Thursday, May 21, 2026

Some Starry Night by Irene Latham




SOMe Starry Night

By Irene Latham


Under the pale glow of a Parisian spring in 1886, two restless souls move toward the same horizon-unaware that their meeting will ignite a love as luminous and fleeting as the stars themselves.


Vincent van Gogh arrives in Paris with little more than paint-stained hands and an aching determination to create something worthy of the world. Living in the cramped apartment of his brother Theo, he struggles against poverty, doubt, and the relentless pull of his own restless mind.


Across the ocean in Amherst, Emily Dickinson receives news that changes everything. Faced with the nearness of death, the reclusive poet does the unthinkable: she leaves the quiet safety of the Homestead and sails for Paris, determined to taste life before it slips beyond her reach.


When Emily agrees to sit for Vincent's portrait, their worlds collide in a blaze of color, poetry, and dangerous intimacy. Through letters, poems, and whispered confessions, the two artists discover in one another a fierce, unguarded understanding-one that will shape their art, their faith, and the fragile hours they have left.


But love between stars is never simple. As time grows short and darkness gathers, Vincent and Emily must decide whether beauty is meant to last...or simply to burn bright enough to change the night forever.


Some Starry Night is a sweeping, lyrical imagining of the hidden story behind Vincent van Gogh's most iconic painting – an unforgettable tale of love, creativity, and the courage to live fiercely, even in the shadow of the end.


Excerpt


[when Emily first sees Vincent at the Louvre]


When she next looked up from her work, a group of three men caught her eye. She could only hear bits of their conversation, but their gestures indicated an intense discussion. One man in particular aroused her curiosity. He wasn’t tall, but he was stocky and solid. Red-haired with a smattering of freckles. He radiated passion and intensity, like a bullfighter ready to dance. His French wasn’t exactly French—he had an accent Emily couldn’t recognize. He brought his face so close to the paintings that the guard warned him back not once, but three times! On the third time, he threw up his arms. “I know what I want to do. I know what I must do.” He tipped his hat. 

“Thank you, Bernard, Henri. I shall go home now and paint.”

Emily watched as the man strode toward the exit, his steps fast and sure. A painter with purpose. The other two men—Bernard and Henri—leaned into one another once their friend was gone. Their heads bobbed together as they whispered to one another, their brows no longer tense and furrowed. They were relieved their friend was gone.


Emily sighed. She suspected that’s the way some people felt about her. Thomas had said in a letter how much she overwhelmed and exhausted him. Well, those weren’t his exact words, but Emily was pretty sure that’s what he meant.



Buy Link:

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Irene Latham


Irene Latham writes poems and stories from the Purple Horse Poetry Studio & Music Room in Blount County, Alabama. She is the author or co-author of many books for young people, including African Town, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Outstanding Historical Fiction.

This is her first novel for adults.




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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Beyond the Dark Oceans by Alison Huntingford



Beyond the Dark Oceans

By Alison Huntingford


A family united, a family divided…

In 1906, the Huntingford family leaves England for a hopeful new life in Canada, but for eldest son Georgy, the promise of opportunity quickly becomes a test of endurance, responsibility, and fate. As he comes of age amid the hardships of immigrant life, the outbreak of the First World War pulls him back across the ocean and into a world forever changed by loss and sacrifice.

When Georgy’s brother disappears in the chaos of war, grief and uncertainty fracture the family he is fighting to hold together. Reunited with his cousin Nellie, Georgy finds solace in a love as powerful as it is forbidden—one that offers hope in the darkest of times while threatening to tear his family apart.

Based on true events, Beyond the Dark Oceans is a moving story of love, loyalty, and resilience, exploring how ordinary lives are shaped—and divided—by extraordinary moments in history.

Buy Link:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Alison Huntingford


Alison Huntingford is a writer with a deep passion for family history and storytelling. With a background rooted in the rich traditions of the Huntingford family, Alison seeks to honour the stories passed down through generations. She is the author of a successful series of works that explore historical and personal narratives. She is an only child of two only children and so has always felt a distinct lack of family. This has inspired her work.

