To the ancient Romans, Vestal virgins represented the very personification of feminine purity. But when one of their number is accused of sex with a man, scandal erupts. In a city dealing with the aftermath of a crushing defeat against Hannibal's army, this shocking revelation...

Entertaining and well-researched, A. Piper Burgi’s The Exploress and the Pillars of Eternity is a fine example of historical fiction. Set in the early nineteenth century, at a time when Egypt was just beginning to allow Europeans access to their country and its archaeological treasures,...

The Inhabited Arc by Joe Trabocco is a collection of three short stories, all standalones and each enveloped in the singular consciousness of its narrator. In Epiphany, Lydia is in a coastal house where daily life by the shore slowly awakens an inner awareness, leading...

Beneath the Basilica, the memoirs and confessions of Lucrezia Borgia were discovered in the historical fiction novel, The Lost Diary of Lucrezia Borgia (Deathbed Confessions by the Pope’s Daughter) by Johnny Teague. A devout Christian and archaeologist, Giuseppe is delighted when he is asked to...

Katherine Mezzacappa draws the reader deeply into late 1700’s Ireland in her impeccably researched novel, The Ballad of Mary Kearney. In a tumultuous period of social and religious unrest, we witness the story of a simple serving girl named Mary Kearney, who, against all cultural...

Anne Boleyn is off on another adventure. Having left her training at Margaret of Austria’s court, Anne is now entering the French court as one of Mary Tudor’s most trusted ladies’ maids. In Rozsa Gaston’s The Queen’s Maid, Anne, with her fluency in French, is...

The Gospel of Caiaphas by Nicole Diamond Austin is a fictional telling of Joseph ben Caiaphas, who has always been infamously portrayed as presiding over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. Austin recreates Caiaphas, from childhood in a priestly household, to his rise as the high...

To Outwit Them All by Peggy Wirgau offers readers an interesting, fresh look at what might have been. This delightful tale delivers a fictionalized account of the mysterious secret agent 355. History confirms the existence of one such member of The Culper Ring, an elite...

The Devil's Berries by Patti Flinn follows Louis-Benoit Zamor, a Black enslaved man who grew up in the opulent, dangerous world of Versailles as Madame du Barry’s page. He learns to maneuver through court politicking and keep secrets to survive the ambitions of those around...

The Price of Loyalty by Malve Von Hassell tells the story of Cerdic. After the conquest of England by William, Cerdic, a young English boy, is taken from his hometown back to Normandy. In Normandy, Cerdic is raised with the Conqueror's children, during which time...