Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...

Tuesday, 13 October 2026

The Coffee Pot Book Club Christy Matheson- The Bonnet Brigade

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through worlds real and fictional,
meet interesting people, visit exciting places
and find good books to enjoy along the way!

About the Book

Book Title: The Bonnet Brigade

Series: The Bonnet Brigade, book #1

Author Name: Christy Matheson

Publication Date: July 11, 2026

Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing

Pages: 447

Genre: Regency Romance

Any Triggers:

- The book examines serious issues facing women in the time period.

- Death, including child death, mentioned off page.

- Attempted assault.

She needs a husband. He cannot offer his hand. Together, they may lose everything—or find the future they never dared hope for.

When the fortune supporting Celia Westhaven and her cousins disappears overnight, she knows she must secure their future. The spirited Irishwoman needs an income, a home—and, by necessity, a husband. Since the one gentleman she truly wants insists he cannot marry her, she is prepared to wed anyone willing to provide for her family.

Peter Alcott was preparing to propose to Celia when anonymous threats against his sister changed everything. A former military strategist now entangled in dangerous intelligence work, he cannot risk bringing Celia into his uncertain life. To protect both his sister and the woman who secretly holds his heart, Peter must devise the most important strategy of his life.

As pressure mounts from an increasingly determined suitor, Celia's prospects—and her cousins' futures—grow more precarious by the day. Over tea and iced biscuits, Celia and her cousins form The Bonnet Brigade. With a self-appointed Madam General at the helm, they devise a plan to outmaneuver the London marriage mart before financial ruin strikes—or Celia's unwanted suitor makes his next move.

But as danger closes in and society's expectations tighten their grip, Celia and Peter must decide whether duty demands their sacrifice—or if love is worth risking everything.

Devour The Bonnet Brigade, a swoon-worthy Regency romance perfect for fans of Bridgerton's intrigue and Little Women's sisterly devotion. Featuring a secret spy, determined heroines, found family, and a slow-burn romance that sparks into passion, this charming tale of courage, loyalty, and love will capture your heart.

Praise for The Bonnet Brigade:

"The romantic line has excellent chemistry and tension. The surrounding events and characters create a vivid backdrop. The character building is strong. But what really brings this into 5-star territory for me is the writing, which is outstanding."

~ 5* Amazon Review

"Carefully crafted and well researched, which is refreshing and appreciated."

~ 5* Amazon Review

"The Bonnet Brigade is a wonderfully layered Regency Romance."

~ 5* Amazon Review

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/gvo9k1b7s5

This title is available to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Author Bio:

Women who solve problems, men who fall first and fall hard… and endings that are more than a sugar rush.

When Christy Matheson is not throwing ordinary characters into fairy tales, she is busy raising five children. (Very busy.) She writes character-driven historical fiction with and without romance and fantasy elements, and her “fresh, smart, and totally charming” stories have won multiple awards.

Christy is also an embroidery artist, classically trained pianist, and sews all of her own clothes. She lives in Oregon, on a country property that fondly reminds her of a Regency estate (except with a swing set instead of faux Greek ruins), with her husband, five children, three Shelties, one bunny, and an improbable quantity of art supplies.

Author Links:

Website:

https://christymatheson.com

Newsletter:

https://sendfox.com/ChristyMatheson

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091887100897

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/christy_matheson_author/

Threads:

https://www.threads.com/@christy_matheson_author

Bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/christy-matheson.bsky.social

Book Bub:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/christy-matheson

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@christy.matheson.author

Amazon Author Page:

https://us.amazon.com/stores/Christy-Matheson/author/B0D6J2KRLS

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49771827.Christy_Matheson

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-matheson-08a77b300/

StoryGraph:

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/sonatasbooks

Follow the tour:

Twitter Handle: @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #HistoricalRomance #RegencyRomance #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page:

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2026/09/blog-tour-the-bonnet-brigade-by-christy-matheson.html

Bsky: @cathiedunn.bsky.social

via https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/

(Helen has not yet read this title)

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"Amazing stories written by highly skilled writers" Smorgasbord Book Magazine

https://mybook.to/COURAGE-Anthology

You might also like books written by Helen Hollick

Website: https://blog.helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page:

https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

cosy mysteries : historical fiction
nautical supernatural adventure

1066 : King Arthur
ghosts : non-fiction

anthologies

2025 annual award winner

THANK YOU!