After an upheaval in her personal life, Alison achieved a degree in humanities with literature through the Open University which helped to give her a new start. A teaching career followed which then led naturally to writing. She is now retired from full-time work, but busier than ever.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their pets, listening to music, going to the cinema, and gardening on her allotment. She also runs the South Hams Authors Network, a local writers collective based in South Devon.




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Sunday, May 17, 2026

Book Review: Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard

 


Escape of the Grand Duchess
By Susan Appleyard


Publication Date: 27th July 2025
Publisher: Ingenium Books Publishing Inc.
Page Length: 412
Genre: Biographical Historical Fiction 

Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard is a gripping historical novel that shatters the notion that royalty is synonymous with privilege and ease. At its heart is Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II—a Romanov who defied a doomed destiny and survived.

Unlike her ill-fated brother and his family, Olga’s story is one of resilience, sacrifice, and daring escape. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a reckless gambler—who harbours secrets of his own—she finds hope in the arms of a dashing army lieutenant. But before she can claim her own happiness, she must first endure the brutal realities of World War I, where she serves as a nurse on the frontlines.

As the Russian Empire teeters on the brink of collapse, the infamous Siberian mystic Rasputin tightens his grip on the imperial court, setting the stage for revolution. With the Bolsheviks seizing power and the Romanovs marked for death, Olga faces an impossible choice: risk everything to stay or flee into the unknown with her true love and their children.

Rich in historical detail and driven by an unforgettable heroine, Escape of the Grand Duchess is a sweeping riches-to-rags tale of survival, love, and the strength it takes to forge a new life in the face of unimaginable upheaval.



⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I went into Escape of the Grand Duchess expecting a fairly traditional Romanov novel—lavish palaces, doomed royalty, a little romance, a little tragedy, and the inevitable shadow of revolution waiting in the distance.

It turned out to be far more personal than that.

Because while the collapse of imperial Russia forms the backdrop, the novel is much more interested in the emotional cost of living through it. Not the grand political version taught in history books, but the quieter reality of watching your world slowly become unrecognisable while trying to hold your family, your dignity, and yourself together.

At the centre of it all is Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, who very quickly emerges as far more than “the Tsar’s sister.” In fact, one of the best things about the novel is how completely it strips away the untouchable image of royalty.

Olga may live in palaces, but she has very little control over her own life.

Her marriage is unhappy from the beginning, built more around expectation than affection, and there’s a constant sense of emotional loneliness hanging over her story. She spends much of the novel trying to balance what is expected of her with what she actually wants, which turns out to be a far more dangerous thing than it should be.

Naturally, the moment she finds genuine love, history decides to intervene.

Rudely.

The relationship between Olga and the army lieutenant is handled surprisingly well because it never overwhelms the rest of the story. It grows quietly in the middle of chaos rather than existing apart from it. There’s tenderness there, but also uncertainty, because neither of them can pretend the world around them is stable enough to promise a future.

And honestly, that tension makes the romance feel more believable.

What I appreciated most was the way the novel handles the war and revolution. It doesn’t romanticise suffering, and it doesn’t treat royalty as somehow protected from reality. Olga working as a nurse during the war gives the story some of its strongest moments because it forces her directly into the human cost of everything happening around her.

The hospital scenes in particular stay with you. There’s exhaustion, fear, overcrowding, wounded soldiers, endless grief — and through all of it Olga is trying to keep functioning while the entire country begins falling apart outside the walls. Those sections make her feel less like a historical figure and more like an actual woman trying to survive circumstances far bigger than herself.

Meanwhile, Rasputin drifts through the novel like a walking bad decision.

Every appearance from him carries this uncomfortable sense that things are only going to get worse from here. The book captures that growing paranoia inside the imperial family very well, especially as Alexandra becomes more dependent on him and everyone else starts realising the monarchy is losing its grip.

What the novel does especially well is pacing the collapse of Russia itself. Nothing happens all at once. Instead, there’s a gradual tightening of tension—rumours, shortages, political unrest, fear, people disappearing, loyalties shifting. The sense of inevitability becomes heavier with every chapter.

