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

Review: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese

I have been knee deep in romantic suspense murder novels and while I am loving them, I always love a good romance. When I decided to review this one it was because I loved the cover (the girl with the sleeve tattoo spoke to me since I have a sleeve too!) and I loved that it was a Much Ado About Nothing retelling! While Much Ado About Nothing isn’t my favorite Shakespeare play, I did enjoy it and was eager to check out this more modern retelling.

I haven’t read anything by author, Chloe Liese, but I loved that she is a dedicated romance writer committed to everyone having their own unique love story. I like the inclusivity and I see that she is an established author which means that she is tried and true so I was eager to check out this latest novel by her, especially since it’s not part of a series. That way I can sample her writing before committing to reading a series if that makes sense.

I quickly scanned early reviews for this novel before reading it and was pleased to see a lot of people enjoyed it, picking up new to me authors can sometimes be intimidating—exciting, but intimidating. I have a handful of authors that I will read whatever they put out and then there are those new authors that I see around the blog-o-sphere that I think I might like, but sometimes it’s hard to pull the trigger on a new author but in this case, I am glad that I did!

Continue reading “Review: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese” →
Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood

This book has been sitting in my Amazon cart for well over a year! I had it in my cart as a paperback and just never could decide if I wanted to pull the trigger to not. This book sounded like something I would like but it was also kind of off the beaten path and from a smaller press and if I was going to spend $14 on it, I wanted to make sure I was 100% sold on it. But then one night while I was sitting with my son, waiting for him to fall asleep, I was bored looking for something new to read.

Suddenly buying the ecopy for $10 sounded like a good idea and the moment felt right. I was instantly glad that I pulled the trigger! I was sucked into this one almost immediately and by the time I was done, I was kicking myself for not buying it sooner! If you are a Victoria Holt fan or Julia Klassen, then you are not going to want to miss this one! This has all the things I love about Gothic romances! Ambiguous characters, haunted castles, and of course romance!

This one absolutely drew me in and captivated me for a few days. I found myself spending longer and longer in my son’s room well after her went to sleep just so I could finish ‘one more page’! If you love Gothic mysteries with some romance you are not going to want to miss this one. Or maybe you have this book in your Amazon cart like I did and just aren’t sure if it’s worth it—well the answer is YES! Absolutely worth it!

Continue reading “Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood” →
Books, Reading

Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen

How are we already at book 16 in this series?! I have only made it to like book 7 consecutively and then a few of the later ones in the series. All of the books are just so good and I have enjoyed this series so much over the years. It’s one of those book series that you can pick up and know that you are going to get a solid mystery with great characters! I have yet to read a disappointing one in this series! It’s like my go to comfort reading when I don’t know what else to read.

Sadly I couldn’t fit this one into my review schedule for this month, but I have this one queued up to read over winter break! Even though I have jumped around in this series, there have only been a few times where I felt like reading the other books in the series would have been useful, but overall I have been able to jump around with ease. But we are 16 books in to this series so naturally there are going to be established relationships and plot points that carry over within the larger series.

That said though, the author does a good job orientating readers within the story so you aren’t fully lost etc. I would say it’s relatively easy to jump around so if this one sounds good to you, then you should check it out even if you are a new reader. Now long time fans of the series will no doubt have this one on their radar! If you love cheeky historical mysteries this is an excellent series and I highly recommend this (and anything by Rhys Bowen really!) as a fun, cozy mystery with a sassy and smart heroine and a dashing hero!

Continue reading “Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen” →
Books, Reading

Special Feature: Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin

I love the tagline of this story. As an avid romance reader, I love the escapism of a dashing hero and a world where love conquers all. But the hard part is remembering that it’s just a book and romance isn’t that way in real life—-well not all the time anyway. But I love the idea of romance being like a book and being able to be the author of your own story. I would love to write a romance novel full of all the romantic things and sayings that I wish men would do in real life!

So when I saw the description and tagline of this story “Love isn’t always by the books in this charming romantic comedy about a bookseller discovering how to be the main character in her story. ” it made me excited to check this one out! It sounded like something that I would absolutely fall in love with. Romcom with books—–yes please!

I also like the idea of the man being the more romantic and sensitive one, rather than the main female lead. I think it gives this book a very modern feel and more relatable for the modern woman. I was so sad I couldn’t fit this one into my reading schedule but I was happy to do a feature and add it to my TBR list since it sounds like just the kind of book I would enjoy!

Continue reading “Special Feature: Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin” →
Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin

When this book came out, I only had space for a special feature and excerpt. But after reading the excerpt, I was excited for this one and knew that I simply had to make room for it on my review calendar! I am thrilled that I did because this one was a good one! I haven’t read anything by Laura Griffin before but I have feature a few of her books and have had them on my radar for a while. Now that I have read this one, I went out and downloaded four more of her books because I loved this one so much! It was exactly what I needed!

I read this one in basically two days. It was so good and I was hooked instantly. The thing that stood out to me about this book was the location and disappearance angle. I LOVE National Parks and nothing hooks me like a mysterious disappearance! When I was pregnant, I was so sick and basically laid in bed watching crime shows on TV. One of my favorites was Disappeared. I am absolutely baffled by people who just go missing. There is no closure, only speculation. So when I saw this book had this angle I was totally on board to read it.

Not to mention this book has been popping up on a number of ‘must read’ lists! I’ve seen this one recommended in romantic suspense, suspense, mystery, thrillers and on the best seller lists around the blog-o-sphere and knew I just couldn’t pass this one up! And now I have found a new to my author that I absolutely love and have a few new books added. to my fall/winter reading lineup!

Continue reading “Review: Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin” →