Category: 8.5/10

#BookReview Death of a Showman by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #DeathofaShowman #MariahFredericks #JanePrescottSeries #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Death of a Showman by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #DeathofaShowman #MariahFredericks #JanePrescottSeries #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Death of a Showman

Author: Mariah Fredericks

Series: Jane Prescott #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Apr. 13, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In Mariah Fredericks’s Death of a Showman, the fourth in this absorbing series set in Gilded Age New York, lady’s maid Jane Prescott is thrust into the world of show business, where a killer is stalking Broadway.

It is the summer of 1914 and lady’s maid Jane Prescott is back in New York with the Tylers after a glittering society wedding in Europe. On their return, Jane learns another wedding has taken place. Her old dancing partner, Leo Hirschfeld, has married a chorus girl in his new Broadway musical.

Jane and Louise Tyler are pulled into the sparkling and scandalous world of Broadway, as a star struck Louise invests in Leo’s show, and Jane chaperones her at rehearsals. But behind the glittering facade of the theater, there are rivalries, secret romances, and some very dodgy business practices. When the show’s abusive producer, Sidney Warburton, is murdered, the list of suspects is long. Was it the comedic star or her gambler boyfriend? The disgruntled costume designer? The beautiful, blond dancer, her jealous husband? Or was it Leo himself, who had more reason than anyone to hate Sidney Warburton?

As the First World war looms in the distance, Jane and tabloid reporter Michael Behan must strip back the masks of these consummate performers before one of them kills again.

Review:

Whimsical, suspenseful, and compelling!

Death of a Showman is an amusing, nuanced, surprising tale that takes you back to Manhattan during 1914 and into the life of lady’s maid Jane Prescott who, after spending a year in Europe, returns to find her former dance partner and potential paramour, Leo Hirschfield married and rehearsing a new Broadway musical, a show that ends up with more problems than just money woes when the producer suddenly turns up dead, and everyone behind the curtain seems to have a motive for murder.

The prose is vivid and authentic. The characters are astute, multi-layered, and likeable. And the plot develops nicely and has just the right mix of misdirection, deduction, clues, suspects, mishaps, drama, and murder.

Overall, Death of a Showman is a light, quick, enjoyable tale by Fredericks that I thoroughly enjoyed, and that is without a doubt another satisfying addition to the Jane Prescott series.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Mariah Fredericks

Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives with her family. She is the author of several YA novels. Death of an American Beauty is her third novel to feature ladies' maid Jane Prescott.

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#BookReview The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian @KellyMustian @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheGirlsintheStiltHouse #KellyMustian #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian @KellyMustian @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheGirlsintheStiltHouse #KellyMustian #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Girls in the Stilt House

Author: Kelly Mustian

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Apr. 6, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Set in 1920s Mississippi, this debut Southern novel weaves a beautiful and harrowing story of two teenage girls cast in an unlikely partnership through murder—perfect for readers of Where the Crawdads Sing and If the Creek Don’t Rise.

Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.

Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she’s holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.

As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.

Review:

Gritty, immersive, and powerful!

The Girls in the Stilt House is a captivating, moving tale that sweeps you away to the heat, humidity and stickiness of the 1920s Mississippi swamplands and into the lives of two teenage girls, Ada Morgan, a young white girl, pregnant and alone, who with nowhere else to turn reluctantly returns home to a sadistic father with a penchant for cruelty, and Matilda Patterson, the black daughter of a sharecropper who spends her time writing of the ongoing prejudice and poverty found in the south while dreaming of moving to the north, two girls from completely different backgrounds who after a moment of shared violence are bound together forever.

The prose is eloquent and descriptive. The characters are raw, tormented, and fragile. And the plot is a heart-tugging tale of life, love, violence, hardship, terror, racism, dreams, resilience, loss, hope, redemption, and survival.

The Girls in the Stilt House is a perceptive, compelling, fabulous debut by Mustian that is an excellent reminder that compassion, kindness, and strength come in many forms that ultimately transcend socioeconomics, skin colour, and the deepest, darkest of realities.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kelly Mustian

Kelly Mustian grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, the southern terminus of the historic Natchez Trace. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and commercial magazines, and her short fiction has won a Blumenthal Writers and Readers Series Award. She is a past recipient of a Regional Artist Grant from the North Carolina Arts and Science Council. Kelly currently lives with her family near the foothills of North Carolina. The Girls in the Stilt House is her debut novel.

