The Wandering Season by Aimie K. Runyan

Publication April 1, 2025-Harper Muse- Romance-Women’s Fiction-368pp.

Book Summary

Unraveling the tangled roots of her family takes her places she never expected. Veronica Stratton, a specialty food broker with a business on the cusp of brilliant success that would change the trajectory of her life, visits her parents in idyllic Estes Park for Christmas. She’s fresh from a breakup with her longtime boyfriend, so she’s eager to reconnect with her beloved family in the mountains and forget about her troubles for a few days. But with the holiday comes a DNA test from her younger sister that confirms her secret suspicions: she’s adopted. Having the truth out in the open leaves her feeling unmoored in ways she didn’t anticipate. With so much of her life in upheaval, Veronica is looking for an escape. Inspired by her best friend, she plans to go to Europe to see four of the places listed on her DNA ancestry report. She treks to County Mayo in Ireland; the Dordogne region of France; the countryside of Lombardy in Italy, and Copenhagen, Denmark. She hopes to learn about where her family lived while also making connections for her rapidly expanding business, but she finds that each stop brings her visions of her ancestors that raise more questions than they answer. And among those pressing questions is how charming Irish castle keeper Niall Callahan will fit into her visions for the future.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Wandering Season is to an avid reader what fine dining is to a foodie-perfection on every level! This culinary experience begins with an introduction to Veronica’s situation and family dynamics on Christmas Eve in snow covered Estes Park, Colorado. The wait staff is comprised of fabulous characters: Veronica’s darling, bubbly fashionista sister, Avery, her best friend Stephanie, and the loving, always supportive parents.

The main course or plot is driven by the findings of the DNA test kits given as presents from Avery. Veronica embarks on a journey planned by Avery, through four countries that correlate with her ancestors. Thank goodness for dad’s American Express and Avery’s two steps ahead planning savvy! Food sourcing vendors and new products was Veronica’s mission but visions of generations before helped guide and reveal her family background and history. Runyan’s transitions between reality and dreams fade in and out seamlessly like an adroit waiter anticipating your dining needs at every turn.

Every menu is capped with a fine dessert and so it is in The Wandering Season. Thoughts of the romantic possibility of an alluring Irish castle and its keeper will linger as Veronica explores her roots and finally realizes her own self-worth. The “close your eyes and savor” moment comes when Veronica reveals her new life plan- and the pièce de résistance- her favorite recipes from each country visited!

Aimie K. Runyan’s The Wandering Season is a delicious literary and culinary experience worthy of five Michelin stars.

Aimie writes fiction, both historical and contemporary, that celebrates the spirit of strong women. In addition to her writing, she is active as a speaker and educator in the writing community. She lives in Colorado with her amazing husband, kids, cats, and pet dragon.

Cloaked in Beauty by Karen Witemeyer

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Publication Dec. 17, 2024-Bethany House-Christian- Historical Fiction -Romance-384pp

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Trust no one in the shadows of the piney woods . . .

Letty Hood has spent the last fifteen years of her life hidden away with her grandmother in the backwoods of east Texas to escape the deadly schemes of an uncle who wants her dead. Now, with her twenty-first birthday on the horizon, she is forced to accept the escort of a stranger and return to Houston in secret so she can claim a birthright that will make her one of the wealthiest women in Texas. If she lives long enough to inherit.

Pinkerton agent Philip Carmichael has one duty: get the Radcliffe heiress home alive. Expecting a spoiled girl, Philip is surprised to encounter a woman of rare strength with a kind soul and keen wit. As they journey together, Letty’s resilience wins his admiration, breaking through his hardened cynicism. Yet the threat to her survival grows more menacing with every mile, and Philip fears that keeping Letty out of harm’s way may be just as impossible as keeping her out of his heart.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Book #3 Texas Ever After Series

Cloaked in Beauty, a historical romance, is set in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Witemeyer’s knack for “history, humor, and heart” conjured Letty Hood, a resourceful, dedicated, take control kind of gal, as the main character in this nod to Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. No damsels in distress here! I enjoyed all the references and analogies to the fairy tales; the red cloak, a prince like detective to protect Letty, a feisty grandmother, and a red wolf named Rusty! Of course, no fairy tale is complete without a villain so Drake Radcliff and his determination to “do away with” Letty before her twenty-first birthday fills that role perfectly. Letty has been hiding in the Piney Woods with her grandmother for 15 years and now must return to Houston to claim her inheritance.

