Archive | February 2025

Genuine Deceit

Feb27

Book Link

From Amazon:

When a young woman finds herself unknowingly accountable for the past sins of her family, she must unravel their secrets and lies to stay alive.

When her grandmother is brutally murdered in her own home, Reagan Asher leaves her corporate job and rushes to her sleepy hometown in Ohio. She has barely entered the house before a second break-in attempt is made, prompting police to believe it’s not just a random burglary. Reagan’s lifelong friend Mattie asks Aiden Rannell, her brother-in-law and an ex-Navy Seal, to lend support and protection to Reagan as she navigates the investigation.

Aiden suggests a ring that Reagan’s grandmother owned may be more valuable than anyone realizes. Considering her frugal life growing up, Reagan dismisses the idea, showing Aiden an old pink box filled with similar colorful, ornate costume jewelry she and her friends played with as children. When they find a decades-sealed container with shocking contents supporting Aiden’s concerns, Reagan begs him to help her find the origin and if it is related to her Nana’s death.

Finding clues to solve a decades old mystery proves challenging as the threats to Reagan’s life escalate. Could the discovery of a water-stained, half-torn photo found in her grandmother’s safe deposit box be significant? Her mother’s suicide? Her father’s abandonment? Unanswered questions send Reagan and Aiden across the country in search of answers, with danger never far behind. With each new revelation of deception and lies, Reagan begins to doubt everything she ever knew about her life.

My Review:

Wow. York has written a book without smooth sailing. This book grabs your attention, then takes you a ride like a roller-coaster with unpredictable twists and turns. Just when you think you have it figured out, you find out you don’t. The emotions are palpable, the love and loss equally palpable. The lies are numerous and, frankly, heartwrenching. Well done.

A Woman’s Lot

Feb26

Book Title: A Woman’s Lot

Series: The Meonbridge Chronicles, Book #2

Author: Carolyn Hughes

Publication Date: February 5th, 2025 (audiobook publication)

Publisher: Carolyn Hughes

Listening Length: 12 hours and 15 minutes

Genre: Historical Fiction

Any Triggers: n/a

Twitter Handle: @writingcalliope @cathiedunn @MaryLSchmidt

Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #Medieval #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2025/01/blog-tour-a-womans-lot-audiobook-by-carolyn-hughes.html

Book Title and Author Name:

A Woman’s Lot

The Second Meonbridge Chronicle

Carolyn Hughes

Narrator Alex Lee @alexleeaudio

Blurb:

How can mere women resist the misogyny of men?

1352. In Meonbridge, a resentful peasant rages against Eleanor Titherige’s efforts to build up her flock of sheep. Susanna Miller’s husband, grown melancholy and ill-tempered, succumbs to idle gossip that his wife’s a scold. Agnes Sawyer’s yearning to be a craftsman is met with scorn. And the village priest, fearful of what he considers women’s “unnatural” ambitions, is determined to keep them firmly in their place.

Many men hold fast to the teachings of the Church and fear the havoc the “daughters of Eve” might wreak if they’re allowed to usurp men’s roles and gain control over their own lives.

Not all men in Meonbridge resist the women’s desire for change – indeed, they want it for themselves. Yet it takes only one or two misogynists to unleash the hounds of hostility and hatred…

If you enjoy immersive historical fiction with a strong authentic feel, set in a time of change and challenge, especially for women, you’ll love A Woman’s Lot, the second MEONBRIDGE CHRONICLE. Find out for yourself if Meonbridge’s “unnatural” women stand up to their abusers!

Praise:

“This book exceeded all my expectations. I did not read this story. I lived it!”

~ The Coffee Pot Book Club

“A treat for all the senses…totally true to its time and setting…”

~ Being Anne

“I didn’t so much feel as if I were reading about medieval England as experiencing it first hand.”

~ Linda’s Book Bag

“An absorbing account of the times.”

