The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley: Review and Giveaway!

Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Atria Books
Formats: eBook, Hardcover
Pages: 480

Series: Book One, The Seven Sisters
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Internationally bestselling author Lucinda Riley returns with THE SEVEN SISTERS, the first novel in a spellbinding new series (seven books in all) inspired by the ancient myth of the Seven Sisters of Pleiades. THE SEVEN SISTERS takes readers from the shores of Lake Geneva to modern day Rio de Janeiro to bohemian Paris of the 1920s in a sweeping saga of passion, sacrifice, and the enduring power of art.

Upon the death of their wealthy, enigmatic father, Maia D’Apliese and her sisters convene at their family home, a secluded estate on the shores of Lake Geneva. Each of the sisters had been adopted at birth from a different part of the globe. Maia, the eldest, is the first to learn of their adoptive father’s death. Confusion is added to her grief when the sisters — Maia, the beauty; Ally, the leader; Star, the peacemaker; CeCe, the pragmatist; Tiggy, the nurturer; and Electra, the fireball – gather to hear the reading of the will. Their father has left each of his daughters a simple clue about her birthplace.

Until now, Maia has constructed her life so that she does not have to leave the safety of the family nest. But spurred by her father’s final bequest, Maia embarks on a journey to Rio de Janeiro to discover the truth of her origins. In Rio, Maia is accompanied by Floriano Quintelas, a novelist and amateur historian, who is intrigued to discover that Maia is apparently descended from the Aires Cabrals, an aristocratic Portuguese family who have been prominent in the country for the past two centuries. Together, they delve into her complex family history, a quest that is helped by their discovery of the crumbling mansion where an elderly woman – Maia’s biological grandmother — is on the verge of death. When the old woman’s caretaker secretly slips Maia a stack of old letters, an astonishing family history unfolds.

What Did I Think About the Story?

You know when you find an author you LOVE and you instantly go out and buy every book they've written right after reading the first book because you are so excited to read more from the author? That was me after reading Lucinda Riley's novel The Lavender Garden (you can click the title to read my review). Well, imagine my immense pleasure when I discovered that Ms. Riley not only had a brand spanking new book coming out but that this novel was the start of a seven book series (*brain explodes with happiness*)!

This new series is loosely based on the mythology of the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades and will tell the stories of seven adopted sisters, each named after one of these mythological sisters ( it is noted at the beginning of the novel that the girl that would have been their seventh sister, named  Merope, was never found and adopted by their father. As this series is meant to be seven books and each book is supposed to deal with a separate sister, I have my fingers crossed that the seventh book will be about the elusive Merope!).

The first book in the series is The Seven Sisters, and at the beginning the girls learn that their loving yet mysterious adopted father has died. I have to note that their father, nicknamed Pa Salt, is exactly how I would picture a God-like character being when placed within our modern world. He's extremely benevolent and caring to his daughters and staff but also very removed, secretive and rules this world he created completely. He creates this luxurious fairy-tale like "kingdom" named Atlantis that is completely separated from the rest of the world on Lake Geneva and brings up his six adopted daughters there, giving them everything they could possibly want and encouraging them to find their passion in life and to go out and get it. At the same time he never tells any of them where they come from, what he does for a living or even where he goes when he isn't at home and brooks no argument when it comes to the way he runs their lives. Even after his death he is controlling the situation by making it impossible for the girls to attend a funeral and by giving each of them the coordinates to where they were born as well as a personal letter to each. Each daughter can now decide if she wants to find out where she comes from or whether she wants to move on with her life as it has always been.

The Seven Sisters focuses mainly on the oldest sister, Maia. She has always been the most responsible and grounded one, intelligent and beautiful but  never brave enough to leave the sanctuary that is Atlantis. She has continued to live there, working as a book translator and always falling back on the excuse that she needs to be there for their father as he ages. Now that he has died and armed with the whereabouts to where she was born and her letter from her father telling her to open herself up to life and love, she resolves to embrace this new life and try and discover her biological family's history.

The book synopsis above does a great job of summarizing Maia's experiences in Rio so I don't need to do that again, but what I will say is that, as Maia learns the tumultuous and dramatic history of her great-grandmother, Izabela Aires Cabral, she begins to process her own grief and guilt over some actions from her past that have left her unable to love or fully open up and trust people since, and she finally allows herself to grow and become the woman she was always meant to be.

Alternating with Maia's present day story is that of Izabela, who was forced to choose between her family's wishes and needs and her ultimate heart's desire. These sections perfectly transport the reader to 1920's Rio as the magnificent Christ the Redeemer statue is being constructed as well as to the Bohemian streets and artists' ateliers of Paris. These are vibrant worlds full of color, heat, passion and heartache and I absolutely loved not only immersing myself in it all but learning so much about the process of sculpting and creating such luscious works of art as the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Even with my great love of history, I have to say that, in this instance, my favorite parts of the  novel dealt with the present day sisters and Maia's discovery and transformation. There are just so many delicious questions left unanswered that I know the future novels will tackle ( What do all the other sisters' letters say? Where are they all from and will each choose to travel there and research their history? Will Star, the quiet and unassuming sister break away from her domineering sister CeCe? And who and where is this seventh sister they've never met?). I, for one, am absolutely biting at the bit to find out!

