Source: HarperCollins Canada

#BookReview The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes @brilabuskes @HarperCollinsCa @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheLibrarianofBurnedBooks #BriannaLabuskes #Paid #Ad #Sponsored

#BookReview The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes @brilabuskes @HarperCollinsCa @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheLibrarianofBurnedBooks #BriannaLabuskes #Paid #Ad #Sponsored Title: The Librarian of Burned Books

Author: Brianna Labuskes

Published by: William Morrow on Feb. 21, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Berlin 1933. Following the success of her debut novel, American writer Althea James receives an invitation from Joseph Goebbels himself to participate in a culture exchange program in Germany. For a girl from a small town in Maine, 1933 Berlin seems to be sparklingly cosmopolitan, blossoming in the midst of a great change with the charismatic new chancellor at the helm. Then Althea meets a beautiful woman who promises to show her the real Berlin, and soon she’s drawn into a group of resisters who make her question everything she knows about her hosts–and herself.

Paris 1936. She may have escaped Berlin for Paris, but Hannah Brecht discovers the City of Light is no refuge from the anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizers she thought she left behind. Heartbroken and tormented by the role she played in the betrayal that destroyed her family, Hannah throws herself into her work at the German Library of Burned Books. Through the quiet power of books, she believes she can help counter the tide of fascism she sees rising across Europe and atone for her mistakes. But when a dear friend decides actions will speak louder than words, Hannah must decide what stories she is willing to live–or die–for.

New York 1944. Since her husband Edward was killed fighting the Nazis, Vivian Childs has been waging her own war: preventing a powerful senator’s attempts to censor the Armed Service Editions, portable paperbacks that are shipped by the millions to soldiers overseas. Viv knows just how much they mean to the men through the letters she receives–including the last one she got from Edward. She also knows the only way to win this battle is to counter the senator’s propaganda with a story of her own–at the heart of which lies the reclusive and mysterious woman tending the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books in Brooklyn.

As Viv unknowingly brings her censorship fight crashing into the secrets of the recent past, the fates of these three women will converge, changing all of them forever.

Inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime–the WWII organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors to use books as “weapons in the war of ideas”–The Librarian of Burned Books is an unforgettable historical novel, a haunting love story, and a testament to the beauty, power, and goodness of the written word.


Review:

Insightful, rich, and affecting!

The Librarian of Burned Books is an absorbing, intense tale set during prewar Berlin and Paris, as well as New York City during the latter part of WWII, that takes you into the lives of three women who all come from different backgrounds and with completely different motivations but whose worlds become uniquely connected and intertwined when they all find themselves working together to stop the censorship of books being sent to the troops fighting overseas.

The prose is polished and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, intriguing, and strong. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, loss, love, family, friendship, sacrifice, courage, secrets, deception, betrayal, oppression, resistance, and survival.

Overall, The Librarian of Burned Books is a well-written, vivid, informative tale by Labuskes inspired by real-life events that does an exceptional job of highlighting her considerable knowledge and impressive research into an organization that was determined to show the power and importance of the written word to uplift and provide hope in even the most horrific situations.

 

This novel is available now.

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

             

 

 

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Brianna Labuskes

Wall Street Journal, Amazon Charts and Washington Post best-selling author.

Bri loves reading and writing in two of her favorite genres: psychological thrillers and historical fiction. She got her start in romance with a small publisher and still adores swoon-worthy meet-cutes. You can find that strong sense of relationship-building in all of Bri’s work. She spent the first decade-plus-change of her career in D.C. journalism and thus knows too much about the Ways & Means Committee as well as the best way to avoid traffic on the Beltway. She now lives in Asheville, N.C., with her pup, Jinx.

Her last name is pronounced La-bus-kiss (it’s okay, no one gets it right!)

You can find Bri on Twitter, where she’ll most likely be recommending her latest read, or on Instagram posting pictures of her pup.

She loves hearing from readers most of all, so feel free to send her a message.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com.

