Tag: blogtour

Blog Tour: The Quest for the Crown of Thorns by Cynthia Ripley Miller

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I’m delighted to host today’s stop on the blog tour for The Quest for the Crown of Thorns by Cynthia Ripley Miller and to bring you my review of this lively historical mystery. Set in the 5th Century against the backdrop of the decline of the once mighty Roman Empire, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns is the second book in The Long-Hair Saga, a follow-up to the thrilling On the Edge of Sunrise which I shall be reviewing at a later date.  

WinPlus, there’s a chance to win 1 paperback copy (US only) & 2 eBook copies (INTL) of The Quest for the Crown of Thorns. Click here to enter the giveaway via the tour page (scroll down to the bottom) and to view the terms & conditions. Entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on October 16th 2017.

 

TheQuestfortheCrownofThornsAbout the Book

AD 454. Three years after the Roman victory over Attila the Hun at Catalaunum, Arria Felix and Garic the Frank are married and enjoying life on Garic’s farm in northern Gaul (France). Their happy life is interrupted, when a cryptic message arrives from Rome, calling Arria home to her father, the esteemed Senator Felix. At Arria’s insistence, but against Garic’s better judgment, they leave at once. Upon their arrival at Villa Solis, they are confronted with a brutal murder and the dangerous mission that awaits them. The fate of a profound and sacred object – Christ’s Crown of Thorns – rests in their hands. They must carry the holy relic to the safety of Constantinople, away from a corrupt emperor and old enemies determined to steal it for their own gain. But an even greater force arises to derail their quest – a secret cult willing to commit any atrocity to capture the Crown of Thorns. And all the while, the gruesome murder and the conspiracy behind it haunt Arria’s thoughts. Arria and Garic’s marital bonds are tested but forged as they partner together to fulfil one of history’s most challenging missions, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns.

Praise for The Quest for the Crown of Thorns:

“Ripley Miller astutely brings to life a Rome teetering precariously on the brink of collapse …the combination of political and romantic drama –spiritual as well –is rousing. The reader should be glad to have read this volume and eager for a third. Intelligent and artfully crafted historical fiction…” (Kirkus Reviews)

“From cover to cover a gripping read – in all senses of the word! Grips your interest and imagination, your held breath and your pounding heart! A thumping good novel!” (Helen Hollick, USA Today bestselling author of the Sea Witch Voyages)

“Forbidden love, a turbulent time period, and world-changing events combine to produce a real page-turner.” (India Edghill, author of Queenmaker, Wisdom’s Daughter, and Delilah)

“A passionate and intriguing take on the often overlooked clash of three brutal and powerful empires: the Romans, Franks, and Huns. A compelling read!” (Stephanie Thornton, author of The Secret History and The Tiger Queens)

“Readers will be absorbed by a setting of barbarian Gaul and the constancy of Arria’s and Garic’s destined love amid the strife of a dying Roman Empire.” (Albert Noyer, author of The Getorius and Arcadia Mysteries)

“The Quest for the Crown of Thorns is an elegant masterpiece of historical fiction. This book totally ensnared me in its clasps, and it did not release me until I had read it all. The attention to detail was exquisite The characterisation was sublime, and the romance was breathtakingly beautiful. I adored the world that Miller has created, as well as the characters in it. This is a sit-down and finish book and is one I would highly recommend.” (Mary Anne Yarde author of the Du Lac Chronicles)

Format: eBook, Paperback (308 pp.)            Publisher: Knox Robinson Publishing Published: 12 June 2017                                 Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Barnes & Noble
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

 

Find The Quest for the Crown of Thorns on Goodreads

My Review

Having read and enjoyed the first book in The Long Hair Saga, I can reassure potential readers that The Quest for the Crown of Thorns can be read perfectly well as a standalone (although you’d miss a great story). In fact, it has a slightly different tone to On the Edge of Sunrise, with the mystery element much more prominent in this second book.

Readers of On the Edge of Sunrise will welcome the return of familiar characters whilst new readers will quickly make their acquaintance thanks to the author’s deft recaps of important events from the first book. There’s Arria – accomplished, resourceful, shrewd – determined to fulfil her mission and safeguard her future. There’s Garic – handsome, passionate, brave – devoted to Arria and to ensuring her safety. There’s Vodamir, Garic’s cousin – cocky, impetuous, loyal – whose daredevil instincts may just have been tamed by the love of a good woman. There’s Marcella – beautiful, seductive, manipulative – who is seeking a means to secure a wealthy and powerful patron and who will use all her charms (and we mean all) to get it.

However, there are also new characters to get to know as the focus shifts from the battlefields of Gaul in the previous book, to Rome and Constantinople. As the very existence of the Roman Empire is threatened, the struggle for power and influence reaches new heights and there are powerful individuals and groups who will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions. As Arria and her companion set out to fulfil their mission, many dangers lie ahead on the road. Old rivalries are rekindled, plots are made, alliances are formed and broken and double crosses abound. Death and betrayal potentially wait around every corner.

As in the first book, passions run high, including in the bedroom. Readers who crave plenty of spice with their historical romance will be well served (forgive the pun). If anything, there’s more spicy bedroom action in this book than the last!

The author keeps the action moving along apace with plenty of twists and turns and ‘what just happened there?’ moments. Whilst many of the characters are imagined, the story makes reference to actual events and there is fascinating detail of daily Roman life – dining and bathing customs, clothing and travel – that give the story an air of authenticity and credibility. It all adds up to a very enjoyable read for lovers of historical mystery/romance.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author and HF Virtual Book Tours in return for an honest review.

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In three words: Suspenseful, action-packed, passionate

Try something similar…Roman Blood by Steven Saylor

Cynthia Ripley MillerAbout the Author

Cynthia Ripley Miller is a first generation Italian-American writer with a love for history, languages and books. She has lived, worked, and travelled in Europe, Africa, North America and the Caribbean. As a girl, she often wondered what it would be like to journey through time (she still does), yet knew it could only be through the imagination and words of writers and their stories. Today, she writes to bring the past to life.

She holds two degrees and has taught history and teaches English. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthology Summer Tapestry, at Orchard Press Mysteries.com and The Scriptor. A Chanticleer International Chatelaine Award finalist for her novel, On the Edge of Sunrise, she has reviewed for UNRV Roman History, and blogs at Historical Happenings and Oddities: A Distant Focus.

Cynthia has four children and lives with her husband, twin cats, Romulus and Remus, and Jessie, a German Shepherd, in a suburb of Chicago.

Connect with Cynthia

Website ǀ Facebook ǀ Twitter ǀ Goodreads

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Blog Tour/Review: The Crows of Beara by Julie Christine Johnson

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I’m thrilled to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The Crows of Beara by Julie Christine Johnson.  Set in Ireland, it’s a wonderful story about guilt, the search for redemption and the restorative power of art and nature.   

TheCrowsofBearaAbout the Book

When Annie Crowe travels from Seattle to a small Irish village to promote a new copper mine, her public relations career is hanging in the balance. Struggling to overcome her troubled past and a failing marriage, Annie is eager for a chance to rebuild her life. Yet when she arrives on the remote Beara Peninsula, Annie learns that the mine would encroach on the nesting ground of an endangered bird, the Red-billed Chough, and many in the community are fiercely protective of this wild place. Among them is Daniel Savage, a local artist battling demons of his own, who has been recruited to help block the mine. Despite their differences, Annie and Daniel find themselves drawn toward each other, and, inexplicably, they begin to hear the same voice – a strange, distant whisper of Gaelic, like sorrow blowing in the wind. Guided by ancient mythology and challenged by modern problems, Annie must confront the half-truths she has been sent to spread and the lies she has been telling herself. Most of all, she must open her heart to the healing power of this rugged land and its people.

Format: eBook (402 pp.), Paperback (334 pp.)   Publisher: Ashland Creek Press Published: 1st September 2017                             Genre: Women’s Fiction, Climate Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Barnes & Noble
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Crows of Beara on Goodreads

My Review

Sometimes you know as soon as you start a book that you’re in safe hands with an author. The Crows of Beara by Julie Christine Johnson gave me that feeling right from the opening pages.