Photo by Rachelle Thompson.

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#BookReview The London House by Katherine Reay @Katherine_Reay @harpermusebooks @BookSparks #TheLondonHouse #KatherineReay #FallPopUp

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#BookReview The London House by Katherine Reay @Katherine_Reay @harpermusebooks @BookSparks #TheLondonHouse #KatherineReay #FallPopUp Title: The London House

Author: Katherine Reay

Published by: Harper Muse on Nov. 2, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: BookSparks

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britain’s World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.

Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried for decades: In World War II, Caroline’s British great-aunt betrayed family and country to marry her German lover.

Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.

Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.

In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart.

Review:

Captivating, immersive, and mysterious!

The London House is an uplifting, pensive tale that sweeps you away to England and Paris during WWII, as well as present-day London, and into the lives of the Payne family as they delve into all the strained relationships and enduring secrets, loss, tears, wounds, misery, grief, and anger that has surrounded them for generations.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are complex, scarred, and authentic. And the plot is a sweeping saga filled with familial drama, introspection, love, loss, life, family, friendship, mystique, heartbreak, romance, secrets, hope, passion, sisterhood, as well as a little insight into some of the iconic fashion produced by the house of Schiaparelli over the years.

Overall, The London House is an informative, romantic, alluring tale by Reay that does an exceptional job of highlighting the incredible impact war had on the personal lives of those it touched both at home and away and the significant contribution women played during those dark and tumultuous times.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to BookSparks for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Katherine Reay

Katherine Reay is a writer, wife, mom, continually rehabbing runner, compulsive vacuumist and a horrific navigator…

She graduated from Northwestern University and earned an MS in Marketing from Northwestern as well. She then worked in marketing and development before returning to graduate school for a Masters of Theological Studies. Moves to Texas, England, Ireland and Washington left that degree unfinished as Katherine spent her time unpacking, raising kids, volunteering, writing, and exploring new storylines and new cities.

The Reay family (with a great sense of permanency) now resides outside Chicago, and Katherine pursues writing with more focus. She writes character-driven stories and non-fiction that focuses upon examining the past and how it influences our present experiences.

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#BookReview Pippo and Clara by Diana Rosie @Diwrite @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #PippoandClara #DianaRosie

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#BookReview Pippo and Clara by Diana Rosie @Diwrite @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #PippoandClara #DianaRosie Title: Pippo and Clara

Author: Diana Rosie

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Oct. 19, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A story about family and fate – and how so much of our lives hinges on chance.

A country torn apart by war. Two siblings divided by fate.

Italy, 1938. Mussolini is in power and war is not far away . . .

Clara and Pippo are just children: quiet, thoughtful Clara is the older sister, Pippo the younger brother is forever chatting. The family has only recently arrived in the city carrying their few possessions.

When Mamma goes missing early one morning, both Clara and Pippo go in search of her. Clara turns right; Pippo, left.

As a result of the choices they make that morning, their lives will be changed forever.

Diana Rosie’s Pippo and Clara tells the story of a family and a country divided. But will Clara and Pippo – and their mother – find each other again?

Review:

Moving, tragic, and absorbing!

Pippo and Clara is a bittersweet, family saga that sweeps you away to Italy in the late 1930s when Italy was full of unrest and upheaval not only due to the war being waged on the fields of Europe and getting closer to its borders by the day under Mussolini rule, but in their own countryside where simmering anger, questions of patriotism, and ongoing tension between supporters of communism and fascism was quickly coming to a head.

The prose is rich and smooth. The two main characters Clara and Pippo are lost, strong, and resilient. And the plot told from alternating points of view is an engaging tale filled with life, loss, friendship, familial drama, tragedy, heartbreak, separation, war, survival, and political unrest.

Overall, Pippo and Clara is a thought-provoking, informative, gripping story by Rosie that reminds us that often the choices we make have far-reaching consequences and has just the right amount of intrigue, colourful history, and heart-tugging emotion to be exceptionally pleasing to lovers, like myself, of historical fiction.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

               

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Diana Rosie

Diana Rosie has been a tour guide in South America, a designer in Hong Kong, an Olympics volunteer in London and an advertising copywriter all over the place.
Diana now writes books in a country cottage where she lives with a husband, two children and a big dog.
She is thinking of buying some noise cancelling
headphones.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Meant to Be My Cowboy by R.C. Ryan @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2021 #RCRyan #MeanttoBeMyCowboy #WranglersofWyoming

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#BookReview Meant to Be My Cowboy by R.C. Ryan @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2021 #RCRyan #MeanttoBeMyCowboy #WranglersofWyoming Title: Meant to Be My Cowboy

Author: R.C. Ryan

Series: Wranglers of Wyoming #3

Published by: Forever on Aug. 24, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 329

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A woman on the run must trust her family’s sworn enemy in this thrilling tale by one of the best in cowboy romance.

