30 Apr 2021

The Sword and the Secrets by Jan Davis Warren Celebrate Lit Tour Post and Giveaway

 


About the Book

 

Book:  The Sword and the Secrets

Author: Jan Davis Warren

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: April 20, 2021

When Julianna’s final mission proves more deadly than she imagined, help comes from the most unlikely of places.

Raised in a castle on the remote border of England and Scotland, Lord John Stanton is the last male heir of his royal lineage. He has the responsibility to marry and carry on the family name, but a secret vow to God, after a near-fatal battle wound, could change his future from royal heir to humble servant of the church. His journey to the monastery to become a monk is interrupted when he meets a dangerous, but beautiful, woman who has plans and secrets of her own.

Abandoned by her father and raised in an institution as property of the Crown, Julianna Westerfield longs to be free to pursue love and have a family of her own. Trained to be a spy and assassin, she has a chance to earn her freedom by completing this last and most dangerous assignment. Her mission to uncover a murderous plot and the identities of the Black Guard has already cost several agents their lives, and now the assassins are after her. To survive she must depend on a handsome monk and his cantankerous donkey.

Was it divine intervention that caused John and Julianna’s paths to cross? Can they put aside their differences and join forces to deliver stolen papers containing vital information to the king in time to save countless lives?

Click here to get your copy!

My Review: ⭐⭐

I'm sorry. I genuinely do not relish giving books by other Christian authors and especially ones I agreed to review through Celebrate Lit negative reviews, but I have to be honest.

This book has a good concept, and it was kind of a good story (female spies/agents and a "spy school") but it should not have been Medieval Fiction. I mean it. If it was Fantasy, I could forgive most of what is to come, but it was marketed as Historical Fiction. As such, the bar is set higher.

The mistakes and inaccuracies are so frequent and egregious as to be painful. This novel is meant to be set around the early 13th century (1200s) in the reign of King John.

Yet the characters eat potatoes (from the Americas and not introduced to Europe until the mid 1500s.
Smoke tobacco pipes (ditto)
and drink tea from teapots - even later, tea wasn't introduced to Britain until the 17th century (1600s)

 Oh, they also drink brandy in decanters, have tea trays, girls go to school, learn in mixed classrooms, and study "science". Castles have studies and Dining rooms etc.

One of the worst errors was how a character was described as a "Protestant". I mean, I've come to expect Medieval fiction to have a version of Christianity that is more akin to modern American Evangelical Christianity than anything which existed in the Middle Ages, but to actually use the term "Protestant" is something else.
The term did not exist until at least the late 1500s, and it would have been as meaningless to a person in the 13th century as the term American.

I think that what makes the above so unacceptable for me is that these aren't just things only historians or specialist scholars would know. 5 minutes research on Google is enough to find out that there were no potatoes, tobacco or tea in Medieval Europe.

Seriously, there was nothing remotely "Medieval" about this novel, except the characters using swords. Why? I mean no disrespect here, but why set a novel in the Medieval period at all if you're not even going to get the basic details right? Because they get to have cool swords?

It would have worked as a Regency. It set in the Regency or Victorian Era it would have been great, although one of the leading female characters is a rather hideous Mary Sue. Or Victorian Steampunk fantasy or something. The possibilities are endless. Just not as Medieval historical fiction.

Thanks to Celebrate Lit for accepting me on the Blog Tour for this title. I was in no way influenced by them, nor was I required to write a positive one and all opinions expressed herein are my own

About the Author



Jan Davis Warren is a mother, grandmother, and a young-at-heart great-grandmother. Her wonderful husband passed away the same year she won the ACFW Genesis Award for Romantic Suspense. That win and many others are encouraging reminders that God wants her to continue writing even in the tough times. Learn more at www.janwarrenbooks.com.

 

More from Jan

The Sword and the Secrets is a Historical Romantic Suspense. It is written as a Medieval Christian fiction story set in England around 1209. I chose to keep the historical details to a minimum because of the inconsistency I found in researching this particular time and place. I humbly apologize to you lovers of more in-depth historical facts. I would’ve loved to have traveled to England for more hands-on research but the pandemic made that impossible.

I live in a once-rural area in Oklahoma. Urban development is fast encroaching transforming peaceful pastures into busy neighborhoods. I know it’s called “progress”, but I miss knowing all of my neighbors by name. In the good-old-days, my husband and I loved raising our children here on the farm. As a family, we had all kinds of poultry and livestock, so I can’t resist including a variety of animals in my stories from time to time.

Rosita and her daughter, Daisy, were two of our favorite donkeys on the farm. I’ll never forget when Daisy was born. I think her ears were almost long as her legs. Speaking of donkeys, did you ever hear the story about how the donkey got its cross? I included it in the book.

Precious is the name of the donkey in The Sword and the Secrets. Her mother was killed when she was but a few days old, and she was raised by an old woman who took her into her home and treated with the care and affection of the child she never had. Needless to say, Precious is smart and creative when it comes to getting her way. When her elderly master is about to die, the woman is directed by God to entrust Precious into Lord John Stanton’s care.

