Mary Anne Yarde's Blog: The Coffee Pot Book Club , page 31

Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for Rebecca's Choice by Heidi Gallacher #HistoricalFiction #RebeccasChoice @HeidiGallacher @wendyjdunn

January 25th – February 5th
Amazon UK • Amazon US
Publication Date: 30th October 2019Publisher: Independently PublishedPage Length: 211 PagesGenre: Historical Fiction

‘Can Rebecca find the love and passion she craves within a Victorian world that seems to be conspiring against her?’

It is 1887 and Queen Victoria is on the throne. Businessman and meteorologist Geoffrey de Roussier is passionate about his weather station and railways, yet little of his passion seems to filter through to his shy, naïve young wife, Rebecca. 

Following his tragic demise, Rebecca discovers that Geoffrey’s railroad investments have failed, leaving her penniless. As the past threatens to engulf her, Rebecca realises she has to make a choice. Gwilym Llewellyn, Geoffrey’s trusted friend and advisor, has an emotional debt to repay to Geoffrey and meets Rebecca to offer her a solution. Meanwhile Rebecca has found passion in another direction… 

One man will save her from destitution, the other will offer her the love and excitement that she aches for. Whom will she choose?  

This book has a beautiful setting in Cardiff, South Wales. If you like a good mix of an evocative depiction of the Victorian era and a modern-thinking heroine then Rebecca’s Choice is the novel for you. 

This is Heidi Gallacher’s debut novel, a compelling historical Victorian romance. Pick up ‘Rebecca’s Choice’ today to lose yourself in this wonderful story! 

Heidi Gallacher

Heidi Gallacher was born in London in the Sixties. She grew up in Cardiff and Swansea, South Wales. She jumped at the chance to move to Paris in her twenties to learn a new language and culture. 

Following the arrival of her first son she moved to sunny Switzerland where she has lived ever since. 

She completed her Masters in Creative Writing in 2018 and her first short story Changing Places was published in September of that year. Rebecca's Choice is her first novel.

When not writing, Heidi writes and performs music, swims in Lake Zürich and fundraises for a school in Tanzania. 

Connect with Heidi:
Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • Goodreads
Head on over to Wendy J. Dunn's Official Blog for a sneak-peek between the covers of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for The Woodsman’s Rose (Donovan Family Saga, Book 2) by Gifford MacShane #HistoricalFiction #Western @AuthorGMacShane

January 25th – February 5th

Buy this book!

Publication Date: January 25th 2021
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 329 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Western Romance

1880s Arizona
Daniel Donovan wants nothing more than to get married, unless it's to restore his friendship with his closest friend, Alec Twelve Trees.
Alec is raging about his mother's murderer, whose identity Daniel knows but will not reveal, as the killer is dead and the family he left behind would be compromised if the knowledge became public. But Alec cannot recognize any needs but his own, and the rift between the friends grows wider every day.
Daniel's fiancée, Annie, is a delicate girl, her health frail and her future uncertain. Prone to vicious headaches that at times rock her to her knees, she’s accepted Daniel’s ring but is hesitant to name their wedding date, worried that marriage and possible pregnancy will exacerbate her physical problems.
Annie inherited the gift of insight from her Welsh mother and digs into the past, searching for a way to help Alec and Daniel mend their relationship. But when she discovers the secret behind the murder, it’s more horrifying than she could have imagined.It may take more than Annie’s small strength and inherited skills to bring the friends together again. And that’s before a new enemy shows his face.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gifford MacShane is the author of historical fiction that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.
Her novels feature a family of Irish immigrants who settle in the Arizona Territory in the late 1800s. With an accessible literary style, MacShane draws out her characters' hidden flaws and strengths as they grapple with both physical and emotional conflicts.
Singing almost before she could talk, MacShane has always loved folk music, whether it be Irish, Appalachian, spirituals, or the songs of the cowboys. Her love of the Old West goes back to childhood, when her father introduced her to the works of Zane Grey. Later she became interested in the Irish diaspora, having realized her ancestors must have lived through An Gorta Mor, the Great Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800s. Writing allows her to combine her three great interests into a series of family stories, each including romance, traditional song lyrics, and a dash of Celtic mysticism. Having grown up in a large & often boisterous Irish-American family, she is intimately acquainted with the workings of such a clan and uses those experiences to good purpose (though no names will be named!)MacShane is a member of the Historical Novel Society, and is an #OwnVoices writer. A self-professed grammar nerd who still loves diagramming sentences, Giff currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband Richard, the Pied Piper of stray cats.
Connect with Gifford:Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon
Head on over to B for Book Review to find a spotlight of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #12 of the blog tour for She Sees Ghosts―The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls by David Fitz-Gerald #HistoricalFiction #Supernatural @AuthorDAVIDFG @LombardEmma