Cloaked in Beauty is laced with romantic tension, plot twists with action, and clues to create suspense. Witemeyer fills Letty’s treacherous journey to Houston with vivid descriptions of East Texas terrain, rivers to cross, and towns to skirt. Throughout the trek Philip and Letty rely on God for provision and protection. Cloaked in Beauty, Christian fiction with a “Texas Ever After” ending, carries a strong theme of protecting and stewarding the family legacy.

AUTHOR BIO

Voted #1 Reader’s Favorite Christian Historical Author of 2023 by Family Fiction magazine, bestselling and Carol and Christy Award-winning author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. She and her husband make their home in Abilene, Texas. Learn more about Karen and her books at KarenWitemeyer.com.

Murder In Season-A Lady of Letters Mystery-Book #3 by Mary Winters

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Publication December 3, 2024-Severn House Publishing-Historical Fiction, Mystery-240pp

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Murder in Season is book #3 in The Lady of Letters Mystery Series by Mary Winters. This blend of cozy mystery and romance is set in London, 1860. Lady Amelia Amesbury, countess and advice columnist, is still in mourning when her sister Margaret arriving under duress, asks to remain for the Season. As fans of Bridgerton and the ton know, the Season, a time for young people to find a spouse, is from May to August. Lady Amesbury hosts a ball to introduce Margaret, but the plan backfires when a guest is poisoned. Margaret becomes the main suspect, and Lady Amesbury feels called to prove Margaret’s innocence. Winters whisks readers from balls and concerts in manor houses in Mayfair across to markets in the East End’s Petticoat Lane, and to the exhibition by the Royal Botanic Society at Regent’s Park.

Margaret, or Madge, is known to be bullheaded, brave, and smart. Winters uses an impromptu performance at a concert to develop the sisters’ character by revealing their competitive spirits and musical talents, adding another intriguing layer to their personalities. Their adventurous spirit surfaces as the sisters travel in disguise to Petticoat Lane to track a jewel thief! The action, dialogue and sensory descriptions of the market wares and stalls sink the reader into London’s East End.

Each chapter opens with a letter from a devoted reader to Lady Agony. The writer’s situation often hints at the impending conflict in the plot. Amelia’s slow burn romance with Simon, jewelry thefts, and a poisoning death keep readers following rumors and clues to the mystery. Lady Agony’s readers will discover a surprising, satisfying close to the Lady of Letters Mystery Series. “Yours in Secret.” The Grateful Reader.

Mary Winters is the author of the Lady Agony mystery series. A longtime reader of historical fiction and an author of two other mystery series, Mary set her latest work in Victorian England after being inspired by a trip to London. Since then, she’s been busily planning her next mystery—and another trip!

Meeting Her Match by Jen Turano

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Publication July 16, 2024-Bethany House-Christian-Historical Fiction-Romance-384pp

Book Summary

Miss Camilla Pierpont, a renowned matchmaker and influential member of the New York Four Hundred, has vowed never to marry after suffering a devastating heartbreak during her debut years ago. However, when she is nearly abducted along the Hudson River, she finds herself rescued by an annoyingly outspoken, albeit fascinating, gentleman who challenges her in a manner she wasn’t expecting.

After learning that Camilla Pierpont has enjoyed success with taking wayward young ladies in hand, Mr. Owen Chesterfield travels to the Hudson River Valley determined to convince Camilla to sponsor his sister, who is in desperate need of social rehabilitation.

Knowing her life is in danger, Camilla agrees to Owen’s proposition and travels with him to West Virginia, finding herself charmed by the less-than-formal attitude of his small hometown, as well as by Owen himself. But danger waits in the shadows, disrupting what she knows would be the most spectacular match she’s ever made–her own.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

This rollicking, Gilded Age romance whisks readers from New York City to Wheeling, West Virginia, at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. Jen Turano, known for her quirky, historical romances fills Meeting Her Match with hilarious verbal skirmishes between Camilla, a spinster and matchmaker of New York society and Owen Chesterfield, a wealthy Wheeling businessman, creating tension and turmoil. Camilla agrees to sponsor Owen’s unconventional sister Luella, who loves to fish, has a philanthropical bent, abhors frocks with bows, and has been shunned by the local society.

