Mary Anne Yarde's Blog: The Coffee Pot Book Club , page 8

Welcome to Day 4 of the blog tour for Embers by Josephine Greenland #Excerpt #YoungAdult #BlogTour @greenland_jm

 

March 18th - May 20th 2021
Publication Date: 4th March 2021
Publisher: Unbound
Page Length: 336 Pages
Genre: Young Adult / Crime / Mystery
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Waterstones • UK Bookshop
Two siblings, one crime. One long-buried secret.   17-year-old Ellen never wanted a holiday. What is there to do in a mining town in the northernmost corner of the country, with no one but her brother Simon – a boy with Asperger’s and obsessed with detective stories – for company?   Nothing, until they stumble upon a horrifying crime scene that brings them into a generations-long conflict between the townspeople and the native Sami. When the police dismiss Simon’s findings, he decides to track down the perpetrator himself. Ellen reluctantly helps, drawn in by a link between the crime and the siblings’ own past. What started off as a tedious holiday soon escalates into a dangerous journey through hatred, lies and self-discovery that makes Ellen question not only the relationship to her parents, but also her own identity.
Today we are heading over to Zoe's Art, Craft & Life for a sneak-peek between the covers.
Click Here.
Tour Schedule

Welcome to Day 10 of the blog tour for Jude & Bliss by Mal Foster #HistoricalFiction #Victorian @malfosterwriter

FEBRUARY 4TH – APRIL 8TH 2021

Publication Date: 12 November 2020

Publisher: Publish Nation

Page Length: 234

Genre: Historical Fiction

In the Victorian era, for many young women, going into domestic service was a significant source of employment where they found suitable work but with extended hours for a reasonable salary, receiving free accommodation as well as enjoying the perks and prestige of working for the aristocracy or other members of the upper or middle-classes. As a matter of course, employers had a moral obligation, but one without a legal requirement to ensure their servants were kept clean, healthy and well-nourished. However, for one poor girl, that, unfortunately, was not the case. In 1896, Jude Rogers, a wide-eyed but vulnerable sixteen-year-old from Woking, Surrey, secures a position as a domestic servant at a large terraced house in Half Moon Street, near London's Piccadilly. Following a brief settling-in period, she quickly realises everything is not quite as it seems. As time moves ruthlessly forward, what happens next is almost beyond comprehension. Jude finds herself in the most impossible of situations and finally succumbs to the pure evil dealt out by her employer. This story is NOT for the faint-hearted!
I can't believe we are on the last day of the tour for Jude & Bliss.
The final stop is over on Emma Lombard's Official Blog for a sneak-peek between the covers.
Click Here.
Tour Schedule

#BookReview – Chateau Laux by David Loux #HistoricalFiction @ChateauLaux

Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Publisher: Wire Gate Press

Page Length: 292 Pages

Genre: Historical/Literary Fiction

A young entrepreneur from a youthful Philadelphia, chances upon a French aristocrat and his family living on the edge of the frontier. Born to an unwed mother and raised by a disapproving and judgmental grandfather, he is drawn to the close-knit family. As part of his courtship of one of the patriarch’s daughters, he builds a château for her, setting in motion a sequence of events he could not have anticipated.

