Category: Books

Books, Reading

Special Feature: City of Fortune (Counterfeit Lady #6) by Victoria Thompson

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: City of Fortune (Counterfeit Lady #6) by Victoria Thompson

Victoria Thompson has multiple successful series under her belt, including the Gaslight Mystery Series that’s currently 26 books strong! I have read a couple of her books in that series and thoroughly enjoyed them however with it being such a long, established series that it’s a little hard to jump around within the series as there are threads of a larger story woven in. However the books I have read have all been fun and enjoyable so I would recommend the over all series.

Thompson has now started this new series, Counterfeit Lady series, and it’s only six books in so certainly a much more manageable series to get caught up on! While I haven’t read the other books in this series, this book jumped out at me for a couple of reasons. One—the cover! How beautiful is this cover you guys?! The other reason is this book has a horse angle (horse racing) and I absolutely love horses! While I couldn’t fit this one into my review calendar, I am super excited to start this series in the coming months so I can be caught up and ready for the next book in the series.

Thompson is a quality writer with such a huge fan base! If you love historical mysteries with a strong heroine and a smart mystery then you are going to find a lot to love in her books! This book has already been receiving rave reviews from other reviewers, since I haven’t read it yet, I cannot say if you need to read the other books in the series first. No doubt the author will do a good job orientating new readers in the series as well as focusing on the mystery but there will likely be some threads of the larger narrative that carry over from other books. Overall though I would probably still give it a try, you cannot go wrong with Thompson! She’s an excellent writer and a proven track record of well written mysteries!

Continue reading “Special Feature: City of Fortune (Counterfeit Lady #6) by Victoria Thompson” →
Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Unforgivable (Tracers #3) by Laura Griffin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Unforgivable (Tracers #3) by Laura Griffin

This book about Mia was the one I wanted to read the most. Mia has been on the periphery of the books in this series since the first book and in book two we meet her potential love interest, Ric. So I was super excited to check this one out as soon as I was done with the last book. I read this book in about 12 hours for the record. I devoured it and the suspense was intense in this one!

While this is a series, there is no need to read the books in order. Sure Mia meets Ric in the book before this one but there isn’t much else that happens other than that. So if you are thinking about reading the books out of order you can absolutely do that and not be lost at all. In the series so far I would have to say this is probably my favorite. The mystery in book 2 was intense and so good but as far as all around story telling—-romance and mystery—-this is a more balanced book.

This book had it all. Sex, money, power, kidnapping, murder for hire, prostitutes, elected officials, romance, forensic science, cold cases. ALL THE THINGS. I loved how this one unfolded and left me wanting more in each chapter. Ric sometimes got on my nerves but ultimately I loved him and Mia together and loved seeing how this one came together and HOW it came together is so worth it! Suspense and thriller fans will be fully invested in this one and looking over their shoulders.

Continue reading “Review: Unforgivable (Tracers #3) by Laura Griffin” →
Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: A Class Reunited (A Matter of Class #5) by Susie Murphy

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: A Class Reunited (A Matter of Class #5) by Susie Murphy

When I first started out book blogging (what feels like ages ago by the way!), I read a lot more self published novels or novels that were published by smaller publishing house. As I have grown as a blogger, I now mostly work with larger publishing houses but I have a few self published novelists and smaller publishing houses that I continue to work with and Susie Murphy is one such author! Over the years I have read her A Matter of Class series and honestly it grew so much more than I was expecting when I read the first novel, but more on that soon!

The commitment to writing, editing, and publishing your own novel seems incredibly daunting. Same with smaller publishing houses that also do it all—editing, promotion etc. It’s got to be exhausting so in my mind you must be incredibly dedicated to the novel you are promoting. It must be something that we absolutely believe in to work so long and hard on. That is evident in Murphy’s case! She has done an incredible job writing a nuanced and sweeping historical saga which could not have been easy! And she isn’t stopping at five books!

I am always on the lookout for off the beaten path historical fiction and if you are like me, on the hunt for something you can sink your teeth into then this might be a good option for you! After reading the Outlander series, I really wanted to find something that felt more sweeping and saga like in terms of historical fiction, and this book delivered that for me (minus the time travel!).

Continue reading “Review: A Class Reunited (A Matter of Class #5) by Susie Murphy” →
Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Unspeakable (Tracers #2) by Laura Griffin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Unspeakable (Tracers #2) by Laura Griffin

Raise your hand if you have turned on Law and Order SVU while folding laundry in the morning on a Saturday, only to look up and find it’s 10:00 pm and you literally have no idea where the time went? I love binge watching Law and Order SVU. If I start an episode though (even if I’ve seen it already!) I’m done for and nothing gets done except a binge session of my favorite on screen detectives. I think one of the things that really appeals to me about LO SVU is the hints of personal life of the detectives and the fast paced twisted mystery. Reading Griffin’s books is like binge watching LO SVU!

Griffin’s books all have that glimpse into the personal lives of the characters while still having the focus on the mystery. This mystery is extremely complex and dark. I was fully creeped out and couldn’t WAIT to read it at every opportunity! I loved the mystery so much. I had no idea where it was going but I was fully on board with it. Female readers—-I was so creeped out that I was checking my locks and making sure no one was following me every time I went to the grocery store! LOL. I was so invested in this one for that reason alone—-its relatability for female readers. This book was every woman worst nightmare—-some one slipping you a date rape drug, peeping in your windows, following you home. Yeah I checked my door A LOT!

I will say the romance in this one sort of took a back seat which was surprising. In the previous book we meet Troy who is kind of billed as this man whore in the first book, so in this book I was surprised at how quickly his character fell for Elaina. I expected a bit more romance in this one but then at the same time, I found that the mystery was so complex and had so many layers that I was really focused on that and didn’t care if the romance was more scant in this one.

Continue reading “Review: Unspeakable (Tracers #2) by Laura Griffin” →
Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism

Review: Untraceable (Tracers #1) by Laura Griffin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Untraceable (Tracers #1) by Laura Griffin

After binge reading the whole Texas Murder Files and another stand alone Laura Griffin book, I really debated about stopping there and moving on to something else. I had a few other books that I wanted to read while we were on vacation in Disneyland but I also wanted to see if the Tracers series stood up to the other books I had read by Griffin. The Tracer series is more established and what Griffin is known for so I was eager to check it out so I decided to try ONE book. Famous last words right.

Well I read this one in day (as with basically all the other books I have read by Griffin) and even if I didn’t love this one, I loved the idea of this series and I am currently on book four in this series! This series reminds me of a TV show like Law and Order or CSI. It reads quick, has an excellent mystery, and a steamy romance. All the things that I love to read!

Like the other series by Griffin, this series could read out of order (from what I’ve read anyway). There are characters on the periphery of the story that we encounter in other books but overall the characters, romance and mystery are unique with each book thus far so if you want to skip around you can. For me, I wasn’t sure so I just started with the first one and this one actually sounded rater interesting as I like the idea of a disappearance at the center of the mystery.

Continue reading “Review: Untraceable (Tracers #1) by Laura Griffin” →