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Review: A Certain Darkness (Verity Kent #6) by Anna Lee Huber
Anna Lee Huber is one of my most favorite historical mystery writers! I have read all of her books and called in love with her different characters and series. I cannot tell you how comforting it is to pick up a book and know that you are going to enjoy it. Perhaps some books more than others but overall, each of the books she has written have been entertaining, engaging and I have no problem escaping into them each time a new Huber book is released. The Verity Kent series has been an interesting series for me. It’s a bit of a break in her usual style of heroine and…
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Review: The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman
I have adored Sara Ackerman’s books over the years. She writes such interesting novels about WWII that are set in Hawaii. Her passion for the island and its history really shine under her pen plus there is always a little bit of romance to entertain readers. I really enjoyed reading all of her books and find that each has been between a 4 and 5 star rating for me. When I saw this one was coming up, I made room on my review calendar for it. I hadn’t actually planned on reading it as soon as I did but I knew I would read it before the summer was out.…
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Review: The Forgotten Cottage by Courtney Ellis
I read Courtney Ellis’s debut novel last summer, At Summer’s End, and good lord was it ever good! I devoured it and it was one of my favorite reads last year. So naturally when I saw this one coming up for review I was thrilled! This one has a great dual timeline aspect which I know is often overdone in historical fiction, but for me it never gets old! I love readling dual timeline books! This book promises long buried family secrets and complex characters rich in historical detail. And it certainly had all of those things! Ellis write beautiful historical fiction with lots of historical details and heart and…
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Special Feature/Excerpt: The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman
I have never wanted to visit Hawaii so much! Whenever I read one of Sara Ackerman’s books set in Hawaii, I simply want to go there instantly! I have never been to Hawaii but I feel like I have simply by reading her books! Her love of Hawaii resonates in every book she writes and I always come away from one of her books feeling like I just took a vacation. Not only is her love for the island evident, her history is interesting and the stories and characters always well done. It’s been a while since I read one of her books and I am actually currently reading this…
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Review: The School for German Brides by Aimee K. Runyan
I have only read one of Aimee Runyan’s books but I adored it! I have had the others are on my TBR list and she is always one that I keep an eye on when I see new historical fiction coming out. When I saw this book I was instantly intrigued! A school to make the perfect German bride?! What in the world? I knew it was one that I couldn’t pass up as it would no doubt explore a plotline and history that I never even imagined before! One of the things that always stands out about Runyan’s books is the attention to historical detail. Historical fiction writers often…
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Review: The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan
Over the years I have read and enjoyed many or Rachel McMillan’s books! I especially loved her book The London Restoration that I read in 2020. It was a standalone novel with lots of historical detail and some romance. While I enjoyed her historical mysteries, it was the standalone novel that really made me love her writing! When I saw that she was coming out with a new standalone piece of historical fiction, I was eager to get my hands on it. I love books about espionage and spies especially when they are women spies! I have read a lot of historical fiction with female spies in WWII and while…
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Review: The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth
It’s been a hot minute since I read anything by Kate Forsyth. Generally she writes more fantasy and fairytale retellings but this book is firmly in the historical fiction genre. So needless to say when it came up for review, I was intrigued because it was different than what Forsyth typically writes and she is such a wonderful writer that I knew this one would be on par with her other books! Obviously it was an easy ‘yes’ to review but beyond just the author and genre of the book I didn’t know too much going in. I mean of course I get an officially summary of the books I…
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Special Feature: The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan
It’s funny how war changes so much about society in unexpected ways. I loved that this book really wanted to tell the story of how war changed life for these three very different war brides. Sewing really used to be such a bonding experience for women not to mention a point of pride. I can remember my my grandma telling me about sewing with her friends and sisters and the pride she took in the fact that she sewed her own wedding dress (in the 1930s!). In the age of everything including wedding dresses being at the tip of our fingers, it’s pretty amazing to think about women sitting around…
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Review: Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
The Jane Austen Society was high up on my TBR list last year and I enjoyed it, but when I saw Natalie Jenner was publishing this book, I was thrilled! The Jane Austen Society was just ok for me, I liked it but there were a few bumps that I felt needed to be ironed out, however I liked it well enough to be eager for Jenner’s next novel! The Bloomsbury Girls is set in post WWII London which is such an interesting period to me. The world just came out of this massive war and they were still feeling to effects of rationing and economic instability but yet were…
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Review: The Night Train to Berlin by Melanie Hudson
Ya’ll know how much of a sucker I am for WWII romances and historical fiction (which generally includes some kind of romantic element). I just can’t say no and that lovely cover just drew me in. Lately I’ve been reading some easy romances and a couple of solid thrillers so I haven’t really been in the mood to snag a more emotional war time novel but this one just stood out and I knew it was something that I would most likely love. I also love the Cornish coast so any book set there is a win-win for me. Author Melanie Hudson’s debut novel, The Last Letter from Juliet, was…