The story is told from the points of view of Annie and Daniel. This gives the reader insight into their thoughts – often at odds with what they actually say to each other – and their misunderstanding of each other’s motives and feelings.   Annie and Daniel are both damaged: through personal history of addiction, guilt at past actions and fear of causing harm to those around them. Somehow they recognise this vulnerability in each other at some subconscious level or perhaps, the book suggests, because fate means for them to be together. Their past experiences are similarly traumatic but, rather than bringing them together, they threaten to drive them apart. And yet, they both need something to fill the vacuum left by their addiction.

To some extent, Daniel has found this through art and the landscape of the Beara peninsula. As his sister, Fiana, tells him, “You are an example of what this land can do – heal and strengthen”. Even Daniel’s art is a metaphor for his recovery because he works with reclaimed copper, making beautiful objects out of something discarded: ‘Now he was a found thing, remade by regret and grief’.

Annie is still searching for that something which will fill the ‘cavern’ left by her addiction, about which the author writes sensitively and with insight. ‘The Addict who huddled inside her was in fact a deep, abiding loneliness. An ache for companionship. A fear of the quiet. Shame.’  Guided by a mysterious voice that seems to emanate from the very landscape itself, and by seemingly chance (or are they?) encounters with a number of women, Annie starts to come under the spell of Beara and glimpse a different, more hopeful future for herself.

‘She craved this. This blue-and-green peace, this sense of hovering above it all, never landing, never touching ground, never having to return to the Annie Who Was. She wanted to remain here, in the Annie Who Is. Without a past. Clean.’

Normally I would shy away from any magical realism aspect in a story but the mystical element really worked here.  If there’s anywhere in the world where you might imagine hearing ancestral voices, surely it’s Ireland with its tortured history, wild landscape and tradition of poetry.

The book explores the dilemma facing the community: whether the economic benefits of the mine development outweigh the inevitable effect on the environment and their way of life. “Is saving the fragile ecosystem of Beara enough for families who are behind on their mortgages or can’t pay their kids’ tuition?”  The threat to the nesting grounds of the rare Red-billed Chough becomes a tangible example of the environmental damage the mine development would cause and a rallying cry for the villagers’ campaign. For Danny, it seems to be a metaphor for his own life.

‘He’d seen how a creature could be brought back from extinction. He’d learned how to represent what coming back from nothingness might feel like, how quickly freedom could be lost and what it cost to be granted a second chance.’

For me, the plot involving the mine development eventually became secondary to the absorbing, compelling and sensitively portrayed story of the relationship between Annie and Daniel. The ending, with its message of hope, felt right but was perhaps played out a little too quickly.

I could go on pointing out wonderful things about this book but instead I’m just going to recommend you read it and find out for yourself.

I received a review copy courtesy of Sage’s Blog Tours in return for an honest review.

In three words: Atmospheric, haunting, sensitive

Try something similar…The Former Chief Executive by Kate Vane (click here to read my review)

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JulieChristineJohnsonAbout the Author

Julie’s short stories and essays have appeared in several journals, including Emerge Literary Journal; Mud Season Review; Cirque: A Literary Journal of the North Pacific Rim; Cobalt; River Poets Journal, in the print anthologies Stories for Sendai; Up, Do: Flash Fiction by Women Writers; and Three Minus One: Stories of Love and Loss; and featured on the flash fiction podcast No Extra Words. She holds undergraduate degrees in French and Psychology and a Master’s in International Affairs. Julie leads writing workshops and seminars and offers story/developmental editing and writer coaching services.

Named a “standout debut” by the Library Journal, “Very highly recommended” by Historical Novels Review and declared “Delicate and haunting, romantic and mystical” by bestselling author Greer Macallister, Julie’s debut novel In Another Life went into a second printing three days after its February 2, 2016 release. A finalist for The Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature, judged by PEN/Faulkner author and Man Booker Award nominee Karen Joy Fowler, Julie’s second novel The Crows of Beara was acquired by Ashland Creek Press and will take flight on September 15, 2017.

A hiker, yogi, and wine geek, Julie makes her home on the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington state.

Connect with Julie

Website ǀ Facebook ǀ Twitter ǀ  Goodreads

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