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 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 […]
ATTENTION FANS OF History channel’s VIKINGS: This is the book you have been waiting for. And now for the funny part. I couldn’t handle The Vikings show and unfortunately, Avelynn just wasn’t the book for me. That being said, I think a ton of people will really enjoy this book. It has a powerful female lead and there are strong feminist currents to the novel, which I loved, but I just couldn’t get into […]
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 […]
(WARNING: To my Southern friends- I may use a couple of Northern slang words in place of ”awesome” or ”super cool”. I don’t know why. Can you spot them?) I’m not really a Fantasy fan but damn, this book was wicked good. An Inheritance of Ashes is one of the BEST BOOKS I’ve read so far this year. I was completely taken by the atmospheric story world and the haunting characters. Hallie, the female […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
Bounce is the final book in the Boomerang series by Noelle August. It can be read as a standalone, but I suggest reading the first two books in the series as the characters from the previous books show up throughout this book and references to events in those books are mentioned. Skyler is a musician from Kentucky looking to make it somehow in Los Angeles. She ends up at an audition for a movie with […]
“Cabaret meets Cassandra Clare-a haunting magical thriller set in a riveting 1930s-esque world.” When I was 16, there was this movie that came out called Dark City. The trailer looked so nouveau-weird and mysterious. It looked like the coolest kind of psychological thriller. I went to see the movie and felt more than a little confused but still thought the film was a cool concept. That’s what Dark Metropolis reminded me of. Both have the […]
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 […]
In the latest from Paula Brackston, a young artist goes to the Welsh mountains in search of love, but is faced with ancient legends and a mysterious man from the past – Merlin himself. You can find my reviews of other Paula Brackston novels HERE. All I have to do is see Paula Brackston’s name on a novel and know that I’m going to love it. Her writing is so rich and engrossing, and as […]
I didn’t realize this was the second book in a series when I got it for review. Otherwise, I would have read Skovron’s Man Made Boy before diving into TBWW. This book was like reading a graphic novel for me- something completely out of my comfort zone and my predictable preferences. The fact that I ended up enjoying this book (a lot, actually), makes me question how well I know myself. TBWW is rife […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
If you’ve ever had any interest in Welsh or Celtic mythology or ancient Welsh culture, you will be obsessed with this book. The Silver Witch was AWESOME. I was enthralled with how Paula Brackston wraps up her fantasy/supernatural narratives in solid, mesmerizing historical research. You can find some of the historical artifacts she writes about in this novel here. With spellbinding craft, Ms. Brackston weaves the life of a contemporary widowed woman with the life of […]
Okay, so this book doesn’t technically involve a monarch BUT it does involve a Duke and Duchess, so I’ve decided to include this review and the giveaway hosted by St.Martin’s Press. I had not had the pleasure of reading one of Paula Brackston’s books until The Midnight Witch, and I cannot believe it took me this long to get around to it. I can’t imagine a more magical combination for a Historical Fiction lover […]
Check out the other stops on this Rockin’ Blog Tour: Week Two: 3/2/2015- Two Chicks on Books– Guest Post 3/3/2015-MEREADALOT-Review 3/4/2015- paranormal book club (PBC)– Interview 3/5/2015- Bittersweet Enchantment-Review 3/6/2015- Magical Urban Fantasy Reads – Guest Post Lyrical, dark, and beautifully twisted- I couldn’t put this book down. It was a refreshing piece of word-art among a market crowded with by-the-book wordsmiths. I can’t wait to read more of Tricia Stirling’s work. What a dark and magical treat this book was. […]
I have to be honest here… I think I may have liked this one better than the first one. The reason why I know this is because I actually had to go back into Boomerang and skim it through a bit and see what exactly Alison did to her Ex in that book. Oops. :X After going through something horrific with his last girlfriend in college, Adam has closed himself off from any sort of romantic […]
You know that sequel you’ve been looking for that’s as good or even better than the first book? That seemingly elusive bad-ass second in a series that doesn’t disappoint? Well it’s finally here. I’m so honored to be on the Release Day blog tour stop for Victoria Scott’s sock-rocking Salt and Stone, the amazing second book in the Fire and Flood series. You can check out my review for the first book in the series, […]
Check out my reviews of Gravity (The Taking #1) and Hover (The Taking #2). Collide is a show-stopping, blood-pumping, heart-pounding finish to The Taking series, and hard-core Sci-Fi fans will be just as blown away by this finale as romance fans will be. Ari is a bad-ass of EPIC PROPORTIONS in Collide and Melissa West didn’t hold back with Ari’s character. Ari fully transforms into a fearless leader in this last book of the […]