BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: DIANE SCOTT-LEWIS, HOSTAGE TO THE REVOLUTION

Diane Scott Lewis's new book,  Hostage to the Revolution, is the perfect reading for historical fiction lovers fond of the Poldark saga, of tales set in the English Georgian Era or the French Revolution,  or for those already appreciating  her writing. 
The story of young Frenchwoman, Bettina Jonquiere, came to  Diane,  while travelling through Cornwall a few years back. Once back in the States, she thoroughly researched the eighteenth century and gave life to Escape the Revolution, set mostly in Cornwall, which was her first novel, and  now to a  sequel, Hostage to the Revolution, set in New Orleans and France.  

Hostage to the Revolution: book blurb

Sequel to Escape the Revolution. In 1796, ruined countess Bettina Jonquiere leaves England after the reported drowning of her lover, Everett.  In New Orleans she struggles to establish a new life for her children. Soon a ruthless Frenchman demands the money stolen by her father at the start of the French Revolution. Bettina is forced on a dangerous mission to France to recover the funds. She unravels dark family secrets, but will she find the man she lost as well? 

Read an excerpt

The woman lowered her Carnival mask to reveal the perfect, glacial features of Lucrece Bardou, Geralde’s former fiancée.

Lucrece raised her elegant brows. “Very well, we’ll talk here. Are you seeing my Geralde? You have been noticed with him these past months.” She swatted her fan. “And you were dancing with him out front, like two peasants.”

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD: BELLE - NOW ON DVD & BLUE RAY

Out on DVD/Blue Ray today, Belle is a movie inspired  by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed - race woman raised by an aristocratic white family. Three times unlucky in the 18th century English society: Belle was a woman, a mulatto and an illegitimate child. 

The daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral and an enslaved African woman, Dido is brought up by the family of her great uncle, Lord Mansfield, in Hampstead, just north of London.
The family social standing affords Dido great privileges and she grows close with her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray. But Dido can never escape the colour of her skin  and, therefore, never be on the same social standing as her adoptive family. When Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, must rule on an important slavery court case, Dido and the idealistic young man she falls in love with, John Davinier, will help to shape his decision, thereby paving the way for the eventual abolition of slavery.

SALT REDUX BY LUCINDA BRANT - BOOK REVIEW + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY

Book Blurb 

Jane and Salt—four years of Happily Ever After
Sir Antony Templestowe—four years of Exile
Lady Caroline—four years of Heartache
Diana St. John—four years plotting Revenge
The time has come...

How does a brother cope with life knowing his sister is a murderess? How can a nobleman have the life he has always wanted when a lurking evil consumes his thoughts and haunts his dreams? What will it take for good to triumph over evil?My review

Salt Redux is the sequel to a previous book by Australian author, Lucinda Brant, which I really loved and reviewed a couple of years ago. This means that for readers who like me enjoyed Salt Bride, the story continues…

Magnus and Jane, the Earl of Salt Hendon and his beautiful wife,  have been married for four years now and been blessed with the birth of beautiful children. Just when they feel safe and happy, Diana, Lady St John, reappears in their life. Four years ago Diana attempted to take Jane's place in Salt's life at any cost and by any means (see Salt Bride), and for her villainy was locked up and kept prisoner in a Welsh castle. However,  the real reason  of her absence from Polite Society has been kept secret as a mark of respect for her position, for the sake of her two young children and for  the bonds between families.