Publisher: Berkley

#BookTour #BookReview A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen @BerkleyPub @Austenprose #VioletTaffeta #TessaArlen #AustenprosePR

#BookTour #BookReview A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen @BerkleyPub @Austenprose #VioletTaffeta #TessaArlen #AustenprosePR Title: A Dress of Violet Taffeta

Author: Tessa Arlen

Published by: Berkley on July 5, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Austenprose PR

Book Rating: 9/10

A sumptuous novel based on the fascinating true story of La Belle Époque icon Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, who shattered the boundaries of fashion with her magnificently sensual and enchantingly unique designs.

Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, and texture in ways few people can begin to imagine. But is the male dominated world of haute couture, who would use her art for their own gain, ready for her?
 
When she is deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is left penniless with an aging mother and her five-year-old daughter to support. Desperate to survive, Lucy turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her creative designs and her remarkable eye for color to take her place in the fashion world—failure is not an option. 
 
Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic. She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her fashion label Lucile, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucy will live on as a trailblazing and innovative fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn.


Review:

Fascinating, rich, and insightful!

A Dress of Violet Taffeta is an enchanting, beautifully written interpretation that sweeps you away to England between 1893 and 1912 and into the life of Lucy Christiana Sutherland from her disastrous first marriage and subsequent divorce to James Stuart Wallace, her rise and fame as an international fashion designer, her courtship and second marriage to Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon, and her survival of one of the most famous, tragic accidents of the twentieth century, the sinking of the Titanic.

The prose is eloquent and expressive.  The characters are hardworking, innovative, and independent. And the plot is an absorbing tale of life, love, friendship, family, determination, passion, courage, survival, and the ins and outs of dressmaking in the early 1900s. 

Overall, A Dress of Violet Taffeta is a vivid, immersive, intriguing novel by Arlen that does an exceptional job of highlighting her impressive knowledge and considerable research into this renowned iconic figure whose ingenuity, life, and hard work had a tremendous impact on the world of fashion.

 

           

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Austenprose PR for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tessa Arlen

Tessa Arlen writes historical fiction when she is not toiling away in her garden. She is the author of the Edwardian mystery series: Lady Montfort and Mrs. Jackson; the Woman of World War II mystery series. Poppy Redfern. And two standalone historical novels: In Royal Service to the Queen, and A Dress of Violet Taffeta.

 

#BookReview A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones @Darynda @smpromance @StMartinsPress #SunshineVicram #smpromance

#BookReview A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones @Darynda @smpromance @StMartinsPress #SunshineVicram #smpromance Title: A Bad Day for Sunshine

Author: Darynda Jones

Series: Sunshine Vicram #1

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Apr. 7, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Romantic Suspense

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose.

Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, its strong cups of coffee—and a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff–an election her adorably meddlesome parents entered her in–and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of it’s reminding Sunny why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that trouble at her daughter’s new school and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and Sunshine has her hands full.

Enter sexy almost-old-flame Levi Ravinder and a hunky US Marshall, both elevens on a scale of one to blazing inferno, and the normally savvy sheriff is quickly in over her head. Now it’s up to Sunshine to juggle a few good hunky men, a not-so-nice kidnapping miscreant, and Doug the ever-pesky flasher. And they said coming home would be drama-free.


Review:

Quirky, clever, suspenseful, and outrageously funny!

A Bad Day for Sunshine is a sexy, compelling read that transports you to Del Sol, New Mexico, where strange and unusual things are known to happen, and new police chief, Sunshine Vicram, is having quite the first day with a runaway vehicle, a missing teenage girl, a lost, special needs boy, the kidnapping of a valuable rooster, as well as the unexpected presence of her unrequited love interest and the haunting memories of a past she’d like to forget.

The prose is witty and sharp. The characters are unique, multilayered, and endearing. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel quickly into a humourous, yet thrilling tale filled with family, friendship, heartbreak, secrets, jealousy, obsession, mystique, violence, spirited hijinks, hilarious mishaps, and small-town antics.

