Mary Anne Yarde's Blog: The Coffee Pot Book Club , page 34
January 26, 2021
Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for She Sees Ghosts―The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls by David Fitz-Gerald #HistoricalFiction #Supernatural @AuthorDAVIDFG @JudithArnopp


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 Judith Arnopp's Official Blog for a sneak-peek between the covers of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Head over to The Magic of Wor(l)ds for an exclusive interview with Janet Lee Berg #HistoricalFiction #WW2 @janetleeberg1@MagicofWorldsBE


December 8th - February 9th 2021
Publication Date: 30th September 2020Publisher: 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 The Magic of Wor(l)ds for a fabulous author interview:
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for The Other Cipher Soli Hansen Mysteries Book 2 By Heidi Eljarbo #HistoricalMystery #HistoricalFiction @HeidiEljarbo @tonyriches


January 18th – January 29th 2021
Amazon UK • Amazon US
Publication Date: 2 December 2020Publisher: Independently PublishedPage Length: 200 PagesGenre: Historical Mystery
In the captivating second book of the Soli Hansen Mysteries, two women—separated by more than three hundred years—are connected through their love of art.
1613. Fabiola Ruber is been wed to a man she does not know and must live in a country with a new language and different customs. The memories of a lost love in her hometown Malta haunt her, and she sets out to find an artist who can do her portrait and recapture the feelings she had when she once modeled for a renowned Italian master painter.
1944. Four years into World War II, art historian Soli Hansen works with the Norwegian resistance to locate significant artwork and safeguard the pieces from the Nazis. When she finds out the Germans are after a hidden baroque depiction of a seventeenth century woman, she must muster all her courage and skills to decipher encrypted codes and preserve the mysterious art before it’s too late.
Both women are determined to do what they can to bring healing and redemption to their otherwise ominous future. Through tangled, bewildering clues and an eye for detail, Soli’s bond to Fabiola grows closer by the day. She must find the missing painting before the enemy does.
Ranging from a privileged life in seventeenth century Antwerp to Oslo during the German occupation of the second world war, this dual timeline is a historical mystery thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.
Heidi Eljarbo

Heidi Eljarbo is the bestselling author of historical fiction and mysteries filled with courageous and good characters that are easy to love and others you don't want to go near.
Heidi grew up in a home filled with books and artwork and she never truly imagined she would do anything other than write and paint. She studied art, languages, and history, all of which have come in handy when working as an author, magazine journalist, and painter.
After living in Canada, six US states, Japan, Switzerland, and Austria, Heidi now calls Norway home. She and her husband have a total of nine children, thirteen grandchildren--so far--in addition to a bouncy Wheaten Terrier.
Their favorite retreat is a mountain cabin, where they hike in the summertime and ski the vast, white terrain during winter.
Heidi's favorites are family, God's beautiful nature, and the word whimsical.
Connect with Heidi:
Website • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • Pinterest.
Head on over The Writing Desk to find a Guest Post about Nazi art theft during WWII, written by Heidi Eljarbo!
Click HERE!

January 25, 2021
Find out what life was like in the Shetland Islands during World War 2 with #HistoricalFiction author, Deborah Swift #WW2 #Shetland @swiftstory


Publication Date: January 5th 2021
Publisher: Sapere Books
Page Length: 324 pages
Genre: WWII / Historical Fiction
1942, Nazi-occupied Norway
Schoolteacher Astrid Dahl has always kept out of trouble. But when she is told to teach the fascist Nazi curriculum, she refuses and starts a teacher’s rebellion, persuading eight thousand teachers to go on strike.
The Germans arrest her, and terrified of what punishment her trial might bring, she is forced to go into hiding.
Astrid's boyfriend, Jørgen Nystrøm, has joined the Norwegian Resistance. When his cover is blown he escapes to Shetland where he is taken on as crew for the Shetland Bus; a dangerous clandestine operation of small fishing boats that supply arms and intelligence to war-torn Norway.
In Shetland, hearing Astrid is in trouble, Jørgen sets off through enemy waters to meet her. But the Nazis have a spy on Shetland and have been tipped off about the Shetland Bus. With the enemy in pursuit from both directions, will Astrid and Jørgen be able to find each other? Or will they be separated forever by the brutal Nazi regime?

You might think that a place like Shetland had no involvement in WW2, given how far it is from the British Isles, and a long way from cities and the south coast from where most fighting activity was co-ordinated. But Shetland did indeed play a big part in the war.

