Mary Anne Yarde's Blog: The Coffee Pot Book Club , page 159

The Coffee Pot Book Club Historical Non-Fiction Book Of The Year Award 2018 — Virgin to Victoria By Trisha Hughes #BookAward #History #MustRead @TrishaHughes_

The Coffee Pot Book ClubBook Of The Year Award2018
The Award for Best Historical Non-Fiction Of 2018 

Virgin to Victoria
By Trisha Hughes


The Silver Medal Winner
The Complete King Arthur:
Many Faces, One Hero
By John Matthews & Caitlín Matthew



The Bronze Medal Winner
Rome & Jerusalem
By Martin Goodman



Congratulations to all the winners!

The Coffee Pot Book Club — Historical Romance Book Of The Year 2018

The Coffee Pot Book ClubHistorical Romance Book Of The Year2018


Gold Medal Winner

Forsaking All Other
By Catherine Meyrick



Silver Medal Winner
The Laird of Blackloch:Book 2 in the Highland Rogue SeriesBy Amy Rose Bennett


Bronze Medal Winner

A Ring of Midnight Orchids:Flowers of the Aristocracy(Untamed Regency Book 3)
By Jackie Williams



Honourable Mention
A Gentleman’s PromiseBy Penny Hampson



Congratulations to all the winners!

The Coffee Pot Book Club Debut Book Of The Year Award 2018 — The Black Lions of Flanders (The King's Germans Book #1) By Dominic Fielder #BookAward #HistoricalFiction @Kings_Germans

The Coffee Pot Book Club
Book Of The Year
Special Award For Debut Historical Fiction
2018




The Award for Best
 Debut Historical Fiction
The Black Lions of Flanders(The King's Germans Book #1)
By Dominic Fielder




Congratulations!
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The Coffee Pot Book Club — Historical Fiction Book Of The Year 2018

The Coffee Pot Book ClubHistorical Fiction Book Of The Year 2018


The Gold Medal Winner
The Beaufort Woman (Beaufort Chronicles #2)By Judith Arnopp




The Silver Medal Winner
Gifts of the Gods: Iron and BronzeBy Thomas J. Berry

And…

Queen of the NorthBy Anne O’Brien




The Bronze Medal Winner 
Blood and Ink
By D. K. Marley



Honourable Mention


By Love DividedBy Elizabeth St.John



And…

Sons of the Wolf:Sons of the Wolf : Book #1By Paula Lofting





Finalist


War KingBy Eric Schumacher





And…

Honour the DeadBy John Anthony Miller






Congratulations to all the winners!




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Happy Christmas from Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots! #Christmas #History #Blogging

Happy Christmas!
Stourhead House
A big thank you to all the authors who have contributed to Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots over the last year. You are the best! Thank you to all of you wonderful readers who have supported this blog over the last couple of years, your support means so much.
I am taking a few days off from blogging, but please join us on the 27th December for The Coffee Pot Book Club Book Awards 2018.
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas.
All the best,
Mary Anne

#BookReview — The Briton and the Dane: Timeline, by Mary Ann Bernal #historicalfantasy #historicalromance @BritonandDane

The Briton and the Dane: Timeline(The Briton and the Dane Book #5)By Mary Ann Bernal

Dr. Gwyneth Franger, a renowned expert in early medieval England, is set upon learning the truth about the death of Lord Erik, the last descendant of the powerful House of Wareham. Her quest becomes an obsession, a condition that began with the discovery of a portrait of the tall and valiant warrior. Digesting troves of mildewed scrolls and source documentation only enhances her belief that Lord Erik was brutally assassinated by a cabal of traitors in the pay of William the Bastard, shortly before the onslaught of the Norman Invasion.

On an archeological dig in Southern England, Dr. Franger finds herself transported back to the Dark Ages and at the side of the noble Lord Erik who commands an army of elite Saxon warriors. Witnessing the unrest firsthand, Gwyneth senses that her instincts had been right all along, and she is determined to learn the identities of the treacherous blackguards hiding in the shadows, villains who may well be posing as Lord Erik’s friends and counselors.

Gwyneth knows it is wrong to stop the assassins, but isn’t sure she can find the strength to walk away and watch her beloved Erik die. Will she intervene, change the course of history and wipe out an entire timeline to save the man she loves?



