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Today I'm joining the Blog Tour for the first in an exciting historical fiction saga series of books by Nancy Jardine. Entitled The Beltane Choice its the first of a series of 4 books set in Roman Britain the Celtic Fervour Series. Here's the description to whet your appetite: AD 71 Northern Roman Britain Lorcan of the Brigantes knows that unity of the northern tribes is essential when the Ancient Roman legions advance northwards to Brigantia. Yet, everything comes at a price. Using his captive, Nara, as a political bargain with the Selgovae comes with impossible stipulations. Battle at Whorl – Iron Age tribes against the Romans – is inevitable. Will Nara have her Beltane choice? The adventures of the Garrigill Clan begin… How fabulous does this series sound! Read more or buy it here  About the Author: Author Bio – Nancy Jardine writes historical fiction; time-travel historical adventure; contemporary mystery thrillers; and romantic comedy. She lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland,...

The Gates of Eden by Nadene LeCheminant (Not so much a Review as an Homage to pioneering women and this exceptional story). I love being a bookblogger, it brings wonderful novels into my life that otherwise I’d probably never even come across, let alone read. One such book is the absolutely amazing, The Gates of Eden, a book based on true events and inspired by the Authors own family history. A book I devoured. I lost myself in the pages, the non-existent word “unputdownable” is the only way to describe this awesome book.  What really made this special for me is the ease with which the author creates a credible world which is so easy to slide into and so utterly believable. I make no secret of the fact that my VERY favourite books are about the everyday lives of pioneering women in the past. I am in awe of women who in times when women were totally oppressed by men, did everything they were able to do to make the best of their lot, often taking on the most utterly daunting tasks, ...

Wakenhyrst - Michelle Paver My thoughts: Here's a lovely gothic style historical novel to tempt you to stay up late reading under the covers. It's not a horror story as such but a creepy tale of madness and loneliness. I find the cover quite enticing with the silhouette of a Magpie (Oh, Chatterpie!!) and are those drops of blood? Wakenhyrst is the story of a young woman Maud, brought up by her bullying father in a large old house around the turn of the 20th century, after the death of her mother in bloody childbirth. Maud is a very lonely young woman, forced to grow up quickly, she has few real friends. An intelligent young woman, when intelligence is the province of the male members of a family line, this does her few favours, apart from earning her a little grudging respect from the unpleasant and unpredictable father she nevertheless longs to impress. He "allows" her the doubtful privilege of transcribing his historical research into local lore and a book about a w...

Blog Tour - Blackberry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton Blackberry and Wild Rose was one of those books which could have been written just for me. I read the advance copy I felt so privileged to receive last in 2018 and immediately needed to shout aloud just how much I LOVED it. In fact it made it on to my top ten reads of 2018. I was therefore delighted to be invited along on this blog tour to help promote and raise awareness of this book, which is great as I want EVERYONE to get their own copy and love it as much as I did. Here's my review, again, and I urge you to read it too. My Review Anyone who knows me, even the tiniest bit, will know, as surely as I did the minute I saw the cover of this book, that it is exactly the kind of book I fall head over heels in love with. And I did. For several reasons... (1) I swooned when I saw the absolutely gorgeous cover art. I am loving the current trend for historical novels to have a rich tapestry of all-over design and this one is covered wi...

Review and blog tour The Story keeper Anna Mazzola I’m delighted to be helping kick-start the Blog Tour for The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola, author of the superb novel  The Unseeing which I read and reviewed last year for my blog. Both are historical novels based around factual events and the author demonstrates her penchant for detailed research and well-honed writing skills in both of these seductively intriguing books. The Story Keeper begins in 1857 with the protagonist, Audrey Hart on a ferry to the Isle of Skye where she is headed to take up a job offering her the only chance of a little freedom, she is to be an assistant to a wealthy woman who is researching folk tales, myths and legends around the island. Following the recent Highland clearances local folk are wary of strangers and reluctant to trust anyone, but they are also keen to pass on superstitions and Anna has family links to the island as her late mother was a Skye lassie so maybe she is not as much a stran...

Review - The Doll Factory - Elizabeth Macneal. Two sisters Iris and Rose work together making dolls. It is the mid 19th century and whilst nearby the great exhibition is being planned, their days are long and repetitive, working for a hard taskmistress the girls dream of escaping to a more congenial life, Rose wants her own genteel little shop and Iris dreams of learning to paint. But both girls bear the scars of living in an era where medical care wasn't great. Rose has lost her beauty to the scarring of smallpox whilst  Iris has a hunched shoulder, due to a break in her collarbone at birth. and both girls fear no man will even look at them now. Iris's beauty, however, attracts the attention of two very different men. She is approached by artist Louis Frost, a member of the burgeoning pre Raphaelite brotherhood who begs her to model for his painting for which she barters art lessons in return.  Whilst in the shadows of the grimiest rookeries of old London, lurks lonely S...

Welcome to the Blog Tour for yet another fascinating historical fiction book The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau. My thoughts on this book with its beautiful blue and white cover. It was the cover which drew me in, as its so pretty and reminds me somewhat of another book I recently read and enjoyed – Midnight Blue by Simone Van Der Vlugt which is also historical fiction focussing on the life of a woman involved in decorating porcelain and pottery. The heroine of Nancy Bilyeau's new book, The Blue is Genevieve Planche – of Huguenot descent, a young woman who desperately wants her ambition to be a famous painter to be taken seriously but in 18th century Spitalfields this is an almost impossible goal. Parallels here, too as I also recently read BlackBerry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton , set in spitalfields amidst the Huguenot silk weavers. If you like this type of book here are 3 great reads to spend your Christmas book tokens on! Back to The Blue .... Trying to emulate her hero the renowned...

The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber My Review Having read and loved the authors two previous books I have waited and anticipated a new title by her for quite some time. So I was eager to read this and very fortunate to receive an advance copy.  I quite simply LOVED it.  The author has the amazing skill of creating, convincing characters whose skin you can slip inside for the duration of the book. Strong, credible women who live a life so different to my own it would seem virtually impossible to relate to them. Yet the women she creates have left such an indelible mark on me it feels as though they have left a fine layer of themselves in my soul.  She writes about well researched austere locations where I have never been yet by the time I finish reading I feel as though I once lived there. This time we visit the location of Rural Utah in a secluded valley amidst harsh yet dramatic landscapes in the late 1800s. This book is leisurely and gradual, gentle and rather bleak and th...

Today I am part of the Blog Tour for the New Historical novel from Steven Neil which sounds great, full of rich historical detail and a fast-paced fascinating story. The Blurb: A story of love and political intrigue, set against the backdrop of the English hunting shires and the streets of Victorian London and post-revolutionary Paris. When Harriet Howard becomes Louis Napoleon’s mistress and financial backer and appears at his side in Paris in 1848, it is as if she has emerged from nowhere. How did the English daughter of a Norfolk boot-maker meet the future Emperor? Who is the mysterious Nicholas Sly and what is his hold over Harriet? Can Harriet meet her obligations and return to her former life and the man she left behind? What is her involvement with British Government secret services? Can Harriet’s friend, jockey Tom Olliver, help her son Martin solve his own mystery: the identity of his father? The central character is Harriet Howard and the action takes place between 1836 and 1...