GIVEAWAY!! "Banquet of Lies" by Michele Diener~Lively Historical Fiction

SUMMARY :

A young noblewoman flees to London and poses as a servant to evade a murderer in this richly detailed and “compelling” (Publishers Weekly) historical novel.

Frightened for her life after her father, a British spy, is murdered, Giselle Barrington flees with the secret document her father gave her for safekeeping. Needing to hide from those now chasing her, and knowing that no one would look for a wealthy young society lady in a kitchen, she takes a job as a cook for a nobleman, determined to use her anonymity to uncover the murderer. Life below stairs gives her a new perspective on the hard realities of servants’ lives, even though she’s a highly paid one. And when her employer is drawn not only into her investigations, but also to her, they find themselves faced with the power imbalance between servant and master.


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Publisher:  Gallery Books
Pages:  352  with Reader's Guide
Author:  Michele Diener
Michelle's website


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Michelle Diener writes historical fiction. Her Susanna Horenbout and John Parker series starts with IN A TREACHEROUS COURT. Set in the court of Henry VIII, it features the real historical figures of artist Susanna Horenbout and Henry's Keeper of the Palace of Westminster and Yeoman of the King's Robes, John Parker. It was followed by KEEPER OF THE KING'S SECRETS, also featuring Susanna Horenbout and John Parker, and DANGEROUS SANCTUARY, a short story with the same characters, set between the two books, is currently available as an ebook only.

A new historical novel, set during the Napoleonic Wars in London in 1811, THE EMPEROR'S CONSPIRACY, was released on November 27th, 2012.

Michelle also contributed a short paranormal story to the ENTANGLED Anthology entitled BREAKING OUT. All the proceeds of the sale of ENTANGLED go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Michelle grew up in South Africa, and now lives in Australia with her husband and two children.

For more information, please visit Michelle's website.  You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Michele Diener's new novel "Banquet of Lies" takes us away to the proverbial Upstairs-Downstairs scenario, but this time it's fraught with a mystery and suspense that is adult and unexpected.  I found nothing at all juvenile about this story, which was a pleasant relief from some of the historical fiction I'd read in the past.  Ms Diener has a quick wit that leaves us wanting more.

Her main protagonists are real and accessible with problems that are strong enough to keep you guessing about the different characters they encounter.  Giselle is a bright and independent girl for her time who doesn't let horrific circumstances stop her from finishing an important task set before her...even the attraction she has for her employer.  And, the villains she comes across are truly worthy!

The women in this novel are many, and reflect the strong attachment women can have in this world, both domestic and "top of the stairs," as represented by Giselle.  I was most impressed by the author's willingness to show this.  I loved the group of strong companions who held together in their efforts to support each other against an often male dominated society.

Ms Diener is an accomplished author who knows how to keep your interest and writes a twisting novel of suspense.  It never failed to keep my interest...to keep me guessing to the end with surprises.  She's at the top of her game, and I look forward to what she has brewing for us in her next novel.

Recommended for all lovers of historical fiction with suspense and a thriller component!

Be sure to click here to check out some yummy recipes from the book!
http://www.michellediener.com/books/banquet-of-lies/recipes-from-banquet-of-lies/



4 stars                  Deborah/TheBookishDame

This review was brought to you in cooperation with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, although the review itself is my own opinion and words.  Please follow the rest of the tour with reviews, interviews, author talks and giveaways here:

http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/banquetofliestour/



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Giving Away! "Daughter of the Sky" by Michelle Diener~Historical Fiction

SUMMARY:

The Victorian Empire has declared war on the Zulus if they don't accede to their outrageous demands. The clock is ticking down to the appointed hour. With no idea why the British are marching three massive columns of men and guns towards them, one Zulu general is prepared to take an impossible risk. But the life he's gambling with isn't his own . . .

The sole survivor of a shipwreck off the Zululand coast, 15 year-old Elizabeth Jones is taken in by the Zulus, the people of the sky. Six years later, her white skin becomes useful to the Zulu army as they try to work out why the Victorian Empire has pointed their war-machine at the Zulu nation. Elizabeth is suddenly Zululand's most important spy.

While infiltrating the British camp, Elizabeth's disguise as a young soldier is uncovered almost immediately by Captain Jack Burdell. However, he believes the tale she spins of searching for a missing brother and shields her from discovery, allowing her to bunk in his tent and giving her a job as his batman. Burdell is war-weary and disillusioned - no longer willing to follow regulations at all costs.

