Beyond Derrynane by Kevin O' Connell

Beyond Derrynane by Kevin O' Connell

Publication Date: July 7, 2016

Gortcullinane Press

eBook & Paperback; 348 Pages

Series: The Derrynane Saga, Volume 1

Genre: Historical Fiction

Wed in an arranged marriage to a man nearly fifty years her senior, sixteen-year-old Eileen O'Connell goes from being one of five unmarried sisters to become the mistress of Ballyhar, the great estate of John O'Connor, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Ireland.

When O'Connor dies suddenly seven months into their marriage, Eileen must decide whether she will fulfill her brother's strategic goals for her family by marrying her late husband's son.

Headstrong and outspoken, Eileen frustrates her brother's wishes, as, through the auspices of her uncle, General Moritz O'Connell of the Imperial Austrian Army, she, along with her ebullient elder sister, Abigail, spend the ensuing richly-dramatic and eventful years at the court of the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna.The sisters learn to navigate the complex and frequently contradictory ways of the court--making a place for themselves in a world far different from remote Derrynane. Together with the general, they experience a complex life at the pinnacle of the Hapsburg Empire.

Beyond Derrynane - and the three books to follow in The Derrynane Saga - will present a sweeping chronicle, set against the larger drama of Europe in the early stages of significant change, dramatising the roles, which have never before been treated in fiction, played by a small number of expatriate Irish Catholics of the fallen "Gaelic Aristocracy" (of which the O'Connells were counted as being amongst its few basically still-intact families) at the courts of Catholic Europe, as well as relating their complex, at times dangerous, lives at home in Protestant Ascendancy-ruled Ireland.

In addition to Eileen's, the books trace the largely-fictional lives of several other O'Connells of Derrynane, it is the tantalisingly few facts that are historically documented about them which provide the basic threads around which the tale itself is woven, into which strategic additions of numerous historical and fictional personalities and events intertwine seamlessly.

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About the Author

Kevin O'Connell is a native of New York City and a descendant of a young officer of what had—from 1690 to 1792—been the Irish Brigade of the French army, believed to have arrived in French Canada following the execution of Queen Marie Antoinette in October of 1793. At least one grandson subsequently returned to Ireland and Mr. O'Connell's own grandparents came to New York in the early twentieth century. He holds both Irish and American citizenship.

He is a graduate of Providence College and Georgetown University Law Centre.

For more than four decades, O'Connell has practiced international business transactional law, primarily involving direct-investment matters, throughout Asia (principally China), Europe, and the Middle East.

Mr. O’Connell has been a serious student of selected (especially the Eighteenth Century) periods of the history of Ireland for virtually all of his life; one significant aspect of this has been a continuing scholarly as well as personal interest in the extended O’Connell family at Derrynane, many even distant and long-ago members of which, especially the characters about whom he writes, he has “known” intimately since childhood.

The father of five children and grandfather of ten, he and his wife, Laurette, live with their golden retriever, Katie, near Annapolis, Maryland.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, January 16
Kick Off at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, January 17
Review at Broken Teepee

Wednesday, January 18
Review at Luxury Reading
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, January 19
Review at Books, Dreams, Life

Friday, January 20
Review at The Book Junkie Reads

Sunday, January 22
Review at Carole's Ramblings

Monday, January 23
Review at Jorie Loves a Story

Tuesday, January 24
Review at Kinx's Book Nook

Wednesday, January 25
Review at A Bookaholic Swede
Excerpt at A Literary Vacation

Friday, January 27
Review at CelticLady's Reviews
Interview at Dianne Ascroft's Blog

Monday, January 30
Review at Beth's Book Nook Blog

Tuesday, January 31
Review at Book Nerd

Title: TOO WILD TO TAME Author: Tessa Bailey

TOO WILD TO TAME Release Day Blitz Assets

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: TOO WILD TO TAME

Author: Tessa Bailey

Series: Romancing The Clarksons, #2

On Sale: January 31, 2017

Publisher: Forever

Mass Market: $5.99 USD

eBook: $2.99 USD

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**NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT FOR THE FIRST TIME**

Sometimes you just can't resist playing with fire…

By day, Aaron Clarkson suits up, shakes hands, and acts the perfect gentleman. But at night, behind bedroom doors, the tie comes off and the real Aaron comes out to play. Mixing business with pleasure got him fired, so Aaron knows that if he wants to work for the country's most powerful senator, he'll have to keep his eye on the prize. That's easier said than done when he meets the senator's daughter, who's wild, gorgeous, and 100 percent trouble.

