Go on exciting Blog Tours with The Coffee Pot Book Club! #BlogTour #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalMystery #HistoricalCrime #HistoricalFantasy

*HISTORICAL FICTION BLOG TOURS*

At The Coffee Pot Book Club,
we offer exciting Blog Tours for:

• Historical Fiction
• Historical Romance
• Historical Adventure
• Literary Historical Fiction
• Historical Mystery, Crime & Thriller
• Time Travel, Timeslip & Dual-Timeline
• Alternative Historical Fiction
• Historical Non-Fiction
• Historical Fantasy
• Historical Fiction & Non-Fiction Audiobooks

Check out our Blog Tour Packages:

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ESPRESSO BOOK BLAST

Do you want a blog tour where everything will happen on one day? Promote your New Release, celebrate a Book Birthday, share a Freebie day, or simply give a quick shout-out for your book!

Then our SPOTLIGHT ONLY Book Blast is the blog tour for you!

What you’ll get:

• Minimum 10 blog stops / maximum 20 blog stops

• Promotion on Twitter / X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, and Pinterest

• Personalised Tour Banner and IG Banner

• Dedicated Tour Page on the popular Coffee Pot Book Club blog, with customised URL and links to all tour stops

• Dedicated Pinterest Board for your book

• Email with links to all tour stops

• Free entry into one category of The Book of the Year Awards 2026

Total Cost: £59.00

CORTADO BLOG TOUR

Don’t have much time, but still fancy the great exposure a blog tour offers?

Then, our 3-day teaser SPOTLIGHTS ONLY or SPOTLIGHTS & SNIPPETS tour is the blog tour for you!

What you’ll get:

• Minimum 9 tour stops over three days

• Promotion on Twitter / X, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and Pinterest every day of tour stops; Instagram on Day 1 only

• This tour can be either a Spotlights or a Snippets tour

• Personalised Tour Banners and IG Banner

• Dedicated Tour Page on The Coffee Pot Book Club blog, with customised URL and links to all tour stops

• Dedicated Pinterest Board for your book / series

• Daily emails with links to all tour stops

• Free entry into one category of The Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year Awards 2026

Total Cost: £79.00

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CAPPUCCINO BLOG TOUR

Would you like to take your book on a virtual tour but don’t have the time to write guest posts or answer interview questions?

Then, our popular EXCERPT or SPOTLIGHT ONLY blog tour is the one for you!

What you’ll get:

• Minimum 10 blog stops over 5 days, Monday – Friday

• Promotion on Twitter / X, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and Pinterest every day of tour stops; 

Instagram on Day 1 only

• This tour can be either a Spotlights or an Excerpts tour

• Personalised Tour Banner and IG banners

• Dedicated Tour Page on the popular Coffee Pot Book Club blog, with unique URL and links to all tour stops

• Dedicated Pinterest Board for your book / series

• Daily emails with links to each day’s tour stops

• Entry into one category of The Book of the Year Awards 2026.

Total Cost: £125.00

Mocha BLOG TOUR

Create a real buzz with our short but intense Mocha blog tour full of historical flavours!

What you’ll get:

• Minimum 10 blog stops over 4 weeks, 1 day a week

• Promotion on Twitter / X, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and Pinterest on every day of tour stops; Instagram on Day 1 only

• This tour may include a combination of author interviews, guest posts, book spotlights, and excerpts

• Hosts are given the option to review your book*

• Personalised Tour Banners and IG Banner

• Dedicated Tour Page on the popular Coffee Pot Book Club blog, with unique URL and links to all tour stops

• Dedicated Pinterest Board for your book / series

• Daily emails with links to each day’s tour stops

• Free entry into one category for The Book of the Year Awards 2026.

Total Cost: £145.00

AMERICANO BLOG TOUR

Fancy a fully-flavoured blog tour with all the historical trimmings? Then our bestselling Americano is the one for you!

