Blog Tour ~ The Raided Heart by Jennifer C. Wilson (Giveaway)

On Hist Fic Saturday 

I am delighted to be part of this Blog Tour

October 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my ecopy of this book
and to Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to be part of the blog tour

Meg Mathers, the headstrong youngest sibling of a reiving family on the English Scottish border, is determined to remain at her childhood home, caring for the land and village she’s grown up with.

When an accident brings her a broken ankle and six weeks in the resentful company of ambitious and angry young reiver Will Hetherington, attraction starts to build. Both begin to realise they might have met their match, and the love of their lives, but 15th century border living is not that simple, as Meg soon finds herself betrothed to the weakling son of a tyrannical neighbour, Alexander Gray. When tragedy strikes, can Meg and Will find their way back to each other, and can Will finally take his own personal revenge on Gray.

What did think about it..

The border lands between England and Scotland were a hot bed of nefarious dealings during the 15th Century, and for Meg Mathers and her family of reiver brothers life was never simple or without treachery.

Meg is the chatelaine of the castle at Long Ridge whilst her brothers attempt to control the peace of the border lands but when Meg injures her ankle her brothers enlist the help of Will Hetherington, a newcomer to the area, who is deemed responsible for Meg’s accident, and as Will assists Meg with her daily life in the castle, so an attraction grows between them. However, Meg’s brothers are caught up in a dangerous web of intrigue with a deadly rival and unfortunately, Meg becomes a pawn in their negotiations. Her association with the despicable Alexander Gray brings nothing but danger and heart break to both Meg and her family.

Throughout the whole of The Raided Heart there is a good sense of history, this really was a dangerous time, and the author does a great job of keeping both the momentum of the action, and the intrigue alive in the imagination. I enjoyed the romantic element to the story and the constant danger that both Meg and Will encounter adds an exciting dynamic to this historical adventure.

The Raided Heart is a well written and exciting historical saga about a dangerous time in history. A time when the border lands between the North of England and Scotland were alive with danger and warring families spent much of their time attempting to keep the peace between neighbours who could  suddenly become deadly enemies on the turn of a sword blade.

About the Author

Jenifer C. Wilson is a marine biologist by training, who developed an equal passion for history and historical fiction whilst stalking Mary, Queen of Scots on childhood holidays (she has since moved on to Richard III). Enrolling on an adult education workshop on her return to the northeast of England for work reignited her pastime of creative writing, and she has been filling notebooks ever since. 

In 2014, Jennifer won the Story Tyne short story competition, and has been working on a number of projects since, including cohosting the North Tyneside Writers’ Circle. Her Kindred Spirits novels are published by Crooked Cat Books and her timeslip novella, The Last Plantagenet?, by Ocelot Press. She lives in North Tyneside, and is very proud of her approximately 2 inch sea view.

Giveaway to win x 2 ecopies of The Last Plantagenet? (Open internationally)

*Terms and Conditions – Worldwide entries welcome.Please enter using the Rafflecopter boxbelow.The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Website

Twitter @inkjunkie1984

@rararesources

Amazon UK

Publication Day ~ The Crown Agent by Stephen O'Rourke

✨✨ Happy Publication Day ✨✨

Sandstone Press
7 November 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

A ship adrift, all hands dead. A lighthouse keeper murdered in the night. The Crown needs man to find the truth. Doctor Mungo Lyon, his reputation tarnished by the Burke & Hare scandal, and forbidden to practise as a surgeon, is the wrong man.

That’s exactly why the Crown chose him.

What did I think about it...

Having been caught up in the Burke and Hare scandal, Surgeon Mungo Lyon's reputation has been ruined, so when he is offered the opportunity to leave Edinburgh to undertake a clandestine political investigation of behalf of the British Crown he takes this unusual chance to redeem himself. However, this change in his circumstances is not without uncertainty, and Mungo soon discovers, to his cost, that the danger he finds himself in, as he uncovers a deadly secret, is even more devastating than being caught up in the Burke and Hare scandal.

