Books

  • Review: Poison or Protect (Delightfully Deadly #1) by Gail Carriger

    I have been a huge fan of Gail Carriger since reading Soulless  way back in 2011! Carriger has a wonderful whit that translates so well onto the pages of her stories. When this short story came across my desk for review, I was thrilled to read another book set in the same world that Carriger has crafted so well! Over the years she has written the Parasol Protectorate series which is more of an adult read, and then the Finishing School series which is more of a YA read but both are set in the same world that the PP series begins. This latest novella is also set in the same world…..a steampunk universe…

  • Review: The Secret Language of Stones: A Novel (The Daughters of La Lune #2) by M.J. Rose

    When I read the first book, The Witch of Painted Sorrows, I had no idea that it was going to end up being an actual ‘series’. It read so well as a stand alone book that I was surprised to see it would be becoming a series. So when this one came across my desk, I was thrilled to review it and see how the ‘series’ was going to develop as there were some loose ends that weren’t exactly completely tied up in the first book. This book was right up my alley, WWI France. I love books set in this time period not to mention a little hint of…

  • Book Blast: As Death Draws Near (Lady Darby Mystery #5) by Anna Lee Huber

    As Death Draws Near (Lady Darby Mystery #5) by Anna Lee Huber Publication Date: July 5, 2016 Berkley Harcover & eBook; 336 Pages Series: Lady Darby Mysteries Genre: Historical Mystery     The latest mystery from the national bestselling author of A Study in Death tangles Lady Kiera Darby and Sebastian Gage in a dangerous web of religious and political intrigue. July 1831. In the midst of their idyllic honeymoon in England�s Lake District, Kiera and Gage�s seclusion is soon interrupted by a missive from her new father-in-law. A deadly incident involving a distant relative of the Duke of Wellington has taken place at an abbey south of Dublin, Ireland,…

  • Special Feature: ENCHANTED AUGUST by Brenda Bowen

    Last summer I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing ENCHANTED AUGUST by Brenda Bowen and now it’s coming to paperback this summer! This fun summer beach read, is out in paperback on July 5th from Penguin Books with a gorgeous new cover. A Maine Literary Awards finalist, ENCHANTED AUGUST transports readers to a tiny island in Maine, telling the story of four mismatched people who learn that sometimes—if you’re lucky—a change of scenery can lead you right back to where you belong. Romantic, optimistic, and as refreshing as a summer cocktail, the novel itself is a perfect escape. Mary Kay Andrews agrees—she recently recommended ENCHANTED AUGUST as a summer…

  • Release Day Blitz: The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack

    Hello, my fellow HistFic lovers! Today, author Gwendolyn Womack’s novel The Memory Painter: A Novel of Love and Reincarnation is out in paperback! The Memory Painter: A Novel of Love and Reincarnation by Gwendolyn Womack Publication Date: July 5, 2016 Picador USA Paperback; 336 Pages ISBN: 978-1250095770 Genre: Historical Fiction/Time Travel/Mystery/Romance Finalist for the 2016 RWA Prism Awards for Best First Book & Best Time Travel/ Steampunk category. Two lovers who have travelled across time. A team of scientists at the cutting edge of memory research. A miracle drug that unlocks an ancient mystery. At once a sweeping love story and a time-travelling adventure, Gwendolyn Womack’s luminous debut novel, The…

  • Special Feature: THRILLERFEST XI is coming July 5-9!

    CELEBRATING 11 YEARS THRILLERFEST XI RETURNS TO GRAND HYATT NEW YORK JULY 5-9, 2016 Gillian Flynn, Heather Graham, John Lescroart, C.J. Box, Walter Mosley and more! Remember that domestic thriller about a marriage of mayhem that jolted readers with its mind-bending twist? Gillian Flynn, who took the thriller world by storm in 2012 with her New York Times #1 bestseller Gone Girl, takes her deserved place among the ranks of the world’s greatest thriller writers at the International Thriller Writers’ (ITW) ThrillerFest XI July 5-9, 2016 in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. In addition to special guest Gillian Flynn, Heather Graham will serve as the 2016 ThrillerMaster…

  • Review: Tides of Honour by Genevieve Graham

    Oh how I love war time romances but I especially enjoy them when they are different. This book is set in Canada during the Great War which is what immediately drew me in. I haven’t read any books on the Great War set anywhere other than England or France so this book totally grabbed my attention. Private Daniel Baker is completely unprepared to meet the love of his life in the middle of a war but that’s exactly what happens in the summer of 1916 when he marches off to France as part of Nova Scotia’s 25th Battalion. Audrey Poulin lives alone with her grandmother in the quiet French countryside, where…

  • Review: Re Jane by Patricia Park

    This is the year of all things Jane Eyre! With it being the 200th anniversary for Jane Eyre, there are TONS of retellings out there right now! Jane Eyre isn’t my most favorite Bronte book but I do admire Jane’s spirit and it’s always fun to read modern retellings of classics! So even though this book sounded a little different….I like different…..so I agreed to read it and see what it’s all about! For Jane Re, half-Korean, half-American orphan, Flushing, Queens, is the place she’s been trying to escape from her whole life. Sardonic yet vulnerable, Jane toils, unappreciated, in her strict uncle’s grocery store and politely observes the traditional…

  • Review: The Gilded Cage by Judy Alter

    This book sounded like it was kind of ‘off the beaten path’ as far as setting goes, which was why I decided to read this It’s rare for me to read a historical fiction novel that’s set in America, and when I do it’s usually an east coast setting so this whole Chicago setting sounded intriguing and I thought I would try it out! Born to society and a life of privilege, Bertha Honoré married Potter Palmer, a wealthy entrepreneur who called her Cissy. Neither dreamed the direction the other’s life would take. He built the Palmer House Hotel, still famed today, and became one of the major robber barons…

  • Special Feature: UNDER THE HARROW by Flynn Berry

    This summer has been a major in-house favorite at Penguin Books and it’s also been getting rave reviews from early reviewers! I love a good thriller as much as the next person and I am so mad that I couldn’t fit this one into my review schedule for the summer but I wanted to make my readers aware of this new release that sounds unbelievably chilling and haunting! Claire Messud said, “It’s like Broadchurch written by Elena Ferrante. I’ve been telling all my friends to read it — the highest compliment. Flynn Berry is a deeply interesting writer.” Beneath the mystery of UNDER THE HARROW is a heartbreakingly honest portrait…