Review: The Night Garden by Lisa Van Allen

In upstate New York there is a small farm that appears to be just another farm in the country. Normal. Ordinary.

However the Pennywort farm is anything but ordinary and normal….it’s magical. At the heart of the farm there is a magical garden full of imagination and color.

The locals have long said that entering the garden can gain insight to life’s most difficult issues by just walking through the gates, ironically the garden’s caretaker has never experienced any kind of revelation by entering the garden.

Olivia Pennyworth has been caring for the garden and has spent her entire life on the farm while harboring a dark secret which forces her to keep everyone at arms length…..until her childhood friend, Sam, shows up.

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Review: First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen by Charlie Lovett

If you love Jane Austen you need to move this book up to the top of your TBR list immediately!

Sophie Collingwood’s uncle has just died under questionable circumstances and then his prized rare book collection has been sold to satisfy his debts.

To console herself, Sophie goes to work at her favorite bookstore in London, Antiquarian Books.

While working at the store, she is approached by two different collectors who are after the same book, Little Book of Allegories, written by Reverend Richard Mansfield in 1796.

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Review: The Tiger Queens: The Women of Genghis Khan by Stephanie Thornton

Genghis Khan was one of antiquities most notorious and feared leaders. The Mongol empire grew exponentially under his reign but behind every fearless leader, there is often a woman pushing him to be better.

This is the story of the women who made Genghis Khan’s empire what it was. It begins with the story of Borte, his queen. Borte’s future has been foretold by her seer mother and it doesn’t look good.

She will come between two brothers and will bring war and destruction to her people because of it. But true to her promise to marry the man who would be come Genghis Khan, she endures the prophecy with as much dignity as she can.

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Review: The Firebird (Slains #2) by Susanna Kearsley

Nicola Marter is a seemingly normal women, with an extraordinary gift. She can touch an object and see it’s past history.

But she doesn’t like using her gift. She is afraid of being called a ‘freak’ and that people won’t accept her.

So she hides her gift. While working in an art gallery specializing in Russian art, an old woman arrives with a wood carving of a firebird, claiming it belonged to Catherine the Great.

Nicola’s boss doesn’t have any way of authenticating it and thus, it has no value to an art dealer. But when she touches it she sees that it was in fact given to a girl named Anna by Catherine the Great…..but how can she prove it?

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Review: The Tudor Vendetta (The Spymaster Chronicles #3) by C.W. Gortner

Tudor lit is always a favorite sub genre for those who write historic fiction. And why not, it’s a ruthless age full of romance, intrigue, and political unrest. There is a lot for authors to draw inspiration.

One of the things I love best about C.W. Gortner as a writer is he tends to pick strong women in history to write about which is unusual for a male author.

I think having a male write about these women provides readers with a unique perspective. In this novel he utilized a male as the POV character which was different but no less entertaining.

Queen Mary is dead and the young Elizabeth takes the throne. One of her secret agents, Brendan Prescott, has returned from exile and plan on continuing to keep her safe as well as keeping a few secrets of his own safe. He is also hoping to reconcile with his beloved Kate.

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