TLC Book Tours: Review of Mistress of the Court by Laura Purcell + Giveaway!!

Publisher: Myrmidon Books Ltd
Publication Date: August 4th, 2015
Pages: 448

Synopsis

The second  in Laura Purcell’s captivating and acclaimed series of novels chronicling the lives and loves of the consorts and mistresses of Britain’s rash, reckless and ebullient Hanoverian kings. 

Her first novel, Queen of Bedlam, was published by Myrmidon in the summer of 2014.

Orphaned and trapped in an abusive marriage, Henrietta Howard has little left to lose. She stakes everything on a new life in Hanover with its royal family, the heirs to the British throne.

Henrietta’s beauty and intelligence soon win her the friendship of clever Princess Caroline and her mercurial husband, Prince George. But, as time passes, it becomes clear that friendship is the last thing on the hot-blooded young prince’s mind. Dare Henrietta give into his advances and anger her violent husband? Dare she refuse?

Whatever George’s shortcomings, Princess Caroline is determined to make the family a success. Yet the feud between her husband and his obstinate father threatens all she has worked for. As England erupts in Jacobite riots, her family falls apart. She vows to save the country for her children to inherit – even if it costs her pride and her marriage.

Set in the turbulent years of the Hanoverian accession, Mistress of the Court tells the story of two remarkable women at the centre of George II’s reign.

What Did I Think About the Story?

From the first sentence of Mistress of the Court the reader is engulfed in the violent abuse, both physical and mental, that Henrietta Howard experiences at the hands of her useless and manipulative husband...all of which her young son witnesses! Laura Purcell does an exceptional job of describing the horrid conditions Henrietta has been living in and I could not help but sympathize with her as she struggled to not just survive but make a better life for her family, one that would allow her son to have the advantages in life his name and heritage should give him. How can she make this happen? By getting herself and her husband to Hanover and into the employ of the royals due to succeed the English throne once the current English queen dies.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this story was the attention to detail Laura Purcell put into the descriptions of the dress and trappings of the court, their palaces (both splendid and rundown), their surroundings...really just everything is wonderfully described so that I was whisked off to the locales with our characters. It was quite easy to get lost in the story as our two main women - Henrietta and Princess (then Queen) Caroline - road the impossibly bumpy paths their lives ended up taking. Not being as familiar with this time period and the Hanoverian royals this attention to detail was very helpful in giving me a better appreciation of how their court and politics operated.

Something else I very much appreciated within the story was the attention taken to presenting the similarities between these two women, even as their lots in life were quite far apart. Both women are at the mercy of temperamental men (although it appears only Henrietta's husband was physically abusive) and have to all but give up their children in the pursuit of a future they long for. Both love their children dearly and try to win back their children's affection when they are later able to do so, neither necessarily getting the results they expected or wanted. Both women are also quite prideful and, in the end, both end up loving the same man.

One thing I have to note is that I never felt that Caroline and Henrietta developed a real friendship. While Caroline helped Henrietta when she first came to court the very fact that she is the one who pushed Henrietta into George's bed (basically threatening her if she did not comply), all with an aim to distract George with a mistress Caroline could manipulate, made me feel like Carolyn didn't really feel anything stronger for Henrietta than concern and mild amusement. I was clucking my tongue as Carolyn began distancing herself from Henrietta when the affair started and shaking my  head when Carolyn began actively disliking and undermining Henrietta's influence with the King. Carolyn's internal monologue did note that she knew she was being unfair to Henrietta given the fact that she herself pushed the two together, but this tampered my appreciation of Carolyn's character, which I had until then quite enjoyed.

The topsy turvy relationships between all the Hanoverians was a wake-up call for me, and I found it at times humorous and at other times horrifying. These royals fight, manipulate and undermind each other like nothing I've ever seen before. While Carolyn and George seem to have a very loving and respectful marriage, the rest of them are quite another story, especially King George I (Carolyn's father-in-law) and King George II (Carolyn's husband). They honestly seem to hate each other and with both being prone to fits of rage and vengefulness, I was shocked at the lengths they went to hurt each other and their legacies. With this family there was no need for scheming and attack from anyone on the outside...they did enough of that themselves! 

