Love’s Perilous Road: A Review
November 15, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Book Reviews tagged as A review, Alina K. Field, anthology, Bluestocking Belles, new release, Regency romance
Love’s Perilous Road
A Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends
Ebook ISBN 978-1-965509-03-6
Print ISBN 978-1-965509-04-3
ASIN B0DZPKDMXV
Publisher: Bluestocking Belles
October 31, 2025
Regency Romance
I’ve been a fan of the Bluestocking Belles’ anthologies for years, probably since Alina K. Field first joined them. I’ve been a fan of Alina K. Field since she first published Rosalyn’s Ring and it won the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best contest. (It absolutely lived up to its reputation.)
So I was pleased to read and review Love’s Perilous Road, a collection of ten Regency Romances all centered around the mysterious highwayman, Captain Moonlight. All the characters have an encounter with the man, and there are brief journal entries from The Casebook of the Principal Office Robert Pierce who is planning Captain Moonlight’s capture—even if he leaves his ill-gotten gains in the chicken coops of young widows with children to feed.
As with all Bluestocking Belles Collections that I have read, all the stories are well written and very entertaining, which is not always the case with anthologies. I appreciate the care the authors take with their stories, adding in the clues to Captain Moonlight’s true identity.
Having said that, I still had my favorites: Charred Hope by Caroline Warfield in which an honorable man returns a miniature and finds a future. Sir Westcott Steals a Heart by Alina K. Field: Sybil Dunsford disguised herself as a boy to protect her brothers but, of course, Sir Westcott Twisden follows her, and hijinks ensue and they get locked in barn overnight. A Duke in Peril by Meara Platt: Lady Florence Swann rescues a wounded soldier from the side of the road near her home. But he’s more than just a soldier.
I’m looking forward to the Bluestocking Belles next collection.
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‘No Plan at All’ Book Birthday
November 12, 2025 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Book Birthday, Denise M. Colby, historical romance, new releaseI have a book birthday! Well my book does. This month is release month for my next book, No Plan at All. So it is No Plan at All’s book birthday!
This is a prequel novella to my Best-laid Plans series and features Sarah (who is the woman who runs from Luke in book 1) and Alex, a Scottish lord who is hiding out as a peddler and an alias in California.
You can check out my blog on my website to learn a bit more about Alex (Meet My Scottish Hero)
It’s 1867. Two years before When Plans Go Awry.
No Plan at All is the book that I mentioned in my blog post about my writing research trip to England and Scotland. (All while launching book 2 in this series, A Slight Change of Plans).
I captured several ideas for a new series about Alex’s family while on this trip. But that will have to come after I finish this series. And I still have several stories left to write!
About No Plan at All
The theme verse for the book is Psalm 33:11. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
My series is named the Best-laid Plans series and is all about how the Lord’s plans are better than our own, so you will see this theme weaved throughout. I chose this verse because God has a purpose for every single one of us, for now, for our future, and for future generations. Alex is a heir and so the two tie in nicely together.
No Plan At All hits these tropes:
Romance Tropes
- Strangers to Lovers
- Forced Proximity / Traveling Together
- Hidden Identity / Secret Nobleman
- Protective Hero
- Wounded Heroine
- Slow Burn Romance
Inspirational / Christian Fiction Tropes
- God’s Plan vs. Human Plans
- Redemption / Healing through Love and Faith
- Providence in Unexpected Places
- Self-Sacrifice / Service
Historical Romance Tropes
- Road Romance / Journey Romance
- Escape & Reinvention
- Cross-Class Romance
- Found Family
If you adore secret identities, runaway brides, and love stories woven with faith, this book is for you.
No Plan at All is available on Kindle Unlimited and e-book from Amazon and in print form from Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, and Walmart.com
No Plan at All Book Blurb
Two strangers. One journey. A love neither expected.
Sarah Anne Baker never wanted to be anyone’s burden. But hours after losing the Godmother who raised her, she faces an impossible choice: marry her late fiancé’s brother—or flee. With fear of being trapped her driving force, she places her trust in the one man leaving town that night—the enigmatic traveling peddler known only as Mr. Smith.
Alexander Sinclair walked away from his noble title in Scotland to live a quiet, hidden life. Peddling wares from town to town has given him peace, free from the weight of expectation. Until a desperate young woman crosses his path. He can’t turn her away… no matter the cost.
Together, Sarah and Alex set out on a journey through loss, healing, and a bond neither expected to find. But as secrets surface and choices demand to be made, both must decide: cling to the lives they planned—or risk everything to embrace the future God has written for them.
A tender tale of courage, redemption, and love strong enough to change the course of two hearts forever.
Sometimes the best life is the one we never planned.
Marketing Plans for No Plan at All Book Birthday Month
For No Plan at All’s book birthday month I have a reviewer tour going on through JustReads. A few have posted already and they have been positive.
I also did a YouTube video interview with my publisher
I also offered a Goodreads giveaway during the last week leading up to release day. It was neat to offer something to my readers.
This month I will continue to celebrate No Plan at All’s book birthday month with blog posts, interviews, and more behind the scenes tidbits. I’m also working on the edits for the next book which is scheduled to be released in May 2026.
0 1 Read moreVeterans Day and The Stolen Children of War and the Paris Circus with a secret by Jina Bacarr
November 11, 2025 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as Jina Bacarr, new release, The Stolen Children of War, Veterans DayWhen Jewish mothers arrived at Auschwitz holding tight onto their children, they had no idea their little ones would be ‘stolen’ from them and murdered after the selection. Innocent babes with chubby cheeks and big eyes along with young boys still in short pants and shy little girls in pigtails.
