About the Book Book: The Cairo Curse Author: Pepper Basham Genre: Christian Fiction / Historical Fiction / Romance / Adventure / Mystery Release date: February 1, 2023 Clue meets Indiana Jones with a fiction-loving twist only Grace Percy can provide. Newlyweds Lord and Lady Astley have already experienced their fair-share of suspense, but when a honeymoon trip takes a detour to the mystical land of Egypt, not even Grace with her fiction-loving mind is prepared for the dangers in store. From an assortment of untrustworthy adventure-seekers to a newly discovered tomb with a murderous secret, Frederick and Grace must lean on each other to navigate their dangerous surroundings. As the suspects mount in an antiquities’ heist of ancient proportions, will Frederick and Grace’s attempts to solve the mystery lead to another death among the sands? Click here to get your copy! About the Author Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with southern Appalachian flair. Both her historical and contemporary novels have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inspys, and ACFW Carol Awards. Her historical romance, The Thorn Healer, was a finalist in the 2018 RT Awards. Her historical romance novels, Read More
Tag: Historical Fiction
The California Gold Rush Romance Collection – review and giveaway!
The California Gold Rush Romance Collection is a delightful collection of stories from nine talented and very creative authors. The plots are diverse, and I’ve never seen such an eclectic group of heroes and heroines in one book! Enter below to win a free paperback copy! Only three days left! Is it possible there’s an inheritance far greater than gold, or is Thalia destined to remain empty, like the ghost town she inhabits? – Gold Haven Heiress by Jaime Jo Wright I enjoyed all of the stories in this book, but I was especially interested in Jaime Jo Wright’s Gold Haven Heiress, which is an unusual love story with interesting characters. Jack Taylor is a man who grew wealthy by taking advantage of gold rush miners. He’s a changed man now, and he’s using his ill-gotten riches to help others by building a community in Gold Haven, an abandoned goldmining town, to be a place of redemption, where people can come to be healed and live safely together. He didn’t expect to find the cast-off “soiled dove” Thalia Simmons hiding in the deserted town, and while he is drawn to her, she struggles to reconcile concepts of a Read More
Jaime Jo Wright – Author Interview
I met Jaime Jo online through the American Christian Fiction Writers, but even though we both live in the land of Packers and Bratwurst, we haven’t yet met in person. I recently read one of her novellas, Gold Haven Heiress, in the California Gold Rush Romance Collection, and asked if I could interview her on my website. She graciously said yes and donated a paperback copy of the book for me to give away! Barbour makes beautiful paperback novella collections. This one has covers that open and fold out to reveal western landscapes, and the paper is beautiful soft and heavy with deckle edges. Beautiful. See the raffle form below for your chance to win it! Welcome, Jaime! It’s fun to have you here. I know authors have the best book recommendations, so tell me… what are you reading now? I am currently in between books, actually. But LOVED reading Kara Isaac’s “Close To You” and Joanne Bischof’s “Lady and the Lionheart”. They were both so well written and have stuck with me far longer than most books I’ve read this year! Do you have a favorite contemporary author? Well, it sounds redundant now, lol, but Read More
The Baron’s Blunder by Susan Baganz
This delightful novella from Susan Baganz is part of the “Love is…” series by Prism Book Group, looking at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. The Baron’s Blunder illustrates verse six: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. The hero is dashing and brave – and so is the heroine Lord Charles Percy and the Honorable Henrietta Allendale are both independent, capable people who want to continue in their current single condition. He enjoys the clandestine activities that keep him busy, but an impulsive lie told to avoid discovery leads to complicated deception. She knows he’s hiding something. When Lord Percy confesses the truth, Henri isn’t sure she can trust anything else he says. As much as they enjoy life and engaging in exciting adventures without the encumbrance of a spouse, however, there’s no denying the attraction that pulls at both of them. I enjoyed the pacing of this adventure romance. The main and secondary characters were likable people who seemed more multi-dimensional than those sometimes found in Regency romances. I especially liked the heroine, who managed to be independent without becoming aggressive about it or behaving in an anachronistic way. Rose Hill Regencies Read More
Love Comes Calling – A Book to Chew On
I chose that catchy title because I normally write bite-size book reviews, and I have a little more to say about this one. A few days ago, I needed a pleasant story – nothing too thought-provoking – to listen to while I did some sewing. Siri Mitchell’s book Love Comes Calling looked perfect. And I loved it. Just loved it. I didn’t need the author’s note at the end to tell me that the heroine had ADHD. Any mother or teacher (and many adults who don’t even have children) recognized it on page one. When I read the Amazon reviews later, I was surprised to see that not everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. They found the heroine: confusing, annoying, immature, flighty, scatterbrained, selfish, insecure, irresponsible, repetitive, foolish and impulsive. Well, then… the author did a fabulous job of creating an authentic heroine. That is exactly how such a girl would feel and appear to others. Some reviewers found the stream-of-thought style confusing because the heroine’s thoughts were so random and jumpy, and I think it is likely that her personality is better captured in the audiobook than in the written format. The reader, Morgan Hallett, is good. She Read More
Bite-size Book Reviews
These were all new, first-time reads for me, from some of my favorite authors. It was a nice variety of styles and time periods. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Random Acts of Murder, audiobook by Christy Barritt, read by Sandy Rustin This book is the first in a new series. The heroine is appealing, with her good intentions, insecurities and quirky personality. She fled the scene of a murder and now she’s being framed for it. The hero is an old high school classmate, all grown up and in charge of the murder investigation. Ms. Barritt does a good job of pacing the mystery and concealing the identity of the killer. I would have liked to see more about the heroine’s spiritual and physical conditions, but it is a light-hearted story with lots of other action. The supporting characters seem interesting; I hope they are developed further in the rest of the series. Snow on the Tulips, audiobook by Liz Tolsma, read by Susan Denaker Ms. Tolsma has created a vivid portrait of a small Dutch village and its residents near the end of WWII. This is an intense, suspenseful story as much as Read More