It’s cover reveal day for The Entrepreneur’s Almanack by Robin Bennett #newrelease #covereveal #entrepreneurship
Here’s the blurb
A new kind of yearbook has arrived for founders, dreamers, and doers. The Entrepreneur’s Almanack is a funny and deeply personal chronicle of what it feels like to start a business from scratch. This third in a series of short yearbooks celebrates the underrated art of entrepreneurship and a key aspect of the same: namely, success in business has more to do with intangibles than we care to admit.
The guesswork and the gut, divine providence, even dumb luck are all players and should be welcomed round the table, not ignored at the fringes.
The Entrepreneur’s Almanack is the cosmic crutch you never knew you needed in business, but shouldn’t be without.
When Robin Bennett grew up he thought he wanted to be a cavalry officer until everyone else realised that putting him in charge of a tank was a very bad idea. He then became an assistant gravedigger in London. After that he had a career frantically starting businesses (everything from dog-sitting to cigars, tuition to translation)… until finally settling down to write improbable stories to keep his children from killing each other on long car journeys.
I’m sharing my review for The Atlantis Covenant by Rob Jones #actionandadventure #blogtour #bookreview
Here’s the blurb
A mission like no other, will test the team to the limit ⚠️
Dr Max Hunter, Special Agent Amy Fox and the rest of the HARPA Team are on the most important mission of their lives to rescue their teammate Quinn Mosley, HARPA Director Jim Gates and his wife Susanna, and Hunter’s UNESCO manager Professor Juliette Bonnaire who have all been kidnapped by a mysterious organisation claiming to be the Illuminati.
The group’s leader, Oriax, says he will trade their friends’ lives for the Sword of the Archangel Michael and gives them a 24 hour deadline to meet his demands. 🗡️
In a race against time, from Europe to Moscow and beyond, Hunter leads his small team on a high-speed rollercoaster ride, attempting to track down Oriax before the deadline expires and rescue Quinn and the others as well as keeping the ancient sword out of Oriax’s depraved hands, but will they succeed in this most lethal of challenges?
This new installment in the Hunter Files starts with a bang, and the reader is thrown straight into a worrying situation for the team (I’m not sure if this carries over from the previous book, but I suspect it might). This time, members of the team are in peril and Max Hunter and his fellow team members resolve to outwit the person holding them captive in exchange for St Michael’s sword, and with very little to go on in terms of leads.
Tracking down every potential lead, the team make their way from Cornwall to London, Paris and then beyond, their destination not quite where they think it will be, as the tension ramps up in this fun action and adventure story, where the ‘baddie’ is definitely quite bonkers, powerful, and seemingly, able to do anything he wants with his captives.
Like The Atlantis Covenant, the story is fast-paced and fun, the interactions between the characters flippant and somewhat light-hearted, considering the peril they’re in. The series will certainly appeal to those who like National Treasure (as I’ve said before) and their history with a little bit of conspiracy.
Rob Jones has published over forty books in the genres of action-adventure, action-thriller and crime. Many of his chart-topping titles have enjoyed number-one rankings and his Joe Hawke and Jed Mason series have been international bestsellers. Originally from England, today he lives in Australia with his wife and children.
I’m reviewing Saving Starlight Hall by Debbie Viggiano #blogtour #romance #bookreview #funny
Here’s the blurb
Nestled deep in the countryside lies Starlight Croft – population small, gossip levels high, and secrets harder to hide than a cow in a phone box.
Jen Armstrong thought she had life more or less under control – marriage ticking along, teenagers on the right side of the law – until hubby Peter unexpectedly demises leaving Jen suddenly single, hugging a secret, and trying very hard not to fall apart in front of the entire village.
Just when things couldn’t get messier a For Sale sign appears. The community centre – the only place big enough to host Pilates and the local psychic’s séance nights – goes up for sale.
Cue The Starlight Society: a mismatched crew of locals with hearts of gold, questionable strategies and Jen reluctantly roped in to assist. Their mission? Raise the cash to save the hall before a charming-but-infuriating property developer named Liam Lancaster possibly turns it into a boutique hotel with mood lighting and tufty towels.
Can they pull it off? Will the hall survive? Might a secret be unwittingly revealed? And can Jen resist throttling an enemy who has the most annoyingly twinkly eyes?
A feel-good romantic comedy where love, lies, and livestock collide.
Saving Starlight Hall is a humourous romance, very much in the mould of Debbie’s previous books. They’re always a delight to read, (even for someone who doesn’t normally read romance). They sparkle with the quirky characteristics we all have and make our main character, Jen, feel extremely human and relatable.
It’s always a delight to read one of Debbie’s books, and I thoroughly enjoyed this new release, and any one who likes the promise of a bit of romance, with some drama and a lot of humour along the way, will love this story. This is the first time I’ve read one of Debbie’s books connected to another book, and it was lovely to meet the characters again, although I want to assure readers you can read this as a standalone, although you will be missing out on Starting Over at Starlight Cottage:) Enjoy.
Prior to turning her attention to writing, Debbie Viggiano was, for more years than she cares to remember, a legal secretary. She lives with her Italian husband, a rescued pooch from Crete, and a very disgruntled cat. Occasionally her adult children return home bringing her much joy… apart from when they want to raid the fridge or eat her secret stash of chocolate. Tweet @DebbieViggiano or follow her on Facebook!
I’m reviewing Woden’s Storm by Donovan Cook #blogtour #newrelease #historicalfiction the second book in the First Kingdom series
Here’s the blurb
A storm is coming. A storm that will banish the old and deliver the new.
450AD Britain
Octa has the spear of Woden, but the redemption he sought is out of his grasp. With his banishment and the death of his father, he can no longer return to his Saxon homelands. His only salvation is to join forces with Hengist and Horsa, and their Jutish army that beaches itself on Brittania’s shores. But can he trust their motivation or are there greater plans afoot?
The Gods have their own plans, though, and Octa’s fate is not his own to control as Friga, the mother of the Saxon gods, battles to avoid a war with the gods of the Britons and Saxons using Octa as her weapon.
Prince Vortimer, the son of High King Vortigern, is angered by his father’s agreement with Hengist and Horsa as they remain unchecked and their numbers swell. He suspects treachery and encouraged by some well-placed words of a stranger, he rebels against his father and gathers his army to attack the unwelcome visitors.
War is coming to Britannia and as Octa struggles to understand his role and fate, he knows he has one question to answer. Will he run or will he stand and fight?
Woden’s Storm is the second book in The First Kingdom series by Donovan Cook. We’re once more in a recreated Britain of the middle fifth century, where everyone’s actions are guided by their Gods. And there are a lot of Gods who want to have a say in what’s happening, and not all of them, on the ‘same side’ as it were, hope to achieve the same ends. Octa, Vortimor, and the rest of the characters are constantly being tested by their deities, told half the story and left to work the rest out for themselves. Will they interpret their meetings with the Gods correctly, or will they make everything more chaotic by muddying these messages with their own intentions?
I do enjoy the element of the Gods walking amongst the characters and interfering in what’s happening. I mean, I doubt it would be peaceful without them, but with them, it certainly isn’t:) It adds a new dimension to this period and perhaps helps to account for some of the more eccentric decisions the characters make as they all endeavour to accomplish their goals. There is still much to play for and the series will continue.
An entertaining and intriguing series with a whole host of ‘named’ characters, people who love the era will recognise.
Donovan Cook is the author of the well-received Ormstunga Saga series which combines fast-paced narrative with meticulously researched history of the Viking world, and is inspired by his interest in Norse Mythology. He was born in South Africa and currently lives in Lancashire, UK.
I’m delighted to share my review for Adam Lofthouse’s War Lord: Scourge of Rome #historicalfiction #blogtour #Roman
Here’s the blurb
And so we have reached the end of my tale. But what are endings if not new beginnings?
Alaric has been home for a year. He went north and saved the Cimbri, just as he said he would. But the cost has been higher than he ever thought. A shadow of the War Lord he once was, he now trades in amber and dotes on his children.
A simple life. And with it, contentment. But he knew this couldn’t last forever; peace isn’t for someone like him, and sure enough trouble finds him once again. A routine journey south turns into a new and unknown wave of danger as red-cloaked legionaries attack, causing confusion and carnage.
Warriors dressed as Romans have been scouring the country, slaughtering innocent people, and leaving Roman footprints wherever they march. But things are not what they seem, and it falls to Alaric to don his armour once more, and march his Ravensworn in pursuit of a mysterious enemy that could destabilise his world beyond repair.
War Lord, as the blurb states, is the end of Alaric, or is it a beginning for him?
Once more, we’re thrust straight back into the action, and Alaric, while accepting he’s an old man these days, does indeed not seem to have ‘grown up’ at all, as he’s so fond of reminding himself. From one hairbrained scheme to another, Alaric realises that perhaps, after all, there is a great deal at stake, and he is, of course, the man to solve everyone else’s problems, for all he likes to pretend he doesn’t care about anyone but himself, his children and his wife.
Adam writes fabulous books. I do love Alaric. He’s a bad egg, and yet, we all can’t help liking him, as indeed, does everyone who comes into contact with him. There’s no end of action and adventure, no end of peril, and through it all, Alaric sails with his usual charm and determination. But, is this one quest too much for our epic second-century hero, living on the outskirts of the Roman empire, but admiring them all the same? Has he finally found an enemy he can’t hope to beat, even if he unites the tribes? Or will he have to prove as quick-thinking as ever?
While all this is happening, there is also an intriguing backstory, reliving a moment in Alaric’s life when everything changed for him. It adds a certain poignancy to our character, making his wild ways more understandable.
This is a cracking finale for Alaric’s story. Enjoy it. I know I did.
Adam Lofthouse is the author of action-packed historical thrillers. His brand new series for Boldwood, ‘Enemies of Rome’, will focus on the boundaries at the edge of the Roman Empire. The first book Raven, will be published in February 2025.
I’m sharing my review The Wordsmith’s Guide to Planning the Perfect Plot by Elizabeth M Hurst #blogtour #nonfiction #writingadvice
The Wordsmith’s Guide to Planning the Perfect Plot
* DO YOU STRUGGLE TO FINISH WRITING A NOVEL? * DO YOU RUN OUT OF MOMENTUM BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOUR STORY IS GOING?
The Wordsmith’s Guide to Planning the Perfect Plot is your trusted companion for turning story ideas into structured, compelling narratives. In this fourth instalment of the Wordsmith’s Guides series, Elizabeth M. Hurst takes you through popular plotting methods—including the Snowflake Method, Save the Cat Beat Sheet, and The Inside Outline—helping you choose the right approach for your writing style. You’ll also find practical advice on troubleshooting common pitfalls, crafting satisfying endings, and keeping your plan adaptable as your story evolves.
Inside, you’ll discover:
Clear explanations of proven plotting methods
Guidance on choosing the right structure for your novel
Tips for overcoming plot issues and staying on track
Advice on writing satisfying, well-rounded endings
A practical appendix full of tools and templates to support your planning process
Whether you’re a planner, a pantser, or somewhere in between, Planning the Perfect Plot will help you shape your novel with clarity and confidence.
Planning isn’t something I really do as a writer. But I was certainly curious to see how others might go about writing their stories. Elizabeth M Hurst gathers together many different techniques for planning a novel, and it is interesting to discover how I could be writing a novel, if my mind worked in that way. Mine, alas, does not. It thrives on the chaos. But, I do think the book is an excellent resource for those who plan before writing, and perhaps worry too much about sticking to their plan and the plot they thought they’d be writing when it goes awry and things starts to misbehave. I found it intriguing to read how people use ‘beats’ to craft their story as well as arcs and other techniques. I’m in awe of anyone who can think that far ahead:) I’m not a planner because I ‘feel’ my way through a story – but the author certainly nails my writing style in her explanations.
The author readily acknowledges that most people will use a variety of these techniques, and I was pleased to see that through it all, the delightful chaos of characters and plot misbehaving was never far from her thoughts.
The idea behind writing the novel, was, the author says, to encourage writers to finish their drafts using whatever techniques work for them. This is a worthy endeavour. Many people start writing a story and falter when things start to feel ‘off.’ This should provide opportunities to get writers writing again by thinking of their plot in different ways. I suspect it could be used as an effective diagnostic tool to discover where a plot is faltering, and once that’s been done, writers will learn what works and doesn’t work for them and in future, potentially, avoid the traps waiting to choke off the creativity.
A concise and interesting summary of the way writers write, providing suggestions for breaking free from processes that might not be working. I’m sure all writers will find their ‘type’ in the explanations.
Meet the author
Elizabeth was born and bred in the picturesque harbour town of Whitehaven in the northwest of England, where the long, wet winters moulded her into a voracious reader of fiction to escape the dismal weather.
She graduated with a degree in Business Studies and a string of jobs followed, after which she finally settled in the automotive industry, where she spent twelve happy years.
Having already started writing around the age of 40, she had begun to dream of a more creative lifestyle and set about creating her freelance editing and proofreading business, EMH Editorial Services. In 2018, she quit the corporate world and concentrated her energy full-time towards her love of the written word.
Elizabeth now lives with her husband in the warm and sunny south of France, where the wine is cheaper than the water, and the cats spend their days hunting lizards and dreaming of the birds that roost on the roof.
I’m sharing my review for Desolation by Keith Moray, a brand new historical mystery #bookreview #blogtour #newrelease
Here’s the blurb
A BRAND NEW wickedly dark medieval mystery from Keith Moray. If you like your murder truely gruesome – this series is for you! 🩸☠️🗡️
The Black Rood of Scotland, stolen.
A coroner of York, murdered
An evil worse than plague itself, at large…
1361, York. As the country recovers from the war with France, and whispers that the pestilence has returned to England grow louder, fear is in the heart of every nobleman and commoner alike. Sir Ralph de Mandeville, ex-solider and newly appointed Justice of the Peace is sent to Langbarugh, just outside York, to investigate the murder of Coroner Sir Boderick de Whitby.
More deaths quickly follow, and while these are swiftly dealt with as plague victims, Sir Ralph and his two assistants Merek and Peter soon uncover something altogether more horrifying… A greater evil is at large in the northern wapentakes.
As panic escalates and the lines between plague and murder blur, Sir Ralph is thrust into a desperate race against time. Every shadow hides a potential killer, every cough could be a death knell. Can he unmask a murderer lurking in the terrifying shadow of the Black Death before they’re all consumed by a terror more sinister than any plague?
Desolation is the first book I’ve read by Keith Moray. I think the cover is fabulous and very evocative.
The story is intriguing, with a wide cast and it takes quite some time until we finally meet Ralph de Manville because there are so many other characters to meet first. I do hope that in later books in the series, Ralph will enter the narrative a little quicker.
It is quite a complex plot, because the narrative switches between characters so much. The reader does have to work to make sense of what’s happening. We are told certain things, but not others – so we know what’s happening but not necessarily who is doing it. The body count is HUGE!
When Ralph finally begins to make sense of what’s happening, the resolution comes quite quickly, and the ending is certainly satisfying.
I read a lot of mysteries. If I don’t work out ‘who did it’ I am always impressed, although with Desolation there are so many people implicated, it does feel as though there are a lot of people to guess. I worked out some elements, but not others, and I did very much enjoy the mystery element of the story.
Meet the author
Keith is a retired GP, medical journalist and novelist, writing in several genres. As Keith Moray he writes historical crime fiction in the medieval era and in ancient Egypt, The Inspector Torquil McKinnon crime novels set on the Outer Hebridean island of West Uist, and as Clay More he writes westerns. Curiously, his medical background finds its way into most of his fiction writing.
I’m sharing my review for To Win Her Hand by Melissa Addey #regencyromance #blogtour #bookreview #festiveread
Here’s the blurb
They’ve been engaged since they were children, so he sees no need to woo her. She wants a love match and is determined to find an alternative suitor. Perhaps a Christmas trapped together in snowy London will change both their minds.
Lord Comerford has returned from the navy to claim his title, but ton life appears shallow after active service and the woman he has been promised to since birth seems a frivolous child, only interested in parties and clothes.
Lady Celia is hoping her betrothed will make her heart skip a beat – but dour Lord Comerford hardly fits the bill, so she’s planning to call off the wedding just as soon as she can find a better suitor.
Trapped in snow-covered London, the two patch together Christmas celebrations and in so doing find that actions speak louder than words and that an arranged marriage may turn out to contain a spark of romance.
A seasonal Regency romance, full of historical detail and festive fun, as a couple find out that a dutiful promise might be joyful after all. The Season has begun, the ton is gathered… will Christmas work its magic for Alexander and Celia?
To Win Her Hand adopts the old Regency romance storyline of both main characters being unable to speak their minds to one another. Instead, we hear their thoughts as they both manage to completely misunderstand the other, leading to Lady Celia deciding she can’t possibly marry the man she’s been engaged to since she was a child. This is a nice set-up for what comes next (although, I do find myself gnashing my teeth at these people. Grrr. Why can’t they just speak their minds:))
But, all this is to change when Celia and Lord Comerford find themselves ‘thrown’ together and unable to escape one another over the Christmas season. What follows are a charming collection of scenes where both begin to realise they’ve been too hasty. But, of course, it wouldn’t be a Regency romance without more miscommunication between our pair.
To Win Her Hand is another charming Regency romance from Melissa Addey. In her Regency Outsiders series, she offers readers something a little different, with her main characters constrained by a society that misunderstands them. It is quite refreshing, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of the books in the series (although they are standalone novels – you don’t need to read the previous books as each one has new characters – but you would be missing out).
Melissa Addey writes richly researched historical fiction inspired by what she calls “the footnotes of history” – forgotten stories and intriguing lives from the past. Her novels span Ancient Rome, medieval Morocco, 18th-century China, and Regency England. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, was Writer in Residence at the British Library, and lives in London with her family. Discover her books (and get a free novella) at www.melissaaddey.com
Check out my review for From The Ashes, Melissa Addey’s Roman-era historical fiction set around the events of Vesuvius and the building of the Colosseum.
I’m delighted to share my review for Murder in Trafalgar Square by Michelle Salter, the first book in a new historical mystery series #historicalmystery #cosycrime #highlyrecommended
#BoldwoodBloggers @BoldwoodBools #MurderInTragalgarSquare @rararesources @bookandtonic
Here’s the blurb
Discover a BRAND NEW page-turning cosy mystery series from Michelle Salter A murdered suffragette. A missing politician. A stolen artwork.
London, 1910
Coral Fairbanks is a contradiction. As well as a suffragette, she’s a bit-part actress and nude model, earning her the disapproval of her fellow suffragettes.
Guy Flynn is an artist. He’s also a detective inspector at Scotland Yard, who doesn’t always see eye to eye with fellow officers in the Metropolitan Police.
When Home Secretary Winston Churchill orders the police to terrorise the suffragettes during an afternoon of violence that becomes known as Black Friday, the battlelines are drawn – and Coral Fairbanks and Guy Flynn are on different sides.
But when a young suffragette is found murdered in the National Portrait Gallery and one of their paintings is stolen – Fairbanks and Flynn must put their differences aside and combine their knowledge to track down the killer.
Introducing an iconic detective duo in Fairbanks and Flynn, this is an exciting and gripping historical mystery, which will delight fans of Agatha Christie, Benedict Brown and T. E. Kinsey
Murder in Trafalgar Square is the first book in Michelle Salter’s new mystery series, set in 1910, and what a fabulous first entry into a series it is.
For this series we have two main characters, Cora, a young widow who is a suffragette, works in a gallery and has also been an actress but is currently deemed, at 36, to be too old to play the ingenue on stage, and too young to be a harridan. (I sense we’re still not really that far beyond that even now).
Guy Flynn, our detective inspector, is equally a many layered individual, also a widower with a daughter to raise alone, and he’s a painter too. The pair have some lovely facets to their characters and they make for an intriguing duo as we read chapters from alternative points of view. They’re flung together when a body is found at the National Gallery and it makes all the headlines, as opposed to the suffragette stunt with a most amusing painting (I’m not spoiling it).
The mystery unfolds at a good pace, as Cora and Guy endeavour to unpick the information they gain, while endeavouring to stay on the right side of the government.
This is such a fabulous new book, and I’m so excited to read more of Cora and Guy. I love the Iris Woodmore series by the author, but it’s possible I might love this one even more.
Come with me to Great Witcombe #newrelease #MenOfIron #WarriorsOfIron #histfic
Great Witcombe Roman Villa
Great Witcombe Roman Villa is no longer open to the public, but it is managed by English Heritage, and it’s possible to get a glimpse of it, although you do need to be careful. I think it’s currently closed due to safety concerns, so be mindful, and stay behind all the barriers, especially as the location is pretty remote.
From what I could see of the remains of Great Witcombe Roman Villa, it does seem to have been set in a beautiful place, and it quite appealed to me. I relied heavily on the idea of the location when devising the home for one of the tribes that features in the Dark Age Chronicles. (It probably helped that I visited on a lovely sunny day.)
MJ Porter 