About the Book:
WRITTEN IN THEIR STARS 
BY ELIZABETH ST. JOHN
Publication Date: November 19, 2019
Falcon Historical
eBook & Paperback; 384 Pages
Series: The Lydiard Chronicles, Book 3
Genre: Historical Fiction

London, 1649. Horrified eyewitnesses to King Charles’s bloody execution, Royalists Nan Wilmot and Frances Apsley plot to return the king’s exiled son to England’s throne, while their radical cousin Luce, the wife of king-killer John Hutchinson, rejoices in the new republic’s triumph. Nan exploits her high-ranking position as Countess of Rochester to manipulate England’s great divide, flouting Cromwell and establishing a Royalist spy network; while Frances and her husband Allen join the destitute prince in Paris’s Louvre Palace to support his restoration. As the women work from the shadows to topple Cromwell’s regime, their husbands fight openly for the throne on England’s bloody battlefields.
But will the return of the king be a victory, or destroy them all? Separated by loyalty and bound by love, Luce, Nan and Frances hold the fate of England—and their family—in their hands.
A true story based on surviving memoirs of Elizabeth St.John’s family, Written in their Stars is the third novel in the Lydiard Chronicles series.


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Review:
King Charles I has been condemned to die in the winter of 1649.  John Hutchinson is one of the 59 men to sign his death warrant, encouraged by his wife Luce.  With the death of King Charles, the St. John family is now thoroughly separated by political beliefs while Oliver Cromwell wreaks havoc over the land.  While Luce and John try to create a new government in England, their siblings, Allen and Frances seek refuge with what remains of King Charles court in Paris with the Villiers side of the family and Nan uses her position of Countess of Rochester to play both sides.  While the family is divided politically, their hearts are still tied together.

Written in Their Stars is the third book of the Lydiard Chronicles that recounts the story of the St. John family.  I would highly recommend reading the first two books of the Lydiard Chronicles first, not only because they are wonderfully written, but they also detail the families relationships and loyalties.  Like the previous two books, Elizabeth St. John uses the upmost care and detail to continue the story of her amazing ancestors.  This time, the journals of Luce Hutchinson were the primary source for the material and the author was able to transform Luce's words into an unforgettable family saga that incorporates the tumultuous history of England in the mid 1600's.   I didn't know much about this part of England's history, so I enjoyed learning of the details from both the Royalist and Roundhead sides.  Most of all however, I loved continuing the story of the St. John family and their amazing accomplishments during the time.  I was blown away by Nan's determination in the spy ring, Frances and Allen's fight for survival and betterment of their family and Luce and John's steadfastness.  Above all, their tie to family is what brings everyone through.  Overall, a story of bravery, family and treachery in 17th century England.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.​

About the Author
Elizabeth St.John spends her time between California, England, and the past. An award-winning author, historian and genealogist, she has tracked down family papers and residences from Nottingham Castle, Lydiard Park, to the Tower of London. Although the family sold a few castles and country homes along the way (it’s hard to keep a good castle going these days), Elizabeth’s family still occupy them – in the form of portraits, memoirs, and gardens that carry their imprint. And the occasional ghost. But that’s a different story…
For more information, please visit Elizabeth St. John’s website.

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

About The Wicked Redhead
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
(December 10, 2019)

The dazzling narrator of The Wicked City brings her mesmerizing voice and indomitable spirit to another Jazz Age tale of rumrunners, double crosses, and true love, spanning the Eastern seaboard from Florida to Long Island to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1924. Ginger Kelly wakes up in tranquil Cocoa Beach, Florida, having fled south to safety in the company of disgraced Prohibition agent Oliver Anson Marshall and her newly-orphaned young sister, Patsy. But paradise is short-lived. Marshall is reinstated to the agency with suspicious haste and put to work patrolling for rumrunners on the high seas, from which he promptly disappears. Gin hurries north to rescue him, only to be trapped in an agonizing moral quandary by Marshall’s desperate mother.

1998. Ella Dommerich has finally settled into her new life in Greenwich Village, inside the same apartment where a certain redheaded flapper lived long ago…and continues to make her presence known. Having quit her ethically problematic job at an accounting firm, cut ties with her unfaithful ex-husband, and begun an epic love affair with Hector, her musician neighbor, Ella’s eager to piece together the history of the mysterious Gin Kelly, whose only physical trace is a series of rare vintage photograph cards for which she modeled before she disappeared.

Two women, two generations, two urgent quests. But as Ginger and Ella track down their separate quarries with increasing desperation, the mysteries consuming them take on unsettling echoes of each other, and both women will require all their strength and ingenuity to outwit a conspiracy spanning decades.

Purchase Links
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​Review:
​In 1924, after a daring escape from her stepfather, Gin Kelley and Anson Marshall make their way to Cocoa Beach with Gin's little sister Patsy.  Gin and Anson believe they are outlaws and need time to heal, however Anson is reinstated as a Prohibition Agent once again and put on assignment up north.  Anson wants Gin to stay put in Florida, but as soon as an opportunity arises to leave for New York, Gin takes it.  However, the opportunity is double sided.  Anson's mother wants Gin to return to New York with her in order to help Anson's brother, Billy recover from the injuries sustained by Gin's father with the catch that Billy now believes that he and Gin are engaged.  

Meanwhile, in 1998 Ella Dommerich is on the hunt for the red haired woman who graces the card she found in her new apartment.  Ella would much rather focus on the mystery woman than trying to figure out how to move on with her life after she found her husband cheating,  quit her lucrative career and found a refuge in a Greenwich Village apartment building and it's handyman, Hector.  Even after life altering news, Ella would rather focus on discovering Gin's secrets, although Gin might have a lesson for Ella if she chooses to listen.


The Wicked Redhead continues the story of Gin and Ella from The Wicked City.  There are also characters thrown in from several of Beatriz Williams' other books, so I would highly recommend reading The Wicked City first. The Wicked Redhead jumps right back into the action with Ella making a tough decision and Gin and Anson on the lam. I still absolutely adored Gin's feisty, strong, witty and unapologetic character even though she seems to have less control over everything.  Ella's character takes a few lessons from Gin and begins to take control and make more decisions in her life.  As with the first book, I did feel a stronger pull towards Gin's story line, however as the story went on and their decisions collided, I could see the parallels better and was racing to read between each point of view in order to know what each woman did next.  Beatriz Williams' writing flows well between each time period giving each woman a distinct voice and captured the spirit of the different decades.  With plenty of romance, action, mystery, danger and suspense, The Wicked Redhead continues to weave together the lives of two woman living decades apart, yet facing many of the same challenges in life.  I can't wait to see what both women will do with their lives next.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

About the Author: 
A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz Williams spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons, before her career as a writer took off. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore.
Find out more about Beatriz at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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About the Book: 
​BEYOND THE MOON 
BY CATHERINE TAYLOR
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
The Cameo Press Ltd
eBook & Paperback; 496 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/Time Travel


Outlander meets Birdsong is this haunting debut timeslip novel, where a strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War and a young woman living in modern-day England a century later.
*Shortlisted for the Eharmony/Orion Write Your Own Love Story Prize 2018/19
In 1916 1st Lieutenant Robert Lovett is a patient at Coldbrook Hall military hospital in Sussex, England. A gifted artist, he’s been wounded fighting in the Great War. Shell shocked and suffering from hysterical blindness he can no longer see his own face, let alone paint, and life seems increasingly hopeless.
A century later in 2017, medical student Louisa Casson has just lost her beloved grandmother – her only family. Heartbroken, she drowns her sorrows in alcohol on the South Downs cliffs – only to fall accidentally part-way down. Doctors fear she may have attempted suicide, and Louisa finds herself involuntarily admitted to Coldbrook Hall – now a psychiatric hospital, an unfriendly and chaotic place.
Then one day, while secretly exploring the old Victorian hospital’s ruined, abandoned wing, Louisa hears a voice calling for help, and stumbles across a dark, old-fashioned hospital room. Inside, lying on the floor, is a mysterious, sightless young man, who tells her he was hurt at the Battle of the Somme, a WW1 battle a century ago. And that his name is Lieutenant Robert Lovett…
Two people, two battles: one against the invading Germans on the battlefields of 1916 France, the other against a substandard, uncaring mental health facility in modern-day England. Two journeys begun a century apart, but somehow destined to coincide – and become one desperate struggle to be together.
Part WW1 historical fiction, part timeslip love story – and at the same time a meditation on the themes of war, mental illness, identity and art – Beyond The Moon sweeps the reader on an unforgettable journey through time. An intelligent read, perfect for book clubs.
For fans of Diana Gabaldon, Amy Harmon, Beatriz Williams, Kate Quinn, Kristin Hannah, Kate Morton, Susanna Kearsley and Paullina Simons.
“A poignant and stirring love story… Taylor’s accomplished, genre-bending book succeeds as a WW1 historical novel and a beguiling, time travel romance… The sharply written narrative deftly moves back and forth between the past and present.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A time travel romance, yet so much more than that. It is also an unflinching portrait of the horrors of war, and a look at the torturous extremes a human soul can endure. It is a sonnet to the transformative power of love, even as it is also a criticism of the futility and pointless destructiveness of war.” — Shaylin Gandhi, author of By The Light of Embers

​Review: 
​Louisa Casson is having a hard time dealing with the death of her grandmother, her only childhood caretaker, and finds herself on South Downs cliffs.  A storm hits and Louisa falls down the cliffs, she is badly hurt and interned at Coldbrook Hall, a private psychiatric hospital believed to be a suicide risk.  Louisa, who was a medical student before she took care of her grandmother struggles to fit in with the uncompassionate staff and irresponsible medical techniques.  Some patients at Coldbrook help Louisa cope.  One patient shows Louisa the abandoned sector of Coldbrook that served as a hospital during World War I, in this section Louisa finds a room that doesn't look abandoned- and it's not.  Inside, she finds Lieutenant Robert Lovett suffering from shell shock and temporary blindness. Louisa finds that she has somehow traveled to 1916 through Robert's room; however Robert is the only one she can interact with.  After another fall Louisa finds herself in 1917, now she is in France as a VAD nurse, Rose Ashby.  While learning the ins and outs of her new life, she frantically tries searching for Robert again, and wondering which timeline she really belongs to. 

