Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Rachel Dacus and her new book, “The Renaissance Club”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $20
Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also,
come back daily to interact with Rachel and to increase your chances of
winning!
Thanks for stopping by!
Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!
The Renaissance Club
by Rachel Dacus
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GENRE: Speculative Women's Fiction
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BLURB:
Would
you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul
mate? That's what young art historian and teacher May Gold must decide when she
slips through time's folds to meet the man of her dreams and the subject of her
master's thesis -- fiery 17th century genius artist Gianlorenzo Bernini.
In
her fantasies May is in his arms, the wildly adored partner of the man who
steered Renaissance art into the Baroque. In reality, she has just landed in
Rome with her stodgy boyfriend and teaching colleagues for a tour of Italy. She
yearns to unleash her passion and creative spirit.
When
the floor under the gilded dome of St Peter's basilica rocks under her feet,
she finds herself in the year 1624, staring straight into Bernini's eyes. Their
immediate and powerful attraction grows every time she meets him during the
tour. Passion blossoms, but history says they have no future. Can May thread
her way through time, and will she take a perilous risk to begin a magical,
exciting new life?
This time travel romance is perfect for lovers of Italy, art,
and love stories.
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EXCERPT TWO:
May
said gently, “But you have your work at St. Peter’s.”
Bernini
nodded and sipped. Enthusiasm suddenly flared in his expression. “I have been
asked to improve the church’s façade, and I have a magnificent idea. Twin bell
towers. To contribute the grandeur the church has lacked.”
She
frowned, knowing those bell towers of his would be erected on unstable ground.
He didn’t know, and they had no soil engineers in his time. His first tower
would be built, and a crack would appear. The crack would take down Bernini’s
career as Architect of St. Peter’s.
At
this moment, he was deciding, and his enemies were circling. His pope would die
and a new pope would be elected, one who disliked Bernini’s extravagance. The
opposition would break over him in a tidal wave.
“You
know, working on St. Peter’s isn’t everything,” she said. “After your work
there you’ll create your greatest sculptures.”
“But
why should I not continue in my sacred role?”
She
knew the failure would nearly kill him. His highly emotional nature and
ambition would combine in a life-threatening explosion of despair.
He
looked down. He gulped the rest of the wine, looking slightly worried, as if
her lack of enthusiasm troubled him. But then he smiled.
“You
will see my next great triumph!” he declared, the Bernini bravado taking charge
of him.
“You
must follow your inspiration, of course.”
She
smiled at him, thinking that there must be some way to change the course of his
future. At the same time, she was thinking how absurd that thought was.
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BOOK TRAILER:
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GUEST POST:
Four Reasons to Read The Renaissance Club
1. The Clothes
Time
traveling means you get to magically be clad in a different dress every
time—and nice authors write you great dresses. In the 17th century, women wore
very low-cut silken bodices and voluminous skirts that rustled around them as
they walked. There was a lot of clothing to be inside. They were adorned with
roses, slit sleeves, golden piping, and even pearls and gems.
2. Bernini – the Rock Star of the Renaissance
It’s
possible that he invented the term “hottie”, though it took several centuries
to translate it from the Italian of his era. Who wouldn’t want to fantasize
about a passionate, genius artist who sent every woman he passed by into a
swoon? Main character May Gold had a legitimate reason for obsessing about him:
she wrote her master’s thesis on Bernini’s deriving inspiration from the satirical,
bawdy theater of Renaissance Rome. She never dreamed that she’d come face to
face with him, but when she did, the floor under her rocked—literally, from the
time traveling effect.
3. Italy – The Best Vacation Ever
In
The Renaissance Club you can vicariously tour Rome’s magnificent, crumbling
history, Assisi’s hilltop charm, Siena’s medieval fortress, Florence’s fabulous
art museums, Venice’s romantic, colorful, canal-threaded city of islands. And
yes, you will even virtually eat the unbelievably tasty pasta.
4. Finding Your Soul Mate
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AUTHOR BIO:
Rachel Dacus is a
poet, essayist, and novelist who writes about love and relationships, with a
touch of the supernatural. Love and history are the themes of her debut novel,
The Renaissance Club, a tale of romance between a young art historian and her
hero, the fiery 17th century Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. Praise for
her novel — “enchanting, rich, and romantic” — describes the kinds of love and
adventure stories Rachel enjoys, preferably set in exotic places. She has
traveled to Italy and India and plans to expand her journeys beyond countries
that start with the letter “I”.
She’s
the daughter of a bipolar rocket engineer who worked on missiles during the
race-to-space 1950’s. He was also an accomplished painter.
Her
interest in Italy was ignited by a course in Renaissance art history that
culminated in tour of northern Italy. She’s been hooked on Italy ever since.
Her essay on Italy, motherhood, and infertility was anthologized in Italy, a
Love Story: Women Write About the Italian Experience.
Dacus
shows off her versatility in four poetry collections. Her newest is Arabesque.
Three other collections are: Gods of Water and Air, Femme au Chapeau, and Earth
Lessons. She raises funds for arts, human service, and healthcare organizations
and takes walks with her way-too-smart Silky Terrier.
Find
out more about Rachel Dacus and The Renaissance Club – at the links below.
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CONNECT WITH RACHEL:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
rachel@dacushome.com
Facebook Fan Page:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Apple iBooks:
The Book Depository:
BAM! Books-A-Million:
IndieBound:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteRachel ~ Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteAlly ~ Thanks for hosting me again! Your website is a blast, and I'm so appreciatie of your good wishes. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway; I like the excerpt. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, so glad you like it!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the idea for your book? Congrats for the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDelete