Sunday, December 11, 2016

Promotional Post: Men of the Cross by Charlene Newcomb #Review #Giveaway





Author: Charlene Newcomb
Book: Men of the Cross
Series: Battle Scars book 1
Publisher: Blue X Entertainment
Publication date: April 28, 2014
Length: 355 pages


Reviewed by Meredith

Synopsis

War, political intrigue and passion… heroes… friends and lovers… and the seeds for a new Robin Hood legend await you…

Two young knights’ journey to war at Richard the Lionheart’s side sweeps them from England to the Holy Land in this historical adventure set against the backdrop of the Third Crusade.

Henry de Grey leaves Southampton in high spirits, strong in his faith and passionate about the mission to take Jerusalem back from Saladin’s army. Stephan l’Aigle’s prowess on the battlefield is well known, as are his exploits in the arms of other men. He prizes duty, honour and loyalty to his king above all else. But God and the Church? Stephan has little use for either.

Henry’s convictions are challenged by loss and the harsh realities of bloody battles, unforgiving marches, and the politics of the day. Man against man. Man against the elements. Man against his own heart. Survival will depend on more than a strong sword arm.










Review




Men of the Cross is book one in Charlene Newcomb's Battle Scars series. Men of the Cross is every historical fan's dream! It's a truly epic adventure. It's war, love, blood, sweat, tears, triumphs, and failures. 

This is told in the POV's of Stephan l'Aigle and Sir Henry de Grey, Knights in King Richard the Lionheart's army. They develop a friendship; which in war, so close to so much tragedy, is normal.

Stephan and Henry's love affair isn't an easy one to fold into. Stephan falls hard for Henry. Stephan being gay and Henry being religiously bound; presented moral questions and a tangle of situations.

We deal with so many political and religious battles in this book.. Written within a time when same sex relationships were forbidden. Where such relationships were a fatal crime. That always pulls at my heart. To have love be denied but it being so strong that the lovers involved would rather die than be forced apart *sigh*

When you take Stephan and Henry's personal and professional situations and meld them together, you get a very intense, rich, intoxicating story.

Charlene Newcomb's writing is exemplary. Her grasp on history is breathtaking; add in the fact she created a love story within history... I must applaud her.

This book, in no way, could have been easy to write, even though it's flawless. It was breath-stealing at times to read.

This is a book for everyone. One I highly recommend for those who love literature.






 About Charlene Newcomb


Charlene Newcomb, aka Char, is currently working on Book III of her Battle Scars series, 12th century historical adventures filled with war, political intrigue, and a knightly romance of forbidden love set during the reign of Richard the Lionheart.

While medieval historical fiction has her under its spell at the moment, her writing roots are in the Star Wars Expanded Universe where she published her first short story in 1994 in the Star Wars Adventure Journal. She has also dabbled in contemporary fiction - Keeping the Family Peace is a family saga/coming of age story centering on the lives of a Navy family.

Char was a Supporting Author at GRL2016. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society (HNS) and a contributor and blog editor for English Historical Fiction Authors. Her Battle Scars books are indieBRAG Medallion honorees; Book II is an HNS Editors Choice and also a finalist in the Chaucer Awards for pre-1750 Historical Fiction.

Librarian by day.
Mom to 3 grown, amazing children.
She lives in Kansas. Yes, Toto. Kansas.

Connect with Char:  website | Facebook | Twitter

Bonus: Sign up for Char's Mailing List and she will welcome you with a chapter from For King and Country (that isn't part of the Amazon sample). Her Mailing List will be used sparingly to offer exclusive content and to let you be the first to know about special offers.







 Giveaway

Charlene will be gifting one person a copy of Men of the Cross
AND a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card!
Be sure to enter the rafflecopter below.
Contest will end December 18th.
Thank you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for the post Charlene. To be honest I have never read any books you wrote, but this one sounds very interesting.

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  2. A new to me author. I'm slowly coming back to historicals so this is just what I have been looking for. Thanks!

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  3. Sounds interesting, thanks for the giveaway!

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  4. This looks very different. Im looking forward to jumping into a different type of m/m novel.

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  5. You are new to me but I look forward to reading your books.

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  6. Congrats and thanks for the post. YES, I so love gay historicals, especially set at this time. Growing up I was all about King Arthur, Robin Hood, 3 Musketeers ... And I've been looking at this series for quite a while.
    Purple Reader - TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com

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  7. It will be interesting to see what parallels can be drawn with the religious and political wars being fought in the same locale today!

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  8. I haven't read Charlene's books before but I do love historicals and this sounds like an awesome one! Thank you for the post!

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  9. I have this already in my tbr list, so was excited to read Meredith's review. Now at the top of the list!!!!

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  10. I haven't had the pleasure to read this author yet but I added the books to my TBR list. I love historical romance.

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  11. I love historicals. It is one of my favourite genres. Although I've not read any of your books, yet, but this one sounds really good.

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  12. I've always loved historical book and this one sounds fascinating. I'm adding the book to my wish list.

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  13. I briefly met Charlene Newcomb at GRL in Kansas City, and am definitely looking forward to reading this series! I love the time period and historical fiction is one of my favorites.

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  14. The Battle Scars series is one that people should read! Personally, I think a Mini-Series for TV should be made from this series. When I first started reading Men of the Cross I never knew what to expect so to my surprise I feel in LOVE with the series and am waiting for Book III.

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  15. I haven't read your books but I slowly enjoy historical MM romance.

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  16. Sounds like a great book, would love to read it !Love Historical MM

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  17. New to me author bur this sounds really interesting

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  18. Thanks for the post! I do love historicals, but haven't yet read any of Charlene's books. This one sounds great, so I will have to check them out.

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  19. Hi Charlene! Congrats on the new book and good luck on the book tour! I am new to your books, but I do enjoy historicals and look forward to checking out your books!

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