Book Blast: Betrayal by the Historical Fictioneers

Betrayal

by the Historical Fictioneers

Published: November 17, 2020

Formats: eBook; 436 pages

Genre: Historical short stories

"Loyalty breaks as easily as a silken thread."

Misplaced trust, power hunger, emotional blackmail, and greed haunt twelve characters from post-Roman Britain to the present day. And betrayal by family, lover, comrade can be even more devastating.

Read twelve tales by twelve accomplished writers who explore these historical yet timeless challenges from post Roman Britain to the present day.

AD455—Roman leader Ambrosius is caught in a whirlpool of shifting allegiances

AD940—Alyeva and cleric Dunstan navigate the dangers of the Anglo Saxon court

1185—Knight Stephan fights for comradeship, duty, and honour. But what about love?

1330—The powerful Edmund of Kent enters a tangled web of intrigue

1403—Thomas Percy must decide whether to betray his sovereign or his family

1457—Estelle is invited to the King of Cyprus’s court, but deception awaits

1483—Has Elysabeth made the right decision to bring Prince Edward to London?

1484—Margaret Beaufort contemplates the path to treason

1577—Francis Drake contends with disloyalty at sea

1650—Can James Hart, Royalist highwayman, stop a nemesis destroying his friend?

1718—Pirate Annie Bonny, her lover Calico Jack, and a pirate hunter. Who will win?

1849/present—Carina must discover her ancestor’s betrayer in Italy or face ruin.

“I read this anthology from start to finish in a matter of days…. Each story is gripping.”– Discovering Diamonds Reviews

About the Historical Fictioneers:

Hailing from two continents and five countries, the Historical Fictioneers include Judith Arnopp, Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Derek Birks, Helen Hollick, Amy Maroney, Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Tony Riches, Mercedes Rochelle, Elizabeth St John, and Annie Whitehead. 

The Historical Fictioneers can be reached via their Facebook Group at http://bit.ly/HistoricalFictioneers

Betrayal is offered as a FREE download from Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble. Claim your eBook today: https://books2read.com/BetrayalAnthology

Blog Tour Review: Fall of Poppies

From the Back Cover:

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month . . .

November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting, the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For soldiers, loved ones, and survivors, the years ahead stretch with new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have been lost.

As families come back together, lovers reunite, and strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell.

In this moving, unforgettable collection, nine top historical fiction authors share stories of love, strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

Featuring: Jessica Brockmole, Hazel Gaynor, Evangeline Holland, Marci Jefferson, Kate Kerrigan, Jennifer Robson, Heather Webb, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig

My Thoughts:

A young Belgian patriot discovers the German patient she begrudgingly cares for isn't at all what he seems. Wartime lovers reunite decades later to discover they were kept apart by misunderstandings. A young Red Cross volunteer finds first love with a disfigured soldier only to be cruelly separated from him. A dancer struggles to survive and imagine a future in Paris after losing everyone she loved to the war. A timid airman makes a hasty promise to a stranger and finds a new reason to survive the war. A grieving widow vows revenge on the Germans who took so much from her. A disillusioned American airman finally finds a reason to leave Paris nearly two years after the war's end. A British soldier stationed in Dublin to quell the uprising falls in love with an Irish girl. And an English midwife desperately fights for the life of a newborn while her sons fights for his life on a French battlefield.

This is an excellent collection of short stories by nine talented historical fiction authors. While the stories are not interconnected, they do all share a common theme, the Armistice, and these stories really capture the conflicting emotions that the end of the war brings. Of course, there is joy and celebration but also a sense of uncertainty. Is it really over? What comes next? What do we do now? What was it all for? How do we go on as before when none of us will ever be the same?

Blog Tour Q&A with Eileen Stephenson, Author of Tales of Byzantium

I am so thrilled to have Eileen Stephenson here today with her debut short story collection, Takes of Byzantium! I was honored to work on this book with Eileen in an editorial capacity, and I designed the cover too. Eileen is touring the blogosphere with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, and I had the chance to ask her a few questions about her favorite Byzantines. Read on and enter for your chance to win a paperback copy of Tales of Byzantium!

A young empress defies her powerful father for love and her rightful place on the throne.

A charismatic commander takes the gamble of a lifetime to save the lives of thousands of innocents.

An exiled princess finds a new sense of purpose and creates a legacy that will stand through the ages.

These stories provide a glimpse of the dynamic and proud Byzantines who lived during the height of the empire’s splendor.

“Through elegantly described details, sharply observed characters, and especially crisp, modern-sounding dialogue, Stephenson takes these vignettes from the thousand years of Byzantine history, mixes them liberally with such excellent modern narrative histories as John Julius Norwich’s A Short History of Byzantium, and manages to create three very intriguing windows into a part of history largely unknown to many readers.” -Anne McNulty, Historical Novel Society Indie Reviews

Hi Eileen! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit Let Them Read Books! What sparked your interest in the Byzantines?

It was one book – A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich. I was at the library looking for something to read and borrowed it when I couldn’t find anything more interesting. Little did I realize that this small book, which Norwich considers the “lite” version of his comprehensive three-volume history, would lead me down a path I never expected to be on.

How did you determine who to write about for this collection?

There are so many fascinating stories of the Byzantines, but it is the middle period that inspires me. The first story, about the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his wife, Helena Lecapena, is an improbable love story of two people who had no reason to like each other, until they did. I recognized the great story potential they had when I first read about them in Norwich’s book.

I first read about Manuel Comnenus and his defense of Nicaea in one of my research books, a translation of John Skylitzes’ history. His descendants would establish a great dynasty and bring the empire back from the brink of collapse. I found his ingenious way out of his predicament in Nicaea both daring and amusing and thought he deserved a story.

The story of Anna Comnena, although the last in the book, was the first I wrote. She was also the great granddaughter of Manuel Comnenus in the second story and the earliest female historian. She was thwarted in her attempts to reach the throne, but found purpose and redemption in writing a history of her father’s reign instead. A story about the strange course our lives can take on our way to our destiny.

Blog Tour Review ~ A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii

From the Back Cover:

Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain's wrath . . . and these are their stories: 

A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii's flourishing streets. 
An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire. 
An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished. 
A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue. 
A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls. 
A priestess and a whore seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried. 

Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each others' path during Pompeii's fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

My Thoughts:

If you are fascinated by the fate of Pompeii and its residents and gobble up the documentaries on the history channels, like me, and recently watched the big Hollywood action flick Pompeii and were disappointed in it, as I was, treat yourself to A Day of Fire and prepare to immerse yourself in the heart of a city on the brink of destruction. I'd had the pleasure of reading four of the authors featured in this collection before, so I just knew this had to be good, and it was!

A Day of Fire was a unique read for me. I've read a few novella collections, but never was one constructed in such a way that all of the stories truly worked together to form a whole picture, and it's genius in its design. The stories follow the progression of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, from the warning-filled days leading up to the eruption to the scramble for survival as ash and stone rain down on the streets to the final deathly silence that remains after the pyroclastic flow entombs the city.

The reader experiences this devastating event from the points of view of six main characters, the Son, the Heiress, the Soldier, the Senator, the Mother, and the Whore, and I loved the way featuring different people from different walks of life in different parts of the city combined to form such a complete picture of life in Pompeii. Even the manner in which these people were connected—friends of friends, business relationships, romantic encounters, common enemies, chance meetings—
underscored the humanity and sense of community in this hedonistic resort town where pleasures, and people, are bought and sold, and where everyone has an angle.