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I absolutely love it! It fits the story perfectly. The globe-like object at the top is an armillary sphere, which is "a model of the celestial globe constructed from rings and hoops representing the equator, the tropics, and other celestial circles, and able to revolve on its axis" (in case, like me, you didn't already know this) and plays a centralized part in how the sisters discover where they are each from. The bottom of the picture represents Rio and not only the picture but the warm colors do a splendid job of invoking the hot, sultriness that is Rio. And of course we have the young woman representing Maia, the sister who dominates this story. I can't think of anything else I would want out of this cover!


My Rating: 5.0/5.0

 

 

Thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of The Seven Sisters 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 The Seven Sisters

 

 

 

“A brilliant page-turner, soaked in glamour and romance.” -The Daily Mail

“Riley launches her most ambitious andexciting writing project to date……a labyrinth of seductive time-switchstories, the enchanting brand of novel writing which has made Riley one of thebest women’s fiction authors on the market… An epic start to an epic series.” -The Lancashire Evening Post

 

The Inspiration For The Seven Sisters Book Series

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy the Book

 

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-a-Million
IndieBound

 

 

More Titles From Lucinda Riley

 

 

 The Orchid House

The Lavender Garden
Girl on the Cliff
The Italian Girl
The Midnight Rose

 

 

About the Author

Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland and during her childhood travelled extensively abroad, particularly to the Far East to visit her father.

Moving to London she became an actress working in film, theatre and television. Five years ago she
designed and built a house on the island of Koh Chang in Thailand, where her father had purchased land many years before. Her passion for history combined with her love of travel, and Thailand in particular, inspired her to write her novel Hothouse Flower, published by Penguin in November 2010.

She currently lives in Norfolk and France with her husband and four children.

For more information please visit Lucinda’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Goodreads.

 

 

Giveaway Time!!

 

 

Thanks again to the lovely Amy at HF Virtual Book Tours I have one paperback copy of The Seven Sisters up for grabs! This giveaway is open to US 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 June 19th 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.

 

 

 

The Seven Sisters Blog Tour Schedule

 

 

 

Monday, June 1

Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Spotlight & Giveaway at A Novel Review

Tuesday, June 2

Review at Just One More Chapter
Spotlight at Let them Read Books

Wednesday, June 3

Review at Always With a Book
Review & Giveaway at 100 Pages a Day

Thursday, June 4

Review at Book Nerd
Review at The Lit Bitch

Saturday, June 6

Interview & Giveaway at Bibliophilia, Please

Sunday, June 7

Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Monday, June 8

Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, June 9

Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Wednesday, June 10

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Thursday, June 11

Review at She is Too Fond of Books

Friday, June 12

Review at A Novel Review
Review at A Literary Vacation
Spotlight & Giveaway at To Read, or Not to Read

 

 

 

 

 



Q & A with Elizabeth Fremantle, Author of the New Historical Fiction Novel, Watch the Lady + Giveaway!!

Have I mentioned that I'm a Tudor history freak? No?! Well, let me just confess it here: I am a HUGE fan of all things Tudor! It all started with The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory and I've never looked back. There are just so many fascinating variables that can be addressed and expanded upon by a talented author ready to dive in and do so. Today I have a Q & A with one such author, Elizabeth Fremantle, who's newest novel, Watch the Lady, thrusts the reader into the heart of Queen Elizabeth I's court. I'll be reading this one soon and cannot wait!  I'll of course share my review then but, in the meantime, please welcome Ms. Fremantle to A Literary Vacation and be sure to continue after the Q & A for more information about Watch the Lady and a chance to win a copy of your own!



Hello Elizabeth! I have been a huge fan of historical fiction novels, especially those set in or around the Tudor era, for as long as I can remember! There just seems to be an unlimited amount of angles, characters and events from which to approach this time period. In Watch the Lady, you give us the story of a little known player at Elizabeth I’s court: Lady Penelope Devereux, a woman who not only inspired sonnets but plotted against her Queen. Where did you come up with the idea?

 

 

I had Penelope Devereux in mind from the start of my research for a Tudor trilogy. I wanted to map out the period of female rule in the second half of the sixteenth century through the perspectives of different women. I began with Katherine Parr and through her story we see the young Mary and Elizabeth Tudor who are both destined to become queen. But I was keen not to make them the main focus in any of the stories but rather show the lives of other women close to the throne and thereby gain a broader understanding of the Tudor court.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For WATCH THE LADY Penelope seemed the perfect means through which to explore the final years of Elizabeth’s reign because she was a woman at the very heart of so much of the action. Not only was she a legendary beauty and the muse of a great poet but she was a highly political and controversial figure and very much her own woman. Her behavior and character seemed to me something that the modern reader would be able to identify with.

 

 

What draws you to historical fiction? Are there any particular times in history you gravitate towards (other than Tudor history of course) or do you just enjoy history in general? Have you found any other little known historical figures you would love to write about?

I’m interested in times of change, so the Tudor period is particularly fascinating to me because of the Reformation, which shook society to the roots. It is at those moments that interesting things begin to happen. I’m now working on four books set in the Stuart period, immediately following the Tudors. That was a time equally beset with devastating changes, culminating in the English Civil War and there are some extraordinary women from the time whose lives I’m keen to explore.

