Category: Historical

A MelanieM Review: Velvet by Xavier Axelson

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

When an irresistible discovery unravels the forbidden secrets of a man’s heart, the very fabric of his existence is threatened.

Virago is the royal tailor of a corrupt prince. Left to care for his blind brother, Virago devotes himself to his trade until an unexpected delivery changes his life, and a wandering minstrel knocks on his door. What he discovers will test the bonds of brotherhood and unravel the forbidden secrets of his heart.

Loosely based on the 14th Century Laws of Sumptuary, Velvet takes readers to a land where cruelty is disguised as allegiance, loyalty is masked by obligation, and the laws of sumptuary govern the people. But nothing is more dangerous than Velvet.

Velvet by Xavier Axelson has all the elements I’ve come to expect from an Xavier Axelson story.  The language is lyrical, hints of the mystical float through the narrative, and the overhaul effect is just plain haunting as a whole.

From the start, the tone is set as Virago is on board a ship.   Virago stands next to a heavily pregnant woman who’s unborn child is a seer interested in Virago.  From there, Virago recounts the journey that has led to this voyage and his strange circumstances.

From happy child with a famous, loving tailor father in a kingdom ruled by a benevolent king to a man living under the rule of a unhinged cruel despot, Virago and his brother undergo so many changes here.  Primarily Virago because he is the character who has had blinders on about so much for most of his life.  About his sexuality, about the prince and his true characters, and about those the prince has “considered his true friends and brothers”.  Things his blind brother has been aware of for far too long.

All changes  when a new fabric comes into Virago’s hands…something called velvet.  Soon an obsession and more is born just as a musician, Seton, arrives for the King’s coronation.  A sexuality awakens, forbidden by law and punishable by death.  So too does a sickness arrive in the city.

Axelson weaves a tale of revenge, cruelty, discovery, passion, and love in Velvet.  You’re never sure if this is an historical novel or if dragons will soon appear because there is an air of heavy mysticism about it that bespeaks of darkness and otherness.

As with most of Axelson’s romances, Virago and Seton find love rather quickly but here it feels natural or rather that fact is subdued under all the  other  elements here.  Perhaps it’s that all the threads are equal, the velvet vest, Virago’s feelings, the whore’s revenge, the peacocks, the court, and more.  It all builds to an uneasy crescendo.

Never was I so happy for that beginning.

Velvet will haunt you.  It leaves you with questions that will never be answered, and scenes that linger on in your mind.  That’s why I read this author.  And you should too.  I absolutely recommend Velvet as a lovely starting place.

Cover art: Winterheart Ink Designs.  Haunting, beautiful cover that is perfect for the story.

Sales Links:  JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 161 pages
Published March 24th 2018 by JMS Books LLC (first published October 25th 2012)
Original TitleVelvet
ASINB079ZXG57T

Release Blitz and Giveaway: Robbie Riverton: Mail Order Bride by Eli Easton

 

Universal Buy Link
 
Cover Design: Dar Albert @ Wicked Smart Design
 
Length: 65,000 words approx.
 
Blurb
 

Being a fugitive in the old west shouldn’t be this much fun.


The year is 1860. Robby Riverton is a rising star on the New York stage. But he witnesses a murder by a famous crime boss and is forced to go on the run–all the way to Santa Fe. When he still hasn’t ditched his pursuers, he disguises himself as a mail order bride he meets on the wagon train. Caught between gangsters that want to kill him, and the crazy, uncouth family of his “intended”, Robby’s only ally is a lazy sheriff who sees exactly who Robby is — and can’t resist him.


Trace Crabtree took the job as sheriff of Flat Bottom because there was never a thing going on. And then Robby Riverton showed up. Disguised as a woman. And betrothed to Trace’s brother. If that wasn’t complication enough, Trace had to find the man as appealing as blueberry pie. He urges Robby to stay undercover until the danger has passed. But a few weeks of having Robby-Rowena at the ranch, and the Crabtree family will never be the same again.

 

About Eli


Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fan fiction writer, and organic farmer, Eli has been a m/m romance author since 2013. She has over 30 books published.


Eli has loved romance since her teens and she particular admires writers who can combine literary merit, genuine humor, melting hotness, and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, bulldogs, cows, a cat, and lots of groundhogs.


In romance, Eli is best known for her Christmas stories because she’s a total Christmas sap. These include “Blame it on the Mistletoe”, “Unwrapping Hank” and “Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles”. Her “Howl at the Moon” series of paranormal romances featuring the town of Mad Creek and its dog shifters has been popular with readers. And her series of Amish-themed romances, Men of Lancaster County, has won genre awards.


