The Whispering Bookworm
Thursday, January 14, 2021
On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Beneath Black Clouds And White by Virginia Crow #HistoricalFiction #FrenchRevolution #CoffeePotBookClub @DaysDyingGlory @maryanneyarde
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club, A Rooster for Asklepios (A Slave's Story Trilogy, Book 1) by Christopher D. Stanley #BookReview #HistoricalFiction @aslavesstory @maryanneyarde
I have once again been introduced to another fabulous book by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Before we get to my review, let's check out the blurb of A Rooster of Asklepios by Christopher D. Stanley.
Marcus, a slave in the household of Lucius Coelius Felix, enjoys a better life than most slaves (and many free citizens) as the secretary and accountant of a wealthy aristocrat. His master is rising in the civic life of the Roman colony of Antioch-near-Pisidia (central Turkey), and his responsibilities and income are growing as well. If this continues, he could soon earn enough to buy his freedom, set up a small business, and even marry.
Then misfortune strikes, and his master falls into a deep depression that is exacerbated by a nagging illness that his physician is unable to cure. The future looks bleak until the physician receives a dream from the healing god Asklepios calling Lucius to travel hundreds of miles across western Asia Minor to his sanctuary at Pergamon for treatment and, he hopes, a cure.
Accompanied by Marcus and his new wife Selena, Lucius embarks on a long and eventful journey in which both master and slave encounter people and ideas that challenge long-held beliefs about themselves, their society, and the world around them. Values are questioned, loyalties tested, and identities transformed in a story that brings to life a corner of the Roman empire that has been neglected by previous storytellers.
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU
If you are a member of NetGalley you can pick up your review copy HERE!
Asklepios in Pergamon, the time has come for Lucius and Marcus to return to Antioch. Selena had been sent home earlier when Lucius learned that she was pregnant, and the impending arrival of the winter snows could soon make it impossible for them to reach their destination before the child is born.
To Marcus’s surprise, Lucius announces that he plans to stop for a while in Hierapolis to bask in the healing waters of the city’s renowned hot springs. Here Marcus meets a young woman named Miriam who challenges him to embrace his long-hidden Jewish ancestry. Marcus is torn between his budding love for Miriam and the cost of heeding her advice.
A tragic decision by Lucius seals their fate, as their full attention must now be devoted to preserving Lucius’s life. They reach Antioch in time to learn that Lucius’s son Gaius has failed miserably in his management of the household while his father was away. If Lucius should die, Marcus, Selena, and her unborn child will be at the mercy of this tyrant. To fend off this danger, Lucius must tell Marcus the full truth about his past, a truth that will ensure Marcus's future at the cost of his master's honor. Can he bring himself to act before his inevitable end?
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU
Monday, January 11, 2021
On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club, A Painter in Penang (Penang series Book 3) by Clare Flynn #HistoricalFiction #APainterinPenang #CoffeePotBookClub @clarefly @maryanneyarde
I am once again on tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Today it is the greatest of pleasure to introduce you to Historical Fiction author, Clare Flynn.
Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington hates everything about living in Kenya and longs to return to the island of Penang in British colonial Malaya where she was born. Expulsion from her Nairobi convent school offers a welcome escape – the chance to stay with her parents’ friends, Mary and Reggie Hyde-Underwood on their Penang rubber estate.
But this is 1948 and communist insurgents are embarking on a reign of terror in what becomes the Malayan Emergency. Jasmine goes through testing experiences – confronting heartache, a shocking past secret and danger. Throughout it all, the one constant in her life is her passion for painting.
From the international best-selling and award-winning author of The Pearl of Penang, this is a dramatic coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a tropical paradise torn apart by civil war.
My Review
The premise of this book sounded really enticing and I have never read a historical fiction book set in Penang before, nor do I know a great deal about the Malayan Emergency. I have to admit, I was a little nervous as I ventured into unknown waters, but I need not have worried, for the author seemed to be very mindful that her readers may not know that much about this period of history in this country, and because of this I never felt the need to do a quick Google search to try to “keep up” with the historical events in this story.
The story itself was exquisitely told, and the innocence of Jasmine compared to the darker side of events that occur in this novel was handled with a great deal of skill on the author’s part. I have to be careful because I don’t want to give away any spoilers but it is suffice to say that Jasmine has to make some very difficult decisions.
A Painter in Penang is certainly a book that can keep a reader up all night - that was certainly what happened with me.
Buy this Book
Clare Flynn
Clare Flynn is the author of twelve historical novels and a collection of short stories. A former International Marketing Director and strategic management consultant, she is now a full-time writer.