One is Arbella Stuart, who’s the protagonist of my next novel – the follow up to WATCH THE LADY. She was raised to be Elizabeth’s heir only to see the throne go to her cousin James I. Raised in virtual incarceration, she made a bid for freedom at great personal risk. Following that I intend to write about Frances Howard a young woman who became enmeshed in a mysterious murder at the Tower of London.

 
What does a typical day in your life look like?  When do you fit in time to write?

I’m mostly at my desk from morning to night. I’m boringly disciplined about writing time and word count (minimum of 1,000 words a day) but that’s the way to make it happen. I walk the dogs in the morning then work all day until their evening walk and don’t stop for lunch. I do have to make time for promotional work, though it takes second place to writing.

 

*You can see "A Day in the Life of...Elizabeth Freemantle" here* 



A lot of authors have become huge on social media, not only promoting their work but interacting with their readers and offering up giveaways, book recommendations, etc. Are you a big proponent of using social media in this way? How do you prefer to interact with your fans?

 

 

 

I enjoy ‘meeting’ readers on Facebook and Goodreads as people are really engaged on those sites and I feature regular giveaways. I’m branching out too, for example I’ll be soon running a Q&A on Facebook, which will give people a chance to get involved in a discussion and will be making some interesting clips to post. As I mentioned above though, the writing has to come first.

 

 

I’ve noticed that a lot of authors are also big readers. When you have time for leisure reading what sorts of books do you gravitate towards? Have you read anything good lately?

I usually like to read things that are very different from my own, so lots of contemporary fiction and classics. I review fiction for a UK newspaper so reading is still work but it doesn’t make it any less pleasurable. Two recent favourites are Eve Chase’s BLACK RABBIT HALL and Laura Barnett’s THE VERSIONS OF US. They are both stunning debuts.



Are you working on any future books at this time? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

 

I mentioned above my Stuart quartet, four books which will work as a continuation of the Tudor trilogy. They will focus on Arbella Stuart and the poet Aemilia Lanyer; Jacobean murderess Frances Howard; Civil War queen Henrietta Maria and restoration playwright Aphra Behn.



Thank you so much to Elizabeth for stopping by and answering my questions! I don't know about any of you but her Stuart quartet of books sounds PHENOMENAL!!! I cannot WAIT for them to come out!


If any of Elizabeth's books have piqued your interest or this Q & A has brought up questions you would like to ask Elizabeth, she will be hosting a Q & A session on her Facebook page on June 16th from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM UK time (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST). So just go on over to her Facebook page during this time and interact with the author herself!


   

 

Publication Date: June 9th, 2015

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

ISBN 9781476703121

560 pages

 

 

Celebrated poet’s muse. Trusted queen’s maid.

Adulteress. Enemy of the State.

Who is the real Penelope?

 

 

From “a brilliant new player in the court of royal fiction” (People), comes the mesmerizing story of Lady Penelope Devereux—the daring young beauty in the Tudor court, who inspired Sir Philip Sidney’s famous sonnets even while she plotted against Queen Elizabeth.

 

 

Penelope Devereux arrives at Queen Elizabeth’s court where she and her brother, the Earl of Essex, are drawn into the aging Queen’s favor. Young and naïve, Penelope, though promised elsewhere, falls in love with Philip Sidney who pours his heartbreak into the now classic sonnet series Astrophil and Stella. But Penelope is soon married off to a man who loathes her. Never fainthearted, she chooses her moment and strikes a deal with her husband: after she gives birth to two sons, she will be free to live as she chooses, with whom she chooses. But she is to discover that the course of true love is never smooth.

 

 

Meanwhile Robert Cecil, ever loyal to Elizabeth, has his eye on Penelope and her brother. Although it seems the Earl of Essex can do no wrong in the eyes of the Queen, as his influence grows, so his enemies gather. Penelope must draw on all her political savvy to save her brother from his own ballooning ambition and Cecil’s trap, while daring to plan for an event it is treason even to think about.

 

 

Unfolding over the course of two decades and told from the perspectives of Penelope and her greatest enemy, the devious politician Cecil, Watch the Lady chronicles the last gasps of Elizabeth’s reign, and the deadly scramble for power in a dying dynasty.

 

 

 

Praise for Watch the Lady

 

 

"This is a superbly written novel . . . Fremantle is surely a major new voice in historical fiction and this book is the answer to the question about what Hilary Mantel fans should read while waiting for the final part of her trilogy." – The Bookseller

 

 

"Intrigue, romance, and treachery abound in Fremantle’s debut novel . . . . This compulsively readable fictional biography of the ultimate survivor is infused with the type of meticulous attention to historical detailing that discerning fans of Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory have come to expect in the Tudor canon." – Booklist

 

 

"Fremantle manages to combine pacey storytelling with superb background…terrifically entertaining." – The Sunday Times

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Photograph by Paola Pieroni 

Elizabeth Fremantle is the author of Sisters of Treason, Queen’s Gambit, and Watch the Lady,  has contributed to Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times (London), and other publications. She has also reviewed fiction for The Sunday Express. She lives in London,
and
England.


You can learn more about Elizabeth Fremantle and her books by visiting her website and you can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and  Pinterest.

Buy the Book

Simon and Schuster
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indiebound
Books-A-Million
Apple
Google Play

Giveaway Time!!



