Lady Faith Takes a Leap is now available in Portugues.

 

99c Sale!

 

The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl is on sale for 99c on Amazon USA.

“The writing is vivid and gripping!”

Annabelle can’t hide forever from the wealthy Hartley family, but can she give up the baby she loves? #historicalfiction #historicalromance #Victorianromance #bestseller

Amazon: http://getbook.at/OrphanPeacockShawl

Historical diaries and journals

 

DIARIES AND JOURNALS BY ANNEMARIE BREAR

Jan 27, 2022 | Uncategorized

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I collect Victorian diaries and journals, written mainly by women who have arrived in Australia after leaving England, but also by women born in colonial Australia. These diaries are brilliant when I’m writing a story set in colonial Australia and they give me an insight to how they lived and what was happening in the world around them at that time. From their personal entries, we can learn what was important to them, their daily routine, their views and opinions. They can also lift some of those myths we in the modern world tend to think as true.

Below are some pages from a selected few of my diaries, which may show why I adore them so much.

This page is from The Letters of Rachel Henning. A genteel lady who left England and ventured to Colonial Australia to join her brother who was farming out there. It’s a fascinating account of her life and full of details about those times.

I also have a few diaries, or collections of letters written during the First World War, which is another favourite era for me to write.

Below is an example from the book, Unknown Warriors, The Letters of Kate Luard, RRC and BAR Nursing Sister in France 1914-1918.

Kate Luard is one of those unsung heroines of the war. A dedicated nursing sister who went to the front line to give aid to the wounded. Her letters are fascinating, harrowing, tragic but filled with such devotion and commitment.

Below is a page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. A lovely diary of a naturalist’s world in 1906 written by English lady, Edith Holden.

Get your copy of The Orphan in the Peacock shawl below:

🇬🇧 https://amzn.to/3rRa15H

🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3IFfymy

New Book 2022!

 Orphan in the Peacock Shawl Preorder! Out Jan 2022! Available in ebook, paperback, audio and libraries large print.

Annabelle can’t hide forever from the wealthy Hartley family, but can she give up the baby she loves? #historicalfiction #historicalsaga #YorkUK #Yorkshire #saga #Victorian #familydrama

http://getbook.at/OrphanPeacockShawl

To Entice a Spy, a story of espionage and unrequited love, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

Spies, romance, the French Revolution and its effects on England, all mix together in intrigue in my recently released novella.

To purchase, please click HERE

When I traveled in Cornwall a few years ago, in a cozy bookshop I found a book and map of eighteenth century Truro. I set a previous novel in this town but knew I wanted to place another one there, this one a spy story. 

I planned a visit to Truro, but family medical conditions prevented it and I never got the chance to return to Cornwall.

Truro street with St. Mary's Cathedral in the background

Here is my novel's blurb:

Widowed Countess Eseld Trehearne seeks revenge for the brutal death of her female companion during a Paris riot. On her return to England, Eseld delves into espionage to defeat the French rebels. 

Baron Robert Penhale, Eseld’s childhood love, rejoins the Secret Services after his wife’s death. He’s determined to protect England from the revolution terrorizing France.

 Pierre, a  ruthless French spy, fights for the common man while disguised as an English aristocrat. He’s intent on revenge against those who oppose him.

With the spy stalking them and Robert in fear for Eseld's life, the fate of the couple verges on disaster.

Real life spymaster, William Wickham, makes a brief appearance in my novel. Wickham was a British civil servant and politician. He founded the British foreign secret service during the French Revolution. I have my hero Robert working with Wickham.

Can Eseld and Robert rekindle their love, or will rules of 'protocol' (he a mere baron and she a countess) keep them apart? Each must find their own way through heartbreak and the risk of murder that hangs over them. Is Pierre right in his demand for equal rights? Or is he just out to kill aristocrats, and seduce Eseld in the process? 

Will love be enough to mend the differences between Robert and Eseld? She wants no man to command her.

Review from Novels Alive: "The dastardly villain ramps up the suspense and is exposed during a thrilling conclusion. This sweet Regency (Georgian, actually) romance ties up all the loose ends effectively. To Entice a Spy is a delightful light romance with a dose of suspense to keep it interesting."

For more on my books, visit my website: http://www.dianescottlewis.org

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.

 

Never Dance with a Marquess has a Crowned Heart review from InD'tale Magazine! 

“Never Dance With a Marquess”

takes the reader on a journey

through the psyches of both

Nicholas and Carrie. The

characters of Carrie’s teenaged

brother and sister are endearing

although their antics could easily

prove to be fateful to them or

others. Some scenes are slow, but

picks up the pace deeper into the

story. One gets emotionally

involved as Simon Leeming tries

to usurp Nicholas’ authority, and

Simon shows his true character.

All the characters are three

dimensional and easily relatable.

The world building is excellently

executed, and one finds

themselves immersed in the

1800s, living with the mores of

the times. A truly outstanding tale

of romance between an unlikely

hero and heroine! Ms. Andersen

delivers a beautifully orchestrated

story destined for the ages!

Belinda Wilson

 

Silver Medal Award!

 So happy that The Market Stall Girl won a silver medal at the USA Readers' Favorite Book Reviews and Award Contest!!

The Market Stall Girl (Book 1)

The Woman from Beaumont Farm (Book 2)

Will Beth and Noah find the happiness they wish for or will overwhelming events break them apart?

http://mybook.to/TheMarketStallGirl

99p/c Sale Aurora's Pride

 Sale alert! My historical saga, Aurora’s Pride is only 99p/c - 12-19th August!

She went in search of the truth and it wasn’t what she was expecting.

Amazon http://mybook.to/AurorasPride

The Market Stall Girl Amazon UK 99p July only.

 The Market Stall Girl Amazon UK 99p July only.

Will Beth and Noah find the happiness they wish for or will overwhelming events break them apart?

Amazon: http://mybook.to/TheMarketStallGirl

Voting Open!

 The Market Stall Girl has been nominated for a Rone Award by Ind'Tale Magazine.

Voting is just this week. So if you enjoyed the story and think it deserves a vote, please go to this link. 🥰 (you have to register to vote) Thank you!!

https://indtale.com/polls/historical-victorian-20th-century-rone-2021

99p/c Sale!

 

Sale 99p/c March 20-26!

Isabelle’s Choice

Will the choices she’s made ruin her? Will she find the happiness she’s searching for?

#Victorian #Yorkshire  #saga #kindleunlimited #paperback #Hebdenbridge #historicalfiction #orphans

Amazon myBook.to/IsabellesChoice

New Release: The Tobacconist's Wife!

 

 "The Tobacconist's Wife is a very engaging story despite the domestic violence that makes Thea's life such a misery. How she escapes her abusive marriage takes the reader on an emotional journey through heartache and loss..." #HFVBTBlogTours @annemariebrear #books #giveaway

The Tobacconist’s Wife – New Release!

Can Thea escape her misery and break from the conventions of society? Or will the clutches of her abusive husband confine her forever?

#historicalsaga #Victoriansaga #Yorkshire #historicalfiction

Amazon: https://relinks.me/B08G9N75NX

 

The Mysticism of Cornwall - The Cheesewring

 I had never written a historical fantasy before, but time travel has always interested me. My novel, Beyond the Fall, was my first fantasy, sending a woman from the 21st century back to the 18th c. after she explores a neglected graveyard in Cornwall, England.

Cornwall became an obsession of mine. I've set several books there and read about the mysteries attached to this portion of England. My husband I traveled to North Cornwall for the first time to research one of my historical novels. On a misty, foggy day (how appropriate) we walked on the Bodmin Moor. The first sign we encountered was a tiny one that said Cheesewring with an arrow. In those dark ages days before the internet was so readily available, we scratched our heads, wondering what this could be.

Traipsing the mysterious moor over scrubby grass, glared at by disturbed sheep, I saw a strange rock formation in the distance and insisted my husband take my picture with it. Only when we arrived home, and I researched in a book I had, did I find that this granite tor had been the Cheesewring.

 

Located on the southern edge of the Bodmin Moor, the Cheesewring, or in Cornish, Keuswask, is a geological formation on Stowe’s Hill formed by centuries of weathering—harsh winds and rain. The name is derived from the piled slabs that resemble a cheese press.

Thirty-two feet in height, the tor is top-heavy, the fifth and sixth rocks of immense size and thickness. Four lower rocks support them, all perfectly irregular, the towering formation having no lateral support as it clings to the steep hill. It’s said the formation spewed from the earth, and crystallized as tubular granite.

 In local legend, the Cheesewring is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. The giants who dwelled in the Cornish caves were angry when Christianity was first introduced to the British Islands. The Saints had invaded their land, and the largest giant Uther was sent to chase them out. The frail Saint Tue proposed a rock throwing contest. If he won, the giants had to convert to Christianity. If Uther won, the Saints would leave Cornwall.

Uther easily threw a small rock to the top of Stowe’s Hill. Tue prayed for assistance. He picked up a huge slab, and found it miraculously light. They continued throwing, stacking the stones in perfect piles. When the score was twelve each, Uther tossed a thirteenth, but it rolled down the hill. Tue picked up his fallen stone, and as he lifted it an angel appeared to carry the slab to the top of the rock pile. At seeing this, Uther conceded, and most of the giants converted to Christianity.

In a book on Arthurian Legend, it’s said that the slabs turn and twist at certain times of the year. Or when the tor hears a cock crow.

Located adjacent to the Cheesewring Quarry and surrounded by other granite formations, this landmark was threatened with destruction in the late nineteenth century by the proximity of blasting operations, but was saved as a result of local activism.

 Later, to indulge in my time travel fantasy, I wrote Beyond the Fall.

Blurb: In Cornwall, England, Tamara researches her ancestors. Among gravestones she tumbles back to 1789 in the midst of grain riots. Will she fall for the secretive farmer, Colum, or struggle to return to her own time? Highly Recommended ~ History and Women

To purchase Beyond the Fall click HERE

For more on Diane Scott Lewis and her Cornish novels:

http://www.dianescottlewis.org

Remembrance Day

  Today is 11th November. 102 years ago WWI ended on this day. The defining era of WWI is a fascination to me. I have researched this turbulent time for years and I'm always learning new things about it. One of my bucket list goals was to visit the battlefields of Belgium. Walking amongst the graves, the old trenches, visiting the water-filled bomb craters, going to museums, and spending time in beautiful Ypres was inspiring. How could you not be moved? My own ancestors fought and died in WWI. I had five great+ uncles all brothers from one family fight. Two died - Arthur and Alfred Ellis. They were the inspiration behind the Jackson brothers in my book The Woman from Beaumont Farm. My Ellis uncles live on in those pages.

The few books I've written set in WWI are homage to all those wonderful Allied men and women who served their countries for our freedom.

We must never forget their sacrifices. They are true heroes.

Cover contest!

 The Market Stall Girl is up for 'cover of the week' contest at InD'Tale Magazine. Would love it if you could vote for it. Thank you!! 🥰

https://indtale.com/polls/cr%C3%A9me-de-la-cover-contest