Category: Book Critic

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

I first discovered Diana Biller when her first novel, The Widow of Rose House, was released back in 2019. I absolutely loved it and thought Biller had an elegant prose that sucked me into the story right away. Plus the romance was sensual, sweet and a little spicy. It was a wonderful mix and I just recall how much that debut has stood out to me over the years. I often recommend it to friends and family, so naturally when I saw this new release, I had to jump on it!

This is Biller’s fourth novel and while I have missed the other two (though they are on my book shelf currently!) I didn’t want to miss this one! I loved the cover, it caught my eye and drew me in. It is colorful and really eye catching and while I hate judging a book by it’s cover, this one made it hard to resist! Knowing that Biller has written such quality historical romances before made me even more excited for this than the cover though. If you haven’t read her books, you are missing out!

Not only did the cover and the author appeal to me, but the description of this book spoke to me. I loved that this book promised to take us to the glittering world of Vienna and indeed a world of intrigue and spies. If you are looking for a historical romance to escape with this spring, that will leave you feeling like you read something ‘new’ and ‘different’ then I think this book fits the bill. It was a pleasure to read this book and another that I will be sharing with family and friends!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) by Leigh Bardugo

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) by Leigh Bardugo

When this book came out, it promoted me to go back and read Ninth House so I could be ready to read this one. I had this whole drama around why I didn’t read Ninth House until now and you can read all about it in my review of Ninth House here. Bottom line, I suspected that I wouldn’t be able to read this latest Leigh Bardugo book before reading the first book in the series and that is absolutely correct. Do not read this book without first reading Ninth House. This book is basically an extension of the first book and it will leave readers disorientated within this book if you read it out of order.

I burned through Ninth House and was eager to start this one immediately following since Ninth House ended on such a cliff hanger. So I cleared my reading schedule and hunkered in with this book, while I didn’t read it as fast as I anticipated, I still read it fairly quickly and found a lot of the things that I loved about Ninth House, still held true in this book. This book also ended on a cliff hanger and I hope we get the next Alex Stern’s book soon! It sounds like this book series is going to be a trilogy but I really hope it’s more than that. I think there is a rich world to mine here and I would be sad if it ended after only three books when there is so much more to unpack and learn about.

If you are thinking about diving into this world of strange dark academia but aren’t sure yet—-I would say go for it. While I had some issues with Alex as a main character in the first book, overall the rich world and strong storytelling made up for the fact that Alex was at times an unlikeable character—while at other times you could cheer for her. Bardugo is an incredibly talented writer so in that you can’t go wrong. I would recommend Ninth House and then immediately follow up with this latest novel to get the full experience!

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Review: Midnight Duet by Jen Comfort

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Midnight Duet by Jen Comfort

Growing up, I was a massive Phantom of the Opera fan. In fact as I write this review, I am currently listening to the soundtrack. I love the whole forbidden romance set to music. It’s truly one of my favorite soundtracks and stories of all time. So whenever I see something come up that is a Phantom retelling or something similar I have a hard time passing up on it. That’s how this one landed on my TBR and review pile! I couldn’t resist a retelling though as the weeks passed between review acceptance and time to actually read it, I had sort of forgotten it. I had it on my calendar but I was reading other things that got me 100% sidetracked on my normal review schedule.

Lucky for me, I always try and build in time for things like this on my review calendar. Reviews for publishers are a big part of my blog but I also have books that I just want to read so I always make sure I build in time for things like that. The time came to pick this one up and just in time for my vacation! I needed something that was going to hold my interest on a five hour plane ride so I was looking forward to this one immensely since I knew it was a Phantom retelling!

The other thing that drew me to this one was the author is from Portland. I live about an hour south of Portland and I am always excited to read more local authors. I haven’t read anything by this author before but it looks like she has another contempo romance novel that received good rating last year. It would seem she has a flare for quirky romances and I am totally here for that! It basically didn’t take much convincing to get me to review this one, I couldn’t wait to be entertained on my flight with this book!

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Review: A Tempest at Sea (Lady Sherlock #7) by Sherry Thomas

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: A Tempest at Sea (Lady Sherlock #7) by Sherry Thomas

This series started out as a DNF for me. I couldn’t get into the first book when I picked it up the first time so I put it down as a DNF and almost wrote the series off all together. But it bugged me so bad that I didn’t like this series! So many of my friends around the blog-o-sphere loved it and honestly it SHOULD be a series that I love. So after some consideration, I picked up the first book and decided to try again. I am so glad I did because I loved it and binge read all the books that had some out at that point so I could be ready for more in the series!

Sometimes that happens with readers—it’s like the right book and the wrong time and it can be so hard to decide if it was that I wasn’t in the mood for that book or if I really just didn’t care for it. Some books I can absolutely tell that I just don’t like it but with others it could be that I am just not in the right headspace for a particular book, which is why this series needled me so bad! I am glad I decided to give it another go as it has been a very enjoyable series and this book was another great installment.

If you haven’t checked this series out yet it’s great for fans of Sherlock Holmes but with a feminine twist! Author, Sherry Thomas, does a great job staying true to the character of Sherlock Holmes but with a gender bender, but the methods and problem solving that Holmes is known for is seen reflected in these charming characters. If you love historical mysteries this is a great place to start! Both familiar but new!

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Review: The Paris Notebook by Tessa Harris

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Paris Notebook by Tessa Harris

I absolutely adore Tessa Harris! I have read some of her books over the years and I have yet to read a book by her that I haven’t enjoyed! Harris is probably best known for her mystery series, Dr Thomas Silkstone and Constance Piper series respectively. But the book that stands out most for me was her standalone historical fiction, Beneath a Starless Sky. I recall loving how well researched this particular book was, and how much I enjoyed getting to know the characters and exploring their forbidden love story.

So naturally when this new historical fiction novel came out but Harris, I was totally on board with reading it. I thought the plot sounded compelling as it features a new angle, on a report surfacing that Hitler was deemed mentally unfit for office. I thought this sounded so good. I know that Harris really researches her historical fiction books so I knew that I would not be disappointed in the historical details and content. For me that is half the battle, some authors focus more on the characters than historical details but as a historian I personally really respect the historical details and the pains and author goes through to get things ‘just right’.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, I am sure you have seen Tessa Harris’s books around the blog-o-spear. It’s a rare treat to have an author who writes both historical mysteries AND historical fiction. When I picked this one up I had no doubt I would find something special inside and I couldn’t wait to start reading. If you love historical fiction, this book and author are certainly one to watch! Be sure to add to your TBR list immediately!

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