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Review: The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul
I read one of Gill Paul’s novels last year and loved it. I was so excited to see that she was writing a novel about the Romanov family that was coming out in August. Rather than pick up one of her other novels, I decided to hold off and wait for this one to come out. The Romanov tragedy is fascinating to me. It’s one of the greatest tragedies in modern history, but while I am fascinated by it, I haven’t actually read a lot about the family and the history or politics of the time. This was one of the big reasons I was looking forward to this one.…
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Review: The Girl in the Castle (Deverill Chronicles #1) by Santa Montefiore (Audible Edition)
I read one of Santa Montefiore’s standalone novels recently and I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved Secrets of the Lighthouse and I was desperate to get my hands on another one of her novels. I logged on to Audible and immediately downloaded this book, as the Deverill Chronicles had been highly recommended and is probably one of her most well known books. Most of Montefiore’s novels are standalone but this book is the first in a series that spans 4 books so I knew it would be more epic in nature just based on the scope of this series and time periods each book covers.
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Special Feature: A Lady Never Tells by Lynn Winchester
A Lady Never Tells by Lynn Winchester Publication Date: September 23, 2019 Entangled Publishing eBook, 368 pages Series: Women of Daring, Book One Genre: Historical Romance/Regency Richard Downing may be a viscount of impeccable character, but he’s bored beyond belief of dancing at balls, faking smiles, and making dull conversation. So when he stumbles upon a house maid with defiance in her striking blue eyes and a dagger hidden in her skirts…well, color him intrigued. Raised with a rather…peculiar upbringing, Lady Victoria Daring is full of secrets and surprises. As part of His Majesty’s personal homeland spy network and as a master of disguises, Vic is charged with…
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Review: Call Upon the Water by Stella Tillyard
The first thing that went through my mind when I read the summary of this book was it sounded a lot like Philippa Gregory’s latest novel, Tidelands, which I have not read but has definitely been on my radar. I picked up Tidelands from my library but I only got a couple of chapters in before I had to return it. Since then I’ve been meaning to pick it back up and continue the story but I have other books that have been rather diverting. So when this book came up for review I was eager to read it because it sounded so similar. Tillyard has written a number of novels…
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Review: The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) by Bella Ellis
Big big big Bronte fan here! So it’s a given that I have been looking forward to this book for quite a while! But I will admit I was on the fence about it. This book is a reimagining of the Bronte sisters as lady detectives and for me it could have gone either way. I mean, the sisters wrote romances, not mysteries so I was worried that this book might come across as hokey. So basically, I had reservations. I worried that I might have a hard time imagining them as detectives but on the other I love all things Bronte and I simply couldn’t pass on the opportunity…
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Review: Murder at Kensington Palace (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #3) by Andrea Penrose
I stumbled on this series a couple of years ago and instantly fell in love. I loved how sassy and sardonic Wrexford is and even if Mrs Sloane is overly pig headed at times, she’s independent and sassy and I can’t get enough of them together! Reading these books is always such a delight. There is clearly this romantic tension between Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane, but it doesn’t overtake the prime focus of the books which is the murder mystery. Because of that I think it makes the romance so much more sweet. The little morsels of romance sprinkled in make the reader eager to see what happens between them,…
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Review: A Golden Grave (Rose Gallagher #2) by Erin Lindsey
I read the first book in this historical mystery series, Murder on Millionaires’ Row, back in 2018 and thought it was a solid beginning to her new series. This author has written other fantasy novels but the Rose Gallagher series is a new genre for her and I thought she made a nice transition but I wasn’t completely sold on the series as there were some things that I thought needed a little working out and polishing. While I had some reservations, I know that the transition from fantasy to historical fiction can be challenging so I decided to give this series another stab and see how things evolved with…
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Review: The Ghost of Hollow House (Mina Scarletti #4) by Linda Stratmann
Everyone knows that I am a sucker for Victorian gothic novels. I just can’t get enough of that genre and the ghost element of this book totally appealed to me. An isolated mansion with a ghost—how was I supposed to say no to that? Especially going into fall? The answer is, I couldn’t. The premise sounded too intriguing and like something that was right up my alley. I don’t know that the cover was doing a whole lot for me—to me it seemed more like the cover for an adventure novel, rather than a novel with a haunted mansion, but I was open to reading it either way. Though this…
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Review: The Orphan’s Song by Lauren Kate
Lauren Kate is probably best known for her young adult series, Fallen. I haven’t read the series but I do know her books and had them on my TBR. This book, The Orphan’s Song, is her first attempt at adult historical fiction. When it came across my desk for review a couple of months ago, I met it with mixed emotions. On one hand I was excited for the book because it sounded fun and clearly she’s an experienced author. Not to mention this cover is to DIE for! But I also had reservations because sometimes the transition from YA to adult fiction isn’t always a smooth one. But in…
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Review: The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig (Audible Edition)
This book has been sitting on my shelf for so long. At least since it was first released in 2016. All three of these authors are some of my favorites, but this book was their first collaboration and I was hesitant to read it. Sometimes reading a book by three people is awkward and weird—even if they are three extremely successful authors. So on my shelf it sat. And sat. and sat. Until their second collaboration was released, The Glass Ocean. I downloaded The Glass Ocean on Audible on a whim and randomly listened to it in my car running errands and fell in love with their three different timelines…