Blog Tour Q&A with Samantha Cohoe, Author of A Golden Fury

Please join me in welcoming Samantha Cohoe to Let Them Read Books! Samantha is touring the blogosphere with her debut YA historical fantasy novel, A Golden Fury, (which I'm reading now, btw, and it's so good), and I recently had the chance to ask her a few questions about writing historical fantasy. Read on and grab your copy today!

Set in eighteenth century England, Samantha Cohoe’s debut novel, A GOLDEN FURY (Wednesday Books; October 13, 2020), follows a young alchemist as she tries to save the people she loves from the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone. The streets of London and Oxford come to life as this historical fantasy unravels. Weaving together an alluring story of magic and danger, Samantha’s debut has her heroine making messy decisions as she toes the line between good and evil while it becomes blurred.

Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.

 

While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.

But in Oxford, there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse—instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die.

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Hi Samantha! Thank you so much for stopping by today!

What inspired you to base your fantasy in a historical setting?

I love history! I’ve spent so much time reading history and historical fiction that I feel almost as much at home in the past as I do in the present day. One thing I really love about writing historical fiction is the way it lets you explore different times and different contexts. That’s interesting in its own right, and it also helps us reflect in a different way on our own time by contrast.

What drew you to this time period?

I love the late 18th century because of all the turmoil and change that came about specifically as the result of ideas. Ideas that make revolutions are exciting to me.

Did you get to do anything fun or learn something surprising during your research?

I really enjoyed all my alchemy research, but one particularly fun fact I ran across in the course of it is that there are researchers who try to work out which Chinese emperors may have died from taking alchemical elixirs!

What are the biggest challenges of blending fantasy with history?

I think the biggest challenges come from seeing the consequences of the changes you make to history. So let’s say alchemy did work, then how would our world be different? I cleverly avoided most of this through methods you’ll have to read the book to discover.

Blog Tour Review: The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau

From the Back Cover:

In eighteenth century London, porcelain is the most seductive of commodities; fortunes are made and lost upon it. Kings do battle with knights and knaves for possession of the finest pieces and the secrets of their manufacture.

For Genevieve Planché, an English-born descendant of Huguenot refugees, porcelain holds far less allure; she wants to be an artist, a painter of international repute, but nobody takes the idea of a female artist seriously in London. If only she could reach Venice.

When Genevieve meets the charming Sir Gabriel Courtenay, he offers her an opportunity she can’t refuse; if she learns the secrets of porcelain, he will send her to Venice. But in particular, she must learn the secrets of the colour blue…

The ensuing events take Genevieve deep into England’s emerging industrial heartlands, where not only does she learn about porcelain, but also about the art of industrial espionage.

With the heart and spirit of her Huguenot ancestors, Genevieve faces her challenges head on, but how much is she willing to suffer in pursuit and protection of the colour blue?

My Thoughts:

I very much enjoyed Nancy Bilyeau's Joanna Stafford trilogy, so I was excited to see she had a new book. In The Blue, she jumps forward two hundred years, leaving the Tudor era behind for the decadent Georgians, the scandalous court of Louis XV, and the porcelain rage that was sweeping Europe.

Genevieve Planche is a young Huguenot woman living in London with her grandfather, her family having fled religious persecution in France. A talented artist, Genevieve longs to do more than paint flowers on fabric for society ladies' dresses. She wants to capture the world around her on canvas, but to do so she needs a teacher. Unfortunately, no teacher in London will take on a woman as a student. Though she is offered a job as a decorator at her cousin's porcelain factory in Derby, Genevieve believes her creativity and spirit will be crushed in such a meaningless job, and she is about to take drastic action to avoid that fate when a mysterious benefactor makes her an offer: take the job in Derby, find the chemist rumored to be working on the most beautiful shade of blue the world has ever seen, steal his formula, and she will be fully funded to Venice, where women are accepted as artists.

But Derby turns out to be nothing like Genevieve was expecting. Her new employers are suspicious of her from the start, and her eyes are opened to the cutthroat competitiveness of the porcelain industry and the lengths her employers are willing to go to to win the race. But she does make some friends and, to her surprise, she does find some creative satisfaction. Genevieve turns out to be a rather poor spy, and she constantly wages an internal battle over the morality of her actions, especially once she finds her elusive quarry. But her benefactor will suffer no excuses and makes clear that there will be dire consequences should Genevieve fail to carry out her mission. What follows is a tense game of cat-and-mouse as Genevieve tries to stay a step ahead of the dangerous men who will stop at nothing to get what they want while she tries to extricate herself from her precarious position and save the people she loves.

