His Head on a Platter by Alan Gold~Blog Tour(Excerpt)

 Publisher: Romaunce Books

Publication Date: 22nd September 2023

Genre: Historical

Summary:

Baroque Rome 1611

In a city where women are seen not heard, Artemisia Gentileschi dreams of becoming a great artist.

She grows up in a family of painters – all men and she knows she is more talented than her brothers, but she cannot choose her own future because she’s a woman. She’s clever, ambitious, resilient, and driven and wants to experience the world, but she knows her place and she belongs to her father and her future husband.

She goes from lesson to lesson, honing her craft and paints in private but she’s only allowed to paint the women who inspire her. When her mother died her father became very strict and followed the pope’s edicts about modesty, limiting the subjects she could paint.

When one of her father’s collaborators enters her life, Tassi, he becomes her tutor, a handsome dashing figure, who represents everything that a life of freedom might offer. Until the unthinkable happens and her torture begins.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Love Books Tours, Romaunce Books and Alan Gold for having me on this tour and sending me the book.Unfortunately, my copy of the book is currently somewhere in the post(i think my postman likes to torture me) so i haven't got to read this fabulous-sounding book just yet. But it does mean that i get to give you a little sneak peak of the book instead before giving my review a little bit later on when I've read the book.
Ive adored every Alan Gold book I've read so far this year, I've been lucky enough to be on the tour for two others, and i cant see myself loving this one any less.

Excerpt

Anger does not even begin to define the feelings coursing through my veins, causing me to lose the composure that defines the lady I am, nor delineates a limitless woman such as me. I am a woman who has achieved great success in a profoundly troubled life. To read of my life and accomplishments will be like listening to a performance of the buffoons and charlatans of the Commedia dell’Arte. But now that I am writing the story of my life, I am reliving events long buried because of the pain they caused me. Pain so powerful, so tortured, that I pray no other woman ever experiences it.

As I come to write this, the story of my life, I am 48 years of age. A matron. But I am unlike other matrons of my age. I do not sit by a fire, my shoulders wrapped in blankets, legs swathed in rugs, comforted by children and grandchildren who attend to my every need. No, I am robust, vigorous and forceful. How could I not be, having lived through the events which formed my life?

How intriguing does that sound! Now I really can't wait to get stuck into this book, keep an eye out for my review!

Krystina xx

The Queen of The Poor by Alan Gold~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Romaunce Books 

Publication Date: 10th August 2023

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary:

Angela Burdett-Coutts was a wealthy woman who used her money, class and prestige to make a tangible difference for those less fortunate. She would become one of the most outspoken and dedicated philanthropists of her day.

Coutts the bank was founded in 1692 but really took off when Thomas Coutts took over at the beginning of the 19th Century. He made a fortune, and left it to his second wife, 40 years younger and an actress. When she died, she left it all to Thomas' granddaughter, Angela Burdett-Coutts.

Suddenly, Angela became the second wealthiest woman in England after Queen Victoria. She had to hire bodyguards to keep fortune hunters away. But because of her wealth and also because her father was a radical politician, she moved in the most interesting circles of Victorian society, where she met and has numerous affairs with famous people, like the chemist Michael Faraday and many others including Charles Dickens and the Duke of Wellington.

She caused something of a scandal with her radical lifestyle, but because of her wealth, and the fact that she spends most of her money on charity, opening schools for impoverished children, helping Dickens with the housing for the poor, housing prostitutes and getting them off the streets she's almost beyond criticism.... until, at the age of 66, she caused absolute shock and outrage, because she chose to marry her 29-year-old secretary called William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett.

Whilst this in itself does not appear particularly shocking, as he was, like her father, a Member of Parliament, the astonishing age gap left society aghast. Whilst she was sixty-seven, he was just twenty-nine years old.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Love Books Tours, Romaunce Books and Alan Gold for having me on this tour and sending me the book.
I was very excited when I got on this tour because I've loved all the books by Alan Gold that I've read so far but this is the first one of his where I had no idea who the woman that it's about is. I'd never heard of Angela Burdett-Coutts until I was on this tour and got hold of his book and I have to say she's a fascinating woman. I had no idea that she had a hand in founding the NSPCC, and all these different charities she helped either set up or fund, she sounds like an amazingly forward-thinking woman for her time. I think I may have to do more reading about her after having devoured this book in a couple of hours.

It is an eloquently written book, and was very easy to dive into, losing myself into the pages and not looking up until id finished. I enjoyed the various relationships throughout it, her Brother Dudley was an odious man constantly trying to trick her into giving away or losing her inheritance all because of his overinflated sense of entitlement, it was so well written that I got angry on her behalf at his actions.

Her friendships were lovely to read, Hannah attempting to support her and steer her in the direction that she knew Angela wanted to go in and Dickens in helping her to direct her philanthropy to the correct places. Wellington was an odd one he definitely cared and was trying to look out for her wellbeing but may have ultimately caused her emotional hurt in his heavy-handedness.
As someone who loves history and enjoys reading about it, I can't recommend Alan Gold's books enough, if you're a historical fiction fan you need to add his books to your TBR.

Krystina xx

The Book of Alys by Alan Gold~ Blog Tour

 Publisher: Romaunce Books

Publication Date: 31st May 2023

Genre:Historical Fiction

Summary:

King Henry II, exhausted from everlasting conflict with France and his sons rebelling against him finds love, solace, and passion after falling for the youthful beauty of Alys and makes her his mistress.

Henry II, now in his late 50s, exhausted from a lifetime of war remains one of the greatest Kings who ruled England. The founder of the ‘Devil’s Brood’, he and his advisors modernized England’s government and society and much more. But it was his jealous family life which caused his life to fall apart.

Alys was the timid 8-year-old daughter of the King of France when sent to England and ultimately forced into marriage with Henry’s violent son Prince Richard, but he ridiculed and rejected her. Within six years, Alys had developed into a ravishing beauty, who was suddenly appealing to the old King himself.

As they grew closer, Alys realised she could only save herself by becoming more powerful. She didn’t want to be a royal mistress like Rosamund, or a princess married to a violent and absent prince like Richard. No, her ambition was to become queen, to replace the formidable, feisty monarch, Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most beautiful powerful, and wealthy women in the world.

When a son, William, is born to old Henry and Alys, the young princess now has her life complete, but she needs desperately to succeed and protect him. England has become a maelstrom of baronial factions with Eleanor marshalling her sons, young Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, plus John who try overthrow their father and take possession of his empire. All want the right to rule their own lands, even before old Henry is dead.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Romaunce Books and Alan Gold for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book to review. 

I've had a spate of beautiful books to fill my shelves and this is another one of those, I really love the images used for the front and how Alys's name is nice and big on the front making it clear that she is the main focus of the book and the men are of a secondary nature in this retelling.
Now I love historical fiction, it's one of my favourite genres to read because I am a self-confessed history nerd! And oddly I have read a book recently with Alys featured in it so I did know about her and her place in English history. This book is clearly well-researched and I love the amount of detail he has woven into it, it's so cleverly written. It flows easily and I found the book so quick to read, mostly because I didn't want to put it down. Whilst we have had a lot of historical fiction from a female voice in recent years it's nice to hear one from further back in history. We usually get a lot from the Tudor and Stuart period so hearing from the Plantagents is a refreshing change, and also it's not a period that most people can name many female historical figures from, usually it's just Eleanor of Aquitaine because she was an unusual figure in history at this time.
Alys is an intriguing figure and her story is one I've enjoyed reading more about, and I love that this appears to be book one of a series so I can't wait to read what Alan Gold writes next.

Krystina xx