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Review: Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton
I watched this absolutely wonderful HBO miniseries called Hemingway and Gellhorn in 2012. I had major movie hangover after watching it. IMBD users didn’t seem to like it as much as I did, but for whatever reason this movie just resonated with me and I was fascinated by this couple I knew nothing about. I knew that Hemingway was moody and an all around asshole but that he wrote beautifully. Full disclosure, I haven’t read a single Hemingway book—-but I’ve read enough Hemingway quotes to discern that he’s a brilliant writer. The person I didn’t really know much about though was Martha Gellhorn. In the film she seemed like a…
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Review: A Class Apart (A Matter of Class #1) by Susie Murphy
When I first started book blogging (almost 10 years ago!), I used to read a ton of indie and self published books but now that I have been blogging for so long, I tend to read a lot more books from publishing groups or established authors. One of the things that I liked most about reading these self published or indie books was so that I could give constructive criticism. I hate when I read a book review and it just says something like ‘your book sucks’. Why not offer some suggestions to help guide them or praise where praise is due? Most of the self published or indie books…
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Review: The Prisoner in the Castle (Maggie Hope Mystery #8) by Susan Elia MacNeal
I first discovered Maggie Hope back in 2012 when the first book came across my desk for review. The cover was initially what drew me in and I was never once sorry for judging a book by its cover! Over the years, Maggie’s character has gone in a number of different directions and none of them were directions that I saw coming. For me, that’s one of the things that keeps this series exciting. You have this American typist how somehow ends up becoming a super high-level spy…..I love it! Thought the series she has tracked down murders, saved the queen, broke codes, parachuted into France, and had her heart…
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Review: The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna by C.W. Gortner
I have been a fan of C.W. Gortner for quite a few years. He always writes about interesting women in history. Though he writes historical fiction, his novels have just the right amount of fiction and history to make them both readable and realistic. Not to mention every single one of his book covers are to DIE for. Whoever his cover artist is, has a fantastic eye for color, detail, and mood. When THE ROMANOV EMPRESS came up for review, this was a no brainer—100% yes. Even from behind the throne, a woman can rule.
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Review: Boardwalk Summer by Meredith Jaeger
About a year ago, I read Meredith Jaeger’s book, THE DRESSMAKERS DOWRY, which was her debut novel. For a debut novel, it was good but needed a little more polish to shine. When this book came up for review, not only was I in love with the cover, but I was eager to see in what ways her writing had grown. The other reason I decided to review this novel was the location. As a teenager, I was fascinated by California beach culture. I loved the carefree, unstructured romanticism that made the west coast so appealing. It was like to ultimate endless summer so this book seemed to promise that…
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Cover Reveal: BEAUTIFUL INVENTION by Margaret Porter
Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr by Margaret Porter Publication Date: October 16, 2018 Gallica Press Paperback & eBook Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction “But I don’t regret anything. I learned a lot.” —Hedy Lamarr An ambitious teenaged Austrian actress of Jewish heritage, Hedwig Kiesler is tainted by her nudity in the art film Ecstasy. A hasty marriage to a munitions mogul is her refuge from scandal, but it cannot survive his jealousy and possessiveness—or her discovery he supplies arms to Hitler’s regime. Hedy flees husband and homeland for Hollywood, where Louis B. Mayer transforms her into an icon of exotic glamour. Professional success clashes with her personal life as…
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Review: The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay
Tatiana de Rosnay writes beautiful novels, usually set in Paris, that capture the hearts and minds of readers. I read Sarah’s Kay back in 2011 and wasn’t terribly as impressed as I had hoped. I find that I am in the minority when it comes to this opinion. But since then I’ve seen a number of her books climbing the bestseller lists with speed—though I haven’t read any others. Could it have been the mood I was in at the time that made me not love her book? Sure. So while I kept an open mind about her other books, I wasn’t moved enough by their descriptions to pick any…
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Review: Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell
This was a book that I wasn’t really that excited to read when it initially came up for review. In my mind all I kept thinking was….ugh another WWII book. Don’t get me wrong, WWII is one of my favorite periods to read about, but lately I’ve read a lot of WWII books and I just wasn’t in the mood for another when it was time to review this one. But this one set itself apart with the Japanese interment camps angle. Everyone is so focused on the holocaust that they forget that Japanese interment camps were yet another unfortunate by product of a very ugly war. My brother in…
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Special Feature: The King’s Justice by E.M Powell
The King’s Justice by E.M Powell Publication Date: June 1, 2018 Thomas & Mercer Paperback & eBook; 288 Pages ISBN-978-1542046015 Series: Stanton and Barling #1 Genre: Historical Mystery A murder that defies logic—and a killer on the loose. England, 1176. Aelred Barling, esteemed clerk to the justices of King Henry II, is dispatched from the royal court with his young assistant, Hugo Stanton, to investigate a brutal murder in a village outside York. The case appears straightforward. A suspect is under lock and key in the local prison, and the angry villagers are demanding swift justice. But when more bodies are discovered, certainty turns to doubt—and amid the…
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Review: Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphreys
This book is recommended to fans of Kate Morton and Jacqueline Whinspear and has been highly praised by on of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon. I could gush over Diana Gabaldon for days so seeing her endorsement of this book was all that I needed to agree to review it! Not to mention, the heroine sounded pretty bad ass and different so I was in, end of story! Smuggler. Smoker. Aviatrix. Thief. The dynamic Roxy Loewen is all these things and more, in this riveting and gorgeous historical fiction novel for readers of Paula McLain, Roberta Rich, Kate Morton and Jacqueline Winspear. You should never fall in love with a…