The Queen's Devil by Paul Walker
Blog Tour - Spotlight - Read an Excerpt

Publication date: 27 July 2020
Publisher: Sharpe’s Books
Print Length: 274 pages
Series: William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3
Genre: Historical Fiction / Historical Thriller

Synopsis

1583.

William Constable, recently married astrologer and mathematician, has settled into routine work as a physician when he is requested to attend two prisoners in the Tower of London. Both are accused of separate acts treason, but their backgrounds

Readers Imbibing Peril XV has Begun

I've seen this challenge pop up every year and promised myself that one year I'd join in. Well, looks like it's this year.

Unlike previous years, there are no hard and fast rules. Just grab a book or as many as you like which fit any of the classifications: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror or Supernatural, and read them during September and October. You can even participate by watching films or television series. It's that easy!

Six Degrees of Separation:
From Rodham to Mariana

The first Saturday of the month is time to play Six Degrees of Separation. This meme is hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. The aim is to link six books to each other from the starting point, which today is Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Here is a bit of the book's description from Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and Eligible, a novel that imagines a deeply compelling what-might-have-been: What if Hillary Rodham hadn’t married Bill Clinton?

I haven't read this book and didn't know where to go to from here. So, as last month, I

Gilded Dreams by Donna Russo Morin
Book Review - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US only)

Publication Date: June 16, 2020
Magnum Opus
Paperback & eBook; 495 pages
Series: Newport's Gilded Age, Book 2
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of GILDED SUMMERS comes a powerful novel of the last eight years of the American Women’s fight for suffrage.

The battle for the vote is on fire in America. The powerful and rich women of Newport, Rhode Island, are not only some of the most involved suffragettes, their wealth - especially that of the indomitable Alva Vanderbilt Belmont

The Hanged Man by Andrée Rushton
Book Review

Synopsis

Castignac, a beautiful farmhouse in the South-West of France, is a shared holiday home for a group of Brits. The shocking death of Ian, one of the group’s members, taints the happy memories of the house and the group decides to try and sell it on. However, another member, Tessa, senses secrets and endeavors to find out more…

The present-day story is interwoven with chapters about the past, and the life story of the Castignac farmer is revealed through flashbacks to the First World War. The hidden history of this farmhouse is brought further into question when Tessa unveils a drawing of a

The Quality of Mercy by Malia Zaidi
Book Blast - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US Only)

Publication Date: August 25, 2020
Book Baby
Paperback & eBook; 416 pages
Series: The Lady Evelyn Mysteries, Book 5
Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

After years spent away, Lady Evelyn is at long last back in her home city of London and she has returned with a rather controversial plan. The Carlisle Detective Agency is born, and it does not take long for the bodies… ahem, cases, to start piling up. With her friend and assistant Hugh, Evelyn embarks on the quest to solve the crimes. Yet the London she encounters is not the London of her coddled youth, and she is forced to learn that there is

The Memory House: A Love Story in Two Acts by Jenetta James
Book Review - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US only)

Publication Date: August 10, 2020
Quills and Quartos Publishing
Paperback & eBook; 276 pages
Genre: Historical Romance

Synopsis

A house in one of London’s most exclusive neighbourhoods is home to secrets, mysteries, and two love stories spanning two centuries.

In 1859, independent-minded Kitty Cathcart dreams of escaping Veronica Gardens but her father’s determination to marry her off to a rich man of his choosing forces her to seek happiness and find her own voice by other means. And then the handsome but poor Alex Faraday walks through the front doors.

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman
Book Review - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US Only)

Publication Date: July 28, 2020
Kensington Books
Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: A Countess of Harleigh Mystery, Book 3

Synopsis

In Dianne Freeman's charming Victorian-era mystery series, Frances Wynn, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, finds her sister's wedding threatened by a vow of vengeance.

London is known for its bustle and intrigues, but the sedate English countryside can host or hide any number of secrets. Frances, the

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati
Book 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

TOP TEN TUESDAY
Books with Colours in the Titles

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Girl Reader. A topic is assigned to each Tuesday. For that topic you are encouraged to make a top ten list, putting your own spin on it, if needed. Upcoming topics and more information can be found here.

For this week's Top Ten Tuesday we are asked to list ten books with colours in the titles. Here is my list:

Six Degrees of Separation:
from How to Do Nothing to The Portrait of Molly Dean

The first Saturday of the month is time to play Six Degrees of Separation. This meme is hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. The aim is to link six books to each other from the starting point, which today is How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell.

Here is the book's description from Goodreads:

This thrilling critique of the forces vying for our attention re-defines what we think of as productivity, shows us a new way to connect with our environment and reveals all that we’ve been too distracted to see about our selves and our world.

When the technologies we use every day

Clouds of Love and War by Rachel Billington
Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 12th July, 2020
Unicorn Publishing
Paperback & eBook; 356 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, World War II

Synopsis

Occasionally panoramic, more often intimate, in Clouds of Love and War author Rachel Billington balances a detailed and highly researched picture of the life of a Second World War Spitfire pilot with the travails and ambitions of a young woman too often on her own. The result is both a gripping story of war and a sensitive story of love, a love that struggles to survive.

Eddie and Eva meet on the eve of