Mary Anne Yarde's Blog: The Coffee Pot Book Club , page 70
September 10, 2020
Welcome to Day #4 of the blog tour for The Queen’s Devil (William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3) by Paul Walker #TheQueensDevil #HistoricalFiction @PWalkerauthor @carpe_librum
The Queen’s Devil
(William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3)
By Paul Walker
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 suggest there may be a connection.
Sir Francis Walsingham and Lord Burghley urge William to discover further intelligence from the prisoners while tending their injuries from torture.
The agent's investigations lead him to the French Embassy, which lies at the heart of a conspiracy which threatens the nation.
Through his enquiries, an unsuspecting William becomes entangled in a perilous web of politicking and religious fervour.
The threat comes from one the most powerful men in the English court – one referred to as the Queen’s Devil.
William faces a race against time to unpick these ties, climaxing in a daring raid on the Embassy.
Today we are stopping over on Samantha Wilcoxson's fabulous blog for a look at the history behind the book.
Click HERE!
September 9, 2020
#BookReview — Northern Hunt (Northern Wolf Series Book 2) by Daniel Greene #HistoricalFiction #AmericanCivilWar
Northern Hunt
(Northern Wolf Series Book 2)
By Daniel Greene
It was a surefire raid to free prisoners, but it will soon become a battle for Wolf's soul.
When an escaped Northern prisoner reaches Union lines, his tales of abuse at Libby Prison set up the perfect justifications for a daring raid on Richmond.
Johannes Wolf has made a crucial mistake. He's volunteered for a secret raid, dragging along with him, his unit of misfits. They fall under the command of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren and set out on a quest for redemption and vengeance that will strike at the head of the Southern Cause.
Will they become famous for their glorious raid as knights of the North? Or will they become savages? Or even forgotten corpses buried in a shallow grave?
“I’ll be damned if I let any more of our boys spend another night in that godforsaken hell hole in Richmond… And you pretty Michigan lads and I are going to burn it all down.”
Everyone knew the first rule of surviving this war – never volunteer for anything, especially when an officer asks you to. Corporal Johannes Wolf should have known better. He had survived Gettysburg, but there were no guarantees that he, or his friends from the 13th Michigan Cavalry, were going to survive this.
Nevertheless, the officers held in Libby Prison and the soldiers in Belle Isle deserved more than a nation’s gratefulness. And yet, to cross the Virginia Peninsula and march into Richmond to rescue the prisoners seemed almost suicidal. But it was too late now to change his mind. They would march to Richmond, they would free the prisoners, and they would win this war...
From a cold Virginia winter to the horrors of Libby Prison, Northern Hunt (Northern Wolf Series Book 2) by Daniel Greene is a gripping account of war, comradeship, and survival.
It was the most harrowing experience endured by a generation of Americans, and it is an era that has been immortalised in the memory of a nation. But not since John Jakes’, North and South series have I come across a book that captures the very essence of this period in such a way that it leaves the reading gasping for more. For not only has Greene given his readers an unlikely hero in Wolf but he has also taken us on a journey of historical discovery and controversy.
God only knew how it would end. But the end of the war was on Corporal Johannes Wolf's mind, nonetheless. If he were not a soldier, then what would he be? Would he go back and become a drunk so he could disconnect himself from everything he had seen and done? With a crippled leg, what hope did he have to live a prosperous life in the future, anyway? Wolf is a character that is very conflicted in this novel – when he is in the thick of battle, his mind is focused on staying alive. But when he is not, he dares to think of his future, and that future looks bleak. Would it really matter if he stole a few silver trinkets from the Southern homes they entered looking for supplies? What does it matter if he shoots a man in the back? This is war, after all. But where does one stop? When does self-preservation become morally unacceptable? When does a hero become the villain? Greene asks his readers these questions throughout the length of this novel.
Wolf is a character whom I really enjoyed reading about in Northern Wolf (Northern Wolf, Book #1) and I was looking forward to reconnecting with this character in the second book. But since The Battle of Gettysburg, Wolf’s rose-tinted glasses of what war was, have been thoroughly trampled on by a thousand desperate boot heels. He has seen men, friends, die. He has witnessed terrible atrocities, and it has changed him as it would do anyone. And yet, he is still, despite his doubts, despite his concerns, a man of honour, and although he is a man of lowly station, he can appreciate the sanctuary of life more than the officers whom he serves under. Wolf is a character that really appeals to the reader, for he is an ordinary person in an extraordinarily volatile time. He could be your son, your brother, your friend and I think that is what makes him so very appealing. This is a character that I have invested time in, and I will continue to invest my time in him because he is so beautifully portrayed and it is an absolute joy to follow his journey through this war-torn country.
