Category: Book Review

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

Review: The Gilded Shroud (A Lady Fan Mystery #1) by Elizabeth Bailey

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Gilded Shroud (A Lady Fan Mystery #1) by Elizabeth Bailey

I fell in love with the cover of this new mystery series. I love the stunning house and the richness of the scene. Without so much as a backward glance I eagerly agreed to review it.

Plus it is the first in a new series and I love getting in on the ground levels when it comes to new detective series.

1789, London

When Emily Fanshawe, Marchioness of Polbrook, is found strangled in her bedchamber, suspicion immediately falls on those residing in the grand house in Hanover Square.

Emily’s husband – Randal Fanshawe, Lord Polbrook – fled in the night and is chief suspect – much to the dismay of his family.

Ottilia Draycott is brought in as the new lady’s companion to Sybilla, Dowager Marchioness and soon finds herself assisting younger son, Lord Francis Fanshawe in his investigations.

Can Ottilia help clear the family name? Does the killer still reside in the house? Continue reading “Review: The Gilded Shroud (A Lady Fan Mystery #1) by Elizabeth Bailey” →

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

Review: Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphreys

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphreys

This book is recommended to fans of Kate Morton and Jacqueline Whinspear and has been highly praised by on of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon. I could gush over Diana Gabaldon for days so seeing her endorsement of this book was all that I needed to agree to review it!

Not to mention, the heroine sounded pretty bad ass and different so I was in, end of story!

Smuggler. Smoker. Aviatrix. Thief. The dynamic Roxy Loewen is all these things and more, in this riveting and gorgeous historical fiction novel for readers of Paula McLain, Roberta Rich, Kate Morton and Jacqueline Winspear.

You should never fall in love with a flyer. You should only fall in love with flight.

That’s what Roxy Loewen always thought, until she falls for fellow pilot Jocco Zomack as they run guns into Ethiopia. Jocco may be a godless commie, but his father is a leading art dealer and he’s found the original of Bruegel’s famous painting, theFall of Icarus. The trouble is, it’s in Spain, a country slipping fast into civil war. The money’s better than good–if Roxy can just get the painting to Berlin and back out again before Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring and his Nazi pals get their hands on it . . . Continue reading “Review: Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphreys” →

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

Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Like millions of people, I got royal wedding fever so bad about 3 days before Prince Harry and Megan Markel wed. Not personally I prefer Kate Middleton over Megan but who doesn’t love a royal wedding?!

The glitz and glamour and all the pomp is just too much for me to resist. After the wedding was over I was desperate for something to read that would be similar to the real life fairy tale. I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted to read a biography on Megan or Kate or Diana or the royal family, but I was sure that I wanted to read something in that vein.

That’s when I found The Royal We. It sounded like the book I had been looking for…..fiction but yet enough reality to satisfy my royal wedding fever not to mention romance. I rushed to my library to pick up a copy and immediately busted into it when I got home.

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it’s Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain’s future king. And when Bex can’t resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face. Continue reading “Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan” →

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

Review: Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly

This is a new series but definitely not a debut novel for Sheila Connolly (she is already a nest selling author). I personally haven’t read any of Connolly’s books but I was intrigued by the summary of this one and the fact that it was a brand new series.

Not going to lie the fact that it said ‘Victorian’ in the series title also was a contributing factor. I love all things Victorian and when I saw it in the title I was immediately saying ‘sold’ loudly in my head.

Katherine Hamilton’s goal in high school was to escape from her dead-end hometown of Asheford, Maryland. Fifteen years later she’s got a degree in hospitality management and a great job supervising every aspect of the day-to-day operations of a high-end boutique hotel on the Baltimore waterfront. Continue reading “Review: Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly” →

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

Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling

When this book came across my desk for review—I was stoked. I don’t read a ton of alternative history, but this one sounded so so so good that I was eager to read it without question.

I sounded like alternative history mixed with some espionage and sci-fi so how could I pass? I couldn’t!

In 1912, just months before the election, President Taft dies suddenly, and Teddy Roosevelt wastes no time in grabbing power as he wins another term as president. By force of will, he ushers the United States into a new, progressive era with the help of the Black Chamber the mysterious spy organization, watching his back.

Luz O’Malley–a brilliant, deadly, and young Cuban Irish American agent of the Black Chamber–heads to Germany. She’s on a luxury airship swarming with agents of every power on earth, as well as conspirators from the Mexican Revolutionary Party and the sinister underground of the reborn Ku Klux Klan, yet none know her true identity.

Her anonymity will be essential as she strives to gain the secrets of Project Loki, an alarming German plan that Roosevelt fears will drag the U.S. into a world war. To gather this intelligence, Luz will have to deceive the handsome yet ruthless Baron Horst von Duckler. She, along with naive Irish-American Ciara Whelan, has to get this vital information back to the U.S.–or thousands of lives might be lost (summary from Goodreads).  Continue reading “Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling” →