Tag: romance

A love that will change them forever
A treasure that will bring them home

West Mercia, AD 873 – Merewen’s settlement is on guard against the outside threat of the ‘Heathen’ Norsemen. But for Merewen, the real threats come from within, as her future is cruelly snatched away from her.

Eirik, a Norseman, finds himself abandoned and injured after his uncle’s plunder of Mercian land goes wrong. He thinks his fate is sealed – until Merewen saves his life.

Hereford, Present Day – Left reeling after a huge betrayal, Alix moves to her grandfather’s farm in Hereford to heal her broken heart. There, after being given a family heirloom, she soon finds herself
haunted by memories of a life she never lived, a relationship she never had, and a time in which she never existed.

Local farmer Noah is being hounded by the police to find the Viking hoard that his sister and her criminal boyfriend stole from his farm. Noah must prove his own innocence while struggling to decipher the curious connection he has to newcomer Alix – a bond that seems to transcend their
own reality.

As they search for the lost treasure, Alix and Noah start to feel the whispers of a love they never expected, one powerful enough to echo through history.

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Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip/dual time and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a Vice President and former chairman and of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several
awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the
Runes. RIPPLES THROUGH TIME (dual time historical romance published by Headline Review 21st November 2025) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and
archaeology (the armchair variety).

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My thoughts: I really enjoy these dual timeline romances, this one set in early Britain during the time of the Saxons and Viking raids and modern day Herefordshire.

As farmer Noah and his neighbour Alix grow closer and search for the missing hoard of gold that his sister and her rubbish boyfriend stole from his land, in 873, Viking raider Eirik is injured and healer Merewen helps him and takes him back to her village, where her father is in charge.

The two couples, separated by hundreds of years, are similar in many ways, they are all good, genuine people who deserve happiness and good fortune. Noah works hard, looks after his sheep and is a good neighbour, Alix has been disappointed in love, and having moved to Hereford to be nearer her grandfather and start again. Eirik is also starting over, having been left for dead by his uncle, Merewen is another hard worker, acting as healer to her community and dealing with her jealous sister.

A necklace Alix’s grandfather gives her seems to connect to the past, both she and Noah have seen glimpses of another life, and are both confused and fascinated by this. Noah’s farm seems to be the same place the Eirik and Merewen meet, the land contains an ancient stone structure, which acts as a conduit between time periods.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

A sweeping tale of secrets and survival set against the mystical backdrop of Nepal, and the tropical  heat of 1940s Malaya.

In the heart of bustling Kathmandu, Chloe Rai’s quaint bookshop is a sanctuary for those seeking  solace within the pages of timeworn stories. But when she discovers a collection of letters hidden  within the crumbling walls of a forgotten Rana palace, her world begins to intertwine with a narrative  from a different time and place.

Penned in the 1940s by a woman named Alice Lacey, the letters tell the story of the Malayan Emergency, a time of turmoil and conflict. As Alice’s life becomes intertwined with that of Anil, a Gurkha officer, their bond is tested by the chaos and violence surrounding them. Chloe’s discoveries not only reveal family secrets, but also mirror her own struggles in the present. As she delves deeper into Alice’s story, she begins to understand the power of the past in shaping the present.

With a rich cultural backdrop and a poignant exploration of friendship, resilience, and truth, ‘The  Bookseller of Kathmandu’ is a beautifully woven tale that showcases the enduring power of
storytelling. Join Chloe on a journey through time as she uncovers the truth and learns to navigate the complexities of her own life.

If you enjoy captivating storytelling, then you won’t want to miss ‘The Bookseller of Kathmandu.’ And  if you loved ‘The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu,’ then you will be enthralled by Chloe and Alice’s
intertwined stories…

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Ann Bennett is a British author of historical fiction. Her first book, Bamboo Heart: A Daughter’s  Quest, was inspired by researching her father’s experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma  Railway and by her own journey to uncover his story. It won the Asian Books Blog prize for fiction published in Asia in 2015, and was shortlisted for the best fiction title in the Singapore Book Awards
2016.

That initial inspiration led her to write more books about WWII in Southeast Asia – Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife, A Daughter’s Promise, Bamboo Road: The Homecoming, The Tea Planter’s Club,
The Amulet, and The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu. Along with The Lotus House, published in October 2024, they make up the Echoes of Empire Collection.

Ann is also the author of The Oriental Lake Collection – The Lake Pavilion and The Lake Palace, both set in British India during the 1930s and WWII, and The Lake Pagoda and The Lake Villa, set in French
Indochina.

The Runaway Sisters, USA Today bestselling The Orphan House, The Child Without a Home and The Forgotten Children are set in Europe during the same era and are published by Bookouture.

Her latest book, The Stolen Sisters, published on 29th November 2024 is the follow-up to The Orphan List (published by Bookouture in August this year) and is set in Poland and Germany during WWII.

A former lawyer, Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and lives in Surrey,  UK. For more details, please visit her website.

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Giveaway to Win a Paperback copy of Fortune Teller of Kathmandu (Open to UK and Europe only)

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this story of love told through letters and a diary, hidden inside a beautiful old palace in Kathmandu. Chloe runs a bookshop, and her husband’s second cousin Rajesh comes to see her, asking if she would take his late father’s books. Inside one of these volumes is a letter from a British woman, Alice, to Anil, Rajesh’s father, a former Gurkha who had been stationed in what was then British Malaya, now Malaysia. 

As Chloe looks through the books, she finds more letters, and when Rajesh finds his father’s diary, they piece together a love story set against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency. 

Reflecting on Alice’s life, Chloe works through some of the issues of her own, and as they unravel the secrets of the past, forms a friendship with Rajesh, helping him learn more about his often distant father.

Enjoyable, moving and with a rather lovely ending, this was an interesting love story that illuminated a time not taught in history lessons, at least not in mine, and brings both modern Kathmandu and 1950s Malaysia to life.  

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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