 

Thanks to Nina at Simon and Schuster I have a SIGNED copy of Watch the Lady to give away to you guys! The giveaway will be open to US only and all you need to do to earn an entry 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.

 

For extra entries you can follow me on various social  media sites (links on the right hand sidebar), just be sure to enter the name/email address you follow with on the form (I check!).

 

That's it!

 

 I'll pick a winner on June 18th and the winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email address before I have to pick another winner.

 

Good luck everyone!!

 

 

 

The Outer Banks House: Review and Giveaway!

Publication Date: June 8, 2010
Crown Publishing
Formats: Ebook, Paperback, Hardcover

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Synopsis

As the wounds of the Civil War are just beginning to heal, one fateful summer would forever alter the course of a young girl’s life.

In 1868, on the barren shores of post-war Outer Banks North Carolina, the once wealthy Sinclair family moves for the summer to one of the first cottages on the ocean side of the resort village of Nags Head. Seventeen-year-old Abigail is beautiful, book-smart, but sheltered by her plantation life and hemmed-in by her emotionally distant family. To make good use of time, she is encouraged by her family to teach her father’s fishing guide, the good-natured but penniless Benjamin Whimble, how to read and write. And in a twist of fate unforeseen by anyone around them, there on the porch of the cottage, the two come to love each other deeply, and to understand each other in a way that no one else does.

But when, against everything he claims to represent, Ben becomes entangled in Abby’s father’s Ku Klux Klan work, the terrible tragedy and surprising revelations that one hot Outer Banks night brings forth threaten to tear them apart forever.

With vivid historical detail and stunning emotional resonance, Diann Ducharme recounts a dramatic story of love, loss, and coming of age at a singular and rapidly changing time in one of America’s most beautiful and storied communities.


Download the Lost Chapter of The Outer Banks House

What Did I Think  About the Story?

I have to admit that, until very recently, I didn't have much interest in American Civil War history. That changed when I read the phenomenal Sisters of Shiloh (you can read my review HERE) and since then I've been keeping an eye out for any novels that seem to give a unique view into this devastating yet life-changing war that reshaped America as we know it. The Outer Banks House, taking place over the summer of 1868 on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, is exactly that type of novel, giving the reader a view into the hearts and heads of Southerners on both sides of the newly drawn political and racial lines following this war that pitted brother against brother and tore many families apart.

The story is told from the point of view of both Abigail Sinclair, eldest daughter of a wealthy, prominent and traditional North Carolina family and Benjamin Whimble, local of the Outer Banks whom Abigail agrees to tutor while the Sinclairs spend their first summer at the summer house her father recently built by the ocean in Nags Head. When the two first meet they could not possibly be more different. Abigail has wanted for nothing materially while being raised by somewhat cold and distant parents that expect nothing less than the highest level of decorum and obedience from their intelligent and sometimes willful daughter. Ben, on the other hand, has been raised with very little in the way of luxury (he's never even owned a pair of shoes) and no education as is the way of most of his fellow locals who make their living off the land or sea. Against all odds and expectations they soon become very close and both open the other's eyes to a world they never expected to be a part of.

The Outer Banks House is beautifully written and the lyrical descriptions of the various islands these two explore make it easy to picture the rolling ocean, strong salty winds and the sandy forests. This location also presents an interesting mix of the old Southern ways (racist plantation owners like Abigail's father that still believe in slavery and superiority) and the changes that are still taking root in this post-Civil War world (Outer Bankers have been working side by side with their black compatriots for some time and Roanoke Island has a freedmen's colony on it that was thriving until recently) that I can't imagine taking place anywhere else. North Carolina seems to be that line between the North and South that has people on both sides living together and battling against  the other's views. It is within this strange new world that Abigail can grow into the woman she is meant to be and see just how wrong the beliefs and practices of her family have been.      

While I very much enjoyed both Abigail and Benjamin individually and liked watching how each influenced the other, I didn't really love them as a couple. They just made such a strange pair to me and it was hard to go along with two people falling madly in love with each other so quickly when they are so completely different. For example, it was hard to picture a girl born to such privilege and pampering quite happy to leave that all behind for a one room wooden house with no luxury whatsoever where she would now have to do everything, from cleaning to cooking to, I assume, making her own clothes since they wouldn't have the money to buy any. I'm sure in the grand scheme of things it would be possible, but it just felt too fast and furious to me. Then again, I've never been a big fan of quick and heavy romances so it could just be me :). I have an easier time picturing them as becoming friends that influence and support each other than as romantic partners. The novel also ends with them in a happy yet somewhat unresolved position but I'm sure the sequel will bring readers up to speed on what happened next for these characters (see the blog tour schedule below for blogs that are reviewing the sequel, Return to the Outer Banks House).

This being said, I enjoyed this novel as a whole and really appreciate how the author presented a mixed bag of characters that represented every possible side to this specific time and place in history. I didn't see any author's notes at the end of the book to denote what is actual historical fact and what isn't, but I plan to look further into North Carolina's role during and after the Civil War as I found it a fascinating look at the sentiments of the South after the war ended and the changing tides of the country. It also presented an intriguing look into what it means to be free and what an education means to different people, regardless of gender, race or social status, and the disparity between those that have it readily available and those that crave it.

 

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I think it is absolutely gorgeous! The cover on my book is a little bit different but is basically the same (woman standing on the dunes in a pretty dress and hat, looking out to the ocean under a beautiful blue sky).  I couldn't keep myself from staring at it and wanting to be in the woman's place by the ocean.


My Rating: 3.5/5.0

Thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of The Outer Banks House 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 The Outer Banks House

 

“…There’s real darkness on the edge of this romance that hurls the lovers toward tragedy, as if the price to re-enter the innocence of Eden might afford Abby nothing but despair. This 2010 debut novel and portrayal of the historical Outer Banks offers a terrific option for beach reading; it’s the sort of novel that can be charming without requiring an abundance of character complexity and depth. Abby’s evolution ultimately parallels the positive aspects of how the South reconciled to change after the Civil War, a change that required a culture of ignorance to wash out to sea.”
— Style Weekly Review

“It’s 1868, and the natives of North Carolina’s Outer Banks think the Sinclairs’ summer residence on the beach at Nags Head is right peculiar. Seventeen-year-old Abigail Sinclair is enlisted by her parents to teach Ben Whimble, her father’s fishing guide, to read. Abby is being courted by medical student Hector Newman and is appalled at the dirty and perpetually barefoot Ben. But Abby is also restless and slowly sees in Ben more than just a willing pupil. Ben might be getting sweet on his teacher as well, but her father has involved him in a matter that doesn’t sit right with the Banker, knowing that freedmen and runaway slaves have long lived contentedly out on Roanoke Island. It’s just three years since the end of the war, and for some, that isn’t long enough. VERDICT First novelist Ducharme has laced her novel with the sounds and the smells of the North Carolina shoreline. Racism and Southern tradition run along parallel paths in this affecting debut, where gentlemen can be less than honorable and enslavement doesn’t always involve chains. Highly recommended for fans of Southern fiction.” – Bette-Lee Fox — Library Journal, Starred Review

“A heart-felt and engrossing novel about the coming of age of two very different young people in the South just after the Civil War: a curious upper-class girl from an almost bankrupt plantation and a handsome young barefoot fisherman “made of sand and seawater” who comes to her to learn to read. What they learn from each other about tolerance and caring in those turbulent times will change their lives forever. A beautiful sense of this place by the sea, of a country in conflict, of death and redemption, and of new love.” – Stephanie Cowell, Author of CLAUDE & CAMILLE:
A NOVEL OF CLAUDE MONET and MARRYING MOZART

“The Outer Banks House is a beautifully written and deeply moving story of a sheltered young woman’s awakening to life, love and the injustice of discrimination against former slaves. In theme and impact, shades of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn; in the evocative setting and fresh voice, a unique novel all its own.” – Karen Harper — Author of THE QUEEN’S GOVERNESS

Buy the Book

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Crown Publishing
IndieBound

About the Author

Diann was born in Indiana in 1971, but she spent the majority of her childhood in Newport News, Virginia. She majored in English literature at the University of Virginia, but she never wrote creatively until, after the birth of her second child in 2003, she sat down to write The Outer Banks House. She soon followed up with her second book, Chasing Eternity, and in 2015 the sequel to her

first novel, Return to the Outer Banks House.

Diann has vacationed on the Outer Banks since the age of three. She even married her husband of 10 years, Sean Ducharme, in Duck, North Carolina, immediately after a stubborn Hurricane Bonnie churned through the Outer Banks. Conveniently, the family beach house in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina provided shelter while she conducted research for her historical fiction novels.

She has three beach-loving children and a border collie named Toby, who enjoys his sprints along the shore. The family lives in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, counting down the months until summer.

For more information visit Diann Ducharme’s website. You can also follow Diann on her blog, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Giveaway Time!!

 

 

For a chance to win a paperback copy of The Outer Banks House (US only) please enter your name and email address on the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to enter your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner. You can receive extra entries for following me on various social media sites (links on the right hand side bar) just be sure to leave the name you follow under on the giveaway form (I check!). That's it! I  will select a winner on June 16th and email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email with their mailing address before I have to pick another winner.

 

Good luck everyone!

 

 

 

The Outer Banks Series Blog Tour Schedule

 

 

Monday, May 25

Spotlight & Giveaway at Raven Haired Girl

Tuesday, May 26

Guest Post & Giveaway at Susan Heim on Writing

Wednesday, May 27

Review (Book One) at Back Porchervations

Thursday, May 28

Review (Book One) at In a Minute

Friday, May 29

Interview & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Obsession
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book

Saturday, May 30

Spotlight at Becky on Books

Sunday, May 31

Review (Book One) at Book Nerd

Monday, June 1

Review (Book Two) at Let them Read Books
Spotlight at I’d So Rather Be Reading

Tuesday, June 2

Review (Book One) at Book Lovers Paradise

Wednesday, June 3

Review (Book Two) at Back Porchervations

Thursday, June 4

Spotlight & Giveaway (Book One) at View from the Birdhouse

Friday, June 5

Review (Both Books) at Bibliotica

Sunday, June 7

Review (Book One) at Carole’s Ramblings

Monday, June 8

Review (Book One) at Ageless Pages Reviews
Guest Post at Curling Up With A Good Book

Tuesday, June 9

Review & Giveaway (Book One) at A Literary Vacation

Wednesday, June 10

Review (Both Books) at Unshelfish
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, June 11

Review (Book Two) at Book Lovers Paradise
Interview at Boom Baby Reviews

Friday, June 12

Spotlight at Caroline Wilson Writes

Sunday, June 14

Review (Book Two) at Carole’s Ramblings

Monday, June 15

Review & Giveaway (Both Books) at Genre Queen

Tuesday, June 16

Interview at Books and Benches
Spotlight at The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, June 17

Review (Both Books) at Luxury Reading

Thursday, June 18

Review (Book One) at Books and Benches
Interview at Layered Pages

Friday, June 19

Review (Book One) at Build a Bookshelf
Review (Book Two) at Ageless Pages Reviews

 

 

 



Spotlight on Aurelia by Alison Morton

Please join Alison Morton as she tours with HF Virtual Book Tours for Aurelia, from May 11th - June 5th!


Publication Date: May 5, 2015
SilverWood Books

Series: Roma Nova, Book Four
Genre: Alternative Historical Fiction


Late 1960s Roma Nova, the last Roman colony that has survived into the 21st century. Aurelia Mitela is alone – her partner gone, her child sickly and her mother dead. Forced in her mid-twenties to give up her beloved career as a Praetorian officer, she is struggling to manage an extended family tribe, businesses and senatorial political life.

But her country needs her unique skills. Somebody is smuggling silver – Roma Nova’s lifeblood – on an industrial scale. Sent to Berlin to investigate, she encounters the mysterious and attractive Miklós, a suspected smuggler, and Caius Tellus, a Roma Novan she has despised, and feared, since childhood.

Aurelia suspects that the silver smuggling hides a deeper conspiracy and follows a lead into the Berlin criminal underworld. Barely escaping a trap set by a gang boss intent on terminating her, she realises that her old enemy is at the heart of all her troubles and pursues him back home to Roma Nova…

Aurelia Book Trailer

 

 

 

 

 

Buy the Book

 

 

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Even before she pulled on her first set of combats, Alison Morton was fascinated by the idea of women soldiers. Brought up by a feminist mother and an ex-military father, it never occurred to her that women couldn’t serve their country in the armed forces. Everybody in her family had done time in uniform and in theatre – regular and reserve Army, RAF, WRNS, WRAF – all over the globe.

So busy in her day job, Alison joined the Territorial Army in a special communications regiment and left as a captain, having done all sorts of interesting and exciting things no civilian would ever know or see. Or that she can talk about, even now…

But something else fuels her writing… Fascinated by the mosaics at Ampurias (Spain), at their
creation by the complex, power and value-driven Roman civilisation started her wondering what a modern Roman society would be like if run by strong women…

Now, she lives in France and writes Roman-themed alternate history thrillers with tough heroines:

 

INCEPTIO, the first in the Roma Nova series

– shortlisted for the 2013 International Rubery Book Award
– B.R.A.G. Medallion
– finalist in 2014 Writing Magazine Self-Published Book of the Year

 

PERFIDITAS, second in series

– B.R.A.G. Medallion
– finalist in 2014 Writing Magazine Self-Published Book of the Year

 

SUCCESSIO, third in series

– Historical Novel Society’s indie Editor’s Choice for Autumn 2014
– B.R.A.G. Medallion
– Editor’s choice, The Bookseller’s inaugural Indie Preview, December 2014


Fact File

Education: BA French, German & Economics, MA History
Memberships: International Thriller Writers, Historical Novel Society, Alliance of Independent Authors, Society of Authors
Represented by Annette Crossland of A for Authors Literary Agency for subsidiary and foreign rights.

Connect with Alison Morton

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon UK Author Page
Amazon US Author Page

Aurelia Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, May 11

Tour Kick Off & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, May 12

Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Wednesday, May 13

Spotlight at Book Nerd

Saturday, May 16

Excerpt & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews

Sunday, May 17

Review at Carole’s Ramblings

Friday, May 22

Spotlight at Flashlight Commentary

Monday, May 25

Review at A Book Geek

Tuesday, May 26

Spotlight at The Lit Bitch

Friday, May 29

Spotlight at Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, June 3

Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Friday, June 5

Spotlight at Layered Pages

 

 

 

 

 

 





Review: Stillwater Rising by Steena Holmes

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: November 11th, 2014
Pages: 264
Audiobook Length: 6 hours 57 minutes

Synopsis 

After losing her son in an elementary school shooting that devastates the tight-knit community of Stillwater Bay, Jennifer Crowne finds herself unable to settle back into her role of perfect stay-at-home mom and committee organizer. Meanwhile, her best friend, Mayor Charlotte Stone, struggles to keep the town together, and Charlotte’s husband, the school principal, may not be the hero everyone thinks him to be.

As they try to heal from this irrevocable trauma, Jenn and Charlotte find themselves at a crossroads—within the town and within their friendship. For Jenn, broken and grieving, there is no going back, and she demands that the school be closed so that she can bury the past. Yet Charlotte is equally desperate to hold the town together, fighting the school closure and helping the shooter’s mother regain her place in the community. Jenn and Charlotte’s relationship is put to the ultimate test as each weighs her own interests against the bonds of their friendship.

What Did I Think About the Story?

