Author: tamaramorning

Book Review: The Winged Tiara, by J’nell Ciesielski

Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Title:  The Winged Tiara
Author: J’nell Ciesielski  
Genre:  Historical fiction   
Rating: 4.5 out of 5  

After a hasty wartime marriage and an even quicker divorce, two jewel thieves risk it all to obtain the grandest prize of them all, the last Valkyrie tiara, but their hearts may have something else in mind.

It was a match made in champagne-soaked heaven, but all too soon the bubbles dried up and divorce papers were issued just in time to ring in the end of the Great War. Jewel thieves and ex-lovers Jasper and Esme find themselves circulating among the elite of British aristocracy where the diamond-lined pockets are ripe for picking. But when the last Valkyrie tiara ever created becomes the talk of the season neither will stop to obtain it, not even when they inadvertently find themselves in the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse where their lives are suddenly at stake.

I enjoyed this historical fiction read very much! I was hooked from the opening, and I loved the cat-and-mouse game between Jasper and Esme. Their characters were a lot of fun! Even the secondary characters were vibrant and intriguing, and I liked the different settings as well. A very solid read!

J’nell Ciesielski is a bestselling author. The Winged Tiara is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour:  Magical Meet Cute, by Jean Meltzer

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title:  Magical Meet Cute
Author:  Jean Meltzer       
Genre: Romance  
Rating: DNF

Is he the real deal…or did she truly summon a golem?

Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy.

Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone.

That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right?

When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory…

But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.

The writing seemed really solid in this; I just couldn’t get behind the idea of Faye being “Jewitch.” This is a case of the book not being a good fit for me, nothing more. The voice seemed well-done, although I’m not sure Faye is a character I could have read about for long.

Jean Meltzer is an award-winning author, including an Emmy for her work in daytime television. Magical Meet Cute is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #291

This was a good writing week! Five fiction sessions and four book reviews, Medici Heist, by Caitlin Schneiderhan, Strange Folk, by Alli Dyer, The Story Collector, by Evie Woods , and Cast in Atonement, by Michelle Sagara

Happy writing!

Book Review:  Cast in Atonement, by Michelle Sagara

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

 Title:  Cast in Atonement
Author:   Michelle Sagara  
Genre: Fantasy     
Rating:   

In the City of Elantra, only one holds the key to peace—or eternal darkness.

At the end of three long wars, Bellusdeo is the last of her kind, the sole surviving female Dragon in the City of Elantra. When she appears one evening on the doorstep of her former roommate, Corporal Kaylin Neya, her demeanor is dreadful—more so than what’s expected of the Dragons’ notoriously tempestuous temperament. Kaylin’s new roommate, Mrs. Erickson, is quick to see the reason for Bellusdeo’s despair—the eight ghosts of the Dragon’s dead sisters, chained to her and unseen. Pleading for release, revenge and, above all, peace.

Now Kaylin and Mrs. Erickson must embark on a perilous journey, from the hallowed halls of the Academia to the depths of forbidden magic, to confront the very essence of mortality itself. Can Kaylin help release the untapped power within Mrs. Erickson to save Bellusdeo’s sisters…or will unlocking the past plunge the realm into an unfathomable darkness forever?

I do love the Chronicles of Elantra series! The layers and depths in this series are engrossing to me, and this novel was no exception. I loved seeing Bellusdeo’s story unfold and twine more with Kaylin’s—and I love how Kaylin’s mind works. I enjoy all these characters and love seeing their further adventures.

Michelle Sagara lives in Toronto. Cast in Atonement is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  The Story Collector, by Evie Woods 

Image belongs to Harper 360.

Title:  The Story Collector
Author: Evie Woods        
Genre: Historical Fiction       
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.

In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.

I really enjoyed this story! Both timelines were engrossing and a bit magical and just made me feel good. Sarah’s story was wonderful, and I loved seeing how she came to accept herself and her place in the world. Anna was just lovely, but so naïve it kind of hurt to watch. Her story didn’t end like I hoped, but I enjoyed it just the same.

Evie Woods is a bestselling author. The Story Collector is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harper 360 in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Strange Folk, by Alli Dyer

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:  Strange Folk
Author: Alli Dyer      
Genre:  Fantasy  
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia but when a man is found dead in the woods nearby, it seems the family has conjured something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel that is perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva’s world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother’s spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva’s magic may have summoned something dark.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn’t leave behind.

This was a very atmospheric novel. I enjoyed the setting a lot, the small-town feel, but I didn’t enjoy the darker aspects of the story at all. The characters were not very nice people, and that was off-putting for me—I don’t enjoy reading about cruel and nasty people, no matter how atmospheric the setting.

Alli Dyer is from Virginia but now lives in L.A. Strange Folk is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Medici Heist, by Caitlin Schneiderhan

Image belongs to Macmillan’s Children.

Title:  Medici Heist
Author: Caitlin Schneiderhan        
Genre:  Historical fiction, YA      
Rating: 4.0 out of 5   

Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue, opulence, secrets, and murder. The Medici family rules the city from their seat of wealth, but the people of Florence remember the few decades they spent as a Republic, free from the Medicis and their puppet Pope, Leo X.

Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis – and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they’ve been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance’s greatest robbery, she’ll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.

Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis’ noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction – if Rosa and company don’t destroy each other first.

This was an interesting read! I enjoyed the historical aspect of this a lot, and the complex relationships between the group of them. I thought the action was entertaining and I was invested in if they managed to pull off the heist off or not. I loved that the whole ending was a surprise and I didn’t see it coming at all.

Caitlin Schneiderhan lives in L.A. Medici Heist is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #290

This was a solid writing week: five fiction/planning sessions and three book reviews; It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee, The Thirteenth Husband, by Greer Macallister, and Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, by Codie Crowley.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, by Codie Crowley

Image belongs to Disney Hyperion.

Title:   Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch
Author: Codie Crowley    
Genre: YA       
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

Between her careless mom, her cheating ex-boyfriend, and her rotten reputation around town, Annie Lane is used to being left behind. But she’s never been left for dead before—until she wakes up to find her body’s been dumped on a mountain rumored to raise the dead.

Annie can’t remember who killed her, but she’ll stop at nothing to figure it out and make them pay. Because girls like her don’t get justice unless they take it for themselves.

This was an entertaining read, although it was a little too campy for me. Annie’s life must have sucked—I’ve never seen such a bunch of hateful, nasty people—but she wasn’t exactly a nice person herself, so hopefully her afterlife will improve. I didn’t see any character growth, just a deep-seated need for vengeance and revenge, even when it was unwarranted.

Codie Crowley lives in Salem, Massachusetts. Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  The Thirteenth Husband, by Greer Macallister

Image belongs to Sourcebook/Landmark.

Title:  The Thirteenth Husband
Author:  Greer Macallister       
Genre:  Historical fiction      
Rating:  4 out of 5

Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee’s public notoriety, there’s private pain.

When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee’s father is dead—and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee’s wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman’s mysterious motivations. 

Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won’t soon forget.

This was a surprisingly (to me) engrossing read, although it felt a bit slow in spots. Aimee was an interesting character for sure, well ahead of her time culturally and socially. I enjoyed her point-of-view and found her adventures interesting. While the first part of her life was explored in depth, the later part of it was glossed over and rushed through, and that made the second part of the book feel a bit lacking.

Greer Macallister lives in Boston. The Thirteenth Husband is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks/Landmark in exchange for an honest review.)