Being that I was not very familiar with the Hanoverians, I think Mistress of the Court was a wonderful introduction. They are quite an interesting dynasty and I am now very excited to learn more, hopefully starting with Laura Purcell's previous novel, Queen of Bedlam, which promises to deal with the women in King George III's life. With a start like this I can only imagine where these Hanoverians will go next! 

What Did I Think About the Cover?

It's pretty enough. It doesn't really offer much beyond the woman sitting before the curtain, but I do like that she is staring directly at the reader a little defiantly. I might have preferred a little more color or substance in the background, but this is still a cover that would draw my eye and have me turning it over to read more.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of Mistress of the Court in exchange for an honest review! Be sure to continue below for information on the author, the blog tour and how you can grab your own copy!

 

 

 

Praise for Mistress of the Court

 

 

"Ms. Purcell’s knowledge of the intimate life of the Hanoverians is stunning, and in this novel she has brought a remarkable, and unappreciated herione to gritty, heart-breaking life.” –Anita Seymour, author of Royalist Rebel

“Laura Purcell is a wonderful storyteller, and Mistress of the Court a fabulous Georgian read!”–Lucinda Brant, NY Times bestselling author of Georgian romances and mysteries

Buy the Book

 

 

Amazon UK | Amazon

 

 

About the Author

 

 

 Laura Purcell is a former Waterstones bookseller who lives in Colchester. She is a member of the Society for Court Studies and Historic Royal Palaces and featured on a recent PBS documentary, talking about Queen Caroline’s life at Hampton Court. She maintains a history blog at laurapurcell.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Giveaway Time!!

 

 

I am so excited to be able to offer one copy of Mistress of the Court up for giveaway, open worldwide!! All you have to do is enter your name and email address on the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to leave both your name and your email on the form so I can contact you if you are my winner (no email address, no entry!). For extra entries  you can follow the blog in various ways (all links are on the right hand sidebar) and leave the name/email you follow with on the form. That's it!

 

 

I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on October 14th, 2015 and will announce the winner here as well as email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email before I have to pick another winner. If you have already won this giveaway on another site please let me know so I can pick a new winner and give someone else a chance to win a copy of this great book.

 

 

Good Luck!!

 

 

 

Mistress of the Court Blog Tour Schedule

 

 

Wednesday, September 16th: Raven Haired Girl
Monday, September 21st: Hoser’s Blog
Wednesday, September 23rd: Living in the Kitchen with Puppies
Monday, September 28th: Unabridged Chick
Wednesday, September 30th: Books Without Any Pictures
Thursday, October 1st: The Maiden’s Court
Monday, October 5th: Broken Teepee
Monday, October 5th: Patricia’s Wisdom
Tuesday, October 6th: A Chick Who Reads
Wednesday, October 7th: A Literary Vacation
Thursday, October 8th: Just One More Chapter
Friday, October 9th: A Bookish Affair
Monday, October 12th: Luxury Reading
Tuesday, October 13th: Open Book Society
Wednesday, October 14th: #redhead.with.book
Tuesday, October 27th: Reading Lark
Date TBD: Romantic Historical Reviews
Date TBD: BookBub – author guest post
TBD: Bibliophilia, Please

 



Spotlight on Oliver & Jack At Lodgings in Lyme by Christina E. Pilz

Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Blue Rain Press
eBook & Paperback; 450 Pages

Genre: Historical/LGBT/M/M Romance


An ex-apprentice and his street thief companion flee the dangers of Victorian London and the threat of the hangman’s noose in search of family and the promise of a better life.

After Oliver Twist commits murder to protect Jack Dawkins (The Artful Dodger), both must flee London’s familiar but dangerous environs for safety elsewhere. Together they travel to Lyme Regis in the hopes of finding Oliver’s family. Along the way, Jack becomes gravely ill and Oliver is forced to perform manual labor to pay for the doctor’s bills.

While Oliver struggles to balance his need for respectability with his growing love for Jack, Jack becomes disenchanted with the staid nature of village life and his inability to practice his trade. But in spite of their personal struggles, and in the face of dire circumstances, they discover the depth of their love for each other.

 

Buy the Book

 

 

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | ITUNES | KOBO

 

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Christina was born in Waco, Texas in 1962. After living on a variety of air force bases, in 1972 her Dad retired and the family moved to Boulder, Colorado. There amidst the clear, dry air of the high plains, as the moss started to grow beneath her feet, her love for historical fiction began with a classroom reading of Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

She attended a variety of community colleges (Tacoma Community College) and state universities

(UNC-Greeley, CU-Boulder, CU-Denver), and finally found her career in technical writing, which, between layoffs, she has been doing for 18 years. During that time, her love for historical fiction and old-fashioned objects, ideas, and eras has never waned.

