The Colour of Rubies by Toni Mount Blog Tour - Read an Excerpt

Synopsis

Murder lurks at the heart of the royal court in the rabbit warren of the Palace of Westminster. The year is 1480. Treason is afoot amongst the squalid grandeur and opulent filth of this medieval world of contrasts. Even the Office of the King’s Secretary hides a dangerous secret.

Meeting with lords and lackeys, clerks, courtiers and the mighty King Edward himself, can Seb Foxley decipher the encoded messages and name the spy? Will Seb be able to prevent the murder of the most important heir in England?

All will be revealed as we join Seb Foxley and his abrasive brother Jude in the latest intriguing adventure amid the sordid shadows of fifteenth-century London.

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner Blog Tour - Read an Excerpt

Publication Date: May 17, 2022
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Length: (368) pages
Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook
ISBN: 978-1250276698

Synopsis

Natalie Jenner, the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world in Bloomsbury Girls.

Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare bookstore that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager's unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the

Six Degrees of Separation: From True History of the Kelly Gang to Jack and the Beanstalk

It's the first Saturday of the month and 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.

This month the starting point is Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang. Ive only read one book by this Australian author and that is Jack Maggs, which I liked.

As I'm pressed for time, this book is my first link and sets the theme for my quick, pictorial post: books with the name Jack in the title.

My Six Degrees of Separation includes a popular maritime series, an Australian classic, a military series, an infamous historical figure and a well-known fairy tale.

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.

Bribery for Peace During the First World War A Guest Post from Alan Bardos, Author of The Dardanelles Conspiracy

Anzac day vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com

 

 

Today, in Australia and New Zealand, it is Anzac Day, a national day of commemoration and rememberance of those who served and died in all wars.

Foremost, we commemorate the military campaign of World War I, where Australian and New Zealand forces at dawn on April 25, 1915 landed on the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. This campaign, if it had been successful, would have allowed Allied vessels to pass through the Dardanelles, see the capture of Constantinople (present day Istanbul) and take Turkey out of the war. Instead, it ended in a defeat for the Allies, with horrendous losses on both sides.

Alan Bardos' guest post asks a significant question:

Could the Ottoman Empire have been bribed to make peace, during the First World War?

Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell Book Review

Synopsis

It is summer 1939 and the social event of the year is about to take place: Rose Birkett, a flighty beauty with a penchant for breaking engagements and hearts, is finally getting married, and the whole village - especially her parents - breathes a sigh of relief.

By autumn, however, summer weddings seem a distant memory as war reaches Barsetshire. While the younger generation throws itself into the war effort with cheerful aplomb, older residents remember the last war keenly, and are fearful.

When an entire London school of evacuees arrive, as well as a number of refugees, the village rallies round to accommodate them. Some inhabitants, though, fail to welcome the newcomers with open arms.

Top Ten Tuesday Authors I Haven’t Read, But Want To

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. 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

Six Degrees of Separation: From Our Wives Under the Sea to All the Rivers Run

It's the first Saturday of the month and 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.

This month the starting point is Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. I don't read much contemporary fiction these days so it is unlikely that I will ever read this novel. However, part of the book's description:

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her,

Spotlight On: The Feathered Nest by Ellen Read

Publisher: Crimson Cloak Publishing
Publication Date: 14th March 2022
Series: The Thornton Mysteries, Book 4
Page Length: 372 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Cosy Murder Mystery

Synopsis

Murder comes to Norfolk Island, but is the killer after Alexandra Archer’s Tahitian black pearl or a lost illustration of the rare Green Parrot?

The Thorntons, along with a small team of people, mount an expedition to Norfolk Island, a small island in the South Pacific, to study the Green Parrot and set up research programmes to help protect it and other endangered birds.

As a birthday surprise, Alexandra’s father tells her she is to be the official photographer for the expedition. Her father gives her a black pearl

Top Ten TuesdayBooks on My Autumn 2022 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. 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

Spotlight on Her Country Gentlemen by Sian Ann Bessey, Sarah M. Eden & Rebecca Connolly

Publication Date: March 8, 2022
Publisher: Mirror Press
Series: Timeless Georgian Collection (Book 1)
Length: (300) pages
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook
Genre: Historical Romance, Georgian Romance, Inspirational Fiction
ISBN: 978-1952611216
Tour Dates: March 7-20, 2022

Synopsis

Her Country Gentleman is the first book in the Timeless Georgian Collection, a new anthology series from Mirror Press. The book features three novellas from bestselling historical romance authors whose stories reveal that not all love is found in London.

Six Degrees of Separation: From The End of the Affair to Lady's Maid

It's the first Saturday of the month and 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.

This month the starting point is The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. I've not read any of this author's novels, although I do vaguely remember seeing the film based on one of his books, Our Man in Havana. Whether I enjoyed it or not, I also can't remember. As I'm lacking inspiration for my first link, I'll take the easy route and use the word affair.

Lauren Willig is a favourite author of mine and I'm linking to her first standalone novel.The Ashford Affair. This is a dual-time historical romance set in the Edwardian/post-World War I era of England and Africa, and present day New