But as Elizabeth and Jack explore their growing attraction to each other, the two armies move towards their inevitable clash. Elizabeth is torn between the guilt of betrayal and her fierce loyalty to her Zulu family, and when Zulu and British meet on the battlefield, both she and Jack find their hearts and their lives caught in the crossfire.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Michelle Diener writes historical fiction. Her Susanna Horenbout and John Parker series starts with IN A TREACHEROUS COURT. Set in the court of Henry VIII, it features the real historical figures of artist Susanna Horenbout and Henry's Keeper of the Palace of Westminster and Yeoman of the King's Robes, John Parker. It was followed by KEEPER OF THE KING'S SECRETS, also featuring Susanna Horenbout and John Parker, and DANGEROUS SANCTUARY, a short story with the same characters, set between the two books, is currently available as an ebook only.

A new historical novel, set during the Napoleonic Wars in London in 1811, THE EMPEROR'S CONSPIRACY, was released on November 27th, 2012.

Michelle also contributed a short paranormal story to the ENTANGLED Anthology entitled BREAKING OUT. All the proceeds of the sale of ENTANGLED go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Michelle grew up in South Africa, and now lives in Australia with her husband and two children.

For more information please visit Michelle Diener's website. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

NOTE:  You may recognize Michelle from my previous interview of her regarding "The Emperor's Conspiracy" found here:  http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/2012/12/giveaway-emperors-conspiracy-by_13.html
 

TODAY THE DAME IS PLEASED TO BRING YOU THIS GUEST POST FROM MICHELLE!

"Stranger than fiction"

 

Someone once said the only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.

 

Hear, hear. I don't know about you, but I'm often left thinking 'what the heck?' when I read something in the paper or online, or watch it on the news. Even stories or incidents told to me by friends or acquaintances surprise me, and I make things up for a living!

 

In my novel The Emperor's Conspiracy, which was published last year, the story included references to the plot by Napoleon to cripple the British economy by making a deal with British criminals and smugglers to smuggle out all of England's gold. More than one reader wrote to me after reading the book to say they loved the book, but until they read the Author's Note, they honestly thought I'd made that part of the story up. It was a shock to discover that every word of it was true.

 

Equally, in Daughter of the Sky, my latest release, because I've kept to the actual events of the opening days of the Anglo-Zulu War so closely, there are a couple of things that may make people think, 'yeah, right!' only to reach the end, read the Author's Note, and have to take it all back. :)

 

For me, one of the most spectacular, and spooky, elements of the first real battle of the war, which is near the climax of book, was that while the two sides were fighting each other, there was a partial eclipse of the sun.

 

As the moon moved across the sun, at the height of the battle, an eerie light fell over the soldiers and warriors. If I'd made that up, I'd have wondered if it wasn't too much. I mean, men are fighting each other to the death, my main characters are in a world of conflict and pain, and then a strange light falls over them all, they look up, and see the sun going dark. Over the top, much?

 

Whichever side they were on, I don't think any of the combatants thought that was a good sign, and I doubt many of them dismissed it scientifically as merely the movement of heavenly bodies.

 

Do you have a stranger than fiction story to share? Or is there something you read in a book you thought the author made up, only to find out it was quite true?

 

Thank you so much to Deborah for having me as a guest today!

 

Michelle

(www.michellediener.com)

Thank you, Michelle, for this great post.  I often find myself in situations where I laugh and consider that my life is "stranger than fiction!"  :]   It was a joy to find both of your books and I encourage my readers to take a look at all of those you've written.  They can be found on Amazon today!


*Note:  This guest post and spotlight were brought to you by:  Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

 

Please click on this link to see more on the author and her books...reviews, interviews and guest posts on other blogs:  http://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com



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Thanks for stopping by today!!      Deborah/TheBookishDame

GIVEAWAY! "The Emperor's Conspiracy" by Michelle Diener

SUMMARY :
From nineteenth-century London’s elegant ballrooms to its darkest slums, a spirited young woman and a nobleman investigating for the Crown unmask a plot by Napoleon to bleed England of its gold.

Chance led to Charlotte Raven’s transformation from chimney sweep to wealthy, educated noblewoman, but she still walks a delicate tightrope between two worlds, unable to turn her back on the ruthless crime lord who was once her childhood protector.

When Lord Edward Durnham is tapped to solve the mystery of England’s rapidly disappearing gold, his search leads him to the stews of London, and Charlotte becomes his intriguing guide to the city’s dark, forbidding underworld. But as her involvement brings Charlotte to the attention of men who have no qualms about who they hurt, and as Edward forges a grudging alliance with the dangerous ghosts of Charlotte’s former life, she faces a choice: to continue living in limbo, or to close the door on the past and risk her heart and her happiness on an unpredictable future.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by:  Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Pages:  336
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Michelle Diener
Purchase:  Barnes & Noble  and  Amazon
Read more about the book and author here:  http://www.michellediener.com


About the Author:
Michelle Diener has always had a passion for reading and writing. She began writing stories when her parents gave her a typewriter for her twelfth birthday, and she hasn’t stopped since. Born in London and raised in South Africa, she now lives on the west coast of Australia with her husband and two small children.


THE BOOKISH DAME INTERVIEWS MS DIENER :

Hello, Michelle.  Welcome to A Bookish Libraria!

I’m so delighted you’ve agreed to allow us to get to know you and your book better.  I have several questions! 

1)    First of all, please tell us a special something about what makes you “tick.” When you aren’t writing, what are you doing?

 

Thank you, it's lovely to be here. When I'm not writing, I love being in the kitchen, cooking and baking.  I also have a small herb garden which I'm very proud to say is flourishing.

 

2)    We’re always curious about where a writer chooses to write.  Could you tell us about your favorite place to write?  Describe it in detail…what’s on your desk, what do you see from the window if any…do you have a favorite lucky charm?

 

I either write at my desk, which has quite high windows, so I concentrate on my screen, or I write on my bed, looking out into the garden, or on the patio in my hammock. Although the hammock does get uncomfortable fast. :) No lucky charms, but a good writing friend gave me a beautiful frame with inspirational quotes on it, and a drawing of a pile of books with my name on the spine long before I was published, and I still have that on my desk.

 

3)    Bronte or Austen?  Hemingway or Hawthorne?  Why?

 

Austen. While I think Bronte is wonderful, I like Austen's characters a lot more, and I connect with them better. I read for enjoyment, and I find a lot more enjoyment in Austen than in Bronte. As for Hemingway or Hawthorne, I've only read Hemingway. I'm sure if I'd grown up in the US I'd have read him, but I'm afraid I haven't. And I've only read For Whom the Bell Tolls from Hemingway. But being a writer who loves simplicity and a certain spareness of prose, I love Hemingway's style.

 

4)    In your opinion, what makes a book a great one?

This is a very subjective one. For me personally, I need a plot that has no holes, characters that are real, and a plot or situation which takes my breath away either because of it's complexity, difficult choices or scope. Stir those in with really wonderful writing, and I'm hooked.

 

5)    Which author(s) most influenced your love of books?

 

I'm going to say Enid Blyton. She was my first auto-buy author, at the age of 5. :) I couldn't get enough of her work. Fortunately for me, and all the other fans of The Faraway Tree, The Wishing Chair, The Secret Seven and The Famous Five, she was prolific.

 

6)    Read any good books in the past 6 months?

 

I have, probably too many to mention here. I thoroughly enjoyed Delusion in Death by JD Robb last week. The week before that I read From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz, which I've been meaning to read for ages, and which I loved. 

 

7)    Choose 4 guests from any era for dinner.  Who would they be and what would you choose for a topic of conversation?

 

I'd love to have Leonardo da Vinci, Aristotle, Joan of Arc and Sheherazade and talk about how they see the world. Who wouldn't want to be at that party?

 

8)    There’s a song that goes along with your book, what is it?

 

This is quite a hard one. I have definite songs for my other books, but this one, hmmm . . . Kiss From a Rose by Seal? It has the haunting quality, and the dark edge of this book, I think.

 

9)    If you could cast your book for a movie, who would you choose for your 2 main characters?

 

Michael Fassbender would do very nicely for Edward, and I think Keira Knightly would be a good Charlotte.

 

10)                    Worst habit you have while writing books?

 

Procrastination. I hate it when I do that!

 

11)                    How much research did you do before and during writing?

 

I always do a lot before, and then either come across something I hadn't thought about while writing, and then I go off and find it, or I just use what I already have to double-check my facts as I go.

 

12)                    Psychologists tell us the thing we think we’d most like to grow up to be when we’re ten years old is our avocation.  What did you want to be?

 

A writer. :) I guess I got that right. :)

Thanks so much for being a guest and being interviewed, Michelle.  Wonderful answers!  I love your dinner guests!  :]

This is a wonderful historical fiction.  Please see Ms Diener's website linked above to find her other books.



                       GIVEAWAY!!!!!

A copy of "The Emperor's Conspiracy" is being
                 given away this month!!!

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This giveaway ends on December 31st  (if the world doesn't end on 12/21/12)  :]

 *Note:  This giveaway is for the US only....