Category: Literary Criticism

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Review: What the Devil Knows (Sebastian St. Cyr #16) by C. S. Harris

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: What the Devil Knows (Sebastian St. Cyr #16) by C. S. Harris

I absolutely love Sebastian St Cyr. I read the entire series last year in one long binge read. I adore the books and even if some of them have fallen into a bit of a formula, I still enjoy the characters so much. This one was high up on my TBR pile. I always set aside time in the early spring to read a new Sebastian mystery and I am never sorry about that.

The mysteries are intelligent, a little on the gritty side, and full of questionable characters all with their own motives. Going into this one, I was fully ready for just that and I wasn’t disappointed! But now that we are into book sixteen in the series, I am sure readers can’t help but wonder at what point will this series end? For me, I hope the answer is never but I also know that at some point all good things come to an end.

But until that day comes I am going to keep devouring the Sebastian mysteries and keep returning to my favorite characters. Some books in this series are able to be read as standalones and I think this one here could easily be read as a standalone if you want to check out the series but also don’t want to go back and read all the books to enjoy it!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: To Love and to Loathe (The Regency Vows #2) by Martha Waters

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: To Love and to Loathe (The Regency Vows #2) by Martha Waters

When I read Martha Waters debut novel, The Have and to Hoax, I laughed out loud multiple times and absolutely fell in love with the characters and writing! Waters is funny and cheeky, I adored the banter and chemistry between the characters. Which is why this one went on my auto buy list! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one!

I picked this one up while I was waiting for my son’s soccer camp to finish and I was looking for something that was easy reading that would put me in a good mood and that I could put a bookmark in as needed and then pickup again later without feeling totally lost. That’s exactly what this book was for me. Some easy fluffy romance reading!

I enjoyed this one very much but I have to admit that I don’t know that it held the same magic as the first one in the series. That’s not to say that it was bad or anything, it was just different than the first one but it was still a fun read all the same! I would also recommend this one to Bridgerton fans. The first book in the series was on my top books to read after Bridgerton list and this one would easily make that list too.

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) by Holly Jackson

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) by Holly Jackson

One of my book club’s very first books was A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder last spring and we absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down! So needles to say this book was our pick for March. While we all range in age from late forties to early thirties, the first YA mystery novel in this series kept us all inthralled!

We all had high expectations for this one too. I will say though, we do have people in the book club who haven’t read the first book so we were a little nervous picking this one. But most of the early reviews that I read noted that this was a separate mystery and having not read the first book wouldn’t ruin it for new readers. I beg to differ on that front.

While it might not be necessary to read the first book to enjoy this one, there were spoilers to the first book and the trial of Max is a carry over from the first book so I would say if you haven’t read the first book, do that before reading this one! For me, this book wasn’t as good as the first one, it was still a good mystery read and here’s why…..

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Review: Lost, Found, and Forever by Victoria Schade

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Lost, Found, and Forever by Victoria Schade

This is my second novel by Victoria Schade and I have absolutely fallen in love with her novels! They are light hearted reading with romance and tons and tons of sweet dogs! The adorable doggies on the cover just get me every time and this one is no different. I jumped at this one because it sounded too cute and that dog on the cover was screaming ‘read me!’.

By Schade’s books are more than just adorable dogs on the cover, I have really loved the romances that are woven into the story. This one was especially tender and adorable. I fell in love with Griffin about as fast as Justine! He was so charming and thoughtful.

If you love romances in the vein of movies like Must Love Dog, this is an author that you absolutely need on your radar! I am 100% a dog person, but anyone who loves animals will enjoy how predominant they are featured in the story. The animals take on roles of their own and I loved learning about dog handling and training throughout the story. Fetch this one on your TBR immediately!

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Review: The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

This book has been long awaited. It’s been on so many ‘most anticipated’ lists and receiving a ton of hype which normally would make me a little wary, but not going to lie, I have been excited for this one since I participated in the cover revel last spring! The cover plus the multigenerational story of a stunning French chateau sounded too promising to pass up.

I also read Stephanie Dray’s, My Dear Hamilton , a couple of years ago and was impressed with Dray’s historical research and writing. Dray has written a number of historical fiction novels and contributed her skills to other compilations. Some of her stories are more ancient history while her other more notable works are American history, this is her first historical fiction novel set during this period in Europe/France.

But her novel about Eliza Hamilton was wonderful and it stood out as a well researched women’s fiction set in a historical period. That’s what made me even more excited to read this one. I love how Dray gives voice to women in history. She does a brilliant job and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one!

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