Monday, 14 September 2026

10 Ten Exciting New Releases for October 2026

 

Sometimes it is so difficult to restrict myself to just ten books due to be released in the following month. There are so many great looking books to choose from. I finally settled on the following ten, and I am sure you will agree, they do look exciting.

Happy Reading!


Flickers of Light in a Nazi Darkness by Lisa Waller Rogers

Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, marking the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship. As the tide of Nazism grew, so did anti-Jewish decrees which stripped away the rights of German Jews.

In May 1940, the Germans invaded and occupied the neutral country of the Netherlands. Little by little the Nazis took away the rights of the Dutch Jews and the only place they were safe was in their homes, until they weren’t. In 1942, Nazis conducted raids to deport them to labor and concentration camps. But not every Jew was caught. Thanks to the heroic action of Dutch resistance workers, at great risk to themselves, Dutch resistance workers hid Jews from the Nazis, and sought to keep them safe and fed through the long years of WWII. Not all of these efforts bore success, many Dutch workers were imprisoned and executed by the Nazis. Flickers of Light in a Nazi Darkness brings the story of some of these “Flickers of Light” resistance workers to life.

Preorder Link


 The Secret Keeper by Anstey Harris


Olivia has spent thirty years tending the cemetery next to her home, gently caring for the graves. Since her daughter Lizzie stopped speaking to her after a devastating accident, talking to the dead has been easier than the living.

Olivia thought there would be years ahead—time to persuade Lizzie to come home. But when she discovers her husband is dying, everything changes. Suddenly, time is very short.

For Lizzie to reunite with her parents, Olivia will have to face the truth of her choices, of the secrets she’s been hiding for years. She knows it is time. Time to bring the two halves of herself back together. But if she does, will those she loves forgive her? Or is it already too late?

An incredibly moving story that will stay in your heart, about the secrets we keep to protect those we love and how to find peace when time is running out.

Preorder Link


The Storyteller of Krakow by Carly Schabowski

It takes courage to tell your story…

Kraków, 1994. When an elderly woman named Lena meets a young girl, the child is carrying a toy bear, who she has named Wojtek. She quietly tells Lena it’s named after a bear who was famous in the second world war. This is a name Lena hasn’t heard in many years. And so she begins her story…

Kraków, 1940. When Lena was young, she loved to tell stories – about the places she would go, the battles she would fight, the great loves she might have – imagining herself the heroine in every tale. But when the Soviet forces invade her town, and take her to a Siberian gulag, leaving her with no family, no home, no strength to fight… her dreams feel further away than ever.

Until the Soviets change sides in the war, and Lena finds herself being rescued, and on an unexpected journey – one that runs in parallel with a tame bear named Wojtek. As their journey takes them across the Middle East, to Africa, and finally to war-torn Italy, she realized there might be a chance for her to live the life she always told stories about – fighting the hated Nazis.

But there is one thing missing… a great love. Lena knows she doesn’t need saving by a man. But when Wojtek the bear leads her to an injured stranger, she realises perhaps it’s not her who needs rescue. The only problem is that the man she’s led to is a German soldier, on the other side of the war from her…

Can love conquer all in wartime? Don’t miss this unforgettable story!

Preorder Link


All Yours by Pippa Nixon


A spicy second chance romance between a single dad and an old flame.

The last time games designer Fox saw Robyn was the morning after their amazing night together. He didn't even get her last name. But as a single dad to two boys, he's never had time for anything but his work and his family.

So when flame-haired Robyn shows up on his doorstep as his new live-in nanny, Fox is stunned. The connection burns just as bright, but they agree to keep it professional.

The longer they live under one roof, the harder it is to keep their promise. And where Robyn's concerned, Fox is playing for keeps . . .

Preorder Link


Loyalty and Lies on Dressmakers' Alley by Rosie Clarke


Times are changing. Is there a glimmer of hope on the horizon for the women of Dressmaker Alley?

London’s East End 1927

Yvonne White is content as head seamstress at Miss Susie, raising her beloved son alone and determined to keep the past behind her. So when John’s father suddenly reappears after years of silence, demanding a place in his son’s life, Yvonne’s hard-won peace is shattered.

Polly Blake spends her days exhausted by endless work and family responsibilities, caring for her invalid father and three younger brothers while her carefree twin, Patsy, falls in with dangerous company. Polly longs for happiness of her own, but trouble is never far away.

