Books
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Giveaway: Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame
I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame and am thrilled that she also agreed to do a follow up interview which should be up later this week! Thanks to my friends at Simon & Schuster, I am very happy to announce a free giveaway! Two winners will receive a FREE hardback copy of this charming book. At Wentworth Hall, while family fortune might be in short supply….juicy secrets are not. Wentworth Hall could easily rival Downton Abbey with the secrets it can hold! It was an absolutely fantastic YA story and with a distinct Downton Abbey feel and I am honored to be able to…
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Review: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
All things have a way of coming back to us in the end. Even if just as a memory from long ago, they are still with us….always. Memories are a funny thing. How accurate are your memories? Has your subconscious twisted your memories and changed the from what really happened to what you remember? How much can you truly trust your memory? Those little moments of déjà vu, was it just that or perhaps you had really been there before in a past life. What recalls a memory most to you, scent? Sound? A place? There is much that science doesn’t know about memory and much that simply cannot be…
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Review: Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame
All secrets have a way of coming out in the end. Every family has their own secrets that they would rather not become public knowledge….but when your family is rich….the gossip columns love nothing better than a juicy family secret. At Wentworth Hall, while family fortune might be in short supply….juicy secrets are not. Maggie Darlington has just returned from a year abroad in France with her mother and new born baby brother and his French nanny. While abroad Maggie has matured, almost beyond recognition….. she has cast off her girlish styles, activities, and friends. The once spirited, will-full teen has now conformed into a model young woman and with…
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Review: A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3) by George R.R. Martin
Five kings. One throne. When you play the Game of Thrones you win….or you die. In George R. R. Martin’s epic high fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, plenty of characters meet their valiant demise, but there can only be one king who will sit the Iron Throne….but which king? In the third book, A Storm of Swords, many different plot lines and POV’s finally begin to come to maturation but just when you think you have the series, a plot line, or character all figured out and summed up….Martin takes you in an unexpected direction. For me, this was the best book in the series so far.…
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Review: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
For each of us the name Cleopatra conjures up many vivid images… sensuality, seduction, beauty, the exotic, wealth, excess, Elizabeth Taylor. While the legend of Cleopatra is prevalent, what has been buried over time is this incredible woman’s real tale. What we know of her today comes to us through the writings of pissy old dead guys. In her book Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff attempts to sift through these accounts, many of which are brimming with Roman propaganda, to reveal a woman even more impressive than her modern day persona. I like to think of her as the O.B., the Original Bitch. Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt at the…
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Author Interview & Giveaway: The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry
I recently had the pleasure of reviewing The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry. The Earthquake Machine is a moving coming of age story about a young girl who is struggling to find her place in the world and come to terms with her blossoming womanhood. It was an absolutely fantastic story and I am honored to be able to offer a free copy to my readers as a giveaway! If you are interested in the giveaway it run through 4/13/12 to 4/20/12 Mary also agreed to do an interview with me as well, so without further ado please welcome Mary Pauline Lowry to The Lit Bitch!
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Review: The Journal of Countess Francoise Krasinska by Klementyna Tanska Hoffman
Charming towering spires, castles, and palaces litter Poland in the 18th century which makes it the perfect backdrop for a fairytale romance. In The Journal of Countess Francoise Krasinska by Klementyna Tanska Hoffman we explore the true life fairytale romance of Francoise Krasinska and the Prince Royal, Charles Duke of Courland (Poland/Lithuanian region). Klementyna Tanska Hoffman pens this historic account of the Countess Francoise courtship and hasty marriage to the Duke. Though it is a second-hand account of the events, they are historically accurate and offer a unique insight into the royal court during the Georgian era. I am not familiar with Eastern European history….at all, so I was a little…
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Review: The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, in the case of Rhonda her single step leads here on a transcendental journey into Mexico. Mary Pauline Lowry’s debut novel, The Earthquake Machine, tells the story of 14 year old Rhonda whose life has been turned upside down. Rhonda’s mother is the typical ‘desperate housewife’, in a loveless marriage more about convenience and comfort than love. Rhonda’s father (a pharmacist) supplies her unstable mother with prescription drugs to keep her in line while he is out having an affair. They live in a ticky tacky house on the hillside where all the houses look just the same….but thanks to the…
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Review: The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott
Beware the Ravenswood! Sir Walter Scott’s, The Bride of Lammermoor is a must read for fans of the genre….a classic gothic romance! This is your ultimate indulgence gothic romance fans…honest and truly. This ridiculously over the top tale has it all…witches, women going mad, a family fallen from grace, degenerative castles, ruined fortunes, Byronic heros, star crossed lovers, a dark prophecy, ominous symbology….everything! It is MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Wuthering Heights all rolled into one. The novel is introduced as a tale based on a true story, set in Scotland at the time of Queen Anne (early 1700’s). Lord Ravenswood is dead and all that remains of the Ravenswood…
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Giveaway: Pierre and Luce by Romain Rolland
Enter to win a copy of the beautiful and tragic love story of Pierre and Luce by the Nobel Prize-winning French author Romain Rolland. Thanks to my friends over at Onesuch Press for giving a beautiful copy to 2 lucky winners! I am a huge fan of this cover, Onesuch Press did a fantastic job with it! An interesting but about this publishing company is that they publish the lesser known works of well known and respected authors. This is one of the reasons I LOVE this publisher, I love being exposed to new literary works that I might normally have overlooked. This giveaway is open to US, UK, AU, and CA…