Lois Leveen's latest novel is an enthralling new telling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—told from the perspective of Juliet’s nurse.

Join us for this historical fiction book tour from October 20 to 31! If you're interested in reviewing this novel, please leave a comment or contact us.

Book Details:

Book Title: Juliet's Nurse by Lois Leveen
Category: Adult fiction, 384 pages
Genre: historical fiction
Publisher: Emily Bestler Books (Atria Books)
Published: September 2014 
Available in: Print and e-book formats
Will send books: USA only
Tour dates:  October 20 to 31, 2014
Content Rating: PG

About the Book:

In Verona, a city ravaged by plague and political rivalries, a mother mourning the death of her day-old infant enters the household of the powerful Cappelletti family to become the wet-nurse to their newborn baby. As she serves her beloved Juliet over the next fourteen years, the nurse learns the Cappellettis’ darkest secrets. Those secrets—and the nurse’s deep personal grief—erupt across five momentous days of love and loss that destroy a daughter, and a family.

By turns sensual, tragic, and comic, Juliet’s Nurse gives voice to one of literature’s most memorable and distinctive characters, a woman who was both insider and outsider among Verona’s wealthy ruling class. Exploring the romance and intrigue of interwoven loyalties, rivalries, jealousies, and losses only hinted at in Shakespeare’s play, this is a never-before-heard tale of the deepest love in Verona—the love between a grieving woman and the precious child of her heart.

In the tradition of Sarah Dunant, Philippa Gregory, and Geraldine Brooks, Juliet’s Nurse is a rich prequel that reimagines the world’s most cherished tale of love and loss, suffering and survival. - See more at SimonandSchuster.biz.

Praise for Juliet's Nurse:

"Clever, fast-paced, well-researched and beautifully written. Convincing historical details are sprinkled throughout, provoking in the reader the sense of how it must have been in the 14th century. I loved it."
          – Roberta Rich, Internationally bestselling author of The Midwife of Venice and The Harem Midwife

"Lois Leveen’s richly detailed, fascinating novel offers a wholly original and intriguing take on one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays through the imagined life of Juliet’s faithful nurse, whose secret loves and tragedies rival the young lovers’ own."
          – Jennifer Chiaverini, author of Mrs. Lincoln's Rival

Meet the Author:

Award-winning historian, author, and former college professor LOIS LEVEEN holds degrees in history and literature from Harvard, UCLA, and USC. She traveled to Verona, Italy, to research JULIET'S NURSE, as well as apprenticing herself to an urban beekeeping group in her adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon, to write accurately about the life cycle of hives. 

 Lois has given talks in Finland, France, and throughout the US about the historical research behind JULIET'S NURSE, and about how she approached challenging themes of teen violence, suicide, and plague epidemics in adapting Shakespeare for contemporary readers. Her first novel, The Secrets of Mary Bowser, based on the true story of an African American woman who spied for the Union during the Civil War by posing as a slave in the Confederate White House, was a 2012 Target Book Club pick and is currently being developed into a Broadway musical.

Connect with Lois: Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter

Tour Schedule

Oct 20 - Studentessa Matta - review / giveaway
Oct 21 - Unabridged Chick - review / giveaway
Oct 22 - Savings in Seconds - review / interview
Oct 23 - My Devotional Thoughts -  interview / giveaway
Oct 24 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review / giveaway
Oct 28 - Unabridged Chick -  interview
Oct 29 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review / interview
Oct 29 - View from the Birdhouse - review / giveaway
Oct 30 - Impressions in Ink - review
Oct 31 - Words and Peace - review / interview / giveaway
Oct 31 - Library of Clean Reads - review / giveaway
Oct 31 - Like a Bump on a Blog - review / guest post

"The heir to a gondola empire rejects his birthright but comes full circle in this fascinating glimpse into late-Renaissance Venice by art historian–turned-novelist Morelli." 
- Kirkus Reviews

Join us for this historical fiction book tour from November 3 to 9! If you're interested in this tour leave a comment or contact us.

Book Details:
Book Title: The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli
Category: Adult fiction
Genre: historical fiction
Publisher: Laura Morelli
Published: March 3, 2014 
Available in: Print and e-book formats
Will send books: Internationally
Tour dates:  November 3 to 9, 2014
Content Rating: PG-13 

Book Synopsis:
From the author of Made in Italy comes a tale of artisanal tradition and family bonds set in one of the world's most magnificent settings: Renaissance Venice. 

When Luca Vianello, the heir to a renowned gondola-making enterprise, experiences an unexpected tragedy in the boatyard, he believes that his destiny lies elsewhere. Soon he finds himself drawn to restore an antique gondola with the dream of taking a girl for a ride. Lovers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details of gondola craftsmanship, along with an intimate first-person narrative set against the richly textured backdrop of 16th-century Venice.

IPPY Award for Best Adult Fiction E-book 
Finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award 
Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award 
Shortlisted for the da Vinci Eye Prize 

Praise for The Gondola Maker:

"I'm a big fan of Venice, so I appreciate Laura Morelli's special knowledge of the city, the period, and the process of gondola-making. An especially compelling story."
--Frances Mayes, author, Under the Tuscan Sun 

"Laura Morelli has done her research, or perhaps she was an Italian carpenter in another life. One can literally smell and feel the grain of finely turned wood in her hands."
--Pamela Sheldon Johns, author, Italian Food Artisans

"While a wealth of period lore and beautifully rendered setting—the city’s unique sounds, smells, and heritage—dominate her novel, Morelli creates poignantly convincing characters in this handsome coming-of-age novel about adoration, pain, and destiny."
- Publishers Weekly

Meet the Author:

Laura Morelli earned a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University, where she was a Bass Writing Fellow and an Andrew W. Mellon Doctoral Fellow. She has taught college art history in the U.S. and at Trinity College in Rome. She is the creator of the authentic guidebook series that includes Made in Italy, Made in France, and Made in the Southwest, published by Rizzoli. Laura is a frequent contributor to National Geographic Traveler and other national magazines and newspapers. A native of coastal Georgia, she is married and is busy raising four children. The Gondola Maker is her first work of fiction.

Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  about.me

Tour Schedule

Nov 3 - Studentessa Matta - review / giveaway
Nov 3 - Il Mio Tesoro - review / giveaway
Nov 4 - Packabook - review
Nov 4 - Venice from Beyond the Bridge - review
Nov 5 - Monica Cesarato - review / giveaway
Nov 5 - Seductive Venice - review
Nov 6 - Food Lover's Odyssey - review / giveaway
Nov 7 - The Venice Experience - review / interview
Nov 8 - Hello World - review
Nov 9 - Orvieto or Bust - review
Nov 23 - Capturing Venice - review

Elizabeth McKenna's latest novel takes you back to eighteenth century Carnival, where lovers meet discreetly, and masks make everyone equal.

Join us for this historical romance book tour from October 27 to November 7! If you're interested in this tour leave a comment or contact us.

Book Details:
Book Title: Venice in the Moonlight by Elizabeth McKenna
Category: Adult fiction, 194 pages
Genre: Historical Romance Fiction
Publisher: Elizabeth McKenna
Published: October 2013 
Available in: Print and ebook formats (mobi for Kindle, ePub, PDF)
Will send books to: Internationally
Tour dates:  October 27 to November 7, 2014
Content Rating: R

About the book:

A Story of Vengeance, Forgiveness, and Love

After her husband's untimely demise, Marietta Gatti is banished from the family's villa by her spiteful mother-in-law. She returns to her hometown of Venice and her only kin-a father she hasn't spoken to since her forced marriage. Her hope of making amends is crushed when she learns she is too late, for he recently has died under suspicious circumstances. Grief-stricken, Marietta retraces her father's last night only to discover someone may have wanted him dead-and she may be next. When the prime suspect turns out to be the father of the man she is falling in love with, Marietta risks her future happiness and her life to avenge the death of a man she once hated.

Meet the Author:

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene). She had always wanted to write fiction, so she combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write her debut novel Cera's Place. Her short story, The Gypsy Casts a Spell, is available for free on her website. She hopes you will enjoy her latest novel, Venice in the Moonlight, as much as others have enjoyed her previous works.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and a sassy Labrador. When she isn't writing, working, or being a mom, she's sleeping.

Connect with her: Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter

Tour Schedule:

Oct 27 - The YA Lit Chick - review / interview / giveaway
Oct 27 - Blissful Book Reviews - review / interview
Oct 28 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review / giveaway
Oct 28 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review / interview / giveaway
Oct 29 - Griperang's Bookmarks - review / interview / giveaway
Oct 30 - For Life After - review / giveaway
Oct 31 - Walking with Nora - review / giveaway
Nov 3 -  All Things Bookie - review / interview
Nov 3 -  Back Porchervations - review 
Nov 4 -  Bookfan - review 
Nov 4 -  Svetlana's Reads and Views - review 
Nov 4 -  Svetlana's Reads and Views - interview
Nov 5 -  Il Mio Tesoro - review / interview / giveaway
Nov 5 -  Lady in Read - review / giveaway
Nov 7 -  Library of Clean Reads - review / giveaway
Nov 7 -  Like a Bump on a Blog -  interview / giveaway

In The Shoemaker's Wife Adriana Trigiani swept her readers across generations of an Italian family, from the Italian Alps at the turn of the twentieth century to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy. In The Supreme Macaroni Company, she weaves a heartbreaking story that begins on the eve of a wedding in New York's Greenwich Village, travels to New Orleans, and culminates in Tuscany. Family, work, romance, and the unexpected twists of life and fate all come together in an unforgettable narrative that Adriana Trigiani's many fans will adore. (from HarperCollins)

Join us for this contemporary women's fiction book tour from August 4 to 15. If you're interested in this tour leave a comment or contact us.

Book Details:
Book Title: The Supreme Macaroni Company by Adriana Trigiani
Category: Adult fiction, 352 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: November 2013 
Available in: Print only
Will send books to: US only
Tour dates:  August 4 to 15, 2014
Content Rating: PG* 


Book Synopsis:

In The Supreme Macaroni Company, Adriana Trigiani transports readers from the cobblestone streets of Greenwich Village to lush New Orleans to Italy and back again while exploring the tricky dynamics between Old World craftsmanship and New World ambition, all amid a passionate love affair that fuels one woman's determination to have it all.

For over a hundred years, the Angelini Shoe Company in Greenwich Village has relied on the leather produced by Vechiarelli & Son in Tuscany. This ancient business partnership provides the twist of fate for Valentine Roncalli, the schoolteacher turned shoemaker, to fall in love with Gianluca Vechiarelli, a tanner with a complex past . . . and a secret.

But after the wedding celebrations are over, Valentine wakes up to the hard reality of juggling the demands of a new business and the needs of her new family. Confronted with painful choices, Valentine remembers the wise words that inspired her in the early days of her beloved Angelini Shoe Company: "A person who can build a pair of shoes can do just about anything." Now the proud, passionate Valentine is going to fight for everything she wants and savor all she deserves—the bitter and the sweet of life itself.

Romantic and poignant, told with humor and warmth, and bursting with a cast of endearing characters, The Supreme Macaroni Company is a sumptuous feast of delights: an unforgettable narrative about family, work, romance, and the unexpected turns of life and fate.

Praise for The Supreme Macaroni Company:

“New York ambition clashes with dolce vita ease in Trigiani’s delicious latest. . . . Feisty and poignant . . . Readers will root for Valentine and the lessons she learns--which apply equally to designing elegant shoes and to crafting a rewarding life.”— PEOPLE

Meet the Author:

Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker. Her books include the New York Times bestseller The Shoemaker's Wife; the Big Stone Gap series; Very Valentine; Brava, Valentine; Lucia, Lucia; and the bestselling memoir Don't Sing at the Table, as well as the young adult novels Viola in Reel Life and Viola in the Spotlight. She wrote the screenplay for Big Stone Gap, which she also directed. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Connect with Adriana here: adrianatrigiani.com
Twitter: @adrianatrigiani
Facebook: facebook.com/adrianatrigiani

Book Tour Schedule:

This tour is fully booked

Aug 4 -   Suko's Notebook - review
Aug 4 -   Ivory Owl Reviews - review
Aug 5 -   I'd Rather Be At the Beach - review
Aug 5 -   One Frugal Girl - review
Aug 6 -   Studentessa Matta - review
Aug 7 -   Cindy's Love of Books - review
Aug 7-    Savings in Seconds - review
Aug 11 - Il Mio Tesore - review
Aug 11 - Cherry Blossoms - review
Aug 12 -#redhead.with.book - review
Aug 12 - Lady in Read - review
Aug 13 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review
Aug 13 - Celticlady's Reviews - review
Aug 14 - View From the Birdhouse - review
Aug 15 - Melina's Book Blog - review
Aug 15 - Library of Clean Reads - review