The Priest ~ by Monica La Porta @momilp

The Priest on Amazon Kindle 

Mauricio is a slave. Like any man born on Ginecea, he is but a number to the pure breed women who rule over him with cruel hands. Imprisoned inside the Temple since birth, Mauricio has never been outside, never felt the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lives a life devoid of hopes and desires.

Then one day, he hears Rosie sing. He risks everything for one look at her and his life is changed forever. An impossible friendship blossoms into affection deemed sinful and perverted in a society where the only rightful union is between women. Love is born where only hate has roots and leads Mauricio to uncover a truth that could destroy Ginecea.

About the Author:

Monica La Porta is an Italian who landed in Seattle several years ago. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to write. Being a strong advocate of universal acceptance and against violence in any form and shape, she is also glad to have landed precisely in Washington State. She is the author of The Ginecean Chronicles, a dystopian/science fiction series set on the planet Ginecea where women rule over a race of enslaved men and heterosexual love is considered a sin. 

Visit her blog http://monicalaporta.com/ and follow her on twitter @momilp

New Book Review ~ Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach

Just mention 'Salem' and we immediately think of outrageous witch trials. What we know of the awful events of 1692 has probably been gleaned from random sources, so it is fascinating to read such a well-researched account of what it must have REALLY been like for the women concerned.

Marilynne Roach has an engaging style and skilfully evokes the atmosphere of the time with her italicised narratives. Her latest book is impossible to read without being drawn in to the lives of the people of Salem. The stories of the six women she focusses on really help us understand the events of the witch trials in the context of life in the 17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony. 

Most chilling is the way the legal system failed them by indulging accusers and accepting evidence of witchcraft which was was dubious at best. Witnesses later reported how they were 'frightened into false confessions, hounded until at last they did say any thing that was desired of them.'

The numbers are staggering. As well as the twenty who were executed (nineteen by slow hanging and one by being 'pressed to death') and the five women who died in prison, over two hundred people were accused of some form of witchcraft by their own neighbours. As the mass hysteria spread, seventy four people claimed to have been “afflicted” by spells.

The darker side of human nature is revealed by the fascination that Salem has had for us ever since, with a constant stream of sightseers hoping to see the spot where the "witches" were hanged.  I was reminded of passing a serious car accident. You know you should look away but you can't help it. It's more than just macabre curiosity. We need to learn from the mistakes of others - and this book provides plenty to think about. Prejudice, religion, the power of superstition, the way a community can challenge our natural sense of right and wrong.

Marilynne Roach concludes with a poignant statement: 'The memory of the actual people involved in the original tragedy of 1692 can become lost, replaced by stereotypes or disregarded. They deserve to be acknowledged.'  

About the Author

Marilynne K. Roach lives in Watertown, Massachusetts, less than an hour from Salem. She first visited the Salem Witch Museum in 1973 and was inspired to launch her own investigation into the history of the trials.Studying old documents written in an antique dialect, she discovered new details, including jailers invoices that revealed that the accused-witches were billed for their stay in prison.  Over the course of her career as a historian and illustrator she has written several books specifically abut the witch trials, one of which is a children’s book. Marilynne was one of the associate editors of the definitive Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt and is also the author of The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege.

Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused 

and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials

is available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Book Launch ~ The Valentine Present and Other Diabolical Liberties by Lynda Renham

On arriving home after a friend’s posh wedding, launderette worker Harriet finds her life irrevocably changed as she discovers her flat ransacked and her boyfriend missing. In a matter of hours she is harassed by East End gangsters and upper crust aristocrats. Accepting an offer she can’t refuse, Harriet, against her better judgment becomes the fiancée of the wealthy Hamilton Lancaster, with dire consequences. What she had not bargained on was meeting Doctor Brice Edmunds.

The Valentine Present and Other Diabolical Liberties is Lynda Renham’s funniest novel so far. A cocktail of misunderstandings, three unlikely gangsters, a monkey and a demented cat make this novel a hysterical read. Follow Harriet’s adventure where every attempt to get out of trouble puts her deeper in it.

About the Author

Lynda lives in Oxford, UK. She has appeared on BBC radio discussion programs and is a prolific blogger on www.renham.co.uk, and Twitter tweeter @Lyndarenham. She has studied English Literature and Creative Writing, and her books have been likened to books by Sophie Kinsella; refreshingly witty and page turningly unputdownable. When not writing Lynda can usually be found wasting her time on Facebook and twitter

The Valentine Present and Other Diabolical Liberties

is on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Give-away

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Book Review ~ Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell

I started studying the details of Agincourt (or Azincourt to use the French spelling) as part of the background research for my latest novel. It didn’t surprise me to find that the experts are still debating how many men actually faced each other on St Crispin’s day, 1415, but I was interested to read some of the very early accounts of events leading up to the famous battle.

I was therefore unusually well informed when I decided to see what one of our best-selling historical fiction writers made if it.  Bernard Cornwell’s experience shines through as he takes us through the dreadful siege of Harfleur through the eyes of an English longbow man Nicholas Hook. It is a clever device, as we struggle with our simple archer to understand the real motivation of King Henry the fifth.

The lives of the entire army are put at risk, not once but several times, with the only reward being a fairly hollow victory over the long suffering French. Henry comes across not as Shakespeare’s valiant hero but as a deeply flawed leader. As with most battles, luck, the weather and tactical mistakes played a big part in the English victory.

I liked the parallel narratives, that Cornwell has become deservedly recognised for. There are also notes at the end about his own research, which give an insight into his approach. Azincourt works on several levels. If you have ever wondered what it may have been like to be an English archer in 1415 France, this is a book you should read.