#BookReview The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer @Kelrimmerwrites @HarperCollinsCa @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheGermanWife #KellyRimmer #GraydonHouse #HTPBooks

#BookReview The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer @Kelrimmerwrites @HarperCollinsCa @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheGermanWife #KellyRimmer #GraydonHouse #HTPBooks Title: The German Wife

Author: Kelly Rimmer

Published by: Graydon House on Jun. 28, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 464

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

Berlin, Germany, 1930—When the Nazis rise to power, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her academic husband benefit from the military ambitions of Germany’s newly elected chancellor when Jürgen is offered a high-level position in their burgeoning rocket program. Although they fiercely oppose Hitler’s radical views, and joining his ranks is unthinkable, it soon becomes clear that if Jürgen does not accept the job, their income will be taken away. Then their children. And then their lives.

Huntsville, Alabama, 1950—Twenty years later, Jürgen is one of many German scientists pardoned and granted a position in America’s space program. For Sofie, this is a chance to leave the horrors of her past behind. But when rumors about the Rhodes family’s affiliation with the Nazi party spread among her new American neighbors, idle gossip turns to bitter rage, and the act of violence that results tears apart a family and leaves the community wondering—is it an act of vengeance or justice?


Review:

Moving, thought-provoking, and tragic!

The German Wife is a vivid, tender tale set in Berlin, Germany, as well as Huntsville, Alabama, between 1930 and 1950 that takes you into the lives of the Rhodes family. A family whose individual actions, decisions, choices and secrets made during the war will have long-lasting effects and irrevocably change lives forever.

The writing is emotional and tense. The characters are intelligent, torn, and distrustful. And the plot is an evocative tale of life, loss, heartbreak, prejudices, hope, tragedy, survival, friendship, love, community, and wartime politics.

Overall, The German Wife is an absorbing, heart-wrenching, beautifully written tale by Rimmer inspired by real-life events, Operation Paperclip, that does an exceptional job of highlighting her impressive research into this intelligence program that brought Nazis chemists, physicists and rocket specialists to America after WWII, without being tried for their previous crimes, in order for them to use their acquired knowledge to benefit NASA and other US government agencies.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

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

 

About Kelly Rimmer

Kelly Rimmer is the worldwide and USA TODAY bestselling author of five novels, including Me Without You and The Secret Daughter. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, two children and fantastically naughty dogs Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages.

#BookReview The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss @Tara_Moss @HarperCollinsCa @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheGhostsofParis #TaraMoss #BillieWalkerMystery

#BookReview The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss @Tara_Moss @HarperCollinsCa @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheGhostsofParis #TaraMoss #BillieWalkerMystery Title: The Ghosts of Paris

Author: Tara Moss

Series: Billie Walker Mystery #2

Published by: HarperCollins on Jun. 7, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in postwar London and Paris, in which a search for a missing husband puts investigator and former war reporter Billie Walker on a collision course with an underground network of Nazi criminals

It’s 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator. When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant Sam to track down her missing husband, the trail leads Billie back to London and Paris, where Billie’s own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie’s wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. What was his fate after they left Paris together?

As Billie’s search for her client’s husband takes her to both the swanky bars at Paris’s famous Ritz hotel and to the dank basements of the infamous Paris morgue, she’ll need to keep her gun at the ready, because something even more terrible than a few painful memories might be following her around the city of lights . . .


Review:

Charged, compelling, and intense!

The Ghosts of Paris is a thrilling, absorbing tale set in 1947 that takes you into the life of Billie Walker, a Sydney female inquiry agent whose latest case takes her back to Paris to find the missing husband of Mrs Vera Montgomery while also providing her with the perfect opportunity to discover, once and for all, what really happened to her own husband, Jake Rake who hasn’t been seen or heard from since 1944.

The prose is fluid and rich. The characters are independent, resourceful, and trustworthy. And the plot is an enticing mix of life, love, loss, secrets, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, tragedy, survival, danger, friendship, and war.

