Tag Archives: Coffee Pot Book Club

BOOK TOUR: White Feathers by Susan Lanigan

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Book Title: White Feathers
Series: White Feathers, Book #1
Author: Susan Lanigan
Publication Date: 21/3/2025
Publisher: Idée Fixe Press
Pages: 398
Genre: Historical Fiction

“Anti-war and anti-patriarchy without ever saying so – a bravura performance of effortless elegance” – Irish Echo in Australia

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROMANTIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD 2015

In 1913, Irish emigrée Eva Downey receives a bequest from an elderly suffragette to attend a finishing school. There she finds friendship and, eventually, love. But when war looms and he refuses to enlist, Eva is under family and social pressure to give the man she loves a white feather of cowardice. The decision she eventually makes will have lasting consequences for her and everyone around her.

Journey with Eva as she battles through a hostile social order and endeavours to resist it at every turn.

Buy Link:
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4APnB0

Author Interview:

Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?

Well, all my books are set in or around WWI to the 1920s. I think it was a time of great change and the instigator of a lot of the conflict we are seeing today. I recently had a flash fiction piece published which was set in Gaza and was a timeslip narrative where the souls of the dead in the Gaza War Cemetery were released from the bodies after a 2024 Israeli bombing raid. There were three battles in Gaza during WWI so it has a history of being attacked, though never to the extent that it is now.

I like that period of change and flux, where the old social norms were beginning to crumble but there were no conventions to take their place. The values held in society then were inflexible, but they crumbled under the reality of the war, with millions of men dead or shell-shocked, unable to “pull themselves together” and women out working in factories and white collar locations. The White Feather movement is an attempt to hark back to that era, but while it worked in 1914, it would probably never do so again.

Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion?

I have recently bought myself an emotional support plant, a variety of cactus, which I sometimes bring into the office when working at my day job or on the windowsill when writing. I had the plant and a lit candle the day after Donald Trump got elected and I still found it hard to concentrate!

Do you have a routine you follow when you’re working on a book? A certain time of day when you write, or a snack you keep nearby?

In 2023 I was off work due to cancer treatment (I have made a full recovery since) and I discovered London Writers Salon. Four times a day, they hold Zoom sessions for writers in different time zones where you have 50 minutes to write. The routine really helped me during a time when the normal rhythms of life changed. At the moment I am trying to get books either traditionally published or self-published so my output is slowing down as there is a backlog of books to get out the door!

Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?

I honestly think you learn by doing. That’s how I’ve learned everything I’ve mastered to any degree. I remember reading Elective Affinities by Goethe, which was a German romantic Novelle, a very strict form of the novel. I saw how Goethe organised the plot and introduced new characters, very unsubtly. I also read a lot of Maeve Binchy and was really impressed by how she handles dramatic dialogue and ends scenes and chapters.

What is the scariest thing you face as a writer? How do you handle it?

I’ve already faced it. In 2014, White Feathers got (unfairly, in my view) trashed in a national newspaper. It was my debut novel, and I got stigmatised in the writing community as a result. Authors will murder their granny to avoid getting bad reviews and don’t believe anything you hear to the contrary. And proximity to public bad reviews is pretty much like review covid. People don’t want to be linked to you. As for the reviewer, she eventually launched her own successful career as a novelist.

One thing I’m loving about the second time around is that even though the sales are negligible, the reviews are absolutely beautiful and confirm that releasing this novel now, at a time of great turmoil (like WWI) is heart-work and spiritually important.

I suppose my second great fear arises from my first one. I’ve seen many, many writers who have crashed and burned on their first novel and never got the opportunity to make a second approach to the publishing world, no matter how much and how well they wrote. But I had to come to terms with that possibility, as corrosive resentment is not something I wish to hold in my body after the rigours of chemo and radiotherapy. Over the last year I’ve found a lot of peace and freedom after a turbulent time, and I choose joy. Even here and now.  

What do you think is the most important thing to remember when following your dreams?

That if the dream goes sour, you need allies and comforters. My advice is have a good therapist on stand-by and a day job. And endeavour to separate the joy of completing the work from the grief that might come from publishing world failure. I’ve grieved a lot over writing failure. But that part of my life is now over.

Does your family support your writing?

Yes, but I don’t need too much in terms of support. I have the hour in the morning to write during school run, which is very much appreciated. I work full-time in the IT department of a large logistics company and so I do not have any financial anxiety tied to writing.

Author Bio:

Susan Lanigan’s first novel White Feathers, a tale of passion, betrayal and war, was selected as one of the final ten in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2013, and published in 2014 by Brandon Books. The book won critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the UK Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2015. This edition is a reissue with a new cover and foreword.

