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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I went into this book with some Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas baggage. I was beyond bored and unimpressed with the film when I was in high-school and had to hide my true feelings about it so I could be cool and fit in with my friends. Every time so-and-so made a reference to the film, I just nodded in agreement about how cool it was or whatever. Kind of like in college when […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
If you’ve ever been curious about how the other half of America lives- the immigrants and the undocumented and those who would never even imagine having enough money to spend any on buying books to read for pleasure- then this powerful piece of fiction is a great place to start. This book is for readers that enjoy character studies and learning about other cultures and socioeconomic classes. What I had first thought was going to […]
While I enjoyed this book, I don’t think it was as good as the first four. I guess Remy spoiled the series for me. I mean don’t get me wrong. This was a great read, but to me it didn’t hold my attention as well as the previous books. I didn’t get that “I can’t put it down” feeling. Pandora is an odd duck. I’ve always felt she was the weird friend. It isn’t that […]
I just love this series. The characters are all really interesting. And I love how they’re a tight knit group who appear in all the books. I’ve been excited about this book for a while now. The tension between Craig and Gwen has been growing. I really wanted to find out what happened to make their friendship get off track. Gwen sort of ticked me off in the last book. (Sorry Bethany) She grew really […]
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 […]
(Skip to the end of the post for the SHORT VERSION of my review) August, 2014. I walk into my local Barnes and Nobel and am stopped in my tracks by a “New Releases” display table. There is one obvious ”winner” to this display: The Miniaturist. Shiny hardcovers of it are stacked left and right, on top, below, and facing me on one of those nifty display stands. It feels like Christmas in July. The […]
I’m currently on vacation visiting a friend who lives in NYC… I started reading One Night Promised when we were in the for the night last night. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I was up until 5am reading and then I finally forced myself to go to bed. The second I was up today I dove right back in to the book instead of going out into the city of NY to wander. That’s […]