Overall, The Ghosts of Paris is a captivating, heart-tugging, atmospheric tale by Moss 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 fully engrossed and utterly invested.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                

 

 

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tara Moss

Tara Moss is the bestselling author of eleven books of fiction and non-fiction published in nineteen countries, a documentary maker and host, public speaker and outspoken advocate for human rights and women's rights. She is the writer of the popular Mak Vanderwall crime series, the Pandora English paranormal series, and the feminist memoir The Fictional Woman. She received an Edna Ryan award for making a feminist difference, inciting others to challenge the status quo. Tara currently lives in Vancouver with her husband and daughter.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica @harpercollinsca @parkrowbooks #LocalWomanMissing #MaryKubica #BooksofHCC

#BookReview Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica @harpercollinsca @parkrowbooks #LocalWomanMissing #MaryKubica #BooksofHCC Title: Local Woman Missing

Author: Mary Kubica

Published by: Park Row on May 18, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

People don’t just disappear without a trace…

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find…

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.


Review:

Intense, menacing, and addictive!

Local Woman Missing is an unsettling, intricate thriller that takes you to the Chicago suburbs and into the lives of multiple acquaintances as their worlds unravel, intersect, shatter, and then ultimately collide eleven years later when the truth and ultimately the fate of two missing women and a six-year-old little girl is finally unearthed. 

The prose is methodical and tight. The characters are tormented, scarred, and resilient. And the plot told from multiple perspectives and using a back-and-forth, past/present style is an ominous tale of twists, turns, familial drama, secrets, lies, deception, relationship dynamics, reckless behaviour, swirling emotions, abuse, violence, and murder.

Overall, Local Woman Missing is a taut, tragic, compulsive whodunit by Kubica that highlights that actions can often have devastating consequences and reminds us just how cruel and evil those with something to hide can ultimately be.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL and PRETTY BABY.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter. 

Photo by Sarah Jastre.

#BookReview Find Your First by Linwood Barclay @linwoodbarclay @harpercollinsca #FindYouFirst #LinwoodBarclay #BooksofHCC

#BookReview Find Your First by Linwood Barclay @linwoodbarclay @harpercollinsca #FindYouFirst #LinwoodBarclay #BooksofHCC Title: Find You First

Author: Linwood Barclay

Published by: William Morrow on May 4, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The New York Times bestselling author of Elevator Pitch and master of psychological suspense returns with a riveting thriller in which the possible heirs of a dying tech millionaire are mysteriously being eliminated, one by one.

Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of—except time. He has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. For Miles, this means taking a long hard look at his past . . .

Two decades ago, a young, struggling Miles was a sperm donor. Somewhere out there, he has kids—nine of them. And they might be about to inherit both the good and the bad from him—maybe his fortune, or maybe something much worse.

As Miles begins to search for the children he’s never known, aspiring film documentarian Chloe Swanson embarks on a quest to find her biological father, armed with the knowledge that twenty-two years ago, her mother used a New York sperm bank to become pregnant.

When Miles and Chloe eventually connect, their excitement at finding each other is overshadowed by a series of mysterious and terrifying events. One by one, Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.

Who is the vicious killer—another heir methodically erasing rivals? Or is something even more sinister going on?

It’s a deadly race against time . . .


Review:

Sharp, consuming, and perfectly plotted!

Find You First is an addictive, action-packed thrill ride that takes you into the life of software millionaire Miles Cookson, who after being diagnosed with the incurable, genetic Hungtington’s disease, endeavours to use his wealth and influence to meet any possible children he may have from a sperm bank donation he made in his early twenties, but when one-by-one his potential heirs begin vanishing without a trace, it quickly becomes apparent something more sinister is going on and time is running out.

The writing is crisp and polished. The characters are complex, tenacious, and flawed. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat with its short, intense chapters that immerse you into an ominous tale full of twists, turns, red herrings, secrets, deduction, mayhem, corruption, grandiose delusions, violence, and murder.

Overall, Find You First has an incredibly pacey storyline and exceptional character development. It’s riveting, dark, and unnerving and is a clear indicator that Barclay has written another bestseller. If you love well-written, tortuous thrillers with intriguing characters, then this is definitely one book you don’t want to miss.

This novel is available on May 4, 2021.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Linwood Barclay

Linwood Barclay is the author of eighteen previous novels, and two thrillers for children. A New York Times bestselling author, his books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. He wrote the screenplay adaptation for his novel Never Saw it Coming and his book The Accident has been made into a TV series in France. His novel No Time for Goodbye was a global bestseller. Born and raised in Connecticut, he now lives in Toronto with his wife, Neetha.

Photo by Ellis Parinder.

#BookReview The Black Swan of Paris by Karen Robards @TheKarenRobards @HarperCollinsCa @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheBlackSwanofParis

#BookReview The Black Swan of Paris by Karen Robards @TheKarenRobards @HarperCollinsCa @Bookclubbish #BooksofHCC #TheBlackSwanofParis Title: The Black Swan of Paris

Author: Karen Robards

Published by: Mira Books on Jun. 30, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 480

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: HarperCollins Canada, Edelweiss

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A world at war. A beautiful young star. A mission no one expected.

Paris, 1944

Celebrated singer Genevieve Dumont is both a star and a smokescreen. An unwilling darling of the Nazis, the chanteuse’s position of privilege allows her to go undetected as an ally to the resistance.

When her estranged mother, Lillian de Rocheford, is captured by Nazis, Genevieve knows it won’t be long before the Gestapo succeeds in torturing information out of Lillian that will derail the upcoming allied invasion. The resistance movement is tasked with silencing her by any means necessary—including assassination. But Genevieve refuses to let her mother become yet one more victim of the war. Reuniting with her long-lost sister, she must find a way to navigate the perilous cross-currents of Occupied France undetected—and in time to save Lillian’s life.


Review:

Absorbing, intense, and pacey!

The Black Swan of Paris is a suspenseful, thrilling tale set in Paris during WWII that takes us into the life of Genevieve Dumont a beautiful, Parisian performer who uses her charisma, fame, and desirability to acquire crucial information from high-ranking Nazis that will not only aid Allied Forces and the Resistance but also provide her with the intelligence needed to rescue her recently captured mother from the hands of the ruthless enemy.

The prose is descriptive and tense. The characters are committed, supportive, and courageous. And the plot is a compelling mix of life, love, loss, secrets, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, danger, tragedy, survival, friendship, and war.

Overall, The Black Swan of Paris is an emotive, action-packed, gripping tale by Robards 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 fully invested and enthralled.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                

 

 

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

 

About Karen Robards

Karen Robards is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than fifty books and one novella. Karen published her first novel at age 24 and has won multiple awards throughout her career, including six Silver Pens for favorite author.

Karen was described by The Daily Mail as one of the most reliable thriller....writers in the world.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel @EmilyMandel @HarperCollinsCa #BooksofHCC

#BookReview The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel @EmilyMandel @HarperCollinsCa #BooksofHCC Title: The Glass Hotel

Author: Emily St. John Mandel

Published by: HarperCollins on Mar. 24, 2020

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

From the award-winning author of Station Eleven, a captivating novel of money, beauty, white-collar crime, ghosts and moral compromise in which a woman disappears from a container ship off the coast of Mauritania and a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, dragging countless fortunes with it.

Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass-and-cedar palace on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. New York financier Jonathan Alkaitis owns the hotel. When he passes Vincent his card with a tip, it’s the beginning of their life together. That same day, a hooded figure scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: “Why don’t you swallow broken glass.” Leon Prevant, a shipping executive for a company called Neptune-Avramidis, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. Thirteen years later, Vincent mysteriously disappears from the deck of a Neptune-Avramidis ship.

Weaving together the lives of these characters, The Glass Hotel moves between the ship, the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the wilderness of remote British Columbia, painting a breathtaking picture of greed and guilt, fantasy and delusion, art and the ghosts of our pasts.


Review:

Tragic, imaginative, and atmospheric!