~ Historical Novel Society

Audio Link

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4jzKJY

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Audiobook Links:

Audible: https://buff.ly/4gw1xs3

Audible UK: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/A-Womans-Lot-Audiobook/B0DW4HR5HW

Audible US: https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Womans-Lot-Audiobook/B0DW4FZLCZ

Author Bio:

Carolyn Hughes has lived much of her life in Hampshire. With a first degree in Classics and English, she started working life as a computer programmer, then a very new profession. But it was technical authoring that later proved her vocation, word-smithing for many different clients, including banks, an international hotel group and medical instruments manufacturers.

Although she wrote creatively on and off for most of her adult life, it was not until her children flew the nest that writing historical fiction took centre stage. But why historical fiction? Serendipity!

Seeking inspiration for what to write for her Creative Writing Masters, she discovered the handwritten draft, begun in her twenties, of a novel, set in 14th century rural England…

Intrigued by the period and setting, she realised that, by writing a novel set in the period, she could learn more about the medieval past and interpret it, which seemed like a thrilling thing to do. A few days later, the first Meonbridge Chronicle, Fortune’s Wheel, was under way.

Six published books later (with more to come), Carolyn does now think of herself as an Historical Novelist. And she wouldn’t have it any other way…

Author Links:

Website: https://carolynhughesauthor.com

Twitter: https://x.com/writingcalliope

Facebook: https://facebook.com/CarolynHughesAuthor

Bluesky: https://carolynhughes.bsky.social

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carolyn-hughes

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Carolyn-Hughes/author/B01MG5TWH1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16048212.Carolyn_Hughes

This entry was posted on February 26, 2025. 4 Comments

Meet Sarah Tanburn

Feb25

Please welcome Sarah Tanburn to my blog. Hello Sarah, I’m glad you made it here this morning. Shall we have a chat?  

Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.

Hi Mary, and thanks for having me here. I am a writer, reader, sailor, hiker and cat-servant living in South Wales, UK. I write essays, review books, memoirs and occasional poems. Fiction is my main love though: I write historical fiction, especially maritime based, fantasy and science fiction and some literary stuff too.

In my 50s, I went back to university and last year graduated with a PhD in Creative Writing from Swansea. For that I wrote a duology of novels, of which more in a moment. At the same time, I wrote the series of fantasy novellas now out in a collection called Children of the Land.

Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book? (If you are here as an invite to promo your small business, then please write your own questions and provide relevant photos and links, thank you.)

Yes – and no! As a child and young adult, I wrote a lot. The autobiography of my pet. The story of Boff. A screenplay for Prisoner of Zenda. Then, like so many people, life got in the way. I wrote lots of journalism and public policy material but not creative work.

In 2003 I took redundancy, sold my house and moved aboard my own yacht to go off sailing. Free of the career shackles, I started creative work again. That turned into a novel which I worked on in bursts for a long time. It won’t be published, but I learnt a lot writing it.

When I started the PhD I knew that it would be a novel. It ended up being two, telling the story of William Brown, a Black woman who served as sailor and spy in Nelson’s Navy. I am now querying the first, entitled Born of Courage.

Children of the Land was a surprise gift along the way. The first novella I wrote in that world was Hawks of Dust and Wine, which came to me in one long burst. The story came second in the Rheidol Prize, an important Welsh literary prize, which was great. I then started thinking of other tales set in the same world.

How difficult was it writing your first book?

Children of the Land, my first published book, was a joy to write in many ways.  My complicated, somewhat dystopian future Wales brings with it some important disciplines. For my characters, it is difficult to travel out of Wales and electronic communication is monitored. But compared to the rest of a very unstable world (climate change, geopolitics) it is safe and tolerant. People are not rich, but they are not starving either.

Each story picks up on some imagined creature of the land, a mythological character or fabled part of Welsh history. Some, like the water monsters of The Flow, have their roots in our tales, but others are my invention. I wanted strong women, real challenges and a bit of fun along the way.

