Belated Book Hauls!!!

Seriously, I've been remiss in making note of the books that have been coming in.  And they are so interesting and I'm very anxious to get to them, so I need to share with you....  

I have been taking it easy this past couple of months because I haven't been well, actually.  I was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, a benign brain tumor which affects the nerves having to do with hearing, the face and balance.  I had a series of Cyberknife radiation treatments to halt the growth and kill the tumor the end of Sept., and have been dealing with the side-effects since then.  I've completely lost my hearing in my left ear which has been a horrifying thing for me...and unexpected.  And, I'm now getting physical therapy for vertigo and balance issues.  What do I mean by vertigo?  It's as if I've been twirled around on a swing and then let go!  My head is often just wonky, so my balance is off slightly.  When I walk sometimes I look like I'm a bit tipsy.  It's not like this all the time, Thank God!!   I'm learning to live with these side effects, and hoping the tumor will shrink and go away in the coming months.  They tell me it can take up to 2 years.

Meanwhile, you may have noticed my reading and reviewing has slowed up a bit to compensate for this issue.  I'm not taking on as many books a week as I was in the past.  But, thankfully, this situation has nothing to do with and does not affect my ability to read, write and reason!!  All of that is as normal...for whatever that's worth!!  We can't blame the tumor for my opinions and thoughts!  :]


So, on to the books in my 3 Month Haul!  I hope you enjoy seeing what's new and coming soon to the book shops:

Library Journal

01/01/2014
Present-day brothers Reggie and Nigel answer Sherlock Holmes-related correspondence since their law practice is at 221 Baker Street. This time, a case transcends reality and puts the brothers in danger. Sherlockians will grab this fourth entry (after The Baker Street Translation).

*Many thanks to St. Martin's Press


 

Introducing Alice Quentin, a London psychologist with family baggage, who finds herself at the center of a grisly series of murders

Alice Quentin is a psychologist with some painful family secrets, but she has a good job, a good-looking boyfriend, and excellent coping skills, even when that job includes evaluating a convicted killer who’s about to be released from prison. One of the highlights of her day is going for a nice, long run around her beloved London—it's impossible to fret or feel guilty about your mother or brother when you're concentrating on your breathing—until she stumbles upon a dead body at a former graveyard for prostitutes, Crossbones Yard. 

*In appreciation to St. Martin's Press

 

Midnight is the most bewitching hour of them all…

From Paula Brackston, the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch’s Daughter and The Winter Witch, comes a magical tale that is as dark as it is enchanting.  Set in high society Edwardian England, The Midnight Witch is the story of a young witch who faces the choice between love and loyalty to her coven…

*Thanks, again, St. Martin's Press!

 

 

A richly imagined, gorgeously written historical novel set in the Stuart court featuring a unique hero: Jeffrey Hudson, a dwarf tasked with spying on the beautiful but vulnerable queen.

It's 1629, and King Charles I and his French queen Henrietta Maria have reigned in England for less than three years. Young dwarf Jeffrey Hudson is swept away from a village shambles and plunged into the Stuart court when his father sells him to the most hated man in England—the Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham trains Jeffrey to be his spy in the household of Charles’ seventeen-year-old bride, hoping to gain intelligence that will help him undermine the vivacious queen’s influence with the king.

*Note:  I reviewed this book in February.  Please check the "Search" box on the left to find the review.  With gratitude to St. Martin's Press!

Elizabeth Loupas returns with her most ambitious historical novel yet, a story of intrigue, passion, and murder in the Medici Court...

April, 1574, Florence, Italy. Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici lies dying. The city is paralyzed with dread, for the next man to wear the red lily crown will be Prince Francesco: despotic, dangerous, and obsessed with alchemy.

Chiara Nerini, the troubled daughter of an anti-Medici bookseller, sets out to save her starving family by selling her dead father’s rare alchemical equipment to the prince. Instead she is trapped in his household—imprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin acolyte in Francesco’s quest for power and immortality. Undaunted, she seizes her chance to pursue undreamed-of power of her own.

*In appreciation to Penguin!

 

Egypt, 1400s BC. The pharaoh’s pampered second daughter, lively, intelligent Hatshepsut, delights in racing her chariot through the marketplace and testing her archery skills in the Nile’s marshlands. But the death of her elder sister, Neferubity, in a gruesome accident arising from Hatshepsut’s games forces her to confront her guilt...and sets her on a profoundly changed course.

Hatshepsut enters a loveless marriage with her half brother, Thut, to secure his claim to the Isis ...

*Note:  Thanks again to Penguin!

