Historical Fiction Virtual Tour Stop: The Turning of Anne Merrick by Christine Blevins

Title: The Turning of Anne Merrick
Author: Christine Blevins
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Publish Date: February 7, 2012
Source: HF Virtual Tours

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a fiction fan.
• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You like a little thrill that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A tale of love and espionage from the author of Midwife of the Blue Ridge... She spies for General Washington, betrays the Redcoats and battles for America's independence...
It's 1777, and a fledgling country wages an almost hopeless struggle against the might of the British Empire. Brought together by a fateful kiss, Anne Merrick and Jack Hampton are devoted to each other and to their Patriot cause. As part of Washington's daring network of spies, they are ready and willing to pay even the ultimate price for freedom.


From battlefields raging along the Hudson, to the desperate winter encampment at Valley Forge and through the dangerous intrigue of British-occupied Philadelphia, Anne and Jack brave the trials of separation, the ravages of war and an unyielding enemy growing ever more ruthless.

For love and for country, all is put at risk-and together the pair must call upon their every ounce of courage and cunning in order to survive."

My Two Cents:

The Revolutionary era in America is not something I've read about a lot in historical fiction so I was really, really interested to get into this book to see this change of scenery from a lot of my usual historical fiction fare. I was most definitely not disappointed. This book definitely filled my want for adventure and a good story full of some good twists to keep you reading.

The Turning of Anne Merrick is a fantastic foray into the intrigue of the American Revolution. Anne Merrick is a really great character. She's sort of in a precarious position. She's a widow and thus she's looked at a little bit differently than other women of that time period. Everyone feels sorry for her but she shows very quickly that she's strong and more than capable of making her way through everything. I really liked how Blevins wrote about the women of the American Revolution in this book. In history classes, you hear a lot about the men of the Revolution but there really isn't a large focus on what the women were doing at the same time. Anne Merrick is a spy. She spies for the Americans and the information that she is able to garner from the British and the Loyalists is vital to the American forces. It was really nice to see the sorts of contributions that women were making to the Revolution.

This is actually a follow-up to Blevins' The Tory Widow, which I have not read (but I will; oh yes, I will after reading this one) but The Turning of Anne Merrick is most definitely a great standalone book.

This is a great story and definitely made me anxious to read more by Christine Blevins!


Follow the Rest of the Tour (And don't forget to come back here to A Bookish Affair on February 10 for an interview with Christine Blevins and a very special giveaway!):

Tuesday, January 31st

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, February 1st

Review at The Owl Bookmark Blog

Thursday, February 2nd

Review at Medieval Bookworm

Friday, February 3rd

Review at Historical Tapestry

Monday, February 6th

Review at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, February 7th

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at The Owl Bookmark Blog

Review & Author Interview at A Bookish Libraria

Wednesday, February 8th

Review at Just One More Paragraph

Thursday, February 9th

Author Guest Post at A Writer's Life: Working with the Muse

Friday, February 10th

Author Interview & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Monday, February 13th

Review at Luxury Reading

Tuesday, February 14th

Review at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Wednesday, February 15th

Review & Giveaway at The Broke and the Bookish

Thursday, February 16th

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at Just One More Paragraph

Friday, February 17th

Author Guest Post at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Monday, February 20th

Review at History and Women

Tuesday, February 21st

Review at Books, Belles and Beaux

Wednesday, February 22nd

Author Interview at Just One More Paragraph

Thursday, February 23rd

Author Guest Post at Books, Belles and Beaux

Friday, February 24th

Review at Unabridged Chick

Monday, February 27th

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at Reading the Past

Tuesday, February 28th

Review at The Maiden's Court

Wednesday, February 29th

Author Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Thursday, March 1st

Review at Let Them Read Books

Friday, March 2nd

Author Interview & Giveaway at The Maiden's Court

Monday, March 5th

Review & Giveaway at CelticLady's Reviews

Tuesday, March 6th

Review at The Eclectic Reader

Wednesday, March 7th

Author Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, March 8th

Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Friday, March 9th

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at The Eclectic Reader

Monday, March 12th

Review at The True Book Addict

Tuesday, March 13th

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Wednesday, March 14th

Review at Reviews by Molly

Thursday, March 15th

Review at Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Friday, March 16th

Author Interview & Giveaway at Reviews by Molly

Monday, March 19th

Author Guest Post & Giveaway at Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Critical Links:

Christine Blevins' Website:  http://christineblevins.com/
Christine Blevins on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/christine.blevins
Christine Blevins on Twitter: @Author_CBlevins
Tour Event Twitter Hashtag:  #TurningofAnneMerrickVirtualTour