Hi everyone! I’m back from vacation and HOPEFULLY back to posting normally since my retirement. You would think I’d have more time than ever, but retirement has brought its own challenges to my schedule. I’ll provide more of an update after Top Ten Tuesday. The topic is: Top Ten book covers that remind me of Spring. See below.
I love the Spring flowers on the cover. I discovered Heather Webber WAY late in the game. She’s already written over 25 books, but when I read this one, and learned she writes small-town mysteries with a touch of magical realism, I was hooked! Now I seek out her books whenever I can. My review is here.
A really sweet “best friends” romance with a lovely Spring cover. My review is here.
The “Your Words” Poetry Collection by Louise Belanger includes beautiful photos of flowers along with wonderful inspirational poems and story poems that will draw you closer to God. The covers are so captivating! My most recent review is here.
This is historical fiction set in Switzerland during the time of discovery that adding iodine to salt will cure hypothyroidism. My review of the book is here.
A novel about starting over, and about women helping each other through tough times. My review is here.
This is an inspirational “married strangers” romance set in Appalachia in 1910. I love the Spring flowers and birds on the cover. Here is my review on The Historical Novel Society website.
The dress and flowers give this a “springy” feel to me. It’s a fascinating novel about a time when wealthy American families basically traded their daughters for titles and raised social standing. See my review here on The Historical Novel Society website.
Kim Vogel Sawyer is one of my favorite authors of Christian Historical Fiction. This novel is about a Mennonite Women’s organization in 1890s Kansas. The flowers on the cover give it a Spring feel. My review is here.
This Spring cover speaks for itself. It is set in 1930s Appalachia when many families had to relocate for the creation of the Smoky Mountain National Park. My review is here.
This could be a Spring night, and I love the Starling. This is another fantastic small-town book with a touch of magic by Heather Webber. It is set in Starlight, Alabama. My review is here.
UPDATE
I was on vacation in Florida last week visiting my friend Lyric, so I didn’t post at all. I am back in the swing, hopefully. The thing about retirement is I get up whenever I want, putter around, and I often look at the clock, surprised it’s almost dinnertime and wondering where the time has gone! I am working on that! I have missed blogging!
The week prior to my vacation we had a wildfire in the area (Alarka in Bryson City) that consumed around 2000 acres! It was between four and seven miles from my house, but thankfully our brave firefighters got it contained. We had planes coming in from as far away as Montana to help fight the blaze, and God helped too, with a huge rainstorm right before I left. I believe one house was lost, but it could have been a lot worse. No lives were lost. I am thankful.
Lynn Knight was born in Derbyshire and lives in London. The women of her family passed on many stories along with beaded bags and buttoned gauntlets, and fostered her interest in the texture and narratives of women’s lives. She is the author of The Biography of Clarice Cliff (2005), a memoir, Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue: The Story of an Accidental Family (2011), and The Button Box: The Story of Women in the 20th Century, Told Through the Clothes They Wore (2016).
Miss Burnham and the Loose Thread is her first novel.
BOOK REVIEW
In 1925 London, Rose Burnham is trying to make a success of her new business, a dressmaking shop, and has been encouraged by the many orders from Miss Holmes, who wants to impress a new suitor. The most recent dress is gorgeous and expensive to make, so Rose is quite concerned when Miss Holmes cannot pay for it. In tears, she explains that her suitor, Reginald, was a fraud. He talked her into advancing him 800 pounds for a business, and now he has disappeared, money and all. She explains she met him through a matrimonial agency. Outraged, Rose decides to pretend to be a client of the matrimonial agency, Cupid’s Arrow, and bring this “suitor” to justice.
I really enjoyed and connected with the characters in this book, especially Rose and her sisters. Rose has had the opportunity to leave employment with a department store and start her own business, and this book highlights the difficulties of and discrimination against women in business at that time. Rose’s determination to get justice for women being swindled is encouraging and heartwarming. The mystery surrounding the suitor, Reginald, is intriguing, and I could feel Rose’s outrage as she tries to track him down. There is a secondary mystery involving anonymous poisoned pen letters that are being left for Rose’s friend. This novel has a modern connection–everything that plays out in both of these mysteries in 1925 London is still going on today, but on social media. Recommended to all Mystery fans and fans of Women’s Fiction.
