Books
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Review: The Chalice (The Crown #2) by Nancy Bilyeau
Henry VIII changed the face of England when he broke with the Catholic Church to marry his great love, Anne Boleyn. This decision was felt by all those at court and those in the monastic sects. Joanna Stafford was once both a noble and a novice nun in training. Once King Henry made the choice to split from the church, Joanna struggles to make a common life for herself in the small village of Dartford. As the world around her takes shape based on the whims of a tyrannical king, Joanna and those closest to her, feel King Henry’s decisions acutely. All Joanna really wants is to start her tapestry…
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Announcement: Giveaway Winner Oleanna by Julie K Rose
And the winner of Oleanna by Julie K Rose is….. Rachel B (left a comment) The winner will be notified via email. Thank you to everyone who entered and a huge thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for making this giveaway possible! Cheers!
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Review: The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma
How do you trust someone who lies for a living? Don’t all writers lie to some degree or another? In Kristopher Jansma’s debut novel The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, we follow one man’s quest to become a writer, but his is a story told through a bunch of short stories with one very unreliable narrator. We never learn what the narrator’s real name is, but there are two things we know for sure: he has lost every novel he has ever written and he follows Emily Dickens famous advice to the letter, ‘tell all the truth but tell it slant’. In the first short story the narrator is a teenager whose…
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Interview and Giveaway: Oleanna by Julie K. Rose
I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Oleanna as part of the Oleanna Virtual Book Tour thanks the the lovely Amy over at Historic Fiction Virtual Book Tours! Oleanna takes readers high into the fjords of Norway at the dawning of a new era, 1905. There we meet Oleanna, a spirited girl fighting to forget a tragedy that has left her feeling very much a lone. Not only is she trying to come to grips with a tragic loss, she is trying to support her only remaining sister by running the family farm. Luckily a cotter living on their land is there to help Oleanna tend to the farm and hopefully help to…
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Review: Oleanna by Julie K. Rose
Nestled away in the fjordlands of Norway lies a little farm, home to Oleanna and her family–but Oleanna’s family is about to change. After already trying to come to grips with the recent tragic deaths of her mother and sister only a few months before, Oleanna and her sister Elisabeth are losing their brother, John, to the American dream! Not only will Oleanna be responsible for Elisabeth and Elisabeth’s son, Torjus, but it will be up to them to make the farm thrive. Though both sisters are angry at John for leaving they are, in their own individual ways, jealous that he is getting to have his own adventures. Neither…
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Review: Seduction (The Reincarnationist #5) by M.J. Rose
Complex, exotic scents bring this novel alive! This isn’t just a tale of historic fiction– it’s a novel with a unique blend of the paranormal, romance, mystery, and psychology. In 1843 the renowned author Victor Hugo discovers that his beloved daughter, Didine, has drowned. In his grief he turns to the occult in hopes of communicating with his daughter. His wife, family, and friends all being having séances and they soon discover they can communicate with the dead. Soon the séances turn into something more….Victor fears he has open an unwanted door to the spirit world when he starts being visited by the Shadow of the Sepulcher (the devil) who…
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Guest Post: Seduction (The Reincarnationist #5) by M.J. Rose
In edition to reviewing this alluring novel, M.J. Rose agreed to do a guest post for my lovely readers! Check out this little teaser from the book! “Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.” ― Victor Hugo From Chapter 5: Our house, as you know, Fantine, faces the ocean. Upstairs in my room, it is as if I am perched on the very tip of a precipice with the great foaming waves beneath my window. I wrote in a letter to Franz Stephens that “I inhabit this immense dream of the ocean; slowly I become a…
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Review: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare
The Infernal Devices are without pity. The Infernal Devices are without regret. The Infernal Devices are without number The Infernal Devices will never stop coming. Tessa Grey is preparing for what should be the most joyous day of her life…..her wedding to Jem. Tessa loves Jem without question but there is still part of her that loves Will. Though she tries to shut out her feelings for Will, it is hard to section off a part of your soul that only one other person can touch but somehow Tessa does it. All the Shadowhunters at the London Institute are preparing for the wedding to take place when Gabriel Lightwood shows…
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Announcement: Elizabeth Gilbert lets fans choose the cover of her new novel THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS!
I have some exciting news to share with all of my readers….Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love, is letting her fans choose the US cover of her new novel THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS—an epic novel of love, ambition and 19th century botanical exploration, coming out from Viking on October 1st. Voting on three potential book covers begins today 3/21/13 at 8am on Gilbert’s Facebook page and runs through Sunday night 3/24/13. I hope you’ll consider voting in this contest and helping spread the word about this exciting opprotunity! See here for USA Today’s coverage including quotes from Gilbert. To my knowledge, Gilbert is one of the first…
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Guest Post: Fresh Mint with Lemon by Monika Zgustová
After reviewing the book, Fresh Mint with Lemon recently, I had the opportunity to have the author do a feature guest post for my readers! If you haven’t checked out the book yet, please do. It’s a unique, artistic love story which you don’t want to miss out on. Without further ado please welcome author Monika Zgustová to The Lit Bitch! From the Author Describe the book in your own words. Fresh Mint with Lemon is a story of a love triangle. The three main characters, a man and two women, are extremely sensitive and full of regard for one another, and it’s hard for them to make decisions. For that…