SPOTLIGHT/EXCERPT: The Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel

Publishing February 21, 2023, Revell Books, 352 pp, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Inspirational Fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Brianna Kelly was abandoned at Ballymacool House and Boarding School as an infant. She has worked there since she was a wee girl and will likely die there. Despite a sense that she was made for something more, Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds, looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.

When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry, is sent to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, he finds himself drawn to Brianna, immediately and inescapably. There is something about her that feels so . . . familiar. When Brianna finds a piece of silver in the woods, she commits to learning its origins, with the help of Michael. What they discover may change everything.

Fan favorite Jennifer Deibel invites you back to the Emerald Isle in the 1930s for this fresh take on the Cinderella story, complete with a tantalizing mystery, a budding romance, and a chance at redemption.

The Maid of Ballymacool Excerpt

The table hadn’t been set? Of course, it wouldn’t have been. That was always the last thing Brianna did before retiring for the night. Mary would have done it, she was sure, so Magee must have instructed her not to. Brianna stood in the corridor looking from the kitchen door back to the direction of the dining room, torn on whether or not to deliver the food first or go back and bring the dishes and food all at one time. A stirring of footsteps overhead caught her attention. The girls were lining up and would be marching down the stairs any moment.

She scurried back to the kitchen, set down her tray, and loaded a second one with plates, cutlery, teacups, and serviettes. She propped the door open and then lifted the food and settled that tray into the crook of her right arm. Then, she carefully finagled the tray of dishes onto her left arm. The weight of them both nearly toppled her, but she steadied herself and made for the servants’ quarters. Taking care to roll her feet smoothly from heel to toe so as not to jostle anything, she kept her gaze on the entryway at the end of the long corridor.

Suddenly, the back door slammed open, and Brianna was flung against the wall. By some miracle, she managed to hang on to the tray of dishes, but the food toppled onto the floor with a sickening splat.

“Oh, good gracious me. I beg your pardon.” Mister Wray cupped her elbow with his hand and inclined his head to look at her face. “Are ya alright?”

She puffed at a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. “I’m fine.” She puffed again, but instead of helping, it frayed the strands, some of which curled into her eye. She clamped them shut against the sting.

“Allow me.” Tender fingers brushed the hair from her face, gently grazing her forehead and temple. Goose bumps prickled her skin at his touch. “There. Can you see now?”

Brianna blinked hard and forced herself to meet his gaze while heat crept up her cheeks. “Aye, thank you.” She knelt down, setting the tray of dishes carefully on the floor, then started picking up the broken pieces of pottery.

“No, no, please let me.” He knelt beside her and started scooping handfuls of porridge and eggs back onto the fallen tray. “’Tis my fault,” he added. “I was rushing to not be late to breakfast and carelessly neglected to look where I was going.”

Brianna opened her mouth to respond, but Magee flew around the corner and shrieked. “What have you done now, you amadán?”

Brianna blanched at the word. Being called a fool stung, but no more so than Magee’s use of Irish. Irish Gaelic was only allowed in certain circumstances within the walls of Ballymacool. “As a center of decorum and propriety, we will speak only proper, civilized English,” the headmistress had said when one of the boarders deigned to converse in her first language. Magee’s slip into her native tongue belied just how furious she was.

“My apologies, marm,” Brianna said. “Twas an accident.”

Magee’s lips clamped into a thin line. She planted balled fists on her hips. “I’m growing quite weary of hearing that from you, Brianna. And to add insult to injury, you’ve forced Mister Wray to help you.” She turned her attention to the man. “Please, sir, you mustn’t help her. This is a problem of her own making.”

Mister Wray stood, hands held in front of him, porridge dripping from his fingers. He studied the headmistress for a moment before responding. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. It was I who ran into Brianna in my haste to be on time for breakfast. Therefore, ’tis only right that I be responsible for cleaning this mess.”

Fire flashed behind Magee’s eyes, and she scowled at Brianna. She opened her mouth to retort but closed it again when she looked back at her guest. A guest who, Brianna noticed, somehow still managed to be blindingly handsome even while covered in porridge.

