Saturday, September 28, 2019

Clancy Tucker's Blog: 28 September 2019 - SANTA CECILIA NECROPOLIS IN IT...

Clancy Tucker's Blog: 28 September 2019 - SANTA CECILIA NECROPOLIS IN IT...: SANTA CECILIA  NECROPOLIS IN ITALY G'day folks, Here is a fascinating assortment of cave dwellings, medieval ruins, and...
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Friday, September 13, 2019

The Carousel The Wild Geese Book 7 by Cynthia Owens Genre: Historical Romance



The Carousel
The Wild Geese Book 7

by Cynthia Owens
Genre: Historical Romance

 Like the Wild Geese of Old Ireland, five boys grew to manhood despite hunger, war, and the mean 

streets of New York



The War had left him blind to beauty…

Kieran Donnelly is a gifted artist who has sworn never to paint again. He saw and did too many things during the war to extinguish the ugliness that lies in his heart. But a chance to work with some of the most magnificent paintings brings him close to the world he still loves…and an extraordinary woman who sees his true heart.

Darkness couldn’t extinguish the light in her heart.

Blind from the age of four, Emily Lawrence yearns to experience the outside world. When she hires Kieran Donnelly to catalogue her father’s paintings, he offers her a glimpse at life outside her exquisite home…and a chance for a future.

Can Kieran and Emily emerge from the darkness to find happiness and love?


**easily read as a standalone!**



I believe I was destined to be interested in history. One of my distant ancestors, Thomas Aubert, reportedly sailed up the St. Lawrence River to discover Canada some 26 years before Jacques Cartier's 1534 voyage. Another relative was a 17thCentury "King's Girl," one of a group of young unmarried girls sent to New France (now the province of Quebec) as brides for the habitants (settlers) there. My passion for reading made me long to write books like the ones I enjoyed, and I tried penning sequels to my favorite Nancy Drew mysteries. Later, fancying myself a female version of Andrew Lloyd Weber, I drafted a musical set in Paris during WWII.
A former journalist and lifelong Celtophile, I enjoyed a previous career as a reporter/editor for a small chain of community newspapers before returning to my first love, romantic fiction. My stories usually include an Irish setting, hero or heroine, and sometimes all three!
I am a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hearts Through History Romance Writers, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A lifelong resident of Montreal, Canada, I still live there with my own Celtic hero and our two teenaged children.







Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!





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Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Forgotten Sons Series by Gina Conkle

The True Tale of the Viking Woman Who Took Charge by Gina Conkle

Get cozy because I’m turning back the clock to the real life story of Audr the Deep Minded, a leader in Iceland.
Iceland’s settlement began in 874. Vikings like to claim they first settled the island but there’s evidence Celtic monks lived on Iceland in the 7th or 8th century before abandoning it. Little wonder! The island of fire and ice sits close to the Arctic Circle. Early settlers contended with a landscape bubbling with geysers and hot springs on one hand and isolation in frigid climes on the other.
Yet, none can deny Iceland is beautiful. And a little like Viking woman—mysterious, strong, and having little patience for fools.
When Viking nobleman, Ingolfur Arnarsson, settled first Iceland, he knew he’d need capable leaders. Icelandic life was too harsh and the beginning too fragile to mess around with weak people at the helm. Ingolfur divided the island into four parts and selected four of the best Vikings to lead each quadrant. One of them was Audr the Deep Minded. A woman.
This is her story…
The daughter of Ketill Flatnose, a Norwegian chieftain, Audr came from wealth and privilege. Nothing is known of her until she married a Norse king of Dublin. Historians say Audr enjoyed even greater freedom in Dublin than she did (or would have in Norway). She was certainly quick to take charge when things went sideways.
By all accounts, Audr was not a shield maiden or a young woman when history records her greatness.
Upon hearing her husband and son, Thorsteinn, died in battle, she decided it was time to leave Dublin. Iceland was her destination because she had two brothers there. Calm and decisive, Audr prepared a ship in secret with the help of twenty men who served her (thralls). All were loyal to her and she managed to slip away with her considerable household.
Family-minded, she took in Thorsteinn’s daughters. On the journey to Iceland, one granddaughter married in Orkney and the other was married in the Faroe Islands.
Despite having married off two granddaughters, her retinue was so vast that one brother balked at hosting Audr. He offered to host half her household which is a slight in Vikingdom. No matter how rich or poor the longhouse, no one in need of food and shelter is turned away. Ever. Especially with winter approaching.
Incensed, Audr went to her second brother where she and her household stayed until spring. Warm weather got the older woman exploring new lands. Audr took off to Breidafjordur, deciding to settle there.
Here is where she sets herself apart with wisdom and generosity.
This was about the time Ingolfur Arnarsson divide Iceland into four sections to be ruled by four capable Vikings. In the northwest, he asked Audr to lead. She would have to secure the loyalty of her people and settle the land.
Audr already had twenty loyal male slaves. She could’ve kept the status quo. Instead, Audr told those twenty men, if they pledged allegiance to her, she’d give them their freedom and land to own.
Was it a wily political move on her part? A show of gratitude for men who stayed by her side through tough times? History never tells us.
What we do know is she settled in Hvammur. We also know man sites have funny, anecdotal names because of her such as Kambsnes, which means ‘Comb headland’ because she lost a comb there. A Christian, she raised a cross in Hvammur (though her descendants later chose paganism.)
Audr was all about family, making sure the rest of her granddaughters married well. Kind and giving to the end, the deep-minded woman invited relatives to a magnificent feast that went on for three days. During that time, she gave lavish gifts and wise advice to those she loved. At the end of the three days, Audr bade her household hold the feast another three days-a funeral feast. She knew she was dying and she wanted to spend her last days celebrating with the people she loved.
Now that is a wise, wise woman.



