Review: Mrs Boots (Mrs Boots #1) by Deborah Carr

Deborah Carr is an author that only recently popped onto my radar with her book The Poppy Field. When her latest novel came up for review I found myself eager to read it as I hadn’t gotten around to The Poppy Field yet.

I was also intrigued by the fact that this book is told mostly through letters and I love epistolary novels so this book was a no brainer yes for me.

The other thing that drew me to this book was the fact that I knew nothing about this apparently well known women, Florence Boot. Before this book I hadn’t heard of her or the well known—but clearly not to me—Boots chemists. I love learning about new things so I was open to finding out more via this historical fiction novel! Continue reading “Review: Mrs Boots (Mrs Boots #1) by Deborah Carr”

Review: A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn

Deanna Raybourn is one of my go to authors when I am looking for a solid historical murder mystery. I fell in love with the Veronica Speedwell books form the very beginning and have loved watching this series evolve.

I actually read this one way back in November when my ARC arrived. Like the day after it arrived. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and start reading.

I have heard that the author has signed on to do another three I believe and I actually kind of wondered if the author found this out in the middle of writing this one because it felt a little like a bridge book. Continue reading “Review: A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn”

Review: The Winter Companion (Parish Orphans of Devon #4) by Mimi Matthews

To say that I have been eager to read this final installment of the Parish Orphans of Devon series is a gross understatement. I absolutely loved all of Mimi Matthews books and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one!

Of all the orphans, Neville was probably to most mysterious character for me and the one we never seemed to get to know, beyond the basic back story told by the other characters.

I was excited to see how Neville’s love story as well as his character unfolded in this book. There was so much discussion in the other books about how Neville’s accident as a child had left him ‘damaged’ and I was curious to see how that translated into a romance for him in this book. Continue reading “Review: The Winter Companion (Parish Orphans of Devon #4) by Mimi Matthews”

Special Feature and Giveaway: Paperback Release for The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr

The Lost History of Dreams
by Kris Waldherr

Paperback Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Atria Books
Hardcover & eBook; 336 Pages

Genre: Historical/Gothic/Mystery

 

 

The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr is now out in paperback! In it, a post-mortem photographer unearths the dark secrets of a famed poet’s marriage in this “sensual, twisting gothic tale…in the tradition of A.S. Byatt’s Possession, Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights” (BookPage). Blurring the line between the past and the present, truth and fiction, and ultimately, life and death, The Lost History of Dreams is “a surrealist, haunting tale of suspense where every prediction turns out to be merely a step toward a bigger reveal” (Booklist).

When famed Byronesque poet Hugh de Bonne is found dead in his bath one morning in 1850, final arrangements are left to his estranged cousin, historian turned postmortem photographer Robert Highstead. De Bonne’s will instructs that he should be buried in a stained glass chapel set on the Shropshire moors, built to house the remains of his beloved wife and muse, Ada. It has since been locked to all outsiders—especially the cultlike fans of de Bonne’s final book, The Lost History of Dreams. Only Ada’s grief-stricken niece, Isabelle, holds the key, but she refuses to open the chapel unless Robert agrees to her bargain: Before he can lay Hugh to rest, Robert must record the real story behind her aunt’s ill-fated marriage to the poet over the course of five nights—a story that is both love story and ghost story.

Learn more here. Continue reading “Special Feature and Giveaway: Paperback Release for The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr”

Review: Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

Jess Kidd is an author who keeps flying around in my radar but yet I just never seem to have the time to fit in her books. That and I just wasn’t completely sold on the fact that I would love this author. I mean some of her books sound good—but quirky.

I love quirky as much as the next person, but I need to be in the mood for quirky and I just haven’t been lately, but then this book started popping up on my radar and I started to rethink that decision.

This book caught my eye because it was set in the Victorian era and the word gothic lit, which if you know me, then you know it is basically impossible for me to pass on Victorian era gothic lit books, so here we are. Continue reading “Review: Things in Jars by Jess Kidd”