Chapter 6, pages 62-65

Jennifer Deibel is the author of A Dance in Donegal (winner of the Kipp Award for Historical Romance) and The Lady of Galway Manor (a Parable Group bestseller). Her work has appeared on (in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and in other publications. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her husband and their three children

PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/Maid-Ballymacool-Jennifer-Deibel-ebook/dp/B0B6Q1FHXY

BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-maid-of-ballymacool-jennifer-deibel/1141540011

Once We Were Home by Jennifer Rosner

Publishes March 14, 2023-Flatiron Books-288pp

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250855541/oncewewerehome

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab- First Published in the Historical Novels Review Magazine, February 1, 2023-Issue #103

Once We Were Home is based on the true stories of hidden children, the youngest survivors of the Holocaust who eluded the Nazis by hiding in convents, orphanages, and other places. Jennifer Rosner places four hidden children into families who are living with prejudices true to the 1940’s. Her hidden children are Mira and her baby brother, Daniel, out of a Polish ghetto; Renata, moved to England without explanation by her mother to hide German bloodlines; and Roger, concealed in a Catholic monastery in France. The children must at times hide in plain sight, so Mira becomes Ana, and Daniel, Oskar. Rosner creates dialogue laced with candor and reality as Roger masks his confusion with endless questions, riddles, and jokes. She continues themes from her previous novel, The Yellow Bird Sings, by exploring themes of longing for connection and finding one’s roots.

By 1968, the paths of the young adults intersect in Israel. Rosner sinks readers into each of their adult worlds as they navigate the past; filled with distress and torment, overcoming tribulations and sorrow. Like Renata’s matryoshka dolls, nesting one inside the other, Rosner slowly unveils the familial connections and roots of the four hidden children. She also treats readers to the return of a beloved character from The Yellow Bird Sings.

Rosner’s novel reflects personal interviews and in-depth research of those involved in the redemption of Jewish children. She illuminates the complex and opposing political and religious viewpoints of the adults and organizations involved in the kidnapping, or considered by some to be reclaiming, ransoming, or redeeming of the children. Representing thousands of Jewish children saved, Rosner’s heart wrenching revelations of hidden children in Once We Were Home will persist in readers’ minds for seasons to come.

Jennifer Rosner is the author of the novels Once We Were Home and The Yellow Bird Sings, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award; the memoir If A Tree Falls: A Family’s Quest to Hear and Be Heard, about raising her deaf daughters in a hearing, speaking world; and a children’s book, The Mitten String, which is a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable. Jennifer’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Massachusetts Review, The Forward, Good Housekeeping, and elsewhere. She lives in western Massachusetts with her family.

The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C. McPhail

Published May 31, 2022- A John Scognamiglio Book, 304 pages

https://www.amazon.com/Seamstress-New-Orleans-Diane-McPhail/dp/1496738152

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, 1900, is the sultry setting for Diane C. McPhail’s novel, The Seamstress of New Orleans. Howard, a Chicago cotton broker has mysteriously disappeared, and Benton, a New Orleans gambler has fallen to his death from a train trestle. The deaths of these two men and their widowed wives, Alice, and Constance, are intertwined like the moss hanging from the sprawling oak trees, and as murky as the Mississippi River delta. Unraveling the details of these mysteries is complicated by the social demands and politicizing of Mardi Gras balls and accounts of clandestine visits to Storyville, notorious for prostitution and crime. McPhail bases her mystery around the first all-female Mardi Gras Krewe and the gangsters known as the Black Hand. The Mardi Gras revelers and the gangsters are participants in the grand affair of death and disappearance that only Alice and Constance can unmask. A Mardi Gras ball gown is slowly pieced together and as it nears completion, symbolizes the growing independence of Alice and Constance. Bonds of friendship and secrets of the heart are tested as the Mardi Gras festivities begin. This is a delectable, intriguing jaunt behind the beaded curtains and the iron gates of the famous New Orleans Garden District. For a turn of the century peek at the “Big Easy” read The Seamstress of New Orleans.

Diane C. McPhail is an acclaimed artist as well as an award-winning author. Diane is a member of the Historical Novel Society, at whose national conference she has presented, and the North Carolina Writers’ Network. A popular retreat leader and teacher, Diane keeps herself busy in Highlands, NC, with writing and painting, with her husband, Ray, and a fuzzy white dog called Pepper.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

“The year 1900 ushers in a new century and the promise of social change, and women rise together toward equality. Yet rules and restrictions remain, especially for women like Alice Butterworth, whose husband has abruptly disappeared. Desperate to make a living for herself and the child she carries, Alice leaves the bitter cold of Chicago far behind, offering sewing lessons at a New Orleans orphanage.
Constance Halstead, a young widow reeling with shock under the threat of her late husband’s gambling debts, has thrown herself into charitable work. Meeting Alice at the orphanage, she offers lodging in exchange for Alice’s help creating a gown for the Leap Year ball of Les Mysterieuses, the first all‑female krewe of Mardi Gras. During Leap Years, women have the rare opportunity to take control in their interactions with men, and upend social convention. Piece by piece, the breathtaking gown takes shape, becoming a symbol of strength for both women, reflecting their progress toward greater independence.
But Constance carries a burden that makes it impossible to feel truly free. Her husband, Benton, whose death remains a dangerous mystery, was deep in debt to the Black Hand, the vicious gangsters who controled New Orleans’ notorious Storyville district. Benton’s death has not satisfied them. And as the Mardi Gras festivities reach their fruition, a secret emerges that will cement the bond between Alice and Constance even as it threatens the lives they’re building . ” Thanks to NetGalley for the book description and digital access.

An Enemy Like Me by Teri M. Brown

Publication January 24, 2023

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

A heart gripping account of the unthinkable choices men and women face when deciding to serve in the military to defend their country. An Enemy Like Me is a love story woven with soul searching dialogue and heartfelt confessions. This novel magnifies then analyzes the fear and misgivings that rise unexpectedly in private thoughts and dreams but are consciously pushed down to survive and function in daily living.

Teri M. Brown exhibits exquisite prose as she takes command of her characters’ development by sharing their feelings through wartime situations and realistic dialogue. Told in alternating points of view between Jacob, born of German immigrants in America, his wife Bonnie, and four year-old son, William, as they navigate World War ll and the post war years.

Teri M. Brown’s depiction of Jacob saying good-bye as he boards the train reporting for duty sums up the feelings of the novel perfectly: “Patriotism mingled with heartache. Loyalty mingled with selfishness.”

BOOK DESCRIPTION

How does a man show his love – for country, for heritage, for family – during a war that sets the three at odds? What sets in motion the necessity to choose one over the other? How will this choice change everything and everyone he loves?

Jacob Miller, a first-generation American, grew up in New Berlin, a small German immigrant town in Ohio where he endured the Great Depression, met his wife, and started a family. Though his early years were not easy, Jacob believes he is headed toward his ‘happily ever after’ until a friend is sent to an internment camp for enemy combatants, and the war lands resolutely on his doorstep.

In An Enemy Like Me, Teri M. Brown uses the backdrop of World War II to show the angst experienced by Jacob, his wife, and his four-year-old son as he leaves for and fights in a war he did not create. She explores the concepts of xenophobia, intrafamily dynamics, and the recognition that war is not won and lost by nations, but by ordinary men and women and the families who support them.

Purchase Link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-enemy-like-me-teri-m-brown/1142018249

Teri M. Brown-Author Bio

Born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat, Teri M Brown came into this world with an imagination full of stories to tell. She now calls the North Carolina coast home, and the peaceful nature of the sea has been a great source of inspiration for her creativity.

Not letting 2020 get the best of her, Teri chose to go on an adventure that changed her outlook on life. She and her husband, Bruce, rode a tandem bicycle across the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Washington DC, successfully raising money for Toys for Tots. She learned she is stronger than she realized and capable of anything she sets her mind to.