 

Tolstoy wrote, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This is the statement that inspired bestselling author Gretchen Rubin to wonder whether she could foster an even greater happiness in her home. During The Happiness Project, the same questions kept tugging at her. How can I raise happy children? How can I maintain a tender, romantic relationship with my spouse--after fifteen years of marriage? How do I keep my Blackberry from taking over my private life? How can I foster a well-ordered, light-hearted atmosphere in my house, when no one else will lift a finger to cooperate?

This book is Gretchen's account of her second journey in pursuit of happiness. Prescriptive, easy-to-follow, and anecdotal, Happier at Home offers readers a way of thinking and being that is positive and life-affirming. With specific examples following the calendar year, an intimate voice, and drawing from science and pop culture, this book will resonate with anyone looking to strengthen the bonds of family.

*Note:  With thanks to Crown Publishing/Random House

 

Nancy Turner burst onto the literary scene with her hugely popular novels These Is My Words, Sarah’s Quilt, and The Star Garden. Now, Turner has written the novel she was born to write, this exciting and heartfelt story of a woman struggling to find herself during the tumultuous years preceding the American Revolution.

The year is 1729, and Resolute Talbot and her siblings are captured by pirates, taken from their family in Jamaica, and brought to the New World.

 *Note:  With gratitude to St. Martin's Press

 This mesmerizing coming-of-age novel, with its sheen of near-magical realism, is a moving tale of family and the power of stories. 

    After their mother's probable suicide, sisters Olivia and Jazz take steps to move on with their lives. Jazz, logical and forward-thinking, decides to get a new job, but spirited, strong-willed Olivia—who can see sounds, taste words, and smell sights—is determined to travel to the remote setting of their mother's unfinished novel to lay her spirit properly to rest.

*Thank you, Crown Publishing!!!

For fans of Meg Wolitzer and Allegra Goodman, an intimate and provocative novel about three couples whose paths intersect in their New York City neighborhood, forcing them all to weigh the comfort of stability against the costs of change.

Nina is a harried young mother who spends her evenings spying on the older couple across the street through her son’s Fisher-Price binoculars. She is drawn to their quiet contentment—reading on the couch, massaging each other’s feet—so unlike her own lonely, chaotic world of nursing and soothing and simply getting by. One night, through that same window, she spies a young couple in the throes of passion. Who are these people, and what happened to her symbol of domestic bliss?

 *Note:  I appreciate the book Houghton, Mifflin Harcourt!

From the author of The Personal History of Rachel Dupree, shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers and long listed for the Orange Prize.

1900. Young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees the fashionable town of Dayton, Ohio in the wake of a terrible scandal. Heartbroken and facing destitution, she finds herself striking up correspondence with a childhood admirer, the recently widowed Oscar Williams. In desperation she agrees to marry him, but when Catherine travels to Oscar's farm on Galveston Island, Texas—a thousand miles from home—she finds she is little prepared for the life that awaits her. The island is remote, the weather sweltering, and Oscar's little boy Andre is grieving hard for his lost mother. And though Oscar tries to please his new wife, the secrets of the past sit uncomfortably between them. Meanwhile for Nan Ogden, Oscar’s housekeeper, Catherine’s sudden arrival has come as a great shock. For not only did she promise Oscar’s first wife that she would be the one to take care of little Andre, but she has feelings for Oscar which she is struggling to suppress. And when the worst storm in a generation descends, the women will find themselves tested as never before.

*Note:  Thanks so much for the book,  Skyhorse Publishing!

 

"Every child knows how the story ends. The wicked pirate captain is flung overboard, caught in the jaws of the monster crocodile who drags him down to a watery grave. But it was not yet my time to die. It's my fate to be trapped here forever, in a nightmare of childhood fancy, with that infernal, eternal boy."

Meet Captain James Benjamin Hook, a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play villain to a pack of malicious little boys in a pointless war that never ends. But everything changes when Stella Parrish, a forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan’s rules. From the glamour of the Fairy Revels, to the secret ceremonies of the First Tribes, to the mysterious underwater temple beneath the Mermaid Lagoon, the magical forces of the Neverland open up for Stella as they never have for Hook. And in the pirate captain himself, she begins to see someone far more complex than the storybook villain.

*With thanks to St. Martin's Press

 The mesmerizing story of Hillary Clinton's political rebirth, based on eyewitness accounts from deep inside her inner circle Hillary Clinton’s surprising defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary brought her to the nadir of her political career, vanquished by a much younger opponent whose message of change and cutting-edge tech team ran circles around her stodgy campaign. And yet, six years later, she has reemerged as an even more powerful and influential figure, a formidable stateswoman and the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, marking one of the great political comebacks in history. 


*I appreciate the opportunity to have a "look-see,"  Crown Publishing!

