Review: Banquet of Lies by Michelle Diener

In Sweden one fateful night, the life of a young English woman changes forever. Giselle Barrington witnesses the murder of her father, a spy for the British crown. While in Sweden, Giselle’s (Gigi) father procures a dangerous document that if discovered could mean a political nightmare for England, France, Sweden, and Russia!

It’s for this document he is killed for. He gave the document to Gigi to keep safe shortly before he will killed. After witnessing the murder Gigi knows three things–she must take the document safely back to England and second, the person who killed her father was also British which means there is a traitor in her father’s circle, and finally that man who killed her father will surely come for her next.

She needs to get it in into the hands of someone she can trust but she’s been away from the English court for so long and her father basically kept her in the dark as to his dealings.

Continue reading “Review: Banquet of Lies by Michelle Diener”

Review: Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen’s Masterpiece by Susannah Fullerton

Unless you have been living under a rock since your inception….odds are you have probably heard of the world’s most infamous romance novel….Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that every literary major is in want of Mr Darcy. What is it about P&P that still captivated audiences 200 years after its publication? Susannah Fullerton explores what makes P&P so memorable for readers.

Is it the characters: the dashing Mr Darcy or the unconventional Elizabeth Bennet? Or is it something more mechanical, say the literary style and use of ‘free indirect speech’ (FID) that sparks your interest?

Perhaps you love P&P for an entirely different reason: you are a cover whore and are drawn to all the beautifully reprinted copies and their stunning cover art! Whatever your reason is, P&P is a literary icon that is here to stay!

Continue reading “Review: Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen’s Masterpiece by Susannah Fullerton”

Review: My Heart’s Desire by Andrea Kane

Lady Alexandria Cassell feels trapped. Her whole life promises to be a series of balls, entertaining, and perpetual boredom if she remains in London for the Season to find a suitable husband. So she does what any sensible girl would do in her situation….she runs like hell.

Alexandria finds a ship leaving London bound for Canada where her father lives. She stows away on board, but little does she know what adventures await her on the high seas.

Itching to put as many leagues between himself and London, Captain Drake Barrett sets sail when he discovers Alexandria hidden away in his cabin. Though he knows he should turn the ship around immediately and return her to her family….there is something about the unruly beauty that lures him in and forces him to agree to take her with him to Canada.

Drake abhors women of the peerage and society. To him they are all the same. But Drake immediately recognizes that Alexandria is different than most rich, titled girls. She is everything a well brought up girl should NOT be….stubborn, defiant, and as untamable as the sea, not to mention stunningly beautiful.

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Review: The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen

High on the cliff tops of Cornwall, the distant sounds of a pianoforte can be heard echoing through Ebbington Manor late at night.

Emma Smallwood and her father have come to Ebbington Manor as live in tutors for Sir Giles Weston and his family. Emma and her father ran a small boarding school where the two eldest Weston boys, Henry and Phillip, attended in their youth.

Emma doesn’t harbor much affection for the eldest brother, Henry. All she remembers of Henry was that he was a bully who always played pranks on her when he was at the school. As for Phillip, Emma remembers him as a kind hearted, friendly boy.

When a letter arrives asking for their presence at Cornwall, Emma and her father quickly accept but Emma is worried she might run into Henry, a thought she does not relish.

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Review: Shades of Milk and Honey (Shades of Milk and Honey #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal

Woven intricately out of the ether, Mary Robinette Kowal creates and exhilarating new world of enchantment that will please Jane Austen fans and illusionist fiction fans alike.

In the Regency era, Dorchester countryside, Jane and Melody Ellsworth are as opposite as any two sisters can be.

While Melody is beautiful and charming, Jane is plain and lacks the feminine charms to secure a husband.

Almost a confirmed spinster, Jane possesses other talents that might make her appealing to the right man…..she is a glamourist.

Well accomplished in the art of glamour, Jane captures the imagination of all that she meets….wow people with her skills, but it is Melody the eligible bachelors are fixated on. Continue reading “Review: Shades of Milk and Honey (Shades of Milk and Honey #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal”