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

Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Like millions of people, I got royal wedding fever so bad about 3 days before Prince Harry and Megan Markel wed. Not personally I prefer Kate Middleton over Megan but who doesn’t love a royal wedding?!

The glitz and glamour and all the pomp is just too much for me to resist. After the wedding was over I was desperate for something to read that would be similar to the real life fairy tale. I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted to read a biography on Megan or Kate or Diana or the royal family, but I was sure that I wanted to read something in that vein.

That’s when I found The Royal We. It sounded like the book I had been looking for…..fiction but yet enough reality to satisfy my royal wedding fever not to mention romance. I rushed to my library to pick up a copy and immediately busted into it when I got home.

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it’s Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain’s future king. And when Bex can’t resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face. Continue reading “Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan” →

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Review: Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly

This is a new series but definitely not a debut novel for Sheila Connolly (she is already a nest selling author). I personally haven’t read any of Connolly’s books but I was intrigued by the summary of this one and the fact that it was a brand new series.

Not going to lie the fact that it said ‘Victorian’ in the series title also was a contributing factor. I love all things Victorian and when I saw it in the title I was immediately saying ‘sold’ loudly in my head.

Katherine Hamilton’s goal in high school was to escape from her dead-end hometown of Asheford, Maryland. Fifteen years later she’s got a degree in hospitality management and a great job supervising every aspect of the day-to-day operations of a high-end boutique hotel on the Baltimore waterfront. Continue reading “Review: Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mysteries #1) by Sheila Connolly” →

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

Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling

When this book came across my desk for review—I was stoked. I don’t read a ton of alternative history, but this one sounded so so so good that I was eager to read it without question.

I sounded like alternative history mixed with some espionage and sci-fi so how could I pass? I couldn’t!

In 1912, just months before the election, President Taft dies suddenly, and Teddy Roosevelt wastes no time in grabbing power as he wins another term as president. By force of will, he ushers the United States into a new, progressive era with the help of the Black Chamber the mysterious spy organization, watching his back.

Luz O’Malley–a brilliant, deadly, and young Cuban Irish American agent of the Black Chamber–heads to Germany. She’s on a luxury airship swarming with agents of every power on earth, as well as conspirators from the Mexican Revolutionary Party and the sinister underground of the reborn Ku Klux Klan, yet none know her true identity.

Her anonymity will be essential as she strives to gain the secrets of Project Loki, an alarming German plan that Roosevelt fears will drag the U.S. into a world war. To gather this intelligence, Luz will have to deceive the handsome yet ruthless Baron Horst von Duckler. She, along with naive Irish-American Ciara Whelan, has to get this vital information back to the U.S.–or thousands of lives might be lost (summary from Goodreads).  Continue reading “Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling” →

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Review: The Lost Family by Jenna Blum

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Lost Family by Jenna Blum

This was a book that I actually passed on initially. Yes it sounded good and like something that would be right up my alley. But my summer reading schedule always fills up so fast and I just didn’t have room for this book so basically I had to pass.

I did however agree to do a special feature on this book as I think it would appeal to many of my readers. As I was working on the special feature, I felt really sad that I wasn’t reading this book because it sounded so good.

After some very aggressive reading and maneuvering, I was able to fit this book in. There were many times that I stayed up way later than I should have reading this book…..not just so I could finish it, but because it was an excellent read!  Continue reading “Review: The Lost Family by Jenna Blum” →

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

Review: Echo Moon (Ghost Gifts #3) by Laura Spinella

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Echo Moon (Ghost Gifts #3) by Laura Spinella

This book appealed to me for a couple of reasons, but one in particular stood out above all the other general ‘pick me’ signs that I saw in the pitch. The thing that caught my eye was the twist between historical fiction and magical realism/paranormal.

This book is set during the Great War (hello my favorite era) but yet has paranormal characters and the combo between the two interested me.

They sound like two very conflicting different genres and the first thing that I thought was ‘this could go one of two ways—really bad or really good’. So I agreed to review this one.

Knowing that it was the third in the series, I was prepared to be a little lost in the story but I had seen that many readers said it could stand alone so I was hopeful that that was truly the case.  Continue reading “Review: Echo Moon (Ghost Gifts #3) by Laura Spinella” →