Tag: england

Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood

June 28, 2018 2 Comments Regina

I love historical fiction novels that focus on women’s history, especially the women’s suffrage movement. If you can believe it, I have met people who had no idea that women were ever prohibited from voting–or how hard women fought to gain that right. Clarissa Harwood’s novel, Impossible Saints, is a passionate portrayal of the internal and external conflicts and ideological forces that women wrestled with in their day-to-day lives during the suffrage movement. Check out […]

Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All

May 1, 2018 2 Comments Regina

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I used to like this punk band named Anne Boleyn. You should definitely do a Spotify search of “Anne Boleyn” to see all of the musical treasures in honor of her. This book gets five stars because I had a hard time putting it down. Riveting, like it says on the back cover, is an apt description of the novel. I […]

Summer Reading Abroad: I’ll See You in Paris Review + GIVEAWAY!

May 24, 2016 3 Comments Regina

I enjoyed this story for the rich bits of history and biography revealed through long-lost discovered correspondence and the two main narrators of the story. The most entertaining character in the book was The Duchess of Marlborough, who tries her hardest to deny that she is, indeed, the duchess. The story does some time hopping as each chapter reveals another piece of the puzzle concerning the duchess and the main female protagonist’s parentage. The pacing […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Monarch Madness: A Royal Experiment by Janice Hadlow

April 20, 2015 0 Comments Regina

Such a wonderfully written and thoroughly explored family dynasty. This is one of my new favorite Royal Biographies. A Royal Experiment is as compelling and absorbing as a novel. Most of us who dabble in Historical reading and Historical films might have a faint idea about who King George III is. Or maybe he sounds familiar from school days spent in American History class learning about the American Revolution. Those who live outside of America […]

Monarch Madness: The Queen’s Dwarf by Ella March Chase + GIVEAWAY!!!

March 19, 2015 3 Comments Regina

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 […]

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

January 25, 2015 2 Comments Regina

Let’s start with the AWESOME book trailer, shall we? Fans of Etiquette and Espionage will (should) love Palace of Spies. I try to refrain from doing this- but after reading the book and giving it five stars on Goodreads, I scanned some of the less than stellar reviews of the novel. One reviewer commented that the book had ”casual racism” in it and I was a little perplexed by this. There were no instances […]

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

November 25, 2014 3 Comments Regina

I’m just gonna be honest here and admit that I am a MONARCH SYMPATHIZER and I despise how the French Revolution played out. *I’m looking at YOU Thomas Jefferson and Lafayette!* Looking back safely from my cocoon of present-day democratic America, with the knowledge of all I have read on the subject, I can say with conviction that I would have been an anti-revolutionary. And that’s why I enjoyed Madame […]

Teaser Blitz: Command Me by Geneva Lee

July 23, 2014 0 Comments Erin

Title: Command Me Series: Royals Saga #1 Author: Geneva Lee Release Date: May 5th, 2014 Publisher: Westminster Press Buy Now: Amazon | B&N | iTunes Check it out on Goodreads. When he kissed me, I was shocked. He was a stranger and still so familiar. It wasn’t until I woke up to my picture splashed on the cover of tabloids that I realized I knew who he was.Prince Alexander of Cambridge.Royal bad boy.Exiled heir to the throne.He isn’t Prince Charming. He’s controlling. He’s demanding. He’s dangerous. […]

The Accidental Socialite by Stephanie Wahlstrom

May 13, 2014 0 Comments Erin

If you’re looking for something that will seriously make you LAUGH OUT LOUD, this book is for you! I really enjoyed this book. I haven’t laughed this hard since I read the Chocolate Lovers series by Tara Sivec! It had me laughing within the first few pages… Paige Crawford has graduated college and booked a one way ticket to London. Within her first day there she makes friends and already has been invited out that […]

After Eden by Helen Douglas

February 3, 2014 6 Comments Regina

I have reddish-brown hair and the palest skin that blushes fiercely, all the way from my chest to my forehead. Eden is our main chick and she shares her name with a couple of other things besides the title in this tale of time travel and romance. I found her to be a sensible and likable character; a fair skinned beauty who makes the same mistake most high school girls […]

Hideous Love by Stephanie Hemphill

January 11, 2014 9 Comments Regina

“He is yet a stranger to me, and then somehow I feel as though I have known him for many years now, as though he may be the one I imagined would come and whisk me away…” Pg. 13 I think this book was marketed incorrectly. I bet most of the people that went into this book saw it on an Epic Reads ARC party and fell in love with it because of the cover […]

12 Days of Reviews and Giveaways: The Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy by C.J. Archer

December 22, 2013 3 Comments Regina

Today, I’d like to highlight another one of my favorite C.J. Archer trilogies. The Emily Chambers Spirit Medium trilogy was how I first met C.J. Archer’s writing, and I’ve developed quite a love affair with it since. C.J’s tales of Victorian Era England never fail to sweep me away in grand fashion. If you are planning to read C.J.’s Freak House trilogy, then reading her Medium trilogy before hand will make Freak House that much […]

NOBLE NOVEMBER: Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

November 30, 2013 0 Comments Regina

Hoes before Bros. King Henry lost his proverbial head before Anne did. I wasn’t all that impressed or moved by Katherine Longshore’s Gilt as you know if you read my review of it here, but I really enjoyed Tarnish. Where I felt Gilt was a little stiff and read like ages 9-13 appropriate, Tarnish loosened up and felt YA for an older age group. We’re all familiar with the story of Anne Boleyn. She literally […]

ARC Review: The Wrong Girl (Freak House #1) by C.J. Archer

June 1, 2013 1 Comment Regina

When I saw the cover of this book, I gave my imaginary friend a high-five. An ominous looking house with a stylishly Gothic girl standing in front? Yes, please! Hannah Smith, a fiery, auburn haired 18-year-old, has been living in an attic as the companion of Lady Violet Wade for the past 15 years of her life. Hannah and Lady Violet both have ”conditions” that have kept them tucked away as outcasts and shunned by […]

Book Review: Sunny Daniels and The Tale of Tarot Cards and Movie Stars

May 4, 2013 1 Comment Erin

I came across this book when I was browsing through smashwords out of boredom. The description caught my eye and it seemed like something I would enjoy as I tend to enjoy books where the girl gets the famous boy. 🙂 The story takes place in London and the protagonist is 19 year old Sunny Daniels who longs to grow up and become a film director. She’s in London to do a two week work […]