Review: The Conqueror’s Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great by Stephanie Thornton

This book was among my most anticipated novels of 2015. I adore Thornton’s novels because they are so unique.

One of the things I love best about Thornton is she writes about both famous and obscure women in antiquity….women that you may or may not have heard of but who have powerful stories.

I love that she has discovered an untapped market in historical fiction. There are shelves of books on the Tudors but not many on Alexander the Great’s Wife, Empress Theodora, or the Queens of Genghis Kahn!

So needless to say, having read so many of Thornton’s books, then I saw this one I was eager to start it!

The ancient world has been turned upside down……330s, B.C.E., Greece: Alexander, a handsome young warrior of Macedon, begins his quest to conquer the ancient world. But he cannot ascend to power, and keep it, without the women who help to shape his destiny.

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Book Blast & Giveaway: Decorum by Kaaren Christopherson

02_Decorum Decorum: A Novel by Kaaren Christopherson

Publication Date: March 31, 2015
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Foramts: eBook, Paperback, Audio
Pages: 425
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
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Kaaren Christopherson’s brilliantly observed novel captures the glamour and grit of one of the world’s most dazzling cities during one of its most tumultuous eras–as seen through the eyes of a singularly captivating heroine…

In 1890s New York, beautiful, wealthy Francesca Lund is an intriguing prospect for worthy suitors and fortune hunters alike. Recently orphaned, she copes by working with the poor in the city’s settlement movement. But a young woman of means can’t shun society for long, and Francesca’s long-standing acquaintance with dashing Edmund Tracey eventually leads to engagement. Yet her sheltered upbringing doesn’t blind her to the indiscretions of the well-to-do…

Among the fashionable circle that gathers around her there are mistresses, scandals, and gentlemen of ruthless ambition. And there is Connor O’Casey–an entirely new kind of New Yorker. A self-made millionaire of Irish stock, Connor wants more than riches. He wants to create a legacy in the form of a luxury Madison Avenue hotel–and he wants Francesca by his side as he does it. In a quest that will take her from impeccable Manhattan salons to the wild Canadian Rockies, Francesca must choose not only between two vastly different men, but between convention and her own emerging self-reliance.

Rules Of Decorum

A gentleman should not be presented to a lady without her permission being previously asked and granted. This formality is not necessary between men alone; but, still, you should not present any one, even at his own request, to another, unless you are quite well assured that the acquaintance will be agreeable to the latter.

If you wish to avoid the company of any one that has been properly introduced, satisfy your own mind that your reasons are correct; and then let no inducement cause you to shrink from treating him with respect, at the same time shunning his company. No gentleman will thus be able either to blame or mistake you.

The mode in which the avowal of love should be made, must of course, depend upon circumstances. It would be impossible to indicate the style in which the matter should be told… Let it, however, be taken as a rule that an interview is best; but let it be remembered that all rules have exceptions…

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Review: The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

Sixteen year old Shahrzad volunteers to marry a monster but she does some with one purpose in mind…..to kill the monster.

Khalid, Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride every night and in the morning promptly murders them.

One of the latest victims of the Caliph is Shahrzad’s best friend….and that is the reason she volunteers to marry him next…..she plans on getting vengeance on the boy king who murders innocent young women.

None of the brides has survived to see more than a single sunset, but Shahrzad had a plan…..and that plan involves telling the king stories each night in and waiting for the perfect opportunity to learn his weaknesses which she will ultimately use to destroy him.

Well what started out as a good idea soon begins to backfire as Shahrzad starts to develop unwelcome feelings of desire for the young king.

Torn between avenging her best friend and falling in love with a man who is the very air she breaths has its costs. Khalid and Shahrzad risk everything for love but that choice could ruin not just the two lovers but the entire kingdom as well.

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Review: Christmas at the Vicarage by Rebecca Boxall

With the holiday season in full swing I was looking for a book that would help me get into the Christmas ‘spirit’ this year. I’ve been kind of hit and miss with my holiday reading over the years but each year I try to find a holiday book that gets me in the Christmas mood.

This year I saw this book all over Goodreads so I was eager to pick it up. I don’t read a ton of modern romances, let alone modern holiday romances so I was anxious to try something new.

Rosamunde hasn’t been to Potter’s Cove or seen her family in fifteen years. After a heart break in the late 20’s, she spent her time abroad traveling the world and having ‘adventures’. But something about the small town of Potter’s Cove started calling her back.

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Review: Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

Pepper Schuyler has got some problems and about nine months to figure out how to solve them. With a baby on the way, she needs money…bad and in 1966 she has few options to earn money.

As luck would have it, she finds a rare vintage Mercedes in an old family garage and starts restoring the car. When a woman comes forward and pays an extravagant amount of money for the car, Pepper is relieved. But then the woman wants to meet her.

Annabelle Dommerich claims to have been the original owner of that car and willingly paid $300K for it. After meeting Pepper, Annabelle wants to help her. Somehow Annabelle gets Pepper to agree to come stay with her until she can figure out what to do about the baby.

But it turns out Annabelle has a few secrets of her own. Annabelle was living in the south of France just before WWII broke out. There she met a charming Jewish man, Stefan, who stole her heart. But fate intervenes and they are separated. Annabelle is forced to move on and marries a Nazi general instead but is never quire able to get over Stefan.

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