Tag: Historic Fiction

Books, Reading

Special Feature: City of Fortune (Counterfeit Lady #6) by Victoria Thompson

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: City of Fortune (Counterfeit Lady #6) by Victoria Thompson

Victoria Thompson has multiple successful series under her belt, including the Gaslight Mystery Series that’s currently 26 books strong! I have read a couple of her books in that series and thoroughly enjoyed them however with it being such a long, established series that it’s a little hard to jump around within the series as there are threads of a larger story woven in. However the books I have read have all been fun and enjoyable so I would recommend the over all series.

Thompson has now started this new series, Counterfeit Lady series, and it’s only six books in so certainly a much more manageable series to get caught up on! While I haven’t read the other books in this series, this book jumped out at me for a couple of reasons. One—the cover! How beautiful is this cover you guys?! The other reason is this book has a horse angle (horse racing) and I absolutely love horses! While I couldn’t fit this one into my review calendar, I am super excited to start this series in the coming months so I can be caught up and ready for the next book in the series.

Thompson is a quality writer with such a huge fan base! If you love historical mysteries with a strong heroine and a smart mystery then you are going to find a lot to love in her books! This book has already been receiving rave reviews from other reviewers, since I haven’t read it yet, I cannot say if you need to read the other books in the series first. No doubt the author will do a good job orientating new readers in the series as well as focusing on the mystery but there will likely be some threads of the larger narrative that carry over from other books. Overall though I would probably still give it a try, you cannot go wrong with Thompson! She’s an excellent writer and a proven track record of well written mysteries!

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

Review: A Class Reunited (A Matter of Class #5) by Susie Murphy

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: A Class Reunited (A Matter of Class #5) by Susie Murphy

When I first started out book blogging (what feels like ages ago by the way!), I read a lot more self published novels or novels that were published by smaller publishing house. As I have grown as a blogger, I now mostly work with larger publishing houses but I have a few self published novelists and smaller publishing houses that I continue to work with and Susie Murphy is one such author! Over the years I have read her A Matter of Class series and honestly it grew so much more than I was expecting when I read the first novel, but more on that soon!

The commitment to writing, editing, and publishing your own novel seems incredibly daunting. Same with smaller publishing houses that also do it all—editing, promotion etc. It’s got to be exhausting so in my mind you must be incredibly dedicated to the novel you are promoting. It must be something that we absolutely believe in to work so long and hard on. That is evident in Murphy’s case! She has done an incredible job writing a nuanced and sweeping historical saga which could not have been easy! And she isn’t stopping at five books!

I am always on the lookout for off the beaten path historical fiction and if you are like me, on the hunt for something you can sink your teeth into then this might be a good option for you! After reading the Outlander series, I really wanted to find something that felt more sweeping and saga like in terms of historical fiction, and this book delivered that for me (minus the time travel!).

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

Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood

This book has been sitting in my Amazon cart for well over a year! I had it in my cart as a paperback and just never could decide if I wanted to pull the trigger to not. This book sounded like something I would like but it was also kind of off the beaten path and from a smaller press and if I was going to spend $14 on it, I wanted to make sure I was 100% sold on it. But then one night while I was sitting with my son, waiting for him to fall asleep, I was bored looking for something new to read.

Suddenly buying the ecopy for $10 sounded like a good idea and the moment felt right. I was instantly glad that I pulled the trigger! I was sucked into this one almost immediately and by the time I was done, I was kicking myself for not buying it sooner! If you are a Victoria Holt fan or Julia Klassen, then you are not going to want to miss this one! This has all the things I love about Gothic romances! Ambiguous characters, haunted castles, and of course romance!

This one absolutely drew me in and captivated me for a few days. I found myself spending longer and longer in my son’s room well after her went to sleep just so I could finish ‘one more page’! If you love Gothic mysteries with some romance you are not going to want to miss this one. Or maybe you have this book in your Amazon cart like I did and just aren’t sure if it’s worth it—well the answer is YES! Absolutely worth it!

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery #16) by Rhys Bowen

How are we already at book 16 in this series?! I have only made it to like book 7 consecutively and then a few of the later ones in the series. All of the books are just so good and I have enjoyed this series so much over the years. It’s one of those book series that you can pick up and know that you are going to get a solid mystery with great characters! I have yet to read a disappointing one in this series! It’s like my go to comfort reading when I don’t know what else to read.

Sadly I couldn’t fit this one into my review schedule for this month, but I have this one queued up to read over winter break! Even though I have jumped around in this series, there have only been a few times where I felt like reading the other books in the series would have been useful, but overall I have been able to jump around with ease. But we are 16 books in to this series so naturally there are going to be established relationships and plot points that carry over within the larger series.

That said though, the author does a good job orientating readers within the story so you aren’t fully lost etc. I would say it’s relatively easy to jump around so if this one sounds good to you, then you should check it out even if you are a new reader. Now long time fans of the series will no doubt have this one on their radar! If you love cheeky historical mysteries this is an excellent series and I highly recommend this (and anything by Rhys Bowen really!) as a fun, cozy mystery with a sassy and smart heroine and a dashing hero!

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

Review: Beneath His Silence by Hannah Linder

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Beneath His Silence by Hannah Linder

This cover instantly caught my eye, followed quickly by ‘Gothic style Regency romance’. I LOVE Gothic fiction, especially at this time of year when it’s starting to get colder and all I want to do is be in front of a fire in my cozy blanket with a crumbling estate! I had just finished another Gothic romance and I was eager for more books like that one I finished. This one came across my desk at the perfect time and was exactly what I needed!

Author, Hannah Linder, is a new author and she is from a small publishing house of Christian Fiction. As luck would have it, I love finding new to me authors and ones that are off the beaten path. I adore Julie Klassen who kind of has a cornerstone on Gothic style Christian Fiction, and this new author reminds me a bit of Klassen but with her own unique style. This book is giving me all the haunted estate vibes and has a questionable hero with a fierce heroine, if you are a fan of Gothic fiction you need to check this one out! It’s a fun romp through Regency England that will satisfy your fall reading desires!

I am so glad I picked this one up, I finished it in just a couple of days and was left wondering when we might expect another book by Linder. Lots of atmosphere, some intrigue, and of course romance. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and once I was hooked—I was HOOKED. It did take me a minute to get into this one, but once I did, I didn’t want to leave! Gothic fans, this one has your name all over it!

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