In addition to writing, her interests include road trips around the U.S. and frequent flights to England, where she eats fish and chips, drinks hard cider, and listens to the voices in the pub around her. She also loves coffee shops, mountain sunsets, prairie storms, and the smell of lavender. She is a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma.


Learn more about Christina on her website and blog, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.

Oliver and Jack At Lodgings in Lyme Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 28

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, September 29

Review at Bibliotica
Spotlight at I Heart Reading

Wednesday, September 30

Guest Post & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Friday, October 1

Spotlight at Book Nerd

Monday, October 5

Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, October 6

Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Friday, October 9

Spotlight at History Undressed

Tuesday, October 13

Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Wednesday, October 14

Review at Broken Teepee

 

 

 



Q & A with Katrell Christie, Author of TIGER HEART: My Unexpected Adventures to Make a Difference in Darjeeling and What I Learned About Fate, Fortitude, and Finding Family Half a World Away + Giveaway!!

Please join me in welcoming author Katrell Christie to A Literary Vacation! Her book, Tiger Heart, is the true story of how Katrell, a roller-derby-queen-turned-tea-shop owner, is changing the lives of impoverished young women in Darjeeling, India. What's even more amazing? A portion of the book sales for Tiger Heart will go to The Learning Tea, Katrell's organization that provides scholarships to these women. How wonderful is that?! So please enjoy this Q & A and be sure to read more about Katrell's book and enter to win one of TWO copies of Tiger Heart!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



 

Where did the title Tiger Heart come from?

 

 

One of the young women in my project in Darjeeling gave me the nickname Tiger Heart because she said it represented strength and compassion. The girls liked the name – tigers have a lot of powerful symbolism in India – and it stuck.

 

 

Why India?

 

 

It was really a fluke. I had no connection to India at all. But a regular customer at my tea shop in Atlanta was traveling there for a Rotary Club service project connected and she invited me along. I said no a few times and then, for some reason, I said yes. It was a whim that completely changed my life.

 

 

You have had some wild adventures traveling over there. What sticks with you?

 

 

Every trip has had some crazy highlights. There was the time my friend was nearly attacked by a feral monkey at a temple. On another trip my whole group became violently ill on a marathon train ride. I’ve been covered in chalk dust at a Hindu festival and hauled up the Himalaya Mountains in the back of livestock truck filled with chickens. I’ve come to really love India and its many surprises.

 

 

How did you find the young women who would become your first scholars?

 

 

A lot of walking up and down hills. Really! When I first arrived in Darjeeling I knew I wanted to find a way to help, but I really didn’t know what that would mean. I kept talking to people and one person would send me to another and so on and so on. When I finally arrived at a Buddhist orphanage I knew I had found the right place. I gravitated to the oldest girls there because they were set to age out and had nowhere to go.

 

 

And that is how The Learning Tea began?

 

 

Yeah. I just couldn’t walk away after meeting them. But if you had told me then that today I’d be responsible for a house full of young Indian college students I would have said you were nuts.

 

 

How did you model your project The Learning Tea?

 

 

I’m inspired by philanthropic ventures like Tom’s and Newman’s Own. They are able to run a business and also contribute to a greater good. That’s what I’m after with The Learning Tea. People can buy their coffee or tea lots of different places. When they choose my shop, they know they are helping educate young female college students in India.

 

 

What do you think of the Indian people?

 

 

I am blown away again and again by how giving they can be, especially when they often have so little. They live right in the moment and enjoy an uncomplicated happiness that leaves me in awe.

 

 

How did you come to open your shop - Dr. Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party?

 

 

The funny thing is I actually really like coffee better than tea! The little coffee shop near my apartment in Atlanta was closing and I liked the idea of opening a place that would be a community gathering spot. I think that’s what it’s become. My business partner is English and is a tea lover. He’s the one that moved us in that direction and it caught on.

 

 

How difficult was it to put your life down on paper?

 

 

I wanted to be as honest as possible, show the good along with the bad. I am far from perfect and have made lots of mistakes and I wanted to make sure those came through. On some of my earlier trips to India I kept a blog for some friends where I kept track of some of the crazier things that I saw and did. When we sat down to write, we were able to adapt a lot of those posts for the book, like a diary. It reminded me of things like colors and smells and people. It made the writing a little easier.

