Thanks to Max López of JKS Communications, I am giving away two print copies of ‘Spies of Midnight Sun’ by Samuel Marquis.
Description Spies of Midnight Sun by Samuel Marquis
SPIES OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN is the true story of legendary British safecracker and spy Eddie Chapman, the British Double Cross Spy System, and Norwegian female Resistance operatives Dagmar Lahlum and Annemarie Breien.
Known as Agent Zigzag, the most remarkable double agent of WWII, the fearless and roguishly handsome Chapman fell in love with and spied alongside the stunning 20-year-old model Dagmar Lahlum in Occupied Norway. Based upon recently released historical records from British and Norwegian archives, this WWII adventure and romance tale illuminates for the first time the intimate relationship between the two spy-lovers as well as the wartime exploits of Lahlum, Breien, and the Norwegian Resistance to liberate Norway and combat the Gestapo’s bloodhound investigator, Siegfried Fehmer.
The contributions of Dagmar Lahlum and Annemarie Breien to the Allied war effort are many and incontrovertible—and yet history has never properly recognized these courageous Resistance women for their achievements. Until now. This book is their story and the story of the colorful Eddie Chapman in their efforts to defeat the Nazis.
Praise Samuel Marquis
“The Coalition has a lot of good action and suspense, an unusual female assassin, and the potential to be another The Day After Tomorrow [the runaway bestseller by Allan Folsom].”–James Patterson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
“Marquis is a student of history, always creative, [and] never boring…A good comparison might be Tom Clancy.”–Military.com
“Altar of Resistance is a gripping and densely packed thriller dramatizing the Allied Italian campaign…reminiscent of Herman Wouk’s ‘The Winds of War’.”–Kirkus Reviews
About Samuel Marquis
The ninth great-grandson of legendary privateer Captain William Kidd, Samuel Marquis is the bestselling, award-winning author of a World War Two Series, the Nick Lassiter-Skyler International Espionage Series, and historical pirate fiction. His novels have been #1 Denver Post bestsellers, received multiple national book awards (Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, American Book Fest Best Book, USA Best Book, Beverly Hills, Next Generation Indie, Colorado Book Awards), and garnered glowing reviews from #1 bestseller James Patterson, Kirkus, and Foreword Reviews (5 Stars). Book reviewers have compared Marquis’s WWII thrillers Bodyguard of Deceptionand Altar of Resistance to the epic historical novels of Tom Clancy, John le Carré, Ken Follett, Herman Wouk, Daniel Silva, and Alan Furst.
Mr. Marquis’s newest historical novel, Spies of the Midnight Sun, is the true story of legendary British safecracker and spy Eddie Chapman, the British Double Cross Spy System, and courageous Norwegian female Resistance operatives Dagmar Lahlum and Annemarie Breien.
Lost Mata Hari Ring: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas
Publisher: Broadback (May 1, 2018) Category: Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Romance Tour dates: May-July, 2018 ISBN: 978-1513634326 Available in Print and ebook, 370 pages
Up-and-coming actress, Trace Rutland, has had nightmares about a tragic past ever since she was a little girl. She struggles with her everyday life, finally seeking help from a hypnotherapist.
While under hypnosis, she inadvertently experiences a past life in Paris, in 1916, during the First World War.
Later, while visiting a wealthy man’s private Mata Hari collection, Trace is drawn to a glittering ring, once worn by the convicted spy.
Trace is enthralled. When she’s alone, she slips the ring on and is swiftly hurled into the past. There, she must face herself as she was in the past, while struggling to change the course of her destiny.
When she meets the handsome Edward Kenyon Bishop, a World War I British flying ace, she falls in love. She is soon swept away into a journey of suspicion and treachery, and must fight for her life.
Can she survive the past? Can she return to the present? Can true love endure for all time?
Trailer Lost Mata Hari Ring: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas
Praise Christmas Eve Letter: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas
“The Christmas Eve Letter is a wonderful Christmas novel. The authors weave an intriguing time travel holiday romance tale written in the third person narrative that follows Eve Sharland’s personal journey between the present and the past. The reader is easily drawn into this fast paced time travel holiday romance story as they follow Eve’s journey between the past and the present. The reader can easily envision both the present and the past among the city’s famous landmarks, and easily get drawn into the city’s joyous sights and sounds of the holiday season. You can’t help but relate to Eve and cheer her on as her personal journey brings an unexpected destiny that will change her life forever. I really enjoyed the intertwining of a time travel tale with a holiday romance twist, the historical references were realistic, while the time travel between the present and past kept me intrigued right to the end. Captivating.”-Kathleen, Jersey Girl Book Reviews
“This book was very enjoyable because I do like time travel stories – the possibilities and potential and having to figure out how to fit into the past (or the present depending on which way you are going!). I thought the author did a good job of recapturing that time period including the fact that women really didn’t have any rights and were chattel. The men were egotistical which contributed to any downfall they experienced. The ending has an interesting twist that changed how I saw a few characters in the book. This is the first book by this author that I have read and I will be seeking out some of her other books.”-Leslie Storey, Storey Book Reviews
“The Christmas Eve Letter is a beautiful, poignant story. It is well written and will have you turning the pages eagerly. Eve is a lovely, smart young woman, especially when she quickly realised that her manners, and the way she talks, needed to alter for her to fit in with her arrival in Victorian New York. All of the characters are well thought out, and believably written, together with the well-constructed scenery, that has you feeling as if you yourself have just stepped into the past. The story is unique and moving. It will hold you long after you turn the last page. A perfect Christmas tale of love and hope.”-Stacey, Whispering Stories
Interview Elyse Douglas, Author ‘Lost Mata Hari Ring’
TR: What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
ED: I suppose my favorite scene takes place when the protagonist, Trace Rutland, meets the World War I flying ace Edward Kenyon Bishop for the first time.
Edward simply burst into my writing room and demanded to be in the book. He was so alive, so dashing and so much fun to have around. As Edward might say, “No, my good friends, I am not daft.” But he was that real to me.
Anyway, I fell in love with Edward at around the same time Trace did.
TR: How much time and effort went into your research for the book?
ED: It’s hard to say, because it was on-going for the nearly one and a half years it took to write the book. Initially, before beginning, we read several books about Mata Hari, along with many articles and blog posts. We also contacted Hans Groeneweg, Lid projectgroep Mata Hari, of the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Friesland in the Netherlands, for specific research as to Mata Hari’s daughter, and his help was invaluable.
We found postcards, notes and letters Mata Hari had written, and she wrote many. She would have loved modern social media, probably posting on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram several times a day.
TR: Why did you decide to use time travel for this book?
ED: The novel is essentially about redemption, so the challenge was how best to peel back the layers of Mata Hari’s remarkable and tragic life to show what was actually going on in her gut. We wanted the reader to be both a participant and an observer, as Trace is.
We decided fairly early that time travel would be a good device to reveal emotion, regret, character and drama both in the past, the present and the future. We liked that the story would be textured, offering many plot possibilities to explore the theme of regret and redemption and, ultimately, self forgiveness.
We also felt that setting the novel in 1916, when Mata Hari was 40, about a year before her death, would be best for the theme. She had fallen in love with a 21-year-old Russian soldier, which was an interesting and, as it turned out, an important plot thread, an event that may have helped lead her to her death.
Finally, we wanted the protagonist, a modern young woman of twenty-eight, to give us an experience of what it was like to live through the harsh realities of France during the First World War. We loved the idea of a modern woman being swept off her feet by a handsome young British flyer who reflected the culture, manners and speech of 1916.
TR: Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?
ED: As one of our friends pointed out just the other day, the Canadian actress Sarah Gadon would be perfect for Trace and Alex Pettyfer would be just right for Edward Kenyon Bishop.
TR: Tell us about your cover. Did you design it yourself?
ED: We offered ideas and suggestions. Our good friend and talented designer, Ken Kenyon, designed the cover, along with a few others. We decided the one we finally used had the historical look and feel we wanted. We used his last name for Edward’s middle name, Kenyon, and he loved that.
TR: If you could meet 3 people living, dead, or fictional, who would they be?
ED: I will not say William Shakespeare, so… St. Teresa of Avila, Casanova (why not?) and George Sand.
TR: What is your usual writing routine?
ED: I write at least six days a week, more often seven, and my best time is from 1pm to 5pm.
TR: What are you currently working on?
ED: We are currently working on the sequel to our Time Travel Christmas novel from 2017, The Christmas Eve Letter. The new novel is entitled The Christmas Eve Child, and it will be released sometime in September.
About Elyse Douglas
Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the husband and wife writing team of Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse began writing poems and short stories at an early age and graduated with a degree in English Literature. Douglas began writing novels in college, while studying music at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He traveled the world as a professional pianist for many years. He has also worked as a copywriter and corporate manager.
Some of Elyse Douglas’ novels include: The Christmas Eve Letter (A Time Travel Novel), Christmas for Juliet, The Summer Letters, The Christmas Diary, and The Summer Diary. They live in New York City.
Giveaway Lost Mata Hari Ring: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas
This giveaway is for one print or ebook copy. Print is open to the U.S. only but ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on July 27, 2018 at 12 midnight pacific. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Thanks to Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, LLC, I am giving away one print copy of ‘The River by Starlight’ by Ellen Notbohm.
Description River by Starlight by Ellen Notbohm
Her brother’s letter touched a match to the wick of Annie’s doused dreams. Dream enough for her, to stroll the length of a town without the abortive glances, the stilted greetings, the wider berth given her on the sidewalk. “I could use some help out here,” he wrote. “What’s holding you to Iowa anyway?”
Annie Rushton leaves behind an unsettling past to join her brother on his Montana homestead and make a determined fresh start. There, sparks fly when she tangles with Adam Fielding, a visionary businessman-farmer determined to make his own way and answer to no one. Neither is looking for a partner, but they give in to their undeniable chemistry.
Annie and Adam’s marriage brims with astounding success and unanticipated passion, but their dream of having a child eludes them as a mysterious illness of mind and body plagues Annie’s pregnancies. Amidst deepening economic adversity, natural disaster, and the onset of world war, their personal struggles collide with the societal mores of the day. Annie’s shattering periods of black depression and violent outbursts exact a terrible price. The life the Fieldings have forged begins to unravel, and the only path ahead leads to unthinkable loss.
Based on true events, this sweeping novel weaves a century-old story, timeless in its telling of love, heartbreak, healing, and redemption embodied in one woman’s tenacious quest for control over her own destiny in the face of devastating misfortune and social injustice.
Praise River by Starlight by Ellen Notbohm
GOLD MEDAL, INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS Best Regional Fiction – West Mountain
“Captivating….the writing is exquisite . . . weaves heartache and redemption together to illuminate the power of love in life’s darkest moments.”—Foreword Reviews
“Graceful and unflinching…a complex journey of grief, fulfillment, betrayal, and forgiveness.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Magical storytelling . . . With intimate and poetic language reminiscent of Paulette Jiles and Marisa de los Santos, Notbohm demonstrates that loss and fragility often exist alongside strength and bliss.”—Booklist
About Ellen Notbohm
An internationally renowned author, Ellen Notbohm’s work has informed, inspired, and delighted millions in more than twenty languages. Writing from her experiences raising children with autism and ADHD, her perennially popular Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew has been an autism bestseller since 2005.
Her article collection for Ancestry magazine (2005 – 2010) related stories both poignant and uplifting gathered during extensive research for The River by Starlight. Ellen is a lifelong resident of Oregon.
Spies of Midnight Sun by Samuel Marquis
Spies of Midnight Sun by Samuel Marquis
River by Starlight by Ellen Notbohm