The Cleansing: A Novel of Ancient Rome. Based on a True Story
By Victoria Alvear
Based on a true story, this is not the enlightened Rome of myth. This is a city choking on fear, where blood flows on both the battlefield and altar, and where generals and politicians alike are desperate to appease rageful gods.
When 50,000 Romans fall in a single day at the Battle of Cannae, priests claim there can be only one reason the gods abandoned Rome: a Vestal Virgin has broken her vow of chastity. And they accuse Opimia (Mia), the strongest, most defiant of the six sacred Vestal priestesses.
Forced as a child into serving Vesta, the goddess of fire, Mia has always chafed against Rome’s control of her every move—especially after being separated from her childhood love, Attius. Now, accused of a crime she did not commit, she must defend herself in a hostile court to avoid being buried alive for her “crime.”
Betrayed by the high priestess, hunted by Rome’s political and religious elite, Mia must either accept her fate — or join with the Sybil of Cumae to expose the truth behind a world built on superstition, fear, and lies.
A story of personal awakening amid public catastrophe, The Cleansing is a haunting journey through a city at war with itself — and a woman who risks everything to survive it.
Praise:
"Original, deftly crafted... [and a] historical thriller with an impressive level of literary excellence."
Victoria Alvear has written multiple books and novels set in the ancient world, including A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii, A Song of War: A Novel of Troy, Cleopatra’s Moon, and others.
She is known as Vicky Alvear Shecter for her children’s books, which include Warrior Queens, Anubis Speaks!, Hades Speaks!, and Thor Speaks!
She has served as a docent at the museum of antiquities at Emory University for nearly twenty years.
Before there was a Continental Navy, there was one man’s courage...
When young merchant captain Samuel Tucker learns that war has broken out between Britain and the Colonies, he cannot stand idle. Leaving the safety of London’s port, he races home across a storm-tossed Atlantic to offer his sword to liberty’s cause. Along the way, he saves a valuable ship, her crew, and her cargo—a deed that brings him before General Washington himself. The grateful commander offers Sam command of one of his newly armed schooners.
From those perilous beginnings in Washington’s shadow fleet, Sam rises through the ranks of the Continental Navy and beyond, eventually commanding a privateer that strikes deep into the British supply lines. From the fogbound wharves of Marblehead to the treacherous shoals of Halifax and Europe, he wages war with the daring of a man who seems to fear neither sea nor shot. To his men he is “the Daredevil”—fearless, quick-witted, and guided by an unshakable faith.
Yet amid the thunder of broadsides and the peril of capture, Tucker’s heart is not immune to gentler battles. Mary Gatchell, the steadfast Marblehead woman whose prayers sustain him from shore, anchors the life he risks with every voyage. But the sea is a jealous mistress, and every homecoming may be his last.
Pages: 408
Genre: Historical Fiction (there is also a clean love story between the real historical figures)
Regan Walker is an award-winning author of more than twenty historical novels spanning the Georgian, Regency, Medieval and Revolutionary eras.
With meticulous research and a storyteller’s eye for drama, she transports readers from the intrigues of medieval England and the courts of eighteenth-century France to Scotland’s mist-shrouded Highlands, the cobbled streets of early nineteenth-century London, and ships riding dangerous seas.
From spies, smugglers, and pirates to masked balls and opulent palaces, her novels reveal the courage, faith, and love that endure through history’s most turbulent days.
Fables & Lies: A World War II Novel Based on a True Story
By Elisabeth Storrs
Under a brutal regime, what price must be paid to preserve truth, treasure and love in a world built on lies?
WWII Berlin. Freyja Bremer, a patriotic museum assistant, marries Kaspar Voigt, an ambitious SS scholar, to protect her father. Yet she is unaware her husband is instrumental in Himmler’s twisted quest for Aryan supremacy.
As she strives to safeguard the priceless Priam’s Treasure from air raids, Freyja falls in love with Darien Lessing, an archaeologist who exposes the moral decay beneath the Regime’s myths. Her awakening drives her into perilous resistance — aiding a Jewish doctor and his wife, Darien’s sister — while uncovering Kaspar’s role in the SS’s darkest programs, which subvert history to justify invasion, abduction and murder.
As Berlin collapses into chaos and bloodshed, Freyja, caught between duty, deception and desire, must risk everything to preserve truth in a world built on lies.
A heartbreaking yet triumphant love story, Fables & Lies shines light on lesser-known aspects of the Nazi Regime. It gives voice to the complex moral struggles of German women, the forgotten resistance of Gentiles married to Jews, the dangers of contested history, the evils of Himmler’s racial studies program and the unsung bravery of German museum curators who saved their nation’s treasures.
