Wednesday, 11 November 2026

The Queen's Tears: A Novel of Choices, Courage, and the Cost of Love by Elizabeth St.John



 The Queen's Tears: 
A Novel of Choices, Courage, and the Cost of Love 
By Elizabeth St.John


Publication Date: October 15th, 2026
Publisher: Falcon Historical Press
Print Length: 428 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Dual-Timeline

A stolen crown jewel and an enigmatic portrait force two women to confront the devastating choices they made for love—and summon the courage to live with the truth.

1619: Barbara, Lady Villiers, at the bidding of her brother-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, has stolen the dying Queen Anna’s jewels—and kept the greatest prize for herself. The Queen’s Tears, a brooch of extraordinary value, torments her: too dangerous to sell, too priceless to discard, and possibly her only means of securing her children’s future. When the family fortunes are shattered, Barbara faces an impossible choice: remain loyal to Buckingham—or betray him by confessing the theft to King Charles.

Present Day: Julia Darke opens her Cotswolds bookshop to start life over peacefully. Instead, she stumbles across a Van Dyck portrait of Barbara’s daughter, with tantalising signs of the missing Queen’s Tears hidden in plain sight. The discovery also brings her face-to-face with the last person she wants to see again. Oliver Villiers, the Oxford art conservator she once loved and walked away from, holds the cipher to the painting—and to Julia’s own unresolved history.

Reluctantly drawn together by a shared obsession to uncover Barbara’s secret, Julia and Oliver follow the trail of the Queen’s Tears—and the closer Julia comes to Barbara’s truth, the harder it becomes to hide from her own.

Inspired by the true stories of Queen Anna of Denmark’s stolen jewels and a missing Van Dyck painting, The Queen’s Tears weaves history, fiction, and family research across the centuries. Readers of The Lady of the Tower will find old favourites—and a new heroine following in their footsteps.

Pick up your copy of The Queen's Tears HERE


Elizabeth St. John


Elizabeth St.John's acclaimed historical fiction brings to life her ancestors—remarkable women linked to England's royalty—offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Her novels unfold not just as traditional series, but as an interlocking web of lives: The Lydiard Chronicles—including the celebrated The Lady of the Tower—The Godmother's Secret, and The King's Intelligencer explore everything from the English Civil War to the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. Her newest novel, The Queen’s Tears, a dual timeline pursuing a stolen crown jewel, reunites favourite characters from the seventeenth-century with a present-day bookstore owner heroine.

At the heart of her writing is the transformation of real ancestral histories into narratives of historical continuity. She follows threads of legacy through generations, guided as much by wills, letters, portraits, country churches, ruined castles, manor houses, and lost gardens as by imagination.

Locations become constant companions through time, while characters whisper across centuries—their decisions resonating in the lives of their descendants to reveal how choices shape legacies. Grounded in historic sites like Lydiard Park and the Tower of London, her work creates a living archival flow that continues to flourish as the past yields its secrets.

Elizabeth divides her time between California, England, and the past, surrounded by books, gardens, and animals, with a slightly bewildered, ever-supportive husband beside her.

Connect with Elizabeth:




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Tuesday, 10 November 2026

A Secret Scottish Christmas (Agents of the Crown Book 4) by Regan Walker




A Secret Scottish Christmas
(Agents of the Crown Book 4)
By Regan Walker 



Publication Date: 6th November 2017
Publisher: Regan Walker Publishing
Print Length: 326 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Spies and Scots and Shipmasters, oh my!

Scotland 1819

Twin brothers Nash and Robbie Powell of Powell & Sons Shipping, London, sail with their fellow Agents of the Crown to Scotland for a secret celebration of Christmastide, a holiday long frowned upon by the Scottish Kirk. But more than Christmas is being kept secret. The two brothers have accepted an assignment from the Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth to ferret out a fugitive fomenting rebellion among the Scots.

