Forsaking All Other by Catherine Meyrick Blog Tour with Personal Review :)

Forsaking All Other by Catherine Meyrick

Publication Date: April 1, 2018

Courante Publishing

eBook & Print; 291 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Love is no game for women; the price is far too high. England 1585. Bess Stoughton, waiting woman to the well-connected Lady Allingbourne, has discovered that her father is arranging for her to marry an elderly neighbour. Normally obedient Bess rebels and wrests from her father a year’s grace to find a husband more to her liking. Edmund Wyard, a taciturn and scarred veteran of England’s campaign in Ireland, is attempting to ignore the pressure from his family to find a suitable wife as he prepares to join the Earl of Leicester’s army in the Netherlands. Although Bess and Edmund are drawn to each other, they are aware that they can have nothing more than friendship. Bess knows that Edmund’s wealth and family connections place him beyond her reach. And Edmund, with his well-honed sense of duty, has never considered that he could follow his own wishes. Until now. With England on the brink of war and fear of Catholic plots extending even into Lady Allingbourne’s household, time is running out for both of them. You can read the first chapter here. The beautiful cover for the novel was designed by Jennifer Quinlan of Historical Fiction Book Covers.

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***MY PERSONAL REVIEW***

I really enjoyed reading this book - I LOVED the character of Bess, she is a strong-willed, independent and yet still vulnerable woman.  Her father has remarried and had more children and she loathes her stepmother but after visiting them upon the birth of their newest child, she comes to actually enjoy the company of her younger sisters, and they adore her.  Of course being widowed and having lost a baby, her father now wants her to immediately remarry the man of his choosing which was normal for that time period.  But Bess rails against it, she will not have it happen again, she is determined to get her way.  Into the mix comes Edmund who is from a much more prominent family and they have an instant connection, even though Bess would not be considered a proper wife for him.  This was a time in history when young people of good families didn't have options, they were told what to do, who to marry and were pressed upon in every way.  It's relatable to today in the sense that even though we don't have arranged marriages in our society now, parents still put a lot of pressure on their children to marry well, there are still biases against people and a lot of times the children will rebel - just like Bess is doing.  But the question is will Bess continue to rebel and get Edmund to do the same so they can be together?  Or will they both do their expected duties to their families and marry as their parents wish?  I give this book 5 stars because I love historical fiction and this was a very well researched book and the history is very true to reality.  That is what makes a historical fiction book a great one.  I am definitely left wanting to read more from this author! 

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About the Author

Catherine Meyrick is a writer of historical fiction with a particular love of Elizabethan England. Her stories weave fictional characters into the gaps within the historical record – tales of ordinary people who are very much men and women of their time, yet in so many ways not unlike ourselves. Although she grew up in regional Victoria, Australia, she has lived all her adult life in Melbourne. She has worked as a nurse, a tax assessor and finally a librarian. She has a Master of Arts in history and is also a family history obsessive. For more information, please visit Catherine Meyrick's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, June 4 Review at Broken Teepee Excerpt at Teaser Addicts Book Blog Tuesday, June 5 Review at Impressions In Ink Review at Books and Glamour Wednesday, June 6 Review & Excerpt at Laura's Interests Thursday, June 7 Review at Donna's Book Blog Interview at Let Them Read Books Friday, June 8 Review at Pursuing Stacie Feature at CelticLady's Reviews Saturday, June 9 Review at Cup of Sensibility Sunday, June 10 Review & Excerpt at Clarissa Reads it All Monday, June 11 Review at What Cathy Read Next Tuesday, June 12 Feature at Historical Fiction with Spirit Wednesday, June 13 Excerpt at Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen Thursday, June 14 Interview at Books and Glamour Feature at Faery Tales Are Real Friday, June 15 Review at WS Momma Readers Nook Saturday, June 16 Feature at Passages to the Past Monday, June 18 Review at The Caffeinated Bibliophile

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away 2 paperback copies of Forsaking All Other! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below. Giveaway Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on June 18th. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion. – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen. Forsaking All Other