Review: Beneath a Starless Sky by Tessa Harris

You had me at forbidden romance with this one. I am an absolute sucker for forbidden romances and this book sounded like it had the ultimate forbidden romance—German soldier and a Jewish woman during WWII. I mean come on how could I pass on that? I was super excited to dive into this one. Author Tessa Harris has written two other historical mysteries series (which I now need to read) but this is her first stand alone historical fiction novel.

While her other novels are set in the Victorian era, this one is set during WWII and I thought she did a wonderful job with her historical research and presentation not to mention the romance which is the reason why I am so excited to read her other books! I am a sucker for a well researched historical fiction novel and this one did not disappoint.

It came in at around 350 pages which might seem short by historical fiction standards—sometimes historical fiction novels run long because the authors like to add a lot of historical detail. This one did not skimp on historical details but kept the focus on the characters and romance while keeping the historic details pointed and clear rather than for filler (if that makes sense). If you are a fan of historical fiction you should know what I mean by this. If you need a last minute gift for the historical fiction fan on your shopping list, take a look at this lovely story!

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Review: All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy (Wyoming Cowboys #1) by Jessica Clare

After reading Holly Jolly Cowboy on vacation, I immediately needed another cowboy book to keep me entertained so I snagged the first book on my Kindle the second I finished with the other book. This series has quickly become my guilty pleasure and I am not even a little bit sorry about it. I love small town romances and this series has made me want to move to Wyoming and buy all the cows and do all the ranch things not to mention transform my husband into a sexy cowboy.

If you are looking for some steamy holiday romances, this series has you covered. Now not every book in the series is a holiday themed book but there are enough holiday themed cowboys in this series to warm you up through the winter. If you are looking for something a little more in the way of sweet romances then move right along as this one is packing some heat.

This was a quick and easy read that I could easily have finished in one sitting but we were driving back from Mt Rainier so I had to take a little break but the second I got home guess what I stayed up reading WAY TOO LATE? You guessed right, this book right here. While note earth shattering literature, it left me feeling happy and in the Christmas spirit which makes it a winner in my opinion!

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Review: Holly Jolly Cowboy (Wyoming Cowboy #7) by Jessica Clare

I literally have no idea where I saw this book or why but I think it must have been on Amazon and I was like ‘awwww look at that cute dog on the cover’ and next thing I know, this book is arriving in my mailbox. In all honesty, I didn’t think I would read this one. I thought it would be a holiday book that I picked up and then sat on my bookshelf for the next 12 months until next holiday season and by which time I would have forgotten all about. But I left it sitting on my coffee table and that cover just kept calling to me and next thing I know, I am binging this book and ordering all the other ones in the series!

I love small town romances and if they are set during the holidays so much the better! But this is my first cowboy Christmas/holiday book and honestly I want to sell my house and move to Wyoming and ranch cattle with my husband who I plan on buying Wranglers and boots for Christmas. I loved this book a lot more than I expected to. I mean, sure it’s cheesy and honestly a little silly but I loved it and read it so quick—not to mention I downloaded the next book in the series and ordered like all the other cowboy books in this series so that I could have them all at home (I read this one on vacation in the woods!).

If you love holiday cheer and enemies to lovers troupe with a surprising amount of steam then you need this book to warm you up during the holiday season! I mean cowboy romances aren’t for everyone but they sure are for this cowgirl and I cannot wait to read more of this series. While this might be a series, you can most definitely read them out of order. So if this one sounds cute to you then read it even if you haven’t read the others in the series.

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Review: A Class Coveted (A Matter of Class #4) by Susie Murphy

Over the years I have read so many historical fiction novels all with varying degrees of subject matter, time period, and sub genre. I am always on the lookout for the next hot historical fiction novel especially from up and coming new authors. I love having a ‘secret’ book that no one knows about that I can share with everyone.

A few years ago I reviewed the first book in this series, A Class Apart, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I first picked it up but then I was quickly involved with Bridget and Cormac’s story and devoured the book. Author Susie Murphy is an independent author and honestly sometimes self-published or independent authors are hit and miss but in Murphy’s case she is an absolute HIT. I cannot wait to see her books picked up by some big publishing houses because her epic series here is something special!

If I recall correctly, this series was meant to be just one book and then perhaps a trilogy but here we are on book four with I believe four more in the works! My heart is so happy that we aren’t done with Bridget and Cormac’s story yet and I am thrilled to see more books will be coming out in the upcoming years. This series has become by ‘secret’ book that I share with my friend and family. The book/book series that’s off the beaten path and a hidden gem in historical fiction!

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Review: All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M Morris

In my lady murder book club, we are always looking for the hottest new thriller to read. While we really want to read just murder books, we are also open to more of the thriller variety. But lately, we have been looking for thrillers/murder books that are written by POC. To say that the POC pool for thrillers is scant would be an understatement.

We have been looking for months and nothing has been popping up on our radar—-until this book! We were so excited to see this book when it was pitched to me last summer. We decided in July that it would be our November book to read and we couldn’t wait to check out this debut thriller even if it sounded more like a courtroom drama (the main character is a lawyer) but as a group we were all really committed to reading this one.

We expected this book to have a lot to discuss when we were done especially about race in the workplace. One of our book club members is black and her and I also work together so I was especially eager to see what she thought of this book and what she gleaned from the thriller. This one has been receiving a lot of hype across social media and while sometimes that can be off putting, in our case it only made us more and more excited!

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