Historical Irish Fiction – A Struggle for Independence by P M Terrell @pmterrell

Posted on July 28, 2020 by fundinmental

P M Terrell is a prolific writer and a favorite of mine. A Struggle for Independence is a walk through the Ireland of yore. I am glad to have you joining us.

A Struggle for Independence by [p.m. terrell]

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I am amazed at how much I love A Struggle for Independence. I love a lot of details and well researched novels, along with fictional characters that make me forget they are not real, but historical fiction never used to be high on my list. I want to thank P M Terrell for changing that and supplying me with many wonderful hours of reading.

Independence saw his carriage approaching and the entire atmosphere of the house, along with her mood, became oppressive. He entered the castle and spit out her name, Independence, with the disdain he felt for the country’s thought of freedom in 1916 Ireland.

Stratford, Independence’s husband, runs his household like a tyrant. I immediately despised him. Her marriage to him had been arranged and happiness was in short supply. She had her secret life and…one night opened her eyes and changed her life forever.

Independence’s growth and development were a joy to read about. The trials and tribulations she goes through during war torn Ireland are frightening, disturbing, and all too familiar. It’s easy to visualize the unrest and reasons for it. Hungry, homeless, nothing to lose, cornered like a cat up a tree, pursued, enslaved, treated as a possession…not surprising they rose up and bit back…harshly. A reminder that history repeats itself.

P M Terrell’s historical novels spring to life with vivid characters and descriptions of the countryside. She is an artist, using words instead of paints to create her masterpieces. Her ability to merge fact and fiction makes reading about history an awesome adventure into the past.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Struggle for Independence by P M Terrell.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

It is 1916 Ireland, and Independence Mather has settled into a routine in an arranged and loveless marriage when she meets architect Nicky Bowers. She falls in love with the charming and attentive Irishman, but Nicky holds secrets. When she discovers he is an Irish rebel on the eve of the Easter Rising, events propel her into the midst of the rebellion. From Dublin’s GPO to Saint Stephen’s Green, she races to discover whether he is yet alive or he is one of those cut down by seasoned British forces arriving to put down the rebellion. At a crossroads in her life and in Ireland’s history, she must make a decision that will change her life forever: she can remain the wife of a British loyalist, or she can risk losing everything to be with the man she loves.

Set against the sweeping vistas of Ireland from Dublin to the Wicklow Mountains, terrell brings alive a tumultuous time in Ireland’s history, interweaving historical events and the people that gave their lives to ensure Ireland’s independence.

ABOUT P M TERRELL

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 21 books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical adventure/suspense, computer how-to and non-fiction.

Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence, themes that have carried forward to her contemporary suspense.

She has been a full-time author since 2002. Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee, and The Pendulum Files was a national finalist for the Best Cover of the Year in 2014. The Tempest Murders was one of four finalists in the 2013 International Book Awards, cross-genre category.

Her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee.

She is also the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She is the organizer and chairperson of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime. For more information on this event and the literacy campaigns funded by it, visit www.bookemnc.org. She is also the founder of The Novel Business, mentoring authors in the business end and selling of books.

She sits on the board of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library. She has also served on the boards of Robeson County Arts Council, Crime Stoppers and Crime Solvers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.

Website / Twitter / Facebook

MY REVIEWS FOR P M TERRELL

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Clans and Castles (Checkmate Book 1) by P M Terrell @pmterrell

Posted on January 29, 2020 by fundinmental

P M Terrell writes some fabulous historical fiction. Clans and Castles: Checkmate is based on a true story that takes place in Ireland. She is wonderful with her research, drawing me in and bringing the world alive. Soooo, let’s take a step back in time.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

P M Terrell surprises me every time I open one of her historical novels. I never used to read them very often, but she has completely won me over. Traveling back in time, whether it’s in the times of Indians in the United States or Clans and Castles in the countryside of Ireland. She incorporates her own personal history with fiction and I look forward to each and every adventure.

The characters leap off the pages as they struggle to survive the turbulent times. They grow and develop throughout the story.

P M Terrell takes a complicated history, unfolding it in easy to follow steps, drawing me in further and further.

Will’s curiosity earned him a place at Captain Stewart’s side. In his wildest dreams he never could have imagined what the future held in store for him…and it was the ride of a lifetime. He fit in quickly, adapting to his new role, using intuition and common sense.

P M Terrell made the political and personal machinations hard for me to figure out. I see betrayal and treachery around every corner. When you think some of the characters existed in one form or another, tweaked for fictional reading, it becomes more real to me.

