A Bright Particular Star Book Club Read

A Bright Particular Star has been chosen as the Astraea Press Book Club read for September 2013. 

You can join the discussion on the open Astraea Press Book Club Facebook group and if you'd like a free copy, send an email to reviewcoordinator@att.net.

Several ABPS characters have a very special place in my heart. It's a Regency road romance with a bit of mystery and suspense thrown in - kind of It Happened One Night meets Ocean's Twelve ;-D

If you're wondering about the title, it's taken from Shakespeare's play All's Well That Ends Well - 'That I Should Love A Bright Particular Star and Think to Wed it' - but you need to dive into ABPS and unravel the mystery to see exactly why it works.

If you have questions or comments, post them on the Facebook group and I'll respond; I love connecting with readers :)

 

A Bright Particular Star

A Bright Particular Star has a new cover and a new offer price!

Here's the gorgeous new cover and check out the offer price of 99 cents or equivalent while it lasts :) 

Buy links below...

Amazon 
Amazon UK
B&N Nook
Kobo 

or see A Bright Particular Star page on my website here for full list.

And coming next month (June 2013)...a brand new edition of Midsummer Eve at Rookery End, featuring the complete collection of Midsummer Eve stories including a brand new story!

More details to follow - watch this space ;0)

Giveaway ending soon, The Golden Age of English Food & Festival of Romance

Goodreads Giveaway

There are only a few hours left to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a signed copy of A Bright Particular Star.  Just click on the widget below to enter before the deadline :0)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Bright Particular Star

by Elizabeth Hanbury

Giveaway ends November 20, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

BBC Four Calf's Head and Coffee: The Golden Age of English Food

If you are you in the UK, you might like to watch Calf's Head and Coffee: The Golden Age of English Food on BBC 4 at 9pm this evening.  Food writer Stefan Gates delves into the past to discover the origins of British cuisine, focusing on an often overlooked golden age, some 300 years ago.  He re-creates a host of recipes in his kitchen, although I'm not sure all of them will catch on in the modern domestic kitchen.  Calf's Head surprise, anyone?!

In this clip, Stefan and food historian Ivan Day discuss puddings and why they are such an English thing (see also my earlier post about British Pudding Day).

Clip from BBC Four's Calf's Head and Coffee - why are puddings an English thing?

There are several recipes here, all taken from their original texts, including this one for Parmesan Cheese Ice Cream!

Parmesan Cheese Ice Cream

(taken from The Complete Confectioner by Frederic Nutt published in 1807)

Take six eggs, half a pint of syrup, and a pint of cream ; put them into a stewpan and boil them until it begins to thicken ; then rasp three ounces of Parmasan cheese, mix and pass them through a sieve, and freeze it.

Festival of Romance

The Festival of Romance was held during 16-18th November in Bedford.  It was a fabulous event and although I only managed to attend on Saturday, I had a great time.  My author friend and fellow Coffee Crew member Phillipa Ashley won best e-book award for Miranda's Mount - very well deserved as it's a great read!    

You can view the official photo stream for the event, but here is my shot of the lovely Dan and Sarah from Tread the Boards Theatre Group, who played the perfect Regency gentleman and lady ;0)

Goodreads Giveaway & Ice Angel offer

 
Ice Angel has been selected by Amazon to appear in their special promotion for November.

 It’s currently just 99p on Amazon UK/$1.56 on Amazon.com !

And I'm also running a Goodreads giveaway for a signed paperback copy of the sequel to Ice Angel, A Bright Particular Star.

Just click on the link below to enter :0)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Bright Particular Star

by Elizabeth Hanbury

Giveaway ends November 20, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Astraea Press: Astraea Press Summer Sale

 Take advantage of this fabulous offer from Astraea Press - almost all their ebooks (including A Bright Particular Star) are available for just 99 cents (or equivalent) from Amazon and Barnes and Noble until 31st July!

So hurry and grab some great summer reading :)

Summer Snippets & Cherry Ripe

 A Bright Particular Star features on the Summer Snippets series at the Astraea Press blog today.  Pop over and take a look via this link.

I've also been out and about recently and you can see my photos from David Austin Roses and Old Moseley Hall by following the individual links to my Facebook author page.



One of my favourite summer fruit, English cherries, are ready for picking now.  Did you know...

Cherry Ripe by John Everett Millais

• Girls used to predict who they would marry with the cherry-stone counting rhyme, Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor
• Before the invention of hot water bottles, heated cherry stones were placed in pans to warm beds.
• Legend has it that you can trace old Roman roads in Britain by wild cherry trees.  Soliders munching on the fruit spat out the stones whiles travelling the country.

Cherry ripe, cherry ripe,
Ripe I cry,
Full and fair ones
Come and buy.
Cherry ripe, cherry ripe,
Ripe I cry,
Full and fair ones
Come and buy

(English song, words by poet Robert Herrick 1591–1674, and music by Charles Edward Horn 1786–1849)

Glamour Puds

Everyone loves a pudding (or if you prefer, dessert).  I know I do *g*  So I was delighted to stumble across a little gem of a programme on Channel 4 called Glamour Puds.

Glamour Puds is presented by one of the world's best patisserie chefs, Eric Lanlard.  Series 2, currently showing again on Channel 4 in the UK is about the legacy of the very first celebrity chef, Marie-Antoine Careme.

Over 10 episodes Eric and his guests chart Careme's rise from humble beginnings in late 18th century Paris to become 'King of Chefs', his influence on patisserie and his legacy.

And along the way, Eric makes some sumptuous desserts :0)  All the recipes are listed on the Channel 4 website here by searching for Glamour Puds.    Check out this link on YouTube too ;0)


Souffle Pompadour is one of my favourites.  Yum!



Marie-Antoine Careme gets a brief mention in my latest Regency romance, A Bright Particular Star, available from Astraea Press, Amazon US, Amazon UK, B&N, Smashwords.

Happy Cooking!

New release and free download offer!

Yay, my new Regency novel published by Astraea Press - A Bright Particular Star - will be released a little earlier than expected on 5th April 2012!  I'm so looking forward to this novel being 'out there'; I really love the story and characters so fingers crossed readers will too :)

Keep checking back on my web-site, blog, Facebook page etc. over the next few days...I'll be uploading excerpts and teasers before the big day.  

Although it can be read as a stand-alone, A Bright Particular Star features characters from a previous book, Ice Angel, so look out for the Kindle edition of that when it releases in the summer.

And for three days only - Sat 31st March, Sun 1st April, Monday 2nd April - my short story collection Midsummer Eve at Rookery End is available for FREE download from Amazon. 

Hurry and get your copy before 2nd April!