 

 

I have discovered a wonderful new way to enjoy the reading experience: a Kindle edition that allows you to flip seamlessly between the eBook version and the Audible audio version. Maybe others have known about this for a long time, but Stillwater Rising was my first experience with this format and I have to say I loved it! It allowed me to listen to the story on my long commutes and as soon as I was able to stop and actually read the story it would deliver me to the exact spot I left off on. The narrator, Amy McFadden, did a wonderful job of giving a different edge to the voices of many of the characters and this helped differentiate them in my mind. And, Stillwater Rising being a very emotional read, this also helped to endear me to these character and to really feel the loss, sadness and anger that so many of them felt.

 I should warn anyone who has had a treasured child in their life that this novel will fairly gut you at times. My son is soon to be ten (the same age as Jen's son in the story) and as I progressed through the story I could not help but put myself in Jen's place and found myself tearing up more than once because of it. Steena Holmes does a wonderful job of placing the reader into the head and heart of each of the main characters and making you empathize, even if you can't necessarily relate, to how each of them is trying to survive and move on after this tragedy.

The character I related to most, clearly, was Jen. I was rather shocked that only a month (yes, one month!) had passed since the terrible shooting that killed a number of students and teachers in this tight-knit community and that most people were expecting everyone to have begun to move on by this point. So many were trying to get the town back to normal before the busy summer season began and even had plans to have an annual summer celebration like usual, and all I could keep thinking was "really?! Already?!". Jen was one of the last to start the process out of mourning and I kept wanting to shout at the characters that were pushing her to begin moving on.

Beyond Jen, each of the other main characters presented different viewpoints on this tragedy and realistic and legitimate perspectives on how to handle the complex emotions remaining as they faced a future very different than anything they could have imagined. The most complex of these characters was Julia, the mother of the teenage shooter who also killed himself. The level of guilt, grief and emptiness she was feeling was palpable and, while I could understand why some of the people in the community blamed her somewhat for the tragedy (why didn't she see any signs that her son was this troubled? Why did she allow him to have access to a gun?) I couldn't help but feel for her as she struggled with her guilt over what her son had done and her deep need to mourn this child of hers that everyone was calling a monster. There are a lot of complicated feelings going on in this story and Steena Holmes does a great job of showcasing them all.

The story ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger and leaves a good amount of unanswered questions regarding the many relationships that have either begun to build back up or fall apart after the tragedy and what will happen next for the community. There's also a tease regarding the principal of the school that leaves you to believe we don't know everything about what happened the day of the shooting. I am very intrigued to see where the author takes the people of Stillwater Bay next.  

What Did I Think About the Cover?

 

 

It's okay. It definitely brings to mind the town by the water and the emptiness left behind after the tragedy. I'm not really sure what else I would want to be presented on the cover but it doesn't really catch my eye per se either.


My Rating: 3.5/5.0

About the Author

 

 

NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Steena Holmes is the author of the heart wrenching Finding Emma series as well as the novel Stillwater Rising.

Steena Holmes grew up in a small town in Canada and holds a Bachelors degree in Theology.

In 2012 she received the Indie Excellence Award. Holmes was inspired to write Finding Emma after experiencing a brief moment of horror when she’d thought her youngest daughter was missing.

She currently lives in Calgary with her husband and three daughters and loves to wake up to the Rocky Mountains each morning.

You can find out more about Steena on her website and can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Guest Post By Jeffrey Smith, Author of Mesabi Pioneers

After dark the rain began.

Heavy sheets of cold, wet water dropped from the sky like the birds were dumping buckets from the tops of the trees. I pulled out my shell and zipped it up to my chin. In covering my head I accidentally covered my headlamp and stopped in the total darkness so that I would not trip over a rock.

For a moment all I heard was the falling of the rain, the rush of water over rocks and through the leaves of trees overhead. My feet squished in the mud and I felt the cool water seep down my legs and into my shoes.

Then I pushed my hood back so my headlamp would illuminate the trail again. From my waist belt I pulled a bottle of water and took a drink. Then I kept moving. This was mile 65 of a hundred mile run through the Massanutten Mountains in western Virginia. I carried water with me and a few small snacks, and wore modern running shoes that were lightweight and easy to change. In six miles I would come to the eighth of the course's fourteen aid stations where I would be able to sit down if I wanted, change out of my wet shoes, warm by a fire, eat some food prepared for me. Despite the struggle of running one hundred miles, I was being catered to like an oil tycoon on a luxury vacation.

In April of 1891, as I write in Mesabi Pioneers, five men left the Mesaba, Minnesota, railroad station and set out on a thirty mile journey through some of the roughest country in America. The air was still cold at night, and the trail, if it could be called that, was marred by both frozen earth and thick, muddy bogs. Rocks, often boulders, seemed to grow out of the ground. White pine and birch and ash trees grew so tall they blocked out the sun.

 

 

Views of Mesaba Station. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society



Stumps marked where men had come before them, but the stumps were still so tall that the wagons could not move over them. Two or three times every hour one of the five men would take an axe to a stump. It was slow going.

Each man carried a pack that contained everything he would need to survive: axe, hatchet, knives, tin cup for drinking, perhaps a plate and fork or spoon, sleeping roll, layers of clothing to keep the chill from seeping under their skins. Their boots were made of leather and tied up to their knees. If the sole wore through or slipped off they patched it, or tied it together with more string.