Her second novel, Lucia’s War, also concerning WWI as well as race, music and motherhood, was published in June 2020 and has been named as the Coffee Pot Book Club Honourable Mention in the Modern Historical Book of the Year Award.

Susan lives by the sea near Cork, Ireland, with her family.

Author Links:

Website: https://susanlanigan.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100028262426042
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanlanigan_books/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@susan_lanigan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/susanlanigan.bsky.social
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/susan-lanigan
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B00MTKLNLO
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4181196.Susan_Lanigan

BOOK TOUR: The Tudor Queens’ Midwife by Brigitte Barnard

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Book: The Tudor Queens’ Midwife 
Series: The Tudor Queens’ Midwife, Book 1
Author: Brigitte Barnard
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2025
Publisher: independently published
Pages: 299
Genre: Historical Fiction / Tudor Fiction

In the glamorous, glittering and dangerous court of king Henry VIII and his queen Katherine of Aragon, the desperate desire for a healthy male heir overshadows all. Plagued by a series of miscarriages the queen is left grappling with the weight of her singular duty to provide a son for the Crown. Amidst this turmoil the queen turns to Sarah Menendez, the most highly skilled midwife in England. Sarah, exiled from her homeland and concealing her true identity must serve the queen and battle her deepest fears. As Sarah strives to save the queen from the perils of childbirth, the specter of her own past threatens to unravel the carefully crafted identity Sarah has created for herself and her young daughter.

  In a world where power, politics and religion collide, Sarah finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue and deadly danger. The fate of the queen’s unborn child, the survival of the midwife and her daughter, and the stability of the kingdom hang in the balance. Sarah Menendez must employ all of her skills, cunning and courage to protect those she holds dear as well as the life of the queen and her unborn child.

The Tudor Queens’ Midwife is a gripping tale of secrecy, sacrifice and religious turmoil amongst the most opulent court the world has ever seen. 

Buy Link:
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4jzxyk

Author Interview:

Do you tend to read the same genre you write?
I definitely read the same genre that I write, but not exclusively.

Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?
My favorite time period is the Tudor era, which is why I am also writing about it.

Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion?
My writing companions are my dogs. They are Cavalier King Charles spaniels and extremely attached to me. They are draped across my lap and I am surrounded on all sides by them! It makes getting up very challenging.

How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published?
I have been writing only a couple of years. I am very happy to have made many fans and have received a book contract with Pen and Sword Publishing. My first published book was in January 2025.

Do you have a routine you follow when you’re working on a book? A certain time of day when you write, or a snack you keep nearby?
I am pretty disciplined about my writing. I write every day, for as long as possible. Some days I might write eight hours and some days maybe only a couple, it depends on what else is happening in my life on any particular day.

If you could pick your top 3 favorite books of all time, what would they be?
My favorite books are all by Colette. The first is my favorite and it is called Sido / My Mother’s House. Second choice is actually a trilogy called Claudine.

Author Bio:

Brigitte Barnard is an amateur historian of Renaissance English history and an author of the trilogy The Tudor Queens’ Midwife, of which the first book in the series is available. She is currently writing a non-fiction book about Tudor midwifery for Pen and Sword publishing house.

Brigitte is a former homebirth midwife, and she lives at home with her husband and four children. She also raises Cavalier King Charles spaniels.

Author Links:
Website: http://thetudormidwife.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheTudorMidwife
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetudormidwife

BOOK TOUR: The Death of a Princess by R.N. Morris

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Death of a Princess

by R.N. Morris

Summer 1880.

Lipetsk, a spa town in Russia.

The elderly and cantankerous Princess Belskaya suffers a violent reaction while taking a mud bath at the famous Lipetsk Sanatorium. Soon after, she dies.

Dr Roldugin, the medical director of the sanatorium, is at a loss to explain the sudden and shocking death.

He points the finger at Anna Zhdanova, a medical assistant who was supervising the princess’s treatment.

Suspicion also falls on the princess’s nephew Belsky, who appears far from grief-stricken at his aunt’s death.

Meanwhile, investigating magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky arrives in Lipetsk from St Petersburg, seeking treatment after a nervous breakdown.

Against his better judgement, Virginsky is drawn in to the investigation. But is he getting closer to the truth or walking straight into a deadly trap?

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mvOpq8

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Guest Post – My writing regime

Coffee is an essential part of my routine. I have a mug which I got in New York with the word “Kawfee!” on the side. I couldn’t find it this morning and now I’m worried that I won’t ever be able to write again.

The view from my desk looks out over the neighbours’ garden. They have a coat hanger on the roof of their shed. I spend a lot of time trying to work out how it got there. Maybe it landed in one of the recent storms? Occasionally one of the local cats climbs up to look at it. They seem as mystified as me.