Litigation lawyer and harried single mother Kate Baron is shocked when her daughter's exclusive Brooklyn private school calls to tell her that Amelia—her intelligent, high-achieving fifteen-year-old—has been caught cheating. But when Kate arrives at Grace Hall, she's blindsided by far more devastating news: Amelia is dead. Despondent, she's jumped from the school's roof. At least that's what Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. It's what she believes, too, until she gets the anonymous text: Amelia didn't jump. ...

 *Note:  Published by Harper Collins

The Wind Is Not a River is Brian Payton's gripping tale of survival and an epic love story in which a husband and wife—separated by the only battle of World War II to take place on American soil—fight to reunite in Alaska's starkly beautiful Aleutian Islands.

Following the death of his younger brother in Europe, journalist John Easley is determined to find meaning in his loss. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Helen, he heads north to investigate the Japanese invasion of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, a story censored by the U.S. government...

*Note:  Thanks to Harper Collins!

At the end of a particularly grueling summer day, Ash is heading home to his wife and kids when he discovers a pair of bodies, shot execution style, in the front seat of a crashed vehicle. As the first officer on the scene, Ash finds himself and his department 20 minutes behind a killer in a race where every second counts. With two victims down and a third unaccounted for, the clock is ticking and Ash must find the killer before he strikes again...

 

*Note:  Thanks to Grand Central/Hachette Publishing

 

 

When Eve Petworth writes to Jackson Cooper to praise a scene in one of his books, they discover a mutual love of cookery and food. Their friendship blossoms against the backdrop of Jackson's colorful, but ultimately unsatisfying, love life and Eve's tense relationship with her soon-to-be married daughter. As each of them offers, from behind the veils of semi-anonymity and distance, wise and increasingly affectionate counsel to the other, they both begin to confront their problems and plan a celebratory meeting ...

 

 *Note:  Thanks so much to Grand Central/Hachette Publishing!!

 

 

 

"This assured, compassionate first novel channels the suburban angsty of Updike and Cheever...with pitch-perfect prose and endearingly melancholy characters."--Booklist (Starred Review)

Anders Hill, entering his early sixties and seemingly ensconced in the "land of steady habits"--a nickname for the affluent, morally strict hamlets of Connecticut that dot his commuter rail line--abandons his career and family for a new condo and a new life...

*Note:  With thanks to Little, Brown & Co.


MORE BOOKS COMING SOON!!!  :]

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"Under Magnolia" by Frances Mayes (A Southern Memoir)

SUMMARY :

A lyrical and evocative memoir from Frances Mayes, the Bard of Tuscany, about coming of age in the Deep South and the region’s powerful influence on her life.

The author of three beloved books about her life in Italy, including Under the Tuscan Sun and Every Day in Tuscany, Frances Mayes revisits the turning points that defined her early years in Fitzgerald, Georgia. With her signature style and grace, Mayes explores the power of landscape, the idea of home, and the lasting force of a chaotic and loving family.

From her years as a spirited, secretive child, through her university studies—a period of exquisite freedom that imbued her with a profound appreciation of friendship and a love of travel—to her escape to a new life in California, Mayes exuberantly recreates the intense relationships of her past, recounting the bitter and sweet stories of her complicated family: her beautiful yet fragile mother, Frankye; her unpredictable father, Garbert; Daddy Jack, whose life Garbert saved; grandmother Mother Mayes; and the family maid, Frances’s confidant Willie Bell.

Under Magnolia is a searingly honest, humorous, and moving ode to family and place, and a thoughtful meditation on the ways they define us, or cause us to define ourselves. With acute sensory language, Mayes relishes the sweetness of the South, the smells and tastes at her family table, the fragrance of her hometown trees, and writes an unforgettable story of a girl whose perspicacity and dawning self-knowledge lead her out of the South and into the rest of the world, and then to a profound return home.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Crown Publishing
Pages: 336
Genre:  Non-Fiction/Memoir
Author:  Frances Mayes
Find her:  http://www.francesmayesbooks.com
Purchase this book:  Amazon


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

In addition to her worldwide bestselling Tuscany memoirs Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany, and Every Day in Tuscany, FRANCES MAYES is the author of the travel memoir, A Year in the World, illustrated books In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home (with Edward Mayes), and The Tuscan Sun Cookbook (also with Edward Mayes). She has published a novel, Swan, set in the South, The Discovery of Poetry: A Guide for Readers and Writers, and five books of poetry. Her books have been translated into more than fifty languages. She divides her time between Tuscany and North Carolina. Visit her at www.francesmayesbooks.com.



