Tag: historical fiction

Book Review: In Spotlight and Shadow (Doors to the Past #11) by Rachel Scott McDaniel

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Christian Romance
Length: 256 pages
Author: Rachel Scott McDaniel
Publisher: Barbour Fiction
Release Date: February 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Elise Malvern has a habit of letting people down. Her former boyfriend who hoped she’d be his bride. Her grandfather who hoped she’d take over the family’s auction company. But mostly she’s disappointed herself. What’s the point of pursuing her passion as a violinist, if she is too scared to audition for a seat in the Pittsburgh Symphony? Her internship at the elegant Heinz Hall places her in the wings of the stage, but never on it. By accident, she discovers an old stage prop. Her instincts tell her there’s more to the paste necklace than meets the eye. Whether a good idea or not, she accepts help from a childhood friend, who happens to be country music megastar—Peirson Brooks. Peirson and Elise share a history; one she doesn’t care to repeat. The more involved they become in the mystery, the more things get tangled, including her heart.
 
A century earlier…
Sophie Walters longs for center stage, her name on the marquee, and all that jazz, but climbing her way into an acting career is more difficult than she imagined. Having spoiled all her chances in Hollywood, she returns to Pittsburgh, accepting an insignificant role in a popular production. She watches her dreams pass by from behind the curtain at the illustrious Loew’s Penn Theatre. She finally gets the coveted spotlight, but not for her talent. No, her surge to fame is all one terrible mistake. Somehow, she’s suspected to be a notorious jewel thief known around Pittsburgh as The Mirage. The man she pleads for help is none other than the man she jilted at the altar five years before, Sterling Monroe.

SWEET ROMANCES.

I really enjoyed this one! This was my second McDaniel book and I would easily continue picking them up. I love the themes and the characters are well written. Filled with strengths and weaknesses to work through.

The mystery element here was a lot of fun. I would not have guessed the final reveal and actually thought it was in of itself an interesting twist. There’s some intense what’s going to happen next moments that had me listening to this in one day (side note: loved the audiobook).

I thought both romances were super sweet. They were both second chance romances (with different reasonings) and I thought all of the moments were tender. Elise and Sophie both had plenty to learn about themselves and finding forgiveness within their actions and things out of their control.

Just one of those really solid books. Easily recommend if you’re okay with Christian themes (I’d say a moderate faith vein throughout) and looking for past/present timelines!

Overall audience notes:

  • Christian Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical and weapons violence, theft, grief

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Book Review: The Work of Art (Somerset Stories #1) by Mimi Matthews

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 392 pages
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: July 23rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An Uncommon Beauty…
Hidden away in rural Devonshire, Phyllida Satterthwaite has always been considered more odd than beautiful. But in London, her oddity has made her a sensation. Far worse, it’s caught the eye of the sinister Duke of Moreland — a notorious art collector obsessed with acquiring one-of-a-kind treasures. To escape the duke’s clutches, she’s going to need a little help.

An Unlikely Hero…
Captain Arthur Heywood’s days of heroism are long past. Grievously injured in the Peninsular War, he can no longer walk unaided, let alone shoot a pistol. What use can he possibly be to a damsel in distress? He has nothing left to offer except his good name.

Can a marriage of convenience save Philly from the vengeful duke? Or will life with Arthur put her — and her heart — in more danger than ever?

STUNNING.

I just want to sit and read Mimi Matthews books all day. She is the QUEEN of closed door historical romances and I am obsessed.

This marriage of convenience story hit me in the feels. I adored our FMC Phyllida. She was filled with compassion and kindness and continually looked at the glass half full. All she wanted was a safe space to land and thank heavens for our unlikely hero, Arthur. Super swoony, PROTECTIVE (my kryptonite) and a wounded soul who found healing through love. And I love all of the heat that is still very much present without wide open doors. It’s tender and passionate. Everything I love seeing in romance books.

I thought the plot was interesting and I liked the little bit of mystery and intensity brought about by the awful Duke. I adored all of the dog content and how they played a true role in the story too. I just really love the way Matthews crafts stories. Her writing is gorgeous and fluid and brings about all of the emotions.

I am turning into a super fan and will not be turning back.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, war injuries, PTSD, gun violence, animal attacks, near death experiences

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Book Review: The Shattered City (The Last Magician #4) by Lisa Maxwell

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction Fantasy
Length: 768 pages
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: December 6th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Once, Esta believed that she could change the fate of magic. She traveled to the past and stopped the Magician from destroying a mystical book that held the key to freeing her people from the Brink, an energy barrier that traps all Mageus who cross it.

But the Book was more than she bargained for. So was the Magician she was tasked to steal it from.

Hunted by an ancient evil, Esta and Harte have raced through time and across a continent to track down the powerful artifacts they need to bind the Book’s devastating power. They’ve lost family, betrayed friends, and done what they’d both vowed never to do: fallen in love with the one person who could truly destroy them.

Now, with only one artifact left, their search has brought them back to New York, the city where it all began. But nothing in Manhattan is as they left it. Their friends have scattered, their enemies have grown more powerful, and as the deadly Brink beckons, their time is running out.

If they can’t find a way to end the threat they’ve created, then the very heart of magic will die—and it will take the world down with it.

I AM GOOD WITH THIS CONCLUSION.

I feel like I’ve worked really hard to get to this point because these books are THIIIICK. And here I am, finished. And I did like the ending a lot!! Things were wrapped up well and got plenty of happy endings for the entire cast.

What is still over my head is some aspects of the magic system. I can’t go into detail because of spoilers, but the time travel + magic artifacts + different timeline saga threw me through a loop occasionally. It mostly worked out enough at least.

I enjoyed these characters and I like the romance aspects weren’t locked up in miscommunication or third act break-up kind of stuff. Everyone worked together to defeat the evil terrorizing the foundation of magic and I love those kind of found family aspects.

If you’re in for a long haul series with multiple romances, historical fiction, time travel, magic, mayhem and more. Maybe try this on audio! I do love the audiobooks and it made some of the longer pacing balance out better.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Fiction + Urban Fantasy
  • Language: some
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, homophobia, near death experiences, magical and physical altercations, kidnapping

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Book Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 502 pages
Author: Kate Quinn
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: June 6th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the “queen of spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.

NOT MY FAVORITE.

The only other Quinn book I’ve read with The Diamond Eye and I LOVED it. When I happen to pick up this one I was hoping for the same kind of experience but I’m left wanting more. I think mood wise I wasn’t quite prepared for all of the topics covered (see trigger warnings because there’s a lot).

I felt let down by one of the plot lines. I thought there would be a different kind of reveal and when that wasn’t the case I then was left with some thoughts about the plot overall. It was as if it was missing some larger over arching story rather than the meandering story that was given.

The ending was very intense and that was one of the few times I felt really invested in everything happening. And I did like the characters for the most part too. Like I said, this book was FINE. But that’s it for me.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: antisemitism, Nazism, sexual assault, suicide, pregnancy, abortion, blood/gore depiction, emesis, death of a child, torture, stalking, drinking/smoking while pregnant

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