Literary Criticism
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Review: A Rogue of One’s Own (A League of Extraordinary Women #2) by Evie Dunmore
To say that Bringing Down the Duke was one of my favorite books of 2019 would be a drastic understatement. I bought it for every woman reader in my family for Christmas. I absolutely loved Evie Dunmore’s debut novel and the book hangover that followed was so real! I have been checking Netgalley weekly to see when the next book in the series will be available and the second it was out, I downloaded it. I knew I would be reviewing this one in September so I had plenty of time to read it but I couldn’t help myself! I started reading it in June and was done in 2…
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Review: The Whisper Man by Alex North (Audible Edition)
My book club pick for August was The Whisper Man and I was so excited for it because I have had the book from my Book of the Month box for over a year. I often find myself looking at it on my shelves and think, ‘this is the month I am going to read it’ and then something else catches my eye and I forget until the next time my eye wanders that way. This month though I was determined to read it and was thrilled that my book club selected it for August!
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Review: The London Restoration by Rachel McMillan
This is one of those books that when I saw the cover, I simply said yes without even pausing to read the summary. As many of you know I am a huge sucker for historical fiction and this cover hit all the historical fiction eye catchers it possibly could! I love the colors and the red hat just drew me right in and I couldn’t wait to check it out and see if the story lived up to the hype of the cover. Basically I went into this one blind since I said yes without even reading the summary and sometimes that works out for me. I didn’t know what…
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Review: A Class Forsaken (A Matter of Class #3) by Susie Murphy
Over the last few years I have gotten to know Susie Murphy and her characters in the “Matter of Class” series and not only is she a wonderful person and author, but her saga has only gotten better. More about that in a minute but first I wanted to take a couple of minutes and gush over the beauty of this cover. It is absolutely stunning. Each cover design has been eye catching, memorable, and interesting but this one is my favorite cover design. I think it’s elegant and captures the essence of the saga. Now that I have raved about the cover a bit, let’s talk about how great…
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Review: Killer Kung Pao (A Noodle Shop Mystery #6) by Vivien Chien
How is it that we are already on the 6th book in this series? It feels like I just started reading it a few months ago….but I haven’t. I read the very first book before it came out and fell in love with this series. I adore Lana Lee and all the murdery goodness of the Asia Village not to mention every book I read leaves me craving Chinese food and I don’t even like Chinese food but I would kill for some noodles about three chapters in to every single book! Every time I see that Vivien Chien has a new Lana book coming out, I just automatically add…
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Review: Bronte’s Mistress by Finola Austin
I have been looking forward to this book all summer long. It has been on my radar since the spring and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and start reading. I absolutely love the Brontes and a book like this just sounded so incredible! Not to mention that cover is totally giving me all the heart eyes. What I was most excited for in this novel was that it would explore the story of the Bronte’s brother rather than the famous and talented sisters. It screamed new and exciting for me and since this is the author’s debut novel, it was just begging to be read and…
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Review: The Girl from Vichy by Andie Newton
Last year I read Andie Newton’s debut novel, The Girl I Left Behind, and I loved it. After reading that debut, I was so excited to see what she came up with next. Newton is a strong and rising voice in the historical fiction genre so when I saw this was her next book, I couldn’t wait to check it out! Not only is this cover absolutely stunning, but the summary sounded incredible. Obviously I am a big fan of historical fiction and I am always looking for a new and exciting author’s to watch and this author is right up there at the top of my up and coming…
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Review: A Little Bit of Grace by Phoebe Fox
I had no idea what this book was going to be about. I mean sure it had a summary of course, but in the sea of women’s fiction, many of the summaries as well as the covers tend to blend together. That’s what was happening for me with this book. The cover was cute but didn’t really stand out for me, the title also cute but didn’t grab me, and the summary sounded nice but not memorable. But let me tell you what was memorable—-the little notecard that came with the ARC stating ‘be a peacock not a pigeon’. It brought the biggest smile to me face and I immediately…
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Review: Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon (Audible Edition)
I’ve seen this book off and on my social media the last couple of months but I wasn’t entirely sure about it. I mean I grew up playing The Oregon Trail game on the computer (best game ever!) and since I live in Oregon I have studies the Oregon Trail extensively and frontier culture especially for my masters. But for whatever reason this book just didn’t grab me right away when it came out. But after a few dud books I really wanted to read some thing that I was sure would catch my interest and feel different. I decided to bite the bullet and download the Audible edition as…
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Review: The Last Mrs. Summers (Her Royal Spyness #14) by Rhys Bowen
I have been a long time Rhys Bowen fan and I have been trying to get caught up on the Royal Spyness series for the last year. I have been reading the later mysteries out of order but going back and trying to read the earlier ones so I can have a better appreciation for the characters and their back stories. I love Georgie and all the quirky characters in this series and when I saw another book was coming out I couldn’t wait to check it out even though I wasn’t entirely caught up with the series over all.