As one would expect, there are many historical characters in this book, and Greene has not shied away from a few of the very controversial ones in the Union Army. General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick “Kill-Cavalry” is in desperate need of a victory and young Colonel Ulric Dahlgren thinks he knows how to get him one. Both admired and despised, Greene has presented his readers with a man who is reckless with his mens' lives —— he does not think of them as people, but chess pieces. He is also unnecessarily brutal to the communities he passes through in the Southern States. Add to that his ambition and history tells the rest. I thought Greene’s portray of Kilpatrick was fabulous. He was just how I had imagined him to have been.
Colonel Ulric Dahlgren was a character whom I initially sympathised with and who later I came to maybe not despise, but something very close. Dahlgren is young. His temperament is governed by how much pain he is in, as well as his frustration in not achieving what he set out to achieve. Dahlgren is one of those controversial historical figures whose life has become shrouded in whispers and shadows. Dahlgren really drove the narrative forward in this book, and although at times his actions made for some very uncomfortable reading there was a realism about him, Greene does make a point of saying in his historical notes at the end of this book that he had, to an extent, fictionalised Dahlgren, but there was still a ring of authenticity about this character. I also loved the way Greene brought all of the stories about Dahlgren together in this book, and whether they are true or not, it is of no consequences to this story.
There is one character I would like to mention very quickly, and that is the unforgettable Boy General. Unlike the previous book, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer only makes what could be a called a cameo appearance. But, even still, he makes an impact on the reader. He is in this book, as history confirms, completely besotted with his new wife, and incredibly distracted by her. But he is still a formidable soldier and is a stark contrast in this novel, as he was in life, to Kilpatrick. Custer leads from the front, and he inspires his men, Kilpatrick does neither. When Kilpatrick fails, Custer seems to succeed, which is incredibly frustrating for Kilpatrick, but it made for some fabulous reading.
This historical detailing in this book is breathtakingly brilliant. Greene is a confident historian, and this comes across in the narrative. Even if you know nothing about the American Civil War, by the end of this book, you would have an understanding. Greene is one of those talented authors who knows how to engage his readers, and he knows how to use the lightest of touches when setting his scenes. He depicts this era, but he does not drown the reader in paragraphs after paragraphs of descriptive text. As a reader, I can appreciate that every word in this book serves a purpose, and that purpose is to drive the story forward. And this is precisely what Greene has done. Greene makes history personal for his readers, and more importantly, he has breathed life into this age. Bravo, Mr Greene. Bravo indeed.
Northern Hunt (Northern Wolf Series Book 2) by Daniel Greene is an astonishing work of scholarship. Greene has set the bar impossibly high — no one writes about the American Civil war the way he does. This book has made it into the top five Historical Fiction novels I have read this year, and I cannot wait to get my hands on Book #3.
I Highly Recommend.
Review by Mary Anne Yarde.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.
Pick up your copy of
Northern Hunt
Add Northern Hunt to your ‘to-read’ list on
Daniel Greene
Daniel is an award-winning and best-selling multi-genre author. He made his debut in the post-apocalyptic genre and quickly became known as a must read with his award-winning and best-selling hit The End Time Saga. His deep passion for history has inspired him to tackle the historical fiction genre with launch of the best-selling Northern Wolf Series.
He is an avid traveler and physical fitness enthusiast. He fulfilled a quest of iron by worshipping at the shrine of Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Graz, Austria, an experience he will never forget. If he isn’t working on his next book, you can find him training to survive the impending rise of the dead.
He is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society. Although a Midwesterner for life, he’s lived long enough in Virginia to call it home.
Connect with Daniel:
Website • Facebook • Goodreads.
Join AnneMarie Brear as she explores what life was like in West Yorkshire in the early 20th Century. There is also a chance to check out AnneMarie's fabulous #NewRelease — The Market Stall Girl #HistoricalRomance @annemariebrear
Life in West Yorkshire in the early 20th Century
By AnneMarie Brear
For my post in the Life in the Time of, I thought I’d speak about my ancestors, who where the inspiration for my latest release The Market Stall Girl set in West Yorkshire.