Aileen Stephen, the only daughter of an Aberdeen shipbuilder, had to be clever, devious and determined to gain her place in the family business. She succeeded to become a designer of highly coveted ships. One night, a man’s handsome face appears to her in a dream. When two men having that same face arrive on a ship full of Londoners, Ailie wonders what her second sight is telling her. Is the face she saw a portender of the future, a harbinger of danger, or both? And which of the two Englishmen is the one in her dream? Older than Nash by a mere five minutes, Robbie has always been protective of his twin. When he realizes Nash is attracted to the sister of their Scottish host, he thinks to help matters along. But Nash wants no help from his brother, not where Ailie Stephen is concerned because Robbie is attracted to the girl himself!

Two brothers vie for the affection of the Scottish lass but only one stirs her passion. Which one will it be? And what will she do when she learns they are English spies?


Pick up your copy of A Secret Scottish Christmas HERE.


Regan Walker


Regan Walker is an award-winning author of more than twenty historical novels spanning the Regency, Georgian, Medieval, and Revolutionary eras. With meticulous research and a storyteller’s eye for drama, she transports readers from the cobblestones of early nineteenth-century London to the intrigues of eighteenth-century France, from Scotland’s mist-shrouded Highlands to ships riding dangerous seas. From spies, smugglers, and pirates to masked balls and opulent palaces, her novels reveal the courage, faith, and love that endure through history’s most turbulent days.





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The Watchers of St. Hallows Gate (The Powers of St. Katherine's House: The Circle of Witham Grange 2) by E.L. Ravenheart



 

The Watchers of St. Hallows Gate 
(The Powers of St. Katherine's House: The Circle of Witham Grange 2) 
By E.L. Ravenheart 


Publication Date: 11th August 2026
Publisher: Independently Published
Print Length: 59 Pages
Genre: Horror Occult & Supernatural

The Watchers of St Hallows Gate

Some doors were never meant to be opened.
Some spirits were never meant to be remembered.

England, 1643. The Civil War has left seven women with nothing but grief, fear and desperation.

At Witham Grange in Somerset, they make a pact with something older than Christianity, older than Rome, and far older than the kingdoms of England.

They call them Lost Voice. Soil. Blood.

But Katherine Dravelle wants more than protection.

She wants dominion.

When Katherine discovers an ancient threshold at St Hallows Gate in Somerset, the seven women realise their binding can be anchored to the land itself. But extending their power requires a sacrifice — and one dying woman named Isolde willingly steps through a gateway between life and death.

She does not return.

Instead, she becomes the first Watcher.

A shadow trapped between worlds.

A guardian of a threshold that demands a price from anyone who crosses it.

As the binding spreads, the Watchers multiply and the spirits grow hungry. What began as protection becomes something far more terrifying: a supernatural inheritance passed from generation to generation.

By 1678, the original seven women are dying.

Their covenant is not.

Seven heirs inherit the bloodline. Seven descendants inherit the secrets. And seven lives become entangled in a curse that cannot simply be escaped.

Some will embrace the power.
Some will fight it.
Some will discover that the spirits were never serving the women at all.

From the haunted landscapes of Somerset to the ancient thresholds of Yorkshire, The Watchers of St Hallows Gate uncovers the dark origins of a supernatural legacy that will echo through centuries.

The door is open.

The Watchers are waiting.

And the spirits remember.

Book Two in The Powers of St. Katherine's House series.


Pick up your copy of The Watchers of St. Hallows Gate HERE

E. L. Ravenheart


E. L. Ravenheart is a gothic fiction author whose work blends psychological depth, atmospheric tension, and the quiet, uncanny edges of the supernatural.

With roots in the Indigenous Chippewa Nation (USA), Ravenheart draws on a cultural inheritance rich in story, symbolism, and reverence for the unseen. This heritage infuses the work with a mythic undercurrent — where the natural world speaks, memory carries power, and the boundary between the living and the spirit realm is never absolute.

Relocating to the United Kingdom in 2012, Ravenheart now writes from Weston-super-Mare, where the haunted coastlines, ancient landscapes, and layered histories of Somerset intertwine with Indigenous storytelling traditions.

The result is a distinctive gothic voice shaped by two worlds: the ancestral and the adopted, the wild and the weathered, the remembered and the half-forgotten.

Ravenheart is developing a growing literary cycle that begins with six interconnected novellas and culminates in the debut novel, The Powers of St Katherine’s House. Across this cycle, the fiction explores liminal spaces — between memory and myth, faith and fear, identity and the unknown — crafting narratives where atmosphere becomes a character and the past presses insistently against the present.

