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Special Feature: The Secret Service of Tea and Treason (Dangerous Damsels #3) by India Holton
India Holton burst onto the historical romance scene a couple of years ago with her quirky series about pirates, damsels in distress, and tea. I read the first book in the series and thought is was charming, if a bit confusing at first, but overall I thought it was a refreshing new read with interesting content! I missed the second book as I wasn’t able to fit it into my review schedule but when I saw this one was coming out, I decided to download the second book on Audible to listen to it so I could read this one when it comes out! The series is funny, adventurous, charming,…
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Special Feature: The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone
As a little girl, I grew up LOVING my doll house. I had both the Barbie Dream House and a small miniature dollhouse with tiny little doll furniture. There was something so satisfying about setting up my dollhouses. I loved decorating it and I think I even painted the interior rooms occasionally. I loved picking out the furniture and adding little personal touches room by room. The as childhood faded away, so did my love of dollhouses. Until I saw this book. I started thinking about what it was that I loved about dollhouses so much? For me it was the satisfaction of creating a house exactly like I wanted…
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Review: Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker Duology #1) by Charlie N Holmberg
I normally stay clear of duologies. For some reason they just feel unfinished and odd to me and historically I just haven’t enjoyed them as much as I have trilogies. But how could I pass on this cover? There was no way I was going to pass on this one because that cover it too stunning to not pick it up and read it! Plus I know that this author has written another successful series (The Paper Magician) that I have had my eye on for so so so long. I thought the book sounded like a quick easy read with a lot to recommend itself. I mean, how can…
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Review: The Forgotten Kingdom (The Lost Queen Trilogy #2) by Signe Pike
The Lost Queen was one of my favorite reads of last year and I raved about it to everyone I knew. Not to mention I gave it to all my friends and family as a Christmas present too. So it’s easy to say that I had this next book on my TBR the instant I was done with the first book. The second it was available on Netgalley, I downloaded it and started reading. Not going to lie, this one took me a lot longer to read than I was anticipating. Not because it was bad (not at all!) I just started it at a time when I was busy…
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Review: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber
I picked this book up because of the delicious looking pie on the front cover. I mean seriously, that pie looks so delicious and I hoped that the story inside would be equally satisfying. I don’t think I even stopped to read what it was about, I simply saw pie and said YES. So when I picked it up, I basically went in blind and without any real expectations other than I hoped to read it while eating pie of my own (which did happen by the way!) This book surprised me in a number of ways, both with the author’s practiced hand and with the little hints of magic…
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Review: Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things #2) by Paula Brackston
Paula Brackston is a favorite author of mine. I’ve read almost all of her books and with each read, I feel like I walked away satisfied and looking forward to the next book. She has a deft hand with magical realism and all things ‘witchy’. She is probably most known for her ‘witch’ books of which I have read almost all of them (The Silver Witch, The Midnight Witch etc) as well as a host of other works by her. After reading the first book in this particular series, I was eager to see what direction this book took! After reading this one, I do think that readers who haven’t…
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Review: Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel by James Markert
This was a book that I wasn’t really thinking about, until the time for me to start reading it was upon me. For me, there was nothing that really stood out about it—not the cover, or the title, or even the description. I was beginning to wonder why I agreed to review it, but with a sigh, I had committed to reading it and thus I did. As soon as I started reading it, I began to let me misconceptions and preconceived notions fall away, as this book indeed had a lot to recommend itself and I think that there will be a number of people that will love this…
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Review: Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah
When this book showed up in my inbox for review, I wasn’t entirely sure it was something I wanted to read. It sounded a little sad and on the heavy side so initially I set it to the side as a ‘probably wouldn’t review’ book. But I wasn’t quite ready to write it off so I waited a few days to see if I might change my mind. The summary kept comping back into my mind and I kept thinking about the beautiful blue cover and interesting plot. Eventually I decided on saying yes to this one, mostly because it sounded magical and elegant even if it was going to…
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Review: Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
I had one experience with Diane Setterfield’s novels and that was Bellman & Black way back in 2013. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the book and I was so sad because I wanted to love it so very badly. I mean it sounded right up my alley and I was reading it as my ‘scary read’ for October so I was even more disappointed in it. At the time I wanted to read her other novel, The Thirteenth Tale, but I was just so let down that I didn’t want to risk being disappointed again. So flash forward five years…..since reading this Bellman & Black, I have thought of her…
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Review: The Little Shop of Found Things (The Little Shop of Found Things #1) by Paula Brackston
Paula Brackston has been a favorite writer of mine for a while now. I have read almost all of her ‘witch’ novels and I love them! She has such a nice voice in her stories and I love the mixture of magic and realism. When this book came up for review, I was so excited to read it. I loved the cover and the title so much. It looked like something that I was going to be an instant favorite in my magical realism category. Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has…