Meanwhile, Lady Diane’s dazzling fashion designs have made Miss Susie the toast of London. Yet as she accompanies the ailing Lord Henry to Italy, jealousy and uncertainty threaten everything she holds dear.

With fear spreading through London’s East End as a killer stalks the shadows, the women of Dressmaker’s Alley must face secrets, heartbreak, and unexpected surprises before their lives change forever.

Things are looking brighter on Dressmaker’s Alley, but there are always those who want to cause trouble…

Preorder Link


The Pilgrimage of Primrose Honeychurch by Laura Jensen Walker


Primrose Honeychurch doesn’t really “get” people. Books, though, make perfect sense.

At seventy, the sharp-tongued recluse prefers to keep company with her own routines. But when a life-altering diagnosis leaves her worried she’ll never be missed, she decides it’s finally time to do something to leave her mark: something no one will ever forget.

Clutching her mother’s ashes and the book of her heart, Primrose hops on a plane, bound for Hay-on-Wye, the legendary Welsh “Town of Books.” Unfortunately, her literary pilgrimage just won’t follow the plot. After an accident derails her trip, she finds herself staying awhile with estranged family. But she senses a kindred spirit in the niece she’s getting to know, who uncannily understands the world much the same as Primrose herself does.

As rolling green hills and book-lined streets frame an unexpected season of discovery, what began as an unwelcome detour becomes something more profound. For the first time in her life, Primrose begins to glimpse the beauty―and courage―of true human connection.

Preorder Link


A Gala Ball at Tillingford Hall by Flora Dunn


Sahara Seaton-Smyth’s life is in disarray. Her modelling career has stalled; her ex, James, is never coming home; her beloved brother Seb is moving out; and the local vet has persuaded her to adopt a demanding orphaned piglet called Muffin.

To top it all, Sahara’s closest friend, Guy Tillingford, is losing his calm. In the run-up to the opening gala ball, Tin Tub Productions are filming a documentary about his crumbling country mansion, Tillingford Hall. Although he’s thrilled to be a first-time dad, his fiancée Alice’s due date is worryingly close to the big night.When Tin Tub ask Sahara to be a presenter, she’s reluctant to step back into the spotlight – until she learns she’ll be working with her old friend, popular TV historian Dr Tom Pemberton. With Tom’s reassurance, she takes a chance on a new career.

Since his wife Vittoria died, Tom has been juggling single parenthood with TV stardom. His eleven-year-old son Cory has retreated into video games, while his fifteen-year-old daughter Xanthe, an exceptional violinist, struggles with sudden fame.

Who better to help Tom navigate these challenges than Sahara?

But when she receives unexpected news about her health, will it bring them closer – or push them apart?

And with Alice’s due date so close to the ball, who will have the first dance?

Preorder Link


Dreadnought by Robin Bennett

On a remote Yorkshire headland known as Dreadnought, seven-year-old Cass Delaval begins to glimpse figures and fragments tied to a past that refuses to stay buried.

As the world edges toward conflict, Cass is drawn into a family mystery stretching back to the Second World War: a missing boy, a hidden weapon, and a family secret.

Because whatever has lain dormant on Dreadnought goes deep into our past … and it isn’t finished with us yet.

Dreadnought is a story of loyalty and hope, where the courage of one small girl may be our last defence.

Preorder Link


The Translator by Annabelle Marx


Detective novels, she said, were for simpletons and spinsters. But she translated them anyway – because someone she loved couldn’t live without them.

1936, London. Edie Adler slips into the back pew of a memorial service for her dearest friend, Vee Saunders – presumed dead, her body never found. As politicians murmur condolences to Vee’s powerful husband, Edie sits with a fury she can barely contain. She knows things about this marriage no one in the room would dare speak aloud. And she refuses to believe that Vee is gone. She closes her eyes and she’s back in the warm Mediterranean water – the salt on her skin, Vee’s hands keeping her afloat, that voice in her ear: don’t worry, I won’t let you sink…

1918, Malta. Edie, an officer in the newly formed Wrens, arrives on the sun-drenched island expecting cyphers, duty and discipline. What she doesn’t expect is Vee – a whip-smart nurse singing in the bathtub with a cigarette in one hand and a gin in the other. Vee teaches her to swim in secret coves, leads her astray in the basement bars of Valletta, and the two women forge a bond that will shape the rest of their lives.