 

January 18th – February 5th 2021
Amazon
Publication Date: October 25, 2020 Publisher: Outskirts PressPage Length: 270 pagesGenre: Historical/Supernatural
A blazing fire killed her family and devoured her home. A vengeful demon haunted her. Ghosts of the Revolutionary War needed help that only she could provide. A young woman languished, desperate to survive, and teetered on the edge of sanity.
Mehitable grew up in a freshly tamed town, carved from the primeval forest. Family, friends, and working at the mercantile filled her days and warmed her heart. For Mehitable, life was simple and safe, until tragedy struck. When her family perished in their burning home, she retreated into a world of her own making.
As a young girl, she had seen glimmers, glimpses, and flickers of the spirit world. She closed her eyes. She turned her back. She ignored the apparitions that she never spoke of, desperately hoping they would leave her in peace. She was mistaken.
Grief-stricken, Mehitable withdrew from the human world. Ghosts were everywhere. They became bolder. She could no longer turn her back on the spirit world. Her friends feared for her survival. Nobody understood her. She would have to find her own way.
Fans of TV’s Ghost Whisperer and Long Island Medium will especially love She Sees Ghosts. This historical novel features memorable characters and delivers bone-tingling, spine chilling goosebumps. It stands on its own and it is the next installment in the Adirondack Spirit Series by the award-winning author of Wanders Far―An Unlikely Hero’s Journey. David Fitz-Gerald delivers a historical novel with a bittersweet ending that you won’t see coming.
Would she save the spirits’ souls, or would they save her? Only time would tell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past. He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprising when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing. She Sees Ghosts―A Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls is the next instalment in the Adirondack Spirit Series.
Connect with David:
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Head on over to Emma Lombard's Official Blog to find a spotlight and excerpt of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #9 of the blog tour for Janet Lee Berg's fabulous book - Restitution #BlogTour #HistoricalFiction #CoffeePotBookClub @janetleeberg1 @ADarnGoodRead

December 8th - February 9th 2021

Publication Date: 30th September 2020
Publisher: Koehler
Page Length: 262 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction 
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Barnes and Noble • BooksAMillion

“Restitution” is the riveting, multigenerational story of Sylvie Rosenberg, a Holocaust survivor traumatized by the memory of her art dealer father forced to trade paintings with the Nazis in an attempt to save their large extended family.  Sylvie’s adult life in 1970s New York is plagued by survivors’ guilt and bitterness.  But when her self-destructive ways threaten to upend the life of her Vietnam-vet son, Sylvie finally needs to face her demons.  She returns to Holland to confront her past and fight the Dutch judicial system for the return of the masterpieces, but the battle proves far more difficult than Sylvie imagined...
Weaving in tragic true events from her own family history, Berg offers a sensitive story of history, romance, and humor along with detail from the extensive research of Lynn H. Nicholas, the world’s leading expert on art pilfered during WWII. Over 80 years later, the real family still awaits justice and the return of artwork that continues to hang on museum walls, without noting their tragic history…  

Head on over to A Darn Good Read to find a spotlight of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Have a sneak-peek between the covers of Sophie Morton-Thomas' fabulous #NewRelease — Travel by Night #Thriller @sophiemoto1

 

Publication Date: 15th January 2021Publisher: DarkstrokePage Length: 247 pagesGenre: Psychological Thriller
A dark and deliciously tense modern fairy-tale, brutal and beautiful" ~ Sophie Hannah, multi-million bestselling author of Haven't They Grown
A nebulous memory. Caught in a dangerous trap. A life-changing discovery. 
When Yalina wakes in hospital following surgery, she doesn’t recognise her own parents. 
Following her release, she decides to meet her estranged brother, Ali, in Sheffield. On her arrival, Yalina is taken to a house where girls are held against their will and forced into sex slavery. Too late, she realises she has fallen into a trap.
Over time, Yalina discovers a love of playing the old piano that lives in the house. It keeps her sane. As friendships blossom between the women, Yalina finds herself taking a young girl, Rebecca, under her wing. 
When the women are threatened with violence, Yalina reluctantly accepts help from a stranger she met in the house. But he carries a secret that could impact on her whole life. 
Will Yalina escape her captors? And how will she cope with the unexpected revelation?

