#historicalfiction – Page 15 – Rosepoint Publishing

Song for a Lost Kingdom The Prequel: A Kingdom is Lost, a Song is Born by Steve Moretti – #BookReview @Shalini_G26 @morettisteve

Rosepoint Publishing: Five of Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The Prequel to a time-travel historical fantasy series powered by a mysterious 18th century cello that bridges the divide of time between two passionate women who live for their music and find their lives and loves forever intertwined.

A kingdom is lost. A song is born.

When the Union with England is accepted by the Scottish Parliament on 16 January 1707, many swear they will never accept the loss of their fiercely independent nation. The ones who seek to preserve a lost kingdom divide families and destroy lives in the process.

The consequences ripple through time until a generation later, Katharine Carnegie is lost for words to complete her symphonic masterpiece in 1745. The Jacobite rebellion is sweeping across Scotland, pitting her two brothers against each other, with her caught between them.

Meanwhile in 2003, Adeena Stuart, a rebellious teenage cellist and composer in Canada, is frightened by the visions of her visiting grandmother from Scotland. Somehow they connect Adeena to Katharine’s uncompleted song from the 18th century.

In the Prequel to the highly acclaimed Song for a Lost Kingdom novel and audiobook series, the origins of the story and the characters unfold in dramatic fashion. The prequel also includes the first two chapters of SFLK Book I, Music is Not Bound by Time.

Get swept away by this time slip adventure powered by music.

His Review:

Could music be a generational tether for future generations? This Prequal explores that question with tantalizing clarity. The early 18^th century is embroiled in conflict between England and Scotland. The Scots do not want to become part of the British Empire but some opportunists see it as a way to grab lands and property. Included in those is Katharine’s older brother who is made a member of Parliament and becomes the owner of the family castle and grounds called Kinnaird. He is also made a Captain in the British army and fights his own countrymen to cement his future.

Chased from her childhood home her only thread is her music. Katharine is drawn by the notes and scores and feels safest when she is playing or composing. As she leaves her childhood behind, she is drawn deeper into the mystic of the music and its’ connection to the strife gripping her country. Siding with her older brother slips her into complicity with England and abandons her own needs and desires. She is more loyal to Scotland and loses herself in composing.

Three centuries later another young lady named Margaret after her aunt is struggling with music and her future in composing. She too plays the cello and finds comfort in the chords and compositions. At times she is in a world of her own as she plays. Auditioning with a major orchestra is a tentative step to a new career. Can she accomplish her life’s goal and wish?

The juxtaposition of the two celloists is not lost but is the spice that pulls the story together. Remember this is a “Prequal” and is only an appetizer to the complete novel. Yes, I admit to being hooked. I would like to read the whole story and see how the connection is completed between the two family members!

The musical thread is enticing in its’ simplicity. Without actually meeting and speaking with each other can the two women cement a generational bond? 5 stars – CE Williams

The Author: I have always been drawn to passion and creativity in all its forms. I am equally fascinated by the mechanics of the universe and the characters of history. I have a special affection for the power of music which I believe is the universal language of human emotion.My writing journey started in journalism, public relations and advertising then continued into software development (yes that involves writing)! Now am I a full-time author, finishing up Book III in my Song for a Lost Kingdom trilogy, which also includes a novella Prequel.

Audiobook versions of all the books in this series are on the way, including the Prequel which is now available.

I grew up in London, Ontario (Canada) and also lived in Pompano Beach, Florida as a teenager. I moved to Ottawa and attended Carleton University many years ago and now live just south of the city with my wife, daughter and four dogs with attitude.

I look forward to your feedback. Visit my website stevemoretti.ca for the latest news, or email me at steve@stevemoretti.ca anytime!

BOOK DETAILS

Genre: Time Travel Science Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Fantasy Short Reads
Publisher: DWA Media

ASIN : B07YLBG1RM

Print Length: 65 pages
Publication Date: September 29, 2019
Source: Book Tour @DigitalReads

SOCIAL MEDIA DETAILS

Website: http://www.stevemoretti.ca
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/stevemoretti.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moretti.steven/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/morettisteve
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/steve-moretti
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-moretti-61884ab/
Medium: https://medium.com/@stevenmoretti
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18201107.Steve_Moretti
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Moretti/e/B07DX4H6Z3

BOOK LINKS

Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Song-Lost-Kingdom-Book-III-ebook/dp/B08BR2S6N9/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Song-Lost-Kingdom-Book-III-ebook/dp/B08BR2S6N9/

We posted a Book Blitz for Book 3 (The Heart Beats in Time) in August here but this prequel will give you a good jump start to the series if you didn’t start with #3. In any case, you’ll find this an intriguing and compelling read. Enjoy!

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Digital Reads Blog Tours. These are my honest thoughts.

©CE Williams – 2020 V Williams

The Night Drop by Ian D Wright – A #BookReview – #historicalthrillers #TuesdayBookBlog

“The remote marshland villagers did not want them, but if their mission failed, the Allies could lose the war!”