The idea for this book came in 2019 when driving in the car with my uncle, Peter Brear, and he was showing me places where my mum and dad had worked and lived before they emigrated to Australia. I already knew of some areas, but when we drove down a dirt lane in Wrenthorpe, which hadn’t changed much since my parents were children and fields lined both sides of the lane, I suddenly wanted to set a book there. The characters marry in the same church as my parents and they walk the same streets. Writing this book was a nod to my parents, grandparents and ancestors that lived and worked in the Wakefield, West Yorkshire area for generations.
Over the years my parents have told me stories of their childhood, but they have both passed away now and their stories only live on in the minds of those left behind. I am terribly worried that soon those stories will be gone, too, when my siblings and I are no longer here. I’m a huge fan of genealogy and spend many hours finding ancestors on ancestry.co.uk and when I do find these generations who ultimately created me, I am always intrigued by their stories, and wished someone had written down what they were like, where they worked, etc.
My ancestors were either farmers or miners. For generations my ancestors work in demanding difficult environments before the use of modern machinery to aid with the hard grafting.
The Market Stall Girl isn’t my family’s story, however, the fictional families could easily have been mine. I wanted to set a story in the area my parents and ancestors would know. My characters walked the same streets, worked the same jobs and lived in a place rapidly changing, but still the same in many ways. For me this was a chance to recreate a time that would be familiar to my grandparents. Both my grandfathers were coal miners, like Noah and his brothers in my story. And like Noah and his brothers my grandfathers went down the pit at the young age of twelve and fourteen like their fathers before them. I’ve heard tales of them working on their knees to dig out coal in inches of water, stripped to the waist. Coal dust filled their chest and lungs, shortening their lives. Pit ponies pulled the tubs of coal along tunnels and the men went into the mines in cages. It was a difficult and tough life and also dangerous. I’m in awe of those men who toiled in the bowels of the earth.
The Market Stall Girl
By AnneMarie Brear
1913 Yorkshire, England
Beth Beaumont enjoys her life as a rhubarb farmer’s daughter in West Yorkshire. Working on the family’s stall selling the fruit and vegetables grown in their own fields gives her a sense of purpose and is healthier than working in a dangerous cotton mill.
Although not thinking of marriage, when Beth meets Noah Jackson, a village miner, she is suddenly very aware of Noah as a man who could change her mind. The summer brings the two closer and their feelings deepen while Noah studies hard to fulfill his dreams of becoming a teacher and securing a better life than his parents endure.
But, a disaster at the coal mine changes lives forever. Noah’s plans are shattered. His love for Beth is put at risk, and he fears they can never find happiness together.
However, another man wants Beth. Louis Melville, the wealthy son of a local gentry family, is acutely aware of Beth’s beauty and he wants her for himself. At first, he is willing to offer marriage, but when Beth turns him down in favour of Noah, Melville, furious to be denied, wreaks revenge with devastating consequences.
Will Beth and Noah find the happiness they wish for or will overwhelming events break them apart?
Pick up your copy of
The Market Stall Girl
Add The Market Stall Girl to your ‘to-read’ list on
AnneMarie Brear
Award winning & Amazon UK Bestseller AnneMarie Brear has been a life-long reader and started writing in 1997 when her children were small. She has a love of history, of grand old English houses and a fascination of what might have happened beyond their walls. Her interests include reading, travelling, watching movies, spending time with family and eating chocolate - not always in that order! She is the author of historical family saga novels.
Connect with AnneMarie:
Publication Date: 26th July 2020
Publisher: Thorpe Bowker
Page Length: 359 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Historical Romance
Check out T.J. Wray's fabulous book — Our Teenage Years: Growing Up in a Small Town in the 80's (My Life #1) #memoir @TJamesWray
Our Teenage Years:Growing Up in a Small Town in the 80's(My Life #1)By T.J. Wray
This is the first book in the (My Life) series. This book is about two best friends growing up in their teenage years in a small town. All the wild adventures and stories from my childhood, after my parents divorced and we went on the run for 11 years. This book includes my first job, girlfriend, prom, driver's license, my first car and many other first we all did in our teenage years. It's a fun-filled adventure about being a teenager, epic road trips and best friends. But really this book is just about LIFE. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry. Please enjoy
The Coffee Pot Book Club
★★★★★
Highly Recommended
Read the full review HERE!
Pick up your copy ofOur Teenage YearsAmazon UK • Amazon US
T.J. Wray
I am a single dad with two kids. I am currently working on my next book. I own and operate a tow truck for a living. My kids are my whole world, everything evolves around them. I like to work out and go fishing. Or take my kids to a ball game. I restore old muscle cars in my spare time. Also, I love to ride my motorcycle and read books.Connect with TJ: Website • Twitter • LinkedIn.
