Review ~ Under His Protection by Stacy Von Haegert

White Rose Trilogy #1
Pubshelf
2013

Hot-headed and handsome young men, dastardly villains and a beautiful and tempestuous heroine, all combine to make this an enjoyable romp through the glitterati of Victorian England. Not to be taken too seriously, the story tells of the turbulent attraction between the enigmatic Duke of Ravenswood and the passionate Greyland Kingston, a woman whose very beauty sets Victorian society blazing. However, the Kingston family, newly returned to England, are the keepers of a long buried secret, which if discovered, could compromise the stability of the English royal family.

What then follows is an enjoyable romantic adventure with a likeable heroine and a sexy swashbuckling hero who fights almost to the very death to protect the woman he loves and admires. Overall, I found much to enjoy in the story, although at times I did have to suspend belief at the historical interpretation and I was disappointed that the final edit of the book did not correct the glaringly obvious spelling mistakes, which I’m afraid became a real irritation.

However, I am sure that if you enjoy romantic historical fiction and are not too troubled by historical inconsistencies and you can overlook spelling mistakes then you are going to find much to enjoy within the story. Its characters are lively and engaging and the added frisson of sexual tension which threads through the story is nicely written without being overly salacious.

As this is the start of a proposed trilogy, my hope is that as the series progresses, the story will go from strength to strength.

My thanks to pubshelf.com for my ecopy of this book to read and review.

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Review ~ Once Upon a Timepiece by Starr Wood

Bo Tree Books

January 2014

The twelve short stories which appear in Once upon a Timepiece each represent a month of the year, which on the surface should have absolutely nothing in common, and yet as you approach the month of February, you realise that there is indeed a very clever link, and the connection is a rather expensive 1946 Breitling Chronomat wristwatch.

Using the wristwatch as its focus, each of the stories demonstrates both the very best and the very worst of society; there’s greed, corruption, lust and deceit, and even as the worst sins of society are illustrated, you start to realise that when faced with a moral dilemma, each of us, almost without thinking, reverts to a lowest common denominator, namely self-preservation.

Beautifully crafted and with great skill the author manipulates each of the stories with a subtle hand, and although it may take you a little while to put together the connection, when the ‘penny dropping’ moment arrives, there is no mistaking the bond which links the story to its predecessor.

I'm really excited about this book. I am sure that it is one of those that will succeed by word of mouth , as once the book is finished there is an overwhelming need to pass the book onto someone else, so that the continuity of time passing remains a link to be cherished.

Highly Recommended.

About the author

Starr Wood is a British journalist, writer and economist. He was born in England in 1970, but grew up in Nigeria, Ras Al Khaimah, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan. In 1992, Starr graduated from the London School of Economics and began his career as a journalist working for a variety of news media in London and the Middle East. Since 1999, he has worked at The Economist Group, first in London, and then in Asia. Today, he lives in Singapore with his wife and three children. 

Once Upon a Timepiece is his debut novel.

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My author in the spotlight is .....Wendy Percival

Please welcome

Wendy Percival

Author 

of

Blood-Tied 

Silverwood Books
October 2013

A hidden crime, kept secret for 60 years... but time has a way of exposing the truth…

*~ Wendy ~ welcome to Jaffareadstoo ~*

Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for Blood-Tied?

It started with an old photograph, set as a Photo Short Story competition in Writing Magazine. It was of a family group (Edwardian, I think) standing on a railway station. I didn’t enter the competition, eventually, but I did draft out an idea for a story. When I started researching my family history, I recalled the story line and the two things fused together and became the starting point of the plot.

What can you tell us about the story that won't give too much away?

It’s about Esme Quentin, a former journalist’s assistant, who has returned to Shropshire to embark upon a new career as a genealogist and history researcher. Her sister’s apparent unprovoked attack proves to be the catalyst for Esme coming to terms with her own tragic past, as well as resolving the awkward relationship she’s always had with her sister.

Why do you choose to write in your particular genre?

I’ve always enjoyed mysteries, which I attribute to having The Secret Garden read to me as a child! I love being intrigued and surprised in stories, particularly ones where there’s a secret to unravel along the way. And they do say write what you enjoy reading!

Have you always wanted to be a writer?        

I’ve always enjoyed writing, even before I’d ever thought about ‘being a writer’. As a child, I was always dressing up and acting out elaborate stories, and I used to write great long letters to pen friends. It wasn’t until I saw a copy of Writing Magazine in WH Smith’s about 15 years ago that I wondered about writing more seriously. Even then I nearly didn’t buy it, thinking perhaps I was being a bit flaky! But eventually I went back to the rack, grabbed the magazine and marched to the check-out before I changed my mind. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Which writers have inspired you?

I used to read Catherine Cookson avidly. She tells a story so seamlessly. I was introduced to Daphne du Maurier by my mum so I’ve always had a soft spot for her books, particularly with their links to Cornwall, where I’ve been many times on holiday. Elizabeth George’s earlier Lynley novels are favourites. I’ve always enjoyed Dick Francis’s books, although I’m not at all interested in horse riding, which says a lot about his ability to capture his reader! Susan Howatch’s novels, especially her Starbridge series, are brilliant. In recent years I’ve read a lot of Peter Robinson, PD James, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin and CJ Sansom, amongst others. But one of my absolute favourites, and probably the writer who I find the most inspirational, is “master of the double twist”, Robert Goddard.

Have you any other novels planned, and if so, can you give us a taster of what is to come?

So many people told me how much they liked Esme Quentin that, after much deliberation as to whether to go down the ‘series character’ route, I decided to write another Esme novel. Again inspired by genealogy and influences from the past, it’s set on the north Devon coast, near where I live. Esme finds a dying woman at the foot of a cliff and gets caught up with the mystery of a 19^th century convict, transported to Australia in 1837. I'm currently working hard to get the final draft finished!

 More about Wendy can be found here:

 http://www.wendypercival.co.uk

http://engagewritebrain.blogspot.com
http://familyhistorysecrets.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/wendypercivalauthor

Wendy is very generously giving a printed copy of Blood -Tied to one lucky UK winner of this giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Thank you so much Wendy for spending time with us.
Jaffa and I look forward to reading more stories about Esme.

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My thoughts on Blood-Tied.

Esme Quentin is worried when her sister Elizabeth is attacked in a London park. Thinking that this is a random attack by a stranger, Esme is unprepared when the police reveal that Elizabeth’s attack may not be as random as first thought. With Elizabeth gravely ill in hospital, it falls to Esme and Elizabeth’s daughter, Gemma, to delve a little deeper into Elizabeth’s personal affairs. What they discover are long buried family secrets which span over sixty years, and which open up to scrutiny all that Esme and Gemma once believed to be true.

What then follows is a finely crafted family mystery which abounds with both trickery and deception. The author has a real skill with words, and with fine attention to detail has produced a very convincing crime story. There are more than enough twists, turns and unexpected red herrings in the story to keep you guessing until the very end. I rather liked Esme, she is a determined and feisty protagonist who uses her skill as a researcher to delve into the past; however, it is her tenacity and generosity of spirit which gives the books its heart and soul and which leads eventually to the conclusion of the family mystery.

Blood-Tied works well as a standalone story, it is well presented and professionally produced to a high standard. However, I can see great potential for future character developments as Esme deserves to put her sleuthing skills to good use in future follow-ups.

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Review ~ Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll

Faber and Faber

October 2013

Frost Hollow Hall stands in a frosty hollow surrounded by shadows and mystery. The murky depth of its lake holds a secret that no one has been able to discover, and yet when young Tilly Higgins is tempted to skate on the frozen lake, only an unseen spiritual presence saves her from a near death experience.

What then follows is a remarkably accomplished ghostly read which uses the atmospheric Frost Hollow Hall and its assorted clutch of characters and weaves together a story of unnatural grief and heartbreaking maternal anguish.

From the very start of the book I was enchanted with Tilly, she is a feisty and worthy protagonist and yet the supporting characters of Will, the butcher’s son, and the Mrs. Jessop, the Hall’s unfathomable housekeeper adds a delicious richness to the story. Life below stairs in Frost Hollow Hall really comes to life and the narrative is filled with just the right amount of Gothic gloom so that it never becomes clichéd. The poltergeist activity of flying crockery and ghostly visitations really do make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. The lightness of the narrative and the control of both plot and malice made this book an absolute joy to read.

Aimed primarily at the young adult market, this is beautifully written historical fiction and is undoubtedly one of those excellent crossover books which will appeal just as well to adults.

More about Emma Carroll can be found on her website.

My thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for my advance reading copy of this book

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Guest Review ~ The Art of Leaving by Anna Stothard

Jaffa and I were delighted to be invited to review this lovely story for 

Lindsay over at The Little Reader Library

Find out what we though about it

Here

Thanks to Lindsay and Alma Books for the opportunity to read and review this  novel of 

Anna Stothard

My author in the spotlight is ...Phil Suggitt

I am pleased to welcome to my blog

Phil Suggitt

Author
of

Dreams In Stone

Published May 8th 2013 by Strategic Book Publishing

*~Phil ~ welcome and thank you for discussing your book with us ~*

What inspired you to write Dreams In Stone?

In the days before the net I regularly corresponded with my Aunt Mary, who loved great literature. She wanted me to write a second novel, and sent me a single page idea about an old manor house in a village called Stratwick. It was based on the ruined house in the Derbyshire village of S Wingfield, which she knew well. Sadly my aunt didn't live to read the novel she inspired.

What can you tell us about Dreams in Stone that won’t give too much away?

I guess I can only repeat the page on my website!

Find more here http://sbpra.com/PhilSuggitt

What are your main literary influences?

No conscious influences - probably hundreds of unconscious influences! Probably every writer who could write a good, concise yarn that made me think.  

What scares you about writing books?

Writing is a compulsion, but it takes such a long time when you have other work. I am slow. I recall a character in a novel, an artist who abandons painting because he lacks the skill to reproduce the things he sees in his head. Sometimes I feel the same about writing.

What books do you like to read?

A huge range. I am not prejudiced. There are excellent works in all genres. Comics taught me to read and I still enjoy comics and graphic novels. I enjoy a great deal of literary fiction, History and Fine Art. I won't list names, because there are so many good writers I haven't read yet!

What next?

A novel about some people who use a mock-PolynesianTiki restaurant from the1950s to the present

Phil ~ Thank you so much for joining us today. Jaffa and I wish you continued success with your writing.

 ***

My Thoughts on Dreams In Stone.

Alec De Groot has recently inherited Stratwick Hall, which is a partly decaying Tudor manor house in the heart of the pretty English village of Stratwick. Alec is a bit of a drifter, he lacks ambition and the responsibility of maintaining his inheritance is really beyond his capabilities. His volatile relationship with his girlfriend, Trisha, seems to be more of a hindrance than a help.  Whilst attempting to spend time at the hall, Alec becomes attuned to the atmosphere and when sinister events begin to occur, Alec becomes entangled in the hall’s mysterious background.

What then follows is a nicely descriptive and interesting look at the dual time history of the hall and how it impinges on local society. The inclusion of some interesting characters from the village really makes the narrative come alive and the increasingly menacing aspect of the hall is well integrated into the story. Overall the interpretation of what is happening makes for interesting reading.

I found much to enjoy in Dreams In Stone, the author clearly has a love of writing and this shows in the thoughtful nature of this narrative.

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Sunday War Poets...

Laurence Binyon

1869-1943

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, 

England mourns for her dead across the sea. 

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, 

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal 

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, 

There is music in the midst of desolation 

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, 

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. 

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; 

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; 

They sit no more at familiar tables of home; 

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; 

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound, 

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, 

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known 

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, 

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; 

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, 

To the end, to the end, they remain.

1914

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), was a poet and art critic, born in Lancaster in 1869.  He worked at the British Museum before going to war, having studied at Trinity College, Oxford. Despite being too old to enlist, in 1915, Binyon volunteered at a British hospital for wounded soldiers in Haute-Marne, France, where he worked as an orderly.

His most famous work, For the Fallen is well known for being used in Remembrance Day services.

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