Wednesday, 7 October 2026

The Coffee Pot Book Club Tonya Cam ... Learning To Breathe Again

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through worlds real and fictional,
meet interesting people, visit exciting places
and find good books to enjoy along the way!

About the Book

Book Title: Learning to Breathe Again: A Novel

Series: The Work of Becoming Trilogy – Book 1

Author Name: Tonya Cam

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Publisher: Hammock Oak Publishing

Pages: 310

Genre: Historical Fiction – 20th Century / Depression Era

Any Triggers: First chapter baby is sick (on page), then dies (off page), very minimal intimacy scenes, cheating spouse.

Two women. Lives they didn't choose. A friendship that dares them to want more.

Miami, 1933. Mary Simons was supposed to fill her scrapbook with photos of her baby's first smiles, locks of fine hair, and handwritten milestones. Instead, she records respiration rates and temperatures, hoping science can save what love can't. When her baby dies, the future she imagined dies with her.

A thousand miles north, Elena Wagner has spent years trying to bury the girl who nursed her mother and sister through their final days. Silk dresses and a husband who adores her keep the grief at arm's length. But an unplanned pregnancy, and a Depression that won't end, threaten to pull her back into the one role she swore she'd never play again.

A chance encounter at the Chicago World's Fair brings the two women together. When circumstances relocate them both to the sugarcane fields of Depression-era Florida, an unlikely friendship becomes the one thing they can't afford to lose. In a time when women are expected to endure in silence, Mary and Elena must decide: keep performing the lives they're supposed to live, or risk it all for the women they might still become.

A character-driven novel about loss, friendship, and courage. Sometimes the hardest thing isn't holding on. It's learning to breathe again.

For readers of Fiona Davis, Kristina McMorris, Marie Benedict, and Lisa Wingate.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bzQpRL

This title is available to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Author Bio:

Tonya Cam is a third-generation Floridian, a lifelong collector of Depression-era memorabilia, and a writer drawn to women who are not only surviving. They are becoming.

Learning to Breathe Again is her debut novel and the first book in The Work of Becoming Trilogy. It's the story of two women whose lives collide at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and whose friendship reshapes them in the sugarcane fields of Clewiston, Florida. It was inspired by her father's memories growing up, and the older brother he lost before he was born.

When she is not writing, she teaches middle school science in Gainesville, Florida. She is also the author of The Complete Guide to Shirley Temple Dolls and Collectibles.

If you love Fiona Davis, Marie Benedict, Lisa Wingate, or Kristina McMorris, you'll love the stories she writes.

Author Links:

Website:

https://tonyacamauthor.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/tonyacamauthor/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/tonyacamauthor/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@tonyacamauthor

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@tonyacamauthor

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tonya-Cam/author/B0H1L88PPY

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/68474999.Tonya_Cam

an excerpt

Chapter 8: Elena - September 1933

The rain had been misting all morning. It clung to Elena’s skin, her hair, the wool of her coat and the silk of her stockings. By the time she and William reached the fairgrounds, her shoes were damp and her skirt stuck to her calves. It was “Florida Day” at the fair, designed to celebrate warmth and sunshine, but she felt cold and miserable as the wind cut straight through her coat.

Inside the Federal Building, everyone was jammed shoulder to shoulder. Heat rose up to steam overhead as a brass band in the back blared.

Though William seemed energized by the noise, Elena was overwhelmed. She fanned herself with a pamphlet and tried to keep from snapping. At seven months pregnant, the last thing she wanted was to stand in an overcrowded room breathing other people’s air.

