Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey

Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey

August 20, 2018 1 Comment Regina

Wow. If you start this book with looming deadlines or close to bedtime, be prepared to disregard both once you start reading Rea Frey’s immensely absorbing novel, Not Her Daughter. This is, hands down, one of the most compelling and complex books I’ve read so far this year. It is a fast-paced story that alternates between two female narrators, leading up to and during the kidnapping of a five-year-old girl. This book immerses the reader into […]

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 […]

The Violinist of Venice: A Story of Vivaldi by Alyssa Palombo

The Violinist of Venice: A Story of Vivaldi by Alyssa Palombo

March 26, 2016 0 Comments Regina

      “Playing the violin again ignited a permanent glow that I carried inside me, which burned gently and steadily just beneath my breast bone. Before I left Maestro Vivaldi’s house, we agreed I should return at noon in three days’ time, but I knew my frequent comings and goings would not go unremarked upon for long. I was tempting il destino, but I couldn’t stop.” The man, the myth, the legend: Most ears […]

ARC Review: The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas

ARC Review: The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas

November 10, 2015 0 Comments Regina

The Last Midwife was the most scandalous Western Mystery I have ever read. I LOVED it. By the late 19th century, women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were making a name for themselves in the first Women’s Suffrage movement and Gynecology had just been professionalized. Where women’s care and the delivery of their babies had previously been left up to midwives, the culture was changing as men crowned themselves Gynecologists and cursed […]

The Hollow Ground by Natalie S. Harnett

The Hollow Ground by Natalie S. Harnett

September 5, 2015 0 Comments Regina

“We walk on fire or air, so Daddy liked to say. Basement floors too hot to touch. Steaming green lawns in the dead of winter. Sinkholes, quick and sudden, plunging open at your feet.” The synopsis of this book is the kind that plants little hooks inside my historically minded brain and pulls on it. Especially the part of my brain that loves hauntingly atmospheric settings set among neglected snapshots of American history. The below […]

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 […]

Girl on the Golden Coin by Marci Jefferson

Girl on the Golden Coin by Marci Jefferson

July 8, 2015 2 Comments Regina

Are you a fan of Historical Fiction? Then join me and others in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge! I read a ton of European Historical Fiction/Romance and general History but I have to admit, my reading experience with the Stuart era has been nil until the past year. What inspired me to delve into literature on King Charles I and II was a lovely blog I follow called The Seventeenth Century Lady. You can find […]

RELEASE DAY and REVIEW: Breathe into Me by Sara Fawkes

RELEASE DAY and REVIEW: Breathe into Me by Sara Fawkes

April 8, 2014 0 Comments Christy

My thoughts… This is the first book by Author Sara Fawkes that I’ve read. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one, but the synopsis captured my attention and I couldn’t wait to get started reading it. I liked both of the main characters and some of the secondary characters. Lacey has had a rough life the last few years. After her father dies her mother packs herself, Lacey, and Lacey’s little brother […]

Death, Doom, and Detention by Darynda Jones

Death, Doom, and Detention by Darynda Jones

July 8, 2013 1 Comment Regina

My favorite red-headed pixie chic is back full force in Death, Doom, and Detention. Many revelations (quite similar to the Book of Revelations)  left Lorelei with an identity crisis and warring emotions in Death and the Girl Next Door. She  found out the boy she’s in love with is the Angel of Death, her creepy stalker is her Nephilim body-guard, and there is a dormant demon residing in her. And that’s just a short list. Now, […]

Death And The Girl Next Door (Darklight #1)

Death And The Girl Next Door (Darklight #1)

July 1, 2013 1 Comment Regina

Darynda Jones had me at FIVE FEET TALL… “I lowered my voice, controlled the tone and inflection of every word, every syllable, striving to make myself sound menacing. I took up a mere five feet of vertical air space, so menacing was not always easy for me to accomplish.” Welcome to the world of Lorelei McAlister. At five feet tall, red-headed, and alabaster complected, Darynda Jones creates quite the firecracker in our petite heroine. Lorelei’s […]