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

It's rare to find a memoir that reads like an adventure novel!  But Frances Mayes has written one.  She is a daunting woman who is world travelled, but who can come home in the most regal and relateable way.  Reading this memoir is like having the most enjoyable of training courses in becoming a Southerner! 

Wonderfully written with anecdotes of her wild and woolly childhood, her growing up years and her coming of age in a home where she wasn't completely neglected but had enough of it to have to learn much by herself, this book is both heart-warming and sad.  There is much here to admire in a mouthy child who is full of spunk and "spit," as we say in the South.  It's obvious where she got the courage to persevere and become one of the best-loved authors of her kind in the world.  Yet, through it all, she has become a great minder of the beautiful things in life.

She really has a way with words and a way of truly "seeing" the world around her.  Her ability to translate that world, even from early childhood is a gift.  Mayes's descriptions of even the smallest details of the South brought me flashbacks of home growing up there myself.  I loved the way she brought it to life again after so many years for me.

Whether you're a fan of Ms Mayes because of her Tuscany or other books, a Southerner yourself, or "wannabe"one, or just a reader who wants to be taken on a trip through a fabulous memoir, this is the book for you.  I highly recommend "Under Magnolia."  It would be a great book group read...lots to discuss here.

5 stars                 Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Apocalypse" by Dean Crawford~Suspenseful!

SUMMARY:

In the notorious Bermuda Triangle, a private jet vanishes without a trace, taking with it scientists working for the world-famous philanthropist Joaquin Abell. Meanwhile, Captain Kyle Sears is called to a murder scene in Miami. A woman and her daughter have both been shot through the head. But within moments of arriving, Sears receives a phone call from the woman’s husband, physicist Charles Purcell.

“I did not kill my wife and child,” he says. “In less than twenty-four hours I will be murdered and I know the man who will kill me. My murderer does not yet know that he will commit the act.” With uncanny accuracy, Purcell goes on to predict the immediate future just as it unfolds around Sears, and leaves clues for a man he’s never met, former war correspondent Ethan Warner.

The hunt is on to find Purcell, and Warner is summoned by the Defense Intelligence Agency to lead the search. But this is no ordinary case, as Warner and his partner, Nicola Lopez, are about to discover. The future has changed its course, and timing is everything. The end is just beginning . . .

Relentlessly fast-paced and action-packed, Apocalypse combines realistic science, suspense, and intrigue to create an ingenious blockbuster thriller.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by:  Touchstone
Pages:  410
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction/Suspense/Thriller
Author:  Dean Crawford
Find him:  http://www.deancrawfordbooks.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Dean Crawford is the author of the internationally published series of novels featuring Ethan Warner, a former United States Marine now employed by a government agency tasked with investigating unusual scientific phenomena. The novels have been Sunday Times paperback best-sellers and have gained the interest of major Hollywood production studios.

www.deancrawfordbooks.com

Forthcoming titles:

"Survivor" Volume 1 to 4 - March to December 2014

"Haven: Redemption" - Q2, 2014

"Holo Sapiens: Resurrection" - Q2 2014



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

This is the third installment in a series Mr. Crawford is writing, but it is also an easy stand-alone novel.  It's fast paced, highly readable and a book crafted for those who are avid researchers into the unexplainable such as the Bermuda Triangle!

Characterization is strong here with believable and likeable characters in the detectives Warner and Lopez.  They are intelligent and have good "bantering" skills that keeps the action moving in a direction that harbors the foreboding.  I can see how these two would make a solid footing for Crawford's continuing series.

I found the scientific information daunting at times, but as I pushed through it it became more clear, and the story held its own.  I think those more inclined will find the book a fascinating read.

This is one for a quiet weekend at home.  It kept me guessing and kept my attention throughout.  One I think men should especially enjoy. Suspenseful!

3.5 stars                     Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Amity & Sorrow" by Peggy Riley~Absorbing Story

SUMMARY :


A page-turning literary debut about a mother and her two teenage daughters escaping a cult and starting over.

Two sisters sit in the backseat of a car, bound at the wrists by a strip of white cloth. Their mother, Amaranth, drives for days without pause, desperate to get away from the husband she fears will follow them to the earth's end. Her daughters, Amity and Sorrow, cannot comprehend why they're fleeing or fathom what exists outside their father's polygamous compound. When an exhausted Amaranth crashes their car in rural Oklahoma, rescue arrives in the form of Bradley, a farmer not unfamiliar with loss and uncertain futures. At first mistrustful of the strange, prayerful trio, Bradley allows his abiding tolerance to get the best of him, and the four become a new kind of family.

