Review policy
I only review historical fiction on this blog, both mainstream and Indie.
Favorite topics: stories set in England, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, and India (all time periods), sagas, biographical HF, less familiar historical settings or subjects (off-the-beaten path), WW1 and WW2, and international titles.
Please do not offer military fiction, alternate history, mysteries, Westerns, or nonfiction.
I will accept finished, bound books, ARCs, and galleys; however, I no longer accept e-books. The pleasure of reading for me is in the feel of crisp paper, not a cold device. I can host guest posts and giveaways if requested.
My reviews are honest and may at times include constructive criticism. I take editing quality, layout, and design into consideration for self- and subsidy-published works; however, if the content is excellent, those elements will not preclude a review. I try to limit my acceptance of books for review to historical fiction that would appeal to the general public.
Submitting a work for review does not guarantee a review. I read at least fifty pages of each novel before deciding on review suitability. I only review books I’ve read in entirety. I will not sell review copies, and I will clarify if the book is a review copy at the end of each post.
Time frame: My reviewing time is limited at this point, being a full-time editor and mother, as well as volunteer reviews editor for the HNS. I read as often as I can, however, I cannot promise a review in any particular time frame.
Copyright © 2009-12 by Andrea L. Connell. Please do not copy reviews, posts, or other material from this site without my express permission.
The Queen's Quill Review 
I am hoping that I might entice you to review my just self-published novel entitled The Duke Don’t Dance. I’ll label the novel literary fiction, as described in my author page that just went up on amazon.com yesterday. However, I’ll make a couple of additional comments here that might appeal to you on the half-baked theory that one who likes to read historical novels might possibly like one concering the transitional passage of men and women born in the ’30s and ’40s through the post World War II world.
The novel deals with a small group of American men and women of this so-called “silent generation” who come together for a time in the ’70s and ’80s before going their separate ways. It is set partly in Washington DC, but with episodes around the world — Thailand, several African countries, London, Rome, Leningrad. For those who think “literary fiction” sounds pretentious or that past too recent to be history, the story could be categorized in several ways: a beach read without guilt in your pleasure, a mystery with no crimes, chic lit for women with low expectations for the male gender and humor for men who can be cynical about themselves.This is about the generation that invented rock and roll, passed through the sexual revolution and the rise of feminism and survived the conflicts of the cold war. It is necessarily irreverant and outrageous — a good read that will make you rethink the wisdom of your elders.
Hello Mr. Sharp,
My apologies for taking so long to respond. I would be happy to take a look at your novel. Please be aware that I do write honest reviews, and if I can’t get through 50 pages, I will have to comment on that and give reasons for my decision. Please email me at connell1453@verizon.net and I will give you the mailing address. Sincerely,
Andrea Connell
Andrea, I would like you to review my self-published novel “Zemsta.” I can snail mail a paperback to you, or email you a kindle version. Here’s a description:
What Drives Good People to Do Something Bad?
As terrible revelations come to light, four people join together to commit an unspeakable act…
When a member of the privileged upper class frames a Polish immigrant for a socialite’s murder in 1920s Akron, the heart-pounding events that follow lead to a stunning and unexpected conclusion. This gripping tale of bigotry and class distinctions includes political corruption, greed, injustice, murder, and betrayal. While Albo Jablonski endures the atrocious conditions of the state penitentiary, his son Nickels, daughter Antonia, and their friends Kurt and Charlie are tormented by the knowledge that he is innocent. Zemsta is a powerful, character-driven story of three boyhood friends during the tumultuous days of Prohibition that explores the meaning of friendship, family, love, and loyalty.
Andrea,
I recently published a new novel called, Not Without Mercy The Black Death. It was published by Outskirts Press. This is book one in the Not Without Mercy, series. It is available in Hardcover, Paperback and e-Book and encompasses over 535 pages.
The story takes place in Bristol England at the onset of the black plague in 1348. It is a story of one family’s fight to stay alive and to stay together. Although it takes place during the plague it is NOT a story about the plague.
My book has extensive chapter notes (as needed), that document the life and times of those who actually lived during the era.
The story is heart wrenching, the characters are believable, and the plot includes romance, suspense, mystery, faith, family, love, courage, hope and redemption.
The plague created two groups of people, the faithless, who become fearful, and the faithful, who become fearless, in knowing that God had left them, Not Without Mercy.
I can provide a copy of my book in any format that works best for you. Thanks for your consideration.
Phill
Andrea,
I recently published a new novel called, Not Without Mercy The Black Death. It was published by Outskirts Press. This is book one in the Not Without Mercy, series. It is available in Hardcover, Paperback and e-Book and encompasses over 535 pages.
The story takes place in Bristol England at the onset of the black plague in 1348. It is a story of one family’s fight to stay alive and to stay together. Although it takes place during the plague it is NOT a story about the plague.
My book has extensive chapter notes (as needed), that document the life and times of those who actually lived during the era.
The story is heart wrenching, the characters are believable, and the plot includes romance, suspense, mystery, faith, family, love, courage, hope and redemption.
The plague created two groups of people, the faithless, who become fearful, and the faithful, who become fearless, in knowing that God had left them, Not Without Mercy.
I can provide a copy of my book in any format that works best for you.
Thanks for your consideration.
My website is http://www.notwithoutmercy.com
Good Day Andrea,
I have recently published a Bahamian poetry book, but I am uncertain if it is something you are interested in viewing. Please let me know. Thank you.
Hello Andrea.
DDKBooks is looking for an honest review of Shadow of Light, a passion-filled controversial debut novel by David David Kernan. Press Release Headline: In Arms of Another Man Religion’s Greatest Secret Revealed.
Takes place in 1993 Los Angeles with memory dreams of Edwardian England.
Andrea, I have a rather odd question and request for a review. I’m currently finishing book two of a four book series, “The Lambourne Legacy”. Each book touches on a different sibling in the Lambourne family, set in 1800s Regency England.
My first book of the series, “Earl of my Heart” was released in 2011 and was never reviewed. Do you suggest that I have it reviewed prior to the release of book two or should I forgo the review since the book isn’t new and just have the new one reviewed when it’s released?
Thanks in advance for your advise.
Andrea,
I would like to offer my literary novel, A Light in the Cane Fields for review.
Below is a short description sourced from Amazon. The book was a top semi finalist in the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, earning a tour de force review from PW.
Let me know if the story interests you.
Regards,
Enrico Antiporda
Description
“This coming-of-age story chronicling a Filipino boy’s wrenching passage from son of privilege to guerilla fighter is a stylistic tour-de-force. From its first lines, the saga of Jando Flores seizes readers with the same chilling intensity as the cold water that wraps around Jando’s chest as he hides in a river to escape a gang of pillaging cutthroats. While such murderous militias dispossess cane farmers in the Central Plains of the Philippines, the NPA (a brutal leftist insurgency) combats the government troops of Ferdinand Marcos and the ruthless sugar barons who steal the poor farmers’ land. Jando, whose family owns a plantation, is forced into the NPA, but he remains a sensitive soul, brimming with empathy for his fellow countrymen-even as he watches others, like his beloved uncle, morph into fierce, sadistic killers.
Incandescent descriptions radiate from the pages of this book. When a wounded Jando wakes, after narrowly escaping a death squad, he sees “marmalade light slicing through the fronds, weaving orange and black tiger stripes.” Mountain bandits, sugar warlords, Peace Corps volunteers, dignitaries, and revolutionaries all jostle beneath “mango-colored” skies in this riveting epic of loss and transformation, but it is a masterful and delicate choreography. ”
-Publishers Weekly
http://www.amazon.com/A-Light-Cane-Fields-ebook/dp/B00CBP70OG/
Hopefully, this will be read. I have written (self-published) two novels — Walk in Bethel (historical family saga) adn Reflections (essentially a romance but not the typical boy meets girl!). I woudl love to have both/either read adn reviewed, but I saw no way to make contact with the reviewer…
Rose Mary Stiffin, PhD
i was surprised to find you do not read Military Fiction but do read historical Fiction. I had hoped top recommend SOUVENIRS, by Keith C. Chase, which is set in 1944 Germany.
I was enthralled with it when I first read it, some 10 years ago. It inspired me to take on the profession I now have.
Just this month it was released in a second edition by the author. I have an ARC of the book I wanted to send to you. Yes it is military. Yes it is fiction.
It is an amazing character study of seven men.
Do think about it.
Dear Andrea,
Hi. My name is Kevin Crouch. I am writing to ask if you will review my time travel, historical fiction, coming of age, new adult, with a bit of romance novel Borrowed Lives? The novel is available in paperback and on Kindle from my amazon author’s central page: http://www.amazon.com/author/kevincrouch
Borrowed Live is about a young woman who discovers she has the ability to travel time:
Reclusive literary researcher Ray Haddon is on the verge of a breakdown, and has scheduled a two-week retreat to sort out the past. This is not merely a mental exercise: Ray’s secret is the ability to transfer consciousness back in time to inhabit the borrowed bodies and lives of others. The quiet soul-searching is to take place in ancient Egypt, but the plan turns to confusion when Ray is unexpectedly trapped in Edwardian London, in the host body of an individual whose troubled life eerily mirrors Ray’s own. Soon, Ray’s increasing interference becomes the intersection point for a series of real-life historical figures whose lives intertwine as Europe teeters on the brink of the Great War. When the possibility of romance arrives, the line between past and present is crossed, setting off a disaster that leaves everyone involved worse off than before.
Angry and hurt, Ray finally reaches 12th Dynasty Egypt, where the calamity of London is almost repeated. Recognizing the mistake in time, Ray comes to the realization that life can only be fully lived in the present. An attempt to right the chaos left behind in London proves only partly successful, but sets Ray up for the biggest adventure of all: embracing one’s own life.
Borrowed Lives is my first novel in a series. There is also a short story, Idella Pinson, about one of the characters from Borrowed Lives.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
Kevin Crouch
http://www.kevincrouchwrites.com
http://www.facebook.com/KevinCrouchWrites
Hello Andrea,
You must get many requests as I can tell by the comments made here on this page and rightly so. Just taking a look at your most recent review of the “Last Banquet” your reviews are so professional and well-composed. Yet do a great job of summarizing the novel without giving too much of the plot away but enough to highlight what makes the book great.
I similarly would love to get your thoughts on my newly published novelette, “Before the Legend,” available in print and Kindle format on Amazon here at the link: https://www.createspace.com/4471979
The genre is historical fiction but more along the lines of alternative fiction. I know from your description that you’re not interested in alternate history but I an ensure you the book ventures outside that category and really becomes a subcategory of it’s own. It’s written in a fresh perspective from a four year old precocious boy who lives in a fictionalized yet realistic setting in the backdrop of the Roman era. Here’s a brief synopsis to give you a taste of the story.
Life seemed so carefree, safe, even predictable for young Troy, the son of a king, who rules over an island nation. However one nightmare shatters it all, leaving him questioning what he always thought about his parents. Now the four year old is left with questions he wasn’t meant to understand yet. But he doesn’t realize something far bigger is coming and it promises to rock his island home to its core.
To learn more about the story series including Before the Legend you can visit my blog site at http://www.writersnookblog.wordpress.com
Thank you for considering this and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you so much for your compliments! I would be interested in reviewing Before the Legend, but I cannot promise you a definitive time, as you can see, my schedule for reviewing is limited. If you would like to talk more about this, please feel free to email me at connell1453@verizon.net.
Sincerely,
Andrea
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Hi Andrea.
I wonder if I may be so bold as to recommend for your review the new Austen-inspired book,
Follies Past: a Prequel to Pride and Prejudice by Melanie Kerr. It has been getting exceptional reviews on Amazon (amazon.com/dp/B00GD76KJY) and you can read the first chapter, the blurb and a bit about the author on the website: FolliesPast.com. There are also three enticing, film-style trailers that can be seen at that same website or on Youtube.
Essentially, the book is based on the story of Darcy, Wickham and Georgiana, as described in Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. It is intertwined with an original and sweet love story of the author’s own invention and is written in the style and the language of Jane Austen’s own works.
Reading it really feels like discovering a long-lost Austen manuscript.
I am attaching, for your reference, a copy of a press release regarding the book, which includes more information about the book and the author as well as some useful links.
Please feel free to email me at folliespast@gmail.com if you would like any more information, or to let me know if you decide you might like to review it so that I can send you a copy, in your choice of eBook or paperback or both.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Andrea, I would be very interested in submitting my latest book, “Forsythia,” for review. “Forsythia” is a memoir based on my childhood recollection of my own very English family from the 1880s to the 1960s. The recollections hang on a précis of John Galsworthy’s famous “Forsyte Saga” (permission granted) and hence the title “Forsythia.” However, although a memoir, the book is really a parallel commentary on the rise and fall of the British Upper middle-class and the rise and fall of the British Empire. Some have said that if you like “Downton Abbey” you will love “Forsythia.” However, “Forsythia” was conceived and written before I ever saw an episode of “Downton Abbey.”
I also have a published trilogy on a plausible life of Mary Magdalene and her Times.