Thank you to Zooloo’s Book Tours for a free copy of this novel. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is “Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes.” I have so many I decided to focus on just The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series by Jodi Taylor, which is full of funny and meaningful quotes. I ended up with 15 instead of 10, and there are SO MANY MORE to choose from. I really love this series. I only included the cover of the first book, as there are 14, plus short stories, in the series.
“Everyone needs rules. After all, how can you break what doesn’t exist? Rules give anarchy something to aim at” ― Jodi Taylor, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
“He was calm and soothing and had a reasonable explanation for everything. No woman should have to put up with that.” ― Jodi Taylor, Just One Damned Thing After Another
“The screaming redoubled. You put dinosaurs and people together, you always get screaming.” ― Jodi Taylor, Just One Damned Thing After Another
“Silence holds no fears for me. I never feel the urge to fill it as so many other people do.” ― Jodi Taylor, Just One Damned Thing After Another
“Exchange between Leon and Max: “I just want you to tell me you love me sometimes.” “Yes, you see I can’t do that.” He turned his head away. “I love you all the time.” ― Jodi Taylor, Just One Damned Thing After Another
“If this was one of those books, there would now be three pages of head-banging sex. The reality was that he pulled me close, whispered, ‘Mfhbnnntx,’ and I pulled his arm over me like a cover and muttered, ‘Trout,’ and that was pretty much it.” ― Jodi Taylor, Just One Damned Thing After Another
“Helen, in a white coat and stethoscope, effortlessly achieving the sort of discipline for which lesser women would require black leather and a hunting crop, indicated we should form a line. Being St Mary’s, we formed several clumps and a rhomboid.” ― Jodi Taylor, A Second Chance
“Dr Maxwell. Why are you wearing a red snake in my office?’ ‘Sorry, sir. Whose office should I be wearing it in?” ― Jodi Taylor, A Symphony of Echoes
“She said nothing in a manner that conveyed volumes. I said nothing in a manner that I hoped conveyed my complete innocence. She said nothing in a manner that conveyed her disbelief in my complete innocence. I said nothing in a manner that conveyed my hurt at this lack of trust in me. She said nothing in a manner that effortlessly conveyed the message that Dr Bairstow wished to see me at his earliest convenience and to collect Dr Peterson while I was at it.” ― Jodi Taylor, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
“Mr Markham, the box marked “Sex” is not an invitation. Please amend the details and apologize to Mrs Partridge.” ― Jodi Taylor, Just One Damned Thing After Another
“I know the whole world isn’t really out to get me. I’m pretty sure Switzerland is neutral.” ― Jodi Taylor, A Second Chance
“Teenagers are inarticulate, acne-ridden lumps of inert matter. The only way you can ever induce movement is by trying to separate one from its mobile phone. And if you can do that, then the only way you can stop it attacking is with rhinoceros tranquilizer.” ― Jodi Taylor, Roman Holiday
“Oh, that’s easy. At street level, it’s Middle English. The clergy speak Latin. Your social superiors will speak Middle French. Remember that most words have a final e, which you should pronounce if the following word begins with a consonant. Except when that consonant is h, w, or y, of course. If the following word begins with a vowel, then that e is silent. Every letter in a word should be pronounced. If in any doubt, remember the ph in banana is always silent.” ― Jodi Taylor, A Trail Through Time
Recently I did a review of HORSE SHOW for The Historical Novel Society. You can find my blog post containing the review, the author’s bio, and purchase links here.
Jess was kind enough to do a Q&A with me as well, and you can find it below.
Bonnie: Hi Jess and thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Bonnie: Horse Show is a collection of short stories that include horses in some way. What inspired you to put this collection together?
Jess: Well, the title, Horse Show, is a bit of a pun—each story in the book includes an equine and a “show” or spectacle of some kind, whether that’s a movie, a 19th century stage show, or a woman having her horse tell fortunes in her backyard. That was really my inspiration—the many ways we put this species on display throughout American history.
