The Signare of Gorée by Laura Rahme Book Review (Blog Tour)

Publication Date: 9th September 2024
Publisher: Independently Published
Pages: 301
Genre: Historical Mystery / Historical Fiction

Book Description

1846. In the heat of West Africa, the French navy uncovers the corpses of two French soldiers. Inspector Maurice Leroux arrives at the island of Gorée. It seems death has come to this small colonial outpost off the Senegal coast, home to the prosperous mixed-blood women known as the signares.

The navy suspects that the Bambara people, emboldened by approaching emancipation, may be out for blood. While confronted by the locals’ strange magical beliefs, Maurice remains skeptical. Does malevolence play a part, or are these deaths accidental, brought

Under a Cloud by Luv Lubker Read an Excerpt

Publication Date: April 30th, 2024
Publisher: Historium Press
Series: The Rival Courts
Pages: 318
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audiobook: Will be narrated by Ella McNish, Jamie Collette and a full cast.

Book Description

Vicky's father, Albert, the Prince Consort, has just died, leaving her and her family under a heavy cloud of grief, without their dearest friend and advisor, at a most critical time: The political horizon grows dark with storm clouds at the entry of Bismarck to Germany's political stage in 1862.

Will Fritz's courage stand the test as he confronts the spider in its web? Is Prussia

The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara DonatiBook Review

I've been meaning to read Sara Donati's Wilderness series for ages, but when confronted by those six, large books on the library shelf, I always moved on; one day, I'll tackle them. I had more success with Donati's two book series (soon to be three) known as the Waverly Place novels, The Gilded Hour and Where the Light Enters. These, I enjoyed immensely and immediately became a Sara Donati fan, which was why I jumped at the chance to read her latest release.

The Sweet Blue Distance follows midwife, Elizabeth Caroline (Carrie) Ballentyne, who in 1857, accompanied by her brother, Nathan, journeys west from New York to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to work with Doctor Samuel Markham.

She leaves her close knit family behind to escape events of her past. These are hinted at but not fully revealed until much later when

The Sand Vines by Michèle CallardRead an Excerpt

Publication Date: 01 May 2024
Publisher: Millefeuille Press
Series: The Vine Saga
Page Length: 400
Genre: Historical fiction

Synopsis

Bordeaux 1870 – Life is hard on the moor.

If Flore, a shepherd’s daughter, is not married by autumn, she must go into service and lose everything she holds dear.

Back from the French army, the dashing Ricar has set her heart and body on fire. Will he propose to her before it is too late?

Martial the viscount’s son adores Flore from afar. Aware that she can never be his. When a

The Warmth of Snow by Heidi Eljarbo Read a Snippet

Publication Date: 24th October 2023
Publisher: self-published
Page Length: 212
Series: Heartwarming Christmas
Genre: Sweet Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Scandinavian Literature

Synopsis

There must be a way to thaw a heart long frozen. Can she help him, or does he have other plans?

Sweden 1810.
August Brandell, the count of Linborg, has returned home after four years of war against the French Empire under the direction of Napoléon Bonaparte. Wounded and downtrodden, he is a meager shadow of the man he used to be. One day, a lovely young

The Roads of War by John Cameron Book Review

Synopsis

During the Civil War, Lewis McCormack has to return to his regiment’s training camp, leaving his wife Eliza to tend to their homestead. Rearing children, surviving a declining economy, and paying the family debts leads to intolerable hurdles and even more difficult decisions. Amid the chaos of war, Lewis just wants to stay alive—to make it back to his family.

Meanwhile, Private Davey Morris is detailed as courier and travels through war-torn Pennsylvania to complete his mission, while Private Tandy Strider uses his thirty-day wounded furlough to search for the young prostitute that he has deemed his soulmate.

As the war progresses, Lewis realizes that his

Where the Gulls Fall Silent by Lelita Baldock Blog Tour - Read an Excerpt

Publication Date: 28th October 2021
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 231 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

A small fishing village, a shunned healer, her daughter, tradition, superstition and a world set to change.

