Book Critic
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Take Two Review: The Seven Sisters (Seven Sisters #1) by Lucinda Riley (Audible)
I read this book for the first time back in the summer of 2015 and I remember how much I loved reading this book and especially how it made me fall in love with a new author. Since starting this book, I have continued with the Seven Sisters books and every time marvel at Riley’s story telling abilities. I recently read the latest Seven Sisters novel, The Moon Sister, and was thinking how much I love this series as a whole and will be so sad to see it come to an end. I have all the books but with my review schedule, it’s often hard to fit in rereads…
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Review: Royal Blood (Royal Spyness #4) by Rhys Bowen
As promised, I have been making my way through the Royal Spyness Mystery series these last few weeks. I actually started this one at the end and then decided to go back and read the other books. There are 12 so far and I am sadly only on book 4. But I am making my way as fast as I can through the books and enjoying each one as I go. They are quick reads and delightfully light and yet entertaining enough to keep me reading into the late hours (especially on the weekends!). If you have been following along with my reviews of this series, then you know that…
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Review: The Missing Years by Lexie Elliott
The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the cover. It’s not everyday that I see a thriller cover with bright pink lettering and I thought it was unique and eye-catching! Beyond the cover that I couldn’t take my eyes off of….I also liked the sound of the setting. An old manor house nestled in the craggy Scottish highlands…..yes please! You all know how much I love books that are atmospheric and haunting! So I was instantly drawn to this book and wanted to see if it would be something that I would love. Elliot has written another book, The French Girl, which I seem to recall…
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Review: The Austen Playbook (London Celebrities #4) by Lucy Parker
I haven’t read anything by Lucy Parker before, but as I was reading the pitch summary, I hopped on to Goodreads to check out some reviews of Parker’s other books in this series to see if this was something I might want to read. It became very apparent that she has a lot of fans and that this series is one to watch. I also liked the title of this book. The title made it sounds like it was going to be a Jane Austen style romance which made me really excited to check it out! The cover was also eye catching. I liked the color scheme and the couple…
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Review: The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
I recently discovered Jennifer McMahon as an author just this last fall/winter. I know that she has a number of fans but to be honest—ghost stories freak me out and I rarely read them. However, during the fall/winter, I saw that there was an Instagram group that was reading her novel, The Winter People, and though I didn’t participate in the reading group, I was nevertheless intrigued by the cover of the book and summary. So I ended up reading it and absolutely fell in love with her prose and plot. While I was honest to god scared while reading The Winter People, I didn’t think that it was so…
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Review: The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson (Audible Edition)
This book has received a huge amount of praise and it’s basically been everywhere I’ve turned in the last few months. Magazines, social media, recommended reading on Goodreads, and staff picks in book stores. Everywhere. I ordered the book when it first came out but then it got lost in all my other reading and largely I have been able to accomplish a lot more ‘reading’ by listening to audiobooks. So I decided to get this book on Audible and see if I could make some headway with it. Obviously this book appealed to me for a number of reasons. First of all, I love all things royal and second…
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Review: The View from Alameda Island by Robyn Carr
I have only recently discovered Robyn Carr’s books and so far I have really enjoyed the nice little escape they provide from day to day life. Carr has written a number of different standalone books and various series, and clearly has a huge following of devoted fans! So far I have stuck with the Sullivan’s Crossing series but I have been interested in checking out some of her other novels. She has been hugely successful and I can clearly see how experienced she is in her writing. Her books are often well written, believable, with interesting characters so when this book came up for review—a standalone—I was eager to try…
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Review: The Key to Happily Ever After by Tif Marcelo
The first thing that attracted me to this book was the title and the bright cover art! I found the title intriguing and it instantly made me think about things that make my own ‘happily ever after’ so special. I also thought the bright robin’s egg blue and yellow on the cover was so eye catching and I was instantly curious about this one and gladly agreed to read it! The summary of the book also sounded interesting. I have been reading a lot of historical mysteries as well as some heavy women’s fiction and frankly I needed something that was going to be more along the lines of a…
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Review: Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel by James Markert
This was a book that I wasn’t really thinking about, until the time for me to start reading it was upon me. For me, there was nothing that really stood out about it—not the cover, or the title, or even the description. I was beginning to wonder why I agreed to review it, but with a sigh, I had committed to reading it and thus I did. As soon as I started reading it, I began to let me misconceptions and preconceived notions fall away, as this book indeed had a lot to recommend itself and I think that there will be a number of people that will love this…
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Review: The Secret of Clouds by Alyson Richman
Alyson Richman is an author that I have had on my radar for quite a while now. She’s written a number of historical fiction books that I have been just dying to read—The Velvet Hours and The Lost Wife, I am looking at you! But for some reason, I have just not picked up either of them. I am not really sure why, but I just know that I see her name and I am like ugh, I need to read something by her! She when The Secret Clouds arrived in my mailbox, I was thrilled to read something by her. However, it looked like it was more of a…