New Giveaway: The Harlot's Progess by Peter Motley


The Harlot's Progress:  Yorkshire Molly
by Peter Mottley


2 book giveaway + special gift!!




SYNOPSIS:  Yorkshire Molly is the first in a gripping trilogy that breathes life into Hogarth’s captivating series “A Harlot’s Progress”. Innocent virgin Molly Huckerby arrives in London from York hoping to marry her wealthy and respected cousin. But her innocence is stolen as she is lured into The Bell by the notorious bawd Mother Wickham. She is destined for a life as a kept whore, but in a breathtaking twist she finds an unlikely savior...


Underlying this wicked tale is the story of a spirited woman’s struggle against overwhelming misfortune and the brutality of 18th Century London.




Book Trailer





Giveaway 411:


* Giveaway ends on November 15th. Winner will be announced on November 16th.
* Open to all domestic and international entries.
* For 5 additional entries sign up as a follower; if you already are a follower you will automatically get this.
* For another additional one entry: post, sidebar, facebook or twitter about this giveaway.


GOOD LUCK!!!!







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Happy Halloween!!



Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween!



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Future Release: The Murder in the Tower: The Story of Frances, Countess of Essex by Jean Plaidy



The Murder in the Tower: The Story of Frances, Countess of Essex (Stuart Saga, Book 1)
by Jean Plaidy

US Release Date:  July 13, 2010

SYNOPSIS: Frances Howard wanted Henry, Prince of Wales, from the moment she saw him on the day she married Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.  But Henry soon cloyed, and Frances began a dangerous liaison with Robert Carr, first favourite of James I, and the only man to satisfy her deep sensual needs…

The drama is played out against the background of the Court of James I.






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Michelle Moran unveils UK cover of Madame Tussaud



Minus a few tweaks and final touches here is your glimpse at Michelle Moran's Madame Tussaud - UK version.


I really like it - her dress is gorgeous and she actually has a head!  Woo Hoo!


What do you think dear reader?



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The winner of Pendragon's Banner is....


Congratulations....


Laura from The Calico Critic!!!!

Email me your address at passagestothepast(at)gmail(dot)com.

You are in for a great ride Laura...I finished Pendragon's Banner last week and while I can't wait for the third and final novel, I also don't want to leave Arthur and Gwen.  Hollick is one of the best writers out there and always a pleasure to read!  Enjoy!

Thank you Sourcebooks and all of my lovely readers that entered!




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books that make you go hmmm...two for the price of one !!


by Paula Reed

Release Date:  February 16, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  Upon the death of her demonic husband, Hester Prynne is left a widow, and her daughter is left a wealthy heiress. Together they travel to England where Hester seeks a quiet life—only to find herself drawn into the circle of the most powerful Puritan of all time, Oliver Cromwell.

From the moment Hester donned the famous scarlet letter, it instilled in her the power to see the sins and hypocrisy of others, an ability not lost on the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. To Cromwell, Hester’s sight is either a sign of sorcery or a divine gift that Hester must use to assist the divinely chosen in his scheming to control England. Since sorcery carries a death sentence, Hester is compelled against her will to use her sight to assist Cromwell. She soon finds herself entangled in a web of political intrigue, espionage, and forbidden love. Sweeping, engaging historical fiction, Hester will carry readers away to seventeenth century England with a deeply human story of family, love, history, desire, and the human ideal.




by Melanie Benjamin

Release Date:  January 12, 2010

SYNOPSIS: Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.



But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?



Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories.


That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war. 


For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey.


A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire.


What are your thoughts dear reader?



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Mailbox Monday!



Another Monday, Another Mailbox!!  This is a feature where we all share with each other the yummy books that showed up at our doors!  WARNING:  Mailbox Mondays can lead to extreme envy and GINORMOUS wishlists!!


Virgin and the Crab
by Robert Parry

SYNOPSIS:  The brilliant young mathematician and astronomer John Dee has one overwhelming obsession: liberty. Abandoned and humiliated, Elizabeth Tudor has one simple aim: survival. What will happen when these two are thrown together by circumstances neither can anticipate or control? This is their story as Dee and the mysterious brotherhood of the Rose Lodge - working against almost insurmountable odds and threatened by a vengeful and unforgiving queen - attempt to guide the nation towards enlightenment and stability. Here, a parallel universe of secrecy and faith is revealed in which the unseen forces of nature support all that is visible and real - a place, too, where the special alchemy of the Virgin and the Crab works its magic, growing from childhood friendship, through adolescent flirtation to mutual respect and admiration as together they prepare to sacrifice everything for the world they wish to inherit.




by Tony Hays

SYNOPSIS: It is the time of Arthur, but this is not his storied epic. Arthur is a young and powerful warrior who some would say stands on the brink of legend. Britain’s leaders have come to elect a new supreme king, and Arthur is favored. But when a young woman is brutally murdered and the blame is placed at Merlin’s feet, Arthur’s reputation is at stake and his enemies are poised to strike. Arthur turns to Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, a man whose knowledge of battle and keen insight into how the human mind works has helped Arthur come to the brink of kingship.

