Book Link

From Amazon:
In a world where marriage is a political agreement between warlords, Duke Geoffrey of Ravensholm is a romantic. Despite the direct orders of the Prince Regent, he insists on marrying Agatha, the woman he loves more than any other. From the beginning of their marriage they are instructed to produce an heir, but things start to go wrong from the very start. With bloodletters and wild women from the forest, they try everything to make Agatha healthy again. With magic and wild demonic spirits loose in the land, they fight to keep their love alive. Are they a doomed couple or will they have an heir to their title? Follow the medieval epic of love, magic and an indomitable spirit that reveals secret and mysteries that will determine the fate of these star-crossed lovers.

My Review:

After reading this novel, I fell more in love with times of old. Bring on the castles, true love, add some mystery, a black magic plague, and toss in a bit of white magic to rid the black magic being used by some characters. Oddly, the special forces of men are men who are undead and cannot do duty if the leader is killed. In that way, it’s similar to The Borg on Star Trek. Will Agatha bear a baby? Guess you will have to read this novel to find out.

Book Link

From Amazon:

A former Russian ballerina and a police photographer, destined to be lovers, seek to unfold the murder mystery of two women…

DARK EYES…Anya, an unwed mother of a mentally challenged child, meets Andrei, at a murder scene. They strive to unravel the murders of a hotel worker and a doll-seller with a link to diamond smuggling in Soviet Leningrad.

The offbeat couple, in jeopardy, are stalked by a vicious detective with possible involvement in the murders, and in a taut reversal, the hunted become the hunters.

My Review:

Wow. This novel contains characters of the time of Stalin. Life was hard for so many, and as I read, I felt like the trials and tribulations, the fear and the love, the entire gambit for this time in the 50s. Backstabbing and fights, cleverness in hiding diamonds, and willing to help others to safety.

Book Title: The Hussar’s Duty

Series: The Winged Warrior Series

Author: Griffin Brady

Publication Date: May 18, 2023

Publisher: Trefoil Publishing

Page Length: 538

Genre: Historical Fiction

Twitter Handle: @griffbrady1588 @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #WingedHussars #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-tour-hussars-duty-by-griffin-brady.html

Book Title and Author Name:

The Hussar’s Duty

by Griffin Brady

Blurb:

Poland’s most valiant winged hussar is called to fight in a campaign ripe for disaster. But he must also protect those he loves from jackals waiting to pounce. How does he choose between duty and devotion when death is on the line?

When Sultan Osman II sends Poland’s envoy packing, the Commonwealth must prepare for war against one of the largest armies the Ottomans have ever assembled. Tasked with repelling the invasion is Grand Hetman of the Crown Stanisław Żółkiewski, and he knows who to turn to: Jacek Dąbrowski, the Commonwealth’s most valiant Polish winged hussar.

Jacek has been idle far too long, and the call to arms is a siren’s song he can’t resist. But he has built a life far from the battlefield with his wife, Oliwia, and their children. If he pursues his quest for glory, who will safeguard them?

Oliwia knows her husband is restless. In fact, she’s been sending Jacek on cross-country errands for years in the hopes of quelling his lust for battle. When she realizes her efforts are futile, she resolves herself to letting him go—after hatching a scheme to accompany him.

Honor. Obligation. Devotion. These forces push and pull Jacek in different directions. His country needs him, but so does his family. Where does his duty lie? His choice will cause catastrophic ripples no matter which path he follows … and could very well bring the loss of his loved ones or his life.

Will the cost of defending king and country prove too steep for this warrior?

This is a standalone continuation in The Winged Warrior Series.

When Angels Fly

(Guest post linked to the series)

(With a lovely name like “When Angels Fly,” I had to go with a guest post about the Polished winged hussars’ most notable feature, their wings!)

When I think of the Polish Winged Hussars, many adjectives leap to my mind at once: Fierce. Flamboyant. Intimidating. Boisterous. Honorable. Savage. God-fearing. They walked with a swagger that came from knowing they were the best and they might die in the next battle.

Besides their prowess on the battlefield, though, what set them apart visually were those magnificent wings! Sadly, like their long hollow lances, they weren’t built to last, and most did not survive the ravages of time. The evidence of their existence can be found in paintings and sketches and the scant extant samples that did make it.

Did they really wear them, and why? According to narratives penned by those who witnessed the mighty hussars charging into an enemy line, the horsemen did sometimes wear them into battle. The wings might have been a single one attached to the back of a saddle or the iconic curved pair bolted to their backplates that curled above a warrior’s head.

*****

While experts agree the wings existed, how exactly they evolved and their purpose are even trickier questions. No one knows for sure, and in a rush to explain their existence, theory and conjecture abound.

To explore their possible origin, let’s travel back briefly to the 16th century to the rise of the hussars. After the Union of Lublin, which formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the Commonwealth’s southern borders came under attack from the Ottoman Empire. The Serbian and Hungarian territories were conquered, but a new type of soldier, a combination of Serbian and Hungarian, survived and soon would thrive in Poland: the hussar. The word hussar, in fact, harkens back to húsz, meaning twenty. It’s believed that the first hussars came from ranks of peasants, where one out of twenty was recruited into service.

The Hungarian hussar was armored, but the Serbian was not. The Serbians, however, carried a light lance and an asymmetrical shield with a wing painted on it, like the fine fellow below. The Polish Winged Hussar is a combination of the two.

*****

In 1576, Stefan Bathory, a Transylvanian prince, was elected king of Poland. It was he who standardized the Poles’ equipment so it matched his personal guard of Transylvanian and Hungarian hussars, giving rise to the Polish Winged Hussars. The shields were abandoned in favor of heavier armor, and the wings became more than artwork.

So why did they adopt the wings?

Some theorize they donned them because the noise would have frightened enemy horses. But consider that the thunder of their hoofbeats as they charged at an enemy line would have drowned out the sound.

Others speculate the wings made it difficult for Tatars to get a lasso around their torsos and drag them off their horses. If you’ve read The Heart of a Hussar, you know I like that theory myself, though history offers no proof.

How about psychological warfare as a reason for wearing the wings? It’s hard to know what effect the visual of those shuddering wings would have had on enemy horses, but it must have been terrifying to be a soldier on the front line while a wall of winged cavalrymen was bearing down. Not only would the defender have seen the horrifying sight coming at him, he would have felt the vibration of the hoofbeats through the ground. The hussars would have appeared larger than life, like archangels.

Given their deep sense of religion, I imagine the hussars would have taken pride in being compared to archangels. They certainly lived and breathed the notion that they were the “Bulwark of Christendom,” fighting for their Catholic God and country.

Another explanation for the wings has nothing to do with battle. Some surmise they were one more accoutrement that bespoke the splendor of the hussar and were worn mainly for parades and the like. In other words, it might have been plain old vanity. These men were peacocks, and they dressed in their finery before meeting the enemy on the battlefield, so the theory definitely has merit.

Whatever the reason, the wings set the Polish Winged Hussars apart from other cavalry of their day and lend them an air of timelessness that continues to fascinate.

Buy Links:

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Link: https://readerlinks.com/l/3336453

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2VZ2963/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2VZ2963/

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C2VZ2963/

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C2VZ2963/

Author Bio:

Griffin Brady is an award-winning historical fiction author with a keen interest in the Polish Winged Hussars of the 16th and 17th centuries. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Her debut novel, The Heart of a Hussar, was a finalist for the 2021 Chaucer Early Historical Fiction Award and a 2021 Discovered Diamond.

The proud mother three grown sons, she lives in Colorado with her husband. She is also an award-winning bestselling romance author who writes under the pen name G.K. Brady.

