-
Review: The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen
WWII romances are so my thing, but this book was so much more than just another romance. It’s story about family, loss, children, and life choices. It’s not very often that I find a book set during WWII that is set in some place other than England or France but this was that unique and rare occasion. In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s…
-
Review: The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb
This book has been on my radar since I finished Webb’s cowritten novel, THE LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS. I loved that book and was eager to read more by her. Plus throw in that Phantom of the Opera is indeed one of my favorite films/operas and you have a reader who was EXTRA eager to read this book. This book is told from Christine’s perspective which intrigued me. I have never read the original Phantom of the Opera novel by Gaston Leroux, but I’m curious about how much of the original influenced this retelling. Christine Daaé sings with her violinist father in salons all over Paris, but she longs to…
-
Special Feature: An Argument of Blood by J.A. Ironside & Matthew Willis
An Argument of Blood by J.A. Ironside & Matthew Willis Publication Date: June 19, 2017 Penmore Press Paperback & eBook; 369 Pages Series: Oath and Crown, Book 1 Genre: Fiction/Historical/War William, the nineteen-year-old duke of Normandy, is enjoying the full fruits of his station. Life is a succession of hunts, feasts, and revels, with little attention paid to the welfare of his vassals. Tired of the young duke’s dissolute behaviour and ashamed of his illegitimate birth, a group of traitorous barons force their way into his castle. While William survives their assassination attempt, his days of leisure are over. He’ll need help from the king of France to…
-
Special Feature: The Moral Compass (Shaking the Tree, Book 1) by K.A. Servian
The Moral Compass (Shaking the Tree, Book 1) by K.A. Servian Publication Date: October 17, 2017 Sweetpea Publishing Paperback & eBook; 285 Pages Genre: Fiction/Historical/Romance/Victorian Florence lives like a Princess attending dinner parties and balls away from the gritty reality, filth and poverty of Victorian London. However, her world comes crashing around her when her father suffers a spectacular fall from grace. She must abandon her life of luxury, leave behind the man she loves and sail to the far side of the world where compromise and suffering beyond anything she can imagine await her. When she is offered the opportunity to regain some of what she has…
-
Review: The Pearl Sister (The Seven Sisters #4) by Lucinda Riley
I have been a huge fan of Lucina Riley’s novels for quite some time, although I think I missed one back in 2016, THE SHADOW SISTER, which makes me sad because I love her books. I simply must go back and read that one before the year is out and the next book comes out! That said, I don’t feel like I missed a whole lot by skipping around within the series. Every story is unique and independent of the series as a whole, but that said they are all connected by central characters and other plot points, but again it’s not necessary to read them in order but it…
-
Special Feature: A Treacherous Curse (Veronica Speedwell #3) by Deanna Raybourn
The day is finally here…..A TREACHEROUS CURSE is finally out! I had this book on pre-order the instant I was done with the second book. This is one of my all time favorite mysteries and Deanna Raybourn is a fantastic writer of romance and blending it with mystery! If you haven’t read her books, start with the first book in the Veronica Speedwell series….you won’t be disappointed! If you have already discovered this series, then like me you have been waiting for almost a year for the next book and today it is finally available! London, 1888. As colorful and unfettered as the butterflies she collects, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell can’t…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…