 

 

What do you hope readers take from the book?

 

 

That they can make a difference, even in a very small way, by the choices that they make. And that happiness can come from helping others. It’s amazing how good it can make you feel to see a smile on someone’s face and know you played a part in putting it there.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Katrell Christie with Shannon McCaffrey

ISBN:978-0-7573-1858-0      

Publication Date: October 6, 2015 (HCI)

 

 

In TIGER HEART: My Unexpected Adventures to Make a Difference in Darjeeling and What I Learned About Fate, Fortitude, and Finding Family Half a World Away (October 2015), Katrell Christie tells her remarkable story – how an impromptu trip to India inspired her to house and educate the country’s displaced young girls. Katrell never intended to visit India. In fact, her dream getaway involved a tropical beach and a margarita. But when this former art student turned roller-derby-rebel-turned-tea-shop owner met three teenage girls at a crowded Buddhist orphanage in Darjeeling, Katrell knew she had to help. What began as a trip on a whim proved to be a life-altering experience that would change the fate of these displaced girls, and others to follow. Katrell soon would find a new purpose in India, and in the most unlikely way, her life would be eternally entwined with women from a whole new world. TIGER HEART is beautifully written and offers a shot-gun seat on an inspiring trek across the globe, capturing the essence of India: its quirks, its traditions, and its people. It examines the ties that bind us, the power that each of us has to make a difference, and the way we live, love and find meaning in our lives. 



While in Darjeeling, Katrell learned that the girls in this orphanage would soon “age out,” without any place to go and that the fate of many of them was bleak. At 16-years-old the girls are “evicted” from the orphanage and left to fend for themselves in a society where one’s family is the vital support network. Many of these girls faced grim futures as laborers or domestic servants. Some might have been relegated to lives of sexual exploitation. When Katrell learned about these “throwaway” girls, she couldn't walk away. Instead she moved forward--on a mission to help in any way, and once back in Atlanta, founded The Learning Tea, which today has offered scholarships to 15 young women in Darjeeling. By selling tea, cupcakes, scones, and other items, Katrell raised enough funds to provide life necessities for the girls, providing them with life necessities -- a safe home, an education, uniforms, medical care, as well as music lessons, tutoring, computer classes, and other extracurricular activities -- all because of one unlikely hero and her tea shop.



TIGER HEART recounts Katrell's riveting adventures in India, through the chaotic streets of Mumbai, to tiny villages with roadside tea huts and hot samosas, to elephant crossings and snow-capped mountain switchbacks of the Himalayas--an unexpected backdrop where Katrell fell in love with a country that was gorgeous and heartbreaking all at once, where tragedy, humor, resilience and kindness were inextricably bound. Katrell has readers sipping tea with her at roadside tea huts and tasting hot samosas. The smells from small villages waft from the pages as readers accompany her on her riveting and sometimes hilarious adventures across the globe in her mission to empower the young women who have become a part of her family. Katrell dodges feral monkeys, slams shots of whiskey to win acceptance at a local Rotary Club, and forges lasting friendships with the people who step up to help her cause. Katrell will inspire readers as she shares her story and her mission to make a difference through the power of educating girls. Fate may have led Katrell to a tiny spot on a map, but it was a kinship that brought her back home a half a world away.

About the Author

 

Katrell Christie is the founder and owner of The Learning Tea, a project that provides schooling and TIGER HEART is Katrell’s first book. She lives in Atlanta, GA. Please visit www.thelearningtea.com for more information or connect with the project on Twitter.
a safe haven for impoverished young women in India. Through her efforts with The Learning Tea, Ms. Christie has changed the lives of many women living in Darjeeling, India.



Shannon McCaffrey is an award-winning reporter focusing on investigative stories for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is an avid reader, a mother, and a runner.

*Click here to purchase Tiger Heart in paperwork or Kindle format on Amazon*

 

 

 

Giveaway Time!! 

 

 

Thanks to publicist Jessica Jonap I have two (2) copies of Tiger Heart to give away!! If you would like to enter to win one of two copies (US only) please fill out the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to leave both your name and your email on the form so I can contact you if you are my winner (no email address, no entry!). For extra entries you can follow the blog in various ways (all links are on the right hand sidebar) and leave the name/email you follow with on the form. That's it!


