Tag: Historical Novel Society

Indie Spotlight and Book Review: Wolves at the Gate by Bart Stark

BonnieReadsAndWrites12 Comments
Cover of the book Wolves at the Gate, a WWII Alternate History, accompanied by a WWII military helmet

Indie Spotlight is my effort to share Indie books with as many readers as possible. You can help too by sharing this post with your social media followers. Below is my review of an interesting alternate history novel, Wolves at the Gate. This is another review I did for The Historical Novel Society.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Lieutenant Jim Fraser was in turns eager and terrified. His Bravo Company led the American offensive to liberate Charleston, but would his wife Florie and their twin girls trapped behind German lines survive the coming battle?

Consider another Second World War. Due to a twist of history during his youth, Adolf Hitler turns west and out to sea against England and America in alliance with fascist Japan and Italy. After the British Empire falls, the Axis turn on an outnumbered and unprepared United States. Instead of being waged in far off land, total war rages across the Hawaiian Islands and South Carolina, down our streets and into the homes of our families.

BOOK REVIEW

In this WWII alternate history, Hitler spends a small part of his younger years in America and realizes that there are some there who agree with his views. In August 1940, Germany attacks an important British naval port, eventually causing England to fall. These events change history. After England falls, Germany and the rest of the Axis powers turn their focus on a very unprepared United States. As the Japanese invade Hawaii, Germany turns toward Charleston, South Carolina. This book is told through the eyes of many characters, including an Army National Guard lieutenant and his wife; a German paratrooper and his wife; an Army sniper; a German spy; and many military leaders on all sides of the war.

This is an intriguing novel, with a detailed and well-researched scenario. The specifics of how and when the Nazis end up in America are very believable. The plot is intricate and well thought out, but there is so much detail that I sometimes felt bogged down. There are also shifting points of view from so many people that I sometimes felt rushed from one character to the other. That being said, the premise of this novel is strong, and the author does a great job laying plain the horrors and atrocities of war. A Dramatis Personae at the beginning helps the reader keep track of the many characters.

The story is not concluded in this novel, so it appears to be the start of a series. I’m curious to see where it goes in the future. Those interested in World War II fiction and strategic military fiction will enjoy this book.

My rating is 4.4 stars.

I received a free copy of this book via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bart Stark is a U.S. Army paratrooper and a combat veteran, who later entered a life of crime as a prosecutor and defense attorney. Now, Bart is beginning the third act of his life as a novelist.

After leading a vagabond life which took them across America and Europe, Bart and his wife settled in the highlands of Panama. His favorite pastime is hiking his dogs in the jungle and daydreaming dystopian futures for his characters.

PURCHASE LINK

Click on the image below to view on Amazon. **Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read this book for free.

BEFORE YOU GO

Remember, if you read the book, be sure and leave a review. It’s so important for authors and will help them immensely. Also remember to share this post with your social media followers.

Sunday Post: Traveling in Time With Historical Fiction #Sunday Salon

BonnieReadsAndWrites27 Comments

This was a pretty normal week, except for a painful visit to the dentist, which resulted in an almost root canal, which is not a term you hear often, but it appears I may not need to have one, and the pain is slowly going away with medication.

I’ve been reading a lot of books for The Historical Novel Society. Historical fiction is usually my go-to, and I am getting the opportunity to drop into fictional worlds set during so many time periods and events-the French Resistance, the Trojan War, 17th Century England, post WWII San Francisco, and more. It’s been a pleasure, and I always learn something new, which is what I love about historical fiction.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG

Last Week I reviewed A Lethal Engagement and participated in Top Ten Tuesday.

NEXT WEEK ON THE BLOG

I’m set to post historical fiction reviews and Indie book reviews and promos. I will participate in Top Ten Tuesday if time permits.

BOOK HAUL

An illustrated picture of a young Queen Elizabeth II, with two of her corgis, arranged around the book title, THE QUEEN WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. she is wearing a blue dress and tiara, holding a camera and her signature handbag, and peeking out under stylish dark sunglasses.

Amateur sleuth Queen Elizabeth II is back on the case in 1960s England in the fifth installment of this historical mystery series the New York Times Book Review calls “sheer entertainment,” perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Richard Osman.