Sometimes I’m joined by my writing partner, our own cat Moomin. She insists on a certain number of tummy tickles before we get down to work. She also likes to insert random letters into the text by lying on the keyboard. Alternatively, she positions herself between me and the screen, staring me down while purring ridiculously loudly. I can’t work out whether she thinks she’s helping or is being deliberately obstructive.

I aim to write at least 1,000 words a day. I’m more productive in the morning, with a second cup of coffee at 11-ish to keep up my energy levels. I think it was Hemingway who suggested you should break off when things are going well so that you can pick up where you left off the next day. It’s good advice but I generally stop when I’m exhausted and can’t write anymore.

Then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for the next scene.

PS – I found the mug – it was in the microwave. I must have got distracted, let my coffee go cold and then forgotten about it!

About the Author

Roger (R.N) Morris is the author of 18 books, including a quartet of historical crime novels set in St Petersburg featuring Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s great novel Crime and Punishment. These were followed by the Silas Quinn series set in London in 1914. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger and the CWA Historical Dagger.

A former advertising copywriter, Roger has written the libretto for an opera, modern retellings of Frankenstein and Macbeth for French school children. He’s also a scriptwriter for an award winning audio producer, working on true crime and history podcasts including The Curious History of your Home.

His work has been published in 16 countries.

Married with two grown-up children, Roger lives in Chichester where he keeps an eye out for seagulls.

Author Links:

Website: www.rogernmorris.co.uk

Twitter: https://x.com/rnmorris

Facebook: www.facebook.com/roger.morris.7547

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/roger-morris-41679518

Instagram: www.instagram.com/rogermorris7988

Threads: www.threads.net/@rogermorris7988

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rnmorris.bsky.social

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/rogernmorris1

Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B001JP9XXA

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/608784.R_N_Morris

BOOK TOUR: The Fires of Gallipoli by Barney Campbell

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The Fires of Gallipoli

by Barney Campbell

The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking portrayal of friendship forged in the trenches of the First World War.

‘In this vivid and engaging novel of war and friendship, Barney Campbell shows us once again that he is a natural writer. This is a novel of men at arms of the highest quality.’ 
~ Alexander McCall Smith

Edward Salter is a shy, reserved lawyer whose life is transformed by the outbreak of war in 1914. On his way to fight in the Gallipoli campaign, he befriends the charming and quietly courageous Theodore Thorne. Together they face the carnage and slaughter, stripped bare to their souls by the hellscape and only sustained by each other and the moments of quiet they catch together.

Thorne becomes the crutch whom Edward relies on throughout the war. When their precious leave from the frontline coincides, Theo invites Edward to his late parents’ idyllic estate in Northamptonshire. Here Edward meets Thorne’s sister Miranda and becomes entranced by her.

Edward escapes the broiling, fetid charnel-house of Gallipoli to work on the staff of Lord Kitchener, then on to the Western Front and post-war espionage in Constantinople. An odd coolness has descended between Edward and Theo. Can their connection and friendship survive the overwhelming sense of loss at the end of the war when everything around them is corrupted and destroyed?

The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking, sweeping portrayal of friendship and its fragility at the very limits of humanity.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4XkEq6

Excerpt

Edward’s thick jumper proved its mettle and he slept soundly, stirring only around midnight as a snuffling deer broke nearby branches around the edge of the tree. He was awake for a few minutes while memories of nights on the front came to him, staring out into a dark night or peeping fearfully over the parapet when a baleful alabaster shone over the Peninsula in a sniper’s moon. He remembered nights on the line as he and Thorne tried desperately to suppress their chuckles into yelps of breathing. He was sure that he let out a giggle into the night before nothingness then fell over him, dreamless and warm.

He woke with his thighs damp from dew and drew away the groundsheet to see the million droplets on the cow parsley sparkle gold and rainbow colours from the low sun breaching the underside of the tree. A ghostly network of spiders’ webs hung above his head, made fuller by the dew, more ossified. He felt an awful pang, as Thorne stirred beside him, that he wasn’t able to see any of it.

They wormed out from under the tree and creaked limbs back to life, shaking away the residue of sleep and rubbing their sandpaper chins, teeth chattering at the morning’s chill. They got ready to go, the imprint of their bodies in the cow parsley already disappearing as the crushed stalks started to lean up again, and they rejoined the path and carried on.

The route took them over miles of gentle fields and woods, folds in the ground offering one of the most beautiful mornings Edward could remember; folds that, on a battlefield, would become must-take ridges and valleys raked by machine gun fire. Here though was a perfect land, unpoisoned by such snaky heads. The rising sun, still yet to gain its heat, uncovered spring’s half-built hedgerows as nearby woodpeckers saluted their arrival. So infrequent was any sign of habitation, with only a couple of soft yellow stone farmhouses nestling nearly invisibly into their surroundings, that it seemed for a time that they were walking through a zero-humaned world.