Full of achingly beautiful prose, AMITY & SORROW is a mesmerizing debut about belief, redemption, and the dark heart of extreme faith.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Little, Brown & Co./Back Bay
Pages:  308   Plus Conversation with Peggy Riley
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Peggy Riley
Find her:  http://www.peggyriley.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Peggy Riley is a writer and playwright. She recently won a Highly Commended prize in the 2011 Bridport Prize. Her short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio and has been published in "New Short Stories 4", Mslexia Magazine, and as an app on Ether Books. Her plays have been commissioned and produced off-West End, regionally and on tour. She has been a festival producer, a bookseller, and writer-in-residence at a young offender's prison. Originally from Los Angeles, Peggy now lives on the North Kent coast in Britain. She is currently working on her second novel, which will be set in the women's internment camp on the Isle of Man during WWII.

 
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

This is one of those books in my stack it's taken me a while to get around to.  I've been waiting for the mood to hit me and a space of time to be able to read it.  I'm so glad the time was now.  It just seemed to fit with some things I've been hearing on tv and thinking about in the world around me these days.

Peggy Riley is a strong writer with the quiet voice of a sledge hammer wrapped in quilting!  Her prose is powerful and fraught with so much symbolism and meaning, it would take a book group to ferret it all out and to enjoy every morsel.  It was a great deal of fun for me as a single reader, as well.
But I stopped several times thinking I'd love to discuss the novel and certain situations with a friend or two.

It's often been a wonder to me that so many women have found themselves caught in the web of polygamy and abuse.  But Ms Riley works to define the minds of her characters, and the insidiousness of a lie from a man whom a woman or child wants to put all her trust and hopes in for salvation.  When the "safe place" becomes an inferno, however, all bets are off.  And herein lies the story of "Amity & Sorrow."

Riley does a fantastic job of creating the place and time of this novel.  She also creates strong and believable characters who stand up under the difficult circumstances in which she places them.  I felt the psychology of her characters rang true to this story, making it all the more an absorbing one to read.  Sorrow in particular grabbed my heart and engendered strong reactions from me...mostly negative!

I loved this book and highly recommend it.  It's nicely out in paperback these days which won't put a hole in the budget.  Any book group would find it a very compelling read to discuss.

5 stars                            Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Frost of Springtime" by Rachel L. Demeter

The recent release of The Frost of Springtime, by debut author Rachel L. Demeter, transports readers to the war torn streets of nineteenth century Paris. Driven by paradoxical characters, steamy encounters, and a compelling storyline, it's a bittersweet tale of revolution, redemption, and the healing power of love. Described as "poignant," emotionally devastating,” and “beautiful," The Frost of Springtime is sure to please historical and romance readers alike.  Available now in both eBook and paperback. Currently Amazon Prime members can read the Kindle edition for free!


"The Frost of Springtime"
Publication Date: February 14, 2014
Black Lyon Publishing
Formats: Paperback, Kindle eBook
Genre: Historical Romance/Historical Fiction


SUMMARY:

To rescue her was to rescue his own soul.

On a cold Parisian night, Vicomte Aleksender de Lefèvre forges an everlasting bond with a broken girl during her darkest hour, rescuing her from a life of abuse and misery. Tormented by his own demons, he finds his first bit of solace in sheltering little Sofia Rose.

But when Aleksender is drawn away by the Franco-Prussian war, the seasons pass. And in that long year, Sofia matures into a stunning young woman—a dancer with an understanding of devotion and redemption far surpassing her age.

Alongside his closest friend, Aleksender returns home to find that “home” is gone, replaced by revolution, bloodshed, betrayal—and a love always out of reach. Scarred inside and out, he’s thrust into a world of sensuality and violence—a world in which all his hours have now grown dark, and where only Sofia might bring an end to the winter in his heart.

Inspired by the 1871 Paris Commune, The Frost of Springtime is a poignant tale of revolution, redemption, and the healing power of love.

Read an Excerpt

The heat of their bodies mingled as one. With each breath, Aleksender drank in the sweet essence of his beloved ward. His mind swam with unorthodox visions and desires. He inclined his head, lost to the power of her nearness, entranced by everything that was Sofia.

“Alek, my Alek ."

Each word infused Aleksender with a delicious and undeniable warmth. Intoxicated by roses and wintertime, he found it difficult to speak, difficult to think. Breathless, he swallowed and met the haunting depths of her eyes.

“Please,” she dreamily murmured, “I want you to kiss me again…”



"https://www.goodreads.com/reader/51990-the-frost-of-springtime?return_to=%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F20576331-the-frost-of-springtime"

READ SAMPLE PROLOGUE &; FIRST TWO CHAPTERS ON GOODREADS


Praise for "The Frost of Springtime"


“I am astonished at this being Rachel L. Demeter’s debut work, for in form and style, it is very much a tour de force. A riveting story of love and courage in the aftermath of a brutal war, the author brilliantly juxtaposes the hazing splendor of French nobility and the impassioned elegance of two people in love, despite all the world’s oppositions. The title is, in a sense, a representation of change: the beginning of a new spring with La Belle Époque and the transition into a new era, for the world and our protagonists. The wistful loveliness of the setting paints a picture of a crying France, blending in with the dynamic romance perfectly. Or rather, it does not merely blend in the background as much as glitters like the brightest jewel, shining with a vibrancy that makes one want to relieve the halcyon days of grand old Paris.
I was captivated by the setting, the lush writing of Rachel L. Demeter, and the subtle expressiveness of the characters, which all compelled me to research more of the historical background, of the 1871 Paris Commune, through which this story is made more infinitely dearer.” – Buried Under Romance


“We are in awe. The Frost of Springtime is a MUST HAVE! Despite that we loved the true facts, we fell instantly in love with the story. It was dark, emotionally devastating, and sensual. The innocence between the two main characters was beautiful and their love grew so strong throughout the story with such grace. One of us even cried while reading The Frost of Springtime. We loved the cover, we loved the writing style, and we adored the characters. We fell in love, really hard." – Divas Book Blog


“This novel is intricately detailed and wonderfully written! Opening with a heartbreaking scene, I was immediately drawn to the story of Aleksender and his Sofia. Of course, as the story moved on, other enchanting characters helped to make this poignant book complete. The author has blended historical facts with fiction skillfully, and presented several narratives flawlessly. It’s beautiful! I loved it!” – Romancebookworm’s Reviews


“I absolutely love this book. The Frost of Springtime shows how love and tragedy go hand in hand and that love can actually be more powerful than anything. I have found that most books do not hit this point right on the nail like this one does. It’s a Historical Romance and let me just tell you this is one book I couldn’t put down.” – Magic Within The Pages


“WOW!! The Frost of Springtime is a powerful, epic love story unlike anything I’ve ever read before. The emotional and visual/sensory depth is astounding. I felt Aleksender and Sofia’s connection from beginning to end. Aleksender’s path to healing was at times breathtaking and heartbreaking. This is a hero who loves his woman with every last breath, every fiber of his being… and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her. AMAZING cast of secondary characters as well… a 'villain' who actually leaves you morally torn! Beautifully written (loved the vivid imagery and descriptions!), dark, unusual, rich with history, epic scope, and a soul deep love that only comes once in a lifetime… Brava!!!” – Sivonna, an advanced reader


http://www.amazon.com/Frost-Springtime-Rachel-L-Demeter-ebook/dp/B00ICXN9N2  (Kindle eBook) Amazon Prime members can read the kindle edition for free!

About the Author

 

Rachel L. Demeter lives in the beautiful hills of Anaheim, California with Teddy, her goofy lowland sheepdog, and high school sweetheart of ten years. She enjoys writing dark, edgy romances that challenge the reader’s emotions and examine the redeeming power of love. Imagining stories and characters has been Rachel’s passion for longer than she can remember. Before learning how to read or write, she would dictate stories while her mom would jot them down for her. She has a special affinity for the tortured hero and unconventional romances.

Whether sculpting the protagonist or antagonist, she always ensures that every character is given a soul. Rachel strives to intricately blend elements of romance, suspense, and horror. Some common themes her stories never stray too far from: forbidden romance, soul mates, the power of love to redeem, mend all wounds, and triumph over darkness.
Her dream is to move readers and leave an emotional impact through her words.

Author Links

Website Facebook Twitter Google+ Goodreads Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube



View Book Trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oqKUTaESvTE



*More information on a huge GIVEAWAY can be found by clicking on this link:
 http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thefrostofspringtimebookblast/   Hurry!!

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"The Boleyn Bride" by Brandy Purdy~A Woman's Perspective

 

 



SUMMARY :

From carefree young woman to disillusioned bride, the dazzling lady who would become mother and grandmother to two of history’s most infamous queens, has a fascinating story all her own…

At sixteen, Elizabeth Howard envisions a glorious life for herself as lady-in-waiting to the future queen, Catherine of Aragon. But when she is forced to marry Thomas Boleyn, a wealthy commoner, Elizabeth is left to stagnate in the countryside while her detested husband pursues his ambitions. There, she raises golden girl Mary, moody George, and ugly duckling Anne–while staving off boredom with a string of admirers. Until Henry VIII takes the throne…

When Thomas finally brings his highborn wife to London, Elizabeth indulges in lavish diversions and dalliances–and catches the lusty king’s eye. But those who enjoy Henry’s fickle favor must also guard against his wrath. For while her husband’s machinations bring Elizabeth and her children to the pinnacle of power, the distance to the scaffold is but a short one–and the Boleyn family’s fortune may be turning.
Praise for the novels of Brandy Purdy:

"Recommended for readers who can't get enough of the Tudors and have devoured all of Phillipa Gregory's books."  Library Journal

"Purdy wonderfully reimagines the behind-the-scenes lives of the two sisters."
Historical Novel Review on The Tudor Throne


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

     Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

Publication date: 2/25/2014

Pages: 272

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Author:  Brandy Purdy

Website:  http://www.brandypurdy.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of several historical novels including THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), THE QUEEN'S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR), and THE QUEEN'S RIVALS (THE FALLEN QUEEN).