Beyond the Moon is a sweeping time travel romance. Told through alternating views of Louisa and Robert, it seems like the pair might be doomed to be apart in time or space.  From the beginning, Louisa's journey captivated me.  Her passion and willingness to help others shone through.  When Louisa first found Robert, I was worried that it would prolong her time in the psychiatric unit or make her believe that she really did need to be there.  Robert's character is kind and confident.  I loved the first few times that Louisa and Robert were able to be together in 1916, even though no one else was able to see or interact with Louisa, their friendship and romance was able to progress naturally.  Once Louisa falls into 1917 again, the story picks up pace.  I enjoyed seeing Louisa, now living as Rose Ashby, adapt to life 100 years prior and take on the responsibilities of a VAD nurse.  Here, the historical aspects of the story also come to life as the conditions of the field hospital and the patients they received are described in realistic and historically accurate detail.  Robert's experience on the front and as a Prisoner of War was also absorbing, the scenes in the trenches and on the front lines brought the grittiness of the war to light.  Even though Louisa and Robert are both firmly in 1917, it seemed they might still be kept apart, the suspense of them finding one another again kept me rapt right until the end.  I thought the method of time travel and the explanation for Louisa slipping through time was fascinating as well. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

About the Author

Catherine Taylor was born and grew up on the island of Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. She is a former journalist, most recently for Dow Jones News and The Wall Street Journal in London. Beyond The Moon is her first novel. She lives in Ealing, London with her husband and two children.

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About the Book: 
Structured as a triptych, Africaville chronicles the lives of three generations of the Sebolt family—Kath Ella, her son Omar/Etienne, and her grandson Warner—whose lives unfold against the tumultuous events of the twentieth century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s.

A century earlier, Kath Ella’s ancestors established a new home in Nova Scotia. Like her ancestors, Kath Ella’s life is shaped by hardship—she struggles to conceive and to provide for her family during the long, bitter Canadian winters. She must also contend with the locals’ lingering suspicions about the dark-skinned “outsiders” who live in their midst.

Kath Ella’s fierce love for her son, Omar, cannot help her overcome the racial prejudices that linger in this remote, tight-knit place. As he grows up, the rebellious Omar refutes the past and decides to break from the family, threatening to upend all that Kath Ella and her people have tried to build. Over the decades, each successive generation drifts further from Africaville, yet they take a piece of this indelible place with them as they make their way to Montreal, Vermont, and beyond, to the deep South of America.

As it explores notions of identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home, Africaville tells the larger story of the black experience in parts of Canada and the United States. Vibrant and lyrical, filled with colorful details, and told in a powerful, haunting voice, this extraordinary novel—as atmospheric and steeped in history as The Known World, Barracoon, The Underground Railroad, and The Twelve Tribes of Hattie—is a landmark work from a sure-to-be major literary talent.

Review:
On the bluffs of Halifax, Nova Scotia a group of freed slaves made a settlement for themselves in the late 1800's, eventually dubbed Africaville.  Since then, the community grew; although they remained on the outskirts of town.  In 1933, Kath Ella Sebolt is looking for a way out.  A scholarship to a a college in Montreal is her ticket, however trouble with her best friend Kiendra and a pregnancy with Omar Platt's child could complicate matters.  Kath Ella wants more for her son, Etienne than she had.  Etienne does well for himself, but often struggles with the fact that he is what people would consider 'colored.'  Etienne's son Warner, now in Alabama is surprised to learn who his grandparents were and finds himself tied back to the small community in Nova Scotia. 

Africaville is a family saga that captures to trials of four generations of a family in North America.  I was very interested in the community and it's foundations in Canada.  Picking up in the 1930's with Kath Ella, the story was able to depict the many different ways that racism was able to encroach on the residents of Africaville, from limited opportunities for education and jobs to violent retaliation.  For Kath Ella's son and grandson, the focus turns more on identity.  Colvin was able to capture the complex emotional turmoil of two men coming to terms with who they are.  One of the most interesting characters in the story for me was Zera, Omar's mother.  Zera was jailed for a protest and made the difficult decision to send her son to relatives in Africaville.  In a way, it is her legacy that pulls the other three generations together.  I would have loved to know more of her story and the events that led up to her arrest.   I would have also appreciated more information on the families that founded the town on the bluffs and how they came to settle there.  Overall, a sweeping family story of a group of people that history has forgotten.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.​