Malgwyn is also the man who hates Arthur most in the world. After the death of Malgwyn's wife by Saxon hands, he became Mad Malgwyn, killer of Saxons and right-hand lieutenant to the warrior Arthur. Right hand, that is, until a Saxon cut his sword arm off and left him to die on the battlefield. Arthur rescued him. Now a one-armed scribe and a heavy drinker, Malgwyn rejects the half-life that his liege gave him. But loyalty is sometimes stronger than loathing…and Malgwyn is pulled toward a puzzle that he can’t walk away from.

Think CSI: Medieval: gritty, powerful, and with the true ring of historical perspective and a character who sees more than those around him. The Killing Way is the first in a mystery series that is sure to be a hit with both mystery readers and historical fans alike.





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Announcing the winner of The Tudor Rose



Drumroll please!!


Congratulations go to.....


Sue from The Mickelson Family blog !!!!!




Zap over your address and I'll forward it to the publisher!


Thanks to Sourcebooks and all who entered!





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The Two Winners of The Queen's Mistake are....



Drumroll please!!

Congratulations go to.....


Zibilee from Raging Bibliomania

and

Jess at Confessions of a Book Hoarder !!!!!


Zap over your addresses ladies and I'll forward it to the publisher!

Thanks to Kaitlyn and Penguin Publishing and all who entered!




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C.W. Gortner's The Confessions of Catherine de Medici




The buzz around blogland this week is the unveiling of C.W. Gortner's new novel:  The Confessions of Catherine de Medici that is due out May 25, 2010.

It's fierce!  It's got WOW factor! It's headless!  I LOVE it!!!!




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Announcing the 10 lucky winners of Lady Vernon and Her Daughter




Okay kiddies, the time has arrived to announce the 10 winners of the Lady Vernon and Her Daughter giveaway!

Congratulations go to:

Jennifer @ Rundpinne
Misty @ Book Rat
Jenny Girl @ Jenny Loves to Read


Zap over your address ladies and Happy Reading!!!

Thank you Priya & Crown Publishing!!  And, as always, a HUGE thanks to all who entered!




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Mailbox Monday!



Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday!  This is a feature where we all share what yummy books were added our Mt. TBR's this past week.  A trio of delicious Historical Fiction yumminess showed up at my door!!  What about you?


by Nancy Goldstone

Release Date:  October 27, 2009

SYNOPSIS:  The riveting history of a beautiful queen, a shocking murder, a papal trial—and a reign as triumphant as any in the Middle Ages. On March 15, 1348, Joanna I , Queen of Naples, stood trial for her life before the Pope and his court in Avignon. She was twenty-two years old. Her cousin and husband, Prince Andrew of Hungary, had recently been murdered, and Joanna was the chief suspect. Determined to defend herself—Joanna won her acquittal against enormous odds. Returning to Naples, she ruled over one of Europe’s most prestigious courts for more than thirty years—until she was herself murdered. 

As courageous as Eleanor of Aquitaine, as astute and determined as Elizabeth I of England, Joanna was the only female monarch in her time to rule in her own name. She was notorious: The taint of her husband’s death never quite left her. But she was also widely admired: Dedicated to the welfare of her subjects and realm, she reduced crime, built hospitals and churches, and encouraged the licensing of women physicians. While a procession of the most important artists and writers of her day found patronage at her glittering court, the turmoil of her times swirled around her: war, plague, intrigue, and the treachery that would, ultimately, bring her down. 

As she did in her acclaimed Four Queens, Nancy Goldstone takes us back to the turbulent and colorful Middle Ages, and with skill and passion brings fully to life one of history’s most remarkable women. Her research is impeccable, her eye for detail unerring, and in The Lady Queen she paints a captivating portrait of medieval royalty in all its incandescent complexity.


Read my review of Four Queens



Lady Vernon and Her Daughter:  A Novel of Jane Austen's Lady Susan
by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

SYNOPSIS:  Jane Austen's novella Lady Susan was written during the same period as another novella called Elinor and Marianne–which was later revised and expanded to become Sense and Sensibility. Unfortunately for readers, Lady Susan did not enjoy the same treatment by its author and was left abandoned and forgotten by all but the most diligent Austen scholars. Until now.

In
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway have taken Austen's original novella and transformed it into a vivid and richly developed novel of love lost and found–and the complex relationships between women, men, and money in Regency England.

Lady Vernon and her daughter, Frederica, are left penniless and without a home after the death of Sir Frederick Vernon, Susan's husband. Frederick' s brother and heir, Charles Vernon, like so many others of his time, has forgotten his promises to look after the women, and despite their fervent hopes to the contrary, does nothing to financially support Lady Vernon and Frederica.

When the ladies, left without another option, bravely arrive at Charles's home to confront him about his treatment of his family, they are faced with Charles's indifference, his wife Catherine's distrustful animosity, and a flood of rumors that threaten to undo them all. Will Lady Vernon and Frederica find love and happiness–and financial security– or will their hopes be dashed with their lost fortune?