Bonnie: One of my favorites, Two on a Horse, is set on the Steeplechase Ride at Coney Island. This was a highly dangerous and popular ride in the late 19th and early 20th Century. I became interested in this ride after reading about it in another novel. What inspired you to place the story here?
Jess: I first saw the Steeplechase in action while watching Ric Burns’ excellent American Experience documentary about Coney Island. Once I learned that there weren’t any seatbelts or brakes on the mechanical horses, and that a lot of early amusement park attractions were designed to create compromising situations between women and men, I thought about all the different kinds of women who would have ridden the Steeplechase, and all the ways that the ride could become a nexus for danger as well as empowerment.
Bonnie: Do you have a favorite story in the collection and why?
Jess: I’m fond of “Based on a True Story” because it really captures my sense of humor, in addition to pushing the boundaries of what a story featuring a horse can be, while questioning why there’s a horse in the story at all. Saying much more would spoil the surprise of reading it, though…!
Bonnie: Many of the stories highlight the abuse of horses in some way. I know I learned a lot more about this topic when reading your book. Has this always been a topic you wanted to share with the world? And have there been improvements in the treatment of horses in the present day?
Jess: As a lifelong equestrian and animal enthusiast, the anthropocentric way humans approach and exploit other beings, defining what it is to be “human” in opposition to other creatures, or claiming dominion over them and their habitats, has always bothered me deeply. Just as an anti-war book must contain war, Horse Show includes animal abuse to call attention to its inhumanity. While I do think strides have been made in terms of better understanding horses, institutionalized equine abuse continues, from Thoroughbred racing’s questionable breeding and training practices to less publicized situations such as the ongoing abuse of Tennessee Walking Horses for “big lick” competitions, where horses are cruelly mistreated to achieve a specific high-stepping walk, all in the name of “tradition.” Sadly, many humans still see horses as tools or machines or toys, rather than sentient beings who suffer and experience trauma just as we do.
Bonnie: Horse Show is your first book, although some or all of the stories were published individually. For the new writers who read this blog, how would you describe your journey to get published and what advice do you have for them?
Jess: I knew that the stories were good, and if I could place them individually in reputable, well-respected literary magazines, it would strengthen the collection’s case once I was ready to approach presses. Lots of writers I admire constructed their debut story collections this way. Publishing is kind of like rolling a snowball downhill. Each story you place, each contest you’re a runner-up for packs more snow onto the ball you’ve got rolling, and eventually you create an avalanche. Be careful about where you send your work. Aim for the most prestigious publications you can—those are the bylines that make publishers and agents e-mail you asking to see more work. And enter contests! That’s how Santa Fe Writers Project acquired Horse Show, after it made the longlist for their annual contest. Lots of great small presses find books that way.
Bonnie: I have become a fan of your work after reading Horse Show. Are you working on another book?
Jess: I am! While researching Horse Show, I developed a folder of “strange animal happenings” that had nothing to do with horses but tickled my brain. So, my next book is throwing the barn doors open to welcome in all kinds of obscure creatures from history. So far, there’s a wombat, a snake, some dogs, and Nikola Tesla’s favorite pigeon.
Bonnie: Let’s go beyond the bio. Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t know just from reading your bio.
Jess: I really love swimming, so much so that I’m always the first one to kick my shoes off and jump into random bodies of water. No swimsuit? No problem. Cold? I don’t care! Pools, creeks, fountains, holding ponds…I’m like a badly behaved golden retriever whenever water is involved.
Bonnie: Thanks so much, Jess, for answering my questions today!
Remember to check out HORSE SHOW! It was an amazing read.
Mattie Taylor arrives back in Tullahoma, Tennessee in 1969 to see her dying mother before it is too late. She left her parents’ horse farm in anger a year ago after her twin brother Mark was killed in Vietnam. Mattie blamed her father for his death, as he had not tried to keep Mark from volunteering to go to war. Her brother’s best friend Nash McCallum is now working at the farm. Nash had joined the military the same day as Mark but lost his arm in battle and was sent home. Maddie’s mother Ava does not have long to live but has requested that Mattie read some old letters Ava has stored away.
In 1942, Ava has received word of her husband Richard’s death at Pearl Harbor. She is living on the Delaney farm with her mother-in-law and is grieving for a man she barely knew, as they were only married for a short time. In need of money and a way to keep busy, Ava applies for and is accepted to a job at a military base, Camp Forrest, which she soon learns is being used to house German immigrants in an “internment camp” situation. As Ava becomes closer to one of the Germans being held against his will, Gunther Schneider, she faces scorn and judgment for their friendship.
This heartwarming but sad novel sheds light on the internment of thousands of innocent people in the United States during World War II, as well as the healing and recovery efforts for wounded Vietnam veterans. The themes of grief, forgiveness, and faith are addressed throughout the book. There is also the question, “Why does God allow good people to suffer?” The revelation of long-held secrets is heart-touching and compelling. The main characters are easy to connect with, and the story is enjoyable. Recommend.
I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (FROM HER WEBSITE)
Michelle Shocklee
(In Her Own Words) I have always loved the written word. As far back as I can remember I’ve enjoyed books. My mother, an elementary school teacher, read to my four older siblings and me a lot while we grew up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After I learned to read on my own, books were part of my daily life. When I walk into a bookstore, I take a deep breath, inhaling that wonderful, unique aroma. Ahhh. (Sorry techies, but ya just can’t do that with a Kindle!)
So it wasn’t a big surprise when I discovered how much I enjoyed writing my own stories. I filled pages of notebooks and eventually computer screens with tales of love, heartbreak, drama and humor. Although I write various genres, historical settings are my favorite.
When I’m not writing, editing, or dreaming up new stories, my husband and I work as Estate Caretakers, which means we live and work on beautiful private properties and help the owners with just about any need that comes up! We also enjoy spending time at the beach with our two grown sons and their beautiful wives.
*This is a book I reviewed for the February issue of Historical Novels Review.
BOOK REVIEW
Ireland, 1765. When young Mary Kearney is sent to work at Goward Hall, she joins her brother and sister in service and lightens the load of her impoverished father, who has too many mouths to feed. She begins to wait on the very married Lady Mitchelstown, who is involved in a scandalous romance with Lord and Lady Goward’s son James. James eventually arranges for Mary to learn to read and write, and as they become much closer, the outrage of both the upper and lower classes descends upon them. They enter into a secret marriage, but in the eyes of the world, Mary is a mistress, and only a few at the time know that she is James’ wife. And nearby, an evil man waits, determined to ruin Mary for good.
Late 18th to early 19th-century Ireland comes alive in this book, as the characters speak to us from the past in a dialect true to the time. There is a great deal of epistolary work, and it is woven in beautifully. Letters, articles, documents, and diary entries highlight the many voices, bringing each character to life with great effect. The novel begins with the dictated words of Mary’s father, who cannot read or write. The letters contain everything from love to gossip to threats, depending upon the writer. The class differences of the time are highlighted well, and the Catholic versus Protestant conflict is explored. The attempted uprising by the United Irishmen is well researched, and its consequences spill across the page. The captivating love story of James and Mary endures many hardships, including plotting and scheming from wicked people. Honest and intriguing, this gripping saga will transport and inspire you, and it just might break your heart. Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katherine Mezzacappa is Irish but currently lives in Carrara, between the Apuan Alps and the Tyrrhenian Sea. She is the author of The Maiden of Florence (Fairlight, 2024) and The Ballad of Mary Kearney (Histria Books, 2025). As Katie Hutton, she has published four historical novels with Bonnier Zaffre (2020-2023), The Gypsy Bride, The Gypsy’s Daughter, Annie of Ainsworth’s Mill and The Maid of Lindal Hall. Katherine’s short fiction has been published in a variety of journals worldwide.
Katherine has been the recipient of residencies from the Irish Writers Centre, the Danish Centre for Writers and Translators and (to come) the Latvian Writers House. She also works as a manuscript assessor and as a reader and judge for three fiction competitions. Katherine holds a first degree in History of Art from UEA, an M.Litt. in Eng. Lit. from Durham and a Masters in Creative Writing from Canterbury Christ Church.
