Book Extract: Ripples Through Time by Christina Courtenay
I’m so pleased to be welcoming Christina Courtenay back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Ripples Through Time.
A love that will change them forever
A treasure that will bring them home
West Mercia, AD 873 – Merewen’s settlement is on guard against the outside threat of the ‘Heathen’ Norsemen. But for Merewen, the real threats come from within, as her future is cruelly snatched away from her.
Eirik, a Norseman, finds himself abandoned and injured after his uncle’s plunder of Mercian land goes wrong. He thinks his fate is sealed – until Merewen saves his life.
Hereford, Present Day – Left reeling after a huge betrayal, Alix moves to her grandfather’s farm in Hereford to heal her broken heart. There, after being given a family heirloom, she soon finds herself haunted by memories of a life she never lived, a relationship she never had, and a time in which she never existed.
Local farmer Noah is being hounded by the police to find the Viking hoard that his sister and her criminal boyfriend stole from his farm. Noah must prove his own innocence while struggling to decipher the curious connection he has to newcomer Alix – a bond that seems to transcend their own reality.
As they search for the lost treasure, Alix and Noah start to feel the whispers of a love they never expected, one powerful enough to echo through history.
Christina has shared an extract from Ripples Through Time with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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Chapter One (abridged) – heroine is given bad news – Mercia AD 873
As she entered the hall, Merewen halted momentarily, taken aback by the sight of her betrothed, Oslac, sitting next to her father Beorthric. She hadn’t realised he was due to visit today or she would have made more of an effort with her appearance. She frowned as she registered that her sister Burghild was sitting next to him looking smug. Never a good sign. In contrast, Oslac kept his gaze fixed on the floor. That was strange. Normally he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Merewen. What on earth was going on?
‘Father? Is there something amiss?’
‘Not as such.’ Beorthric cleared his throat before launching into speech. ‘I merely wished to inform you that I have decided your sister will make a better match for Oslac than you. As you know, her betrothed was recently killed by the heathens. She is my eldest child, and whomsoever she marries will inherit this settlement since I have not been blessed with any sons. Oslac will take over his own father’s domains in due course, and as Burghild’s husband he can eventually merge the two properties into a larger one. That will create a very rich holding and increase our families’ standing in the area. So from this moment on, I declare your betrothal to Oslac at an end.’
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Book Extract: The Other Mother by Heidi Field
I’m very excited to be welcoming Heidi Field back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Other Mother.
Suzannah is pregnant with her third child. The first is in prison. The second is dead. How far will she go to keep her unborn baby safe?
When Suzannah learns she is pregnant, she feels like safety and happiness are finally within reach. Her handsome, successful fiancé, Alec, is over the moon about the baby. He proposes and pampers her. He thinks this is Suzannah’s first marriage and first child, but she’s keeping a few secrets. Actually, a lot of secrets. And they are dangerous…putting Suzannah in a position where she must choose who and what she’s willing to sacrifice to keep her baby and her freedom.
Drowning in her lies, Suzannah is desperate to bury her past, but her ex-husband, who abandoned her years ago, returns, stalking her and demanding to know what really happened to their daughter. When the imprisoned serial killer who lured and groomed her son, threatens to sell his story to the press, Suzannah feels like the life she’d built and the precious one she’s growing, teeter on a precipice. Now the two children she’s hidden from Alec may be the least of her worries.
Heidi has shared an extract from The Other Mother with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
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Suzannah has just had an argument with her new friend, Shiv, about the serial killer, Gunner Piper, who groomed her son, and she has escaped to a coffee shop to calm down.
I glug down the coffee and head out to the car. I’ll call the prison and see if I can arrange an extra visit or bring the next one forward. I need to see my precious son, touch him, check that he is OK. I want to know that Gunner hasn’t got to him inside, isn’t trying to find a way to communicate with him. I need to know that Shiv hasn’t tried to contact him, that Gunner isn’t trying to poison my son’s mind through her. I need to make sure that Mason never talks to her, never has to listen to her talk fondly about the man who stole his life.
As I lift my shoulder bag over my head and start searching for my car keys, somebody slams my body sideways against the car. I drop my bag and turn my head.
“Breck?”
His eyes are struggling to focus on me and his body is swaying. He’s drunk.
I put a protective arm across my belly. “What are you doing? I’m pregnant.”
“Another child whose life you’re going to destroy.”
by Book Extract: The Secret Sauce by M. J. Porter
I am so pleased to be welcoming M. J. Porter back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Secret Sauce, the third book in the Erdington Mysteries.
Birmingham, England, November 1944.
Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is summoned to a suspicious death at the BB Sauce factory in Aston on a wet Monday morning in late November 1944.
Greeted by his enthusiastic sergeant, O’Rourke, Sam Mason finds himself plunged into a challenging investigation to discover how Harry Armstrong met his death in a vat containing BB Sauce – a scene that threatens to put him off BB Sauce on his bacon sandwiches for the rest of his life.
Together with Sergeant O’Rourke, Mason follows a trail of seemingly unrelated events until something becomes very clear. The death of Harry Armstrong was certainly murder, and might well be connected to the tragedy unfolding at nearby RAF Fauld. While the uncertainty of war continues, Mason and O’Rourke find themselves seeking answers from the War Office and the Admiralty, as they track down the person who murdered their victim in such an unlikely way.
Join Mason and O’Rourke for the third book in the quirky, historical mystery series, as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.
M.J. Porter has shared the opening from The Secret Sauce with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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Aston, Monday, 27th November 1944
Sam Mason walked into the large space of the factory, the smell from within making his eyes widen in alarm, which he immediately regretted. The sharp, vinegary aroma felt like it was burning his eyes as well as his nostrils. He clamped his mouth shut. It was one thing to smell Big Ben Sauce when the bottle was opened to pour onto his bacon sandwich, but quite another to experience it in such a concentrated way. He was unsure how the employees of the BB Sauce factory could tolerate it on a day-to-day basis. He was only grateful that Ansell’s brewery, which was almost next door, wasn’t also emitting the distinctive smell from its manufacturing process.
He winced as his back ached from holding his head back as though to avoid the smell, but the sight of O’Rourke ahead, already bending low to examine the cause of their summoning to the location, had him striding towards her. Well, striding as much as he could with his limp, which was pronounced. Outside, it was a damp, wet and cold Monday morning in late November, and he was pleased with whoever had thought to place sacking on the ground to absorb wet footprints over the slick concrete surface of the BB Sauce factory.
by Book Extract: The Bookseller of Kathmandu by Ann Bennett
I’m happy to be welcoming Ann Bennett to Novel Kicks as we shine a light on her book, The Bookseller of Kathmandu.
A sweeping tale of secrets and survival set against the mystical backdrop of Nepal, and the tropical heat of 1940s Malaya.
In the heart of bustling Kathmandu, Chloe Rai’s quaint bookshop is a sanctuary for those seeking solace within the pages of timeworn stories. But when she discovers a collection of letters hidden within the crumbling walls of a forgotten Rana palace, her world begins to intertwine with a narrative from a different time and place.
Penned in the 1940s by a woman named Alice Lacey, the letters tell the story of the Malayan Emergency, a time of turmoil and conflict. As Alice’s life becomes intertwined with that of Anil, a Gurkha officer, their bond is tested by the chaos and violence surrounding them. Chloe’s discoveries not only reveal family secrets, but also mirror her own struggles in the present. As she delves deeper into Alice’s story, she begins to understand the power of the past in shaping the present.
With a rich cultural backdrop and a poignant exploration of friendship, resilience, and truth, ‘The Bookseller of Kathmandu’ is a beautifully woven tale that showcases the enduring power of storytelling. Join Chloe on a journey through time as she uncovers the truth and learns to navigate the complexities of her own life.
If you enjoy captivating storytelling, then you won’t want to miss ‘The Bookseller of Kathmandu.’ And if you loved ‘The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu,’ then you will be enthralled by Chloe and Alice’s intertwined stories…
Ann has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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Alice Lacey lives with her volatile husband, Bruce, who manages a remote tin mine in Malaya. Communist insurgents have been attacking British property lately and killed a British man. The Gurkhas have been brought in to protect the British community and property. Major Anil Desai arrives to introduce himself to Alice and her husband.
Chapter 4
MAJOR DESAI HAD ARRIVED in an army jeep, unannounced, with a couple of other soldiers. Alice was in the drawing room doing paperwork when he drew up. Surprised to hear an engine, worried the communists might have broken through the security her husband had hastily put in place on the gates, she’d stood behind a curtain and watched as a slender, athletic figure dressed in khaki got out of the jeep and strode across the drive.
The soldier mounted the wooden steps, crossed the veranda and rapped on the door. Her heart raced. They hardly ever had visitors, and they lived so far from other Europeans that a surprise visit was virtually unheard of. So much so that she was certain the servants would be elsewhere and wouldn’t have heard the knock.
by Book Extract: Push Back: Live, Love, and Work with Others Without Losing Yourself by Tonya Lester
Please join me in welcoming Tonya Lester to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Push Back: Push Back: Live, Love, and Work with Others Without Losing Yourself.
What happens when kindness crosses into self-erasure? That’s the question therapist Tonya Lester explores in her debut book, Push Back: Live, Love, and Work with Others Without Losing Yourself.
Lester’s work is grounded in the realities of everyday relationships — marriages, friendships, families, and workplaces — where unspoken expectations often pull people into silence or compliance. With candor and compassion, she explores why so many women struggle to express anger, say no, or ask for what they need. Push Back combines research-backed insight with real-life case studies and guided reflections that help readers recognize the difference between keeping peace and losing themselves in the process. Lester doesn’t teach readers to be louder — she teaches them to be clearer. Her message is practical and deeply encouraging: your boundaries can coexist with love.
Tonya has kindly shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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It’s OK to be Difficult
Years ago, I read a magazine story about an experienced climber who nearly died falling down a mountain. She’d forgotten the crucial step of double-checking her anchor knots before she started the climb. It turned out this climber had carefully checked her husband’s rope while neglecting her own. I imagine this realization flashing through her mind as she tumbled, terrified, down the slope.
As a couples therapist in New York City, I was struck by this article, not as a cautionary tale of mountaineering safety, but instead as a reminder of the gender dynamics I see normalized in relationships. Often, women don’t even realize the imperceptible descent they take as they disappear into relationships, suppressing their own needs and desires while caring for those of others.
Had this climber expected her husband to check her ropes as she had checked his? Had she asked him to? Or had she trusted herself to tie her own knots correctly but thought that he needed extra looking after? At what point in their relationship did she start checking his climbing ropes? What were their interpersonal dynamics in other areas of their lives? Was he like a child, unable to take care of himself? Or was he considered the talent and she the manager, in charge of ensuring he had everything he needed to succeed? Whatever else was going on in their marriage, she must not have believed she could take proper care of herself and also stay in the relationship, because soon after the fall, she filed for divorce.
by Book Club
