Literary Criticism
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Review: The Night Garden by Lisa Van Allen
In upstate New York there is a small farm that appears to be just another farm in the country. Normal. Ordinary. However the Pennywort farm is anything but ordinary and normal….it’s magical. At the heart of the farm there is a magical garden full of imagination and color. The locals have long said that entering the garden can gain insight to life’s most difficult issues by just walking through the gates, ironically the garden’s caretaker has never experienced any kind of revelation by entering the garden. Olivia Pennyworth has been caring for the garden and has spent her entire life on the farm while harboring a dark secret which forces…
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Review: First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen by Charlie Lovett
If you love Jane Austen you need to move this book up to the top of your TBR list immediately! Sophie Collingwood’s uncle has just died under questionable circumstances and then his prized rare book collection has been sold to satisfy his debts. To console herself, Sophie goes to work at her favorite bookstore in London, Antiquarian Books. While working at the store, she is approached by two different collectors who are after the same book, Little Book of Allegories, written by Reverend Richard Mansfield in 1796.
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Review: The Tiger Queens: The Women of Genghis Khan by Stephanie Thornton
Genghis Khan was one of antiquities most notorious and feared leaders. The Mongol empire grew exponentially under his reign but behind every fearless leader, there is often a woman pushing him to be better. This is the story of the women who made Genghis Khan’s empire what it was. It begins with the story of Borte, his queen. Borte’s future has been foretold by her seer mother and it doesn’t look good. She will come between two brothers and will bring war and destruction to her people because of it. But true to her promise to marry the man who would be come Genghis Khan, she endures the prophecy with as…
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Review: The Firebird (Slains #2) by Susanna Kearsley
Nicola Marter is a seemingly normal women, with an extraordinary gift. She can touch an object and see it’s past history. But she doesn’t like using her gift. She is afraid of being called a ‘freak’ and that people won’t accept her. So she hides her gift. While working in an art gallery specializing in Russian art, an old woman arrives with a wood carving of a firebird, claiming it belonged to Catherine the Great. Nicola’s boss doesn’t have any way of authenticating it and thus, it has no value to an art dealer. But when she touches it she sees that it was in fact given to a girl named Anna…
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Review: The Tudor Vendetta (The Spymaster Chronicles #3) by C.W. Gortner
Tudor lit is always a favorite sub genre for those who write historic fiction. And why not, it’s a ruthless age full of romance, intrigue, and political unrest. There is a lot for authors to draw inspiration. One of the things I love best about C.W. Gortner as a writer is he tends to pick strong women in history to write about which is unusual for a male author. I think having a male write about these women provides readers with a unique perspective. In this novel he utilized a male as the POV character which was different but no less entertaining. Queen Mary is dead and the young Elizabeth takes the throne. One…
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Review: The Heiress of Winterwood (Whispers on the Moors #1) by Sarah Ladd
Amelia Barrett made her best friend a dying promise: to take care of her child, Lucy, at all costs….and Amelia plans on fulfilling that promise. Lucy’s father has been away at sea and has never met the child but he is returning from his adventures soon and will meet her for the first time. Amelia is fearful that he will take the child and she will never see her again. Lucy has become like her own daughter and she can’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. So Amelia has devised a plan to keep her and Lucy together forever….her can Captain Sterling will need to get married. There…
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Review: Hallowe’en Party (Hercule Poirot Series #36) by Agatha Christie
Happy Halloween readers! And what better way to celebrate this holiday than with a Halloween inspired mystery!? Confession alert…..I have never read anything by Agatha Christie. I know, sacrilege. I’m ashamed to call myself a mystery/detective novel fan! For years my family has been telling me that I absolutely must read a Miss Marple or a Hercule Poirot mystery as they are all so wonderful. So when Hallowe’en Party came up on my Amazon recommendations and was only $1.99, how could I resist downloading and reading it as my Halloween read?! While the staff and children at Woodleigh Common, decorate for a Hallowe’en party, they have a famous mystery author…
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Review: Gracelin O’Malley (Gracelin O’Malley #1) by Ann Moore
In Ireland, poverty is dominating the country throughout the 19th century. It’s a time of British rule and the Irish people need to make some concessions in order to survive to famine. Gracelin (Grace) is forced to put aside what dreams she had for herself and marry an English lord, Bram, to save her family from ruin. Though her brother encourages her to hold out and wait for love, Grace proceeds with the marriage. Initially the marriage seems like it will workout. Bram seems tender and gentle but after a time his true colors begin to shine though and their marriage rapidly becomes one of promise, to nothing short of a nightmare.
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Review: The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan
Reve (Revelation) Dyer’s life changes in the blink of an eye. She works as an assistant to her magician husband, Jeremy, and together they have three lovely daughters. Their magic show in Las Vegas draws crowds every night, but in an instant everything changes. While performing a magic trick, Defying the Bullets, she is supposed to ‘shoot’ her husband and he in turn coughs up the bullet. When blood sprays and Jeremy falls dead to the ground, the audience and Reve are completely stunned. It becomes clear that someone altered her gun with a real bullet but the question was why? Reve and her daughters suddenly start receiving envelopes of pictures…
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Review: Music for My Soul by Lauren Linwood
Madeleine Bouchard is on the run. She flees from her abusive husband in the dead of night. She hopes to make it to London and board a ship to France that will take her back to her family. She plans on putting as many miles between her and her husband as she can while it’s still dark when fate intervenes. Lord Garrett Montayne and his friend are also on the road to London in the wee hours of the morning when they see a woman walking alone. When they ride up on her, she goes into survival mode.When asked who she is, she can’t use her name as these men could be…