The hardest part was probably ensuring the elements of the Welsh language, such as blessings or place names, were right. Fortunately, I have lovely friends who are fluent in Cymraeg and generous with their time and skills.

Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?

I think we all want to give up at times. We fall out of love with a project, or it just doesn’t seem to want to make sense. Our words stop working. Maybe our shoulders hurt and our waistline out of control.

The stories and the characters and the sheer joy of creation always bring me back. I will be standing the shower and realise that this is why that outfit matters, or that of course Charlie would run into the battle – or whatever it might be. And then I am back, making stuff up.

That’s what I keep writing despite rejections and disappointments. The stories won’t let me stop.

Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?

I must name two people. One is my wife, Sandra, who is endlessly supportive and engaged. She welcomes my creativity but also my efforts to be more strategic about networking and marketing. The other is Jon, my supervisor for my PhD, who has been a fantastic mentor, generous with his time and insights.

Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

I hope they enjoy the unsettling, immersive world of Children of the Land. I ask some dark questions about where trends in our society are going, and how they might play out in a small country which is not rich, but which has a strong sense of social justice. At the same time, I had some imaginative fun with the spirits of place and what might happen if the moles decide to take over.

I should add this is undoubtedly an adult book, despite the title. The children of the land are born when the landscape itself starts taking a hand in what happens next; they are not always kind.

What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?

Gosh! Pick one? As a writer (rather than a human being) I immensely admire Ernest Hemingway. In his Paris Review interview, he says two great things. One is to leave out what you know: ‘I have seen the marlin mate,’ he tells us, ’so I left that out.’ The other is always to stop for the day when you know what the next sentence will be. Both of those work for me.

(If readers would like more about icebergs, Eisenhower and greening, there is an excellent article in the New Yorker at https://bit.ly/4ix0s4H by John McPhee)

What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?

Fans of Angela Carter, Ursula Le Guin and Neal Stephenson will all find elements to enjoy in Children of the Land. There are monsters, certainly, some in human form. There is heroism and strange happenings. Technology matters in isolationist Cymru, whether energy is generated, we communicate beyond our borders or move from place to place. These are fantasies, certainly, but feedback suggests they appeal beyond the bounds of genre.

The intellectual roots of Children of the Land included my ambition to explore the tales of future Wales. Many writers look back at our history, whether at dragons, or glorious resistance or King Coal. I wanted to take those elements of myth and modernity and ask where they might lead us. These tales should therefore appeal to readers of political fiction, exploring possibility.

Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?

I worked with a book designer. He created the cover and an icon for each of the five novellas. He saw the stories as a pathway for the imagination, so took the stepping-stones that feature in some of the stories as the central motif.

I used each of those motifs to make postcards, with a pull quote from the relevant novella. These have been invaluable publicity and I have used them widely on social media.

What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?

There’s always more than one project on the go. I am (at the time of this interview), working on a novel, Wildwood, a standalone story set in the same world as Children of the Land, about rewilding the temperate rainforest. It is a love story between Gwen, perfumier and mother, and Hwni, spy and healer for the forest of the Upper Tywi Valley. At one point Gwen and her father are summoned to the capital, Aberytstwyth, and Hwni is looking after Gwen’s baby daughter Fidán. She takes the child into the woods.

The next morning dawned bright and dry and silent. No news came from Gwen in Aber’ so Hwni put Fidán back in the papoose and set off into the hills. She walked up the path Gwen had taken with Dafydd ap Morgan and Rhys ap Owain. Men bearing the names of their fathers. Humans love asserting family ties: maybe Fidán would help her understand. All the while she chatted to the baby, describing the plants along the way. The worts and the polypods, the lichens, lolling hart’s tongue everywhere beneath ivy-berries and the shaped lobes of oak leaves. At the orange fungus Morgan had attacked, she stopped and laid a finger on the stumps left behind, which were sprouting again. On the other side of the path the two pieces Gwen had placed were thriving, and she stroked them gently. ‘There’s a blessing for them, Fidán cariad,’ she said and continued upwards, still reciting the litany of the forest.

