Shining a bright book spotlight on Fearless Hearts Forbidden Love by Anthea Laurelton #HistoricalRomance #Sparta #AncientWorld #RecommendedReading

Fearless Hearts Forbidden Love

Hearts of Sparta Trilogy, Book #1

by Anthea Laurelton

To save her city, she must risk her life.

To fulfil his oath, he must harden his heart.

Together, they stand to lose everything.

Spartan warrior, Diokles, has waited years for the opportunity to right a failure that torments his heart and integrity. Sent to hunt down a threat to Sparta, this campaign may be his final chance to restore his honour and uncover the traitor whose actions blighted his life. Success is at his fingertips, but when duty forces him to take an unwilling accomplice, his plans are challenged in ways he never foresaw.

Leandra, high priestess of Apollysis, stands at the edge of revelation and ruin. Haunted by fragments of a forgotten past, she alone can uncover the truth that will save her city. To do so, she must wear the fabled Coronet of Apollo, a sacred act that could cost her life.

Bound together by necessity and desire, captor and captive race into danger the closer they draw to the shrine of Apollo. With a relentless enemy closing in, one who seeks Diokles dead and Leandra for himself, their growing passion becomes both their greatest strength and their most perilous weakness.

In a time where prophecy, honour, and blood rule, love was never part of the plan.

An epic historical adventure romance of bravery, betrayal, and forbidden desire.

Fully edited, revised version of 'Spartan Quest - Salvation' with extra scenes.

Praise for Fearless Hearts Forbidden Love:

"If you enjoy historical romance with strong characters, intriguing mythology, and a touch of adventure, this book is definitely worth reading. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series!"

~ Vanda Vadas, Scottish Historical Romance author

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Anthea Laurelton

Anthea Laurelton writes sweeping romances inspired by Ancient Sparta and Greek mythology. Her stories combine historical elements, forbidden love, dangerous quests and emotionally complex heroines for readers of mythological and historical fantasy.

A fan of sword and sandal movies, her plots blend slow-burn romance, dangerous quests, warrior culture and family intrigue for readers who crave epic adventures. Falling in love with Greek mythology at the age of thirteen, her love of the Spartans especially, came after reading Roger Lancelyn Green's THE TALE OF TROY where she cheered on Menelaus to take his queen back!

She left a career in IT to pursue her passion for storytelling and pander to an extremely spoilt German Shepherd whom she refers to as 'The Muse'.

A former equestrian, Anthea enjoys keeping active and has a bucket list of travel destinations waiting to be fulfilled.

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Have a sneak peek between the pages of The Valet's Witness – a compelling civil rights novel by Rohn Hein #HistoricalFiction #AmericanHistoricalFiction #RecommendedReading

The Valet’s Witness

by Rohn Hein

In the summer of 1776, as the Declaration of Independence takes shape within the charged chambers of the Second Continental Congress, two lives unfold in quiet, irrevocable collision-one etched into the official record, the other deliberately erased from it.

Edward Rutledge, the youngest delegate from South Carolina, moves with calculated precision through a world of rhetoric and reputation. Brilliant, ambitious, and deeply entangled in the economic realities of his homeland, he walks a perilous line between liberty and self-preservation. He argues fiercely for independence while working just as diligently to shield the institution of slavery from scrutiny, determined that the new nation will rise without unsettling the foundation upon which his power-and his prosperity-rests.

At his side stands Pompey, his enslaved valet-unseen, unacknowledged, yet ever-present. Moving silently through corridors thick with ambition and contradiction, Pompey becomes a witness to history in its most unguarded moments. He listens where others speak freely, observes where others perform, and remembers what others choose, or need, to forget. To the men shaping a nation, he is invisible; to the truth, he is indispensable.

Among the servants and valets attending the southern delegates, a hidden network begins to take shape-men bound by circumstance yet united by awareness. In kitchens, in narrow stairwells, in the shadowed edges of candlelit rooms, they exchange fragments of overheard debates and whispered concessions. They piece together a parallel record of the nation's birth: one of uneasy compromises, moral evasions, and calculated silences. They hear the arguments over freedom and tyranny; they witness the careful removal of any language that might threaten the institution that binds them.

As Rutledge maneuvers behind closed doors-pressing to strike any condemnation of slavery from the final draft-Pompey gathers something far more fragile and far more dangerous than political victory: memory. Each conversation, each omission, each moment of hesitation becomes part of a story that has no place in the official narrative. It is a story carried not in ink, but in the minds of those denied the power to write it.

Yet history has a way of resurfacing through the voices it tried to silence.

The Valet's Witness is a sweeping, intimate reimagining of America's founding, illuminating the lives that moved just beyond the margins of recorded history. With lyrical depth and moral clarity, it reveals not only how independence was declared, but what-and who-was sacrificed to secure it. In the space between liberty and bondage, between principle and profit, a hidden truth emerges-one that challenges the very meaning of freedom in a nation built on both hope and contradiction.

