Tag: Historic Fiction

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

Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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When I saw this book, the cover made it hard to pass on. The cover is so eye catching and colorful that I couldn’t look away! I loved it and was immediately curious what this book was all about! Then I read the back…..ummmm sold after the two rules! I couldn’t wait to check this one out!

In the summary the first line is this: Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman. Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register. I mean poison and murder in the late 1700s?! YES! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one!

I also saw that this book was announced as a Book of the Month pick for March and while I have a copy of this one on my iPad, I also ordered the hard copy as my BOTM too! It’s a gorgeous book and the story was so so so good! I am so excited to share this one with you guys today! If you love historical fiction and thrillers this one is wonderful!

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

Review: An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) by Deanna Raybourn

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I have been a fan of Veronica Speedwell since the very first book. I adore the slow burn chemistry between Veronica and Stoker (her love interest) and the mysteries are always satisfying. Deanna Raybourn is such a great writer, I read her Lady Julia series as well as some of her standalone books and all have been so delightful!

One of the things that makes this series stand out to me more than some other historical mysteries is that both Veronica and Stoker have unique professions. Veronica is a butterfly scientist/hunter and Stoker is a taxidermist—although he has had quite a few other jobs in his life so maybe it’s better to consider him an adventurer with a colorful background. Their unique professions make them great at solving mysteries because they use their own scientific approach to the mystery.

Every time I pick up one of their books I always expect to read a mystery that included a deductive approach to solving the crime and of course I expect to have a little romance in the book. Stoker and Veronica’s chemistry has been so great, though the last book it finally came to reality but it seemed a little forced so I was really looking forward to seeing how their romance played out in this one.

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi

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One of the thing that I love about own voices novels is experiencing a story within a story. On the surface you have the actual story and characters etc, but there is a second story within the novel and that’s the authors own unique narrative and how they interpret or experience the story and characters based on their own unique cultural perspective.

This hot little own voices novel is out now and it sounds incredible! Author Nadia Hashimi has written a number of novels and all have been met with rave reviews! I haven’t read any of her books but I have seen them on many best seller lists and on ‘most anticipated’ lists. I am really looking forward to reading this one a little later this year but since it’s out now and sounds incredibly promising, I thought it would be great to share a little about this one with you guys!

I am most excited to see how this one plays out as the main character was a child in Afghanistan and is adopted by an American and lives in America and from the sound of things, basically assimilates and plans to never think about her time in Afghanistan again. I am curious to see explore how the character feels about her home country after returning as an adult and now an ‘American’. I think there will be a lot to unpack and explore in this one and this might be a good pick for book clubs!

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: The London Monster by Donna Scott

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Special Feature: The London Monster by Donna Scott

The London Monster by Donna Scott

Publication Date: November 21, 2020
Paperback & eBook; 322 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

In 1788, exactly one hundred years before Jack the Ripper terrorizes the people of London, a sexual miscreant known as the London Monster roams the streets in search of his next victim…

Thomas Hayes, having lost his mother in a vicious street assault, becomes an underground pugilist on a mission to rid the streets of violent criminals. But his vigilante actions lead to him being mistaken for the most terrifying criminal of all.

Assistance arrives in the form of Sophie Carlisle, a young journalist with dreams of covering a big story, though she is forced to masquerade as a man to do it. Trapped in an engagement to a man she doesn’t love, Sophie yearns to break free to tell stories that matter about London’s darker side—gaming, prostitution, violence—and realizes Tom could be the one to help. Together, they come up with a plan.

Straddling the line between his need for vengeance and the need to hide his true identity as a politician’s son becomes increasingly difficult as Tom is pressured to win more fights. The more he wins, the more notoriety he receives, and the greater the chance his identity may be exposed—a revelation that could jeopardize his father’s political aspirations and destroy his family’s reputation.

Sophie is also in danger as hysteria spreads and the attacks increase in severity and frequency. No one knows who to trust, and no one is safe—Tom included, yet he refuses to end the hunt.

Little does he realize, the monster is also hunting him.

Available on Amazon

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

Review: The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron

I have only had the pleasure of reading one of Kristy Cambron’s novels but I have many of them on my TBR of course. I loved The Painted Castle which I read back in 2019 and I was really excited to see that this one was coming out! When it came up for review I was ecstatic and I loved the cover! Easy yes right here!

There are a lot of wonderful WWII novels that come out every year and I try and squeeze in as many as I can. Many are set in Paris or feature unlikely female heroines turned spies or resistance fighters and while the genre is flooded with similar tales and troupes, I simply adore them even if they are not terribly unique.

This book features a dress designer in occupied Paris that once worked for Coco Chanel and turns resistance fighter. But what really caught my eye about this one was that it was based on true events! I couldn’t wait to read this one for that reason. I expected this one to be well researched and well written given Cambron’s history with so many historical fiction novels under her belt.

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