In 2018 Eli hopes to do more of the same, assuming they reschedule the apocalypse.


Her website is www.elieaston.com
You can email her at eli@elieaston.com

Giveaway

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A MelanieM Review: Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose by Charlie Cochrane

 

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith like nothing more than being handed a mystery to solve. But why would anybody murder a man with no enemies? And was it murder in the first place?

I’m always so thrilled to see another Jonty and Orlando mystery be released from Charlie Cochrane.  It means I get to go back and spend my time with those deeply in love Cambridge Fellows I have come to adore over a series of stories that span 20 years of their lives together in approximately Edwardian England.

While the earlier stories follow a rigid timeline, the later tales are more fluid so I never know where they might fall along the 20 some span of years so far.  Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose sees them in their later years, post WWI,  where the effects of that war is still raw, on them and England.  Both men still bear the scars of service, inside and out.  And as this story is to prove, they are far from the only ones.

There are so many things I admire about Charlie Cochrane’s writing and this series.  For one, its authentic, from the language down to the accoutrements of the people at every level of society you see within the stories.  And not once will it every feel anything but completely natural and easy (as opposed to a knowledge dump).  You become immersed in the times, first pre-war England and then all the horrors of  WWI, the very first war of devastating impact with chemical weaponry and  more.  We see it all through the eyes of Jonty and Orlando, Jonty’s family, and the extended “family” they have gathered together at St. Bride’s College, where they have taught all these years and met.

Then, there are the characters, no people, you have come to love over the series of stories.  Its not just Orland Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart, but everyone that Cochrane has created as foundation characters, including the Stewart family and the St. Bride’s College staff, from the head of the college right down to the men who take in the luggage and keep the grounds proper.  Not to forget the housekeeper at their cottage or the detectives they work with.  Nope, all real.  And when over the course of the years, some die, as the intrepid Mr. and Mrs Steward did, how I wept with loss.

So you can imagine, jumping into a new mystery is like coming home again.

Here Cochrane has come up with a doozy of a murder mystery. A man is hit by a car but his wife is convinced it was murder.  It kept me guessin with layers upon layers, surrounded with the poignancy of the survivors and the ever  deepening ramifications from WWI upon people and place.  Stepping up is Jonty’s sister and brother in law to help with the mysteries (yes, multiple) as well as the crew from St. Bride’s.

But the best?  Being gently swung back into the loving, long-established relationship of Jonty and Orlando.  It now has all the hallmarks of a couple who knows each other so well they answer for each other,  the adoration for each other, for each other’s intellects  to their aging bodies is cellular that it glows off the page.

How I love them and this series.  Its one of my heartstones of fiction and one I always recommend.  Now I have another story to add to my recommendations.  Love historical fiction and romance?  Pick up Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose by Charlie Cochrane.  I hope you are familiar with all of the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, of which this is but one.  Gather them all up and hold them close.  They are true gems!

Cover art: Alex Beecroft.  Love the cover.  Works perfectly for the story and its charming.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 104 pages
Published March 19th 2018 by The Right Chair Press
Original TitleLessons in Chasing the Wild Goose
ASINB0791HH4VB
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Cambridge Fellows

A MelanieM Review : Captain Merric by Rebecca Cohen

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

A tale of pirates, lost love, and the fight for a happy ending.

After he’s set adrift and left to die by his mutinous crew, the last person Royal Navy officer Daniel Horton expects to come to his rescue is Captain Merric. An infamous pirate, Merric is known as much for stealing his victims’ hearts as their jewels. Daniel’s world is about to be turned upside down when he recognises Captain Merric as none other than Edward Merriston, someone he thought he’d never see again.
Edward can’t believe Daniel Horton is aboard his ship. While Edward is willing to do anything he can to get a second chance at their happy ending, Daniel isn’t interested in digging up the past. But Daniel is one priceless treasure Captain Merric isn’t about to let go of without a fight.

Captain Merric first appeared as short story in a pirate-themed anthology. Now completely rewritten and extended he is ready to set sail again.

There’s nothing more fun than lust and love on the high seas so I was happy to sink into the new release Captain Merric by Rebecca Cohen.   I’ve enjoyed many of Rebecca Cohen’s historical romances in the past and this one turned out to be just as delightful.

It has not only a lusty pirate but one who turns out to be the the ex lover of Royal Navy officer Daniel Horton, one that Daniel had long thought dead.  Captain Merric, ne’ Edward Merriston, had also been laboring under some false assumptions about his old lover making their reunion highly emotional and  fraught with danger to them both.

