Book Critic
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Review: Cheating Death (The Immortal Descendants #5) by April White
So here with are with another beloved series coming to an end. I have mixed emotions….I am sad that a series that I have adored for the last few years is coming to an end but happy because it wrapped up in such a wonderfully fitting way that I couldn’t help but be satisfied. An explosion has split Time and Archer has paid the ultimate price, leaving Saira heartbroken and desperate to repair the rupture. But the blast has trapped Saira in an alternate future where Mongers are cornered predators and Death is the ultimate judge. If Saira and her larcenous friend Ringo ever want to see Archer alive, they…
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Review: The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams
When I picked up my first Beatriz Williams book, I was completely engrossed and fell in love with her writing style. I wasn’t sure that I would like her books and wasn’t excited to read the first one, but I did and when I began, I was completely sucked in and impressed with her ability to tell a story. So from that point on, she earned a place in my heart as one of my favorite writers. When this latest book came across my desk for review, I was thrilled because I knew the caliber of writing and story telling would be second to none and I wasn’t disappointed in…
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Review: The Dressmakers Dowry by Meredith Jaeger
A popular theme in historical fiction is dual storylines. Typically one is told in the present day and the other in the past. In my latest novel up for review, The Dressmaker’s Dowry, this same theme makes an appearance. San Francisco: 1876. Immigrant dressmakers Hannelore Schaeffer and Margaret O’Brien struggle to provide food for their siblings, while mending delicate clothing for the city’s most affluent ladies. When wealthy Lucas Havensworth enters the shop, Hanna’s future is altered forever. With Margaret’s encouragement and the power of a borrowed green dress, Hanna dares to see herself as worthy of him. Then Margaret disappears, and Hanna turns to Lucas.
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Review: Love and Gravity by Samantha Sotto
There is something about time travel books that hold a place near and dear to my heart! I guess it’s because I love the thought of me myself being able to just fall into a new time period. I think it’s romantic and exciting so whenever new books come up with time travel as a theme, I am almost always on board with reviewing them. I don’t know much about Isaac Newton but I thought this book sounded compelling and I was anxious to review it based on the time travel component. Andrea Louviere is seven years old the first time he appears. While she’s alone in her bedroom, practicing…
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Review: Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese
What are the odds that the first few books that I’ve reviewed this month have all been so good? That rarely happens to me but for some reason the stars have aligned and this month has been a fantastic kick off to the new year book-wise! The last few novels have all been set during war time and I love love love the drama and romance that comes from a war era novel. This novel was full of beautiful language and writing. From the dawn of the twentieth century to the devastation of World War II, this exhilarating novel of love, war, art, and family gives voice to two extraordinary…
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Review: Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel
Hello 2017! Even though I read this book in 2016, it’s my first official book review of 2017 and I couldn’t be happier with this new year kick off! Kate Pearson has turned into a major slacker. Even though she’s graduated at the top of her class from college and things seem positive in her life, everything takes a turn for the worst. She was unceremoniously dumped by her “almost fiancé” she abandons her grad school plans and instead spends her days lolling on the couch, watching reruns of Sex and the City, and leaving her apartment only when a dog-walking gig demands it. Her friends don’t know what to…
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Review: Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
When it comes to romance, there are few better than Jojo Moyes. Her stories are always so full of emotion and heart. Over the years I have read quite a few of her novels and each novel is unique and I always have a hard time putting them down. The main characters are always interesting, well drawn women and the romance elements are tenderhearted and emotionally charged. I don’t read a lot of short stories or collections of stories as I prefer a fully developed novel where I can focus on one character but because Moyes novels are always so enjoyable, I thought I would give this one a go. Initially…
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Review: Victoria by Daisy Goodwin
I am going to preface this post by saying that Queen Victoria is absolutely my favorite queen! I’ve had my eye on this book for MONTHS waiting for it to come out. When this came up for review I literally jumped for joy. So I was already geared up to love this one but my biggest fear was that because I was so excited to read it that I didn’t want to be let down if it wasn’t good. Well my fears were entirely unfounded! This was an excellent read! Less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, a young Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that…
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Review: At the Edge of Summer by Jessica Brockmole
A couple of years ago I read Jessica Brockmole’s debut novel, LETTERS FROM SKYE and it was one of my most favorite books! I loved it! So when her follow up novel AT THE EDGE OF SUMMER came out, I was eager to read it and see if it too had the same magic as her first novel. Luc Crépet is accustomed to his mother’s bringing wounded creatures to their idyllic château in the French countryside, where healing comes naturally amid the lush wildflowers and crumbling stone walls. Yet his maman’s newest project is the most surprising: a fifteen-year-old Scottish girl grieving over her parents’ fate. A curious child with…
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Review: Love You Dead (Roy Grace #12) by Peter James
This is the fall of more modern thrillers for me, particularly ones set in England. I love love love British thrillers and when I heard this one was set in Brighton, I was all over it! I haven’t read anything by Peter James or heard anything about him, so this was a completely new author for me. Jodie Bentley had two dreams in life – to be beautiful and rich. She’s achieved the first, with a little help from a plastic surgeon, and now she’s working hard on the second. Her philosophy on money is simple: you can either earn it or marry it. Marrying is easy, it’s getting rid…