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

Review: Black Amber by Phyllis A. Whitney

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Black Amber by Phyllis A. Whitney

Phyllis Whitney is an author who has been on my radar since I was old enough to read and appreciate romantic suspense books…..so basically since like thirteen or fourteen. So for over 20 years I’ve been trying to motivate myself enough to read one of her books.

I mean she’s written tons and tons and tons of books so she must be doing something right. So why haven’t I picked up her books? I honestly have worried that they would be ‘dated’. I mean, Victoria Holt (my all time favorite romantic suspense writer), wrote books that were very clearly meant to be historical fiction. They were always set in the past even though she was a more modern writer.

Writers like Whitney and Mary Stewart tend to hope around between historical fiction and what would have been more ‘modern’ fiction by their standards and writing period. I just wasn’t sure that her books would live up to my expectations. Continue reading “Review: Black Amber by Phyllis A. Whitney” →

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

Review: The Girl I Used to Be by Mary Torjussen

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I was introduced to Mary Torjussen last year when I read GONE WITHOUT A TRACE. While there were a few things that didn’t work for me in that book, I was impressed enough by her writing that when THE GIRL I USED TO BE came up, I was willing to review her latest thriller.

She doesn’t write series books and for that I am thankful. Don’t get me wrong I love series however sometimes it’s nice to have a full story and resolution in just one book. As a reader it helps me get closure and I personally hate when authors or publishers milk a series just for the sake of churning out another book. In a world of series, I like the odd stand alone book from time to time.

THE GIRL I USED TO BE is similar in style to GONE WITHOUT A TRACE….psychological thriller mixed with a little domestic suspense. I really was intrigued once again by the summary and couldn’t say no to something that sounds like every faithful wife’s worst nightmare!  Continue reading “Review: The Girl I Used to Be by Mary Torjussen” →

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

Review: The New Neighbors by Simon Lelic

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: The New Neighbors by Simon Lelic

I am a total true crime junkie. Whenever I am home sick or just wanting to waste a day watching mindless TV, my go to station is ID Discovery. I absolutely love watching true crime. My favorites though are always the ones about seemingly normal families and people.

I think I watched Nightmare Next Door like every day that I was pregnant and home on bed rest…..by the end of three months I was certain that my neighbors were all serial killers. So it’s safe to say that I love the whole suburban killer next door idea so when this book made it’s way into my mailbox, I was totally intrigued!

The Girl Before meets The Couple Next Door in a Hitchcockian thriller about a couple who moves into their dream neighborhood only to discover nothing is as it seems…

The perfect couple. The perfect house. The perfect crime. Continue reading “Review: The New Neighbors by Simon Lelic” →

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

Review: The Family Gathering (Sullivan’s Crossing #3) by Robyn Carr

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: The Family Gathering (Sullivan’s Crossing #3) by Robyn Carr

This year I have tried to read a little more fluffy contempo romances. I’ve sometimes felt that I get pigeon holed into reviewing just historical fiction—don’t get me wrong, historical fiction is my jam but sometimes I need a break and could go for something a little more modern and different just to keep things interesting.

Romances never seem to get old for me and I think a lot of women would agree. It doesn’t matter how cliche or repetitive the romance might seem–theres just something about love and having everything turn out in the end that just makes me happy and gives me hope that romance is still alive n the digital age!

Enter books like The Family Gathering. Sure I feel like I’ve read similar stories before but I enjoy love in all it’s shapes and forms and I never get tired of seeing how individual romances unfold.  Continue reading “Review: The Family Gathering (Sullivan’s Crossing #3) by Robyn Carr” →

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Special Feature: Madam of My Heart by Gini Grossenbacher

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Madam of My Heart by Gini Grossenbacher

Madam of My Heart
by Gini Grossenbacher

Publication Date: February 6, 2017
eBook & Paperback; 476 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-0998380605

Series: American Madams, #1
Genre: Historical Fiction/Victorian

 

 

Baltimore, 1849. During a scandalous crisis, the young Irish Brianna Baird flees her home at Fells Point. With little cash and only a seamstress’s trade, she braves the hypnotic streets of New Orleans. The tantalizing Madam DeSalle lures her to her brothel, then sells her to the dashing but questionable gambler, Edward Spina, who falls in love with her. In a tawdry alliance with these two profiteers, Brianna embarks on a journey through the French Quarter’s debauched and glittering Voodoo world. Facing the horrors of slavery, she triumphs by gaining freedom papers for her maid Emma’s enslaved husband and son. Brianna and Edward escape with them to San Francisco. There she becomes one of the most sought after madams in the gold rush parlor house trade. But will her fame and pluck be enough to save Edward from the Vigilante noose? This is the first book in the American Madams series.

“A debut historical novel that chronicles the struggles, loves, and joys of an exceptional madam in 19th-century America. Grossenbacher’s book, the first in a planned series, dramatizes the early life and busy career of a woman named Brianna Baird. Grossenbacher’s prose is both graceful and inventive. She absorbingly limns the various cities Brianna inhabits, from New Orleans and its ‘web of Creole cottages, chaotic marketplaces, and secretive balconies, simmering outside her window, ‘ to the rowdy atmosphere of frontier-era San Francisco. The occasional marvelous metaphor will surprise readers, as when ‘the truth hit Brianna like a badly aimed bowling pin.’ This isn’t just a novel for lovers of history’s more prurient corners; it’s for everyone who likes well-deployed language and intense stories. A seamier side of American history, engagingly told through one woman’s unexpected adventures.” -Kirkus Reviews, A Recommended Review

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Continue reading “Special Feature: Madam of My Heart by Gini Grossenbacher” →