Camilla and her entourage arrive in Wheeling: Bernadette, her lady’s maid, Lottie, her paid companion, and Mr. Timkin, the butler. Fans of Downton Abbey’s Mr. Carson will appreciate the “butler brotherhood rule of proper behavior,” that Mr. Timkin often invokes. Camilla’s matchmaking days are revived as she becomes enamored with Owen’s family and their busy-body ways. West Virginia traditions and suspicions, not to be dismissed, play a real, but comical role in Owen’s Grandma Beulah’s plans. Hoping to prove worthy, Camilla’s competitive spirit shines as Beulah assigns daily challenges; chores like whitewashing fences and chicken coop shenanigans, all to sneak an apple pie recipe into Camilla’s possession. It’s apparently quite a powerful recipe! Local fare, river trout, potato pancakes and rhubarb pie are woven into the locals’ jargon as they relate sentiments and entertaining stories. Terms like “prickly, beyond the pale, and fit as a fiddle” lace this charming tale of Camilla, the spinster. While in the heavenly countryside of West Virginia refining Luella, learning parlor games such as Key of the King’s Garden and teaching the Star Quadrille, Camila’s “ennui” is kept at bay. Discover the charms of Owen, Camilla, and West Virginia in Jen Turano’s Meeting Her Match; brimming with themes of family, kinship, and camaraderie.

Named one of the funniest voices in inspirational romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publishers Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from RT Book Reviews, and praise from Library Journal. She’s been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. She and her family live outside of Denver, Colorado. Readers can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and X, and at JenTurano.com.

What the Mountains Remember by Joy Callaway

Publication April 2, 2024-Harper Collins-Historical Fiction-368p

Book Summary

At this wondrous resort, secrets can easily be hidden in plain sight when the eye is trained on beauty.

April 1913—Belle Newbold hasn’t seen mountains for seven years—since her father died in a mining accident and her mother married gasoline magnate, Shipley Newbold. But when her stepfather’s business acquaintance, Henry Ford, invites the family on one of his famous Vagabonds camping tours, she is forced to face the hills once again—primarily in order to reunite with her future fiancé, owner of the land the Vagabonds are using for their campsite, a man she’s only met once before. It is a veritable arranged marriage, but she prefers it that way. Belle isn’t interested in love. She only wants a simple life—a family of her own and the stability of a wealthy man’s pockets. That’s what Worth Delafield has promised to give her and it’s worth facing the mountains again, the reminder of the past, and her poverty, to secure her future.

But when the Vagabonds group is invited to tour the unfinished Grove Park Inn and Belle is unexpectedly thrust into a role researching and writing about the building of the inn—a construction the locals are calling The Eighth Wonder of the World—she quickly realizes that these mountains are no different from the ones she once called home. As Belle peels back the facade of Grove Park Inn, of Worth, of the society she’s come to claim as her own, and the truth of her heart, she begins to see that perhaps her part in Grove Park’s story isn’t a coincidence after all. Perhaps it is only by watching a wonder rise from ordinary hands and mountain stone that she can finally find the strength to piece together the long-destroyed path toward who she was meant to be.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Grove Park Inn, known in 1913 as the “eighth wonder of the world,” draws readers to Asheville, North Carolina, in the glorious Blue Ridge Mountains. Asheville’s mountain setting and fresh air has become known as the perfect place for sanatoriums for tuberculosis patients. Edwin Grove and his son-in-law, Fred Seely, are investing in an amazing hotel hoping to secure Asheville’s future by recentering the economy on tourism.

