of Random Things Tours)

(all opinions are my own)

Red Runs the Witch's Thread by Victoria Williamson - #bookreview #blogtour

 

The skein of thread that lay in the merchant's beefy hand was white against his mottled flesh, the twisted fibres spun fine as silk and bleached over many months. As she watched the linen dealer hold the strands up to the light, testing their strength by pulling them between his stubby fingers, Christian felt suddenly queasy...

***

Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.

Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.

But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.

As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?

Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?

An eerie tale of lies, deception and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.

***

I have read several of Victoria Williamson's books now and I have enjoyed every one. I will put some links at the bottom of this review if you would like to read my reviews of those books.

The narrative of Red Runs the Witch's Thread moves between 1697 when the main character, Christian, was a child who claimed to have been cursed by witches. She went on to accuse and ultimately help condemn several people of being witches. Several of them were sentenced to death because of her allegations.  The story also takes place during 1722 where the villagers still think of Christian in terms of the role she played in the so-called witches being executed. 

What we witness as readers is Christian's mental unravelling. She is dubious of her own memories and questions them, haunting her into her adult life. There are several flashbacks to the past in the parts of the story which is set in the later time period.

Personally, I was more attracted by the historical aspect of the book that it's dark theme. The book has an extremely eerie, creepy feel to it and I found witnessing Christian's mental struggles uncomfortable and claustrophobic; just as it should do in a book of this genre. It has all of the elements expected in a supernatural novel, and this short book will appeal enormously to lovers of the genre.

***

Books by Victoria Williamson

Please click on the title to read my review:

The Haunting Scent of Poppies

War of the Wind

The Whistlers in the Dark

The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams

Norah's Ark

ISBN:  9781738436422

Pubisher: Silver Thisle Press

No. of Pages: 250

***

About the Author:

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.

Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

(book and all media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)