A book review by the CE.

Book Blurb:

A WW2 Historical thriller – Resistance in the Marshlands

The summer of 1943 and Jack Ross, a talented young recruit to the British special forces, was flown into a marshland village near St-Omer, France, along with Roland Keene, an Irish-American volunteer to the British forces. Their mission was to find out how successful the Allied bombing raids had been on the massive V2 flying bomb installations, which had been built under a giant concrete dome near St-Omer. The Nazi V2 project could have had a devastating effect on England and changed the future of the war.

Jack and Roland joined with the local Resistance cell and quickly established a good working relationship. But incidents occur that point to a mole in the ranks. Two feuding brothers, one in the Resistance, the other with the Partisans, make identifying the traitor almost impossible.

Jack’s primary source of information was Sofia, a young girl who was one of the most active members of the group. She was brave, smart and tireless, and Jack found himself falling in love.

Twenty years later, in 1965, and one of the suspects decides to go back to the village to clear his name. His arrival immediately triggers a murder. Two investigative journalists agreed to help Jack tackle the job of finding the real mole but find themselves in a battle with a group of fanatical Nazi sympathisers.

His Review:

Investigating war crimes can be dangerous business. Jack Ross goes back to the place where he was dropped during the height of WW II. The year is 1965 and he is assisting Steve, an investigative journalist and his wife Emily to write an account of the area during Nazi occupation in 1943. Working on the story becomes fraught with danger as the story develops.

Retrospectively I have often wondered what the world would have been like if the Nazis had prevailed. This book paints a picture of grudges that develop even within families during a war. Do you side with the occupiers who have your country under marshal law or fight in a resistance that tries to overthrow your occupiers? During such conflicts there will always be winners and losers.

During times of war, food is always hard to get. Helping the enemy may provide some food or other assistance that otherwise would be unavailable. Occupied France was no exception. Jack Ross is parachuted behind enemy lines to find the location of V-2 rocket launch sites and get that information back to the British. His mother was French and his father English and his spoken French sounds like a native.

Sofia is a young teenage girl who can get around the occupied area on a bicycle. She is almost invisible and therefore able to gather information. Jack joins the resistance and she becomes very helpful in obtaining updates on the location of the launch facilities and also a production factory. Every day is fraught with danger as the British start bombing the facility and begin to suspect a mole is giving secret information to the enemy.

The Audomorais Marshes in France are poorly defended and the Nazi troops are spread thin. However, who is actually loyal to whom? As the invasion nears and the attacks on the rocket facility increase, the Nazis look for the leak. Brothers with a long running feud are highlighted. One of the brothers is grabbed and executed by the Nazis. His contact was Jacks’ wife Sophie. Suddenly she becomes a target for the German occupiers.

Who is the mole who identified Sophie and thereby Jack? The invasion is about two months away and suddenly they must go underground. Later in 1965 they are trying to solve the riddle of who the mole might have been. Anyone harboring allied pilots or servicemen are summarily shot upon identification and capture.

The list of suspects included the local butcher, the parish priest and the feuding brother. Unraveling the answer is an integral part of this well-developed novel. One of the suspects is found hanging in a tree and danger is rampant, even in 1965! I found the book keeping me up nights with my search for the answer. History buffs and WW II aficionados will find this read compelling. My only quibble was that the thread between the war and 1965 was at times scattered and elusive. 4/5 stars CE Williams

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four of Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Thrillers, Historical British Fiction, Military Thrillers
ASIN: B086JZDY8K
Print Length: 251 pages
Publication Date: March 29, 2020
Source: Direct author request
Title Link: The Night Drop [Amazon]

The Author: My passion for writing goes back to a Christmas present I received when I was seven years old. It was a John Bull printing outfit that inspired me to produce a newspaper for my family to read. By the time I finished the first edition, several weeks had passed, and the stories were long-forgotten events.

I was encouraged at school by my English teacher, and he suggested that I should write a newsletter about school activities. It was handwritten and pinned to the notice board. The encouraging words he wrote on my school report then enabled me to get of job in the publicity department of a large engineering company. This introduced me to the luxury of the typewriter, which I still think is an amazing invention.

As the years went by, I happily wrote anything that I was given; brochure copy, advertisements, press releases, speeches for other people, scripts for industrial films, videos, and copy for websites. In 1988 I started my own media company, which I ran until retiring a few years ago.

My only venture into fiction was in my early twenties writing teen romance stories for Jackie magazine. It was just a part-time addition to my real work, but it taught me how to build characters in as few words as possible and how enjoyable writing fiction can be. I always promised myself that when I had the time, I would return to fiction again. Just over two years ago, I started on my first novel, Murders of Consequence, which was followed by Murders of Necessity and Murders of Misfortune. They are all available in eBook and paperback on Amazon.