Any last words before we wrap things up?

I am very grateful for this chance to talk about my writing. There is always a great deal to learn from such clever questions, and from other writers who talk to you. I want to add that I write in lots of genres and forms: that may not be always the most commercial approach, but it allows me to tell tales of strong women and big themes the way I choose. I urge writers and readers to go beyond their usual comfort zone and find something new.

Bio

Sarah Tanburn is a writer living in South Wales after living afloat for a decade. The hidden stories of women at sea under sail fascinate her, and her work recovers their voices and agency in complicated worlds. She is also enmeshed in environmental concerns and passionate about a future, safer world. Her short stories, essays, memoirs and reviews have appeared online and in print across various outlets, for instance www.nation.cymru, Superlatives and [wherever] magazines, Ink, Sweat & Tears and the Iron Press anthology Aliens.

Social Media

Website: www.ladyturtlepress.cymru

Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/7wnB8Cb

Twitter: @workthewind

Bluesky: @sarahtanburnwriter.bsky.social

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-tanburn-0a10a13

Hashtags:  #Fantasy #WelshFantasy #HistoricalFiction #WomenInHistory 

More Amore

Feb24

Book Link

From Amazon:

Can one ever have too much amore? Authors Derek R. King and Julie L. Kusma say no such thing as too much love, so they offer More Amore, a collection of poetry following in the style of Amore, The Lighter Half, Volume 2, which urged the “sweet surrender of the heart.”

The authors blend “spiritually and emotionally” into “the best kind of magic” as they share words of love and oneness. An excellent book of poetry to recite from with the one you love.

My Review:

This is another great book of poetry by Kusma and King. The poems complement each other as you read them. I wonder, yes, it’s possible some of these could be woven into special wedding.

The Fires of Gallipoli

Feb20

Media Kit

Book Title: The Fires of Gallipoli

Series: n/a

Author: Barney Campbell

Publication Date: February 13th, 2025

Publisher: Elliott & Thompson

Pages: 320

Genre: Historical Fiction / WWI Fiction

Any Triggers: Battle scenes

(Please tag E&T as Barney isn’t on social media:)

Twitter Handles: @eandtbooks @cathiedunn @MaryLSchmidt

Instagram Handles: @elliottandthompson @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #TheFiresOfGallipoli #HistoricalFiction #WWI #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2025/01/blog-tour-the-fires-of-gallipoli-by-barney-campbell.html

Book Title and Author Name:

The Fires of Gallipoli

by Barney Campbell

Blurb:

The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking portrayal of friendship forged in the trenches of the First World War.

‘In this vivid and engaging novel of war and friendship, Barney Campbell shows us once again that he is a natural writer. This is a novel of men at arms of the highest quality.’ 
~ Alexander McCall Smith

Edward Salter is a shy, reserved lawyer whose life is transformed by the outbreak of war in 1914. On his way to fight in the Gallipoli campaign, he befriends the charming and quietly courageous Theodore Thorne. Together they face the carnage and slaughter, stripped bare to their souls by the hellscape and only sustained by each other and the moments of quiet they catch together.

Thorne becomes the crutch whom Edward relies on throughout the war. When their precious leave from the frontline coincides, Theo invites Edward to his late parents’ idyllic estate in Northamptonshire. Here Edward meets Thorne’s sister Miranda and becomes entranced by her.

Edward escapes the broiling, fetid charnel-house of Gallipoli to work on the staff of Lord Kitchener, then on to the Western Front and post-war espionage in Constantinople. An odd coolness has descended between Edward and Theo. Can their connection and friendship survive the overwhelming sense of loss at the end of the war when everything around them is corrupted and destroyed?

