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HER: The Flame TreeHER: The Flame Tree by Khanh Ha


Publisher:  Gival Press, (October 1, 2023)
Category: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Tour dates: January 16-Feb 23, 2024
ISBN:  978-1940724454
Available in Print and ebook, 280 pages

HER: The Flame Tree

Description HER: The Flame Tree by Khanh Ha



If the fate of unrequited love survives fifty-one years, nine months, and four days in Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, it leads the way for HER: The Flame Tree, a spare, remorseless love triptych that sweeps through the rich panorama of two generations of colonial and post-colonial Vietnam. The hopeless love of a young eunuch for a high-ranking concubine is one of this novel’s three stories that illuminate the oriental mystery of Vietnam, as epic as it is persevering,

Despite a rich trove of documentary films, Western readers know little of the spiritual face of Vietnam. Framed between 1915 and 1993, HER: The Flame Tree begins in Huế, the former imperial capital Vietnam. It is in the Purple Forbidden City, that Canh, the young eunuch, fulfills his vow to be near the girl of his dreams, a villager-turned imperial concubine.

The novel begins with an expatriate Vietnamese man living in the United States who journeys back to Vietnam to search for the adopted daughter of a centenarian eunuch of the Imperial Court of Huế to find out who she really is. His world takes on a new meaning after he becames a part of her life.

Phượng. Her name is the magnificent flame tree’s flowers that grace the ancient capital of Huế. Her father, mentor of Canh the young eunuch, was a hundred-year-old grand eunuch of the Imperial Court, who had adopted and raised her since she was a baby. Their peaceful world suddenly changed when one day, sometime in the early years of the Vietnam war, Jonathan Edward came into their lives. On his quest to search for his just deceased lover’s mysterious birth, there he met Phượng, an exquisite beauty.

Through the eye of her father, history is retold. Just before the fall of the French Indochina during the last dynasty of Vietnam, a young eunuch hopelessly fell in love with a high-ranking concubine. Once the eunuch had secured the concubine’s trust, it became a fatal attraction. The eunuch died. The concubine, still a virgin, lost her mind. Her father said she was possessed by the young eunuch’s spirit who had been madly in love with her.

HER: The Flame Tree does not have the flavor of historical fiction, plot-heavy and sexually graphic. Rather, it is atmospheric and impressionistic, in the style of Snow Falling on Cedars. The magnificent poinciana flowers, which grace the ancient capital of Huế, symbolize farewell in Vietnamese adolescent romance. Its symbolic image befits Phượng for her magnanimous nature and grace, and the scarlet blossoming flowers when Jonathan Edward bids Phượng farewell is beauty without sadness—Wait and Hope.

Review HER: The Flame Tree by Khanh Ha


‘HER: The Flame Tree’ centers around the life of Phuong. She was adopted by a  eunuch of the Imperial of Huế, in Vietnam. Her name represents the flame tree’s flowers the are all around Huế.

The eunuch had invested in a noodle shop for Phuong to run as a teenager.  He tried to dissuade her, pointing that he could care for her until she marries but she had an independent spirit.  It was while she was working in her noodle shop that she met Jonathan Edward.  He was looking for the daughter of his deceased lover.

Thus begins the story of the eunuch of the last dynasty of Vietnam and his adopted daughter. It covers his young love of high-ranking concubine and how he eventually adopted his daughter, around the fall of the dynasty.

Decades later, Minh, an expat of Vietnam travels back to his home country to speak with Phuong, now an old woman. About her life and that of her father’s.

HER, brings us on a at times, beautiful but at times painful journey as we follow Phuong’s and her father’s journey through time in Vietnam.  Ha’s poetic prose captures the times and place with the force of the powerful flame tree.  He captures the beauty and brutality of life. It is so atmospheric; it just takes your breath away! I have found all of his books to be both beautiful and brutal but this may just be his best one to date! I highly recommend that you read ‘‘HER: The Flame Tree’ and if you haven’t already done so, all of his books.  He just captures the human condition, unconditionally, warts and all in a beautiful, almost spiritual way. 5-stars

About Khanh HaKhanh Ha



Award winning author Khanh Ha is a nine-time Pushcart nominee, finalist for The Ohio State University Fiction Collection Prize, Mary McCarthy Prize, Many Voices Project, Prairie Schooner Book Prize, The University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize, Prize Americana, and The Santa Fe Writers Project. He is the recipient of the Sand Hills Prize for Best Fiction, The Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction, The Orison Anthology Award for Fiction, The James Knudsen Prize for Fiction, The C&R Press Fiction Prize, The EastOver Fiction Prize, The Blackwater Press Fiction Prize, The Gival Press Novel Award, and The Red Hen Press Fiction Award.

Website: http://www.authorkhanhha.com
Blog: http://authorkhanhha.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KhanhHa69784776
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkhanhha
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/khanhha

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HER: The Flame Tree by Khanh Ha

Kiss of Frost and Flame by Ken CzechKiss Of Frost And Flame by Ken Czech


Publisher:  Fireship Press, (June 22, 2023)
Category: Historical Fiction, Romance/Action/Adventure, Romance/Historical/Medieval, War & Military
Tour Dates January 15-February 8, 20223
ISBN: 978-1611794113
Available in Print and ebook, 304 pages

Kiss of Frost and Flame

Description Kiss of Frost and Flame by Ken Czech


When Defending the Homeland Means Defending Your Heart.

Siberia 1581. When Umey, a young outcast woman, stumbles on a ravaged
village, she uncovers a plot that threatens to devastate her beloved
homeland. It’s furs—soft gold—the invading Cossacks crave, and the
greediest of them is Yermak, the man who saved her life and raised
her.

Armed with fearsome muskets, the Cossacks plunge deeper into the
Siberian forest, crushing the tribal folk who stand in their way.
Although prejudices are arrayed against her, Umey emerges as a tribal
leader, albeit a reluctant one. She and Alexey, a Russian soldier who
has seen too much war, are soon caught in an unfolding crucible of
destruction where their courage and incipient love will be tested in a
final collision with Yermak and his horde.

Review Kiss of Frost and Flame by Ken Czech


This novel was completely enthralling! Ken Czech has a way with words that I just find so compelling, and that makes me want to read everything that he writes! With every new novel he puts out, he creates a distinct, atmospheric world and characters that you can really root for.

In this book, the main characters are Umey and Alexey, two people from different worlds whose lives collide in an unforgettable way.

First, we are introduced to Umey, a wanderer who lives in the great forests of Sibera in the year 1581. Umey is nearly killed when she accidentally finds the remains of a Russian village that has been raided and burned to the ground. Barely escaping the musket fire of the soldiers that attacked the village, Umey recovers in a Vogul village where the people ask her to investigate the identity of the soldiers as payment for their care of her.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, Alexey Danilov wakes from a hangover into a nightmare. He is arrested for treason against the tsar, a charge that he is not guilty of. Unfortunately, his uncle is guilty, and the man’s whole family is being executed as a result. Alexey also barely manages to escape death and is, instead, drafted into the war against the Tatar rebels.

Having formerly achieved the rank of Lieutenant before his arrest, this seems like grunt work to Alexey, but his mood changes significantly when he meets Umey, who makes it to the Russian camp while hunting down the raiders. The two hit it off immediately, despite discouragement from Umey’s adopted uncle, who is Alexey’s superior. As the war begins to take shape around them, the pair of forbidden lovers must decide what is right for them and what is worth fighting for. All 5 stars!

I heartily recommend this to historical fiction lovers!

About Ken CzechKen Czech


Ken Czech is a retired history professor whose passion has turned to writing fiction.

His previous novels include BEYOND THE RIVER OF SHAME (All Things That Matter Press, 2017); LAST DANCE IN KABUL (Fireship Press, 2018); and THE TSAR’S LOCKET (Fireship Press, 2020). As a member of the Historical Novels Society, he has attended HNS conferences and workshops.

Website: https://www.kennethczech.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehistoricalnovelist/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-czech

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Giveaway Kiss of Frost and Flame by Ken Czech

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Kiss of Frost and Flame by Ken Czech

Iron Maiden by J.T. MaickeIron Maiden: An Alternate History of the German Empire by J.T. Maicke


Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing, Inc. (October 31, 2023)
Category: Historical fiction, Alternate History
Tour Dates January17-February 23, 2024
ISBN: 978-1955065917
Available in Print and ebook, 411 pages

Iron Maiden

Description Iron Maiden by J.T. Maicke


What if a woman ruled Germany in 1914? This alternate history explores that very question. An elaborate attempt to rid Germany of the Hohenzollerns has left a young sole heiress, Christiana, to take the throne of the German Empire. But this is no typical princess, hidden away in a gilded cage. This college educated, expert fencer, and accomplished equestrienne is not the meek little girl the politicians think they will be able to control. She has her own ideas how to rule!

Review Iron Maiden by J.T. Maicke


“Somehow, word had leaked out regarding the venue for the coronation ceremony and crowds of thousands of curious people, anxious to witness a piece of history, started gathering at dawn in the main plaza—the Schlossplatz—in front of the Berlin Palace. “ – ‘Iron Maiden,’ by J.T. Maicke.

A compelling alternative history novel from the author J.T. Maicke where history shifts in one bloody act.

Early morning, Easter Sunday, 1910, the Kaiser of Germany and his young family are killed when a bomb is set off at the church where they are attending a service. At the same time, all over the country, all of the members of the royal family are systematically assassinated.

All but one. Christiana Von Preussen is a cousin to the Kaiser and an accomplished woman, herself. As one of the first women in the country to attend University and a talented fencer and horsewoman, Christa is beloved by her family, despite refusing to conform to their expectations about how a princess should act.

But Christa must very quickly go from being a princess, to being a queen when she ends up as the only living member of the royal family left alive. Determined to do her best for the country that she loves so much, Christa claims the throne with aplomb, and proves all of her detractors wrong along the way.

This is a must read that offers a fresh take on a historical novel and I savored every last morsel. ‘Iron Maiden’ is an incredibly satisfying read and, while Maicke clearly did his research it never, at any point, felt like the narrative got bogged down by too many details.

If you are looking for a lush, enthralling read that sucks you in and makes you forget about the rest of the world, ‘Iron Maiden,’ by J.T. Maicke is definitely the book for you!

About J. T. Maicke


A self-described Germanophile, J.T. Maicke writes historical fiction novels that take place in Germany or among German-American communities in the Midwest. He has spent most of his life studying German history, geography, language, culture, customs, and cuisine. Maicke also spent several years living in and traveling throughout Central Europe, and he has visited many of the locations depicted in his novels. Maicke’s debut novel was ‘The Humble Courier.’

Website: https://www.jtmaicke.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jt.maicke/

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Iron Maiden by J.T. Maicke