Woden's Vengeance by Donovan Cook

 

"He had been told by someone much wiser than him that the past was not important, but Octa used the memory of that fear and his cowardice to drive him forward. To be a warrior worthy of the Saxon people and the gods. They called him Octa the Coward to disgrace him, but Octa took that byname and used it to motivate himself".

"And you are playing with powers you do not understand. Once the fires start, there will be nothing any of us can do".

Woden's Vengeance by Donovan Cook is a fascinating blend of historical novel and action, with the elements of supernatural, set against the backdrop of Britannia.

I vaguely remembered the story of Hengist and Horsa from Geoffrey of Monmouth's account, which I've read many years ago. It was time to revisit the early history of Britain and get re-acquianted with the warlords who changed history. 

Blurb:

Woden's Vengeance

450AD Britannia

The war has begun - a war feared by both men and gods. But will the old give way to the new?

Prince Vortimer has imprisoned his father, King Vortigern - The High King of Britain. With Woden's spear, he believes God has chosen him to lead an army south to banish the Jutes once and for all from Britain's shores. Triumphant after the first battle, Prince Vortimer lays siege to the Jutes, but the war is far from over.

In a desperate fight for survival, Octa and the Jutish warlods, Hengist and Horsa, are trapped on Thanet, their island home, as Prince Vortimer's army surrounds them. With dwindling numbers, their only hope is to send for reinforcements, but winter is upon them, and the journey will be perilous.

In a race against time and his own wishes, Octa leads the expedition to recruit Saxon and Jutish warriors. But will they follow Octa the Coward? To prove himself, Octa must confront his past and seek vengeance on those who wronged his family, all while being mindful of Woden's wrath.

Can Octa stand strong as the fires of war rage around him?

And will warriors pledge their allegiance to a man known as Octa the Coward?

Woden's Vengeance is the third book in The First Kingdom series. It can be read as a standalone (I haven't read the previous books), though I imagine you will understand the dynamics of the storyline and the relationships between the main characters better if you're already familiar with the earlier books.

From the very first page you're plunged deep into action, as the horns sound and men roar on the Thanet Island in the late summer of AD450. Prince Vortimer has launched yet another attack on Hengist and Horsa's Jutes and trapped them on the small island.

Octa the Coward, a Saxon fighting for the Jutes, is holding Gungnir in his right hand. "Gungnir looked like every other spear apart from the two ravens etched into the spearhead, neither looking alike, and the spear's name engraved onto its shaft in runes". This is the legendary Woden's spear.

Prince Vortimer has imprisoned his own father, King Vortigern. Vortimer believes he is the chosen one who has Woden's sacred spear, and is convinced of its divine purpose. His early victories are swift and brutal, and have encouraged him to march south to drive the Jutes from Britain forever.

The Jutes' army led by Hengist and Horsa, is nearly cut off at the sea-lashed stronghold of Thanet. With a fast approaching winter and resources diminishing fast (both human and food), they have to think of their next step, or perish. Their only chance sounds like a desperate gamble. They must summon reinforcements, no matter the cost.

The task falls to Octa, and he is more than just reluctant.

Being mocked as Octa the Coward, he must cross the treacherous sea to rally Saxon and Jutish warriors to come to Britannia with him. But men don't follow those who they perceive to be weak. Octa must earn their respect and loyalty, and to do that he needs to confront his own past and avenge the wrongs done to his family. He has to prove himself worthy not just in the eyes of men, but of gods as well.

And Woden is waiting for him.

As the expanding war consumes the land, the old beliefs are tested in fire, could a coward become a leader?

 

We follow Octa on his journey of redemption and also self-discovery. He is attuned to the voices of the gods and can communicate with them, when they choose to approach him and deliver a message. 

Woden's spear is the serious bone of contention. Even gods cannot agree between themselves, whether Octa should have it, albeit temporarily.

Octa "felt the power of the gods of Asgard flow through it. Gungnir had chased away his fear and had replaced it with a calmness he had never felt before. But there was also a darkness in the spear. Something he sensed every time he killed with it, and he often worried what that darkness would do to him".