The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking, sweeping portrayal of friendship and its fragility at the very limits of humanity.

The Fires of Gallipoli

Excerpt 2:

Autumn turned into winter. The battalion moved a mile to the north-west of the blind crests to relieve a unit that was deemed combat ineffective following the twin heads of a failed attack and a virulent strain of dysentery that had torn through it.

Progress up to the line was appallingly slow, rivulets of loose earth and rocks running down the trench walls to line the bottoms with obstacles. To Edward, sleep-deprived and hallucinating in the cold, it was as though he was a giant treading through a twilit valley, the countless little landslips becoming mighty waterfalls tumbling down the sides into the plain below. His feet – as they stumbled on the pebbles and stones – were great hammers that crushed houses and villages. He realised he was grinning and that the sounds that punctuated his progress were his own short bursts of laughter. He took several gulps of air to snap out of it and hoped that no one had noticed him in that state.

The next day, the men got used to the tiny strip of ground that was now their home, titivating the line and getting to grips with the lie of their land.

And then came the evening. The normal weather of the daytime, no different from the hundred that had preceded it save for winter’s siphoning away its daily ration of heat, passed into a squally, adolescent late afternoon with fast-moving clouds scudding across the sky before a vast grey blanket was pulled across it.

At seven o’clock the first drops spattered down onto them, tiny pinpricks to start but growing soon to fat droplets that sounded like sleet as they hit helmets and hands clenched round rifles. They kicked up sand round the rims of the tiny craters they bored in the ground, soldiers craning their necks back to let them fall onto parched tongues. Within ten minutes, the rain had whipped up to a tempo that would not drop for three days, skin, uniform and ground all now equally saturated and the men sitting there like cattle, morale and discipline melting away.

After half an hour, Edward had never seen the men so low, so visibly deflated, so defeated. The wind picked up and up, each gust bringing waves of freezing rain onto their scant, thin uniforms. They started to shiver uncontrollably, some lucky ones seeking shelter under the flimsiest tarpaulins. Those who couldn’t sat in the bottom of trenches that had quickly become swamps, hands thrust into pockets, their necks bent forward over their chests as rifles were cast into the mud, sentry duties abandoned, anything military forgotten about. Each minute rammed home that the biggest threat to their survival now came not from the Turks but from the weather.

The darkness was total, with the moon entirely obscured. The mud grew into an ooze that sucked in anything that fell on it, a slick, slippy filth that afforded no purchase for their boots, the leather already sodden and chafing. Edward held off from looking at his watch for as long as he could, but eventually broke and saw its luminous hands tell him it was only nine o’clock; it felt like four in the morning. He was so cold that he knew that to sit and sleep might be fatal; he had to keep moving, so he began a lonely plod up and down the trench, slipping and sliding, cutting himself a dozen times, anything to keep moving, anything to encourage the men.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4XkEq6

Author Bio:

Barney Campbell, author of The Fires of Gallipoli, was brought up in the Scottish Borders and studied Classics at university. He then joined the British Army where he commanded soldiers on a tour of Helmand Province, Afghanistan at the height of the war there.

That experience inspired him to write his first novel Rain, a novel about the war, which was published by Michael Joseph in 2015. The Times called it ‘the greatest book about the experience of soldiering since Robert Graves’s First World War classic Goodbye To All That’.

Barney has walked the length of the Iron Curtain, from Szczecin in Poland to Trieste in Italy. He currently works and lives in London.

Author & Publisher Links:

Website: https://eandtbooks.com/authors/barney-campbell/

Twitter: https://x.com/eandtbooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliottandthompson/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/eandtbooks.bsky.social

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Barney-Campbell/author/B0DHW46DM5

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13734240.Barney_Campbell


This entry was posted on February 20, 2025. 2 Comments

Amore, Volume 2

Feb19

Book Link

From Amazon:

Prepare yourself to be swept away in a love affair with love itself. You will find yourself diving into the deepest oceans and climbing to heights that you never knew existed.

Love poems are some of the most intimate when it comes to poetry. Amore, The Lighter Half, Volume 2 will make you blush; make your heart realize what it yearns for. Each poem brings you closer to the sweet surrender of the heart.

Your toes will tingle, your soul will soar, and your state of mind will change. This book will make you believe in the concept of forevermore. You will understand that to be spiritually and emotionally entwined to another is the best kind of magic.

My Review:

Mary Schmidt

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2025

Verified Purchase

The poetry contained within is beautiful and speaks of such a deep love that only Julie and Derek have for each other. The only way to love more would be the entire world in a relationship like this.

Keepers of the Lighthouse

Feb18

Book Link

From Amazon:

Coby is back on the biggest quest of his life. With his wife Gracie and their newborn baby by his side, they venture to his newly inherited estate. After the lady of the manor’s untimely death, they rush to attend her funeral and discover Coby has inherited more than he ever imagined, including the prestigious Hotel Luminara on Tempest Island.

While exploring his newfound wealth, Coby learns of the mysterious disappearance of the lighthouse keepers on a treacherous cliff. Eager to uncover the truth, he takes his pregnant wife on an adventure to their new hotel.

News of his inheritance draws the attention of Reed Winslow, a wealthy jeweller determined to preserve his family’s legacy. Winslow hires Ryder Blackwood to stop Coby from revealing the island’s secrets.

On Tempest Island, Coby delves into the enigma of Mae Yore, Lord Frederick Hart, and their connection to the vanished keepers. His quest leads him to a diamond eerily similar to the infamous Hope Diamond. As Coby and Gracie struggle for survival against Ryder, they are forced apart, leaving Coby stranded on Lochlan’s Cove. There, he encounters the apparition of an elegant ghostly woman and makes a shocking discovery.

With another tragic death on his estate diverting his attention, can Coby survive, uncover the truth, and share the story the world deserves to know? Only time will tell in this page-turning, fast-paced thriller.

My Review:

Mary Schmidt5.0 out of 5 stars Paranormal and more

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2025

  • Verified Purchase
  • I found this story to be a unique paranormal read with a loving couple who became engaged. Did they marry? I leave that for the next readers. The Hope Diamond is front and center throughout this book in many different ways. Ethereal ghosts are almost in every home and abode. Mostly kind, some a bit bitter, and other men who try to kill the main male protagonist. A lot happens in the span of a 2- 3 hour drive. That final clue needed by those who wished to claim it, whether entitled to claim it or not. Danger lurks everywhere, even on the high seas. This book is descriptive, some even repetitions of phrases. I would have preferred more dialogue in bringing the story to life, but that is my preference

The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery

Feb17

Book Title:           The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery

Series:                   n/a

Author:       Lois Cahall

Publication Date:  January 14th, 2025

Publisher:        Historium Press

Pages:                   340

Genre:                  Historical Biographical Fiction

Any Triggers:  n/a

Twitter Handles: @LoCahall @cathiedunn @MaryLSchmidt

Instagram Handles:       @ lois.cahall @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags:   #HistoricalFiction #BiographicalFiction #WomenInHistory #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2025/01/blog-tour-the-many-lives-loves-of-hazel-lavery-by-lois-cahall.html

Book Title and Author Name: 

The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery

by Lois Cahall

Blurb:                  
In the heart of tumultuous times, amidst the grandeur of Victorian opulence, there existed an American socialite whose influence altered the course of the Anglo-Irish treaty: Lady Hazel Lavery

Boston-born Hazel ascended from her Irish roots to become the quintessential Society Queen of Chicago, and later London, where she lived a delicate dance between two worlds: one with her esteemed husband, Sir John Lavery, a portrait artist to royalty, and the other with Michael Collins, the daring Irish rebel whose fiery spirit ignited her heart. Together, they formed a love triangle that echoed through the corridors of power at 10 Downing Street, London.

