Belle Époque Paris. Three words that will sell me on a book in a heartbeat. The opulence of fashion and architecture. The richness of artistic and intellectual life. The idea of “The Salon” and sparkling soirees that lasted until the morning sun lit the sky a color to match the Perrier Jouet in party-goers crystal flutes. BELLE EPOQUE PARIS. YES. The setting of Girl in the Afternoon lived up to my expectations of Paris […]
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 […]
As one customer aptly put it in her review on Amazon, “Reading this book is a GREAT idea.” I concur. If you are like me and have never had the pleasure of visiting Paris, then you probably have a stack of travel books and travel fiction as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Not to mention ones with the word “Paris” in the title. Queue my NON-reluctance to read JUST ONE MORE book set among the […]
If you’re like me, a Summer Vacation, or any kind of real vacation, is out of reach on a seasonal basis. Between paying for school, paying the bills, paying for my zoo, and just plain paying to live (the daily grind kind), I’m lucky if I have enough cash to go on a road trip from Houston to Austin. So, naturally, I spend all of the disposable income I just denied having on books that […]
I’ve read a lot of not-so-good reviews for this book but I don’t care…. This book was SMOKIN’ HOT and very entertaining. It’s giving me hot flashes just remembering back to when I read it last month. Holy hell. Aleksei “The Siberian” Sevastyan puts Christian Grey and his Red Room to shame. Grad Student, Natalie Porter, and her search to find out about her Birth Parents leads her in to the Russian Mafiya. All The […]
I REALLY HATE to admit this, but…….. TheLovelyandTheLostisEVENBETTERthanTheBeautifulandTheCursed!!$!!#! THIS. BOOK. Ohmawgawd. Okay, calming myself down now. Time to review like the civilized bibliophile that I am. *coughs* You can check out my review of TB&TC (The Dispossessed #1) and Marco’s Story (The Dispossessed #.5) here and here. This review will be SPOILER FREE for those who have not been lucky enough to read The Beautiful and The Cursed yet. I’m glad I read […]
A week before her big wedding, Mia Devine’s fiance, Tucker, calls off their wedding with a text from VEGAS. Which in my opinion was probably the best thing to happen to her..as he has a thing against oral sex and body fluids. Also, it seems like he was the kind of guy who is “Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am. I’m sorry you didn’t get off but I must go take a shower because I’m a […]
Frenched by Melanie Harlow Release Date: March 18th, 2014 Goodreads: Add to your bookshelf Buy Now: Amazon Mia Devine plans over-the-top weddings for a living. So when it comes to her own nuptials, she spares no expense—hand engraved invitations, Vera Wang gown, luxury honeymoon in France. And since her fiancé is Tucker Branch, playboy heir to one of Detroit’ s oldest fortunes, local media is obsessed with every little detail. Which is why it really sucks when he […]
Let them eat cake….. AND DIE!!! [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://mereadalot.com/muzak/02%20-%20Heads%20Will%20Roll.mp3″] (
I’ m the author of The Beautiful & The Cursed, a young adult novel about two sisters who, on their mission to find their missing brother, discover a veiled world of gargoyles and demons in the city of Paris. I’ m currently writing the second and third novels in this series, which saps most of my brainpower. I live in New England with my husband and our three children, along with our ancient dog and arrogant […]
Page Morgan had me at Sangiovese. If you haven’t read the first book in this series by Page Morgan, The Beautiful and the Cursed, then you can check out my review of it here. This short and satisfying novella had me ready to leave my house and go buy some wine and cheese to enjoy it with. I was intoxicated with the story by the first page. Marco is Italian. I LOVE all things Italian. […]
The thought of reading a New Adult novel strikes up an image of me reading under my covers with the darkness of night to shield me. The few that I have read in the past seemed to be heavy on smut, and light on story and character development. I haven’t been a particular fan of the genre, or sought out any of these books to read for enjoyment. One thing I do seek out for […]
“You’re my human.” Can I really be attracted to a gargoyle? That was the question I asked myself while debating whether or not to read this book. The mention of gargoyles struck up cemented images in my head of hog-nosed, crumbling stone creatures ready to tumble-down from their lofty perch and end me. Then, the memory of The Gargoyles cartoon from a decade ago hit me like a ton of bricks, and I recalled how […]