Octa struggles to make sense of everything, and especially of the destiny his mother wants for him. What does he need to do to redeem himself, and how far is he prepared to go to restore his name and honour?

Donovan Cook is a splendid storyteller. As much as I am indifferent to the military side of historical fiction, his battle scenes cannot but engage you, literally grab and drag you in the middle of the action and leave you breathless. The sights, and sounds, and even smells are so vividly described, you feel like you're present there as an invisible witness (or perhaps one of the gods who watch from aside).

Epic in scope, vivid and meticulously-researched, Woden's Vengeance is a fast-paced story, which moves effortlessly from one location to another. Enter an early medieval world at your peril!

This review is part of the blog tour for Woden's Vengeance.

Many thanks to Donovan Cook, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/WodensVengeance

Author Bio –

Donovan Cook is the author of the well-received Ormstunga Saga series which combines fast-paced narrative with meticulously researched history of the Viking world, and is inspired by his interest in Norse Mythology.  He was born in South Africa and currently lives in Lancashire, UK.

 

Social Media Links – 

Facebook: @DonovanCookAuthor

Twitter: @DonovanCook20

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/DonovanCookNews

Bookbub profile: @cookdonovanbooks

Author Bio –

Donovan Cook is the author of the well-received Ormstunga Saga series which combines fast-paced narrative with meticulously researched history of the Viking world, and is inspired by his interest in Norse Mythology.  He was born in South Africa and currently lives in Lancashire, UK.

 

Social Media Links – 

Facebook: @DonovanCookAuthor

Twitter: @DonovanCook20

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/DonovanCookNews

Secrets Taken to the Grave by Isobel Blackthorn

"I brace myself. Memories bombard me, an army assaulting my mind with the horros that occurred here".

"I suppose that's the nature of haunting. It's between the one doing the haunting and the haunted. And even though none of it is real to anyone else, it most certainly is real to me. Real, and dangerous".

Secrets Taken to the Grave by Isobel Blackthorn is a Gothic mystery set in Scotland in 1893.

Blurb:

Secrets Taken to the Grave (Strathbairn Trilogy Book 2)

The Scottish Highlands, 1893. Ingrid Barker arrives back at Strathbairn to attend the funeral of her old employer, Charles McCleod. 

Every bone in Ingrid's body screams for her to leave, and as she walks from the graveside, she can't shake the suspicion that Charles was murdered. As she hurries to uncover the truth and get away from Strathbairn, another murder takes place - one that traps her in the very place she is desperate to escape from.

Running out of time and clues, can Ingrid evade the truth of that terrible night up at the abbey the last timeshe was here, and can she solve the mystery of Charles' death before his ghost does away with her?

Ingrid Barker returns to the remote estate of Strathbairn for the funeral of her former employer, Charles McCleod. She had hoped never to set foot there again.

From the moment she arrives, she feels uneasy, as if every instinct impels her to leave. Yet as she stands at the graveside, holding her daughter Susan's hand and shivering with cold and apprehension, a chilling certainty takes hold of her mind. 

"I really shouldn't be here. Now that I'm inside the house, every part of my being is screaming for me to leave, leave immediately..."

She strongly suspects that Charles McCleod didn't die a natural death. His ghost manifests itself in angry outbursts. 

A terrible person while still alive, McCleod is a violent vicious ghost, who is intent on having it his way. Ingrid's peace of mind is disturbed, she feels pushed to find out what's really happened. Otherwise her life is under threat.

"I begin to fill with uncertainty... whether I should pursue any sort of probe into what happened to Charles, as he himself seems to want me to do, or if I should simply leave at the very earliest opportunity. Would his ghost follow me and haunt me in Winchester? Do ghosts do that? Can they?"

Ingrid is determined to uncover the truth before fleeing the place that haunts her memories. Asking questions will only rouse suspicions and alert attention to her own deeply-buried secrets. Before she can escape the cold house (cold both literally and methaporically), another body is discovered in the ruins nearby, and all of a sudden Ingrid is no longer free to leave.

As suspicions close in and time is running out, Ingrid must untangle the gruesome secrets buried within the estate. Is there anyone she can trust? The whole dysfunctional family acts suspiciously. They are all unpleasant and pretty horrible, from the McCleods to the serving staff. To add insult to the injury, Susan seems to be switching allegiance, becoming a pet of the cook, who enjoys manipulating a child to upset her mother. It is a battle of wits.

Even the house itself appears manevolent and hostile. "It is a house that oozes its own dark history from every pore of its stonework".

Snowed down, the estate is cut off from any possible help or means of escape. Chilling isolation reigns supreme both outside and inside the house.

Ingrid is alone in her quest. Apart from appeasing the angry ghost and solving the mystery, she must face the truth of the terrible night at the abbey when she was last visiting the ruins.

If she cannot solve the mystery of Charles McCleod's death in time, his restless ghost may claim her next.

Secrets Taken to the Grave is book 2 in the Strathbairn trilogy. You can read it as a standalone, but I strongly suggest reading the first book to understand the dynamics between the characters, as well as Ingrid's story before she arrived to Strathbairn.

The setting of misty Highlands, ruins of an old abbey, secrets that don't stay buried forever, hidden letters and manuscripts with creepy drawings, a vengeful ghost - all these Gothic elements are wonderfully atmospheric.

It's an intriguing, chilling story, with a bleak setting and a terrific atmosphere, the kind of story which pulls you straight in and doesn't want to leave you until the last page.

This post is part of the blog tour for Secrets Taken to the Grave. Many thanks to Isobel Blackthorn and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book.

Purchase Links

Universal book link: https://books2read.com/u/mexV8E

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BMZCVQ

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/secrets-taken-to-the-grave/id6744722804

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-taken-to-the-grave-isobel-blackthorn/1147305411?ean=2940181569010

Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=SLZWEQAAQBAJ

Rakuten Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ebook/secrets-taken-to-the-grave

Author Bio

 Isobel Blackthorn is an award-winning author of immersive and inspiring fiction. She has penned over twenty-five books including a number of bestsellers.

Among her credits, Isobel’s biographical short story ‘Nothing to Declare’, which forms the first chapter of her biographical novel Emma’s Tapestry, was shortlisted for the Ada Cambridge Prose Prize 2019. One of her Canary Islands novels, A Prison in the Sun, was shortlisted in the LGBTQ category of the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2020 and the International Book Awards 2021. The Cabin Sessions was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award 2018 and the Ditmar Awards 2018. And The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey received an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Reader’s Favorite Book Awards.

Blackthorn is the author of the world’s only biography of Theosophist and mother of the New Age movement Alice Bailey – Alice A. Bailey: Life & Legacy. Isobel’s writing has appeared in journals and websites around the world, including Esoteric Quarterly, New Dawn Magazine, Paranoia, Mused Literary Review, Trip Fiction, Backhand Stories, Fictive Dream and On Line Opinion. Isobel was a judge for the Australasian Shadow Awards 2020 long fiction category. Her book reviews have appeared in New Dawn Magazine, Esoteric Quarterly, Shiny New Books, Sisters in Crime, Australian Women Writers, Trip Fiction and Newtown Review of Books.

Isobel’s interests are many and varied. She has a long-standing association with the Canary Islands, having lived in Lanzarote in the late 1980s. A humanitarian and campaigner for social justice, in 1999 Isobel founded the internationally acclaimed Ghana Link, uniting two high schools, one a relatively privileged state school located in the heart of England, the other a materially impoverished school in a remote part of the Upper Volta region of Ghana, West Africa. After working as a teacher, market trader and PA to a literary agent, she arrived at writing in her forties, and her stories are as diverse and intriguing as her life has been.

Isobel has performed her literary works at events in a range of settings and given workshops in creative writing.

British by birth, Isobel entered this world in Farnborough, Kent, UK. She has lived in England, Australia, Spain and the Canary Islands. She now lives and writes in Spain. She is currently at work on two novels composed in Spanish.

 

Social Media Links –

 

https://www.facebook.com/Author.Isobel.Blackthorn/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768657.Isobel_Blackthorn

https://www.instagram.com/isobelbwrites/

@isobelb-author.bsky.social

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/isobel-blackthorn

Celebrations at the Beach Hotel by Francesca Capaldi (book extract)

 

I'm delighted to invite Francesca Capaldi to my blog today, with a book extract from her latest historical novel, Celebrations at the Beach Hotel.

Celebrations at the Beach Hotel

Sisters Alice and Annie have always been close but will a man come between them?

Annie and Alice love their life working at the Beach Hotel together and each is thrilled to have finally found a sweetheart. Yet the path of true love never did run smooth, and they soon find themselves facing conflict and strife. Could love come between them and the bond they share?

Meanwhile, as men start to come home from the war, the women have to work out how to keep their jobs, although they are delighted to be back with their beaus. Soon, wedding bells ring out in Littlehampton.

Will everything be made right in time for Christmas?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Extract: Celebrations at the Beach Hotel by Francesca Burgess

 

The men have slowly been returning from the war to the Beach Hotel to work. Alice Twine had looked forward to Jasper returning, but things haven’t turned out the way she’d hoped.

 

The following Monday, it was Alice’s afternoon off. She was glad to get away from her sister, and the growing whisper around the staff that she was walking out with Jasper. At the same time, she felt lonely, wandering around the town on her own, her head filled with unwelcome thoughts from which there was little distraction. She’d asked an old school friend, who lived near them in Wick, whether she fancied a trip out, as they’d done on occasion. But her friend’s day off from the grocery store was currently on a Wednesday.

Walking down High Street, she stopped to look in the window of Mann’s, the draper’s shop. Perhaps she should buy some fabric and make herself something, a dress maybe, like the straight-lined, mid-calf length ones she’d seen some young women wearing. It might do her good to have a little project like this to interest her. And it would be much cheaper to make it than to buy it. She unclipped the metal catch on her handbag and took out her purse to peer inside. There wasn’t enough, and her savings were in a box at home, under her bed. She should have thought of it before.

She put the purse back in her handbag and was about to close the clip, when she was pushed forward, almost hitting the glass of the shop window. A young man had bumped into her, knocking her handbag off her wrist. With it still being open, her purse, comb and handkerchief spilled onto the pavement.

The young man crouched down quickly to pick the bag up, along with the items. At first, she panicked, afraid he was going to steal them, but he quickly stood up and handed the bag back to her, looking contrite.

‘I am so sorry. How clumsy of me. I really should look where I’m going,’ he said in a middle-class accent.

She was struck by his good looks and by how tall he was. His hair was very fair and a little longer than was fashionable. He had on a grey cap. His beard was fair too, with a hint of ginger, and he was wearing glasses. His neat, blue, three-piece suit, visible under a smart, open coat, was quite dapper.

‘That’s all right.’ She smiled to make him feel better. ‘No harm done.’

‘I do feel guilty. I hope your bag and the other bits haven’t got too dirty.’

‘They’ll survive.’

‘Listen, to make up for my clumsiness, could I buy you a cup of tea somewhere?’

She faltered for a moment, not knowing how to react to this rather swift invitation.

‘Sorry, where are my manners. I should have introduced myself first. I’m Jamie. Jamie… Sparks.’

She didn’t know him from Adam, so would it be right to agree? Then again, there were plenty of people around, so it wasn’t like she’d be in any danger.

She held out her hand and he shook it. ‘And I’m Alice Twine.’

‘Nice to meet you, Alice.’

‘And nice to meet you, Jamie. Yes please, a cup of tea would be very welcome.’

For a moment she was hopeful that he’d suggest Read’s Dining Rooms, as it was just around the corner on Surrey Street. She’d always fancied visiting it.

‘There’s a nice little tearoom at the end of High Street: Kimble’s.’ He pointed in the opposite direction.

‘Yes, I know the one. All right.’

They said little as they made their way to Kimble’s, and she wondered whether this would be a rather stilted affair. She questioned her decision; she wasn’t good at talking to strangers. But then how was she ever going to meet a future husband?

Future husband! She had no illusions that Mr Sparks was any such thing, but she had to start somewhere.

To her relief, once they were settled into the cafe, awaiting their order, he started chatting.

‘It’s my day off today and I wasn’t looking forward to spending it alone, yet again, so I am glad I, um, “bumped” into you, though I wish it hadn’t been quite so literally.’

‘It’s my afternoon off too. Where do you work?’

‘I’m a reporter for the Sussex Daily News.’

‘Isn’t their office on Terminus Road, near the railway station?’

‘That’s right.’

‘You must be well educated to do that job.’

‘Oh, I don’t know about that,’ he said shyly. ‘I’m just good with words. Where do you work?’

‘I, um, work in the stillroom at the Beach Hotel, on the common.’ It wasn’t quite true, of course, but it sounded better than ‘scullery maid’, which might be considered the lowest job at the hotel.

‘The Beach Hotel, eh? Very posh.’

He looked a little surprised – or was it even shocked? – at first. Didn’t she look good enough to work there?

‘It is very posh. I work with my sister mostly, which can get a bit much at times, as she’s older and rather bossy.’

‘What’s it like, working there, apart from having a bossy sister?’ He chuckled.

‘It’s a great place to work. The manageress, Mrs Bygrove, treats us all well. We’re very lucky in that way. Of course, during the war, it was mainly women doing the jobs, even as porters. The male staff are starting to come back now… those what survived.’

He nodded. ‘We lost a couple of the reporters I worked with too. I’ve always wanted to go for lunch or afternoon tea at the hotel, but I’m not classy enough.’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’ It was out of her mouth before she’d had time to consider it. It might sound like she had a fancy for him…

Purchase Link:

Amazon https://amzn.to/4gTi5fj

Kobo: https://bit.ly/4765y3M

Author Bio – 

Francesca Capaldi has enjoyed writing since she was a child, largely influenced by a Welsh mother who was good at improvised storytelling and an Italian father who loved history. She is the author of historical sagas, short stories and pocket novels. 

The first novel in the Beach Hotel series, A New Start at the Beach Hotel, won the Romantic Saga Award at the Romantic Novelists' Association Awards in 2024. The first novel in the Wartime in the Valleys series, Heartbreak in the Valleys, was shortlisted for the Historical Romantic Award in the RoNAs in 2021. 

Francesca was born and brought up on the Sussex coast, went to London to do a history degree, but has lived for many years in Kent with her family and a cat called Lando Calrission.

Social Media Links – 

Facebook: @ FrancescaCapaldiAuthor

Twitter: @ FCapaldiBurgess

Instagram: @francesca.capaldi.burgess

Tiktok: @francesca.capaldi.author

Website: francesca-capaldi.com 

Reading challenge of 2025 and new goals for 2026

 

New year's resolutions are not my forte, as I tend to break them pretty fast.

However, having book-related goals is totally manageable. I have worked on my reading goals last year, and did pretty well. One of my aims was to read more non-fiction, and last year their number increased to ten, which I'm pretty pleased with. They were on the subjects I'm interested in, and tied in with the fiction selection nicely (for example, a biography of Edgar Allan Poe and a novel American Boy, where Edgar appears as a young child).

My reading challenge on GoodReads keeps a tally on the amount of books I have read in 2025 - 99. 

Setting the same goals for 2026: hoping to read 52+ books;

Read non--fiction books, including a rather scary looking volume of Citizens by Simon Schama (I want to learn more on the subject of the French Revolution after we've seen a fantastic exhibition on the French Revolution in Paris last year);

Read more from British Library Tales of the Weird and British Library Crime Classics;

Study another book in a Dual Language series (I enjoyed an Introduction to French Poetry a lot);

Expand the range of books written by indigenous authors;

Discover a book outside my typical genres, and try something new, maybe Romantasy, which I have been avoiding so far (I prefer dystopian kind of fantasy, i.e. The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc);

Return to some old favourites (maybe Mary Stewart's Arthurian series);

Try not to worry about not finishing books I don't enjoy;

Take more books to the charity shops, especially those that I will never read again.

I am also hoping that this year I'll be able to attend some literary events, like book signings, and talks. 

And here is a full list of all the books I read through the year.

 

It was a year of Icelandic Noir for me, and it might well continue. I have just started The Shadow of the Northern Lights (Hildur no.3) by Satu Rämö on my Kindle. I have bought quite a lot of books from Orenda and Zaffre publishers (they do a lot of Icelandic and Scandi Noir).

Just before the new year's eve I bought The Killing Stones: The Return of Jimmy Perez by Ann Cleeves (and was peeved yesterday to see it a half price in the same bookshop). 

What else? I tried a free trial of Kindle Unlimited for 3 months, but decided not to continue. I have too many unread books in my Kindle library, and it was not worth it for me. 

What are you reading now? Do you have reading goals for 2026 that you care to share? 

Echoes of the Past by Evelyn Hood

 

"Bethany was happiest, on board the Fidelty. Like her father and her elder brother she was a child of the sea, treating it with respect but without fear."

Echoes of the Past by Evelyn Hood is a compelling generational saga set in Scotland in 1912.

Echoes of the Past

Can a family thrive after the death of a domineering patriarch?

Buckie, Scotland 1912

One year after Weem Lowrie's death, his wife Jess and children are still living in his shadow, bount by the strict decisions he imposed when he was alive.

Eldest son James and his sister Bethany are trapped in marriages arranged to bolster the value of the family's fishing business. Youngest son, Innes, struggles with the memory of his father's disapproval over his failure to become a fisherman.

James longs to take over as skipper of the family fishing boat, The Fidelity, rather than working for his uncle. Bethany dreams of escaping from her role as a wife and stepmother to two young children and Innes longs for acceptance and respect from his siblings and to be seen as a man. But pursuing these aims only seems to invite new conflict into their lives.

And when Jess's childhood sweetheart returns to Buckie, his attempts to help the family using his wealth and influence seem destined to cause even more chaos.

Storytelling at its best, Evelyn Hood is the original bestselling Scottish saga writer.

Previously published as The Shimmer of the Herring.

The Lowrie family has lived in Buckie for generations. It's a hard way of making a living. Fishing is a men's job, and women are discouraged to even dream about being at sea. 

Bethany longs to sail, however, women are considered to bring bad luck at sea. She is strong, efficient and smart, but it's her older brother James who inherits the family business after their father's passing.

Weem Lowry died a year earlier, and even now his demise hasn't changed the tyrannical decisions he has imposed on his family.

His gravestone carries an inscription, "William James Lowrie, fisherman of the parish Buckie, born 1870, died 21 July, beloved husband of Jess Innes and father of James, Bethany and Innes."

Yet this beloved father ruled his family as a dictatorship. He has forced both of his older children into unwanted relationships because the newly-forged connections propelled him closer to his dream of owning a steam boat. 

Bethany resents being married to a man she doesn't love, and looking after his two small children. She yearns freedom, and cannot forgive her father, who she loved deeply as a child.

"She would have to relinquish something - either the deep love she'd had for the man from her earliest days, or the bitter rage born of knowing that he had used her love and trust to further his own interests, trapping her in the process with a man who meant nothing to her... she must resign herserlf to becoming what Weem had made of her: a wife and mother with no other identity. And she could not do that." 

Weem's decision feels like a betrayal. 

James has a certain degree of freedom, as he does a job he loves. Yet he wants more. He doesn't like to work for his uncle, whose decisions are constrictive.  

"Like his father and sister, James loved the sea more than anything else. He loved its contrary moods - the worst of them as well as the best."

James feels tied to a wife in an unloving relationship. Poor Stella adores him, and he treats her with indifference and even scorn. She seems a failure in his eyes, as she gives birth to three daughters. 

And there is the younger son, Innes, scarred by the contempt and derision bestown on him by his own father, because Innes chooses to work on land rather than become a fisherman. In Weem's eyes, this is an unpardonable sin.

