Tag Archives: historical fiction

COVER REVEAL: Wrinkled Rebels by Laura Katz Olsen

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Literary Novel / Historical Fiction

Date Published: 07-23-2024

Publisher: Vine Leaves Press


 

Now 80 years old, retirement and advanced age have dissipated the spirit of
six college radicals of the 1960s, who jointly had participated in civil
rights campaigns and anti-war protests. Having engaged in only periodic
communication over the decades, they suddenly receive an invitation to
reunite for an extended weekend. Struggling with whether to go, each of them
has divergent qualms and expectations for the proposed gathering.

During their three days together, they confront their inner demons, each
other, and their future. Does Rebecca, the prime mover of the event, find
solace after losing her wife and career? Can Malaika regain her sense of
self after stepping down from her successful law practice? Mourning the loss
of her youthful athletic prowess and attractiveness, what happens when
Deanna faces her old friends?

Struggling with two divorces and a failing marriage, can Russell attain
peace of mind? How will Max, an expat living in Canada, manage with his
incipient dementia? Will the demoralized Keith recover his idealism?

Wrinkled Rebels is a story of how six people achieve meaningful lives
through the struggle for social justice. It is also a tale of love, the
bonds of friendship, and growing old positively.

About the Author

Laura Katz Olson, AGF Distinguished Professor of Political Science, has
taught at Lehigh University since 1974. To date, she has published nine
nonfiction books, focusing on aging and healthcare. Her latest, Ethically
Challenged: Private Equity Storms U.S. Health Care has been awarded several
gold medals, including from the Independent Book Publishers Association
(IBPA) and the Benjamin Franklin Awards. Elder Care Journey: A View from the
Front Lines, which relates her personal experiences as a caregiver for her
mother, won a Gold Medal in the Ninth Annual Living Now Book Awards.
Wrinkled Rebels is her second novel.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter @lauralee111

Goodreads

LinkedIn

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BOOK TOUR: Stumbling Stones by Bonnie Suchman

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Stumbling Stones
by Bonnie Suchman

Shortlisted for the Hawthorn Prize 2024

“Alice knew that Selma sometimes felt judged by their mother and didn’t always like it when Alice was praised and Selma was not. Alice glanced over at her sister, but Selma was smiling at Alice. In what Alice understood might be Selma’s last act of generosity towards her sister, Selma was going to let Alice bask in the glow of Emma’s pride toward her elder daughter. Then the three shared a hug, a hug that seemed to last forever.”

Alice Heppenheimer, born into a prosperous German Jewish family around the turn of the twentieth century, comes of age at a time of growing opportunities for women.

So, when she turns 21 years old, she convinces her strict family to allow her to attend art school, and then pursues a career in women’s fashion. Alice prospers in her career and settles into married life, but she could not anticipate a Nazi Germany, where simply being Jewish has become an existential threat. Stumbling Stones is a novel based on the true story of a woman driven to achieve at a time of persecution and hatred, and who is reluctant to leave the only home she has ever known.

But as strong and resilient as Alice is, she now faces the ultimate challenge – will she and her husband be able to escape Nazi Germany or have they waited too long to leave?

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4ND1x8

Interview with Bonnie Suchman

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

As an attorney for more than 40 years, I have been writing my whole work life. Three years ago, I published a non-fiction book about my husband’s German Jewish family. I realized I was not done writing about Alice Heppenheimer, but decided to write Stumbling Stones as a novel to provide a fuller and richer story. I was fortunate to find a publisher, Black Rose Writing, to publish my first novel.

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 still have a full-time job, so I have to work around my work schedule. Sometimes I write before work, sometimes in the evening, and sometimes on the weekend. And my goldendoodle, Teddy, is almost always by my side as I write.

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

I don’t think I really have favorite books as much as I have favorite authors. Any time I see a new book by Kate Atkinson, Ian McEwan or Kazuo Ishiguro, I race to download it. All three are masters of their craft, and there is never a wasted word in any of their books. I would love to write like them, but, for now, I will have to settle for reading them.