June 30th 2007,
 South Yorkshire I know he is waiting. I can hear the gravel crunching under his wellies, the outside tap is dripping like a metronome. Drip, drip, drip. Time stands completely still for a moment, then lurches forward, and now he won’t wait any longer. I feel a slap to my cheek: the bitter, biting wind of South Yorkshire even though it is the height of summer. His grip around the back of my neck as the battered barn door is prised open. “Gettout!” he yells, as I scramble to my feet. I didn’t ask to be here. I don’t want to stay. I’m thrown into the back of his Range Rover, and am surprised to see a boy of around the same age. I imagine I would be seeing girls. Girls, women, teenagers. Dark hair, even darker eyes, a look of resignation drawn over their faces rather than any initial fear they may have once had. Some of them are Pakistani, Indian, like me. Underweight, filthy. The white boy eyes me, plump compared to my haggard frame of barely concealed bones. I begin to wonder what I must look like. “Speak English?” I ask, not expecting a response. He nods, eyes boring into my face. He is accompanied by something. The smell of toilets, the sour odour of a dilapidated stairwell of a council block is leaking from his pores. He’s pissed himself at some point of the journey. A glance at his navy joggers show a half-dried damp patch. One of his shoes is stained with it too. The smell catches at the back of my throat, astringent, and it’s all I can do to prevent myself from dry heaving. “It’ll be ok,” I try saying, but my comment has an unusual lilt at the end, making it sound more like a question. “No,” he states. His accent is not British, certainly not Sheffield. He finally looks away from me, down to his feet. I know he’s wondering if I have taken in his urine-soaked trainer. The Range Rover starts up and we are violently thrown forward, my head crashing into the wooden board which separates us from the front of the car. Our windows have been painted black, lest we try to look out or, God forbid, try to escape. I wonder if we’re still in the Sheffield area. Perhaps we are on the Snakepass, heading towards Manchester; it's a rough enough ride that way and would provide very little surveillance from the authorities. I don’t know what to say to the boy, so I simply stare out of the front of the vehicle, towards the windscreen, which provides the only light that floods into our space. I realise all of a sudden how tired I am, so inexplicably exhausted. I can’t remember the last time I ate.
Amazon UK • Amazon US

Writer of psychological thrillers with a feminist focus. I like to write dark stories but the good will often prevail!
I live in West Sussex in the UK with my husband; I have three kids too and some cats. I'm an English teacher during the day when I'm not writing. I also love to write short stories and flash fictions and have been shortlisted in competitions for these, as well as for the beginning of my debut novel, Travel by Night. I'm currently a Masters' Creative Writing student at Cambridge University.
Social Media Links:
Twitter • Instagram • Bookbub • Goodreads.

Welcome to Day #5 of the blog tour for Rebecca's Choice by Heidi Gallacher #HistoricalFiction #RebeccasChoice @HeidiGallacher @theodene

January 25th – February 5th
Amazon UK • Amazon US
Publication Date: 30th October 2019Publisher: Independently PublishedPage Length: 211 PagesGenre: Historical Fiction

‘Can Rebecca find the love and passion she craves within a Victorian world that seems to be conspiring against her?’

It is 1887 and Queen Victoria is on the throne. Businessman and meteorologist Geoffrey de Roussier is passionate about his weather station and railways, yet little of his passion seems to filter through to his shy, naïve young wife, Rebecca. 

Following his tragic demise, Rebecca discovers that Geoffrey’s railroad investments have failed, leaving her penniless. As the past threatens to engulf her, Rebecca realises she has to make a choice. Gwilym Llewellyn, Geoffrey’s trusted friend and advisor, has an emotional debt to repay to Geoffrey and meets Rebecca to offer her a solution. Meanwhile Rebecca has found passion in another direction… 

One man will save her from destitution, the other will offer her the love and excitement that she aches for. Whom will she choose?  

This book has a beautiful setting in Cardiff, South Wales. If you like a good mix of an evocative depiction of the Victorian era and a modern-thinking heroine then Rebecca’s Choice is the novel for you. 

This is Heidi Gallacher’s debut novel, a compelling historical Victorian romance. Pick up ‘Rebecca’s Choice’ today to lose yourself in this wonderful story! 

Heidi Gallacher

Heidi Gallacher was born in London in the Sixties. She grew up in Cardiff and Swansea, South Wales. She jumped at the chance to move to Paris in her twenties to learn a new language and culture. 

Following the arrival of her first son she moved to sunny Switzerland where she has lived ever since. 

She completed her Masters in Creative Writing in 2018 and her first short story Changing Places was published in September of that year. Rebecca's Choice is her first novel.

