It’s opening day on the WordCrafter Midnight Oil Book Blog Tour, where we’re sending off volume 3 of the Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares. Today’s stop offers a little taste of what you’ll find in this deliciously dark anthology with a guest post comes from contributing author Christa Planko on her story, “Such a Time as This”, and one from me on my “Sangoma, Zombie Elephants, and Tokoloshe, Oh, My!” Plus, an extract from Robert White’s “Cattails”. I’m pleased to say, you can get it on this wonderful tour stop in three different places through the links below because our wonderful host, Michelle Ayon Navajas is broadcasting it wide for us. I do hope you’ll join us in the celebrating the release of this wonderful dark fiction collection. Leave a comment for a chance at a free digital copy of Midnight Oil in our giveaway.
We had a great tour for the release of Curses: Chronicles of Darkness last week, with readings from Joseph Carrabis of both his stories “It’s a Man’s World” & “Grafton’s Ghost-Child”, a video from Molly Ertel about the inspiration of her story, “Clover’s Mirror Box”, and guest posts from Paul Kane on “The Weeping Man”, Robert White on “The Longspeth Curse”, Denise Aparo on “Mohawk Monster: The Curse of the Herkimer Diamond”, and me on both of my stories, “The Death Clock” & “Caverna Del Oro (Cave of Gold)”. And, of course, there was a giveaway for all of those visitors who commented and supported the tour, the anthology, and all of the contributing authors for one of five digital copies of Curses. So, without further ado,
(Drumroll please…)
And the winners are:
Teagan Genevieve
Meelosmom
Author Jan Sikes
Liz Gaufreau
D. Wallace Peach
Tour Schedule
In case you missed out on all the fun, you can visit each stop through the links in the schedule below. I hope you’ll take the time to stop in and check it out.
Day 1
Stop 1 – Writing to be Read – About the Curses Anthology & Meet Kaye Lynne Booth and Denise Aparo
In addition, each of our contributing authors are being featured on the Joseph Carrabis blog through the 8th of October. You can access all of those posts through the links below, but please note that the links will not work until the post has gone live.
Today we’re wrapping up the WordCrafter Curses Book Blog Tour. I want to thank each of you who have joined us by following the tour and commenting to enter the giveaway, to help us send-off this themed dark fiction anthology, Curses: Chronicles of Darkness. We’ve had a great time meeting the contributing authors and learning about their stories. I hope you’ve learned enough about the stories in this collection to entice you to buy the anthology, and maybe found a new favorite author or two along the way. If you missed a stop, you can go back and check them all out through the links in the schedule at the bottom of this post.
Today we bring you a brief guest post by Danaeka Scrimshaw and a video post about their story inspirations her on Writing to be Read. Then over at Undawnted, DL Mullan will bring use her interview with Danaeka, as well. Don’t forget to leave your comments and questions for both stops on the first blog stop. We still have one more digital copy of Curses to giveaway.
Giveaway
We’re giving away 5 digital copies of Curses: Chronicles of Darkness.
Curses that last throughout time. Curses which can’t be broken. Curses which are brought upon ourselves. Curses that will kill you and those that will only make you wish you were dead.
Eleven tantalizing tales of curses and the cursed. Includes stories by Kaye Lynne Booth, Molly Ertel, C.R. Johansson, Robert White, Joseph Carrabis, Paul Kane, Danaeka Scrimshaw, Abe Margel, and Denise Aparo.
Molly Ertel’s short stories have appeared in Akashic Books, Jerry Jazz Magazine, the Midnight Garden anthology and the Dark City Crime and Mystery Magazine among other publications. Additionally, she worked as a reader/editor for the Silver Blade Anthology. Her character-driven stories came out of her days as a photojournalist at the Airway Heights Corrections Center where she interviewed and wrote about the lives of inmates and the work of correctional officers.
Current projects include editing her second historical fiction novel for middle grade (8-12 year olds) that takes place during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and possibly delving into the world of creative non-fiction for children. Animal Olympics anyone?
