Category: Reading Challenges

New Year, New Reading Challenges!

New Year, New Reading Challenges!

January 27, 2017 3 Comments Regina

Like many of you, I do not get around to starting my ”New Year” until the end of January. The first few weeks of the month are necessary adjustment days as I recover from the blur that is November and December. In fact, as I am writing this, the 2017 calendar I ordered online still has not arrived in my mailbox. So, I feel perfectly justified in not starting my new year’s plans until February. […]

The Tsarina’s Legacy by Jennifer Laam

The Tsarina’s Legacy by Jennifer Laam

May 18, 2016 0 Comments Regina

Check out my review of Jennifer Laam’s The Secret Daughter of the Tsar HERE. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine the Great 1995 I enjoyed Laam’s debut, The Secret Daughter of the Tsar, and this follow up did not disappoint. Straddling the worlds of 18th century and 21st century Russia, the author bravely tackles some complex political and cultural issues that very much resonate with topics that are flooding American headlines today. It was absolutely genius how […]

The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam

The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam

April 8, 2016 0 Comments Regina

Мать Россия!!! A little bird told me something. That Historians secretly love to read alternate histories. I’m here to qualify that secret. We love to read well-written and believable alternate histories. The Secret Daughter of the Tsar almost made me want to change my focus of study as a historian-in-training, and that is saying a lot. These days, I am lucky to finish a book in a week. I finished this one in a few […]

Regina’s Reflections & 2016 Reading Challenges + #GIVEAWAY

Regina’s Reflections & 2016 Reading Challenges + #GIVEAWAY

January 20, 2016 17 Comments Regina

Today, January 20th, is MY BIRTHDAY. Woohoo! *Throws glitter EVERYWHERE* And because of this momentous occasion, I thought I would reward our blog followers with my most intelligent thoughts and reflections. Oh, and a chance to WIN one of MY FAVORITE books. The past year went by in a blur for me, and I’m told the years only become more blurry the older one gets. 2014 was rough and so was 2015, so I’m betting […]

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 […]

Avelynn by Marissa Campbell

Avelynn by Marissa Campbell

December 18, 2015 0 Comments Regina

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 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. […]

Rebel Mechanics: All is Fair in Love and Revolution by Shanna Swendson

Rebel Mechanics: All is Fair in Love and Revolution by Shanna Swendson

November 12, 2015 1 Comment Regina

” What if British Magic kept the American Revolution from ever occurring?” The premise of this book is pretty amazing. My synapses salivate at the thought of how Shanna Swendson conjured this story question. There are two story worlds in this novel. One is out in the open, filled with proper aristocrats and those who wish they were. The other is clandestine, filled with working-class folk who walk on the radical side. I loved how […]

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 […]

Blog Tour+GIVEAWAY: The Last Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiousities #1) by C.J. Archer

Blog Tour+GIVEAWAY: The Last Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiousities #1) by C.J. Archer

August 31, 2015 5 Comments Regina

You can find my reviews of C.J. Archer’s Freak House series HERE and her stand alone novel, Surrender, HERE. Don’t forget to ENTER to WIN at the bottom! Victorian Era London, England ATTENTION POLDARK FANS: You will LOVE the dynamic between the Female and Male protagonists in this novel. I wish I could buy stock in C.J. Archer. Once again, she’s blown me away with the start of another great series, The Ministry of Curiosities. […]

Bathing Beauties, Booze and Bullets ( A Jazz Age Mystery #2) by Ellen Mansoor Collier

Bathing Beauties, Booze and Bullets ( A Jazz Age Mystery #2) by Ellen Mansoor Collier

August 19, 2015 2 Comments Regina

You can check out my review of the first book in this series, Flappers, Flasks and Foul Play HERE. “”Boardwalk Empire” meets “Miss Universe” in 1927 Galveston, Texas-the “Sin City of the Southwest.” Jasmine (“Jazz”) Cross is an ambitious 21-year-old society reporter for the Galveston Gazette who wants to be taken seriously by the good-old-boy staff, but the editors only assign her fluffy puff pieces, like writing profiles of bathing beauties.” Here’s a fun alternate […]

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 […]

Psychological Analysis: Enchantress of Paris Author, Marci Jefferson

Psychological Analysis: Enchantress of Paris Author, Marci Jefferson

August 17, 2015 1 Comment Regina

Marci Jefferson’s passion for history was sparked while living in Yorktown, Virginia, where locals still tell Revolutionary War tales. She now writes about remarkable women in history who dared to defy powerful men. – See more at: http://marcijefferson.com/#sthash.JK0bvgtM.dpuf Marci Jefferson’s debut novel Girl on the Golden Coin caught my eye earlier this year and after reading it, I had some pressing questions about her mental state. I thought on them for a while and considered […]

ARC Review: Lamp Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston

ARC Review: Lamp Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston

August 12, 2015 0 Comments Regina

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 […]

Flappers, Flasks and Foul Play ( A Jazz Age Mystery #1) by Ellen Mansoor Collier

Flappers, Flasks and Foul Play ( A Jazz Age Mystery #1) by Ellen Mansoor Collier

August 3, 2015 1 Comment Regina

  I discovered Ellen Mansoor Collier’s Jazz Age Mystery series while doing some Historical research of my own, and by God, I feel like I struck gold, babies! GOLD! We’ve all read the 1920s Historical Fiction set in New York, Chicago, Paris, New Orléans, but I never would have thought about experiencing the Jazz Age via Galveston, Texas until I read Flappers Flasks, and Foul Play. To be honest (I admit with my head hung […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Seared With Scars (Book 2 of The 2nd Freak House Series) by C.J. Archer

Seared With Scars (Book 2 of The 2nd Freak House Series) by C.J. Archer

June 30, 2015 0 Comments Regina

You can check out my reviews for the first Freak House Series HERE: and for C.J. Archer’s The Medium trilogy HERE: My review of The Memory Keeper, The 1st book in the 2nd Freak House series can be found HERE. C.J. Archer is my go-to-author for Historical Romance and luckily for me, she puts out books faster than I can keep up with. Especially concerning the Freak House series. The second book revolving around Charity […]

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston Review + Giveaway!!!

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston Review + Giveaway!!!

May 21, 2015 2 Comments Regina

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 […]