Hazel’s wit and charm touched on the lives of the who’s-who of England, including Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Evelyn Waugh. The image of her memorable face graced the Irish note for close to half-a-century.

The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery

Excerpt 2:

The next afternoon John was painting a Lady Somebody-or-another who wanted her portrait to hang beside a Gainsborough in her husband’s ancestral hall. On the final day of the finished portrait, the Lady arrived with her husband who examined the portrait closely. His eyes roamed the canvas beginning at the head, then with his hand he traveled downward across the painting.

The husband finally spoke, “I pass the forehead and the eyes.”

“Very good,” said John, nodding.

“I pass the nose, the mouth, and the chin.”

“Excellent!” said John.

But then the man roamed his hands lower over the painting around his wife’s throat until he came upon her chest. “What is this flat-chested modernity that I see?”

“Pardon?” asked John.

“Where is the snowy amplitude of Her Ladyship?”

The man’s wife interjected. “I will not have an eighth of an inch added! I refuse!”

On cue I walked into the studio to interrupt, moving toward the painting but not before making eye contact with the husband. “So sorry, I think it’s quite lovely. Just as is,” I said to the man. “It captures her stunning beauty, her adoration of the man she’s gifted the painting to… you.” I let loose a big toothy smile and he smiled back.

“Well, if Lady Lavery thinks it’s fine…”

“I do… think it’s fine,” I said. “More than fine.” And I moved toward the wife. “Look at how beautiful she is and look how beautifully John has captured her… ah, sexuality ever so discreetly.”

“Yes,” said the man, inspecting the painting again. “By George, I think she’s right!”

And at that, everyone shook hands, and the deal was done. Off went the painting and the couple.

Left alone with John, I cornered him. “Sit, love, here.” And I pointed to the two chairs.

“Yes, my love,” said John, his tone suggesting he knew something was coming.

“It was lovely of you to paint Sir James Barrie last week. And it was so darling of him to gift me an autographed copy of his most treasured Peter Pan…”

“Yes, Hazel,” said John, wondering where this was all going.

“And I love when Sir Barrie dines with us. He’s always such a fan of my duck sauce.”

“Undoubtedly your biggest fan. Most certainly in the top ten of male admirers.”

“Right,” I said. “And I adore him.” I paused for effect, moving forward, and taking John’s hand in mine, the sun streaming through on various canvases and catching my expression just so.

“And he so loved when you did that portrait of him as a favor to me… the one where you made him pose as if working on that wooden bench, with the bench in semi darkness to camouflage his height. Would you say he’s about five feet?”

“Five foot, yes, dear,” assured John.

“And when I suggested we might donate the painting to the National Gallery of Scotland, well, he was thrilled and…”

“Hazel. What is the point?”

“The point is Mr. Barrie would love to meet Mr. Collins.”

“Mr. Collins?!” questioned John with sarcasm in his tone. “Is that what we’re calling that Renegade these days, Mr. Collins?”

“Well, it is his name,” I said, with sarcasm. John said nothing, only huffing under his breath.

“Oh, Johnnie,” I begged, “please paint Michael Collins and the others from Ireland.” John eyed me up and down, the look on my pleading face not budging. “Just for historical reasons.”

“It would be fine, my love, except I have so many commissions lined up. And now I’m training Winston to paint, good God. Now they’re calling him my pupil.”

“Which, of course, is highly flattering,” I interrupted. “But you know it was me who taught him to paint. It’s how he got the bug to be an artist.”

“Yes, you certainly did,” said John. “And how you ever convinced him to paint a still life of an empty bottle of spirits and a crystal bowl of fruit…”

“Well, he was a lovely student,” I said.