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

In following your dreams, I have two suggestions: be open to new opportunities and don’t be afraid to fail. Throughout my life, I have always been interested in trying new things, and have sometimes been surprised by the outcome.  Being a published author was never one of my dreams, but I am so grateful that I tried it and I am loving writing about the Heppenheimer family. And it is rare that I have regretted giving something a try. Even if I try something and it doesn’t work out, I have found that what I have learned from the experience has helped me on the next stops of my journey. Certainly, if I worried about failing as an author, Stumbling Stones would not have been published.

Does your family support your writing?

My husband supports every new thing I have tried. But he is especially supportive of my writing, and has read and provided helpful comments on everything I have written. Of course, it helps that he is also a lawyer and that I am writing about his family.

About the Author

Bonnie Suchman is an attorney who has been practicing law for forty years. Using her legal skills, she researched her husband’s family’s 250-year history in Germany, and published a non-fiction book about the family, Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany. Bonnie found one member of the family, Alice Heppenheimer, particularly compelling. Stumbling Stones tells Alice’s story. Bonnie has two adult children and lives in Maryland with her husband, Bruce.

Author Links:

Website: www.bonniesuchman.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BonnieSuchman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556457672565

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bonniesuchman/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/bonnie-suchman

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bonnie-Suchman/author/B09L3BDVRQ  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21796158.Bonnie_Suchman

BOOK TOUR: Snarling Wolf by David Fitz-Gerald

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Snarling Wolf: A Pioneer Western Adventure
David Fitz-Gerald
Page Length: 229
Genre: Western, Historical Fiction

Dive back into the gripping, frontier chaos. Snarling Wolf is the fourth adventurous installment in the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series.

The famed Snake River marks the point the wagon master claims that all the greenhorns turn loco. After twelve hundred grueling miles and four relentless months on the trail, the expedition teeters on the brink. Frayed nerves, exhausted patience, and the specter of doom cast a dark cloud over the travelers.

At every turn, new dangers emerge. A young man who is like a brother to Dorcas Moon is ravaged in a mountain lion attack. A heat wave grips the dusty, barren plains and spreads sickness. The wolves that lurk in the shadows edge closer. Even the rattlesnakes seem emboldened.

Dorcas’ daughter, Rose’s descent into madness can no longer be ignored. What began as an eerie preoccupation with death takes a shocking turn when Rose reveals her truths. Dorcas is thrust into a realm of disbelief, and her worst fears about Rose’s mysterious suitor become a stark reality.

As weary emigrants yearn for respite, tales of murderous outlaws spread like wildfire across the prairie. Passing strangers share the latest terrifying news. It’s only a matter of when, not if, the notorious highwaymen will strike. Which bend of the mighty snake shelters the feared outlaws?

Grab your copy of Snarling Wolf now and unveil the next chapter in Dorcas Moon’s relentless saga. Sink your teeth into this tale of survival, madness, and the unyielding spirit of those who brave the treacherous migration.

Buy Links:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/snarling-wolf

Author Bio:


David Fitz-Gerald writes western and historical fiction. He is the author of twelve books, including the brand-new series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail set in 1850. Dave is a multiple Laramie Award, first place, best in category winner; a Blue Ribbon Chanticleerian; a member of Western Writers of America; and a member of the Historical Novel Society.

Alpine landscapes and flashy horses always catch Dave’s eye and turn his head. He is also an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked to the summit of the range’s highest peaks. As a mountaineer, he’s happiest at an elevation of over four thousand feet above sea level.

Dave is a lifelong fan of western fiction, landscapes, movies, and music. It should be no surprise that Dave delights in placing memorable characters on treacherous trails, mountain tops, and on the backs of wild horses.

Author Links:
Website: https://www.itsoag.com/GATOT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorDAVIDFG
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDaveFITZGERALD/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordavefitzgerald/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AuthorDaveFITZGERALD/
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/david-fitz-gerald
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/dfitzgerald
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17341792.David_Fitz_Gerald
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/authordavidfitzgerald

BOOK TOUR: The Falconer’s Apprentice by Malve von Hassell

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Book Title: The Falconer’s Apprentice
Author: Malve von Hassell
Publication Date: January 30, 2024 (second edition)
Publisher: Malve von Hassell
Pages: 214
Genre: Historical Fiction

THE FALCONER’S APPRENTICE is a story of adventure and intrigue set in the intense social and political unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the thirteenth century.

“That bird should be destroyed!”

Andreas stared at Ethelbert in shock. Blood from an angry-looking gash on the young lord’s cheek dripped onto his embroidered tunic. Andreas clutched the handles of the basket containing the young peregrine. Perhaps this was a dream—

Andreas, an apprentice falconer at Castle Kragenberg, cannot bear the thought of killing the young female falcon and smuggles her out of the castle. Soon he realizes that his own time there has come to an end, and he stows away, with the bird, in the cart of an itinerant trader, Richard of Brugge.

So begins a series of adventures that lead him from an obscure castle in northern Germany to the farthest reaches of Frederick von Hohenstaufen’s Holy Roman Empire, following a path dictated by the wily trader’s mysterious mission. Andreas continues to improve his falconry skills, but he also learns to pay attention to what is happening around him as he travels through areas fraught with political unrest.

Eventually, Richard confides in Andreas, and they conspire to free Enzio, the eldest of the emperor’s illegitimate sons, from imprisonment in Bologna.

Buy Links:

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/31BMjD   

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-falconers-apprentice-malve-von-hassell/1121105739?ean=9781737101185/  

Author Bio:

Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer, researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell’s memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich – Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994).

She has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer.

Malve has published two children’s picture books, Tooth Fairy (Amazon KDP 2012/2020), and Turtle Crossing (Amazon KDP 2023), and her translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012).

The Falconer’s Apprentice (2015/KDP 2024) was her first historical fiction novel for young adults. She has published Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, and The Amber Crane (Odyssey Books, 2021), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945, as well as a biographical work about a woman coming of age in Nazi Germany, Tapestry of My Mother’s Life: Stories, Fragments, and Silences (Next Chapter Publishing, 2021), also available in German, Bildteppich Eines Lebens: Erzählungen Meiner Mutter, Fragmente Und Schweigen (Next Chapter Publishing, 2022), and is working on a historical fiction trilogy featuring Adela of Blois.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.malvevonhassell.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MvonHassell

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/malvevonhassellauthor/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malve-von-hassell-02b61517/

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

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/471746.Malve_von_Hassell

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/malve-von-hassell

Amazon author link: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Malve-von-Hassell/author/B0CTGLDQ7P/

BOOK TOUR & GIVEAWAY: Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure

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It’s a romp in the swamp!

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure

by Alan Lampe

Genre: Historical Fiction

It’s a romp in the swamp of historic proportions!

Eager young reporter Jimmie Rains is assigned to write an exposé on the treatment of elderly residents of Our Lady of Sorrows Nursing Home. He soon finds that all the residents speak in awe and hushed tones of the life led by legendary fellow resident Bill Valencourt.

As a teenager, Bill was sent to work for his cranky and demanding uncle who ran a bordello on the edge of the swamp. His girlfriend, Anne Marie, was less than happy with this arrangement. As the granddaughter of the famous swamp witch Marie Laveau, she believes her magic is strong enough to keep Bill from straying. She seduces him, believing the taking of his virginity will bind him to her for all time.

When his uncle is murdered by the wife of an angry patron, Bill’s destiny is irrevocably changed, leaving him the new owner of the cathouse and setting him on the path to both riches and ruin. When he falls in love with one of his girls—the beautiful and curvaceous Ariel—Anne Marie vows revenge.

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Alan Lampe has been writing down tales and stories since the second grade. Over the years, his writing matured and was recognized by The National Library of Poetry. They published six of his poems in their anthologies in the late 1990s. Jotting down ideas and cranking out numerous short stories off and on throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century, he focused on his writing in 2011 instead of Super Bowl XLV.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is the brainchild of Alan and his former girlfriend. The first nuggets of this romp in the swamp were hatched eight years ago. Between workshops, critic groups, and conferences, he polished his prose in the following years. Wanting to leave no detail unchecked, he traveled to Louisiana to capture the essence of Cajun life.

Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$10 Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK BLITZ: The Sower of Black Field by Katherine Koch

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Inspired by the True Story of an American in Nazi Germany

Historical Fiction

Date Published: April 15, 2024

 

INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS

Throughout the Third Reich, millions of Germans pledged allegiance to Adolf
Hitler. In the Bavarian village of Schwarzenfeld, they followed an American
citizen.

As he struggles to rekindle the faith of a guilt-ridden Wehrmacht veteran,
a morose widow, and her grieving teenage son, Fr. Viktor Koch, C.P. is
haunted by self-doubt. What is driving him to stay in the Third Reich? Is he
following a higher plan, or the mystic compulsion of his German heritage?
Exposed to American ideals, his parishioners grow restless under Nazi rule.
Relying upon his ingenuity to keep them out of prison, Fr. Viktor solicits
aid from an unlikely intercessor—the Nazi charity worker who
confiscated his monastery for state purposes.

In April 1945, American liberators make a gruesome discovery: the SS have
left a mass grave of concentration camp victims on Schwarzenfeld’s
borders. Enraged by the sight, the infantry commander orders the townspeople
to disinter 140 corpses, construct coffins despite material shortages, dig a
grave trench, and hold a funeral ceremony—all in 24 hours. If they
fail to fulfill this ultimatum, he vows to execute all German men in
town.

Fr. Viktor has to pull off a miracle: he must convince his countrymen that
his followers are not the enemy. Their humanity is intact. And most of all,
they are innocent.

About the Author

Katherine Koch is a renaissance woman from San Antonio, Texas. By day she
is a professional web administrator, digital marketing specialist, and
graphic designer. By night she is an independent scholar, historian, and
writer. She is captivated by stories of the Passionist missionaries in her
family, all of whom have a peculiar knack for tumbling into harm’s way
during history’s most fascinating time periods.

 

Contact Links

Book Site

Author Site

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter/X: @KKochWriter

SERIES TOUR: Chateau de Verzat series y Debra Borchert

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BOOKS IN SERIES:
Her Own Legacy, Book 1 of Château de Verzat
Her Own Revolution, Book 2 of Château de Verzat

A Woman Fights for Her Legacy as the French Revolution Erupts

Determined to inherit her family’s vineyard, Countess Joliette de Verzat defies society’s rules, only to learn of her illegitimate half-brother, the rightful heir.

A Woman Forges a Treacherous Path to Save Hundreds from the Guillotine

If Geneviève Fouquier-Tinville had the same rights as a man, she wouldn’t have to dress like one. A suspenseful page-turner led by a renegade heroine whose compassion for innocent people leads to both loss and love.

Excerpt

Her Own Revolution, Paris, July 30, 1794

Geneviève attempts to escape arrest

At dawn, I brushed the white dust from my skirts and peeked out from the cellar. I ran through alleys to the back entrance of the Châtelet, crept up the servants’ steps, crossed the hall to the clerk chamber, and stopped to gather my wits. Please, God, help me find the papers I copied. If I could present them to the Tribunal, they would be forced to release Papa.

I edged myself around the doorway and stepped back to see the clerks already at work. Instead of copying, they were sorting documents into piles lining a table before the fireplace where Imberton stood, straight as a pike.

Armand held up a paper. “Roland?” He lifted another. “And Delignon?”

Imberton indicated two piles. Armand deposited the papers and returned to his desk where a stack of documents teetered. I wished Armand had already sailed for America.

Denis, holding folders, called out, “Widow Capet.” Imberton pointed at the tallest pile. Denis deposited the folders and hurried to my father’s office. Denis’s twins were four now, and his wife with child. I hoped he would be safe.

Imberton noticed me. His face reddened as he pointed and shouted, “Guards! Arrest her!

My heartbeat thundered.

“Guards!” Imberton shouted.

I ran for the servants’ stairs. My legs shook so hard, I careened off the walls as I clambered down the steps. Where could I go that was safe? The château, but I’d be stopped at the city barrier. I could no longer use my father’s name—the day I’d dreaded since the first time I used it as protection had arrived. The only way past the barriers was through the tunnels. My skin felt too tight, like it was suffocating me.

I stood panting at the side door. Once I opened it, I’d be exposed. But if I went through the side exit, I could make it to the square and blend in with the market people. I would have to walk past the morgue. The tunnel was dark, lit only by holes in the ceiling protected by metal grates embedded in the streets above, which I had stepped over a hundred times. I’d never traveled the passage, but I’d no better choice.

I wrapped my shawl around my face, took a deep breath, and ran. The moans from prisoners in the dungeon echoed along the stone passage. The air was thick with the stench of blood and death. I shoved open the wooden door, not caring who was on the other side. Stopping in the alley scattered with rags stained with blood, I wrapped my shawl around my shoulders and forced myself to walk calmly. I peered around the corner.

The square wasn’t much longer than the copying room. I inhaled, stood tall, and headed for the biggest knot in the crowd.

Rioters swarmed the arched entrance, raising pikes and screaming. Men and women wearing red caps charged across the square. A woman pounded the closed main doors. “Give me back my husband!”

I tottered and pressed my feet to the cobbles.

“Join your victims, you man-eater!” yelled a man, wielding a sword.

A rotund man, his beard and hair wiry and disheveled, bellowed, “Send Tinville to hell! Let him wallow in the blood he has shed!”

I fell back. They were screaming revenge against my father. I bent over, nauseated and dizzy. Clutching the building, I forced myself to stand straight.

A guard came out of the entryway and yelled, “He’s at la Conciergerie!”

The crowd of red-capped sans-culottes turned and flowed like a stream of blood across the square and over the bridge toward the prison. I could get Papa out, like LaGarde. I just needed men’s clothing, a place to hide, and a plan.

I forced myself to breathe calmly, descend the steps, and intermingle with the crowd, while trying to remember the tunnel entrance nearest the prison. The flower seller stood at the edge of the market. I headed straight for her and hoped I could make it without anyone recognizing me.

A powerful hand grabbed my arm, pulled me to the bulk of a man, his warmth penetrating my sleeve. I opened my mouth, but his other hand covered it. The square spun around me.

Buy Links:

*Her Own Legacy will be only 0.99 in the UK, CA and AU stores from March 5th – 15th, 2024!*

Universal Buy Links:  

Her Own Legacy: https://books2read.com/u/bWYod1

Her Own Revolution: https://books2read.com/u/m0aJVl

Series Buy Links:

US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B9KN1536

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B9KN1536

Author Bio:

Debra’s the author of the Château de Verzat series that follows headstrong and independent women and the four-hundred loyal families who protect a Loire Valley château and vineyard, and its legacy of producing the finest wines in France during the French Revolution. Her Own Legacy published 2022, Her Own Revolution published 2023, and Her Own War will be published in 2024. A passionate cook, she also wrote a companion cookbook to the series: Soups of Château de Verzat, A Culinary Tribute to the French Revolution, 2023.

A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she weaves her knowledge of textiles and clothing design throughout her historical fiction. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and standard poodle, named after a fine French Champagne.

Author Links:

Website: https://debraborchert.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/debraborchert

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-borchert-10b8305/

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/debraborchert/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-borchert

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Debra-Borchert/author/B00CSW9MH0

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7787729.Debra_Borchert

BOOK TOUR: The Trail to Crooked Creek by MK McClintock

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The Trail to Crooked Creek

by MK McClintock

Publication Date: February 20th, 2024

Publisher: Trappers Peak Publishing

Page Length: Novella

Genre: Historical Western Romance

Everyday heroes who find the courage to believe in extraordinary love.

Two years after the devastations of war left their mark on a country torn apart, Wesley Davenport, a former soldier haunted by his experiences on the battlefield crosses paths with Leah Tennyson, a teacher who helps him heal his emotional wounds—and discovers unexpected love in the most unlikely place.

The Trail to Crooked Creek, a novella, is a tale of resilience, compassion, and the triumph of the human spirit set in the breathtaking and sometimes unforgiving landscape of post-Civil War Montana Territory.

*****

About the Crooked Creek Series:

“MK McClintock knows what readers want.” ~ Readers’ Favorite

Set in post-Civil War Montana Territory, in the small town of Crooked Creek, it all started with Emma. Her story was written for a contest, but I soon realized there were more women whose tales needed to be written. The war is over between the North and the South, but the battles at home are just beginning. If you love stories of bravery and courage with unforgettable women and the men they love, you’ll enjoy the Crooked Creek series. 


Also Available:

  • The Women of Crooked Creek
  • Christmas in Crooked Creek

Buy Links:

This title is available to read in #KindleUnlimited, and also in paperback and large print.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bM2N08

Author Bio:

MK McClintock is an award-winning author who writes historical romantic fiction about chivalrous men and strong women who appreciate chivalry. Her stories of romance, mystery, and adventure sweep across the American West to the Victorian British Isles with places and times between and beyond. 

Her works include the following series: Montana Gallaghers, Crooked Creek, British Agents, Whitcomb Springs, and the stand-alone collection, A Home for Christmas. She is also the co-author of the McKenzie Sisters Mysteries.

MK enjoys a quiet life in the northern Rocky Mountains. Visit her at www.mkmcclintock.com, where you can learn more about her books, explore extras, view her blog, and subscribe to receive news. 

Author Links:

Website: https://www.mkmcclintock.com

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

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mkmcclintock

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mk-mcclintock

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/MK-McClintock/e/B006UV5PPI

BOOK BLITZ: Ella’s War by Rusy Allen

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Historical Fiction

 

 

It’s 1943 on the American home front, and Ella’s pent-up, common-law
husband finally decides to leave their farm and enlist. Ella must either
depart their seafaring town in coastal Delaware to pursue other dreams
inland or try to save their farm. Their grade-school son, Reese, won’t
budge, and Ella sees that farmers have a patriotic duty to stay on the
land.

The bay and ocean waters before them have been preyed upon by German
U-boats, and their village has become a refuge for survivors. When an
officer from a surrendered German submarine is sent to her as part of POW
farm labor, can Ella embrace the help in order to survive? And what happens
when Dieter becomes more than a hand to her, amidst prying eyes and under
her beloved but conflicted son’s watch? How will she choose when her
explosive husband returns from Europe wounded from infantry duty against the
Germans?

In ELLA’S WAR, we travel a journey amongst women and men whose lives are
deeply altered by the circumstances of WWII. What heroic or questionable
choices must they make to be true to themselves and come through the great
conflict?

 About the Author

Rusty studied creative writing at the University of Virginia and has been a
full-time freelance writer for most of his career. He owns The Writers
Studio, a marketing/copywriting practice located just outside of
Philadelphia. He led the Advanced Novel Writing Group at the Writers
Room/Writers Corner, a writers co-op in Doylestown, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, and is a member of the Rebel Writers, a highly select novelist
critique group that was highlighted in Writer’s Digest in the article
“Plotting a Novel Group”.

Contact Links

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

Kobo


BOOK BLITZ: The Buffalo Butcher by Robert Brighton #Historical

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The Buffalo Butcher: Jack the Ripper in the Electric City
Robert Brighton
Publication date: October 8th 2023
Genres: Adult, Historical

Has Jack the Ripper returned?

Summer 1901, and the great Pan-American Exposition welcomes the world to Buffalo, New York—Queen of the Lakes . . . the Electric City. Eight million visitors throng the bustling boomtown—all of them looking for a good time.

While the Pan-American blazes bright, in its shadow lies a zone of darker pleasures: the Tenderloin District, a rabbit’s warren of saloons, brothels, and ask-no-questions hotels. In this sprawling vice quarter, fully as large as the Exposition itself, fairgoers can indulge their less innocent appetites.

As heat and swarming crowds choke the city, the bodies of prostitutes begin turning up, slashed and mutilated by a pitiless hand—their flesh carved with strange symbols. Their gruesome murders are a final indignity worked on once-hopeful young women.

Some say the killings are the work of the Devil himself. Others hint that the Whitechapel Murderer, Jack the Ripper, has crossed the Atlantic to resume his bloody career. Yet the city’s power brokers—afraid of any publicity that would harm the Exposition—turn a blind eye to the victims.

As the bloody summer wears on, only one thing is clear: it’ll be up to the working girls themselves to stop the carnage. And in The Buffalo Butcher, five of them will stand together to confront the killer . . . and to reclaim their humanity.

An important new novel by Robert Brighton, acclaimed author of the Avenging Angel Detective Agency™ Mysteries.

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A NOTE TO THE READER:

From The Author…

Those of you who have read some, or all, of my Avenging Angel Detective Agency Mysteries will find this book both a departure and a return.

As a departure, the Avenging Angel Detective Agency doesn’t figure in this book. But as a return, we travel back to 1901, and again (as we did all too briefly in The Unsealing) make a visit to Buffalo’s historical high point—the Pan-American Exposition.

Since The Buffalo Butcher is an off-series book—distinct from the Avenging Angel Detective Agency™ Mysteries—so you’ll find in it all new characters and the horrifying notion that in 1901, thirteen years after concluding his bloody career in London—Jack the Ripper comes to the Pan-American Exposition and begins killing prostitutes. But there’s a lot more to the story.

Eight million people—about one in nine Americans—came to Buffalo, New York, to see the “Pan.” The cynics thought it was nothing more than yet another bloated world’s fair. But most found the Electric City to be an expression of all that was good and hopeful: the unity of North and South American nations, the triumph of Man over Nature, and the advent of the modern scientific and engineering marvels that would herald a new century of peace and prosperity.

We can debate which camp won out, but one thing is certain. The assassination of President William McKinley in the Pan-American’s Temple of Music drew a curtain forever over the promise of the Pan— and left Buffalo with a bitter legacy that is remembered even today.

The Buffalo Butcher also takes us into a darker side of bright, up-and-coming Buffalo, then the nation’s fastest-growing city. We visit the back alleys of the Tenderloin District, a large red-light zone in the heart of downtown, where most anything was tolerated by city officials and police, so long as it stayed put. Hundreds of brothels and low-end dives huddled together in the Tenderloin and existed—for the most part—on the exploitation of young women who often had no other good option.

It’s an unflinching and sometimes hard-to-bear story of the real evil that walks among us, the warped and wicked who prey on the vulnerable, and how they work their black magic. I could not turn away from that part: If you’re looking for a ‘cozy mystery’, this ain’t it—I had to tell the story in a way that would do honor to the victims, and without any sympathy for the devil.

Yet, I think, Butcher it is also a story of friendship and love, decency and honor, and perhaps most of all courage, among a group of outcast women confronting loneliness, condemnation, shame, and loss. The masks come off in The Buffalo Butcher, and while as always I hope you’ll find it a good read, I hope too that you’ll find the story as touching as I did—even if a little spooky.


Author Bio:

Award-winning author Robert Brighton is an authority on the Gilded Age, and a great believer that the Victorian era was anything but stuffy. In his Avenging Angel Detective Agency Mysteries, Brighton exposes the turbulence of the era – its passions, dreams, and disasters – against a backdrop of careful research on the places, sights, sounds, and smells of the time.

When he is not walking the streets in the footsteps of the Avenging Angels, sniffing out unsolved mysteries, Brighton is an adventurer. He has traveled in more than 50 countries around the world, personally throwing himself into every situation his characters will face – from underground ruins to opium dens – and (so far) living to tell about it.

A graduate of the Sorbonne, Paris, Brighton is an avid student of early 20th Century history and literature, an ardent and relentless investigator, and an admirer of Emily Dickinson and Jim Morrison. He lives in Virginia with his wife and their two cats.

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