Overall, A Bad Day for Sunshine is an intricate, fresh, edgy mystery that kept me entertained and amused from the very first page. It’s the first novel I’ve read by Jones, but based on this creative, fantastic start to this new Sunshine Vicram series, I can guarantee you it won’t be my last.

This book is available now.

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

               

 

 

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

 

About Darynda Jones

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin's Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley @OakleyColleen @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA

#BookReview You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley @OakleyColleen @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA Title: You Were There Too

Author: Colleen Oakley

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 7, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

Acclaimed author Colleen Oakley delivers a heart-wrenching and unforgettable love story about a woman who must choose between the man she loves and the man fate has chosen for her in a novel that reminds us that the best life is one led by the heart.

Mia Graydon’s life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too — unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of them, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he’s been dreaming of her too.

Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?


Review:

Pensive, fresh, and absolutely heart-wrenching!

You Were There Too is a moving, mysterious tale that takes us into the life of Mia Graydon, a young, married woman struggling with the recent move to a small-town, a marriage strained by multiple miscarriages and stressful careers, secrets, depression, and the sudden real-life appearance of the man of her dreams.

The prose is heartfelt and immersive. The characters are flawed, troubled, and genuine. And the multi-layered, unpredictable plot is an absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, friendship, relationship dynamics, forgiveness, hope, happiness, and romance all interwoven with a thread of the paranormal.

Overall, You Were There Too is a compelling, heartbreaking, thought-provoking novel that reminds us that life is complicated and messy, the choices we make often have far-reaching consequences, and sometimes, perhaps, things are truly just destined to happen.

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Colleen Oakley

Colleen Oakley’s novels BEFORE I GO and CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH have been named best books by People Magazine, Us Weekly, Library Journal, and Real Simple, and both were long-listed for the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Women’s Health & Fitness and senior editor of Marie Claire, her articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids and the world's biggest lapdog, Bailey. Her third novel YOU WERE THERE TOO will be published by Berkley/Penguin in January 2020.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh @NaliniSingh @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA

#BookReview A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh @NaliniSingh @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA Title: A Madness of Sunshine

Author: Nalini Singh

Published by: Berkley on Dec. 3, 2019

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh pivots in a new direction with her first mainstream thriller that will be sure to keep readers on their toes.

Anahera Rawiri left New Zealand at twenty-one, fleeing small-town poverty and the ghosts of her childhood with no plans to look back. But eight years later, she returns, seeking familiarity as respite from the shattered remains of her new life. And despite the changes brought on by a bump in tourism–the shiny new welcome sign at the town line and a decidedly less shiny new police presence–Golden Cove appears much as it ever was: a small settlement on the savage West Coast of the South Island, populated by all the remembered faces and set against a backdrop of lush greenery, jagged cliffs, and crashing waves.

Detective Will Gallagher knows all about ghosts; his own chased him out of a promising career in Christchurch, landing him as the sole cop in a quaint town where his most pressing concerns are petty theft and the occasional drunk. When Golden Cove resident Miri Hinewai goes out for a run and fails to return, Will finds himself heading up a missing person’s search that rapidly escalates into an official investigation after this case is connected with similar ones from the past. As an outsider, Will begins to rely on Anahera’s knowledge of the area and its residents to help him delve into Golden Cove’s secrets, and to determine whether it shelters something far more dangerous than just an unforgiving landscape.


Review:

Atmospheric, gritty, and suspenseful!

A Madness of Sunshine is a sharp, compelling read that transports you to Golden Cove, New Zealand, a small coastal town where the sudden disappearance of a local young woman with a bright future unearths a lot of strong emotions, tragic memories, and more long-buried secrets and skeletons than anyone could have ever imagined.

The prose is vivid and precise. The characters are tormented, mistrusting, and diligent. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel subtly into an engrossing, investigative tale filled with life, loss, family, friendship, heartbreak, manipulation, abuse, violence, murder, and a sliver of romance.

Overall, A Madness of Sunshine is an absorbing, dark, ominous tale that does an exceptional job of reminding us that evil can live easily amongst us and is often hidden behind masks of normality. It’s surprisingly the first novel I’ve read by Singh, but it certainly won’t be the last.

This book is available now.

