Tag: British Lit

Review: The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen

~ The Lit Bitch ~ 3 Comments

I stopped reading the review pitch once I saw ‘WWI’ in the description, which was basically the first line in the summary. I have read a lot of stand alone novels by Bowen and have been impressed with her writing and historical research.

Her stand alone books have mostly been set in WWII, but WWI is truly my favorite period in historical fiction, so seeing that this book was set during that time earned this book and instant and enthusiastic, ‘yes’ from me.

I have consistently enjoyed reading Bowen’s books, whether they are one of her historical mysteries or her stand alone novels. She as an incredible gift for writing vastly different content and managing to keep all of her heroines fresh and interesting. Continue reading “Review: The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen” →

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Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver

~ The Lit Bitch ~ 1 Comment

One of my absolute favorite holiday movie is Love Actually. I watch it every year and it never gets old no matter how cheesy and unrealistic is it.

My favorite couple David (Hugh Grant) and Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) followed closely by Juliet (Kira Knightly) and Mark (Andrew Lincoln). So when I saw this book so heavily compared to Love Actually and the Juliet/Mark couple, I was eager to read it.

It was my December Book of the Month pick and truth be told I almost passed on all the books for December on BOTM but, I saw so many excellent reviews about this one and decided at the last minute…..why not?

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away. Continue reading “Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver” →

Review: Hall of Mirrors (Bryant & May #15) by Christopher Fowler

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I happened to pick up the first book in the Bryant and May series a couple of years ago at my local used book shop. The first thing that caught my eye was the interesting and quirky cover.

In a sea of mystery novels the early Bryant and May covers really caught my eye. I would probably have never picked up the books had I not seen these lovely covers.

When I read the first book, the one thing that stood out head and shoulders above the rest was the dead pan banter between the two detectives—they had so much chemistry and it made the story fun to read and the shifting between the younger Bryant and May characters and the now older Bryant and May.

As soon as I was done I went out and bought the next four books in the series because not only did I love the covers but I loved the two detectives. But sadly that’s where things ended for me. I got caught up in other books and other series and just didn’t make my way back to this one for some reason.  Continue reading “Review: Hall of Mirrors (Bryant & May #15) by Christopher Fowler” →

Excerpt: THE PHANTOM TREE by Nicola Cornick

~ The Lit Bitch ~ 1 Comment

Attention all Tudor era historical fiction fans…..here is a new release that you might be interested in! See reading to see a sneak peak excerpt below! It sounds like such an exciting book, in fact it might make me come out of my self imposed Tudor era hiding, just to read it!

Book: THE PANTOM TREE by Nicola Cornick

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Graydon House; Original edition (September 1, 2018)

Browsing an antiques shop in Wiltshire, Alison Bannister stumbles across a delicate old portrait—identified as the doomed Tudor queen, Anne Boleyn. Except Alison knows better. The subject is Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was taken to Wolf Hall in 1557 and presumed dead after going missing as a child. And Alison knows this because she, too, lived at Wolf Hall and knew Mary…more than four hundred years ago.

The painting of Mary is more than just a beautiful object for Alison—it holds the key to her past life, the unlocking of the mystery surrounding Mary’s disappearance and how Alison can get back to her own time. To when she and Mary were childhood enemies yet shared a pact that now, finally, must be fulfilled, no matter the cost.

Bestselling author of House of Shadows Nicola Cornick offers a provocative alternate history of rivals, secrets and danger, set in a time when a woman’s destiny was determined by the politics of men and luck of birth. A spellbinding tale for fans of Kate Morton, Philippa Gregory and Barbara Erskine.

EXCERPT

Continue reading “Excerpt: THE PHANTOM TREE by Nicola Cornick” →

Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

~ The Lit Bitch ~ 1 Comment

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” →