Spotlight: Bound to Morocco by Leslie Hachtel

Bound to Morocco

Book One in the Morocco Series

by Leslie Hachtel

June 13, 2018

Historical Romance

ebook, print; 276 pages

What if your family sold you to a Sultan's Harem? 

Drugged and kidnapped, Shera finds herself on a ship to Morocco to serve the Sultan. Abandoned and alone, Shera must find a way to escape and confront the people who betrayed her. She gets help from an unlikely source: the man who kidnapped her. But, he has his own secrets. And, when their partnership turns to love, the two must face constant danger to endure. But will they ever be free? 

Grab the ebook edition for only 99-cents!

Amazon  ~  Barnes & Noble  ~  Kobo  ~  Smashwords  ~  iBooks

Excerpt:

Spring, 1713

The throbbing was relentless. Shera, Lady Edgerton, squinted and reluctantly peeked out from beneath her eyelids. She immediately regretted it. A thousand needles of light stabbed her with brutal fury and she quickly closed her eyes again to ease the misery. She drew in a deep breath, trying to quell the pounding in her head. Mindful of the pain, she very slowly opened her eyes again, fighting the agony of vicious brightness that assailed her. Sunlight pierced the room through a narrow slit in the wall high up in the small space and pooled about her. Nausea threatened but she swallowed hard and stiffened her spine.

Gathering her senses and forcing herself to focus, she looked around. Where was she? A small room made of wood? The walls were bare except for four sets of chains attached to the wood by rings hanging a few inches from the floor. Was this an area used to confine prisoners?  But that did not answer why she was here. She was an innocent. Her being here must be a terrible mistake.

She heaved in a deep breath and listened carefully. Naught but a kind of creaking. Raising herself gently, she sat up. Her head spun and she took in a few shallow breaths to ease the dizziness. The space around her gradually took shape. She was indeed in a small room with walls of horizontal planked wood. Beneath her, the floor swayed gently back and forth. And the smell? It was the scent of despair. Someone had been held here before her. Or many someones. And there was also the unmistakable odor of the sea. I am aboard a ship? How is that possible? A slither of terror crawled up her back. Had she been kidnapped? Was her life at risk? Who did this and what did they want? The lack of answers was tormenting.

Shera soothed herself by inhaling and exhaling slowly, then took an inventory of her body. Her back ached and her arms and legs felt heavy. She was most likely bruised, but overall, she was intact. She was still dressed in her beautiful crimson velvet ball gown from the night before, but now it was dirty and the skirt was torn at the hem and along the seams. Her bracelets were missing, as were her rings. But, when she felt for her necklace, she realized it had slipped down into her bodice. She lifted it out and breathed some relief. Set with diamonds and rubies, it was worth a small fortune. She replaced it between her breasts and patted her chest. It could certainly be used as a bribe, but to whom? If she revealed it under the wrong circumstances, it could be taken from her. No, she must be careful to conceal it until the time was right.

She felt her earlobes. The left earring was gone, but the one on the right had become tangled in her hair. It, too, was set with rubies and diamonds and worth much. She extracted it and slipped it into her bodice with the other piece. Just knowing she had some wealth gave her options and more chances, perhaps, to resolve this situation, whatever it was. The possibilities went from the ridiculous to the unthinkable. It could be this was a simple prank, but the clawing in her stomach told her it was no such thing. But, she must control the terror that threatened to confound her thinking.

Spotlight: A Jane Austen Daydream by Scott D. Southard

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Now with a new foreword and an updated cover showcasing Jane's own handwriting, this re-imagining of Jane's life continues to charm and delight readers of literary fiction worldwide.

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

Scott’s thoughts on Jane Austen’s Father:

George Austen was born in 1731. He met his wife Cassandra at Oxford. They would go on to have six sons and two daughters; the youngest, they named Jane.

If A Jane Austen Daydream was a typical historical fiction, I would point to research and letters to find Jane Austen’s father. I would paint his characters with his sermons, lessons, and what he wrote to his children, basically anything that I could find… but A Jane Austen Daydream is not a normal historical fiction.

For in A Jane Austen Daydream, like with the other characters in my novel, I created George in the spirt of the fathers we see in her works. He is as loving and supportive as Mr. Bennet (enjoying Jane’s spirit and intelligence), and he is as whimsical as Mr. Woodhouse in Emma (even though the Austens never had the wealth of Emma’s family).

