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Review: The Hollywood Spy (Maggie Hope #10) by Susan Elia MacNeal
I fell in love with Maggie Hope long ago and watching her journey through these last 10 books has been so fun as a reader. We have seen her go from nervous secretary, to spy, through PTSD, and heartache. As we enter the 10th book in the series ,she is in many ways unrecognizable from the first book. As a reader you really get a sense of how the war changed her character and I think that’s what really makes this series shine. I haven’t always loved the direction that Maggie’s character has taken or choices that she has made but for me that’s what makes her so real and…
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Special Feature and Excerpt: The Last Book Shop in London by Madeline Martin
This book shot up to the top of the TBR list after I saw a number of my friends reading this one over on Instagram! It looks so good and I love the cover! Then I started reading this little excerpt below and I couldn’t wait to download a copy of this book! This book has it all—emotion, history, love, loss, and of course a bookstore! I am really looking forward to it! It has also been met with really high praise from a number of early reviews. If you are a reader and book lover, there is no way you cannot not love this book. I mean the characters…
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Review: Under the Light of the Italian Moon by Jennifer Anton
When I was pitched this book, what sold me was the sensational cover! The cover is a show stopper and so eye catching and promises something exotic and romantic. But then I read the description and I couldn’t wait to read it, especially since it was based on a true story. While it is set during WWII, it’s not set in the traditional countries of France and England, but rather Italy as the title implies. I think Italy often gets overlooked in the WWII historical fiction genre so I was really excited to read about a familiar event in history through a unique pair of eyes. Plus I was super…
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Review: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
I have only read a handful of Kate Quinn’s books, and while I have enjoyed them, it wasn’t until I read The Alice Network that I really fell in love with her books. After reading The Alice Network, I saw that The Rose Code was coming out and I knew that I had to get my hands on this one. Not only did I love the idea of women code breakers but Quinn’s writing ability has really grown over her books so I was so excited to check this one out! Quinn is a great writer but the polish she put in The Alice Network really shined and I was…
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Review: The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron
I have only had the pleasure of reading one of Kristy Cambron’s novels but I have many of them on my TBR of course. I loved The Painted Castle which I read back in 2019 and I was really excited to see that this one was coming out! When it came up for review I was ecstatic and I loved the cover! Easy yes right here! There are a lot of wonderful WWII novels that come out every year and I try and squeeze in as many as I can. Many are set in Paris or feature unlikely female heroines turned spies or resistance fighters and while the genre is…
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Special Feature: The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck
Erika Robuck is such a wonderful historical fiction writer! She’s written a number of historical fiction works that follow different women of often famous man counter parts. For example, Hemingway’s Girl and The House of Hawthorne. I have really enjoyed her books and I am never disappointed! Her latest book, The Invisible Woman, while different in that it doesn’t follow a women behind a famous man it is set during WWII and promises a moving story full of spies and intrigue! Not to mention it is based on a true story! I cannot wait to read this one, it has so many exciting angles and promises to be a memorable…
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Re-Share Review: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
I read this one back in the spring of 2020 and it was a transporting read and just what I needed to read while I was stuck at home not able to go anywhere. I really enjoyed this book, I love historical fiction but this one had little library details that, as a reader, I simply loved and it made the story all the more enchanting. It is out now and I am so excited to re-share my original review with you all today! If you enjoy books with a duel timeline narrative and books about books and reading then this is one you need to check out! This one…
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Special Feature and Excerpt: The Girl from the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat
A couple of years ago when The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society came out on Netflix, I was fascinated by the premise. I did not read the book before the show came out, but I did after and I loved the book just as much as I loved the film. Besides the romance, what intrigued me was the setting. I knew essentially nothing about the Channel Islands and the occupation during WWII so but it was interesting and new, since then I have been trying to find a book that would be similar and set in the Channel Islands during the same period which is why I am so…
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Review: Lana’s War by Anita Abriel
Last year I read Anita Abriel’s debut novel, The Light After the War, and it was good for a debut novel. I don’t know that I loved it, but I enjoyed it and was looking forward to seeing how her writing evolved in future books. The author’s mother was a Holocaust survivor so it’s not surprise that the author drew in real events and personal history not only with her first novel but with this one as well. With having the first book under her belt, this was one I was really looking forward to exploring and seeing how things evolved from the first book to the second. The author’s…
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Review: Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft
I absolutely love seeing more and more exotic locations in the historical fiction genre. Most historical fiction novels are set places like England or America with the occasional France thrown in for fun-sies. But there are many compelling stories coming out of exotic locations recently and I am so excited to read those stories. One of my new favorite settings in historical fiction is Bombay. In the fall I read Murder in Old Bombay and it felt like such an exotic treat for me and when I saw this one was coming out I jumped on it, mostly for the location, but also because I never met a WWI romance…