Book Tour: NOT A FINE GENTLEMAN by Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch is the author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8 and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her husband). A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

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Lady Margaret secretly yearns for love, but fate has exchanged wedded bliss for a lie. When she is caught hovering over her cheating husband’s dead body, she is instantly doomed to hang for his murder. Without hope for justice, Margaret flees into the night alone. 

A cynical Bow Street Constable, Connor Jackson, vows to bring the fugitive Lady Margaret to face the law—but, he doesn’t expect sparks to fly between them. Could the strong yet tender lady truly be a killer? 

As more suspects—and even more condemning evidence—surface, the less certain Connor is of his duty. He must choose between his growing feelings for Lady Margaret and the demands of justice. Will the truth tear them apart or set them free to find love?


The Rogue Hearts Series:
The Stranger She Married 
The Guise of a Gentleman
A Perfect Secret
The Suspect's Daughter
Not a Fine Gentleman

Praise for Donna Hatch:
“Donna Hatch is one of the masters of clean romance with electric tension and smokin’ hot kisses.” ~ Reading is My Super Power Reviews


“Written with heart and depth, Donna Hatch’s books are absolute must-reads for any fan of swoon-worthy historical romance.”  ~ Sarah M. Eden, USA Today best-selling historical romance author

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What a delightful story! This is not only a sweet romance, but also quite the murder mystery. Lady Margaret Hennessy, a disillusioned romantic, is in the wrong place at the right time and becomes a suspect in the murder of her odious and unfaithful husband. Faced with the threat of ending up in the hands of a lecherous night watchman, she flees.

I loved how the author portrayed the characters, including Connor, the constable, or Bow Street Runner, whom her family hires to find her and bring her safely home until the matter is cleared up. A man born on the wrong side of the blanket, but educated as a gentleman, he does the job for he was hired out of loyalty to her brothers, men he knew as a result of serving in the military. However, overall, he has no love for the gentry and their high-minded ways. That includes the lady he must find and return to the safety of her family’s home until the mystery surrounding her husband’s murder is sorted out. Then, he is assigned to investigate the murder. Will he search for the real killer, or only search for proof she is the guilty party?

Why did several of her late husband’s servants hold such animosity toward her, evidently, from the time of her marriage to Hennessy? Who is the strange man she saw leaving the room in which she found her dying husband? Who is trying to frame her? What did the last word her husband spoke before he died mean? Such great clues resulting in engaging suspense.

As always, this author tells a wonderful tale with enough description that allows the reader to picture the characters and setting. She is a master at dialogue. I felt like I was right in the story. This book is a must-read for those who love historical romance filled with suspense.

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Book Review: MERCER BELLES

Today I am featuring a Western anthology, 

Mercer's Belles 

a Timeless Western Collection 

including novellas by Heather B. Moore, Teri Harman, and Linda Carroll-Bradd 

About Mercer's Belles:

When Mr. Mercer sends out a call for single women to travel to Seattle for teaching positions and the potential of forming marriages, 45 answer his call, becoming Mercer's Belles.

The following collection is based on true events during the 1860s:

ONE DANCE by Heather B. Moore:
When Harriet Silverman arrives in Seattle for a fresh start and a new teaching position, the last person she expects is to meet is a fisherman who seems to be every place she turns. As she gets to know Caleb Munns, Harriet discovers they are a perfect match--for friendship. They both have solid reasons for not pursuing marriage. But as their paths continue to cross, Harriet begins to see a completely different future than she imagined.

A JOURNEY TO LOVE by Teri Harman:
Cora, a nurse and surgeon's assistant who learned her skills during the war, joins Mercer's expedition in hopes of finding a job in the West. She's a widow and does not want to marry again. When she meets Albert, a surgeon who is traveling on board the Continental, she finds herself intrigued. Yet, Albert's determined to open his own practice in Seattle, make it a success, and has no plans to look for a wife. But the more time Cora and Albert spend together on the voyage, the more they are drawn to each other.

A FARAWAY LIFE by Linda Carroll-Bradd:
Teacher Sorcha Geraghty yearns for a fresh start after the death of her beau and a factory accident maimed her hand. Asa Mercer’s call for teachers for Washington Territory provides a new opportunity, and she joins his ocean-going expedition. Upon arrival, she learns of the expectation for the women to become wives to the many bachelors. Sorcha needs a new plan and fast. Logging manager Lang Ingemar wants a teacher to provide basic English instruction to his Swedish-speaking crew and keep them out of trouble when they go to Seattle. When he convinces Miss Geraghty to relocate to the logging camp, he has no idea the ways his life will be changed. 

My book review:

For historical context, these two voyages from the East to Seattle, Washington, took place around the end of the Civil War. The first group of single women arrived in 1864. The second group arrived in 1866.

One Dance –

Among the first group of Mercer’s Belles to arrive in Seattle was Harriet. The author did an excellent job of developing her character as a formal woman, not overly social, slightly beyond what was considered the usual marriage age. Mercer’s plan for bringing teachers to Seattle appealed to her, but she sought independence, not the prospect of marriage which was the the other part of Mercer’s plan. I love how the author set up the romance with Harriet creating a splash as she arrives in Seattle. As she finds herself dealing with the disquiet of women-hungry men, Caleb, a rough and tumble fisherman, who was one of the few men not interested in seeking a wife, dove in to rescue her in more ways than one. Delightful story.

A Journey to Love – 

The Civil War is over. I felt a great empathy for Cora, a woman in what was considered a man’s occupation, as joins Mercer’s second group of women bound for Seattle hoping the need for medical care in Seattle will be great enough for the residents to overcome their prejudices against women in the field of medicine. Albert, a war-time surgeon, joins the group to work as an assistant physician on the ship, plus he plans to open a practice in Seattle. He meets Cora whom he knew only by her reputation as a battlefield surgeon’s assistant.  I enjoyed how this couple overcame all efforts to keep them apart and prevent Cora from using her knowledge to help the sick on board. Many interesting details come to light in this book, not only about the primary physician on the ship, but Mercer himself. The author set the scene well and described the characters so I could picture them easily. This romance held my interest throughout.

A Faraway Life – 

As always, Linda Carroll-Bradd brought unique, well-researched details to her story that added depth and color to an already great romance. Sorcha came to Seattle to teach, but had never dreamed she would be asked to teach hulking, grown Swedish loggers how to speak English. Mindful of the employment needs of her seamstress cousin she convinced to come with her, she agrees to give the position a try after she learns the job comes with a lovely, well-appointed cabin large enough for the two women. It requires an entire change of approach to her teaching methods, but she accepts the challenge. The author introduced the reader to basic Swedish phrases and culture, logging, and Sorcha’s lovely Celtic harp. This was a lovely sweet romance about overcoming fears and self-consciousness.

Mercer’s Belles is available on Amazon. PLEASE CLICK HERE.  

Book Tour & Review: My Hands Hold My Story

For fans of A Knight of Silence and Read My Lips comes a YA historical western full of grit and heart...

In 1874, Ivy Steele's deafness is more than a handicap. It's a disease. Surrounded by a family that doesn't understand her, she's learned to cope and find solace where she can. Then, the unexpected happens. Her aunt dies, and her uncle sends her away to rejoin her father's family in Montana.

Left to fend for herself, after the companion hired to escort her abandons her, sixteen-year-old Ivy faces continual hardship and danger. Several men see an unaccompanied Ivy as a flower ripe for the picking, and things only get worse when masked men hold up their stagecoach.

Barely scraping through, Ivy makes it to Montana with her nerves shaken and what little money she has in her boot. Expecting a peaceful if not affectionate welcome, Ivy finds herself in greater hardship than she's ever known.

Surrounded by a stepfamily that hates her, and flung into a life where hearing is vital, Ivy finds solace in a handsome cowboy named Remy. But things with her new family are not what they seem. And Ivy is about to find out that the danger she faced on the journey west, has followed her to Montana...

Bethany Swafford dazzles with her stunning young adult debut, introducing a strong heroine, the hardships of frontier life, shocking twists, and a slow-burning romance that will leave you wanting more.

Third place winner of the 2018 Rosemary Award

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For as long as she can remember, Bethany Swafford has loved reading books. That love of words extended to writing as she grew older and when it became more difficult to find a ‘clean’ book, she determined to write her own. Among her favorite authors is Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Georgette Heyer.

When she doesn’t have pen to paper (or fingertips to laptop keyboard), she can generally be found with a book in hand. In her spare time, Bethany reviews books for a book site called More Than A Review.

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This was one of the most engaging and thoughtful stories I’ve read in a long time. Told in first person and set in the decade following the Civil War, this young adult story about a sixteen year-old deaf girl revealed the uncertainties, misconceptions and trials those with limited or no hearing face, especially during that time.

Forced from a school for the deaf after her aunt’s death, Ivy makes the treacherous trip to Montana. To join her father and brother, all her family left after a fever that took her hearing along with the lives of her mother and younger sibling. She arrives to find her father remarried to a difficult woman who knew nothing about her existence. At first, no one wants her there, she does not want to be there, but she is helpless to do anything other than make her way in a dysfunctional family that resents her. Even though her education is evident and she demonstrates her many skills, she is perceived to be less-valuable. The attitude towards her is such that because she is not wanted, she should be grateful to be treated like a slave and take what she can get.

Communication is a problem. Although she can speak, because she cannot hear, Ivy cannot gauge her volume or pitch. She had come from a school that taught her signing to communicate, but the family makes no effort to learn signing. She can read lips, but the family tends to turn their backs or hide their faces behind their hands to hide what they say. She can read and write, but it is a slow means of communicating. Much of the time she must deduce what is said through body language, snatches of lip-read words, and facial expressions—challenges the hearing-impaired no doubt struggle with today.

I loved how the author portrayed her characters as Ivy gradually learned how to deal with her family. She eventually won several of them over, including her natural brother who, as a child, was her confidant and playmate. She also learned to stand up for herself. There is also a sweet, budding romance in the works, even as Ivy’s step-mother does her best to foist Ivy off in marriage to a man Ivy easily identified as unsavory.

The story ended too soon for me. I can highly recommend it to adult readers as well as youth.

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