The cowboy she can’t have . . . is the one she can’t resist.

Annie Dempsey has two rules for her new life in Devil’s Door, Wyoming: no romance and no drama. Fresh off a bad breakup, she’s already avoiding love. And as long as she steers clear of the Merrick clan—her family’s sworn enemies—avoiding drama won’t be a problem. But when a charming stranger steps in to protect Annie from a sudden threat, both her rules fly out the door. Because Annie’s mystery hero . . . is a Merrick.

Jonah Merrick won’t allow anyone—even a Dempsey—to be harmed on his watch. It doesn’t hurt that sweet, gorgeous Annie makes his heart beat like never before. Against his family’s objections, Jonah insists Annie hide out with him at his ranch while they try to outwit a dangerous pursuer. But as the days turn into weeks, Jonah realizes he’ll stop anyone who tries to harm Annie . . . or the loving future they’re building together.

Review:

Suspenseful, appealing, and sweet!

Meant to Be My Cowboy is a warm, lighthearted tale that takes you back to Devil’s Door, Wyoming, and into the lives of Annie Dempsey, a young woman on the run from her dangerous ex who isn’t content to just let her flee with all his secrets, and the reliable, attentive, Jonah Merrick who’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect this newcomer who has stolen his heart even if she is a member of the detested Dempsey family.

The prose is crisp and tight. The characters are intriguing, multilayered, and persistent. And the plot is an enticing mix of family, friendship, danger, drama, instant attraction, sizzling chemistry, smouldering tension, and delicious heat.

Overall, Meant to Be My Cowboy is a passionate, sinister, entertaining tale by Ryan that has all the elements you look for in a western, romantic suspense novel, and even though it’s the third book in the Wranglers of Wyoming series, it is more than enjoyable as a standalone novel.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Forever & Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About R.C. Ryan

New York Times bestselling author R.C. Ryan has written more than a hundred novels, both contemporary and historical. Quite an accomplishment for someone who, after her fifth child started school, gave herself the gift of an hour a day to follow her dream to become a writer.

In a career spanning more than thirty years, Ms. Ryan has given hundreds of radio, television, and print interviews across the country and Canada and has been quoted in such diverse publications as the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan. She has also appeared on CNN News and Good Morning America.

R.C. Ryan is a pseudonym of New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ryan Langan.

Photograph by Jennifer Berry/Studio 16.

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#BookReview Mistletoe Season by Michelle Major @michelle_major1 @KayePublicity @HarlequinBooks #MistletoeSeason #MichelleMajor #CarolinaGirls

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#BookReview Mistletoe Season by Michelle Major @michelle_major1 @KayePublicity @HarlequinBooks #MistletoeSeason #MichelleMajor #CarolinaGirls Title: Mistletoe Season

Author: Michelle Major

Series: Carolina Girls #2

Published by: HQN Books on Oct. 26, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 288

Format: Paperback

Source: Kaye Publicity

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Spend the holidays in Magnolia, North Carolina, where two lonely hearts find exactly what they need for Christmas.

Anji Guilardi needs a man for Christmas—at least, according to her mother. What she really needs is to grow her fledgling catering business. Partnering with Magnolia’s Wildflower Inn holds promise, but when her mother falls ill, Anji’s drawn back to the responsibility of the family restaurant. Balancing work and her eight-year-old son, she has no time for romance…until Anji runs into Gabriel Carlyle.

Temporarily helping at his grandmother’s flower shop, Gabriel doesn’t plan to stick around, especially after he bumps into Anji, one of his childhood bullies. Sure, she’s all grown up and gorgeous now, and when they find themselves under the mistletoe, their chemistry is undeniable. But it’ll take more than a Christmas miracle for Anji to break through the defenses of Gabriel’s well-guarded heart and find a love built to last.

Review:

Stirring, compassionate, and charming!

Mistletoe Season is a heartfelt, magical tale that takes you to Magnolia, North Carolina and into the life of the overwhelmed, single parent Angi Guilardi as she juggles the family restaurant, her mother’s recuperation, a catering career she is truly passionate about, a son who seems to be the target of some nasty bullying, and an unexpected attraction to the man she turned her back on all those years ago, Gabriel Carlyle.

The prose is smooth and sweet. The characters are anxious, hardworking, and tentative. And the plot is a delightful tale of life, loss, love, drama, family, friendship, community, self-discovery, parenthood, strength, acceptance, undeniable chemistry, happiness, and moving on.

Overall, Mistletoe Season is another winsome, uplifting, cosy tale by Major that’s a lovely addition to the Carolina Girls series with its endearing characters, heartening storyline, and festive cheer.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Kaye Publicity for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Michelle Major

Michelle Major grew up in Ohio but dreamed of living in the mountains. Soon after graduating with a degree in Journalism, she pointed her car west and settled in Colorado. Her life and house are filled with one great husband, two beautiful kids, a few furry pets and several well-behaved reptiles. She’s grateful to have found her passion writing stories with happy endings.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge @colleengleason @KensingtonBooks #MurderatMallowanHall #ColleenCambridge

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#BookReview Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge @colleengleason @KensingtonBooks #MurderatMallowanHall #ColleenCambridge Title: Murder at Mallowan Hall

Author: Colleen Cambridge

Series: Phyllida Bright Mystery #1

Published by: Kensington Books on Oct. 26, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Kensington Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The first in an exciting new historical mystery series set in the home of Agatha Christie!

Colleen Cambridge’s charming and inventive new historical series introduces an unforgettable heroine in Phyllida Bright, fictional housekeeper for none other than famed mystery novelist Agatha Christie. When a dead body is found during a house party at the home of Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan, it’s up to famous author’s head of household, Phyllida Bright, to investigate…

Tucked away among Devon’s rolling green hills, Mallowan Hall combines the best of English tradition with the modern conveniences of 1930. Housekeeper Phyllida Bright, as efficient as she is personable, manages the large household with an iron fist in her very elegant glove. In one respect, however, Mallowan Hall stands far apart from other picturesque country houses…

The manor is home to archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife, Agatha Christie. Phyllida is both loyal to and protective of the crime writer, who is as much friend as employer. An aficionado of detective fiction, Phyllida has yet to find a gentleman in real life half as fascinating as Mrs. Agatha’s Belgian hero, Hercule Poirot. But though accustomed to murder and its methods as frequent topics of conversation, Phyllida is unprepared for the sight of a very real, very dead body on the library floor…

A former Army nurse, Phyllida reacts with practical common sense–and a great deal of curiosity. It soon becomes clear that the victim arrived at Mallowan Hall under false pretenses during a weekend party. Now, Phyllida not only has a houseful of demanding guests on her hands–along with a distracted, anxious staff–but hordes of reporters camping outside. When another dead body is discovered–this time, one of her housemaids–Phyllida decides to follow in M. Poirot’s footsteps to determine which of the Mallowans’ guests is the killer. With help from the village’s handsome physician, Dr. Bhatt, Mr. Dobble, the butler, along with other household staff, Phyllida assembles the clues. Yet, she is all too aware that the killer must still be close at hand and poised to strike again. And only Phyllida’s wits will prevent her own story from coming to an abrupt end…

Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and delightfully entertaining!

Murder at Mallowan Hall is a clue-like murder mystery set in England at the home of Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie during the 1930s that features Phyllida Bright, a housekeeper extraordinaire who, after stumbling upon the body of a last-minute, previously uninvited guest to the manor, and with a lack of confidence in the local Constable and Scotland Yard inspector sent to investigate the case, endeavours to solve not just one, but ultimately two murders by using her knowledge and love of Hercule Poirot and a little extra help from some of the other members of staff.

The prose is descriptive and light. The characters, including the intelligent, independent heroine, are multi-layered, intriguing, and well-developed. And the plot is a well-paced whodunit full of red herrings, suspects, amateur sleuthing, deduction, attraction, and of course, a touch of the unexpected.

Murder at Mallowan Hall is the first book in the Phyllida Bright Mystery series, and if you love historical mysteries, this one won’t disappoint. It’s an entertaining, cosy, satisfying debut by Cambridge, and I can guarantee I will definitely be keeping my eye out for book number two.