Kept by the Viking
Forgotten Sons Book 1
by Gina Conkle
Genre: Historical Viking Romance

 Loyalty to the Brotherhood comes before all. Including women.



Formidable Viking leader Rurik knows the law. His loyalty to the Forgotten Sons is his bond, and no woman will threaten what he’s built from the ground up. But the Sons are a roving band of Vikings, and Rurik is growing restless—so when Normandy’s chieftain offers land, the proposal intrigues him. And the sultry Parisian thrall he finds in his tent intrigues him even more…


Safira is cunning and clever and full of secrets. Rurik’s men have no interest in securing her safe passage home, but, piqued with lust, Rurik views Safira’s wiles as a captivating challenge—one he’s determined to conquer, even if lying with her is as defiant as it is inevitable.

Traveling with Safira has been a fantasy come true—what started as lust is quickly turning to the kind of partnership Rurik could never have dreamed. But their arrival in foreign lands marks a new chapter, one that demands a Viking wife. With impossible decisions to be made, Rurik’s alliances are fraying, and past promises may not be enough to save him from having to betray those he’s sworn loyalty to—including Safira.

This book is approximately 83,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!






Her Viking Warrior
Forgotten Sons Book 2

 When an outcast goes home and meets a woman seeking justice, hearts will clash…



Eighteen years ago, Bjorn was exiled from Vellefold. Honor-bound to return, he’ll fight for the settlement…then walk away. First, he must work with his childhood friend, now a beautiful, high-ranking Viking lady.


Fierce of spirit, Ilsa will do anything to save her people, including convincing the banished son to take the jarl’s seat. But she has her doubts about the stone-hearted Viking, despite the lust between them. It’s only a matter of time before Bjorn discovers that Ilsa is hiding dangerous secrets, secrets that may jeopardize all they’ve worked for.

When the darkest hour comes, the once-rejected warrior must choose: rescue his men, the Forgotten Sons—or Ilsa, the woman he craves, body and soul.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!





Gina's fate was sealed when her mom read 'The Highwayman' for a bedtime story. She was five years old at the time, but from then on, Gina was doomed to love history and romance.



Some days she pens sparkling Georgian romance. Other days, she writes evocative Viking romance full of heat and adventure. Gina spent most of her life in southern California but now lives in Michigan with her husband where snow days are perfect for reading and writing. Her books have won awards and garnered critical acclaim. Poke around her website and you'll run across those accolades.





Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!






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Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Most Ardently An Austen-Inspired Christmas Collection Genre: Historical Romance




With Stories by:Sheena Austin,
Margo Bond Collins,
Debra-Ann Kummoung,
Sophie Bellabone,
Deborah E Pearson,
Charlene Johnson,
Susan Burdorf,
Claire O'Dare,
Ivy Hearne



“This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend’s house once for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter.” ~Emma


Join New York Times, USA Today, and International bestselling authors as they share stories inspired by Jane Austen to fill your Yuletide with love and joy.