We do know that Jane’s father did encourage her education and her reading. We also know, thanks to the sometime questionable autobiography by Austen’s nephew (James Edward Austen-Leigh), that George tried to help Austen get her novel Pride and Prejudice published.

Jane did love her father and mourned him in letters after his passing. She also was, in many ways, mourning a life she had known in his household. For life would change for Jane with his passing; making her, her mother, and sister more of a financial burden on the sons of the household.

Sadly, when one researches Jane’s life it can be depressing. That was one of the inspirations behind A Jane Austen Daydream. I wanted to “retell” her life as one of her novels, filed with characters and situations one might imagine in her books. And then there are the new (and very surprising) twists as well, making it in many ways very different from a historical fiction. I would consider it something between an experimental literary fiction and regency fiction. And I am excited to see new readers discover it in this new fifth year anniversary edition.

Spotlight: Castles, Customs, and Kings Volume Two

Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors (Volume 2)

Publication Date: September 30, 2015

Madison Street Publishing

Hardcover, Paperback, eBook; 598 Pages

Genre: History

An anthology of essays from the second year of the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, this book transports the reader across the centuries from prehistoric to twentieth century Britain. Nearly fifty different authors share the stories, incidents, and insights discovered while doing research for their own historical novels.

From medieval law and literature to Tudor queens and courtiers, from Stuart royals and rebels to Regency soldiers and social calls, experience the panorama of Britain’s yesteryear. Explore the history behind the fiction, and discover the true tales surrounding Britain’s castles, customs, and kings.

Visit the English Historical Fiction Authors blog & Facebook page.

“Thoroughly enjoyable and diverse…leisure reading for any history fan.” – Elizabeth Chadwick, on Castles, Customs, and Kings (Volume 1)

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY | KOBO

Blog Tour Review: An Immortal Descent by Kari Edgren

From the Back Cover:

Selah Kilbrid, descendant of the Celtic goddess Brigid, has been ordered to remain in London and leave any dangers in Ireland to her goddess-born family. They fear she's no match for Death's most powerful daughter and—if the legend holds true—the witch who once nearly destroyed the Irish people. But Selah has never been good at following orders, and nothing will stop her from setting out to find the two people she loves most—her dearest friend, Nora Goodwin, and her betrothed, Lord Henry Fitzalan.

Hiding from kin, traveling uneasily beside companions with secrets of their own, Selah is forced on an unexpected path by those who would steal her gift of healing. With precious time ticking away, she turns to a mortal enemy for help, heedless of the cost.

Selah would pass though hell to rescue Nora and Henry, but what if it means unleashing a greater evil on the human world? Her only chance is to claim the fullest extent of her birthright—at the risk of being forever separated from the man she longs to marry.

My Thoughts:

I was anxiously anticipating this final installment in the Goddess Born trilogy. I have enjoyed the Irish mythology references, the characterizations, and the settings of Colonial America and Georgian London, and I was looking forward to a final showdown between good and evil in Ireland. This book picks up pretty much where the second book left off, with Selah desperately trying to save her best friend, Nora, from the clutches of an evil witch and trying to find her fiance, Henry, who took off after them in an effort to prevent Selah from placing herself in more danger. But Selah is separated from her travel partners and fellow rescuers early on and has to make her own way to Ireland. And that turns out to be extremely difficult since the enemy has sent a gang of henchmen to stop her.

Unfortunately, I was very frustrated with the first half of this book. It started off very well, but it didn't take long for the story to veer away from the heart of the conflict. There was too much focus on new characters, and Selah ended up in several situations that prolonged her journey to Ireland to be reunited with her fiance and continue the search for her best friend. As Selah met one new character after another and was pursued by one new villain after another, I found myself thinking, "This is silly. We already have a central conflict in place and it's waiting for us in Ireland, so can we please hurry up and get there, for crying out loud?" Henry didn't even enter the story until the halfway mark. And if you've read my reviews of the first two books, you know that Henry is a big part of the appeal of these books for me.

Review: A Grave Inheritance by Kari Edgren

From the Back Cover:

Selah Kilbrid may descend from the goddess Brigid, but her heart beats—and breaks—the same as any human. Yet enduring the scorn of London's most noble lords and ladies is a small price to pay for a chance at true happiness. Selah would endure much more for love, and her betrothed, Lord Henry Fitzalan, is prepared to challenge anyone foolish enough to stand in their way—even another goddess born.