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

                                          

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nalini Singh

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh is passionate about writing. Though she’s traveled as far afield as the deserts of China, the Highlands of Scotland, and the frozen landscapes of Antarctica, it is the journey of the imagination that fascinates her most. She’s beyond delighted to be able to follow her dream as a writer. Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand. You can contact her directly through her website. While visiting the site, Nalini invites you to join her newsletter for up-to-date news about both the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, as well as fun exclusive extras, including free short stories set in her worlds.

Photo by Deborah Hillman.

#BookReview The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams @lyssakayadams @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA

#BookReview The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams @lyssakayadams @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA Title: The Bromance Book Club

Author: Lyssa Kay Adams

Published by: Berkley on Nov. 5, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The first rule of book club:
You don’t talk about book club.

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him. 

Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.


Review:

Quirky, humorous, and refreshing!

The Bromance Book Club is a lighthearted, charming read that takes us into the life of Gavin Scott, a successful, professional baseball player who after learning his wife wants a divorce decides to do whatever it takes to win her back, including taking advice from his friends, fellow teammates, and the seventh Earl of Latford.

The prose is playful and fun. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are amusing, bawdy, and engaging. And the plot told from alternating POVs is a sweet, flirty tale full of tricky situations, tender moments, hilarious mishaps, friendship, family, miscommunication, self-discovery, determination, and a little steamy, regency romance.

Overall, The Bromance Book Club is an alluring, easy, spicy read by Adams that has characters you can’t help but root for and a storyline that is highly entertaining.

 

This book is available now.

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

                                          

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lyssa Kay Adams

Lyssa Kay Adams is the pen name of an award-winning journalist who gave up the world of telling true stories to pen emotional romances. She’s also a diehard Detroit Tigers fan who will occasionally cheer for the Red Sox because her husband is from Boston.

Lyssa lives in Michigan with her family and an anxiety-ridden Maltese who steals food and buries it around the house and who will undoubtedly be a character in a future book.

Things Lyssa loves: Baseball pants, mashed potatoes, and that little clicking sound that scissors make on the cutting table at fabric stores.

Things she doesn’t love: Mean people, melting ice cream cones, and finding food in her underwear drawer.

Photography courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview Love, Alice by Barbara Davis @bdavisauthor

#BookReview Love, Alice by Barbara Davis @bdavisauthor Title: Love, Alice

Author: Barbara Davis

Published by: Berkley on Dec. 6, 2016

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Berkley Publishing, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the author of Summer at Hideaway Key comes a sweeping new Southern women’s fiction novel about forgiving the past one letter at a time…

The truth lies between the lines…

A year ago, Dovie Larkin’s life was shattered when her fiancé committed suicide just weeks before their wedding. Now, plagued by guilt, she has become a fixture at the cemetery where William is buried, visiting his grave daily, waiting for answers she knows will never come.

Then one day, she sees an old woman whose grief mirrors her own. Fascinated, she watches the woman leave a letter on a nearby grave. Dovie ignores her conscience and reads the letter—a mother’s plea for forgiveness to her dead daughter—and immediately needs to know the rest of the story.

As she delves deeper, a collection of letters from the cemetery’s lost and found begins to unravel a decades-old mystery involving one of Charleston’s wealthiest families. But even as Dovie seeks to answer questions about another woman’s past—questions filled with deception, betrayal, and heartbreaking loss—she starts to discover the keys to love, forgiveness, and finally embracing the future…


Review:

Perceptive, haunting, and profoundly thought-provoking!

This is a heartbreakingly sweet novel that delves into the emotional, physical and mental anguish experienced by young pregnant girls who historically were spurned, institutionalized and forced to give up their babies, and the incredible power and importance of hope and forgiveness.

The prose is eloquent and beautifully descriptive. The characters are determined, intelligent, consumed, and sorrowful. And the story is written in a back and forth, past/present style that gives a wonderful depth and understanding to all the subplots, relationships, and predicaments within it.

Overall this is, ultimately, an intriguing, deeply moving novel about familial relationships, friendship, love, loss, secrets, abandonment, guilt and grief.

 

This book is due to be published on December 6, 2016. 