All three books are set in the nineteen-sixties when the UK was going through a significant transformation of social outlook. Young people were making their views known in fashion, music, attitudes, and public protests about the many different causes that concerned them. The reasons were not frivolous; all they were asking was for nuclear disarmament and world peace.

I live in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, with my wife Sheilah, who is editor, proof-reader, and critic of my work. We are both avid readers, enjoying mainly thrillers.
I also love music, particularly jazz. When I was young, I played tenor sax in a rock/blues band, and more recently, Sheilah and I formed a Jazz duo to raise money for charity. We both enjoy traveling, watching cricket, and football.

Book Tour – Speakeasy by A M Dunnewin – a #suspensethriller for RABT Book Tours & PR

Suspense Thriller / Historical

Date Published: 12/21/2011

Publisher: Dark Hour Press, LLC

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

The novella is centered on Eddie Durante, owner of a speakeasy who’s supported by his mobster uncle—the boss of the Durante family. Eddie is a young widower after his family’s rival, the Caprice family, murdered his wife over a territory dispute. After devising a plan that retaliated against four of the rivaling capos, Eddie is left with the daunting task to try and move on. That is, until he’s notified that the Caprices have put a hit man in the speakeasy—and Eddie’s name is on the list. But things take an unexpected turn when Eddie instead starts to find the dead bodies of his relatives, the ones who had helped in the retaliation.

Behind the backdrop of jazz music and glistening flappers, murder after murder begins to unravel as revenge takes center stage, and Eddie soon learns that some secrets can’t be taken to the grave.

My Thoughts

Payback’s a bitch, baby.

Eddie Durante is the epitome of a speakeasy owner. It’s a novella and he isn’t fully-developed–doesn’t have to be. It’s the 20s. Flappers, moonshiners, hot jazz music, and girls in dazzling costumes, revealing, sexy, setting the tone for the darkened secreted underground club. Haven’t we all seen 20s movies, dark, noir, tommy guns (“Chicago typewriters”), mobsters, cigarette smoke stifling the air mixed with the smell of gin and sweat.

Eddie’s speakeasy is backed by his uncle, a mobster, boss of the Durante family. And Eddie’s trying to get over the death of his wife Kate, killed by the rival Caprice family. He gets the message there is a hit out on him. An eye for an eye just keeps working back and forth, like the legendary Hatfields and McCoys…as long as there is still one in the “family”…and the bodies start popping up. It’s payback. If they are after him, why is the rest of his crew being picked off? This one catches him off guard. How unusual.

But who is being set up here? Eddie or the reader? Something isn’t adding up. Dialogue and inner thoughts bring history to light, justification. He loved his wife, how could this not be made right then? The pace does a quick-step, theories, and suspense ramps up. Who is the architect of this plot? Did you figure it out? Not I.

I’m the naive one–not until the astonishing twist in the conclusion did the mind-blowing reveal take me by surprise. This is one you’ll breeze through right to the sucker-punch ending. Oomph!

About the Author

A. M. Dunnewin grew up with a taste for mysteries and thrillers, inherited ever so lovingly from her family. An affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association, A. M.’s own stories cover a wide range of genres that tend to take a dark turn when least expected. With a B.A. in Psychology, she’s a gambler of words, obsessed with chai tea, and addicted to books – everything from classical literature to graphic novels. Other hobbies include art, history, music, equestrianism, and a good classic film. She currently dwells in Northern California.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Book Blitz – Speakeasy by A M Dunnewin for RABT Book Tours and PR

Suspense Thriller / Historical

Date Published: 12/21/2011

Publisher: Dark Hour Press, LLC

The novella is centered on Eddie Durante, owner of a speakeasy who’s supported by his mobster uncle—the boss of the Durante family. Eddie is a young widower after his family’s rival, the Caprice family, murdered his wife over a territory dispute. After devising a plan that retaliated against four of the rivaling capos, Eddie is left with the daunting task to try and move on. That is, until he’s notified that the Caprices have put a hit man in the speakeasy—and Eddie’s name is on the list. But things take an unexpected turn when Eddie instead starts to find the dead bodies of his relatives, the ones who had helped in the retaliation.

Behind the backdrop of jazz music and glistening flappers, murder after murder begins to unravel as revenge takes center stage, and Eddie soon learns that some secrets can’t be taken to the grave.

Excerpt

Once the doors were closed, Sal didn’t take long to get right to the point. “They know it was you, Eddie.”

The words slapped him across the face, but Eddie didn’t respond.

“That you were the one who came up with the idea,” Sal continued. “They’re out for retaliation, and it’s rumored that they’ve sent a torpedo into this juice joint of yours. That’s part of the reason why I’m not being too open with the information. Afraid of who might be listening.”

A hit man in his speakeasy. Eddie stared out the windshield, watching Sal begin to light a cigarette out of the corner of his eye. “I had a lot of ideas,” he remarked hoarsely, fear and dread subtly mixing into his thoughts.

