Friday 26 July 2024

What if the only way to stay safe was to become one of them?

 


A Light in the Window
By Marion Kummerow


Publication Date: 20th July 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Page Length: 282
Genre: Historical Fiction

Margarete stumbles out of the bombed-out house, the dust settling around her like snow. Mistaking her for the dead officer’s daughter, a guard rushes over to gently ask her if she is all right and whether there’s anything he can do to help her. She glances down at where the hated yellow star had once been, and with barely a pause, she replies “Yes”.

Berlin, 1941: Margarete Rosenbaum is working as a housemaid for a senior Nazi officer when his house is bombed, leaving her the only survivor. But when she’s mistaken for his daughter in the aftermath of the blast, Margarete knows she can make a bid for freedom…

Issued with temporary papers—and with the freedom of not being seen as Jewish—a few hours are all she needs to escape to relative safety. That is, until her former employer’s son, SS officer Wilhelm Huber, tracks her down.

But strangely he doesn’t reveal her true identity right away. Instead he insists she comes and lives with him in Paris, and seems determined to keep her hidden. His only condition: she must continue to pretend to be his sister. Because whoever would suspect a Nazi girl of secretly being a Jew?

His plan seems impossible, and Margarete is terrified they might be found out, not to mention worried about what Wilhelm might want in return. But as the Nazis start rounding up Jews in Paris and the RĂ©sistance steps up its activities, putting everyone who opposes the regime in peril, she realizes staying hidden in plain sight may be her only chance of survival…

Can Margarete trust a Nazi officer with the only things she has left though… her safety, her life, even her heart?

Pick up your copy of
A Light in the Window

Marion Kummerow 


Marion Kummerow writes historical fiction that explores the dark side of human history. A USA Today Bestselling author, she has received rave reviews from readers and critics for her novels about the German resistance during World War II. Her books feature characters who face moral dilemmas, make difficult decisions, and fight for what is right. She also infuses her stories with humor and undying love, because she believes that love is what makes the world go round.

Born and raised in Germany, Marion has lived in various countries before returning to Munich with her family. After writing several non-fiction books, she felt drawn to the past and the subject of resistance to the Nazi regime. It took her years of courage and hard work to turn the true story of her grandparents Ingeborg and Hansheinrich Kummerow into a trilogy: “Love and Resistance in the Second World War”. UNRELENTING is the first book in this series.

Bringing history to life through her books is Marion’s passion. She visits museums, travels to memorials and the locations in her books, reads original source material, and consults experts to meticulously research the historical facts and details in her novels. 

Her stories are authentic and immersive, transporting readers to another time and place. She writes with the conviction that we must never forget the past, so it won’t repeat itself.

When she’s not writing or researching, Marion likes to travel, do yoga, and spend time with her family. She also enjoys reading books by other historical fiction authors.

If you want to get a taste of her writing, you can download a free short story about a downed British airman here: https://kummerow.info/

Or visit her website for a complete list of her published books and interesting background information: https://kummerow.info/recommended-reading-order/




Thursday 25 July 2024

Can the sisters finally right the wrongs of seven hundred years of heartbreak, seven hundred years of betrayal…

 


The Lady of the Loch
By Elena Collins


Publication Date: 23rd February 2023
Publisher: Boldwood Books 
Page Length: 424 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance / Timeslip

‘Although I believe I will die here in this castle, my spirit will never be silent.’

Ravenscraig Castle, Scotland. 1307

When the castle she works in is sacked by the army of Prince Edward of England, kitchen maid Agnes Fitzgerald manages to escape north of Inverness to throw herself at the mercy of the Lord and Lady at Ravenscraig Castle. Although safe for now, the people of Scotland are fighting hard for their independence, and the threat of the English hangs heavy over the land. But when Agnes spies Cam Buchanan swimming in the loch, her mind turns away from war and towards love. Agnes even dares to dream of a happy future, until she learns that Cam must go and fight alongside Robert de Brus.

Present day

Twins Leah and Zoe need a change, so caretaking at Ravenscraig Castle is the perfect opportunity to get away from it all. Surrounded by rugged Highland countryside, and bordered by a loch, the picturesque setting is everything they dreamed of. But the locals are reluctant to visit Ravenscraig, and there are whispers of ghosts and lost souls. The sisters quickly dismiss such superstition, but soon the overwhelming sadness they feel coming from the tower grows too hard to ignore.

Can the sisters finally right the wrongs of seven hundred years of heartbreak, seven hundred years of betrayal… 

Pick up your copy of
The Lady of the Loch

Elena Collins


Elena Collins is the pseudonym for USA Today bestselling author Judy Leigh writing unforgettable, heart-breaking timeslip novels. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.





Wednesday 24 July 2024

The Germans’ transmissions are in her hands. Will she be enough to save her loved ones’ lives?


The Code Girl From London
By Deb Stratas


Publication Date: 19th May 2024
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 255 Pages
Genre: World War II Historical Fiction

The Germans’ transmissions are in her hands. Will she be enough to save her loved ones’ lives?

England, 1944. 

On a classified Navy base situated atop the cliffs of Dover, telegraph operator Katie Kingston toils day and night intercepting and translating enemy transmissions in Morse Code, hunting for the next piece of information that will give Britain the edge in the ongoing war.

But as the entire base quietly prepares for Britain’s most daring operation yet, Katie has more at stake than her fellow telegraphists. Because among the allied forces due to land on the shores of Normandy in Operation Overlord is Special Forces Lt. Ciaran McElroy, an Irishman who has stolen her heart.

With her family left behind in Blitz-torn London and her beloved Ciaran far off on enemy soil, Katie knows her job has never been more important. After all, what is she fighting for if not to keep them safe?

A dazzling story of love and courage in WWII, this anticipated third installment of Deb Stratas’ Kingston Sisters books is perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Sara Ackerman.

Pick up your copy of
The Code Girl From London

Deb Stratas


Creator. Writer. History Lover.

I tell well-researched and highly readable stories about powerful women in extraordinary circumstances. Readers are transported to other times and places, inspired to be authentic in their own lives.

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Tuesday 23 July 2024

As Napoleon Rises from the Ashes of The French Revolution, One Woman Dares to Spy Against Him.


Her Own War
By Debra Borchert


Publication Date: 14th July 2024
Publisher: Le Vin Press
Page Length: 438 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

As Napoleon Rises from the Ashes of The French Revolution, One Woman Dares to Spy Against Him.

Sentenced to eight months in an insane asylum for the crime of impersonating a man, Geneviève LaGarde fears giving birth in a filthy cell will mean certain death for her and her unborn child. Desperate for her release, her husband, Louis, trades his freedom for hers and must join Bonaparte’s army in Egypt.

As Geneviève wages her own war against the tyrannical general, she not only risks her own life but also those of her children and the four hundred families who depend on the ChĂ¢teau de Verzat estate. Knowing her desperate actions could cause the government to confiscate the entire vineyard, she sacrifices everything to save her husband and protect the people who become her family. 

A captivating tale of the power of love, hope, and courage, and the strength of community.

 Praise

“Fans of historical fiction will find this novel a most captivating read.” —Kirkus Reviews

   Excerpt

Egyptian Desert

The gangly beast was two heads taller than Louis and smelled of dry excrement. This was Murat’s challenge? His cure for Louis’s cowardice?

Because he did not wish to be spat upon or bitten, he avoided looking directly at the animal. Its bulging amber-brown eyes were soulful yet harbored distrust. The thick brown lashes were as long as Louisa’s fingers. How his daughter would giggle. The camel must be female with such lovely eyes. A quick look confirmed his guess.

Louis pressed his lips against a laugh, blessing the night he and three other courtiers had broken into the King’s menagerie at Versailles. Louis had been the only one who not only successfully mounted the beast but also rode him around the enclosure. Despite his past success, Louis needed a lesson.

A black-robed and turbaned Bedouin held a rope tied around the creature’s neck and muzzle.

Louis nodded to him. “Inshallah.”

The man’s eyebrows rose. Louis could not tell if the man was surprised or impressed or both. “Inshallah.” His reply was gritty as sand.

Louis’s men stood around the Bedouin and his herd, watching carefully. He stood to the side and stroked the camel’s long soft neck, patting her wrinkled curve, and whispering, “I shall call you Sophie. Let us be friends you and I, surprise them all.”

Her small ears twitched.

The Bedouin brought a stick behind the camel’s front knee and pulled down on her rope bridle. After a bit of growling, Sophie knelt, rested back on her haunches, and sat, calmly chewing, her jaw sawing side-to-side.

Removing his hat, Louis pointed to the Bedouin’s turban. Then he pointed to himself. The Bedouin called out to a boy, who unwrapped his own red turban. Louis bent for the child to wrap the fabric around his head and neck. Louis placed his bicorne on the boy’s head, brought his hands together, and nodded, for he knew no other gesture for thanks.

The boy grinned. “Shukran.”

Louis repeated it to the boy and then to the Bedouin. The Bedouin’s lips relaxed their grim line.

Atop Sophie’s hump, draped in a colorful rug, sat a leather saddle with a carved wooden post at its front and back. Camel riders kept one leg bent around the front post and used the opposite foot to kick the animal’s flank. As there were no stirrups, Louis held onto both knobs, hoisted himself up onto the saddle, and hooked his leg over the front knob. The Bedouin gave him the rope and stick and slapped the camel’s hind quarter.

Sophie jolted forward, lumbering to her knees, and it seemed she was trying with all her feminine wiles to pitch Louis forward and fling him over her head. He leaned back to counter her efforts and gripped the rope. Sophie hissed and spat as she rose. Louis patted her neck. “All will be well, beauty.”

Pick up your copy of
Her Own War

Debra Borchert


Debra Borchert has had many careers: clothing designer, actress, TV show host, spokesperson for high-tech companies, marketing and public relations professional, and technical writer for Fortune 100 companies. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Writer, among others. Her short stories have been published in anthologies and independently. 

A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she weaves her knowledge of textiles and clothing design throughout her historical French fiction. She has been honored with a Historical Novel Society Editors’ Choice, Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick, and many other five-star reviews.

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#HerOwnWar #DebraBorchert #ChateauDeVerzatSeries #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub



Monday 22 July 2024

The tidal wave of WWI engulfs the rural French village of Bouresches, forcing two teens to embark on a harrowing journey to an uncertain future and a destination known only to their border collie, Abby.

 


Dogs Don't Cry: Novels of the Great War
By John Andrews


Publication Date: 12th January 2024
Publisher: 46 North Publications, LLC 
Page Length: 302 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

June 1918.

The tidal wave of WWI engulfs the rural French village of Bouresches, forcing two teens to embark on a harrowing journey to an uncertain future and a destination known only to their border collie, Abby.

Abby is the Durand family dog. Her job is to be a companion for fifteen-year-old Marcel and his thirteen-year-old sister, Geneviève. She considers it herding. Marcel is plagued by doubts about his courage as he approaches military age. His sister has severe pneumonia. As their neighbors flee, the doctor warns their mother that the rigors of evacuation will kill Geneviève.

A disastrous escape leaves them orphaned and alone.

Marcel and Geneviève must find a distant relative, Cousin Henri, who lives near Paris. However, they have never met him, are not sure of his last name, and don’t know his address. Abby is the key—Henri is her former owner, though she begs to differ on the “owner” concept. If anyone can find him, she can. The teens confront their worst fears while seeking refuge amid the chaos of war, armed only with their faith in Abby.

Pick up your copy of 
Dogs Don't Cry

John F. Andrews


John F. Andrews began writing fiction in 2012. The spark that ignited the flame was a true story strange enough to be fiction set in the 1930s. You can read about it when his Beware series is published. This launched his Twentieth Century historical fiction writing career. His Novels of the Great War leverage his fascination with history along with his knowledge and experience as a physician and a US Marine Corps father.

Andrews grew up in the Midwest with an early love for the Montana mountains. After earning a BA in psychology at the University of Minnesota-Morris, he completed his MD degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He trained in internal medicine at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, and then completed a pulmonary medicine fellowship at the University of Chicago. He had a wonderful practice in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine in Green Bay, WI, before "retiring". He and his wife, Sue, live in Manhattan, MT where he writes for the sheer joy of it.

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Friday 19 July 2024

Change is coming as swiftly as the seasons themselves.



Summer's End
By Amy Myers


 Publication Date: 29th May 2024
Publisher: Joffe Books
Page Length: 432 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance

Summer, 1914.

Change is coming as swiftly as the seasons themselves. And the catalyst is the arrival of Aunt Tilly...

Preparations for the wedding of the Rector’s eldest daughter, Isobel Lilley, are well underway. The Rectory larders are full to the brim. The bridesmaids’ dresses fitted and pressed. The bridal gown allotted a room of its own. The only thing missing is Aunt Tilly.

But little does the Lilley family know, the arrival of Aunt Tilly will spark a chain of events that threatens to tear the village of Ashden apart.

When the dark clouds of war reach Ashden, Isobel and her sisters face daunting personal and social changes. Women of all classes are called upon to rise to the challenges of war and the Lilley family find themselves facing a new world that brings both tragedy and newfound freedom.

The whole village comes together in the face of adversity, but Aunt Tilly takes it one step too far, putting the stability of the Rectory in jeopardy.

Can the Lilley family survive Aunt Tilly’s visit and the outbreak of war?

