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 […]
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. […]
” 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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I’m wrapping up my Monarch Madness posts this weekend! Today I’m reviewing and posting a GIVEAWAY of Andrea Zuvich’s intoxicating novel, His Last Mistress. You will fall madly in love with this book if you are a fan of The Seventeenth Century, political intrigue, court gossip, romance, and betrayal. His Last Mistress follows the passionate love affair between the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of King Charles II, and Henrietta Wentworth, a Lady 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 […]
The Queen’s Dwarf was a completely engrossing historical tale of turmoil and intrigue from the perspective of the cherubic, 18 inch tall Jeffrey Hudson- a spy planted in the Queen’s Menagerie of freaks. Jeffrey Hudson, The Queen’s Dwarf, and Queen Henrietta Maria I have not read much historical biography or fiction from the reign of King Charles I, and this book was such a great introduction to the time period. The Stuart era […]
Euphoria is one of those books that I feel a little nervous about reviewing because it is a story built around a very specific topic, and I don’t want to interpret something wrong or say something that is completely off target. So, for the most part, I’ll just keep it as general as possible. Although I did take an Intro to Anthropology class, and a Magic, Ritual, and Religion anthropology class in college, I don’t […]