Welcome to Day #4 of the blog tour for Drake: Tudor Corsair #HistoricalFiction #SirFrancisDrake #CoffeePotBookClub @tonyriches @authorrochelle
Drake - Tudor Corsair
(The Elizabethan Series Book 1)
By Tony Riches
1564
Devon sailor Francis Drake sets out on a journey of adventure.
Drake learns of routes used to transport Spanish silver and gold, and risks his life in an audacious plan to steal a fortune.
Queen Elizabeth is intrigued by Drake and secretly encourages his piracy. Her unlikely champion becomes a national hero, sailing around the world in the Golden Hind and attacking the Spanish fleet.
King Philip of Spain has enough of Drake’s plunder and orders an armada to threaten the future of England.
Today, we are stopping over on
The Historical Fiction Blog.
Click HERE!
Welcome to Day #3 of the blog tour for The Queen’s Devil (William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3) by Paul Walker #TheQueensDevil #HistoricalFiction @PWalkerauthor @hooverbkreview
The Queen’s Devil
(William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3)
By Paul Walker
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 suggest there may be a connection.
Sir Francis Walsingham and Lord Burghley urge William to discover further intelligence from the prisoners while tending their injuries from torture.
The agent's investigations lead him to the French Embassy, which lies at the heart of a conspiracy which threatens the nation.
Through his enquiries, an unsuspecting William becomes entangled in a perilous web of politicking and religious fervour.
The threat comes from one the most powerful men in the English court – one referred to as the Queen’s Devil.
William faces a race against time to unpick these ties, climaxing in a daring raid on the Embassy.
Today we are stopping over on Historical Fiction Reviews for a fabulous review.
Click HERE!
September 8, 2020
#BookReview — Miami Days, Havana Nights by Linda Bennett Pennell #HistoricalFiction #Thriller @LindaPennell
Miami Days, Havana Nights
By Linda Bennett Pennell
Sometimes our biggest debts have nothing to do with money.
1926. When seventeen-year-old Sam Ackerman witnesses a mob hit, he is hustled out of New York under the protection of Moshe Toblinsky, A.K.A., the mob’s bookkeeper. Arriving in Miami with no money, no friends, and no place to hide, Sam’s only choice is to do as the gangster demands. Forced into bootlegging, Sam’s misery is compounded when he falls in love. Amazingly, the beautiful, devout Rebecca wants only him, but he cannot give her the life she deserves. When Prohibition ends, Sam begs the mobster to set him free. The price? A debt, as Toblinsky puts it, of friendship. A debt that will one day come due.
Present Day. History of American Crime professor Liz Reams has it all—early success, a tantalizing lead on new info about Moshe Toblinsky, and a wonderful man to love. Life is perfect. So what’s keeping her from accepting her guy’s marriage proposals? Confronting a long-standing personal debt sets her on a journey of self-discovery. While she delves ever deeper into Sam’s and Toblinsky’s relationship, her understanding of her own relationships increases as well, but the revelations come at a price. The emotional and physical dangers of her dual journeys may prove too big to handle.
"Why had he thought two dollars extra a week made working for gangsters worth the risk?"
Because his family needed the money, that was why. It was hard enough keeping his siblings in shoes, let alone anything else. So what choice did seventeen-year-old, Sam Ackerman, have? When his father died so unexpectedly, he became the head of the house, and they desperately needed the income he earned from working in Josef Monza's speakeasy.
Liz Reams is determined to hunt down the mysterious man with the scar on his face in the photograph she has seen of Moshe Toblinsky and his mob. But the man is proving to be somewhat elusive. Liz is determined to discover the truth, however as she does so, she learns a few things that she did not know about herself as well.
Miami Days, Havana Nights by Linda Bennett Pennell is a book that is as impressive in its sweep as it is in its brilliance.
Pennell's use of two timelines was inspired, and it worked so incredibly well with this story. It gives this novel a real sense of movement. The historical detail of 1920s America was exquisitely portrayed, but so was modern day America as well. Pennell, it seems, has a visceral understanding of what makes history worth reading.