Praise for The Valet’s Witness:

"The historical research underpinning the novel is extensive. The atmosphere surrounding the Second Continental Congress is recreated with confidence, and the political negotiations feel carefully grounded in the historical record. Readers familiar with the American Revolution will appreciate the author's evident knowledge of the period, while those approaching it for the first time will find themselves immersed in both the personalities and the events that shaped the emergence of a new nation."
~ Ellie Yarde, Yarde Book Promotions 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"As someone who enjoys historical fiction that remains grounded in its period, I appreciated the care that had gone into recreating this pivotal moment in history."
~ Mary Anne Yarde, The Coffee Pot Book Club 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Pompey said, “Trading one master for another? I’m not sure that would be my choice. Are the British any better than our masters? It seems to me that our situation isn’t any better one way or the other. I see the freemen here in Philadelphia, and they don’t get much more respect from the white folks than we do.” 

“But to be free. Can you imagine what you would do if you didn’t have to jump whenever the master wants you to fetch a blanket or get some snuff? I can almost smell freedom,” said Cato. 

Pompey said, “That smell you sense is the rotten promises of the British who are scared. I wonder what it might feel like to rise in the morning without waiting for a bell, without tying another man’s cravat or polishing boots that will never be your own. I have heard the words “liberty” and “natural rights” echo through the halls of Philadelphia boardinghouses, spoken by men who debate rebellion over punch and pipe smoke. Yet none of them speak of my liberty. I watch free black men hauling crates at the docks or selling wares in the market and, though their lives are hard, they move with a kind of dignity I envy—a quiet ownership of time, labor, and breath.”

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Rohn Hein

Rohn Hein is a first-time author with fifty years of involvement in non-partisan community activism. Starting as a VISTA volunteer in 1973, he worked for five different non-profit organizations working with welfare recipients, senior citizens, urban housing, racial justice, and environmental efforts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York and New Jersey. For the last 40 years Rohn was an investment adviser while volunteering with social justice activities in affordable housing, racial justice, and environmental issues. Rohn has written testimony presented in the Minnesota and New Jersey Legislature and appeared at numerous churches, city council, county, and regional government agencies.

He works with many New Jersey non-profit organizations on racial justice issues, such as The NJ Institute for Social Justice, Salvation and Social Justice, NJ NAACP, Fair Share Housing, and  UU Faith Action. He has worked on landmark affordable housing legislation and on the enactment of a racial justice impact statement on legislation in New Jersey.

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Historium Press Author Page

Blog Tour: Dragonslayer's Valkyrie by Jennifer Ivy Walker

Join The Coffee Pot Book Club on tour with…

Dragonslayer’s Valkyrie

by Jennifer Ivy Walker

August 3rd - 7th, 2026

Publication Date: June 21st, 2026

Publisher: Green Mermaid Publications

Pages: 388

Genre: Viking Historical Romance

Last of the Völsung line of kings descended from Odin, Sigurd is one of the elite Sjórúlfar—the fearsome Sea Wolves of southern Norway. Endowed with the divine blood of the wolf, he seeks glory at the Sólhjarta Summer Solstice Tournament to avenge his father’s death.

Brynhildr, daughter of the Raven King, is the Sun Falcon shieldmaiden and gifted seeress who has glimpsed her fate as a Valkyrie in a seiðr vision. When her father decrees she must wed the tournament’s champion, she summons Freyja for guidance—only to learn her future is bound to Sigurd.

As the Norns tighten the intricate threads of fate, Brynhildr must guide Sigurd toward his destiny as a dragonslayer—by defying the web of wyrd and incurring the wrath of Odin.

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This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Jennifer Ivy Walker

Jennifer Ivy Walker has an MA in French literature and is a former high school teacher and professor of French at a state college in Florida.  Her novels encompass a love for French language, literature, history, and culture, incorporating her lifelong study, summers abroad, and many trips to France.

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Book of the Week: Marguerite: Hell Hath No Fury! by Judith Arnopp #HistoricalFiction #WarsOfTheRoses #RecommendedReading

Marguerite: Hell Hath No Fury!

by Judith Arnopp

Marguerite: Queen of England

From the moment Henry VI's new queen, Marguerite of Anjou, sets foot on English soil she is despised by the English as a foreigner, and blamed for the failures of the hundred years war in France.

 Her enemies impede her role as the king’s consort and when Henry sinks into apparent madness, her bid to become regent is rejected. Marguerite must fight, not only for her own position but to maintain Henry’s possession of the crown. 

The ambitious Duke, Richard of York, seizes control of the country, thrusting Marguerite aside and inflating the mutual hatred between the houses of York and Lancaster. But the queen refuses to relinquish power and fights determinedly for the rights of her son, Edward of Lancaster.

The long and bitter civil conflict, that has come to be known as the War of the Roses, commences.

Praise for Marguerite: Hell Hath No Fury!:

"A wonderful, eye opening novel about a woman deserving a bit more positive attention! I highly recommend this novel!"

~ Christine Boos, Amazon 5* Review

"Arnopp’s writing is immersive, intelligent, and emotionally charged. I couldn’t put it down. This novel has made me see Marguerite not just as a historical figure, but as a complex, courageous woman who deserves to be remembered. Highly recommended!"

~ Kindle Customer, Amazon 5* Review

"Once again, Judith Arnopp has given a voice to a woman who deserves a better place in a tumultuous time."

~ Lisa, Goodreads 4* Review

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This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.