Perfect for readers of Kelly Rimmer, Anthony Doer and Laura Morelli.
Praise for Fables & Lies:
“A heartrending story of a young woman caught in the machinations of the Third Reich and in the web of a regime-compliant family. The novel is meticulously researched and emotionally resonant, sure to delight readers who love a hearty feast of history in their fiction.” ~ Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of The Ragged Edge of Night
“A powerful and heartbreaking story set in war-torn Berlin, FABLES & LIES charts the slow dawning horror of a young woman as she realises all she has been taught about Hitler and the Third Reich is a lie. Impeccably researched and sensitively rendered, Elisabeth Storrs has shone a light on little-known aspects of life in Germany under the Nazi regime.”
~ Kate Forsyth, bestselling author of Bitter Greens
“Written from the little explored German viewpoint, FABLES & LIES is a gripping account of the quest to save the world’s great antiquities during WW2 and an ode to those women and men who risked all for freedom. A beautifully written novel. I’ve never read anything like it.”
~ Nicole Alexander, author of The Limestone Road
“Elisabeth Storrs has indeed broken the mould by writing 'from the other side'. Evocative, detailed and heart-rending as the heroine journeys through disillusion and danger in the Third Reich.”
~ Alison Morton, author of the Roma Nova series
“A chilling and meticulously researched journey into the shadow world of the Ahnenerbe. Blending historical rigor with gripping fiction, FABLES & LIES reminds us of the devastating consequences when history is twisted to serve power.”
Why did you choose to write your book in this era?
First, thanks for sharing news of my release of Fables & Lies. The genesis for the book was a contemporary novel I finished in 1994 after becoming fascinated with Heinrich Schliemann who discovered a fabulous cache of gold at Troy which he dubbed “Priam’s Treasure”. At that time mystery shrouded the disappearance of the Trojan gold which was held in a Berlin museum. After the Soviets plundered the trove in the fall of Berlin, they insisted it was lost in transit in the chaotic aftermath of the war. Various theories were postulated as to its whereabouts or destruction – including my rather improbable plot of locating it in suburban Sydney. Imagine my dismay (and delight) when I read in the newspaper the Russians admitted they’d hidden the treasure for nearly 50 years. My mystery became redundant and the manuscript was relegated to the bottom drawer.
My A Tale of Ancient Rome trilogy became my next obsession. When those novels were finished, I was drawn yet again to Priam’s Treasure. How had it come to be in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow? Why had the Russians lied about possessing it? I dusted off the manuscript to rewrite it as an historical novel covering the true story of the Trojan gold during WWII.
Did you find researching this era particularly difficult? What was the hardest thing to find out, and did you come across anything particularly surprising?
I found it very challenging to research modern history after a decade of being immersed in C4th BCE Rome and Etruria. Previously I was dealing with a scarcity of written sources, now I was faced with an avalanche of them. I spent a lot of time grappling with an overview of both WWI and WWII to understand the rise of the Nazis.
However, researching a novel 30 years ago was a vastly different experience than now. Previously, I’d been limited to books in my local library. Now I had access via the internet to numerous German sources. Historians included the Axis viewpoint rather than presenting the war purely from the Western Allies’ perspective.
As a result, when researching Priam’s Treasure’ disappearance, I discovered the little-known story of German museum curators who protected their nation’s (and the world’s) treasures from constant aerial bombardment. As such, I wanted to tell their tale which contrasts with the Nazis plundering both private and public collections across Europe. However, the museum curator who braved air raids to protect the antiquities was a Nazi who joined the Himmler’s SS Ahnenerbe Research Institute to protect himself from rivals and advance his career. This, in turn, led me to discover more fanatical SS scholars who twisted prehistory to promulgate the “Aryan Myth” to justify conquest, dispossession and murder.
My protagonist, Freyja Bremer, is a patriotic museum assistant raised on Nazi dogma. Through her love affair with Cambridge educated archaeologist, Darien Lessing, her eyes are opened to the rot beneath the Regime’s lies, as they both strive to protect Priam’s Treasure and other antiquities. Intertwined is Freyja’s forced marriage to Kaspar Voigt, a zealous Ahnenerbe ethnologist, and her quest to discover what her husband’s malicious research entails. As such, I was faced with the ethical dilemma of first marrying the brainwashed Freyja to Voigt who sees her as the ideal Aryan wife. I saw it as the only credible plot device to reveal his despicable actions.
Can you share something about the book that isn’t covered in the blurb?