At the core of Callaway’s story is the actual building of Grove Park Inn, the plight of hundreds of laborers, and a tuberculosis pandemic. Callaway lays a solid foundation of the area’s rich history filled with well researched details walled in by Belle and Worth’s intriguing social conundrums. Belle realizes her dream of following in her father’s footsteps and accepts the task of writing the story of Grove Park Inn. With this self-discovery she is immediately transfixed by the craftsmanship that this “marvel upon marvel” will require. Joy Callaway intricately dovetails details of stone masons fitting boulders into the walls of the Great Hall and descriptions of rebar and scaffolding involved in tiled roofing, with the comedic contests of the Vagabonds and the outlandish “camping” scenes of the elite socialites and the waitstaff.

A theme of unconditional love is deeply forged into the relationship of Belle and her mother, Grace. They live in fear of their past being discovered by Grace’s new husband and Belle’s betrothed, Worth Delafield. Callaway’s development of the mother/daughter relationship of secrecy and deceit is layered on top of Belle’s skewed perspective of how she views marriage and family, neither involving love. This view creates a lot of angst, frustration, and tense social scenes. Worth Delafield, dealing with the tragic loss of his family, is also operating out of fear. This plot line winds up and down the mountain roads and into the hills. Belle’s faux life also involves the villain, Marie Austen, her self-centered, irritating, deceiving “best friend.” In the midst of the marriage matches and mismatches, the Grove Park Inn is getting closer and closer to completion! Callaway creates anticipation as exhilarating as the mountain air! Finding purpose and truth is at the heart of What the Mountains Remember.

Joy Callaway is an international bestselling author of historical fiction and southern contemporary romance. She formerly served as a marketing director for a wealth management company. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations from Marshall University and an M.M.C. in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina. She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, John, and her children. Joy’s beautiful website: https://www.joycallaway.com/

GROVE PARK INN-LINK TO HISTORY & VIDEO TOUR

The Grove Park Inn History: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/property-details/history

The Seamstress of Acadie by Laura Frantz

Publication January 9, 2024-Revel-Chistian, Historical Fiction-416pp

Book Summary

As 1754 is drawing to a close, tensions between the French and the British on Canada’s Acadian shore are reaching a fever pitch. Seamstress Sylvie Galant and her family–French-speaking Acadians wishing to remain neutral–are caught in the middle, their land positioned between two forts flying rival flags. Amid preparations for the celebration of Noël, the talk is of unrest, coming war, and William Blackburn, the British Army Ranger raising havoc across North America’s borderlands.

As summer takes hold in 1755 and British ships appear on the horizon, Sylvie encounters Blackburn, who warns her of the coming invasion. Rather than participate in the forced removal of the Acadians from their land, he resigns his commission. But that cannot save Sylvie or her kin. Relocated on a ramshackle ship to Virginia, Sylvie struggles to pick up the pieces of her life. When her path crosses once more with William’s, they must work through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the present and forge an enduring future.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

A major theme in this accounting of the Acadians in Nova Scotia is “Where is God in the midst of suffering and tragedy?” Declaring themselves neutral between the French and English, the Acadians are forced by the British onto ships bound for Williamsburg, Virginia, or French held Louisiana. Some may remember this event from the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, read in a literature or history class. The Great Upheaval of 1755, which forced the Acadians from their homeland, is told by Acadian seamstress, Sylvie Galant, and British Major William Blackburn, a character based on real life Robert Rogers. Each action-packed chapter opens with a quote from literary treasures such as Rousseau or Molière, and is filled with anticipation, hatred, trepidation, and relief. Frantz’s novel, fraught with significant details of military strategy and descriptions of beauty and peace, is also laced with compelling metaphors and foreshadowing that keeps readers in suspense. The turning points: the arrival of the English fleet, shipwrecks, and later smallpox and a kidnapping, propel the plot and keep the love story alive; all the while scattered with hope, love, and pink and white apple blossoms.

My ancestors are Acadians, and I am a seamstress like Sylvie. As she stitched hope into her ball gown, I truly felt the angst and determination of the Acadians as they searched for beauty, peace, and possibilities.

The Wonder of it All by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Published December 5, 2023-St. Martin’s Press-368pp

Book Summary

James Falconer–a tycoon and a self-made man–seems to have the world in the palm of his hand. But the Great War looms, and James decides to fight for king and country. The fighting is bloody and brutal, and James returns a changed man, with wounds both physical and mental. His beloved wife is dead, but a new woman returns to help nurse him back to health.