A politician on stage droned on and on about Florida. The citrus groves and strawberry fields, sugarcane and cheap land, hope and opportunity. William nodded along, looking more enthusiastic with each passing minute.

But Elena barely listened. The room smelled of wet wool and floor polish, and her stomach didn’t appreciate the combination. She concentrated on breathing. Slowly, carefully. The nurse’s paper had said to avoid stress. To rest. To be calm. And she was trying her best to follow those instructions.

When the speeches finally ended, the crowd spilled into the Hall of States. There, the Florida exhibit looked absurd against the gray, cloudy skies. It was the only place in Chicago that seemed to be pretending it was July. Tropical flowers. Spanish tiled pathways. Rows of coffee and palm trees. Sugarcane and pineapple plants. Orange trees as far as the eye could see, as if they’d been lifted straight out of a postcard.

A young woman in a gray dress much too plain for the occasion and a thin coat that could not possibly be keeping her warm was speaking to a cluster of people gathered around one of the orange trees. Her damp hair was flattened to her forehead. She appeared no older than a teenager, not someone who had the authority to speak about anything at all. Yet those around her seemed to be listening to every word.

“In Florida,” she said, “orange trees can live sixty years if they’re well cared for. One tree alone can yield a hundred pounds of fruit.”

William’s head turned. He drifted toward the group. Elena had no choice but to follow.

The woman continued. “Can you imagine what you could get from ten acres? Or a hundred?”

A man in the crowd scoffed. “What does a woman know about any of this?” He walked off.

The woman paused for a moment, then she kept speaking. She described pruning, explained citrus mold and disease control. William squeezed his way toward the front of the crowd, but Elena hung behind.

“How do you know so much?” William asked the woman, once the others began to disperse.

“My husband arranged this entire display.” She beamed. “I’ve helped him—”

“He must be extremely capable.” William smiled in that way he did when he decided someone would be of use to him. He handed her his business card. It had his name, William Wagner, in black script. The woman tucked it into her purse. In his notebook, William wrote down her telephone number.

Then, the woman plucked a green orange from a tree. She dug her fingernail into the rind and held it up to her nose.

As she spoke and gestured, William took notes.

Elena rolled her eyes. This was taking too long. The rest of the World’s Fair was waiting. She stepped forward and shook her husband’s arm. “This girl doesn’t have the slightest clue what you’re doing, darling. A random stranger coming up to her in the middle of the World’s Fair. It must be so intimidating.”

Elena looked at the young woman and smiled. “Isn’t that right?” But the woman didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything Elena was saying. She was staring directly at Elena’s stomach. Her face had gone pale.

Elena angled herself closer. “Did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry.” The girl’s voice came out strained. “I have to go.” She bowed her head, handed the orange to William, and slipped away into the crowd.

Elena watched her go, a bit stunned by how quickly she vanished. “What was that all about?”

William placed the orange at the base of the tree. “You didn’t have to do that.” He put his notebook back into his coat pocket. “I was making a connection. If I can find someone who really understands what’s going on down in Florida—”

“Then what?” Elena snapped.

He shrugged. “It sounds like it could be a really good opportunity.”

Her stomach rolled, but this time she couldn’t blame it on the baby. “You’re thinking of moving to Florida?”

“Maybe.” He meandered around the exhibit, pausing at the palm trees, the sugarcane, the tomato plants. “The Midwest has been in a drought for years,” he said, more to himself than to her. “Their farms are dying and Florida is…” His sentence trailed off, like the answer was obvious.

Elena took William’s arm and steered him toward the exit. “That girl was a mess.” Didn’t he notice her stringy hair? Her wrinkled dress? Her coat that couldn’t have cost more than a dollar? “I doubt that much of what she said was true.”

“But what if it was?” he asked.

Elena hesitated, not sure how to respond.

“Exactly,” he said. “Everyone here is looking for opportunity, but not everyone knows how to find it like I do.”

“In Florida?”

He just smiled.