Q&A WITH THE AUTHOR
Bonnie: Hi Katherine. Thanks so much for visiting with us! You mentioned to me that you started The Ballad of Mary Kearney in about 2016. Can you tell us the story of your initial inspiration for the book and your journey to get it published?
Katherine: That was my second full-length novel (the first can just stay in the drawer…). The inspiration came on a visit to the Gibside estate in northeast England, which had belonged to the Bowes-Lyon family, the Earls of Strathmore. I had done some research on the Bowes’ presence in County Durham while working for a museum in the area, some years previously. Thackeray had worked for John Bowes as his election agent; Bowes had indiscreetly told the novelist the story of his grandmother’s two marriages, which inspired The Luck of Barry Lyndon. I was interested in this woman’s son’s story, however. On the last day of his life, he was carried on a litter into the fashionable church of St George’s, Hanover Square in London, to marry the servant he had been living with for years and with whom he’d had a son (Thackeray’s erstwhile employer). In that parkland, in the front of the Bowes-Lyon chapel, inspired by Palladio’s Villa Rotonda, I ‘saw’ that story, but transposed to my native Ireland. What if an Ascendancy noble in 18c Ireland married his servant, but in secret? He’d be breaking the law, for a start, as he would be Protestant and she would likely be Catholic. And meanwhile, the stormclouds that broke as the United Irishmen rebellion of 1798 were gathering: a rebellion, it’s often forgotten, led by enlightened Protestants.
The book got quite a lot of interest, but no agent nor publisher. However, as it was doing the rounds I was already writing the next book, as I was terrified that if I paused I wouldn’t get back into writing again. That book, as Merripen (later The Gypsy Bride), was longlisted for the Historical Novel Society’s novel prize and was published in 2020. But, I didn’t lose faith in Mary Kearney. It went through a number of redrafts before I realized that the market I really ought to be aiming for was Irish America, so I started submitting in the US and found Histria Books.
Bonnie: I assume there was a great deal of research required for this book. How did you approach the research?
Katherine: I read everything relevant that I could get my hands on, starting with William Edward Hartpole Lecky’s magisterial, if biased, A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century (five volumes; he earned his statue outside Trinity College Dublin). I absorbed a lot of novels of the period, which explains why some of my book is epistolary, in search of the right ‘voice.’ I also read journals such as: The Leadbeter Papers, written by the Quaker Mary Leadbeter in Co Kildare; the sometimes highly-coloured memoirs accounts of the Dublin lawyer Jonah Barrington; court proceedings for the trials of the United Irishmen and so on. The late Dr Brian Traynor, formerly the director of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, was a great help and support.
Bonnie: The book is set in a time when women, especially poor women, had few rights and few choices. Some authors are tempted to insert modern circumstances and outcomes into their stories. Was it difficult to stay true to the period while still portraying a strong woman in Mary Kearney, and how important was it to you to do so?
Katherine: It was of crucial importance that I got the context right. Mary’s agency is indeed limited, whether as servant or fine lady (though she never quite feels that she is the latter), so her choices are indeed circumscribed. A book can’t claim to be a historical novel if all the author has done is put modern characters in historical costumes and make them refer to a reticule every third sentence. Shows like Bridgerton are great fun, but they are not history; I’m not referring to the color-blind casting, but to the fact that people of that class at that time would not for the most part behave as they do on screen, at least not prior to marriage. There was a particular challenge in writing the character of Mary Kearney because accounts of the lives of women like her are pretty thin on the ground. Some of the character of Mary Milner, the mistress of the Earl of Strathmore and my Mary’s prototype, came into play. While she was Strathmore’s mistress, she was reticent about meeting people from his social stratum, so while she lived with him as though she was the countess, she would disappear when his family members called. After his death, she was very dignified and truthful in giving evidence in their son’s failed attempt to be declared legitimate.
Bonnie: I’m a fan of great epistolary work in a novel, and there is a lot of it in this book, such as letters, records, diary entries, etc. It is a wonderful way to show the personalities of many of the characters. I haven’t read your other books yet. Is this the first time you have done this type of writing in a novel, and how would you describe the epistolary writing experience?