Over 20,000 servicemen were posted to the islands, the idea being that they could attack German warships heading for Norway from the air bases at Sullom Voe. Accommodation was in short supply and the men were housed in newly built Nissen huts and even tents! There was a fear that Germany might invade Britain by landing first in Shetland. But the most extraordinary operation of WW2 was the Shetland Bus.
In a dilapidated house on the island of Shetland, in amongst a plantation of birches and conifers, a party of saboteurs, along with their instructors, were testing out bombs, detonators, explosive devices and booby traps. At the same time, refugees from Norway were arriving by boat to the islands, and soon the idea arose that if a place could be found with the right anchorage, arms could be shipped to Norway to help in the fight against Nazism, and Norwegian agents trained to man them. At the same time, a lifeline could be established for desperate refugees looking to escape Norway. This operation became known as The Shetland Bus.

A place was found – Lunna Voe, a small sheltered harbour with a house that could accommodate 35 men, and there were outhouses for storing ammunition, hand grenades, and all the necessary equipment for an undercover operation. The beaches below the house were used for testing one-man submarines and other equipment, as part of the Special Operation activities, and stocks of explosives were in fact secreted all over the island, including in the dungeon of a ruined castle.
In the year 1940, more than fifty fishing boats made the perilous journey between Norway and Shetland, known to Norwegians as ‘England’, although in fact Shetland is an island in the North Sea closer to Scotland. In 1941 more than 2000 people were carried by the small army of boats that made up the Shetland Bus, and this continued until late 1942. An increase in German Forces around Norway’s coastline, and the Nazi determination to stop the traffic to England, and infiltration of their contacts, made it too dangerous for fishing boats to take the risk.
During its time of operation the Shetland Bus took not only sabotage equipment, but also radio transmitters with their trained operators. Hundreds of tons of arms, weaponry and military equipment were shipped to the Resistance in Norway, and in return naval intelligence on the location of German troops, positions of warships, and the German military plans for the Baltic made the journey back. Many members of the Resistance who were refugees, along with others whose lives were in danger, had reason to be grateful to this lifeline as they were brought over to the safety of Shetland.

Behind the scenes, at Lerwick, the main town on the island, there were customs officers, doctors and security police who would assess the refugees, and also provide links to supplies such as false documents, and the kind of stores needed for a clandestine operation in an occupied country. Transport from RAF Sumburgh would arrange to take refugees or agents on to London or elsewhere. For a small island, Shetland was remarkably busy!As the operation expanded and more space was needed to repair boats and store equipment, the operation moved to Scalloway, the ancient capital, and the place where the Vikings originally held their parliament.

Operating mainly in the winter months, where cover of darkness made it possible to go in and out of the small inlets and fjords of the Norwegian coast, the Shetland Bus was lashed by the worst weather at sea that any boat could be expected to survive. This, and the fact that the boats were vulnerable to attack by German planes and submarines made the journeys especially hazardous.
After the Shetland Bus operation was infiltrated by the Germans, many of the Milorg (Norwegian Resistance) were arrested and tortured, and the support network for the Shetland Bus broken apart. Realising how essential the flow of traffic was between occupied Norway and the British Isles, The United States sent three sub chasers which were more effectively armed and better able to survive Nazi attacks from air and sea. However, Norway still honours those countrymen who made the perilous journeys across the North Sea in their wooden fishing boats, and there is a museum for The Shetland Bus in Scalloway, where visitors to Shetland can learn the real story.
Find out more about The Shetland Bus:
Watch a video about The Shetland Bus here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9IGFKKDcKQ
Shetland Bus Museum Website http://www.scallowaymuseum.org/the-shetland-bus.html



Connect with Deborah:
Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads.
Welcome to Day #1 of the blog tour for Rebecca's Choice by Heidi Gallacher #HistoricalFiction #RebeccasChoice @HeidiGallacher @Beatric09625662


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 Candlelight Reading to find a review of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Check out this fabulous review over on Madwoman in the Attic of Falling Pomegranate Seeds: All Manner of Things, Book #2 by Wendy J. Dunn #BookReview #HistFic @wendyjdunn @LisaReadsBooks


Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU
Publication Date: January 15th 2021.Genre: Historical Fiction.Publisher: Poesy Quill PublishingPrint Length: 449 Pages
Winter, 1539
María de Salinas is dying.
Too ill to travel, she writes a letter to her daughter Katherine, the young duchess of Suffolk. A letter telling of her life: a life intertwined with her friend and cousin Catalina of Aragon, the youngest child of Isabel of Castile. It is a letter to help her daughter understand the choices she has made in her life, beginning from the time she keeps her vow to Catalina to share her life of exile in England.
Friendship, betrayal, hatred, forgiveness – All Manner of Things tells a story of how love wins out in the end.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

While she continues to have a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder, serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channeling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.
Connect with Wendy:Website • Facebook • Instagram • Twitter • Goodreads
Check out what Madwoman in the Attic has to say about Wendy's fabulous book:
“This is a wonderful recreation of a story we think we know but the author has used her own magnificent knowledge of the period to great effect and allows the reader to see with new eyes. A perfect stand alone story and a great compliment to the first in the series…” Madwoman in the Attic.
To read the review in full click HERE!