Sam Ackerman very quickly won my heart. He is this very honourable young man who takes his responsibilities seriously. Unfortunately, he finds himself caught up in the most terrible of situations and although he desperately desires to be released from the mobs’ clutches, he is pragmatic enough to understand the need for cooperation and to bide his time. He ends up doing things that he would never have dreamt he would have done, but he retains this air of goodness that makes him impossible not to like. I thought Pennell's depiction of Sam was sublime. This was a character that helped to drive this book forward.
The other protagonist of this tale is Liz Reams. While Liz's research takes her on a journey of discovery, she also unexpectedly discovers something about herself as well. Liz spends a great deal of time in this book trying to figure out who she actually is, and what she really wants out of life. Liz is a protagonist that is relatable to the modern reader, and I think that is what makes her character so successful and a pleasure to read about.
The antagonist in this story is the Jewish mob's CEO, Moshe Toblinsky. Toblinsky is not a historical figure, but Pennell certainly seems to have drawn inspiration from the likes of Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and of course, Al Capone. Pennell gives her readers a wonderful sense of what it must have been like during this era when gangsters ran racketeering, bootlegging, and many other criminal activities. And although we are given only the briefest of explanations as to who he is and where he comes from, it is Toblinsky that controls the narrative of Sam's story. Toblinsky is a villain, in every sense, and when he offers friendship, there is always a catch. I thought his relationship with Sam was very one-sided, but it does demonstrate the power that such a man could have had during this era.
Respect, as one would perhaps expect from a book about American gangsters, is a theme that runs throughout this novel. However, there are several different kinds of respect. The mob expects to be respected because of its reach and anyone who dares challenge them, or tries to move in on their territory, are dealt with brutally. But on the other hand, when Sam sees something he should not have seen, Top Monza, who is incredibly unforgiving, calls in a favour to make sure that Sam is never in a position where he could become problematic for them and would therefore have to be killed. It could have been very easy for Monza to dispose of Sam in a more brutal and permanent way, but he decides not to – why, the reader asks? Maybe it is because of Sam's age, or it is perhaps because he sees someone who can be easily manipulated. Nevertheless, whatever the favour was, Toblinsky honours it. Unfortunately for Sam, his respect is not earned, but it is demanded. Sam respects Toblinsky out of fear for his own life rather than because he deserves it. And it is this fearful respect that allows Toblinsky to become so formidable. Taking a step away from the gangsters, the reader also watches as Sam desperately tries to earn the respect of the parents of the woman he wants to marry. This ongoing theme makes this book a compelling read indeed.
Another theme that runs through this book is that of guilt and unrealistic expectations. I thought the depiction of Liz's mother was particularly well-drawn and demonstrates how very unhealthy it is to make your child meet impossibly high expectations, and it also shows the devastating consequences of trying to live your life through your child. Lillian is a rather formidable dragon who has to be in control, and who has to remind Liz at every opportunity of all the things she gave up to be a mother. I found this, at times, challenging to read, because as Liz achieves wonderful things, her mother criticises her for them – she should have become a constitutional lawyer rather than a professor in her chosen field. This double bind on achievement is incredibly destructive, and it means that they can never have a close and productive relationship. Add to this volatile situation, Liz's dad, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, means the emotional exhaustion that Lillian feels makes the situation even worse. I thought the relationship between these two women was extremely moving, but at times it was also very distressing. Their relationship also mirrored the mob in a way because everyone has to bow down to Lillian's demands — she always wins the argument, she always has the last word, and everyone else is terrified by her sharp tongue and her use of emotional blackmail. I thought Liz's response to her mother was very telling, and it certainly added a layer of despair and tension to this story. It also demonstrates very clearly that Pennell has an intuitive and empathetic understanding of the human condition in all of its greatness as well as its ugliness.
Pennell has also given her readers an insight into the widespread segregation and social antisemitism during this period in American history. This discrimination meant that the Jewish residents were restricted in not only employment, but they were also denied access to many residential and resort areas as well. Even Moshe Toblinsky, with all his influence and wealth, could not book a room in The Biltmore. Although antisemitism is a theme that runs throughout this book, it is not the most pressing concern in the protagonist's plight. However, if there had not been the antisemitism and Sam had more opportunities, then would he have taken a job with the Mafia in the first place? Circumstances are everything, or so it seems in this book.
Miami Days, Havana Nights by Linda Bennett Pennell is an astonishingly good read. It is undoubtedly a book that will stay with me for a very long time, and it is one that deserves to be read again and again.
I Highly Recommend.
Review by Mary Anne Yarde.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.
