Literary Criticism
-
Spotlight/Guest Post: THE WITCH OF PAINTED SORROWS by M.J. Rose
Publication Date: March 17, 2015 Atria Books Formats: Hardcover, Ebook Pages: 384 Genre: Historical Mystery READ AN EXCERPT. Possession. Power. Passion. International bestselling novelist M.J. Rose creates her most provocative and magical spellbinder yet in this erotic, gothic novel set against the lavish spectacle of 1890s Belle Époque Paris. Sandrine Salome runs away to her grandmother’s Parisian mansion to escape her dangerous husband, but what she finds is even more menacing. The house, famous for its lavish art collection and elegant salons, is mysteriously closed up. Although her grandmother insits it’s dangerous for Sandrine to visit, she defies her and meets Julien Duplessi, a mesmerizing young architect. Together they…
-
Review: The Tapestry (Joanna Stafford #3) by Nancy Bilyeau
Joanna Stafford is still struggling to adjust to life in the sleepy town of Dartford. Once a novice nun, but now….not, thanks to King Henry VIII, Joanna is content weaving her tapestries at her home. The sudden disappearance of her would be husband, Edmund Scovill, has left Joanna upset and confused (not to mention the reader!) but she is resolved to continue her work on her tapestries far from the English court. Well, her weaving has caught the attention of the King. When a royal summons from Whitehall comes, demanding Joanna’s presence at court, she can hardly refuse the royal order. When she arrives at court, she is literally attacked instantly by an…
-
Review: Mist of Midnight: A Novel (Daughters of Hampshire #1) by Sandra Byrd
Rebecca Ravenshaw has survived an unthinkable tragedy in India. During the uprising against the English, both of her parents are killed and her brother died from illness. She is all alone in the world and wants to return to England where her father’s estate is. When she arrived in England after a long journey, she finds that someone else has already come forward claiming to be her. No one knows her, she hasn’t been in England since she was a child. She has no other living relations, no friends in England…..nothing to prove she is who she says she is. Rebecca soon discovers that the women claiming to be her…
-
Review: Changing Nature (The Immortal Descendants #3) by April White
The Immortal Descendants has been one of my most favorite new series over the last year or so. I absolutely love the world that the author has created. Each book moves the story forward and the world and the premise of the story, characters, and plot are all unique but yet work so well together. In this third book, we find ‘Clocker’ Saira and Archer enjoying a summer of romance when suddenly Immortals start being kidnapped. The ‘Mongers’ will do anything to gain power and control over the other descendant families, especially after they target a powerful shifter. Saira and Archers (along with the rest of her crew) must travel back in…
-
Review: The Edge of Dreams (Molly Murphy Mysteries #14) by Rhys Bowen
For years my mother has been trying to get me to read Rhys Bowen’s books. I have literally received Her Royal Spyness in the mail at least three times now. Here’s why I haven’t picked up any of Bowen’s books….there are so many book series out there with a female detective set around the same time that how different could it really be? What distinguishes Bowen’s heroines from the others? OK so maybe mother does know best….mother you were right, I should have picked up Bowen’s books a long time ago! When The Edge of Dreams came up for review, I knew I would be starting the Molly Murphy series in…
-
Review: The Counterfeit Heiress (Lady Emily #9) by Tasha Alexander
Lady Emily and her husband, the dashing Colin, are enjoying their evening out at an exclusive costume ball. A strange encounter with a masked man leaves Emily scratching her head. She was certain that she was the only Artemis at the ball but clearly the masked man was expecting a different sort of Artemis. Well the only other Artemis at the ball is the eccentric Estella Lamar. Estella hasn’t been seen in society for years. She is known for her world travels and is rarely….if ever…..seen in society. Emily’s long time friend Cecile knows Estella well from a childhood spent together. When Cecile sees Estella at the ball, she knows she’s a fraud. Someone is impersonating…
-
Review: Shadows Over Paradise by Isabel Wolff
Jenni’s has lived in the shadows most of her life. She is an accomplished ghost writer where she never gets any recognition for her work. She is in a tedious relationship with her boyfriend of two years. She never wanted to have children but did hope to get married one day. All of her friends are getting married and having families and she does feel a little left out. Her boyfriend soon starts pressuring her to have children but she refuses. She has been harboring a childhood secret and can’t bare to share it with him. At a friend’s wedding, Jenni receives an offer to ghost write a woman’s memoirs.…
-
Review: Black Diamonds: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England by Catherine Bailey
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Catherine Bailey chronicles the rise and fall of the Fitzwilliam coal mining dynasty in Yorkshire England. The Fitzwilliam family was at one time, one of the wealthiest families in all of England. So how does this extensive fortune and massive house end up on the real estate market in 2014 in need of mass repairs? Well that’s what Bailey decides to find out. What follows is this outstanding narrative about the rise and fall of this aristocratic family, a fortune worth 3 billion pounds by today’s standards, and a family full of salacious scandal, family feuds, and dark secrets. This book was scandalous and…
-
Review: Mistress Firebrand (Renegades of the Revolution) by Donna Thorland
Actress Jennifer “Jenny” Leighton is a struggling actress in occupied Manhattan during the American Revolution. She is living with her aunt who is a big name British actress. Jenny hopes to make a name for herself as a play write and gain an influential British patron. The only man in Manhattan that might be able to give Jenny the patronage, General John Burgoyne, is sequestered on his ship as his staff fear that American rebels will kill him if he makes an appearance in the city. Jenny has heard the rumors about General Burgoyne…he is quite the ladies man. Knowing that he will likely try to seduce her instead, Jenny must make a choice.
-
Review: King’s Folly (Legends of Fyrsta #2) by Sabrina Flynn
Here we are….back in Fyrsta and back with some of our favorite characters from the first novel! Isiilde is growing up and as always, she’s a bit feisty! Isiilde and her friends Marsais and Oenghus risked going through a portal fleeing a madman, but what they find in this portal is anything but good, in fact the discover how truly inhospitable the realms are! Isiilde and Oenghus grown closer as they endure unimaginable horrors. Rather than focus too much on what the novel is about and give away any story lines, I want to talk about what was good and what was bad…that’s why you are reading this blog right? OK…