For the war-weary hero of this story, Lord John Stanton’s secret battlefield vow to serve God and the Church became more complicated when he was charged with the responsibility of caring for the contrary donkey. His intent to walk to London to join a monastery was supposed to be peaceful and most of all, solitary. It wasn’t until after John accepted the animal that he found out that the donkey’s elderly master had taught Precious not to budge unless first called by name. It was to keep her from being stolen, which served her well. But the name sticks in the hero’s throat every time he must submit to calling her Precious to make her move.

John’s plans also never included protecting a beautiful spy with secrets of her own.

The heroine, Julianna Westerfield was a fun surprise to me. As the story took shape in my mind, I thought the hero would meet the heroine by coming to her aid against brigands. Perhaps she was a princess fleeing her wicked guardian, etc. That however was not the way the story unfolded. As I came to Julianna’s part, I realized she had a colorful past of her own.

I love it when the story develops into something I never expected.

The beautiful heroine of The Sword and the Secrets, Julianna Westerfield is not the princess I first envisioned but an indentured servant. She was abandoned as a child at the Grandfork Institute for Higher Learning. It is an institution run jointly by the Crown and the Church for the sole purpose of training spies and assassins to do their bidding.

I hope you’ll join John and Julianna (and Precious) on their quests and perchance uncover their deepest secrets.

May God bless and keep you and draw you ever closer to Him.

Blessings!

Jan Davis Warren

Blog Stops

 

Debbie's Dusty Deliberations, April 20

Connect in Fiction, April 20

Texas Book-aholic, April 21

Inklings and notions, April 22

For Him and My Family, April 23

deb's Book Review, April 24

Locks, Hooks and Books, April 25

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 26

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, April 26

Connie's History Classroom, April 27

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, April 28

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, April 29

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 30

Romances of the Cross, April 30

CarpeDiem, May 1

Adventures Of A Travelers Wife, May 2

Mary Hake, May 2

Blogging With Carol, May 3

 

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Jan is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/10ad1/the-sword-and-the-secrets-celebration-tour-giveaway

9 Apr 2021

The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch: Blog Tour Review and Giveaway

Serendipity and Secrets #3 

March 23rd 2021, Kregel, Print and Ebook

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Period: Regency

 

Can Captain Wyvern keep his new marriage of convenience all business--or will it turn into something more?


Captain Charles Wyvern owes a great debt to the man who saved his life--especially since Major Richardson lost his own life in the process. The best way to honor that hero's dying wish is for Wyvern to escort the man's grieving fiance and mother safely to a new cottage home by the sea. But along the way, he learns of another obligation that has fallen on his shoulders: his uncle has died and the captain is now the Earl of Rothwell.

When he and the ladies arrive at his new manor house in Devon, they discover an estate in need of a leader and a gaggle of girls, all wards of the former earl. War the new earl knows; young ladies and properties he does not. Still wishing to provide for the bereaved Lady Sophia Haverly, Charles proposes a marriage of convenience.

Sophie is surprised to find she isn't opposed to the idea. It will help her care for her betrothed's elderly mother, and she's already fallen in love with the wayward girls on the Rothwell estate. This alliance is a chance to repay the captain who has done so much for her care, as well as divert her attention from her grief. When Wyvern returns to his sea commission, she'll stay behind to oversee his property and wards.

It sounds so simple. Until the stalwart captain is arrested on suspicion of smuggling, and Sophie realizes how much he's come to mean to her. Now she'll have to learn to fight, not only for his freedom but also for his love.



My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

The Indebted Earl was an enjoyable conclusion to Erica Vetsch's debut Regency series.
It might be unusual, but I think I might have enjoyed this one the most. It provided a clever take on the marriage of convenience trope whcih was not trite or corny.

Charles and Sophie are both hurting people, and both are suffering from what we would call survivor's guilt over the death of someone they loved. The same person, as it turns out. .Sophie's fiance was by turn Charles' best friend from the navy.
What begins as two people having to adjust to new circumstances becomes an interesting story of two young people learning to grow and as they take on the responsibiluty of an estate and three young girls. The irony is that both were seeking solitude and an escape, but life does not always give us what we want.

The slow burning romance, and messages about learning to trust made this a memorable and meaningful story. Unlike the others, where some of the themes felt a little forced this one seemed more natural and more lighthearted. I also appreciated how the protaganists in this story had connections with characters in the last two, but still stand alone.

My only complaints were a few details that didn't really fit the setting and were obviously put in for the benefit of modern readers. There;s no way, for example, that someone in 1814 England would have to explain who Nelson was to their fellow countrywoman. Nelson was a national hero. and a celebrity. I doubt there was anyone who didn't know who he was.

Thanks to Audra Jennings Blog Tours for sending me Netgalley widget for this title. I was not required to write a positive reivew and all opinions expressed herein are my own.



______________________________________________________________________________


Erica Vetsch
is a New York Times best-selling and ACFW Carol Award–winning author. She is a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota with her husband, who she claims is both her total opposite and soul mate. 
 
Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks.
 
A self-described history geek, she has been planning her first research trip to England.
 
Learn more about Erica Vetsch and her books at www.ericavetsch.com. She can also be found on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).





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