-
Review: The Lieutenant’s Nurse by Sara Ackerman
To say that this cover caught my eye is an understatement. I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. It’s elegant, bright and exotic looking, but with the air of familiarity as a recognizable piece of historical fiction. I was eager to read it and thrilled when my copy came. From the description, it sounded a little like Pearl Harbor the movie. Now no judgement but I loved that movie. I didn’t care for Josh Hartnett but overall I loved that movie and I still watch it every time that it’s on. So in my mind I was secretly hoping that this book was going to be,…
-
Review: The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen
I stopped reading the review pitch once I saw ‘WWI’ in the description, which was basically the first line in the summary. I have read a lot of stand alone novels by Bowen and have been impressed with her writing and historical research. Her stand alone books have mostly been set in WWII, but WWI is truly my favorite period in historical fiction, so seeing that this book was set during that time earned this book and instant and enthusiastic, ‘yes’ from me. I have consistently enjoyed reading Bowen’s books, whether they are one of her historical mysteries or her stand alone novels. She as an incredible gift for writing…
-
Review: Among the Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz
For some reason, this year I have heard about a couple of books that came out or are coming out, about the Night Witches of WWII. I hadn’t read any of the books but I was interested in the subject matter and historical take on these brave women. I wanted to pick up one of the, what I like to call, Night Witches books but I just didn’t think of it when I was at the bookstore or my library. Then one day in late November I got an email pitching this book featuring the Night Witches that was more of a YA book and I practically pounced on the…
-
Review: The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos
This book is marketed to fans of Sarah’s Key and The Lilac Girls as well as fans of WWII family sagas. I was intrigued by the subject matter as well as the time period. As many of you know, I love war time books—mysteries, romances, family dramas etc—-so this book, historically fit right in. But what stood out for me was the plot for two main characters—–Natalia and Victor split apart by time and war. I loved the idea of seeing two characters from the same region having to pick sides during a war time occupation. I was interested to see how that scenario would pan out, so that’s how…
-
Review: Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent #2) by Anna Lee Huber
Full disclosure, I’ve been a huge fan of Anna Lee Huber for years. I absolutely love all of her books and I can’t get enough of the heroines, mysteries, and of course the covers! The Verity Kent series is no different. I read the first book in the Verity Kent series earlier this year and I loved it! It was an interesting start to a different type of heroine for Huber. I was eager to see what else was in store for Verity in this latest book in the series. In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, many look to the spirit world for answers. But it…
-
Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I am late to the party with this one. I bought this book when it first came out and it literally sat on my shelf for years. Many times I almost gave it away because I figured I would probably never read it. It was once of those books that looked good at the time and had a great cover but the title was long and just sounded weird. Yet I bought it anyway. Then the Netflix movie came out and everyone was raving about this book all over my social medial platforms. It was once again everywhere and everyone wanted to read it so I decided to jump on…
-
Review: Spies of the Midnight Sun: A True Story of WWII Heroes (World War Two Series Book 3) by Samuel Marquis
It’s not very often that I read nonfiction or just plain history books. A book really needs to stand out for me or be in my specialized interest area, for me to review it. I have a Masters in History so reading history nonfiction is something I did for a long time and while I like it, I still have flashbacks about college papers and thesis critiques. So that’s what I thought I was getting into with this book….nonfiction. Dry, scholarly, researched history. I mean, it has ‘true story’ written right in the title—and I just assumed that it would be an informative book, but devoid of personal stories—which I…
-
Review: The Prisoner in the Castle (Maggie Hope Mystery #8) by Susan Elia MacNeal
I first discovered Maggie Hope back in 2012 when the first book came across my desk for review. The cover was initially what drew me in and I was never once sorry for judging a book by its cover! Over the years, Maggie’s character has gone in a number of different directions and none of them were directions that I saw coming. For me, that’s one of the things that keeps this series exciting. You have this American typist how somehow ends up becoming a super high-level spy…..I love it! Thought the series she has tracked down murders, saved the queen, broke codes, parachuted into France, and had her heart…
-
Review: Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell
This was a book that I wasn’t really that excited to read when it initially came up for review. In my mind all I kept thinking was….ugh another WWII book. Don’t get me wrong, WWII is one of my favorite periods to read about, but lately I’ve read a lot of WWII books and I just wasn’t in the mood for another when it was time to review this one. But this one set itself apart with the Japanese interment camps angle. Everyone is so focused on the holocaust that they forget that Japanese interment camps were yet another unfortunate by product of a very ugly war. My brother in…
-
Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
This book was everywhere last year. It was first published in June of 2017 and it’s been every where ever since. All over my social media, on all my friends ‘to read’ or ‘favorite’ shelfs, and at my local library as a librarian favorite. It sounded like something that would be right up my alley, but for some reason it just didn’t scream ‘read me’ even though I had it sitting in my Kindle library for months. Part of me was worried about the hype and another part of me just wasn’t into reading a war time friendship story as I prefer war time romances generally. However, this last month…