Tag: Historical Fiction

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 […]

Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones

January 23, 2018 1 Comment Regina

“To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.” -Hypatia One of the things I loved best about this book was the use of quotes under the chapter headings. I am such a sucker for this. There can never be too many quotes introducing a chapter or section of a book in my opinion. I also loved that the author’s use of quotes to introduce/capture […]

The Suffering Tree by Elle Cosimano: The Review, the Controversy

October 15, 2017 2 Comments Regina

“It’s Dark Magic Brings Him Back.” The name and the cover of this book were not appealing to me. I did, however, think that the dark synopsis was original, therefore intriguing. I did not want to be lame and judge a book by its cover, so I started reading it. Long story short, I could not put this book down. This novel was a refreshing departure from the market-driven YA books that I have been […]

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. […]

A Murder in Time (Kendra Donovan #1) by Julie McElwain

January 7, 2017 0 Comments Regina

Does the cover of this book not beckon you to read it!? Yes, I will admit, I judged this book by its cover. I am glad I read the story synopsis and thought it sounded rad as well. This would be a great book to use that Christmas book money on or gift to your bibliophile friends who love murder mysteries, feminist fiction, Doctor Who, and Sherlock Holmes. Strong female lead? Check. Action? Check. Time […]

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 […]

Midnight in St. Petersburg by Vanora Bennett

January 22, 2016 0 Comments Regina

“Bennett’s sophisticated grasp of historical realities and psychological complexity gives power and depth to what might easily have been a clichéd romance.” – Sunday Times First, let me help you set the mood before starting this sweeping story of revolution, music, and romance. Do yourself a favor and Spotify or buy Anna Netrebko’s Russian Album to steep this reading experience in even more magic. Netrebko brings such rich, velvety tones and mastery of subject matter […]

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 […]

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

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 […]

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!!!

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

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 […]

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

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 […]

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 […]

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2015

January 27, 2015 0 Comments Regina

This year, I’ve decided to join a ”Reading Challenge”, and my challenge of choice is the 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by the lovely blog, Passages to the Past. I read a good amount of Historical Fiction and Historical Biography outside of the Young Adult/Adult Fiction I usually blog about, and I decided this year I want to blog about EVERYTHING I read that I feel inspired to share my views on. I’m an eclectic […]

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

December 31, 2014 2 Comments Regina

It’s almost been a year since I read this book, but I can’t let the New Year ring in without reviewing it because A Mad, Wicked Folly was one of my FAVE books of 2014. Imagine the lush world created in 1998’s Titanic film or the luxurious settings of PBS’s Downton Abbey, and you have the story world of A Mad, Wicked Folly. As if that isn’t enough to make someone run to their nearest […]

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 […]

NOBLE NOVEMBER: Gilt by Katherine Longshore

November 11, 2013 3 Comments Regina

Jewels, and Bitches, and Boys! Oh, my! If you have watched HBO’s The Tudors, or nurse a love for English history (as do I), than you have probably been drawn to the Gilt, Tarnish, and Brazen books by Katherine Longshore. The stunning covers on the most recent editions of these books invoke a sense of richness and luxury reserved for kings and queens. I appreciate the hours and hard work spent on Katherine’s part to […]

Stars in September: Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub

September 30, 2013 0 Comments Regina

Melinda Taub’s Still Star-Crossed is full of bloody brawls, Princess Bride style adventure, chivalrous rescues, and Bard-level story crafting. It definitely put me in the mood to re-watch Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. The Main Players: Rosaline- Romeo’s prior infatuation Prince Escalus- Prince of Verona Benvolio- R0meo’s kinsman Livia- Rosaline’s younger sister Paris- Juliet’s intended before Romeo For the past 15 years of my life, I have DESPISED Rosaline. Ever since I saw Leonardo DiCaprio […]