Grace Pendleton is the black sheep of her conservative family. Yet while Aaron's presence reminds her of a past she'd rather forget, something in his eyes keeps drawing her in. Maybe it's the way his voice turns her molten. Or maybe it's because deep down inside, the ultra-smooth, polished Aaron Clarkson might be more than even Grace can handle…

BUY THE BOOK HERE

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THE ROMANCING THE CLARKSONS SERIES

TOO HOT TO HANDLE, #1

TOO WILD TO TAME, #2

TOO HARD TO FORGET, #3

Series Page on Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop, and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend, and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

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The Queen's Maid of Honour (Book Four) by Michael Stolle

The French Orphan (Book One)
by Michael Stolle

Publication Date: June 12, 2012
eBook & Paperback; 388 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction







The year is 1640, and Louis XIII is on the French throne. However, as far as you’re concerned, this is all pretty meaningless. After all, as a teenage orphan living in a monastery school in Reims, all you have to worry about is dodging the unpleasant advances of a few unsavoury monks and looking forward to a life of penniless and celibate servitude in a religious order.

After a childhood and adolescence plagued by a constant longing to know who he really is, orphan Pierre has not the slightest idea that his questions are about to be answered. But you know what they say – be careful what you wish for…

Suddenly finding out who you are can bring with it not only happiness and fortune, but danger, friendship and the sort of swift education that the monastery could never have provided! The discovery of who Pierre really is affects not only Pierre and his friends, but has ramifications for the French nobility, the English crown, and most dangerous of all, the machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and his fierce ambition for the Church and for himself.

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The Secrets of Montrésor (Book Two)
by Michael Stolle

Publication Date: November 12, 2012
eBook & Paperback; 298 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction







The Secrets of Montrésor is the eagerly awaited sequel to The French Orphan, and continues the story of young Pierre de Beauvoir…

Coming into a fortune at any age brings huge responsibility, but when you’re an inexperienced teenager, it seems that surprises are waiting for you around every corner.

Pierre, former orphan and now Marquis de Beauvoir, may have claimed his inheritance, but life is never that simple. For a start, he needs to learn pretty quickly exactly who to trust and who to keep at arm’s length. For example, how do you work out (and survive….) the changing motives of the most powerful man in seventeenth-century France, Cardinal Richelieu? And then what do you do when the people you should be able to trust try to deliver you into the hands of your worst enemy? And then there’s the small matter of a sacred quest to Italy…

Fortunately for Pierre he has his best friend Armand to support him as he gets to know his chateau at Montrésor, its people and… its secrets. (Armand, of course, has his own agendas to pursue, usually involving a pretty face and a willing smile.)

Far from being certain, Pierre’s future has yet to be settled and Pierre will have to draw on his own innate talents as well as those of the people around him to ensure he survives, as his enemies are just waiting to seize their opportunity.

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Under the Spell of The Serenissima (Book Three)
by Michael Stolle

Publication Date: December 15, 2013
eBook & Paperback; 302 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction







The third in the French Orphan series follows the exploits of Pierre, former penniless orphan who discovers he is heir to the de Beauvoir inheritance.

So far, Pierre has found friends in unexpected places, been surprised by love, learned the true meaning of friendship, discovered the extent of human cunning and depravity and dodged numerous attempts by his closest family member to despatch him to the next world.