Georgiana Ward once held James in her thrall, but years have passed, and bitterness has set in. Still, the old attraction is there, and James is determined to make amends to both Georgiana and his child Leonie–now a grown woman and someone he hasn’t seen in decades. Leonie is having none of it and is embarking on a dangerous journey with a man who might very well destroy her. As James fights to return to the man he once was, he needs to find a way to heal his body, soul, and family.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Wonder of it All is the 40^th novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford and concludes the sweeping Victorian family saga her fans know as The House of Falconer trilogy. The main character, James Falconer, and all his family connections are listed immediately to refresh reader’s memories. That was an especially welcoming segment. The novel is divided into six parts; each appropriately named and indicative of coming events. The saga continues with the fate of James, injured at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, grieving his late wife, Alexis. Readers follow Major James Falconer from Kent, 1917 through his relationship struggles with his estranged daughter, Leonie, her mother Georgiana Ward, and the nasty villain Leonie has married. Another intriguing thread is anticipating how James will overcome his past in order to have a future, avoid the toll of the postwar economic downturn, and find business solutions needed to maintain the success of his diversified company in 1919.

Barbara Taylor Bradford weaves hope, family heritage, suspense and mystery while connecting emotionally with readers through rejection, acceptance, and forgiveness. As always, vivid descriptions and period detail provide a true sense of place and the development of strong male and female characters with integrity, ambition, and drive appeals to generations of readers. Worth the wait!

**Book 2 In the Lion’s Den Review:** https://gratefulreader.home.blog/2020/09/14/in-the-lions-den-by-barbara-taylor-bradford/

Barbara gets awarded OBE from Her Majesty The Queen

Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE was born and raised in England. She left school at 15 for the typing pool at the Yorkshire Evening Post. At 16 she was a reporter, and at 18 she became the paper’s first woman’s page editor. Two years later, aged 20, she moved to London and became a fashion editor and columnist on Fleet Street. Barbara started writing fiction when she was just seven-years-old and sold her first short story to a magazine for seven shillings and sixpence when she was ten. She published her first novel, A Woman of Substance, in 1979. It went from bestseller to super seller within its first year and stayed on the New York Times’ list for 43 weeks.

Barbara’s beautiful website:
https://barbarataylorbradford.com/about/

The Lost Gift to the Italian Island by Barbara Josselsohn

Publication December 4, 2023-Bookouture-Historical Fiction-

Book Summary

Italy, 1943. With tears in her eyes, Giulia listens out for the sound of bombers flying overhead and thinks of the baby growing inside of her. Through the fabric of her lace dress her fingers touch the cold bullets carefully sewn into the seams. Luca might never forgive her, but she has to do this…

New York, present day. When Tori Coleman discovers that her mother was adopted, her whole world shatters. Jeremy, her boyfriend, wants to get married, but how can Tori commit when she doesn’t know who she truly is? The only clue to the identity of her biological family is a mysterious postcard with a photograph of an ornate wedding dress her grandmother Giulia made, which she’s told was gifted to a museum on an Italian island…

Tori arrives on Parissi Island, surrounded by turquoise Mediterranean waters, with the sweet smell of orange blossom filling the air. She soon finds the museum and learns that Giulia was Jewish, and secretly lived there during World War Two. She thought her grandmother abandoned her mother, but was she forced to leave and give up her child?

Just as she’s getting closer to answers, an unexpected call from Jeremy stops Tori in her tracks. As he passionately urges her to find out the truth, suddenly Tori wishes he were in Italy by her side, ready to propose again.

But then Tori is shocked to find bullets sewn into the lining of one of Giulia’s dresses and a notebook claiming she did something terrible during World War Two. Will the secrets in her family help her follow her own heart, or send her home from Italy with it finally broken forever?