“All by itself, a house—however grand—is only an empty space. It is the person who counts. A man is destined to fill his home to whatever fullness it represents. It takes a big man to fill a big house and an even bigger man to fill a château. Oui, monsieur, I think this is the answer that I have for you…”
Lawrence Kraymer’s life has not been one of ease and convenience, but one where no love was lost between him and the grandfather who raised him. While it was his grandfather who built up the brewery business that was passed to him, he treated Lawrence as if he were of no relation, or even of the same status, as himself—as if he were just a common servant or slave. With his past becoming too much to bear, Lawrence takes a break to go on a hunting trip, hiring the Indian, John, to accompany him, to escape the memories that haunt him.
When John heads in a different direction, Lawrence is left to fend for himself, eventually coming across an isolated farm and seeking refuge from the coming storm. The family let him stay, offering him the shelter of the barn, a bath and a warm meal, which is more than he expected and, unbeknownst to him, turns out to be the night that would change his life forever.
Chateau Laux by David Loux is a novel of joy, devotion and heartbreak, of how one family can spread its roots to reach so many places, with so much variation, and how this family could change so many lives.
The contrast between the life Lawrence grew up in and the life he stumbles upon when he asks Pierre Laux for shelter is evident. Lawrence is used to families not being close, to his grandfather beating him as a child and parents not wanting to get too close to their children. This was a time where it was not uncommon for children to never reach adulthood and losing one you loved so much would be far too much to bear. Better to wait, keep the love restrained and concealed until it became clear whether the child would survive. The Laux family, however, seems to be the exception, a family who deeply care for each other, and Lawrence’s shock when he sees Pierre allow his youngest daughter to sit upon his knee and request a story is clear—he can’t believe that such a family, such love among relations, can exist while he grew up with none of it. It is not surprising that he wants to spend more time with them, to become a part of their family and live the life he always wished he could have.
The Laux family, while seemingly very close at the beginning, grow with the story and as children grow up, they create their own ideals, begin to realise what they want to do with their lives, and that dream is not often the same dream that their parents have for them. Pierre has a house and a farm to run, but that doesn’t mean his children want to stay and help, or even to build the beginnings of their own farms. It is Lawrence’s presence that brings these realisations, for an outsider suggests that there is an outside world, things that they do not know and that they haven’t even thought to consider before. With Catharine, Pierre’s eldest daughter, so beautiful and right for Lawrence, willing to give him the love he so desperately desires and a wife to cherish, Lawrence calls upon Pierre’s heritage, as if his construction project will cement his place in the family, to build a house for his fiancee. A château, no less. With such a vast project, the Laux sons find their own ways to help, and despite their usefulness being restrained to odd jobs at first, it is these jobs that help lead them to their futures.
While Lawrence is trying to escape his past, building a château, far from anything he knows, for his fiancee to honour her family and the new lease of life that their acquaintance has brought him, such a building does the opposite for Pierre. The château rising from the ground drags up with it memories of another building, a manoir that had once served the same purpose as Lawrence’s château. To raise a family, provide safety for children to grow and learn. Yet, Pierre’s memories are not of a happy childhood, of a château that he could call home, but of soldiers, a dying mother and the deep pit of loneliness and grief that followed him away from the building as he ran for his life. Pierre’s backstory is written with excellence and presents the very foundations of the story, while giving off a terrible sense of foreboding. History is always bound to repeat itself, and whether such a home may bring equal amounts of anguish is a thought that rests uneasy as you read, hoping that Pierre’s instincts are wrong. However, death isn’t always accompanied by soldiers and while the thought that something might not be right is at the very back of your mind, it is still there, trying to show itself and give a warning before things are too late. Time is irreversible and it is the mistakes of the past that lay the path for the future of those left to live it. 
Out of all of Pierre’s children, it is Jean that caught my interest the most. Before Lawrence arrived, he had seemed content with living his life the way his father did—working the land and tending the animals—even if it went against his nature. But Jean finally speaks up about his true aspirations. To fight for what he believed in, for his life to count for something that it couldn’t if he never left home. When opportunities present themselves to him, he jumps to take them and while it only takes a little courage and a lot of luck to do one good deed, the confidence that builds is not enough to carry that luck forward. Confidence is a cunning killer and taunts its victims in, showing them the path and stabbing them in the back as they move on. The forming of a militia may offer Jean the chance to prove himself, but when the real world presents itself with a fanfare of gunshots, Jean can either step up where greater men would fall, or stand down and let lesser men lead him to his demise. What made Jean’s story so believable, such a delight to read, is that he is not perfect. He makes mistakes and he can’t deal with everything. He is the youngest of the militia, a group of untrained, ill-prepared men who don’t know what they are getting themselves into and are not ready to deal with what is thrown at them. Jean must do things he doesn’t understand, lead men when he is not ready, and it takes a toll on him. Loux clearly has a wonderful understanding of human fragility and a novelist eye of how to present people in such a compelling, impressive narrative that it is next to impossible to put this book down. 
The poetic turn of phrase and such elegance deserves recognition, for it is not just a novel that Loux has penned, but a masterpiece, a rose among thorns, a château among farmhouses. With such a keen sense of human life and emotion, Chateau Laux by David Loux brings to life a story that threatens to mesmerise with scenes of pure, unrestrained delight and scenes that will pull at your heartstrings and have you reaching for the tissues.
I Highly Recommend.
Review by Ellie Yarde
The Coffee Pot Book Club


Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes and Noble • Kobo



David Loux is a short story writer who has published under pseudonym and served as past board member of California Poets in the Schools. Chateau Laux is his first novel. He lives in the Eastern Sierra with his wife, Lynn.
Connect with David:Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon Author Page

Welcome to Day 4 of the blog tour for A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, The Aragon Years by Judith Arnopp #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @JudithArnopp

  

17th March – 19th May 2021

Publication Date: February 2021

Publisher: Feed a Read

Page Length: 335 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

‘A king must have sons: strong, healthy sons to rule after him.’

On the unexpected death of Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, his brother, Henry, becomes heir to the throne of England. The intensive education that follows offers Henry a model for future excellence; a model that he is doomed to fail.

On his accession, he chooses his brother’s widow, Catalina of Aragon, to be his queen. Together they plan to reinstate the glory of days of old and fill the royal nursery with boys. 

But when their first-born son dies at just a few months old, and subsequent babies are born dead or perish in the womb, the king’s golden dreams are tarnished.

Christendom mocks the virile prince. Catalina’s fertile years are ending yet all he has is one useless living daughter, and a baseborn son.

He needs a solution but stubborn to the end, Catalina refuses to step aside.

As their relationship founders, his eye is caught by a woman newly arrived from the French court. Her name is Anne Boleyn.

A Matter of Conscience: the Aragon Years offers a unique first-person account of the ‘monster’ we love to hate and reveals a man on the edge; an amiable man made dangerous by his own impossible expectation

We are stopping over on two fabulous blogs today!

Head over to CelticLady Reviews where A Matter of Conscience is in the SPOTLIGHT!

Click Here.

Our second stop of the day is over on LoupDargent.info for a sneak-peek between the covers.

Click Here.

Tour Schedule

Welcome to Day 7 of the #audio blog tour for State of Treason (Book 1, William Constable Spy Thrillers) By Paul Walker, Narrated by Edward Gist #HistoricalFiction @PWalkerauthor

 

February 24th - April 28th 2021
Publication Date: February 2021

Publisher: Audible Studios

Page Length: 317 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction
Amazon Audio

London, 1578
William Constable is a scholar of mathematics, astrology and practices as a physician. He receives an unexpected summons to the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham in the middle of the night. He fears for his life when he spies the tortured body of an old friend in the palace precincts.
His meeting with Walsingham takes an unexpected turn when he is charged to assist a renowned Puritan, John Foxe, in uncovering the secrets of a mysterious cabinet containing an astrological chart and coded message. Together, these claim Elizabeth has a hidden, illegitimate child (an “unknowing maid”) who will be declared to the masses and serve as the focus for an invasion.
Constable is swept up in the chase to uncover the identity of the plotters, unaware that he is also under suspicion. He schemes to gain the confidence of the adventurer John Hawkins and a rich merchant. Pressured into taking a role as court physician to pick up unguarded comments from nobles and others, he has become a reluctant intelligencer for Walsingham.Do the stars and cipher speak true, or is there some other malign intent in the complex web of scheming?
Constable must race to unravel the threads of political manoeuvring for power before a new-found love and perhaps his own life are forfeit.
We are stopping over on two fabulous blogs today. 
Our first stop is over on M J Porter’s Official.Click Here.
Our second stop is over on Viviana MacKade's Official BlogClick Here.
Tour Schedule

We are so excited to be taking The Custard Corpses by M J Porter on tour! #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalMystery #BlogTour @coloursofunison

Publication Date: March 25th 2021
Publisher: M J Publishing
Genre: Historical Mystery
A delicious 1940s mystery.
Birmingham, England, 1943.
While the whine of the air raid sirens might no longer be rousing him from bed every night, a two-decade-old unsolved murder case will ensure that Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is about to suffer more sleepless nights.
Young Robert McFarlane’s body was found outside the local church hall on 30th September 1923. But, his cause of death was drowning, and he’d been missing for three days before his body was found. No one was ever arrested for the crime. No answers could ever be given to the grieving family. The unsolved case has haunted Mason ever since.
But, the chance discovery of another victim, with worrying parallels, sets Mason, and his constable, O’Rourke, on a journey that will take them back over twenty-five years, the chance to finally solve the case, while all around them the uncertainty of war continues, impossible to ignore.
Universal Buy Link
M J Porter writes historical fiction set before 1066. Usually. 
This is M J's first foray into the historical mystery genre and the, relatively recent, twentieth century. 
M J writes A LOT, you've been warned.
Social Media Links:Website • Blog • Twitter • LinkedIn • Instagram • Pinterest • BookBub • Amazon Author Page • Goodreads • Tumblr
Tour Schedule


