Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb + a Giveaway

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb.

When Thomas and her brother, Will, went off to war, Evie Elliott promised to write. And write she did. Taking up residence at Will's writing desk, she kept them abreast of everything going down on the home front while they, sometimes in the case of Will, wrote to her of their experiences on the actual front. 

It was a war everyone expected to be over by Christmas, and yet it dragged mercilessly on and on. And throughout, Thomas and Evie kept up their correspondence. Decades later, Thomas is ready to rerun to Paris. Along the way, he reminisces over his letters, saving one final one for Christmas Eve.

Christmas in Paris is a (mostly) epistolary novel set within he framework of Thomas's trip in 1968. And while it might sound as though the letters that make up the tale are only between Evie and Thomas, that's not the case at all. There are letters between Evie and her friend Alice, letters between Thomas and his father, letters between Evie and Will, and telegrams and letters from and to others besides.

Through them, we see the evolution of each character through the most horrible of circumstances: war. They begin bright eyed and excited, ready to take on the world and defeat the enemy. But it doesn't take long for reality to set in. Evie, who can't go to the front, fights the only way she can: with her pen and her words. Thomas fights to gain his father's approval and to defend his country and others, but never expected it to be as brutal as it inevitably is revealed to be. Fortunately, through it all, they have one another to turn to.

Apparently the idea for this book came out of the anthology Fall of Poppies, edited by Heather Webb.  According to the authors' note, they wanted to tell more stories set in WWI. You can read the note yourself, but I find it fascinating to see how the idea for this came together. Two writer friends with a passion for history, emailed discussions back and forth, and an idea is born and brought to fruition!

And WWI is a fascinating time. The kind of battles fought were indeed different from those before with effects no one dreamed about. A virtual generation of men was lost. And the massive nature of the war caused huge social change as well. Women back home had to take on the roles left behind by men, roles that were then taken from them when the men returned. Both Evie and Thomas illustrate these issues and changes throughout the book.

Last Christmas in Paris works seamlessly and the fact that the authors were able to create such a great story while also giving ample life and breath to their characters through letters is fantastic! Definitely recommended for any fan of historical fiction!

Oh, and if you're like me and feel like reading Christmas books when it's not Christmas is just weird, this isn't really a Christmas book. Fair warning, though, it is a bit of a tearjerker!

And now for the giveaway! I've got one copy to give away to one of you lucky readers. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, October 23. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Hazel Gaynor and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

For more on Heather Webb and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Hazel Gaynor's latest, The Cottingley Secret.

In 1917, two young girls conceived of a prank so elaborate it would entrance a nation. Cousins Elsie and Frances, armed with a camera and an imagination, took a series of five photographs in which they claimed to have found and frolicked with fairies! And while the first four images were proven to be fakes, the fifth was never analyzed. 

A century later, Olivia Kavanagh has inherited her grandfather's old bookshop in Ireland. Still grieving the lost of her beloved grandfather, she is gifted, alongside the key to said store, a story. A fairy tale of sorts - except this tale is that of the Cottingley Fairies, written by Frances herself. From the first pages, Olivia, who has always been enchanted by stories of the fae, is drawn in completely. And when she finds a sixth photograph, one no one has ever mentioned in the hub bub around this historical prank, she begins to wonder if their might be some truth to the story. 

So even after tackling the Titanic, I think this may be my very favorite of all of Hazel Gaynor's books so far. I don't recall when I first heard about the Cottingley Fairies myself, but it is definitely a story that has always intrigued me. First and foremost, the fact that two little girls could have so captured a country's attention with what was admittedly a prank. They even caught the eye of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, you know of Sherlock Holmes fame!

What I find most intriguing about the story of Olivia and her grandmother and Elsie and Frances is that Gaynor was able to speak to Frances's own daughter in the course of researching and writing the book. The author's note at the end includes a piece written by Christine Lynch, who believes there was some truth to her mother's stories. In fact, it's her hope that the fifth (because there isn't a sixth) image will one day be analyzed and prove that not all the pictures the girls took were fakes.

What a great story, right? I mean the fact that people put stock in what these two girls claimed in the first place, which, as Gaynor points out, is due in large part to the morale of the nation in the wake of WWI. But that even Doyle himself fell for the ruse is amazing to me. He even ran the pictures in his magazine!

But that's enough about the context. What about the book, you're probably asking? Well, it's true to Gaynor's previous outings - excellent research and fantastic attention to detail. Which set the scene and make the story one that feels authentic and, whether you believe the girls' tale or not, real.

And of course there's Olivia as our driving force behind the story. Olivia who, from the opening pages, is clearly a woman open to the fantastical. And a woman who is deeply grieving. So of course the Cottingley Fairies is exactly the kind of story that would draw her in.