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

Amazon UKAmazon USAmazon CanadaChapters/IndigoBook Depository

 

 

Thank you to NetGalley, especially Berkley Publishing, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Barbara Davis

I’m a Jersey girl raised in the south, now living and writing in New England. Confused? Constantly. Happy? Deliriously! But then, living your dream will do that! After fifteen years of wearing heels and schlepping a briefcase as an executive in the jewelry industry, I traded in my pinstripes for a little peace of mind, and decided to follow my dream of becoming a women’s fiction author. And what a ride it’s been! Six books later, I’m still pinching myself, and I’m still as much in love with writing as I was the day I began this journey. Maybe it’s because I believe in miracles, in happy endings and new beginnings. Heaven knows I’ve had my share.

I’m blessed to be married to my best friend and soul mate, Tom, who I must say, sets the bar pretty high for my on-the-page heroes. We also have a lovely ginger cat named Simon, who is twenty years old, wretchedly spoiled, and doesn’t give a fig if I’m on deadline or not. When I’m not making up stories, you’re likely to find me reading, cooking, watching college football, (Go Gators!) or spreading a little sunshine over on Facebook, on The Sunshine Page.

#BookReview Unexpected Rush by Jaci Burton

#BookReview Unexpected Rush by Jaci Burton Title: Unexpected Rush

Author: Jaci Burton

Series: Play by Play #11

Published by: Berkley on Feb. 16, 2016

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 330

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Book Rating: 7/10

In the new Play-By-Play novel by the New York Timesbestselling author of All Wound Up, a football hot shot and his best friend’s sister are breaking all the rules.

All the Right Moves

For Barrett Cassidy, playing defense for the Tampa Hawks is a dream come true. And now he may have discovered his dream woman. Harmony Evans, once the sweet, gawky teenage sister of his best friend and teammate has grown into a smart, gorgeous woman with moves he finds hard to resist. But he knows he can’t get involved with his best friend’s sister—it’s guy code.

Harmony has always gone after what she wants with single-minded determination, from her independence to her education to her career in social work. She never expected her youthful crush on Barrett to develop into something deeper. And she’s not about to let some ridiculous man rules or her brother stand in her way.

When the chemistry is this combustible, lines tend to get crossed. And when Barrett and Harmony’s secret gets out, it just might be game over…


Review:

This is a fun, steamy, contemporary romance story.

There are hot football players, sexy romance scenes, and a good, although predictable, plot.

All-in-all this is an easy, quick read that would be great for summer.

 

 

About Jaci Burton

Jaci Burton is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of over 70 books. She lives in Oklahoma and when she isn’t on deadline (which is often), she can usually be found wrestling with her uncooperative garden, wrangling her dogs, watching an unhealthy amount of television, or completely losing track of time reading a great book. She’s a total romantic and longs for the happily ever after in every story, which you’ll find in all her books.

#BookReview The Collector by Nora Roberts

#BookReview The Collector by Nora Roberts Title: The Collector

Author: Nora Roberts

Published by: Berkley on Mar. 3, 2015

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Pages: 528

Format: Paperback

Source: Borrowed

Book Rating: 8/10

From #1 New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts comes a novel of a woman who needs nothing, a man who sees everything, and the web of deceit, greed, and danger that brings them together—and could tear them apart . . .

When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the woman with no permanent ties finds herself almost wishing for one. . . .

Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn’t capable of violence—against himself or others. He recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Ash longs to paint her as intensely as he hungers to touch her. But their investigation draws them into a rarified circle where priceless antiques are bought, sold, gambled away, and stolen, where what you possess is who you are, and where what you desire becomes a deadly obsession. . . .


Review:

As we all know, Nora Roberts is the go-to author when you’re looking for a nice, easy, fluffy romance book.

I love her books. Sure they’re predictable, but they’re like comfort food. And I have to say she didn’t disappoint with this one.

There were a couple of things I really liked about this book. One, it was a stand-alone book. So all the characters and drama were wrapped up in this one book. And two, it had quite a bit more mystery and suspense in this book compared to some of her others, which made the story a little bit meatier.

What else can I say? It’s Nora and it’s a good one.

 

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