A love story across the centuries…
Unrequited love takes on a whole new meaning for medieval historian, Dr Gwyneth Franger. But her love is no ordinary love, for it is a longing from deep within her soul. Gwyneth is drawn inexplicably towards Lord Erik, an 11thCentury Anglo-Saxon noble. Infuriatingly for Gwyneth, the sources of this time are few and far between. However, Gwyneth has discovered that Erik was brutally murdered just before Edward the Confessor’s death. Like a detective, Gwyneth is determined to discover who ordered Erik’s assassination and more importantly, who carried it out.

Gwyneth’s research takes an interesting twist when she finds herself transported to 11thCentury England where, much to her delight, she finds Erik waiting for her. Now that she is here, maybe she can solve the riddle and save the love of her life from a gruesome death.


The Briton and the Dane: Timeline (The Briton and the Dane, Book #5) by Mary Ann Bernal is a passionate, yet sweet romantic story about a true love that transcends time.

The premise of the story was fabulous. Two souls seeking each other out through the centuries is enough to get any romantic heart fluttering. When Gwyneth falls through time and finds herself in the very era that she has spent years researching I had high hopes that her dream would come true and she would finally meet the man who she is so hopelessly in love with. 

Gwyneth is a fabulous protagonist. She is a single-minded and strong woman, who I could not help but admire. Bernal has obviously spent a lot of time imagining how a very modern woman would react to a medieval way of life. Gwyneth reacts, as one would expect. I thought Gwyneth was wonderfully portrayed and I enjoyed reading about her.

This story is set firmly in historical fantasy, but Bernal has decided to follow the timeline of this era to give her readers a magnificent backdrop in which to place her characters. This worked incredibly well, especially when tied in with the time-travel theme. Gwyneth was not hampered by a lack of understanding with the Anglo-Saxon tongue, and the narrative was perfect for a modern reader who may find many of the historical details and customs of this era somewhat foreign.

Bernal is very good at crafting tension, and this book is full of it. Like Gwyneth, I wanted to know who was behind the plot to murder Lord Erik. The enemy always seemed to be one step ahead of them, which I think made this story compelling and it certainly kept me turning those pages. Running alongside this is the beautiful romance between Gwyneth and Erik.

This is book five in the series. I have not read the other four books, but this did not hinder my enjoyment one bit. The Briton and the Dane: Timeline stands firmly on its own feet.

The ending was fabulous and as wildly romantic as the rest of the story.

If you are looking for a romantic historical fantasy, where anything is possible, then this is the book for you.

I Highly Recommend.

Review by Mary Anne Yarde.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.


Amazon UK • Amazon US


Mary Ann Bernal

Mary Ann Bernal attended Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, where she received a degree in Business Administration.  Her literary aspirations were ultimately realized when the first book of The Briton and the Dane novels was published in 2009.  In addition to writing historical fiction, Mary Ann has also authored a collection of contemporary short stories in the Scribbler Tales series. Her latest endeavor is a science fiction/fantasy novel entitled Planetary Wars  Rise of an Empire. Originally hailing from New York, Mary Ann now resides in Elkhorn, Nebraska.
Mary Ann loves to hear from readers, you can find her: Website • Whispering Legends Press • Twitter.

Christmas with the King’s Germans - Flanders 1793, by Dominic Fielder #Christmas #History @Kings_Germans

