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A Virtuoso in America: Adrian A Holocaust Story, Book #2 by Fred Raymond Goldman

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A Virtuoso in America: Adrian A Holocaust Story, Book #2 by Fred Raymond Goldman Publication Date: July 30th, 2025 Publisher: Historium Press Pages: 272 Genre: Historical Fiction / World War II Fiction How do you reconcile a decision you made in the past when the world erupts in war, threatening the life of someone you love and believe you were protecting? Adrian Mazurek immigrated to the United States from Krakow, Poland, 14 years ago and is now a successful violin soloist and concertmaster of The Eleventh State Symphony Orchestra in New York. But despite his outward success, Adrian is inwardly harboring a shameful secret, one he has not revealed to anyone. However, that is about to change. Adrian plans to propose marriage to Suzanne, but he knows he must tell her the truth about his past before doing so. Riddled with guilt and shame, Adrian can barely look at himself in the mirror. How can he look Suzanne in the eyes and tell her that he left his infant son, Simon, in the care of his...
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Book Review: The Blood Tattoos by Jana Petken

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  Book of the Week After years of living in America, two Germans return to Berlin and enlist in the Waffen-SS. Bonded by duty, conscience, and their love for the United States, they struggle to separate soldiering from Nazi ideology. An American at heart, Uwe Polkaehn finds that in the SS, loyalty to Adolf Hitler is more important than being a good soldier. From Berlin to Belgium, France, Holland and the Eastern Front, he and the SS-Das Reich Division spearhead the Führer’s drive across Western and Eastern Europe. Lukas Querner, the son of an admiral in the German Kriegsmarine, returns reluctantly to Hamburg after six years at Harvard University. After refusing to follow his father into the Kriegsmarine, he volunteers for the SS, believing the armed wing is the elite fighting force that will battle the enemy with honour.. During training, Uwe and Lukas meet Otto Skorzeny, an enigmatic SS officer. After impressing the Führer, Otto transfers the two men to a new Special Formation com...
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Book Review: Ravens Hill (The Atheling Chronicles, Book 5) by Garth Pettersen

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Book of the week  In 1030 C.E. — When Harald, the second son of King Cnute, returns from fighting the king's enemies in Northern Wales, he expects his life to return to normal. He's surprised when he's granted a large landholding—an idyllic life, far from the power-mongering of King Cnute's court, farming in the Midlands, evening walks with his beloved Selia. It’s a gift they cannot refuse, but the king has other plans for Harald and his wife. On arriving at their new holding, Ravens Hill, Harald and Selia receive a tepid welcome from tenants—belligerent housecarls; a conniving steward; an uncompromising abbess, bitter at not adding their estate to her abbey lands; a priest with roaming hands; and a grieving daughter of the previous landholder who has entered the nunnery. Harald and Selia wish to improve the lot of their tenant farmers, but they face obstacles at every turn, and Harald’s generosity is seen as weakness. Trouble brews when they learn the lands come with a...
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Audiobook review: The Country Village Allotment by Cathy Lake

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A heartwarming and uplifting summer story for fans of Heidi Swain and Phillipa Ashley, by the author of The Country Village Christmas Show, The Country Village Summer Fete and The Country Village Winter Wedding. At eighty-two years old Zelda Grey is tired. Tired of how much slower she is physically and mentally. Tired of technology. Tired of being alone since her beloved cat, Flint, died just before Christmas. And tired of life. The only thing that brings Zelda joy these days is her allotment in the gorgeous village of Little Bramble, where she has lived her whole life, and her three cranky goats. Widow Mia Holmes always loved visiting Little Bramble Allotment with her husband, Gideon. But since his death she can't motivate herself. Despite putting on a brave face for her three sons and four grandchildren, she's reached breaking point, and isn't sure she can carry on. And history teacher Liz Carter thought she had it all. The perfect job, perfect boyfriend in Rhodri and the...
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Scents of Lavender: Queer Love Through the Ages – In Verse by D. C. Wilkinson

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Scents of Lavender: Queer Love Through the Ages – In Verse By D. C. Wilkinson Publication Date: June 1st, 2025 Publisher: DCW Press Pages: 108 Genre: Poetry / Historical Fiction / LGBT+ Romance Timeless and unwavering, love flows through a universal melody that echoes in every corner of the globe. Transcending borders and cultures, it sows the seeds of memories that sprout and blossom in  Scents of Lavender , a collection of 25 illustrated poems that breathe life into evocative scenes where queer love proudly re-emerges from the depths of history, uncovering deep and everlasting bonds. Each poem invites the reader to explore the narrator’s deeply personal and intimate perspective through pantheistic eyes. Written in the first person, every verse unfolds as both a reflection and a manifestation of a single universal mind and soul, drawing the reader into a shared understanding that love –in all its forms– is boundless, eternal, and permeates the cosmos. In gentle chains, I find no p...
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