“Only took one,” Sal responded as he lit the cigarette. He silently offered one to Eddie, who refused with a shake of his head. “Sorry, kid,” Sal explained as he took a puff. “After what they did to your wife, I wouldn’t have blamed ya.”

Eddie remained silent, his eyes drifting to the bootleggers who were moving the last of the crates. No wonder they weren’t laying their eyes on him. He was a dead target.

Sal took another drag on his cigarette, taking a moment for himself. “Don’t worry, though,” he finally remarked. “Your family’s got your back. My brother-in-law, your dear uncle, has requested that Joe stay by your side until we can square away if there’s a torpedo and who it is.”

“What?” Eddie balked, shattering his calm exterior.

“It’s temporary,” Sal cooed, trying to calm the young man down. “He’s just some extra protection.”

Eddie gawked, unable to believe that they’d send Joe, of all people, to protect him. “He’s crazy,” was all Eddie could summarize when it came to his cousin.

“He’s happy,” Sal tried to smooth over.

“Trigger happy,” Eddie corrected.

Sal shrugged his shoulders. “He gets the job done. And when the boss’ favorite nephew needs protection, the boss will only send the very best.”

“I don’t need protection,” Eddie fought back, trying not to raise his voice to the lunacy. “And even if I did, I have Anthony and Marcus in there—”

“Little orphan Anthony and Baby Marcus?” Sal choked, half laughing, half sputtering on the cigarette smoke. “Marcus is too naive, and Anthony,” but Sal had to chuckle first before he could continue. “Well, ya better just pray your killer isn’t a female.”

“Thanks for warning me,” Eddie begrudgingly admitted as he pulled the door handle…

About the Author

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Between the Cracks by Carmela Cattuti #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Between the Cracks by Carmela Cattuti on the RABT Book Tours and PR. Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Between the Cracks Book Tour

Book Details

One woman’s journey from Sicily to America

Historical Fiction

Publisher: HenschelHAUS Publishing

Book Blurb

Join Angela Lanza as she experiences the tumultuous world of early 20^th century Sicily and New York. Orphaned by the earthquake and powerful eruption of Mt. Etna in 1908, Angela is raised in the strict confines of an Italian convent. Through various twists of fate, she is married to a young Italian man whom she barely knows, then together with her spouse, immigrates to the U.S.

My Thoughts

Having survived the powerful eruption of Mt Etna and the earthquake associated with the catastrophe, Angela Lanza is left with no idea what happened to her family, specifically her sister, and that would become a recurrent theme throughout the semi-biographical novel. Many of the orphans were sent to orphanages or convents, and as a young girl, Angela found herself in an Italian convent. Her life in Messina, Sicily, a painful memory now only allowed to speak Italian.

Angela’s life changes dramatically when she is the chosen bride of an Italian American. Each has their own reasons for the marriage and Angela finds herself the partner of the son in a diverse family in New York, including a young half-sister who Angela takes under her wing. Speranza in return begins the task of teaching Angela English. An accomplished seamstress, Angela finds work and discovers Franco has been extremely industrious, accomplished in the building trades, and saving money. But Franco is rather close-minded when it comes to his family and to his mother’s and sister’s plans for young Speranza.

Not a marriage of convenience, nor of love, they do the best they can, getting to know each other. Franco still has family in Italy and particularly a cousin who is fast-becoming an outspoken poet, speaking out against Fascism, and he worries about him and what is happening in Europe and the coming world war. Meanwhile, Angela’s dream of children of her own is shattered.

Franco and Angela are beset with problems, not only their own, but his close family, while Angela does her best to be the proper help-mate. Eventually, one tragedy after another, the roles are reversed and it is she who must become the stronger of the two, facing down each misfortune after the other, holding the household together and coming to terms with his family’s path.

Interesting writing style, somewhat simplistic, often descriptive of her native land and that of the family she lost as well as Franco’s thoughts and motives. An often heart-breaking turn of events that might have broken the back of a weaker willed person, Angela certainly struggled with the life she felt God handed her. Life in the convent would have presented so radically different. A narrative that has you hoping for the best though realizing there are often, in real life, no fairy-tale endings. Still, the triumph here was in the mindset and strength to go on, overcoming adversity and coming out the other side.

Giveaway

**Sign up for your chance to win one (1) paperback copy of Between the Cracks on this** Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Carmela Cattuti - author

Carmela Cattuti started her writing career as a writer for the Somerville News in Boston, MA. She is a writer, painter, and yoga instructor in Boston. After she finished her graduate work in English at Boston College, she began to write creatively. As fate would have it, she felt compelled to write her great aunt’s story. Between the Cracks and The Ascent have gone through several incarnations and will become a trilogy.