Who is good and who is bad? It depends what side of the story you’re on, except for the one that pops up now and then, the narcissist in a position of power, a power that he uses and abuses causing much brutality and bloodshed.

P M Terrell brings the location alive by describing the bogs and mists with an otherworldly feel. It seems magical and mysterious.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Checkmate by P M Terrell.

GOODREADS BLURB

A window into the ancestors of anyone of Scot-Irish descent…

In 1608, William Neely left Wigtownshire, Scotland for Ulster. He was looking for his place in the world but what he found was the adventure of a lifetime.

Surrounded by powerful clans that had ruled Ulster for more than a thousand years, he came to know some of the most mighty chieftains of the time, including the formidable Cahir O’Doherty, who launched O’Doherty’s Rebellion with the burning of Derry and the killing of Sir George Paulet of His Majesty King James’ service. It would put in motion a chain of events that would transform Ireland and it would mark Cahir O’Doherty as the Last Gaelic Irish King in Ireland.

Cahir O’Doherty became the Lord of Inishowen as a teen after the death of his father. Known as The Queen’s O’Doherty due to his loyalty to Sir Henry Docwra and the English Crown, he saved his clan lands on the Inishowen Peninsula and his people from the fate that had befallen other Irish clans.

Peace would be short-lived, however, when Henry Docwra, Governor of Derry, was replaced by the ruthless Sir George Paulet, who ushered in a new wave of hatred for the Gaelic Irish. It would all come to a head on one fateful night when O’Doherty took the commander at Culmore Fort hostage along with his wife and son. Gaining access to the weapons at Culmore Fort, he led an invasion of Derry, burning the village to the ground. It would touch off a wave of events that would unite the major clans of Ulster, leading to a bombardment of Burt Castle, a counterattack in the Inishowen Peninsula and the burning of Ulster; a major battle at Kilmacrenan and finally a siege at Tory Island.

And when O’Doherty’s Rebellion was complete, it would usher in the age of The Plantation and mass immigration of Lowland Scots, encouraged by King James I to transform all of Ulster.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MY REVIEWS FOR P M TERRELL

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

A Ghostly Love Story – A Thin Slice of Heaven by P M Terrell @pmterrell

Posted on January 3, 2020 by fundinmental

A Thin Slice of Heaven by P M Terrell is a ghostly love story in the haunted lands of Ireland. P M Terrell infuses a bit of her history into her historical fiction making it all seem possible…if you believe in ghosts.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I have been loving P M Terrell’s work since I read my first book of hers, Vicki’s Key. Her ability to spin a tale of magic and mystery never fails me.

A freak snowstorm is always a good start, then add a haunted castle in Belfast, and Charleigh, who is supposed to meet her husband there for their anniversary. Everything about the book makes me eager to dive in.

“What you see a’fore you there is my Thin Slice of Heaven.”

Immediately Charleigh is thrown into a world of parallel universes, traveling between the past and the present…and he is there at her side, feeling familiar, yet something is off.

As the story unfolds, the characters come alive, drawing Charleigh deeper into the past and as the twist is exposed, the pieces all come together. A love story that surpasses time, eternal.

As reenactments of the past unfold before her eyes, I feel the terror and horror of the townspeople, and the family that inhabits the castle who feel responsible for all of them. I love the P M Terrell incorporates so much history in many of her novels, whether it’s ghosts of esp. Her research is topnotch.

Do you believe in ghosts? Reincarnation? Love that crosses all boundaries of time?

I do love to get lost and let the author take me where they want to, so that I can walk in a character’s footsteps and P M Terrell’s novels allow her stories to come to life right before my eyes.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Thin Slice of Heaven by P M Terrell.

GOODREADS BLURB

She had arranged to meet her husband in Northern Ireland for a second honeymoon, but when Charleigh arrives at the remote castle, she receives a message that he won’t be coming—and that he’s leaving her for another woman. Stranded for the weekend by a snow storm that has blocked all access to the castle, she finds herself three thousand miles from home in a country she knows nothing about.

She is soon joined by Sean Bracken, the great-grandson of Laird Bracken, the original owner of the castle, and she finds herself falling quickly and madly in love with him. There’s just one problem: he’s dead.

As the castle begins to come alive with secrets from centuries past, she finds herself trapped between parallel worlds. Caught up in a mass haunting, she can no longer recognize the line between the living and the dead. Now she’s discovering that her appearance there wasn’t by accident—and is more earth-shattering than she ever suspected.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MY REVIEWS FOR P M TERRELL

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway, Book Trailer & Review – April In The Back Of Beyond @pmterrell @GoddessFish

Posted on August 26, 2019 by fundinmental

P M Terrell writes some fabulous stories and just looking at the cover makes me want to enter those dilapidated gates and find out if Hayley will be the next victim or not.

Amazon / Goodreads

April in the Back of Beyond by p.m.terrell

GENRE: Romantic Suspense/Ghost Story

MY REVIEW

P M Terrell writes some amazing stories and her historical fiction makes me feel as if I can see the ruins, hear the cattle, smell the crisp air, and feel the fear of Hayley as she tries to figure out what the ghost wants from her. I love to anticipate the adventure, a ghost or two, and a bit of an education.

Hayley had been researching her lineage online for a historical novel, and now it was time to make the journey to discover it for herself.

Ireland has a complex history and I have always been confused by it. P M Terrell explains things in a way that I can begin to understand. Religion is a touchy subject no matter where you live, pitting brother against brother.

P M Terrell has a marvelous ability to bring to life the characters surroundings with vivid descriptions. I can see the stone fences and the patchwork quilt of the countryside. I felt like I was walking the meadows and the ruins. Desolate, burnt to the ground, making me want to know what happened to the people that lived there.

Hauntings seem to fit right in with a rainy, misty, foggy Ireland that is steeped in a confusing, at times brutal history. Violence continues to this day.

At the end, wrapped in a pretty bow for a sometimes ugly story, Fergal put a tear in my eye and a smile on my face.

P M Terrell has history in Ireland and weaves fact and fiction seamlessly. If you are a fan of historical fiction, you will want to check out her work. I love the personal touches she adds to her stories. It May have you questioning what’s real and who are the restless spirits.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of April in the Back of Beyond by P M Terrell.

BLURB

Writer Hayley Hunter has arrived in Ireland to complete a book on Irish history. When she discovers the old carriage house she is renting is haunted, she is determined to uncover the truth behind the burned ruins of a nearby manor house and the abandoned British barracks it overlooks. With the assistance of Shay Macgregor, an Irish historian, her quest will take her to 1919 and the Irish War for Independence, exposing the murders of two young men and why their mother, April Crutchley, refuses to leave the back of beyond even in death. With a budding romance and the opportunity to begin life anew, Hayley finds her own life is now in jeopardy as she gets closer to a truth the villagers have long sought to bury.

EXCERPTS

When I heard the soft sobs, I realized I had drifted off once more and in my half-awakened state, I thought the cries were connected to my discordant dreams. I lay there with a groan on my lips not quite ready to spill out and wishing I could simply sleep peacefully before it was too late and I would be forced to arise for the long day ahead. I felt the bedcovers slip away from my bare shoulders and I fought to open my eyes.

When they finally did open, I discovered that I was completely uncovered. The bedcovers had been pulled to the foot of the bed and were shivering inches from my feet as they lay heaped into an unkempt triangle about three feet in height. I blinked once and then twice, my mind not grasping what my eyes were witnessing, for surely it must be a trick of the eyes to think the covers were still moving.

It was then that I realized the soft sobs had continued even after I had fully awakened and they were not part and parcel of my overactive dream state but they were real and they were coming from the direction of the blanket.

“You don’t understand,” came the sound of a woman’s voice, wracked with anguished sobs. “They are still here.”

“No, sweet darling,” returned a weary man’s voice that sounded so close I nearly jumped out of my skin. “They are with God now.”

“I’m telling you they are not,” the woman answered, her weeping growing more tormented. “They’ve never left. They’re still here.”

Within the space of a single heartbeat, I saw myself just a few nights ago, convinced the voices came from outside my window. Then I was pulled into the present to fight the horrifying realization that I was sharing my bed with two apparitions.

I slid my feet away from the covers in excruciatingly slow progress, afraid at any moment my movements would alert the phantoms of my presence. I tucked my feet and knees close to my torso as I came to an uneasy seated position, almost fetal in an attempt to occupy as little space as possible.

The room had become an icebox despite the radiators and I found myself shivering almost in tandem with the blanket. I had no idea how long I sat there, curled against the headboard and pillows, watching the foot of the bed and listening to the disembodied voices that filled the air. But then something seemed to snap inside me, fully awakening me to the present time and despite my fear, despite my trepidation, I grew impatient with myself. I reached a trembling hand toward the bedcovers, intent on pulling them over me to fight the chill as well as reassure me that they were not wet.

But at the precise moment I felt the dampness under my fingers, the sobbing stopped, replaced by a gasp that was not my own. I yanked the covers to the side, determined to discover what mechanical device lay beneath. The material jerked away from me as though I was engaged in a tug-of-war and the gasp was replaced with a woman’s blood-curdling scream and a man’s shouts.

ABOUT P M TERRELL

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 23 books in multiple genres, including contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer instructional, non-fiction and children’s books.

Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in the detection of white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence.

A full-time author since 2002, Black Swamp Mysteries was her first series, inspired by the success of Exit 22, released in 2008. Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee, and The Pendulum Files was a national finalist for the Best Cover of the Year in 2014. Her second series, Ryan O’Clery Suspense, is also award-winning. The Tempest Murders (Book 1) was one of four finalists in the 2013 International Book Awards, cross-genre category. Her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. Songbirds are Free is her bestselling book to date; it is inspired by the true story of Mary Neely, who was captured in 1780 by Shawnee warriors near Fort Nashborough (now Nashville, TN).

She was the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She was the founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in the town of Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime and served as its chairperson and organizer for its first four years. She also served on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County (NC) Public Library, the Robeson County (NC) Arts Council, Virginia Crime Stoppers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.

For more information, book trailers, excerpts and more, visit the author’s website at www.pmterrell.com.

Website: https://pmterrell.com/
Twitter: @pmterrell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pmterrell.author/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pmterrell/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MY REVIEWS FOR P M TERRELL

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Fact & Fiction – River Passage by P M Terrell @pmterrell

Posted on July 24, 2019 by fundinmental

P M Terrell is a very talented author and I have been reading my way through all her books. Whether paranormal or historical, I have loved everyone of them. River Passage has a personal meaning for her and I found it fascinating.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

First thing, I would recommend reading this before Songbirds Are Free, which I didn’t do. River Passage is the characters journey to the west, which is based on a true story that revolves around the Donelson Party and Mary Neely, P M Terrell’s ancestor.

The writing brings the story to life, all the danger of the Indians, the rapids of the river, the threat of starvation and anything else you can think of during those times. I cannot imagine what they went through and some of it broke my heart, yet gave me hope and inspiration for those who would not give up.

I have a feeling, if they had an idea of how long their four week trip was going to be, many of them would have chose to stay where they were. I tried to walk in their footsteps through P M Terrell’s words, but I just couldn’t get there as I sat here on my cozy lounger.

P M Terrell continues to entertain and amaze me and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of River Passage by P M Terrell.

GOODREADS BLURB

The river journey should have taken four weeks. Instead, more than four months after they left, a ragtag group of settlers limped into Fort Nashborough with a harrowing tale. Their journey west had taken them through hostile Indian Territory at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. They faced constant attacks, near starvation, frostbite, disease and deadly whirlpools. Some were captured… some were killed… and some lived to tell the tale… Based on the true story of the Donelson Party of 1779-1780. Written from the perspective of Mary Neely, who was on the voyage with her nine brothers and sisters and mother. Mary is the focus of the book, Songbirds are Free; also by p.m.terrell and her capture by Shawnee warriors near Fort Nashborough.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MY REVIEWS FOR P M TERRELL

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

5 Star Historical Fiction Novel – Songbirds Are Free by P M Terrell @pmterrell

Posted on February 21, 2019 by fundinmental

It has only been recently that I have begun to read outside my favorite genres, and it is because of authors like P M Terrell. I first fell in love with her writing when I was reading the Black Swamp Mystery series and I never looked back.

Songbirds Are Free: Inspired by the True Story of the Abduction and Captivity of Mary Neely

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Close your eyes, take a deep breath and let your mind go. Imagine you are a pioneer woman, captured by the Indians, bound hand and foot and taken far from home. Imagine floating in a canoe, smelling the trees, feeling the wind on your face and listening to the boat knife through the water. Around the bend the prairie spreads out in its vastness and a herd of bison grow larger. There is a white buffalo. Have you heard of it?

Songbirds Are Free by P M Terrell is told from two points of view. One is Mary’s, the other is Jim’s. A relative who never gives up in his search for her.

Captured by Indians, Mary chose to live and wait patiently to escape, adopting the life instead of dying and her determination to survive and return to her family is amazing.

Songbirds Are Free is a piece of P M Terrell’s personal history, spiced up with her ability to write a story that will have you white knuckled, sometimes pissed off, sometimes sad, sometimes even spreading a smile or two across my face as I travel with P M Terrell in Mary’s fictional footsteps.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Songbirds Are Free by P M Terrell.

GOODREADS BLURB

Songbirds are Free is the story of Mary’s years in captivity and her eventual escape. It is a journey that will take her from present-day Nashville deep into Indian Territory–through Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan before she is able to successfully escape her captors. It is the story of courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds. It is the story of one woman’s effort to survive a brutal existence and travel hundreds of miles alone to be reunited with her family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MY REVIEWS FOR P M TERRELL