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Review: Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman (Lady Montfort Mystery #1) by Tessa Arlen
A Downton Abbey-esque murder mystery? Yes please! Lady Montfort is eagerly anticipating and planning her annual costume ball. Every year she tries to out do herself and plan an over the top event. Well what would be more memorable than discovering a body? Teddy is not the most endearing victim. Teddy was the nephew of Lord Montford who was constantly involved in scandal. Most recently he was involved in a gambling ring at Oxford that caused him the be expelled. Having him home for the costume ball is not exactly the most desirable scenarios but he is after all family. Well while taking a stroll around her property before the…
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Giveaway: WEST OF SUNSET by Stewart O’Nan
Calling all American Lit fans! This week’s bitchin’ giveaway if for Stewart O’Nan’s latest novel about F. Scott Fitzgerald! In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a troubled, uncertain man whose literary success was long over. In poor health, with his wife consigned to a mental asylum and his finances in ruins, he struggled to make a new start as a screenwriter in Hollywood. By December 1940, he would be dead of a heart attack. Those last three years of Fitzgerald’s life, often obscured by the legend of his earlier Jazz Age glamour, are the focus of Stewart O’Nan’s gorgeously and gracefully written novel. With flashbacks to key moments from Fitzgerald’s past,…
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Special Feature: WEST OF SUNSET by Stewart O’Nan
This week I am thrilled to let my reads know of an exciting new release, WEST OF SUNSET by Stewart O’Nan. There is an awesome BOOK CLUB KIT that goes a long with this read, featuring a Q & A with O’Nan, discussion questions, and maps of locations in the book. I am also stoked to offer a giveaway for this book, which I will post a separate entry for that so please be on the look out! WEST OF SUNSET, which re-imagines the last three years of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life. It goes on sale January 13th was named a top ten novel to read this winter by The Huffington…
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Review: The Witch of Painted Sorrows by M.J. Rose
Sandrine Salome is running away to France. Her father has just died and her husband most likely had a hand in it. She cannot continue to be in his house so she flees to Paris where her grandmother lives. Sandrine used to live with her grandmother when she was younger but then she was whisked away when she was caught in a compromising situation with a boy. Since then she has only seen her grandmother a handful of times but it’s almost like Paris is calling her home from America. When she arrives, her grandmother’s home is empty. Her grandmother claims its due to renovations but Sandrine feels like she…
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Review: Perfiditas (Roma Nova #2) by Alison Morton
A lot has changed in the seven years since we first met the very unlucky Karen Brown. She has now completely embraced her true identity of Carina Mitela and she is now living as a Roma Novan. Carina has married Conradus (AKA Conrad) and since the last novel, they have advanced in their careers within the PGSF (Praetorian Guard Special Forces). Conrad has just been made Legate which is basically the Chief within the PGSF and Carina is also a Captain in the Strategy Section. Their marriage is solid but their careers are complicated. They also have their children to protect and provide for….but that is a fact easier said than done. Carina must prevent a conspiracy that not…
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Review: What A Lady Needs For Christmas (MacGregors #4) by Grace Burrowes
So here we are….almost to the holiday season and I have yet to read a single holiday book though it was on my ‘to do’ this year for reading. That’s when this book came along for review…..I was originally looking for something like Lauren Willig’s Mischief of the Mistletoe but hey….I’ll take what I can get! Since this month seems to be romance novel month for me…I figured this was better than no holiday read! Lady Joan Flynn is heading to the Highlands in order to escape a scandal. A potential client of her’s got her intoxicated and attempted to take liberties with her. Now she is making a run…
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Review: The Raven Prince (Princes #1) by Elizabeth Hoyt
I’ve recently read some pretty heavy novels so I think it was long over due for a fluff fest! With December being so chilly and long, it often ends up being my steamy romance month. This month I’ve read a lot of historical romances of the ‘bodice ripper’ persuasion…and not necessarily on purpose. I’ve never read anything by Elizabeth Hoyt so I didn’t really know what to expect. She has been recommended to me by other historic romance fans and after looking through some of her titles, The Raven Prince caught my eye. I think mostly because I liked the title, it sounded interesting and it sounded almost like a fairy tale.
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Review: Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress (The Matchmaker Trilogy #3) by Theresa Romain
Augusta Meredith is creating scandal all over the place. She has not only suffered and embarrassing and tragic love affair but she is also not mourning the death of her parents as society would expect. She has fled to Bath where she assumes an identity to find herself a lover. While in Bath, she runs into Joss Everett who recognizes her, but he promises to keep her secret if she keeps his. Joss is in Bath trying to locate a blackmailer for his cousin, who also happens to be his employer. Though Augusta propositions him to be her lover, Joss respectfully declines as he has his own agenda. But the two decide…
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Review: An Affair Downstairs (Thornbrook Park #2) by Sherri Browning
Though not a baron himself, Logan Winthrop, is from a wealthy family. But he has a colored past. It’s rumored that he killed a man and now lives in shame as an estate manager at Thornbrook Park. Things are more or less tolerable for Logan…that is until the feisty Lady Alice Emerson sets her sights on him. Lady Alice has zero interest in marriage but her sister, The Countess of Aberford, intends to make an advantageous match for Alice one way or another. Alice has a bucket list of sorts….travel and most importantly, have a lover. Nothing major or long term, she just wants to make love once so she can…
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Review: Die I Will Not (John Chase Mystery #3) by S.K. Rizzolo
British mysteries are some of my favorite books to read….especially those set in either the Victorian or Regency eras. Who doesn’t love a good murder by gaslight novel? The John Chase series intrigued me. I often gravitate toward British mysteries/detective novels with female protagonists, so a series that boasted a male detective grabbed me. Penelope Wolfe has married the wrong man. She tried to break away from her father and in her attempt at ‘independence’ she has found herself very unhappily married. Jeremy is basically gambling himself into the ground.