April 6thCatherine Meyrick's Official BlogExcerpt
April 13thThe Whispering BookwormInterview
I got lost in a bookExcerpt
April 20thA Thousand SunsExcerpt
Candlelight ReadingGuest Post
April 27thB for Book ReviewInterview
Oh look, another book!Excerpt
May 4thJudith Arnopp’s Official BlogSpotlight
CelticLady ReviewsSpotlight
May 11thThe Magic of Wor(l)dsExcerpt
A Darn Good ReadExcerpt
Elizabeth St.John’s Official BlogInterview
May 18th Let Your Words Shine…Excerpt
The Historical Fiction BlogGuest Post
May 25th Linnea Tanner’s Official BlogExcerpt
Books, Lattes & TiarasExcerpt
ArchaeolibrarianExcerpt
June 1st Emma Lombard’s Official BlogExcerpt
Zoe’s Art, Craft & LifeExcerpt
June 8th The Books DelightExcerpt
The Book Bandit’s LibraryExcerpt

Welcome to Day 8 of the blog tour for The Dark Shadows of Kaysersberg By Michael Stolle #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @MichaelStolle16

 

February 16th- April 20th 2021
Publication Date: 27th December 2020

Publisher: Independently Published

Page Length: 223 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance / Adventure

It’s 1646 and infant King Louis XIV reigns over France; wily Cardinal Mazarin holds the reins of power - but he needs money, desperately.
Armand de Saint Paul, the younger son of a great and rich noble house, is leading a carefree life in Paris, dedicating his time to such pleasures as gambling, hunting and amorous pursuits.
Unexpectedly, Armand has to defend the honour of his house in a duel that transpires to be a deadly trap, set up by a mighty foe of the house of Saint Paul.
Will Armand be able to escape the deadly net of intrigue that soon threatens to destroy him?
How can a young man deal with love, when it’s no longer a game, but a dream beyond reach?
The leading question is: What is going on behind the façade that is Castle Kaysersberg,where nothing is as it seems to be … until the day when the dark shadows come alive?
Head over to Archaeolibrarian where you can have a sneak-peek between the covers!Click here.
Tour Schedule 

Welcome to Day #4 of the blog tour for Forsaking All Other by Catherine Meyrick #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #BlogTour @cameyrick1

 

16th March – 18th May 2021

Publication Date: 16th March 2018
Publisher: Courante Publishing
Page Length: 308 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/Historical Romance
England, 1585.
Bess Stoughton, waiting woman to the well-connected Lady Allingbourne, has discovered that her father is arranging for her to marry an elderly neighbour. Normally obedient Bess rebels and wrests from her father a year's grace to find a husband more to her liking.
Edmund Wyard, a taciturn and scarred veteran of England’s campaign in Ireland, is attempting to ignore the pressure from his family to find a suitable wife as he prepares to join the Earl of Leicester’s army in the Netherlands.
Although Bess and Edmund are drawn to each other, they are aware that they can have nothing more than friendship. Bess knows that Edmund’s wealth and family connections place him beyond her reach. And Edmund, with his well-honed sense of duty, has never considered that he could follow his own wishes.
With England on the brink of war and fear of Catholic plots extending even into Lady Allingbourne’s household, time is running out for both of them.
Love is no game for women. The price is far too high.
Today we are stopping over on Oh look, another book! where you can have a sneak-peek between the covers.
Click Here.
Tour Schedule

We are so excited to be taking David Loux's fabulous book, Chateau Laux, on tour! #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @ChateauLaux

 

Publication Date: April 6, 2021Publisher: Wire Gate PressPage Length: 292 PagesGenre: Historical/Literary Fiction

A young entrepreneur from a youthful Philadelphia, chances upon a French aristocrat and his family living on the edge of the frontier. Born to an unwed mother and raised by a disapproving and judgmental grandfather, he is drawn to the close-knit family. As part of his courtship of one of the patriarch’s daughters, he builds a château for her, setting in motion a sequence of events he could not have anticipated.
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes and Noble • Kobo

David Loux

David Loux is a short story writer who has published under pseudonym and served as past board member of California Poets in the Schools. Chateau Laux is his first novel. He lives in the Eastern Sierra with his wife, Lynn.
Social Media Links:Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon Author Page
Tour Schedule

April 6thThe Whispering BookwormInterview
The Book Bandit’s LibraryExcerpt
April 13thOh look, another book!Excerpt
April 20thM J Porter’s Official BlogGuest Post
Candlelight ReadingGuest Post
April 27thViviana Mackade’s Official BlogGuest Post
The Historical Fiction BlogGuest Post
May 4thArchaeolibrarianExcerpt
Let Your Words Shine…Fun Facts
May 11thJudith Arnopp’s Official BlogBook Spotlight
Linnea Tanner’s Official BlogExcerpt
Magic of Wor(l)dsExcerpt
May 18thB for Book ReviewInterview
A Darn Good ReadExcerpt
May 25thLoupDargent.infoExcerpt
CelticLady ReviewsBook Spotlight
June 1stA Thousand SunsExcerpt
I got lost in a bookExcerpt
June 8thThe Books DelightGuest Post
Zoe’s Art, Life & CraftExcerpt

We are so excited to be taking The Year We Lived by Virginia Crow on tour #HistoricalFiction #TheYearWeLived #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @DaysDyingGlory @CrowvusLit

 

Publication Date: 10th April 2021Publisher: CrowvusPage Length: 350 PagesGenre: Historical Fiction

It is 1074, 8 years after the fateful Battle of Hastings. Lord Henry De Bois is determined to find the secret community of Robert, an Anglo-Saxon thane. Despite his fervour, all his attempts are met with failure.

When he captures Robert’s young sister, Edith, events are set in motion, affecting everyone involved. Edith is forced into a terrible world of cruelty and deceit, but finds friendship there too.

Will Robert ever learn why Henry hates him so much? Will Edith’s new-found friendships be enough to save her from De Bois? And who is the mysterious stranger in the reedbed who can disappear at will?

A gripping historical fiction with an astonishing twist!

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes and Noble • Waterstones • Kobo • Smashwords • Crowvus

Virginia Crow

Virginia grew up in Orkney, using the breath-taking scenery to fuel her imagination and the writing fire within her. Her favourite genres to write are fantasy and historical fiction, sometimes mixing the two together such as her newly-published book "Caledon". She enjoys swashbuckling stories such as the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and is still waiting for a screen adaption that lives up to the book!
When she's not writing, Virginia is usually to be found teaching music, and obtained her MLitt in "History of the Highlands and Islands" last year. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of music, especially as a tool of inspiration. She also helps out with the John O'Groats Book Festival which is celebrating its 3rd year this April.
She now lives in the far flung corner of Scotland, soaking in inspiration from the rugged cliffs and miles of sandy beaches. She loves cheese, music and films, but hates mushrooms.
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Publisher • BookBub • Amazon Author Page • Goodreads
Tour Schedule

April 5thB for BookreviewInterview 
The Books DelightExcerpt
April 6thThe Magic of Wor(l)dsGuest Post
Let Your Words Shine...Five Fun Facts
Judith Arnopp's Official BlogExcerpt
April 7thMary's TavernGuest Post
Ruins & ReadingExcerpt
April 8thHistorical Fiction ReviewsSpotlight
Linnea Tanner's Official BlogExcerpt
CelticLady ReviewsExcerpt
April 9thThe Writing DeskSpotlight
Books, Lattes and TiarasReview
April 12thThe Historical Fiction BlogGuest Post
Oh look, another book!Review
April 13thWendy J Dunn's Official BlogExcerpt
I got lost in a bookReview
April 14thZoe's Art, Craft & LifeReview
April 15thM. J. Porter's Official BlogGuest Post
A Darn Good ReadReview
April 16thHistorical Fiction With Spirit...Excerpt
Candlelight ReadingReview