Book Blurb: Venice, 1710, Poinsettia Girl is based on the story of Agata de la Pieta, an orphan musician of the Ospedale de la Pieta. Ten-year-old Agata's world is shaken at the sudden death of her mother. Left only with her egregious father, a working musician in Venice, her ailing grandmother sends her to the well-known orphanage, hidden from everything she's ever known. Agata auditions for the conservatory style music school where music is both salvation and spectacle. Hid

Suzanne Kelman is a 2015 Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Finalist, Multi-Award-Winning Screenwriter and a Film Producer. As well as working in film she is also an International Amazon Bestselling Fiction Author of the Southlea Bay Series – The Rejected Writers’ Book Club, Rejected Writers Take the Stage and The Rejected Writers’ Christmas Wedding. Born in the United Kingdom, she now resides in Washington State. Buy Here: https://geni.us/cHscz Https://www.suzannekelmanautho

BOOK EXCERPT: DANCE OF THE EARTH, ACT 2 A little about Rose’s son, Walter, as a boy. Mother, when she came in, removing her gardening hat, was remarkably gentle. ‘Walter,’ she moved forward to hug him. ‘We’ve a lot to talk about. Dora, refreshments, I think.’ Dora nodded and hurried to the kitchen as Mother led him by the hand towards chairs stacked with things to pack. They moved aside a pile of cushions and settled not quite side by side, not quite facing each other. ‘ I a

Catherine writes historical fiction set primarily in Berlin, covering the period from the 1930s up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and dealing with the long shadows left by war. The Girl Who Told the Truth will be her thirteenth novel with Bookouture and there are more to come. Her books have been published by Grand Central Publishing in the USA and translated into a number of languages including French, Italian and, most recently, German.   becoming a full-time writer. She is

Book Excerpt Elena was struck by the cold, salty air against the water and the Lido perfectly displayed in the distance. She let the shoreline sky cleanse her, wading her conducting arms through the damp air. They sang a simple chant as they walked and made a half-circle with their backs to the water, close to the Prioress. A group of listeners stopped their errands as the rarely seen foundling girls alerted them with their song. It was uncommon for the public to interact wit

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GOLD MEDAL FINALISTS FOR THE 2025 HFC BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS! PLEASE NOTE: SOME CATEGORIES SHOW TIED WINNERS GRAND PRIZE & RUNNER-UP WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN FROM THIS LIST and ANNOUNCED AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT EST on DECEMBER 31st 2025 - NEW YEAR'S EVE!! All finalists will be allowed to use the displayed category badge for announcements and will be notified via email. 2026 Awards & Editorial Review requests are now open - please visit www.thehistoricalfiction

BOOK EXCERPT “I doubt Saint-Thomas d’Aquin bears any resemblance to how we remember it,” Papa grumbled, his tone plain. “And Paris is not the safest place to be for anyone these days.” “There’s talk of war in Paris now,” Florian added, absently chewing on his thumbnail. His words struck me like a cold gust of wind, leaving a sharp ache in the pit of my belly. I had heard rumours of war before, but they were just rumours; they had no reason to be true. The Bastille had fallen

BOOK EXCERPT Betsey gently pushed back the thin blanket, swung her feet over the side of the bed, and reached for her soft leather slippers, a Christmas present from Annie that she treasured. She tiptoed from the room, determined not to wake Ned if she could help it, for it was early and she had heard the church clock strike six. Closing the door quietly behind her, she descended the stairs and went to the kitchen, where she pulled the kettle forward onto the stove, for her f

NOW OPEN for editorial review requests and contest entry! www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/book-awards/award-submission   #bookcontest #bookawards #thehistoricalfictioncompany $2500 CASH PRIZE - Deadline November 15, 2026 - Winners announced on New Year's Day 2026!!

BOOK EXCERPT: I walked quickly to the hotel. It was just two blocks away, but by the time I got there, I was struggling to catch my breath. Like Teo on that last day, the small voice inside whispered, gasping for air at the top of the loft ladder. In the apartment, Nonna was packing, a handwritten list on the bed beside her valise. She’d brought only a few things to Palermo—a blouse, a pair of bloomers and stockings, her prayer book and rosary. Too few items, I thought, to wa

BOOK EXCERPT Chapter 2 - Australia, 1939 - 1941 General Nursing and Obstetrics qualifications clutched firmly in gloved hand, Annie waited for Iris and Verna on Oxford Street, Paddington, so they could walk along to Victoria Barracks together. She smoothed down her waisted floral dress, then touched her hat. Not often intimidated, Annie felt a flutter of nerves. What had seemed an easy decision did not feel so comfortable now. “G’day.” Startled from her doubts, Annie turned a

BOOK EXCERPT April 1471: Dawn on Easter Day, Barnet Heath. Eighteen-year-old Richard of Gloucester, brother of Edward IV, takes confession and prepares for his first taste of battle. They wake, those who have dared sleep, to a grey and muffled world. Overnight, heavy mist has fallen, and the air of early dawn is like a breath of winter. Beneath his coif, Richard’s hair sticks to his skull like goose grease, his cheeks sore and clammy. Worse is the effect of the sodden grass;

Book Blurb: In the tradition of Wilbur Smith and Patrick O’Brian —a sweeping tale of men driven by empire and undone by conscience. A powerful novel of greed, loyalty, and survival in the brutal world of the seventeenth-century Dutch slave trade. West Africa, 1687. On the lawless edge of the Dutch colonial empire, the West India Company tightens its grip on the coast, its ships filled with gunpowder, muskets—and ambition. Skipper Aldemar Burghoutsz , a battle-hardened seaman

Book Blurb: A game that spread communism. A secret that spans generations. About the Book: A Barnes & Noble Top eBook & NOOK Indie Favorite In the early 1950s, ping pong wasn't just a pastime - it was propaganda. A quiet weapon in the battle for influence, power, and ideology. Alternating between the pivotal 1971 Ping-Pong Diplomacy - where a simple game of table tennis thawed the icy relations between the U.S. and China during the Cold War - and the present-day struggles of

Book Blurb: "If you love Michael Crichton, James Rollins, or Preston & Child, you'll dig Buzan." - Gin Coleman, author of Desert Bold Chenoa Winterhawk is a battle-hardened member of Oregon's elite U.S. Army Indian Scouts, sworn to protect travelers across treacherous mountain terrain and dark forests whispering of ancient terrors. As the daughter of legendary Civil War hero Chief Jolon Winterhawk, Chenoa is also a warrior bound by duty, struggling with injustices brought upo

Book Blurb: A poet haunted by grief. A lover marked by blood. A sister silenced behind asylum walls. In the decadent heart of fin de siècle Paris, Averill Charron makes a devil's bargain. To rescue his sister—locked away by their father—hejoins forces with the last man he should trust, Blaise Dancier, the crime lord who once ordered his death. No longer enemies. Now they are lovers. Together they descend into the underworld, searching cabarets and crypts, brothels and back al

Book Blurb: The world was catching its breath from a war that had redrawn borders and left too many empty chairs at too many tables. It was the 1950's. Girls donned poodle skirts; boys sported crew cuts. People sought comfort in familiar routines, traditional roles, and black-and-white images from a box called television. Not Cate Clark. Restless and searching for something more, Cate leaves behind an Ireland still scarred from its struggle for independence and steps into the

Book Blurb: A Love Affair Inspiring the World's Most Unforgettable Operas Experience the intense, lifelong love affair between Giuseppe Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi, the brilliant and seductive soprano who shaped his legacy. As his muse, lover, and wife, Strepponi was the inspiration behind Verdi's most iconic works, including La Traviata and Aida. Her influence was pivotal, as she became the architect of his creative triumphs and the heart of his operatic genius. Set again