Literary Criticism
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Review: Longbourn by Jo Baker
Reader beware…..if you love Jane Austen and are looking for something that will give you a new ‘perspective’ about the Bennet sisters, keep on looking. Sure this novel includes the Bennet sisters and follows the traditional Pride and Prejudice story but that’s about it. Jo Baker remakes the classic story of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of the below stairs staff but yet it’s a story all its own and noting close to the Austen classic. Sarah has been a maid at Longbourn since she was a child. She cleans the chamber pots, scrubs the laundry, polishes the floor and of course waits on the Bennet sisters.
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Review: The Patriot Threat (Cotton Malone #10) by Steve Berry
I’ve read a couple of the books in the Cotton Malone series and really really enjoyed them. Steve Berry has a special talent for merging politics, history, and conspiracy all together so well. This time, our favorite ‘retired’ agent is recruited by his former boss to find a North Korean who has some top secret Treasury files. Basically his novel begs the question “what if federal taxes were actually illegal”. This case is anything but straight forward for Cotton and he finds himself globe trotting, trying to chase down leads and to recover the documents, not to mention wading through convoluted history. The reader is treated to an array of historic facts (and…
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Review: The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston
On the banks of an ancient lake, Tilda Fordwells, moves into the cottage hoping to move on with her life. Her husband, Mat, was killed suddenly in a car accident and Tilda vows to live in the home that they had bought just before his death. It’s been a year since Mat dies, and Tilda is still struggling to move past it but hopes that moving into the house by the lake will be just what she needs. Well things aren’t quite going as planned. Being at the lake seems to have awakened something in Tilda, animals seems to be flocking to her, the lights in her house go out, and she’s…
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Review: Birds of a Feather (Maisie Dobbs #2) by Jacqueline Winspear
Having read the first Maisie Dobbs book a couple of years ago, I wasn’t terribly intrigued and dying to read the next book. I was a little underwhelmed with the first book, it was ok but Maisie wasn’t the same as some of my other favorite female detectives. Well I didn’t want to write the series off all together so back then I bought the second book in the series and then just kept it in my TBR queue for a rainy day. A 18 hour plane ride seemed like as good as any time to read the next book so I decided to pick it up. It’s the spring…
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Review: Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran
I love war time romances…like with a passion! It has been a long time since I’ve read a book in one sitting…..like a LONG TIME. This book took me by complete surprise at how compelling it was. I was addicted from the very beginning and literally could not put it down until I finished it. I don’t know what it is about forbidden romances that just gets me but there just is! I was immediately struck by the raw attraction between Danielle and Jon. Danielle and her husband Max are on their way back to Poland to be united with their son and family. Their are on board a passenger…
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Book Blast/Spotlight: MK McClintock’s British Agent Series
Please follow M.K. McClintock’s Book Blast for her British Agent Series, from April 13-17, and enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card! Book One: Alaina Claiborne Publication Date: January 8th, 2013 Trappers Peak Publishing ISBN: 978-0615742502 Series: British Agent Novels, Book One Genre: Historical Romantic Mystery READ AN EXCERPT. ?How far would you go to avenge your family and save the one you love? In nineteenth-century England, Alaina Claiborne had a loving family, a cherished friend, and devoted servants. She spent her days riding across the grassy hills of the English countryside, joyful and at peace. Then tragedy strikes and her world is forever changed. Searching for those responsible…
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Review: Reluctantly Charmed by Ellie O’Neill
Ireland has got to be the absolute perfect setting for this book! I can’t think of a better location for a book about fairies and magic, not to mention I literally want to runaway to Ireland now and live there forever! Kate McDaid has made a New Year’s resolution….she plans on revitalizing her career and love life. Kate’s life is pretty normal….she lives in Dublin and works as a copywriter at an advertising agency and rides her bike to work…..all pretty normal, until one day her life is about to change in a big way! On her 26th birthday, she is summonsed to a lawyers office where a solicitor informs her…
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Review: Frostfire (Kanin Chronicles #1) by Amanda Hocking
I am in cover lust over this novel, that’s why I picked it up….plus I heard some good reviews about this book so I downloaded it before going on vacation. It sounded like an interesting premise and an easy read so why not? Bryn Aven is a tracker. Her job is to take and bring back changelings to Kanin. She has always wanted to be a Hogdragen, an elite trained group of trackers and guards who serve the royals. Her father is the Chancellor of the Kanin people, who serves the King. One night after her first duty as a tracker, Bryn and her father run into Konstantin Black, the…
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Review: The Masque of a Murderer (Lucy Campion Mysteries #3) by Susanna Calkins
Lucy Campion hasn’t seen her friend Sarah for years when she suddenly returns from abroad after her brother, Adam, was injured. Sarah has been in the Americas spreading the word of the Friends. In England and the new world, the Quakers are not a welcome group. Sarah’s family has all but disowned her, but now that she’s returned, her family hopes her frivolous foray into the Friends, is at an end. Shortly after returning home, Sarah receives word that a past love interest, Jacob, has had been hit by a cart and will likely not survive. Jacob has also turned to the Friends in recent years and was completely shunned…
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Review: Scent of the Soul by Julie Doherty
In a time when marriages were made to secure alliances and power, a king has little choice in matters of the heart. In the twelfth century Scotland, King Somerled must marry in order to further his hard won power and secure new alliances. Falling in love in a luxury he cannot afford. When a rival king, Fergus, arrives on Somerled’s shores with the mysterious Breagha as a hostage, Somerled doesn’t hesitate to allow Fergus rights to her. But then Somerled lays eyes on the beautiful and enchanting Breagha and realizes why Fergus would deceive him and try to keep Breagha for himself. Breagha has a unique gift….the gift of scent. Her powers put her in high…