Time Enough by Lise Mayne

 

 

Time Enough 
By Lise Mayne 

Ebook & Paperback
Publication Date: 1st January 2025

Publisher: Oprelle Publications

Page Length: 507

Genre: Historical Fiction

Audiobook
Publication Date: August 4th, 2026

Publisher: Oprelle Publications

Listening Length: 19 hours 3 minute

Genre: Historical Fiction
Narrator: Keena Herman

A determined mother. A loyal son. An unforgettable journey.

When Euphemia and her family leave the rugged Isle of Man in search of a better life, they carry little more than hope, determination, and an unbreakable bond with one another. Their journey takes them across continents—from the windswept shores of Britain to the forests of Ontario and the vast prairie landscapes of Saskatchewan—where every new beginning demands sacrifice.

Through hardship, heartbreak, unexpected love, and the relentless challenges of frontier life, generations of one family discover that courage is often quiet, and home is something built one day at a time.

Richly researched and inspired by true family history, Time Enough is an unforgettable historical novel celebrating resilience, tradition, and the enduring strength of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.

Perfect for listeners who enjoy emotionally rich historical fiction, multigenerational family sagas, and stories that linger long after the final chapter.

Spanning continents and generations, Time Enough follows a courageous woman and her eldest son as they leave the Isle of Man behind, chasing a future across the Atlantic. From bustling Michigan to the rugged beauty of Manitoulin Island and the vast plains of Saskatchewan, they battle loss, betrayal, and the hard truths of survival in an unforgiving new world. As their past clings tight and the future demands sacrifice, one question endures: What does it take to finally feel at home?

Lise Mayne delivers a sweeping, emotionally charged novel for fans of The Nightingale, The Book of Negroes, and The Giver of Stars — a story of grit, heart, and the enduring power of family.

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Lise Mayne

Lise Mayne (aka LG Pomerleau) writes poetry and prose from her home in Alberta, Canada.

Becoming Sand, 2012, presented a fictional Canadian-Francophone family’s history. Time Enough, Oprelle Publications, 2024, is the saga of a family migrating from Isle of Man to Canada, via Michigan, in the early 1900s. Time Enough won Bronze in the Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year award, 2025, Historical Fiction, Westward Expansion. Lise’s award-winning poetry appears in several international literary publications.

Lise volunteers as a bluebird monitor, plays the harp, and cherishes her family.

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Book Club Read for August: Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory

She ​rose as a favourite. Will she fall as a traitor?

In the dazzling, dangerous world of the Tudor Court, nothing is more powerful than a secret – or more deadly.

Jane Boleyn has mastered many masks: loving wife, devoted sister, and obedient spy.

But as the king's rule advances into tyranny, Jane must decide: keep playing her part, or use the only power she really has – her voice.

Philippa Gregory brings the Boleyn traitor into the light in an explosive story of one woman’s survival in the treacherous heart of the Tudor court.

Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was one of those historical novels that made me realise how easily I had accepted one version of a woman because history has repeated it often enough. I went into Boleyn Traitor knowing Jane Boleyn mostly as the woman accused of betraying Anne and George, and came away thinking far more about the person who might have existed behind that reputation.

There’s something almost claustrophobic about the Tudor court here. Everything is beautiful and extravagant, but nobody ever feels entirely safe. Jane learns to listen, observe and make herself useful, particularly to Thomas Cromwell, and I loved seeing how information gradually becomes her own form of power. She isn’t always likeable and she certainly doesn't always make sensible choices, but that made her feel much more human.

What stayed with me most was the constant need to survive. Jane watches people she loves fall, sees queens arrive and disappear, and somehow continues to find a place for herself. By the time Catherine Howard enters the story, Jane has survived so much that there is almost a sense that she has begun to believe she knows how to navigate Henry’s court. Knowing where her involvement with Catherine and Thomas Culpeper will eventually lead gives those later chapters a real sadness.

Gregory also captures how quickly loyalty can become dangerous when one man has so much power. Henry’s presence seems to hang over everything, even when he isn't actually in the room, and you constantly feel how carefully everyone has to speak and behave.

Boleyn Traitor made me curious about the real Jane Boleyn rather than simply the version of her that has survived through history. We can never really know what she thought or why she made some of the choices she did, but I loved spending time with Gregory’s interpretation of her. It left me wondering whether Jane was really a traitor at all, or simply a woman who became very good at surviving until, finally, she wasn't.

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Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned historian and novelist. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature at the University of Edinburgh and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff, an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London and she was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to literature and to charity. Her novels have been adapted for stage and screen and in 2023 she published her groundbreaking history book, Normal Women - 900 Years of Making History, which was also released as a podcast, a teen edition and a series for young children.

Queen Anna by Tony Riches

 

Queen Anna

(Stuart Queens Trilogy)
By Tony Riches

Publication Date: July 9th, 2026

Publisher: Preseli Press

Pages: 366

Genre: Historical Fiction

A crown won in the eye of a storm. A queen who refuses to be broken...

Princess Anna of Denmark sails for Scotland to marry King James VI, but storms ravage her fleet, igniting a deadly obsession with witchcraft in her new home. Arriving in a strange and paranoid court, Anna finds her new husband’s bed is a treacherous place.

Surrounded by whispering courtiers and shifting alliances, Anna refuses to remain a passive pawn. When the court takes her children to raise them away from her, the young queen draws her line in the sand. 

From the windswept castles of Scotland to the glittering, dangerous English court, Anna is restored to her rightful place in history.

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Tony Riches

Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of historical fiction. He lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the lives of the early Tudors. As well as his Elizabethan series, Tony’s historical fiction novels include the best-selling Tudor trilogy and his Elizabethan series. 

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VIA MALORUM II by G.G. MacLeod

 

Via Malorum II

By G.G MacLeod

Publication Date: October 7th, 2025

Publisher: independently published

Pages: 218

Genre: Historical Fiction / Psychological Thriller / Giallo

VIA MALORUM II: INITIUM ENIM EST FINIS

In the frozen shadows of Rome’s Appian Way, December 25th, 19 CE, a four-year-old prodigy walks among the mourners, her heart untouched by grief. Julia Agrippina, born with a mind sharper than any gladius and a soul devoid of fear, sees her father’s funeral not as an end, but a beginning. In a world of snarling mobs and scheming kin, she learns the first lessons of power: to deceive, to kill, to outmaneuver.

Guided by the cunning Sejanus and shadowed by the wild-eyed Messalina, Agrippinilla navigates a labyrinth of betrayal where every ally hides a dagger. As winter’s chill cloaks The Eternal City, whispers of poison and treachery swirl around her family’s throne. The Prophet’s warnings echo faintly, but for a child who embraces, fate is merely a game to be won.

Via Malorum II plunges deeper into Rome’s heart of vice, where ambition is a blade that cuts both ways. A chilling prequel to the visceral saga, this tale of a psychopath’s genesis blends Stoic wisdom with blood-soaked intrigue. In the war of all against all, who will rise when the snow falls red?

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G.G. MacLeod

G.G. MacLeod is a 59-year-old Canadian male based in Calgary.

The author has always had a tendency of combining genres like horror and action along with drama, psychological thrillers, giallo, and sometimes even comedy.

It really depends on how the author feels from moment to moment as they write because the author likes to entertain themselves first and then hope that a smattering of other people out there in the world will like it as well.

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Renaissance Rivals by Karen Essex

 

Publication Date: July 18th, 2026
Publisher: Kleopatra Books
Pages: 311
Genre: Historical Fiction

Renaissance Rivals, the long-awaited sequel to the global bestseller Leonardo’s Swans, brings to life the brutal rivalry between two of history’s most fascinating women: Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, celebrated in her own lifetime as “The First Lady of the World,” and Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of the infamous Pope Alexander VI and one of the most maligned women in history.

Before the doomed duchess of Maggie O'Farrel's The Marriage Portrait, there were women who built the courts, forged the alliances, and turned power into art. Renaissance Rivals invites readers to step back one generation into the glittering, dangerous world that shaped the Italy of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Niccolò Machiavelli.

Pitted against each other by the ruthless political landscape and by the men they loved, Isabella and Lucrezia must learn how to survive in a world where women are treated as prizes, pawns, and weapons. Their battle is intimate, brilliant, and borders on the fatal, a war fought with jewels, letters, seduction, betrayal, and the strategic intelligence of women who refuse to disappear.

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Karen Essex

Karen Essex is the national and international bestselling author of Run, Darling, Kleopatra, Pharaoh, Leonardo's Swans, Stealing Athena, Dracula in Love, and Bettie Page: Life of a PinUp Legend.

All feature iconic women—powerful women that seduced the world and ruled it. Essex is also an active screenwriter and speaker, and an award-winning journalist.

She divides her time between Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Europe. Her novels are published in twenty-nine languages.

Leonardo’s Swans, the prequel to Renaissance Rivals, was a runaway bestseller in Italy and won the prestigious Premio Roma for Foreign Fiction.

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The Duke and the Spirits of the Past by Michael Stolle

 

The Duke and the Spirits of the Past

(The Duke of Hertford)

By Michael Stolle

Publication Date: June 1st, 2026

Publisher: independently published

Pages: 427

Genre: Historical Fiction

A gripping historical novel full of intrigue, dark secrets, and deadly struggles for power!

France in the 17th century – an age of conflict, love, and honour, where any means are justified in the pursuit of power. Henri de Beauvoir is a man who will stop at nothing — even making a pact with the devil — to achieve his sinister ambitions. As the ruthless cousin of the Marquis de Beauvoir and Duke of Hertford, he spins a perilous web of deception, intrigue, and betrayal to bring about his cousin’s downfall.

A secret enemy from the past threatens to destroy the Marquis.
Danger lurks in the shadows — always ready to strike.
An unexpected love may change everything.

When the fate of the Marquis hangs in the balance, a deadly game of cat and mouse unfolds — one where every move is could prove fatal. Can Henri carry out his dark plans, or will the secrets buried in his past become his downfall?

Perfect for fans of Ken Follett, Rebecca Gablé, and Philippa Gregory!

• Historical setting with atmosphere and authentic detail
• Intrigue, betrayal, and a ruthless battle between two men over a great inheritance
• A dark anti-hero battling his own demons
• Suspense right through to the final page!

Dive into a world of power, passion, and dark secrets!

Get your copy now and lose yourself in an epic historical adventure!

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Michael Stolle

Michael Stolle, award-winning and best-selling author, was born and educated in Europe. His enduring passion for history has deeply enriched his understanding of the human experience. Through his exploration, he has arrived at a powerful insight: the core essence of humanity is timeless, remaining as relevant today as it was in the 17th century.

Stolle started his writing journey in 2012, and since then, he has enthralled readers worldwide, selling over 250,000 copies of his books. His compelling narratives offer an immersive experience that breathes life into the richness of history, inviting readers to engage with the past in an intimate and vivid way.

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The Fern Flower by Kathleen Shoop

Publication Date: August 1st, 2026

Publisher: independently published

Pages: 598

Genre: Historical Fiction

Russia 1908-1917

Every good folktale reveals villains and heroes. Mila Belova’s world is overflowing with both.

Born into privilege as the daughter of the Tsar’s favored vodka maker, Mila appears to have everything: wealth, status, and a household devoted to her happiness. But behind the gilded doors of her family estate, she is trapped by the cruelty of a stepmother whose greatest wish is to give birth to her own child.

Each summer on Ivan Kupala Eve, Russia turns its gaze to river bends and forest floors in search of the legendary Fern Flower—a mythical bloom said to grant fortune, power, and the deepest desires of the heart. Only one person had ever found it.

Until Mila.

Years later, in the fading grandeur of Petrograd, Mila and her friends slip into the fabled Stray Dog Café, once the sanctuary of Russia’s most daring artists and dreamers. Inspired by its ghosts, murals, and memories, Mila's group resurrects the work she'd first imagined as a child. The Fern Flower is a breathtaking ballet drawn from folklore, magic, and the secrets of Mila’s past.

But in the fiercely competitive ranks of the Imperial Ballet School, talent is never enough. Though Mila wrote the ballet and her gifted musician friend composed its score, rivals question whether Mila is worthy of claiming the coveted lead role.

As World War I intensifies and revolution ignites, the Russia Mila knows begins to collapse. Family secrets surface, loyalties are tested, and the people she loves begin to disappear. When her parents flee and her young brother’s life hangs in the balance, Mila is faced with an impossible choice: remain with the found family who helped her chase her dreams or risk everything to save the person who needs her most.

With Russian folklore, imperial grandeur, and the fierce beauty of ballet, The Fern Flower is a sweeping tale of ambition, friendship, sacrifice, and the magic that survives even when the world is falling apart.

Praise for The Fern Flower:

"IThis book is outstanding in its decision to tell the story through the eyes of the moon, Grusha... The character development of Mila is beautifully rendered."

~ The Historical Fiction Company

"Shoop captures the transformation of a young girl's world in a manner all kinds of readers will find fascinating. Librarians can thus highly recommend The Fern Flower's wide reach to audiences who will relish the story... As for the moon, she comes full circle to influence, abet, and reflect events in a satisfyingly original manner that readers won't see coming."

~ D. Donovan, Sr Review, Midwest Book Review

"Deeply moving in the cultural currents it captures... The family dynamics are one of the key elements that make it a must-read."

~ Readers’ Favorite

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Kathleen Shoop

Bestselling author, Kathleen Shoop, PhD’s novels have won awards in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Eric Hoffer Book Awards, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more.

Kathleen has more than twenty years of experience in the classroom and has been featured in USA Today and the Writer’s Guide. She co-coordinates Mindful Writers Retreats and co-coordinated the 2023 Pennwriters Conference.

She frequently teaches and is a regular presenter at conferences for writers.

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