Katherine: Yes, it is the first time I have done it, partly because of the guide I had from the sources I was using and also because the epistolary form lent itself to what I was doing. People communicated through letters then; they had to. People kept diaries. I have also used it in other books though not to the same extent. In The Gypsy Bride, the hero is illiterate and starts to read and write only when he is in prison, where his attempts at correspondence have a deeper poignancy. The withholding or destruction of letters also has a greater impact than would be the case now; we know when a WhatsApp message has been read. We can also see if someone has written and then recalled their message. A great deal of our communication is fleeting in the way that pen on paper isn’t. In The Maiden of Florence, there is someone writing his ‘ricordanze’, a kind of daybook, a common practice amongst educated Renaissance Florentines, thanks to which we know a lot more about them than we otherwise would.
Bonnie: Are you working on a new book, and if so, can you tell us about it?
Katherine: I am working on a Renaissance crime novel. Crime is a new departure for me, obliging me to plan more than I usually would. My hero is a physician, the illegitimate son of a Florentine banker. The banker existed (his ancestor was the father of Dante’s Beatrice, and the hospital that ancestor founded in 1285 functions to this day) but the doctor is my invention. He trained at the School of Salerno and so was influenced by Arab medicine. Salerno also trained women, but I decided to make my lead character a male to give him greater agency and to enable him to move around the courts of various city states (I plan five books). So right now I am immersed in Renaissance medical treatises and accounts of the organization of hospitals of the period.
I have another novel out on submission currently. It’s the fictionalized story of the mistress of the novelist Samuel Butler and of his best friend and biographer (an arrangement set up and paid for by Butler; the lady’s reaction to this is not recorded), so it’s a tale from the hidden part of Victorian life.
Bonnie: Both of these books sound amazing! Let’s go beyond the bio. Tell us something about yourself that we might not know from reading your bio.
Katherine: I got married to the same man twice. We married civilly in 1995 and ten years later had a quiet religious ceremony with our two little boys present. I made my dress each time.
Bonnie: That’s awesome to have a later ceremony with your children! Thanks again, Katherine, for agreeing to this interview. I absolutely loved your book.
Katherine: I am so glad you did. The Ballad of Mary Kearney means a lot to me.
*This is another review I did for The Historical Novel Society.
In 1812 New York, Easter Hackley is born to a white man and a Native American (Algonquin) woman. She grows up as America is growing. She marries young and accompanies her husband Will to Ohio, looking for land to homestead. As Easter and her family survive on the land, America is struggling. Andrew Jackson has come up with a plan to relocate the “natives.” Congressman David Crockett is horrified, and he joins with John Ross, the son of a white man and a Cherokee woman, to try and stop the removal. As Easter’s family continues to grow, so does America, and with that growth comes the good and the bad.
Easter is described as an amazing woman, and she definitely knows how to survive on the land better than most of the other female pioneers. She provides well for her family by using the skills her Algonquin mother taught her, fighting against great odds and extreme circumstances.
Easter’s story is entertaining, but this book also tells the story of America through the points of view of a large cast of characters, including Davy Crockett. Some of views become almost separate stories unto themselves, as they are not closely tied or tied at all to Easter. This makes the novel less cohesive, but still interesting and informative.
In this novel, Easter is the daughter of an Algonquin woman, Sooleawa. Sooleawa is fictionalized, but it is hard to reconcile the fact that Easter is portrayed as half Native American and still supported Andrew Jackson and willingly took over land in Ohio from which Native Americans had been “cleared.” This makes her appear much less remarkable than she is otherwise portrayed.
I received a free copy of this book via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday. The topic this week is “Best Books I Read in 2024.”
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These are in no particular order, but one standout is Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon. It is an absolutely haunting true story of how the author lost everything during the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, but the memories of her mother’s recipes kept her going through starvation. It describes her struggles as a Cambodian refugee in Thailand, and how she used what she knew about food to survive. You won’t soon forget this sad but amazing story.
All of the above books were fantastic reads for me. If you click on the covers, you will find my review for each book on this blog, except for Find Me In The Stars and O Little Town of Bethlehem. The links for those two will take you to my review on The Historical Novel Society website.
Question of the Day: What books stood out for you this year?