But when a captivating young gentleman draws Selah into a world shadowed by secrets, she is forced to confront her darkest fears. What if some differences are too great to overcome and a future with Henry is doomed from the start?

With these doubts threatening her impending marriage and the very last of Brigid's fire draining from her soul, a violent attack on an innocent child pushes Selah to the very edge of her power. She must find a way to cross into the Otherworld and regain her strength—or forfeit the streets of London to death and disease.

My Thoughts:

Last year I read and enjoyed Kari Edgren's debut, Goddess Born, a novel of a lonely young woman with exceptional healing powers struggling to find her place in a superstitious community, though I had a few issues with it. But I was anxious to see how things would play out in A Grave Inheritance, the second book in the series, and I'm pleased to report that I ended up liking this one better than the first book!

The story picks up a few weeks after the first book left off, with Henry Fitzalan, the man Selah Kilbrid fell in love with believing he was an indentured servant, but who turned out to be heir to a dukedom and promised to a princess, back in England, and Selah, his affianced, preparing to follow him to meet his father and the king and secure her place as his bride. But the day before she is set to leave, an encounter with a strange man and an even stranger beast set her on edge. After a treacherous sea voyage, she arrives in London with her nerves and thoughts in a jumble, anxious to reunite with Henry but worried that his feelings for her and his determination to marry her may not have survived their separation. She quickly learns just how much the deck is stacked against them, with Henry standoffish in public, and a king, a princess, and most of English society condemning her as a gold-digging upstart. The one bright spot is the discovery of a fellow Goddess Born, a handsome young man keen to help Selah learn more about her heritage, to help her replenish her powers while in England, and to let him into her heart if he has his way.

Blog Tour Review: She Rises by Kate Worsley

From the Back Cover:

It is 1740 and Louise Fletcher, a young dairy maid on an Essex farm, has been warned of the lure of the sea for as long as she can remember--after all, it stole away her father and brother. But when she is offered work in the bustling naval port of Harwich, as a lady's maid to a wealthy captain's daughter, she leaps at the chance to see more of the world. There she meets Rebecca, her haughty young mistress, who is unlike anyone Louise has encountered before: as unexpected as she is fascinating.

Intertwined with her story is fifteen-year-old Luke's: He is drinking in a Harwich tavern when it is raided by Her Majesty's Navy. Unable to escape, Luke is beaten and press ganged and sent to sea on board the warship Essex. He must learn fast and choose his friends well if he is to survive the brutal hardships of a sailor's life and its many dangers, both up high in the rigging and in the dark below decks.

Louise navigates her new life among the streets and crooked alleys of Harwich, where groaning houses riddled with smugglers' tunnels are flooded by the spring tides, and love burns brightly in the shadows. Luke, aching for the girl he left behind and determined to one day find his way back to her, embarks on a long and perilous journey across the ocean.

The worlds they find are more dangerous and more exciting than they could ever have imagined, and when they collide the consequences are astonishing and irrevocable.

Blog Tour Review: The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones by Jack Wolf

From the Back Cover:

An explosive and daring debut novel set during the Enlightenment that tells the tale of a promising young surgeon-in-training whose study of anatomy is deeply complicated by his uncontrollable sadistic tendencies.

Meet Tristan Hart, a brilliant young man of means. The year is 1751, and Mr Hart leaves his Berkshire home for London to lodge with his father's friend, the novelist and dramatist Henry Fielding, and study medicine at the great hospital of University College. It will be a momentous year for the cultured and intellectually ambitious Mr Hart, who, as well as being a student of Locke and Descartes and a promising young physician, is also, alas, a psychopath. His obsession is the nature of pain, and preventing it during medical procedures. His equally strong and far more unpredictable obsession is the nature of pain, and causing it. Desperate to understand his own deviant desires before they derail his career and drive him mad, Tristan sifts through his childhood memories, memories that are informed by dark superstitions about faeries and goblins and shape-shifting gypsies. Will the new tools of the age-reason and science and scepticism-be enough to save him?

Unexpectedly funny, profoundly imaginative, and with a strange love story at its heart, The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones is a novel about the Enlightenment, the relationship between the mind and body, sex, madness, the nature of pain, and the existence of God.

Blog Tour Review: Untimed by Andy Gavin

From the Back Cover:

Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, even his own mother can’t remember his name. And girls? The invisible man gets more dates.

As if that weren’t enough, when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously.

Still, this isn’t all bad. In fact, there’s this girl, another time traveler, who not only remembers his name, but might even like him! Unfortunately, Yvaine carries more than her share of baggage: like a baby boy and at least two ex-boyfriends! One’s famous, the other’s murderous, and Charlie doesn’t know who is the bigger problem.

