Lissa Bryan's Blog

Some of you may recall that I spent the spring of 2021 writing a book about the Underground Railroad in Ohio, and I'm sure many of you were thinking, "So, where is the book, Lissa?After my publisher, The Writer's Coffee Shop, closed in 2017, I found myself adrift. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Self-publishing didn't seem to be the right fit for me, but I have a thing about rejection and

 A new Regency romance by Sandi Layne!The success of Bridgerton has refocused someattention on a delightful genre, the Regency romance. I, myself, hadn’t delvedinto one in quite a while and this book reminded me of why I love it.Robert Lord Aberleigh married Georgiana after thedeath of his elder brother, to whom she had been betrothed. Robert didn’treally want the marriage, nor did he

 This week I read The Most Happy by Helen R. Davis. Ihad recently read her alternative history series on Cleopatra and really enjoyed it, but this was the first alternative history of Anne Boleyn I’ve everread. I’ve always wondered about the “what ifs,” of course. What if Anne hadsurvived Henry’s obsession? What if she had given Henry a son and heir?In this story, Elizabeth has a twin

I’m passionate about history, but like many history buffs, Iget a bit stuck in my own rut and prefer reading in my own time periods andtopics. When Alexandra Allred told me she’d written a book about women’s sportshistory, I realized this was a chance to fix a gap in my knowledge. Still, Iwondered how well I’d connect with the topic because I’m not a verysports-orientated person.I quickly

 I had the opportunity this week to read two delightful alternative history novels, Cleopatra Unconquered and Cleopatra Victorious by Helen R. Davis. ~.~Cleopatra UnconqueredI adore a well-researched novel andthis one satisfied my cravings. Though technically an "alternativehistory" there's enough real history here to satisfy even the mostdiscerning of history buffs, and even the "unreal"

 I wrote this story for Alec Frazier. He intended to do an anthology of stories about disability for his second book, but it never worked out.Now that he's gone, I've decided to share it, dedicated to his memory. Abide, my friend..¸¸•.¸¸.•´¯`• (¯`•ღ•´¯)•´¯`•.¸¸.•.¸¸.Revolutionby Lissa Bryan Holloway Prison, 1913 She didn’t look up when the cell door opened.“Miss Billinghurst?”May did

Let me just get this out of the way first: THIS IS NOT HOW I EXPECTED THINGS TO GO!It's genuinely not often that a book surprises me with its twists and ending, but over an entire three book series, Rose B. Mashal kept me guessing. I'm going to try to be as vague as possible because I want to preserve the suspense for those who haven't read it. Penny is lonely after her fiancée has an accident

 Another person has come forward with research on a portrait claiming that it's Anne Boleyn. It's not.I'm not going to post a pic of the portrait in question because the author of the study has mentioned not having permissions to post the whole image himself.Instead, I'll post the image it's a copy of. This painting is NPG 96, a portrait of an unidentified woman, c. 1570. It has been previously

 The first Heart of Steel book in this series captured my imagination and I still haven't been able to shake it off.This is a hard review to write because I don't want to give anything away! First things first -- I loved the story and was enthralled all the way to the end where I was hoping to get some answers. Who can Penny trust? In the first book, Penny created an android replica of her fiancé

 Let's get the important part out of the way first: I LOVED THIS BOOK. It had everything I love about royalty -- palace intrigue, the crushing burdens of etiquette and tradition, the jewels and splendor, and the weight of history's eyes upon each action. Odette was chosen by her prince for a very traditional reason: her money. But as a Black American woman she's not the traditional princess that