I have always loved Cohen’s ability to bring her characters to life.  Whether they are shouting in anger, or trying to convince the man they have always loved to kiss him again, you believe in them.  And feel connected to them emotionally.  The story switches pov so you are able to see all the turmoil and actually fracturing of the foundation each man’s has built up over the years apart as the real story behind their separation comes out.  As this is going on, you get the glimpses into the pirate’s life that Edward has been living, quite happily as it seems.  From the island he lives on to the crew of his ship, we get the full picture of the man now called Captain Merric.

Poor Daniel Horton has lead a much colder, hard life and that is also left by the lack of explanation in the storyline.  It sort of works here.  But I wish that we would know if that contributes to the fact that none of his crew attempts to help him at the beginning of the book other than one person.  More of Daniel’s past would have made Daniel a more rounded character just as Edward was.

There are some things that, for the sake of the story, I just accepted, in terms of timing or coincidence, or just plain no I don’t think they would have accepted that.  But I was enjoying the story too much.  And I  loved the way the author got the men back together at the end.  What a lovely and downright sneaky touch.

When it comes down to it, I loved the characters, the writing flowed so smoothly that you were finished with the story before you realized it, the descriptions were colorful and made you see it clearly.  Ah, I just loved this romance!  I think you will too.  It’s definitely one I recommend.

 

Cover art:   Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design did a wonderful job.  Pirates!  And yes that’s Captain Merric all right.

Sales Link: Universal Buy Link

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 200 pages
Published April 6th 2018 (first published August 14th 2011)
Original TitleCaptain Merric
ASINB07BLLY5HD
Edition Language English

Review Tour and Giveaway for Captain Merric by Rebecca Cohen

 

Universal Buy Link
 
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
 
Length: 55,000 words approx.
 
Blurb



A tale of pirates, lost love, and the fight for a happy ending.


After he’s set adrift and left to die by his mutinous crew, the last person Royal Navy officer Daniel Horton expects to come to his rescue is Captain Merric. An infamous pirate, Merric is known as much for stealing his victims’ hearts as their jewels. Daniel’s world is about to be turned upside down when he recognises Captain Merric as none other than Edward Merriston, someone he thought he’d never see again.
Edward can’t believe Daniel Horton is aboard his ship. While Edward is willing to do anything he can to get a second chance at their happy ending, Daniel isn’t interested in digging up the past. But Daniel is one priceless treasure Captain Merric isn’t about to let go of without a fight.


Captain Merric first appeared as short story in a pirate-themed anthology. Now completely rewritten and extended he is ready to set sail again.



April 6 – Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
April 9 – Open Mind For A Different View
April 10 – The Novel Approach
April 11 – Cupcakes & Bookshelves, Making It Happen
April 12 – Diverse Reader
April 13 – Two Chicks Obsessed
April 14 – MM Good Book Reviews
April 16 – My Booked Filled Life, Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings, Velvetpanic, BooksLaidBareBoys, Bayou Book Junkie
April 17 – Love Bytes

 

Author Bio


Rebecca Cohen is a Brit abroad. Having swapped the Thames for the Rhine, she has left London behind and now lives with her husband and young son in Basel, Switzerland. She can often be found with a pen in one hand and a cup of Darjeeling in the other.


Blog: http://rebeccacohenwrites.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.cohen.710
Twitter: http://twitter.com/R_Cohen_writes

Giveaway: Drop a comment below to tell me why you love pirates and be entered into the giveaway to win a copy of an ebook from my backlist (excluding the Crofton Chronicles bundle).

 

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here.  We highly recommend it.

 

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A Jeri Release Day Review: Roses in the Devil’s Garden (Fallen Rose #1) by Charlie Cochet

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

As a big Charlie Cochet fan, I was eager to read the first of a new series coming from her. And this is both very different, and in some ways quite a bit the same as her THIRDS series.

This is a VERY short primer to what I assume is a series coming out. Set during Prohibition, the story follows Harlan and Nathan- best friends, lovers and detectives in the Prohibition unit. There is pretty much no such thing as an “out” gay man, but within clubs and speakeasies, it is often overlooked.
Honestly, there isn’t a ton here to review. I will say it is a good set up and I definitely want more. Ms Cochet writes seamlessly with 20’s era lingo and style. There were a few things that I questioned, but I am hoping more comes to light with the next book(s).

The cover art by Aaron Anderson is another winner by this artist and works for the story and characters.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner| Amazon | Nook

ebook, 67 pages
Published: April 6, 2018, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781640802346
Edition Language: English

Series: Fallen Rose

Book #1: Roses in the Devil’s Garden

Release Day Blitz for Captain Merric by Rebecca Cohen (excerpt and giveaway)

Pirates! The name alone conjures up swashbuckling adventure and a thrilling life on the high seas. No wonder they are a well loved romantic hero. Being swept away by a pirate captain, rescuing you from the monotony of daily life is a lovely way to escape reality for a while.

