Format: Hardcover

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

June 6, 2019 3 Comments Regina

I cannot put it better than Bookpage’s on-point review of Blood Water Paint, but in the spirit of #MeToo, I will share my experience with this novel as well. Blood Water Paint is a vivid depiction based on facts of Baroque artist Artemesia Gentileschi. The story immerses the reader in Artemesia’s daily life and most intimate thoughts. Visceral descriptions of what it was like to be a woman, a daughter, and a female artist in the16th […]

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf: Review + Giveaway!!!

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf: Review + Giveaway!!!

August 28, 2018 4 Comments Regina

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing author Sara Wolf at her Katy Budget Books Bring Me Their Hearts release party. If you live in the Houston area, go and buy yourself a signed copy of BMTH! You can also order a signed copy to be shipped to you from their website.   First, I want to say that I was completely dazzled by author Sara Wolf (her nom […]

Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood

Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood

June 28, 2018 2 Comments Regina

I love historical fiction novels that focus on women’s history, especially the women’s suffrage movement. If you can believe it, I have met people who had no idea that women were ever prohibited from voting–or how hard women fought to gain that right. Clarissa Harwood’s novel, Impossible Saints, is a passionate portrayal of the internal and external conflicts and ideological forces that women wrestled with in their day-to-day lives during the suffrage movement. Check out […]

Haven by Mary Lindsey + Giveaway!!!

Haven by Mary Lindsey + Giveaway!!!

January 5, 2018 6 Comments Regina

For all of us who have been going through paranormal/fantasy withdrawal ever since superheros took over our television sets and movie screens, Haven is the perfect paranormal fix. In case you haven’t figured it out from the synopsis (or from other reviews), Haven is a story about werewolves, and I am so ready for supernatural creatures to be back in the YA book-world spotlight. This is the super sexy paranormal YA story that we’ve all been waiting […]

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee

December 29, 2017 2 Comments Regina

Why did I read this book? Well, I was drawn to the contrast of the hot-pink hearts and grayscale image of Tolstoy’s face on the cover, in addition to the idea of young adult fiction intersecting with high-culture literary fiction. I checked out this book because I liked the packaging, so I want to give props to all of the people who had a hand in creating the finished version of this product. Sometimes being […]

The Gentleman by Forrest Leo

The Gentleman by Forrest Leo

May 18, 2017 0 Comments Regina

“A funny, fantastically entertaining debut novel, in the spirit of Wodehouse and Monty Python, about a famous poet who inadvertently sells his wife to the devil–then recruits a band of adventurers to rescue her.” This is a short and sweet book review. I read this book back in February because I was planning on reviewing it for National Poetry Month (in April), but April was busier than I anticipated. Thus, I am reviewing it now, […]

Worlds of Ink and Shadow ( A Novel of the Brontes) by Lena Coakley

Worlds of Ink and Shadow ( A Novel of the Brontes) by Lena Coakley

March 18, 2017 0 Comments Regina

From the Bronte Parsonage Museum   This is the kind of book that you want to plan a whole photo shoot for. Isn’t the cover fabulous!? Of course, the title of the book is pretty fabulous as well. And that, my friends, is exactly why I went into this novel with a little trepidation. Would the story be equally amazing, creating a trinity of bookish brilliance? I should know better than to ask so much […]

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

February 24, 2017 2 Comments Regina

Ummmm….An actual relative of COTTON FRIGGIN’ MATHER wrote a book about witches. How am I not going to read and like this book?!?! When I started Adriana Mather’s debut novel, How to Hang a Witch, I knew I was in for a spooky-good time. My anticipation was met, and then some, by the end of the novel. Besides being historically on point, this book was a magical mash-up of some of my favorite 90s and […]

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue + GIVEAWAY!!!

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue + GIVEAWAY!!!

February 7, 2017 2 Comments Regina

ENTER TO WIN a Hardcover copy of The Wonder below! US ONLY. Have you read Emma Donoghue’s Room, or seen the Academy award winning film based off of that book? I haven’t indulged myself in either of these yet, but I did recently read Donoghue’s, The Wonder, and I could not put it down. Set some years after the Crimean War, this story unfolds within the confines of a thatch-roofed home, in a small Irish village, […]

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn

October 5, 2016 0 Comments Regina

This review is long overdue, but that is a common theme for me as of late. Over the past year, I have used any “spare” time (between school, work, commuting, spending time with my family) to attack my leisure/TBR list. So, when I have a moment to write a review/blog during the semester, that means I’m on top of my game. Yay for me! Check out this lovely book-look created by another fan: Book Look: […]

Blog Tour: Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch

Blog Tour: Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch

July 11, 2016 0 Comments Regina

“With flashbacks that slowly reveal the terrible secret of Scarlett’s escape and Pixie’s fate, this psychological thriller evokes well-paced fear.” —Kirkus Reviews Psychological Thrillers are all the rage right now and if you tore your way through novels like Damage Done, With Malice, or The Darkest Corners , then you will want to add Amanda Pinatch’s Never Missing, Never Found to your “reading a psych-thrill and chill” queue. Never Missing, Never Found has a certain afterschool […]

