Why Historical Fiction Matters and Why I Wrote the Magician’s Daughter by Alison Chambershttps://bit.ly/4iD2Qqk

Happy Historical Fiction month and thank you to Coffee Time Romance for allowing me to be a part of it.

Why is Historical Fiction So Important?
“What’s past is prologue” is a Shakespeare quote from the play “The Tempest.” It basically means that past events set the stage for what is to come. History provides context, meaning that these past events are just the beginning of the story and shape and inform future events. We learn from the past, whether in our own personal experience or when contemplating how we should move forward in our daily lives.

Why I Love Writing and Reading History
It`s fun to “play around” with history, creating intriguing “what-ifs” when we want to write a story to change past events. Majoring in political science and history with a heavy emphasis on World War II at a time when not many women were entering these fields, led me to have an early fascination with the era leading up to the war and the war itself. Even before college, I read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” by William L. Shirer and “Eleanor and Franklin” by Joseph P. Lash, the latter detailing the forty-five-year marriage between Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.

“The Magician’s Daughter” is my first truly historical novel. The others were set in the present, though they centered around historical elements. “The Secret Sentinel” dealt with lost Civil War treasure and “The Montezuma Secret” involved a search for Montezuma’s lost gold.

While I enjoy all kinds of historical fiction, I have really enjoyed the resurgence of World War II historical fiction in recent years, by authors such as Karen Robards (my favorite), Kate Quinn, Kristin Harmel, and Kristin Hannah.

Purchase Link: “The Magician’s Daughter”
“A Thrilling Novel of Conspiracy, Espionage & Intrigue”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DW9JF5QD

“The Magician’s Daughter” takes place on a US Army Air Force Base outside London in 1942 as a way of providing a different backdrop for the novel, as opposed to setting it in Nazi-Occupied Europe. I wanted to focus on several interesting areas, including highlight... ...

Book Giveaway For An Enchanted Knight (The Cursed Kingdom, #1)https://bit.ly/3DpZxDY

An Enchanted Knight (The Cursed Kingdom, #1)

by

Hildie McQueen(Goodreads Author)

Release date: Mar 31, 2025

Gwyneth "Gwen" Lockhart has a rare and powerful gift—she helps lost spirits find peace and cross over. When she takes on a job at a beautiful Scottish castle, she expects it to be like any other. But when she encounters the ghostly presence of Lord Tristan McRainey, a knight who died centuries ago, something feels different. Drawn to him in ways she can’t explain, Gwen begins to wonder if Tristan is not a ghost at all, but a man cursed and trapped in time by dark magic.

Lord Tristan McRainey has been imprisoned for three hundred years, bound by an evil wizard’s spell along with four of his fellow knights. When Gwen enters his world, he’s certain that she holds the key to breaking the enchantment. Confident that he can make her fall in love with him and sacrifice whatever it takes to free him, Tristan has no doubt the plan will work. But what he doesn’t expect is to find himself falling for her first.

And as their bond deepens, the cost of breaking the curse may be higher than either of them imagined.

Binge a brand new Romantasy! Discover The Cursed Kingdom. Enter for a chance to win one of 100 copies!
An exciting new paranormal romantic treasure from USA Today bestselling Historical Romance Author Hildie McQueen

Gwyneth "Gwen" Lockhart has a rare...more

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Giveaway ends in: 24 days and 6:58:14

Availability: 100 copies available, 1257 people requesting

Giveaway dates: Mar 01 - Mar 31, 2025

Countries available: U.S.

About Hildie McQueen

Bestselling author Hildie McQueen loves unusual situations and getting into interesting adventures, which is what her characters do as well. She writes romance because she is in love with love! Author of Romance in Highland historical, Western Historical and contemporary, she writes something every reader can enjoy.

Most days she can be found in her pajamas hiding from deliverymen while drinking te...more ...

Sophia`s Letter by Elizabeth Donnehttps://bit.ly/3DkxjKS

In my sweet Regency novel, "Sophia`s Letter," the written correspondence between the hero and heroine plays a central role in the plot. You can read the first three chapters in the Amazon sample here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKG71KFK

In Regency times, without landlines, emails, or text messaging, letters were the go-to method for communication between businesses and households. In literature of that era, letters carried critical news of an inheritance or, perhaps, the longing sighs of parted lovers.

Letters can make for interesting plot-points. Whose handwriting is that? Why is this person suddenly writing to her if she hardly knows him?

We might assume then that envelopes might also hold promising mysteries in Regency literature, right? Oddly enough, the answer is, mostly, "no." Envelopes really only came into regular use in Victorian times.

This is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:
"In Western history, from the time flexible writing material became more readily available in the 13th century until the mid-19th century, correspondence was typically secured by a process of letter folding and sealing which sometimes employed elaborate letterlocking techniques to indicate tampering or prove authenticity. Some of these techniques, which could involve stitching or wax seals, were also employed to secure hand-made envelopes."
- (2021, March 12). Envelope. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envelope

Shannon Donnelly explains further:
"The letter itself differed from its modern form. The letter usually comprised a single sheet (sometimes folded once in the middle to make a booklet-like page). This was folded in thirds, then the ends were folded together, with one end tucked inside another. Hot wax dripped onto the joining ends sealed the letter.
- Shannon Donnelly. (2010, May 29). The Regency Post — A Pity We`ve Lost Letters. Shannon Donnelly`s Fresh Ink. Retrieved April 12, 2021, from https://shannondonnelly.com/2010/05/

We can see that it would be unusual for a Regency author to write a scene in which the heroine eagerly rips open an envelope. More li... ...

With Love in Their Corner by Sandra Sookoohttps://bit.ly/3QQJjGY

When you want something out of life, you’ll have to fight for it.

Lewis Stapleton, eighth Earl of Lethbridge is a man hovering on the edge of breaking. Between his mother pestering him about finding a bride of high social standing, maintaining his estates and title without enough funding, and worrying over his brothers, he requires an outlet. Anger and grief haven’t been dealt with since his father’s death two years prior, so he works through those emotions while in the boxing ring. His father was a prize fighter so matching his over-large footsteps is difficult, but something must give else he’ll explode.

Miss Cecilia Dawson is tired of being an object of ridicule or allegedly not good enough for anything beyond a quick tryst. With an affinity for numbers, she keeps the books for her father’s shipping company, but is desperate for a way to defend herself against the coarse and crude men she encounters in the office near the docks. The day she steps into the Stapleton Boxing Salon while disguised as a boy rapidly becomes both the best and worst day of her life.

Despite the instant attraction between them, Lewis ignores it in favor of teaching Cecilia how to box for protection. As the summer days slip by filled with an illegal fight or two as well as activities that come far too close to courtship, the attraction spills into forbidden desire that lands them both into scandal. Distracted, they never see danger coming that puts them into a corner of peril.

Only by releasing fears and working together will they come away with a prize more valuable than anything they could imagine.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTLK2R71/

Meet the Author

Sandra Sookoo is a USA Today bestselling author who firmly believes every person deserves acceptance and a happy ending. She’s written for publication since 2008. Most days you can find her creating scandal and mischief in the Regency-era, serendipity and happenstance in Victorian era romances, or historical romantic suspense complete with mystery and intrigue. Reading is a lot like eating fine chocolates—you can’t just have one. Good thing book... ...

Marriage and Murder by Stephanie Laurens
https://bit.ly/41Hs0Pc

When a middle-aged spinster is found strangled in her country cottage and scurrilous gossip implicates Henry, Lord Glossup, he appeals to Barnaby and Penelope Adair along with Inspector Stokes to unravel the mystery of who killed Viola Huntingdon.

Henry, Lord Glossup, arrives on Barnaby and Penelope Adairs` doorstep and begs their aid-and that of Stokes-in identifying the murderer of Viola Huntingdon, a middle-aged spinster who lived a largely blameless life in a country cottage in a tiny village close to Henry`s home. As Stokes has already been tapped to take the case, the investigators travel to Salisbury and thence to Ashmore village and throw themselves into the case.

While initially Henry was touted as a suspect, he is quickly eliminated, and with the help of the victim`s sister, Madeline, the investigators set out to discover all they can about the victim and who might have wished her ill. In such a small village, with a commensurately small population, the list of possible suspects is short, but the existence of Viola`s `secret admirer, H` has everyone stumped. First, how could Viola, living in such a small community, have had a secret visitor, a man no one saw except at a distance? And who on earth is he, this H?

As the investigators piece together the clues of missing jewelry and sightings of H and follow the leads generated by opportunistic thieves, dodgy jewelers, and local moneylenders, a picture emerges that points to only one conclusion. But in small villages, things are rarely as they seem. Have the investigators got the right man in their sights, or have they been led astray?

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Murder-Stephanie-Laurens-ebook/dp/B0DPLKVGZ1?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.zknRS9xIgVuIRuP7ec7xgbYyRLJSMer5eKZghDJuGfM2KcfBbUOy4EglYBf9SZTHRABwpfYJ0WQSyc-QSOgsfXPvEV8W5rhDGHii9PyzAhvjIYmL8C0H6BmviCfY_MsxVyh070ufQnS94tp07z7k8uYbRDz7vWiMGsEojamFesCL0X79uT3dxkbWq5BdDxLliinziiKJhw-YqJS5uwqdRfUhx08TLXc3B2T8l-KpPyT0xSjB402FdLCwfNJFSc5GzhfTRxpcGOXfuH41mLazOha8ug1-lcIfZyx3hj2Qql1sz35F00VnTIkLldRJ625kgaWolL9WEK9HhU1W5-Gj5nKZgf-XEIM5wAhfft4Sq8dVIpRoPo66STfuO... ...