Review: Hearts of Resistance by Soraya M. Lane

This if my first official book of 2018….the first one that I read and reviewed this year. I read Lane’s earlier novel, Wives of War, back in June and was really impressed with her ability to write interesting characters and a romance that I was invested in.

When Hearts of Resistance came up, it was an easy yes for me to review and I was thrilled to read it and see how Lane’s writing grew in the next book and what sort of romance was in store.

At the height of World War II, three women must come together to fight for freedom, for the men they love—and for each other.

When Hazel is given the chance to parachute into Nazi-occupied France, she seizes the opportunity to do more for the British war effort than file paperwork. Alongside her childhood friend, French-born Rose, she quickly rises up the ranks of the freedom fighters.

Continue reading “Review: Hearts of Resistance by Soraya M. Lane”

Special Feature: The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg

The Secret Life of Mrs. London
by Rebecca Rosenberg

Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Lake Union Publishing
eBook & Paperback; 348 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

 

San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

Available for Pre-Order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound

Continue reading “Special Feature: The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg”

Review: The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam

This is my first book review of 2018 and I couldn’t have picked a better book to kick things off with. Though I read this in 2017, I am ringing in the new year with love and snow!

There is something about Jennifer Laam’s writing that I find so lovely and elegant. It’s hard to describe but her books are consistently good and well written which made me all the more anxious to read this one!

At the age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. But while she finds joy in French translations and a history of Russian poetry, her family is more concerned with her marriage prospects.

It is only fitting that during the Christmas of 1828 at her first public ball in her hometown of Moscow she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin.

Enchanted at first sight, Natalya is already a devoted reader of Alexander’s serialized novel in verse, Evgeny Onegin. The most recently published chapter ends in a duel, and she is dying to learn what happens next. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya hopes to see him again as soon as possible.

Continue reading “Review: The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam”

Review: The Woman in the Camphor Trunk (Anna Blanc Mysteries #2) by Jennifer Kincheloe

About a couple of years ago, I read the first Anna Blanc mystery and was in love with her character and eager to see the romance develop between her and Joe.

It seemed an age before the next book would come out but then suddenly it was out and I quickly picked it up from my library before anyone else could get their hands on it!

This time we find a very different Anna from the Anna we met in the first book. A once rich society girl, we now find a poor Anna struggling to get by.

Los Angeles, 1908. In Chinatown, the most dangerous beat in Los Angeles, police matron Anna Blanc and her former sweetheart, Detective Joe Singer, discover the body of a white missionary woman, stuffed in a trunk in the apartment of her Chinese lover. Her lover has fled.

Continue reading “Review: The Woman in the Camphor Trunk (Anna Blanc Mysteries #2) by Jennifer Kincheloe”

Review: Whispers Beyond the Veil (A Change of Fortune Mystery #1) by Jessica Estevao

This was definitely my year of DNF books. I did not start out this year thinking I would have so many, but when I put down The Gunslinger earlier this year, something happened to me.

I suddenly felt like it was ok to put books down that I wasn’t enjoying rather than suffer through something I was not interested in.

So here we are with year another book that I DNF this year and I was shocked when this one went back to the library earlier than expected.

This should have been a book that I had great things to say about. I was willing to give it a few chapters to try and see if it improved but for me, it didn’t improve fast enough to justify continuing.

Continue reading “Review: Whispers Beyond the Veil (A Change of Fortune Mystery #1) by Jessica Estevao”