Book Review

  • Review: The Garden of Intrigue (Pink Carnation #9) by Lauren Willig

    This year I decided to officially participate in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon for the first time ever. I had some time on my hands and some good books to start reading so I was eager for an excuse to sit and read undisturbed while my husband watched out little one. I started The Garden of Intrigue almost immediately after completing The Orchid Affair and I’ll be honest, I was supposed to read it for Readathon but I almost finished it before Readathon even started! Again, I’ll be honest and say that I was not looking forward to reading this one. Augustus Whittlesby was the singularly most annoying character in The Orchid…

  • Review: The Orchid Affair (Pink Carnation #8) by Lauren Willig

    After diving back into the Pink Carnation series with the sixth book, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, I was eagerly ready to continue reading. I have already read the seventh book so I moved on to The Orchid Affair instead. As with the previous books we meet a likable heroine in a decidedly awkward situation and a headstrong bachelor with the last thing on his mind being love. While many of Willig’s books have a decidedly obvious formula, that has never turned me off to the series. I think what I love most is her ability to make me buy into the romance no matter how odd or challenging…

  • Review: A Treacherous Curse (Veronica Speedwell #3) by Deanna Raybourn

    I’ve had my eye on this book since before it even had a title! I finished the second book and immediately started counting the days until this one was going to be released. Fortunately I had the good luck to be approved for an ARC way back in Oct, because I literally don’t think I could have waited for the release in Jan 2018! London, 1888. As colorful and unfettered as the butterflies she collects, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell can’t resist the allure of an exotic mystery—particularly one involving her enigmatic colleague, Stoker. His former expedition partner has vanished from an archaeological dig with a priceless diadem unearthed from the…

  • Review: The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia

    There was something about this book cover that reminded me of Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series. I kind of thought that I was going to read a steampunk-esque romance with a little paranormal thrown in. But considering that I have not actually read the Finishing School series, I think I can safely say that I had no idea what this book was going to be about other than maybe something YA with magic. In a world of etiquette and polite masks, no one is who they seem to be. Antonina Beaulieu is in the glittering city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she will attend balls and mingle…

  • Review: The Betrayal of the Blood Lily (Pink Carnation #6) by Lauren Willig

    After the fifth Pink Carnation book, I kind of felt like I needed a little break from the Pink Carnation series. And by little break I mean like five years….thats how long it’s been since I read one of the Pink Carnation books. I love the series as a whole but the last book in the series that I read, just left me a little wanting in the uniqueness category. So I abandoned it in favor of other books, though I always knew that someday I would come back to it because lets face it, I am in love with this series, but I needed  little time to step away…

  • Review: The Vineyard by Maria Duenas

    Maria Duenas is not a familiar author to me at all. I’ve seen her most well known novel The Time in Between, come up on my recommended reading list more time that I can remember, but I just never think to give her books a second look. I think mostly because her books seem to be more about culture and heaving than something I would normally read, however when her latest book THE VINEYARD came up for review, I loved the cover and the description sounded like it would be right up my alley. It’s been compared to authors such as Kate Morton and Kristin Hannah which are big names…

  • Review: The English Wife by Lauren Willig

    I first fell in love with Lauren Willig with her Pink Carnation series but I never ventured into her other stand alone books because I simply liked her where she belonged—in the Pink Carnation series. Her Pink Carnation series was so fantastic and I didn’t want to spoil it with a stand alone book that was subpar, so I avoided anything by her that wasn’t the Pink Carnation series. That was until this stunning cover screamed READ ME! Just looking at this book promised something fantastic, especially for fall. I needed this book more than I knew and I was reminded exactly why I love Lauren Willig and why I…

  • Review: Death on Tap (A Sloan Krause Mystery #1) by Ellie Alexander

    Being from the Pacific Northwest, I know all about the magical town of Leavenworth Washington. Everything Bavarian. It’s like the Northwest version of Germany year round. The beer and the Christmas festival are famous throughout the Pac NW, even here in Oregon. This book is set in this little hidden mini Germany in the mountains of Washington, and it’s the first in a new series so I could hardly say no to something so unique and new. When Sloan Krause walks in on her husband, Mac, screwing the barmaid, she gives him the boot. Sloan has spent her life in Leavenworth, Washington becoming an expert in brewing craft beer, and…

  • Review: Sugar Pine Trail (Haven Point #7) by RaeAnne Thayne

    Yes I know it’s a little early to be thinking about holiday reading. Every year, I swear that I will hold all holiday related reviews until at least November so I can reserve October exclusively for crime fiction, thrillers, and mystery reads. However, some how a book always manages to grab my eye and I end up sneaking at least one holiday book in well before my November holiday kick off. This book sounded like a charming holiday romance and sometimes you just need a little holiday cheer and romance. Librarian Julia Winston is ready to ditch the quiet existence she’s been living. She’s made a list of new things…

  • Review: Ross Poldark (The Poldark Saga #1) by Winston Graham

    Sometimes you just have years where the books that you read surprise you–in good ways and in bad. This has been the year that I decided to make a huge effort to read books on my TBR list that continue to haunt me and wreak havoc on my reading schedule. Meaning, I always get the urge to read one of these books when I have a billion other books to read on my review schedule. So I built in time to try and get to those reads. One such book was Ross Poldark. I’ve not watched the show but I hear such fantastic things about the show and the books that…