I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on October 12th, 2015 and will announce the winner here as well as email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email before I have to pick another winner. If you have already won this giveaway on another site please let me know so I can pick a new winner and give someone else a chance to win a copy of this great book.

 

Good Luck!!

 

 

 

 



Excerpt and Spotlight on The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin + Giveaway!!

Publication Date: June 3, 2014
NAL/Penguin Group
Formats: eBook, Paperback, Audio
352 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction


As recovery from World War II begins, expat American Nora Tours travels from her home in southern France to London in search of her missing sixteen-year-old daughter. There, she unexpectedly meets up with an old acquaintance, famous model-turned-photographer Lee Miller. Neither has emerged from the war unscathed. Nora is racked with the fear that her efforts to survive under the Vichy regime may have cost her daughter’s life. Lee suffers from what she witnessed as a war correspondent photographing the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

Nora and Lee knew each other in the heady days of late 1920’s Paris, when Nora was giddy with love for her childhood sweetheart, Lee became the celebrated mistress of the artist Man Ray, and Lee’s magnetic beauty drew them all into the glamorous lives of famous artists and their wealthy patrons. But Lee fails to realize that her friendship with Nora is even older, that it goes back to their days as children in Poughkeepsie, New York, when a devastating trauma marked Lee forever. Will Nora’s reunion with Lee give them a chance to forgive past betrayals, and break years of silence?

A novel of freedom and frailty, desire and daring, The Beautiful American portrays the extraordinary relationship between two passionate, unconventional woman.

Praise for The Beautiful American

“Will transport you to expat Paris.” – Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist

“A brilliant, beautifully written literary masterpiece” – Sandra Dallas, author of Fallen Women

“Leaves its essence of love, loss, regret and hope long after the novel concludes.” – Erika Robuck, author of Fallen Beauty

“Achingly beautiful and utterly mesmerizing…her vividly drawn characters…come heartbreakingly alive in their obsessions, tragedies and triumphs” – Jennifer Robson, author of Somewhere in France

“From Poughkeepsie to Paris, from the razzmatazz of the twenties to the turmoil of World War Two and the perfume factories of Grasse, Mackin draws you into the world of expatriate artists and photographers and tells a story of love, betrayal, survival and friendship…an engaging and unforgettable novel” – Renee Rosen, author Doll Face

Buy the Book

 

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOKS-A-MILLION | GOOGLE PLAY | IBOOKSTORE | INDIEBOUND | POWELL’S

Excerpt from The Beautiful American

In the ornate doorway of Harrods perfume hall people rushed past me as I stood, frozen.

A radio played somewhere, Churchill's voice rising over the crowd, commending the English again for surviving the storm-beaten voyage. The war was over, we were picking up the pieces and carefully, slowly putting our lives back together. But my daughter was lost. The grief struck me anew and I was immobile in a doorway, unable to go forwards or backwards, unmoored by grief.

A summer afternoon long ago Jamie and I went to Upton Lake to swim and make love, and there had been a boat, abandoned by rich summer people who didn't know how to tie a knot, and the boat had bobbed in the waves, turning this way and that as a storm stalked over the lake. I was that boat. "Move on!" the doorman shouted at me, but my legs wouldn't work. I was exhausted. When I walked there was a chant in my head, Dahlia is gone, Dahlia is gone, over and over, a syllable with every step, so that I hated to move. People pushed past me, some smiling in sympathy, some merely irritated. Their string shopping bags and brown-wrapped boxes jostled me; their elbows poked.

The doorman frowned. He took me by the arm and pulled me out of that flood of people. "Look, dearie," he said. "Are you coming or going?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

His expression softened. He was an older man with a deeply lined face, pale eyes sunk into their sockets, and there was an authority to him that went beyond his doorman's uniform. Probably during the war he had been an air raid warden. He would have been too old to be a soldier.

"Well then," he said. "Why don't you go in? That's always a good starting point. There you go." He turned me around, gently, and gave me a little push, back to that threshold, where I suddenly remembered I wanted to enter, to continue the search for my daughter.