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab-(Link to Review of Book 1 Below Author Bio)

The Lost Gift to the Italian Island, Book #2 in the Sisters of War, follows the plight of Giulia, as she escapes Parissi Island during the Nazi invasion and becomes entangled in the Italian Resistance. Barbara Josselsohn’s dual timeline alternates between 1943, Italy, and present-day New York City with several threads of mystery, betrayal, and secrecy. Josselsohn explores themes of following one’s passion and understanding identity through main character, Tori, a seamstress with goals of opening her own studio. A client sends Tori a postcard from a museum in Italy with a picture of the perfect wedding dress; some would believe this a coincidence, others God’s plan. As the designer and seamstress of my own wedding gown, this was the hook for me. Tori decides a trip to Italy to discover her past is manageable if she treats it as a dress pattern, one step at a time- the perfect analogy. Sensory descriptions of the castle, Parissi Island, and the Mediterranean are the ultimate setting as Tori discovers that mistakes and misunderstandings are the pieces to her past.

While life lessons like choose life-give the future a chance, and the antidote to mistrust is connection, are important, I believe the key to The Lost Gift of the Italian Island is that “love transcends everything.” Tori’s promise from her mother is one that connects us all. “Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

Memorable historical details of situations with uplifting outcomes. Highly recommended.

A best-selling novelist with a background in newspaper reporting, Barbara Josselsohn loves crafting stories about protagonists facing a fork in the road. She is the author of six novels and has also written hundreds of articles and essays in major and regional publications about family, home and relationships. Barbara’s stunning website: https://barbarajosselsohn.com/

https://gratefulreader.home.blog/2023/05/11/secrets-of-the-italian-island-by-barbara-josselsohn/

To Spark a Match by Jen Turano

Publication November 14-Bethany House-Historical Romance-Gilded Age, Inspirational Fiction- 368pp

**SERIES:** **THE MATCHMAKERS (BOOK 2)**

Book Summary

After five unsuccessful Seasons on the marriage mart, Miss Adelaide Duveen has resigned herself to the notion that she’s destined to remain a spinster forever–a rather dismal prospect, but one that will allow her to concentrate on her darling cats and books. However, when she inadvertently stumbles upon Mr. Gideon Abbott engaged in a clandestine activity during a dinner party, Adelaide finds herself thrust into a world of intrigue that resembles the plots in the spy novels she devours.

Former intelligence agent Gideon Abbott feels responsible for Adelaide after society threatens to banish her because of the distraction she caused to save his investigation. Hoping to return the favor, he turns to a good friend–and one of high society’s leaders–to take Adelaide in hand and turn her fashionable. When danger surrounds them and Adelaide finds herself a target of the criminals in Gideon’s case, the spark of love between them threatens to be quenched for good–along with their lives.

Grateful Reader Review

Jen Turano, known for funny, quirky historical romance, has paired Adelaide, a breath of fresh air, with Gideon, an intense detective involved in a dangerous lifestyle. Adelaide is a 23-year-old lover of spy novels with no feminine skills or fashion sense, and a collector of cats! Adelaide nor her mother is looking forward to yet another New York Season of matchmaking. Turano steers readers from velvet curtained libraries and glittering dining rooms to a dusty, old bookshop with a circular staircase. Filled with witty humor, she deftly weaves society balls and incidents worthy of Adelaide’s spy novels with Gideon’s real life detective agency.

Bainswright Books, with its scent of old leather and dust, is Adelaide’s’ favorite bookshop. Turano’s vivid descriptions of the rambling rooms crammed full of tables laden with piles of books draws readers into Gideon’s quest to uncover a criminal organization. This is a perfect match for Adelaide’s obsession with spy novels and her detective skills. Customers, Vernon and Leopold, darling widowed matchmakers, add an extra measure of spice and cunning to the story.

Society’s perception is that Adelaide needs a “reputation restoration.” Turano’s depictions of Adelaide’s hilarious antics, the Savage Swans and the Bustle Uprising, might at first bring readers to the same conclusion. But Adelaide is genuinely brilliant, not at all shallow. As she swirls across the dance floor, she quickly discerns the false intentions of suitors as Turano is extremely adept at revealing honest human nature in each of her characters. Gideon’s genius introduction of a custom saddlebag for cats will have pet lovers falling for him along with Adelaide!