When one kills the other — and the other is nineteen year-old Ben Franklin — things get really crazy. Can their relationship survive? Can the future? Charlie and Yvaine are time travelers, they can fix this — theoretically — but the rules are complicated and the stakes are history as we know it. And there's one more wrinkle: he can only travel into the past, and she can only travel into the future!

My Thoughts:

Untimed is a really fun romp through time, taking the reader on an adventure to Georgian London, Napoleonic France, and then into an alternate steampunk version of the present day. I was hooked on Charlie from the first page, and I really felt for him as a sixteen-year-old boy who walks through life feeling like a shadow, overlooked, unappreciated, and ultimately forgotten by nearly everyone he meets. But it turns out there's a reason Charlie is so anonymous, and it all starts to fall into place when Charlie jumps into a hole after a murderous clockwork man and falls into 1725 London.

Double Romance Review: Devil's Mistress and Knight of Passion

From the Back Cover:

A MAN POSSESSED

If there was ever a devil who could lure and seduce the innocent, Lord Sloan Treveryan is that man. Captain of the Sea Hawk and bound to the king’s business, Treveryan may be a lord but he is no gentleman. He carried Brianna off to America and branded her with a love she could never forget, never escape, yet he refused to take her as his wife.

A WOMAN WHOSE BEAUTY DROVE MEN TO MADNESS
Bewitched by Brianna MacCardle’s beauty, Scottish inquisitors have called her the devil’s own. Though Treveryan saves her from the witch-hunter’s clutches, how can she be grateful? He'd claimed her as his own and taken her innocence. She vowed he wouldn't take her heart. Defiantly, she fought him. Against her will she loved him, swearing to reap revenge against the arrogant lord who made her...

THE DEVIL'S MISTRESS.

My Thoughts:

This one started out well, very exciting with Brianna running from witchcraft accusations in Scotland and finding safety and the delicious Sloan onboard his ship. They get hot and heavy right away, but Sloan's keeping something from Brianna. I guessed his secret early on, but it was still a good, angsty plot twist. And then another twist follows soon after and Brianna runs away to America. But then she discovers that Salem, Massachusetts wasn't the wisest place for an accused witch to set up a household and a whole other set of problems develops. This final part of the book should have been the best, especially when Sloan came looking for Brianna, but I thought it really started dragging at this point. Brianna started behaving stupidly, and even the long-awaited lovers' reunion was underwhelming. Not my favorite Heather Graham romance, but still an interesting read with a little more historical depth than the average.

Rating:  3.5 Stars out of 5

From the Back Cover:

HOW CAN THIS PASSIONATE KNIGHT...
Renowned beauty Lady Linnet is torn between two desires: revenge on those who destroyed her family or marriage to her childhood sweetheart Sir James Rayburn. One fateful night, she makes a misguided choice: she sacrifices Jamie's love for a chance at vengeance.

TRUST A BEAUTY WITH A PAST?
Jamie Rayburn returns to England in search of a virtuous wife-only to find the lovely Linnet as bewitching as ever. Their reckless affair ignites anew, even hotter than before, although Jamie vows to never again trust her with his heart. Then just as Linnet begins to make amends, she's tempted by one last opportunity to settle old scores. But a final retribution could cost her Jamie's love - this time forever.

My Thoughts:

I really liked the setting of this one: England, 1425, shortly after the death of Henry V with Linnet as lady-in-waiting to Katherine Valois; the Duke of Gloucester and the Bishop of Winchester grappling for control of the infant King Henry VI, and featuring quite a few historical players, like Owen Tudor and Eleanor Cobham. Not your typical romantic setting and the political strife plays a large part in the story. I liked the characters and I thought the plot was well-developed, with Linnet navigating the queen's court, the growing power of the merchant guilds, and rumors of sorcery and witchcraft as she searched for the men who ruined her grandfather. I was prepared to rate this higher, but then the devil worshipers showed up and the big climactic scene was just too over-the-top for me. But it's tastefully steamy throughout, and Jamie's a big sweetie-pie, and it was a nice way to spend a rainy day. I'll definitely read more from this author.

Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Review: Midnight Fires by Nancy Mean Wright

From the Back Cover:

Mitchelstown Castle in County Cork, seat of the notorious Anglo-Irish Kingsborough family, fairly hums with intrigue. The new young governess, Mary Wollstonecraft, witnesses a stabbing and attends a pagan bonfire at which the illegitimate sprig of the nobility is killed. When the young Irishman Liam Donovan, who hated the aristocratic rogue for seducing his niece, becomes the prime suspect for his murder, Mary - ever a champion of the oppressed, and susceptible to Liam's charm - determines to prove him innocent.

I don't read a lot of mysteries but as a historical fiction lover I'm trying to add a few historical mysteries to my diet. I enjoyed this book, although I don't think there's anything remarkable about the mystery aspect of it, and it doesn't have that suck-you-in, heartpounding factor of a thriller. What drew me to it were its historical setting in eighteenth-century Ireland and its real-life heroine, Mary Wollstonecraft.

Hands down the best part of this book is Mary. Mary's a gem of a character. Normally a heroine in a historical fiction novel who is ahead of her time in thought and action would be unrealistic, but Mary really was that kind of woman! In fact, her first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, makes an appearance in this story.

Smarting from a failed love affair, indebted and responsible for her sisters' welfare, Mary leaves London behind and takes a one-year assignment as a governess to a noble Irish family, though she has serious reservations:

Governesses, she had heard, constituted one of the largest classes of insane women in asylums. The thought was not at all comforting.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and this gig as a governess is temporary. Mary has plans, she's going to be an authoress, and the Kingsboroughs provide plenty of inspiration:

     "I haven't penned a novel," she said. "But I do have one in mind."

     And she had, yes. She had begun a novel in her head. One of the characters would be a lady who loved her dogs more than her daughters. A lord who hunted, womanized, pitchcapped unhappy peasants, and drank his way through life...

     She found it promising. She imagined the faces of her dumbfounded employers as they read her first novel. Mary, a Fiction, she would call it.

Yet even as she disdains her aristocratic employers, she can't help but be drawn into their drama. And with a sympathetic heart and a passion for justice, she gets drawn into the poor tenants' lives, too. When a member of the Kingsborough family is murdered and the handsome, rebellious tenant Liam is accused and forced to flee, thus threatening the livelihood of his family, Mary takes action. And there's never a dull moment with Mary, for Mary's not entirely grounded in reality. A daydreamer with a vivid imagination, Mary gets a little carried away. She creates a romantic fantasy in her mind and becomes determined to reveal the identity of the true killer and earn Liam's undying love and gratitude in the process.

There are suspects galore: the Master, the Mistress, the land agent and his wife, a poet, a former governess, jilted lovers, angry peasants, etc. And as in all good whodunits, none of them are guilt-free, all of them having had a part to play in the events leading up to the murder, if not the actual murder itself.

This was a sharp and sassy little book and I look forward to reading more of Mary's adventures, the next of which is already in the works. The author provides some good background information on this fascinating woman and I can't wait to read about some of the more pivotal events in her life. Until then, I leave you with one of my favorite Mary quotes from Midnight Fires:

Mary vowed once again to remain a spinster. Babies and books were not a good mix.


Rating:  4 Stars out of 5

Review: Now Face to Face by Karleen Koen

From the Back Cover:

One of the most beloved novels of our time, Through A Glass Darkly was an international bestseller and it established Karleen Koen as a uniquely intelligent and gifted writer, an enchanting storyteller with the power to create the magic of another time and characters readers never forget. Like Through A Glass Darkly, Now Face to Face is breathtaking in its scope and richness of detail, sweeping readers away into the suspense, intrigue, and grandeur of a lost era - and into the sensuous and sophisticated lives of a vast and vivid cast of characters. At the center of Now Face to Face is a woman who is devastated by loss, yet is nevertheless determined to create a new way of living with dignity, adventure and love.

Beautiful, headstrong Barbara Devane is a widow at twenty, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances. In colonial Virginia, she struggles to develop a family tobacco plantation, and she finds, in this surprising society, betrayal and evil, and also her own strength and a new kind of purpose and bond. Returning to London, Barbara sets in motion an unorthodox plan to reestablish herself as a woman of property, confronting her enemies and regaining power and place. As the society around her erupts in political turmoil, she meets a mysterious, charismatic man and embarks on a deeply satisfying yet dangerous clandestine love.

My Thoughts:

As with Through A Glass Darkly, this novel takes its title and its themes from this verse:

     When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
     For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
     And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
                                                                  I Corinthians 13:11-13

I absolutely loved Through A Glass Darkly, (read my review), and I was pleased to find that the sequel begins right where we last left Barbara: on her way to the colony of Virginia, looking ahead to a new life as a new woman, escaping the heartache and scandal of London. Though the author does provide a bit of background, this really is not a stand alone book, and to truly appreciate what happens in the sequel, you need to read Through A Glass Darkly first.

