Shining a bright Springtime Spotlight on Brook Allen's fascinating novel, West of Santillane #HistoricalFiction #WomenInHistory @1BrookAllen @cathiedunn

West of Santillane

by Brook Allen

Desperate to escape a mundane future as a Virginia planter’s wife, Julia Hancock seizes her chance for adventure when she wins the heart of American hero William Clark. Though her husband is the famed explorer, Julia embarks on her own thrilling and perilous journey of self-discovery.

Gazing ever westward, Julia possesses a hunger for knowledge and a passion for helping others. She deeply loves Will’s strength and generous manner, but, like her parents, he’s a slave owner, and she despises slavery. Still, her love for Will wins out, though he’s unaware of her beliefs.

She finds that St. Louis has few of the luxuries to which she is accustomed. It harbors scandalous politicians and miscreants of all types. As her husband and his best friend, Meriwether Lewis, work to establish an American government and plan to publish their highly anticipated memoirs, she assumes the roles of both wife and mother. She is also drawn into the plight of an Indian family anxious to return to their own lands and becomes an advocate for Will’s enslaved.

In time, Julia’s clandestine aid to the Indians and Will’s enslaved draws unwanted attention, even placing her at odds with her husband.

Danger leads her to embrace the courage to save herself and others through a challenge of forgiveness that will either restore the love she shares with Will or end it forever.

Praise for West of Santillane:

'"West of Santillane" is not just an account of historical events but also a story of love, resilience, and self-discovery. Brook Allen successfully blends romantic, historical, and adventurous elements, offering readers a captivating and memorable reading experience. The book is a warm recommendation for those who appreciate well-documented historical fiction and engaging life narratives.'

~ The Historical Fiction Company

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

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Brook Allen

Author Brook Allen has a passion for history. Her newest project, West of Santillane, spotlights history from a little closer to home. It’s the story of Julia Hancock, who married famed explorer, William Clark. Each character of this thrilling, adventurous period was researched throughout southwest Virginia and into Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota. It launched in March of 2024.

Brook belongs to the Historical Novel Society and attends conferences as often as possible to study craft and meet fellow authors. In 2019, her novel Antonius: Son of Rome won the Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year Award. In 2020, it was honored with a silver medal in the international Reader’s Favorite Book Reviewers Book Awards and then won First Place in the prestigious Chaucer Division in the Chanticleer International Book Awards, 2020.

Though she graduated from Asbury University with a B.A. in Music Education, Brook has always loved writing. She completed a Masters program at Hollins University with an emphasis in Ancient Roman studies, which helped prepare her for authoring her Antonius Trilogy. Brook teaches full-time as a Music Educator and works in a rural public-school district near Roanoke, Virginia. Her personal interests include travel, cycling, hiking in the woods, reading, and spending downtime with her husband and big, black dog, Jak. She lives in the heart of southwest Virginia in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

Connect with Brook:

Website • Twitter • Facebook

Book of the Week: Longsword's Lady – Countess Ela of Salisbury by J.P. Reedman

* Book of the Week *

Longsword's Lady – Countess Ela of Salisbury

Medieval Babes

by J.P. Reedman

Spirited away to France after the death of her father, the Earl of Salisbury, young Ela is soon found by a wandering minstrel and taken to the court of Richard Lionheart. Aged nine, she is betrothed to the King's illegitimate half-brother, William Longsword, before being sent for education in the household of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Some years later, Ela and William form a harmonious bond, despite their arranged marriage, and have many children, but their lives are always threatened by uncertainty.

King John now rules, and William is his most loyal brother--and his enforcer. When the King tries to seduce Ela while William lies in the dungeons of the fighting Bishop of Bouvines, at last he decides to change his allegiance from the brother he once loved who has now become a tyrant. He returns to the Plantagenet fold only on King John's demise and the accession of his young nephew, King Henry III.

But war and strife is never far away, and on a journey from Gascony, William is shipwrecked and believed dead by most, barring Ela. Men of ambition start clamouring to wed the widowed Countess--and claim the earldom of Salisbury through marrying her...

LONGSWORD'S LADY is historical fiction based on the life of the remarkable medieval woman who placed a founding stone of Salisbury Cathedral, became the Sheriff of Wiltshire, one of only two female Sheriffs, and ended up a powerful Abbess in the beautiful convent she founded at Lacock.

Praise for Longsword’s Lady:

"This author made the Lionheart and his infamous successor real characters, and the need for the magnificent Magna Carta clearly drawn. Faith, courage, a desire for justice as well as initiative and self awareness were not lacking among the 'weaker sex' of this time so defined by hierarchical levels of power and inherited wealth."
~ Patti S, Amazon

"Interesting story of a female during an era when women had little power who, from the time she was ten, learned to deal with those who sought to control her in order to claim her titles and sealed. It also provided a lot of insight into King Richard the Lionheart and his not so revered brother, John. Well-written characters and a great plot based on real history. A great read."
~ Big Red, Amazon

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

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Life and Death in Ephesus by Finlay McQuade #AwardWinning #HistoricalAnthology #RecommendedReading

Life and Death in Ephesus

An Anthology of Short Stories

by Finlay McQuade

 For over a thousand years, Ephesus, on the Aegean coast of what is now Turkey, was a thriving city. It was the site of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Wonders of the World, and a destination for religious pilgrimage long before the advent of Christianity. In the first century CE, St. John and St. Paul introduced Christianity to Ephesus, where it survived its turbulent beginnings and, in the fifth century CE, hosted the God-defining Council of Ephesus. 

      Life and Death in Ephesus is a collection of stories about major events in the history of Ephesus. Characters appearing in these stories include Herostratus, first to commit a “herostratic crime”; Alexander, the warrior king; Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, both lovers of Cleopatra; Heraclitus, the philosopher who said, “You can’t put your foot in the same river twice”; St. Paul, persona non grata in Ephesus; Nestorius, whose characterization of Jesus split the Eastern and Western church, and others, also important, whose names I have had to make up. 

      Hilke Thür, a leading archeologist, has said of these stories, “Life and Death in Ephesus will be a delightful and enjoyable accompaniment to the many available guidebooks. Not just tourists, but anyone interested in history will benefit from reading them.”

Praise:

"Dr. McQuade draws characters from history and uses his story telling skills to animate them with human virtues and vices."
~ Britt, Amazon Reviewer

"Finlay McQuade has recreated the ancient city of Ephesus with fascinating people, historical and fictional. He clearly knows the history and the geography of Ephesus, and his characters have the complexity of those in a good novel."

~ sagetiger, Amazon Reviewer

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Alternate Endings Anthology by Historical Writers Forum #AwardWinning #AlternativeHistory #RecommendedReading

Alternate Endings

An Anthology

by Historical Writers Forum

We all know the past is the past, but what if you could change history?

We asked eight historical authors to set aside the facts and rewrite the history they love. The results couldn’t be more tantalizing.

What if Julius Caesar never conquered Gaul?

What if Arthur Tudor lived and his little brother never became King Henry VIII?

What if Abigail Adams persuaded the Continental Congress in 1776 to give women the right to vote and to own property?

Dive in to our collection of eight short stories as we explore the alternate endings of events set in ancient Rome, Britain, the United States, and France.

An anthology of the Historical Writers Forum.

Praise:

"The authors write with such imagination and absolutely know their subject matter. This was a great find and I highly recommend it!"
~ Christine, Amazon Reviewer

"Eight historical writers were challenged to ask the greatest question of their genre: What If?
The results are varied in content but equally captivating. This book will take you back into the past, before projecting you forward to a time which might have existed if only one thing was changed."

~ Stomper McEwan, Amazon Reviewer

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