Molly’s story, ” Clover’s Mirror Box”, is about a woman cursed with bad luck and her quest to break her curse. How do you break a curse? Well…, Clover uses a mirror box to break her curse. If you want to know how, you’ll have to read the story.
Inspiration Video for “Clover’s Mirror Box”
Meet Author Danaeka Scrimshaw
Danaeka Scrimshaw is a speculative fiction author writing novel length and short form for the past seven years. Between short stories, they’re working on the first book of a new trilogy called Ghedia of Duisternis.
Danaeka’s story, “The Lamp”, is about a cursed object; a lamp handed down through generations with a curse locked within.
Inspiration for “The Lamp”
My story, The Lamp, came to me subtly last October when my writing group wanted to do Halloween stories. It started with the memory of my great grandma’s old wicker lamp when I was seven. This one was ordinary, and we got to light it sometimes and watch the orange flames flicker as we blew across the open top, casting shadows on the walls.
While I was still going through my divorce, I had lost the muse and didn’t finish in time, stopping when Sebastien discovered the lamp was open. About a month after I started living alone, I felt invisible, just as this anthology opportunity came up. I had felt invisible throughout my childhood as well. This idea of being the forgotten child made its way into the story.
You can learn more about Danaeka and her story, by visiting the second stop on today’s tour, over at Undawnted, where you can catch Danaeka’s interview with DL Mullan.
Don’t forget to leave your comments and questions for both tour stops here for a chance to win the final copy of Curses: Chronicles of Darkness.
Tour Schedule
Day 1
Stop 1 – Writing to be Read – About the Curses Anthology & Meet Kaye Lynne Booth and Denise Aparo
For the first stop on Day 4 of the WordCrafter Curses Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Roberta Writes, where Robbie Cheadle introduces contributing authors C.R. Johansson and Robert White, with a guest post about the inspiration for his story “The Longspeth Curse”. Please join us in sending off Curses: Chronicles of Darkness, from WordCrafter Press. Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a free digital copy of the anthology, and then drop by our second stop to catch DL Mullan’s interview with Robert White over at Undawnted.
For the first stop for Day 2 of the WordCrafter Curses Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Robbie’s Inspiration, where Robbie Cheadle introduces contributing author, Joseph Carrabis with readings from his stories, and allows me to present a post on the inspiration for my story “Caverna Del Oro (Cave of Gold)”. Join us in sending off Curses: Chronicles of Darkness. Don’t forget to comment for a chance at a free digital copy of the anthology and visit Stop 2 over at Undawnted.
Today is the final stop on the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour. We’re wrapping up the tour tonight with a live appearance by author Chris Barili, where you can ask him questions about the book and the Denari Lai universe. If you are following the tour and want to get in on the giveaway, comment or ask a question at the event or on the blog. (Details below)
Meet Author Chris Barili
Tonight only, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., join author Chris Barili in a Facebook Live event, where you can chat with him, ask questions about the books or the series in general. Join in the fun by clicking on the link below.
Currently oppressed by his day job, Chris has set sights on retiring after 42 years in the Intelligence Community and writing full-time. Chris Barili writes all kinds of stories, and has published fantasy, science fiction, horror, western, paranormal romance, and most recently crime, with a noir story in the inaugural print edition of Toe Six Magazine. He is author of the self-published, weird western Hell’s Butcher series, and also writes under the pen names B.T. Clearwater (Supernatural romance) and T.C. Barlow (western). Chris is a retired intelligence officer, having served over 45 years between active duty, contractor, and government employee roles. He lives in Colorado with his wife.
About Shadow Blade
Ashai Larish is an assassin from the brutal Denari Lai order. Religious zealots, Denari Lai are kept loyal through an addiction to the same magic that makes them unstoppable. They have become the primary weapon for the nation of Nishi’iti, and in a hundred years, they have never failed.
Until now. Ashai must kill Pushtani King Abadas Damar and his daughter/heir, Makari. He infiltrates the king’s inner circle, putting him in the perfect place to strike, with only Captain Bauti of the Royal Guard at all suspicious of Ashai’s intent.
Except Ashai has fallen for Makari and cannot complete the hit. When a second Denari Lai kills the King, Ashai finds himself fighting for Makari’s life instead of taking it. To make matters worse, the order cuts him off from his magic, leaving him weakened and in withdrawal.
Meanwhile, far north in the Pushtani mines that border Nishi’iti, a slave named Pachat learns that his love, a hand slave to Makari, died at the hands of a Denari Lai assassin. His grief ignites a slave rebellion, and Pachat becomes the unwilling leader of the revolt. Urged on by Nishi’iti guerrillas, the rebellion sweeps across the borderlands, threatening to erupt into all-out war. Yet all Pachat wants is to avenge his beloved’s death by killing the assassin, so he walks away from the rebellion to seek when it needs him most.
As Pachat makes off for the capital of Dar Tallus, Ashai is forced to rely on that city’s organized crime gang to hide from the second assassin, and from Bauti’s guards. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Makari discovers Ashai’s true identity, and suddenly, he finds himself without her love, without his faith, and without the Denari Lai. At rock bottom, he doubts he can do anything but cause more damage.
Can Ashai kill the second assassin and win back Makari’s love? Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?
That’s about it for the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour. I hope you have enjoyed meeting Chris and learning about this stealthy fantasy romance adventure. Be sure to pop over to the live event tonight, at the link above and chat with Chris. He’ll be there live to answer all your questions or just shoot the shit.
One thing we weren’t able to get in time for the tour were reviews. We had a tight time schedule for this one and the reviews haven’t come in yet. But if you’re interested in seeing a review, I reviewed the story when it was released by WordFire Press and you can read my review here.
And don’t forget to leave your comments. Each stop you visit and comment on gets you an entry in the giveaway. If you missed a stop, you can go back and visit by clicking on the links in the tour schedule below. For tonight’s event, you can come back here and comment if you like, but if you participate in the chat with Chris, that counts, too. WordCrafter has never done a live event like this before, so I’m anxious to see how it turns out. Any thoughts on would be appreciated.
Thanks for joining us in this re-launch of Shadow Blade. Remember, there’s a free copy of Baiting the Hook when you purchase the WordCrafter Press edition of the book, so what are you waiting for?
Welcome to Writing to be Read and the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour, where we’re launching the release of the second edition of Shadow Blade, the fantasy adventure/romance by author Chris Barili. Shadow Blade is now Book 2 in the Denari Lai series by Chris Barili. WordCrafter Press is also releasing Book 1 of the series for the very first time, but the cool thing is, if you purchase the WordCrafter Press edition of Shadow Blade, you can also get the first book absolutely free.
Give Away
If you follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop to let us know you were there or share your thoughts about the book, you can win a free copy of Shadow Blade. We’re giving away three digital copies of the book, and one lucky winner will receive a print copy of the book signed by author Chris Barili. Each stop you comment on earns you an entry into a random drawing, and the winners will be announced on Writing to be Read in the “WordCrafter News” post on July 27.
And now that I’ve told you a little about the tour, let me tell you about this dangerous and exciting adventure into the Denari Lai universe.
About Shadow Blade
Ashai Larish is an assassin from the brutal Denari Lai order. Religious zealots, Denari Lai are kept loyal through an addiction to the same magic that makes them unstoppable. They have become the primary weapon for the nation of Nishi’iti, and in a hundred years, they have never failed.
Until now. Ashai must kill Pushtani King Abadas Damar and his daughter/heir, Makari. He infiltrates the king’s inner circle, putting him in the perfect place to strike, with only Captain Bauti of the Royal Guard at all suspicious of Ashai’s intent.
Except Ashai has fallen for Makari and cannot complete the hit. When a second Denari Lai kills the King, Ashai finds himself fighting for Makari’s life instead of taking it. To make matters worse, the order cuts him off from his magic, leaving him weakened and in withdrawal.
Meanwhile, far north in the Pushtani mines that border Nishi’iti, a slave named Pachat learns that his love, a hand slave to Makari, died at the hands of a Denari Lai assassin. His grief ignites a slave rebellion, and Pachat becomes the unwilling leader of the revolt. Urged on by Nishi’iti guerrillas, the rebellion sweeps across the borderlands, threatening to erupt into all-out war. Yet all Pachat wants is to avenge his beloved’s death by killing the assassin, so he walks away from the rebellion to seek when it needs him most.
As Pachat makes off for the capital of Dar Tallus, Ashai is forced to rely on that city’s organized crime gang to hide from the second assassin, and from Bauti’s guards. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Makari discovers Ashai’s true identity, and suddenly, he finds himself without her love, without his faith, and without the Denari Lai. At rock bottom, he doubts he can do anything but cause more damage.
Can Ashai kill the second assassin and win back Makari’s love? Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?
Currently oppressed by his day job, Chris has set sights on retiring after 42 years in the Intelligence Community and writing full-time. Chris Barili writes all kinds of stories, and has published fantasy, science fiction, horror, western, paranormal romance, and most recently crime, with a noir story in the inaugural print edition of Toe Six Magazine. He is author of the self-published, weird western Hell’s Butcher series, and also writes under the pen names B.T. Clearwater (Supernatural romance) and T.C. Barlow (western). Chris is a retired intelligence officer, having served over 45 years between active duty, contractor, and government employee roles. He lives in Colorado with his wife.
That wraps up today’s stop on the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour. To learn more about the book, the Denari Lai series, or about author Chris Barili, just follow the tour via the links in the Tour Schedule above. Just keep in mind that each link will not be active until the attached stop goes live, so you can’t get sneak previews of upcoming stops. I do hope you’ll join us. We’ve got an interview with the author and a live event where you can chat with the author,, excerpt readings, and the inspiration for this tale coming up later in the week. And don’t forget, the author is giving away three digital copies and one signed print copy of Shadow Blade, and all you need to do is comment to enter. The more stops you visit, the more entries you can get.
Join us tomorrow on Robbie’s Inspiration. We’ll have a guest post where author Chris Barili shares his thoughts on the inspiration for the story and the series.
Picture Caption: WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures Tour Banner
We’re wrapping up the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures Book Blog Tour. We’ve had a great tour this past week and I hope you all visited each stop and left a comment for a chance to win one of three digital copies of Poetry Treasures 5 in our giveaway. If you missed a stop or joined us late, you can still go back and meet more poets featured in the anthology, but the giveaway ends tonight, so get your comments in now.
I want to thank contributors Michelle Ayon Navajas, Dawn Pisturino, Barbara Harris Leonard, Ivor Steven, and DL Mullen for their participation in the tour. And thanks also goes out to the hosts for this tour: Colleen Chesebro of ColleenWrites & Publishes, Patty Fletcher of Patty’s Worlds, Carla Johnson-Hicks of Carla Loves to Read, Michelle Navajas of Poetry by Mich, Kay Castenada of Book Places, and DL Mullen of Un dawnted. I feel everyone did a great job and it is appreciated.
I’d like to.make this stop a celebration of the author/poets who contributed to the anthology-those who shared their work on the tour and those who weren’t able to join us. They are all talented poets, and I feel fortunate to feature their lovely works in a WordCrafter poetry anthology.
Tour Schedule
April 21-28 – Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et.al.
Today we have a double stop. Along with the final stop here, we have DL Mullen interviewing Dawn Pisturino over at Un dawnted. You can’t comment on that site, but you can leave your comments for DL and Dawn here. And here on Writing to be Read, I’ll be introducing you to the contributing poets who did not provide content for the tour. Their valuable contributions to the anthology are not to be overlooked, for it was a group effort that made this anthology such an exceptional collection of poetry.
About Poetry Treasures 5: Simple Pleasures
Open the cover
and you will discover
Poetry Treasures
from the guests on
Robbie Cheadle’s 2024
“Treasuring Poetry”
blog series
on Writing to be Read.
Join poets DL Mullan, Barbara Harris Leonhard, Jude Itakali, Ivor Steven, Robbie Cheadle, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Gwen M. Plano, Elizabeth Gauffreau, David Bogomolny, Dawn Pasturino, Maggie Watson, and Colleen Chesebro share their own small pleasures in poetic verse.
This tour we’re giving away digital copies of Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures to three lucky winners. Follow the tour and comment at each stop, so we’ll know you were there. You’ll be entered for another chance in the giveaway at each stop. Winners are chosen through a random drawing by WordCrafter Press. Winners will be announce in tomorrow’s “WordCrafter News”.
That’s it for today’s stop on Writing to be Read. Be sure to visit the second part of this double stop over at Un dawnted, where DL Mullan is interviewing author/contributor Dawn Pisturino. I hope you enjoyed the tour and the poetry samples shared enough to get you to buy the book. By using the Books2Read UBL, above, you can purchase from your favorite distributor around the world. Be sure to drop by and catch tomorrow’s “WordCrafter News”, here on Writing to be Read, to find out who the winners in the giveaway are.
Picture Caption: WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures Tour Banner
Welcome to the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures Book Blog Tour. We have a great tour planned, and I hope you all will stick with us and visit each stop, because comments at each stop enters you for another chance to win one of three digital copies of Poetry Treasures 5 in our giveaway. We’ve got guest posts from from contributors Michelle Ayon Navajas and Dawn Pisturino, readings from Barbara Harris Leonhard, Ivor Steven, and DL Mullen, and a special interview with Dawn Pisturino. Plus you may find a couple of early reviews from our wonderful tour hosts. So please join us and follow along on the schedule below to learn more about this outstanding poetry anthology and enjoy a few Small Pleasures.
Tour Schedule
April 21-28 – Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et.al.
Mon. 4/21 – Opening Day- Writing to be Read – (Intro. post & Book Trailer)
Join poets DL Mullan, Barbara Harris Leonhard, Jude Itakali, Ivor Steven, Robbie Cheadle, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Gwen M. Plano, Elizabeth Gauffreau, David Bogomolny, Dawn Pasturino, Maggie Watson, and Colleen Chesebro share their own small pleasures in poetic verse.
This tour we’re giving away digital copies of Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures to three lucky winners. Follow the tour and comment at each stop, so we’ll know you were there. You’ll be entered for another chance in the giveaway at each stop. Winners are chosen through a random drawing by WordCrafter Press. We’ll be watching for your name.
Book Trailer
A special thanks goes out to Teagan Genevieve for our lovely book trailer. Thank you so much Teagan.
About the Editors
You will meet some of the contributors along the way on this tour, but in this opening day post, I’d like ton tell you a little about the editors who put this project together and made it happen. I also thought it might be interesting to share a brief glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes when putting together a poetry anthology, which I hope you’ll find of interest.
Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
My job is to edit the final manuscript, format and publish it. I find poetry to be a personal endeavor, so I do very little editing of the actual poems for fear of changing the poet’s meaning, since poetry often does not follow the rules of grammar and punctuation which apply to the English language. In addition, we have poets from all over the globe included in the anthology, which makes for variation in style and differences in spellings, so I pretty much leave the poetry as is unless it is something I know is a typo or mistaken word.
But the person who truly makes this anthology possible is my co-editor, Robbie Cheadle, who finds and schedules poets to be interviewed on the “Treasuring Poetry” blog series on Writing to be Read. It is Robbie who selects and interviews each poet, and she usually reviews their latest release, as well. Then, at the end of the year, Robbie sends out invitations to the anthology and collects and compiles all the materials into a manuscript before turning it over to me. Without Robbie to do all of the preliminary work, there would not be any Poetry Treasures Anthologies. I couldn’t do it without her.
Robbie Cheadle
South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.
Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/
That’s it for today’s stop. I hope I gave you enough of a taste of this delectable poetry anthology to make you want to sample more. There are several more tasty morsels from then contributing authors along the way. Join us tomorrow, on Colleen Writes & Publishes, where author/poet Dawn Pisturino will share a guest post and poetry from Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures.
This is the final day of the WordCrafter The French Winemaker’s Daughter Book Blog Tour. Today, we have my review of The French Winemaker’s Daughter to wrap things up.
If you’d like to learn more about this moving historical fiction novel and you missed a stop on the tour, you can still visit each stop through the links in the schedule below.
Tuesday:Carla Reads– Guest post from author Loretta Ellsworth
Wednesday:Kyrosmagica– Guest post from author Loretta Ellsworth
Thursday:Book Places – Guest post from author Loretta Ellsworth
Friday: Writing to be Read– Review of The French Winemaker’s Daughter
About The French Winemaker’s Daughter
Set during World War II, an unforgettable historical novel about love, war, family, and loyalty told in in the voices of two women, generations apart, who find themselves connected by a mysterious and valuable bottle of wine stolen by the Nazis.
1942. Seven-year-old Martine hides in an armoire when the Nazis come to take her father away. Pinned to her dress is a note with her aunt’s address in Paris, and in her arms, a bottle of wine she has been instructed to look after if something happened to her papa. When they are finally gone, the terrified young girl drops the bottle and runs to a neighbor, who puts her on a train to Paris.
But when Martine arrives in the city, her aunt is nowhere to be found. Without a place to go, the girl wanders the streets and eventually falls asleep on the doorstep of Hotel Drouot, where Sister Ada finds her and takes her to the abbey, and watches over her.
1990. Charlotte, a commercial airline pilot, attends an auction with her boyfriend Henri at Hotel Drouot, now the oldest auction house in Paris. Successfully bidding on a box of wine saved from the German occupation during the Second World War, Henri gives Charlotte a seemingly inferior bottle he finds inside the box. Cleaning the label, Charlotte makes a shocking discovery that sends her on a quest to find the origins of this unusual—and very valuable—bottle of wine, a quest that will take her back fifty years into the past. . . .
A powerful tale of love, war, and family, The French Winemaker’s Daughter is an emotionally resonant tale of two women whose fates are intertwined across time. Loretta Ellsworth’s evocative and poignant page-turner will linger in the heart, and make you think about luck, connection, and the meaning of loyalty.
I received a PDF copy of The French Winemaker’s Daughter from author Loretta Ellsworth to review for this tour. All opinions stated here are my own.
Any book with two strong female protagonists is my kind of book. I’m a fan of historical fiction, and this story peaked my interest, with it’s compelling synopsis in the back matter. It was definitely worth the read.
In this story, we follow little Martine, a Jewish child, as she survives the war with the help of the kind people she meets along the way, after the German’s take her Papa and her friend away. We follow the story through the eyes of a child, displaced from her family and the vineyard that’s been her only home, filled with guilt for losing a bottle of wine that her father entrusted her with, and the hope of once again being reuinted with her Papa.
In the present day, we follow Charlotte, and airline pilot, who acquires a bottle of wine that was confiscated by the Germans, which turns out to be quite valuable and carries a mystery in a note written on the back of a false label. We follow her as she searches the vineyards around Paris, trying to locate the vineyard the wine came from and learn the identity of its rightful owner. She ends the search after learning that in all probability, father and child did not survive the war, but fate steps in and takes a hand in sealing the connection between these two women.
A lovely duel story line which is well written to bring both stories together and give readers a very satisfying ending. I cheered for both women as they triumphed over the adversities that life threw their way. And I give The French Winemaker’s Daughter five quills.