Please see her website and blog for more insights into this interesting author!


INTERVIEW WITH MS PURDY!!!

The Bookish Libraria is delighted to have Ms Purdy here to answer some questions for us about herself and her work.  Welcome, Brandy!!

1)      Tell us something about yourself, please.  How do most people describe you?

 

The truth is very few people know me well enough to really describe me. I tend to come off as very quiet, shy, and reserved, or, to put it bluntly, boring, the kind of person most people wouldn’t like to get to know; putting myself forward is the hardest thing for me as both an author and a person. Treatment-resistant depression is the bane of my existence, so I do go through many dark, overwhelming periods, but I also have a few good points, I’m very warm and loving, and I love to laugh and learn new things. I’m 38 years old, and I love to spend time with my cat, Tabby, read, write, watch classic movies, try my hand at different creative projects, and bake red velvet cakes from scratch. That pretty much sums it up.

 

2)      Briefly, from where did the idea for your novel germinate?

 

The ideas come to me in all sorts of ways, I never know where I will find inspiration, for The Boleyn Bride I was intrigued by Elizabeth Boleyn’s seeming absence from her daughters’ lives, so very few facts are actually known about her and there are a few tantalizing rumors of her immorality that have down to us; though historians tend to believe this was intended more as another means to blacken Anne’s name at the height of the divorce scandal. I also wanted to explore the idea of the emotionally absent mother and Elizabeth Boleyn seemed an ideal character for that. Of course, it’s important to stress my portrayal of her is fictional, so little is actually known about her, she might have been the most loving mother in the world, history just failed to record it.

 

 

3)      Who first told you you could write well, and how did it affect you?

 

The readers who read my first two novels, which were self-published (The Confession of Piers Gaveston and Vengeance IsMine, which later was bought by Kensington and re-titled The Boleyn Wife). I was gambling on myself when I took the chance and put my work out there, I had no idea how it would be received; I’m glad so many people have been kind enough to write to me and tell me that they’ve found entertainment and enjoyment, and sometimes even meaning or an emotional connection, in the pages of my books. Knowing that means so much to me.

 

4)      Which contemporary authors do you most admire?

 

That’s a very difficult one, I tend to be more story rather than author oriented; I will read anything, fiction or non-fiction, that grabs my attention.

 

 

5)      Who are your favorite classical authors?

 

It’s the same with classical as well as modern; I tend to focus more on story. When I was a little girl in 4^thgrade I found a huge dictionary at a yard sale and it had a list of the 100 greatest books of all time in the back and I worked my way through them over the next couple of years. Unlike most of the kids I went to school with, I didn’t complain when our English teacher assigned us a classic to read, it always intrigued me, I never believed publishers kept books in print 100 years or more just to torture school children, so there must be more to it than that, to why that particular book had endured while so many others written at the same time had been forgotten, and I wanted to find out why.

 

6)      What was your first book as a child?  What’s your all time favorite book?

 

Gone With The Wind, it’s my favorite book and movie, and it was also the first adult level book I read so it has a special place in my heart; I was about nine or ten when I read it the first time all the way through. I started reading adult level books early, and to be honest I don’t really remember the children’s books very well, though I must have had them. I know I used to go to the library and get books about the history of costume filled with old fashion plates and engravings and those big coffee table books filled with glamour stills of the classic movie stars and antiques and art and ancient Egyptian treasures and things like that and spend hours pouring over them even when the text was years beyond me. I’ve always been very visual.  

 

7)      Read any good books in the past 6 months?

 

I’ve actually been doing research mostly so I haven’t had much time for reading for pleasure; that sometimes happens depending on what I am working on. While I was recovering from surgery recently I did reread two old favorites: The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham and Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham. I’m currently reading, off and on, as it’s more of a reference book without a continuous plot, so it’s easy to put down and take up again, The Encyclopedia of the Exquisite An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins; I adore books like this as I love learning the history and symbolism behind objects and customs.

