Book Spotlight: Courting the Sun: A Novel of Versailles by Peggy Joque Williams. Audiobook narrated by Mallory Fuccella.

 

“A rich journey through 17th century France in all its aspects—its bucolic countryside, the still-unmatched splendor of the court of Louis XIV, and the struggling French colony in Canada.”
~ Margaret George, New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth I, The Autobiography of Henry VIII & The Memoirs of Cleopatra

France, 1670. On her sixteenth birthday, Sylvienne d’Aubert thinks her dream has come true. She holds in her hands an invitation from King Louis XIV to attend his royal court. However, her mother harbors a longtime secret she's kept from both her daughter and the monarch, a secret that could upend Sylvienne’s life.

In Paris, Sylvienne is quickly swept up in the romance, opulence, and excitement of royal life. Assigned to serve King Louis's favorite mistress, she is absorbed into the monarch's most intimate circle. But the naïve country girl soon finds herself ill-prepared for the world of intrigue, illicit affairs, and power-mongering that takes place behind the shiny façade of Versailles.

This debut historical novel from Peggy Joque Williams captures the vibrancy and quandaries of 17th century life for a village girl seeking love and excitement during the dangerous reign of the Sun King.

 Buy Links:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mqk0r9

 Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/courting-the-sun-peggy-joque-williams/1144842024?ean=9781685134129

 Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/96858/9781685134129

 Black Rose Writing: https://www.blackrosewriting.com/historicaladventure/courtingthesun 

 This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

  

Peggy Joque Williams is the author of Courting the Sun: A Novel of Versailles and co-author of two mystery novels, On the Road to Death’s Door and On the Road to Where the Bells Toll, written under the penname M. J. Williams. She is an alumnus of Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A retired elementary school teacher and avid researcher, Peggy's fascination with genealogy and her French-Canadian, European, and Native American ancestry inspires her historical fiction. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Author Links:

Website: https://peggywilliamsauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeggyJoqueWilliamsAuthor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggywilliams7/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peggyjoque/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@peggyjoque

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Peggy_Joque_Williams

Book Bub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/peggy-joque-williams

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Peggy-Joque-Williams/author/B0CV7S8M24

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4900279.Peggy_Joque_Williams  

 

 

Book Spotlight: The Immigrant Queen by Peter Taylor-Gooby

 

Hated as a foreigner, despised as a woman, she became First Lady of Athens.

Aspasia falls passionately in love with Pericles, the leading statesman of Fifth Century Athens. Artists, writers and thinkers flock to her salon. She hides her past as a sex-worker, trafficked to the city, and becomes Pericles’ lover.

Her writings attract the attention of Socrates, and she becomes the only woman to join his circle. She is known throughout the city for her beauty and wit and strives to become recognised as an intellectual alongside men.

Pericles’ enemies attack him through Aspasia and charge her with blasphemy. As a foreigner she faces execution, but her impassioned address to the jury shames the city and saves her. Pericles is spellbound, they marry, and she becomes First Lady of Athens.

Sparta besieges the city; plague breaks out and Pericles is once again in danger.

THE IMMIGRANT QUEEN tells the true story of how Aspasia rose to become the First Lady of Athens and triumphed against all the odds.

 Paperback Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Immigrant-Queen-Peter-Taylor-Gooby/dp/1836280602/

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-immigrant-queen/peter-taylor-gooby/9781836280606

https://troubador.co.uk/bookshop/historical/the-immigrant-queen

 

Peter Taylor-Gooby is an academic who believes that you can only truly understand the issues that matter through your feelings, your imagination and your compassion. That’s why he writes novels as well as research monographs. He worked in India as a teacher, in a Newcastle social security office and as an antique dealer.

Now he’s professor of social policy at the University of Kent, a Fellow of the British Academy, loves playing with his grandchildren and writes novels in what time is spare.