When not writing, Ravenheart can often be found delving into the deep history and folklore of Somerset, a practice that echoes through the emotional intelligence and character-driven focus of the work.

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The Rabbit's Foot (Hartford Manor, Book 3) by Marcia Clayton



 

The Rabbit's Foot 
(Hartford Manor, Book 3)
By Marcia Clayton 



Publication Date: 6th November 2021
Publisher: Sunhillow Publishing
Page Length: 350
Genre: Historical Fiction

1885 North Devon, England

Mr Edward Snell was more than a little curious when Robert Fellwood, the heir to Hartford Manor, and his elderly aunt, the Lady Margery, begged an audience on a Saturday morning. However, being such valued clients, the solicitor was happy to oblige. As his clerk showed the visitors in, he was intrigued to see them followed by an old man who, though respectably dressed, had something of a vagrant about him. The crisp suit in which he was attired could not disguise his weather-beaten face or his missing teeth.

Robert introduced his Uncle Sam and explained he had come to claim his inheritance. The solicitor was old enough to remember the extensive search for Thomas Fellwood when his father, Ephraim, died in 1840. However, that was some forty-five years ago, and the young man had never been found. Yet here was Sam, who claimed to be Thomas Fellwood’s son and even more surprising, was the fact that the Fellwood family appeared to have accepted him as such.

“The Rabbit’s Foot” is an intriguing and compelling novel with many unexpected twists and turns. Set in the small seaside village of Hartford, it tells the tale of how an old man, who has spent his life with barely a penny to his name, suddenly finds himself rich beyond his wildest dreams. However, there is only one thing that Sam Fellwood truly wants, and that is to be reunited with his son, Marrok, whom he abandoned at the age of five. Will Sam find the happiness that has eluded him for so many lonely years?

Pick up your copy of The Rabbit's Foot HERE
Read with #Kindle+

Marcia Clayton



A farmer’s daughter, Marcia Clayton, was born in North Devon, a rural and picturesque area in the far South West of England. When she left school, Marcia worked in a bank for several years until she married her husband, Bryan, and then stayed at home for a few years to care for her three sons, Stuart, Paul, and David. 

As the children grew older, Marcia worked as a Marie Curie nurse caring for the terminally ill and later for the local authority managing school transport. Now a grandmother, Marcia enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She is a keen researcher of family history, and this hobby inspired some of the characters in her books. Marcia and Bryan are keen gardeners and grow many of their own vegetables. 

An avid reader, Marcia can often be found with her nose in a book when she should be doing something else! Her favourite genres are historical fiction, romance, and crime books. Marcia has written five books in the historical family saga, “The Hartford Manor Series”, and is working on the sixth. Besides writing books, Marcia produces blogs to share with her readers in a monthly newsletter. 




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Monday, 9 November 2026

Young Lady Catherine: Pride & Prejudice Origins Book 1 by Juliet Mercer


 

Young Lady Catherine: 
Pride & Prejudice Origins Book 1
By Juliet Mercer



Publication Date: 3rd June 2026
Publisher: Akrose Holland
Print Length: 323 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance / Romance Adaptation 

In the hidden love story before Pride and Prejudice, scandal binds young Lady Catherine to a man whose power embodies everything she has learned to fear. 

Perfection is a lady’s only armor, but on the night of her debut, a public snub from the cousin she was raised to marry leaves Lady Catherine Fitzwilliam disgraced. Capturing the interest of the Duke's heir might be enough to repair the damage, but it's a dangerous move. With a father whose title shielded every cruelty, she knows the dangers of men with such unchecked power. 

After dismissing Catherine as far too innocent for a man of his reputation, Charles Ashworth, Earl of Renault, discovers the ambitious lady has set in motion a scandal she may not survive. He steps forward to shield her from ruin, only to find his heart desperate to rescue her from the very life she leads. 

In a world that never forgives, Catherine and Charles can outrun scandal only so long. But love proves as dangerous as the secrets they keep, and when the truth is finally revealed, will their love survive its second chance?