Kerensa lives with her mother, the healer Meliora, on the edge of a small fishing community on the Cornish Coast.

The townsfolk, who work the fish runs of pilchard and mackerel that make their way up the Atlantic coast, call on her mother for help with their ailments, but never for her company.

Every Word Unsaid By Kimberly Duffy Book Review

Publication Date: November 2, 2021
Publisher: Bethany House
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook
Length: (368) pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Inspirational Fiction

Synopsis

Augusta Travers has spent the last three years avoiding the stifling expectations of New York society and her family's constant disappointment. As the nation's most fearless--and reviled--columnist, Gussie travels the country with her Kodak camera and spins stories for women unable to leave hearth and home. But when her adventurous nature lands her in the middle of a scandal, an opportunity to leave America offers the perfect escape.

The Paris Wife by Meghan Masterson Book Review

Publication Date: August 18, 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Paperback & ebook
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Paris, 1856. In a world ruled by men, one woman holds the fate of a nation in her hands.

When Livia leaves behind the bronzed hills of Italy for the rain-soaked streets of Paris, she feels lost and alone. Trapped in an icy marriage, she longs to return to her life as a doctor’s daughter. To a simpler time when she could use her healing skills to help people. But her husband’s diplomatic work launches her into French high society. And soon she befriends Elisabetta, Napoleon III's clever and beautiful mistress.

The Case of the Peculiar Inheritance by Samantha St. Claire Book Blast w/ Excerpt + Book Trailer

Today I'm drawing your attention to The Case of the Peculiar Inheritance by Samantha St. Claire, one of two books in the new McKenzie Sisters Mystery Series set in the American West at the end of the 19th century.

Details of the other book in the series, The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock, can be found HERE.

Publication Date: June 22, 2021
Publisher: Trappers Peak Publishing
Series: McKenzie Sisters Mysteries
Page Count: 248pp
Format: ebook & paperback
Genre: Historical Western Cozy Mystery

Synopsis

Witty and irascible Rose McKenzie tackles Denver’s criminal cases with a woman’s intuition and a loaded Smith and Wesson tucked in her skirt pocket.

Eager for adventure beyond her scientific experiments, Rose accepts her uncle’s challenge to become Denver’s first female private detective. When a wealthy woman employs her to track down a burglar, Rose zealously applies her unique investigative talents to prove she can handle any job. After

The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock Book Blast w/ Excerpt + Book Trailer

Today I'm drawing your attention to The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock, one of two books in the new McKenzie Sisters Mystery Series set in the American West at the end of the 19th century.

Details of the other book in the series, The Case of the Peculiar Inheritance by Samantha St. Claire, can be found HERE.

Publication Date: June 22, 2021
Publisher: Trappers Peak Publishing
Series: McKenzie Sisters Mysteries
Page Count: 290pp
Format: ebook & paperback
Genre: Historical Western Cozy Mystery

Synopsis

Clever and feisty Cassandra McKenzie engages her newest assignment for the Pinkerton Agency with a knack for deception and a blade in her boot.

Smart, skilled, and unafraid to get her hands dirty, Cassandra grudgingly takes on a new assignment in one of Colorado’s busiest mining towns, where murder and theft draw her deep into a puzzle of lies, quarries, and forgery.

When the mysterious and handsome Quinn Morgan

Saving Grace: Deception. Obsession. Redemption by H D Coulter Book Review

Publication Date: 11th May 2021
Publisher: Independently Published
Series: The Ropewalk series, Book 2
Page Length: 330 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Beacon Hill, Boston. 1832.

“You are innocent. You are loved. You are mine.”

After surviving the brutal attack and barely escaping death at Lancaster Castle, Beatrice Mason attempts to build a new life with her husband Joshua across the Atlantic in Beacon Hill. But, as Beatrice struggles to

Harvest Moon by Jenny Knipfer Read an Excerpt

Publication Date: 23rd November, 2020
Publisher: Independently Published
Series: By the Light of the Moon book #4 (although it is the fourth book, it works as a prequel for the first book, Ruby Moon)
Page Length: 291 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Christian Historical Fiction

Synopsis

In the wilds of 19th century Ontario, Maang-ikwe, a young Ojibwe woman, falls into a forbidden love, breaks her father’s honor, and surrenders her trust to someone who betrays it. The abuse she suffers divides her from her tribe and causes her to give up what she holds most dear. 

