The island of Niue, 1944. Angelie, a 17-year-old Australian girl, is waiting out the war on the island. There, warm tropical winds blow through her hair almost as gently as native islander Will Tongahai’s eyes graze her body. But when a series of vivid dreams about deserts and long forgotten prophecies ensnares them, Will and Angelie discover not only each other, but a powerful fate that began for them at the dawn of civilization.

In the spirit of The Time Traveler's Wife comes this epic new romance filled with passion, history, and reincarnation.

Nif and Sherin are Ninti, beings both human and divine, who share a deep and powerful love that puts them both in mortal danger, while propelling them towards an extraordinary fate that ensures they will live infinite human lives...and suffer an equal number of deaths. Together they must solve a mystery that spans the ages, or risk losing one another forever.

In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague, fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal, a reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement, and a gypsy with a risky sex life.

As one by one their chances for fleeing the country collapse, the two join a plot to assassinate Hitler’s nefarious Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Josef Goebbels. But the assassination attempt goes wildly wrong, propelling the lovers in separate directions.

Felix’s destiny is sealed at the Bone Church, a mystical pilgrimage site on the outskirts of Prague, while Magdalena is thrust even deeper into the bowels of a city that betrayed her and a homeland soon to be swallowed by the Soviets. As they emerge from the shadowy fog of World War II, and stagger into the foul haze of the Cold War, Felix and Magdalena must confront the past, and a dangerous, uncertain future.

While vacationing in Greece in 1956, Lily Tassos, the hard-partying daughter of a powerful arms dealer, has a sudden change in plans.

After her sometime boyfriend —a CIA agent— is murdered before her eyes, she finds herself holding a ticket to Moscow and a mysterious metal card. A far cry from her usual pairing of a Faulkner novel and bottle (or two) of white Bordeaux.

Alone and haunted by her lover’s death, apolitical Lily resolves to complete his mission and find out who killed him.

Masquerading as a gung-ho member of the American Communist Party, she travels to Moscow, where she is contacted by Pasha Tarkhan. Brutal, yet charismatic, Tarkhan is both a high-ranking Soviet official and CIA asset, not to mention a covert supporter of the Russian Spiritual Underground. This alliance of self-styled “deists” have rejected the secular Soviet state and vowed to bring it down by means of faith, prayer...and blood.

Grinding her old life beneath the heel of her Dior stiletto, Lily puts her new one on the line, surrendering to fate, love and, for once, events bigger than herself.

An heiress who can’t seem to keep her legs closed. A Russian plan for dominating the space race. An assassin with a penchant for rich food and sadistic murder. When you’re alone in the cold, passion and betrayal are commodities and love hangs on by an icy thread. From the author of The Bone Church and Cold, comes a white knuckle tour de force of Cold War noir.
Read the whole story in Victoria Dougherty's new novel, The Hungarian.

Daring escapes, backyard firing squads, communist snitches, bowlfuls of goulash, gargoyles, gray skies and bone-chilling winters - Victoria Dougherty comes from the ultimate Cold War family.
Writing with humor and raw soul, she recounts the heart-pounding stories she grew up hearing at her dinner table and the two-hanky drama that played on in her home. She ponders how her family’s bad luck - so bad her parents dubbed it a curse - against all reason became a force for good in her life.

More on Cold…
WordPress, the blogging platform that hosts some 70 million blogs worldwide, has singled out Ms. Dougherty’s blog, also called Cold, as one of their top Recommended Blogs by writers or about writing.