BOOK REVIEW: The Bitter Trade by Piers Alexander

SYNOPSIS

In 1688, torn by rebellions, England lives under the threat of a Dutch invasion. Redheaded Calumny Spinks is the lowliest man in an Essex backwater: half-French and still unapprenticed at seventeen, yet he dreams of wealth and title.

When his father’s violent past resurfaces, Calumny’s desperation leads him to flee to London and become a coffee racketeer. He has just three months to pay off a blackmailer and save his father’s life – but his ambition and talent for mimicry pull him into a conspiracy against the King himself. Cal’s journey takes him from the tough life of Huguenot silk weavers to the vicious intrigues at Court. As the illicit trader Benjamin de Corvis and his controlling daughter Emilia pull him into their plots, and his lover Violet Fintry is threatened by impending war, Cal is forced to choose between his conscience and his dream of becoming Mister Calumny Spinks.

GoodReads * Amazon UK (print) * Amazon US (Kindle)

Barnes & Noble (Nook) * iTunes * Kobo

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REVIEW

calumny  - a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something

I like Calumny Spinks.  He occasionally has a filthy mouth and way too many hormones for one teenage boy, but part of me understands him.

His father, Peter, has not allowed Calumny to be schooled or to enter into an apprenticeship, whereby he might be able to support himself one day in a trade.  He has scant time left before that option will be closed to him forever.  Assuming, of course, that no one would like to make him seem still eligible.

But few things in England of the time are what they seem.  Since Scottish kings came to power in England after the death of Elizabeth I, Catholics were once again in power, and lording it over Protestants.  But then, the situation had been reversed on at least two occasions since Henry VIII started the Church of England in order to be able to divorce Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn.

In spite of the fact Calumny had a home and a mother and father still living, he reminds me a lot of children who grow up in the streets, either having run away, or because it's easier for them to find food there than at their 'homes'.  Street kids learn hard and fast, and so did Calumny.

The rhythm of the language Mr. Alexander uses in The Bitter Trade is high up on my list of favorites.  It conveys the difference in language between then and now well, while remaining accessible to most readers.

I am excited (already) to read the sequel when it comes out.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Piers Alexander is an author and serial entrepreneur. After a successful career as CEO of media and events companies he became a Co-Founder and Chairman of three start-up businesses. In 2013 he was awarded the PEN Factor Prize for The Bitter Trade. He is currently working on the sequel, Scatterwood, set in Jamaica in 1692.

For more information visit Piers Alexander’s website. You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

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(Disclosure:  I received a print copy of The Bitter Trade from the author and publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)

Click the button above to see the rest of the tour, which includes more reviews, interviews (including my own - so come back this Wednesday!), guest posts and a giveaway!

BOOK REVIEW: A Tangled Web by Sandra Schwab

SYNOPSIS

Publication Date: July 14, 2014
eBook
Series: Allan’s Miscellany
Genre: Historical Romance

Lawrence Pelham works as a comic artist for Allan’s Miscellany. A chance meeting with a young woman dressed in mourning changes Pel’s whole life, and without his even knowing, he is thrown into a world of mystery and intrigue, where nothing is as it seems to be—especially not the woman he has given his heart to.

Her whole life Sarah Browne has been told how plain she is, how nondescript, destined to become an old maid. For years she has been her family’s dutiful nursing maid and caretaker, but now a secret inheritance and an encounter with the charming Mr. Pelham seem to offer her a chance to break out of her life of duty and drudgery—if she dares to take it. Yet how could such an interesting, witty man like Mr. Pelham be possibly interested in her boring self?

And so, Sarah soon finds herself entangled in a web of lies and deceit, which might even cost her the love of her life.

GoodReads * Amazon

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REVIEW

I had quite a start when I sat down to write this review.  I had read an e-book, Allan's Miscellany 1846, and found my draft post saying I should have read A Tangled Web!  After a few minutes I indeed discovered that the proper title of the book was A Tangled Web: Allan's Miscellany 1846!

But my momentary discomfort was far less than the situation in which Sarah Browne found herself.  Being an unmarried woman in her late 20's, Sarah was expected to take care of aging family members.  Then, she is taken in by a brother and his family, who demand she serve them as a tutor to their children, in the same breath as telling her what a (financial) burden she is on her family.  Polite society has a lot for which to answer.

Sarah thought herself unlovely and unloved.  So when a handsome man speaks to her outside a shop, she tells him she is the widow Mrs. Edwards.  (I wonder if she got that name from her cousin Edward.)  An as yet unmarried woman speaking to a man alone on the street just wasn't done.  But a widow was a different story.  Still, she couldn't risk him picking her up from her brother's house.