I moved through the doorway, overwhelmed by the synthetic florals and citruses of the post-war perfumes. They enter the nose aggressively, fighting for attention like unruly school children. What I most remembered about my own child was how the long braid she wore down her back smelled of lavender, a single note of innocence. My lost child.
Sixteen years ago, I ran away. And now, my daughter had, too, or at least I hoped she had, for the other possibilities were unthinkable. But after months of searching, I hadn't found Dahlia in any of those places where a young girl might find shelter: not in the homes of friends in southern France; not in Paris in the narrow streets of Montparnasse, the cafés and gardens and boulevards of those years with Jamie; not in the orphanages that sheltered children whose parents had not survived. She had left no trace.

So I had come, finally, to London, to the almost-beginning. Beginnings are like endings, never completely finished, simply receding like the horizon. Here, in the doorway of Harrods, one rainy morning almost two decades ago, Jamie and I had agreed that we would leave England and go to Paris, and that if all went well, we would marry and begin our family. I had told Dahlia that story, how I had dreamed of her years before she was born.                                                                                

I had already been in London for three days, walking the streets, asking hotel clerks and checking registers at shelters, looking for her, fighting down panic and dread. The boarding house where Jamie and I had stayed had been bombed and so had the little pub where we had had our noon fish and chips and pint. There was destruction everywhere. St. Paul's Cathedral had been bombed, St. James Palace, Houses of Parliament. Half the population of London had been made homeless. This was no place for a young girl on her own, even one with papers and a little cash, for her papers and her savings had disappeared with her.

Dahlia is sixteen, I kept reminding myself. She was tall and strong and sensible. She spoke French and English fluently and could get by in Italian and German. She had good common sense. She had what she needed to survive, if her luck held.

How had I produced such a child, me, the gardener's daughter from Poughkeepsie? Dahlia was a wonder to me, but in my dread I didn't think of her as strong and competent, but as a lost child crying for her mother.

My lost child. Would I be returning home without her again? I had gone back and forth from Paris to Grasse for months, always leaving home with hope, returning in despair. Home again, without Dahlia. The thought kept me motionless inside that doorway.
"Hey!" a voice muttered. "Move on." A woman, tall, burdened with an armful of parcels, almost knocked me over in her haste to get out the door.

"Watch yourself!" I snapped back. The woman looked at me over the top of her packages.

"Oh my God," she said.

Once she had lowered her arms and I could see her face, I knew her immediately. Lee Miller.

The very famous and beautiful Lee Miller, the Vogue model, the muse for the artist Man Ray who had made of her lips an iconic image of a woman's mouth floating in the sky. She had gone on to become a famous photographer -- the only woman photographer who covered battles, not just field hospital follow-ups and stories about the war nurses. She had photographed the London Blitz, the siege of St. Malo, the Alsace Campaign, the camps in Germany. Nightmare photos.

Lee was heavier than I remembered, and there was a puffiness around the eyes and in the cheeks that drinkers sometimes got. But nothing, not war, alcoholism or middle age, could mar that perfect nose and those cheek bones, the thick wavy blonde hair now worn post-war style, falling over one eye. Those oh-so-famous lips.

We stood for a long while, staring at each other in disbelief. It’s not often that you run smack into your own past.

About the Author

Jeanne Mackin’s novel, The Beautiful American (New American Library), based on the life of photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller, received the 2014 CNY award for fiction. Her other novels include A Lady of Good Family, about gilded age personality Beatrix Farrand, The Sweet By and By, about nineteenth century spiritualist Maggie Fox, Dreams of Empire set in Napoleonic Egypt, The Queen’s War, about Eleanor of Aquitaine, and The Frenchwoman, set in revolutionary

France and the Pennsylvania wilderness.

Jeanne Mackin is also the author of the Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers (Cornell University publications) and co-editor of The Book of Love (W.W. Norton.) She was the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society and a keynote speaker for The Dickens Fellowship. Her work in journalism won awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, in Washington, D.C. She has taught or conducted workshops in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and at Goddard College in Vermont.

You can learn more about Jeanne Mackin on her website and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Giveaway Time!!

 

 

To enter the tour-wide giveaway to win a paperback copy of The Beautiful American please complete the GLEAM form HERE.

 

Rules 

 

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on October 2nd. You must be 18 or older to enter.

 

Giveaway is open to US residents only.

 

 

 Only one entry per household.

 

All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion

 

Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

 

 

Good Luck!!

