TOAFQ is a Contest Finalist & Other Fun Stuff

The Once and Future Queen has been shortlisted in its first contest: The Chanticleer Reviews 2017 Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction Book Awards. We’ll find out if it takes home the Grand Prize in its category on April 21, or maybe even Book of the Year! (Hey, it can’t hurt to hope!)

I’ve also had some really fun things happen lately and if you don’t follow me on social media, you might have missed them:

  1. A blogger told me that she’ll be using The Once and Future Queen as part of her sources for presentation she’s giving at her local library and that she has asked them to purchase my books for the library. This is proof that targeted blog tours can result in sales!
  2. My audio book narrator for Been Searching for You, Ashley Clements gave the book a shout out on Instagram Live.
  3. Susan Weintrob did this really cool review of Madame Presidentess where she added in a recipe for the tomato sup Victoria is said to have ordered at Delmonico’s.
  4. Here’s my first moment of having someone fangirl over my books (and on video, no less):

If you can help out Kelly’s literacy project, please do!

Also, I have several books in free giveaways on BookFunnel this month:

  1. NonfictionThe Once and Future Queen
  2. Mythological March Madness Daughter of Destiny and Camelot’s Queen

Please tell all your friends if they want free books!

Book Review and Giveaway: In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson

513b1uxrXNL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_I was lucky to review this book for the Historical Novel Society a few months ago and I LOVED it. Then I recently unwittingly entered a contest to win a copy (which I already have because I reviewed the book), so I decided to give away my extra copy to one of you. If you want to enter for a chance to win, please let me know in the comments below. I will choose a winner at random on July 15.

Here is my review of the book.

This dual time period story parallels the modern-day life of Lia, a historian writing her dissertation on the beliefs of the early 13th-century Cathars, and a conspiracy-style tale behind the 1208 historical murder of papal legate Pierre de Castlenau, an act of violence which sparked the religious crusade against the Cathars. Having moved to France to grieve the untimely death of her husband, Lia quickly learns that past and present aren’t as far removed as they may seem, and not all souls rest peacefully after death. The deeper she gets involved, the more Lia realizes history may not tell the truth of what happened to Castlenau and the Cathars; the real story may be far more dangerous, with the possibility of changing not only her own life, but also the history of the Church.

In Another Life grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go. The prose is rich and evocative, transporting the reader to rural France with an ease unusual for a debut author. The story is intriguing, weaving past and present in an ever-tightening braid that eventually dissolves the separation altogether, adeptly illustrating how the Cathars’ belief in reincarnation might play out in the real world. Lia is especially well-portrayed as the unwitting catalyst uniting two deaths, three men, and 800 years of history, while the male characters are slowly revealed as we learn their unlikely pasts and how they affect the present. Very highly recommended.

Leave a comment for a chance to win this book!

Happy 5th Blogiversary and a Giveaway

5-candle-birthdaySo WordPress tells me today is the anniversary of this blog. I totally spaced on that this year with all that’s going on. (Just turned in final edits to the layout people for Madame Presidentess! No more changes after this. Only one more look-see to make sure they made them correctly. It’s officially done! You’ll have it in your hands July 25.)

As usual, I’m having a giveaway to celebrate! And this year I can finally use my own books as prizes. So if you go over to Goodreads by June 21, you could win a copy of Been Searching for You, my new contemporary summer beach read (US only – sorry but the international postage is a killer).

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Been Searching for You by Nicole Evelina

Been Searching for You

by Nicole Evelina

Giveaway ends June 21, 2016.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/190738

I can’t believe all that has happened in five years. When I started here, I was an unknown writer with no credentials and my first completed manuscript. Now I’m three-times published (soon to be four!) and have won multiple awards. It’s amazing how a lot of hard work and a little faith can pay off. Thank you to everyone for your support, whether you’ve been with me from the beginning or have just joined. There’s no way I could keep this up without you.

Here’s to five more wonderful years. I’ve got plenty of books in my head, so if you stick with me, I promise many more historical adventures to come!