The Glass Hotel is an alluring, character-driven tale that immerses you into the lives of multiple strangers as their worlds quickly unravel, intersect, collide, and are ultimately ruined when a Ponzi scheme catastrophically collapses.

The prose is rich and lyrical. The characters are lonely, complex, and vulnerable. And the plot told from multiple perspectives using flashbacks and alternate realities is a hauntingly sobering tale of tragedy, crime, corruption, heartbreak, manipulation, disillusionment, morality, and the true weight of a guilty conscience.

Overall, The Glass Hotel is an evocative, pensive, unique page-turner with a supernatural thread that does a beautiful job of reminding us that the choices we make often have far-reaching consequences and that life rarely unfolds as we expect it to.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Emily St. John Mandel

Emily St. John Mandel was born and raised on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. She studied contemporary dance at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and lived briefly in Montreal before relocating to New York.

She is the author of five novels, including The Glass Hotel (spring 2020) and Station Eleven (2014.) Station Eleven was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the Morning News Tournament of Books, and has been translated into 34 languages. She lives in NYC with her husband and daughter.

Photography by Sarah Shatz.

#BookReview Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison @thrillerchick @HarperCollinsCa

#BookReview Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison @thrillerchick @HarperCollinsCa Title: Good Girls Lie

Author: J.T. Ellison

Published by: Mira Books on Dec. 31, 2019

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Goode girls don’t lie…

Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.

In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.

But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.


Review:

Creepy, atmospheric, and disturbing!

In this latest novel by Ellison, Good Girls Lie, she transports us to Marchburg, Virginia, a small town home to an elite private girl’s school that has all the usual fare, secret societies, hazing rituals, ghost stories, mean girls, and a history full of scandals, violence, and murder that may be about to repeat itself.

The writing is tight and intense. The characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are damaged, secretive, and selfish and a setting, The Goode School, that is a character itself with its eerie passageways and isolation. And the plot told from alternating points of view is a suspenseful, twisty tale filled with familial drama, neglect, jealousy, hatred, abuse, callousness, desperation, cruelty, and bloodshed. 

Overall, Good Girls Lie is a clever, tortuous, chilling page-turner that keeps you guessing from the very first page and ultimately leaves you surprised and thoroughly entertained.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                                           

 

 

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

 

About J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages. She is also the EMMY-award winning cohost of A WORD ON WORDS, a literary interview TV show. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two small gray minions, known as cats in some cultures. She thinks they’re furry aliens.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott @WmMorrowBooks @HarperCollinsCa #ThePoppyWife

#BookReview The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott @WmMorrowBooks @HarperCollinsCa #ThePoppyWife Title: The Poppy Wife

Author: Caroline Scott

Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks on Nov. 5, 2019

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

In the tradition of Jennifer Robson and Hazel Gaynor, this unforgettable debut novel is a sweeping tale of forbidden love, profound loss, and the startling truth of the broken families left behind in the wake of World War I.

1921. Survivors of the Great War are desperately trying to piece together the fragments of their broken lives. While many have been reunited with their loved ones, Edie’s husband Francis is still missing. Francis is presumed to have been killed in action, but Edie knows he is alive.

Harry, Francis’s brother, was there the day Francis went missing in Ypres. And like Edie, he’s hopeful Francis is living somewhere in France, lost and confused. Hired by grieving families in need of closure, Harry returns to the Western Front to photograph soldiers’ graves. As he travels through France gathering news for British wives and mothers, he searches for evidence his own brother is still alive.

When Edie receives a mysterious photograph that she believes was taken by Francis, she is more certain than ever he isn’t dead. Edie embarks on her own journey in the hope of finding some trace of her husband. Is he truly gone, or could he still be alive? And if he is, why hasn’t he come home?

As Harry and Edie’s paths converge, they get closer to the truth about Francis and, as they do, are soon faced with the life-changing impact of the answers they discover.

An incredibly moving account of an often-forgotten moment in history—those years after the war that were filled with the unknown—The Poppy Wife tells the story of the thousands of soldiers who were lost amid the chaos and ruins in battle-scarred France; and the even greater number of men and women hoping to find them again.


Review:

Poignant, insightful, and profoundly moving!

The Poppy Wife is predominantly set in the French countryside during 1921, as well as 1917, and is told from two different perspectives. Edie, a young British wife who after receiving a picture of her missing husband journeys to France to find him, dead or alive, and discover his fate wherever he may be, and Harry, the youngest of three brothers who endeavours to help his sister-in-law and others find some form of closure even while his own experiences and memories of war still plague and haunt him day and night.

The prose is poetic, expressive, and stunningly vivid. The characters are damaged, determined, and courageous. And the plot is a heartrending, utterly absorbing tale about life, love, loneliness, familial relationships, heartbreak, war, loss, grief, guilt, hope, loyalty, and survival.

Overall, The Poppy Wife is a beautifully written, exceptionally atmospheric novel that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the personalities, feelings, and lives of the characters you can’t help but be affected. It is without a doubt one of my favourite novels of the year that reminds us of the horrific consequences of war and the thousands of nameless men who still remain scattered underneath a savage battlefield. It’s emotive, powerful and as Kipling so iconically stated, “lest we forget.”

This novel is available now.

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

                                            

 

 

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

 

About Caroline Scott

After completing a PhD in History, at the University of Durham, Caroline Scott worked as a researcher in Belgium and France. She has a particular interest in the experience of women during the First World War, in the challenges faced by the returning soldier, and in the development of tourism and pilgrimage in the former conflict zones. Caroline lives in southwest France and is now writing historical fiction for Simon & Schuster UK and William Morrow.

#BookReview A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan @SarahMorgan_ @HarlequinBooks @HarperCollinsCa

#BookReview A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan @SarahMorgan_ @HarlequinBooks @HarperCollinsCa Title: A Wedding in December

Author: Sarah Morgan

Published by: Hqn on Sep. 24, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Harlequin Books, HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

This funny, charming and heartwarming new Christmas novel is USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan at her festive best!

In the snowy perfection of Aspen, the White family gathers for youngest daughter Rosie’s whirlwind Christmas wedding. First to arrive are the bride’s parents, Maggie and Nick. Their daughter’s marriage is a milestone they are determined to celebrate wholeheartedly, but they are hiding a huge secret of their own: they are on the brink of divorce. After living apart for the last six months, the last thing they need is to be trapped together in an irresistibly romantic winter wonderland.

Rosie’s older sister, Katie, is also dreading the wedding. Worried that impulsive, sweet-hearted Rosie is making a mistake, Katie is determined to save her sister from herself! If only the irritatingly good-looking best man, Jordan, would stop interfering with her plans…

Bride-to-be Rosie loves her fiancé but is having serious second thoughts. Except everyone has arrived—how can she tell them she’s not sure? As the big day gets closer, and emotions run even higher, this is one White family Christmas none of them will ever forget!


Review:

Quaint, alluring, and evocative!

A Wedding in December is a delightfully amusing, heartfelt tale that sweeps you away to the beautiful winter wonderland of Aspen, Colorado and immerses you into the lives of the White family, especially three strong women, as they gather to celebrate, interrogate, support, heal, grow, communicate, repair relationships, take chances, and start anew.

The prose is vivid and expressive. The characters are genuine, reliable, and compassionate. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel effortlessly into a mesmerizing tale of life, love, friendship, self-reflection, determination, independence, happiness, humorous mishaps, romantic moments, and the special bonds between sisters.

Overall, A Wedding in December is another absorbing, uplifting, magical tale by Morgan that does a brilliant job of highlighting her exceptional ability to create relatable characters, idyllic places, and memorable storylines that thoroughly enchant from start to finish.

This novel is available now.

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

                                        

 

 

 

Thank you to Harlequin Books & HarperCollins Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Morgan

USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan writes contemporary romance and her trademark humour and sensuality have gained her fans across the globe. She is a 3 time winner of the prestigious RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America and has been nominated five times. Sarah lives near London, England, and when she isn’t reading or writing she loves being outdoors.

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