An emotionally rich historical romance, Young Lady Catherine tells the scandalous love story that shaped Austen’s unforgettable Lady Catherine, and reveals the woman you only thought you knew.


Pick up your copy of Young Lady Catherine HERE.

Juliet Mercer



Juliet Mercer writes historical fiction with a storyteller’s imagination and a historian’s curiosity, always searching for the untold stories tucked behind familiar faces, whether drawn from real history or the pages of classic literature. She holds a B.A. in Geology and an M.A. in History, where she specialized in Regency-era naval history, a field that fueled her fascination with the intricate world surrounding Jane Austen’s England.

Before writing fiction full time, she worked as an editor for an academic journal of history and published in both history and science, experiences that sharpened her love for research and the human stories that often hide between the lines. She is fascinated by the truth that every unforgettable character, whether drawn from real history or the pages of classic literature, is forged by the moments no one sees, and she writes to bring those hidden stories to light.

Her novels blend meticulous research with a love of character-driven storytelling, reimagining the heart, history, and hidden truths of Austen’s world, while always striving to stay true to the characters and stories Austen created. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found hiking with her six-pound Yorkshire Terrier, Madeline, who takes her role as muse, editor, and critter chaser very seriously.

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Daughter of Mercia (Dr Anna Petersen Mysteries #1) by Julia Ibbotson




 Daughter of Mercia
(Dr Anna Petersen Mysteries #1)
By Julia Ibbotson


Publication Date: June 6th, 2025
Series: Dr Anna Petersen Mysteries
Publisher: Archbury Books
Pages: 301 ebook / 392 pb
Genre: Medieval Dual-Timeline Mystery Romance

A brand-new Anglo-Saxon time-slip full of mystery and romance.

Echoes of the past resonate across the centuries as Dr Anna Petersen, a medievalist and runologist, is struggling with past trauma and allowing herself to trust again. When archaeologist (and Anna's old adversary) Professor Matt Beacham unearths a 6th century seax with a mysterious runic inscription, and reluctantly approaches Anna for help, a chain of events brings the past firmly back into her present. And why does the burial site also contain two sets of bones, one 6th century and the other modern? 

As the past and present intermingle alarmingly, Anna and Matt need to work together to solve the mystery of the seax runes and the seemingly impossible burial, and to discover the truth about the past. Tensions rise and sparks fly between Anna and Matt. But how is 6th century Lady Mildryth of Mercia connected to Anna? Can they both be the Daughter of Mercia?

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Elena Collins, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley and Christina Courtenay.


Pick up your copy of Daughter of Mercia HERE! 
Read with #Kindle+


Julia Ibbotson


Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of time. She is the author of historical mysteries with a frisson of romance. Her books are evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval time-slip / dual-time mysteries.

Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language / literature / history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s.

She has published five other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest novel is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual-time mysteries, Daughter of Mercia, where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries.

Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘Julia’s books captured my imagination’, ‘beautiful story-telling’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘brilliant and fascinating’ and ‘I just couldn’t put it down’.

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Friday, 6 November 2026

Rough Diamond - Rough Justice by Avien Gray



Rough Diamond - Rough Justice 
By Avien Gray


Publisher: Avien Gray
Page Length: 446
Genre: Political Thrillers & Suspense / Historical Fiction

After a first kill, MI5 Agent and erstwhile photographer Cain becomes an undercover, extra-judicial killer for a secret Bureau.

Recovering from injuries sustained protecting the Royal Family, Cain embracesa new life and romance in sun-drenched Australia, leaving his past life behind.

But when tragedy strikes, he is on the move again. This time to a new career in the world of diamond dealings in Florida.

Curiosity takes Cain to the diamond world in South Africa, where his past finally catches up with him, the criminal world allies against him and he becomes a killer again.

In Cain's action-packed escapades, a spectacular betrayal takes him into the rigours of a Chinese prison where the truth about his past begins to unravel.

Aided by a loyal band of friends from the shadowy world of intelligence, he delivers his own particular brand of rough justice.

However, with enemies closing in on all sides, will Cain prevail?