As they take different paths – Edie to a small flat in Hampstead, swimming in the Ladies’ Pond each morning, long days as a social worker in the London slums – they stay bound by letters. Vee’s are vivid, full of mischief, then slowly, they darken. And then they stop. Two years of silence. Until a parcel arrives from Paris – three detective novels, all in French, no sender, no note – and Edie’s world shifts on its axis.

Preorder Link


The Secret Garden Murders by J.R. Ellis


A murder in a locked garden. A village full of secrets. Can DCI Oldroyd find a killer who has vanished into thin air?

When a woman is found strangled in the locked garden of historic Bishop Hewick Hall in Yorkshire, DCI Jim Oldroyd needs to solve a seemingly impossible murder. The only door was bolted from the inside and the kitchen garden walls are too high to climb. If no one could enter or leave, how did the killer commit the crime and escape?

As Oldroyd and his team investigate the victim’s past, they discover Clarissa Morden wasn’t the kind elderly woman she appeared. Instead, she was a ruthless blackmailer who kept coded records of her neighbours’ darkest secrets. Her list included a local cabinet maker, the Bishop Hewick Hall manager and even her next-door neighbour―suddenly it seems as if half the village has a motive for murder.

When a second body is discovered in the local river, it seems this quiet corner of Yorkshire may never be the same again. Can Oldroyd unlock the secret of the impossible locked garden murder and find the culprit? Or will the killer strike again in this tranquil village to keep their secrets hidden…

Preorder Link

Friday, 11 September 2026

Bob and Shirley's Guide to Murder by Suzy K. Quinn - #bookreview #blogtour


Shirley - Murder? In our quiet, little English village?

Great Oakley is a place of hanging baskets, tearooms and riverside walks. We've won 'Britain's safest village' 10 years running...


***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Rachel's Random Resources. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***


The Blurb

Bob and Shirley run a lovely country pub. They also solve murders ...

A warmly funny, gloriously British cozy crime and murder mystery series that can be read as standalones or part of a series. Set in a village where the pub is the heart of country life and served with warmth, wit and a very good Sunday roast.

“Murder? In our quiet, little English village?

Great Oakley is a place of hanging baskets, tearooms and riverside walks. We’ve won ‘Britain’s safest village’ 10 years running. I keep three pound coins, a box of toffees and a bottle of Pepto-Bismol on my dashboard at all times, and I’ve never needed to lock my car.

Certainly, Bevvy Hogg was disliked. She ran the local Waist Watchers group, yet came to our pub for fish and chips, treacle tart and a bottle of Chardonnay every Friday. But I don’t think she was murdered …”

When Bevvy Hogg is found dead in the Goose and Gander pub garden, with an empty treacle tart plate beside her and several dress sizes slimmer than anyone remembers, Great Oakley’s winning streak as Britain’s safest village comes to an abrupt end.


My Review

This amusing cosy crime mystery is entertaining to read.

Bob and Shirley are a married couple who run a village pub. When a customer is discovered dead and the reputation of the pub's treacle tart needs to be defended, Bob and Shirley investigate how she was killed.

The chapters alternate between Bob and Shirley, so we are able to see the same occurrences through both pairs of eyes. 

There were times that I found this book very funny and it caused me to chuckle on occasion. It was a light-hearted read, and those who enjoy cosy crime might well like this book.

The book is the first in a planned series, which will thrill those who enjoyed this book. It is a funny, quick and easy read and can easily be read in a couple of sittings.

For me, I found it hard to engage with but reading is very subjective and I have read many good things about it. So, do give it a go and let me know what you think.


Book Details

  ISBN: 978 1999866396

Publisher: Book Club Ltd

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

No. of Pages: 286 (paperback)

Series: Book 1 in the Bob and Shirley Cozy Mystery series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author


Suzy K Quinn (hello – it’s me!) is writing this bio in the third person. Which feels duplicitous and also a little egotistical. But here goes ... 

Suzy K Quinn writes book club books and murder mystery series, and has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. She's a bestselling author in the US, UK and Germany and will soon, very possibly, have written more books than she's read.Suzy lives in Wivenhoe, Essex, with her husband and two daughters. She is a twin, an incompetent parent of two and now fully decaffeinated. Her twin sister, Cate Quinn, is also a bestseller author. When Suzy isn't writing in cafes, she is walking around woods dictating like a lunatic.