 

 

 

The Beautiful American Blog Tour Schedule

 

 

Monday, September 21

Spotlight at Let Them Read Books

Tuesday, September 22

Interview at Please Pass the Books

Wednesday, Spetember 23

Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Spotlight at What Is That Book About

Friday, September 25

Guest Post at A Bookish Affair
Review & Interview at History Undressed
Spotlight at Book Nerd

Sunday, September 27

Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Monday, September 28

Review at I’m Shelf-ish
Guest Post at To Read, or Not to Read

Tuesday, September 29

Review at Build a Bookshelf
Review & Interview at Jorie Loves a Story
Spotlight at Caroline Wilson Writes

Wednesday, September 30

Review at Queen of All She Reads
Spotlight at View From the Birdhouse
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, October 1

Review at Dive Under the Cover
Interview at The Old Shelter
Guest Post at Books and Benches
Spotlight at The Lit Bitch

Friday, October 2

Review at A Fold in the Spine
Review & Interview at Singing Librarian Books
Spotlight & Excerpt at A Literary Vacation

 

 

 

 



Avelynn by Marissa Campbell: Review and Giveaway!!

Publication Date: September 8, 2015
St. Martin’s Press
Formats: eBook, Paperback, Hardcover
Pages: 320
ISBN13: 978-1250063939

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Synopsis

One extraordinary Saxon noblewoman and one fearless Viking warrior find passion and danger in this dazzling and sensuous debut.


Marissa Campbell’s debut novel is a winning combination of romance, history, and adventure sure to appeal to fans of Diana Gabaldon.

It is 869. For eighteen years, Avelynn, the beautiful and secretly pagan daughter of the Eadlorman of Somerset has lived in an environment of love and acceptance. She hasn’t yet found a man to make her heart race, but her father has not pressured her to get married. Until now. With whispers of war threatening their land, her father forces Avelynn into a betrothal with Demas, a man who only covets her wealth and status. The dreaded marriage looming, she turns to her faith, searching for answers in an ancient ritual along the coast, only to find Alrik the Blood-Axe and sixty Viking berserkers have landed.

Alrik is unlike any man she has ever known, strong and intriguing. Likewise, he instantly falls for her beauty and courage. The two stumble into a passionate love affair, but it’s more than just a greedy suitor who will try to keep them apart.

As the Saxons and Vikings go to war, Avelynn and Alrik find themselves caught in the throes of fate. Can they be true to their people as well as to each other?

What Did I Think About the Story?

Avelynn is one of my favorite characters I have come across in a while. When the novel first opens she is almost too smart and willful for her own good, especially given the time she lives in. But being raised and educated to believe she was meant for more than the traditional roles of a well-born girl, not only expected to run her father's estate when he is gone but to become a pagan high priestess (this, of course, hidden from most everyone since the move to Christianity would find her burned for that designation), she is not willing to let her father broker a marriage to a man she doesn't love, even if it might keep her safe from the invading Vikings. This spirit doesn't fade but deepens and matures, even when Avelynn is faced with a murderous and conniving fiancée and uncle determined to take everything away from her or with the possibility of having to leave the world she has always known behind to escape to freedom with Alrik. Through it all her faith, strength and determination to set all the wrongs that befall her right and claim what is hers never waivers and she remains true to herself. Given all that happens to her during the novel I find this remarkable and I was cheering her on the whole way.

The mysticism and traditions of Avelynn's pagan faith are fascinating and very well developed. This sort of otherworldly aspect was a wonderful counterpoint to the more solid and real dangers and obligations that she faced in her life. I found it interesting that the "savage, blood-thirsty" Vikings seemed to have  more respect for Avelynn's religion than her English Christian counterparts. Through the novel it was made perfectly clear that there were horrid individuals on both sides of the battle, but kindness and loyalty too.

Sensitive readers should be warned that there are quite graphic battle and sex scenes throughout Avelynn. I found them perfectly fitting given the context of the novel but thought it should be noted for those that are squeamish about that sort of thing. The passion between Avelynn and Alrik is palpable and watching it develop and deepen into true love and respect was very satisfying.

The book ends with just about every possible storyline left waving in the breeze unresolved. Going over what those are would give away too much of the surprising plot twists but I will say I am very eager to see what happens next for Avelynn, Alrik and many of the other characters. Being that Avelynn seems resolved to take a stand against those that have wronged her, I have a feeling the next book is going to be choked full of action and conflict.  