Christmas with the King’s Germans - Flanders 1793By Dominic Fielder

Like most self-published authors, I have a day job (two, but that’s a story for another day). Part of one of these involves tutoring a child from a German family, living in the UK. in writing this article I’ve enjoyed a discussion with them about German tradition and customs around Christmas. I’ve challenged the gaps in my knowledge and research, the ‘known unknowns’ of Rumsfeld infamy.
Christmas 1793 was a wretched experience for the army under the command of the Duke of York. Battalions had gone wearily into winter quarters. British battalions and the Duke of York’s staff wintered in relative comfort in Bruges. Even here, two Guards battalions stood to, ready to march back to the frontier at short notice.
Others, like the Hessians in Furnes and the Hanoverians in Nieuport, were uncomfortably close to the front-line. The drudgery of daily patrols along forgotten outpost of the allied cordon would have punctuated the monotony of life in an army of occupation. That is what the Allies had become.
The previous year, Flanders had welcomed in liberating French army under Dumouriez, before hopeless organisation caused privation and chaos. Decrees from Paris both excused and legalised the most dreadful excesses in order than her soldiers might survive.
A year later the situation has worsened.
Now, upwards of one hundred thousand allied soldiers where encamped in Flanders, drawing food and fodder from a land where the harvest was impacted by a year of conflict. Winter was cruel and bitterly cold. For the footslogger at the front, the vitals of food, warmth the fact that someone wasn’t trying to kill you would have been what mattered most. Beer and the occasional company of women would have been a close second. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in action.
My King’s Germans are principally about soldiers whose personal stories are lost to us now. I say principally because I also write from the perspective of the French and I would like to consider their plight a little too.
According to British sources, there was a steady stream of desertions from the French army, many of these souls ending up in Bruges. In a country that had turned its back on the Church, having the prospect of a God-fearing army to desert to (even if the army was Protestant) must have been appealing. Christmas is a time of good will after all!
The prospect of hot food, shelter and man purporting to be a leader in waiting (General Dumouriez had led a failed coup in April 1793), must have help legitimise the decision to cross over to the allies. The fate of these men was either to be prisoners of war or having the chance to wear the uniform of an émigré battalion and fight in the following campaign on the side of the allies. There might have been a degree of envy from the redcoats towards the Frenchmen passing through their lines.
The Hanoverian and British governments had failed in the foresight of delivering greatcoats to the King’s Germans. The Foot Guards only having received theirs late in the campaigning year. Boots that had marched and counter-marched hundreds of miles had fallen apart many replaced by wooden Flanders clogs.
The army was in a ragged state. A letter from the National Archive in Kew mentions about the necessity of furnishing ‘Foreign troops’ with appropriate clothing, in a short   timescale and for at a reasonable economy. The language of soldiering and politics in happy union.


So, what would Christmas have meant itself? Beyond Protestant or Lutheran celebrations, presents and letters from home would have been as important as they have been in any number of conflicts since. At least the post seems to have run on time! From British sources, there are details of gifts from home and I have imagined the same for the Hanoverians (a current known unknown). There is also the matter of traditions such as St Nicholas’ shoe, dating back to around the 9th century, where a shoe was left outside on the night of December the 5th. St Nicholas would deliver sweets and fruit to those deserving of them.
St Nicholas shoe.
I’ve taken a small liberty with this tradition and turned it into a chance for the officers of the 2nd battalion, 10th Regiment, to deliver gifts in the form of ‘home-made’ biscuits. The battalion has twenty wives acting as camp followers and rather resourceful cook cum scrounger. Somehow, those rare spices that flavour German lebkuchen (spiced biscuits) are going to be purloined from their intended destination of the Duke of York’s dining table and make the lives of the redcoats just a little more bearable.
This is the lot of the King’s Germans at Christmas time in 1793. Perched close to the French border, fighting a campaign to which no-one seems to have given any consideration either to them or how the war might end.
Letter, gifts and home-made biscuits will help pull them through. Just as well, 1794 is going to be the most difficult of years but that is their future is another known unknown.
The Black Lions of Flanders (The King's Germans Book #1)By Dominic Fielder


In the war of the First Coalition, friend and foe know one simple truth: trust your ally at your own peril.
February 1793.
Private Sebastian Krombach has joined the army to escape the boredom of life in his father’s fishing fleet. Captain Werner Brandt yearns to leave his post and retire into civilised society and Lieutenant Erich von Bomm wants nothing more than to survive his latest escapade that has provoked yet another duel. Each man is a King’s German; when they are called to war, their lives will become inextricably linked.

The redcoats of the 2nd Battalion, 10th Regiment, must survive the divisions that sweep through their ranks before they are tested in combat. On the border of France, the King’s Germans will face an enemy desperate to keep the Revolution alive: the Black Lions of Flanders.

Amazon US • Amazon UK

Dominic Fielder

Dominic Fielder (1968-present) was born in Plymouth to parents of families from Roman Catholic and Protestant backgrounds. Then such things mattered to others but not to a first-born son who knew only love and a stable happy family. Two brothers made for a warm and somewhat idyllic childhood. He was bright but a disengaged student preferring instead to spend time with his dad at the family book business (the Bookstall) where a love of literacy flourished. Having finished sixth-form at Devonport High School for Boys, he passed opportunities to join first, the Tank Regiment, then the Royal Air Force, settling instead on a career in banking. Three years later, fed up with counting other people’s money, he travelled to Australia for a year, working for a time in the Outback and thoroughly enjoying life!
On returning to the UK, he drifted into work at his family’s Comic Shop (Kathies Comics). Despite fifteen years of hard work, the business failed and so did his marriage. Working a series of odd jobs, with odd hours, he finished a degree course in History, gaining a First and drifted into the world of education. Now he divides his time unequally between private tuition, running the family book business which has survived for sixty years and writing. More important than all of these, is spending time with his son. With what free time he has, he enjoys cycling, walking and horse-riding on the moors that surround his home in Mary Tavy, Devon.
His passion and interest for as many years as he can care to remember has been ‘little model soldiers’, painting them, researching facts about the regiments and playing wargames with them. For a dozen years or more, Dominic ran a series of ‘Megagames’ where people would arrive from all corners of the globe to game out World War Two scenarios for a week. Such events needed a strong narrative and his first attempts at writing were contained within the pre-game intelligence and the post-action reports. His writing project, ‘The King’s Germans’ is a few steps further down that road. For the person who drifted from one task to another, it’s a commitment to write twenty-two years of the history of Hanoverian soldiers in the service of King George III.    
Connect with Dominic on:  Facebook • Twitter.

#BookReview — Gifts of the Gods: Iron and Bronze by Thomas J. Berry #AncientGreece #BookAward @TBerryAuthor

Christmas in Florida 1960s by Teresa McRae #History #Christmas #Florida @tshep1957

Mamie Garrison:
 A tale of slavery, abolition, history & romance
 (The Garrisons Book 1)
Mamie Garrison is a story of an ordinary woman who goes to extraordinary lengths to do what she knows is right. Everything in her young life has led her to this moment, this decision. She will embark on the greatest adventure of her life.
Approximately one hundred and fifty years later, her ancestor, Bella Garrison, inherits a house from her grandmother and finds Mamie's journals in a trunk in the attic. Bella with the help of her historian boyfriend, Andrew, will follow Mamie's journey through her writings, to find out more about this intrepid woman and what she achieved. 
However, someone is trying to stop them from learning about Mamie. What do they not want Bella to find out? 
And... What is the meaning of the strange events occurring in Bella's house?



Giveaway 

Teresa McRae is giving a way two ebook copies of his fabulous book, Mamie Garrison.
To be in with a chance just answer this question...

What year did the Civil war in the US end?


Giveaway Rules
• Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on December 31st.You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
•Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.•Winners will be announced in the comments.

Amazon UK • Amazon US

Teresa McRae
I am 61 and married with one adult child and one beautiful granddaughter. I have always enjoyed the written word and am a voracious reader from my early youth. I am inspired by many authors in the historical fiction genre. I am also a lover of Russian literature, particularly Tolstoy. I find great inspiration for creating characters. There is such a depth to his works. I have written for most of my life in one form or another. I have dabbled in poetry and songwriting, and have more started novels than finished ones. In my free time, I like reading, history, crossword puzzles and travel. I am interested in genealogy and working on my family tree. I live in the Midwest United States with my husband, Chris and my dog Max.
Teresa loves to hear from readers, you can find her: Website • Twitter.

Christmas in the 19th Century by Anna Campbell #Regency #Romance #Christmas @AnnaCampbelloz

Christmas in the 19th Century By Anna Campbell

Hi to Mary-Anne! Thanks for having me as your guest today. Hi to all you dedicated Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots readers out there. I’m delighted to be back here again, to introduce Mistletoe Wishes, my new boxed set of six previously published Christmas stories (available right now at a bargain price!) and also to talk about Christmas during the Regency period. People are often slightly surprised to hear that Christmas as we celebrate it today is mainly a Victorian invention. In the first quarter of the 19th century, Christmas wasn’t that big a deal. In fact, concerned people like Leigh Hunt the writer were actively working to bolster interest in the festival marking the birth of Christ because it was fading from the public mind as a general celebration. Can you believe that? The Sheriff of Nottingham in the movie nearly got his way! They almost cancelled Christmas! 
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves — Call Off Christmas! (1991).

