Review: Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman (Lady Montfort Mystery #1) by Tessa Arlen

A Downton Abbey-esque murder mystery? Yes please!

Lady Montfort is eagerly anticipating and planning her annual costume ball. Every year she tries to out do herself and plan an over the top event.

Well what would be more memorable than discovering a body?

Teddy is not the most endearing victim. Teddy was the nephew of Lord Montford who was constantly involved in scandal. Most recently he was involved in a gambling ring at Oxford that caused him the be expelled.

Having him home for the costume ball is not exactly the most desirable scenarios but he is after all family. Well while taking a stroll around her property before the ball, Lady Montford overhears a heated argument between Teddy and her own son.

Her son tells Teddy that he will break his neck, Lady Montford realizes she is afraid of her son’s rage in that moment but doesn’t interrupt to argument.

Well when Teddy’s body is discovered later, he has a broken neck–he was hanged.

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Review: Sweet Damage by Rebecca James

This is a modern Gothic thriller to put on your radar!

Tim Ellison has been in a rut lately. He has spent his time sleeping on his ex-girlfriend’s couch, working in a restaurant, and surfing.

Life isn’t quite what he expected. But he does know one thing….it’s time to move out of his ex’s house.

Tim finds a cheap room rental at Fairview, when he shows up he is expecting to see a heap but instead he finds a mansion.

Built in 1890, Fairview is a beautiful mansion boasting some of the best views in Sydney. It’s owned by Anna London who inherited the house after her parents’ deaths.

In exchange for the cheap rent, Tim has one job: to look after Anna. Though she is in her twenties, she acts more like an elderly woman. She also never leaves her house as she suffers from a severe anxiety disorder. But it seems like a fair gig to Tim so he takes the post.

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Review: The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag

That would look beautiful on you. Why don’t you try it on?

How often do you hear that when you are shopping for the perfect dress?

Is it just fluff that the sales clerk is trying to make us believe or would it truly look beautiful on us? What if that statement was more like a promise?

Etta Sparks owns a dress shop where dreams actually do come true. A place where one dress could change your life.

Etta has the ability to make your dreams come true with the perfect dress and a little stitching to give you some courage.

Her granddaughter Cora has been grieving her parents death for years and Etta would like nothing better than for Cora to see what life has to offer her. For years Cora is determined to solve the mystery behind her parents’ deaths in a fire.

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Review: City of Dark Magic (City of Dark Magic #1) by Magnus Flyte

Sarah Weston has spent her life studying Beethoven. So naturally her dream job would be cataloging his manuscripts. Well that dream is about to come true.

She has just received word that her mentor and master’s supervisor committed suicide in Prague.

He was working at Prague Castle on some Beethoven manuscripts for the newly developed Lobkowicz Palace Museum.

The Lobkowicz family contacts Sarah to take up where her professor left off. A paid summer at Prague Castle handling Beethoven’s letters? SOLD!

Sarah departs for Prague immediately, and almost as soon as she lands, strange things start to happen. First she hears strange rumors about her mentor being addicted to drugs and acting erratically before he committed suicide….if he really committed suicide at all.

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Review: Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

2015 promises to be a big year for books into movies, one of which that caught my eye was Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

The trailer looked beautiful and intriguing, not to mention the description of the book itself.

A love….square I guess….three men one woman….a tale of love and unrequited desire? Plus cute little sheep? I’m in!

I haven’t read anything by Thomas Hardy before so getting used to his prose was difficult. Very descriptive and flowery, and thick at times but after getting used to it, it wasn’t too bad.

Bathsheba Everdene is everything a bad-ass heroine should be….strong willed, bold, and independent. She has come into possession of her own lands and farm where she plans on being her own mistress and running her own estate.

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