Pick up your copy of Rough Diamond, Rough Justice HERE


Avien Gray

Avien Gray, the English author behind Rough Diamond – Rough Justice, brings a wealth of experience to his gripping debut novel. Born in the UK, Gray has led a dynamic, bachelor’s life marked by an impressive array of skills and global adventures. He has a driver’s license, motorbike license, and pilot’s license. His physical discipline extends to martial arts, where he earned a karate black belt, complemented by a lifelong passion for photography that captures the world through his discerning lens.

Gray’s rumoured travels paint the picture of a man unbound by borders. He is said to have spent many months in Saudi Arabia, Australia, the USA, South Africa, Europe and China. This rich tapestry of experiences infuses his writing with authenticity, lending a vivid, worldly edge to the thrilling narrative of his complex protagonist: a man called Cain.

Avien and his best friend shared a flat and went out with various female friends together. They had a great time. As it says in the book when Cain is talking with his best friend: a Royal Protection Officer.

 ‘We will have to write that book when we retire,’ Cain said.

 They looked at each other with knowing smiles – for a long few seconds.

 ‘All those secrets,’ said Jerry. ‘Perhaps we will.’

 And time moved on.

But in real life, his best friend tragically died – leaving Avien to write their book alone.

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The Queen's Tears: A Novel of Choices, Courage, and the Cost of Love by Elizabeth St.John





The Queen's Tears: 
A Novel of Choices, Courage, and the Cost of Love 
By Elizabeth St.John


Publication Date: October 15th, 2026
Publisher: Falcon Historical Press
Print Length: 428 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Dual-Timeline

A stolen crown jewel and an enigmatic portrait force two women to confront the devastating choices they made for love—and summon the courage to live with the truth.

1619: Barbara, Lady Villiers, at the bidding of her brother-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, has stolen the dying Queen Anna’s jewels—and kept the greatest prize for herself. The Queen’s Tears, a brooch of extraordinary value, torments her: too dangerous to sell, too priceless to discard, and possibly her only means of securing her children’s future. When the family fortunes are shattered, Barbara faces an impossible choice: remain loyal to Buckingham—or betray him by confessing the theft to King Charles.

Present Day: Julia Darke opens her Cotswolds bookshop to start life over peacefully. Instead, she stumbles across a Van Dyck portrait of Barbara’s daughter, with tantalising signs of the missing Queen’s Tears hidden in plain sight. The discovery also brings her face-to-face with the last person she wants to see again. Oliver Villiers, the Oxford art conservator she once loved and walked away from, holds the cipher to the painting—and to Julia’s own unresolved history.

Reluctantly drawn together by a shared obsession to uncover Barbara’s secret, Julia and Oliver follow the trail of the Queen’s Tears—and the closer Julia comes to Barbara’s truth, the harder it becomes to hide from her own.

Inspired by the true stories of Queen Anna of Denmark’s stolen jewels and a missing Van Dyck painting, The Queen’s Tears weaves history, fiction, and family research across the centuries. Readers of The Lady of the Tower will find old favourites—and a new heroine following in their footsteps.

Pick up your copy of The Queen's Tears HERE


Elizabeth St. John


Elizabeth St.John's acclaimed historical fiction brings to life her ancestors—remarkable women linked to England's royalty—offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Her novels unfold not just as traditional series, but as an interlocking web of lives: The Lydiard Chronicles—including the celebrated The Lady of the Tower—The Godmother's Secret, and The King's Intelligencer explore everything from the English Civil War to the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. Her newest novel, The Queen’s Tears, a dual timeline pursuing a stolen crown jewel, reunites favourite characters from the seventeenth-century with a present-day bookstore owner heroine.

At the heart of her writing is the transformation of real ancestral histories into narratives of historical continuity. She follows threads of legacy through generations, guided as much by wills, letters, portraits, country churches, ruined castles, manor houses, and lost gardens as by imagination.

Locations become constant companions through time, while characters whisper across centuries—their decisions resonating in the lives of their descendants to reveal how choices shape legacies. Grounded in historic sites like Lydiard Park and the Tower of London, her work creates a living archival flow that continues to flourish as the past yields its secrets.

Elizabeth divides her time between California, England, and the past, surrounded by books, gardens, and animals, with a slightly bewildered, ever-supportive husband beside her.

Connect with Elizabeth:






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