About the Author

Barney Campbell, author of The Fires of Gallipoli, was brought up in the Scottish Borders and studied Classics at university. He then joined the British Army where he commanded soldiers on a tour of Helmand Province, Afghanistan at the height of the war there.

That experience inspired him to write his first novel Rain, a novel about the war, which was published by Michael Joseph in 2015. The Times called it ‘the greatest book about the experience of soldiering since Robert Graves’s First World War classic Goodbye To All That’.

Barney has walked the length of the Iron Curtain, from Szczecin in Poland to Trieste in Italy. He currently works and lives in London.

Author & Publisher Links:

Website: https://eandtbooks.com/authors/barney-campbell/

Twitter: https://x.com/eandtbooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliottandthompson/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/eandtbooks.bsky.social

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Barney-Campbell/author/B0DHW46DM5

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13734240.Barney_Campbell

BOOK TOUR: Plantagenet Legacy Series – Henry IV by Mercedes Rochelle

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THE USURPER KING by Mercedes Rochelle
Book 4 of The Plantagenet Legacy

Blurb:

From Outlaw to Usurper, Henry Bolingbroke fought one rebellion after another.


First, he led his own uprising. Then he captured a forsaken king. Henry had no intention of taking the crown for himself; it was given to him by popular acclaim. Alas, it didn’t take long to realize that that having the kingship was much less rewarding than striving for it. Only three months after his coronation, Henry IV had to face a rebellion led by Richard’s disgruntled favorites. Repressive measures led to more discontent. His own supporters turned against him, demanding more than he could give. The haughty Percies precipitated the Battle of Shrewsbury which nearly cost him the throne—and his life.


To make matters worse, even after Richard II’s funeral, the deposed monarch was rumored to be in Scotland, planning his return. The king just wouldn’t stay down and malcontents wanted him back.

THE ACCURSED KING by Mercedes Rochelle
Book 5 of The Plantagenet Legacy

Blurb:

What happens when a king loses his prowess?

The day Henry IV could finally declare he had vanquished his enemies, he threw it all away with an infamous deed. No English king had executed an archbishop before. And divine judgment was quick to follow. Many thought he was struck with leprosy—God’s greatest punishment for sinners. From that point on, Henry’s health was cursed and he fought doggedly on as his body continued to betray him—reducing this once great warrior to an invalid.

Fortunately for England, his heir was ready and eager to take over. But Henry wasn’t willing to relinquish what he had worked so hard to preserve. No one was going to take away his royal prerogative—not even Prince Hal. But Henry didn’t count on Hal’s dauntless nature, which threatened to tear the royal family apart.

Universal Buy Links:

The Usurper King: https://books2read.com/u/3nkRJ9

The Accursed King: https://books2read.com/u/b5KpnG

The Plantagenet Legacy Series Links:

Amazon US Series Link

Amazon UK Series Link

All titles in the series are available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Author Interview

Often writers started out as readers. Was there a particular book that inspired you to be an author?

When I was a kid, I was absolutely blown away by “Black Beauty”, and I told my mother I wanted to be a writer. She pooh-poohed me! That set me back. It wasn’t until my college days that I was inspired after reading “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. I think that book also gave me the idea about historical fiction, though it took years to germinate.

Do you tend to read the same genre you write?

Yes, I’m sorry to say. Other genres don’t hold my interest, and I know this is a weakness. There are exceptions, of course, but pretty few and far between. I love Anne Rice! And Nero Wolfe books.

Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?

I love the middle ages, especially European. I owe this fascination to a reenactment group called the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), which I enjoyed for thirty years.

How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published?
I started writing in the early ‘80s, a few years out of college. I moved to NYC to be near the publishing center of the world, but it didn’t serve me well and I took 20 years off to pursue a career. I didn’t want to be a starving writer my whole life! I did publish that first book in 2014.

Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?

When I was in my mid-20s (back to the previous question), I had a writer boyfriend who persuaded me to write a book with him. I think I did it to shut him up, but got caught up in the project. However, I didn’t like the way he was progressing in the story, so I went off on my own and wrote it my way! And yes, this was the same book I mentioned before.

If you could pick your top 3 favorite books of all time, what would they be?

I adored THE THREE MUSKETEERS, which was another huge inspiration for me. I think my second favorite is THE WHITE COMPANY by Arthur Conan Doyle. He was truly a marvelous historical fiction author. I also love THE FIRST MAN IN ROME by Colleen McCullough, which I picked up by accident at a yard sale. What a find!

Does your family support your writing?

I sell Real Estate when I’m not writing, though my husband does support me between house sales! Because my books are niche market, I never expect to make a living at my writing. Whenever I exhibit personally at a fair, I am constantly reminded that most of the public have no clue about the middle ages. If I’m lucky, they will remember the king under the parking lot, but even so, it’s the wrong Richard (I wrote about Richard II). It’s very sobering. So I call writing my hobby. I’m grateful for my close circle of readers.

