Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Ezra Harker Shaw. Ezra Harker Shaw is the author of the upcoming novel, The Aziola's Cry, which will be released on May 7, 2024. Ezra Harker Shaw gives us insights into the lives of two legendary figures, Percy and Mary Shelley. These two lovers lived a life of literature and love while being on the run from a world that has often misunderstood them! Thank you, Ezra Harker Shaw! What drew your interest in the love story of Mary and Percy Shelley? When I was about sixteen years old, I lived in Dublin. I'd dropped out of school ..read more

The Tsarina’s Daughter Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2008 Pages: 332 Source: My State Public Library  Synopsis: From the bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette comes a dramatic novel and powerful love story about the last Russian imperial family.      It is 1989 and Daria Gradov is an elderly grandmother living in the rural West. What neighbors and even her children don't know, however, is that she is not who she claims to be—the widow of a Russian immigrant of modest means. In ..read more

The Spanish Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2013 Pages: 288 Source: Personal Collection  Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a powerful and moving novel about Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary I.      When young Catherine of Aragon, proud daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, is sent to England to marry the weak Prince Arthur, she is unprepared for all that ..read more

The Unfaithful Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII's Fifth Wife Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2012 Pages: 302 Source: My State Public Library  Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII, a novel about Catherine Howard, wife of Henry's later years.      Amid the turbulent, faction-ridden late reign of the fearsome Henry, eager high-spirited Catherine Howard caught the king's eye—but not before she had been the sensual plaything of at least three other men. Ignorant of h ..read more

Rival to the Queen Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2011 Pages: 337 Source: My State Public Library  Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a novel about the bitter rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her fascinating cousin, Lettice Knollys, for the love of one extraordinary man.       Powerful, dramatic and full of the rich history that has made Carolly Erickson's novels perennial bestsellers, this is the story of the only woman to ever stand ..read more

The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2009 Pages: 351 Source: Personal Collection  Synopsis: In this dramatic, compelling fictional memoir Carolly Erickson lets the courageous, spirited Mary Queen of Scots tell her own story—and the result is a novel readers will long remember.     Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the invalid young King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second ma ..read more

The Favored Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII’s Third Wife Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2011 Pages: 304 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: From The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a powerful and moving novel about Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, who married him only days after the execution of Anne Boleyn and ultimately lost her own life in giving him the son he badly needed to guarantee the Tudor succession.      Born into an ambitious noble family, yo ..read more

The Last Wife of Henry VIII Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2006 Pages: 336 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Courageous, attractive, romantic, intelligent, Catherine Parr became the sixth wife of Henry VIII. Her story, as Carolly Erickson re-creates it, is page-turning drama: from the splendors of the Field of the Cloth of Gold to the gory last years of the outsize King Henry, when heads rolled and England trembled, Catherine bestrode her destiny and survived to marry her true love.      Catheri ..read more

The Heart of a Valkyrie (The Vinland to Valhalla Saga #1) Author: Melanie Karsak Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Clockpunk Press Release Date: March 5, 2023 Pages: 290 Source: This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Born hearing the call of Valkyries.      Dreaming of distant shores.      Torn between the past and the future.      Destined to become a legend.      Iceland, 976—Freydis Eiriksdottir, born to a völva mother and berserker ..read more

The Cuban Heiress Author: Chanel Cleeton Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Berkley Release Date: 2023 Pages: 304 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: In 1934, a luxury cruise becomes a fight for survival as two women’s pasts collide on a round-trip voyage from New York to Havana in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton's page-turning new novel inspired by the true story of the SS Morro Castle.      New York heiress Catherine Dohan seemingly has it all. There’s only one problem. It’s a lie. As soon as the Morro Castle ..read more