 

8)      What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

 

Being a caregiver and watching my mother die and being powerless to do anything to change things. I haven’t had much actual work experience, as she became ill right after I graduated high school and then after her death I started writing.

 

 

9)      What’s your earliest memory?

 

Falling down. I have very vivid memories of learning to walk, I must have been about a year old, and it was Easter, and I was wearing a frilly white dress with little pink tulips on it and a big puffy skirt and I kept falling down at an Easter Egg hunt in our front yard and getting grass stains all over it.

 

10)   What’s your most treasured possession?

 

My cat Tabby, of course, she’s the love of my life. But if you mean material possessions--my good luck charm: I love the 1938 film “Marie Antoinette,” it’s the most magnificent piece of cinematic eye candy ever made in my opinion, the costumes and casting are marvelous, and seeing it at a young age further fueled my developing interest in history and historical fiction. When I review a book about Marie Antoinette on my blog, watch out, I have a tendency to go overboard and include lots of photos from that film. Anyway, I had the very good fortune to obtain a postcard from 1938 with a photograph of Norma Shearer costumed as Marie Antoinette and Tyrone Power as Count Fersen that was autographed by Tyrone Power, I consider this my good luck charm, and it sits in a little frame on my desk, beside my computer, and is always with me when I write.

 

11)   Are you working on a new novel?

 

Yes, but I tend to be a bit superstitious about not talking about works in progress, so I hope you’ll forgive me for not going into detail just now. But I will say, it is a departure from medieval and Tudor England, I’m venturing into an entirely different era. And, for the first time since my first novel, The Confession of Piers Gaveston, I’m writing from a male as well as a female perspective. The books I write that I love best are the ones that challenge me, and I’m very excited about this one and hope readers will be too.

 

Fabulous interview!  I have the same reaction to Marie Antoinette and that film and Norma Shearer!  Can't wait to see what you're new novel will be. 

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Naturally, one of my favorite genre, and I wasn't disappointed by reading this novel.  Brandy Purdy has a stream of good books to choose from.  All of them are excellent.  She writes like a historian with the captivating tone of a storyteller.  There are few who can really pull this off as well as she does.  From the first paragraphs, I was caught in her web of intrigue and couldn't pull myself loose.  This is a book you will thoroughly enjoy even if you think you've already read all about the Boleyns.
I can tell you, Ms Purdy has found a way to let you know you haven't!

This book is told mostly in narrative form.  It made me feel I was sitting at the fireside of a castle with Elizabeth Boleyn and hearing her tales of her daughters' and her own life.  It holds a new perspective on the famous Boleyn girls; yes, but it also gives us a perspective of the mother who raised them and often neglected them.  It was mesmerizing.  If you've always wondered as I have where they got their backbone, beauty and charm...this is a novel that explains much of that.  We also see the seductions of men and the English court from another perspective.

Brandy Purdy writes with a veteran's hand.  She is well-versed in the times, the settings and the nuances of the Tudor age.  All this makes her story come to life.  If you want to slip into a season of Tudor England, all you have to do is enter her book for a few hours and you're there.

I loved this novel!  I think you who read historical fiction regularly will too.

5 stars                         Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Archetype" by M.D. Waters~Stunning!

SUMMARY :

Introducing a breathtakingly inventive futuristic suspense novel about one woman who rebels against everything she is told to believe.

Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.

Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters.

In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . . .

The first novel in a two-part series, Archetype heralds the arrival of a truly memorable character—and the talented author who created her.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Penguin
Pages:  384
Genre:  Syfy/Thriller
Series:  Book 1
Author:  M.D. Waters
Website:  http://www.mdwatersauthor.com



ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

M.D. WATERS lives with her family in Maryland. Archetype is her first novel. Its sequel, Prototype, will be published in July 2014.



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Wow!  This book is a sleeper if ever there was one!  I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.  What a great first novel it is for M. D. Waters.  I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, "Prototype" which comes out this summer.  I highly recommend you read this one soon.

A sort of combination Stepford Wives and Frankenstein's daughter, this is a thriller that kept me guessing until the last chapters.  It's a powerfully imagined story with a brilliant love triangle mingled in.  The book is fast-paced and catches us up with a couple of viewpoints that are haunting and heart-breaking.

Ms Waters's use of characterization is strong.  It is easy to identify with the main female character, Emma, as she works to sort out her strange existence.  And, I felt a great deal of sympathy for her husband, Declan, although it may have been misplaced!  Such was the golden touch of this writer.

Haunting and eerie, this is a book that will keep your interest for hours.  I found it very difficult to put down.  Its futuristic theme makes one think...feminist issues are at the core of the book.

There's a twist that's killer at the end making me die to read the sequel!  A great weekend read.

4 stars                     Deborah/TheBookishDame

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