The Battle of Philippi is over. Octavian and Mark Antony have defeated the Republic. A cause and a generation of young noblemen have been lost.
Lucius Sestius, a lawyer embroiled in the Ides of March, has been driven from Rome by his allegiance to Caesar’s murderers. He has seen his commanders die on the battlefield, and now he and his friends must rebuild their lives.
In exile on Sicily, Lucius investigates the mysterious murder of a soldier, just as peace negotiations between Antony, Octavian and the rebel Sextus Pompey are being planned. When another murder threatens the negotiations, Lucius is ordered to make enquiries and provide a convenient explanation. Realising this is his only path to freedom, he returns to Rome knowing that a murderer has gone free.
Back home, the murder of the veteran centurion Crastinus leads Lucius to the terrible suspicion that one of his friends is responsible and he must confront a comrade from Philippi.

9 CE.

Rome’s celebrated love poet Ovid finds himself in exile, courtesy of an irate Emperor, in the far-flung town of Tomis. Appalled at being banished to a barbarous region at the very edge of the Empire, Ovid soon discovers that he has a far more urgent - and potentially perilous - issue to address. A killer is at large in Tomis, slaughtering animals in a parody of ritual, and the Governor’s advisor Marcus Avitius is under pressure to apprehend the perpetrator.
When the killer progresses from animal to human victims, Avitius reluctantly allies himself to the mercurial, tipsy Ovid.

‘Poetic and haunting: Forsyth provides a captivating glimpse into the life of one of Ancient Rome's greatest writers.’ Steven Veerapen, author of the Simon Danforth Mysteries

His mother told him he was God’s greatest thing. Then he was stolen, sold, shipped to France, and re-named Louis-Benoit Zamor. Stripped of his esteem as efficiently as a fox’s coat in a royal hunt, Zamor is reared by Du Barry—with a love as false as her smile—and a king with unsavory proclivities. He soon realizes his mother lied. Because, in this place, King Louis XV is the world’s greatest thing, second only to God.

But Zamor was loved, once. This fact, alone, makes the bitter pill of a lifetime of small nothingness impossible to swallow. Even if false, a mother’s words don’t die easily.

First, he must survive childhood. Then, if the world thinks the debauched, degenerate king is its greatest thing, the answer is simple: Zamor will have to change the world.

Vive le roi. Long live the King … and all that.

The historian Suetonius tells us that the Emperor Nero emasculated and married his slave Sporus, the spitting image of murdered Empress Poppaea. But history has more tidbits about Sporus, who went from "puer delicatus" to Empress to one Emperor and concubine to another, and ended up being sentenced to play the Earth-Goddess in the arena.

World Fantasy Award winner S.P. Somtow weaves a vivid adventure about one of the most colorful personalities in ancient Rome. Delicatus, the first volume in a trilogy, speaks of Sporus, from his enslavement by pirates in a remote corner of the Empire to his meeting with the great satirist Petronius and the woman to whom he bears a striking resemblance, the beautiful Poppaea with her manipulative plans to seduce the Emperor Nero and become Divine Empress.

"Delicatus is an exceptionally well-crafted work of fiction” — Literary Titan
"One of the best period piece novels we've ever read!" — Outstanding Creator Awards

Ninety-three-year-old Will Morgan remembers December 21, 1944, like it was yesterday. Now a widower and alone with his torment, how can he tell it? If not for a chance meeting with a younger man named Jack Owens, Will’s haunting account would surely die with him. Not every soldier fought through Battle of the Bulge or lived to tell the tale—one that Will has sworn to secrecy. What happened on that ridge was one thing, but what Will sees as his own personal failure is another. Can he finally reveal the one heartache he never shared with anyone, one he has carried for so long?

Chihuahua City, Mexico, 1913. Katherine O’Brien reluctantly enters into a marriage of convenience to hide from her abusive ex-fiancé. She struggles to adapt to an unfamiliar culture as she begins to regain her ability to love and trust. Her new husband, a soldier in Pancho Villa’s army, treats her well, although he expects an obedient and docile wife. Kate, a tomboy raised on a west Texas ranch, finds such a role extremely difficult. The two strive to find a middle ground even as he fights beside Villa in the brutal revolutionary war.
When the Revolution turns against Villa, the couple is separated. Kate must lead her small extended family to a new home without help from her husband… and with her violent ex-fiancé following her tracks. Facing these challenges tests her courage and survival skills to the utmost.
"A novel that has a profound human resonance..."--Historical Fiction Company

When Anne Boleyn is delivered of a daughter and Henry faces personal bereavement and discord at court, Anne’s enemies gather. When the next pregnancy fails and the queen miscarries of a son, the need for an heir is imperative. Waiting in the wings is Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting, who offers the king respite from Anne’s fiery passions.