Teri is a wife, mother, grandmother, and author who loves word games, reading, bumming on the beach, taking photos, singing in the shower, hunting for bargains, ballroom dancing, playing bridge, and mentoring others. https://www.terimbrown.com/bio.html

My What If Year-A Memoir by Alisha Fernandez Miranda

Publishes February 7, 2023-Zibby Books

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

“Whatif”

Last night, while I lay thinking here,

Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

And pranced and partied all night long

And sang their same old Whatif song.

Shel Silverstein

My What If Year is a humorous, witty memoir.

Alisha “had it all.” An expanding business, a family, a dream life in London. She thought she was happy, but she really, really wasn’t. She was stuck.

Hurtling towards forty during the pandemic Alisha Miranda feared turning into a middle-aged woman whose best years were behind her. As CEO of I.G. Advisors, she and her husband helped connect companies and foundations with charitable organizations, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and UN Women! So yes, Alisha was successful, but unsatisfied, riddled with guilt. During a much needed night out with her friends, Alisha admitted she wasn’t sure she was “living the dream.” What resulted was a conversation centered around becoming an intern in careers she had harbored in her dreams. All the “what ifs.” The year of 2020 became Alisha’s “what if year.”

The internships included a Broadway theater, a virtual fitness studio, a London art gallery, and a luxury hotel in Scotland. Learning life lessons along with Alisha during her four internships are treats to be treasured. Just a few: How to be uncomfortable in not being the expert in the room, how to do small tasks carefully and find joy in completing them, pay attention to intentionally seeking joy, look for right brained, creative activities, find confidence in applying skills in completely different fields. And many more!

Be entertained and enlightened. Read Alisha Miranda’s My What If Year and know: “It’s never too late to say yes to second chances and explore the roads untraveled throughout your life.”

The hardcover, paperback, ebook or audiobook (oh my!) can be bought at this very moment:https://www.amazon.com/My-What-If-Year-Memoir/dp/1958506095

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

Published January 17, 2023-Sourcebooks Landmark-HB352 pp

From New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict comes an explosive novel of history’s most notorious sisters, one of whom will have to choose: her country or her family?

https://www.authormariebenedict.com

The Grateful Reader Review

Marie Benedict tells the compelling story of the Mitford sisters and their involvement in politics between the World Wars. Notorious for beauty, social connections and wealth, Benedict’s focus is on three of the sisters. Diana has married into the wealthy Guinness family but is recently divorced and enamored with a fascist leader. Unity’s desire to outdo Diana and her fascination with fascism leads her to Germany to become part of Hitler’s inner circle. Nancy, the eldest, a successful novelist and first member of British Society’s “Bright Young Things,” finds herself confronted with complicated choices.

Readers will find Diana and Unity’s behavior “unbelievably appalling,” which adds to the “who would do this, but it’s true?” aspect of the novel. Benedict admits that writing the part of Unity and her infatuation with Hitler was challenging, knowing what the world knows now. Those passages are convincing to a point, until background knowledge and historical facts take over and the readers’ emotions are catapulted 180*! This is a thought-provoking novel that explores how deep personal world views and political perspectives challenge family relations and call responsibility and duty into question.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters — each more beautiful, brilliant, and eccentric than the next — dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they’ve weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her wealthy husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister’s lead all the way to Munich, inciting rumors that she’s become Hitler’s mistress.

As the Nazis rise in power, novelist Nancy Mitford grows suspicious of her sisters’ constant visits to Germany and the high-ranking fascist company they keep. When she overhears alarming conversations and uncovers disquieting documents, Nancy must make excruciating choices as Great Britain goes to war with Germany.

Probing the torrid political climate in the lead-up to World War II and the ways that seemingly sensible people can be sucked into radical action, The Mitford Affair follows Nancy’s valiant efforts to stop the Nazis from taking over Great Britain, and the complicated choices she must make between the personal and the political.

The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester

Published January 10, 2023-Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Alix St. Pierre is back in Paris-again. The man who had broken her is still lurking- somewhere.