Add to that the fact that the story also revolves around an old bookshop and never before read manuscripts and you have what is a pretty perfect recipe for a book any true book lover will fall head over heels for!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Hazel Gaynor and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Girl From the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor + a Giveaway

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Hazel Gaynor's latest, The Girl From the Savoy.

Dolly Lane longs for something great. Or maybe just something more. And even the failed auditions and open calls with no call backs haven't yet managed to wear her down. 

Her new job as a maid at the Savoy hotel promises to bring her one step closer to her greatest wish. But it's not until she stumbles upon an ad for a musician seeking a muse that the world she's always dreamed of finally opens up to her. With all she's ever wanted right at her fingertips, though, Dolly will be faced with a heartbreaking decision: leave behind the girl who was Dolly Lane or cling to a past that made her who she is.

Hazel Gaynor's The Girl From the Savoy is a lot of things. A story about the stage and theater in the early twenties, a glimpse inside the budding world of the "Bright Young Things," the beginnings of the Roaring Twenties... But it's also an apt look at the struggles of women (and men) post WWI. In particular the women, considering they'd launched themselves equally into the war effort, taking up jobs previously relegated to men, only to find themselves set aside again once the war was over. Many lost loved ones, lovers, and husbands. For others, their betrothed may have returned a different person than the one who'd left for battle. Every one of them, though, was undeniably affected and changed by the war.

Our two leading ladies, Dolly and Loretta, may come from vastly different circumstances but it doesn't take long to realize the parallels between them. Dolly is weighed down by her past and a secret she needs to keep buried. Loretta has a devastating secret of her own. Neither is married, both volunteered during the war, and both eventually become connected through Loretta's brother, the musician who placed the ad Dolly eventually answers.

There are more connections and more to the story, all of which I want you to discover on your own - because that's where the magic is!

And it is magic, indeed. Hazel Gaynor has a true talent for bringing her chosen setting and characters to life. This is, of course, a testament to her fabulous skills as a writer but also her attention to detail and research on the era in question. All three of these things combine to create a world and story that affects you emotionally and feels tangible and real. As if you could reach out and touch one of Loretta's fabulous gowns, down a gin fizz, and dance alongside Dolly and Clover!

Rating: 4/5

And now for the giveaway: I have one copy of The Girl From the Savoy up for grabs! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, July 4. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Hazel Gaynor and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Fall of Poppies edited by Heather Webb + a Giveaway

Happy Monday, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War.

Since this is an anthology, I'm going to go ahead and use the official synopsis here for you before diving into my review:

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an unforgettable collection of short stories set in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month...

November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting, the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For soldiers, loved ones, and survivors the years ahead stretch with new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have been lost.

As families come back together, lovers reunite, and strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell.

In this moving anthology, nine authors share stories of love, strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

As you all may know we are in the midst of the 100 year anniversary of WWI, which began in the summer of 1914 and stretched through to November 11, 1918 - Armistice Day. As such, there's been a bevy of new fiction, non fiction, movies, and tv shows based around that era to satisfy even the buffest of WWI history buffs. I can't claim to be a HUGE history buff (I do have to look up dates and such), but I do absolutely love stories of love, heroism, and the people of this era, which makes this particular anthology quite perfect reading.

The book features nine tales by (as the synopsis promises) top voices in historical fiction, some of whom have been featured here on the blog before:

"The Daughter of Belgium" by Marci Jefferson (The Girl on the Golden Coin) kicks off the collection, introducing readers to a brave and formidable woman whose life in Belgium has been greatly affected by the war. A tragedy has forced her to hide away in a former clinic where one last patient tests her every resolve.

Marci Jefferson - Website | Facebook | Twitter

"The Record Set Straight" by Lauren Willig (the Pink Carnation series, That Summer, and The Other Daughter) takes readers to Kenya in 1980 where an elderly woman is faced with a reunion she's long avoided and a truth that's been buried for over sixty years.

Lauren Willig - Website | Facebook | Twitter

"All for the Love of You" by Jennifer Robson (Somewhere in France, After the War is Over, and Moonlight Over Paris) is set seven years after the war when a woman makes a discovery that brings her back to Armistice Day and a lost love.

Jennifer Robson - Website | Facebook | Twitter

In "After You've Gone" by Evangeline Holland (author of, amongst others, the Bledington Park series) a widow with nothing left to lose finds out this isn't the case at all.

Evangeline Holland - Website | Facebook | Twitter

"Something Worth Landing For" by Jessica Brockmole (Letters From Skye) is a sweet read about a pilot who comes to a stranger's rescue just one day before heading to the front.

Jessica Brockmole - Website | Facebook | Twitter

"Hour of the Bells" by Heather Webb (Becoming Josephine and Rodin's Lover) finds a mother stricken by loss considering a most desperate act of revenge.

Heather Webb - Website | Facebook | Twitter

"An American Airman in Paris" by Beatriz Williams (A Certain Age, Along the Infinite Sea, Tiny Little Things...) tells the story of a pilot who carries a picture that's very near and dear to him. But while everyone believes it's a picture of his sweetheart, only he knows the truth.

Beatriz Williams - Website | Facebook | Twitter

"The Photograph" by Kate Kerrigan (the Ellis Island trilogy, Recipes For a Perfect Marriage, and The Miracle of Grace) is set around the Irish uprising and war for independence and a picture of a soldier in enemy uniform. Who the man was and why his picture was held onto for so many years makes a descendant ponder exactly what that means for her own family history.

Kate Kerrigan - Website | Facebook | Twitter

And finally, in "Hush" by Hazel Gaynor (The Girl Who Came Home, A Memory of Violets, and The Girl From the Savoy) two boys fight for the lives in the same last moments of the war.

Hazel Gaynor - Website | Facebook | Twitter

As I said above, this is quite the perfect anthology for fans of WWI fiction as well as fans of the contributing authors. But do be prepared, these are some emotional stories! You may need tissues nearby (Something Worth Landing For was the one that got me!).

Rating: 4/5

As a little bonus today, I do have a copy of Fall of Poppies to give away to one of you lucky readers. To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, March 21. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

PS: last year I was lucky enough to be able to feature the cover and an excerpt from the anthology. You can check that post out here if you'd like a little taste of what's inside (the excerpt is from Heather Webb's fabulous "The Hour of the Bells.")

Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War - Cover Reveal, Excerpt, + a Giveaway

As you can tell from my recent Charles Todd post and today's Cat Winters post, I'm one of many readers who finds WWI (and WWII) an irresistible subject/setting in novels. Which is why I'm taking part in today's cover reveal for next spring's Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War.

Thanks to the publisher, I've got not only the cover to show you but a bit about the book to share (with preorder links):

Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War 

by Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor, Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Evangeline Holland, Lauren Willig, Marci Jefferson 

William Morrow Trade Paperback; March 1, 2016; $14.99; ISBN: 9780062418548 

Barnes & Noble / Amazon / IndieBound / Books-a-Million 

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an intensely moving collection of short stories about loss, longing, and hope in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb.

A squadron commander searches for meaning in the tattered photo of a girl he’s never met…

A Belgian rebel hides from the world, only to find herself nursing the enemy…

A young airman marries a stranger to save her honor—and prays to survive long enough to love her…The peace treaty signed on November 11, 1918, may herald the end of the Great War but for its survivors, the smoke is only beginning to clear. Picking up the pieces of shattered lives will take courage, resilience, and trust.

Within crumbled city walls and scarred souls, war’s echoes linger. But when the fighting ceases, renewal begins…and hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

and an excerpt: 

Excerpt from “Hour of the Bells” 

A short story included in Fall of Poppies 

Beatrix whisked around the showroom, feather duster in hand. Not a speck of dirt could remain or Joseph would be disappointed. The hour struck noon. A chorus of clocks whirred, their birds popping out from hiding to announce midday. Maidens twirled in their frocks with braids down their backs, woodcutters clacked their axes against pine, and the odd sawmill wheel spun in tune to the melody of a nursery rhyme. Two dozen cuckoos warbled and dinged, each crafted with loving detail by the same pair of hands—those with thick fingers and a steady grip.

Beatrix paused in her cleaning. One clock chimed to its own rhythm, apart from the others.

She could turn them off—the tinkling melodies, the incessant clatter of pendulums, wheels, and cogs, with the levers located near the weights—just as their creator had done before bed each evening, but she could not bring herself to do the same. To silence their music was to silence him, her husband, Joseph. The Great War had already done that; ravaged his gentle nature, stolen his final breath, and silenced him forever.

In a rush, Beatrix scurried from one clock to the next, assessing which needed oiling. With the final stroke of twelve, she found the offending clock. Its walnut face, less ornate than the others, had been her favorite, always. A winter scene displayed a cluster of snow-topped evergreens; rabbits and fawns danced in the drifts when the music began, and a scarlet cardinal dipped its head and opened its beak to the beauty of the music. The animals’ simplicity appealed to her now more than ever. With care, she removed the weights and pendulum, and unscrewed the back of the clock. She was grateful she had watched her husband tend to them so often. She could still see Joseph, blue eyes peering over his spectacles, focused on a figurine as he painted detailing on the linden wood. His patient hands had caressed the figures lovingly, as he had caressed her.

The memory of him sliced her open. She laid her head on the table as black pain stole over her body, pooling in every hidden pocket and filling her up until she could scarcely breathe.

“Give it time,” her friend Adelaide had said, as she set a basket of jam and dried sausages on the table; treasures in these times of rations, yet meager condolence for what Beatrix had lost.