But luck was once in her favor and she had recently come into a secret inheritance from a recently deceased aunt.  She had GBP10 cash and a annuity of 200 or so, which was enough to allow her to live independently, should she choose so to do.  She keeps her home with her brother, but rents a house in which to have twice-weekly meetings with her Mr. Pelham.

Of course, she is found out.  Pel feels used (rather rightly - she did lie).  Not only did her relatives make it impossible for her to continue living with them, they made sure Pel was made to leave his employment.

I understand Sarah's past colored her abilities in her present.  Many women, even today, suffer from a lack of self-esteem.  I understand her telling Pel she was a widow, what with the morality of appearances of the day.  Her lack of esteem was wearing a little thin, but then I look at the situation through the glasses of women's rights and abilities in the 21st century.  I was glad when Sarah undertook to fight for her man and her relationship by tracking him down and by explaining herself through a series of cartoons in Allan's Miscellany.

I did not see much by way of mystery in the story, but it is a delicious romance.  It's a period 'Cinderella' story with a lifetime of trials and tribulations for the hero (or heroine) until a final happy resolution.  A Tangled Web is a light, quick, romantic read that will go well with your tea service in the afternoon.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Flickr * YouTube

I started writing my first novel when I was seven years old: a heart-wrenching story about the friendship between a puppy and a little cat, probably inspired by Disney's Fox & Hound. I filled page after page with pink ink from my pink, heart-dotted fountain pen, inserted illustrations and even wrote a sequel! Twenty-odd years later, telling stories is still my greatest passion, even though by now I have exchanged my pink fountain pen for a computer keyboard (black, no hearts).

In my late teens I wrote melodramatic poetry (heck, what can you expect from someone in the throes of late puberty?), before I returned once more to fantasy stories and started to think seriously about publication. Yet several rejection letters later - by then I was becoming something of an expert on rejection letters, and let me tell you, several of these people knew nothing about putting together a rejection letter and got the phrasing all wrong! - it seemed as if my wished-for writing career was over before it had ever started. As can be expected, this was not the most jolly moment of my life! But, alas, I had one last chance: in the early months of the year 2000 I switched not only genres (from fantasy to romance), but also languages (from German to English). The latter was definitely the more daunting endeavour, but I was lucky enough to find a wonderful writers' group on the net, and these awesome ladies supported my first stumbling steps in the new language. So here's three BIG cheers for you, my friends, because without you I would have never managed it!

A few years later I joined RWA and entered the first chapter of my second English novel, Straight to the Heart, in the Opening Gambit Contest of the Northeast Indiana Romance Authors. All I hoped for was that nobody would make disparaging remarks about my English. So imagine my surprise when I not only got into the final round, but actually won that contest! Now I finally had my proof that the decision to start writing in a second language had been a sound one - and for days, I was walking around on clouds! Several months later, after getting a first place in the Winning Beginnings Contest of the Valley Forge Romance Authors with the same manuscript and blubbering into the year of the poor contest coordinator when she called to tell me the good news, it finally happened: I got The Call! (Thank God, I got an e-mail first, else I would have blubbered into my poor editor's ear as well. *g*) And thus, Straight to the Heart eventually became The Lily Brand (at this point, feel free to head over to the bookshelf and drool over ... er ... admire the lovely cover pic some more!) (Be advised, though, that I won't be held responsible if you ruin your keyboard! *ggg*).

These days I live in a small town near Frankfurt on the Main, Germany, with altogether too many books (have you ever heard of books procreating? I believe mine do!) and a neurotic cat. In my "other life" I hold a PhD from Mainz University, where I teach English Literature. When not writing, preparing class, or correcting student papers, I work on my next academic book project about the famous British magazine Punch.

To find out more about my academic work, go to www.SandraMartinaSchwab.com.

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(Disclosure:  I received an ecopy of "A Tangled Web" from the author and publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.)

REVIEW/INTERVIEW: Captain Shelby by Jesse Giles Christiansen

SYNOPSIS

There are places even the sea cannot go…

In coastal Denmark, a young man named Nereus builds a longship and leaves at age eighteen to discover a new, enigmatic land. Faced with unimaginable obstacles, he crosses the North Atlantic, only to be captured by the Skraelings, the Inuit indigenous people who seek revenge on all settlers because of a "Great Red Man" who murdered many of their family members.