Author Links:

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peter.taylorgooby/  

Troubadour Author Page: https://troubador.co.uk/author/glndwnle

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Taylor-Gooby

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B001HD2YWQ

 

 

 

Book Spotlight: The Signare of Gorée by Laura Rahme

 

1846. In the heat of West Africa, the French navy uncovers the corpses of two French soldiers. Inspector Maurice Leroux arrives at the island of Gorée. It seems death has come to this small colonial outpost off the Senegal coast, home to the prosperous mixed-blood women known as the signares.

The navy suspects that the Bambara people, emboldened by approaching emancipation, may be out for blood. While confronted by the locals’ strange magical beliefs, Maurice remains skeptical. Does malevolence play a part, or are these deaths accidental, brought upon by the brutality of nature in an island known as the white man's grave?

But when murder strikes, it becomes clear that a killer is stalking Gorée.

Swept by a mystery unlike any he has known, Maurice meets Signare Angélique Aussenac. The proud métis, deserted by her wealthy Bordeaux lover, casts her spell upon Maurice.

But beyond the throbbing sounds of the tam-tams and the glittering signare soirées, danger lurks. Someone is watching. And the deaths go on.

Could the killer be one of the rich Bordeaux merchants? Or are they hiding among the powerful signares?

A historical mystery spanning France and Senegal, THE SIGNARE OF GORÉE explores a world of magic, murder, and passion.

 

 Buy Links:

 This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4Nl7xz

Laura Rahme is the author of seven historical novels. Born in Dakar, Senegal where she spent her early childhood, she moved to Australia at the age of ten. A graduate of two Honors degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Psychology, she has worked over two decades as an IT professional. Her greatest joy comes from travel, researching history, and penning historical mysteries. She now lives in France with her screenwriting husband.

 Author Links:

Website: https://teranga-and-sun.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurarahme.author/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurarahmegram/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/teranga/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Laura-Rahme/author/B008P7CF8K

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6449755.Laura_Rahme

Book Spotlight: Fortune’s Wheel, The First Meonbridge Chronicle by Carolyn Hughes; Audiobook Narrator: Alex Lee

 

How do you recover from the havoc wrought by history's cruellest plague?

 

It's June 1349. In Meonbridge, a Hampshire manor, many have lost their lives to the Black Death, among them Alice atte Wode’s beloved husband and Eleanor Titherige’s widowed father. Even the family of the manor’s lord and his wife, Margaret de Bohun, has not entirely escaped.

 

But, now the plague has passed, the people of Meonbridge must work together to rebuild their lives. However, tensions mount between the de Bohuns and their tenants, as the workers realise their new scarceness means they can demand higher wages and dictate their own lives.

When the tensions deepen into violence and disorder, and the men – lord and villagers alike – seem unable to find any resolution, the women – Alice, Eleanor and Margaret – must step forward to find a way out of the conflict that is tearing Meonbridge apart.

Listen on Soundcloud

 

Buy Links:

 This title / series is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/3LL1d1

 Audible Links:

UK : https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Fortunes-Wheel-Livre-Audio/B0D2FKPQN4  

 US : https://www.audible.com/pd/Fortunes-Wheel-Audiobook/B0D2FMT3QG

 

Carolyn Hughes has lived much of her life in Hampshire. With a first degree in Classics and English, she started working life as a computer programmer, then a very new profession. But it was technical authoring that later proved her vocation, word-smithing for many different clients, including banks, an international hotel group and medical instruments manufacturers.

Although she wrote creatively on and off for most of her adult life, it was not until her children flew the nest that writing historical fiction took centre stage. But why historical fiction? Serendipity!

Seeking inspiration for what to write for her Creative Writing Masters, she discovered the handwritten draft, begun in her twenties, of a novel, set in 14th century rural England… Intrigued by the period and setting, she realised that, by writing a novel set in the period, she could learn more about the medieval past and interpret it, which seemed like a thrilling thing to do. A few days later, the first Meonbridge Chronicle, Fortune’s Wheel, was under way.

