Category: Book Critic

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Black Diamonds: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England by Catherine Bailey

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Black Diamonds: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England by Catherine Bailey

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Catherine Bailey chronicles the rise and fall of the Fitzwilliam coal mining dynasty in Yorkshire England.

The Fitzwilliam family was at one time, one of the wealthiest families in all of England.

So how does this extensive fortune and massive house end up on the real estate market in 2014 in need of mass repairs?

Well that’s what Bailey decides to find out. What follows is this outstanding narrative about the rise and fall of this aristocratic family, a fortune worth 3 billion pounds by today’s standards, and a family full of salacious scandal, family feuds, and dark secrets.

This book was scandalous and I loved it! I am a huge fan of Bailey’s first biography, The Secret Rooms which I read last year. I love reading about the British aristocracy and royals, because again, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Continue reading “Review: Black Diamonds: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England by Catherine Bailey” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Mistress Firebrand (Renegades of the Revolution) by Donna Thorland

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Mistress Firebrand (Renegades of the Revolution) by Donna Thorland

Actress Jennifer “Jenny” Leighton is a struggling actress in occupied Manhattan during the American Revolution.

She is living with her aunt who is a big name British actress. Jenny hopes to make a name for herself as a play write and gain an influential British patron.

The only man in Manhattan that might be able to give Jenny the patronage, General John Burgoyne, is sequestered on his ship as his staff fear that American rebels will kill him if he makes an appearance in the city.

Jenny has heard the rumors about General Burgoyne…he is quite the ladies man. Knowing that he will likely try to seduce her instead, Jenny must make a choice.

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: King’s Folly (Legends of Fyrsta #2) by Sabrina Flynn

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: King’s Folly (Legends of Fyrsta #2) by Sabrina Flynn

Here we are….back in Fyrsta and back with some of our favorite characters from the first novel! Isiilde is growing up and as always, she’s a bit feisty!

Isiilde and her friends Marsais and Oenghus risked going through a portal fleeing a madman, but what they find in this portal is anything but good, in fact the discover how truly inhospitable the realms are!

Isiilde and Oenghus grown closer as they endure unimaginable horrors.

Rather than focus too much on what the novel is about and give away any story lines, I want to talk about what was good and what was bad…that’s why you are reading this blog right?

OK so, let’s jump right in and talk a little bit about how the novel has evolved from the first book.

Let’s begin with the characters. Isiilde has changed significantly over the two books and continues to grapple with the dark things that have happened to her. I like that she never really gives up and lets her past consume her.

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard

I have some serious cover lust happening with this one. I would have read this book for the cover alone, but then when I read that it was about dragons, love, and a prince with a quest….how could I resist!

Prince Corin has been picked by the dragons to free them from their bondage to the empire….the only problem is he doesn’t quite know how he’s supposed to do that.

The dragons charge him with this seemingly impossible deed and gift him powers but he has no idea what to do about this quest. So he returns to the palace to continue on with his daily life.

On his way home, the prince and his entourage encounter a band raiders but they soon discover that these ‘raiders’ are more like well trained warriors. This raises all sorts of concerns for Corin, one of which is eminent war.

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

This book made me want to read more thrillers about international art fraud! It also inspired me to finally pick up The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

This debut novel by Rebecca Scherm is recommended for fans of The Goldfinch which I haven’t read but thought sounded good.

Since Unbecoming is shorter, I thought this one sounded like a good place to start.

We meet Julie (AKA Grace) who is living a double life in France. While she was on her summer study abroad program in Prague, she receives word that her long time boyfriend/husband, Riley, and his best friend (and her lover), Alls, who have been arrested for a high profile heist at an estate back in Tennessee.

Well three years later Grace is still in Europe, when she learns they will both be paroled. She is hiding from both of them for a number of reasons. One of which is the stolen art canvas she left the states with three years previously.

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