The blurb doesn’t mention Berlin’s Jewish Hospital. I chanced upon the institution when researching the history of Berlin’s Jews. There was a brief mention in one text about Jewish doctors working there who were married to Gentile “Aryan” women thereby giving them “privileged” status which provided a limited degree of protection. The hospital became the only place that provided medical treatment to Jews, perversely healing them before sending them to the camps. Ultimately, it became the last transit camp in Berlin and then a refuge in the final Soviet assault. Finding reference to the hospital was a moment of serendipity as it provided the inspiration for a sub-plot exploring the persecution of “mixed race” couples. The hospital doctors faced terrible ethical choices under threat of deportation. And the pressure placed on their Gentile wives to divorce them thereby condemning their husbands to certain death was sustained and cruel. To tell their stories I created the characters of Darien’s sister, Parisa, who is married to Dr Leon Epstein. Freyja’s encounter with the couple opens her eyes to the true plight of the Jews and leads her to resistance.
If you had to describe your protagonist(s), in three words, what would those three words be and why?
Freyja is loyal, vulnerable and brave. She has been indoctrinated through her schooling in Nazi beliefs but nevertheless has qualms about the increasing repressions imposed by the Regime. She refuses to inform on her father (children were expected to tell the authorities if their parents had anti-fascist views) who is a member of a rebellious Christian group. Her loyalty to him leads to her being trapped in marriage with Voigt to protect him. Despite this, she continues to keep her father’s resistance activities secret. She is also loyal to her lover, Darien, who is threatened by Voigt. Apart from showing physical courage in safekeeping exhibits under aerial bombardment, she also shows bravery in assisting the Epsteins, and in trying to find out what her husband’s research entails. As a result, she is vulnerable to the risk of execution should her quiet resistance be discovered.
What was the most challenging part about writing your book?
Given the novel is set in wartime, there were many scenes I found harrowing to write as I highlight the suffering experienced by Berliners under devastating Allied bombing. I also deal with dark episodes in Himmler’s research programs. One scene I found difficult to write was early in the novel when Freyja is swept off her feet by Voigt who has gained fame as an explorer on an expedition to Tibet. Himmler sent such scholars to the Himalayas to find traces of “Proto-Aryans” who had survived the sinking of Atlantis. The theory was Germans were descendants of these super-humans who had spread throughout the world to seed all great civilisations. This partially underpinned the concept of the Aryan Myth. As such German-Nordic people were supposedly part of the “Master Race”. I knew I was spouting dangerous rhetoric but it was important to demonstrate how Freyja had been brainwashed throughout her schooling by such ideology so readers can appreciate her journey to enlightenment. As Primo Levi said: “When understanding is impossible, knowing is necessary.”
Was there anything that you edited out of this book that would have drastically affected the story, should it be left in?
No. However, my initial draft included a lot more detail about Himmler’s “Master Plan” but ultimately, I decided the backstory was too involved and would detract from the narrative pace and flow.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently writing a companion novel to Fables & Lies. Spanning 4,000 years, I tell the journey of Priam’s Treasure through the eyes of four women with their own secrets: Annitti, a Trojan goldsmith; Sophia, the wife of archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann; Safinova, a Soviet Trophy Brigade Major; and Freyja’s granddaughter, Mia, who seeks to solve the mystery of the gold’s disappearance.
What would you tell an aspiring author who had some doubts about their writing abilities?
All writers have doubts about their talent, especially when comparing yourself to accomplished authors. I think you have to believe in your own writing but also be open to constructive criticism. The support of a trusted writing group is vital to success. This involves going through a grieving process to “kill your darlings” i.e. denial anything could be wrong, anger at suggested flaws, bargaining with yourself to hang on to your prose, depression when you realise the critique is probably valid, and finally acceptance that you really do need to wield the “pen knife”. Going through this process repetitively gives you the ability to truly analyse your writing. And you don’t end up being a murderer every time😊 Finally – remember the 4 Ps – patience, perseverance, practice and perspiration!
Personal Interview questions.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Bushwalking (hiking). I enjoy being in nature to relax.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A librarian but I ended up being a lawyer!
What’s for dinner tonight? What would you rather be eating?
Roast chicken but I’d rather be eating Lebanese food. I love haloumi.
Elisabeth Storrs has a great love for history and myths. She is the award-winning author of A Tale of Ancient Rome trilogy which was endorsed by Ursula Le Guin, Kate Quinn and Ben Kane.
Now her obsession lies with Trojan treasure and twisted Germanic prehistory in her new release, Fables & Lies: A World War II Novel.
Elisabeth is also the founder of the Historical Novel Society Australasia and the $155,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize. She lives in Sydney with her husband in a house surrounded by jacarandas.