When not writing, Heidi writes and performs music, swims in Lake Zürich and fundraises for a school in Tanzania. 

Connect with Heidi:
Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • Goodreads
Head on over to Books, Lattes & Tiaras to find a review of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #11 of the blog tour for She Sees Ghosts―The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls by David Fitz-Gerald #HistoricalFiction #Supernatural @AuthorDAVIDFG @SaraEchelon5

January 18th – February 5th 2021
Amazon
Publication Date: October 25, 2020 Publisher: Outskirts PressPage Length: 270 pagesGenre: Historical/Supernatural
A blazing fire killed her family and devoured her home. A vengeful demon haunted her. Ghosts of the Revolutionary War needed help that only she could provide. A young woman languished, desperate to survive, and teetered on the edge of sanity.
Mehitable grew up in a freshly tamed town, carved from the primeval forest. Family, friends, and working at the mercantile filled her days and warmed her heart. For Mehitable, life was simple and safe, until tragedy struck. When her family perished in their burning home, she retreated into a world of her own making.
As a young girl, she had seen glimmers, glimpses, and flickers of the spirit world. She closed her eyes. She turned her back. She ignored the apparitions that she never spoke of, desperately hoping they would leave her in peace. She was mistaken.
Grief-stricken, Mehitable withdrew from the human world. Ghosts were everywhere. They became bolder. She could no longer turn her back on the spirit world. Her friends feared for her survival. Nobody understood her. She would have to find her own way.
Fans of TV’s Ghost Whisperer and Long Island Medium will especially love She Sees Ghosts. This historical novel features memorable characters and delivers bone-tingling, spine chilling goosebumps. It stands on its own and it is the next installment in the Adirondack Spirit Series by the award-winning author of Wanders Far―An Unlikely Hero’s Journey. David Fitz-Gerald delivers a historical novel with a bittersweet ending that you won’t see coming.
Would she save the spirits’ souls, or would they save her? Only time would tell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past. He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprising when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing. She Sees Ghosts―A Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls is the next instalment in the Adirondack Spirit Series.
Connect with David:
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Head on over to Sara In Bookland to find out about the inspiration behind this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Check out this fabulous review of Gifford MacShane's fabulous #NewRelease - The Woodsman Rose #HistoricalFiction #Western @AuthorGMacShane @CaigJamie

 

January 25th – February 5th

Buy this book!

Publication Date: January 25th 2021
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 329 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Western Romance

1880s Arizona
Daniel Donovan wants nothing more than to get married, unless it's to restore his friendship with his closest friend, Alec Twelve Trees.
Alec is raging about his mother's murderer, whose identity Daniel knows but will not reveal, as the killer is dead and the family he left behind would be compromised if the knowledge became public. But Alec cannot recognize any needs but his own, and the rift between the friends grows wider every day.
Daniel's fiancée, Annie, is a delicate girl, her health frail and her future uncertain. Prone to vicious headaches that at times rock her to her knees, she’s accepted Daniel’s ring but is hesitant to name their wedding date, worried that marriage and possible pregnancy will exacerbate her physical problems.
Annie inherited the gift of insight from her Welsh mother and digs into the past, searching for a way to help Alec and Daniel mend their relationship. But when she discovers the secret behind the murder, it’s more horrifying than she could have imagined.It may take more than Annie’s small strength and inherited skills to bring the friends together again. And that’s before a new enemy shows his face.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gifford MacShane is the author of historical fiction that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.
Her novels feature a family of Irish immigrants who settle in the Arizona Territory in the late 1800s. With an accessible literary style, MacShane draws out her characters' hidden flaws and strengths as they grapple with both physical and emotional conflicts.
Singing almost before she could talk, MacShane has always loved folk music, whether it be Irish, Appalachian, spirituals, or the songs of the cowboys. Her love of the Old West goes back to childhood, when her father introduced her to the works of Zane Grey. Later she became interested in the Irish diaspora, having realized her ancestors must have lived through An Gorta Mor, the Great Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800s. Writing allows her to combine her three great interests into a series of family stories, each including romance, traditional song lyrics, and a dash of Celtic mysticism. Having grown up in a large & often boisterous Irish-American family, she is intimately acquainted with the workings of such a clan and uses those experiences to good purpose (though no names will be named!)MacShane is a member of the Historical Novel Society, and is an #OwnVoices writer. A self-professed grammar nerd who still loves diagramming sentences, Giff currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband Richard, the Pied Piper of stray cats.
Connect with Gifford:Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon
Check out this fabulous review over on The Whispering Bookworm for The Woodsman's Rose.
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #1 of the blog tour for The Search (Across the Great Divide, Book II) by Michael L. Ross #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @MichaelLRoss7 @LombardEmma

 

February 1st – February 19th 2021
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes and Noble • Kobo 
Publication Date: December 15, 2020Publisher: HistoricalNovelsRUSPage Length: 217 PagesGenre: Historical Fiction, Christian Historical Fiction, Historical Romance

Where do you go when home is no longer an option?
The guns of the Civil War have ceased firing, and the shots are but an echo... yet the war rages on, deep inside Will Crump's soul. His "soldier's heart" is searching for peace, and in that quest Will joins the westward movement, setting his path on a collision course with adventure, loss, and love.
The Westward Expansion floods the sacred, untouched lands with immigrants, bringing conflict to the Shoshone, Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Amidst the chaos Will finds safety in the shadow of the US Army, but the army brings battle-hardened troops into Red Cloud's War, pulling Will into a tornado of conflict. Broken treaties and promises leave both sides searching for answers. Will's search leads him to a battle for survival, and there he finds a love that could change him forever.
Dove, a young Shoshone woman, is a survivor of the Bear Creek Massacre. After being kidnapped and escaping from the Cheyenne, she joins Will's search, seeking where she belongs. Dove longs for more than the restricted role placed on women in her tribe. If she can learn to trust a white man, he just might help her find home... and hope.
Together, Will and Dove must search for understanding, and reach Across the Great Divide.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Best-selling author Michael Ross is a lover of history and great stories. He's a retired software engineer turned author, with three children and five grandchildren, living in Newton, Kansas with his wife of forty years. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, and still loves Texas. The main character of "Across the Great Divide", William Dorsey Crump, is one of the founders of Lubbock and Shallowater, Texas. Michael knew Will's granddaughter when he was a child. He has written a scholarly article on Will Crump for the Texas Historical Society, published in the Handbook of Texas Online, and has sold short stories in the past. This is his first novel and the first in the Across the Great Divide series, now an Amazon bestseller.

Michael attended Rice University as an undergraduate, and Portland State University for his graduate degree. He has degrees in computer science, software engineering, and German. In his spare time, Michael loves to go fishing, riding horses, and play with his grandchildren, who are currently all under six years old.

He sees many parallels between the time of the Civil War and our divided nation of today. Sanctuary cities, immigration, arguments around the holiday table, threats of secession - all are nothing new. Sometimes, to understand the present, you have to look at the past- and reach Across the Great Divide.  

Check out Emma Lombard’s Official Blog to find a spotlight and a sneak-peek between the covers of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #1 of the blog tour for The Bridled Tongue by Catherine Meyrick #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @cameyrick1 @Archaeolibrary

 

1st February – 5th April 2021
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes and Noble • Kobo • Apple Books
Publication Date: 1st February 2020Publisher: Courante PublishingPage Length: 358 pagesGenre: Historical Fiction/Women’s Fiction

England 1586. Alyce Bradley has few choices when her father decides it is time she marry as many refuse to see her as other than the girl she once was--unruly, outspoken and close to her grandmother, a woman suspected of witchcraft. 
Thomas Granville, an ambitious privateer, inspires fierce loyalty in those close to him and hatred in those he has crossed. Beyond a large dowry, he is seeking a virtuous and dutiful wife. Neither he nor Alyce expect more from marriage than mutual courtesy and respect.
As the King of Spain launches his great armada and England braces for invasion, Alyce must confront closer dangers from both her own and Thomas's past, threats that could not only destroy her hopes of love and happiness but her life. And Thomas is powerless to help.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catherine Meyrick is a writer of historical fiction with a particular love of Elizabethan England. Her stories weave fictional characters into the gaps within the historical record – tales of ordinary people who are very much men and women of their time, yet in so many ways are like us today. These are people with the same hopes and longings as we have to find both love and their own place in a troubled world.

Catherine grew up in regional Victoria, but has lived all her adult life in Melbourne, Australia. Until recently she worked as a customer service librarian at her local library. She has a Master of Arts in history and is also an obsessive genealogist. When not writing, reading and researching, Catherine enjoys gardening, the cinema and music of all sorts from early music and classical to folk and country and western and, not least of all, taking photos of the family cat to post on Instagram.

Connect with Catherine:
Website • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • Pinterest


“This book is a 5-star review from me. It couldn't be anything else. A fantastic portrayal of the times and absolutely recommended by me…” Merissa, Archaeolibrarian.
Head on over to Archaeolibrarian to read the rest of the review:
Click HERE!