Books
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Review: Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
I had one experience with Diane Setterfield’s novels and that was Bellman & Black way back in 2013. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the book and I was so sad because I wanted to love it so very badly. I mean it sounded right up my alley and I was reading it as my ‘scary read’ for October so I was even more disappointed in it. At the time I wanted to read her other novel, The Thirteenth Tale, but I was just so let down that I didn’t want to risk being disappointed again. So flash forward five years…..since reading this Bellman & Black, I have thought of her…
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Review: The Spectral City (Spectral City #1) by Leanna Renee Hieber
I discovered Leanna Renee Hieber way back in 2011 when I read one of her early books. I saw it in a local used book store and randomly picked it up. When I got home I started reading and couldn’t put it down. I loved the romance and the paranormal and her overall storytelling and because of that first book in the Strangely Beautiful series, I fell in love with this author. She writes a spicy romance with great brooding heroes so I was thrilled to read this new book. Her name is Eve Whitby, gifted medium and spearhead of The Ghost Precinct. When most women are traveling in a…
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Review: On Magnolia Lane (Blue Ridge #3) by Denise Hunter
Lately I have had good luck with reading new to me authors so when this book came up for review, I thought, why not? Plus I really liked the cover I briefly read the summary and felt like it would be some nice light reading going into the holidays. I had a good chunk of time to read over the Thanksgiving break so I was eager to jump in and read this contemporary romance. After two years of counseling sessions with Daisy Pendleton, Pastor Jack McReady has earned a permanent spot in her life as a spiritual leader—and nothing more. Jack would never risk losing her trust by exposing the…
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Announcement: WINNER SEAL’S HONOR by Megan Crane
And the winner of SEALs Honor by Megan Crane is….. SE White The winner will be notified via email. Thank you to everyone who entered and a huge thank you to the publisher (Berkley) for making this giveaway possible!
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Review: The Little Shop of Found Things (The Little Shop of Found Things #1) by Paula Brackston
Paula Brackston has been a favorite writer of mine for a while now. I have read almost all of her ‘witch’ novels and I love them! She has such a nice voice in her stories and I love the mixture of magic and realism. When this book came up for review, I was so excited to read it. I loved the cover and the title so much. It looked like something that I was going to be an instant favorite in my magical realism category. Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has…
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Review: The Gold Pawn (Art Deco Mystery #2) by L.A. Chandlar
This was a series that I hadn’t heard anything about. The author and the series were completely new to me but I fell in love with the cover and was eager to see what it was about. I am always on the look out for new historical mysteries and Kensington Books have a slew of authors that I have come to enjoy over the years. November 1936. Mayor La Guardia’s political future buckles under a missing persons case in New York City. Simultaneously, Lane unravels devastating secrets in the outskirts of Detroit. As two crimes converge, judging friends from enemies can be a dangerous game . . . Finally summoning…
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Review: The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
The first thing I said when I saw this book was—-finally a cool interesting book set in Portland! Living in Oregon, there isn’t an abundance of cool books set here. Sure we have a number of writers from Oregon that have made it into the ‘big time’, but for the most part Oregon isn’t exactly the hippest place to set your novel in. In recent years though I have seen a lot of writers—both from Oregon or the PacNW and not—set their books here in my lovely state but it’s still not as popular as say New York or L.A.. I’ve read a few of Faye’s novels and have fallen…
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Review: The Omega Objection (San Andreas Shifters #2) by G.L. Carriger
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I have been a fan of Gail Carriger for at least the last seven years. I fell in love with her writing and quirky humor with Soulless, the first in The Parasol Protectorate series and from there it was all history! Her world building and character development is on point and I love that she writes diverse stories. I have read a few of her LGBTQ novels and loved how beautifully she portrays romance between people, not just romance between man and woman—-or werewolf and a soulless. I don’t read a ton of LGBTQ romances or novels for that matter, but…
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Review: Melmoth by Sarah Perry
She’s watching you. Melmoth the witness. Always watching and always lonely. This book was on my radar since I’m a huge fan of gothic literature. I have Perry’s novel, The Essex Serpent, to read and have heard rave reviews about it. With October in full swing and this book being released, I decided to start with this book before I read The Essex Serpent. I have never heard the tales of Melmoth the witness but I love Prague and with this novel being set there, I could barely get the box unwrapped before I started reading this one. It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working…
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Review: The Man She Married by Cathy Lamb
I always love meeting new to me authors in roundabout ways. Earlier this year I happened to be invited to book blogger week over at Tall Poppy Writers and found an outstanding community of authors who are dedicated to interacting with their audiences. I have read and reviewed a number of authors from this group, but at the time I didn’t know they were part of this amazing community…..in fact I only just discovered the group a few weeks ago as I mentioned, and I had been reading a number of Poppy Writers for years! Anyway, so I participated in their book blogger week met a number of new to…