Tag: Romance

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Wives of War by Soraya M Lane

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Wives of War by Soraya M Lane

It’s been a long time since I have sought out an author to do a review. Most of the time, books come my way and if it sounds like something I might like or in the mood for, then I review it.

However with Wives of War, I saw the book on my Twitter feed and it totally grabbed my attention and for one reason….I loved the cover. In my never fending Twitter feed, I see tons of books go by. But with this one, the cover caught my eye which promoted me to read the description.

It sounded like something totally up my alley so I asked if I could review it. I was thrilled when the author agreed. I’m a sucker for WWII novels with romance but this sounded different because it also focused on the the friendship between two women.

London, 1944. Two young nurses meet at a train station with a common purpose: to join the war effort. Scarlet longs for the chance to find her missing fiancé, Thomas, and to prove to her family—and to herself—that she’s stronger than everybody thinks.

Nursing is in Ellie’s blood, but her humble background is vastly different from Scarlet’s privileged upbringing. Though Ellie puts on a brave face, she’s just as nervous as Scarlet about what awaits them in France.

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Spotlight Feature: THE LIGHT IN SUMMER (Butternut Lake #5) by Mary McNear

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William Morrow is delighted to publish THE LIGHT IN SUMMER, the newest novel by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary McNear (William Morrow Paperback Original, On
Sale: June 20, 2017).

Year after year, Mary McNear brings readers to the one place they want to spend their days: Butternut Lake, a town based on Mary’s lifetime of summers spent in a small town on a lake in the Northern Midwest.

In THE LIGHT IN SUMMER, it is summertime on Butternut Lake, where the heat of noon is soothed by the cool breezes of evening, the pace grows slower, and sometimes, just sometimes, the summer light makes everything clearer…

For Billy Harper, Butternut Lake is the place she feels most at home, even though lately she believes the only one listening to her is Murphy, her faithful Labrador Retriever. Her teenage son, Luke, has gone from precious to precocious practically overnight.

Her friends are wrapped up in their own lives, and Luke’s father, Wesley, disappeared before his son was even born. No wonder she prefers to spend time with a good book, especially ones where everything ends in perfection.

But Billy is about to learn that anything is possible during the heady days of summer. Coming to terms with her past—the death of her father, the arrival of Cal Cooper, a complicated man with a definite interest in Billy even the return of Wesley—will force her to have a little faith in herself and others. And she’ll soon realize that happiness doesn’t always mean perfection.

LIGHT IN SUMMER by Mary McNear
On Sale: June 20, 2017

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Special Feature: THE SCRIBE OF SIENA by Melodie Winawer

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Special Feature: THE SCRIBE OF SIENA by Melodie Winawer

Yesterday a new time travel book hit the shelves for your reading delight! Sadly I couldn’t fit this one into my review schedule for the month but I have it on my radar for possible review this summer!

This is a book that some are calling ‘Outlander with an Italian accent’. And you all know how much I love Outlander so this obviously caught my attention. The book follows a time-traveling neurosurgeon from the twenty-first century who discovers love and a plot to destroy Siena in medieval Italy. (Winawer herself is a neuroscientist.)…..

Accomplished neurosurgeon Beatrice Trovato knows that her deep empathy for her patients is starting to impede her work. So when her beloved brother passes away, she welcomes the unexpected trip to the Tuscan city of Siena to resolve his estate, even as she wrestles with grief. But as she delves deeper into her brother’s affairs, she discovers intrigue she never imagined—a 700-year-old conspiracy to decimate the city.

After uncovering the journal and paintings of Gabriele Accorsi, the fourteenth-century artist at the heart of the plot, Beatrice finds a startling image of her own face and is suddenly transported to the year 1347. She awakens in a Siena unfamiliar to her, one that will soon be hit by the Plague.

Yet when Beatrice meets Accorsi, something unexpected happens: she falls in love—not only with Gabriele, but also with the beauty and cadence of medieval life. As the Plague and the ruthless hands behind its trajectory threaten not only her survival but also Siena’s very existence, Beatrice must decide in which century she belongs.

The Scribe of Siena is the captivating story of a brilliant woman’s passionate affair with a time and a place that captures her in an impossibly romantic and dangerous trap—testing the strength of fate and the bonds of love (summary from Goodreads).

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Review: In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen

Rhys Bowen is probably best known for her Royal Spyness Mysteries series and her Molly Murphy Mysteries. She typically writes cozy mysteries, so when this book came across my desk for review, it sounded like something completely new for her which is why I decided to try it.

I’ve been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately and welcomed a little break. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this one. The title suggests more literature, ‘A Novel of World War II’ says more literature rather than mystery to me. But yet the description sounded more mystery. Either way, I liked what I saw for the description and ultimately said yes to the book.

World War II comes to Farleigh Place, the ancestral home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, when a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death on the estate. After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy.

The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham’s middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. But Pamela has her own secret: she has taken a job at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking facility.

As Ben follows a trail of spies and traitors, which may include another member of Pamela’s family, he discovers that some within the realm have an appalling, history-altering agenda. Can he, with Pamela’s help, stop them before England falls?

Inspired by the events and people of World War II, writer Rhys Bowen crafts a sweeping and riveting saga of class, family, love, and betrayal (summary from Goodreads). Continue reading “Review: In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence: A Story of Botticelli by Alyssa Palombo

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence: A Story of Botticelli by Alyssa Palombo

Last year I had the pleasure of being introduced to Alyssa Palombo’s debut novel, The Violinist of Venice, a love story about Antonio Vivaldi. I love how Palombo takes relatively well known and passionate artists (musicians and painters) and crafts a historical fiction novel.

People like Antonio Vivaldi and in this book, Sandro Botticelli, aren’t characters that I would think of in history and decide to write a romantic novel about them which is what makes these books so unique to me.

A girl as beautiful as Simonetta Cattaneo never wants for marriage proposals in 15th Century Italy, but she jumps at the chance to marry Marco Vespucci. Marco is young, handsome and well-educated. Not to mention he is one of the powerful Medici family’s favored circle.

Even before her marriage with Marco is set, Simonetta is swept up into Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici’s glittering circle of politicians, poets, artists, and philosophers. The men of Florence―most notably the rakish Giuliano de’ Medici―become enthralled with her beauty.

That she is educated and an ardent reader of poetry makes her more desirable and fashionable still. But it is her acquaintance with a young painter, Sandro Botticelli, which strikes her heart most. Botticelli immediately invites Simonetta, newly proclaimed the most beautiful woman in Florence, to pose for him.

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