Social Media Links:

Website: https://www.griffin-brady.com/historical-fiction/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/griffbrady1588

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGriffinBrady

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/griffin-brady

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/griffinbrady

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20675881.Griffin_Brady

Book Title: The Douglas Bastard   

Series: Archibald the Grim Series

Author: J R Tomlin

Publication Date:  April 26, 2022

Page Length: 185

Genre: Historical Fiction, Scottish Historical Fiction

Twitter Handle: @tomlinjeanne @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #MedievalScotland #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-tour-archibald-the-grim-series.html

Book Title and Author Name:

The Douglas Bastard

Archibald the Grim Series

J R Tomlin

Blurb:

Young Archibald, the Black Douglas’s bastard son, returns from exile to a Scotland ravaged by war. The war-hardened Knight of Liddesdale will teach him what he must learn. And with danger on every side, he must learn to sleep with one eye open and a claymore in his hand because even their closest ally may betray them…

Buy Links:

The Douglas Bastard:

Universal Link:  https://books2read.com/u/4AAwdp

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0968X5V3Y

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0968X5V3Y

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0968X5V3Y

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0968X5V3Y

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-douglas-bastard-a-historical-novel-of-scotland-j-r-tomlin/1140930069

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ebook/the-douglas-bastard

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1606972264

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/J_R_Tomlin_The_Douglas_Bastard?id=AM12EAAAQBAJ

Archibald the Grim Series on Amazon:

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BDW1VJ61

Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDW1VJ61

Author Bio:

J R Tomlin is the author of twenty historical novels.

Her historical novels are mainly set in Scotland. You can trace her love of that nation to the stories of Robert the Bruce and the Black Douglas that her grandmother read her when she was small and to her hillwalking through the Scottish Cairngorms where the granite mountains have a gorgeous red glow under the setting sun.

In addition to having lived in Scotland, she has traveled in the US, mainland Europe and the Pacific Rim. She now lives in Oregon.

Social Media Links:

Website: www.jrtomlin.com 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomlinJeanne

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/j-r-tomlin

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.R.-Tomlin/author/B002J4ME1S

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4094154.J_R_Tomlin

When your manuscript is polished, your query letter honed to perfection and you’re ready to contact agents about representing your baby, you still aren’t done. Each agent you contact will have unique requirements, personal favorites as to how to oil your manuscript so it slips smoothly through the gears of their application process.

Trust me as a veteran of the query process–they’re all different. Visit an agent’s website. Check out their requirements before submitting. Spend the time to make each contact personal to the agent’s requirements, area of expertise, and current successful publications.

Here’s an example of what  3 Seas Agency requires. They’re good, basic rules that make sense when seeking representation:

In General:

1. Your manuscript needs a header on each page. It should include the title, the author’s name and the page number. (Note: If you wish, the page number can be inserted at the bottom of the page.)
2. Make sure your entire book flows.
3. Avoid overuse of flashbacks.
4. A slow-moving beginning turns off agents and editors. Write a beginning hook to suck in the reader. Use action rather than narrative.
5. Make sure the climax isn’t resolved too easily. Be certain to tie up all loose ends that may have drifted throughout your story.
6. Double-check for grammatical errors, such as misspelled or repeated words and sentence structure.
7. Do not use unusual words more than once in your entire manuscript. A reader will remember them and be pulled out of the story if you repeat them.

[Want a beta reader for your book? Check out our beta reading service.]

Common Manuscript Errors:

1. Improper use of the word — its.
2. Toward is preferred over towards.
3. Overuse of the word: that. Read and then read again all sentences which contain the word “that.” Many, many times “that” can be omitted, or the word “which” can be substituted. Sometimes, however, “that” is necessary and must remain in the sentence. Only by reading the sentence out loud and concentrating on it will you be able to delete all unnecessary usage. HINT: use the “find” for locating all of the times you used “that” in your manuscript.
4. Sprinkle contractions throughout your manuscript in dialogue, inner monologue and narrative. You will notice how the words flow better immediately. NOTE: we talk using contractions, therefore, your characters should too.
5. Name Dropping: be sure not to keep repeating a character’s name over and over in a paragraph or even on a page. When more than one character appears in a scene, it’s sometimes necessary to repeat names.
6. Dialogue is Not Conversation: there is no room for bad dialogue in a good manuscript. Dialogue’s only purpose is to move the story along. If it doesn’t, and it sounds like conversation, DELETE IT. Try not to have a character answer a question directly. It’s better to answer a question with a question or to refer to something else.
7. Using too many adjectives and adverbs: strong writing demands strong nouns and verbs. A verb can be either active or passive. Always choose “active” voice whenever possible.
8. A noun is put to best use when it paints a definite picture of what you’re trying to say.
9. Be professional! Making a sale depends on it!

This guest post was contributed by Jacqui Murray. Jacqui is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.  

Book Link

From Amazon:

Melanie Kirk discovers the man she’s considered spending her life with was only using her to achieve a means to a selfish end. Abandoned with a baby on the way, she swears never again to be taken in by a guy’s superficial words, or allow any diversions to interfere with her responsibilities.

Taylor Hutchins’s arrival in town couldn’t have come at a worse time. Hoping to stay with his brother & Melanie’s twin sister, Mary, until he finds a place to live, Taylor’s unaware the couple has been unsuccessful in starting a family. Sensitive to both her sister’s plight & the secret attraction she harbors for Taylor, Melanie offers him the guest suite in her home, altho she’s pregnant with another man’s child.

My Review:

I just finished this short two hour romance by Ricci. Ricci writes romance in a way that humor is portrayed throughout. Love at first sight? I believe in love at first sight. This book is romance at it’s best.

Book Link

From Amazon:

I provide an in-depth, analytical, and philosophical explanation of why specific cultural and social issues exist. With each topic, I discuss what it is, give examples for each, and break down each example providing more detail of just some of the possible reasons as to why people do them (possible mentalities). I also give some of my own experiences and everything discussed in this book, I have personally witnessed and or have gone thru.

Furthermore, I provide much thought-provoking material to challenge the way we think and view society, in ways you might not have considered. I discuss many unhealthy mentalities and behaviors which is damaging to people on a much larger scale and it’s having a much greater influence on others both directly and indirectly in ways that we do not even realize. This book is something the whole world needs to read as I see the world differently, and the purpose of this book is to share different ways of looking at situations and the numerous possibilities to take into consideration. I share my perception and perspective, viewpoint, mentality, and some of my own philosophies. I provide a more in-depth perspective of looking at a variety of life situations and the possible reasons why people choose to treat others the way they do. I think a lot of people might find this content in general interesting, beneficial, inspiring, and or even life-changing.

My Review:

Having just finished this book, my review follows. Valid points were written about, and many of those are repetitious throughout. The points made and a takeaway since reading gave me pause to reflect on my own life. As textbook style, it’s hard to read in one reading session, which is okay for most people. As a literary piece, I give four stars. The repetitious parts, spelling, punctuation errors, and a huge issue is the use of the word “thru” in this novel. Most writers know that “through” is the only acceptable way writter per any manual written. I still gave four stars for relevant information for those who require this knowledge.

Book Link

From Amazon:

KATIE FELL IN LOVE WITH THE DEVIL. NOW SHE’S RUNNING FOR HER LIFE.
LOVE CAN BE BLIND, EVEN MISLEADING, BUT LOVE HAS NEVER BEEN SO DANGEROUS!

Katherine is a small-town girl. The day she met Chris, she fell in love. However, love can be deceiving. Their love seemed perfect, but then one day, he changed. Now, Katie and her child are on the run, with Chris hot on their trail.

She runs to the one place Chris would never look… Crash Falls. The town where Katie grew up. Her best friend Charlie swears to protect her, but the devil is resourceful.

As Katie struggles with her past, she discovers a future and learns to trust. The handsome stranger is renting the old Coney house for the winter. There’s something about him that’s far too familiar. Katie and her son end up trapped in a vicious storm, with danger lurking nearby.
She discovers her strength and a new love she never imagined.

It’s an EMOTIONAL read that’ll have you holding your breath. If you enjoyed Safe Haven & Sleeping with the Enemy, then check out this book.

My Review:

This romance novel is truly heartfelt straight from the heart of the author. Rose has a way of melding characters with a bit of angst, sadness, loss, and true love. When a book pulls on my own heart, then that book speaks volumes. Five stars.

Book Link

From Amazon

“I WILL FIND YOU” by John Taylor is an inherently riveting tale of mystery and intrigue which starts in wartime Fenland near Ely and then moves halfway across the globe to Australia. Taylor’s story is colourful, poignant and moving as it charts the journey of young Robbie Spalding and his path from a Dr. Barnardos Home in Cambridge to a new life on the other side of the world. Robbie becomes Nick Thorne and this account of his arrival into adulthood is more than a little tragic, as is his eventual search for his mother, and filled with unexpected twists and turns.

Touching, funny, sad and filled with drama, “I Will Find You” is an authentic and engaging read that is both gripping and compelling, and will certainly keep the readers’ earnest attention from beginning to end. Readers should expect to shed a tear for the casualties of war. In the pages of “I Will Find You”, author John Taylor showcases a genuine flair as a novelist for originality, as well as an impressive flair for narrative storytelling.

My Review

I just finished this novel, and I’m shocked by the atrocities that we’re perpetuated upon the kids, even as young as age three to four years of age. Boys Town was something I had heard about, read about, back in the day when the realities spilled forth on both male and female kids. The lascivious behavior and the neglect and torture was worse than anything I’d read back in the day.

Media Kit

Book Title:                 Lucy

Series:                                     The Art of Secrets Series

Author:                      Vicky Adin

Publication Date:      14 May 2023

Publisher:                   AM Publishing NZ

Page Length:             327

Genre:                                    Dual-timeline historical fiction

Twitter Handle:        @vickyadin @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle:    @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags:       #dualtimeline #historicalfiction #LucyTheSuffragist #WomensRights #BookBlast #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Blog Tour Page:  https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-tour-lucy-suffragist-by-vicky-adin.html

Book Title and Author Name:

Lucy

by Vicky Adin

Blurb:

Emma’s curiosity is piqued by a gutsy young climate change campaigner with an antique trinket box full of women’s rights badges, but tracing their history pushes her to her limit.

Struggling to recover from Covid-19, Emma is terrified of developing a chronic and incurable condition and becoming a burden. She tries to ignore her fears and keeps working. She has clients who rely on her. Paige is a spirited environmentalist whose wealthy father tries to curb her enthusiasm. But she is intent on making her mark on the world in spite of him. Emma is torn between untangling the mysteries of Paige’s legacy or saving herself when exhaustion threatens everything she cares about. 

In 1892, twenty-one-year-old Lucy, a dedicated suffragist is determined women shall win the right to vote this time. Since her mother died, she has grown up in the glow of her father’s benevolence. Winning the franchise has become her raison d’être, greater even than her love for Richard. She goes canvassing and is ambushed by a man who undermines her confidence. Conflicted between winning the vote or safeguarding those she loves, she redoubles her campaign efforts. But a moral dilemma puts her future in jeopardy.

A compelling tale of Lucy the suffragist and the courageous women who fought for their right to vote (Book 3 in The Art of Secrets series, dual-timeline sagas about finding your roots).

Buy Links:

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Link:  https://books2read.com/u/bznLjj

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2Y49K2H

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2Y49K2H

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C2Y49K2H

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C2Y49K2H

Author Bio:

Vicky Adin’s passion is writing inter-generational sagas inspired by early immigrant women’s stories in New Zealand, linked by journals, letters, photographs, and heirlooms.

As a genealogist and historian, Vicky has combined her skills to write heart-warming novels weaving family life and history together in a way that makes the past come alive.

Delve into the new dual-timeline series, The Art of Secrets, family sagas about finding your roots… or

Become engrossed in The New Zealand Immigrant Collection, suspenseful family saga fiction uncovering the mysteries, the lies and the challenges of the past.

Vicky Adin holds a MA(Hons) in English and Education. She is an avid reader of historical novels, family sagas and contemporary women’s stories and loves to travel.

Social Media Links:

Website:         www.vickyadin.co.nz

Twitter:          https://twitter.com/VickyAdin

Facebook:      https://www.facebook.com/VickyAdinAuthor/

LinkedIn:       https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicky-adin-82b74513/

Pinterest:        https://nz.pinterest.com/nzvicky/

Amazon Author Page:                      http://amzn.to/2tUG9co

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6543974.Vicky_Adin