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Celebrate Spring with Travel By Book!

Spring is finally here, which means school holidays and summer vacations are right around the corner! Whether you are already packing your bags or are still trying to decide where to go, let Travel By Book inspire you.

Featured in this post are mysteries, thrillers, romantic comedies, historical fiction, and romance novels set in Papua, the Netherlands, Italy, England, Hawaii, Corsica, Bulgaria, Greenland, Prague, Budapest, India, Canada, Israel, and Jordan.

They are written by Jennifer S. Alderson, Pamela Allegretto, Daniella Bernett, Melissa Burovac, Vanessa Couchman, Margaret Halliday, Dora Ilieva, Joanna Kafarowski, Jerold Last, Dianne Noble, Janice J. Richardson, and M.P. Tonnesen. Click on the book cover to learn more or buy the book.

These fabulous reads are sure to motivate you to dig out your passport and start booking your next trip abroad!

The complete list of fiction and non-fiction titles by Travel By Book authors can be found on Facebook (sorted by country). The first Celebrate Spring with Travel By Book post can be found here.

Travel By Book is a growing Facebook group of authors and readers who enjoy being transported to other destinations via fiction and non-fiction. If you enjoy reading books that take you places, consider joining us!

Rituals of the Dead: An Artifact Mystery by Jennifer S. Alderson

Adventures of Zelda Richardson, Book 3

Art history student Zelda Richardson is working at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam on an exhibition of bis poles from the Asmat region of Papua – the same area where a famous American anthropologist disappeared in 1962. When his journal is found inside one of the bis poles, Zelda is tasked with finding out more about the man’s last days and his connection to these ritual objects.

Zelda is pulled into a world of shady anthropologists, headhunters, missionaries, art collectors, and smugglers – where the only certainty is that sins of the past are never fully erased.

Join Zelda as she grapples with the anthropologist’s mysterious disappearance fifty years earlier, and a present-day murderer who will do anything to prevent her from discovering the truth.

Bridge of Sighs and Dreams by Pamela Allegretto

Nazi-occupied Rome sets the stage for Bridge of Sighs and Dreams, where the lives of two women collide in an arena of deception, greed, and sacrifice.

Following an allied attack, Angelina Rosini flees to Rome from her bombed-out village and a ruthless Nazi officer bent on revenge. In Rome, the spirited portrait artist channels her creativity into the art of survival for herself and her young daughter. Unwilling to merely endure, and armed with ingenuity, wit, and unyielding optimism, she enters the shadow world of the Resistance where she zigzags through a labyrinth of compassionate allies and cunning spies.

Meanwhile, Lidia Corsini, Angelina’s sister-in-law, quenches her lust for power and wealth by turning in Jews to the ruthless Nazi Police attaché with whom she has formed an alliance. Her spiral into immorality accelerates as swiftly as the Jewish population dwindles, and soon neither her husband nor her son is immune to her madness.

Once Angelina discovers the consequences of Lidia’s greed, she conspires to put an end to the treacheries; but in doing so, she becomes the target of Lidia’s most sinister plot.

Bridge of Sighs and Dreams is a story of betrayal, dignity, and purpose that highlights the brutality toward Italian citizens, under both Mussolini’s Fascist regime and the Nazi occupation, and illustrates the tenacity of the human spirit.

From Beyond the Grave by Daniella Bernett

An Emmeline Kirby/Gregory Longdon Mystery

Buried secrets can kill…

The seaside resort of Torquay, along the English Riviera in Devon, is the perfect place for a restful holiday. That’s what journalist Emmeline Kirby desperately needs after her harrowing escapes from spies and others with nefarious intentions back in London. She also needs distance to sort out her conflicted feelings for jewel thief Gregory Longdon, who once stole her heart. But who should turn up out of the blue? The ever-charming, devastatingly handsome Gregory. That’s when secrets from his past–and murder–shatter the serenity of this picturesque haven.

Sylvie Falls in Love by Melissa Burovac

Sylvie’s Romance, Book 2

Sylvie has finally finished writing her romance novel – can she find the same happy ending for her own life?

Continue with Sylvie’s adventures as she explores the good and bad of love in the real world.

The Corsican Widow by Vanessa Couchman

Tales of Corsica

Corsica, 1755. Can Valeria Peretti escape the destiny that is mapped out for her? While the island struggles for independence against its Genoese masters, she must marry an older, wealthy man. A quiet, respectable life apparently awaits Valeria, but a prophecy on the eve of her betrothal spells misfortune ahead.

As her life unfolds, Valeria’s attempts to fight against her fate bring her into conflict with the unbending moral code of Corsican society. She must make a choice between her personal wishes and social duty that will cast her far away from Corsica’s shores.

This is a story of love and injustice against the backdrop of an austere, traditional society.

This is the latest novel in the Tales of Corsica series, stories inspired by and set on the captivating Mediterranean island of Corsica, from the author of The House at Zaronza.

Prana Soup: an Indian Odyssey by Margaret Halliday

Prana Soup describes Margaret Halliday’s three trips to India in candid, sometimes hilarious, detail. She embarks alone on her first trip at the age of fifty, undeterred by multiple sclerosis and osteoarthritis. She fell in love with the country and returned for two six-month trips, keeping a diary of her travels. These diaries have now evolved into Prana Soup.

On her first two visits she travels from the Himalaya to the southernmost tip, meeting a fascinating mix of people and having memorable adventures. Her quest plunges her into a veritable ‘life force’ soup of tasty delights and enticing encounters. She escapes a rail riot, receives a tempting marriage proposal, has a close encounter with a python, is pulled up a hillside after an arduous trek in Sikkim, resides with royalty in Udaipur, has a strange liaison in Goa, is blessed by an elephant, travels to the biggest ship breaking yard in the world, does a Brahma Kumaris meditation course on the top of Mount Abu and stays in Auroville, the ‘City of Dawn’, to mention a few. She keeps encountering folk who are on a spiritual quest and realises that she too is a seeker. Her third trip focuses more on seeking rather than simply travelling. She traverses the second highest road in the world to Ladakh, ‘Little Tibet’, does a Buddhist retreat near Dharamsala, a month long yoga course in Rishikesh, stays at the headquarters of the Hare Krishna movement and undergoes ayurvedic treatment for arthritis in Mumbai where she also attends meetings with the ‘divine banker’, Ramesh Balsekar.

In the book’s epilogue she describes her future travels and spiritual experiences, explaining how they have enriched her life and enabled her to live with the pain of MS and osteoarthritis, hopefully inspiring others to live life to the full.

White Clay by Dora Ilieva

Across the Ocean, Book 3

Two people are dead in a horrific car crash. The third is fighting for his life. Kossara, a young archaeologist, who considers the victims her only family, discovers a life-shattering secret which sends her back to the country she hails from. The search into her family history becomes a race against time, as she finds out that her late father had been involved in much more than archaeological digs. In the blinding blizzard the secret is hidden…

The Polar Adventures of a Rich American Dame: A Life of Louise Arner Boyd by Joanna Kafarowski

Louise Arner Boyd inherited the family millions in her thirties. Expected to lead a respectable life, she instead fell under the captivating spell of the north. Over the next thirty years, she organized and led seven hazardous expeditions around Greenland and was showered with international awards.

Roger and the Cancelled Czech by Jerold Last

Roger and Suzanne Mysteries, Book 16

A close friend from Roger’s past is tasked with solving several recent murders in Prague and Budapest. However, a bounty is placed on his head while he is en route to Eastern Europe to investigate the crimes. Roger and his partner Vincent are hired to take his place. They fly to Europe to find the answers to several questions: Was the assailant who pummeled a man to death just outside a synagogue in Prague’s Old City human, or was he a Golem lurking in the area? Who is The Cobra, a shadowy character with major connections to the worlds of espionage and art theft? In the meantime, Suzanne has her hands full taking care of a new baby and beginning to train her dog Romeo for agility competitions. Like all of the Roger and Suzanne series on Amazon Kindle, this is a tough, sometimes violent, but clean (no cussing, no sexual promiscuity) mystery that can be enjoyed either as a series entry or a standalone novel.

House of Fez by Dianne Noble

In the simmering heat of a Moroccan summer, an already fractured family is forced to re-examine its loyalties.

Sisters Juliet and Portia haven’t seen each other in years. When they’re invited by their estranged mother, Miranda, to visit Fez, they’re shocked on arrival to discover she has married Samir, a man half her age. What’s more, he’s already married to Zina.

Pressure builds in the simmering heat. While growing closer themselves, Juliet and Portia are dismayed that Miranda is only loyal to Samir, even while he employs children in sweatshops. Portia defies him daily to help the children, but when Zina plunges from a balcony, it’s Portia who’s blamed.

Juliet and Portia are forced to re-examine their loyalties.

First Call by Janice J. Richardson

A Spencer Funeral Home Niagara Cozy Mystery, Book 4

Funeral homes are supposed to be quiet …

Jennifer Spencer inherits her uncle’s funeral home. Her move to the Niagara Region into the apartment above the Home went well, but in the first week alone, someone breaks into the funeral home. Then, Jennifer finds cash in a casket, a lot of cash. Certain it has something to do with the break-in, she’s unable to convince the police and winds up on their list of suspects. But Jennifer has families to serve and funerals to arrange; that is her number-one priority. Someone sinister and dangerous wants the cash back; that’s their number-one priority and Jennifer Spencer, funeral director, is in the way.

A cozy mystery with heart, compassion, and humour.

Desert Skies, Rebel Souls by M.P. Tonnesen

A journey into the unknown. A rebellion against family, culture and society. A love against all odds.

From Scandinavia to the Middle East, a young woman travels to discover herself and finds a world of passion and history, war and peace. A whirlwind romance takes a dramatic turn, leaving Olivia caught between countries, belonging nowhere, and with the love of her life in danger far away.

From the award-winning author of The Cosmopolitan Islander comes an uplifting tale of adventure, conflict and reconciliation that never shies away from brutal reality, yet sparkles with the sheer love of life.

Desert Skies, Rebel Souls is a bittersweet coming-of-age story set under the desert sky against the backdrop of music of the nineties and stunning scenery – to be enjoyed by adventurous globetrotters and readers longing to escape.