Author Links

Website: www.ccattuticreative.com/carmela-cattuti-books

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carmelacattuticreative

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccattuti

Instagram: www.instagram.com/carmelacattuticreative

Purchase Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Cracks-Womans-Journey-America-ebook/dp/B00EIR08TO/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=carmela+cattuti&qid=1581979505&sr=8-2

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/carmela+cattuti?_requestid=3832793

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

Tour Participants:

April 10 – RABT Book Tours – Kick Off

April 10 – Nana’s Book Reviews – Spotlight

April 11 – Salt and Novels – Excerpt

April 13 – Mythical Books – Guest Post

April 14 – Tea Time and Books – Spotlight

April 15 – Java John Z’s – Excerpt

April 16 – The Sexy Nerd Revue – Spotlight

April 16 – The Avid Reader – Interview

April 17 – Nesie’s Place – Spotlight

April 18 – Sylv.net – Spotlight

April 20 – Historical Graffiti – Guest Post

April 21 – Texas Book Nook – Review

April 22 – Novel News Network – Review

April 23 – Ravenous Reader – Spotlight

April 24 – Rose Point Publishing – Review

April 10 – RABT Reviews – Wrap Up

Thanks to RABT Book Tours and PR for the opportunity to read and review this historical fiction mystery!

Beyond the Moon: A Haunting Debut Novel of Time Travel and WW1 by Catherine Taylor – A #BookReview #timetravel

Rosepoint Publishing: Five of Five Stars

The CE read this one and loved it.

Book Blurb:

Outlander meets Birdsong in this haunting literary timeslip novel, where a strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War with a young woman living in modern-day England a century later.

*A debut novel shortlisted for the Eharmony/Orion Write Your Own Love Story Prize 2018/19

Part WW1 historical fiction, part timeslip love story – and at the same time a meditation on the themes of war, mental illness, identity and art. An intelligent, captivating read, perfect for book clubs.

His Review:

Louisa Casson has had too much to drink! She is mourning the death of her beloved grandmother and is near a sea cliff. She passes out and wakes up in a dark rainstorm disoriented. The cliff she is near starts to crumble and she goes down with the slide. She is discovered partway down the cliff on a shelf and the doctors determine she must have been attempting suicide.

A mental hospital is a place to avoid, but she is placed there for her own safety. She cannot convince the medical staff that she did not commit suicide and is committed. The staff is less than helpful and is all overworked, unsympathetic and working in a place they should never be.

Medicines are administered though not necessary. The results are disorientation and further medications are administered to counter the effects of the first. The setting of the mental institution is horrific and part of the building scheduled for demolishing. The year is 2017.

Smoking is a diversion and she befriends a patient who shows her how to escape the smoking area. She wanders through the older part of the building and hears a voice. “Please help me!” She follows the sound and is transported one hundred years in the past to the building in its prime.

The voice belongs to Lieutenant Robert Lovett who has been injured in WW1 and is afflicted with hysterical blindness. Louisa helps him back into bed and stays and comforts him. A friendship and then love develops. The story is very well constructed and slips between time periods of 1916 and 2017. Louisa seems to be transported through a time loop. 2017 is not a particularly good time period for our heroine.

The writer has developed a keen insight into WW1 and the offsetting culture of 2017. The contrast between the two time periods is masterfully developed and a pleasure to witness. Louisa would like to stay and be with the Lieutenant. How can this be accomplished? As you enjoy the book you develop an affinity for the characters and hope the best for them. Louisa is enormously empathetic, her soldier as much so.

This page-turner will keep you on the edge of your seat. Schedule some time to read, you will not want to put it down. This was an author request, the digital download in anticipation of a review. This is my honest opinion. 5 stars CE Williams

(Amazon: *NB This novel contains graphic descriptions of war violence and injuries, as well as profanity and mild sex.)

Book Details:

Genre: Time Travel Romance, World War I Historical Fiction, British Historical Literature
Publisher: The Cameo Press Ltd.
Print Length: 496 pages
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
Source: Direct author request
Title Link: Beyond the Moon (Amazon)
Barnes and Noble

The Author: [Catherine Taylor] I was born and grew up on the small island of Guernsey, one of the British Channel Islands in the English Channel.

I’ve been obsessed with words and books since the day I first learned to read, and grew up on classic children’s authors like Enid Blyton and Edith Nesbit. As I got older I began to gravitate towards love stories with gripping plots, devouring novels like Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Katharine, Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice, about clever, independent women caught up in passionate affairs with complex, Byronic men. And equally I loved sweeping epics like The Thorn Birds and Gone With The Wind. I was a keen writer myself from an early age, and am one of those people who’s known since childhood that she wanted to be an author one day.

I’ve been obsessed with history, and particularly with WW1 for a long time – in fact I date my fascination with WW1 to the moment I first read Wilfred Owen’s poem “Strange Meeting” as a child. The literature of the First World War is the most moving I’ve ever read, and I defy anyone to read Vera Brittain’s A Testament Of Youth and not be moved to tears. As well as being a history obsessive, I’ve also always been a hopeless romantic. And I always knew that the novel I one day intended to write would be a historical love story, set during the First World War – one that would be intelligent, well-researched and have a big, emotional heart. Not only that, I always wanted my novel to have a touch of the fantastical about it too. As I child I loved to read books with magic in them, especially timeslips, and as I got older, I wondered why it was that most novels with elements of the paranormal in them were exclusively for children.

And then one night, after reading some WW1 poetry before bed, I had a dream where I wandered into some forgotten room in our house, and came across a young man, who told me that he was a soldier in the Great War. And the idea for Beyond The Moon was born. I often wonder if I dreamt about that soldier because, on some subconscious level, I longed to be able to transport myself back in time to the lost world of 1914-1918.

Of course, it’s not something – sadly – that I could ever do. But a young woman in a slightly different modern-day world could; a world where magic and fate were more powerful than in our own. A sensitive, intelligent and courageous young woman (for she’d need all those qualities), with faith in destiny, a great capacity for love, and a willingness to sacrifice everything for it…

The topic of mental health is one that has always held a huge fascination for me, and from the very beginning I knew that Beyond The Moon would be set partly in a psychiatric hospital. As I began to research people’s experiences in mental hospitals I was shocked to find just how common it is for patients to suffer neglect and abuse in such places. I can understand that modern-day Coldbrook Hall might seem far-fetched to some readers, but I assure you, you don’t have to look far on the internet to find some appalling stories. Just recently the following articles appeared in UK newspapers: ‘Firms cash in on psychiatric care crisis’ in The Times, and ‘Care Quality Commission [the UK regulator] places two Priory Group hospitals in special measures’ in The Guardian. They make shocking and depressing reading. If I, in my very small way through Beyond The Moon, can help shine a light on this modern-day scandal, then I am very glad.

I hope you enjoy Beyond The Moon as much as I loved writing it. I love to hear from readers, so please do get in touch at catherine@catherinetaylor.net. I’m currently working on a second novel set in 1900s Vienna, when the “imperial city” – as it was known – was at the heart of the enormous, cosmopolitan Austro-Hungarian Empire. It’s another smart historical love story, and I’m very excited about it. I can’t wait to try to conjure up that fabulous, forgotten world.

My website is at http://www.catherinetaylor.net, and you can sign up for my mailing list there. I have an author page on Goodreads, too, and you can also follow me on Instagram at @catherine_taylor_author. You can also find me (a bit less often!) on Twitter and Facebook.

I live in West London with my husband, two children, and two very cheeky chinchillas.

SPOTLIGHT Tour and GIVEAWAY-The Henrietta and Inspector Howard Mystery Novels by Michelle Cox

I am thrilled today to present a special Spotlight Tour that includes a VERY unique Giveaway that you will NOT want to miss.

Join Us for this Series Spotlight Tour from Mar 16 to April 3, 2020!

SERIES DETAILS:
Series Title: Henrietta and Inspector Howard by Michelle Cox
Category: Adult Fiction (18+)
Genre: Historical Mystery
Publisher: She Writes Press
Release dates: April 2016; April 2017; April 2018; April 2019; April 2020
Tour dates: Mar 16 to April 3, 2020
Content Rating: R: Books 1-2 do not have any sex scenes,
though there is sexual reference, Books 3-5 do have explicit sex scenes
(tasteful). There is periodic swearing and violence, but not a lot.
There are some dark themes (though not graphic examples) of suicide,
prostitution, mob involvement, rape, drinking, homosexuality.

SERIES DESCRIPTION:

A GIRL LIKE YOU: Beautiful Henrietta Von Harmon works
as a 26 girl at a corner bar, Poor Pete’s, on Chicago’s northwest side.
It’s 1935, but things still aren’t looking up since the big crash and
her father’s subsequent suicide. Left to care for her antagonistic
mother and seven younger siblings, Henrietta is persuaded to take a job
as a taxi dancer at a local dance hall. Henrietta is just beginning to
enjoy herself, dancing with men for ten cents a dance, when the floor
matron suddenly turns up murdered. The aloof Inspector Clive Howard then
appears on the scene, and Henrietta unwittingly finds herself involved
in unraveling the mystery when she agrees to go undercover for him in a
burlesque theater where he believes the killer lurks.

Even as Henrietta is plunged into Chicago’s grittier underworld, she
struggles to still play the mother “hen” to her younger siblings and
even to the pesky neighborhood boy, Stanley, who believes himself in
love with her and continues to pop up in the most unlikely places,
determined, ironically, to keep Henrietta safe, even from the Inspector
if needs be. Despite his efforts, however, and his penchant for messing
up the Inspector’s investigation, the lovely Henrietta and the
impenetrable Inspector find themselves drawn to each other in most
unsuitable ways.

Buy the Book:

Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple iBooks

IndieBound ~ Kobo ~ Google Store

A RING OF TRUTH: In this second book of the series, Henrietta and Clive delightfully rewrite Pride and Prejudice―with a hint of mystery!

Newly engaged, Clive and Henrietta now begin the difficult task of
meeting each other’s family. “Difficult” because Clive has neglected to
tell Henrietta that he is in fact the heir to the Howard estate and
fortune, and Henrietta has just discovered that her mother has been
hiding secrets about her past as well. When Clive brings Henrietta to
the family estate to meet his parents, they are less than enthused about
his impoverished intended. Left alone in this extravagant new world
when Clive returns to the city, Henrietta finds herself more at home
with the servants than his family, much to the disapproval of Mrs.
Howard―and soon gets caught up in the disappearance of an elderly
servant’s ring, not realizing that in doing so she has become part of a
bigger, darker plot.

As Clive and Henrietta attempt to discover the truth in the two very
different worlds unraveling around them, they both begin to wonder: Are
they meant for each other after all?

Buy the Book:

Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple iBooks

IndieBound ~ Kobo ~Google Store

A PROMISE GIVEN: This third book in the Henrietta and
Inspector Howard series provides a delightful romp through the English
countryside and back.

Anxious to be married, Henrietta and Clive push forward with their
wedding plans despite their family differences, made worse now by
Oldrich Exley’s attempts to control the Von Harmons. When the
long-awaited wedding day arrives, there is more unfolding than just
Clive and Henrietta’s vows of love. Stanley and Elsie’s relationship is
sorely tested by the presence of the dashing Lieutenant Harrison
Barnes-Smith and by Henrietta’s friend Rose―a situation that grows
increasingly dark and confused as time goes on.

As Clive and Henrietta begin their honeymoon at Castle Linley, the
Howards’ ancestral estate in England, they encounter a whole new host of
characters, including the eccentric Lord and Lady Linley and Clive’s
mysterious cousin, Wallace. When a man is murdered in the village on the
night of a house party at the Castle, Wallace comes under suspicion―and
Clive and Henrietta are reluctantly drawn into the case, despite
Clive’s anxiety at involving his new bride and Henrietta’s distracting
news from home.

Delicately attempting to work together for the first time, Clive and
Henrietta set out to prove Wallace’s innocence, uncovering as they do so
some rather shocking truths that will shake the Linley name and estate
forever.

Buy the Book:

Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple iBooks

IndieBound ~ Kobo ~ Google Store

A VEIL REMOVED: Murder is never far from this sexy couple . . . even during the holidays!

Their honeymoon abruptly ended by the untimely death of Alcott Howard,
Clive and Henrietta return to Highbury, where Clive discovers all is not
as it should be. Increasingly convinced that his father’s death was not
an accident, Clive launches his own investigation, despite his mother’s
belief that he has become “mentally disturbed” with grief. Henrietta
eventually joins forces with Clive on their first real case, which
becomes darker―and deadlier―than they imagined as they get closer to the
truth behind Alcott’s troubled affairs.

Meanwhile, Henrietta’s sister, Elsie, begins, at Henrietta’s
orchestration, to take classes at a women’s college―an attempt to evade
her troubles and prevent any further romantic temptations. When she
meets a bookish German custodian at the school, however, he challenges
her to think for herself . . . even as she discovers some shocking
secrets about his past life.

Buy the Book:

Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple iBooks

IndieBound ~ Kobo ~ Google Store

A CHILD LOST: A spiritualist, an insane asylum, a lost little girl . . .

When Clive, anxious to distract a depressed Henrietta, begs Sergeant
Frank Davis for a case, he is assigned to investigating a seemingly
boring affair: a spiritualist woman operating in an abandoned
schoolhouse on the edge of town who is suspected of robbing people of
their valuables. What begins as an open and shut case becomes more
complicated, however, when Henrietta―much to Clive’s dismay―begins to
believe the spiritualist’s strange ramblings.

Meanwhile, Elsie begs Clive and Henrietta to help her and the object of
her budding love, Gunther, locate the whereabouts of one Liesel
Klinkhammer, the German woman Gunther has traveled to America to find
and the mother of the little girl, Anna, whom he has brought along with
him. The search leads them to Dunning Asylum, where they discover some
terrible truths about Liesel. When the child, Anna, is herself
mistakenly admitted to the asylum after an epileptic fit, Clive and
Henrietta return to Dunning to retrieve her. This time, however,
Henrietta begins to suspect that something darker may be happening. When
Clive doesn’t believe her, she decides to take matters into her own
hands . . . with horrifying results.

Release Date: April 28, 2020!

PREORDER NOW:

Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple iBooks

IndieBound ~Google Store

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and
Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly
blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may
have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time
machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of
getting herself back there. Coincidentally, her books have been praised
by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others,
so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards
board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly,
addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.