You can also find Suzy at:

Author Website

Facebook

Instagram

X


My Other Blog Posts Featuring This Author

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

Love or Your Money Back





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

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Thursday, 10 September 2026

The Silent Women by Tara Lynn Masih - #bookreview


Black Sunday 1945, Guymon, Oklahoma

The calm before the storm. Everyone knows the truth of this...


***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the author. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

Oklahoma, 1935. Black Sunday. From the moment a wall of black dust devours the plains and buries her world, Song Holloway’s life is marked by dislocation and loss. Even in the rural New England town she now calls home, that dark cloud continues to follow her.

Then the army asks her to take up work at a classified facility in the muddy outpost of Oak Ridge, a city that doesn’t appear on any map. Trained to test pipes, Song searches for leaks in a system no one will explain. The work is dangerous. People vanish. Yet it’s here, behind the barbed wire and watchtowers, that she finds what the dust storm stole: a place to belong and women who become her second family. And there is Hol—a gentle soldier who gives her, for the first time, peace.

Until she’s summoned. A small room. Two agents. Men with power she will never have. Song is given a command: spy on the women in your life. In a city built on secrets, keeping quiet used to be enough. Now it makes her complicit. But Song’s choices will haunt her long after she learns what flowed through those pipes.


My Review

I was already a fan of Tara Lynn Masih's award-winning books, so when she offered me the opportunity to review her latest book, The Silent Women, I accepted joyfully.

This book made for great reading. The Silent Women is based on the true story of the Manhattan Project's secret women during World War II. Women were recruited to join the war effort in a highly secret project.

When the main character, Song Holloway, is approached and recruited, she accepts with no knowledge of what she will be asked to do. In fact, whilst working on the project, she still has no idea what the assignment actually is or what she is working towards. However, with a proud sense of patriotism, she works away and asks no questions. I can't say too much more without giving it away, but when the reveal comes and we, alongside Song, learn of the project, it is well worth waiting for. US readers may already be familiar with the history surrounding this program but for me I found it informative as I was unaware of the project so came to it with fresh eyes.

With each of the novels that Ms Masih has written, I have sensed a maturity in her writing. She skillfuly brings both her story and characters alive on the page in this novel. I particularly enjoyed reading of the friendships she formed whilst at the classified facility, and how this enabled Song's character development. She was a great character to read of.

It has been well researched, and this really shows in not just the broader time and place but also in the minutiae of Song's life. I was fully invested in reading this novel as it is a compelling and engaging read. 

Published just yesterday, the author states that it took her seven years to completely put this together. Personally, I think it was well worth waiting for and I highly recommend it.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 1837005536

Publisher: Storm Publishing

Formats: e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages: 392 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Tara Lynn Masih grew up on Long Island’s north shore, in the small harbor town of East Northport. A bicultural author, she is the daughter of Lalit K. Masih (the first prominent Indian-American watercolorist) and Sandra Kolyer (who descends from many European ethnicities, including the first White Knight in Ireland). 

Much of her writing is set within the framework of nature and place, a result of the years she spent outdoors in the woods, meadows, swamps and on the shores of Long Island Sound. She LOVES history, flowers, anything vintage, the beach, the marshes, chocolate, and family time. She now lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

You can also find Tara at:

Author Website

Instagram

Linked In

Facebook

Bluesky


My Other Blog Posts Featuring This Author

How We Disappear

My Real Name is Hanna

Guest Post

Desert Island Books



(ARC and media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Wednesday, 9 September 2026

A Calamity of Waters by Chloe Turner - #bookreview


Later, they would talk of mighty hills of water tumbling one over another. Of smoke spilling from great waves... a sight which dazzled every one of those who looked upon it...


***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the publicist. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***


The Blurb

JANUARY 1607. THE SEVERN VALLEY. THE GREATEST FLOOD IN LIVING MEMORY.

Habren has never quite forgiven herself. Her father only sings bawdy carols for farthings these days, none of the sweet songs he used to sing their mother, and perhaps it’s no wonder her sisters Syble and Margret have put many leagues between themselves and their old home. But then Syble summons her to Gloucester, and if Habren can keep on the right side of their pin merchant master, perhaps it’s the chance she needs to make up for the past.