Six published books later (with more to come), Carolyn does now think of herself as an Historical Novelist. And she wouldn’t have it any other way…

Author Links:

Website: https://carolynhughesauthor.com

Twitter: www.x.com/writingcalliope

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CarolynHughesAuthor

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/carolynhughes.bsky.social

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carolyn-hughes

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Carolyn-Hughes/author/B01MG5TWH1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16048212.Carolyn_Hughes

Book Spotlight: Courage of the Conquered by Anna Chant

 

All the wonders of the Mediterranean have not prepared the English for the splendours of Constantinople. As Siward of Gloucester settles into the city, he is grateful to have finally found what he was looking for: A fine, god-fearing lord he is proud to serve and a safe place where he and Oswyth can await the birth of their child.

 

But as the months pass, doubts creep in. Emperor Michael proves to be a weak ruler, continually threatened with rebellion. Determined to keep the English army close, his promises of reward grow increasingly vague.

 

With tension in the city rising, Siward and his friends are caught up in the power struggle. While Bridwin maintains his loyalty to the emperor and Siward continues to trust in the friendship of the cunning Alexios Komnenos, Frebern grows close to John Bryennios, a man whose ambitions may include the imperial throne itself. With the friends drawn in different directions, Siward fears they could find themselves fighting on opposing sides.

 

Desperate to escape, he renews his efforts to find the home the English have so long craved. But the beauty of Constantinople conceals dangers that go far beyond Siward’s fears as sordid secrets and ruthless betrayal stalk the lives of those he holds dear.

 

As the English prepare for battle yet again, will Siward’s quest for New England end in heart-breaking tragedy?

 

Buy Links:

 This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

 Universal Buy Link: https://mybook.to/CourageoftheConquered

 

 

Anna Chant grew up in Essex, with her first home a tiny medieval cottage. Aged 18 she moved to Yorkshire to study history at the University of Sheffield. In 2015, inspired by her love of medieval history and her Scottish ancestry, Anna started writing her first book with Kenneth’s Queen, the tale of the unknown wife of Kenneth Mac Alpin, published the following year. Taking inspiration from both history and legend, she particularly enjoys bringing to life the lesser known people, events and folklore of the past. When not writing, Anna enjoys walking the coast and countryside of Devon where she lives with her husband, three sons (if they’re home) and a rather cheeky bearded dragon.

 Author Links:

 Website: https://darkagevoices.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anna_chant

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkagevoices

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-c-b60690182/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annachant_writer/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@annachant_writer

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/annachant/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Anna-Chant/author/B01E46V162

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15188873.Anna_Chant

 

Book Spotlight: The Agincourt King by Mercedes Rochelle

 

From the day he was crowned, Henry V was determined to prove the legitimacy of his house. His father's usurpation weighed heavily on his mind. Only a grand gesture would capture the respect of his own countrymen and the rest of Europe. He would follow in his great-grandfather Edward III's footsteps, and recover lost territory in France.

Better yet, why not go for the crown? Poor, deranged Charles VI couldn't manage his own barons. The civil war between the Burgundians and Armagnacs was more of a threat to his country than the English, even after Henry laid siege to Harfleur. But once Harfleur had fallen, the French came to their senses and determined to block his path to Calais and destroy him.

By the time the English reached Agincourt, they were starving, exhausted, and easy pickings. Or so the French thought. Little did they reckon on Henry's leadership and the stout-hearted English archers who proved, once again, that numbers didn't matter when God was on their side.

 

Buy Links:

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mq70Ze

 

Mercedes Rochelle is an ardent lover of medieval history, and has channeled this interest into fiction writing. Her first four books cover eleventh-century Britain and events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. The next series is called “The Plantagenet Legacy” and begins with the reign of Richard II.

She also writes a blog: www.HistoricalBritainBlog.com to explore the history behind the story. Born in St. Louis, MO, she received by BA in Literature at the Univ. of Missouri St.Louis in 1979 then moved to New York in 1982 while in her mid-20s to "see the world". The search hasn't ended!

Today she lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.