It’s a fate too horrible to think about… yet it happened.
I shall take a moment. Reflect on what I wrote. I have no clever phrases to make you smile as I’m wont to do in my posts… only the truth.
Children died during the Holocaust. No one knows exactly how many, but the estimate is around one and half million Jewish children. I feel the sorrow of loss every time I see the sepia photo of a Jewish child bathed in innocence who never had the chance to breathe the air of freedom again once they were huddled into a cattle car and sent to a camp. Who died alone without their mother’s arms around them, her gentle voice whispering in their ear.
That’s when I remind myself I’m so lucky to have grown up a happy child with my books and my dolls and wonderful parents. Today is Veterans Day and we honor our servicemen and women who wore the uniform and fought for freedom and still do in our world. So instead of a witty poem or funny story, my heart is heavy and I ask you not to forget these children even as we honor our soldiers.
Hug your children tight today. Even if they tower over you and aren’t babies anymore. Because somewhere in the world, a mother can’t do that. Her tears have dried, but not the pain in her heart. That’s what we’re still fighting for. To save the children. God help us.
Jina
‘The Stolen Children of War’
A story told in Book 1 of this 2 book series about children hidden in plain sight in Occupied Paris 1943. In the circus.
If it’s not horrible enough my heroine Lia de Montieri, Queen of the Trapeze, has to fight the Nazis and a despicable Gestapo man in 1943 Occupied Paris, she also comes up against a depraved creature known as ‘The Magician’ because of his amazing ability to restore a woman’s face…
He lurks in the shadows only coming out to threaten what Lia holds most dear…
‘The Stolen Children of War’ is the story of a mother’s sacrifice, make that ‘mothers’, when Lia helps a Jewish woman about to be deported by helping her little girl and young boy escape.
And oh, there’s an adorable baby elephant, too.
‘The Stolen Children of War’
Amazon Kindle:
US: https://a.co/d/7iR9Xar
UK: https://amzn.eu/d/9RF8E77
It is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Paris, and nobody is safe. Nobody, except perhaps one small group of people, who’ve always existed outside the law… in the circus.
Boldwood Books
Old Books and Faded Dreams
October 16, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #RABTBookTours, @RABTBookTours, DL Norris, historical fiction, new release, Old Books and Faded Dreams
Date Published: September 14, 2025
family as suspect. The startling discovery of a sinister family secret locked away for decades in an old attic trunk threatens to overshadow a highly esteemed familial image and cherished legacy. Can relationships be salvaged?
grief, reconciliation and ultimately, unconditional love.
About the Author
D.L. Norris is a notable author and motivational speaker who has written numerous short stories and articles on health, emotional wellness, family, and cultural history.
Norris’ novels, The Long Way Home and Where the Heart Is, capture in colorful, humorous style the actual events and cultural mindsets surrounding her Scandinavian family and personal life experiences.
Norris’ expressive writing style quickly engages her readers and encourages them to sit back and enjoy a nostalgic, magical journey.
She and her husband are happily retired in beautiful Hartford, Connecticut.
Contact Links
Purchase Links
Stand and Deliver!
September 28, 2025 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as Alina K. Field, Bluestocking Belles, historical romance, new release, Regency romance, Romance CollectionsI’m back with another Quarter Days post!
Smugglers, Ghosts, and Highwaymen
The Bluestocking Belles and Friends have put together a collection of interrelated stories set near Brighton, England in 1817, and what fun we had researching and developing these tales. From the Devil’s Dyke to Brighton, love and adventure are in the air.
When Principal Officer Robert Pierce, of the Bow Street Magistrate Court sets out on the Brighton road he encounters more than the notorious thief he’s hunting:
From the casebook of Robert Pierce
It seems that I am off to the seaside. Larcenous Lucy, as some of the wits here at
the Office have taken to calling her, is working the London to Brighton road.
I’ve been told to look into a highwayman problem while I am there. There’s
someone plaguing both the main highway and some of the lesser roads. The local
dignitaries have posted a reward, so that would be a nice bonus.
My colleagues have also been joking that smugglers and ghosts abound in the
region, and that I might collect some of those while I am there. I told them, I
shall leave the smugglers to the excise officers and ghosts to the duly authorized
ministers of the church.
Love’s Perilous Road, a Bluestocking Belles Collection with Friends
Travel, houseparties, smugglers, spies, a ghost–and a mysterious highwayman. Who is the infamous Captain Moonlight? And how many lives will he change–for good or for ill?
It’s the autumn of 1817 and Sir Peter Somerville and his lady are hosting a house party at their estate near Brighton, while a pesky highwayman plagues the surrounding byways.
Love’s Perilous Road features stories by Jude Knight, Sherry Ewing, Carolyn Warfield, Cerise Deland, Rue Allyn, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Alina K. Field, and friends of the Bluestocking Belles Mary Lancaster, Meara Platt, and Barbara Monajem.
My contribution to the collection is Sir Westcott Steals a Heart
Sir Westcott Twisden didn’t know he wanted to marry until the tallest lady he’d ever met crossed his path. Unfortunately, the lady in question shrugs off his overtures. Curious when a local smuggler shows up to visit her, Wes follows her into trouble.
Sybil Dunsford will do almost anything to protect her brothers and their home, even disguise herself as one of her brothers to fend off demands from the local smuggling boss who holds her mortgage. But when her night of shifting contraband goes awry, and Sir Westcott appears to rescue her, they’re locked in together. Will romance follow?
Release Day is October 31, 2025
Pre-order your copy here: https://books2read.com/u/mqx0W6
Happy Reading! I’ll be back on December 28th with another Quarter Days post!
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