Author Bio:

Mercedes Rochelle is an ardent lover of medieval history, and has channeled this interest into fiction writing. She believes that good Historical Fiction, or Faction as it’s coming to be known, is an excellent way to introduce the subject to curious readers.

Her first four books cover eleventh-century Britain and events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Her new project is called “The Plantagenet Legacy” taking us through the reigns of the last true Plantagenet King, Richard II and his successors, Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI. She also writes a blog: HistoricalBritainBlog.com to explore the history behind the story.

Born in St. Louis, MO, she received by BA in Literature at the University of Missouri St.Louis in 1979 then moved to New York in 1982 while in her mid-20s to “see the world”. The search hasn’t ended!

Today she lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.

Author Links:

Website: https://mercedesrochelle.com/ 

Twitter: https://x.com/authorrochelle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercedesrochelle.net

Book Bub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mercedes-rochelle

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mercedes-Rochelle/author/B001KMG5P6

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1696491.Mercedes_Rochelle

BOOK TOUR: No Good Deeds by E.J McKenna

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No Good Deeds
E.J. McKenna

Annie Schaeffer is no stranger to violence. Born of an outlaw father, she was sold to a traveling show at the age of six, now finally escaping as an adult.

On the run and wounded, she finds an unlikely ally In Nathan Healey – a member of the Needham Boys gang.

As she earns her place among the outlaws, Annie’s survival hinges on her lethal skills and growing bond with Nathan.

Nate’s moral compass shifts with his circumstances, especially when those he loves are involved. Upon meeting Annie, he finds himself drawn to a woman determined to live differently to the expectations others place upon her; to live freely and fairly. The way he has always wanted.

Annie’s quest for independence takes a dark turn as the gang begins to collapse. Betrayal runs deep, and the cost of trust is high.

No Good Deeds is a gripping tale of resilience and retribution in the untamed West, where loyalty is fleeting and justice is won at the barrel of a gun. Annie Schaeffer’s story is one of fierce determination, as she battles her past and the outlaws who seek to control her fate.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://geni.us/X6XQ8i

About the Author

E.J. McKennais a freelance writer in the UK with a great interest in American History, and a degree in English and American Literature with Creative Writing from the University of Kent.

At the end of 2023, she co-created a creative writing app for people of all ages to improve their writing skills in a fun, relaxed environment.

Born and raised in the UK, but a lover of traveling, she has a fascination with all social history across different countries and cultures. One of her favourite historical periods is the Victorian era, especially with United States history.

“The juxtaposition between the established countries of Europe, and the new world of America is fascinating to me. So many people trying to survive harsh frontier life, while trying to continue the uptight decorum of Victorian society.”

A huge advocate for feminism and human equity, her writing centres around determined female protagonists in traditionally male roles, tackling the perceptions of women in history. Her strong female protagonists go out of their way to change their society’s expectations for the fairer.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.historiumpress.com/e-j-mckenna

Twitter: https://x.com/EJMcKennaWrites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ejmcreates
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-jm-mckenna/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ejmckennawrites/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ejmckennawrites

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/E.-J.-McKenna/author/B0DN1BSL99

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52291760.E_J_McKenna

BOOK TOUR: On a Sword’s Edge by JR Tomlin

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Title: On a Sword’s Edge
Author: J R Tomlin
Series: The Sword of Scotland
Release Date: November 16. 2024

Scotland. 1263. The scent of rain mingles with the smoke of campfires as word spreads: the Norse are coming…

As tempers rise between King Alexander and the Norse King Haakon, at the center of it all is sixteen-year-old William Douglas, a squire in service to Sir John Stewart, Lord High Steward of Scotland.

When Haakon’s fearsome fleet is espied approaching Scotland’s shores, carrying the greatest invasion force the Norse have ever mustered, the dread of battle settles over the land. Summoned to Ayr Castle, William joins the Scottish forces in a desperate defense. Now tasked with serving his newly knighted brother, Hugh, William has little time to dwell on the fear – or thrill – of his first real taste of war.

And once the Norse’s menacing line of ships finally touches shore, Scotland’s fate may rest on more than noble titles and knightly deeds— it’ll take the mettle of every soul on the ground for them to triumph.

Set against the wind-swept coast of medieval Scotland, On a Sword’s Edge takes you right into the center of The Battle of Largs alongside a mere – yet fearless – squire.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/3R7l8D

Guest Post:

William Douglas, called le Hardi, which means ‘the bold’ in French, has always interested me. He is a man who divides opinions. I have seen him accused of being a thug. However, many consider him a hero of Scotland. Nothing is known about his youth. That meant I could make it up to suit myself. As a young man, his father’s home was attacked. He was nearly killed defending it against a large force of attackers, which is where he earned the sobriquet of the Bold.

Besides that, events were interesting in the 1260s and quite different from what people assume about Scotland and England. Because of later centuries of warfare between England and Scotland, many assume that they had always been enemies. That was not the case.

In 1263, King Alexander of Scotland was only twenty-two years old and married to the daughter of England’s King Henry III. The relationship between the two nations and the two monarchs was quite peaceful and friendly. However, you could not say the same about Scotland and Norway.

The Scottish king wanted the Western and Northern Isles which the Norse had conquered during the Viking Age, now over by at least a hundred years. The Norse king was King Haakon the Old, but don’t let the name fool you. He was a formidable man who had unified the Norse in Norway, intimidated his neighbors with shows of force, and conquered Greenland and Iceland to add them to the Norwegian hegemony.

I have written several novels about the wars and enmity between England and Scotland, so something totally different appealed to me. This was a period when Scots routinely purchased estates in England and spent time there. Even major nobles such as the Earl of Argyll were born in and had extensive interests in England.

The events of William’s life gave me the chance to write about how this worked. For example, there was a dispute between the Douglases and the Earl of Argyll over payment for an estate in England which they took to the courts in England. How English courts worked was fun to research and write about.

It also gave a chance to write not just about war, which was still happening in the background, but about daily life for families with ties on both sides of the Tweed. Whether it was the life of a squire or the celebration of Christmas, there was more to the Scottish Middle Ages than warfare, and I enjoyed touching on that. Hopefully, people also enjoy reading about it.

Author Bio:

J. R. Tomlin is the author of more than twenty historical novels, set for the most part in Scotland. Her love of that nation is traced from the stories of King Robert the Bruce and the Good Sir James her grandmother read to her when she was small to hillwalking through the Cairngorms where the granite hills have a gorgeous red glow under the setting sun. Later, her writing was influenced by the work of authors such as Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo, and of course, Sir Walter Scott.

When JR isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time hiking, playing with her Westie, and killing monsters in computer games. In addition to having lived in Scotland, she has traveled in the US, Europe and the Pacific Rim. She now lives in Oregon in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.jrtomlin.com

Twitter: https://x.com/TomlinJeanne

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jrtomlin.bsky.social

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-r-tomlin

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jrtomlin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4094154.J_R_Tomlin

BOOK TOUR: The Immigrant Queen by Pete Taylor-Gooby

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The Immigrant Queen
Peter Taylor-Gooby

Hated as a foreigner, despised as a woman, she became First Lady of Athens.

Aspasia falls passionately in love with Pericles, the leading statesman of Fifth Century Athens. Artists, writers and thinkers flock to her salon. She hides her past as a sex-worker, trafficked to the city, and becomes Pericles’ lover.

Her writings attract the attention of Socrates, and she becomes the only woman to join his circle. She is known throughout the city for her beauty and wit and strives to become recognised as an intellectual alongside men.

Pericles’ enemies attack him through Aspasia and charge her with blasphemy. As a foreigner she faces execution, but her impassioned address to the jury shames the city and saves her. Pericles is spellbound, they marry, and she becomes First Lady of Athens.

Sparta besieges the city; plague breaks out and Pericles is once again in danger.

THE IMMIGRANT QUEEN tells the true story of how Aspasia rose to become the First Lady of Athens and triumphed against all the odds.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4EvoOg

Paperback Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Immigrant-Queen-Peter-Taylor-Gooby/dp/1836280602/

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-immigrant-queen/peter-taylor-gooby/9781836280606

https://troubador.co.uk/bookshop/historical/the-immigrant-queen

Interview with the Author:

Often writers started out as readers. Was there a particular book that inspired you to be an author?

So many! I read voraciously as a child. “The Secret Garden” holds a special place, it is so warm – and Silas Marner. If only I could write like that!

Do you tend to read the same genre you write?

No, I read in all directions – novels I pick up in the book shop and the library, Booker recommendations, items from blog posts, my partner’s reading group. It has to engage me in the first ten pages, but really I read for enjoyment.

Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?

Again no. It’s really trying to visualize what it was like for people, human like me, but in a different world with different beliefs and rules. I am fascinated by Athens and am currently writing another story set there.

Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion?

My companion is the East Kent countryside, so beautiful at this time of year. I do love the colours of Autumn. Whenever something isn’t going right, I just take a walk.

How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published?

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, all sorts of things. Sometimes I wake up with a story in my head and need to put it down before I lose it. Sometimes I can see characters and I know their feelings from their body language, but I can’t hear what they are saying to each other.

Do you have a routine you follow when you’re working on a book? A certain time of day when you write, or a snack you keep nearby?

No, when I have an idea I write relentlessly. Then I have to spend hours rewriting and rewriting the next day.

Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?

Yes definitely, and a lot of it was good advice. If only I’d taken it I would have moved a lot faster. But you only really learn through your experiences I find.

What is the scariest thing you face as a writer? How do you handle it?

Blank paper – and suddenly there is nothing in your head. You just have to face it down, write about anything, the view from the window, an incident on the bus yesterday, your children and after a while it will come.

About the Author

Peter Taylor-Gooby is an academic who believes that you can only truly understand the issues that matter through your feelings, your imagination and your compassion. That’s why he writes novels as well as research monographs. He worked in India as a teacher, in a Newcastle social security office and as an antique dealer.

Now he’s professor of social policy at the University of Kent, a Fellow of the British Academy, loves playing with his grandchildren and writes novels in what time is spare.

Author Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peter.taylorgooby/  

Troubadour Author Page: https://troubador.co.uk/author/glndwnle

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Taylor-Gooby

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B001HD2YWQ

BOOK TOUR: Traitor’s Game by Rosemary Hayes

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Traitor’s Game

Soldier Spy Book One

by Rosemary Hayes

‘Right from page one you know you are in the hands of a talented storyteller… An exciting tale of espionage and adventure in the classic mould.’

~ R.N. Morris, author of The Gentle Axe

1808.

Captain Will Fraser has just returned from the Front in the Peninsular War. He is disgraced and penniless, the victim of a conspiracy led by a jealous and influential officer. Fraser has been falsely accused of insubordination and cowardice and dismissed from his regiment.

Fraser and Duncan Armstrong, his wounded Sergeant, arrive in London to seek out Will’s brother, Jack, who works for King George’s Government.

But Jack has disappeared. He vanished from his lodgings a week ago and no one has seen him since. Friends and colleagues are baffled by his disappearance as is the young woman, Clara, who claims to be his wife.

Then Will is viciously attacked, seemingly mistaken for his brother, and only just escapes with his life. When news of this reaches Jack’s colleagues in Government, Will is recruited to find his brother and he and Armstrong set out to follow a trail littered with half-truths and misinformation.

For their task is not quite what it seems.

Will closely resembles his brother and it becomes evident that he is being used as a decoy to flush out Jack’s enemies. These are enemies of the State, for Jack Fraser is a spy and his colleagues believe he has uncovered evidence which will lead to the identity of a French spymaster embedded in the British Government.

Will’s search leads him to France but in this murky world of espionage, nothing is straightforward.

The soldier turned spy must unmask a traitor, before it’s too late.

Buy Links:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bwwEee

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Guest Post

When I was asked to write a series of novellas set during the Napoleonic Wars, I knew I would find it a daunting task but what particularly interested me was the secret war against Napoleon. That underbelly of every war where agents pass information to their handlers through secret channels, where things are not always what they seem, where the most unlikely people turn out to be working for the enemy. So, the work of spies is the main focus of my stories.

Although there was high level espionage, there were also many ordinary French citizens, including fishing families, shopkeepers and others who wished to undermine Napoleon’s rule. They were working for the British and provided shelter for British spies – and girls and women often dressed as men to avoid detection. There was a respected French priest (with a beautiful mistress) who was an agent for the British – and a schoolmaster on the Normandy coast who passed on French naval signals to the British so that their ships would be let through as French.

Then there were those who regularly crossed the Channel, legally, spying for their country’s enemies in plain sight. And, of course, there were double agents, too, one of whom is the mysterious traitor mentioned in my story.

The ‘Soldier Spy’ stories are historical fiction but real people appear in them – the head of the Alien Office, a Jersey fisherman, a Catholic priest and a renowned codebreaker, among others.

In the first of these stories, ‘Traitor’s Game’, my main protagonist, Captain Will Fraser, is sent home from the Peninsular War in disgrace, wrongly accused of insubordination and cowardice. In London he seeks out his brother, Jack, only to find that Jack has vanished and, in order to find him, Will reluctantly becomes entangled in the murky world of espionage.

Can he track down a double agent before more secrets are passed to the enemy and a murder is committed?

About the Author

Rosemary Hayes has written over fifty books for children and young adults. She writes in different genres, from edgy teenage fiction (The Mark), historical fiction (The Blue Eyed Aborigine and Forgotten Footprints), middle grade fantasy (Loose Connections, The Stonekeeper’s Child and Break Out)  to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages.

Rosemary has travelled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service and runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults.

Rosemary has now turned her hand to adult fiction and her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by a French Huguenot family during the reign of Louis XIV.

And Traitor’s Game, the first book in the Soldier Spy trilogy, set during the Napoleonic Wars, has recently been published.

Author Links:

Website: www.rosemaryhayes.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HayesRosemary

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosemary-Hayes/e/B00NAPAPZC

BOOK TOUR: Bandy by Craig R. Hipkins

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Book Title: Bandy

Author: Craig R. Hipkins

Publication Date: February 15, 2024

Publisher: Hipkins Twins

Pages: 337

Genre: Historical Fiction / Young Adult

Isaac’s only friend is a passenger pigeon named Bandy. He deludes himself in believing the bird talks to him. Bullied, he is resigned to a life of being the misunderstood bookworm by neighboring boys until a disastrous fire kills his parents and little sisters, sparing only his younger brother, Thomas. He and Thomas are taken in by their Uncle Raymond, an abolitionist, who plans to send Isaac to Virginia to buy Joy, a young slave with debilitating health, from her slave owner, Wil Jericho. Shortly after arriving in Virginia, Isaac learns the ugly truth. The butler who accompanied him on the journey killed his uncle before leaving and plans to do the same to Isaac to steal Raymond’s estate.

Isaac, with Joy, escape into the backwoods of Virginia. Discovering passages of the Underground Railroad, stowing away in carriages, hiding in churches, and outwitting the mercenaries hired by Jericho, the two teens fight tooth and nail to make it to Boston before they’re caught. Will Joy be taken from this life by sickness before she’s found freedom? On their journey, they learn a lot about each other. Isaac promises to bring Joy to Bandy’s pond, a heavenly place where peace and serenity reign.

Buy Link:

This novel is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/m27zQr

Excerpt:

The afternoon dragged along. Every cracking branch put Isaac on his guard. He kept the derringer loaded and at half cock. Joy had another episode and this one was longer than the one she had earlier in the day. Isaac had kept her as comfortable as possible next to the fire.

As nightfall approached, she felt much better, and they each ate a stale biscuit and a few slabs of bacon. It was a lean meal, but enough to give them energy to continue on their way.

They decided to use the railroad. There was a stillness in the air, and they would be able to hear the clomping of hooves if any horses approached. Isaac prayed Joy wouldn’t have another one of her headaches. They seemed to come on with little warning and were debilitating.

A short time later, they passed by another small village of ramshackle houses. Isaac noticed a blacksmith’s shop. The smithy, a raw-boned man with bulging biceps was hard at work at the forge and did not even notice their passing. The glowing light of a furnace left them longing for the warmth of a fire. With any luck they would be in Portsmouth by midnight.

They were about a mile past the forge when the sound of a neighing horse grabbed their attention and they quickly darted off the tracks into a stand of pines. They crouched down behind some brambles and waited.

A lone horseman came into view. He was a thickset man with a dark beard riding a large stallion, his menacing profile bathed in the moonlight. Isaac immediately felt a gnawing wave of fear in the pit of his stomach. The mounted man had obviously seen them. He had stopped and was peering in their general direction. He was most certainly a bounty hunter.

Isaac quietly pulled his derringer from his small holster and capped it. He felt Joy’s hand find his free one. They glanced at each other nervously.

“Come on out, yuh murderin’ boy! I done seen yuh along with that little slave girl yuh travelin’ with!”

Isaac’s pulse began to race. If he were older, he would pull this man from the saddle and pummel him for that comment.

“Let’s go, boy! I ain’t got all day now. Yuh come outta those bushes and don’t give me no trouble and ah’ll make sure yuh git a fair trial. If not, it ain’t gonna go well with yuh!”

Isaac weighed his options. The way he looked at it, he had three. He could surrender—an option which he immediately dismissed. His second option was to fight it out with the man. He had the drop on him but surely the bounty hunter had a weapon of some kind on his person, almost certainly a revolver, which would neutralize his one-shot derringer. His third and final option was to sit still and do nothing. Let the bounty hunter come to them. There was a chance, albeit a slim one, that he would not find them in the darkness. He chose option number three and quietly whispered his intentions to Joy, who wholly agreed with him. They waited. They would let their pursuer make the next move.

Author Bio:
Craig R. Hipkins grew up in Hubbardston Massachusetts. He is the author of medieval and gothic fiction. His novel Adalbert is the sequel to Astrolabe written by his late twin brother Jay S. Hipkins (1968-2018) He is an avid long distance runner and enjoys astronomy in his spare time.

Author Links:

Website: https://hipkinstwins.com

Twitter: https://x.com/CraigHipkins

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HipkinsTwins

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-hipkins-7a042357

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craighipkins3/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/crhipkins.bsky.social

Book Bub: https:// www.bookbub.com/profile/craig-r-hipkins

Amazon Author Page: https:// www.amazon.com/stores/author/B004RDJMNC

Goodreads: https:// www.goodreads.com/author/show/19975162.Craig_R_Hipkins