This image has endured through the centuries, and later enhanced on film and screen. Pirates might have been blood thirsty scoundrels, but in a romance novel or film we’re hoping for a hero who is a bad boy with a heart of gold, or a dark past, that has driven a good man to his dastardly trade.

Pirates have long had a fascination for me, and smugglers too (but you can blame that on me being the daughter of a Cornishman). So when I first started to try to get my writing published, an anthology for pirate themed stories caught my eye and I wrote the original short story version of Captain Merric. Since then I’ve enjoyed writing many other things, but when I got my rights back it felt a shame to leave Captain Merric on my hard drive.

My initial thoughts were a quick edit and self-publish as a cheap short, but my love of writing historicals has also grown over the years and so Captain Merric got a complete rewrite, including more details of the period (early Georgian 1718). An extra 43K words later and the larger than life Captain Merric, and his stubborn Royal Navy officer will-he-won’t-he-be-lover, Daniel Horton, re-emerged.

I hope you enjoy this tale of a brooding hero, second chances with a pirate and naval officer, and their fight to get their happy ending. Drop a comment below to tell me why you love pirates and be entered into the giveaway to win a copy of an ebook from my backlist (excluding the Crofton Chronicles bundle).


Excerpt


Daniel struggled to his knees, looking up to get a view of the pirate. The sun must have affected him more than he had thought, and the figure that stood before him had to be an illusion. The face was older, and now had a beard, but belonged to that of a man who had died over fifteen years ago.He shook his head to clear his sight, but it didn’t change the vision towering over him. “I am seeing ghosts.”One of the pirates snorted. “The captain’s many things, but a ghost ain’t one of them.”Daniel blinked rapidly, but still the man he’d grieved for, a man he had once loved, stood in front of him. He could barely breathe, his heart pounding so loudly he couldn’t hear himself think or believe his own eyes. He tried to chase away the image, but he was not mistaken. The confusion bled away and was replaced by a disturbing reality. Edward Merriston was alive and well, playing pirates in the Caribbean, when Daniel had thought him lost to shipwreck all those years ago.Edward had always been tall and broad, but his time at sea had made him stronger, and the sun had bleached his long hair so it was blonder than Daniel remembered, making his blue eyes even more striking.“You’re meant to be dead,” were all the words he could manage.

Edward’s eyes widened, and a look of disbelief flashed across his face. “You’re not the first one to have said that and won’t be the last to wish it.”

 
Universal Buy Link
 
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
 
Length: 55,000 words approx.
 
Blurb
 

A tale of pirates, lost love, and the fight for a happy ending.


After he’s set adrift and left to die by his mutinous crew, the last person Royal Navy officer Daniel Horton expects to come to his rescue is Captain Merric. An infamous pirate, Merric is known as much for stealing his victims’ hearts as their jewels. Daniel’s world is about to be turned upside down when he recognises Captain Merric as none other than Edward Merriston, someone he thought he’d never see again.
Edward can’t believe Daniel Horton is aboard his ship. While Edward is willing to do anything he can to get a second chance at their happy ending, Daniel isn’t interested in digging up the past. But Daniel is one priceless treasure Captain Merric isn’t about to let go of without a fight.


Captain Merric first appeared as short story in a pirate-themed anthology. Now completely rewritten and extended he is ready to set sail again.



April 6 – Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
April 9 – Open Mind For A Different View
April 10 – The Novel Approach
April 11 – Cupcakes & Bookshelves, Making It Happen
April 12 – Diverse Reader
April 13 – Two Chicks Obsessed
April 14 – MM Good Book Reviews
April 16 – My Booked Filled Life, Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings, Velvetpanic, BooksLaidBareBoys, Bayou Book Junkie
April 17 – Love Bytes

 

Author Bio


Rebecca Cohen is a Brit abroad. Having swapped the Thames for the Rhine, she has left London behind and now lives with her husband and young son in Basel, Switzerland. She can often be found with a pen in one hand and a cup of Darjeeling in the other.


Blog: http://rebeccacohenwrites.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.cohen.710
Twitter: http://twitter.com/R_Cohen_writes

Giveaway

Giveaway: Drop a comment below to tell me why you love pirates and be entered into the giveaway to win a copy of an ebook from my backlist (excluding the Crofton Chronicles bundle). (Revised)

 

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