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Kent and Katcha by Rosemary and Larry MildKent and Katcha: Espionage, Spycraft, Romance by Larry and Rosemary Mild

Publisher:  Magic Island Literary Works (March 28, 2024)
Category: Spy, Thriller, and Romance
Tour Dates May 13-June 21, 2024
ISBN: 979-8986386409
Available in Print and ebook, 248 pages

 Kent and Katcha

Description Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

 

Larry and Rosemary breach deep cover to bring you a novel of high intrigue drawn from Larry’s former association with secret operatives and their spook agencies.

The year is 1992. The Soviet Union has collapsed, but danger persists. Young Kent Brukner, a freshly trained American spy, arrives in Moscow for a high-risk mission: to infiltrate and compromise a Russian Federation Army facility. Under an alias, in a military uniform, he plies his skills—unprepared for the brutal confrontations and irrational consequences.

Kent meets the innocent and passionate Katcha, daughter of a British expatriate and a Russian dissident. Together the lovers embark on a nearly impossible journey, beginning in the foothills of the Ural Mountains. Stalked by the evil Major Dmitri Federov, they must escape from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland, or face life in a Russian prison.

 

Review Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

 

“Although cramped, the little kitchen had an air of efficiency. Huge pots and frying pans hung from hooks on the wall. The oak counters doubled as chopping blocks. Mama, daughter, and Kent bumped into each other frequently. However, when Katcha and Kent brushed together, they lingered a bit, smiling.”

Last year, I had the great pleasure of reading Larry and Rosemarry Mild’s Book, ‘On the Rails.’  Since I loved it so much, I was so excited to be able to read their latest novel, ‘Kent and Katcha’! It did not disappoint!

This has to be one of the easiest five-star ratings that I have ever given! ‘Kent and Katcha: Espionage, Spycraft, Romance,’ by Larry and Rosemary Mild is a story that is full of intrigue, thrill and romance all wrapped up in a neat little package.

Larry and Rosemary Mild are a husband-and-wife duo who write novels together. Last year I read one of their other books, ‘On The Rails,’ and I enjoyed it so much that I still find myself thinking about it from time to time.

With that book in mind, I had a strong feeling that I was going to appreciate ‘Kent and Katcha,’ and I did! The main character of the book, Kent Bruckner is an American spy who is sent to Russia to carry out a secret mission. When he is caught and sent to prison with no trial, Kent eventually escapes only to find himself lost in the foothills of the Ural mountains with no idea of where to go next.

Fortunately, he stumbles across a cafe where a beautiful, smart waitress named Katcha befriends him and agrees to let him stay with her family for a while, despite knowing that he is the escaped American spy. The two begin to bond and eventually decide to travel to America together, with the approval of Katcha’s mother.  However, they will have to get past the Russian police to do it.

Overall, this was a wonderfully constructed story that left me satisfied with the ending. I can’t wait to read more from this author duo!

 

About Larry and Rosemary Mild

Kent and Katcha by Rosemary and Larry Mild

Award winning authors Larry and Rosemary coauthor mystery, suspense, and fantasy novels and short stories: The Paco and Molly Mysteries; The Dan and Rivka Sherman Mysteries; 2 Hawaii suspense/thrillers; a sci-fi novella; a historical novel (new); and four collections of short stories.

They are members of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the National League of American Pen Women, and Hawaii Fiction Writers.

Making their home in Honolulu, Hawaii, in a condo overlooking the Pacific Ocean, they relish time with their daughter and grandchildren. Rosemary’s popular personal essays include her new book IN MY NEXT LIFE I’LL GET IT RIGHT. She is a former assistant editor of Harper’s Magazine..

Website:  https://www.magicile.com

 

Pre-order Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

 

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Giveaway Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

 

This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only. ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on June 27, 2024 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Kent and Katcha

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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Giveaway- HER: The Flame Tree by Khanh Ha



This giveaway is for 2 print or ebook copies print is open to the U.S. only. Ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on Feb 23, 2024 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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HER: The Flame Tree by Khanh Ha

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