1961, England.
The Queen is spending a night on board the royal train with her entourage and her sister, Princess Margaret. But before they reach their destination, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from one of the carriages.

The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation. No one else saw the crime. If there is a victim, could he be the missing photographer friend of Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones?

This time, the Cold War threatens to undermine the Queen’s upcoming visit to Italy. She and Joan must tackle dark forces that follow them all the way, in a tale of spies, lies, and treachery.

This historical mystery series starring a young Queen Elizabeth II looks like a lot of fun!

I hope you have a great week!

Thank you to The Caffeinated Book Reviewer for hosting Sunday Post. Thank you to Readerbuzz for hosting Sunday Salon

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading

BonnieReadsAndWrites15 Comments

Welcome to It’s Monday! What are you Reading? It’s hosted by Kathryn from Book Date. This is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.

WHAT AM I READING NOW

I’m reading the final ARC of The Diamonds by Gail Meath. It’s Book 7 of the Jax Diamond series, and it’s out May 15th. You’ll soon see a Q&A with Gail along with my review.

JUST FINISHED

This is the story of a Manhattan family from 1912 to 1965. I read it for The Historical Novel Society so I can’t give my impressions until it is published on August 1st. You can read more about it on Amazon.

NEXT UP

(From Amazon) Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

GENERAL UPDATE

DINANT, BELGIUM

Really beautiful town that I visited this past weekend. I was taking pictures from the Citadel, where there is a museum. Dinant is the home of the Saxophone! My pictures are slow to upload today, so I’ll post more about this later.

How about you? How was your week? What are you reading?

Book Review: Beyond This Broken Sky

BonnieReadsAndWrites2 Comments

This is a dual-timeline novel set in London in 1940 and 2019. In 1940, rich and carefree Ruby has surprisingly volunteered for the ambulance service during the Nazi bombing of Britain, otherwise known as the Blitz. Her partner and driver is Joseph, a conscientious objector. Ruby owns a house in London and has rented out one of the top two floors to Joseph and the other to a married couple, Kitty and Reg. In 2019, Edi has purchased an apartment in London and is trying to start life anew. A neighbor, a book, and a hidden object lead her to pursue a mystery and learn about the actions of truly courageous women in a dangerous time.

I was spellbound by this novel, which transports us to a shell-shocked London being hit with a barrage of bombs night after night. We careen through the streets in an ambulance, saving who we can, and we do it over and over. This is the life of Ruby at that time. We also meet Joseph, who cannot take a life but wants to help his country in other ways. We learn of life-threatening prejudice against women, and we witness the very real September 1940 occupation of the Savoy Hotel, as the differences between the shelter accommodations of the rich and poor are made very obvious.  In 2019, the heartbroken but determined Edi, with the help of her neighbor, Pearl, unravels a mystery that has been hidden for decades.

This is a unique and eye-opening look at London during the Blitz that gives us deeper insight into the realities of life in that era. I highly recommend this book to fans of World War II fiction, women’s fiction, and mysteries.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Bookouture, for Historical Novels Review, the magazine of The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Siobhan Curham

(In Her Own Words)

When I was a child my evil genius parents decided not to have a TV as they thought it was bad for a child’s imagination – I mean, as if?! And, as this was in the days before the internet and mobile phones, I had a choice – I could either learn to love books or I could die of boredom. So I learnt to love books and pretty soon my love of reading grew into a love of writing and I dreamt of one day having a shelf of books of my own.

At eighteen I set off for uni in pursuit of my dream, to study English Literature. But two years into my degree, I become plagued by the fear that I just didn’t have what it took to become a professional writer. I came from a much poorer background than most of my fellow students and I started to feel that people from council estates didn’t belong in the middle class world of publishing. So I dropped out of uni and ended up working in the complaints department for a frozen food company where all I wrote were grovelling apology letters to irate customers. (This is the tragic low point of my story).

After four years of working in jobs I hated I came to an important realisation: life can be a very dull and dark place when you don’t dare to dream. So I dusted off my literary dreams and instead of seeing writing as some kind of rarefied world solely for the silver-spooned, I decided to approach it as I would any other job, starting small and working my way up. I began my quest writing short stories for weekly women’s magazines (the kind of magazines that have headlines like: The Day My Womb Fell Out! and OMG My Fella is Sleeping With the Milkman!). Then I wrote some articles. Having short stories and articles published gave me the confidence to finally have a go at writing my first book.