The story flows well with enough excitement to keep you turning the pages and takes us from the dark and gloomy streets of nineteenth century Scotland, to the danger of a perilous sea voyage to the Caribbean, and throughout it all Mungo, and his rather surprising sidekick, get caught up in all sorts of political shenanigans.

The Crown Agent is a rollicking good historical adventure with more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, and even as Mungo gets caught further and further into a tight corner so the drama pulls ever tighter. This could easily be a series as the ending certainly lends itself to that possibility and it would be great fun to see Mungo, and his sidekick, return in further historical adventures.

About the Author

Stephen O’Rourke is an advocate and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Arbitrators. He formerly wrote a regular column for The Scotsman and has written for The Guardian, Caledonian Mercury and Think Scotland websites. In 2012 he won a short story competition run by The Daily Telegraph, which proved to be the basis for The Crown Agent.

Twitter @sorourke_

@sandstonepress

Blog Tour ~ The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furnivall

✴✴ Delighted to host today's stop on this exciting Blog Tour ✴✴

On Hist Fic Saturday 


Let's go back to ....1953

Simon&Schuster
31 October 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

1953, the South of France. The fragile peace between the West and Soviet Russia hangs on a knife edge. And one family has been torn apart by secrets and conflicting allegiances. 

Eloïse Caussade is a courageous young Frenchwoman, raised on a bull farm near Arles in the Camargue. She idolises her older brother, André, and when he leaves to become an Intelligence Officer working for the CIA in Paris to help protect France, she soon follows him. Having exchanged the strict confines of her father's farm for a life of freedom in Paris, her world comes alive. But everything changes when André is injured - a direct result of Eloise's actions. Unable to work, André returns to his father’s farm, but Eloïse’s sense of guilt and responsibility for his injuries sets her on the trail of the person who attempted to kill him. Eloïse finds her hometown in a state of unrest and conflict. Those who are angry at the construction of the American airbase nearby, with its lethal nuclear armaments, confront those who support it, and anger flares into violence, stirred up by Soviet agents. Throughout all this unrest, Eloïse is still relentlessly hunting down the man who betrayed her brother and his country, and she is learning to look at those she loves and at herself with different eyes. She no longer knows who she can trust. Who is working for Soviet Intelligence and who is not? And what side do her own family lie on?

What did I think about it..

The Guardian of Lies opens in 1953, and is a dramatic look at the events in Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War, when peace was a fragile commodity and the threads of the Cold War between Russia and the world were beginning to pull ever tighter. Eloïse Caussade and her brother, André, have a close relationship however, when Eloïse inadvertently gets caught up in the dangerous game her brother is playing as an intelligence officer in post-war France, it opens up a whole series of dramatic events. Eloïse is a strong and determined young woman who sets out to discover the secrets her family are keeping from her, even though it puts those she cares for in extreme danger.

Eloïse and her family have been guardians of this land in southern France for generations, farming the Camargue landscape along the banks of the River Rhône, but when an American airbase is placed adjacent to their land it causes great unrest in the nearby town of Arles, putting Eloïse, and her family, in grave peril.

The story gets off to an exciting start and this drama continues with a set of characters and events which bring the whole story to life in a remarkably authentic way. The author writes this type of strong historical fiction very well, and with The Guardian of Lies she has given us another beautifully researched story about a troubled time in our collective history. The mystery at the heart of the novel is filled with just the right amount of tension which allows the story to evolve gradually, and as those who are caught up in this deadly game of espionage get drawn deeper and deeper, so the pressure builds towards a dramatic conclusion.

The Guardian of Lies is published by Simon&Schuster in Ebook and Paperback and is out now.

About the Author

© Kate Wright

Kate Furnivall was raised in Wales, went to university in London, and worked in advertising before becoming a bestselling writer. Her first historical novel, The Russian Concubine, was inspired by her grandmother’s real-life story – she fled the Russian Revolution and became a refugee. Kate has written ten novels since, including The Betrayal, and has been shortlisted for the RNA Historical Novel of the Year Award. She now lives in Devon with her husband. Her books are translated into over 20 languages and have been on the Sunday Times and New York Times Top Ten Bestseller lists.