     Change is an easy thing to decide and a difficult thing to do. It is the day-to-day struggle of it that defeats people.

Barbara carries these wise words from her beloved grandmother with her as she navigates through the trials and temptations of turning her life around. The narrative moves back and forth between Barbara in Virginia, the loved ones she left behind in London, and a newcomer to London. He is Laurence Slane, a dedicated Jacobite, posing as an actor while spying on the King's court for the Old Pretender, King James III, and increasingly curious to know the woman all of London is still talking about.

All of the characters I loved in the first book are back in this one: Barbara's cousin Tony and her former lover Charles, still pining for Barbara but moving on with their lives; old Aunt Shrew in rare form and up to her ears in intrigue; Barbara's delectable, scandalous mother, Diana, in a surprisingly melancholy mood; Barbara's old friends Therese and Jane and Gussy, and of course, her grandmother, the formidable Duchess of Tamworth.

Barbara's time in Virginia strengthens her and when she receives news of startling developments back home, she sets out to face them head on, arriving in London at just the right time to take control of her own life while throwing everyone else's into chaos. Barbara soon finds herself conspiring with former enemies against former friends, winds up in the middle of a Jacobite plot to overthrow King George I, and discovers the courage to stand on her own and risk her heart to love again.

It's not as gut-wrenching as Through A Glass Darkly, as this novel has more of a plot, with more action and excitement and less exposition of human nature. This sequel did not get to me as much as the original did, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was one of the better sequels I've read. Two things keep me from giving it a higher rating: First, a story line in Virginia involving Barbara's suitor that seemed to fizzle out and disappear without any satisfaction when I thought it was going to play a larger part, and Second, I didn't like the way the conclusion of the story was presented. I won't spoil it, but I will state that I hate when authors leave important things up to my imagination! I stuck with the book for this long, I deserve to read about said things firsthand! But overall, this book is a good read, a satisfying continuation of a great story.

My Rating:  4 Stars out of 5

Review: The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale

From the Inside Flap:

It is 1752. Winter is approaching, and two secrets - an unwanted pregnancy and a theft - drive seventeen-year-old Agnes Trussel to run away from her home in rural Sussex. Lost and frightened as night descends on the menacing streets of London, she is drawn to a curious sign depicting a man holding a star. It is the home of Mr. J. Blackclock, a brooding fireworks maker who is grieving for his recently deceased wife. He hires Agnes as his apprentice, and as she learns to make rockets, portfires and fiery rain, she slowly gains the laconic Blacklock's trust. He initiates her into his peculiar art and sparks in her a shared obsession for creating the most spectacular fireworks the world has ever seen.

But her condition is becoming harder to conceal, and through it all, the clock is ticking - for Agnes's secret will not stay hidden forever. Soon she meets Cornelius Soul, seller of gunpowder, and she conceives of a plan that could save her. But why does Blacklock so vehemently disapprove of Mr. Soul? And what is Blacklock hiding from her? Could he be on the brink of a discovery that will change pyrotechny forever? A summer storm is brewing - but Agnes has no idea that her mysterious mentor has been watching her, and hatching plans of his own.

The Book of Fires vividly evokes a dark bygone world and offers a masterful portrayal of a relationship as mysterious and tempestuous as any the Brontes imagined. Jane Borodale's portrait of 1750s London is unforgettable, from the grimy streets to the inner workings of a household where little is as it seems. Beautifully written, complex and layered, The Book of Fires is a captivating debut of fireworks, redemption, and the strange alchemy that will forever change the fortunes of a young woman once bound for ruin.

Sounds like a great tale of misfortune, mysterious secrets and love, doesn't it?

Well, it's really not. That's an excellent synopsis; who wouldn't buy the book based on that description? Unfortunately, the inside flap is much more exciting than the book itself, and rather misleading, though I won't give away the plot by elaborating on the details.

I wanted to read this book the first time I saw it featured on another blog and was so excited when I won a copy, but overall I was disappointed with it. It's a very well written book; I loved the descriptiveness of it and learning how fireworks were made in 18th century London was great. Agnes is also a very likeable heroine and it's easy to get swept into her life, but the story didn't have enough "meat" for me, and that problem was compounded by an unexpected twist that made the ending not at all what I was expecting or hoping for, and I felt it wrapped things up just a little too conveniently. However, I think this author has potential and I would read more from her if forthcoming novels have more engaging plots.