That book was published in 2000.

Fast forward 20 years and I’ve now written over 30 books and I’ve won three book awards. Moral of the story … never give up on your dreams!

I love helping other people with their writing, in my work as an editor and writing coach.

BUY LINKS

Amazon

Apple Books

Barnes and Noble

Agustina De Aragón by Gail Meath–made an Editor’s Choice by Historical Novels Review Magazine.

BonnieReadsAndWrites6 Comments

As many of you know, I’ve been singing the praises of this fabulous historical novel for some time, and other reviewers agree! Historical Novels Review Magazine, the magazine of The Historical Novel Society, made this an Editor’s Choice book for the August 2021 edition, and gave it a fabulous review!

I’m especially happy about this because the author, Gail Meath, a wonderful person by the way, is a self-published author. As you know, I have a heart for self-published authors so I am thrilled to see this book in the magazine alongside books from top traditional publishers like William Morrow and Revell.

Here is a link to my review back in April on a Self-Published Saturday and here is a link to buy this great book on Amazon.

Congratulations, Gail. This book deserves that distinction and more!

Sunday Reflections

BonnieReadsAndWrites7 Comments

BOOKS READ THIS WEEK FOR THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

I am currently reviewing several books for Historical Novels Review Magazine. This is the magazine of the Historical Novel Society. I am including the cover and the book description from Amazon. My reviews will not be posted until after the magazine comes out in February 2021. The books I have read/am reading for them this week are:

Twelve-year-old Adam is whisked away from his imperfect but quiet life with the arrival of a stranger and a magical promise in this time travel mystery.

Amazon Description: It’s 1999 and Adam doesn’t mind living at his uncle’s bakery, the Biscuit Basket, on the Lower East Side in New York City. The warm, delicious smells of freshly baked breads and chocolate croissants make every day feel cozy, even if Adam doesn’t have many friends and misses his long dead parents very much.

When a mysterious but cheerful customer shows Adam a snow globe and says that adventures await him, it’s too strange to be true. But days later, an unbelievable, incredible thing happens. Adam finds a similar looking snow globe and immediately travels back in time, first to Times Square in 1935, then a candle factory fire in 1967. 

But how are these moments related? What do they have to do with his parents’ death? And why is a tall man with long eyebrows and a thin mustache following Adam’s every move?

Book 9 in the Carpenter & Quincannon mystery series. It is the late 1800’s, and Sabina Carpenter and John Quincannon are partners, both as detectives and in life.

Amazon Description: Quincannon’s pursuit of two con men who have absconded to Hawaii with a considerable sum of his employer’s assets dovetails nicely with Sabina’s vision of a second honeymoon.

But neither is wont to stay out of trouble, and Sabina inadvertently becomes involved in a locked room/dying message murder in Honolulu.

Amazon Description: April 1944, the fifty-fifth month of the war in Europe. The entire island of Britain fairly buzzes with the coiled energy of a million men poised to leap the Channel to France, the first, riskiest step in the Allies’ long slog to the heart of Germany and the end of the war.

Lieutenant Eddie Harkins is tasked to investigate the murder of Helen Batcheller, an OSS analyst. Harkins is assigned a British driver, Private Pamela Lowell, to aid in his investigation. Lowell is smart, brave and resourceful; like Harkins, she is prone to speak her mind even when it doesn’t help her.

Soon a suspect is arrested and Harkins is ordered to stop digging. Suspicious, he continues his investigation only to find himself trapped in a web of Soviet secrets. As bombs fall, Harkins must solve the murder and reveal the spies before it is too late.

Amazon Description: Headstrong Johanna Berglund, a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, has very definite plans for her future . . . plans that do not include returning to her hometown and the secrets and heartaches she left behind there. But the US Army wants her to work as a translator at a nearby camp for German POWs.

Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy town exploding with hostility. Most patriotic citizens want nothing to do with German soldiers laboring in their fields, and they’re not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance.

The Historical Novel Society provides a quarterly magazine, Historical Novels Review, with reviews of many different genres of historical fiction. The reviews are both online and in the hard copy magazine. They also provide interesting online articles and hold conferences and other events. My reviews for them which appeared in the November 2020 issue can be found here