Natasha Lester’s newest release weaves the threads of ill-fated love, a secret agent for the Resistance in Italy, World War ll and the House of Christian Dior into a masterpiece of spectacular descriptions layered with emotional revelations. Alix St. Pierre’s journey takes her to Paris, Switzerland, Italy, and eventually New York City. Readers are treated to Natasha’s deep character development spanning the pre and post war years of Alix’s life. Alix becomes the Director of Publicity at the House of Dior and the famous spiral staircase, Christian Dior, and stunning gowns for Rita Hayworth are laced into Natasha Lester’s plot like a “knot of tangled ribbon.” Fans of Natasha Lester’s previous novels will be thrilled at the privilege of untangling the ribbon and placing a designer bow on Alix St. Pierre’s life story.

Sit back with a French 75, a chocolate tart, and savor The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre.

Book Description by Forever

New York Times bestselling author Natasha Lester delivers an unforgettable story of an orphan turned WWII spy turned fashion icon in Paris—perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Fiona Davis.

Alix St. Pierre. An unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman. She grew up surrounded by Hollywood glamor, but, as an orphan, never truly felt part of that world. In 1943, with WWII raging and men headed overseas to fight, she lands a publicity job to recruit women into the workforce. Her skills—persuasion, daring, quick-witted under pressure—catch the attention of the U.S. government and she finds herself with an even bigger assignment: sent to Switzerland as a spy. Soon Alix is on the precipice of something big, very big. But how far can she trust her German informant…?

After an Allied victory that didn’t come nearly soon enough, Alix moves to Paris, ready to immerse herself in a new position as director of publicity for the yet-to-be-launched House of Dior. In the glamorous halls of the French fashion house, she can nearly forget everything she lost and the dangerous secret she carries. But when a figure from the war reappears and threatens to destroy her future, Alix realizes that only she can right the wrongs of the past …and finally find justice.

“When I’m not writing, I love collecting vintage fashion, travelling and practicing the art of fashion illustration. I live with my husband, three children and two chickens in Perth, Western Australia. “https://www.natashalester.com.au/

The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz

Published January 3, 2023-Revell Books-Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction-416 pp

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Religion and politics, taboo topics at social gatherings unless discussing The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz! The English Lady Blythe Hedley, a brilliant linguist, too tall and willowy to be seen as beautiful; would rather spend money “on books rather than silks and ribbons.” Due to Jacobite/Catholic sympathies her father is considered an enemy of the British crown and rumored to be hiding in France. With Blythe’s protection and possible matrimony in mind, he contacts Lord Hume, Blythe’s godfather, a long-lost connection between families. The request is for Blythe to be sequestered at Wedderburn Castle across the border in Scotland- a protestant stronghold. There you have it-the Catholic Tories vs. Protestant Whigs. Laura Frantz weaves the vast history of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion and the unwanted arrival, but undeniable chemistry between Lady Blythe and hero, Everard Hume, into a luscious romantic tapestry.

Everard Hume declares he is seeking a Scottish lass to marry, not an Englishwoman. In emotionally charged scenes with his dying father, immensely tall and foreboding Everard, slowly evolves into a thoughtful, caring Lord of Wedderburn Castle. Frantz’s tender portrayal of the new Lord Hume, carrying youngest brother, Orin, on his shoulders at his father’s funeral, and giving generous bonuses and support to the castle staff, lends depth to Everard’s changing feelings, endearing him to readers.

Blythe is involved in a tug of war between heart and head as she cannot let go of her mother’s past as a courtesan in the court of King Charles II. Frantz combines this past memory with Blythe’s longings to be loved for herself, not her assets. The blossoming connection between Lady Blythe and young Orin adds to the suspense involved with her father and the coming rebellion.

From chapters opening with quotes from the Bible, former kings, and famous poets to the vivid sensory descriptions of Edinburgh, Highlands and the Lowlands, readers are immersed in the Scottish landscape. England’s white rose, embroidered into hems and handkerchiefs and Scotland’s thistle, a badge of honor and symbol of heraldry for over 500 years, are royally and historically represented in Laura Frantz’s The Rose and the Thistle.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In 1715, Lady Blythe Hedley’s father is declared an enemy of the British crown because of his Jacobite sympathies, forcing her to flee her home in northern England. Secreted to the tower of Wedderburn Castle in Scotland, Lady Blythe awaits who will ultimately be crowned king. But in a house with seven sons and numerous servants, her presence soon becomes known.