Rating:  3 Stars out of 5

Review: Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

From the Back Cover:

As opulent and passionate as the 18th century it celebrates, Through A Glass Darkly will sweep you away to the splendors of a lost era. From aristocrats to scoundrels, its rich, vivd characters create their own immortality. Here is the story of a great family ruled by a dowager of extraordinary power; of a young woman seeking love in a world of English luxury and French intrigue; and of a man haunted by a secret that could turn all their dreams to ashes...

My Thoughts:

The title comes from a Bible verse:

     When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
     For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
     And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
                                                               I Corinthians 13:11-13

And from this verse flows the essence of the story of Barbara: a young woman with an open heart full of dreams and desires, longing to please, to love and be loved with a child's innocence, who comes to know a woman's life and to be known as a woman, amidst the heartache and bitterness of failed expectations, personal tragedy and the duplicity and debauchery of the English and French courts.

England, 1715. Barbara is the sheltered granddaughter of the late Duke of Tamworth, one of England's most famous military heroes. With a traitorous father on the run and a scandalous, uninterested mother, Barbara and her siblings have been raised by their grandmother, the Duchess, an iron-willed woman who strikes fear in the hearts of those who oppose her, and will go to any lengths to aid those whom she loves.

Barbara is content to spend her days happy and carefree on her grandmother's secluded country estate until her money-scheming mother arrives and plants the idea in her head that she could marry her childhood idol, the dashing, worldly, and much older Roger Montgeoffrey. Barbara latches onto that idea and moves to London, spinning grand dreams of her future and enlisting her grandmother's help to see those dreams to fruition. Though Barbara is young and unknowing in many ways, she is aware from the beginning that Roger marries her out of respect for her grandfather and for the dowry she brings him, but she is determined to make a place for herself in his life and in his heart.

Roger, a rising investment star in the infamous South Sea Company, has plans for his life, and though Barbara is an unexpected and intriguing addition to that life, he's not planning on making any significant changes. As soon as they're married, he and Barbara are off to France, where Barbara makes her debut in society amidst a decadent and licentious French court. In this world of sex and scandal, Barbara is left to her own counsel and must choose how to conduct herself, all the while striving to hold her husband's attention, praying for him to return even a fraction of the love she feels for him. And just when it seems she's about to get everything she wants, tragedy strikes Barbara's family and Roger's hidden past sweeps into Paris. And as he succumbs to the temptations of his dark secrets, Barbara's life crumbles around her. Attempting to pick up the pieces, Barbara embarks on a journey of discovering who she is and who she wants to be.

This book is one of those slow burners that takes its time to draw the reader into a sensuous world of compelling characters. It is a beautifully written coming-of-age story, love story, and family saga rolled into one; a heart-wrenching portrayal of emotions, of the damage people can inflict upon each other; of human nature in every shade, where nothing is black and white. The outstanding cast of supporting characters adds dimension and layers to the story and the lushly depicted era of opulence, political unrest and financial instability of England and France weaves a rich historical texture throughout.

I loved every minute of this book and I cried my way through the last hundred pages. Then, after I got hold of myself, I went right out to the library and picked up the sequel. This is one of those books that kept me up late and then woke me in the middle of the night -- I could not stop thinking about it. Definite Keeper Shelf. Highly recommended to fans of emotionally charged, character-driven historical fiction.

My Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Quick Review: The Flame and the Flower

From the Back Cover:

Heather: She was doomed to a life of unending toil...until desperation drove her to commit one shocking, unthinkable act.

Brandon: A lusty adventurer married to the sea, he courted scorn and danger when he abducted a beautiful fugitive.

Destiny: From the tumultuous London dockside to the silken world of genteel privilege, a bold sea captain would make an innocent girl a woman - his woman - and force her to explore with him the realms of breathtaking love.

My Thoughts:

This was my first experience with a true "bodice ripper" and it will be my last. In the first chapter the heroine kills a man defending herself from attempted rape, runs for her life and ends up with the "hero" who then rapes her himself, repeatedly. And I don't mean a case of "your lips say no but your eyes say yes", I mean lips, eyes, fists and feet all say no. I didn't make it to chapter two. I skimmed a few pages here and there through the rest of the book. I actually found it very disturbing. Millions of copies of this book have been sold? Why?? There was a time when women actually found reading about rape-based relationships appealing?

My Rating:  1 Star out of 5