“Oh, Poppet,” sighed John, using his pet name for me, then pulling back his hand from mine he rested it in his lap with a deep sigh. “Darling, I just don’t know that I have the time…”

“Yes, but time does not count where a masterpiece is at stake,” I said, scanning his many portraits. “So, you will, won’t you Johnnie? Won’t you…”

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4APo7o  

Author Bio:

Lois Cahall began her writing career as a columnist for Cape Cod newspapers and local periodicals, including Cape Cod Life. She spent a decade writing for national magazines (Conde Nast/Hearst). Her articles have been published in Cosmo Girl, Seventeen, SELF, Marie Claire, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Journal, and Bon Appetit. In the UK she wrote for RED, GQ, Psychologies, and for The Times. In addition, Lois wrote profiles for The Palm Beach Post.

Lois’s first novel, Plan C: Just in Case, was a #1 bestseller in the UK, where it remained in the top three fiction for the year before selling into foreign translation markets. In July of 2014, her novel hit #1 on the Nook “Daily Deal” in America. Her second novel, Court of the Myrtles, was hailed as “Tuesdays with Morrie on estrogen” by the Ladies Home Journal. Her newest book, The Many Lives of Hazel Lavery, is a work of historical fiction and will be published in 2025.

Lois is the former Creative Director of Development for James Patterson Entertainment. She credits her friend, Jim Patterson, the world’s most successful bestselling author, with teaching her about the importance of children’s reading and literacy. As a result, she founded the Palm Beach Book Festival in 2015, an annual event bringing in NYT bestselling and celebrity authors. The event is for book lovers, nurturing the written word for the children and adults of southern Florida.

In 2024 Lois also founded The Cape Cod Book Festival, an annual autumn event that promises to be a new cultural footprint in Massachusetts. It will be for locals and ‘washashores’ alike – a magical place where charitably minded readers can rub elbows with great writers and thinkers.  

Lois divides her life between New York and Cape Cod, although her spiritual home is London. But most importantly, Lois can do the Hula Hoop for an hour non-stop and clear a Thanksgiving table in just under ten minutes.

Author Links:

Website:      www.loiscahall.com

Twitter:      https://x.com/LoCahall

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lois.cahall/

Threads:     https://www.threads.net/@lois.cahall

Bluesky:      https://bsky.app/profile/loiscahall.bsky.social

Book Bub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/2431811526

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lois-Cahall/author/B0DG3W5QNW

This entry was posted on February 17, 2025. 2 Comments

Love is Love

Feb16

Book Link

From Amazon:

Award-winning poets and authors, Derek R. King and Julie L. Kusma bring a collection of poetry that is, like the titles of their poems collectively state— pure, true love is only ever about you and your very special someone. When found, let nothing move or part contentment away from this shared divine life path. Together blissful happiness awaits forever in sumptuous seconds, magical minutes, heavenly hours, delightful days, everlasting yummy years. Melded resplendently, joyfully fused as one, every way possible, under the sun. Entwined Soulmates Forevermore

My Review:

Mary Schmidt

5.0 out of 5 stars I was proved wrong

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2025

Verified Purchase

I thought I’d read the best poetry about love with the last book I read by Julie and Derek. I was proved wrong. This is the best ever book of love poetry I’ve ever read. It’s fitting that I read this book on Valentine’s Day, no less. Within these pages and words written, I found myself and my husband doing the same things. A single embrace is enough. One kiss is enough. I’m with my soul mate, and so are the two writers of this book. Every word rang true. Boldly, they bled their hearts’ true loving thoughts. ❤️

Jim Fosse’s Expense Claim

Feb15

Book Link

From Amazon:

Once you’ve met Jim Fosse you’ll never feel quite the same about opening your e-mails …

A darkly humorous short story of obsession from John Dolan, author of ‘Everyone Burns’.

WARNING: Contains sexual references and some really terrible grammar.

My Review:

This book is short but hilarious. I found the humor to be bold, yet serious. Karma came into play that I wasn’t expecting. I wonder if anything remotely close to this book has happened in real life.