No sooner has Everard Hume lost his father, Lord Wedderburn, than Lady Hedley arrives with the clothes on her back and her mistress in tow. He has his own problems–a volatile brother with dangerous political leanings, an estate to manage, and a very young brother in need of comfort and direction in the wake of losing his father. It would be best for everyone if he could send this misfit heiress on her way as soon as possible.

Drawn into a whirlwind of intrigue, shifting alliances, and ambitions, Lady Blythe must be careful whom she trusts. Her fortune, her future, and her very life are at stake. Those who appear to be adversaries may turn out to be allies–and those who pretend friendship may be enemies.

EXCERPT

The Rose and the Thistle Chapter 1, pages 11-14

“How fetching you look in your pale green gown, La Belle Hedley. Akin to a stalk of
celery,” Catherine teased, knowing Blythe didn’t give a fig for fashion and lamented her
height, exceeding most of the court’s gallants. “And though you may roll your eyes at
me for saying so, there’s no doubt you are the best-dressed woman here and have set
French society afire.”
’Tis not my fashion sense but my mother’s reputation that has done so. “I would rather
spend it all on books than silks and ribbons,” Blythe replied. But her dear father wouldn’t
let her. The duke was far more matrimonially minded than she. And given she lacked
any outward beauty save her garments, fashion was her one asset.
“You are unquestionably a la mode.” Catherine openly admired Blythe’s flawless
coiffure styled into pale coils over one bare shoulder and adorned with beribboned
rosettes. “I’ve heard the Duchess d’Orleans covets your hairdresser while Mary of
Modena covets your gems.” Her hazel eyes slid to the choker of sapphires around
Blythe’s throat and the ones set in silver and pearl adorning her ears. “Not paste gems
but true brilliants. I suppose they were your mother’s. Such a blinding, bewitching blue.”
Blythe touched an earring absently. “But how ridiculous I feel in red heels.” She looked
down at her new slippers in bemusement before reaching into her pocket. With a
practiced snap of her wrist, she unfurled a painted fan encrusted with tiny precious
stones, a gift from Catherine’s aunt, lady of the queen’s bedchamber.
Blythe tallied how many days she’d been exiled to—visiting—France. Sixty-three?
She and Catherine strolled on with no apparent aim beneath the strengthening spring
sun, their hooped, colorful skirts swaying in the breeze. “We’ve walked these paths for
weeks now.” The lament in Catherine’s tone was telling. “And not one glimpse of my
kindred, the ousted prince.”
Blythe’s gaze swept the manicured grounds as though James Francis Edward Stuart
would materialize before their eyes. Charming and highly polished, the would-be James
III of England and James VIII of Scotland was the catch of the continent—if he could
only regain his crown.
His Royal Highness remains in Lorraine,” Blythe said quietly. Much could be learned by
listening, as gossip and intrigue buzzed. at every turn. “He seeks a royal bride. One who
is wealthy and polished and—”
“That would be you.” Catherine cast her a knowing look.
“Alas, I lack the requisite curves and double chin, plain as I am,” Blythe replied with a
flutter of her fan. The foremost courtiers were voluptuous, sensuous women with heavily
rouged cheeks and lips, sporting beauty patches in myriad places.
“Ha! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is it not?”