She should have stayed in the shadows—but Leonor de Guzmán yearned for the sun
Castile in the 1330s is a place of constant turmoil. King Alfonso must contend with the incursions from the Muslim Marinids eager to reclaim Al-Andalus while struggling with repeated rebellions against his firm rule.
When Alfonso needs respite, he finds it in the arms of his Leonor—the most beautiful woman in the realm. But while he may love Leonor over all others, his lawful wife, Maria of Portugal, is tired of being constantly displaced by the fair Leonor.
Leonor loves her man. She gives him healthy sons, a place to be himself. But she is only a mistress, even if Alfonso treats her like a queen. Leonor’s enemies watch and hate.
Flying too close to the sun comes at a high price. How much will Leonor’s love cost her?
Based on the true story of Alfonso XI and his complicated relationships to wife and life-long mistress
This novel is free to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.
EXCERPT
Alma felt safer the moment she entered her city. One of the guards at the city gate recognised her and asked her to give his regards to her mother. She slowed her pace along the familiar streets, passed by the huge cathedral just as the bells in the Giralda rang out the noon hour, and came to an abrupt stop at the sight of her childhood home. The gates stood wide open, people spilling out from the courtyard within to stand in the street. She pushed her way through, her initial fear that something bad had happened assuaged by the laughter, the loud voices.
The small patio was crowded with people, and sitting on a chair in the centre was Ramona, her cheeks flushed.
“Alma!” Abuela greeted her with a hug. “How propitious that you should come today. We are celebrating.”
One of the women present broke out in song. Several others fell in, some clapping out the rhythm. A song of love, of marriage and future babes, and Alma turned to blink at Ramona, who gave her a smug look.
“You’re getting married?” Alma asked.
“I am. The contracts were signed earlier today. I come with an adequate dowry, so Mamá has arranged a good marriage for me.” Ramona smirked. “Not much left for you. Or Nuria.”
For the first time ever, Alma felt a twinge of jealousy. Not because Ramona was to wed, but because she, Alma, would never have anything to offer someone like Rodrigo.
“Is he handsome?” she asked.
Ramona shrugged. “I have not met him. Mamá says he is.” She lowered her voice. “He’s a widower, father of three.”
“Ah.” Whatever jealousy she’d felt dissipated. “Is he from Sevilla?”
“No.” Ramona frowned. “He is from Cádiz.”
So far away!
“Have you been there?” Ramona asked.
She had, some years back when Doña Leonor had instead on accompanying the king when he set out to visit both Cádiz and Tarifa, central locations for his plans to one day retake Gibraltar from the Marinids.
“Mamá says it is a good place to live.” Ramona snorted. “How would she know? She’s never been further away than the Sierra Morena.”
“It benefits from the sea,” Alma said. “It is never as hot as Sevilla because there is always a breeze.” And it was also very small compared to Sevilla, the protective walls resulting in cramped conditions, but she did not think Ramona needed to hear this. “Is your future husband a caballero?”
“SÃ. He now serves the king as a tax collector,” Ramona replied. “Before that, he served the local adelantado for years. He commanded men at the siege of 1333 but was grievously wounded and can no longer ride to war.” She cocked her head. “Mamá says the king should have persisted until he won.”
“Mamá knows nothing of what it is to be king.” Alma knew, from listening to Doña Leonor, that the king had every intention of retaking Gibraltar, but then, back in 1333, he’d had to break the siege to handle Juan Manuel and his cohorts, who had been happily raiding their way through Castile. Outlaws and renegades the lot of them! Since then, Juan Manuel had been reined in—until last year, when he’d allied himself with Portugal.
“No, I suppose she doesn’t. Just as she doesn’t know anything about living in Cádiz.” Ramona sighed. “I won’t know anyone.”
“You will make friends soon,” Alma told her. “Your husband will be so proud of you and will likely parade you round every plaza, every church.”
Ramona gnawed her lip. “You truly think so?”
“You are very pretty.” And also very young, only a year older than Alma. Her husband-to-be had to be at least twice her age if he’d held command in 1333. She dug into her basket and found the pair of ivory hair combs she’d intended to give Mamá. Of Moorish origin, they were old but beautiful. “Here. For the bride-to-be.”
Ramona gaped. And then she threw her arms around Alma.
“I bought them for you,” Alma said much later to her mother. “But Ramona—”
“You did the right thing,” Mamá said. “You made her very happy.”
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as two equally acclaimed medieval series; The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England, and The Castilian Saga ,which is set against the medieval conquest of Wales. She has also published a time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and its sequel Times of Turmoil, and is now considering just how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her characters are demanding. . .
All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.
“A master storyteller” “This is what all historical fiction should be like. Superb.”
Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, www.annabelfrage.com where you will also find her post about Alfonso and Leonor.
Some lives pass through history without leaving a trace.
The Lost Voices is a work of historical fiction that brings to light those whose stories were never formally recorded—not because they lacked significance, but because their lives unfolded beyond the reach of power, authorship, and recognition.
This is the story of ordinary people forced into extraordinary circumstances—individuals navigating a rigid social order shaped by obligation, fear, and quiet resistance. Here, survival depends as much on silence as on action, and choices are made not in moments of glory, but in private, under pressure, and with consequences rarely acknowledged.
The novel explores how personal truth is shaped—and sometimes erased—by authority, custom, and the need to endure. What remains are the lives history does not celebrate: the unspoken loyalties, the moral compromises, and the quiet cost of being unheard.
The Lost Voices is an intimate and powerful reflection on what history forgets—and what it leaves behind.
Praise:
"Another great work by a very talented author who loves his period works and characters from his great plots. He writes with verve and intent to deliver the imagination something unexpected and greatly appreciated... Brilliant..."
Robert barely lifted his head as they hauled him down. The blows along the road had done their work.
Inside Moot Hall, the air was colder.
“What’s this then?” the bailiff asked, keys clinking at his belt.
“Robert Rushworth,” Wilding said. “Taken for thievery. Warrant’s signed.”
The parchment passed hands. The seal was enough.
“Come on you.”
They dragged him across the stone floor, each step echoing through the hall. At the back, a door opened onto darkness.
The cell stank.
Iron rings lined the wall. Two were already taken.
The bailiff shackled Robert to the third.
Cold metal. No movement.
Outside, Wilding’s voice carried.
“And the reward?”
“He’ll stand at York. Next session. If he’s found guilty—he hangs.”
A pause.
“Then you’ll be paid.”
Silence followed.
Robert lowered his head.
It was not the cell that held him—
but the moment he understood:
he had not been caught—
he had been delivered.
Paul Rushworth-Brown is an Australian historical fiction author whose work explores ordinary people navigating forces far greater than themselves.
His writing focuses on identity, survival, and the lasting impact of historical events, examining how lives are shaped not only by what history records, but by what it leaves behind. His work has reached international audiences across the United States and the United Kingdom, including appearances on PSI TV and U.S. radio, including Moments with Marianne Pestana on ABC-affiliated KMET 1490AM/98.1FM.
Through his fiction, he brings attention to the human cost of history and the individuals often overlooked within it.
Miss June Fairmont, second daughter to Baronet Fairmont, believes in true love. Gregory Kendall, Earl of Kendall, believes in practical arrangements.
One dance. That's all it took for Gregory to decide June would make an adequate Countess of Kendall. The next morning, she overhears him presenting her father with a marriage proposal—complete with a list evaluating her suitability. When she bursts into her father's study, fury barely contained, Gregory has the audacity to look amused. Worse, he offers a wager. He'll give her one Season to find her perfect romantic match. When she inevitably fails to find this "true love"—and he's clearly certain she will—she'll accept his practical proposal.
June agrees instantly—let him watch her prove that love conquers logic. But Gregory proves an insufferable shadow throughout her Season, offering his pragmatic assessment of every swooning poet and debt-ridden rake. Somewhere between his dry observations and brutal honesty, June makes a horrifying discovery: she's starting to enjoy his company. His wit makes her laugh. That insufferable smirk becomes almost... attractive.
One Season. One wager. And a growing suspicion that the real danger isn't losing the bet—it's winning it.
Filled with sharp banter, a wager that changes everything, swoony kisses, and one insufferably pragmatic earl, "No Ordinary June" is the witty Regency romance you've been waiting for. A closed-door enemies-to-lovers where the tension is in every glance, and the slow burn will leave you breathless.
I wasn't entirely sure what to make of Gregory Kendall when I first met him. In most Regency romances, the hero tends to sweep into the story with charm, confidence, and at least some understanding of how to speak to a woman. Gregory, on the other hand, seems determined to approach courtship as though he were conducting research for an estate improvement project. Some of his early conversations with June genuinely made me cringe, and more than once I found myself wondering what on earth she saw in him.
What kept me reading was June herself. She is an easy heroine to spend time with. Sensible, observant, and quietly witty, she often notices the things that other people miss, particularly the absurdities of society and the endless pressure placed upon women to marry well. Seeing the world through her eyes made even the more frustrating moments enjoyable because her reactions often mirrored my own.
