Review: The Devil and the Heiress (The Gilded Age Heiresses #2) by Harper St. George

After reading The Heiress Gets a Duke earlier this year, Harper St George was on my ‘one to watch’ list. I immediately preordered this book and was eager to find out what happened to the more reserved Crenshaw sister, Violet. In the first book, August was more headstrong and a little more bold than her sister so I was eager to see how Violet’s character was explored in this one.

Not only do St George’s novels boast fantastic covers but they boast non conventional heroines and dashing heroes with an edge. If you love historical romances I would highly recommend checking this new series out. I found that this book (like the first) was a quick read and you could easily pick it up and put it down and pick it up again and not feel lost. It makes a great read for busy moms who are trying to watch their kids but simply can’t watch another episode of Blippi!

Since it’s summer break, my son is home with me and on those hot days when we are stuck inside we are often watching Blippi—however, I would rather be reading something else more entertaining. So while he’s watching tv, I am able to read a bit. This was the perfect novel to distract me and enjoy but when he needed a snack I could set it down and then pick right back up where I left off and not feel lost in the story or going back to read a page of two because I forgot what was happening!

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Review: John Eyre: A Tale of Darkness and Shadow by Mimi Matthews

Mimi Matthews is an auto buy author for me. I love all of her books and always make room for them on my calendar. She never disappoints and when I saw she was going to write a novel that was a little darker and more gothic than her standard feel good historical romances made me elated!

I couldn’t say yes fast enough to this one! I know that some times when an author branches out of their typical genre to try something new, there is always hesitation that it won’t be well received, but she is such a talented writer that I knew this was going to be another outstanding read. You can tell it’s a retelling of Jae Eyre based on the title and I think a number of readers will be thrilled to pick this one up and give it a go.

In the last book I read by Matthews, Gentleman Jim, she did a bit of a twist on The Count of Monte Cristo, so I couldn’t wait to see how this retelling would develop. And you guys know I am a huge fan of gothic romances so this book was practically made for me! While I am not a huge Jane Eyre fan, I appreciate the story and couldn’t wait for Matthew’s take on this classic gothic tale!

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Review: The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman

Carol Goodman is an author after my Gothic heart. I haven’t read any of her other books before this one, but when this one came up for review I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it because it had this decidedly Gothic feel. Not to mention a lot of fans have called her the modern day Daphne du Maurier. I love books with a Gothic feel, especially murder mysteries so I was super excited to read this one.

Goodman has written other novels that by all accounts are atmospheric and moody so I was really looking forward to this one. I also loved that it had a modern component with the #MeToo plot line. I think a lot of readers will find relevance in the plot as the #MeToo movement has been a big news headline in recent years so that was one of the things that really excited me about this book.

The only thing I was a little skeptical about was the history piece. After reading the summary it sounded like it had a lot going on—-a mystery, a #MeToo aspect, and a historical part but I wasn’t sure if it had a modern plot or not so that was a little confusing, but I was excited to see how the Gothic atmosphere was deployed in this one and ultimately that’s what drove my desire to read this one.

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Review: The Girls from the Beach by Andie Newton

I have read all of Andie Newton’s books so far and not once have I been disappointed! She is an amazingly talented writer and her historical research and detail is always spot on. Plus she has a wonderful prose and creates interesting characters. So when this one came up for review there was zero question if I would read it or not!

Not only is the cover to DIE for but I loved the sound of this plot…..American nurses tasked with a secret mission go missing and infiltrate the Nazi regime. It couldn’t sound more compelling if it tried! Spies and Nazis are a hot ticket right now. There are so many books about women spies infiltrating or working against the Nazis during WWII right now but Andie Newton is at the tip of that sword for me.

I sat down to read this one and expected to read it in a couple of days—wrong, I read it in like a day. It was so great and I loved the larger narrative and characters so much but it’s the uniqueness of the story that really shines. This book isn’t due out in the US until October so my review is really early, but when it becomes available in the US you will want to snag yourself a copy because it’s a wonderful novel!

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Review: The Ice Swan by J’nell Ciesielski

I have read three of J’nell Ciesielski’s novels and each one has been absolutely fantastic! I love how well she writes romance as well as historical fiction and I always seem to breeze through her books because I am so captivated. When I saw this one was coming out, I knew it was going to be an easy ‘yes’ for me. I mean—take one look at that cover and tell me you would pass? No. The author as well as this cover are truly sunning!

This one is set in Russia which I thought brought some variance to the historical fiction genre. The last novel I read by Ciesielski was set in Scotland, and I was eager to see how she would describe the opulence of the Russian court as well as the streets of Paris. And you all know how much I love WWI so having this book set during a very uncertain and tumultuous time in Russian history.

So yes, I was chomping at the bit to read this one and with good reason—-this one was excellent! Ciesielski writing just keeps getting better and better. This book has been seen on a number of ‘most anticipated books’ this summer and with good reason! While it might have a cold setting, it’s the perfect book to cool off with this summer!

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