Loving history as much as I do, I really wish the author had included an author note of some kind at the end of the novel, giving the reader a better idea of what was fact and where the story moved off to fiction. The battle strategies, celebration traditions and both Christian and Pagan worship practices are very well drawn and I will have to look further into whether these are true to history or not. I plan to do just that as having read Avelynn has sparked an interest in Medieval history and I cannot wait to learn more about it.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I like it a lot! The girl on the front looks somewhat like the Avelynn I kept picturing in my head, with the long blonde hair in a loose, sort of messy braid. The Viking ship off the coast fits the portions of the novel where Avelynn and Alrik come together in secret and the raven plays a big part in Avelynn's early visions of the devastation to come. Not my favorite cover ever but definitely eye-catching.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

Thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of Avelynn in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to continue below for more information about the author, the book, the rest of the blog tour and your chance to win a copy!

 

 

Praise for Avelynn

 

 

"Marissa Campbell brings a long-forgotten era splendidly to life in this adventurous and passionate debut.” – Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author

“Avelynn is a captivating tale of star-crossed lovers. He is a Viking and she is a Saxon. Their struggle to be together will lead you on an exciting journey through a background filled with rich and detailed description.” – Connie Mason, New York Times bestselling author of Viking Warrior

“Marissa Campbell’s Avelynn is a fast-paced, rollicking historical novel whose irresistible heroine starts out as the willful daughter of a Saxon earl and evolves into a warrior and leader, as fierce as she is passionate.” – Barbara Rogan, author of A Dangerous Fiction and Suspicion

“A hot-blooded tale of Viking invasion, Saxon valor, and a love that conquers kingdoms. Get ready to be bewitched by the bold, brave Avelynn.” – Barbara Kyle, author of The Queen’s Exiles

 

Book Trailer

 

 

 

Buy the Book

 

 

AMAZON US | AMAZON CAN | AMAZON UK | BARNES & NOBLE | CHAPTERS

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Marissa Campbell is a published freelance author, and co-author of the award-winning, spiritual self-help book Life: Living in Fulfillment Every Day.

Look for her debut historical fiction Avelynn coming September 8th, 2015, from St. Martin’s Press.
Currently hard at work on the second book in the Avelynn series, she is a proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Romance Writers of America, Writer’s Community of Durham Region, and local critique group B7.

When she is not writing, she is busy looking after her wonderful children, spending time with her fantastic husband, hanging out with her awesome friends, teaching yoga, dancing, laughing, and having fun!

For more information visit http://marissacampbell.com. You can also follow Marissa Campbell on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

 

Giveaway Time!!

 

 

Thanks again to the lovely Amy at HF Virtual Book Tours I have one paperback copy of Avelynn up for grabs! This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only and all you have to do is enter your name and email address on the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to enter BOTH your name and email address so I can contact you if you are the winner.

 

If you would like extra entries you can follow me on various social  media sites (links are on the right hand sidebar) just be sure to leave the name/email address you follow with on the giveaway form (I check!).

 

That's it! I'll pick a winner on October 8th and the winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email before I have to pick another winner.

 

Good Luck!!

 

 

Giveaway Rules 

 

You must be 18 years old to enter

 

Only one entry per household

 

All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.

 

 

 

Avelynn Blog Tour Schedule

 

 

Monday, September 7

Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, September 8

Review at A Chick Who Reads
Review & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Obsession

Wednesday, September 9

Review at Book Lovers Paradise
Excerpt at What Is That Book About
Review & Giveaway at Unshelfish

Thursday, September 10

Interview at Unshelfish
Guest Post at Book Lovers Paradise

Friday, September 11

Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book

Saturday, September 12

Excerpt & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Sunday, September 13

Review at Genre Queen

Monday, September 14

Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Tuesday, September 15

Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Friday, September 18

Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection
Spotlight at Romantic Historical Reviews

Monday, September 21

Interview & Excerpt at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, September 22

Review at Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, September 23

Review at Curling up by the Fire

Thursday, September 24

Review & Giveaway at 100 Pages a Day

Sunday, September 27

Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews

Monday, September 28

Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Tuesday, September 29

Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review & Giveaway at Reading Lark

Wednesday, September 30

Interview at Jorie Loves a Story
Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, October 1

Review & Giveaway at A Literary Vacation

Friday, October 2

Review at The True Book Addict