Weem's oppressive legacy keeps hurting his children even after his death. His meek wife Jess hasn't dared to oppose his decisions. The only time she has revolted was to protect her youngest, "she had made sure that Weem - who had loved his children so deeply when they were small, and had used them with such a lack of understanding once they reached adulthood - had not managed to destroy Innes the way he'd destroyed James and Bethany."

Jess can see the difference between her children, their strength and weaknesses.

"Innes had been a loving and giving soul from the moment of his birth, whereas James and Bethany had both shrugged off embraces from an early age."

Will Bethany, James and Innes be ever free from the brutal bonds foisted by their father?

The society of the fishing village is based on patriarachal rules of obeying your parents. The parochial mindset is suffocating, with its petty squabbles and watching your neighbours with a critical eye.  

Life by the sea is portrayed unflinchingly. The back-breaking work of women is described with sympathy and compassion. Once men bring in the fish, women are waiting on the shore to start gutting, salting and packing in barrels. Their lives are hard, but there is dignity and pride in what they are doing.

The background of the fishing village is well-researched and authentic.

I wasn't sure about one of the spicy plotlines, as it didn't feel convincing.

Echoes of the Past is an unsentimental portrayal of the past, a finely crafted tale of tragedy and deception, loss and forbidden love.

Potential triggers: incest.

Purchase Link -

https://mybook.to/EchoesofthePastBook

Author Bio –

The Sunday Times bestselling author of 28 published novels, Evelyn Hood had a variety of jobs, including being a journalist and a poultry farmer. She was a full time writer, best known for her family sagas, set mainly in her home town of Paisley (Renfrewshire) and on the Clyde coast, where she also lived.

 

Social Media Links – 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16YScQLN3J/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: @evelynhood52author

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/evelyn-hood

Ripples Through Time by Christina Courtenay (book extract)

I'm thrilled to welcome Christina Courtenay to my blog today and offer an extract from her latest time travel novel, Ripples through Time. 

Ripples Through Time

A love that will change them forever

A treasure that will bring them home

West Mercia, AD 873 – Merewen's settlement is on guard against the outside threat of the ‘Heathen’ Norsemen. But for Merewen, the real threats come from within, as her future is cruelly snatched away from her.

Eirik, a Norseman, finds himself abandoned and injured after his uncle’s plunder of Mercian land goes wrong. He thinks his fate is sealed – until Merewen saves his life.

Hereford, Present Day – Left reeling after a huge betrayal, Alix moves to her grandfather's farm in Hereford to heal her broken heart. There, after being given a family heirloom, she soon finds herself haunted by memories of a life she never lived, a relationship she never had, and a time in which she never existed.

Local farmer Noah is being hounded by the police to find the Viking hoard that his sister and her criminal boyfriend stole from his farm. Noah must prove his own innocence while struggling to decipher the curious connection he has to newcomer Alix – a bond that seems to transcend their own reality.

As they search for the lost treasure, Alix and Noah start to feel the whispers of a love they never expected, one powerful enough to echo through history. 

Purchase Link - https://geni.us/ripplestime

London, present day – heroine discovers betrayal of the worst kind 

 

‘How long do we have to keep sneaking around like this? Can’t we just tell her and get it over with?’ 

 

Alix Howell stopped abruptly at the sound of her younger sister’s voice. It was coming from the mud room beyond the kitchen in their parents’ house, and although Autumn was whispering, the words were still perfectly audible. 

 

‘Patience, baby.’ The voice replying belonged to Alix’s fiancé, Sean, and hearing it made her freeze in shock. ‘We have to wait until the mortgage application for the flat has been approved,’ he continued. ‘You know we need Alix to cover the down payment. It’s not like we can afford it ourselves. Once all the paperwork is signed, it won’t matter so much, and I’ll pay her back when I can. Or you can pay her rent so she can go and live somewhere else. I doubt she’ll want to share with us, even though there are two bedrooms.’ 