But, when Anne falls foul of her former ally, Thomas Cromwell, and the king is persuaded that Anne has made him a cuckold, Henry strikes out and the queen falls beneath the executioner’s sword, taking key players in Henry’s household with her.

Jane Seymour, stepping up to replace the fall, quickly becomes pregnant. Delighted with his dull but fertile wife, Henry’s spirits rise even higher when the prince is born safely. At last, Henry has all he desires, but even as he celebrates, fate is preparing to deliver one more staggering blow.

As the king’s optimism diminishes, his intractability increases, and the wounded lion begins to roar

'Arnopp is one of those writers who can make history come alive.'

October 1485
Richard III is dead. With the English crown finally in his possession, Henry Tudor’s reign is hindered by continuing unrest.

While the king is plagued with uprisings and pretenders to his throne, Margaret in her capacity as The King’s Mother oversees the running of his court.

The warring houses of York and Lancaster are united but as the royal nursery fills with children Margaret’s expectation of perfect harmony begins to disintegrate.

As quickly as Henry dispatches those whose move against him, new conflicts arise and, dogged by deceit and the harrowing shadow of death, Margaret realises that her time for peace has not yet come.

Intrigue, treason and distrust blights the new Tudor dynasty, challenging Margaret’s strength of character and her steadfast faith in God.

The King’s Mother is the third and final book in The Beaufort Chronicles, tracing the life of Margaret Beaufort.

Continuing from The Beaufort Bride.

As the struggle between York and Lancaster continues, Margaret Beaufort fights for admittance to the court of the victorious Edward IV of York and his unpopular queen, Elizabeth Woodville.

The old king and his heir are dead, York now rules over England and the royal nursery is full.

But Edward and Elizabeth’s magnificent court hides a dark secret, a deception that threatens the security of the English throne … and all who lust after it.

In 1483, with the untimely death of King Edward IV, Margaret finds herself at the heart of chain of events that threaten the supremacy of York, and will change England forever.

'This is a richly drawn novel. The historical figures walk off the page' - The Coffee Pot Book Club
Winner of the Coffee Pot Book Club Gold Book of the Year Award 2018

As King Henry VI slips into insanity and England teeters on the brink of civil war, a child is married to the mad king's brother. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, takes his child bride into Wales; a land of strife and strangers.
At Caldicot Castle and Lamphey Palace Margaret must acquire the dignity of a Countess and, despite her tender years, produce Richmond with a son and heir.
While Edmund battles to restore the king's peace, Margaret quietly supports his quest; but it is a quest fraught with danger.
As the friction between York and Lancaster intensifies, 14-year-old Margaret, now widowed, turns for protection to her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor. At his stronghold in Pembroke, two months after her husband's death, Margaret gives birth to a son whom she names Henry, after her cousin the king.
The Beaufort Bride traces Margaret's early years from her nursery days at Bletsoe Castle to the birth of her only son in 1457 at Pembroke Castle. Her story continues book 2 & 3.

It is late autumn of 1798 and Darcy and Elizabeth are married at last and living at Pemberley in love and harmony. Life is wonderful. The future holds exciting possibilities and Elizabeth’s extended family will soon arrive for Christmas. What could conceivably go wrong?

But Elizabeth suddenly receives a letter warning of possible harm to her and her family at the hands of a former resident of Longbourn. And once the family have arrived, unnerving incidents start to build up.

As winter sets in, Darcy strives to find a solution.

What are the motives of the ill-wisher and can he or she ultimately be found so as to face the proper punishment? And can the worst disaster be averted?

Reviewers said:

This was a very good read

An easy-read sequel with a surprising whodunnit mystery

Gorgeous . A very satisfying read. Reminded me of the PD James book Death at Pemberley. But this one is better.

I love P&P and have read a number of spinoffs, but I think this series is one of the best.

Goo

Elizabeth Bennet enjoys a lively six months before Netherfield Park is let at last. She is appalled to learn that a pregnant teenage kitchen maid, Alice, was dismissed from Longbourn House eight or nine years earlier with no thought for her welfare or that of her unborn child.

She approaches the recently arrived, handsome, young rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, who agrees to assist her in secret. Their apparently clandestine association is noticed and misinterpreted by some.

Meanwhile, to secure the family’s future, Mr Bennet embarks on a complicated, high-risk scheme which is ultimately in danger of spiralling out of control.

Father’s and daughter’s separate manoeuvres inevitably clash, stoked up by a jealous mischief-maker, as the summer races inexorably towards Michaelmas of 1797 when a young man of large fortune named Bingley first enters the neighbourhood.

Readers said:

I loved this book and found it exceeded expectations.

I am immensely impressed. Jane would have b