Cover Reveal: A Winter by the Sea (On Devonshire Shores #2) by Julie Klassen

As many of you know, I have been a big Julie Klassen fan over the years. Recently I read the first book in the On Devonshire Shores series and really enjoyed it. Today I am thrilled to reveal the cover for the second book in this series! It is an absolute beauty! I am super excited to check this one out. It’s releasing in December of 2023 so we have a while to wait. But why not stare and admire this lovely cover until then!

Check out all the details below and use this time to read the first book in the series while you wait for this one to come out! If you know Julie Klassen you will know you cannot go wrong with one of her books! They are all so great!

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When the Duke and Duchess of Kent rent neighboring Woolbrook Cottage for the winter, the Summers sisters are called upon to host three of the royal couple’s male staff in their seaside house. But they soon realize they’ve invited mysterious secrets and the sweet possibility of romance into their home.

Meanwhile, Emily Summers approaches a local publisher in hopes of fulfilling her dream of becoming an author. When he turns her down, his dashing competitor promises to consider her novel if she will first write a new Sidmouth guidebook for him. Emily accepts and begins researching with the help of the Duke of Kent’s handsome private secretary. But a surprise visitor from her past shows up at Sea View, leaving Emily torn between the desires she used to hold dear and her budding dreams for the future.

Return to the Devonshire coast with the Summers sisters, where loyalties are tested, secrets come to light, and new love emerges.

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Special Feature/Excerpt: The Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel

Who doesn’t love a historical fiction, Cinderella retelling set on the Emerald Isle?! I haven’t been reading a ton of historical fiction lately which makes me sad, but this book caught my eyer as an option! I love Cinderella and It thought the plot sounded really interesting as well as having a hint of romance which made me even more excited to check this one out. Plus the Emerald Isle? YES PLEASE! I need some escapism during these long cold winter months even if it’s equally as rainy and dreary there, I love dreaming about my next escape destination.

While I couldn’t fit this one on my review schedule for this month, I think this might be a good option if you are looking for a new spring read that had some sweet, clean romance, with the promise of a HEA. I know that a lot of people have been reading this one lately for the tour and really enjoying it so if you are thinking about picking this one up, be sure to check out the other stops on the tour to see what other readers are saying about it!

This book contains some Gaelic words which I think adds to the authenticity of the story, and it sounds like author Jennifer Deibel put a lot of historical research into the story. Early readers are saying the books has some great Gothic elements as well as interesting and smart characters which makes me even more excited to check this one out. If you are a fan off historical fiction, then you are not going to want to miss this one. Because to keep reading to find out what readers are saying and to see other stops on the tour!

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Review: Hearts of Steel (The Blackstone Legacy #3) by Elizabeth Camden

When this book came up for review, I almost passed on it. I could see it was part of a series and I just wasn’t sure how it would go jumping into an established series with established characters. But it sounded so good, plus I loved the cover, that I just couldn’t pass on this one! Often times, I also find that romances tend to be more standalone even if they are part of a series, so in the end I decided to give this one a shot and dive into a series already three books in.

To my delight, I found that all that worry was for not. This book could easily be read as a standalone and while it’s part of a larger series, the story/stories are uniquely their own. The other supporting characters (in this book) I believe have their own books in the series but overall I didn’t feel like I needed to read the other books to enjoy this one.

If you are a fan of historical fiction with some romance (clean romance that is) I think you will find a lot to enjoy in this book. This book has a ton of history and details that I enjoyed. This is my first Elizabeth Camden book but ti certainly won’t be my last—in fact I did order the other books in this series because I enjoyed this one so much! I reviewed this book as part of a book tour and there are other reviewers on this tour so be sure to check them out too if you want to see what they thought too!

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Special Feature/Excerpt: The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz

It’s been a long time since I have read a book set in the 1700s. Most of the historical fiction books I read are usually in the Victorian or late Regency era—not that there is any shortage of 1700s era historical fiction books, but in general I tend to gravitate toward the Victorian or Regency era novels when I pick them up. Seeing that this one was set in the 1700s was actually what grabbed me, it was different than my comfort era go to books!

For me the Jacobite era is very complicated and in the past I have hard a hard time keeping some of the issues straight but this book sounds like it’s going to be filled with historical details but in a user friendly presentation since the focus of the book will be on the Scottish romance and some other intriguing plot lines. I am super excited to check this author out. I haven’t read anything by Laura Frantz before but this book sounds like it have some fun history mixed with a good old fashion, wholesome, romance!

I was sad that I couldn’t fit this one in on my review calendar for January but I am excited to bring this lovely excerpt to you guys today! I know there are others on this tour who were able to review this book so you might want to check out some of the other stops on the tour if you want to read a full review, but if you are looking for a sneak peak, keep reading here and you will see that this book promises all kinds of exciting things in this except!

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Review: The Sisters of Sea View (On Devonshire Shores #1) by Julie Klassen

After reading just one of Julie Klassen’s books, I was absolutely hooked! She reminds me of a contemporary Victoria Holt in many ways. She has t his great story telling style with romance and a little bit of Gothic and mystery added on (to some of her books). Typically when something comes up for review by Klassen, I am fully on board! I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book kicks off a new series for Klassen, most of her books are standalone so this made me extra excited to check it out!

Klassen is a Christian fiction author, which I know isn’t necessarily for everyone. But with that said, I personally feel like her books are really more historical fiction. They do have some elements of Christian fiction but for me the dominant theme is more historical fiction and romance than anything else. In this book in particular I felt like it almost ran more to Women’s fiction with the sister element of this one but in a Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility kind of way if that makes sense.

At any rate, I took a break from my murder mystery thriller series that I have been burning through, to read this one. And now I am dying to read all of Klassen’s books! As soon as I am done with the Tracers Series, I am moving right on to another Klassen book. She always writes such well developed characters and a lovely story so I can honestly say I am never disappointed in anything that she writes.

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