In Under the Spell of the Serenissima Pierre’s search for the third Templar ring continues, but as ever, his path is not a smooth one. Pierre and Armand, along with Jean and Edoardo, are making for Venice, unaware that others too are racing towards the beautiful city, some intending to help, others with far more sinister motives.

As the various characters are drawn inexorably towards Venice, a conclusion will be played out that must decide Pierre’s fate, one way or another…

Amazon

The Queen's Maid of Honour (Book Four)
by Michael Stolle

Publication Date: March 31, 2016
eBook & Paperback; 300 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction







The year is 1643. The scheming Cardinal Mazarin is now Prime Minister of France, but on the other side of the Channel, unrest in England grows daily, as civil war is erupting. As the political situation in England deteriorates, the royal court flees London for Oxford, and King Charles is desperate to secure both funding and troops to come to his aid.

Mazarin, every bit as devious as his predecessor, Richelieu, engages the services of François de Toucy to save the Queen of England, a former royal princess of France. François and his friends will set sail for England, in a quest to ensure the safety of the queen.

Whilst François is walking a diplomatic tightrope across the political cauldron of the royal court, his friend Armand falls desperately in love with the Queen’s Maid of Honour, a lady as beautiful as she is cunning.

Soon the friends find themselves deeply entangled in a deadly combination of cut-throat politics, disasters on the battlefield and bitter machinations at court over love and war and the struggle between Protestants and Catholics that threaten to spell only death and disaster.

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About the Author

Born and educated in Europe, Michael has always been intrigued by the historical setting and the fact that what makes us human was as true in the 17th century as it is now.

He has been reading and writing about history for longer than he cares to recall...

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, January 23
Blog Tour Kick Off at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, January 24
Review at Books, Dreams, Life (The French Orphan)

Wednesday, January 25
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views (The French Orphan)

Thursday, January 26
Review at Book Nerd (The Queen's Maid of Honour)

Friday, January 27
Spotlight at What Is That Book About
Review at Clarissa Reads It All (The French Orphan)

Monday, January 30
Review at Books, Dreams, Life (The Secrets of Montrésor)
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views (The Secrets of Montrésor)

Tuesday, January 31
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation
Review at Clarissa Reads It All (The Secrets of Montrésor)

Wednesday, February 1
Review at 100 Pages a Day (The French Orphan)

Thursday, February 2
Spotlight at Broken Teepee
Review at Turning The Pages (The French Orphan)

Friday, February 3
Spotlight at A Bookaholic Swede
Review at Turning The Pages (The Secrets of Montrésor)

Sunday, February 5
Review at Books, Dreams, Life (Under the Spell of The Serenissima)
Review at Clarissa Reads It All (Under the Spell of The Serenissima)
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views (Under the Spell of The Serenissima)

Monday, February 6
Review at 100 Pages a Day (The Secrets of Montrésor)

Tuesday, February 7
Spotlight at Kinx's Book Nook

Wednesday, February 8
Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews
Review at Clarissa Reads It All (The Queen's Maid of Honour)

Thursday, February 9
Review at Turning The Pages (Under the Spell of The Serenissima)

Friday, February 10
Review at Turning The Pages (The Queen's Maid of Honour)
Review at Historical Fiction Obsession (The French Orphan)
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views (The Queen's Maid of Honour)

Saturday, February 11
Review at Yelena Casale's Blog (The French Orphan)
Review at Books, Dreams, Life (The Queen's Maid of Honour)

Giveaway

To win a paperback copy of The French Orphan (Book One) by Michael Stolle, please enter via the Gleam form below. Three copies are up for grabs!

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on February 11th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to residents in the US, UK, and CANADA only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

French Orphan Series

Author: Staci Hart Genre: Contemporary Romance Cover Design: Staci Hart

Title: A Thousand Letters

Author: Staci Hart

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cover Design: Staci Hart

Release Date: February 9, 2017

Blurb

Sometimes your life is split by a single decision.

I’ve spent every day of the last seven years regretting mine: he left, and I didn’t follow. A thousand letters went unanswered, my words like petals in the wind, spinning away into nothing, taking me with them.

But now he’s back.

I barely recognize the man he’s become, but I can still see a glimmer of the boy who asked me to be his forever, the boy I walked away from when I was young and afraid.

Maybe if he’d come home under better circumstances, he could speak to me without anger in his voice. Maybe if I’d said yes all those years ago, he’d look at me without the weight of rejection in his eyes. Maybe if things were different, we would have had a chance.

One regretted decision sent him away. One painful journey bought him back to me. I only wish I could keep him.

*A contemporary romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion*

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Author Bio

Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life: a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can't forget that. She's also been a mom, with three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She's been a wife, even though she's certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She's also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she's been drinking whiskey. Her favorite word starts with f and ends with k.



From roots in Houston, to a seven year stint in Southern California, Staci and her family ended up settling somewhere in between and equally north, in Denver. They are new enough that snow is still magical. When she's not writing, she's sleeping, cleaning, or designing graphics.

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GOOD GIRL a Love Unexpectedly novel Lauren Layne

"a delicious bite of Southern seduction with chemistry that sizzles." 

- Rebecca Yarros

GOOD GIRL

a Love Unexpectedly novel

Lauren Layne

Released May 17th, 2016

Loveswept

New York Times BESTSELLER • Lauren Layne brings all the unpredictable heat
of Blurred Lines to
an all-new cast of characters! Country music’s favorite good girl is hiding
away from the world—only to find herself bunking with a guy who makes her want
to be a little bad.

 

Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music,
not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s
suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal
connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking
her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next
album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker
named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and
serious heat.

 

Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston
Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer
has made her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed
break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is
indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet
pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he
is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their
problems together—before the outside world catches up to them.

ON SALE .99 CENTS

Lauren
Layne is the New York Times bestselling author
of more than a dozen romantic comedies. She lives in New York City with her
husband (who was her high school sweetheart--cute, right?!) and plus-sized
Pomeranian.

In
2011, she ditched her corporate career in Seattle to pursue a full-time writing
career in Manhattan, and never looked back.

In her
ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a
Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books.

For a
list of all her works, please be sure to check out her official website!

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DEAR AGONY Georgia Cates

Tasty Book Tours Presents....

DEAR AGONY

Georgia Cates

Releasing March 1st, 2017

Dear Agony,

You've been
my shadow, following me through childhood—filling my days and nights with
terror and uncertainty. You cleverly disguised yourself as some form of pain or
suffering as I grew into a young woman. We were unwavering companions … until I
severed our ties.

I traded homelessness on the streets of New Orleans for a luxurious bed covered
by the finest linens.

I traded
dumpster diving for dinner in the finest restaurants.

I traded
myself to a stranger—Bastien Pascal.

I have a
good life within my platonic and mutually beneficial companionship with Bash.

He’s my
friend. My mentor. My roommate.

Until
everything changes.

I’m not
supposed to get goosebumps when his hand brushes my skin.

I’m not
supposed to be eager for his soothing touch following one of my nightmares.

I’m not
supposed to think about what might happen if I reached out to him in the
darkness.

Falling in
love with him? Preposterous . . . unavoidable.

Agony, why
are you back with a vengeance to rob me of this life I’ve come to love so
dearly?

I’m finally
happy. Don’t ruin this for me.

Always
yours,

Rose

In this
epic love story, Dear Agony forges a connection between an unlikely pair—a
beautiful rose entwined in barbed wire and a shipwreck sinking into the darkest
depths of the ocean. This agonizing romantic novel poses some gut-wrenching
questions: What does a woman do when the man she loves is planning his own
demise? And how far will she go to give him something to live for?

Georgia Cates resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent fourteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before she decided to pursue her dream of becoming an author and hasn’t looked back yet.

When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. When she’s being domestic, she’s listening to her music and visualizing scenes for her current work in progress. Every story coming from her always has a song to inspire it.

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