Books, Reading

Special Feature and Excerpt: The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature and Excerpt: The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards

I love historical fiction with a new twist and this book sounded like it fit that bill! So many war time historical novels follow similar plot narratives or settings—typically the novels are set in London, France, or Germany. But this novel follows the Spanish experience and location which promises to give readers a fresh new perspective while still being a familiar bit of history to follow and orientate themselves with.

I was super excited when I saw this one. Author Karen Robards is no stranger to historical fiction. Her book, The Black Swan of Paris, received rave reviews a couple of years ago and this book promises all the magic and romanticism that Robards was praised for. I don’t know much about how Spain was involved in the war so I am eager to see what story this book has to tell us!

Today I have an except on the blog and it sound like it’s going to be a great read! No doubt historical fiction fans will be looking forward to this one! Not only because of the talented writer but because of the beautiful historical fiction narrative that promises something new and refreshing to read this fall! Take a look at the excerpt and get this one on your TBR list today!

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

Review: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

If I had to describe this one, I would say it’s a Golden Girls meets James Bond mashup that you never knew you needed. Deanna Raybourn has been a beloved author of mine for YEARS! Her characters are charming, witty, and smart. I have read almost all of her books and never pass on anything she has written. She is truly a talented writer and I am just so thrilled that she has come out with a new standalone book! Raybourn has such a great prose with humor, charm, and boldness that is rare to find and I absolutely love when she comes out with a new book as I am almost SURE to love it.

When I saw this one was coming out, it sounded a little different from her usual books. Raybourn usually writes more historical fiction and this one sounded more like spies and espionage. But I have full faith in Raybourn’s writing talents and I knew that she would craft something that I would simply love and adore! In so many books, the main characters are young hot talented women, but we all grow up and age—I love seeing more representation of older badass women!

This book was also selected as a Book of the Month pick so if you need anymore endorsement, this is it! Raybourn’s writing mixed with this unique story really made it shine an I can totally see why it was a BOTM selection. You should be able to add this one onto your next book box if you missed it for September. This book really shows that just because you are retired—-doesn’t mean you can’t still be interesting.

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Books, Reading

Special Feature and Excerpt: The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception (The Secret Life of Mary Bennet #3) by Katherine Cowley

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature and Excerpt: The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception (The Secret Life of Mary Bennet #3) by Katherine Cowley

Mary Bennet was my least favorite Bennet sister from Pride and Prejudice. I even liked Lydia better than Mary if you can believe that! Mary was alway the mellow-dramatic one and the one with the most limited character and plot lines etc. Which is one of the reasons this book made me really excited was it offered to give Mary Bennet a personality and her own chance to be the hero!

This is the third book in the series that turns Mary from a piano playing ensemble character and turns her into a spy for the crown in a thriller series! I am super excited to share this excerpt from the third book with you guys today. Based on the excerpt I would say that you could easily pick up this book and not feel lost in the series itself.

I think this book will appeal to historical fiction fans as well as thriller fans and no doubt classical English Lit fans will love exploring Mary Bennet in a new way. This little diamond in the rough is available now, and receiving a lot of positive feedback. So if you are looking for a thriller with a fun classical twist then you want to check this one out! Keep reading for an excerpt!

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

Review: The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland

I can vividly remember my very first assembly in high school as a freshman. It was the ‘senior assembly’ where they announced all the ‘most likely to’ people. This was the mid 1990’s so they were still doing things like ‘best legs’ and’ most likely to marry a rich guy’. So obviously things like this are pretty outdated now a days but I can still remember wondering what I would be voted ‘most likely’ as when I became a senior. As luck would have it I never got to find out. I moved my senior year of high school to a large school that had done away with this by the time I was as senior.

But that doesn’t mean I still don’t wonder! That is what appealed to me about this book—-the nostalgia. This book looked like it was going to be FULL of 1990s nostalgia and something that I could FULLY relate to now as an adult! I have never attended a single high school reunion even though I am approaching the 25 year mark. I have had zero desire to attend one as I have zero desire to ever revisit my high school years. But now that I have moved back to my small home town, I see a lot of people that I used to go to school with so it’s sort of like having a reunion every time I go to the grocery store.

This book was at the top of my TBR going into the fall, just knowing that someone else out in author-land also wanted to have a mini high school reunion through their new novel made me really excited and I couldn’t WAIT to start this one. I think for a certain demographic, this book is going to be a big hit. Maybe not for everyone, but definitely for the early 40s demographic!

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

Review: Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

When I think of good, solid, historical fiction—one of the first names that comes to mind is Beatriz Williams. Hands down she writes wonderful novels rich with historical detail and characters you can relate to. I have loved many of her books and when I saw she was coming out with this more modern piece of historical fiction, I was all over it. So many of her books are set in the 1940s to 1950s and this book really felt like it was going to have a more modern twist with the Russians and spies.

I bought it when it first came out and then forgot about it until my pre-order arrived…..and then forgot about it again. Every time I cleaned out my bookshelves though, I would see this book and think to myself ‘man I need to read this one’. Then suddenly—-it was time to read it one day out of the blue! I had just finished some other great pieces of historical fiction and I really wanted a tried and proven historical fiction author to read. So I grabbed this one off the self.

What appealed to me most was the time period. I love that it’s got this major spy aspect and was set in post war Europe with a heavy Russian angle. With all that’s going on in the world right now with Russia, I thought it would be interesting to read more about their culture and history even if it’s through an Americanized filter etc. I find the post war time period so fascinating for a number of reasons. So many countries and people were coming off of this horrible war and were just trying to reestablish themselves and there was still a very real threat of espionage and spying so I couldn’t have been more excited to read this one if I tried!

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