Romance Reader at Heart announces the following new and upcoming releases from various U.K. and Australian authors. Read what we think about these books in our Novel Thoughts and Ponderings Review webpages!
"BRANDY ROW" by Shelagh Mazey ISBN: 2940014934275 MATADOR PUBLISHING
Brandy Row takes place on the Isle of Portland between 1830 and 1851 – when smuggling was rife and the close knit community armed themselves against foreigners or ‘Kimberlins’.
A young fisherman, Matthew, has fallen for Violet, the beautiful daughter of a smuggler. They are childhood sweethearts when the new Customs Riding Officer arrives on the scene. Richard Dryer is handsome and shrewd and a worthy protagonist for the smugglers, but trouble is brewing for everyone when Violet falls in love with him. Knowing that she risks being ostracised by her family and friends Violet has to make a decision that will have repercussions throughout the rest of her life.
Brandy Row is a family saga that encompasses two generations, it puts the flesh and bones on the history of Portland. It begins at a time when the only access to Portland was by rope ferry and leads up to the construction of the breakwater. Brandy Row also fictionalises the arrival of the convicts on their way to the Verne prison prior to transportation and the traditions, celebrations, superstitions and customs of Portland at that time. It features smuggling, sea rescues, attempted rape and murder, blackmail, imprisonment, tragedies and heartache.
"A RIP IN THE VEIL" by Anna Belfrage ISBN: 9781780882420 TROUBADOR PUBLISHING
On a muggy August day in 2002 Alex Lind disappears without a trace.
On an equally stifling August day in 1658, Matthew Graham finds her on an empty Scottish moor.
Life will never be the same for Alex - or for Matthew.
When Alexandra Lind is unexpectedly thrown several centuries backwards in time, she lands at the feet of Matthew Graham - an escaped convict making his way home to Scotland. Matthew doesn't quite know what to make of this concussed and injured woman who has seemingly fallen from the skies - what is she, a witch?
Alex gawks at this tall, gaunt man with hazel eyes, dressed in what (to her) mostly looks like rags. At first she thinks he might be some sort of hermit, an oddball, but she quickly realises the she is the odd one out. Catapulted from a life of modern comfort, Alex grapples with this new existence, further complicated by the dawning realization that someone from her time has followed her here - and not exactly to extend a helping hand.
Potential compensation for this brutal shift in fate comes in the shape of Matthew - a man she should never have met, not when she was born three centuries after him. He quickly proves himself a willing and most capable protector, but he comes with baggage of his own, and on occasion it seems his past will see him killed.
Alex finds her new situation desperately exciting, but also longs for the structure of the life she used to have. Can Alex get home? And does she want to?
Find one you'd like to read? Find it the easy way, by searching Amazon.com!
