Review & Giveaway: Small Eden by Jane Davis


Small Eden by Jane Davis

Publication Date: April 30, 2022
Rossdale Print Productions

Genre: Historical Fiction


A boy with his head in the clouds. A man with a head full of dreams.

1884. The symptoms of scarlet fever are easily mistaken for teething, as Robert Cooke and his pregnant wife Freya discover at the cost of their two infant sons. Freya immediately isolates for the safety of their unborn child. Cut off from each other, there is no opportunity for husband and wife to teach each other the language of their loss. By the time they meet again, the subject is taboo. But unspoken grief is a dangerous enemy. It bides its time.

A decade later and now a successful businessman, Robert decides to create a pleasure garden in memory of his sons, in the very same place he found refuge as a boy – a disused chalk quarry in Surrey’s Carshalton. But instead of sharing his vision with his wife, he widens the gulf between them by keeping her in the dark. It is another woman who translates his dreams. An obscure yet talented artist called Florence Hoddy, who lives alone with her unmarried brother, painting only what she sees from her window…

‘Life as it is, in all its terrible beauty.’ - Jean Gill, author of Historical Fiction series The Troubadours Quartet

‘With an eye for precise detail balanced by a sweeping imagination, this beautifully constructed book is built on deep foundations.’ - JJ Marsh, author of the Beatrice Stubbs Series



Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Small Eden was the first book I've read by Jane Davis and I can safely say it won't be my last!

Small Eden kicks off with a very emotional scene when Robert and Freya lose their two boys to Scarlet Fever. Freya is heavily pregnant at the time and is sent away with her daughter so they don't become sick also. While Freya mourns for them, Robert stocially busies himself with his successful medical business. Pleasure Gardens are all the rage at this time and Robert finds the perfect place to create one of his own as tribute to his sons. I've never read about pleasure gardens before so this was a real treat to learn about.

There is another storyline as well featuring Robert's mother Hettie who travels to Scotland to find out what happened to her father. I really enjoyed this as well and it brought another fascinating aspect to the book.

Davis is an exceptional writer that knows how to keep the reader engaged and can bring out all the emotions! Once I started reading it was hard to put down - I was compltely invested in the story and characters and enjoyed every minute I spent reading it. Highly recommended!


About the Author

 

Jane Davis is the author of ten thought-provoking novels. Her debut, Half-truths and White Lies, won the Daily Mail First Novel Award and was described by Joanne Harris as ‘A story of secrets, lies, grief and, ultimately, redemption, charmingly handled by this very promising new writer.’ The Bookseller called her 'One to Watch.' In 2016, Writing Magazine named An Unknown Woman their Self-Published Book of the Year. Her 2018 novel Smash all the Windows won the inaugural Selfies (Best Independently Published Work of Fiction) Award at London Book Fair. At the Stroke of Nine O'Clock was shortlisted for the Selfies, is an Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice and was featured by The Lady Magazine as one of their favourite books set in the 1950s.

Jane lives in Carshalton, Surrey with her Formula 1 obsessed, star-gazing, beer-brewing partner, surrounded by growing piles of paperbacks, CDs and general chaos.

For further information, or to sign up for pre-launch specials and notifications about future projects, visit the author’s website at www.jane-davis.co.uk.

Be sure to follow Jane on BookBub for the latest on sales.

Giveaway

Enter to win a signed copy of Small Eden by Jane Davis!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on July 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Small Eden

Book Blast: Journeys: The Archers of Saint Sebastian by Jeanne Roland

Hello all! Today on the blog I am very excited to be spotlighting a fascinating historical from Author Jeanne Roland. Journeys is the first book in the Archers of Saint Sebastian and is available now to read! Stay tuned for next month when she is on Blog Tour and be on the lookout for reviews and great posts!


Journeys: The Archers of Saint Sebastian by Jeanne Roland

Publication Date: November 13, 2021
Nepenthe Press

Genre: Renaissance Historical Fiction/Young Adult
Series: Archers of Saint Sebastian, Book One


A barracks full of beautiful boys. A girl in disguise, living among them.

It’s the 14th century, and the longbow is king. But in the northern European principality of Ardennes, archery isn’t just the nation’s defense. It’s the national obsession.

MEET THE JOURNEYS

12 young Journeyman archers, the best in the country
2 years of public competitions, in which looks count almost as much as ability
6 will win a coveted membership in the Archers’ Guild of St. Sebastian
1 will become the prince’s new Guardsman

MEET MARIEKE

15-year-old Marieke is as obsessed with St. Sebastian’s as everyone else in Ardennes. Only it’s the middle ages, and girls just don’t become elite archers. Except Marieke's prospects as a girl aren't promising either, after a well-timed kick from a mule has left her with a face that’s badly scarred and ruined for marriage. But when circumstances force her to leave her old life behind and flee to the guild for refuge, there are only two things Marieke really knows about the place. One is that a mysterious accident ended her own father’s time as a Journey. The other? There are no women allowed inside St. Sebastian’s.

Marieke knows disguising herself as a boy and infiltrating the guild means embarking on a dangerous deception. But it may be her only chance to find out the truth about her father’s past and to stop a murderous plot from coming to fruition. When the dashing young Journeyman Tristan takes her under his wing as his squire, she’s got to stay – at least long enough to help him beat out his brutal arch-rival to win the competitions.

Keeping her identity a secret will be hard. Living in close quarters with a pack of gorgeous boys? That will be harder still. But the hardest thing of all will be keeping the vow she makes for herself: to see Tristan become the next Guardsman, without ever letting him find out she’s a girl - a girl, who loves him.

Part Robin Hood and part Princess Bride, with a pinch of Mulan and a dash of Cyrano de Bergerac in the mix, The Archers of St. Sebastian I: Journeys is a humorous action and adventure saga inspired by late medieval/early Renaissance Belgium and packed with romance, wit, and longbow archery. Perfect for adults who love young adult themes, Journeys is an escape into the past that reads more like romantic historical fantasy than pure historical fiction.

Unrequited love? Ugly heroines who stay ugly? Friendship, coming of age, romance, adventure, and plenty of archery competitions? A unique setting inspired by the glorious city of Bruges, with a richly imagined, immersive world set within the walls of a male-only archers' guild? Journeys: The Archers of Saint Sebastianhas it all, so if you're looking for a great escape, don your disguise and join Marieke as she enters the forbidden world of Saint Sebastian's, and prepare to fall in love with the Journeys - that is, the twelve best and most beautiful archers in all of Ardennes, the Journeyman archers of St. Sebastian's.

Available on Amazon


About the Author

Roland hails from Davis, California, where she spent most of her youth lounging at the pool, soaking up the sun, and daydreaming. She had a key ring that read 'I’m running away to join the circus,' and her favorite moment of the day was when the local movie theater went dark, and the slogan 'escape to the movies' appeared on the screen. As an adult, her passions include all things melodramatic and beautiful — everything from classic movies, British romantic poetry, ancient tragedy and epic, to Italian opera. She is now a professor of Classics in a small midwestern town, where she lives with her Greek husband, her fraternal twins, and a Bernese mountain dog named Franco Corelli.

Visit www.jeanneroland.com and www.nepenthepress.com for more about Roland's upcoming projects. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

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