Upcoming Release: Girl in the Afternoon by Serena Burdick

Upcoming Release: Girl in the Afternoon by Serena Burdick

June 30, 2016 0 Comments Regina

  Belle Époque Paris. Three words that will sell me on a book in a heartbeat. The opulence of fashion and architecture. The richness of artistic and intellectual life. The idea of “The Salon” and sparkling soirees that lasted until the morning sun lit the sky a color to match the Perrier Jouet in party-goers crystal flutes. BELLE EPOQUE PARIS. YES. The setting of Girl in the Afternoon lived up to my expectations of Paris […]

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi

June 8, 2016 1 Comment Regina

“Set against the golden age of Hollywood, the dark days of WWII, and the swinging ’70s, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem follows generations of unforgettable women as they forge their own paths through times of dramatic change.” – jacket excerpt The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is an absorbing novel that traces the familial and amorous relationships and life-shaping decisions of four generations of Israeli women. “The shop employed several seamstresses who made the clothes according to patterns […]

Summer Reading Abroad: I’ll See You in Paris Review + GIVEAWAY!

Summer Reading Abroad: I’ll See You in Paris Review + GIVEAWAY!

May 24, 2016 3 Comments Regina

I enjoyed this story for the rich bits of history and biography revealed through long-lost discovered correspondence and the two main narrators of the story. The most entertaining character in the book was The Duchess of Marlborough, who tries her hardest to deny that she is, indeed, the duchess. The story does some time hopping as each chapter reveals another piece of the puzzle concerning the duchess and the main female protagonist’s parentage. The pacing […]

A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison

A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison

January 12, 2016 0 Comments Regina

A Small Indiscretion was one of those books that I saw on another blog last year and thought to myself Ohhh! I really want to read this!. I occasionally passed by it at Barnes and Noble over the past year and would say to my husband while pointing at it with the excitement of remembering a long-forgotten good idea, “Oh! I have been wanting to read that one!”. Ultimately, the book failed to ever make it […]

Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter

Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter

January 7, 2016 1 Comment Regina

BOHEMIAN GOSPEL WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2015. “A fast-moving, seductive read. A fascinating mix of dark fantasy and rich historical detail.”  Author of The Bloodletter’s Daughter Like any good book, Bohemian Gospel is a book for all seasons. However, I suggest you hurry and go buy a copy to read now, during the Winter months, so you can cuddle up under a fuzzy blanket by a toasty fire. This book will make […]

The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation by Nancy Rubin Stuart

The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation by Nancy Rubin Stuart

December 18, 2015 0 Comments Regina

There has been some what of a revival in American historical television dramas over the past few years, and I’d be lying if I said I liked them as much as the British historical dramas- based solely on the integrity of the history being presented to the public via the preferred medium of flat screens. Cable shows like TURN: Washington’s Spies, Sons of Liberty, and (the less recent) HBO series on John Adams are all wildly entertaining. […]

The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck

The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck

September 27, 2015 0 Comments Regina

“Through it all, the very same sun and moon and stars never wavered, never once failed to rise and fall and shine their light upon the world. And though mankind itself had run amok, the universe never once collapsed in on itself. Through seismic shifts, wars, famine, and mankind’s great experiment with its own free will, the universe never lost sight of even its most infinitesimal need for balance. “ Some lovely Ottoman textiles.  The […]

Enchantress of Paris by Marci Jefferson Review + GIVEAWAY!!!

Enchantress of Paris by Marci Jefferson Review + GIVEAWAY!!!

August 18, 2015 2 Comments Regina

Check out my PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS of Marci Jefferson HERE, and don’t forget to ENTER to WIN a finished copy of the Enchantress of Paris at the end of the review! “Fraught with conspiracy and passion, the Sun King’s opulent court is brought to vivid life in this captivating tale about a woman whose love was more powerful than magic.” COULD ANYONE ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE IN AN HISTORICAL NOVEL?! Some opulent scenery from King Louis […]

Once Upon A Crime: A Brothers Grimm Mystery by P.J. Brackston

Once Upon A Crime: A Brothers Grimm Mystery by P.J. Brackston

July 15, 2015 0 Comments Regina

You can find my other reviews of Paula Brackston’s novels HERE. I was sent a copy of Once Upon A Crime from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, so I have not had the pleasure of reading the first book in this series. In fact, I didn’t even know this series existed until the publisher emailed me. I’m going to have to start stalking Paula Brackston so I can stay in the loop […]

Dangerous Deceptions ( Palace of Spies #2) by Sarah Zettel

Dangerous Deceptions ( Palace of Spies #2) by Sarah Zettel

July 6, 2015 0 Comments Regina

You can check out my review of the first book in this series, Palace of Spies #1 HERE.   (I love this series. HARD.) I love Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction and read quite a bit of both, so I wouldn’t say I’m easily impressed. There’s just something so clever about Sarah Zettel’s characters/dialogue, and something so sneaky-educational about her writing. I’ve never learned so much about the time period and customs of King George I’s […]