The Light at Wyndcliff by Sarah E. Ladd Book Review - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US Only)

Publication Date: October 13, 2020
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Format: eBook; 352 Pages
Series: The Cornwall Novels, Book 3
Genre: Historical Romance/Regency/Christian

Synopsis

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

Raised on the sprawling and rugged Wyndcliff Estate near the dangerous coast of South Cornwall, Evelyn Bray lives with her grandfather, a once-wealthy man reduced to

A Wild Hope by Celeste De Blasis Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 8th October, 2020
Bookouture
Ebook

Synopsis

Banished from her uncaring family home for her growing friendship with older neighbor St. John, Alexandria Thaine is unprepared for the new life she encounters with her distant cousins in England’s West Country. She blossoms under the warmth of the Falconers, and as she throws herself into the thrilling danger of the family’s smuggling trade, Alex forms an unbreakable bond with the eldest son, Rane.

But just as Alex begins to imagine a future in

The Road to Ironbark by Kaye Dobbie Book Review

Synopsis

1874, The Victorian Goldfields

In the town of Ironbark, Aurora Scott faces ruin as the railways supplant the Cobb & Co coach line, the lifeline of her hotel. Aurora is no stranger to adversity; the formidable publican has pulled herself from a murky past to build a respectable life in Ironbark. But when bushrangers storm the hotel, taking hostages as leverage for the Starburst Mine's payroll, Aurora has more trouble on her hands than she can handle.

This is no random act, but a complex scheme of revenge. The gang turn on each other. Shots ring out. And when the dust settles, the

The Gilded Hour by Sara DonatiBook Review

Synopsis

The year is 1883, and in New York City it’s a time of dizzying splendor, crushing poverty, and tremendous change. With the gravity-defying Brooklyn Bridge nearly complete and the city in the grip of anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, Dr Anna Savard and her cousin, Sophie – both graduates of the Women’s Medical School – treat the city’s most vulnerable. Even when doing so puts all they’ve worked for in jeopardy . . .

For Anna, her role as a surgeon has placed her in the path of four children who have lost everything. Faced with their helplessness, Anna must make the unexpected choice between holding on to the pain of her past

The Philosopher's Daughters by Alison BoothBook Review - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US only)

Publication Date: April 2, 2020
RedDoor Press
Paperback & eBook; 356 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

A tale of two very different sisters whose 1890s voyage from London into remote outback Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a landscape of wild beauty and savage dispossession.

London in 1891: Harriet Cameron is a talented young artist whose mother died when she was barely five. She and her beloved sister Sarah were brought up by their father, radical thinker James Cameron. After adventurer Henry

The Abolitionist's Daughter by Diane C. McPhailBook Review - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US only)

Publication Date: April 30, 2019
A John Scognamiglio Book/Kensington
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

In her sweeping debut, Diane C. McPhail offers a powerful, profoundly emotional novel that explores a little-known aspect of Civil War history—Southern Abolitionists—and the timeless struggle to do right even amidst bitter conflict.

On a Mississippi morning in 1859, Emily Matthews begs her father to save a slave, Nathan, about to be auctioned away from his family. Judge Matthews is an abolitionist who runs an illegal school for his slaves, hoping to

BOOK REVIEW: Shepherd by Catherine Jinks

Synopsis

My father trained me to silence the way he trained his dogs, with food and a cane. Speech, he said, was poison. It scared the game, alerted the gamekeepers and betrayed your friends and family.

Tom Clay was a poacher back in Suffolk. He was twelve when he was caught, tried and transported to New South Wales.

Now, assigned to a shepherds’ hut out west, he is a boy among violent men. He keeps his counsel and watches over his sheep; he steers clear of blowhards