From a Regency holiday in Austen’s own home to modern stories with a supernatural twist, Most Ardently brings you the best of Austen-inspired holiday fiction, including a haunted modern-day Northanger academy dorm, a vampiric surprise at a holiday ball, a contemporary dating-app-savvy Emma with a brand-new Knightley, a surprise cast of zombies, and a demon set loose in Jane Austen’s world. Mincemeat pies, Christmas puddings, Boxing Day and Twelfth Night will never be the same again!

So light a Yule log, hang a kissing bough of evergreen and mistletoe, and settle in for a long winter’s read as you reconnect with your favorite Austen characters and settings in all-new new stories.

Scroll up and one-click to preorder this holiday collection now for the special preorder price of only 99c!

“On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were trestles and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard in spite of the noise of the others.” ~Persuasion



**Pre-order for only .99cents!!**




Sheena Austin is the author of Returning to Mr. Darcy, Alexandria, Journey of the Heart, and Disillusionments of the Heart. A lover of all romance, fantasy, cat whisperer, and Kermit obsessed, the author currently lives in Virginia with her boyfriend and two cats. She is a Special Education teacher and aspires to win the lottery one day and to have a lifetime of pizza and cheez-its so she would no longer have to cook or do the dishes ever again.







USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author Margo Bond Collins is a former college English professor who, tired of explaining the difference between "hanged" and "hung," turned to writing romance novels instead. (Sometimes her heroines kill monsters, too.)
She also writes under the alter ego of Ivy Hearne.





Debra-Ann Kummoung

I fell in love with Pride & Prejudice when I read it in high school. Something about that time - the courtly manners of society, the clothing, and so many other things. Don't get me a wrong, I'm a modern girl and wouldn't last a day without my modern conveniences, but I can still fantasize about that time period.


My husband is my inspiration for Mr. Darcy & Colonel Fitzwilliam (when the good colonel appears in one of my books). My husband has the manners of Darcy but has been a military man like the colonel - so I got both in one man.





Sophie, whether with Kernstock or Bellabone pen name, is from the land of thousands of lakes, home of Santa Claus, and technology giant Nokia, also known as Finland. At age 24 she was bitten by the publishing bug in her native tongue. The bug bit so fiercly that she made her mission to publish all her future stories to wider audience just year after. That she did, and now at 25 her first book written in English is in preorder.

Born and rased with finnish sisu, and beaten in shape with sauna birch leaf brooms, Sophie writes Fantasy and Horror. No genre will be safe from her vigilant and witty writing style though. She will be providing all kinds of stories from short and sweet to long and gritty. None with romantic sub plot though. She focuses on platonic friendships, epic battles beyond tonsil fencing, and the endless ideas leading to world beyond imagination.
In short, her muse is obiviously in drugs and needs intervention.
Soon she'll also add Sci-Fi/Dystopian into her fresh list of books and invites in new pen name to the Sophiesphere circle of things.






Deborah E. Pearson found her love of Jane Austen's work when she was 15 by watching the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Andrew Davies, Over the following years she not only read Miss Austen's books multiple times but also read several fan fiction books, which led her to begin writing her own Jane Austen Fan Fiction in 2010 as she wished to have a Darcy that fitted the way she saw him.






Charlene Johnson is a Waynesburg, Pennsylvania native. She went to Waynesburg High School and graduated Cum Laude from Waynesburg College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts. Currently lives in Sacramento, California where she spent the last 33 years working at Northrop Grumman.

Books have always been her passion. She started reading at an early age and progressed to full-length books by age nine. The first supernatural book series she read was Dark Shadows, and it sparked her interest in all things paranormal, with a spicy touch of romance mixed in for good measure. She also started writing poetry in grade school and continues to do so today. 
Being an avid reader, the consummate daydreamer and an incurable romantic with a Cinderella complex, she started creating her own characters and story lines because she realized she had her own stories to tell.
She is married to John, who believes she can do anything. She has a son, Ty; a daughter, Danika; and four beautiful grandchildren, Aries, Victoria, Maya, and Tobias.
Besides reading and writing, she also enjoys photography, travel, music, and great movies.







Susan Burdorf is an avid reader, photographer and lover of all things sparkly. Writing is a passion that is only quenched when THE END is written on the last page of a manuscript. Nothing says home to her, though, like the presence of her family. Susan encourages you to correspond with her and is available for public appearances at schools and conferences.











A librarian and researcher by day, Claire O’Dare writes Regency and contemporary romances at night.












Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and two giveaways!

Giveaway #1 
Kindle tablet ( 1 winner), Signed book (1 winner) , $20 Amazon (4 winners)
 

Giveaway #2






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