Pick up your copy of
Miami Days, Havana Nights
Add Miami Days, Havana Nights to your ‘to-read’ list on
Linda Bennett Pennell
After being named a finalist in the Writer's League of Texas 2009 Manuscript Contest, Linda Bennett Pennell set her heart on becoming a published author. She experienced the thrill of that dream coming true on July 10, 2013 when her debut novel, Al Capone at the Blanche Hotel, was released by Soul Mate Publishing. She is delighted that the novel has been well received by readers and reviewers alike.
Linda would like to thank those who have read and reviewed Al Capone at the Blanche Hotel. Your wonderful support and generous praise have meant more than mere words can express. It is a great joy that her second and third novels, Confederado do Notre (2014, Soul Mate Publishing), Casablanca: Appointment at Dawn (2015, The Wild Rose Press), Miami Days, Havana Nights (2018, Soul Mate Publishing) have been warmly received, as well. Providing a good experience for readers is what makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Linda is active in writer's groups including the Writer's League of Texas, the Historical Novel Society, Author's Guild, International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Northwest Houston RWA.
When she is not busy tapping away on the keyboard on behalf of her latest work-in-progress, Linda enjoys spending time with family and friends, volunteering with various local non-profits and her church, singing with the Texas Master Chorale and church choir, and researching future projects. She resides in the Houston area with her husband and their German Shorthaired Pointer, a dog who is quite certain that he's a little boy.
Connect with Linda:
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon
Check out Jayne Davis' fabulous Christmas novella — Captain Kempton's Christmas #HistoricalRomance #RegencyRomance @jaynedavis142
Captain Kempton's ChristmasBy Jayne Davis
Lieutenant Philip Kempton and Anna Tremayne fall in love during one idyllic summer fortnight. When he’s summoned to rejoin his ship, Anna promises to wait for him.
While he’s at sea, she marries someone else.Now she's widowed and he's Captain Kempton. When they meet again, can they put aside betrayal and rekindle their love?
A sweet second-chance Christmas novella.
The Coffee Pot Book Club
★★★★★
Highly Recommended
Read the full review HERE!
Pick up your copy ofCaptain Kempton's ChristmasAmazon UK • Amazon US
Jayne Davis
Jayne Davis writes historical romances set in the late Georgian/Regency era, published as both ebooks and paperbacks.She was hooked on Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer as a teenager, and longed to write similar novels herself. Real life intervened, and she had several careers, including as a non-fiction author under another name. That wasn't quite the writing career she had in mind...
Finally, she got around to polishing up stories written for her own amusement in long winter evenings, and became the kind of author she’d dreamed of in her teens. She is now working on the first few books in the Marstone Series, set in the late Georgian/early Regency period.
You can find Jayne: Website • Pinterest • Twitter.
Welcome to Day #2 of the blog tour for The Queen’s Devil (William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3) by Paul Walker #TheQueensDevil #HistoricalFiction @PWalkerauthor @ADarnGoodRead
The Queen’s Devil
(William Constable Spy Thriller, Book #3)
By Paul Walker
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 suggest there may be a connection.
Sir Francis Walsingham and Lord Burghley urge William to discover further intelligence from the prisoners while tending their injuries from torture.
The agent's investigations lead him to the French Embassy, which lies at the heart of a conspiracy which threatens the nation.
Through his enquiries, an unsuspecting William becomes entangled in a perilous web of politicking and religious fervour.
The threat comes from one the most powerful men in the English court – one referred to as the Queen’s Devil.
William faces a race against time to unpick these ties, climaxing in a daring raid on the Embassy.
Today we are stopping over on A Darn Good Read for a sneak-peek between the covers of The Queen's Devil.
Click HERE!
Welcome to Day #9 of the blog tour of The Last King: England — The First Viking Age (The Ninth Century Book 1) #HistoricalFiction #GreatReads @jroberts132 @coloursofunison4
The Last King: England: The First Viking Age
(The Ninth Century Book 1)
By M J Porter
They sent three hundred warriors to kill one man. It wasn’t enough.
Mercia lies broken but not beaten, her alliance with Wessex in tatters.
Coelwulf, a fierce and bloody warrior, hears whispers that Mercia has been betrayed from his home in the west. He fears no man, especially not the Vikings sent to hunt him down.
To discover the truth of the rumours he hears, Coelwulf must travel to the heart of Mercia, and what he finds there will determine the fate of Mercia, as well as his own.
Today we are stopping over at
The Books Delight
Click HERE!
The Coffee Pot Book Club
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