Here’s the blurb WHEN LIFE FEELS LIKE… A TEST YOU DIDN’T STUDY FOR When Maggie King turned sixty, she thought her life complete. Now she’s sixty-one, and everything has gone horribly wrong. Husband Greg has abruptly upped and left leaving Maggie bewildered. But there’s no time to question his departure because her ancient parents are all-consuming. Once fondly referred to as the Golden Oldies, they’re now the BOBs – Bad-Tempered Old Buggers. Sister Freya is never available to help, and Maggie is rapidly reaching the end of her tether. She wants her life – and husband – back. Instead, she’s tra ..read more

Here’s the blurb Mix together a group of mature students: A culinary Sloane, a take-away cook and a food journalist. Add in: A handsome host Season with: A celebrity chef Bring to the boil: At a luxurious cookery school in France! Waltho Williams has no idea what he’s letting himself in for when he opens the doors of La Maison du Paradis, his beautiful French home. But with dwindling funds, a cookery school seems like the ideal business plan.  Running away from an impending divorce, super-snob Caroline Carrington hopes a luxurious cookery holiday will put her back on her feet. Blackpool f ..read more

I’m delighted to welcome back David Fitz-Gerald and his new book, Snarling Wolf, book 4 in the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series, to the blog with a series trailer. Series Trailer Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series trailer Here’s the blurb Dive back into the gripping, frontier chaos. Snarling Wolf is the fourth adventurous installment in the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series. The famed Snake River marks the point the wagon master claims that all the greenhorns turn loco. After twelve hundred grueling miles and four relentless months on the trail, the expedition teeters on t ..read more

If you’ve been with Coelwulf, Rudolf, Icel, Edmund and Pybba since the beginning, then you’re probably with me in trying to work out how 4 years have gone by since the release of the first book. There are now eight (well really nine and a half, as book 9 is written but not yet released, and book 10 is well underway) books in all, as well as a short story collection, Coelwulf’s Company. If you’ve not yet discovered The Mercian Kingdom: The Ninth Century series, then you’ve in for a treat, as long as you’re not easily offended by foul language and violence – although if you are, there are Clean ..read more

Here’s the blurb IS BLOOD ALWAYS THICKER THAN WATER? Sally has lived in fear of her husband long enough. But after twenty years of suffering, she has been left with nothing of her own and no one to turn to – except her estranged sister, Alison. When Alison agrees to help Sally escape, she knows she must return to the one place she was told never to show her face again – the family home – and confront her father once more. But soon, Sally begins to suspect that all is not as it seems, and as she is forced to face the ghosts of the past, she discovers there may be secrets hidden in her own mem ..read more

Here’s the blurb THEY HAVE TOLD SO MANY LIES ABOUT ME. London, 1954. Zina Pavlou, a Cypriot grandmother, waits quietly in the custody of the Metropolitan police. She can’t speak their language, but she understands what their wary looks mean: she has been accused of the brutal murder of her daughter-in-law. Eva Georgiou, Greek interpreter for the Met, knows how it feels to be voiceless as an immigrant woman. While she works as Zina’s translator, her obsession with the case deepens, and so too does her bond with the accused murderer. Zina can’t speak for herself. She can’t clear her own name. Al ..read more

I’m delighted to welcome Stella Riley and her new book, A Splendid Defiance, a Roundheads & Cavaliers book, to the blog with an excerpt from Chapter 2: Bargaining with the enemy. Chapter 2: Bargaining with the enemy Jonas did not know if he was irritated or relieved to hear that Captain Ambrose awaited him in the shop.  He loathed the garrison but a review of the last quarter’s figures had revealed a far from satisfactory state of affairs which meant he needed the Captain’s business.  This, however, did not make him any less uncivil than usual and he said, ‘I begin to find your p ..read more

Here’s the blurb ‘My defloration was talked about in all the courts of Europe. The Prince boasted of his prowess, even as preparations were being made for his wedding, as boldly as if he had ridden across that causeway with bloodstained sheet tied to his lance.’ 1584, Italy: Twenty-year-old Giulia expects she will live and die incarcerated as a silk weaver within the walls of her Florentine orphanage, where she has never so much as glimpsed her own face. This all changes with the visit of the Medici family’s most trusted advisor, promising her a generous dowry and a husband if she agrees to a ..read more

Here’s the blurb: In the spring of 1354, all was well in the town of Colmar – until Efi Kleven discovered a hand in her pot of new ale…a hand that was not attached to a body. Now, Gritta, Appel, and Efi, the three alewives of Colmar, must solve the mystery of the severed hand before suspicion falls on them. While they attempt to keep their fledgling brewery afloat, more bodies turn up outside of town – along with more suspects. With few allies and several powerful men working against them, the alewives find themselves flummoxed: How did the hand of a man from Vogelgrun end up in a cooking pot ..read more

Here’s the blurb London, 1677. A house with a dark secret. A lawyer in pursuit of magick. A witch, dead for fifty years. Israel Cutler, dealer in second-hand goods, discovers the journals of Doctor Winter. Detailing the doctor’s relationship with a hanged witch, he recognises an opportunity. Seeking out a lawyer he knows with an interest in the occult, Cutler tries to sell the journals, but soon finds himself involved in a terrifying ritual—one that could bring black witch Lizzie Pickin back from the dead. Again. Forced into a dangerous partnership, the witch leads Cutler on a trail of murder ..read more