“Most men of my acquaintance seem preoccupied with face, form, and fortune, in that
order. Yet I long to be loved for myself and nothing else.”
A shadow passed over Catherine’s porcelain-perfect features. “Though you profess to
being plain, there is no denying you are the Duke of Northumbria’s daughter.”
Blythe squinted as the sun strengthened. Not just his daughter. His only daughter—and
only child. The whole weight of the Northumbrian fortune and future was upon her. If
she failed to marry, failed to provide an heir . . .
“Alas, a duke’s daughter of scandalous lineage.”
Catherine raised slender shoulders in a shrug. “’Twas long ago and best forgotten.”
“Then needs be I find a man of dim memory and even greater purse than my beloved
father.”
“How few nobles fit, including our impoverished if dashing Stuart prince.” Catherine
sighed. “I fear we shall all be branded spinsters if we leave France unaffianced.”
“Marriage is not a right, nor is singleness a curse.” Blythe’s fan fluttered harder. “I’ve
been pondering other paths, like becoming a nun and joining a convent in Flanders or
Chaillot. Perhaps a contemplative order like the English Augustine nuns at Bruges.”
“Don’t you dare!” Catherine gave a vicious pinch to Blythe’s arm as if to bring her to her
senses. “You have too much to offer to shut yourself away so.”
Stung but in no mood to argue, Blythe made no reply.

PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON:https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Thistle-Novel-Laura-Frantz-ebook/dp/B0B6PXDPWM/

BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rose-and-the-thistle-laura-frantz/1141496563?ean=9780800740672

Christy Award-winning author, Laura Frantz, is passionate about all things historical, particularly the 18th-century, and writes her manuscripts in longhand first. Her stories often incorporate Scottish themes that reflect her family heritage. She is a direct descendant of George Hume, Wedderburn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland, who was exiled to the American colonies for his role in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, settled in Virginia, and is credited with teaching George Washington surveying in the years 1748-1750. Proud of her heritage, she is also a Daughter of the American Revolution. When
not at home in Kentucky, she and her husband live in Washington State.

Fable & Fire: A Bookshop Bistro

Book Store Visit #21: Rockwall, Texas, -December 15, 2022

Rockwall, Texas is now home to this beautiful, unique bookshop & bistro. The vibe is warm and cozy-everything a book lover wants, all in one place: coffee & pastries, a bar for cocktails and a chat, an ever expanding menu for lunch or dinner, and best of all? BOOKS, VINYLS, and more BOOKS! There are comfortable chairs and sofas, conversation areas for book club discussions, even an outdoor patio for warm weather!

**Rolling Bookshelf Barn Door and Vinyls**

Under a Veiled Moon by Karen Odden

Published October 11, 2022 by Crooked Lane Books -Historical Fiction, Crime Mystery, 336pp.

An Inspector Corravan Mystery

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Fans of crime mystery set in Victorian London will be thrilled with Under a Veiled Moon, a sequel to Karen Odden’s Down a Dark River. The mystery is based on the fatal disaster of the sinking of a pleasure steamer on the River Thames in September,1878. The steamer, Princess Alice collided with coal carrier, Bywell Castle, with only 130 of 600 passengers surviving. This tragedy is shrouded in mystery and known as the worst maritime disaster London had seen at that time.

Under a Veiled Moon, book #2 in the Inspector Corravan Mystery Series, is easily read as a stand-alone novel. Odden transports readers to Victorian London through sensory descriptions of the deserted warehouses, tunnels, and cathedral priest holes as Scotland Yard’s Inspector Corrovan follows leads up and down the dark, twisting streets of East London’s Whitechapel. Odden connects readers to present day issues of fake news in current media by weaving the history of racism and persecution of the Irish with how “distortions and manipulations” in the press drastically impacted anti-Irish sentiment and public opinion. This created doubt and suspicions on all sides of the political issues. Odden couples the inspector’s frantic quest to uncover the possible instigator of the horrific disaster with the background of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the push for Irish Home Rule, and the secret societies formed by powerful Conservative MP’s.

The murder suspects are motivated by fear, love, revenge, and greed, while Corrovan is overcome at times with grief, regret, shame, and pain. Filled with wise, insightful characters along with those not so likeable, readers will be fascinated with the clues to this mysterious tragedy that happened late one night on the Thames Under a Veiled Moon.

Karen received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University and subsequently taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her first novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller and A Dangerous Duet and A Trace of Deceit have won awards for historical mystery and historical fiction. Under a Veiled Moon, her fifth mystery is the second book in the Inspector Corravan series.

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