Book Critic
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Review: An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St James
Many of you have noticed that I recently became completely obsessed with Simone St James’s novels. I started off with The Broken Girls (her latest novel out in March) and I was completely hooked on her writing style and plots. I ordered all of her books from my library and haven’t looked back. I’ve shamelessly read them all in the matter of days. Some are better than others naturally but all have an interesting plot angles and intriguing mysteries, ghosts, and romances. This book was actually on my radar well before I started reading her works. I love gothic novels, specifically Victoria Holt. This book came up on my Goodreads…
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Review: The Storm King by Brendan Duffy
Sometimes you pick up a book and you have zero idea what it’s about. That’s what happened to me with this book. When this book came up for review, I got the pitch at the same time as I got the pitch for The Pearl Sister. For some reason, my brain combined the two books and I said yes to both of them. The title of this book sounded romantic and like it would be in the same vein as The Pearl Sister so why not read that one too. Then The Storm King book arrived in my mailbox and I vaguely remembered agreeing to read it, having already read…
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Review: Lost Among the Living by Simone St James
After finishing two of Simone St James novels in less than a week, I was thrilled when this one came into the library and was waiting patiently in the holds section for me to pick up. I had read a lot of great reviews for this book and was eager to see what kind of ghost and romance this story would hold. It sounded a little different than The Haunting of Maddy Clare but still within the same wheelhouse of that style, so I was intrigued. England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion…
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Review: The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg
Sometimes I have a feeling about a book and where it might fall on my own reviewer scale, even before I pick it up and start reading. This was one of those books. I thought it would be a book that was good but not great. Sometimes fictionalized accounts of historical figures lives can go very right or very wrong. I am not a big Jack London fan or a Harry Houdini fan….so I was ready to put this book firmly in the three star category before I even started the first page. San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed…
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Review: The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St James
I discovered Simone St James by happenstance this month. I have her latest novel The Broken Girls to review in March–side note, order this book now, it’s fantastic. After reading The Broken Girls, I was so in love with her prose and style, that I picked up all of her novels to read as soon as possible! The first one to come into my library was The Haunting of Maddy Clare so I picked it up and almost read it in one sitting because it was that good! Sarah Piper’s lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis-rich, handsome, scarred by…
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Review: Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney
I’m one of those people that really really really loves government thrillers, military operatives, spy novels, and conspiracy stories. Admittedly I haven’t read a lot of classic ‘spy novels’ but secretly my dream job would be international spy master or CIA operative. Travel the world with unlimited resources and loose rules with no one to report to….it all sounds horribly romantic to me, which I am sure in real life it is anything but. However a girl can dream. In addition to my rose colored view of the world, I also have all the latest spy movies queued up ready to watch at any time. I love espionage and seeing…
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Review: A Brush with Shadows (Lady Darby Mystery #6) by Anna Lee Huber
The last Lady Darby book was a little bit of a left down for me. That said, I was eager to see what this book held because I really love Anna Lee Huber’s books, not just the Lady Darby books, but all of her books! The thing that excited me most about this book was the eye catching cover. I totally need this sunny yellow dress to wear around town….it’s beautiful. I was absolutely in love with this cover…..yes I know that’s terrible but it’s the truth. I was happy to read this because the happy yellow dress made it so….especially on the cliffs of the moors. SOLD. July 1831.…
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Review: The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen
WWII romances are so my thing, but this book was so much more than just another romance. It’s story about family, loss, children, and life choices. It’s not very often that I find a book set during WWII that is set in some place other than England or France but this was that unique and rare occasion. In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s…
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Review: She Regrets Nothing by Andrea Dunlop
Lately I have had a desire to read a few more contemporary novels that are out of my traditional review genre. I have been particularly interested in books about ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous’ but with a darker twist. That was what caught my eye about this book…..it sounded like something a little more complex than regular contempo lit. I liked that it featured the wealthy and privileged society but at the same time showed the seedier side of money. It was not a hard sell for me to read this book. In the tradition of The Emperor’s Children and The House of Mirth,the forgotten granddaughter of one of…
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Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
While recovering from surgery on my foot, I had my TV and book lineup ready for six weeks of unadulterated reading and TV watching time. One of the TV shows on the top of my list was the HBO series BIG LITTLE LIES. My sister raved about how good the series was and I was intrigued by the description, that was until I saw that it was based on a book. I immediately changed up my reading lineup so I could read this book before watching the show. I have been reading a lot of historical fiction and historical mysteries lately and I actually got excited about reading something more…