Book Critic
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Review: The Splendor Before the Dark: A Novel of the Emperor Nero (Nero #2) by Margaret George
When I was a kid, I was fascinated by all things Rome. I watched every episode about Rome and the emperors on History channel and my favorites were always on the crazy ones. The ancient world is a fascinating place. People are trying to form a civilized people and state while others are trying to conquer new territories and at the height of it’s power, Rome was the republic that everyone modeled their empires on. One of the emperors that always seemed to capture my interest was Nero and like any memorable Roman emperor, he had his own share of crazy. When this book came up for review, I was…
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Review: SEAL’S Honor (Alaska Force #1) by Megan Crane
Many women love a good romance story, and I am one such women. All of us women have our favorite troupes or settings—-some like cowboy romances while others prefer a rogue of the peerage, others like military romances. For me, I just like a good story but if I’m being honest, I like the rogue of the peerage best but I don’t mind the occasional cross over into other troupes. The book was one that I just happened to see one day while I was scrolling through Netgalley looking at new releases. I had just seen a special on SEAL training on the History Channel so I was immediately drawn…
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Review: The Winters by Lisa Gabriele
I read Rebecca a few years ago and I thought it was an excellent read with lots of atmosphere and mood. I haven’t really read a book since that comes close to it, so when this book came up for review, I was intrigued as the story sounded like a modern retelling of the gothic classic. In my opinion, Rebecca is a tough novel to follow. It’s unique—especially considering the time it was written—and has a huge cult following. It told an original story that was haunting and yet creepy without being a ghost story. There were many things that set Rebecca apart for me, so when I read this…
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Review: Murder on Millionaires’ Row by Erin Lindsey
As soon as this book arrived at my house, I had to fight off people who wanted to borrow it with a stick. I am not even kidding. It arrived in the afternoon and by the night time, it was MIA. My mom was watching my kid and she was looking for something to read and found this one in my sea of books and refused to give it up when I got home. She was hooked on the character and story so I knew I wasn’t getting it back for at least a week. I finally got it back last week and was able to start reading it. My…
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Review: Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane (Honeymoon Harbor #2) by JoAnn Ross
I am a romantic at heart. I love a happy ending and a really good romance. Having it be set during the holidays just sweetens the deal for me. JoAnn Ross is a new writer to me but it looks like she has written a number of romance series. This isn’t a book that I would normally pick up but I loved that it was set in the Pacific Northwest on the coast. I think the PacNW offers a unique setting for romances—-its a rugged, stormy, unpredictable, and unforgiving coastline so I thought that the setting would add to the story. Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks,…
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Review: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox
This book has been all over my social media this October. With the word ‘witch’ in the title, its hardly a surprise that it would be trending throughout the most ‘haunted’ month of the year. Sometimes with books that receive so much hype, it’s hard to decide if it’s worth the read or not. I was intrigued by the combination of historical fiction and fantasy/paranormal. The early nineteenth century isn’t really my favorite period, but I was interested enough in the mixture of genres that I was eager to read this one and find out of the hype was indeed worth it. New Oldbury, 1821 In the wake of a…
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Review: Lady of a Thousand Treasures (The Victorian Ladies #1) by Sandra Byrd
I’ve read Sandra Byrd before and have loved her, she’s written a couple of different series all with a Christian base. I’ve always enjoyed her stories as they have a little romance and mystery mixed together with a sprinkling of Christian ideology. This book has been one that I have been looking forward to reading since I heard about it. I love the Victorian era and Byrd’s stories are always well written and interesting. I was asked t review this book by two different tour groups and was excited to start it as soon as I got the copy! Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to…
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Review: Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle
It’s November first and I am in full holiday mode. I’m on of those obnoxious people that starts decorating and shopping for Christmas immediately following Halloween. I started my holiday reading a little early this year (normally I wait until after Halloween) since there were a lot of holiday books coming out. This is one that I had my eye on, mostly because it sounded like it was going to be an epistolary novel. Angela Carson wants nothing more than to be the third-generation to run her family’s holiday store, Heart of Christmas, successfully. They’ve weathered over sixty tourist seasons, major hurricanes, and urban sprawl, in their old decommissioned lighthouse.…
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Review: The Alienist (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler #1) by Caleb Carr
This book was super popular when it came out in the 1990’s and since TNT has made it into a mini series, the book is getting a lot of attention again. Back in February I picked up a copy of this book from the library and just couldn’t get into it. But for Halloween I really wanted to try it again so I found a copy at the library and started reading. What drew me in was the time period. I am fascinated by this time period and having a historical thriller set in New York’s late 19th century streets sounded exceptional. The year is 1896. The city is New…
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Review: The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos
This book is marketed to fans of Sarah’s Key and The Lilac Girls as well as fans of WWII family sagas. I was intrigued by the subject matter as well as the time period. As many of you know, I love war time books—mysteries, romances, family dramas etc—-so this book, historically fit right in. But what stood out for me was the plot for two main characters—–Natalia and Victor split apart by time and war. I loved the idea of seeing two characters from the same region having to pick sides during a war time occupation. I was interested to see how that scenario would pan out, so that’s how…