Author Bio:
Amy Maroney studied English Literature at Boston University and worked for many years as a writer and editor of nonfiction. She lives in Oregon, U.S.A. with her family. When she’s not diving down research rabbit holes, she enjoys hiking, dancing, traveling, and reading. Amy is the author of The Miramonde Series, an award-winning historical fiction trilogy about a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail. Her new historical suspense/romance series, Sea and Stone Chronicles, is set in medieval Rhodes and Cyprus.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.amymaroney.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/wilaroney
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Pinterest: pinterest.com/amyloveshistory/
BookBub: www.bookbub.com/profile/amy-maroney
Amazon Author Page: author.to/AmyMaroneyAmazonPage
Book Title: Sea of Shadows
Series: Sea and Stone Chronicles, Book 2
Author: Amy Maroney
Publication Date: 12th April 2022
Publisher: Artelan Press
Page Length: 396 Pages
Genre: Historical suspense/romance
Book Title and Author Name
Sea of Shadows
(Sea and Stone Chronicles, Book 2)
By Amy Maroney
Book Blurb:
1459. A gifted woman artist. A ruthless Scottish privateer. And an audacious plan that throws them together—with dangerous consequences.
No one on the Greek island of Rhodes suspects Anica is responsible for her Venetian father’s exquisite portraits, least of all her wealthy fiancé. But her father’s vision is failing, and with every passing day it’s more difficult to conceal the truth.
When their secret is discovered by a powerful knight of the Order of St. John, Anica must act quickly to salvage her father’s honor and her own future. Desperate, she enlists the help of a fierce Scottish privateer named Drummond. Together, they craft a daring plan to restore her father’s sight.
There’s only one problem—she never imagined falling in love with her accomplice.
Before their plan can unfold, a shocking scandal involving the knights puts Anica’s entire family at risk. Her only hope is to turn to Drummond once again, defying her parents, her betrothed, even the Grand Master of the Knights himself. But can she survive the consequences?
With this captivating tale of passion, courage, and loyalty, Amy Maroney brings a lost, dazzling world to vivid life.
Sea of Shadows is Book 2 in a series of stand-alone historical novels packed with adventure and romance.
Buy Links:
This novel is available on #KindleUnlimited
Universal Link: https://mybook.to/SeaOfShadows
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T3M2HM3
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09T3M2HM3
Book Excerpt:
Excerpt 3 (693 words)
Summer, 1459
Rhodes Town
When they returned home, Anica stood in the center of the courtyard a moment. The sun spilled over the roof and drenched her mother’s garden with gold, warming the air and filling it with the scents of citrus fruits and herbs. She watched a ruby-red dragonfly soar skyward from a potted rose, its wings glinting in the light.
Crossing to the niche in the wall where a small bronze statue of a boy stood, she swiped at a spiderweb in the crook of his arm, searching for its maker. But the silk clinging to her fingers was the only evidence she could find of the spider’s existence.
Straightening, she headed to the studio. She loved stepping into the airy workspace each morning—or had loved it until grief turned every room in the house into a painful reminder of the little boy who lay entombed in a crypt, fading to dust.
Last night, sleepless, Anica had decided to prepare a half-dozen icons of Greek saints. With the help of her Aunt Rhea, it would not be difficult to find buyers in their network of wealthy Greeks, both here in Rhodes and on neighboring islands. She had painted so many of these portraits it had become as easy as breathing, but there was no challenge to it—and, unfortunately, little reward. The small works brought in a pittance compared to larger portraits and frescoes.
She eyed the rectangular pine panels stacked on her battered supply table, whitened with a thick layer of gesso. There were four. Soon she’d have to buy more wood and cajole her father into making more panels, but this was enough to get her started. Setting out pots of ground pigment and a row of ceramic dishes for mixing the paints, she calculated in her mind how much egg she would need for today’s work. She had no goldleaf for the backgrounds, but there was a goldbeater in the Jewish quarter near their old neighborhood, a friend of Papa’s. He often let them purchase goldleaf on credit.
The door opened and her father shuffled in.
“Papa?” A thread of hope rose in her chest. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Will you be working today?”
Her father looked at the easel standing ready by the window. “You don’t need me at all anymore, do you?”
His voice was rough with lost sleep, with too many hours spent weeping. Benedetto had been the second boy born to their family, and the second to die. The pain of it was nearly unbearable—once again, Papa’s dreams of a son and heir had been shattered.
She came to his side, slipped an arm around his waist, felt the hard edge of a rib.
“The painting I delivered this morning was the last of them,” she said quietly. “I’m starting a series of icons, though we have no buyers for them yet.”
“We’ll take up such matters soon, my dear.”
“When? We’ll never stop mourning Beno, but you can’t ignore the world much longer.” Swallowing, she softened her tone. “We may have another commission from the Salviatis. Securing it will be up to you. I wish it weren’t so, but there is only so much I can do.” She hesitated. “Signor Salviati told me you’d made other arrangements for payment, so he gave me nothing.”
Papa’s gaze dropped and a muscle worked in his jaw for a moment. Then he cupped her cheek with a hand, the deep hollows beneath his eyes making her heart twist. “Our work, your betrothal—everything has been pushed aside. We’ll take it up again tomorrow, I promise you. But today is your brother’s day.”
He turned away, vanishing as silently as a wraith.
Anica closed her eyes, steadied her breath. Every month on the date when her small brother Benedetto had died, her parents marked his death in the chamber off the entry hall where a row of icons hung on the wall. Mamá was likely already there, kneeling before Santa Maria. Any moment now, Papa would take his position at her side.
Her throat aching with an insistent urge to sob, Anica got back to work.
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Tour Schedule Page: https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2022/03/blog-tour-sea-of-shadows-sea-and-stone.html
Thank you so much for hosting the blog tour for Sea of Shadows.
All the best,
Mary Anne
The Coffee Pot Book Club