Category: Book Review

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

Review: The Hollywood Spy (Maggie Hope #10) by Susan Elia MacNeal

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Hollywood Spy (Maggie Hope #10) by Susan Elia MacNeal

I fell in love with Maggie Hope long ago and watching her journey through these last 10 books has been so fun as a reader. We have seen her go from nervous secretary, to spy, through PTSD, and heartache. As we enter the 10th book in the series ,she is in many ways unrecognizable from the first book.

As a reader you really get a sense of how the war changed her character and I think that’s what really makes this series shine. I haven’t always loved the direction that Maggie’s character has taken or choices that she has made but for me that’s what makes her so real and relatable. You don’t have to love her choices or agree with them but you learn to live with them in the same way that her character must.

I was a little nervous going into this book though because we see the reappearance of one time beau, John Sterling. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. In the previous books I felt like John was charming and wonderful—-up until he wasn’t. Then I was like ‘Maggie girl kick his ass to the curb!’ and now suddenly he’s making a reappearance in her life and I hoped that he had undergone some changes between the books.

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

Special Feature: Have We Met? by Camille Baker

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Have We Met? by Camille Baker

This hot new release was featured last month on Amazon’s First Reads program and so many readers fell in love with Camille Baker’s writing style! This is Baker’s debut novel and it promises to be a good one sure to draw fans who enjoy women’s fiction as well as romance. I am so excited to read this one later on this summer but right now I want to share about this one and I also have a giveaway happening over on my IG where you can win a copy of this book!

This debut promises heart, romance, social relevance, as well as humor and that sounds like an incredible mash up to me! While it has a serious component (the main character loses her best friend to cancer) there is also a focus on friendships as well as some comedy to break things up and keep it light enough for readers to sit back and relax with.

If you have been looking for a novel with current relevance with a fresh voice, then this is the book for you. I know a lot of readers have loved this one and are eager for more novels by this hot new author and I am pleased to read that from other reviewers that this book set the stage for follow up books so if you read this one and enjoy it then you can rest assured that more books will be coming! Now hop on over to my IG and enter the giveaway!

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

Review: Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) by Sonali Dev

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) by Sonali Dev

Sonali Dev clearly has a love for Jane Austen! I have had the pleasure of reading the Rajes books that each feature their own unique Austen novel retelling. Naturally, when I saw this one coming out I jumped on it. While Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility boasts my favorite heroines. I love the contrast between the two Dashwood sisters and I was eager to see how that plays out in the Rajes family in this book.

Dev adds so much spice, flair, and uniqueness to her novels that will leave readers desperate for more. When I first saw that Dev was working her way through the Austen classics and writing modern Indian retellings I was skeptical. Austen books are notoriously hard to do retellings (especially modern ones). People have high expectations and often the things that make the Austen novels ‘classics’ are the same things that make it hard to do retellings.

For example, women needing to find a marriage of means, that’s not really relevant for the modern woman but it would have been during the time of Austen. But when it comes to Dev’s Austen retellings she doesn’t go all in for the typical retelling but instead leaves enough of the recognizable Austen characters and themes but adds her own unique spicy flair to the story and I am so so so here for that!

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

Review: In Royal Service to the Queen: A Novel of the Queen’s Governess by Tessa Arlen

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: In Royal Service to the Queen: A Novel of the Queen’s Governess by Tessa Arlen

Tessa Arlen is an author that I don’t think get’s enough credit or recognition. She’s a wonderful author who I always feel like is on the fringes of the historical fiction genre. She’s written a few mysteries series that I have enjoyed over the years and whenever I see that she has a new book coming out, I am always excited. Yet I don’t see her books getting the same hype as other historical and historical mystery writers.

Which means—-she is a diamond in the rough! She writes smart mysteries with wonderful historical details. I especially love her Poppy Redfern series for historical details. When I saw that she has a book coming out about the Queen’s governess, I simply knew she would pour all the same historical details into this historical fiction piece.

With the death of Prince Philip earlier this year as well the the success of The Crown, the time is ripe for novels about the Queen and her life with Philip. I have read a couple of books about the early life of Queen Elizabeth but when I saw that Arlen was going to be writing one, I knew I had to immediately get it on my TBR!

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

Review: Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

I have only read Sophia Kinsella’s Shopaholic books and even then, I have only read like the first two. I read the first book when it was released back in 2000 and I recall LOVING IT. I laughed so hard many many times and I remember thinking how much I had in common with the main character, especially at that time being a young college student.

I love seeing that the series has continued with nine more books, but as I said I only read like the first two but it wasn’t for want of trying—I just got on to another book and/or series and forgot about the Shopaholic books. But those early books really engrained Sophia Kinsella as an author that I enjoy so when I saw that she had a new book (not Shopaholic related) coming out, I knew I had to read it!

The book sounded fluffy, easy, and I recalled that Kinsella wrote really snappy dialogue so with all that in mind, I picked this one up expecting to breeze right through it and be left satisfied and happy about romance!

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