Book Review
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Review: The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag
That would look beautiful on you. Why don’t you try it on? How often do you hear that when you are shopping for the perfect dress? Is it just fluff that the sales clerk is trying to make us believe or would it truly look beautiful on us? What if that statement was more like a promise? Etta Sparks owns a dress shop where dreams actually do come true. A place where one dress could change your life. Etta has the ability to make your dreams come true with the perfect dress and a little stitching to give you some courage. Her granddaughter Cora has been grieving her parents death for…
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Review: City of Dark Magic (City of Dark Magic #1) by Magnus Flyte
Sarah Weston has spent her life studying Beethoven. So naturally her dream job would be cataloging his manuscripts. Well that dream is about to come true. She has just received word that her mentor and master’s supervisor committed suicide in Prague. He was working at Prague Castle on some Beethoven manuscripts for the newly developed Lobkowicz Palace Museum. The Lobkowicz family contacts Sarah to take up where her professor left off. A paid summer at Prague Castle handling Beethoven’s letters? SOLD! Sarah departs for Prague immediately, and almost as soon as she lands, strange things start to happen. First she hears strange rumors about her mentor being addicted to drugs and acting erratically before he committed…
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Review: Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
2015 promises to be a big year for books into movies, one of which that caught my eye was Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. The trailer looked beautiful and intriguing, not to mention the description of the book itself. A love….square I guess….three men one woman….a tale of love and unrequited desire? Plus cute little sheep? I’m in! I haven’t read anything by Thomas Hardy before so getting used to his prose was difficult. Very descriptive and flowery, and thick at times but after getting used to it, it wasn’t too bad. Bathsheba Everdene is everything a bad-ass heroine should be….strong willed, bold, and independent. She has come into possession…
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Review: House Broken by Sonja Yoerg
Geneva Novak tends to relate better to animals than she does her own family…that’s why she’s a vet. And avoiding her family has more or less worked for her these last few years. But one day she gets a call that is going to change all that and make her finally face the relationships she been avoiding. Geneva’s mother, Helen, loves her vodka but vodka doesn’t love her back. Dublin, Geneva’s brother calls to tell her that their mother has been in a drinking and driving accident. Though not life threatening, she has some significant injuries. Dublin, though close with Helen, can’t take her in as he has a special needs child.…
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Review: The Witch of Painted Sorrows by M.J. Rose
Sandrine Salome is running away to France. Her father has just died and her husband most likely had a hand in it. She cannot continue to be in his house so she flees to Paris where her grandmother lives. Sandrine used to live with her grandmother when she was younger but then she was whisked away when she was caught in a compromising situation with a boy. Since then she has only seen her grandmother a handful of times but it’s almost like Paris is calling her home from America. When she arrives, her grandmother’s home is empty. Her grandmother claims its due to renovations but Sandrine feels like she…
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Review: Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay
I am excited to see all the fairy tale retellings out there, especially for Sleeping Beauty as Aurora is one of my favorite princesses. Princess of Thorns is a different kind of fairy tale retelling. Princess Aurora AKA Ror is actually a warrior princess and Sleeping Beauty’s daughter who must fight to regain her throne. ‘ As a briar born child, Ror and her twin brother Jor have been gifted special powers. Jor has been kidnapped by the evil ogre queen and is being tortured. Ror is the heiress to the fairy lands and she must not only save her brother, but she must regain her kingdom by any means necessary.…
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Review: Perfiditas (Roma Nova #2) by Alison Morton
A lot has changed in the seven years since we first met the very unlucky Karen Brown. She has now completely embraced her true identity of Carina Mitela and she is now living as a Roma Novan. Carina has married Conradus (AKA Conrad) and since the last novel, they have advanced in their careers within the PGSF (Praetorian Guard Special Forces). Conrad has just been made Legate which is basically the Chief within the PGSF and Carina is also a Captain in the Strategy Section. Their marriage is solid but their careers are complicated. They also have their children to protect and provide for….but that is a fact easier said than done. Carina must prevent a conspiracy that not…
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Review: What A Lady Needs For Christmas (MacGregors #4) by Grace Burrowes
So here we are….almost to the holiday season and I have yet to read a single holiday book though it was on my ‘to do’ this year for reading. That’s when this book came along for review…..I was originally looking for something like Lauren Willig’s Mischief of the Mistletoe but hey….I’ll take what I can get! Since this month seems to be romance novel month for me…I figured this was better than no holiday read! Lady Joan Flynn is heading to the Highlands in order to escape a scandal. A potential client of her’s got her intoxicated and attempted to take liberties with her. Now she is making a run…
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Review: The Raven Prince (Princes #1) by Elizabeth Hoyt
I’ve recently read some pretty heavy novels so I think it was long over due for a fluff fest! With December being so chilly and long, it often ends up being my steamy romance month. This month I’ve read a lot of historical romances of the ‘bodice ripper’ persuasion…and not necessarily on purpose. I’ve never read anything by Elizabeth Hoyt so I didn’t really know what to expect. She has been recommended to me by other historic romance fans and after looking through some of her titles, The Raven Prince caught my eye. I think mostly because I liked the title, it sounded interesting and it sounded almost like a fairy tale.
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Review: Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress (The Matchmaker Trilogy #3) by Theresa Romain
Augusta Meredith is creating scandal all over the place. She has not only suffered and embarrassing and tragic love affair but she is also not mourning the death of her parents as society would expect. She has fled to Bath where she assumes an identity to find herself a lover. While in Bath, she runs into Joss Everett who recognizes her, but he promises to keep her secret if she keeps his. Joss is in Bath trying to locate a blackmailer for his cousin, who also happens to be his employer. Though Augusta propositions him to be her lover, Joss respectfully declines as he has his own agenda. But the two decide…