 Author Links:

 Website: https://mercedesrochelle.com/

Blog:  https://historicalbritainblog.com/

Twitter / X: https://x.com/authorrochelle

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mercedesrochelle.net

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mercedes-rochelle

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mercedes-Rochelle/author/B001KMG5P6

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1696491.Mercedes_Rochelle

 

Book Spotlight: Find Me in the Stars: a Cévenoles Sagas novel - Book Two of the Huguenot Trilogy by Jules Larimore

 

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“Larimore's ability to engulf a reader into a tale... is brilliantly done.”

5-star Highly Recommended Award of Excellence ~ Historical Fiction Company

Separated by miles, connected by the stars, two healers forge their destinies in a quest for a brighter tomorrow.

Inspired by a true story, this refugee's tale of sacrifice, separation, and abiding love unfolds in the Cévennes Mountains of Languedoc, France, 1697. A sweeping adventure during the time of Louis XIV's oppressive rule and persecutions, this compelling narrative follows the intertwined destinies of two remarkable protagonists, Amelia Auvrey, a mystic holy-woman healer, and Jehan BonDurant, an apothecary from a noble Huguenot family, in a riveting tale of enduring love, faith, and the search for light in the darkest of times.

Amelia and Jehan are fierce champions of tolerance and compassion in their cherished Cévenole homeland, a region plagued by renewed persecution of Huguenots. The escalated danger forces their paths to diverge, each embarking on their own dangerous journey toward survival and freedom. The Knights Hospitaller provide protection and refuge for Amelia and her ailing sage-femme grandmother, even as they come under suspicion of practicing witchcraft. And, to avoid entanglement in a brewing rebellion, Jehan joins a troupe of refugees who flee to the Swiss Cantons seeking sanctuary—a journey that challenges his faith and perseverance. Jehan arrives to find things are not as he expected; the Swiss have their own form of intolerance, and soon immigrants are no longer welcome. The utopian Eden he seeks remains elusive until he learns of a resettlement project in the New World.

During their time apart, Amelia and Jehan rely on a network of booksellers to smuggle secret letters to each other—until the letters mysteriously cease, casting doubt on their future together. Jehan is unclear if Amelia will commit to joining him, or if she will hold fast to her vow of celibacy and remain in the Cévennes. Seemingly ill-fated from the start, their love is tested to its limits as they are forced to navigate a world where uncertainty and fear threaten to eclipse their unwavering bond.

As a stand-alone sequel to the award-winning The Muse of Freedom, a bestseller in Renaissance Fiction, Find Me in the Stars is based on true events in the life of Jean Pierre Bondurant dit Cougoussac--an unforgettable adventure where love and light endure against all odds.

 

Buy Links:

This title will be available on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/31B6PM

 

Jules Larimore is the author of emotive, literary-leaning historical fiction with a dose of magic, myth, and romance to bring to life hopeful human stories and inspire positive change. She is a member of France’s Splendid Centuries authors’ collaborative, a board member of the Historical Novel Society of Southern California, and lives primarily in Ojai with time spent around the U.S. and Europe gathering a rich repository of historical research in a continued search for authenticity.

 

Author Links: 

Website: https://juleslarimore.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jules_larimore

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juleslarimore/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juleslarimore/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juleslarimore/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@juleslarimore

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/juleslarimore/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/70036407

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jules-Larimore/author/B0BBC13BR7

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205843160-find-me-in-the-stars

Book spotlight: Steel Valley: Coming of Age in the Ohio Valley in the 1960s by Jerry Madden

 

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For readers of The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni and Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers

Love is never easy...even in easier times, like the 1950s and 1960s in the Ohio Valley with the steel industry booming.

Second-generation immigrant families were reaching for the American middle class. And Catholic schools-made feasible by selfless Catholic nuns-promised bigger lives for everyone, including Jack Clark and Laurie Carmine. As they spent years searching for their separate futures, though, they were also stumbling toward love just as their world came crashing down.

Steel Valley depicts a story of love longed for, lost, and perhaps still within reach, just as our nation's mythic yesterday became our troubled today, our last summer of innocence.

 

Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link

 

Jerry Madden grew up in the Upper Ohio Valley in the 1960s. He holds a B.A. from the College of Steubenville and law degrees from the University of Dayton School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Jerry served as the sole law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, C. William O'Neill. He served in the United States Marine Corps (R) between 1970 and 1976.

Jerry has practiced law in Washington, D.C., since 1979, including fourteen years at the Department of Justice as a trial and appellate attorney. He is the principal of The Madden Law Group PLLC in Washington, D.C.

He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Cyndi, a retired educator. They have two children, Kelsey and Jack, both of whom hold M.Ed. degrees. They have one grandchild, Jamie Maclennan.

Author Links: 

Website: https://steelvalleymadden.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JerryMadden1948

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jerry-Madden/author/B0BV19VM3F

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199752995-steel-valley

Book spotlight: Dude or Die by Lynn Downey

 

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It’s 1954, and San Francisco writer Phoebe Kelley is enjoying the success of her first novel, Lady in the Desert. When Phoebe’s sister-in-law asks her to return to Tribulation, Arizona to help run the H Double Bar Dude Ranch, she doesn’t hesitate. There’s competition from a new dude ranch this year, so the H Double Bar puts on a rodeo featuring a trick rider with a mysterious past. When accidents begin to happen around the ranch, Phoebe jumps in to figure out why, and confronts an unexpected foe. And a man from her own past forces her to confront feelings long buried. Dude or Die is the second book in the award-winning H Double Bar Dude Ranch series.

 

Buy Link:

 

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

  Universal Buy Link

 

Lynn Downey is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, historian of the West, and native Californian.

She was the Historian for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco for 25 years. Her adventures as ambassador for company history took her around the world, where she spoke to television audiences, magazine editors, and university students, appeared in numerous documentaries, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She wrote many books and articles about the history of the company and the jeans, and her biography, Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World, won the Foreword Reviews silver INDIE award.

Lynn got interested in dude ranches during her time at Levi’s. Her debut historical novel, Dudes Rush In, is set on an Arizona dude ranch in the 1950s; Arizona because she’s a desert rat at heart, and the 1950s because the clothes were fabulous.

Dudes Rush In won a Will Rogers Medallion Award, and placed first in Arizona Historical Fiction at the New Mexico-Arizona book awards. The next book in this series, Dude or Die, was released in 2023. And just for fun, Lynn wrote a screenplay based on Dudes Rush In, which is currently making the rounds of reviewers and competitions.

She pens short stories, as well. “The Wind and the Widow” took Honorable Mention in the History Through Fiction story contest, and “Incident at the Circle H” was a Finalist for the Longhorn Prize from Saddlebag Dispatches. The story “Goldie Hawn at the Good Karma Café,” won second place in The LAURA Short Fiction contest from Women Writing the West, and is based on her experiences in a San Francisco religious cult in the 1970s. (That will be another book one of these days.)  

Lynn’s latest nonfiction book is American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West, a cultural history of the dude ranch. It was reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, True West, Cowgirl, and The Denver Post, and was a Finalist for the Next Generation INDIE Award in Nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews said the book is “…deeply engaging and balances accessible writing style with solid research.”

When she’s not writing, Lynn works as a consulting archivist and historian for museums, libraries, cultural institutions, and businesses. She is the past president of Women Writing the West, a member of the Western Writers of America, and is on numerous boards devoted to archives and historic preservation.

Lynn lives in Sonoma, California, where she sometimes makes wine from the Pinot Noir grapes in her back yard vineyard.

Author Links: 

Website: https://www.lynndowney.com 

[My site is being redesigned and will be live in another week or so.]

Tumblereads blog: https://tumblereadsblog.com/blog-sg/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WriterLynnD

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynndowney/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-downey-b82460249/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynn.downey.historian/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/westernhistorygal.bsky.social

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/WesternHistoryGal/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lynn-Downey/author/B001IXQ2N2

Book Spotlight: Anywhere But Schuylkill by Michael Dunn

 

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In 1877, twenty Irish coal miners hanged for a terrorist conspiracy that never occurred. Anywhere But Schuylkill is the story of one who escaped, Mike Doyle, a teenager trying to keep his family alive during the worst depression the nation has ever faced. Banks and railroads are going under. Children are dying of hunger. The Reading Railroad has slashed wages and hired Pinkerton spies to infiltrate the miners’ union. And there is a sectarian war between rival gangs. But none of this compares with the threat at home.

 

 Buy Links:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/496Ag0

 Historium Press: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/it/michael-dunn

 

Michael Dunn writes Working-Class Fiction from the Not So Gilded Age. Anywhere But Schuylkill is the first in his Great Upheaval trilogy. A lifelong union activist, he has always been drawn to stories of the past, particularly those of regular working people, struggling to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Stories most people do not know, or have forgotten, because history is written by the victors, the robber barons and plutocrats, not the workers and immigrants. Yet their stories are among the most compelling in America. They resonate today because they are the stories of our own ancestors, because their passions and desires, struggles and tragedies, were so similar to our own.

 

When Michael Dunn is not writing historical fiction, he teaches high school and writes about labor history and culture.

 Author Links: 

Website: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeDunnAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Michael.Dunn.Fiction

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldunnauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-Dunn/author/B0CJXGQYZ8

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/45063197.Michael_Dunn

 

Book Spotlight and Snippet: The Bastard Prince of Versailles: A Novel Inspired by True Events by Will Bashor

 

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A historical novel inspired by real events, The Bastard Prince of Versailles, narrates the escapades of a misborn "prince" during the reign of Louis XIV in seventeenth-century France. Louis de Bourbon wasn't a real prince-even though his father was King Louis XIV.

The illegitimate son of the King and his mistress, Louise de La Vallière, young Louis has been kept far from the court's eyes until summoned to bid adieu to his mother. To atone for her adultery, she joins a convent, abandoning Louis to an uncertain future.

When Louis is humiliated by his father for his role in a secret gay society, he struggles to redeem himself through heroism and self-sacrifice in the king's army on the battlefield.

Praise for The Bastard Prince of Versailles:

“Will Bashor effortlessly weaves together the threads of fact and fiction, transporting us back to the opulence and intrigue of 17th century France. The author’s research and attention to detail are evident and well applied, never seeming like a dry history lesson but always a hook keeping you turning the pages.

Louis is brought to life with such authenticity that you can't help but empathize with his journey. As he navigates the treacherous waters of courtly politics and yearns for his father's approval, you'll feel a gripping connection to his struggles and triumphs. The rest of the characters are well-crafted as well, each contributing to the rich tapestry of the story.

If you are looking for a unique historical novel that will transport you to another time and leave a lasting impression, this book is an absolute must-read.”

--International Review of Books

 Buy Links:

  Universal Buy Link

.•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨) ✮ ( ¸.•´✶

 SNIPPET

Louis was escorted into the room by two young princes, who showed him where to take his place behind them. One held his fingers to his lips, reminding Louis not to make a sound.

After receiving the abbé’s blessing, the king rose to put on his socks and his morning robe. The valet removed his nightcap, and the barber combed his hair. He did not shave the king this morning because that only took place every other day. Now half-past eight, the grande levée began, and the king’s first valet of the wardrobe and his gentlemen-in-waiting entered the room.

As court protocol required, Count Louis stood behind his cousins, the Princes of the Blood, during the ceremony. His eyes were still sleepy, but they opened widely when the king proceeded to sit on his chaise percée for his bodily needs—in front of all to see. Louis held his hand over his mouth to keep from giggling aloud but when one of the king’s valets cast a foreboding frown at him, he straightened up.

From Columbus, Ohio, Will earned his Ph.D. from the American Graduate School of Paris. In his spare time, he reads memoirs and researches the lives of royals and their courtiers. He hopes to share his fascination with the Bourbon dynasty and its quirky inhabitants and, at the same time, weave the historical record with creative fiction. He has written articles for the Huffington Post, Age of Revolutions, BBC History Magazine, and Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book.

Author Links:

 Website: https://www.willbashor.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WBashorAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harold.bashor.3/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/will.bashor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Will-Bashor/author/B006RKLIJY

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/6984989.Will_Bashor