As the Season unfolds, Adelaide finds no satisfaction when she realizes another unfortunate young lady will take her place among society’s unacceptable. Lessons of compassion, kindness, and understanding portrayed through Adelaide’s treatment of others shine welcome beams of light into Jen Turano’s To Spark a Match.

A Gilded Age Romance filled with delightful, humorous banter and spy novel worthy detectives!

JEN TURANO

Named one of the funniest voices in inspirational romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publishers Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from RT Book Reviews, and praise from Library Journal. She’s been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. She and her family live outside of
Denver, Colorado. Jen’s delightful website: https://jenturano.com

Purchase Links & Formats: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Match-Matchmakers-Book-ebook/dp/B0BW12TFMC

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-spark-a-match-jen-turano/1142992266

The Porcelain Maker By Sarah Freethy

Publication Nov.7, 2023-St. Martin’s Press-Historical Fiction-Romance-416pp

Book Summary

Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history.
A daughter’s search for the truth.

Germany, 1929. At a festive gathering of young bohemians in Weimar, two young artists, Max, a skilled Jewish architect, and Bettina, a celebrated avant-garde painter, are drawn to each other and begin a whirlwind romance. Their respective talents transport them to the dazzling lights of Berlin, but this bright beginning is quickly dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism. Max is arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where only his talent at making exquisite porcelain figures stands between him and seemingly certain death. Desperate to save her lover, Bettina risks everything to rescue him and escape Germany.

America, 1993. Clara, Bettina’s daughter, embarks on a journey to trace her roots and determine the identity of her father, a secret her mother has kept from her for reasons she’s never understood. Clara’s quest to piece together the puzzle of her origins transports us back in time to the darkness of Nazi Germany, where life is lived on a razor’s edge and deception and death lurk around every corner. Survival depends on strength, loyalty, and knowing true friend from hidden foe. And as Clara digs further, she begins to question why her mother was so determined to leave the truth of her harrowing past behind…

The Porcelain Maker is a powerful novel of enduring love and courage in the face of appalling brutality as a daughter seeks to unlock the mystery of her past.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

This dual timeline novel carries all the emotional and physical burdens of World War ll, the Holocaust, and the impact of these events on relationships and families. The porcelain figurines found at auction in Cincinnati,1993, represent the tension and anxiousness fired into Sarah Freethy’s characters. From the opening of the novel in Germany,1929 when the main characters meet, through America, 1993, when Clara is searching for clues to her past, readers will experience love and marriage consequences, the Allach Porcelain Factory and the concentration camp in Dachau, along with frightening rescue attempts.

The climax of the plot is set in the basement of the porcelain factory. As an escape plan is formed Freethy’s chilling descriptions, plot twists, and courageous characters keep suspense at a peak. The porcelain making techniques and regimens of the prisoners, aside the brutal treatment and plight of the Jews makes this an emotionally challenging and demanding novel. Sarah Freethy’s The Porcelain Maker is a work of art. And as “The Porcelain Maker of Dachau” believes, “Art should serve a purpose beyond beauty.”

Allach porcelain (pronounced ‘alak’) a.k.a. Porzellan Manufaktur Allach was produced in Germany between 1935 and 1945. After its first year of operation, the enterprise was run by the SS with forced labor provided by the Dachau concentration camp. The emphasis was on decorative ceramics —objets d’art for the Nazi regime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allach_(porcelain)

**Available for purchase on Amazon**-Book Description below:

“For the first time, the brief nine year history of SS Allach Porcelain (1936-1945), the infamous nazi run porcelain factory, is presented in this new two volume reference. Explored in detail is the fascinating array of sculptures made by Allach, and also the historical significance as to why each category of porcelain was established. Close-up views of figures show the skilled artistry of some of Germany’s greatest sculptors, potterers and painters including Theodor Karner, Ottmar Obermaier and Richard Forster. And why this little known porcelain factory named Allach may be considered the producer of some of the finest porcelain the world has seen to this day. This two volume reference is the result of many years of painstaking research and collecting. No expense was spared to bring the facts to all Allach Porcelain collectors and porcelain aficionado’s alike. The books feature over 600 photographs, including many never before seen porcelain figures, and comprehensive text.” From Amazon site.

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