They were lucky in that most of the food they were eating on their journey was loaded into the wagon. However, most men traveling on foot back then had to also carry a cook stove, a kettle for coffee, a pot or pan for cooking. They carried canteens for water, though some of them may have had leather water bags. These things weren't made of a lightweight plastic polymer. The stove was heavy cast iron; the axes made from hardened steel. To save weight they often made their own handles when they arrived at their camps.

At night, to cook, they needed waterproof matches to start a fire. There were no lightweight propane stoves. They found wood and chopped kindling. They might have cooked canned beans, or eaten dried venison they packed themselves. If they wanted something fresh they hunted for game. No one carried apples or fresh vegetables. If they were lucky they had eggs, but for that they would have had to bring along the chickens to lay them.

It was a struggle to travel that thirty miles, and even when they got to their destination there was no band to greet them. No beds to sleep in, no hotel, no hot shower. The campout continued, for when they stopped moving the work of living began. Building a home for shelter out of nothing but the trees that surrounded them.

As I continued on my journey on foot, I thought about those men, and the struggle they went through just to survive in the harsh environment of northern Minnesota. As the rain fell in heavier sheets I knew how lucky I was that my journey on foot would end after one hundred miles, but theirs, as chronicled in Mesabi Pioneers, would continue.

Publication Date: October 6, 2014
Lempi Publishing
Formats: eBook, Hardcover
238 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

READ AN EXCERPT.

In the early 1890s, a group of brothers discovered iron ore in the dense pine woods of northern Minnesota. Mesabi Pioneers tells the story of the immigrants who dug that ore out of the ground, who carved towns from trees, and who built new lives for themselves and their families.

Arthur Maki, a Finnish immigrant known for his carpentry skills, has been hired by the persuasive and poetic Leonidas “Lon” Merritt to join a crew of explorers in the forest. From this remote and formidable locale, Arthur must construct a camp and foster a community into which he can bring his wife and son.

The camp, which the Merritts call Mountain Iron, sits on what Lon believes to be a huge lode of iron ore. However, the rest of the world thinks the Merritts are crazy. While Arthur builds a camp with a Chippewa Indian everyone calls Charlie and a French-Chippewa fur trader named Richardson, the other members of the team explore the surrounding woods for more caches of iron. When a second lode is discovered at Biwabik, Arthur and the rest of the crew know the finding is real. And the iron mining world knows it, too.

As the mine gets deeper and mining operations expand, the camp crowds with a diversity of ethnic and cultural groups. Tragedy strikes in ways large and small. And it is from the ashes of destruction that Arthur finds the community he has been seeking.

Praise for Mesabi Pioneers

“…a refreshingly enjoyable read… Hill and Smith kindle complicated emotions, important questions and a driving curiosity about Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range…The novel give(s) us a remarkable point of view, a vision of the Iron Range before it was anything like our modern understanding of the place. The size of the forest, the difficulty of travel, the majesty of the Missabe hills before they were opened up and moved like chess pieces: we see all of this in fresh prose.” -Aaron Brown, Hibbing Daily Tribune and minnesotabrown.com

“Hill and Smith pepper their story with some very good character development, plenty of sarcastic humor, and a good deal of research into a period never before explored in historical fiction. In their handling, the enterprising and occasionally cutthroat, bygone world of iron mining comes vividly alive. A strong debut installment.” -Charlotte Kirsch, Historical Novel Society

“A wonderful book. I’d recommend it to anyone.” -Scott Hall, KAXE, Northern Community Radio

“In Mesabi Pioneers, Jeffrey Smith has skillfully crafted a wonderful story that respects the historical facts while bringing the experience of these pioneers to life. This book is a steeped in the social history and physical geography of this region in Minnesota that played such a significant role in the economic rise of the United States. In a few words, this is good creative writing with an enjoyable style.” -James Dilisio, author Maryland Geography

“What a fascinating story, with finely drawn characters and compelling subject matter. The authors take us inside the hearts and souls of newly arrived immigrant pioneers, full of hope and promise, who accomplished extraordinary feats under dire circumstances; and the Native Americans who watched their homeland undergo such dramatic and irrevocable change. I highly recommend it.” -Kathryn Leigh Scott, actress and author, Down and Out in Beverly Heels

 

Watch the Book Trailer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy the Book

 

 

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
Mesabi Project Website

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Jeffrey Smith began his love of letters at fourteen on a Smith-Corona electric typewriter borrowed from his father. He is a full-time writer, homemaker and stay-at-home parent in Berlin, Maryland.
Also an accomplished distance runner, Jeffrey has completed 16 marathons, seven 24-hour relay races, and multiple ultra-runs, including several 100-mile races. He blogs about writing, running, and parenting at rustlingreed.com/blog.


For more information visit mesabiproject.com. You can also follow Mesabi Pioneers on Facebook and Twitter.

Mesabi Pioneers Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, May 4

Blog Tour Kick Off at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, May 5

Guest Post at The Maiden’s Court

Monday, May 11

Review at Unshelfish

Thursday, May 14

Review at Flashlight Commentary

Monday, May 18

Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Tuesday, May 19

Guest Post at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, May 20

Review at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Thursday, May 21

Review at Broken Teepee

Monday, May 25

Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks

Tuesday, May 26

Review at Book Nerd
Guest Post at A Literary Vacation

Thursday, May 28

Review at Just One More Chapter
Review at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Friday, May 29

Review at A Novel Kind of Bliss