Weekly Update
I have been taking an unplanned hiatus! It’s been two weeks since I posted anything. I guess I needed a break, but it wasn’t a conscious decision. The last two weeks I’ve been dealing with my injured knee, which turned out to be a torn meniscus, with moderate arthritis thrown into the mix. The ortho doc wanted me to talk to the knee replacement specialist, but I’ve started physical therapy, and I’ve decided to put the knee replacement off as long as possible. (Sunday Post, Sunday Salon)
In book news, I’m finishing up my reviews and editing for the next issue of Historical Novels Review in May. I need to post some of my reviews from the February issue, which I should have done already.
Last week was fairly uneventful except for going to PT. Good news is my walking is improving already.
Need Your Advice
I came across a problem when taking an Indie Spotlight submission. I asked for an Epub or PDF, and I was sent a Word doc. I didn’t notice at first, but when I started to download it, it was marked as SUSPICIOUS. Then when I replied to them, they asked me a question I had already answered in the previous email, making me think they might be a bot. Maybe I’m wrong and this person wasn’t a bot or a scammer, but I can’t take the chance. If scammers are going to target me that way, I may have to stop taking submissions of documents completely, and only take books that are available on Kindle Unlimited or Book Sirens, or from someone I have dealt with in the past and trust. Please tell me what you think in the comments.
Upcoming Posts
I have a lot of reviews to post, and I won’t list them here right now because I need to get organized, but they are going to start coming this week! (Sunday Post, Sunday Salon)
Book Haul
Midnight Patriots
Blending fact and fiction, Midnight Patriots follows real-life friends Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin as they confront powerful enemies threatening America.
It’s 1940. Europe is in flames. Germany occupies much of the continent, and the Blitz rains terror on London. Fritz Duquesne, a German spy straight from the history books, plots to kidnap Einstein and steal America’s nuclear secrets. Enraged by Chaplin’s mockery in The Great Dictator, Adolf Hitler dispatches an SS assassin to silence the man who ridiculed him. The story features Charles Lindbergh, Lena Horne, and J. Robert Oppenheimer—along with a beautiful German spy on a mission of her own. As Nazi agents and FBI operatives close in, all roads lead Einstein and Chaplin to a deadly showdown aboard the Santa Fe Super Chief as it races from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Midnight Patriots is the second novel in the Einstein-Chaplin Series. The first entry, Midnight Burning, was named “Historical Thriller of the Year” by Best Thrillers Book Review and one of the “Favorite Books of 2025″ by Bookreporter. The books stand alone and may be read in any order. The novels are the first works of historical fiction by Paul Levine, best known for his “Jake Lassiter” and “Solomon vs. Lord” series of legal thrillers.
The Windsor Affair
Feuding Windsor brothers and their wives—some things, it seems, never change. The Windsor Affair recreates the cataclysmic events that nearly toppled the monarchy and incited the power struggle between Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Wallis Simpson. Told from the perspective of both women, the novel propels readers into the fabulous world of the debonair Prince of Wales, café society of the 1930s, and the glittering private lives of the Windsors. The first novel to be dedicated to this infamous rivalry, The Windsor Affair brings us all the gossip and intrigue between the two very different—yet perhaps more similar than they would admit—wives of royals.
As Queen, Elizabeth would become the symbol of British pluck and courage during World War II and remain a British institution the rest of her long life. Wallis would be forever forced to enact the World’s Greatest Love Story even after it sours, as she goes from being admired to vilified and, ultimately, pitied. Against the backdrop of the Abdication Crisis, World War II, coronations, funerals, births, and deaths, these two women maintain a biting, sharp-tongued feud—until age and the long arm of history bring about a kind of understanding. For the last communication between these bitter rivals was a simple, surprising message: “In friendship, Elizabeth.”
An Infinite Love Story
When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.
Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.
As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her.
**Thank you the The Caffeinated Book Reviewer for hosting Sunday Post and Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting Sunday Salon.
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