Twitter @KateFurnivall #TheGuardianOfLies

@simonschusteruk

@ed_pr

Amazon UK

Hist Fic Saturday ~ Death Makes No Distinction by Lucienne Boyce

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ...18th Century, London 

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

Two women at opposite ends of the social scale, both brutally murdered. Principal Officer Dan Foster of the Bow Street Runners is surprised when his old rival John Townsend requests his help to investigate the murder of Louise Parmeter, a beautiful writer who once shared the bed of the Prince of Wales. Frustrated by the chief magistrate’s demand that he drop the investigation into the death of the unknown beggar woman, found savagely raped and beaten and left to die in the outhouse of a Holborn tavern, Dan is determined to get to the bottom of both murders. But as his enquiries take him into both the richest and the foulest places in London, Townsend’s real reason for requesting his help gradually becomes clear.

What did I think about it..

Returning to dark and dangerous world of Georgian England in the company of Dan Foster is always a real treat and in Death Makes No Distinction, Foster is once again caught up in an investigation which is as difficult as it is complex. Caught up in the events surrounding two very different murders, one at the lower end of the social spectrum and the other at the very highest, Foster finds that he is moving in some very strange circumstances, particularly when one of the murder investigations brings him into the presence of the Prince of Wales.

The two murder mysteries at the heart of the novel are tight and intricately plotted and the story surrounding the death of socialite, Louise Parmeter is particularly compelling.The author writes with real historical authenticity and brings all the sights, sounds and atmosphere of Georgian London to life. The dark and moody streets, with their foul smelling alleyways and dark and creepy corners come vibrantly to life, and following Dan Foster as he goes about his role as one of the Bow Street Runners, attempting to keep law and order on the streets of London, always makes for an exciting historical adventure.

This is now the third full length novel in the Dan Foster Mystery series and there is much to enjoy in returning to this exciting world of Georgian crime. This time around Foster finds himself, as always, at the very centre of the action however, when the investigation threatens his own personal circumstances it is a race against time to solve the case before his own family get hurt in the process. 

Beautifully written and intricately plotted Death Makes No Distinction continues this exciting historical series with another compelling murder mystery. I can't wait to see where the series takes us to next.

About the author 

Lucienne Boyce is an award-winning historical novelist, women’s suffrage historian and biographer. The first Dan Foster novel Bloodie Bones, was joint winner of the Historical Novel Society Indie Award 2016, and was a semi-finalist for the M M Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction 2016. The second Dan Foster Mystery, The Butcher’s Block, was published in 2017 and was awarded an IndieBrag Medallion in 2018.

Website

Twitter @LucienneWrite

@SilverwoodBooks

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Blog Tour ~ The Traitor of Treasure Island by John Drake

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of this Treasure Island Blog Tour

Endeavour Quill
19 August 2019

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book
and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

Buried for over 300 years and now brought triumphantly to light by Dr Livesey, this is, at last, the true story of what happened on the fateful Treasure Island… 

The truth about Captain Flint and his fabled death. 

The truth about Long John Silver and his coveted wife. 

And the truth about Jim Hawkins, that double-dealing turncoat of the first order: The traitor of Treasure Island.

What did I think about it..

It is of consequence to note that a classic story such as Treasure Island will invariably create such obvious interest that writers are tempted to write their own version of the story, offering enticing morsels of what could have happened on that fateful voyage that we know so well from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of intrigue and adventure.

In The Traitor of Treasure Island we are privy to the recently discovered papers of Doctor David Livesey, who, we recall, is the ship’s doctor, and we are given an intimate account of the events which caused him, along with others to board the Hispaniola, along with Captain Smollett and his nefarious crew, all of them in search for treasure. A dark and dangerous story emerges which is filled with the memories of pirates and buccaneers, of ill-fated treasure and the threat of long smouldering hostilities.

The author brings to life, with vibrant curiosity, the creeping menace and the inherent violence and delivers everything with such a chilling sense of danger that even those who have knowledge of the original will find so much more to enjoy in this clever re-imagining. It’s also really exciting to have the old crew together and I have to say, that the characters leap fully formed from the page and there is such a glorious sensation that we meeting up again with old adversaries. The authentic sense of history captures the imagination from the beginning so that the over-riding mystery at the heart of the novel starts to come alive in the imagination.

I think that the author has done a really good job of bringing everything together in this swashbuckling adventure. I have enjoyed spending time with the crew of the Hispaniola and learning the truth about what happened on Treasure Island.

About the Author

John Drake trained as a biochemist to post-doctorate research level before realizing he was no good at science. His working career was in the television department of ICI until 1999 when he became a full-time writer. John's hobby is muzzle-loading shooting, and his interests are British history and British politics (as a spectator), plus newspapers, TV news, and current affairs. He is married with a son and two grandchildren.

Twitter @JohnDrakeAuthor #TTOTI

@EndeavourQuill 

 The Traitor of Treasure Island is currently available to pre-order at the reduced price of £1:99

Published 19 August 2019

Hist Fic Saturday ~ The Bastille Spy by C S Quinn

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to Paris, 1789 ....on the eve of Revolution

Corvus
1 August 2019

Revolution Spy #1

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book

England's best spy. France's deadliest prison.

Paris, 1789. English spy Attica Morgan's success freeing kidnapped Britons has earned her acclaim with an underground network. But it has also led to attention of dangerously powerful men. So when she's given a new assignment in Paris, a city with revolution in the air, her instinct is to run.

Because in Paris, nothing is what it seems. Skirmishes in the city are rife and English visitors are viewed with suspicion. Attica is charged with investigating the murder of a rebel in the morgue of the Bastille, that notorious prison of no return. A murder her backers are convinced is part of a much more treacherous plot.

With France is on the cusp of a bloody revolution, Attica soon realizes her mission is a great deal deadlier than she bargained for. A mythic treasure has vanished, a strange man named Robespierre wants her dead, and on the city streets, all hell is about to break loose...

What did I think about it..

In this well written and exciting historical novel, we go back in time to eighteenth century Paris when the city was on the cusp of revolution. Emotions run high and anyone with any connection to the aristocracy is viewed with a growing sense of outrage and suspicion.

Attica Morgan is a female spy working for the English, and what makes her so unusual is her clandestine involvement in a male dominated secret society known only as the Sealed Knot. Attica's femininity really sets her apart, and yet, her strong and decisive personality, and her ability to get right into the action, makes her more than a match for any man, and takes her into some very dangerous territory. 

From the notorious Bastille, to unwanted meetings with Maximilien Robespierre, there is plenty of intrigue and more than a little danger, as Attica and her associate race against time in order to  keep one step ahead of those who wish them harm. Attica is most certainly a woman to be reckoned with, she wields a knife with alarming accuracy, and her ability to mingle with the great, and the not so great of revolutionary Paris certainly shows her to be a courageous and intrepid heroine. There's also whole cast of supporting characters who add their own lively enthusiasm to what is, after all, a rollicking good historical adventure.

The Bastille Spy gets the series of to a really good start and I look forward to seeing just where the stories take us in the next Revolution Spy historical adventure.

About the Author

C.S. Quinn is a travel and lifestyle journalist for The Times, The Guardian and The Mirror, alongside many magazines. Prior to this, Quinn's background in historic research won prestigious postgraduate funding from the British Art Council. Quinn pooled these resources, combining historical research with first-hand experiences in far-flung places, to create her bestselling The Thief Taker' series.The Bastille Spy is the first in a new series featuring Attica Morgan.

Twitter @CathWritesStuff #TheBastilleSpy

@CorvusBooks

Review ~ Sven and the Purse of Silver by Michael E. Wills

Silverwood Books
May 2019

Illustrated by Viviene Shepphard

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

Sven’s father is a prisoner in a faraway country. There is a way to get him free and Sven knows how to do it, but he will need help. An offer of assistance comes from a very unexpected and frightening source. Will Sven be brave enough to accept it?

What did I think about it..

Our introduction to nine year old Sven, who lived a thousand years ago in a place called Sweden,  starts this adventurous story which is aimed at younger readers.

Sven watched his father set sail to the Land of the Rus with his words echoing that he would return to Sven.. "when the birds fly south before the winter.. I will be coming home with silver and presents for your mother and you.." But although he watched and waited, Sven's father did not return as promised, and therein starts Sven's intrepid adventure to rescue his father from the Land of the Rus.

The story is aimed at younger readers and is simply told but with enough adventure to hold the imagination and there are some quite beautiful illustrations which really help to bring the narrative alive. I can well imagine that young readers will thoroughly enjoy Sven's adventures because he is quite an intrepid character. His quest to find his father is filled with a sense of danger and a lovely magical element which reminded me of an adventuresome fairy story.

Coming in at 35 pages, Sven and the Purse of Silver is just the right length of story for a comfortable bedtime read and I am sure that confident young readers will find much to enjoy when Sven's adventure gets underway. Equally, it's also the right sort of length to be comfortably read over a couple of evenings as a bedtime story and I would imagine that the grown up will enjoy it too, I know I did !

Sven and the Purse of Silver is out now and published by Silverwood Books

About the Author

Michael Wills was born in Newport on the Isle of Wight and attended the Priory Boys School and Carisbrooke Grammar. He trained as a teacher at St Peter’s College, Birmingham, before working at a secondary school in Kent.

Website

Twitter @MWillsofSarum

@SilverWoodBooks


Purchase Link

Review ~ Children of the Chieftain: Bound for Home by Michael E. Wills

Silverwood Books
March 2019

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

After three years in the service of the emperor of the Greeks, Ahl and his Viking friends have become very rich. Now the crew longs to return home with their wealth, their problem is that the emperor will not permit them to leave. They make a daring plan to escape. The route home is perilous as they navigate uncharted seas. They must overcome robbers, storms and hostile strangers as they seek their way back to the Northlands with the riches which they have earned.

My thoughts..

In Bound for Home we meet up with our intrepid adventurers some three years into their sojourn with the emperor of the Greeks. During their time away they have accumulated riches which now allows them the opportunity to return home to the Northlands, and so after meticulous planning they make their escape. However, the sea journey in their ship the Eagle is filled with danger and Ahl and his friends must use their considerable wits to survive in dangerous and uncharted seas.

Right from the start, Bound For Home reads like a splendid adventure and I think in this closing story there is also a real sense of accomplishment as their time in exile shows that the characters have grown from boys to young men who have seen and experienced far more than they could ever have imagined. 

On their hazardous return journey to the north the close camaraderie they share is tested to the limit when they take on new passengers and come into contact with the Norwegian Jarl Tryggvason who is a cold and calculating warrior. I especially liked the references to Aenglandi as the crew sail along the great tidal river to meet with King Ethelred in the place known as London.

Bound for Home is imaginatively told to appeal to young readers and there is never a moment when the action doesn't deliver a real sense of exploration and intrigue. I've now been following this story from its beginning in 2015, and to see how the both the story and the characters have evolved over the course of this grand historical adventure has been a real pleasure to observe.

   

About the Author

Michael Wills was born in Newport on the Isle of Wight and attended the Priory Boys School and Carisbrooke Grammar. He trained as a teacher at St Peter’s College, Birmingham, before working at a secondary school in Kent.

Website

Twitter @MWillsofSarum

@SilverWoodBooks


Purchase Link

Review ~ The Bladesmith by Melinda Hammond

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ...Northumberland, 1745

12 February 2019

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of this book

A tale of high adventure in the turbulent days of the Jacobite Rebellion

1745: John Steel takes a consignment of swords to Warenford Keep on the wild Northumberland coast. He suspects that the swords are destined for the rebel army of Charles Edward Stuart, but matters are complicated by his growing attraction to Katherine Ellingham, daughter of a known Jacobite and betrothed to the powerful Lord Warenford.

With Carlisle in the hands of the Jacobites, and government troops patrolling Northumberland, John makes a desperate bid to retrieve the swords from the Keep before his family is implicated in the uprising, but can he succeed, and protect Katherine and her family at the same time?

My thoughts..

This lovely romantic adventure takes us back 1745 and to the uncertain days of the Jacobite uprising. John Steel comes from a long line of sword makers who is given the task of taking a consignment of his family's swords to Lord Wallingford, a powerful adversary who lives in a strong fortress on the rugged Northumberland coast. To be caught supplying weapons to the enemy is a dangerous activity and John finds to his cost that the price of his association with Lord Wallingford will change his life forever.

There's a nice mixture of both romance and historical adventure in The Bladesmith , as not only does John get embroiled in some dangerous political events, but also his growing attraction to the beautiful Katherine Ellingham makes for interesting reading. The attraction between them is powerful and, despite their differences, the challenge for them to be together, whilst all-consuming, proves to be filled with danger.

I think that the author captures this uncertain period in history really well, the wild and rugged nature of the Northumberland coast is described beautifully, and it all becomes so atmospheric that I felt as if I walked the area alongside John, his manservant Matthew, and of course, the beautiful Katherine. The attention to detail comes across in the way that the political uncertainty is shown to impact on those characters who rely on Lord Wallingford for their existence and who are living nervously in such uncertain times.

Primarily a love story, The Bladesmith, combines history, adventure and romance to really good effect and, I'm delighted to say, is this author writing at her absolute best. I loved it 😊

Read an interview with Melinda  where she explains the background to The Bladesmith

by clicking here

Melinda on the battlements 

Website

Goodreads

Twitter @SarahMRomance

Amazon UK

Hist Fic Saturday ~ Blood's Revolution by Angus Donald

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ...1685

Zaffre
2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Following a long sojourn in France, Holcroft Blood has returned to England and is now a Lieutenant in His Majesty's Ordnance. With civil unrest looming everywhere, Blood is soon busy defending the realm against those who wish to see King James II deposed. Against a backdrop of religious, and political, strife, Blood finds that his return to England is fraught with danger, not just because his role in the Ordnance sees him in the thick of military action, particularly at the Battle of Sedgemoor, but there is also a shadowy figure from his past that seems hell bent on causing Blood's destruction. 

It's been really interesting to discover just how Blood has progressed in the fifteen years since we last knew him. No long working as a spy, Blood is very much his own man and whilst his work in the Ordnance is dangerous, there is always something which fires Blood's imagination and, as before, he is not one to take orders easily. This independent spirit will see him in grave danger as he tries to keep one step ahead of those who wish to do him harm. However, Blood is a worthy hero, superbly flawed, of course, but with a real sense of honour and a genuine desire to do the right thing. It was interesting to discover a little more of Blood’s character particularly in his personal relationships, which are covered in a little more detail in this story. 

The author writes this type of historical adventure very well, and in using historical fact cleverly combined with fiction, the age of treachery comes alive in the imagination. The difficulties of living in such a unpredictable time politically is highlighted, as is the ambiguity and growing dissent which surrounded the reign of this very Catholic King. 

Even though the story ends at the conclusion of the Glorious Revolution in 1689, I feel sure that this is not the end of Blood’s story.  I look forward to seeing where his adventures will take him next.

About the Author

Website

Twitter @angus_donald #BloodsRevolution

@BonnierZaffre

Review ~ The Golden Lynx by C P Lesley

Five Directions Press
2nd edition : July 2018
Legends of Five Directions #1

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of
of this book

What's it all about..

Russia, 1534. Elite clans battle for control of the toddler who will become their first tsar, Ivan the Terrible. Amid the chaos and upheaval, a masked man mysteriously appears night after night to aid the desperate people. 

Or is he a man? 

Sixteen-year-old Nasan Kolychev is trapped in a loveless marriage. To escape her misery, she dons boys' clothes and slips away under cover of night to help those in need. She never intends to do more than assist a few souls and give her life purpose. But before long, Nasan finds herself caught up in events that will decide the future of Russia. 

And so, a girl who has become the greatest hero of her time must decide whether to save a baby destined to become the greatest villain of his time.

My thoughts..

My knowledge of this period in world history has been woefully neglected so I came into The Golden Lynch knowing absolutely nothing about the Tatars and the Russians and where they were at this point in their collective history.

The story has a dramatic opening chapter which introduces us to sixteen year old Nasan Kolychev who witnesses a terrible tragedy which, despite her yearning for adventure, will chart the path of her life forever. Terrible consequences arise from this tragedy and Nasan, caught between two worlds has to try and make sense of what is happening around her, especially in light of her loveless marriage to one of her family's enemies. Making sense of the ever changing world around her is important to Nasan and she is something of a feisty heroine especially when her life, by her own choosing starts to become more adventurous. 

The story has a really authentic feel to it and, despite my lack of knowledge about the history of the time, I was very quickly drawn into the whole adventure and, to the author's credit there is a lot of information, but all is easily readable and not at all over complicated.

The Golden Lynx is the start of  a whole series of historical adventures, which I am sure are all  written with this author's enthusiasm and keen eye for historical accuracy.

    

 

About the Author

C. P. Lesley is the author of eight novels, including Legends of the Five Directions (The Golden Lynx, The Winged Horse, The Swan Princess, The Vermilion Bird, and The Shattered Drum), a historical fiction series set in 1530s Russia, during the difficult childhood of Ivan the Terrible. Find out more about her at http://www.cplesley.com.

You can read an interview with the author by clicking here 

Review ~ The Antique Dealer's Daughter by Lorna Gray

✨ Happy Paperback Publication Day ✨

Harper Impulse
20 September 2018

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for my e-copy of this book

What's it all about...

In the aftermath of war, Emily Sutton struggles to find her place in a world irrevocably changed by conflict. When she refuses to follow tradition and join her father’s antiques business – or get married – her parents send her for an ‘improving’ stay with her spinster cousin in the Cotswolds. But Emily arrives to find her cousin’s cottage empty and a criminal at work in the neighbourhood.

A deadly scandal still haunts this place – the death of John Langton, the rumour of his hoard of wartime spoils, leaving his older brother to bear the disgrace. Now, even as Emily begins to understand each man’s true nature, the bright summer sky is darkened by a new attack. Someone is working hard to ensure that John’s ghost will not be allowed to rest, with terrifying consequences…

Here are my thoughts about it...

In The Antique Dealer's Daughter we are introduced to Emily, who with a mind of her own, doesn't always see eye to eye with her parents. Her father would prefer it if she followed him into the antique business but Emily refuses to conform to tradition. In desperation, her parents send Emily to stay with an unmarried cousin who lives in a cottage in the Cotswolds, but when Emily arrives to an empty cottage, she finds that she is inadvertently involved in a rather dark mystery which is haunted by a scandal from the past

The author writes with great enthusiasm and clearly does her research well as both time and place are nicely described and, within the 1940s setting, there is a real sense of history. As with this author's previous stories, the mystery is complicated and there is much to take in, both in terms of character and plot, but, as always, the strength of the lead female character does much to carry the story forward. The adventure is filled with twists and turns and Emily finds that she needs to keep one step ahead of the game. I found the story a little over descriptive at times. and it takes a while for the story to settle. however, once I got used to the author's distinct style of writing, I started to enjoy the book.

The author seems to be developing a niche for this type of historical mystery/adventure and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

The Antiques Dealer's Daughter is published today in paperback by Harper Impulse.

This is now the third book by this author which has a wartime setting

  

About the Author

More about the author can be found on her website

Follow on Twitter @MsLornaGray

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