 

A muffled giggle was the answer to that statement. What the hell? The pain of betrayal hit Alix right in the middle of the sternum, knocking all the air out of her. She clutched her stomach and tried to breathe while processing what she’d just heard. Her sister was having an affair with Sean? Since when? No. This couldn’t be true. Alix hadn’t noticed him acting any different recently. There had been quite a few late nights in the office and some outings with his mates that he’d claimed were for boys only, but no other red flags. He’d acted as loving as normal. What a consummate liar! She hadn’t suspected a thing. 

 

And what was this about the down payment? Was he seriously planning to use Alix’s life savings, combined with his own meagre contribution, to obtain a mortgage for the flat they were buying together, then dump her? A flat that apparently she was never going to live in. The utter bastard! 

 

So not happening. 

 

After the week she’d had at work – although she didn’t want to think about that right now – this was the last straw. She marched over to the door that separated the mud room from the kitchen and threw it open. 

 

‘No need to wait. I won’t be signing any of those papers now, or providing any money, so you can go ahead and make your relationship official,’ she announced, pulling off the cheap zirconia ring Sean had bought her instead of a diamond one and throwing it at him. It was supposed to have been temporary until he could afford something better, since they’d needed the money for the flat. So much for that. 

 

‘I wouldn’t have been able to afford the mortgage payments anyway, as I quit my job yesterday,’ she added. She hadn’t had a chance to tell anyone yet, and now it probably didn’t matter. It might even be a blessing in disguise. 

 

Autumn and Sean’s stunned expressions and gaping mouths would have been hilarious if the cause hadn’t been so hurtful. Alix didn’t intend to stick around and wait for them to recover, however. No doubt they’d try and come up with some excuse as to why they were perfect for each other. Judging by previous experience, it would involve a variation on the theme of Alix being too serious or boring, compared to her uber-glamorous sister. Autumn was the ‘fun one’ of the two, according to most of their friends. The one with the natural charm and a gift for socialising and hogging the limelight. Whereas Alix was shy and introverted, more interested in reading than partying. 

 

Being less than a year apart, most people had mistaken them for twins when they were children. They did look fairly similar when in their natural state, but Alix always felt overshadowed by her sister. Autumn was a beautician and knew how to enhance her looks; from chemical hair-straightening and lip fillers to a year-round spray tan and hours spent with a personal trainer each week, nothing was left to chance. And it would seem that Sean preferred this improved version of what the gods had given them. He was welcome to it. 

 

‘Alix, wait! I can explain! Stop for a minute …’ 

 

She ignored the increasingly anxious pleas from behind her and swore that this was the last time she’d allow Autumn to steal anything that belonged to her. Her sister had been doing it more or less from birth, and mostly getting away with it too. She had been the golden child for as long as Alix could remember. The one who could do no wrong. As soon as she’d been born, Alix had been effectively sidelined. Autumn had been a beautiful, contented baby, by all accounts, whereas Alix had been colicky and difficult. The new baby was able to charm their parents in a way that Alix had never mastered, and later she had lying down to a fine art as well. More times than she cared to count, Alix had been blamed for every misdemeanour, despite any lack of evidence. It was enough that Autumn turned her limpid gaze on their parents and shed a few theatrical tears. They fell for it every time. There was no competing with her. She always got her way. Well, enough was enough. 

 

Sweeping past their astonished parents, and assorted other relatives who had come over for Sunday lunch, Alix grabbed her handbag and jacket and slammed her way out of the house. Thank goodness she hadn’t completed the flat purchase with Sean yet. She was still sharing a loft apartment with two friends, but that would have to change too. Now that she’d left the job that tied her to the capital, it was time to move somewhere far from London. Anywhere her sister wasn’t living would be fine. 

 

Vindictively, she hoped it would be many years before Sean and Autumn could afford to buy a flat. Her own nest egg would be used to purchase a property that was all hers. 

Author Bio –

Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip/dual time and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a Vice President and former chairman and of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. RIPPLES THROUGH TIME (dual time historical romance published by Headline Review 21st November 2025) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).

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