A large part of the revival of the popularity of Christmas can be put down to Charles Dickens and his A Christmas Carol which was published in 1843, well past the end of the Regency age.


So what would you do at a Regency Christmas? Well, you’d go to church. It was primarily a religious occasion. You’d do something charitable. If you were lucky, you might have a nice dinner with friends and family, as the rather well-fed bods in this cartoon by Cruikshank are doing. Gift giving, especially among adults, doesn’t seem to have been widespread.All the tinsel and stuff is a later tradition, although Deck the Halls gets it right – one of the oldest traditions was bringing winter greenery inside as a reminder that spring was on the way in a couple of months. You can see a trace of that custom in the picture, with the holly in the chandelier. Kissing under the mistletoe was also a game people played – lots of romantic possibilities there!A couple of unexpected bits of trivia. It’s often stated that the Christmas tree came to England with Prince Albert when he married Queen Victoria. That actually isn’t so – George III married a German princess Sophie Caroline Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (long name to put on a Christmas card! Another Victorian tradition. First commercially available in 1843, clearly a BIG year for Christmas!). It seems she brought the tradition of putting a tree in the house for Christmas with her, although the practice didn’t spread much beyond the royal family until after Victoria and Albert tied the knot in 1840. Another surprise is that Christmas puddings (which originally included as much meat as sweet stuff) weren’t a widespread part of the season until the 1840s either.
So a Regency Christmas was a much quieter, less commercial affair than the day we will enjoy in 2018. I’m not Scrooge, screaming “Bah, humbug!” at every manifestation of the festive season, but a hint of Regency subtlety mightn’t go astray at my local shopping centre which, as I write this, is groaning under a weight of tinsel and ribbon, and playing Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer on repeat. 

Giveaway

I’m giving away a Kindle download of Mistletoe Wishes: A Regency Christmas Collection to someone who comments. No geographical restrictions.
Just tell me what your favourite Christmas tradition is. I like pretty much everything about Christmas but I think my absolute favourite bit might be hearing all the lovely carols again.
Giveaway Rules
• Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on December 30. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
•Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.•Winners will be announced in the comments.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
A Regency Christmas Collection!


Six breathtakingly romantic Christmas treats from Anna Campbell, together in one collection at last – and all at a bargain price!
The Winter Wife : Will an unexpected meeting on Christmas Eve deliver a second chance at love?

Her Christmas Earl: To save her sister from scandal, Philippa Sanders ventures into a rake’s bedroom – and into his power. Now only a hurried Christmas marriage can rescue her reputation.

A Pirate for Christmas : What is vicar’s daughter Bess Farrar to do when the dashing new earl, the man gossip paints as a ruthless pirate, kisses her on their first meeting? Why, kiss him right back of course!



Mistletoe and the Major: After years of war, Major Lord Canforth returns to England a hero. Now he faces his greatest battle—to win the heart of the wife he hasn’t seen since their wedding.

A Match Made in Mistletoe: Serena Talbot makes a wish on the mistletoe—but the mistletoe gets it wrong! A Christmas of chaos and confusion lies ahead. Will mistletoe magic lead to a happy ending?
The Christmas Stranger: At Christmastime, a stranger crossing the threshold means good fortune. But is Josiah Hale’s arrival lucky for Maggie, the girl Christmas forgot?



Amazon US • Amazon UK •
 Amazon AU • Kobo• iTunes

Anna Campbell

Australian Anna Campbell has written 10 multi award-winning historical romances for Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins, and 20 bestselling independently published novellas. She’s also written 2 full-length independently published novels, Lord Garson’s Bride, the last instalment in her bestselling Dashing Widows series, and The Laird’s Willful Lass, the first book in The Lairds Most Likely. Look out for her novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, in late October, the second story in this new Scottish-set series. Anna loves to hear from readers, you can find her: Website • Facebook • Twitter.