Category: 9/10

#BookReview Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry @ambroseparry @canongatebooks @PGCBooks #VoicesoftheDead #RavenFisherSimpsonSeries #AmbroseParry #PGCBooks

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#BookReview Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry @ambroseparry @canongatebooks @PGCBooks #VoicesoftheDead #RavenFisherSimpsonSeries #AmbroseParry #PGCBooks Title: Voices of the Dead

Author: Ambrose Parry

Series: Raven Fisher and Simpson #4

Published by: Canongate Books Ltd on Sep. 26, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

EDINBURGH, 1853.
In a city of science, discovery can be deadly . . .

In a time of unprecedented scientific discovery, the public’s appetite for wonder has seen a resurgence of interest in mesmerism, spiritualism and other unexplained phenomena.

Dr Will Raven is wary of the shadowlands that lie between progress and quackery, but Sarah Fisher can’t afford to be so picky. Frustrated in her medical ambitions, she sees opportunity in a new therapeutic field not already closed off to women.

Raven has enough on his hands as it is. Body parts have been found at Surgeons’ Hall, and they’re not anatomy specimens. In a city still haunted by the crimes of Burke and Hare, he is tasked with heading off a scandal.

When further human remains are found, Raven is able to identify a prime suspect, and the hunt is on before he kills again. Unfortunately, the individual he seeks happens to be an accomplished actor, a man of a thousand faces and a renowned master of disguise.

With the lines between science and spectacle dangerously blurred, the stage is set for a grand and deadly illusion . . .

Review:

Atmospheric, absorbing, and intriguing!

Voices of the Dead is a mysterious, engaging tale that takes us back to Edinburgh during 1853 and into the lives of both Dr Will Raven, who finds a reprieve from family life when he is called to Surgeon’s Hall regarding the discovery of a severed foot and a missing professor, and Sarah Fisher who after stumbling into the world of mesmerism temporarily contemplates specializing in the field when her frustration over the fact her gender will never allow her to become the qualified doctor she wishes be has her looking for something more.

The prose is tense and tight. The characters are determined, reliable, and loyal. And the plot is a menacing tale full of twists, turns, revelations, insecurities, life, duty, friendship, misdirection, trickery, and murder.

Overall, Voices of the Dead is another complex, sophisticated, perilous tale in the Raven, Fisher, Simpson series by the Parry duo that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into a suspenseful mystery that is not only captivating but highly entertaining.

 

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ambrose Parry

Ambrose Parry is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. The couple are married and live in Scotland. Chris Brookmyre is the international bestselling and multi-award-winning author of over twenty novels. Dr Marisa Haetzman is a consultant anaesthetist of twenty years' experience, whose research for her Master's degree in the History of Medicine uncovered the material upon which this series, which begun with The Way of All Flesh, is based. The Way of all Flesh was longlisted for both the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year.

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#BookReview Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly @simonschuster @AvidReaderPress #Greta&Valdin #RebeccaKReilly #SimonSchuster

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#BookReview Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly @simonschuster @AvidReaderPress #Greta&Valdin #RebeccaKReilly #SimonSchuster Title: Greta & Valdin

Author: Rebecca K Reilly

Published by: Avid Reader Press on Feb. 6, 2024

Genres: General Fiction, LGBTQIA

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster

Book Rating: 9/10

For fans of Schitt’s Creek and Sally Rooney’s Normal People, an irresistible and bighearted international bestseller that follows a brother and sister as they navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and the dramas big and small of their entangled, unconventional family, all while flailing their way to love.

It’s been a year since his ex-boyfriend dumped him and moved from Auckland to Buenos Aires, and Valdin is doing fine. He has a good flat with his sister Greta, a good career where his colleagues only occasionally remind him that he is the sole Maaori person in the office, and a good friend who he only sleeps with when he’s sad. But when work sends him to Argentina and he’s thrown back in his former lover’s orbit, Valdin is forced to confront the feelings he’s been trying to ignore—and the future he wants.

Greta is not letting her painfully unrequited crush (or her possibly pointless master’s thesis, or her pathetic academic salary…) get her down. She would love to focus on the charming fellow grad student she meets at a party and her friendships with a circle of similarly floundering twenty-somethings, but her chaotic family life won’t stop her mother is keeping secrets, her nephew is having a gay crisis, and her brother has suddenly flown to South America without a word.

Sharp, hilarious, and with an undeniable emotional momentum that builds to an exuberant conclusion, Greta & Valdin careens us through the siblings’ misadventures and the messy dramas of their sprawling, eccentric Maaori-Russian-Catalonian family. An acclaimed bestseller in New Zealand, Greta & Valdin is fresh, joyful, and alive with the possibility of love in its many mystifying forms.

Review:

Fresh, deft, and exceptionally memorable!

Greta & Valdin is a tender, hopeful, intimate multi-generational story that delves into all the emotional bonds and intricate ties that exist between family members, especially two siblings, Greta and Valdin and immerses you in a tale about accepting the things you cannot change, following your heart, learning to heal, and embracing whatever comes next.

The prose is evocative and controlled. The characters are young, self-aware, and relatable. And the tightly crafted, witty plot, told from alternating perspectives, unfolds seamlessly, unravelling all the motivations, behaviours, personalities, desires, needs, insecurities, heartbreak, and complex relationships within it.

Overall, Greta & Valdin is a nuanced, atmospheric, uplifting debut by Reilly that does a remarkable job of highlighting all the universal struggles of navigating the world as an adult, acquiring self-confidence, forging friendships, experiencing love, and feeling entitled to be loved.

This novel is available February 6, 2024.

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

         

 

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rebecca K Reilly

Rebecca K Reilly (Ngaati Hine, Ngaati Rehua Ngaatiwai ki Aotea), born 1991, is a Maaori novelist from Waitaakere, New Zealand. She has a BA (hons) in German and European studies from the University of Auckland and an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for 2019.

Photograph by AMP Berry.

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#BookReview The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish @louise_candlish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOnlySuspect #LouiseCandlish #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish @louise_candlish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOnlySuspect #LouiseCandlish #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Only Suspect

Author: Louise Candlish

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Apr. 18, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

From the internationally bestselling author of The Other Passenger and The Heights comes a new explosive thriller about obsession and deadly secrets.

There’s the obvious story. And then there’s the truth.

Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife, Beth, in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most extroverted guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour.

That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades, and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread…

As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil.

And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed.

It still isn’t.

Review:

Gripping, twisty, and suspenseful!

The Only Suspect is a tortuous domestic thriller that transports you between present day and 1995 and into the lives of both Alex, a husband who seemingly has it all until the development of a local nature trail causes him to become stressed and more secretive and erratic, and Rick, a twenty-something young man enjoying the single life in Camden until he obsessively falls for an enigmatic woman who might not be exactly whom she appears to be.

The prose is tight and edgy. The characters are secretive, consumed, and troubled. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style, builds and unravels into a compelling tale full of drama, deception, lies, jealousy, obsession, manipulation, infidelity, and the complex, toxic relationship that can exist between friends.

Overall, The Only Suspect is a nostalgic, devious, unnerving page-turner by Candlish that does a wonderful job of keeping you guessing from start to finish and highlighting just how easily people can sometimes allow themselves to be psychologically and emotionally manipulated.

 

This book is available now.

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

      

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Louise Candlish

Louise Candlish is the Sunday Times (London) bestselling author of fourteen novels. Our House, a #1 bestseller, won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards, was longlisted for the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award. It is now in development for a major TV series with Red Planet Pictures, producers of Death in Paradise. Louise lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Photo by Jonny Ring.

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#BookReview Betting on You by Lynn Painter @LAPainter @simonkids @SimonSchusterCA #BettingonYou #LynnPainter #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Betting on You by Lynn Painter @LAPainter @simonkids @SimonSchusterCA #BettingonYou #LynnPainter #SimonSchusterCA Title: Betting on You

Author: Lynn Painter

Published by: Simon & Schuster BFYR on Nov. 28, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.

Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers—particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.

Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama—but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret—a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?

Review:

Sweet, tender, and light!

Betting On You is a humorous, quirky tale that takes you on a journey into the life of Bailey and Charlie, two teenagers who, after enduring a long flight from Alaska to Nebraska and an instant dislike, spend the next several years bumping into each other until they finally find themselves as coworkers and agreeing to a little fake dating that might prove once and for all enemies can be lovers and opposites do attract.

The writing is witty and smooth. The characters are hesitant, charming, and supportive. And the plot is a delightfully engaging mix of family, friendship, awkward situations, embarrassing moments, teenage angst, dreams, secrets, friendship, and love.

Overall, Betting On You is another cute, adorable, entertaining read by Painter that, as typical when I finish any of her books, has left me smitten, satisfied, and already longing for more.

 

This book is available now.

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

       

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lynn Painter

Lynn Painter lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband and pack of wild children. She’s a biweekly contributor to the Omaha World-Herald’s parenting section, even though she is the polar-opposite of a Pinterest mom. When she isn’t chasing kids, she can be found reading, writing, and shot-gunning Red Bulls.

Photo by Jackson Okun.

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#BookReview I Blame the Alcohol by Jade Everhart #IBlametheAlcohol #JadeEverhart #TaberTigerSeries #KindleUnlimited

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#BookReview I Blame the Alcohol by Jade Everhart #IBlametheAlcohol #JadeEverhart #TaberTigerSeries #KindleUnlimited Title: I Blame the Alcohol

Author: Jade Everhart

Series: Taber Tigers #2

Published by: Independently Published on Nov. 27, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult

Pages: 258

Format: Paperback

Source: Jade Everhart

Book Rating: 9/10

STELLA I’m not saying kissing the lacrosse captain was a bad idea, but it definitely wasn’t my best. To make things worse, my brother invited my gym buddy-turned-make-out partner to stay at our house over winter break. So now we are stuck together for the next 3 weeks with nothing but the top reason why we can’t be together keeping us company.

CODY If I can make it through this break without my mentor’s younger sister kicking me in the nuts, I will be overjoyed. That stubborn firecracker has become more of a distraction lately, and after that kiss, I knew I had to pump the breaks. Everything about our friendship borders on the edge of control, and right now, I’m flailing over the edge.

One tiny push and I’ll be done for.

Review:

Engaging, angsty, and sassy!

I Blame the Alcohol is a sweet, steamy college romance featuring the hunky, outgoing Cody, who is finding it harder and harder to keep from falling for his mentor’s younger sister, and the intelligent, feisty Stella, who knows what she wants she just needs to figure out how to get it.

The writing is honest and lighthearted. The characters are scarred, kind, and endearing. And the plot is an alluring blend of friendship, family, drama, emotion, attraction, heat, insecurities, self-discovery, happiness, taking chances, awkward moments, college antics, witty banter, and budding romance.

Overall, I Blame the Alcohol is a spirited, passionate, swoon-worthy addition to the Taber Tiger series by Everhart that will leave fans of New Adult novels delightfully satisfied and definitely hoping for more.

 

This novel is available now in paperback & on KINDLE UNLIMITED.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

 

Thank you to Jade Everhart for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jade Everhart

Jade Everhart writes heart-warming romances with flawed characters and laugh-out-loud banter. When she's not using her own terrible meet-cutes as inspiration for her next novel, Jade spends her time listening to loud music and tearing up dance floors from the prairies of Southern Alberta to the glistening beaches of Miami.

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#BookReview Past Lying by Val McDermid @valmcdermid @PGCBooks #PastLying #InspectorKarenPirie #ValMcDermid #PGCBooks

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#BookReview Past Lying by Val McDermid @valmcdermid @PGCBooks #PastLying #InspectorKarenPirie #ValMcDermid #PGCBooks Title: Past Lying

Author: Val McDermid

Series: Inspector Karen Pirie #7

Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press on Nov. 14, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 464

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

In this superb new addition to Val McDermid’s masterful crime series, DCI Karen Pirie returns in a propulsive thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet of a global pandemic

Britain’s reigning “Queen of Crime” (The Scotsman), Val McDermid is the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over thirty novels. The long-awaited seventh novel in the acclaimed series that has captivated audiences for twenty years, both on the page and now in the Edgar Award–nominated ITV/BritBox show, Past Lying is a full tilt novel of ego, retribution, deceit, and just how far one will go to settle the score.

It’s April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot—the streets all but empty, an hour’s outdoor exercise the maximum allowed—but a mere pandemic doesn’t mean crime takes a holiday. When a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie’s team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it’s game on again. At the center of it, a novel: two crime novelists facing off over a chessboard. But it quickly emerges that their real-life competition is drawing blood. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, and as Karen and her team attempt to disentangle fact from fiction, it becomes clear that their investigation is more complicated than they ever imagined.

A tense, atmospheric page-turner, Past Lying reaffirms McDermid as one of the most talented crime writers of her generation.

Review:

Sharp, intricate, and gripping!

Past Lying is a well-paced, enthralling police procedural that sees Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie and her HCU team investigating the case of a missing woman during the deserted streets of lockdown when an archivist stumbles on an unpublished manuscript of a recently deceased author that seems to represent life imitating art involving two authors and the perfect crime.

The writing is compelling and tight. The characters are intelligent, multilayered, and persistent. And the plot, set during the COVID pandemic, is an intense, mysterious tale filled with twists, turns, deception, infidelity, revenge, jealousy, red herrings, suspicious personalities, lies, secrets, deduction, greed, and murder.

Overall, Past Lying is another complex, intriguing, atmospheric addition to the Karen Pirie series by McDermid that ultimately left me surprised, engrossed, and undoubtedly confident that this is still a must-read series for me.

 

This book is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Val McDermid

Val McDermid is a No. 1 bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over eleven million copies.

She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2010. In 2011 she received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award.

She writes full time and divides her time between Cheshire and Edinburgh.

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#BookReview The Edge by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #The620ManSeries #TheEdge #GCPInsider

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#BookReview The Edge by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #The620ManSeries #TheEdge #GCPInsider Title: The Edge

Author: David Baldacci

Series: The 6:20 Man #2

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Nov. 14, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets—can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?
 
When CIA operative Jenny Sikwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, endanger the lives of countless operatives. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows just the chameleon they can call on.
 
Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine spent his time in the military preparing to take on any scenario, followed by his short-lived business career chasing shadows in the deepest halls of power, so his analytical mind makes him particularly well-suited for complex, high-stakes tasks. Taking down the world’s largest financial conspiracy proved his value, and in comparison, this case looks straightforward. Except small towns hold secrets and Devine finds himself an outsider again.
 
Devine must ingratiate himself with locals who have trusted each other their whole lives, and who distrust outsiders just as much. Dak, Jenny’s brother, who’s working to revitalize the town. Earl, the retired lobsterman who found Jenny’s body. And Alex, Jenny’s sister with a dark past of her own. As Devine gets to know the residents of Potter, Maine, answers seem to appear and then transform into more questions. There’s a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Leaving Devine with no idea who he can trust… and who wants him dead.

Review:

Dark, meticulous, and menacing!

The Edge is a fast-paced, addictive thriller that sees Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine heading to Maine to investigate the death of CIA operative Jenny Sikwell, but while it seems at first glance to be a straightforward case of murder, it quickly becomes apparent that something a lot more sinister is underway that has strong ties to the past and a ruthlessly vicious event that occurred more than decade ago.

The writing is edgy and crisp. The characters are secretive, multilayered, and persistent. And the plot is an intense, mysterious tale filled with twists, turns, mayhem, deception, suspicious personalities, lies, secrets, tragic loss, and murder.

David Baldacci has written some amazing characters over the years that I’ve absolutely loved, like Will Robbie and Jessica Reel, and now Travis Devine has easily joined that list. The Edge is a riveting, pacey, action-packed thrill ride that has just the right amount of suspense, well-drawn characterization, and creative storyline to make it a satisfying, highly entertaining addition to The 6:20 Man series that I honestly can’t get enough of.

This book is available now.

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

             

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

Photograph by Allen Jones.

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#BookReview Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2023 #NeverMetaDukeLikeYou #AmalieHoward #TamingoftheDukes

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#BookReview Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2023 #NeverMetaDukeLikeYou #AmalieHoward #TamingoftheDukes Title: Never Met a Duke Like You

Author: Amalie Howard

Series: Taming of the Dukes #2

Published by: Forever on Nov. 14, 2023

Genres: Historical Romance

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 9/10

Clueless meets Bridgerton in this spicy opposites-attract Regency romance from “a must-read author” (Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst is beautiful, clever, and popular. Afforded every luxury as a duke’s daughter, she fills her days with friends, intrigues, and a self-professed knack for matchmaking. She may have sworn off love for herself, but she is rather excellent at arranging it. 

Faced with an insolvent estate, the Duke of Greydon has no choice but to return to England in a final attempt to revive his family’s fortunes. He’s been gone for years, happy to have escaped his mother and the petty circles of the ton. To his dismay, not much has changed, including the beautiful and vexing heiress next door.  

But when an accident of fate traps the friends-turned-enemies in an attic together, the explosive attraction between them becomes impossible to ignore and even harder to resist. They are total opposites and their lives don’t align in the slightest, but fate, the ultimate matchmaker, appears to have other plans . . . 

Review:

Amusing, enticing, and adventurous!

Never Met a Duke Like You is a heartwarming, playful romp that sweeps you away to England and into the life of Lady Vesper Lyndhurst, a clever young woman who, although doesn’t believe in a happy ever after for herself, is more than happy to matchmake those around her even the dashingly handsome Duke of Greydon who once spurned her affections and broke her heart and who would much rather spend his day studying bones than wooing potential brides.

The prose is smooth and light. The characters are loyal, supportive, and endearing. And the plot is a delightfully enchanting tale full of friendship, family, societal expectations, tricky situations, tender moments, desire, and romance.

Overall, Never Met a Duke Like You is a fast-paced, passionate, highly entertaining read by Howard that is the second book in the Taming of the Dukes series and a novel that I absolutely adored.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

            

 

 

Thank you to Forever and Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amalie Howard

AMALIE HOWARD is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling novelist of “smart, sexy, deliciously feminist romance.” The Beast of Beswick was one of Oprah Daily’s Top 24 Best Historicals to Read. She is also the author of several critically acclaimed, award-winning young adult novels. An AAPI/Caribbean-born writer, her books, interviews, and articles have been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Oprah Daily, Seventeen, and Ravishly Magazine. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found reading, being the president of her one-woman Harley Davidson motorcycle club #WriteOrDie, or power-napping. She currently lives in Colorado with her family.

Photo by Kristoff Lutchman.

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#BookReview The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy @freethy @StMartinsPress #ThePorcelainMaker #SarahFreethy #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy @freethy @StMartinsPress #ThePorcelainMaker #SarahFreethy #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Porcelain Maker

Author: Sarah Freethy

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Nov. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

An epic story of love, betrayal, and art that spans decades, through the horrors of World War II to 21st century America, inspired by an actual porcelain factory in Dachau.

Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history.

A daughter’s search for the truth.

Germany, 1929. At a festive gathering of young bohemians in Weimar, two young artists, Max, a skilled Jewish architect, and Bettina, a celebrated avant-garde painter, are drawn to each other and begin a whirlwind romance. Their respective talents transport them to the dazzling lights of Berlin, but this bright beginning is quickly dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism. Max is arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where only his talent at making exquisite porcelain figures stands between him and seemingly certain death. Desperate to save her lover, Bettina risks everything to rescue him and escape Germany.

America, 1993. Clara, Bettina’s daughter, embarks on a journey to trace her roots and determine the identity of her father, a secret her mother has kept from her for reasons she’s never understood. Clara’s quest to piece together the puzzle of her origins transports us back in time to the darkness of Nazi Germany, where life is lived on a razor’s edge and deception and death lurk around every corner. Survival depends on strength, loyalty, and knowing true friend from hidden foe. And as Clara digs further, she begins to question why her mother was so determined to leave the truth of her harrowing past behind…

The Porcelain Maker is a powerful novel of enduring love and courage in the face of appalling brutality as a daughter seeks to unlock the mystery of her past.

Review:

Absorbing, sincere, and expressive!

The Porcelain Maker is a rich, engaging tale predominately set in Germany from the mid-1920s through WWII, as well as 1993, that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Bettina Vogel, a young woman who, through determination and resilience, uses her artistic talents to help the resistance and stay as close to the one she loves as she possibly can; and Clara Vogel, a middle-aged mother who, after her mother’s passing decides with the help of her daughter to embark on a journey to discover the true identity of her father who seems to have had a connection to the acclaimed porcelain maker of Dachau.

The prose is eloquent and well-turned. The characters are lonely, strong, and brave. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel seamlessly into a heartfelt saga of life, loss, secrets, surprises, separation, heartbreak, betrayal, desperation, tragedy, survival, danger, friendship, the horrors of war, and enduring love.

Overall, The Porcelain Maker is an evocative, sentimental, moving debut by Freethy with compelling characters that I devoured from start to finish and one which I highly recommend for anyone who loves a well-written WWII time-slip tale.

 

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 for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Freethy

SARAH FREETHY worked as a writer, script consultant, producer and development editor in television before turning her hand to fiction. THE PORCELAIN MAKER is her first novel. She lives in England with her family.

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#BookReview The Woman with a Purple Heart by Diane Hanks @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheWomanwithaPurpleHeart #DianeHanks #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Woman with a Purple Heart by Diane Hanks @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheWomanwithaPurpleHeart #DianeHanks #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Woman with a Purple Heart

Author: Diane Hanks

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Nov. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

Based on the real life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, The Woman with a Purple Heart is an inspiring WWII novel of heroic leadership, courage, and friendship that also exposes a shocking and shameful side of history.

Annie Fox will stop at nothing to serve her country. But what happens when her country fails her? In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army’s way of holding the door open to her retirement. But serving her country is her calling and she will go wherever she is told. On December 7, Annie’s on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low over Hickam’s Parade Ground.

The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what’s happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes.

Under Annie’s leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie’s friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. As Hickam tries to recover, Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie’s love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?

Review:

Poignant, informative, and incredibly absorbing!

The Woman with a Purple Heart is an intriguing tale that sweeps you away to the shores of Oahu and immerses you into the life of seasoned U.S. Army Nurse Corps Lieutenant Annie Fox as her knowledge, heart, strength, compassion and skills are all tested to the max when the Japanese unexpectedly rage war on Hickam Field and Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.

The prose is eloquent and vivid. The characters are complex, resilient, genuine, and endearing. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel subtly into a captivating tale of life, loss, family, heartbreak, secrets, betrayal, friendship, courage, determination, self-discovery, forced incarceration, racial prejudice, and the devastating consequences of war.

Overall, The Woman with a Purple Heart is an atmospheric, evocative, beautifully written novel by Hanks about a remarkable woman that grabs you from the very first page and does an exceptional job of blending historical facts with fiction that’s both moving and wonderfully captivating.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Diane Hanks

Diane Hanks has a BFA in Creative Writing from Roger Williams University and an MA in Professional Writing & Publishing from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. A medical writer by day, she has written numerous screenplays and recently returned to her first love—writing novels. Diane also is a mentor for the Writers Guild Initiative, which makes the art of storytelling accessible to underserved populations. When not writing, she enjoys walking by the river near her home.

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