 

This novel is available now.

Preorder now from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links!

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Kensington Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Colleen Cambridge

Colleen Cambridge is a pseudonym for a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than eight languages. She lives in the Midwest and is hard at work on her next novel.

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#BookReview Sisters of the Great War by Suzanne Feldman @suzanne21702 @HarlequinBooks #SistersoftheGreatWar #SuzanneFeldman #MiraBooks #HTPBooks

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#BookReview Sisters of the Great War by Suzanne Feldman @suzanne21702 @HarlequinBooks #SistersoftheGreatWar #SuzanneFeldman #MiraBooks #HTPBooks Title: Sisters of the Great War

Author: Suzanne Feldman

Published by: MIRA on Oct. 26, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Harlequin Trade Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Inspired by real women, this powerful novel tells the story of two unconventional American sisters who volunteer at the front during World War I

August 1914. While Europe enters a brutal conflict unlike any waged before, the Duncan household in Baltimore, Maryland, is the setting for a different struggle. Ruth and Elise Duncan long to escape the roles that society, and their controlling father, demand they play. Together, the sisters volunteer for the war effort–Ruth as a nurse, Elise as a driver.

Stationed at a makeshift hospital in Ypres, Belgium, Ruth soon confronts war’s harshest lesson: not everyone can be saved. Rising above the appalling conditions, she seizes an opportunity to realize her dream to practice medicine as a doctor. Elise, an accomplished mechanic, finds purpose and an unexpected kinship within the all-female Ambulance Corps. Through bombings, heartache and loss, Ruth and Elise cherish an independence rarely granted to women, unaware that their greatest challenges are still to come.

Illuminating the critical role women played in the Great War, this is a remarkable story of resilience, sacrifice and the bonds that can never be vanquished.

Review:

Immersive, evocative, and affecting!

Sisters of the Great War is an alluring tale set in German-Occupied Belgium and France during WWI that follows two American sisters, Ruth, a nurse who yearns to be a surgeon, and Elise, a mechanic with unprecedented skills with an engine, as they head to the front lines to help transport, heal, and save as many lives as possible in a landscape littered with blood, tears, ashes, ruins, and lost men.

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are dependable, courageous, and resilient. And the plot is a moving tale of life, loss, self-discovery, heartbreak, determination, hope, loyalty, tragedy, survival, friendship, love, and wartime medicine.

Overall, Sisters of the Great War is an emotive, rich, absorbing tale by Feldman that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be enthralled and fully invested from start to finish.

 

This novel is available on October 26, 2021.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Suzanne Feldman for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Suzanne Feldman

Suzanne Feldman, a recipient of the Missouri Review Editors' Prize and a finalist for the Bakeless Prize in fiction, holds an MA in fiction from Johns Hopkins University and a BFA in art from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her short fiction has appeared in Narrative, The Missouri Review, Gargoyle, and other literary journals. She lives in Frederick, Maryland.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Girls With Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier & Wendy Katzman @Sourcebooks @katzndobs @sbkslandmark #GirlsWithBrightFutures #KatznDobs #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview Girls With Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier & Wendy Katzman @Sourcebooks @katzndobs @sbkslandmark #GirlsWithBrightFutures #KatznDobs #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: Girls With Bright Futures

Author: Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Feb. 2, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Three women. Three daughters. And a promise that they’ll each get what they deserve.

College admissions season at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Academy is marked by glowing acceptances from top-tier institutions, and students as impressive as their parents are ambitious. But when Stanford alerts the school it’s allotting only one spot to EBA for their incoming class, three mothers discover the competition is more cutthroat than they could have imagined.

Tech giant Alicia turns to her fortune and status to fight for her reluctant daughter’s place at the top. Kelly, a Stanford alum, leverages her PTA influence and insider knowledge to bulldoze the path for her high-strung daughter. And Maren makes three: single, broke, and ill-equipped to battle the elite school community aligning to bring her superstar daughter down.

That’s when, days before applications are due, one of the girls suffers a near-fatal accident, one that doesn’t appear to be an accident at all.

As the community spirals out of control, three women will have to decide what lines they’re willing to cross to secure their daughters’ futures…and keep buried the secrets that threaten to destroy far more than just college dreams.

Review:

Menacing, intricate, and shrewd!