“Time?” Beatrix had laughed, a hollow sound, and moved to the window overlooking the grassy patch of yard. The Vosges mountains rose in the distance, lording over the line between France and Germany along the battle front. Time’s passage never escaped her—not for a moment. The clocks made sure of it. There weren’t enough minutes, enough hours, to erase her loss.

As quickly as the grief came, it fled. Though always powerful, its timing perplexed her. Pain stole through the night, or erupted at unlikely moments, until she feared its onslaught the way others feared death. Death felt easier, somehow.

Beatrix raised her head and pushed herself up from the table to finish her task. Joseph would not want her to mourn, after two long years. He would want to see her strength, her resilience, especially for their son. She pretended Adrien was away at school, though he had enlisted, too. His enlistment had been her fault. A vision of her son cutting barbed wire, sleeping in trenches, and pointing a gun at another man reignited the pain and it began to pool again. She suppressed the horrid thoughts quickly, and locked them away in a corner of her mind.

With a light touch she cleaned the clock’s bellows and dials, and anointed its oil bath with a few glistening drops. Once satisfied with her work, she hung the clock in its rightful place above the phonograph, where a disk waited patiently on the spool. She spun the disk once and watched the printed words on its center blur. Adrien had played Quand Madelon over and over, belting out the patriotic lyrics in time with the music. To him, it was a show of his support for his country. To Beatrix it had been a siren, a warning her only son would soon join the fight. His father’s death was the final push he had needed. The lure of patrimoine, of country, throbbed inside of him as it did in other men. They talked of war as women spoke of tea sets and linens, yearned for it as women yearned for children. Now, the war had seduced her Adrien. She stopped the spinning disk and plucked it from its wheel, the urge to destroy it pulsing in her hands.

She must try to be more optimistic. Surely God would not take all she had left.

Reprinted Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers

Given not only the subject but the fabulous list of contributing authors, you can probably tell that this is one that's already on my list of books to buy for 2016! 

Now, it is quite a while before the book is out but the publisher is offering up a great giveaway to celebrate the reveal. This is a reveal wide giveaway so you can enter on any of the participating blogs. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic by Hazel Gaynor

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Hazel Gaynor's debut, The Girl Who Came Home.

1912: Maggie Murphy and her aunt, along with twelve others from Ballysheen, Ireland, set off to America on the grandest ship ever to be built: RMS Titanic. Maggie is bereft at leaving behind both her home and her sweetheart, but America means a fresh start and new opportunities. Their trip is an adventure that soon turns tragic, but Maggie survives. Her family knows little about her experiences on Titanic but decades later she's finally ready to share her tale. 

1982: After her father's death, Grace gave up college and a wonderful writing opportunity to care for her mother. But now everyone, including Grace's mother and Grace's great-grandmother Maggie, has decided that it's time for her to move on. And to help her along, Maggie is willing to revisit Titanic. 

Gaynor's debut is of course based on the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, but the book is specifically inspired by the story of the Addergoole Fourteen, said to be "the largest proportional loss of life from one region." Eleven of the Fourteen died in the event. Gaynor's piece in the PS edition includes information on the girls her characters are derived from as well as additional information for those curious about the Addergool Fourteen.

What is it about this piece of history that still so fascinates us over a century later? Is it the fact that the ship epitomized opulence and grandeur? The way everyone behind it seemed to taunt fate by dubbing it unsinkable? Or is it the ultimately tragic end that keeps bringing us back for more? I think it's all of those things combined with the very personal stories of those who were on board.

I am certainly not immune to the lure of Titanic based tales and had been greatly anticipating Hazel Gaynor's debut. To read that her characters were indeed based on very real people who perished in the ship's sinking made the book that much more enthralling and heartbreaking.

I'm not going to lie, though, I did enter into the book with some trepidation. On the one hand, I'd just spent the weekend bingeing on Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy so historical fiction was a pretty big change up genre wise. On the other hand, I worried that The Girl Who Came Home might be just a little too reminiscent of the James Cameron film. It's certainly not fair, but I can't deny that at least some part of my brain worried.

I am so completely happy to admit, however, that my fear was definitely not realized. It took less than one chapter to completely draw me in. I enjoyed the dual storyline - 1912 and 1982 - and the varying perspectives - Maggie and Grace but also Lucky Harry, Séamus, and the others we get to see throughout the book. Each section includes actual Marconigram messages sent from Titanic and Carpathia. And of course there are Maggie's journal entries that appear throughout the book. Each element melds perfectly to give a feeling of historical accuracy and illustrates the obvious care and attention Gaynor paid to her subject.

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to visit the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Hazel Gaynor and the book, you can visit her on the web here; Hazel blogs at www.whimsandtonic.com. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.