What you’ll get:

• Minimum 10 blog stops over 10 days (Mondays-Fridays over 2 subsequent weeks)

• Promotion on Twitter / X, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and Pinterest on each day of tour stops; Instagram on Day 1 only

• This tour may include a combination of author interviews, guest posts, book spotlights, and excerpts

• Hosts are given the option to review your book*

• Personalised Tour Banners and Instagram Banners

• Dedicated Tour Page on the popular Coffee Pot Book Club blog, with customised URL and links to all tour stops

• Dedicated Pinterest Board for your book / series

• Daily emails with links to each day’s tour stops

• Entrance into TWO categories in The Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year Awards 2026

Total Cost: £249.00​

Find all the details about our blog tours, and our T&Cs, HERE!

If you would like to book a tour, Get in Touch!

*The Coffee Pot Book Club cannot guarantee any reviews on tour. We also cannot guarantee reviews will be positive, although we do ask our hosts to hold off posting a review under FOUR STARS until after the tour has finished.

Book Review: A Red Silk Thread: A Romance of When China Met Rome by Kenneth Kunkel

*Editorial Book Review*

A RED SILK THREAD:

A Romance of When China Met Rome 

by Kenneth Kunkel

Publication Date: 18th November 2025
Publisher: Valeria Press
Page Lenght: 358 
Genre: Ancient World Historical Romance

This was certainly not the life that she dreamed of back in her village.

Princess Hua’s days are long in the Imperial Palace of Chang'an, which she fills by reading, sculpting, and playing ball with little Xiaosheng (her only bright light).

As she carves yet another statue at her desk, an exasperated sigh escapes her lips. Ten years ago, she wanted nothing more than to be offered as a gift to the Han family. She wanted nothing more than to escape that dull village. But now? This place was just as boring and wearying as back there. And her sadly, Prince Qian, who she had a crush on from afar which got her into this mess, is more like a brother than a husband.

Now unexpectedly, the emperor decrees that she and her husband will be envoys to that other empire far to the west. At last! An escape from these oppressive walls! The outside world with all its wonders beckons!

Now, their guides did warn them that this journey is not without its perils. She doesn’t care. She's ready! Anything would be better than this.

Enter the worlds of Ancient China and Ancient Rome, where Princess Hua will face a much greater danger at her destination. Love.

When I opened "A Red Silk Thread: A Romance of When China Met Rome" by Kenneth Kunkel, I expected a historical romance shaped by diplomacy and distance. What I found instead was a richly layered, emotionally resonant story that lingered long after the final page—a novel that understands how fragile human connections can be when stretched across empires.

The story begins in the Han Imperial Palace, and I was immediately struck by the contrast between its splendour and its quiet brutality. This is a court ruled by fear, its beauty masking a lethal political reality. Under Emperor Chengdi, a man who has ordered the execution of his own sons, power is absolute and mercy scarce. From this volatile setting, Prince Liu Qian and Princess Huang Hua are sent on a diplomatic mission to Rome, tasked with forging a trade agreement that could reshape relations between East and West. From the outset, the stakes—both political and personal—are unmistakably high.

Princess Huang Hua quickly became the emotional centre of the novel for me. She is portrayed with grace, intelligence, and restraint, a woman shaped not by rebellion, but by endurance. Before her marriage, she had enjoyed a measure of freedom appropriate to her rank, but it is only after her arranged marriage to Prince Qian that her life becomes truly constrained. Their marriage is one of respect and familial affection rather than passion, more like that of siblings than lovers. Childless, Hua finds comfort in caring for Xiaosheng, Qian’s young son by a concubine, and this relationship reveals much about her generosity of spirit and the sacrifices she accepts without complaint.

What impressed me most was Kunkel’s restraint in handling Hua’s inner conflict. She does not rage against her circumstances, nor does she seek to escape them recklessly. Instead, she adapts, and it is this quiet acceptance that gives her character such emotional weight.

The journey to Rome marks a turning point, and I felt that shift keenly as the setting changed. Rome, with its cold marble and intricate politics, is no safer than the Chinese court, yet it offers Hua something profoundly different: freedom. Away from the rigid expectations of marriage and ceremony, she begins to rediscover herself. As a skilled healer trained in acupuncture and a woman capable of defending herself, Hua is anything but ornamental. Her habit of carving small statues became, for me, a touching symbol of her inner life, while her growing fluency in Latin mirrored her expanding confidence and autonomy.