A few years later, Nereus is hired by a group of Irish settlers who are fleeing the tyranny of King Henry VIII and he takes them across the North Atlantic to the Newfound Land. A fierce battle ensues against the sea, the Little Ice Age, and the vicious Skraelings.

When Nereus falls in love with Laura Hodges, fiancée to the group’s leader, William Brockelby, he becomes embroiled in a dangerous love triangle…until the formidable mystery surrounding Captain Nereus H. Shelby is finally revealed.

REVIEW/INTERVIEW; The Paradise Tree by Elena Maria Vidal

 

SYNOPSIS

The year is 1887 in Leeds County, Ontario. The O’Connor clan is gathering to mourn the loss of its patriarch Daniel O’Connor, an Irish immigrant. The story of Daniel and his wife Brigit is one of great hardships, including illness, ill-starred romances, war and political upheavals, as well as undying love and persevering faith. As Daniel is laid to rest, his grandson Fergus receives a piercing insight into what his own calling in life will be.

REVIEW/INTERVIEW: Lost Under a Ladder by Linda O. Johnston

SYNOPSIS

Is it Luck? Or is it Destiny?

Rory Chasen never thought superstitions were real—until her beloved fiancé is killed after walking under a ladder. To find closure and the truth about superstitions, Rory takes her dog Pluckie to a town called Destiny, where superstitious beliefs are a way of life.

Rory’s visit to Destiny takes an unexpected turn when Pluckie saves Martha, the owner of the Lucky Dog Boutique. Martha then begs Rory to manage the shop for her. When Martha becomes the prime suspect in the local bookshop owner’s murder, Rory can’t believe that the sweet old woman would do it. Convinced the real killer is still roaming Destiny’s streets, Rory resolves to crack the case before Martha’s luck runs out.

BOOK REVIEW: Fit to Be Dead by Nancy G. West

SYNOPSIS

FIT TO BE DEAD is nominated for The LEFTY AWARD, best humorous mystery of 2012.

In this first Aggie Mundeen mystery caper, Aggie, pushing forty and obsessed with becoming decrepit, writes the column, “Adventures in Staying Young.” When she moves to San Antonio, Texas, she has to shape up before anybody discovers she’s the author. She takes Aspects of Aging at University of the Holy Trinity and dives into exercise at the health club. Rusty at flirting and mechanically inept, she irritates a slew of male exercisers, then stumbles into murder. She tries to impress the attractive detective with her sleuthing skills. But when the killer comes after her, the health club evacuates evacuate patrons in less-than-dignified attire from the locker rooms, and the detective has to stall his investigation to save Aggie’s derriere.

Anybody who dreads aging, has tried to shape up or loved the wrong man will appreciate Aggie Mundeen.

GoodReads * Amazon

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REVIEW

Some people prefer their mysteries and thrillers with grit, like a summer blockbuster action flick, with buff male (super)heroes and token female characters.  I have no problem with that.  There is nothing wrong with reading what you like.  But it is an equally valid choice to like female main characters - those who don't look trim like movie stars, who are often judged by their youth and fitness as much as, or more than, their acting ability.

That's at the crux of why I like Fit to be Dead.  The heroes and important characters have flaws as well as strengths, quirks and foibles as well as looks and intelligence.   Aggie is a 3D character.  She can almost walk right off the pages of the book (or, in my case, the microchips of my e-reader), and find a home in my mirror.

Fit to be Dead is a light, easy read - at once similar and different from other books I've read of late.  It may not deal with the atrocities of WWII, the evils of domestic abuse, or the suffering of those with breast cancer and their families and friends, but that doesn't mean it is any better or worse than books covering those important topics. When I think of my top ten favorite movies, there are both dramas (Dead Again, Henry V) and comedies (So I Married an Axe Murderer).

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Website * Facebook * Amazon

When Nancy G. West was seven years old, she and her mother wrote poems to each other on special occasions. In high school, the Library Journal Pegasus published Nancy’s poem. At eighteen, she realized she might have to get a real job.

She heard journalists were underpaid and English majors were selling lingerie, so she studied General Business at the University of Texas and University of Houston and earned a BBA.

            A few years later, married, with two daughters, Nancy realized she had to study English literature and write. She read numerous books on writing and wrote articles, poetry, and the biography of artist Jose Vives-Atsara (Shoal Creek Publishers). She founded Book Publishers of Texas, edited their trade journal and promoted their books for seven years.

While earning her MA in English literature at University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, she began writing NINE DAYS TO EVIL, a novel of psychological suspense, Shakespeare, and nonstop-action which won the Blether Gold Award.

Her poem, Time to Lie, was featured by “Theme and Variations” and broadcast on NPR. She wrote book reviews for San Antonio Woman’s Book Shelf column for almost three years as well as articles for other publications.

As West finished NINE DAYS TO EVIL, Meredith Laughlin’s story, Meredith’s “mature” graduate school friend, Aggie Mundeen, took over West’s consciousness. The result was the author’s creation of the Aggie Mundeen Mystery Series.

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(Disclosure:  I received an e-copy of "Fit to Be Dead" from the author and publisher via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)  Click the logo below to see the rest of the tour!

BOOK REVIEW: The Heavens are Telling

SYNOPSIS

It is said that light cancels out all darkness. But what if the light is a ruse?  And what if there are shadows hiding behind the most unassuming corners? 

A frightened teen rescued from the horrors of the licentious streets of Pattaya, Thailand, Nataya, immediately regrets leaving her friend Suchin behind in the brothel. But when Nataya is given life-changing news, she learns that Suchin isn’t the only one that still needs rescuing. 

A lonely Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia, Jakobi, wants to make a difference in the world. The arrival of two orphaned children in the small village where she lives soon challenges everything Jakobi thought she knew about life and humanity. 

The owner of an eclectic clothing store in Boise, Idaho, Zanna, is fiercely independent. She doesn’t need her family or anyone else. Or at least that’s what she thinks until one horrifying morning changes everything in her life. 

Three compelling and heart-wrenching journeys interweave in unexpected ways to challenge the most basic of beliefs. 

The Heavens Are Telling is a story of evil, sometimes unashamed and blatant, and sometimes disguised behind kind faces and religious norms. Even more, it is a story of God’s grace in unimaginable circumstances. A story of God’s sovereignty and His relentless pursuit of His children, whom He loves, no matter the cost. 

The Heavens Are Telling is the second book in the “Child of Deliverance Series“, following the award winning novel The Earth Is Full.

GoodReads * Amazon

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REVIEW

If you can believe it, until I started reading the e-ARC of The Heavens are Telling, I did not realize this was Christian fiction.  And it took a little while even after I started reading.    Most Christian fiction does not tend to dwell on the less savory aspects of some adherents of the faith.  There are some Christians and Christian churches that are so wrapped up in the letter of the law that they seem to forget the spirit; they know the Law of God, but not His Spirit.

And then there's the subject of the book:  child-trafficking.  This is definitely not a 'light' read.  The Heavens are Telling is definitely in my top ten book read that show both the best and the worst of human nature.  There are the officiants of more than one religion who care more for money and self-importance than they do for members of their own family and innocent children.  As a counterpoint, there are people who travel halfway around the world to rescue the victims of the evil of trafficking; and there are people who are willing to bare their souls and the sins of their past on the off chance that it might help someone listening.

Can I just say that Gage made my skin crawl and leave it at that?

One thing that I really liked about The Heavens are Telling, is that the various story lines were all intricately woven together with great skill.  Jakobi is a Peace Corp volunteer in the same village where two children are in (more than) danger of falling victim to trafficking.  And rescue organization sends a representative to that same village, and Simon and Jakobi wind up attracted to each other.  I could fill up several screen fulls with the ways this story comes back to itself.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 'different Christianities' were shown.  Some people have learned the 'judge not, lest ye be judged' lesson better than others.  Rather than giving me cause to puff myself up thinking, 'Well, at least I'm not as bad as that," the book helps me see that everyone has indeed fallen short of the glory of God, and helps me appreciate His mercy for me and all His children all the more.

Sometimes we forget our blessings.  The Heavens are Telling will help us remember just how blessed we are, even if things are not exactly going our way at the moment.  And have a box of tissues ready.  I was bawling by the end.

To borrow a quote from a recent post on Ms. Riehl's blog..."Every life is important."

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Website * Facebook

B.D. Riehl has been writing stories since third grade when she penned her first short story, Bug Teeth. Since then her writing has expanded to essays in college that were used by her professor to teach his English students proper “reflection” techniques. She has written articles for a local magazine and her small town newspaper. For years she has written short stories and scattered chapters and kept them between herself and the Lord. 

In November of 2012, B.D. Riehl felt called to write a book to raise awareness for Destiny Rescue, an organization that rescues children from sex trafficking. The Earth is Full was released in September 2013 to 5 star reviews. 

When not writing, B.D. Riehl enjoys spending time with her husband and three daughters listening to music and reading books together. Her oldest is an artist and Riehl can’t wait for the day they can write and illustrate children’s books together. 

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(Disclosure:  I received an e-ARC of The Heavens are Telling from the author and publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.)