Pick up your copy of
Summer's End

Amy Myers


 I enjoy writing crime novels and historical fiction, although I now concentrate on the crime novels. Currently living in southern England, I'm British and married an American. For many years I worked in publishing, then leapt over the fence to tackle the novels I'd always dreamed of writing. The crime novels I write are varied and all of them fall roughly into the Agatha Christie field with a mystery at their heart and a sleuth to solve it. Some series are set in the past, like those starring my 1920s chef Nell Drury, my Victorian chef Auguste Didier and my Victorian chimney sweep Tom Wasp. Now, however, i concentrate on the present day, such as in the classic car sleuth Jack Colby series. My Marsh and Daughter series is also set in the present day although they specialise in solving mysteries from the past. I am currently working on a series starring Cara Shelley who works at the stately home of Tanton Towers and it too is set in the present day. Present or past, they'd all like to meet you!



Thursday 18 July 2024

Will old enemies prove to be friends, and old friends prove to be enemies?




Under A Cloud
By Luv Lubker
Audiobook will be narrated by Ella McNish, Jamie Collette and a full cast.


Publication Date: 30th April 2024
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 318 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Vicky's father, Albert, the Prince Consort, has just died, leaving her and her family under a heavy cloud of grief, without their dearest friend and advisor, at a most critical time: The political horizon grows dark with storm clouds at the entry of Bismarck to Germany's political stage in 1862.

Will Fritz's courage stand the test as he confronts the spider in its web? Is Prussia really fighting for the rights of the Schleswig people, or is so much blood being shed for the sake of Prussia's aggrandizement?

Join Vicky and Fritz on their journeys under the blue cloudless skies of the Mediterranean to the peaceful heather-clad hills of the Highlands of Scotland; to the burning heat of the North African desert to the raging blizzards of a winter war in Denmark.

When Vicky's closest friend disappears, will she be able to keep the secret? Will old enemies prove to be friends, and old friends prove to be enemies?

Excerpt

Karl stared at Bismarck for a moment, and then nodded. “Settle it with him. Let him know what he must do to be kept in touch with the affairs of the Crown, as he wishes.” He turned to his brother. “Farewell, your Majesty.” He spat the words out. “I must get back to Berlin. One can’t stay away too long from the capital when one has charge of the country. One never knows what might happen.” He left the room, laughing to himself.

Karl stepped into his carriage, and the door was shut. He vaguely heard the coachman speak to the horses, but he was far away in thought.

If Fritzch was freed, and the marriage had been put an end to in Prussia, what would he do? Would he stay at his post like a true Hohenzollern soldier? Would he attempt to keep the image he obviously treasured so highly as the Liberal Crown Prince, the people’s darling?

If he would, he might actually be worth something. If he could stand his ground in this matter, he could be convinced to do so about other things, especially without her there to meddle. He would be heartbroken, of course, to be separated from his precious “Frauchen”. At least he would be at first. But what is heartbreak? Karl thought. The end of love and happiness, that was what heartbreak was. However, love, when it came to an end, turned to hatred very quickly. He knew that all too well.

But all of these musings were probably useless. None of this would happen, Karl suspected. Fritzch was far too weak a character to stand on his own two feet. He had already written that he would, if he was pressed to join the Kreutzzeitungpartei, resign his military and government positions, and retire to the country. He would crawl back to England and tie himself again to his wife’s apron-strings.

Of course, that meant Germany would be free of their meddling, but did it really? He shook his head. He couldn’t leave them together to plot behind his back from the safety of England, as her father had done for so many years.

Viktoria. It was such a good German name; it was a shame that it should have been turned into an English name by popular association.

Viktoria. He remembered the first sight he had caught of her, running up the stairs outside the Schloss, her manner and voice so free and childlike. He had been curious to see what she was like, this Lieblingstochter of Louise’s son. So this was the “stupid, useless girl”, as he had called her when he first heard of her birth. She was not stupid – she was clever, and she was attractive – far too clever and attractive for her own good – and Fritzch was clearly under her spell. She thought herself intelligent – well, so had her mother-in-law, and what good had that done her? Intelligent women never learned their lessons. Helmkin himself had admitted that.

Pick up your copy of
Under A Cloud

Luv Lubker


Luv Lubker has lived in the Victorian era half her life, making friends with the Brontë sisters and the extended family of Queen Victoria. Now she knows them quite as well as her own family.

Born in a cattle trough in the Appalachian mountains, Luv lives in Texas – when she comes to the modern world.

When she isn't living in the Victorian era, she enjoys being with her family; making and eating delicious raw food, riding her bike (which she only learned to ride at 25, though she has ridden a unicycle since she was 7), and watching animals – the passion of her childhood.

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#HistoricalFiction #VictorianFiction #VictorianEra #GermanHistory #UnderACloud #LuvLubker #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub