Reading
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Special Feature: BY LOVE DIVIDED by Elizabeth St. John
By Love Divided by Elizabeth St. John Publication Date: October 12, 2017 Falcon Historical eBook & Paperback; 381 Pages Series: The Lydiard Chronicles, Book Two Genre: Historical Fiction Royalist Sir Allen Apsley thinks his choice is clear, but when his mother embraces the Puritan cause, and his beloved sister Luce falls in love with John Hutchinson, a Roundhead soldier, his loyalties are tested. Is it family first? Is it country first? As England falls into bloody civil war, Allen must fight for king and country, while Luce embraces Parliament�s radical views and confronts the very core of the family�s beliefs. And when their influential Villiers cousins raise the…
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Review: The Ghost of Christmas Past (Molly Murphy #17) by Rhys Bowen
This is one series that I really need to go back and enjoy from beginning to end! While most of the Molly Murphy books can be read as stand alone books, why deprive yourself of such fun reading? I’ve only read one of the books in this series but I was very impressed with the quality of writing and mystery of that book and I was eager to read more by her. I’ve read one of her stand alone books and while good, I think her mystery books are better personally. My mom keeps giving me a copy of popular series, HER ROYAL SPYNESS, I have like 4 copies now.…
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Review: The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla (Pink Carnation #11) by Lauren Willig
This was the book I was least excited about reading in the series. It sounded completely out of Willig’s usual formula….like so far removed from her usual style that I just wasn’t thrilled about it. Vampires? In this series. No, no, and just no. Plus the heroine, Sally Fitzhugh, is not one that has even been on the fringes of the series up until like the last book and even then it was minimal. However, as I have said before, I am continually impressed with her ability to hook me into a believable romance and prove all my misconceptions wrong. So I tried to keep an open mind when I…
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Special Feature: The Painter’s Apprentice by Laura Morelli
The Painter’s Apprentice by Laura Morelli Publication Date: November 15, 2017 The Scriptorium eBook; 482 Pages Series: The Gondola Maker, Book Two Genre: Fiction/Historical Star-crossed lovers with a costly secret. As the plague grips Venice, more than a quarantine divides them… Venice, 1510. Maria Bartolini wants nothing more than to carry on her father’s legacy as a master gilder. Instead, her father has sent her away from the only home she’s ever known to train as an apprentice to Master Trevisan, a renowned painter. Maria arranges to leave the painter’s workshop to return to her family workshop and to a secret lover waiting for her back home. But the encroaching…
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Review: Romancing the Werewolf (Supernatural Society #2) by Gail Carriger
I first discovered Gail Carriger in early 2010. I loved her Parasol Protectorate series so much for a number of reasons, but mostly because of how well she developed her world. Since completing the series she has gone on to write a number of other novels/series and novellas in the same world. When the second installment of the Supernatural Society came out, I was happy to review it and see what characters would find a HEA. Werewolf in trouble… Biffy, newly minted Alpha of the London Pack, is not having a good Christmas. His Beta abandoned him, his werewolves object to his curtain choices, and someone keeps leaving babies on…
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Review: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz
Let the Christmas reading commence! Some years I have a ton of holiday themed books (like this year) and other years I stretch my ‘scary reads’ from September to January. But this year I have had a lot of Christmas reading come my way and I can’t tell you how excited I am about that! While this book has a nod to the classic Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice, it is a modern retelling rather than a Regency retelling. Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to…
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Review: The Passion of the Purple Plumeria (Pink Carnation #10) by Lauren Willig
I don’t know why but I always seem to go into the later Pink Carnation books with a preconceived notion of the romance. With the last book, I was so not looking forward to it but found it was one of the more enjoyable ones! So one would think that I would keep an open mind. But I didn’t. I was not really looking forward to an ‘old person romance’ in this book…not that I’m a spring chicken mind you but still…something about Miss Gwen and Colonel Reid just didn’t scream sexy to me. In my mind, Miss Gwen is this old lady chaperone with pursed lips and grey hair…
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Review: The Silent Fountain by Victoria Fox
There is nothing like fall to make you want to read a mystery or a Gothic novel…..well at least for me! Fall is the perfect time to curl up with a creep or suspenseful book and spend the day lost in the mystery. That’s exactly what I did with The Silent Fountain! I read this book as part of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, it was hard to break with my Pink Carnation book but somehow I found the ability to read something else, and I was not sad in the least. This book was a great Gothic novel! Hollywood, 1978: Tragedy sends troubled film star Vivien Lockhart into the arms…
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Special Feature: Becoming Mrs Smith by Tanya E Williams
Becoming Mrs. Smith by Tanya E. Williams Publication Date: October 10, 2017 Rippling Effects Writing & Photography eBook, Paperback & Audio; 100 Pages Genre: Historical Fiction/Novella Not all of war’s destruction takes place on the battlefield. Violet’s heart flutters from the scarlet fever she survived as a child, and it beats faster at the sight of John Smith, the man she plans to marry. America is entrenched in WWII, and when John enlists, Violet is certain she won’t ever forgive him for dashing their dreams. As the realities of war slowly overtake her life, Violet’s days are filled with uncertainty and grief. She struggles to maintain her faith…
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Review: The Garden of Intrigue (Pink Carnation #9) by Lauren Willig
This year I decided to officially participate in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon for the first time ever. I had some time on my hands and some good books to start reading so I was eager for an excuse to sit and read undisturbed while my husband watched out little one. I started The Garden of Intrigue almost immediately after completing The Orchid Affair and I’ll be honest, I was supposed to read it for Readathon but I almost finished it before Readathon even started! Again, I’ll be honest and say that I was not looking forward to reading this one. Augustus Whittlesby was the singularly most annoying character in The Orchid…