Review: Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois by Sophie Perinot

Catherine de Medicis is one of my most favorite queens in history. I’ve read a lot of books on her…..I mean how could you not admire her in some ways? She was about as cutthroat and unapologetic as they come which I kind of admire in some of history’s most famous queens.

Her name is notorious so when this book came across my nightstand for review, I jumped on it. While it is not about Catherine herself necessarily, it’s about the Medicis so that was enough for me! Plus I don’t know much about her children, just about her, so I was really interested in reading this one.

Princess Margot is summoned to the court of France, where nothing is what it seems and a wrong word can lead to ruin.

Margo’s mother, Queen Catherine, is notoriously known as Madame la Serpente. Catherine is a powerful force in a country that is continually devastated by religious war. Margo must learn how to navigate the royal court. Margo is an obedient daughter and accepts that she will likely be a marriage pawn but she doesn’t plan on falling in love.

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Review: The Conqueror’s Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great by Stephanie Thornton

This book was among my most anticipated novels of 2015. I adore Thornton’s novels because they are so unique.

One of the things I love best about Thornton is she writes about both famous and obscure women in antiquity….women that you may or may not have heard of but who have powerful stories.

I love that she has discovered an untapped market in historical fiction. There are shelves of books on the Tudors but not many on Alexander the Great’s Wife, Empress Theodora, or the Queens of Genghis Kahn!

So needless to say, having read so many of Thornton’s books, then I saw this one I was eager to start it!

The ancient world has been turned upside down……330s, B.C.E., Greece: Alexander, a handsome young warrior of Macedon, begins his quest to conquer the ancient world. But he cannot ascend to power, and keep it, without the women who help to shape his destiny.

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Book Blast & Giveaway: Decorum by Kaaren Christopherson

02_Decorum Decorum: A Novel by Kaaren Christopherson

Publication Date: March 31, 2015
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Foramts: eBook, Paperback, Audio
Pages: 425
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
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Kaaren Christopherson’s brilliantly observed novel captures the glamour and grit of one of the world’s most dazzling cities during one of its most tumultuous eras–as seen through the eyes of a singularly captivating heroine…

In 1890s New York, beautiful, wealthy Francesca Lund is an intriguing prospect for worthy suitors and fortune hunters alike. Recently orphaned, she copes by working with the poor in the city’s settlement movement. But a young woman of means can’t shun society for long, and Francesca’s long-standing acquaintance with dashing Edmund Tracey eventually leads to engagement. Yet her sheltered upbringing doesn’t blind her to the indiscretions of the well-to-do…

Among the fashionable circle that gathers around her there are mistresses, scandals, and gentlemen of ruthless ambition. And there is Connor O’Casey–an entirely new kind of New Yorker. A self-made millionaire of Irish stock, Connor wants more than riches. He wants to create a legacy in the form of a luxury Madison Avenue hotel–and he wants Francesca by his side as he does it. In a quest that will take her from impeccable Manhattan salons to the wild Canadian Rockies, Francesca must choose not only between two vastly different men, but between convention and her own emerging self-reliance.

Rules Of Decorum

A gentleman should not be presented to a lady without her permission being previously asked and granted. This formality is not necessary between men alone; but, still, you should not present any one, even at his own request, to another, unless you are quite well assured that the acquaintance will be agreeable to the latter.

If you wish to avoid the company of any one that has been properly introduced, satisfy your own mind that your reasons are correct; and then let no inducement cause you to shrink from treating him with respect, at the same time shunning his company. No gentleman will thus be able either to blame or mistake you.

The mode in which the avowal of love should be made, must of course, depend upon circumstances. It would be impossible to indicate the style in which the matter should be told… Let it, however, be taken as a rule that an interview is best; but let it be remembered that all rules have exceptions…

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Announcement: Winner THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF EBENEZER SCROOGE by Charlie Lovett

And the winner of THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF EBENEZER SCROOGE by Charlie Lovett is…..

Carl S (subscribes to blog)

The winner will be notified via email.

Thank you to everyone who entered and a huge thank you to the publisher for making this giveaway possible!

Review: Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

Pepper Schuyler has got some problems and about nine months to figure out how to solve them. With a baby on the way, she needs money…bad and in 1966 she has few options to earn money.

As luck would have it, she finds a rare vintage Mercedes in an old family garage and starts restoring the car. When a woman comes forward and pays an extravagant amount of money for the car, Pepper is relieved. But then the woman wants to meet her.

Annabelle Dommerich claims to have been the original owner of that car and willingly paid $300K for it. After meeting Pepper, Annabelle wants to help her. Somehow Annabelle gets Pepper to agree to come stay with her until she can figure out what to do about the baby.

But it turns out Annabelle has a few secrets of her own. Annabelle was living in the south of France just before WWII broke out. There she met a charming Jewish man, Stefan, who stole her heart. But fate intervenes and they are separated. Annabelle is forced to move on and marries a Nazi general instead but is never quire able to get over Stefan.

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