Literary Criticism
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Review: Summerset Abbey (Summerset Abbey #1) by T.J. Brown
It is the dawning of a new era and the world is changing. The ridged confines of the Victorian and Edwardian eras are on their way out as England ushers in the modern age. The Buxton sisters and their adopted ward have just lost their father and are struggling with their grief. The eldest daughter, Rowena, is faced with the burden of providing for her younger, sickly sister Victoria and their ward Prudence. She is entirely overwhelmed and doesn’t know if she is suited for the task ahead of her but she is willing to try. Before the funeral is at a end, their uncle, the Earl of Summerset and his…
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Review: My Heart’s Desire by Andrea Kane
Lady Alexandria Cassell feels trapped. Her whole life promises to be a series of balls, entertaining, and perpetual boredom if she remains in London for the Season to find a suitable husband. So she does what any sensible girl would do in her situation….she runs like hell. Alexandria finds a ship leaving London bound for Canada where her father lives. She stows away on board, but little does she know what adventures await her on the high seas. Itching to put as many leagues between himself and London, Captain Drake Barrett sets sail when he discovers Alexandria hidden away in his cabin. Though he knows he should turn the ship around…
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Review: Bittersweet Seraphim (Seraphim #2) by Debra Anastasia
Hell can’t seem to keep Satan Jack in….so now it’s earth’s turn to try. What could possibly be worse than being the keeper of Hell? How about being stuck on earth as a human without the angel he loves? Satan Jack had been the keeper of Hell for years and he’s good at what he does. He keeps things running in an orderly fashion….eternity as he knows it is good. He likes Hell. But that was before he met Emma, an angel trying to save the kidnapped God. When Jack meets Emma, all bets are off…Hell doesn’t stand a chance at keeping Jack so long as Emma is part of…
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Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This book takes fatal attraction to a whole new level. Nick and Amy Dunne have been married for five years when suddenly she’s gone…..no explanation, no note, nothing. She is simply gone. Nick does what any sane man would do when his wife ends up missing….he calls the police. When the police come out, they quickly notice that things aren’t adding up. There are signs of a struggle and there are holes in Nick’s story and timeline. Suddenly Nick finds himself as the prime suspect in Amy’s disappearance. The evidence is pretty damning and in the court of public opinion….he’s more than guilty of the disappearance if not murder. But…
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Review: The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
High on the cliff tops of Cornwall, the distant sounds of a pianoforte can be heard echoing through Ebbington Manor late at night. Emma Smallwood and her father have come to Ebbington Manor as live in tutors for Sir Giles Weston and his family. Emma and her father ran a small boarding school where the two eldest Weston boys, Henry and Phillip, attended in their youth. Emma doesn’t harbor much affection for the eldest brother, Henry. All she remembers of Henry was that he was a bully who always played pranks on her when he was at the school. As for Phillip, Emma remembers him as a kind hearted, friendly…
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Review: Stabs at Happiness by Todd Grimson (Short Story Collection)
These are the stories of societies taboo outcasts. The characters that polite society would rather ignore. Degenerative and hopeless, these characters help set the tone and paint this collection of short stories the darkest black. Many of the characters in this collection are drug users/dealers, prostitutes, killers, and transvestites…..but they all have something in common, they are all looking for a little bit of happiness and hope in their own hopeless lives. Author Todd Grimson effortlessly blends powerful storytelling with gritty prose to create a new provocative approach to contemporary literature. Grimson’s style has been described as esoteric, and I would agree….I think his style would appeal to a limited audience, however it…
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Review: Cashelmara by Susan Howatch
In the wild, untamed Irish wilderness lies a stark and cold Georgian era estate known as Cashelmara. Lord Edward de Salis is the master of Cashelmara, but as an Englishman he resides primarily in London but deep down he always considers Cashelmara home. When his wife dies, Lord de Salis travels to America hoping to ease his grief. What he doesn’t expect to find is love. Marguerite is young enough to be Edward’s daughter but there is something about her that makes Edward feel at ease and happy once again. After they marry he takes Marguerite back to Ireland and Cashelmara where tragic events begin unfolding. Cashelmara chronicles three generations of…
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Review: The Book of the Forsaken (The Game #1) by Yannis Karatsioris
What do three “puppets”, one magical book, and a twisted narrator have in common? At first glance, nothing. But look again. Three men find themselves being used as pawns in a much larger game controlled by one devious narrator in this innovative urban fantasy novel. These three men couldn’t be more different, each are flawed in their own ways. But the one thing that binds them together is their supernatural abilities. The first puppet we meet is the tough, brawny Irishman Robert Cassidy. The second puppet is the quiet bookworm, Daniel Maladie from Paris. And finally we meet Igor Rubinstein, the psychotic magician turned assassin from Russia. The narrator assigns each…
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Review: A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4) by George R.R. Martin
The war of the five kings is more or less coming to an end in Westeros. One king seats the Iron Throne, but only just. His rule is in a precarious situation–one wrong move, one wrong decision, one wrong advisor….and all could be lost. I will try to make this review as spoiler free as possible, but it is difficult not to include references from the previous three books but I will do my best but consider yourself warned. In A Storm of Swords, so much happened. It was action packed from beginning to end, so as expected, A Feast for Crows, chronicles what happens in the aftermath of the…
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Review: A Barcelona Heiress by Sergio Vila-Sanjuan
The 1920’s embody all the glitz and glamour of a bygone era. The world is fresh off the ending of World War I and trying desperately to recover and get back to better days. In Barcelona, war is still on everyone’s lips but this time it’s Civil War. In the city itself, tensions are running high. The rich control the city while the poor suffer and long for reform. Pablo Vilar is a lawyer and journalist in the vibrant city of Barcelona. He is a man whose professions have foraged connections to the criminal underworlds as well as the influential elitist circles and each group hopes to bend Pablo’s pen in the…