Cathie Dunn writes...

Today, I'm delighted to present you a heart-warming novel that you shouldn't miss on your winter reading list: The Flame Within by Liz Harris .  Discover more about The Flame Within on a range of blogs seen below during its blog tour organised by Rachel's Random Resources !  The Flame Within From award-winning author of The Dark Horizon, Liz Harris, comes the second in a sweeping saga set between the wars, which tells the story of the Linfords, a family simmering with secrets, lies and betrayal. London, 1923 Alice Linford stands on the pavement and stares up at the large Victorian house set back from the road—the house that is to be her new home. But it isn’t her house. It belongs to someone else—to a Mrs Violet Osborne. A woman who was no more than a name at the end of an advertisement for a companion that had caught her eye three weeks earlier. More precisely, it wasn’t Mrs Osborne’s name that had caught her eye—it was seeing that Mrs Osborne lived in Belsize Park, a sh...

I'm delighted to share my review of a beautiful novel with you today: The Potential for Love by Catherine Kullmann . If you enjoy regency romance novels with added adventures and gripping twists, this one's for you! My thanks goes to The Coffee Pot Book Club for an ebook copy of the novel. It won't be the last I'll be reading from Mrs Kullmann.  Review: Arabella Malvern is still searching for the ’right’ husband – this is her fourth season, and it's about time she found a husband! She has several suitors, including one very determined lord who stops at nothing in his pursuit of her, but none fill her with thoughts of family, mutually-respectful companionship – and acceptance. In an era when women's roles are clearly defined, their lives revolving around marriage, children, running households and adhering to their husband's wishes – whatever these may be – Arabella seeks that little bit of reassurance. But where can she find it? Then she meets Thomas...  The ...

Today, I'm delighted to share my review of His Castilian Hawk by Anna Belfrage as part of a blog tour through The Coffee Pot Book Club . For this gem of a novel, I didn't need a review copy, as I'd already pre-ordered it. And I was not disappointed. Follow me to the Welsh borders... I was intrigued straight away when I first read the blurb for His Castilian Hawk. The beautiful cover helps, of course, too.  We head to the border region between Wales and England in 1282 when King Edward I of England campaigned to subdue the Welsh following Dafydd ap Gruffudd's recent uprising which led to the capture of his brother, Llewelyn. Robert FitzStephan is a man-at-arms, at the king's side when one of the king's men and his son appear to attack him. Honed by years of campaigning and warfare, Robert kills the two until Edward halts him.  When Edward makes Robert wed the dead man's daughter, Eleanor – called Noor – Robert regards this as his chance to gain further resp...

Finally! I’m so thrilled to show you the cover art of my upcoming novel, The Shadows of Versailles .  Ta da...  Set in the 1670s, in the early days of the infamous Affair of the Poisons , The Shadows of Versailles tells a tale of seduction, loss, and revenge. It is the first in a new series of loosely-interlinked stories all set during the Affair of the Poisons , an event that brought to light the dark underworld of Paris, with its fortune-tellers, alchemists – and poisoners! The Kindle ebook is now available for pre-order on Amazon ! ~~~ Blurb: Seduced at Versailles. Broken by tragedy. Consumed by revenge. Fleur de La Fontaine attends the court of King Louis XIV at Versailles for the first time. Dazzled by the opulence, she is soon besotted with handsome courtier, Philippe de Mortain. When she believes his words of love, she gives in to his seduction in the shadows of the palace – with devastating consequences. Nine months later, when the boy she has given birth to is w...

Today, I'm delighted to share my review for A Bachelor's Pledge , a fast-paced romantic Regency adventure by Penny Hampson , as part of a publication day push with Rachel's Random Resources . A Bachelor's Pledge is a romance with a strong dose of adventure. Right from the beginning, you're thrown into the story when Phil, on an assignment with an informer – in a brothel! – helps a young lady who looks very much out of place, and in clear distress. Avoiding the heavies, they manage to flee, and he takes her to his town house where his housekeeper looks after her. But on hearing that he would sort out a place to stay for her, Sophia is on the run again, this time to her longtime friend who secures her a place as a companion to the wife of a retired Admiral. Little does she know that, months later, her path would cross Phil's again in the bustling port town of Falmouth. But it's not only Phil who's there – the woman running the brothel has also turned up. ...

I'm delighted to get you into the spirit of Christmas. It may be a little early, but it's never too early to read fabulous Christmas-themed novels, especially when the temperatures plummet outside. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for an advance copy. Tudor Christmas Tidings , a collection of three historical stories by bestselling romance authors, Blythe Gifford , Jenni Fletcher and Amanda McCabe , is a wonderful tapestry of life at different stages of the Tudor years. It portrayed very well the intrigues and dangers of the times. Blythe Gifford 's tale, Christmas at Court , begins on Christmas Eve in the year 1483 – the first under the new king, Richard III. Elizabeth Woodville, King Edward IV's widow, tells Alice that she is to be betrothed on Christmas Day – to John Talbot, the son of the Earl of Stanson. A family from the north. King Richard's country. Disappointed but acquiescing, Alice is unsure if she can trust the man she's supposed...