Book Review: The Gypsy Bride by Katie Hutton

A moving and tragic cross-cultural love story for readers of Dilly Court and Kitty Neale.

Oxfordshire, 1917

Ellen is growing up in the Oxfordshire countryside. The granddaughter of a Methodist preacher and intending to marry Charlie, a boy from the local village, Ellen’s life is mapped out for her.

When Charlie is killed on the battlefields of the First World War, Ellen is left heart-broken and lost. But then she meets Sam Loveridge. Mysterious and unruly, Sam is from a local Gypsy community, and unlike anyone Ellen has ever met before. Before she knows what’s hit her, Ellen is swept off her feet and shown a world of passion, excitement – and true love.

But the conservative world that Ellen is from can’t possibly understand or approve of their relationship, and Ellen and Sam are torn apart. Is their love strong enough overcome their cultural distances, or will the hostility and prejudice they face destroy their chance at happiness?

The Gypsy Bride is a dramatic new saga for readers of A Village Scandal.

– – – – –

‘The history is meticulous and fascinating and the character of Sam Loveridge is absolutely captivating – I can still hear his voice perfectly, months after finishing.’ Julie Cohen, bestselling author of The Two Lives of Louis and Louise

‘A family saga that had me hooked from the first page.’ Lynn Johnson, author of The Girl from the Workhouse

A richly evoked, completely involving story of love, loss and redemption. So satisfying., Liz Woodcraft, author of The Girls from Greenway

Katie Hutton transports you to a forgotten England in this poignant story of star-crossed lovers. A triumph!, Catherine Kullman, author of The Gracechurch Trilogy

The history is meticulous and fascinating and the character of Sam Loveridge is absolutely captivating – I can still hear his voice perfectly, months after finishing., Julie Cohen, bestselling author of The Two Lives of Louis and Louise

A moving love story, brilliantly depicting the dynamic between settled communities and gypsies., Patricia O’Reilly, author of The First Rose of Tralee

A family saga that had me hooked from the first page., Lynn Johnson, author of The Girl from the Workhouse

The Gypsy Bride is an enthralling and well-researched saga, Lancashire Evening Post –This text refers to the paperback edition.

My review

I was thrilled to receive a paperback copy of The Gypsy Bride to read and review and share my opinion with you. It’s all very positive, I enjoyed reading this so much while drinking coffee in a local coffee shop!

From page one I was enthralled. This is a lovely historical tale of star-crossed lovers, which will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. There is a sense of sadness within the pages of this book, but this is counterbalanced with hope. Poor Ellen has to try come to terms with the death of her fiance.

Her rigid Methodist upbringing is so at odds with her lover’s carefree gypsy life. But is Sam as carefree as he appears to be? Or, is he unhappy, childless and married to the wrong person?

Circumstances and fate’s cruel hand force Ellen to make some painful and unfortunate decisions which have far-reaching and tragic consequences.

This is the first book that I’ve read from this author. I was impressed by the natural flow and effortless of Katie Hutton’s writing.

Wonderful storytelling. The gypsy way of life is well-researched making the story so authentic and vivid. Great characters, great story. A favourite.

5 stars. Highly recommended

About the Author

I am an Irish writer of mainly historical fiction, currently living in Tuscany, with my Italian husband, two sons and an old tabby cat. I also write under my own name, Katherine Mezzacappa, and as Kate Zarrelli. Core themes in my fiction are love and culture clash, and these come to the fore in my début historical novel, The Gypsy Bride. I’m currently revising the sequel, The Gypsy’s Daughter, for publication next year. In my spare time I volunteer with a secondhand book charity of which I’m a founder member. For my latest news please follow me on Twitter @KatieHuttonAut1.

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COLLEEN’S 2020 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 196, #THEMEPROMPT

This month’s theme is:

The Night Sky

I thought I’d write a nonet to celebrate my hubby and I ‘s anniversary. We had a lovely day together yesterday. So this is for us! We’ve stood the test of time and been married for 33 years! Imagine… He isn’t one for social media, so I rarely post photos of him, so instead here is a lovely pic I found on pexels.

Happy Anniversary – Night Stars!

The night sky

Illuminates love

You and I

Heart glowing

Remembering vows, years past

Star gazing with you.

© M J Mallon

I love writing poetry and all of my published stories (except some of my short stories,) include poetry, including my YA Fantasy The Curse of Time.