Having lived and worked in London, Paris, Brussels, Milan and Sydney, home is now on the coast, in Sussex, England, where she can watch the sea from her windows. An avid traveller, her books are often set in exotic locations.
Clare is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of The Society of Authors, Novelists Inc (NINC), ALLi, the Historical Novel Society and the Romantic Novelists Association, where she serves on the committee as the Member Services Officer. When not writing, she loves to read, quilt, paint and play the piano. She continues to travel as widely and as far as possible all over the world.
Social Media Links:
Website • Blog • Facebook • Instagram • Twitter
Sons of the Wolf by Paula Lofting #BookReview #HistoricalFiction @Paulalofting
It is 1054 and King Edward sits on the throne of England.
A forbidden love affair rekindles a dangerous ancient bloodfeud and when Lord Harold, Earl of Wessex, demands that Wulfhere, thegn of Horstede, wed his daughter to his sworn enemy, Wulfhere must find a way to save his daughter from a life of certain misery at the hands of the cruel and resentful Helghi without compromising his honour and loyalty to his lord, Harold.
A tale of Battles & Bloodfeud in the years leading up to the Norman Invasion.
My Review
Having read Book 2 of Sons of Wolf, I was delighted when I was offered a chance to read Book 1, Sons of the Wolf. With hindsight, I wish I had read this book first as I now have a clear understanding of who everyone is and what role they had to play in this story of kings, tested loyalties, love and war.
The attention to the historical detail is staggering. I really felt as if I had travelled through time and was witnessing the events first hand. It really is quite an extraordinary book. The battle scenes were exceptionally well written.
This novel is quite an emotional read, and I really did feel for Wulfhere, even though much of what has befallen him on the domestic front is of his own making. Men – they never learn!!
This novel is a wonderful retelling of the story leading up to The Battle of Hastings, and it has all the key players, such as the House of Godwin. I thought this was an excellent story from beginning to end.
Buy this Book
Paula Lofting
Friday, January 8, 2021
Meet the author, Beth M. Caruso #HistoricalFiction #AuthorInterview @oneofwindsor
I am so excited to be interviewing Beth M. Caruso today on The Whispering Bookworm! But before we get to the interview let's check out Beth's book:
In New England, John Tinker, merchant and assistant to a renowned alchemist and eventual leader of Connecticut Colony, must come to terms with a family tragedy of dark proportions, all the while supporting his mentor’s secret quest to find the Northwest Passage, a desired trading route purported to mystically unite the East with the West.
As the lives of Marie and John become intertwined through friendship and trade, a search for justice of a Dutch woman accused of witchcraft in Hartford puts them on a collision course affecting not only their own destinies but also the fate of colonial America.
Where to buy
Thursday, January 7, 2021
On tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours - A Man of Honor, Or Horatio's Confessions by J.A. Nelson #AManofHonor #JANelson #HFVBTBlogTours @JANelsonAuthor @hfvbt
I am very excited to be working along side Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours to bring you more great books to add to your ever growing to-read list!
How far would you go to keep a deathbed promise?
Surrounded by the bodies of slain monarchs, a dying prince extracts a promise from his friend, Horatio: “Tell my story.”
Rival kings of warring nations strive to lay claim to the throne, now vacant, but what will happen to the people who live there, at Helsingør’s Krogen Castle? How will Horatio preserve his honor and the prince’s legacy while surviving this murderous kingdom and the men who would rule it?
Despite the odds and threats against him, Horatio persists, weaving the story of his dear friend into the fabric of one of their oldest and most revered medieval texts.
But when a nefarious Spaniard thwarts his plans, Horatio must once again risk everything to fulfill his oath.
With the help of some unexpected allies in the form of Margrete, a courageous lady-in-waiting, and Lanier, a disgraced French nobleman, Horatio undertakes this perilous quest that will lead him on a journey none of them could have ever predicted, to a place none of them ever thought they would see.
And after their hard-fought journey will it all be for naught?
Will Hamlet’s glory be Horatio’s downfall?
What inspired you to start writing?