Then the river rises. In a single January morning, the Severn floods the vale and upends every life in it. And somewhere down that swollen estuary is Ambrose, the man Habren loves.

With Syble and new friend Raynould beside her, Habren sets out for Bristol to find him, through a city the flood has torn apart. And as they search, secrets they have kept close to their hearts begin, one by one, to surface.


My Review

This was one of those books that I wanted to read slowly, to linger over every word and sentence because it has been so beautifully crafted.

The author has taken an authentic historical event, setting her book during the early part of the seventeenth century when the Bristol Channel flooded, and many drowned.  Homes, farmland and even entire villages were flooded, leaving both the human and animal populations depleted.

The book oozes period detail, demonstrating the extraordinary amount of research that went into the writing of this book and, thus, making her characters utterly believable.

The main character is Habren, the youngest of three sisters. She, along with  her sister, Syble, works for Alderman Taylor manufacturing pins. He is uncaring and abusive to his workers. Accompanied by their friend, Raynould, they flee his employment after almost losing their lives due to his negligence. What follows is a journey where secrets unfold and they come to understand one another more.

This book is up there with the best I have read this year. It was a gripping, immersive story which I didn't want to put down. Its pace is gentle and perfectly appropriate for the genre. I was fully engaged throughout and was sorry when the book had to end. I highly recommend this compelling book to fans of historical fiction.

As if the fact that this is a brilliant novel to read isn't a good enough reason to buy this book, all profits from the sales of A Calamity of Waters will go to the author's local charity, Stroud Valleys Project (https://www.stroudvalleysproject.org/), for their river restoration and other local nature works. Founded in 1988, Stroud Valleys Project's aim is to support people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities to connect with and nurture green spaces to keep people and nature thriving.


Book Details

ISBN:978 1917090223

Publisher: Deixis Books

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

No. of Pages: 320 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Waterstones

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Chloe Turner’s short stories have been widely published, including in Best British Short Stories 2018. Her debut collection, Witches Sail in Eggshells, won the 2020 Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection. In 2019, the Yeovil Literary Prize awarded third prize to Blue Hawk. 

A Calamity of Waters is her second novel. Set around the devastating Bristol Channel floods of 30 January 1607, where it is estimated that 2,000 or more people drowned. It was, according to modern historians and scientists, the deadliest sudden natural disaster to hit Britain in 500 years. The 420th anniversary is this coming January, 2027.

Chloe mixes extensively-researched historical fact with imagination to tell engrossing stories, intertwining actual events and places to bring her local history to life. 

You can also find Chloe at:

Author Website

Instagram


(ARC and media courtesy of the publicist)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Tuesday, 8 September 2026

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer - #bookreview


***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Netgalley. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***


The Blurb

Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and wrangle characters that go off-script.

Book witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real word; fictional characters belong in works of fiction.... Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don't even think about it.

Except Rainy has fallen hard for the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite noir series. After their illicit romance is exposed, Rainy is forbidden from ever seeing her fictional lover again, lest she be expelled from her book coven-and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

When a priceless book is stolen from her home, there's only one person she trusts to help her get it back: the Duke. Thus their shared quest begins through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.


My Review

This book has a fun premise which was entertaining to read.

Haven't we all wanted our perfect fictional romantic partner to step from the pages of a book at some point in our reading lives? I've been awaiting Atticus Finch since I first read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was thirteen!

For the main character in this book, Rainy March, that very thing happens when fictional detective, the Duke of Chicago, steps from within the pages of his book series, along with his cat, Koshka. It's just as well, as she soon needs his detective skills in attempting to find her missing grandfather.

The role of a book witch, such as Rainy, is to prevent 'burners' from deleting characters from books. Her mother and grandfather were also book witches, and so her destiny was already mapped out for her.

I loved the way the author took us into some classic literature. We follow Rainy into Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby and the Nancy Drew books. It was wonderful to experience these books through Rainy's eyes while she was within their pages.

The book was imaginative and creates a world of escapism for the reader. Ms Shaffer is a great storyteller and I felt very involved in the story.

I adore books about books. However, books of this genre aren't my usual reading fare, but I enjoyed this and I feel encouraged to perhaps dip my toes further into the genre.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 1529443868

Publisher: Arcadia Books

Formats: e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages: 320 (hardback)


Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Meg Shaffer is the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game, which was a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, a Book-of-the-Month finalist for Book of the Year, a #1 Barnes & Noble bestseller, and a Reader’s Digest Best Book of the Year. 

She holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. Her second novel, the instant national bestseller The Lost Story, is available now from Ballantine.

Shaffer lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. The cats are not writers.

You can also find Meg at:

Author Website

Instagram

Facebook



(media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Monday, 7 September 2026

The Irish Ties That Bind by Michael J. Hopkins - #bookspotlight #blogtour

I am delighted to be shining the book spotlight on this book today. The Irish Ties That Bind by Michael J. Hopkins is historical fiction and sounds fascinating.


The Blurb

From the green hills of southern Ireland to the heartland of America, four families are united by faith, perseverance, and an enduring legacy that spans generations.

As famine and hardship drive Irish immigrants across the Atlantic in the mid-nineteenth century, the Power and Coughlin families plant new roots in the American Midwest. Their daughters answer a higher calling, joining the fledgling Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa. Through the remarkable leadership of Sister Emily and Sister Samuel, these women help shape a religious community that will educate thousands and leave an indelible mark on the nation.

Their story intertwines with those of the Cullen and Hynes families, whose lives are transformed by the sisters’ influence. Seeking refuge from the unrest of postwar Chicago, they settle in Dixon, Illinois, where friendship, faith, and family bind them to another rising family—the Reagans. As Ronald Reagan grows from a small-town boy into a radio broadcaster, actor, and emerging public figure, the lives of ordinary and extraordinary Americans intersect in unexpected ways.

Set against the backdrop of immigration, the Great Depression, two world wars, and the dawn of the Cold War, The Irish Ties That Bind is a sweeping historical saga of courage, devotion, and the families whose quiet strength shaped generations. It is a powerful testament to the bonds of family, faith, and heritage that endure long after history's tides have turned.


Book Details

ISBN: 979 8950078163

Publisher: Historium Press

Formats: e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages: 324 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

A lifelong resident of Wisconsin, Michael J. Hopkins earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Beloit College, subsequently obtaining a degree in history from Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. He furthered his academic pursuits by completing a Master of Arts in the Humanities at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Mr. Hopkins concluded a distinguished forty-year tenure in secondary education, having served as a social studies instructor at Darlington High School for thirty-nine years.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he dedicated many years to coaching basketball, baseball, and football at the same high school. His contributions to athletics were formally recognized in 2021 with his induction into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. 

Following his retirement from education, he has transitioned into a career as an author. In 2025, he published his autobiographical memoir, Embracing A Competitive Life: Trials, Triumphs, and 150 Life Lessons in Six Decades of Competition, which chronicles his experiences as both an athlete and a coach.


My Other Blog Posts Featuring Historical Fiction Set in Ireland

Maid of Steel by Kate Barker

The Midnight House by Amanda Geard

Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of Wise Women, Healers and Magic by Lindsay Squire

My Heart Went Walking by Sally Hanan

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan





(media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Friday, 28 August 2026

Books I Read in August 2026


As August draws to a close our streets and lanes already look like autumn. Of course, it isn't yet but this overly hot, dry summer have sent our plants and trees into distress and leaves have just shrivelled up and shed themselves.

I will be away next week so the blog will be quiet but rest assured I will soon be back with lots of great booky stuff to share with you.

Enjoy the rest of summer and happy reading!


Murder at Christmas by T.A. Williams

It seemed somewhat ironic to be reading a Christmas book during a heatwave, but I so enjoyed reading about Private Investigator Dan Armstrong and his faithful canine friend, Oscar. You can find my full review here.


The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O'Brien


I enjoyed this book set around the French Resistance in World War II. You can find my full review here.

The One Where They Fall in Love by Cristina Wolf

I absolutely loved the slow burn of friendship, later followed by desire between the two main characters in this book. You can find my full review here.


Lost and Never Found by Simon Mason


This is currently my favourite crime series. The characters are just wonderful.


A Dangerous Crossing by Jane Mitchell

This is probably the best book I have read so far this year. You can find my full review here.


A Hymn to Life: Shame Has To Change Sides by Gisele Pelicot


What can I say? This memoir from Gisele Pelicot is something everyone should read. Her bravery and resilience is second to none.

Currently Reading

A History of the Novel in Britain by Philip Hensher

The Alchemist's Secret by Clare Marchant

Invitation from a Dictator by Rory Clements

The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman