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When Secrets Bloom Reviewed by the Historical Novel Society

HNR Historical Novel Society review When Secrets Bloom Feb 2026

This week brought news I have been quietly hoping for since my latest novel When Secrets Bloom first found its readers: a review from the Historical Novel Society. Penned by Williamaye Jones, the review is available on their website and is published in their print magazine Historical Novel Review HNR Issue 115 (February 2026).

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Stories at Bucharest’s Map Museum: Transylvania in Fries’ 1525 and Mercator’s 1595 Maps, and Dacia in Fries’ 1541 Map

Map Museum16 century map of Transylvania by Gerardus Mercator, hand painted in red, yellow, green, brown watercolours

Stories at Bucharest’s Map Museum unfold through three remarkable early maps: Lorenz Fries’ 1525 map of Transylvania, his 1541 map of Dacia, and Gerardus Mercator’s 1595 map of Transylvania, each offering a glimpse into how cartographers of the past imagined and recorded these historic lands.

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Where Vlad Dracula Lived – His Last Years, 1462-1476: Captive. Crowned. Killed.

Vlad Dracula, the Man Behind the Legend visual timeline titled

During his youth, Vladul lived between Wallachia and the Ottoman world; from Ottoman captivity Vlad III traveled to take the throne of his Transalpine land, at Târgoviște; next Vlad, son of Dracul lived exiled in Moldavia and Transylvania; finally he returned to Wallachia, across the Carpathian mountains, for his second and longest reign as Vlad Dracula – but not his last.

Yet, for Vlad Dracula, a first journey ended in exile; this odyssey to the throne will end in chains. As for his last fight – that will make him immortal. But was it what he would have wanted?

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Reading Over the Weekend: Miracles & Ghosts Past: A Christmas Collection Two by D.L. Finn

Reading over the weekend with Patricia Furstenberg

Welcome to Reading Over the Weekend with D.L. Finn’s Miracles & Ghosts Past: A Christmas Collection Two, an exciting set of stories where Christmas magic is found not in glitter and tinsel, but in the quiet places where grief, loneliness, love, and hope meet.

Some books ask to be analysed. Others ask to be noticed. And then there are those that make you pause halfway through a page and say, I want to remember that.

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