Throughout this journey, Prince Qian remains a steady and likeable presence. Honourable, perceptive, and deeply aware of his responsibilities, he provides emotional balance to the story. His relationship with Hua adds a quiet complexity that deepens the narrative without ever becoming melodramatic.

It is in Rome that Alexander enters the story, bringing with him a darker emotional undercurrent that deepens the narrative. As the emperor’s personal bodyguard—and the nephew of the senator who first proposed the trade agreement—he stands at the uneasy intersection of power and duty. Marked by loss and bound by loyalty, Alexander is driven by a quiet determination that sets him apart from those around him. His pursuit of justice, undertaken even when ordered to stand aside, adds a compelling layer of tension and moral complexity to the narrative without ever overwhelming its emotional core.

The romance that develops between Hua and Alexander unfolds with exquisite restraint. This is not a story of sweeping declarations, but of stolen glances, fleeting touches, and the quiet comfort of shared companionship. I was particularly moved by how keenly both characters understand the impossibility of their feelings, yet still allow themselves the simple pleasure of being together. Hua’s longing is made more poignant through contrast with her handmaid Jin Chyou, whose more conventional romance highlights what Hua herself must deny.

As the diplomatic mission progresses, the broader political dangers come sharply into focus. The Parthians, working in the shadows, seek to undermine the alliance between China and Rome, reminding me that empires rarely allow cooperation without resistance. Personal lives, here, are collateral damage in the ambitions of nations.

By the time I reached the final pages, "A Red Silk Thread" had revealed itself as a novel of balance and restraint—where love is defined not by possession, but by endurance. Kenneth Kunkel has written a historical romance that honours both the sweep of history and the quiet courage of individuals navigating impossible choices. The red silk thread that binds China and Rome, Hua and Alexander, remains delicate, resilient, and unforgettable.

Review by Mary Anne Yarde
The Coffee Pot Book Club

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link

Kenneth Kunkel

Ken grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His fascination with all things Roman began with seeing the film “Ben-Hur” when he was nine years old. From then on, he watched as many epic films as he could, thanks to the generosity of his parents. Reading and art joined movies as his other passions. His reading list included archaeology, ancient empires, mythology, biblical scholarship, comparative religions, science fiction, and thrillers.

His professional career took him in another direction though: Information Technology. From programmer to director, he traveled through the industry for forty-eight years. But during that time, he devised stories which made his wife comment, “You really need to write those down.”

Ken is retired now with his wife, Karen, of over fifty years and lives in southern Florida. And, he’s writing those stories down.

Join The Coffee Pot Book Club in 2026!

*We wish all our friends and followers

a happy & healthy New Year!*

The holidays are coming to an end, and I didn't open the laptop for over a week over Christmas – a first in 2025! It was bliss...

We're thrilled to have increased our number of followers over the past year, and in 2026, we're planning even more for writers, readers & listeners of historical fiction / non-fiction / history.

This year, we're looking for viewers, too!

We have some exciting new features coming in 2026, so read on!

Discover our regular features for promoting historical fiction authors & their books:

Blog Tours:

Our popular Blog Tours are kicking off next week, with wonderful, new novels.

We continue to offer different types of blog tours at reasonable prices (some even reduced!). Check out our range of blog tours HERE!

The majority of our tour hosts specialise in history and historical fiction. Amongst them, we have writers, historians, professional book bloggers, and reviewers. This range of hosts ensures that your book is visible to those readers who are looking for their next historical fix.

Editorial Book Reviews:

In 2026, our Editorial Book Reviews are again being coordinated by Mary Anne Yarde. Find out more HERE!

Please note that Mary Anne now offers her own editorial reviews, in addition to other marketing solutions, for all genres, at Yarde Book Promotion – alongside her work for The Coffee Pot Book Club. Don't hesitate to ask us if you're unsure where to pitch your book for review!

Book of the Year Awards 2026

Our popular Book of the Year Awards 2026 will take place on November 30th, 2026. Find all the details HERE!

Book Promotions:

As always, we love promoting authors on this blog, with fabulous premier book spotlights and guest posts shared widely across our network, which now includes Substack, and our Book of the Month sidebar adverts. These promotions are available for all genres, subject to acceptance.