Even knowing the historical outcome, I still found myself hoping Olga might somehow outrun it.

By the final part of the novel, the story becomes less about royalty altogether and more about survival. About what people carry with them when everything familiar has been stripped away. About choosing love and family even when the future is uncertain and safety no longer exists.

I finished the book feeling strangely emotional for someone I previously only knew as a minor historical figure in the Romanov story. Susan Appleyard manages to make Olga feel real in all the ways that matter—flawed, frightened, resilient, loving, and painfully aware that history is closing in around her.

It’s immersive, emotional, and far more human than I expected it to be.


You can pick up your copy of this fabulous book on Amazon - Amazon UK Amazon US

Susan Appleyard



Susan was born in England, which is where she learned to love English history, and now lives in Canada in the summer. In winter she and her husband flee the cold for their second home in Mexico. Susan divides her time between writing and her hobby, oil painting, although writing will always be her first love. She was fortunate in having had two books published traditionally. Since joining the ebook crowd, she has published nine books, some of which have won various awards.

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Thursday, May 14, 2026

Book Review: Lady of Lincoln by Rachel Elwiss Joyce



Lady of Lincoln: 

A Novel of Nicola de la Haye, the Medieval Heroine History Tried to Forget 

(The Nicola de la Haye Series Book 1)

By Rachel Elwiss Joyce



Publication Date: February 27th, 2026
Publisher: Hedgehog Books
Page Length: 462
Genre: Biographical Historical Fiction / Medieval Historical Fiction


A true story. A forgotten heroine. In a time when women were told to stay silent, could she become the saviour her people need?

12th-century England. Nicola de la Haye wants to do her duty. But though she’s taught a female cannot lead alone, the young noblewoman bristles at the marriage her father has arranged to secure her inheritance. And when an unexpected death leaves her unguided, the impetuous girl shuns the king’s blessing and weds a handsome-but-landless knight.

Harshly fined by Henry II for her unsanctioned union, Nicola struggles to salvage her estates while dealing with devastating betrayals from her husband… and his choice to join rebels in a brewing civil war. Yet after averting a tragedy and gaining the castle garrison’s respect, she still must face the might of powerful men determined to crush her under their will.

Can she survive love, threats, and violent ambition to prove she’s worthy of authority?

In this carefully researched and vividly human series debut, Rachel Elwiss Joyce showcases the complex themes of honour, responsibility, and freedom in the story of a remarkable heroine who men tried to erase from history. And as readers dive into a world defined by violence and turmoil, they’ll be stunned by this courageous young woman’s journey toward greatness.

Lady of Lincoln is the gritty first book in the Nicola de la Haye Series historical fiction saga. If you like richly textured female heroes, courtly drama, and fast-paced intrigue, then you’ll adore Rachel Elwiss Joyce’s gripping true-life tale.



⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I thought I was settling in for a familiar kind of historical fiction—measured, elegant, and safely contained within the usual rhythms of duty, decorum, and predictable romance.

It did not stay comfortable for long.

Because Lady of Lincoln quickly reveals itself to be far less interested in comfort than in consequence. What begins as a young woman pushing gently against expectation turns, rather swiftly, into a story about what happens when those expectations push back.

At the centre is Nicola de la Haye, who begins with what feels like a reasonable hope: that her life might involve some degree of choice. Not a radical ambition, you might think—but in 12th-century England, this turns out to be wildly optimistic.

Her father, naturally, has other plans. A sensible marriage. A secure future. A man of stability and reputation. All very practical. All very… not what Nicola wants.

Instead, she chooses William FitzErneis.

Which, as decisions go, is not her best.

At first, William has all the expected qualities—charm, confidence, the sort of presence that suggests life with him might be exciting rather than merely tolerable. Unfortunately, excitement quickly translates into financial chaos, questionable decisions, and a series of consequences that ripple far beyond Nicola herself.

What’s particularly well done is that he isn’t written as a simple villain. It would be easier if he were. Instead, he’s frustratingly human—reckless, desperate, occasionally sincere, and often spectacularly unreliable. You can see why Nicola falls for him. You can also see, with increasing dread, why that choice is going to cost her dearly.

And it does.

A lot.

What follows is less a romance and more a gradual, painful education in responsibility. Nicola’s early ideals—love, independence, a life shaped by her own choices—collide headfirst with the realities of land ownership, political tension, and the unpleasant fact that other people’s livelihoods now depend on her ability to hold everything together.

She adapts. Not instantly, and not without mistakes, but steadily.

There’s a clear shift from girlhood to something far more formidable. By the time she begins to take control of her lands in earnest, it’s not out of ambition, but necessity. And that makes her far more compelling.

Meanwhile, hovering in the background (and occasionally stepping forward with quiet persistence) is Gerard de Camville—the man she didn’t choose. He represents stability, loyalty, and a kind of steady respect that Nicola is far too young, at first, to fully appreciate.

It’s not a love triangle in the usual sense. It’s more a study in timing, perspective, and the painful clarity that often arrives just a little too late.

The historical backdrop is handled with a confident, unobtrusive hand. You feel the instability of the period—the shifting loyalties, the tension between crown and church, the ever-present threat of conflict—without ever feeling like you’ve been dropped into a lecture.

Instead, it’s woven through Nicola’s experience. The fines, the rebellions, the sieges—they’re not distant events, they’re immediate problems. Problems that have very real, very human consequences.

And the book does not shy away from those consequences.

There are moments here that are genuinely difficult to read. Not for shock value, but because they’re grounded in the harsh realities of the time—war, illness, punishment, loss. It’s unflinching in a way that makes Nicola’s resilience feel earned rather than ornamental.

What I appreciated most is how the story builds. It doesn’t rely on a single dramatic turning point. Instead, it accumulates pressure—bad decisions, external threats, personal loss—until Nicola is forced to become someone capable of withstanding all of it.

By the end, she is almost unrecognisable from the girl we first meet.

Not hardened exactly, but sharpened. More aware. More deliberate. And fully conscious that survival, in her world, requires far more than hope.

This is ultimately a story about growth forged under pressure—about a young woman who is given very little room to fail, and yet somehow learns, adapts, and persists anyway.

I finished it with a deep respect for Nicola, a lingering sense of the cost of every choice she made, and a strong urge to immediately pick up whatever comes next in the series.


Praise for Lady of Lincoln:

"Joyce’s vivid prose and masterful storytelling immerse the reader deeply into the emotional landscapes of her protagonists, making their struggles and triumphs resonate long after the final page has been turned. This debut is not only impressive in its narrative depth but also remarkable in its ability to evoke thought and reflection long after the final page is turned."
~ The Coffee Pot Book Club 5* Editorial Review


You can find your copy of Lady of Lincoln Here, and get this, if you have #KindleUnlimited you can read for free.

Rachel Elwiss Joyce


After a rewarding career in the sciences, Rachel returned to her first love—history and the art of storytelling. Fascinated by the women history neglected, or tried to forget, she creates meticulously researched, emotionally resonant fiction that brings her characters’ stories vividly to life.

Her fascination with the past began early. At six years old, she was already inventing tales about medieval women in castles, inspired by her treasured Ladybird books and other picture-rich stories that transported her to another time. By the time she discovered Katherine by Anya Seton as a teenager, she knew the joy and escape that only great historical fiction can bring.

Rachel’s two grown-up children still tease her (fondly) about childhoods spent being “dragged” around castles, archaeological sites, and historical re-enactments. For Rachel, history and imagination have always gone hand in hand.

There was, however, a long gap between the stories of her childhood and her decision to write her own novel. The spark came when she discovered the remarkable true story of Nicola de la Haye—the first female sheriff of England, who defended Lincoln Castle against a French invasion and became known as “the woman who saved England,” Rachel knew she had found her heroine, and a story she was destined to tell.

Rachel lives in the UK, where she continues to explore the lives of women who shaped history but were left out of its pages.




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Some Starry Night by Irene Latham

SOMe Starry Night By Irene Latham Under the pale glow of a Parisian spring in 1886, two restless souls move toward the same horizon-unaware ...