Welcome to Day #6 of the blog tour for The Other Cipher Soli Hansen Mysteries Book 2 By Heidi Eljarbo #HistoricalMystery #HistoricalFiction @HeidiEljarbo @MaddieS39950549


January 18th – January 29th 2021
Amazon UK • Amazon US
Publication Date: 2 December 2020Publisher: Independently PublishedPage Length: 200 PagesGenre: Historical Mystery
In the captivating second book of the Soli Hansen Mysteries, two women—separated by more than three hundred years—are connected through their love of art.
1613. Fabiola Ruber is been wed to a man she does not know and must live in a country with a new language and different customs. The memories of a lost love in her hometown Malta haunt her, and she sets out to find an artist who can do her portrait and recapture the feelings she had when she once modeled for a renowned Italian master painter.
1944. Four years into World War II, art historian Soli Hansen works with the Norwegian resistance to locate significant artwork and safeguard the pieces from the Nazis. When she finds out the Germans are after a hidden baroque depiction of a seventeenth century woman, she must muster all her courage and skills to decipher encrypted codes and preserve the mysterious art before it’s too late.
Both women are determined to do what they can to bring healing and redemption to their otherwise ominous future. Through tangled, bewildering clues and an eye for detail, Soli’s bond to Fabiola grows closer by the day. She must find the missing painting before the enemy does.
Ranging from a privileged life in seventeenth century Antwerp to Oslo during the German occupation of the second world war, this dual timeline is a historical mystery thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.
Heidi Eljarbo

Heidi Eljarbo is the bestselling author of historical fiction and mysteries filled with courageous and good characters that are easy to love and others you don't want to go near.
Heidi grew up in a home filled with books and artwork and she never truly imagined she would do anything other than write and paint. She studied art, languages, and history, all of which have come in handy when working as an author, magazine journalist, and painter.
After living in Canada, six US states, Japan, Switzerland, and Austria, Heidi now calls Norway home. She and her husband have a total of nine children, thirteen grandchildren--so far--in addition to a bouncy Wheaten Terrier.
Their favorite retreat is a mountain cabin, where they hike in the summertime and ski the vast, white terrain during winter.
Heidi's favorites are family, God's beautiful nature, and the word whimsical.
Connect with Heidi:
Website • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • Pinterest.
Head on over to Oh look, another book! to find a review of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #1 of the blog tour for The Woodsman’s Rose (Donovan Family Saga, Book 2) by Gifford MacShane #HistoricalFiction #Western @AuthorGMacShane @Beatric09625662


January 25th – February 5th
Publication Date: January 25th 2021Publisher: 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 Candlelight Reading to find a review of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

January 24, 2021
Have you heard? MJ Porter's fabulous book — The Danish King’s Enemy (The Earls of Mercia) — is only 0.99 on #Kindle for a Limited Time #HistoricalFiction #BookBlast @coloursofunison


Publication Date: 20th December 2020 (please note this is a rerelease of Viking Enemy, which was a rerelease of Ealdormen)
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 211 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Every story has a beginning.
Leofwine has convinced his king to finally face his enemies in battle and won a great victory, but in the meantime, events have spiralled out of control elsewhere.
With the death of Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, England has lost an ally, and Leofwine has gained an enemy. And not just any enemy. Swein is the king of Denmark, and he has powerful resources at his fingertips.
In a unique position with the king, Leofwine is either honoured or disrespected. Yet, it is to Leofwine that the king turns to when an audacious attack is launched against the king’s mother and his children. But Leofwine’s successes only bring him more under the scrutiny of King Swein of Denmark, and his own enemies at the king’s court.
With an increase in Raider attacks, it is to Leofwine that the king turns once more. However, the king has grown impatient with his ealdorman, blaming him for Swein’s close scrutiny of the whole of England. Can Leofwine win another victory for his king, or does he risk losing all that he’s gained?
The Danish King’s Enemy is the second book in the epic Earls of Mercia series charting the last century of Early England, as seen through the eyes of Ealdorman Leofwine, the father of Earl Leofric, later the Earl of Mercia, and ally of Lady Elfrida, England’s first queen.

Only 0.99 on #Kindle for a Limited Time.
The Danish King’s Enemy is free to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.

M J Porter

I’m an author of fantasy (Viking age/dragon-themed) and historical fiction (Early English, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest), born in the old Mercian kingdom at some point since AD1066.
I write A LOT. You’ve been warned!
Website • Twitter • Instagram

January 22, 2021
Welcome to Day #5 of the blog tour for She Sees Ghosts―The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls by David Fitz-Gerald #HistoricalFiction #Supernatural @AuthorDAVIDFG @EKeysian


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 Seduction, Scandal & Spies for a sneak-peek between the covers of David Fitz-Gerald’s fabulous book!
Click HERE!

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