Such promotions are ideal for celebrating a new release, or book birthday or price reduction. And they're affordable!

Check out our guest posts options HERE, and our Book of the Month advert details HERE!

*New in 2026*

*Author Talks on history & historical fiction*

We're planning an exciting series of regular online talks about history, research, and historical fiction, with award-winning, best-selling authors.

We will also offer sessions about writing historical fiction / non-fiction; using social media to your advantage; and author branding.

Some events will be free, others reasonably priced.

*The Coffee Pot Book Club Conference*

This year, we'll be organising our first 1-day online conference about history and historical fiction / non-fiction. More details, including featured writers and topics, to be announced soon. Watch this space!

In August, I will be attending the Historical Novel Society Conference in Maynooth, Ireland. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there.

So, thank you for joining us again in 2026 for great historical fiction. We hope you're looking forward to meeting wonderful authors (at least online) at The Coffee Pot Book Club!

We – and all the authors we promote – appreciate your support.

Take care,
Cathie 💖

Book of the Month: Then Came The Summer Snow by Trisha Pritikin #HistoricalFiction #Downwinders #AtomicJustic #RecommendedReading

Then Came The Summer Snow

by Trisha Pritikin

In 1958, Edith Higgenbothum, a housewife in Richland, Washington, downwind of the massive Hanford nuclear weapons production site, discovers that the milk her young son Herbie drinks contains radioactive iodine from Hanford's secret fallout releases. Radioactive iodine can damage the thyroid, especially in children.

When Herbie is diagnosed with aggressive thyroid cancer, Edith allies with mothers of children with thyroid cancer and leukemia in communities blanketed by fallout from Nevada Test Site A-bomb tests on a true atomic age hero's journey to save the children.

Praise for Then Came The Summer Snow:

“The tension between ordinary families and the secrecy of atomic projects made the story feel urgent. Trisha Pritikin’s writing is both vivid and compassionate. I finished the book thinking about it long afterward.”

~ Fabiana Simmons, Amazon 5* Review

“Reading this felt like stepping back into a very tense and fearful time. I really admired Edith’s bravery in standing up against powerful people. The book captures the fear and tension of the 1950s perfectly. Trisha T. Pritikin tells the story with a lot of heart and detail. It’s an emotional and unforgettable read.”

~ Andrew Carter, Amazon 5* Review

Universal Buy Link

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Trisha Pritikin

Trisha Pritikin is an internationally known advocate for fallout-exposed populations downwind of nuclear weapons production and testing sites. She is an attorney and former occupational therapist.

Trisha was born and raised in Richland, the government-owned atomic town closest to the Hanford nuclear weapons production facility in southeastern Washington State. Hanford manufactured the plutonium used in the Trinity Test, the world’s first test of an atomic bomb, detonated July 16,1945 at Alamogordo, NM, and for Fat Man, the plutonium bomb that decimated Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

Beginning in late 1944, and for more than forty years thereafter, Hanford operators secretly released millions of curies of radioactive byproducts into the air and to the waters of the Columbia River, exposing civilians downwind and downriver. Hanford’s airborne radiation spread across eastern Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana, and entered British Columbia.

Trisha suffers from significant thyroid damage, hypoparathyroidism, and other disabling health issues caused by exposure to Hanford’s fallout in utero and during childhood. Infants and children are especially susceptible to the damaging effects of radiation exposure.

Trisha’s first book, The Hanford Plaintiffs: Voices from the Fight for Atomic Justice,  published in 2020 by the University Press of Kansas, has won multiple awards, including San Francisco Book Festival, 1st place (history); Nautilus Silver award (journalism and investigative reporting); American Book Fest Book Awards Finalist (US History); Eric Hoffer Awards, Shortlist Grand Prize Finalist; and Chanticleer International Book Awards, 1st Place, (longform journalism). The Hanford Plaintiffs was released in Japanese in 2023 by Akashi Shoten Publishing House, Tokyo.

Connect with Trisha:

Website • Facebook • Twitter / X • Pinterest

Amazon Author Page • GoodReads

Atomic Heritage Foundation Interview