As the story progressed, I found myself warming to Gregory despite my initial reservations. He never transforms into a dashing Regency rake, nor does he suddenly become an expert at romance. Instead, the novel gradually reveals the burdens he carries and the reasons behind his awkwardness. There is something rather refreshing about a hero who feels genuinely uncomfortable with the marriage market rather than excelling at it. By the end, I may not have been swooning over him, but I certainly understood him.
I also appreciated how much of the novel focuses on reputation, duty, and expectation. Beneath the balls, polite conversations, and social gatherings, there is a constant awareness that one wrong move can affect an entire family's future. January's situation in particular highlights how harsh society could be, especially for women whose reputations had been damaged by gossip and circumstance.
This is very much a slow-burn romance. Readers looking for sweeping declarations or passionate encounters may find it a little restrained. For me, however, the gradual development of trust between June and Gregory felt believable and suited the tone of the story.
By the final chapters, I was far more invested in these characters than I expected to be. Their journey is not dramatic or glamorous, but it feels human, and sometimes that is far more satisfying.
This may not have given me the romantic hero of my dreams, but it did give me characters I cared about and a story that stayed with me after I turned the final page.
L. N. Jacobs is an Italian paediatrician living in Sweden, where she's perfected the art of balancing hospital shifts, family chaos, and an unhealthy obsession with happy endings.
By day, she wrangles tiny patients and their worried parents. By night (and early mornings, and lunch breaks), she writes emotional romances about imperfect people finding love in the messiest, most unexpected ways.
Her stories blend the high-stakes drama of medical life with sizzling chemistry, sharp banter, and characters who feel like friends you'd text at 2 AM. Think ER meets happily-ever-after, with a hefty dose of wit and a side of Swedish fika.
When she's not writing or saving lives, you'll find her devouring romance novels, hoarding chocolate like it's currency, plotting her next adventure, or convincing her family that "just one more chapter" is a valid excuse for everything.
L. N. Jacobs writes the kind of love stories that make you laugh, swoon, and believe that even the most guarded hearts can find their home.
Fifteen historical short stories, covering eras from Roman to present-day by Judith Arnopp, Anna Belfrage, Derek Birks, Cathie Dunn, Patricia Furstenberg, Jean Gill, Kathy Hollick-Bater, Helen Hollick, Carolyn Hughes, Amy Maroney, Alison Morton, Elizabeth St.John, Marian L Thorpe, Antoine Vanner, Annie Whitehead. With an introduction by Lorna Fergusson.
The lion has long been a symbol of courage, loyalty, and hope. A creature of power and, in some traditions, of the divine. We imagine it unflinching, unafraid. Yet the truest bravery is not found in the open, but within, where the lion lies hidden, waiting to be called upon. In moments of uncertainty or grief. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to face it. It is the moment when we would rather flee, but instead, find a strength we did not know we possessed.
These powerful and often emotional stories follow men, women, and children as they face profound adversity, the resilience to endure, cling to hope for the future, and the courage to change their lives forever.
Join these ordinary people as they uncover extraordinary strength and emerge, in their own way, lion-hearted.
Pages: 380
Genre: Anthology of historical-based Short Stories
Grab a copy HERE!
Book Trailer:
Participating Authors & their Stories:
In appearance order: (collated by Helen Hollick)
THE SENTRY by Alison Morton
Roman province of Noricum, AD 395
When danger strikes and you are on your own with only fear as a companion
About Alison:
Alison writes the thrillers she always wanted to read – ones featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her eleven-book Roma Nova thriller series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue.
All six full-length Roma Nova novels have won the BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, INSURRECTIO and JULIA PRIMA have been selected as Historical Novel Society’s Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural indie review.
Southern Britain, the frontier between the Belgae and the Atrebates. AD 471
When escape means more than just running for your life
About Derek:
Derek writes character-driven, action-packed fiction. His debut historical novel, Feud, is the first of a series of eight books and one novella, entitled The Wars of the Roses. which follows the fortunes of the fictional Elder family. He has also written the Amazon bestselling series, The Last of The Romans, which focuses on the real fifth century Romano-British character of Ambrosius Aurelianus. His first non-fiction book is A Guide to the Wars of the Roses. Under the pen name Tom Hadley, he has also written the Liv Fisher modern thriller series, which begins with Eyes Like Blades.
Derek has written and produced over 40 podcasts on the Wars of the Roses, and now co-hosts the podcast series, A Slice of Medieval, with historian, Sharon Bennett Connolly.
Ésparias, a fictional country bordering the western sea circa AD 900
A mother’s dilemma? To keep them safe – or let them go?