To find out more please visit: Authors Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-J-Mallon/e/B074CGNK4L

Read the reviews and find out more about my books at: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Updates – Release #Family Stevie Turner, Reviews #Anthology M.J. Mallon, #Crimethriller Don Massenzio, #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Thank you so much to the wonderful Sally Cronin for featuring This Is Lockdown (the latest review from James Cudney,) amongst so many wonderful authors, new reviews for C.S. Boyack, Don Massenzio plus a new release also from Stevie Turner!!

Source: Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Updates – Release #Family Stevie Turner, Reviews #Anthology M.J. Mallon, #Crimethriller Don Massenzio, #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

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Flash Fiction Challenge : Snacks #flash #fiction #snacks #humour

The challenge this week from Charli Mills is to write about a snack. This piece of flash fiction is based on a true story. I made an apple pie… and this is more, or less what happened…

A Culinary Faux Pas

Vanessa cut the homemade apple pie into dainty, perfect slices.

Rich smiled as he popped one in his mouth. “Did you make the pastry yourself?”

“Yes.”

“It’s crumbly. And different. A magic ingredient?”

“Cinnamon and lemon rind.”

“Oh, from unwaxed lemons?”

Vanessa swallowed. “I, Oh dear!”

Rich picked up the melted candle on the table. “So, we’re eating cordon bleu Apple Pie Snacks flavoured with cinnamon and hot wax?”

“It seems so… Aren’t they delicious! ”

© M J Mallon

Oops, a bit of a culinary faux pas…

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Book Review: Globular Van der Graff’s Goblin Tales by Jack Eason

Book Review

A very long time ago, there once was a land called Goblindom hidden behind a magic barrier to protect its inhabitants from mankind. Man’s ancestors the humins lived there quietly alongside wyverns, griffins, trolls, witches and wizards as well as woods, mountain and plains goblins, ravens, eagles and many more creatures.
This anthology is a collection of thirty tales, which I have translated from goblin into English thanks to Globular Van der Graff, a friendly southern woods goblin who told them to me not long ago. They are not my tales, they are his, hence the title – Globular Van der Graff’s “Goblin Tales for Adults”.
For a long time, like most human children I disbelieved the stories read to me by my parents of goblins, witches and wizards, wyverns and griffins, believing them to be nothing more than tales designed to entertain, until that first fateful early morning visit several months ago, when Glob physically sought me out and deliberately entered my life.
I hope and pray that like me, you will all open your hearts and minds to the fact that goblins, especially of the noble and friendly southern woods kind, do still actually exist today. Through necessity for their own protection they have to hide from the modern world you and I live in. If you are fortunate as I undoubtedly am, some may even be living in an oak wood near you.
Lastly, may I just say on behalf of Glob whose anthology this is, not forgetting for one moment his good friend Bejuss, and his goblin brothers, Make, Mous, Neo, Byz, and myself, how much we thank you for taking the time to read this, the first ever written record of the once magical land of Goblindom

My review:

I really enjoyed Goblin Tales so much. This collection of wonderful short stories from Glob, whose anthology it is, gives you such a warm, cosy feeling. It’s very cheery, and diverse (from amusing stories to battle scenes.) So, there’s something for everyone. You’ll enjoy discovering more about Bejuss, the one eyed lisping raven with the twisted beak (who I loved,) Make, Mous, Neo, and simple-minded Byz.

Whilst reading there were many occasions when I laughed out loud, or smiled. I highly recommend Goblin Tales. The characters are all very carefully crafted and engaging, both the humins and the goblins as well as the raven, witches, and gremlins.

The dialogue is done so well. The author crafts the characters to speak in such a way that it makes them come alive.

Here’s a short example from Bejuss the raven: “Raark – it’th got ter be tall enuff fer me ter make a netht in itth highetht brancheth Glob,” Bejuss squawked loudly, completely forgetting for a moment just how close he was to his friend’s ear, almost deafening him in the process.

And the character names are fantastic –

Globular Van der Graff – Glob

Makepeace Terranova – Make

Byzantine Du Lac – Byz

Eponymous Tringthicky (Mous)

Neopol Stranglethigh (Neo)

My recommendation: 5 stars. Highly recommended. Not to be missed!

Find out more here. In Jack Eason’s words, this work of his is one of his favourites: https://havewehadhelp.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/one-of-my-favourite-short-stories-2/

Author Bio:

Jack Eason lived in New Zealand for forty-two years until 2000 when he returned to his birthplace in England. As far as he is concerned he will always consider himself to be a Kiwi. After military service in the 1960’s, he travelled the world, visiting exotic lands and making many friends. Now in his mid-sixties he is content to write and travel via the Internet. Besides writing novels and short stories, he contributes to his own blog “Have We Had Help?” Some of his short stories and numerous articles appear in the No: 1 online E-zine “Angie’s DIARY”. His literary interests include science fiction, history, both ancient and modern, and humorous tales like those written by his fellow writer Derek Haines, such as “HAL”. He lives in semi-retirement in his home town surrounded by his favourite books, ranging from historical fact to science fiction. His literary icons are J.R.R Tolkien, George Orwell, Arthur C Clarke and John Wyndham.

Authors links:

Blog: https://havewehadhelp.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @Akhen1Khan2

Rating:

Have you read Goblin Tales, or any of Jack Eason’s other books?

Here are a couple of reviews I’ve written for his novellas:

The Magisters: https://mjmallon.com/2020/01/09/book-review-the-magisters-by-jack-eason-bookreview/

Autumn 1066: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/

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COLLEEN’S 2020 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 195 #EKPHRASTIC #PHOTOPROMPT

This challenge explores Ekphrastic writing inspired by visual art (photographs). Lisa Thompson, from last month’s challenge, has provided the photo for this month’s challenge.

Image credit: Unsplash, and the photographer is Wolfgang Hasselmann

The tea gossips begin. A line black marks my whereabouts

Acrostic poem- Toadstool

This is me, a maligned fruiting fungal fellow.

Ordinary? No siree! Not me, I’m no grotty grass.

A red cap and scales crown my slim white ring of partial veil.

Dying, for attention, I stand tall, and pretty proud.

Savage me worst, fairy ring, honey fungi, fungus root and stink horns.

Toad plus stool I’m named; ugliest frog-like creature plus tiniest stool.

On point am I. Fiddle. It ain’t fair. I’m not a warty broad, squat common fellow.

Or an inedible, poisonous, rickety bar stool chair.

Love and admire me spores, forget them mushy mushroom bores!

© M J Mallon

Well, that was a fun one! Lol Hope you enjoyed the giggle. xxx

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Flash Fiction: Carrot Ranch Literary Community #Flash #Fiction #Challenge

Live Author Talk

Those bloody motorbikes can’t they stop! 1 A.M. no chance I’ll get any sleep. Tomorrow’s the live show. Never done this before. What will it be like? I’ll soon know. Introverted writers, tonight at 9 p.m. I’ll talk live. Bound to be a problem with the connection. We’ll get there… I did it! I listen, damn, I can’t see my weird mannerisms, but I can hear them. Perhaps I should have had some water instead of that glass of wine, stupid faux pas, one or two!


On Saturday evening I participated in my first Facebook live interview with horror and fantasy indie author A. F. Stewart’s Between The Pages Book Chat. I’m sharing it here so that others can see that even if you are daunted, (terrified) by the idea of speaking live, you can still give it a go. Looking back at the recording there are things I wish I’d said and some I wish I hadn’t said, or repeated as much! It’s funny how we waffle… or I do anyway. Still, if you don’t try, you don’t learn and improve. It’s not perfect but the main thing is I tried. I’m giving myself brownie points for that!

And wondering if I seriously need a haircut! Looking like a lock down woman…

I’ve also been participating in Carrot Ranch Community 5 at the Mic, which is a grand opportunity to share your writing to an audience, in a safe space. You can start by being an audience and then move on to reading your work.

More about that here:

At the Carrot Ranch blog you can also listen to Ellen Best, Anne Goodwin, Paula Moyer, and Bill Engleson: https://carrotranch.com/2020/09/06/saddle-up-saloon-one-shy-of-a-six-pac-at-the-mic/

So, how you feel about participating in live recordings. Have you tried? Does it make you want to hide?

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Horror Anthology: Spellbound – Want to be Spellbound? #horror #anthology

I’ve been creating some graphics for the release of Spellbound.

A horror anthology with 27 stories from 16 authors (The Box Under The Bed Book 4) compiled by USA Today Bestselling author Dan Alatorre, and edited by Roberta Eaton Cheadle and Donna Davis Walker, (author name M D Walker.)

I’m a contributing author with my tale The Twisted Sisters.

The first three graphics in the slideshow below I’ve made via Canva…

And these are from Robbie:

Do you dare read Spellbound?

Let me tempt you. It is already receiving 5 star reviews… Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-horror-anthology-stories-authors-ebook/dp/B08DM83XKR/

and here is the Amazon UK link:

Do you dare….

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