That Catskill Summer by Bart Charlow

That Catskill Summer by Bart Charlow

Publication Date: April 21st, 2026

Publisher: independently published

Pages: 318

Genre: Historical Romance / Literary Romance

He wrote the book he lived. Now she wants to rewrite the ending.

For fans of the 1960s Catskills era of Dirty Dancing, this is a very different kind of love story.

Author Aaron Ben-Ami’s steamy novel, based on a failed youthful love affair in the "Summer of Love" Borscht Belt, is a sensation. Love was easy to come by in the resort culture of the early sexual revolution, but not so easy to keep. Now, as his story is being made into a movie starring Isobel “Izzy” Sandler, the past and present are about to collide.

Ironically, it was a chance meeting with Izzy that inspired Aaron to write the book in the first place—she was his muse. But as they grow close during filming, Izzy discovers the raw truth behind the fiction. She is the granddaughter of Elyse, the real woman who modeled for the novel’s lead—and Aaron's greatest "what if".

Set against the richly textured backdrop of a disappearing American era, That Catskill Summer is a story of what we miss in the moment and what stays with us long after. It is a journey through the humor, the heat, and the heartbreak of youth, told through the reflective eyes of someone who survived it.

Perfect for readers of emotionally rich, time-layered fiction who value reflection over resolution – and those who believe that a single summer can define a lifetime.

Universal Buy Link

B&N Paperback Link

Bart Charlow

Bart A. Charlow is an author, consultant, and retired therapist whose writing explores the intricate intersections of memory, legacy, and the human heart. With over 45 years as a visual artist and photographer, Bart brings a painterly eye to his prose, capturing the atmospheric beauty and lingering shadows of the people and places that shape us.

Born into the carnival life of a Borscht Belt Catskills hotel family, he has never let the ordinary constrain him.

His first book, A Catskill Carnival: My Borscht Belt Life Lived, Lost and Loved, is a memoir of his early years in a unique setting, coming to terms with it and cherishing its life lessons. Pickle Barrel Tales: More Borscht Belt BS is the companion book of over 50 wry vignettes from several “mountain rats”.

A true son of the Catskills, Bart’s deep connection to the "Borscht Belt" Dirty Dancing era serves as the foundation for his storytelling. His novels delve into the complex emotional landscapes of mature characters, often focusing on the ways the past refuses to stay buried and how new love must contend with old ghosts. His latest series is “Lived-In LoveTM”, dedicated to telling realistic relationship stories with deep emotional connections, not the usual tropes.

Whether through a camera lens, a paintbrush, or the written word, Bart is dedicated to capturing the "circus of memories" that defines the mature experience.

He writes a regular column, “Bart on Art”, for The San Mateo Daily Journal.

Bart has been a favored speaker on TV, radio and in print media for decades and is recognized for his service in the United States Congressional Record.

Among honors he holds is the Jefferson Award for his community leadership and service.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, grown children and grandchildren.

Connect with Bart:

Website • Facebook • Instagram

Amazon Author Page • Goodreads

Rescued by the Rakish Lord by Sarah Mallory

Rescued by the Rakish Lord by Sarah Mallory

Publication Date: April 23rd, 2026

Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon

Pages: 276

Genre: Historical Romance

A man of such dubious reputation…

that he was called Devil Blackbourne!

When Lord Deveril Blackbourne meets Selina Wynter, he is intrigued. For she has all the accomplishments of a lady, but the fiery temper and spirit of a tavern maid! Then she is abducted by a dastardly suitor, and Deveril—for all his roguish reputation— can’t stand idly by… 

Lord Deveril is Selina’s least likely rescuer, but when they’re stranded together in a snowstorm and her reputation is at risk, he surprises her with a gallant proposal! Deveril’s no honourable suitor, yet his actions say otherwise…

Just who is the real Devil Blackbourne? Selina’s determined to find out!

Excerpt

Deveril and Selina meet while out riding

Selina first encountered Lord Deveril when she was masquerading as a maid at a posting inn. Intrigued, he has returned to Torrisford and come in search of her…

‘Miss Wynter, we meet again!’ His dark eyes were full of laughter. ‘You are a deuced elusive lady. I have been riding around here for days, hoping to see you.’

‘Do I know you, sir?’ She treated him to a haughty stare. There was still a possibility he might not recognise her.

He grinned. ‘We have not been formally introduced, but I wanted to find you, to thank you for that tankard of ale.’

Only for a moment did Selina consider disclaiming any knowledge. It would be futile, so instead she gave him a look intended to depress pretension.

‘Well now you have thanked me, so you may go on your way. Or rather, you should return the way you came. Perhaps you are unaware that you are trespassing.’

‘No, am I? This way leads to Reigney Abbey, does it not?’

She turned Orion, saying pointedly, ‘Goodbye, Lord Deveril.’

‘If you are going back to the Abbey then pray allow me to accompany you.’

He rode up alongside her, so close she could reach out and touch the buckskins covering his muscled thigh, if she so wished. Even more alarming, he could reach her.

‘I do not wish you to accompany me.’ She edged Orion away, widening the distance between them.

‘Then I shall follow you. To call upon Mr Wynter, you understand. I should like to make his acquaintance.’

Deciding that any further remonstrance would be childish, Selina pressed her lips together and set off at a canter. She was not surprised to find Lord Deveril kept pace, but when the grey began to edge in front, she could not resist the challenge.

She gave Orion his head and the black surged forward. Immediately Lord Deveril responded and soon both horses were galloping neck and neck across the hill. The wind tugged at Selina’s hat, pulling curls free from their pins, and a laugh of pure joy bubbled up. She must look like a hoyden, but for the moment she did not care.

They were approaching the lower slopes of the hill where the track descended more steeply. They both slackened their pace but the grey stumbled, pitching the rider over the horse’s head. Selina hauled on the reins and Orion came to a plunging halt.

‘Deveril!’

She slipped to the ground and ran across to where he was lying, motionless. He was on his back, eyes closed, and she dropped to her knees beside him. Gently she smoothed the black hair away from his brow, anxiously scanning his body for signs of injury.

‘My lord, are you hurt?’

‘Forgive me while I catch my breath,’ muttered Deveril, keeping his eyes shut while he assessed the situation. ‘I do not think I have broken anything.’

‘Thank heaven for that. Can you get up?’

He opened his eyes to find Selina gazing down anxiously into his face.

‘Now why should I want to move, when you are looking at me like that?’

The ready laughter sprang to her eyes and she sat back, shaking her head. ‘You are irrepressible, my lord! Tell me, truthfully, how do you feel?’

‘I feel I want to kiss you.’

‘Well, you cannot!’ she said, blushing and laughing at the same time.

He grinned. ‘Can I not?’

‘No! We must ascertain that you have taken no injury.’

He sat up slowly. ‘I shall have a few bruises, I think, but nothing more serious.’

‘I am very glad about that.’ She jumped up and held her hand out to him. ‘Let us see if you can stand.

‘Well?’ she asked, when she had helped him to his feet. ‘Is there any damage?’

‘Only to my pride.’

‘That will soon be mended!’

She was standing before him, her face alive with merriment, and Deveril’s breath hitched. The fall had winded him, but not like this! It seemed the most natural thing in the world to pull her into his arms and, when she did not resist, he lowered his head and kissed her.

She leaned against him, her palms resting on his chest, her mouth soft and sweet against his. He deepened the kiss and she responded, her tongue flickering tentatively for a moment and then she was pushing him away.

Immediately he released her and she stepped back, her cheeks flushed. Without a word, she began to shake out the voluminous skirts of her riding habit. Deveril watched her for a moment, then he scooped up his hat.

‘Should I apologise?’ he asked her.

Selina kept her eyes lowered, giving the skirts a more vigorous shake while she tried to make sense of her feelings. He had kissed her! She should be furious with him, but how could she let him take all the blame, when she had kissed him back so outrageously?

She could not recall the last time she had felt so…so alive. The gallop, Deveril’s sudden fall and the knowledge that he was unhurt had left her buzzing with nervous energy. And then that kiss! It had set her body tingling from her head to her toes. Even now she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. She knew she could have stopped him from kissing her, if she had tried. If she had wanted to do so. It would be wrong, churlish, to dissemble.

‘It was not entirely your fault, my lord.’

‘Wasn’t it?’

‘No. I was curious.’

‘I see.’ He did not appear to be shocked by her admission. ‘Did I live up to your expectations?’

She looked up. He was smiling, his eyes full of mischief, and Selina was obliged to smother the laugh bubbling up inside. This was dangerous ground and she knew very well that Lord Deveril was experienced at flirtation. Yet for the life of her she could not bring herself to snub him.

She looked around ‘At least we did not frighten the horses.’

Universal Buy Link

Sarah Mallory

Sarah Mallory is an award-winning author who has published more than 40 historical romances with Harlequin Mills & Boon. She loves history, especially the Georgian and Regency.

She won the prestigious RoNA Rose Award from the Romantic Novelists Association in 2012 and 2013 and nominated in 2022. She also won the RNA’s Romantic Historical Novel Award in 2024 for The Night She Met the Duke. Sarah also writes romantic historical adventures as Melinda Hammond.

Sarah was born in the West Country but lived for many years on the Yorkshire Pennines, taking inspiration from the wild and rugged moors. Then in 2018 she fell in love with Scotland and ran away to live on the rugged North West Coast, which is proving even more inspiring!

Connect with Sarah:

Website Sarah Mallory • Website Melinda Hammond 

Facebook • Twitter / X • Bluesky • Instagram

Amazon Author Page • Goodreads

Margery & Me by Maryka Biaggio

Margery & Me

By Maryka Biaggio

Publication Date: April 21st, 2026

Publisher: Regal House Publishing

Pages: 292

Genre: Historical Fiction

In the 1920s, Margery Crandon captivated both Boston society and psychic researchers with her astonishing seances. At her gatherings, her deceased brother Walter regularly appeared, entertaining the circle with his witty and cheeky remarks.

Margery's abilities earned her the admiration of luminaries, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Butler Yeats. But one man stood in opposition: Harry Houdini, the legendary magician, who was determined to expose her as a fraud.

Margery and Me tells the true story of the medium who mystified scientists, challenged skeptics, and sparked a sensation across America and Europe. As Houdini and Margery clashed in a battle of wits and wills, the question remained:

Could the master illusionist unmask her, or would her extraordinary powers be enough to convert even the most resolute of doubters?

Universal Buy Link

Maryka Biaggio

Maryka Biaggio is a psychology professor-turned-novelist who brings forgotten lives back into the light. Specializing in historical fiction inspired by real people, she crafts emotionally resonant narratives anchored in careful research.

Her debut novel, Parlor Games (Doubleday, 2013), launched a distinguished career that includes Gun Girl and the Tall Guy and Margery and Me. Her work has earned numerous accolades, including the Willamette Writers Award, Oregon Writers Colony Award, Historical Novel Society Review Editors' Choice, La Belle Lettre Award, and a Publishers Weekly pick.

Biaggio is celebrated for illuminating overlooked historical figures with psychological depth and narrative grace.

Social Media Links:

Website

Facebook

Pinterest

TikTok

Amazon Author Page

BookBub

Goodreads

Infidel: The Daughters of Aragon (Six Tudor Queens) by Nicola Harris

 

Infidel: The Daughters of Aragon 

(Six Tudor Queens)

By Nicola Harris

Publication Date: 5th March 2026

Publisher: ‎Independently Published

Print Length: 268 Pages

Genre: Biographical Historical Fiction | Tudor Fiction | Historical Fiction

Born in the glittering courts of Castile and Aragon and forged in the shadow of war, Catalina de Aragón grows up surrounded by queens, rebels, and explorers. She is her mother’s last daughter, the final jewel of a dynasty built on conquest and faith, and the one child Isabella of Castile cannot bear to lose.

But destiny has already claimed Catalina.

Promised to Prince Arthur of England since childhood, she is raised to bind kingdoms, soothe old wounds, and carry the hopes of an empire across the sea. Yet, Spain fractures under rebellion, grief, and the ruthless zeal of its own rulers.

From the burning streets of Granada to the storm lashed Bay of Biscay, Catalina and her sisters must navigate a treacherous path shaped by ambition, betrayal, and the dangerous love of men who fear the power of queens. She learns to read cyphers, to read hearts, and to stand unbroken even as her childhood is stripped from her piece by piece.

And when she finally sails for England armed with her mother’s lessons, her father’s steel, and the ghosts of the Alhambra at her back, Catalina steps into her fate not as a girl, but as a force.

A princess.

A survivor.

A daughter of Aragon.

Infidel is the story of a young woman raised for greatness and destined to reshape the fate of nations. This is Catalina, as she has never been seen before. She is fierce, vulnerable, and unforgettable.

A sweeping, intimate portrait of sisterhood, survival, and the making of a dynasty, Infidel reveals the hidden lives of a woman whose courage shaped the Tudor world.

Excerpt

Juana: 

Catalina had been waiting for weeks for Isabel’s return. She was certain that the moment our widowed sister stepped through the gates, our sister would be happy again. Over and over, she told me how Isabel would open her arms wide, how she would run into them and sit on her lap as she always had. Catalina spoke of nothing but Isabel’s laughter, her stories, her dancing, her love of sweetmeats and flowers, and how much she had missed her.

When Isabel finally arrived, she came riding side saddle on a humble donkey that clacked its hooves across the courtyard stones. The animal halted, but Isabel did not dismount at once. When she did, the breath caught in my throat.

She was veiled, her body swathed in black, moving slowly as though the very air weighed her down. Her hair was hidden. Her face was hidden. The joy was gone from her step.

The servants guided Isabel forward, their arms firm around her as if she might collapse. She did not look up. She did not greet us. She seemed smaller, thinner, her steps dragging. In her hands, she clutched a crucifix so tightly that Our Lord’s face must have imprinted itself into her skin.

Catalina cried out and tried to run to her, but I held her back. The picture she had carried in her head of Isabel laughing and of Isabel radiant, shattered in an instant. Isabel did not see us. She did not speak. She showed no joy at being home.

She passed beneath the archway, the veil trembling with her breath, and I saw only the shadow of my sister, hollowed by grief.

She wore the habit of a Poor Clare nun. And as I watched her move through the courtyard like a ghost, I thought, this is how sorrow must be lived.

oOo

Catalina:

We were herded into our parents’ bedchamber to greet Isabel. I clutched Juana’s hand, still half believing the picture in my mind of the Isabel I had always known, sensible and smiling and glad to be home.

But the figure before us was draped in black. Cloth hung from her shoulders, her veil heavy, she was dressed like a nun.

Isabel did not look at us. As she lay on our parents’ bed, her face turned to the wall, I saw that her lovely hair was gone. Her cheeks were hollow, and her bones were sharp beneath her skin.

I edged closer, desperate to speak. ‘Isabel,’ I whispered, my voice small.

She stirred only slightly, a hand twitching against the sheet. No words came.

The candle beside her flickered, throwing long shadows across her wasted body. 

I stayed where I was, bewildered by all the tears for a prince none of us had ever met. The sister I remembered, the golden sister laughing and alive, was gone. In her place lay a new Isabel, silent, veiled, her sorrow filling the room as surely as smoke had filled our tent at Santa Fe.

I held out a single flower from the courtyard. It was bright, alive and fragile in my hand. Surely it would cheer her. She had always loved the smell of gardens, the soft brush of petals against her cheek.

I lifted the flower toward her. ‘Here,’ I whispered. ‘It is pretty. It will make you happy.’

She did not move. She turned her head further toward the wall, deeper into the dark.

The flower trembled in my hand. I thought of my grandmother, who everyone called mad, sitting alone in her shuttered chamber, refusing the sunlight. Isabel was the same now. She, too, was choosing darkness, choosing candlelight and choosing sorrow.

I placed the flower on the coverlet, close to her hand. ‘It is yours,’ I said, my voice breaking.

Isabel’s fingers did not even twitch. It was as if she, too, had died.

I stayed there, staring at the flower lying useless on the bed, knowing she would never reach out for me, never reach for happiness, and want only the dark.

I stood straighter, my fists tight at my sides. 

I thought of my grandmother, choosing the dark. Isabel had chosen it too.

But I would not.

I would keep the colour, keep the sweetness of my life, even if no one else wanted it and even if no one wanted my love.

oOo

Juana:

I sat at the foot of the bed, our mother’s letter open in my hands. Isabel lay pale against the pillows, her eyes fixed on nothing. The book of Job rested beside her on Mother’s finest coverlet, open but unread. She had no strength for anything but weeping and lamenting her miserable fate.

‘Mother is returning from Santa Fe to comfort you,’ I whispered.

Isabel’s response was razor sharp. ‘Only because she wants me to marry again. She will be furious that the Portuguese alliance has failed. She will send me elsewhere the moment she can find a treaty that suits her.’

‘She loves you and wants the best for you, Isabel,’ Catalina said, and there was an edge in her voice that startled me.

‘What would you know, Catalina? You are but a child.’

‘At least I am not unkind like you are,’ Catalina shot back.

Silence fell, heavy and brittle. Then Isabel whispered, ‘What would you know about love? I will not marry again. No one can make me. I will enter a convent.’

Catalina perched on her stool, her feet swinging, restless. ‘Read it to me,’ she demanded, chin lifted. ‘I am the Princess of Wales. I must know what happens in England.’

I smoothed the parchment, lowering my voice so as not to disturb Isabel. ‘Mother writes of a youth in Ireland. Do you know where that is?’

Catalina nodded solemnly, so I continued. ‘He is calling himself Richard, Duke of York. They say he looks like King Edward, and Margaret of Burgundy has taken him in, claiming she recognises him. His name is Perkin Warbeck.’

Catalina’s eyes widened. ‘So, there is another person claiming to be one of the boys who died in the Bloody Tower and a new claimant to the Tudor throne?’ she whispered, hungry for intrigue and quick for her age.

I folded the letter carefully, my movements slow, as if gentleness might shield Isabel from the weight of her pain. ‘Yes. And that is why he is dangerous. Every enemy of England will swear he has a genuine claim.’

‘Does he?’

‘I think the Queen of England would know her own brother as easily as we would recognise Juan.’

‘Has she seen him?’

‘No. But if she did, she would know.’

Catalina nodded with all the gravity of a lady of our mother’s age, though her feet still swung absently above the floor.

Universal Buy Link 

https://books2read.com/u/4AZDEJ

 Read with #KindleUnlimited

Nicola Harris

I’ve always been a writer, but it was only when illness forced me to stop everything that I finally had the time to write a novel. After decades of misdiagnosis, I learned I was born with a serious genetic condition, not rare, but profoundly misunderstood. The clues were there from birth, and suddenly, a lifetime of struggle made sense.

Writing became my lifeline: a way to step beyond my pain, to shape my experience into a story, and to find meaning where there had once been only endurance.

I have a lifelong love of children, Counselling, and Psychotherapy Theory and history.

Social Media Links:

Website

Instagram 

X

Facebook

Bluesky

Tour Schedule

Bride of the Devil: Agnes, Wife of Robert de Belleme (Medieval Babes) by J.P. Reedman

Bride of the Devil:

Agnes, Wife of Robert de Belleme

Medieval Babes

By J.P. Reedman

Publication Date: August 4th, 2025

Publisher: independently published

Pages: 248

Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction / Medieval Fiction

She is a great heiress; he is the wickedest man in Normandy.

Known to men far and wide as 'The Devil,' Robert de Belleme terrorises France alongside his equally fearsome mother, Mabel the Poisoner. But even a Devil needs an heir, and Mabel chooses the wealthy heiress Agnes of Ponthieu to be her son's bride. The marriage is unhappy, though the longed-for son and heir is eventually born...but when Robert is away on one of his military campaigns, Agnes flees back to her father's castle.

She is not safe; her young son William is not safe.

The Devil will seek to claim his own.

BOOK 13 IN THE MEDIEVAL BABES SERIES.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link

This series is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

J.P. Reedman

J.P. Reedman was born in Canada but has lived in the U.K. for over 30 years. Interests include folklore and anthropology, prehistoric archaeology (neolithic/bronze age Europe; ritual,burial & material culture), as well as The Wars of the Roses and the rest of the medieval era. Novels include the popular  I, Richard Plantagenet series about Richard III, The Falcon and the Sun (featuring other members of the House of York), and Medieval Babes, an ongoing series about lesser-known medieval queens and noblewomen.

Connect with J.P.:

Website • Facebook • Twitter / X • Instagram

Threads • Bluesky • Pinterest • TikTok

Amazon Author Page • BookBub • Goodreads