Girls With Bright Futures is a sinister tale that introduces us to Marin Presley, a hardworking, single mother who, after struggling to put clothes on their back, is proud to have been able to have her daughter, now a senior, attend the prestigious, competitive Elliott Bay Academy. But when her daughter, Winnie, is the victim of a hit-and-run, and the one covetous spot left up for grabs at Stanford seems to have been the cause, secrets begin crawling out of the woodwork, and at least three families will be irrevocably changed forever.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are driven, secretive, and aggressive. And the plot told from multiple perspectives unravels and intertwines effortlessly into a suspenseful tale of deception, manipulation, jealousy, secrets, power, privilege, revelations, gossip, innuendos, mayhem, and malicious behaviours.

Overall, Girls With Bright Futures is a tight, unpredictable, satisfying thrill ride by Dobmeier and Katzman that reminds us that a sense of entitlement and ruthless ambition can often be a dangerous combination and even though one might think this is an outrageously unbelievable plot, recent headlines, unfortunately, prove to differ, and for this mother of two college students, I’m happy to say my experience was definitely a little less dramatic.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for over 20 years. Their friendship has sustained them through the ups and downs of raising kids, juggling careers, and creating new family traditions. GIRLS WITH BRIGHT FUTURES, their debut novel, is a dark, suspenseful journey into the cutthroat world of college admissions that will release on February 2nd, 2021. Between the two of them, they have undergraduate degrees from Princeton University and the University of Michigan, a law degree from UC Berkeley, careers in marketing, non-profit leadership and biotechnology law, two husbands, and four kids (three of whom have survived the college admissions process without a single parent landing in jail).

Photo by Kristen Sycamore Photography.

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#BookReview Farewell Blues by Maggie Robinson @MaggieLRobinson @PPPress #FarewellBlues #MaggieRobinson #LadyAdelaideMystery #inkedinpoison

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#BookReview Farewell Blues by Maggie Robinson @MaggieLRobinson @PPPress #FarewellBlues #MaggieRobinson #LadyAdelaideMystery #inkedinpoison Title: Farewell Blues

Author: Maggie Robinson

Series: Lady Adelaide Mystery #4

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Sep. 14, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Lady Adelaide Compton had prepared herself to say good-bye forever to Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter. It would be a welcome relief not to get mixed up in any more murders. Not to mention become un-haunted by her late and unlamented husband Rupert, whose post-life duty had been dedicated to detection and her protection. Surely he’d performed the necessary number of good deeds to get out of Addie’s fashionably bobbed hair and gain access to Heaven by now.

But when Addie’s prim and proper mother Constance, the Dowager Marchioness of Broughton is accused of murdering her secret lover, there can’t be enough ghosts and gentlemen detectives on hand to find the truth. The dead Duke of Rufford appeared to lead a blameless life, but appearances can be deceiving. Unless Addie, Dev and Rupert work together, Constance will hang, and Great War flying ace Rupert will never get his celestial wings.

Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and delightfully entertaining!

In this latest novel by Robinson, Farewell Blues, we head back to 1920s London where widow Lady Adelaide Compton finds herself once again teaming up with her two trusty sidekicks, the handsome Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter and the ghost of her late philandering husband, Major Rupert Compton to find the real killer of the Duke of Rufford as quickly as possible in order to free her courtly mother, the Dowager Marchioness of Broughton, from gaol and save her from possibly hanging for the crime.

The writing style is vivid and light. The characters, including the intelligent, independent heroine, are well-developed, complex, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, scandalous behaviour, red herrings, suspects, deduction, and a little romance.

Farewell Blues is the fourth and final book in the Lady Adelaide Mystery series, and I have to admit it’s a little bittersweet to say goodbye to the characters we’ve come to know and love over these last four novels by Robinson. Nevertheless, if you love cosy mysteries that take you back in time to when social class was everything, forensics was almost nonexistent, and crimes could easily be solved by everyday snooping, stubborn determination, and shrewd reasoning, then this novel won’t disappoint, and this is definitely a series you’ll want to think about picking up.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Maggie Robinson

Maggie Robinson is a former teacher, library clerk and mother of four who woke up in the middle of the night, absolutely compelled to create the perfect man and use as many adverbs as possible doing so. A transplanted New Yorker, she lives with her not-quite perfect husband in Maine, where the cold winters are ideal for staying inside and writing hot historical romances and her latest venture, the Lady Adelaide Mysteries. Her books have been translated into nine languages.

She also wrote two erotic historical romances as Margaret Rowe.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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