About Marian:
Marian’s novels are historical fiction of an imagined world, one that is close to Britain, Northern Europe, and Rome, but isn't any of them. Her short stories, either in multiple-author anthologies or her own collections range from urban fantasy to historical fiction, slice-of-life to climate fiction.
After two careers as a research scientist and an educator, she decided it was time to do what she'd always wanted, and be a writer. Her first book was published when she was in her mid-50s. Her life-long interest in Roman and post-Roman European history provided the inspiration for her first series, while her other interests in landscape archaeology and birding provide background.
When the Normans come, Southwark’s residents need to fight, flee, hide or die
About Judith:
Multi award-winning author, Judith Arnopp’s novels are set in the late medieval and Tudor period. Her main focus is on the women of the era, her meticulous research offering deep psychological analysis of well-known figures such as Margaret Beaufort, Marguerite of Anjou, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII himself. She has also written non-fiction How to Dress like a Tudor.
Annie is a prize-winning writer, historian, and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has written four award-winning novels set in ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Mercia. She has contributed to fiction and nonfiction anthologies and written for various magazines.
She has twice been a prize winner in the Mail on Sunday Novel Writing Competition, and won First Prize in the 2012 New Writer Magazine's Prose and Poetry Competition, a finalist in the Tom Howard Prize for nonfiction and shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize and Trisha Ashley Award 2021. She was the winner of the inaugural Historical Writers’ Association HWA / Dorothy Dunnett Prize 2017 and subsequently a judge for that same competition.
She has also been a judge for the HNS (Historical Novel Society) Short Story Competition, and was a 2024 judge for the HWA Crown Nonfiction Award and chaired the same panel in 2025.
Her nonfiction books are Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom (a #1 Amazon Best-seller, published by Amberley books) and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England (Pen & Sword Books). In 2023 she contributed to a new history of English monarchs, published by Hodder & Stoughton, and in 2025, Murder in Anglo-Saxon England was published by Amberley Books.
In February 2026 she signed a contract for a new nonfiction book about the Anglo-Saxons, to be published by The History Press in 2027.
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing.
Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy, which is set in 14th century England, and The Castilian Saga, which is set against the medieval conquest of Wales.
She has also published a time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and its sequel, Times of Turmoil, and is now considering how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her characters are demanding.
When courage must survive in the face of history’s cruellest plague
About Carolyn:
Carolyn is the author of The Meonbridge Chronicles series, historical fiction set in fourteenth century England. The first Chronicle, Fortune’s Wheel, is set in the immediate aftermath of what we call The Black Death.
Times of social change are always fascinating, and trying to depict the great upheaval in society brought about by the plague was the inspiration for the book. In the subsequent novels, Carolyn has sought to reveal the lives of mostly ordinary medieval folk through stories that tell of experiences especially pertinent to the time but which also resonate today. The stories focus particularly on the lives of women, if only because women in history often have not had much opportunity to “speak”.
There are now eight books in the series. More will follow.
Patricia is a Romanian-born, South Africa-based author of character-driven historical fiction set in medieval Eastern Europe. Her latest novel, When Secrets Bloom, part of the Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows saga, explores the turbulent world of Vlad the Impaler, weaving meticulous research with moral complexity, faith, and the quiet resilience of women navigating power and peril.
Her short stories, poetry, and travel features have appeared in anthologies and online publications.
When a woman holds a secret, does she keep it, or share it?
About Amy:
Amy lives in Oregon, U.S.A., and spent many years as a writer and editor of nonfiction before turning her hand to historical fiction. Amy is the author of the Miramonde Series, a trilogy about a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail; and the Sea and Stone Chronicles, which features strong, talented women seeking their fortunes in the medieval Mediterranean.
To receive a free prequel novella to the Miramonde Series, join Amy Maroney’s community of readers on her website: https://www.amymaroney.com/
Award-winning Welsh author and photographer Jean Gill lives in Provence with the best scent-hound in the world, a Nikon D750 and a man. Best known for writing epic medieval adventures in The Troubadours and The Midwinter Dragon series, Jean has published twenty-seven multi-genre books since 1988, including the dog bestseller, Someone To Look Up To.
For many years, she taught English, and was the first woman to be a secondary headteacher in the Welsh county of Dyfed. She is mother or stepmother to five children so life is hectic. With Scottish parents, Welsh and French residence and an English birthplace, she can usually shout for the winning team in sporting events.
When the only sound is the song of the sea, do you listen? Or do you drown in the embrace of a mermaid?
About Helen:
Originally first published in 1993, and now known for her captivating storytelling and attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventures, cosy mysteries and short stories, invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fiction and history blend together. Her historical novels span a variety of periods, with a particular focus on the Early Medieval.
Her Pendragon's Banner series offers a vivid portrayal of the King Arthur story set against a plausible reality setting, while the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings shows her ability to bring historical figures and settings to life. Her novel about Queen Emma (The Forever Queen – USA title) became a USA Today best-seller.
In the Sea Witch Voyages, she subtly weaves in elements of supernatural fantasy against the Golden Age of Piracy, creating an immersive and addictive nautical adventure experience.
Her Jan Christopher cosy mystery series is set during the 1970s, based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant.
Her 2025 release of Ghost Encounters, co-produced with her adult daughter, Kathy, reveals some benign ghosts of North Devon where the family moved to in 2013.
Helen has written several short stories, further exploring the echoes of the past, all with her compelling and convincing signature style.
Elizabeth’s critically acclaimed historical fiction brings to life the stories of her ancestors—extraordinary women whose close connections to England’s kings and queens offer an intimate perspective on Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Inspired by family archives and historic residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, she explores ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens—and occasionally encounters a ghost. Discovering a whole different family history in The Gate, Elizabeth expands her storytelling into the early 20th century, adding a new era to her repertoire.
Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park and curator of The Lydiard Archives, where she is always searching for inspiration for her next novel. Her works include The Lydiard Chronicles, set during the English Civil War, and The Godmother’s Secret, exploring the mystery of the princes in the Tower. In The King’s Intelligencer, set in the court of Charles II, a young woman must decide what she is willing to risk to reveal the whereabouts of the missing princes.
Can the mystery of a secluded island, and a murder, be solved before time runs out?
About Cathie:
Cathie is an award-winning, Amazon-bestselling author of historical fiction, mystery, dual-timeline, and romance set in Scotland, England, and France.
Her latest release, Ascent – the story of Poppa of Bayeux, handfasted wife of Rollo the Viking – is her sixth novel, and she is currently working on the sequel, Treachery. In her House of Normandy series, Cathie seeks to showcase the forgotten women behind the famous warriors who forged early medieval Normandy.
Cathie lives in the south of France with her husband and two rescue pets, enjoying the Mediterranean sunshine and visiting the many historic sites whenever she can.
Groenhorst, outskirts of Amersvoort, The Netherlands
November 11th, 1954
Courage meant survival for many – but others relied on greed
About Antoine:
Antoine spent four decades in international business, latterly at senior executive level, and lectured in academia afterwards. He lived through military coups, a guerrilla war, negotiations with governments, storms at sea and life in mangrove swamps, tropical forest, offshore oil-platforms, and the boardroom. He has lived and worked long-term in eight countries, has travelled widely in all continents except Antarctica and is fluent in three languages.
He has a passion for nineteenth-century political and military history and has a deep understanding of what was the cutting-edge technology of the time. His knowledge of human nature and his first-hand experience of the locales – often surprising – of the most important conflicts of the period provide the impetus for his chronicling of the lives of Royal Navy officer Nicholas Dawlish and his magnificent wife, Florence. There are thirteen volumes so far in the Dawlish Chronicles series, the actions set in the period 1858 to 1915.
Kathy is severely dyslexic and struggles with her reading and writing. Her passion is horses and mental well-being. She started riding at the age of three, had her own pony at thirteen, and discovered showjumping soon after. Kathy is now a Devon farmer’s wife, runs Taw River Equine Events, and coaches riders of any age or experience, specialising in positive mindset and overcoming confidence issues via her Centre10 accreditation and Emotional Freedom Technique training. EFT, or ‘tapping’, uses the body’s pressure points to aid calm relaxation and to promote gentle healing around emotional, mental or physical issues. She hopes to extend her training in order to help ex-servicemen overcome PTSD.
Kathy regularly competes at British Showjumping, and rides side-saddle (‘aside’) when she has the opportunity. She produces her own horses, several from home-bred foals. She also has the ability to see, hear and talk to friendly ghosts, several of whom share our 1769 farmhouse.
Lorna Fergusson is an award-winning short story writer and novelist. Founder of Fictionfire Literary Consultancy, she is an experienced editor, writing coach and speaker. She has taught on various Oxford University writing programmes since 2002.
Her stories have won an Ian St James Award, the Historical Novel Society’s Short Story Award, and been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, Pan Macmillan’s Write Now prize and the Historical Novel Society’s First Chapters prize. She was twice runner-up for the Mogford Prize.
Author of The Chase and An Oxford Vengeance, her latest book is a collection of stories set in France, One Morning in Provence. She is currently developing one of the Mogford stories as a novel, as well as working on poetry and a book on mindset for writers.
Born in Scotland, she is married with two sons and lives in Oxford, England.
