Spring in dangerous times is by no means a twenty-first century dilemma. In this month’s selections, we will look at stories set in two different continents in a seventeenth and eighteenth-century time frame and protagonists who must make a life and future for themselves in worlds wracked by or threatened by war.
We begin with THE MOON IN THE WATER: THE HERON QUARTET Book 1 by Pamela Belle. Ten-year-old Thomazine Heron’s life is upended when she is orphaned and guardianship of her considerable inheritance is sold to her cousin Simon Heron, who will care for she until she is old enough to finalize her precontracted marriage with Dominic Drakelon. Summoned to live at her cousin’s estate, Goldhayes, she forms a special bond with Simon’s third son, Francis. As this bond deepens, after the elder Simon dies and her guardianship is inherited by his eldest son Simon, she must try to mend the estrangement between the brothers so she can convince her guardian to break the engagement. When the battles between King and Parliament intensify, the residents of Goldhayes are sent to Ashcroft, Thomazine’s childhood home, while the brothers fight for the King. But Ashcroft proves to be no safe haven as it is later besieged by Parliamentary troops. In a time of danger and conflicting loyalties, Thomazine must use all her wits and the limited weapons available to woman to survive and carve out a life with the man she loves. As the title indicates, the story continues in follow-on books THE CHAINS OF FATE, ALATHEA and finishes with THE LODESTAR. A vivid recreation of food, customs, politics and perils of this time, MOON IN THE WATER enthralls.
We jump ahead to Jacobean times in MASK OF DUPLICITY (The Jacobite Chronicles Book 1) by Julia Brannan. Dissatisfied with the amount of the inheritance he receives when he returns from the army after the death of their father, Beth Cunningham’s brother Richard determines to marry her off for his own gain. Coerced into a reconciliation with their noble cousins, Beth is brought to London and tossed into the glittering but artificial world of high society. Her substantial dowry ensures she is soon besieged by suitors - but how can she discover the true man behind the society masks? Can the effeminate Sir Anthony Peters, her first friend, turn into a husband? And with rebellion simmering as the Scots embrace the cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie, will her Catholic background and Jacobite sympathies spell disaster? Those who enjoy this story with be delighted to learn there are five more novels to glom in Brannan’s Jacobite Chronicles, THE MASK REVEALED, THE GATHERING STORM, THE STORM BREAKS, PURSUIT OF PRINCES and TIDES OF FORTUNE.
We switch to French settings in our final two selections. In another story highlighting the religious wars raging at the time, DAUGHTER OF THE KING by Kerry Chaput, Protestant Isabelle Collette faces persecution and the threat of death in La Rochelle under the rule of the Catholic king. Weary of fighting, having lost all those dear to her, Isabelle accepts the help of a Catholic soldier and refuge from a Catholic priest. Eventually, giving up on building a life in France, she adopts the religion she spent her life fighting to join other French orphans as “Filles du Roi,” girls sent from France to Canada to marry and help settle France’s New World colony. From the gilded halls of the Sun King to the snowy expanses of New France, Isabelle find friendship, betrayal and love among a colony of diverse settlers and native inhabitants. And like Brennon’s story, this novel is the first in the DEFYING THE CROWN trilogy, followed by DAUGHTER OF SHADOWS and DAUGHTER OF SNOW AND SECRETS.
Veteran historical fiction author Aimie K. Runyan gives us another view of the Filles du Roi in PROMISED TO THE CROWN, the first book of her Daughters of New France series. We meet Rose, Nicole and Elizabeth, three girls with very different reasons for leaving France who become friends on the perilous journey to Quebec. In the New World, Elizaeth soon accepts the proposal of baker Gilbert Beaumont, Nicole chooses a charming young officer, while Rose, scared by a traumatic past, decides to take the veil. The bond of friendship formed on their long journey will help all three endure as they confront the challenges and heartaches of their new wilderness home. Runyan continues their story in the second book, DUTY TO THE CROWN.
Historical fiction offers readers not just escape from their own surroundings but also glimpses into vanished worlds that can offer lessons of endurance we can apply to ourselves. Prepare to meet some determined heroines who learned to fight and adapt to forge their own places during some very troubled times of the past.
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
A voracious reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia has published poetry and worked as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website for details about her books, chat with her on social media, and follow her on Bookbub and Amazon to receive notices about her latest releases.
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