Connect with the Author:

website ~ facebook ~twitter ~ instagram ~ goodreads

TOUR SCHEDULE:

Mar 16 – Working Mommy Journal – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 16 – Rainy Day Reviews – series spotlight / guest post / giveaway

Mar 16 – Hall Ways Blog – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 17 – Corinne Rodrigues – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 18 – I’m Into Books – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 18 – Mystery Suspense Reviews – series spotlight / guest post

Mar 19 – Rosepoint Publishing – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 20 – Bookmark and fork – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 23 – Book Corner News and Reviews – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 23 – T’s Stuff – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Mar 24 – eBook Addicts – series spotlight

Mar 24 – The avid reader – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Mar 25 – Locks, Hooks and Books – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Mar 26 – Jazzy Book Reviews – series spotlight / guest post / giveaway

Mar 27 – Cheryl’s Book Nook – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 30 – A Madison Mom – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 31 – @momfluenster – series spotlight / giveaway

Mar 31 – Dab of Darkness Audiobook Reviews – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Apr 1 – StoreyBook Reviews – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Apr 1 – 411 on Books, Authors, and Publishing News – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Apr 2 – Library of Clean Reads – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

Apr 3 – fundinmental – series spotlight / giveaway

Apr 3 – My Chaotic Ramblings – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY for a $100 Amazon Gift Card courtesy of Michelle Cox, author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series (ends Apr 10):

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Spotlight-courtesy of Rosepoint Publishing

The Angel’s Trumpet: Nineteenth Century Historical Legal Thriller and Mystery (Portia of the Pacific Book 4) by James Musgrave – A #BookReview

An Historical Legal Thriller review by the CE.

Book Blurb:

An 1887 Handmaid Gets Her Revenge in This Superb Historical Legal Thriller and Mystery

Author Margaret Atwood creates a dystopian future in The Handmaid’s Tale. James Musgrave’s sexist dystopia is based on fact.

Attorney Clara Foltz’s California legal team is chosen by President Grover Cleveland to defend a mulatto suffragette who has assassinated his Supreme Court nominee, Justice Marshal Owens. When her client is found dead in the jail cell, the hunt begins for the killer.

“James Musgrave’s The Angel’s Trumpet is one of those rare historical mysteries that is both entirely plausible and yet truly original. A richly researched adventure into the complex social web of Gilded Age Washington, featuring deeply-realized and re-imagined luminaries including actress Sarah Bernhardt and President and Mrs. Cleveland, the novel is also surprisingly modern in its sensibilities, a compelling romp into an earlier era’s struggle with addiction and vice and secrecy and race relations, and, most of all, hidden sources of power. You will read this book in one sitting–and you will be very glad that you did. A meticulously-plotted gem from a master of the genre.” Jacob M. Appel, author of the Dundee International Book Award winner, The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up.

His Review:

Explore late 19^th Century life in our nation’s capital in this intriguing mystery. Grover Cleveland and his young wife are intricately involved in the plot. When a young woman stabs to death a Supreme Court nominee and waits to watch him die, the intrigue expands.

Clara Shortridge Foltz is chosen to defend the killer who is caught red-handed with her hand on the knife. Immediately the question of why comes to mind: Clara is described as a three-time loser in defending clients. Should be an open and shut case then, right?

Add in other historical figures from this time period including the Divine Ms. Sarah Bernhardt and Susan B. Anthony and the narrative becomes a political basketball.

Enjoy a ride through the Suffragette movement, the kidnapping of a President’s wife and a sinister plot to destroy evidence and the defendants, and you have a real page-turner. Washington, DC during this time period was certainly not a place you would want to live!

The characters are well developed and exhibit independence of character clearly missing in many women of that time period. They are looked down upon by most of the males in this book. Washington DC is described as a place where a negro needed to go if they wanted to succeed. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is declaring some legislation unconstitutional to reverse desegregation legislation during the post-civil war era.

The end product is a microcosm of the problems facing the population during that time period. Many of those problems still linger today but it is a pleasure to revisit that era and reinspect the issues.

We received this digital download from the publisher through NetGalley in anticipation of an honest review and these are my independent opinions. 5/5 stars CE Williams

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thrillers, African American Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense, Assassination Thriller
Publisher: EMRE Publishing

ISBN-10:1943457395
ISBN-13:978-1943457397
ASIN: B07XGDB4KX

Print Length: 202 pages
Publication Date: January 1, 2020
Source: Local (Audiobook Selections) Library
Title Link: The Angel’s Trumpet
Find the Angel’s Trumpet at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound.org

Rosepoint Publishing: Five of Five Stars

The Author: James Musgrave was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. He taught as a Professor of English and worked as a Supervisor, Management Development at Caltech, Pasadena and at various San Diego colleges. He is now the author and publisher at EMRE Publishing, LLC in San Diego. He has won many writing awards, and his mysteries are “featured selections” by the American Library Association. He was also a Finalist in the Bram Stoker Awards, First Place Award for Best Historical Mystery in the Chanticleer International Book Awards, and a Finalist in the Heekin Fellowship.