How I started hosting for HFBVTs: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.

What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I was originally hoping to read and review this lovely #HistNov for the blog tour – however, by some interesting twist of fate, my copy of the novel didn’t reach me in time for the tour. I didn’t have enough time to properly compose a guest author feature which is why I’ve chosen to host an extract from the book and help promote the novel rather than grieve the missed chance to read the story. I am quite curious to follow along the route myself – seeing what my fellow book bloggers thought about the story and peer into their readerly experiences as that is one of the blessings of being in this lovely community; the shared impressions and the different takeaways of different readers who are all reading the same story.

I especially love stories such as this one which is a historical narrative and drama with a dash of romance added in for good measure. I was quite excited to make the blog tour and I know one day, I’ll seek out this novel to read as it was such a captivating premise. I hope this extract helps you choose if this story sounds like a wicked good fit for you as well.

Notation on Cover Art: This is such a portrait of life inside this novel, isn’t it? Your eyes nearly miss the scene playing out below the main characters featured on the cover, too! It reminded me of a painting and how cleverly this is a dual-image which speaks to the heart of the story (at least I presume given the expanded details!). I truly was captured by the artwork and felt as if I could just ‘step through’ the cover into the novel itself which is always the best kind of cover to have on a book – the ones which inspire you before you even start reading!

Into the Heartland
by Jack Casey

A forbidden love.

An impossible dream.

And a daring venture to open America…

The year is 1810. For decades men have dreamed of reaching west of the Hudson – of unlocking the untold riches in America’s heartland. Yet, these visionaries lacked the necessary skill, willpower, and political might.

Enter: DeWitt Clinton, mayor of New York City.

Ignoring naysayers and cynics, Clinton vows to construct an audacious waterway through the wilderness to Lake Erie. For this he needs support from the highest echelons of New York society. And there is only one woman with the talent and connections for the job.

Eleanora Van Rensselaer, an aristocratic widow, rules a vast Hudson Valley estate, but her wealth and power will vanish if a dark secret is revealed. Clinton enlists her charm and intelligence to battle his formidable opponent Martin Van Buren. When Eleanora encounters Daniel Hedges, a dashing ship captain with frontier ingenuity, she knows he is the key to this massive project. Eleanora’s social savvy and Hedges’ skills make them an ideal team – if they can fight the powerful feelings growing between them.

But as America plunges into the war of 1812, they could lose all that they have built.

From America’s stunning naval victory on Lake Erie to the British invasion of Washington, D.C., Daniel and Eleanora persevere through tragedy and deep personal loss. Despite Van Buren’s plot to sabotage Clinton and expose Eleanora’s secret, Daniel and Eleanora won’t stop until they make their colossal dream a reality.

And somewhere along the way, they might just find a love that will change them, and America, forever.

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1734366624

Published by Diamonds Big as Radishes LLC

on 1st March, 2021

About Jack Casey

JACK CASEY is an attorney who has handled civil, criminal and constitutional matters for thirty years in his solo practice. In HAMILTON’S CHOICE, Casey dramatizes the last three years of Alexander Hamilton’s life, and plausibly explains why he went to his first and fatal duel. Casey’s newest release, INTO THE HEARTLAND, is a sweeping saga of adversity and triumph around the building of the Erie Canal (1810–1825). His other published historical novels are LILY OF THE MOHAWKS and THE TRIAL OF BAT SHEA.

Casey graduated with honors from Yale University and Albany Law School, and has studied literature at Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities. He lives in Troy, NY and Raleigh, NC with his wife and editor, Victoria.

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