Category: Books

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner

After reading Stars Over Sunset Boulevard, I was really impressed with Susan Meissner’s writing. I started out not really in the mood to read her book and then I was sucked into the story and enjoyed the characters and plot so much that I was pretty bummed when it was over.

So obviously I had experience with Meissner’s writing before this book, so when it came across my desk for review it was an easy yes however her name wasn’t what caught my eye about this book. The name only cemented my acceptance to review it….what got me was the cover. I am absolutely in love with the beauty of this cover. It hints at glamour and romance and the colors worked so well that I couldn’t pass it up.

February, 1946. World War Two is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Deveraux, the wronged daughter of a French Resistance spy.

Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly-held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark…

Continue reading “Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner” →

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Review: Mortal Arts (Lady Darby Mystery #2) by Anna Lee Huber

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: Mortal Arts (Lady Darby Mystery #2) by Anna Lee Huber

After rapidly finishing the first Lady Darby book, I knew that I would need the next one. I didn’t care that the book cost $14.00 on my Kindle and I had tons of other books I could read….I had to know what happened to Gage and Kiera next!

This book was much different than the first one and I think I liked it even more than the first book! I loved all the Gothic elements that this one had. The first book lacked some of my favorite elements but this one did NOT disappoint!

Crumbling castle on the coast, a madman locked in the attic, an asylum looming ominously off the North Sea coast, a family fallen from grace, a howling ghost dog legend, family secrets, and murder most foul? YES! All things that I love in a Gothic novel, plus you add the budding affection between Kiera and Gage and you easily have a five star rating from me!

Scotland, 1830. Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue—in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn’t quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator—and romantic entanglement—Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery. Continue reading “Review: Mortal Arts (Lady Darby Mystery #2) by Anna Lee Huber” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen

When I read mysteries, I typically read historical mysteries but from time to time, a modern psychological thriller captures my eye and I pick it up but I kind of have to be in the mood.

Well the mood struck me when Gone Without A Trace came up for review. So what caught my eye about this one? Well I liked the tag line ‘no one disappears completely’. One of my favorite shows on ID TV is Disappeared, so books that deal with disappearances intrigue me because that tag line is so true and the not knowing drives the interest for me.

Gone Without a Trace is a compulsive thriller about a woman who returns from work to find her boyfriend has vanished.

No one ever disappears completely…
You leave for work one morning. Another day in your normal life. Until you come home to discover that your boyfriend has gone.

His belongings have disappeared. He hasn’t been at work for weeks. It’s as if he never existed. But that’s not possible, is it? And there is worse still to come. Because just as you are searching for him, someone is also watching you (summary from Goodreads).

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Review: The Anatomist’s Wife (Lady Darby Mystery #1) by Anna Lee Huber

by The Lit Bitch10 Comments on Review: The Anatomist’s Wife (Lady Darby Mystery #1) by Anna Lee Huber

After reading Anne Lee Huber’s novel Secrets in the Mist, I realized how desperate I was for another Gothic romance novel. I wasn’t really up for a murder mystery but everyone raved about Huber’s Lady Darby mysteries so I thought I would try out her well known mysteries that boast Gothic elements and romance.

The Anatomist’s Wife was on my radar years ago when it released and I recall trying desperately to win a copy when it was published. I obviously didn’t win a copy, but I did try very aggressively for days. Then of course I moved on to some other novels only to have this one resurface again on my radar.

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister’s estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes.

Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage–a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn’t about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl. Continue reading “Review: The Anatomist’s Wife (Lady Darby Mystery #1) by Anna Lee Huber” →

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Special Feature: A RING OF TRUTH (A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel #2) by Michelle Cox

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: A RING OF TRUTH (A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel #2) by Michelle Cox

Last year I had the pleasure of reading the first book in this series, A GIRL LIKE YOU. While I enjoyed the first novel, I wasn’t able to fit this second one into my review schedule for this spring but I still wanted to share the release of the next book with all my readers!

A RING OF TRUTH picks finds the newly engages Inspector Howard and sweet Henrietta in quite the predicament…..meeting each other’s families!

This is quite the difficult task because Clive has neglected to tell Henrietta that he is in fact the heir to the Howard estate and fortune, and Henrietta has just discovered that her mother has been hiding secrets about her past as well.

When Clive brings Henrietta to the family estate to meet his parents, they are less than enthused about his impoverished intended. Left alone in this extravagant new world when Clive returns to the city, Henrietta finds herself more at home with the servants than his family, much to the disapproval of Mrs. Howard and soon gets caught up in the disappearance of an elderly servant’s ring, not realizing that in doing so she has become part of a bigger, darker plot.

As Clive and Henrietta attempt to discover the truth in the two very different worlds unraveling around them, they both begin to wonder: Are they meant for each other after all?

Early reviews of this next installment sound promising with some calling the series a dramatic and mysterious love story, full of historical slang and fashion. A RING OF TRUTH delivers romance, historical charm and a plot that will keep you guessing.

This is also a series that would be perfect for fans of books like The Forgotten Room by Karen White, The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig and The Adventuress by Tasha Alexander.

I am looking forward to reviewing this book hopefully in the early summer because it sounds like a thrilling follow up to the first book! Don’t miss out on this wonderful new mystery series!