With wit and warmth reminiscent of Austen's greatest works,
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter brings to vivid life a time and place where a woman's security is at the mercy of an entail, where love is hindered by misunderstanding, where marriage can never be entirely isolated from money, yet where romance somehow carries the day.



by Robert Hicks

SYNOPSIS:  Set in New Orleans in the years after the Civil War, A Separate Country is based on the incredible life of John Bell Hood, arguably one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army--and one of its most tragic figures. Robert E. Lee promoted him to major general after the Battle of Antietam. But the Civil War would mark him forever. At Gettysburg, he lost the use of his left arm. At the Battle of Chickamauga, his right leg was amputated. Starting fresh after the war, he married Anna Marie Hennen and fathered 11 children with her, including three sets of twins. But fate had other plans. Crippled by his war wounds and defeat, ravaged by financial misfortune, Hood had one last foe to battle: Yellow Fever. A Separate Country is the heartrending story of a decent and good man who struggled with his inability to admit his failures-and the story of those who taught him to love, and to be loved, and transformed him.





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new non-fiction in 2010


by Derek Wilson

Release Date:  June 22, 2010



The Tudor period was a time of massive social change in England with growing cities, increasing trade, and growing stability after the chaos of the Wars of the Roses. Despite military preparations in every county, and the establishment of a new navy, the country was generally at peace, and England and Wales were becoming more closely integrated. Religious changes affected every person, with the Reformation bringing change to most corners of the country, and the dissolution of the monasteries allowing those with cash to build new estates, and removing the traditional schools and hospitals.


Derek Wilson offers insight into the world of Tudor England - revealing what it was really like to live in a period of great growth, and the difference between living in the city and the country.



Crown, Orb & Sceptre: The True Stories of English Coronations
by David Hilliam

Release Date:  April 1, 2010

Coronations are very public occasions, typically seen as meticulously planned formal ceremonies where everything runs smoothly. But behind the scenes at Westminster Abbey lie extraordinary but true stories of mayhem, confusion and merriment. In this book we travel through over a thousand years of England's history to reveal the real character of its kings and queens. Also packed with facts about how the service, traditions and accessories have changed over the years, "Crown, Orb & Sceptre" provides both a compelling read and an accessible and irreverent reference guide to one of the most spectacular ceremonies in England's heritage.





by James Wilkinson & C.S. Knighton


Release Date:  March 31, 2010

Fifteen kings and fourteen queens are buried in Westminster Abbey, which is also the nation's coronation church; every coronation since that of William the Conqueror has taken place in the Abbey. The close relationship between 'Crown and Cloister' was forged when King Edward the Confessor built the first great church on this site (completed in 1065). Today, The Queen and her family come to the Abbey regularly, whether to celebrate or to mourn. 

Westminster Abbey has adapted well to the changing currents of history. It survived the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1540, and Henry made it briefly a cathedral. His daughter Mary I restored the monastery in 1556, but in 1560 Elizabeth I re-founded it as a church, and since then the abbey has been directly answerable to the sovereign. With sumptuous photography of the abbey's architecture and art treasures, and stunning royal portraits from across the centuries, this book celebrates the enduring ties between 'Crown and Cloister'.


by Elizabeth Norton

Release Date:  January 31, 2010



Wife, widow, mother, survivor, the story of the last queen of Henry VIII. The sixth wife of Henry VIII was also the most married queen of England, outliving three husbands before finally marrying for love. Catherine Parr was enjoying her freedom after her first two arranged marriages when she caught the attention of the elderly Henry VIII. She was the most reluctant of all Henry's wives, offering to become his mistress rather than submit herself to the dangers of becoming Henry's queen. This only served to increase Henry's enthusiasm for the young widow and Catherine was forced to abandon her lover for the decrepit king. Whilst Catherine was reluctant to be a queen she quickly made the role a success, providing Henry VIII with a domestic tranquility that he had not known since the early days of his first marriage. For Henry, Catherine was a satisfactory choice but he never stopped considering a new marriage, to Catherine's terror. Catherine is remembered as the wife who survived but, without her strength of character it could have been very different. When informed that the king had ordered her arrest for heresy, she took decisive action, defusing the king's anger and once again becoming his 'own sweetheart'. It was a relief for Catherine when Henry finally died and she secretly married the man she had been forced to abandon for Henry, Thomas Seymour. During her retirement, Catherine's heart was broken by her discovery of a love affair between her stepdaughter, Princess Elizabeth, and her husband. She never recovered from the birth of her only child and, in her fever accused her husband of plotting her death. Catherine Parr is often portrayed as a matronly and dutiful figure. Her life was indeed one of duty but, throughout, she attempted to escape her destiny and find happiness for herself. Ultimately, Catherine was betrayed and her great love affair with Thomas Seymour turned sour.





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announcing the winner of Lucia: A Venetian Life in The Age of Napoleon


Congratulations to................

Booklogged from A Reader's Journal !!!


Shoot me an email with your address and your new addition will be on its way to you!!


Thanks to everyone who entered !!!






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