My earliest inspiration was love of reading—56 volumes of the Nancy Drew mysteries, Roald Dahl’s and Judy Blume’s children’s books, the entire Chronicles of Narnia, and more. At the same time, the school subject that I enjoyed most was English and composition. Creative writing was my therapeutic, creative outlet. More inspiration came from literature and authors that I studied. Detailed settings, complex characters, and themes about individuals taking responsibility to prove their integrity especially appealed to me. The works of Melville, Mark Twain, Faulkner, Ellison, and Morrison especially come to mind. I also read history books from an early age onward and learned from beloved teachers how to see history through literature and vice-versa. And so, my desire to write a fun and substantive debut historical novel based in literature felt as natural to me as breathing.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
The hardest part was creating for the reader a clear and instinctive sense of my main character’s deepest risk. A Man of Honor, or Horatio’s Confessions is set in the early 1500s, when European Christian doctrine forced the belief that if a person’s honor failed, they would suffer excruciating physical and emotional torment for all eternity. Death was bad, but the decay of one’s honor and the consequence, damnation, was a visceral and real threat to people. Today, that belief generally is no longer prevalent, not in the western word in any case. One of my biggest challenges was to create and maintain that specific and genuine tension for the reader so that the characters’ fears and peril made sense.
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
That’s a tough question because Horatio, Margrete, and Lanier each hold a special place in my heart. I know them inside and out. l love each for their own merits and human failings, and how they struggle to assert or regain their honor. I would have to say, though, that I worried most for Lanier because if he cannot find hope, he is doomed. As tough a man as he is, he is most fragile. I remember…I once read aloud an in-progress draft to my mother, cover to cover, and while I read a certain section regarding Lanier, I wept.
If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?
Thank you; that’s a fun question! I imagine:
Horatio: Bradley Cooper or Eddie Redmayne
Margrete: Emily Blunt or Amy Adams
Lanier: Russel Crowe or Michael Fassbender
Hamlet: Johnny Flynn or Mark Warren
Cristiern: Benedict Cumberbatch or Joaquin Phoenix
Fortenbraas: Tom Hiddleston or Jake Gyllenhaal
Reynaldo: Javier Bardem or Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Poul: Mark Rylance or Jude Law
The Canon of Lund: Ian McKellen or Peter Capaldi
Gertrude: Emma Thompson or Laura Linney
Claudius: Kenneth Branagh or David Tennant
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
Reading is an escape and an opportunity to learn, a precious luxury in our busy lives. So, first and foremost, I hope that my readers will enjoy the adventure. Readers don’t need to know Hamlet to enjoy the story, but I hope that if they do, they’ll find some nuggets and notions that intrigue them. I hope that my readers find, in A Man of Honor, or Horatio’s Confessions, examples of paths that we can take when faced with tough choices that test our integrity.
Giveaway
Enter to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card!
The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on February 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter. Click here to enter. Good luck!
Buy this Book
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Tuesday, December 29, 2020
On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Book Blast - She Sees Ghost by David Fitz-Gerald is #Free on #Kindle for a Limited Time @AuthorDAVIDFG @maryanneyarde
What better way to start the new year than with a free book?
You have to check this out...!
Mehitable grew up in a freshly tamed town, carved from the primeval forest. Family, friends, and working at the mercantile filled her days and warmed her heart. For Mehitable, life was simple and safe, until tragedy struck. When her family perished in their burning home, she retreated into a world of her own making.
As a young girl, she had seen glimmers, glimpses, and flickers of the spirit world. She closed her eyes. She turned her back. She ignored the apparitions that she never spoke of, desperately hoping they would leave her in peace. She was mistaken.
Grief-stricken, Mehitable withdrew from the human world. Ghosts were everywhere. They became bolder. She could no longer turn her back on the spirit world. Her friends feared for her survival. Nobody understood her. She would have to find her own way.
Fans of TV’s Ghost Whisperer and Long Island Medium will especially love She Sees Ghosts. This historical novel features memorable characters and delivers bone-tingling, spine chilling goosebumps. It stands on its own and it is the next installment in the Adirondack Spirit Series by the award-winning author of Wanders Far―An Unlikely Hero’s Journey. David Fitz-Gerald delivers a historical novel with a bittersweet ending that you won’t see coming.
Would she save the spirits’ souls, or would they save her? Only time would tell.
This Book Trailer is just the best!!
On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Beneath Black Clouds And White by Virginia Crow #HistoricalFiction #FrenchRevolution #CoffeePotBookClub @DaysDyingGlory @maryanneyarde
I am, once again, hosting a virtual blog tour alongside The Coffee Pot Book Club. I was given the opportunity to read and review Beneath B...


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I am one again working alongside The Coffee Pot Book Club to help your choose you next great read, or in this case of the book I am about ...
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I am excited to introduce you to historical fiction author, Mary Ann Bernal From the sweeping hills of Argences to the port city of Cologn...
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I am so very excited to introduce you to an author I discovered only very recently. Judith Arnopp writes the most fabulous books set in th...