**This is a review I did for the November issue of Historical Novels Review, the magazine of the Historical Novel Society. You can see it here on the Historical Novel Society website, as well as below.
In 16th-century Florence, Leonardo da Vinci meets Lisa del Giocondo, whose husband has commissioned a portrait of her. They begin a close relationship as Leonardo works on what will become possibly his greatest masterpiece. In 20th-century Florence, a nun, Valentina Amati, becomes the custodian of a box of letters written between Leonardo and Lisa. As the Nazis approach, Valentina tries to safeguard the precious letters, which her convent has protected for 400 years. But as she attempts to prepare for the Nazi threat, Valentina finds that she is also haunted by a relentless demon from her own past who will not stop until all she holds dear is destroyed. Also in 20th-century Italy, Meira and her parents, who are Jewish, are facing persecution from the Nazis.
This dual-timeline novel works on all levels. Both timelines support each other seamlessly, and the storylines and characters are balanced and make sense. The life of Leonardo da Vinci is well researched. The relationship between Leonardo and Lisa is fictional, but fascinating, and the author makes it utterly believable. The reader is also given an intriguing glimpse of the art world during the Florentine Renaissance, and we get to meet Michelangelo and see evidence of his difficult personality. The World War II Florence timeline is just as strong. Valentina is an incredibly brave and resilient woman, and her story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Meira’s part in this book appears separate at first, but instead it is another layer that makes the complete work even more powerful. I felt transported to both periods of history and enjoyed the incredible stories in each one. Captivating, engrossing, and compelling. Highly recommended.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(From the Author’s Amazon page): I’m Belle Ami, and if you’re reading this bio, then you may be a lover of historical fiction, historical romance, time travel thrillers with romantic elements, and romantic suspense because that’s my passion, and that’s what I write. I’m a #1 Amazon bestseller of THE GIRL WHO KNEW DA VINCI, THE GIRL WHO LOVED CARAVAGGIO, & THE GIRL WHO ADORED REMBRANDT – Books 1, 2, and 3 in the compelling OUT OF TIME SERIES—art thrillers with a time-travel twist.
Be sure to pick up a copy of my brand new historical fiction novel MONA LISA’S DAUGHTER, I believe this is my best book to date. A truly unique look at the maestro Leonardo da Vinci!
Historical Romance is a genre I’ve just begun to write, and I love it! My publisher, Dragonblade, is the cat’s meow when it comes to historical romance. There is no publisher better or more supportive. My release of LUCK OF THE LYON (Lyon’s Den Series) is quite a romp filled with challenges for my star-crossed lovers. I’m stoked to hear from my readers what they think of this new addition to my oeuvre. Be sure to drop me a note and let me know how you enjoy this book, because there are more historical romances coming! View the rest of Belle Ami’s Bio on Amazon.
The Golden Age of Hollywood, 1938. Vivian Steele moved to California to start a new life. She opened a fashion boutique in Beverly Hills, befriended Carole Lombard, the actress, and married a successful banker. But when her husband is murdered, Vivian discovers she isn’t the only one hiding a few secrets.
An anonymous phone call lures Vivian to a plush hotel room where she stumbles upon the dead body of a beautiful young actress – her husband’s mistress. To add fuel to the fire, she’s not alone.
Preston Stone, her adversary and Hollywood’s notorious playboy, is standing beside her. Suspiciously, they part ways only to find themselves alone again at a movie premiere two days later, and the message becomes brutally clear. They’re both the next targets of a cold-blooded killer.
Together, Vivian and Preston are thrown into a deadly race to find a missing collection of valuable coins and stop a vicious killer before they become the next murder victims. But first, they need to stop pointing their fingers at each other.
BOOK REVIEW
A PERILOUS PREMIERE is the first book in the STONE AND STEELE Mystery Series, and I can’t wait for more. Vivian Steele is a fashion designer whose husband has just been murdered. Preston Stone is a wealthy playboy who is not Vivian’s favorite person. They are thrown together when Vivian begins investigating her husband’s murder and the killer lets them both know that they are next.
This is a captivating mystery with an amazing cast of characters. I easily connected with both Vivian and Preston. The surprise supporting character, Carole Lombard, a good friend of Vivian’s, brings light, laughter, and loyalty to the story. There are two dogs in the series–Bella, a Boston Terrier, and Boris, a St. Bernard. They are an enjoyable addition to the cast. I felt instantly transported to 1930s Hollywood, and the book was well researched.
The mystery has plenty of twists and turns. It is also made plain that both Vivan and Preston have secrets of their own that have not yet been revealed. I look forward to finding them out in subsequent books. Movie stars, fashion, murders, and glamour combine to create an entertaining mystery. Highly recommend!
I received a free copy of this book. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own
Q&A With Gail Meath
Hi Gail! Thanks so much for answering my questions today, and for all your past interviews. It’s always so great to talk to you. Let’s start with the first question about your new book, A Perilous Premiere, the first in the Stone & Steele series.
Bonnie: In this 1930s mystery series, you included an absolutely wonderful supporting character—Carole Lombard. What inspired you to make Carole a part of this series?
Gail: My mother and I used to love watching old movies together. There were so many wonderful actors in Hollywood during the 1930s-40s, but for me, Carole Lombard always stood out above the rest. Like the parts she played in her movies, she was beautiful, witty, brave, and talented in real life. Her marriage to Clark Gable was truly a fairytale romance that ended in tragedy in 1942 when she died in a plane crash after attending a war bond rally. I have so much admiration for her that I decided to include her as a character in the book as a tribute to her.
Bonnie: You do such a wonderful job of describing 1930s Hollywood. Could you tell us about your research for this series?
Gail: Have I mentioned that I love research? Honestly, by choosing the most popular era in Hollywood history, the research has been fairly easy, although it wasn’t all glamor and glitz back then. Too often, I found myself researching a specific topic for the book, then an article would lead me to another off-topic article, then another, etc. I’ve learned more than I wanted to! (David Niven wrote about a lot of the Hollywood scandals in his memoir.)
Bonnie: Your first cozy mystery series, The Jax Diamond Mysteries, included an animal as a supporting character—Ace the German Shepherd. As you have told us in past interviews, Ace was based on your real-life dog, Gretchen. In the Stone and Steele Mysteries, you introduce Bella the Boston Terrier and Boris, the Saint Bernard. Are Bella and Boris based on any animals in real life?
Gail: Yes, they are! I love all types of dogs, and Ace was the perfect partner for Jax Diamond. I wanted to include two canine companions in this series and decided they needed to be opposites. The choice was easy. Bella is based on our little Boston Terrier, Addie, who is nearly as smart as Ace. And big, old Boris is based on Addie’s good friend, Leif, who lives next door and weighs 220 lbs.!
Bonnie: The main characters, Vivian Steele and Preston Stone, end up solving a mystery together. But the reader is shown that there is a lot in both of their backgrounds that neither are telling. It ends as a cliffhanger of sorts, as Vivian is about to reveal her past to Carole. Are we going to learn a lot more about both Vivian and Preston in Book 2?
Gail: Both Vivian and Preston have some very special investigative talents stemming from their complex pasts, and yes, they will be revealing more about themselves in the next book, although probably not everything. What fun would it be to learn everything about each character right off the bat?
Bonnie: Speaking of Book 2, can you tell us the title and a short synopsis:
Gail: The title is, A Bloody Banquet: Now You See a Murderr, Now You Don’t. When dead bodies start to disappear, Vivian and Preston uncover a sinister killer who has mastered the art of illusion and set his sights on two Oscar-winning stars. It should be a lot of fun!
Bonnie: Before we go, can you tell the reader what else you are working on right now?
Gail: Oh, boy, I considered ending the Jax Diamond series with Book 7, their marriage, but some of the readers requested at least one more book. So, I’m working on Wildcard, Book 8, which is due to release in April. It takes place in Niagara Falls, and it looks like Jax’s good friend, Orin Marino, is a serial killer. Bonnie’s note: Noooo, not Orin!
Bonnie: Thanks again Gail for sharing with us today!
Gail: Thank you so much, Bonnie! This is the first time your questions didn’t stump me!! Bonnie’s Note: Uh, oh I’m going to have to up my question game!
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