Thursday, 6 July 2023

My Coffee Pot Guest: Luv Lubker - Under His Spell - The Rival Courts


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: Under His Spell

Series: The Rival Courts

Author: Luv Lubker

Publication Date: May 30 2023

Publisher: Historium Press

Page Length: 384

Genre: Historical Fiction

Audiobook (coming soon):

Ella McNish, Jamie Collette, Max Mustache, Christian Stark, Ju Thomas, Philip Zielinzki, Michael Garamoni

A beautiful love story between the Princess Royal Victoria and Fritz Wilhelm, Frederick III of Prussia

A lonely young man attends the first World’s Fair – the Great Exhibition of 1851 – and meets a family who changes his life forever.

Follow the young Prince Fritz – later Friedrich III – of Prussia and his wife, Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Vicky, (parents of Kaiser Wilhelm II) through their courtship and the joys and struggles of their first four years of marriage.

Fritz and Vicky dream of a peaceful united Germany, but Fritz’s uncle Karl has his own dreams of power…

Discover often hinted at but unrevealed secrets of the Prussian Royal court…

 

About the Author

Luv Lubker has lived in the Victorian era half her life, making friends with the Brontë sisters and the extended family of Queen Victoria. Now she knows them quite as well as her own family.


Born in a cattle trough in the Appalachian mountains, Luv lives in Texas - when she comes to the modern world.


When she isn’t living in the Victorian era, she enjoys being with her family; making and eating delicious raw food, riding her bike (which she only learned to ride at 25, though she’d ridden a unicycle since she was 7), and watching animals - the passion of her childhood.

Social Media Links:

Website:

https://therivalcourts.com

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/LubkerLuv

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/luvy.lubker

https://www.facebook.com/TheRivalCourts

LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luv-lubker-1916b81b0

Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/llubker/

Pinterest: 

https://www.pinterest.com/luvlubker/

Amazon Author Page: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Luv-Lubker/author/B0C5TRY327

Goodreads: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21511046.Luv_Lubker

 


Read An Excerpt

Under His Spell

 

“Ich weiß nicht [1]…” he murmured, and again, with a deep sigh, turned his face uneasily away from her, carefully taking his hands from her chest and putting one on her shoulder, one on her waist, then, just holding her hands again. He continued, “I don’t know… I – I don’t know how to speak to you. I mean, I – don’t know any words that aren’t – improper – I mean – coarse and vulgar. I – I can’t even make myself call you Meine Liebchen or Schatzi – It is just –”

“Do you mean to say you don’t like me to call you Mein Schatz or Liebling?”

“Oh, nein, Vicky! Your words are so pure and clean. But – what will others think if I just call you Vicky – it seems so strange and stiff for a husband not to call his wife by some endearment – they will think we are like all the others...”

“Fritz, what does it matter what others think of what you call me? That is a private matter between us, isn’t it?”

“I know; it is really just that – everything is – tainted – in my mind, I do not want to have those thoughts when I am with you. Besides your parents, your family, almost everything I know is so – wrong – almost all the endearments I ever hear are either in sarcasm or such situations as I do not wish to associate with our love – And – oh!” He rose and walked through the room.  “How can I take you into that! You don’t know what it is!” His voice trembled. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, Vicky! I – I don’t want to see you suffer.”

She rose, and put her arms round Fritz’s neck and kissed him. They had been alone for two hours, as husband and wife, and had not even kissed since they left the chapel. Fritz held her tight in his arms, returning her kiss. She broke away. “Fritz, don’t be afraid. You can’t contaminate me. YOU are so pure, I love you so much for all these thoughts! Thank you, thank you for – everything. I am your wife now, you are my husband, it is right, and pure, and clean, for you to have these thoughts about me! Don’t – don’t – I don’t know, you have lived in such different circumstances than I have, and I have always been so – sheltered, I suppose, but, I can try to see what you mean from what you have told me, and what Papa and others have. I will do anything for you, Fritz, and will go anywhere with you. I trust you!”

 [1] “I don’t know...”




Follow the Tour:

Twitter Handle: @LubkerLuv @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @llubker @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #UnderHisSpell #TheRivalCourts #VictorianFiction #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: 

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/05/blog-tour-under-his-spell-by-luv-lubker.html



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You might also like 

books written by Helen Hollick 

Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick 




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Tuesday, 4 July 2023

My Coffee Pot Book Club Guest: Kelly Evans -Turning the World to Stone

The Life of Caterina Sforza - Part One: 1472 to 1488


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: Turning the World to Stone – The Life of Caterina Sforza Part One 1472 to 1488

Author: Kelly Evans

Publication Date: 2 May 2023

Publisher: Eska Publishing

Page Length: 385 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Vilified by history, Caterina Sforza learned early that her life was not her own. Married at age ten, she was a pawn in the ever-changing political environment of Renaissance Italy.

Resigned to her life as a fifteenth-century wife, Caterina adapted to the role she was expected to play: raising and educating her children, helping the poor in her new home, and turning a blind eye to her husband’s increasingly shameful behaviour. But Fate had other plans for her, and soon Caterina’s path would be plagued by murder, betrayal, and heartbreak.

“Could I write all, the world would turn to stone.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Canada of Scottish extraction, Kelly Evans graduated in History and English then moved to England where she worked in the financial sector. While in London Kelly continued her studies in history, concentrating on Medieval History, and travelled extensively through Eastern and Western Europe.

Kelly is now back in Canada with her husband Max and a rescue cat. She writes full-time, focussing on illuminating little-known women in history with fascinating stories. When not working on her novels, Kelly writes Described Video scripts for visually impaired individuals, plays oboe, and enjoys old sci-fi movies.

Social Media Links:

Website: 

https://www.kellyaevans.com

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/ChaucerBabe

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/kellyevansauthor

Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/kellyevansauthor/

Pinterest: 

https://www.pinterest.ca/kellyewrites/

Book Bub: 

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kelly-evans

Amazon Author Page: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kelly-Evans/author/B0187JGTOQ

Goodreads: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14335541.Kelly_Evans

 

 


Read A Short Snippet 

Turning the World to Stone 

(Chapter One)

“No. It’s too much. I won’t allow it.” The voice paused. “It’s unnatural.” The last two words were a whisper, and Caterina, hidden under the table, strained to hear.

“He’s a powerful man, and the union is important for Milan.” Caterina heard the irritation in her father’s voice and wished she could somehow leave the room unnoticed. But she’d chased a ball under the table just as the duke and the others had arrived, and, knowing she wasn’t meant to be in the study, Caterina had frozen.

Galeazzo Sforza continued. “You know of our difficulties with the papal states. This union would protect us from any unwanted attention from Rome and guarantee added protection against the French.”

“Important for Milan but at the expense of my daughter.” The woman looked around the room at each of the men. “And the expense of our mortal souls.”

“He’s the Pope’s nephew. He’ll see to our souls.” Galeazzo waved away the objection.

“You saw the way he looked at her last night. A thirty-year-old man lusting after an eleven-year-old girl. And only a year older than your own daughter.”

Caterina knew she was being spoken of and held her breath to avoid detection.

Constanza’s husband, and one of the duke’s loyal retainers, tried to calm his wife. “My dear, it’s not like that. You imagined it, he was probably admiring the fine feast Sforza had prepared for us,” he offered weakly.

“I can’t.” Constanza stood firm, her chin tilted upward in defiance. “I won’t. There are many things I’ve done for Milan and my family, it’s the painful duty of all women to suffer for their children but there are limits to the things a mother will sacrifice. And this is one of them.”

 


Follow the tour

Twitter Handle: @chaucerbabe @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @kellyevansauthor @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #Renaissance #histfic #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Blog Tour Page: 

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/05/blog-tour-turning-world-to-stone.html



*** *** 

You might also like 

books written by Helen Hollick 

Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick 



The Jan Christopher Cosy Mysteries
set in the 1970s

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The SEA WITCH VOYAGES
nautical adventures set during the Golden Age of Piracy


A prequel novella - how Jesamiah Acorne became a pirate 
COFFEE POT BOOK CLUB ANNUAL AWARD 2022


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THE SAXON SERIES
the events that led to 1066
the Battle of Hastings

1066 - the events that led to the
Battle of Hastings
from Amazon
Harold the King  (UK edition)
I Am The Chosen King (US/Canada edition)
1066 Turned Upside Down -
an anthology of alternative stories

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