Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Review: Lord Pretender by Sawyer North

The Lord Pretender
(Red Lion Ladies #1)
by Sawyer North
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: June 20, 2022
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Rating:

Step 1: Come up with the perfect plan
Emma Watts was almost the perfect lady. That is, until her father joined the notorious Prometheans’ Club and gambled away all her prospects. Now, cast out of society, and with only her name intact, Emma will do what a young, intelligent lady can when she is thwarted by circumstance. Take revenge, of course. And the gentlemen’s club, including its members, is first on the list…

Step 2: Find your target
Simon, the Earl of Blackburn, the most prominent member of the Prometheans, knows firsthand how dangerous a wily woman with an agenda can be; after all, his mother is the most devious of the species. But a string of chance encounters with a charming and breathtaking stranger leads him to reconsider.

Step 3: Then watch your plans go beautifully to pieces
Upon learning that a mystery woman is digging up dirt on his club brothers, Simon volunteers to uncover her identity and ruin her by any means necessary. But all it takes is a nasty thunderstorm to completely switch Emma’s and Simon’s lives. Their perspectives aren’t the only things that change though, when they wake up in each other’s bodies…

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Sneak Peek Wednesday: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox (Giveaway)

The Witch of Willow Hall
by Hester Fox
Publisher: Graydon House
Publication date: Oct. 2, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction

Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it.

Take this as a warning: if you are not able or willing to control yourself, it will not only be you who suffers the consequences but those around you, as well.

New Oldbury, 1821

In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia, and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline.

All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end…

 

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Excerpt: Song of Princes by Janell Rhiannon [Giveaway]

 

songofprincesSong of Princes
(Homeric Chronicles #1)
By: Janell Rhiannon
Publisher: Self-Published:
Publication Date: June 22, 2016
Genre: Historical Fantasy

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Sing Muse. Sing of the shining citadel of Troy rising from the hot sands of Asia. Sing of the Greek palaces ascending from their rocky hilltops. Sing of one woman’s dream heralding the madness of men and the murder of innocents. From bull dancing rings and wild meadows, the Forgotten Prince must choose between love and a golden crown. From seclusion and safety, the Golden Warrior must choose between his honor and his life. From behind the Great Wall, the Golden Prince must choose between his family and his city. And from a rugged realm on the far side of Greece, the Warrior King must choose between his son’s life and certain exile. Here shepherds and princes, warriors and kings, and seers and lovers seek to conquer their passions, outwit destiny or surrender to it.

PARIS, the FORGOTTEN PRINCE.
ACHILLES, the GOLDEN WARRIOR.
HEKTOR, the GOLDEN PRINCE.
ODYSSEUS, the WARRIOR KING.

Where did their legends begin before their lives converged at Troy in one of the most famous battles of all time? The HOMERIC CHRONICLES tells the stories of Paris, Achilles, Hektor, and Odysseus in one chronological tale, beginning before the ILIAD and ending long after the ODYSSEY. Blending both history and myth, the Homeric Chronicles will satisfy your love of Greek mythology, while paying homage to the original storyteller, Homer.

SONGS OF PRINCES begins with the birth of Paris and Achilles, and introduces us to a young Hektor and Odysseus. The journey of the princes begins…

 

 

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Review: Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves
By: Kristina McMorris
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Published: Feb. 28, 2012
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating:
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Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern’s life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother’s best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.

When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Julliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.

 
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Review: Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

Dreams of Joy
(Shanghai Girls #2)
By: Lisa See
Publisher: Random House
Published: May 31, 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating:

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Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.

Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.

 
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Review: Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
By: Stella Duffy
Publisher: Penguin Group
Release Date: Sept. 27, 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher
Format: eBook
Pages: 352
Rating: I liked it.
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Daughter of an actress and a bear keeper for the Hippodrome of Constantinople, Theodora was trained as a dancer, singer, and actress who performed on the stage and in the bedrooms of anyone who could afford her, from the time she was a child. Her skills as a comedic orator endeared her to both rich and poor, noble and common, so much so that she was exhausted by the time she was 16 years old. An invitation to be the mistress of the new governor of Apollonia in Libya came as a welcome surprise and an opportunity to create a new, more socially acceptable life for herself. But when Theodora finds herself cast off in a few short years, she must make her way back to her beloved Constantinople.

 

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