Azincourt is available on Amazon US and Amazon UK 

Book Launch - RISING by Elizabeth Marshall

‘It wasn’t power that corrupted me but boredom’ 

Elizabeth Marshall - Rising.

This story is very different to anything Marshall has written before. It is a chilling tale of sinister betrayal, a dark fantasy drama that tells the story of the calculated destruction of a man’s character. She has not avoided controversy and at times the book unashamedly tackles issues that will inspire complex moral debates.

What started as a short character outline has evolved into 120 000 word story, which is as dark and harrowing as her other books are light and comforting. Rising is a frightening and honest portrayal of humanity. There are no clear lines between right and wrong. Characters are raw and exposed and at times the story is deeply personal. You are promised a gripping read that will stay with you long after you have finished the book.

About the Author

Elizabeth Marshall is the writing alter ego of a lady born in the province of Natal, South Africa. After Elizabeth married she moved to the UK with her husband and together they have raised five children, lived in three different countries and twelve different houses. The family recently returned to Derbyshire where they hope to stay for the foreseeable future.

Visit Elizabeth Marshall;s website at http://www.elizabethmarshallwrites.com/  and follow her on twitter @EM_Writes 

Book Launch Guest Post ~ The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life by Lyndsy Spence

Somebody once asked me "What is the appeal of the Mitford girls?" and I said, without hesitating, "There is something for everybody." This, I think, is a fair summary of the six beautiful daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale who are forever immortalized in Nancy Mitford's postwar bestsellers, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, as Aunt Sadie and Uncle Matthew.

To their children, however, they were simply called "Muv" and "Farve". Although the family is almost extinct-the last surviving sister, Debo is the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire-their influence is relevant today through various mediums. The Mitfords' grandfather, Tap Bowles, founded The Lady Magazine- Britain's longest running magazine-and Diana and Debo's descendants stormed the fashion industry in the nineties and noughties when aristo models were en vogue.

This, of course, is fairly superficial and what would be the point of such sisters had they not left an enduring legacy behind. This brings me to Jessica, "Decca", Mitford and her scandalous muckraking ways, passionate activism and stellar wit; the Lefties view her as some sort of Joan of Arc, in rebellion to Diana and Unity, the family's fascists, and Nancy the archetype snob. The Snobbishness was, as with everything in the Mitford family, a massive tease. Thankfully, Nancy's U & Non-U essay is slowing fading into the background and her literary endeavours are emerging forth with new life breathed into them.

The fact is, the girls will never be boring, there is always a new biography or another volume of letters bring printed, Decca joked it was "The Mitford Industry" and indeed, what other set of sisters has captured the public's imagination in this manner before? Not the Kardashians, or any of those "reality" show types, you see censorship was not in their vocabulary and their thoughts, actions and works were off the cuff and although they were often controversial, an integrity lies within their honesty. 

So there you have it, in order of birth I present to you:

Nancy the elegant author and Francophile

Pamela the gentle countrywoman whose aga, in cornflower blue, matched her eyes

Diana the society beauty who bolted from Bryan Guinness to live as Sir Oswald Mosley's mistress (her reputation never recovered)

Unity the overgrown debutante and Hitler enthusiast

Jessica the Communist and Civil Rights activist

Deborah the 11th Duchess of Devonshire and well seasoned Elvis Presley fanatic

My book The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life dissects each of their lives into sections. Quite frankly, and I am not ashamed to admit it, the book is a Mitford Tease. It is a guidebook for Mitford enthusiasts who I hope will appreciate the new information that I discovered. It does not whitewash Diana and Unity's politics, but I hope it also presents another side to them. Every important event from the 20th century can be viewed from the prism of Mitford life, and that is where the appeal lies.

Lyndsy Spence

The Mitford Girls' Guide to Life 

A look at how the perennially popular Mitford girls would cope with modern life, with rare and unpublished images courtesy of the Mary Evans Picture Library and extracts from rare archived interviews which have never been previously used

Now available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

About the author:

Lyndsy Spence is from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and runs The Mitford Society, an online community dedicated to the Mitford girls. She is writing a biography of Diana Mitford and Bryan Guinness and also working on a biography of the actress Margaret Lockwood. Lyndsy co-wrote The Flower Girl and her screenplay on Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier's Australian tour in 1948 is currently in development with Ariana Entertainment.

Find out more about The Mitford Society on Facebook  and tumblr

New Thriller ~ One Day in Budapest by J. F. Penn @thecreativepenn

A relic, stolen from the heart of an ancient city. 

An echo of nationalist violence not seen since the dark days of the Second World War. 

Budapest, Hungary. When a priest is murdered at the Basilica of St Stephen and the Holy Right relic is stolen, the ultra-nationalist Eröszak party calls for retribution and anti-Semitic violence erupts in the city.

Dr Morgan Sierra, psychologist and ARKANE agent, finds herself trapped inside the synagogue with Zoltan Fischer, a Hungarian Jewish security advisor. As the terrorism escalates, Morgan and Zoltan must race against time to find the Holy Right and expose the conspiracy, before blood is spilled again on the streets of Budapest.

One Day In Budapest is a chilling view of a possible future as Eastern Europe embraces right-wing nationalism. A conspiracy thriller for fans of Daniel Silva, where religion and politics intersect.

New on Amazon US and Amazon UK

as well as Kobo and Nook

About the Author

Oxford educated, British born J.F.Penn has traveled the world in her study of religion and psychology. She brings these obsessions as well as a love for action and adventure to her writing. Her fast-paced thrillers weave together historical artifacts, secret societies, global locations, violence and a hint of the supernatural:
http://www.JFPenn.com Thrillers On The Edge

See http://jfpenn.com/budapest/  and http://jfpenn.com/budapest-research/ and follow Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn