Author: elzaread

Madame Pommery – Creator of Brut Champagne by Rebecca Rosenberg

Madame Pommery – Creator of Brut Champagne by Rebecca Rosenberg Series: Champagne Widows Published by Lion Heart Publishing on March 21, 2023 Genres: Historical Fiction Pages: 400 Format: ARC Source: The History Quill Book Club Buy on Amazon Goodreads A Champagne Widows Novel Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, crisp wine to be enjoyed anytime. When champagne makers refuse to teach her their craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of champagne caves under the Reims city dump. Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, the Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies Madame Pommery’s house as his army headquarters. Undaunted, Pommery uses her secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for France, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above […]

Posted March 31, 2023
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Blog Tour & Review: Murder in Post Script by Mary Winters

Murder in Post Script by Mary Winters Series: A Lady of Letters Mystery #1 Published by Berkley Books on March 28, 2023 Genres: Mystery Pages: 320 Format: ARC Source: Great Escapes Tours Buy on Amazon Goodreads When one of her readers asks for advice following a suspected murder, Victorian countess Amelia Amesbury, who secretly pens the popular Lady Agony column, has no choice but to investigate in this first book in a charming new historical mystery series. Amelia Amesbury—widow, mother, and countess—has a secret. Amelia writes for a London penny paper, doling out advice on fashion, relationships, and manners under the pen name Lady Agony. But when a lady’s maid writes Amelia to ask for advice when she believes her mistress has been murdered—and then ends up a victim herself—Amelia is determined to solve the case. With the help of her best friend and a handsome marquis, Amelia begins to piece together the puzzle, but as each new thread of inquiry ends with a different suspect, the investigation grows ever more daunting. From London’s docks and ballrooms to grand country houses, Amelia tracks a killer, putting her reputation—and her life—on the line. Murder in Postscript (A Lady of Letters Mystery) […]

Posted March 30, 2023
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Top Ten Tuesday – Who’s that Girl?

Greetings you guys! Good grief! It’s just about the end of March and only the second Top Ten Tuesday post I am doing this year. Yes, that is horrible. I know. Believe you me, I am way more devastated than you are. Life really has been crazy busy and every Tuesday, TTT just fly by our window like a bird in fright of my presence. Luckily for all of us, today is a public holiday here in good old SA, so Mommy does have some time for TTT. Thank heavens! As you all know, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week , Jana will give us a prompt and then you go and play with it until it’s as dead as last night’s mouse that tried to sneak over the lawn (true story). This week’s prompt is rewind TTT. That means you can choose any of the over 600 prompts that were already given on TTT and make your own post. We chose this one: Frequently used words in titles. Oh I am quite sure that our chosen word has been used before, because let’s face it – everyone wants to know Who’s that GIRL?? […]

Posted March 21, 2023
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Blog Tour & Excerpt: The Bennets by K.C. Cowan

The Bennets: Providence and Perception by K.C. Cowan Published by Meryton Press on March 20th, 2023 Genres: Regency Romance Pages: 234 Source: Meryton Press Buy on Amazon Goodreads Either ignored or ridiculed by her family, Mary Bennet desires only happiness— Poor Miss Bennet—with three sisters married, she will no doubt be left “on the shelf” unless she takes steps to secure her own happiness. So, with the arrival of Mr. Yarby, a handsome new rector for Longbourn chapel, Mary decides to use her Biblical knowledge to win his heart. Meanwhile, her recently widowed fatherfinds himself falling for the older sister of his new reverend. But Mr. Bennet is officially in mourning for his late wife—what a scandalous situation! Unfortunately, Longbourn’s heir, Mr. Collins, has the antennae for a scandal and makes blackmail threats. Will an overheard conversation between the Yarby siblings break Mary’s heart? Or will it impel her to a desperate act that threatens everyone’s hopes for lasting love? Greetings you guys! Welcome to our stop on the blog tour for The Bennets: Providence & Perception by K.C. Cowan. K.C. Cowan is a new author to Meryton Press who of course specializes in all things Austenesque. The Bennets: Providence & Perception, is […]

Posted March 21, 2023
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The Time Trials by Jon & Dayna McConnell

The Time Trials by John McConnell Series: The Time Trials #1 Published by Tiny Fox Press on September 21, 2021 Genres: Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi, Time Travel, Young Adult Pages: 358 Format: ARC Source: Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads After the deaths of his parents in a horrific car accident — one that he considers his own fault — Walkman-toting, guitar-playing Finn Mallory would do anything to turn back time…to press “rewind.” When he’s admitted on full scholarship to an elite boarding school, things get more complicated: he becomes an “Unfortunate” in a sea of rich kids whose shoes cost more than his late parents made in a week. An invitation to a boring-sounding history club changes everything, as this team does much more than research and field trips. Well….they do take field trips. Just not the kind you’re thinking. For Finn, the present was already enough to deal with, but now he finds that he also must reckon with the past, in more ways than one. Who doesn’t remember High School and Clubbing? No, I’m not talking about the type of clubbing where you stuff your bedding with make-believe clothing and pillows and then sneak out of the window to […]

Posted March 20, 2023
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The Sunday Post #91

Greetings you guys! Aren’t we like halfway through March already? Time is definitely being made in China lately. It doesn’t last very long at all, does it? How are you all doing? We are doing good! Life is good here in our little seaside town on the southern part of Africa. Mommy’s been working very, very hard. But she loves it and if I’d let her, she will go on for hours talking about the new Educational Centre and how much the kids at school are still enjoying Library. But alas, we are reading a really lovely book and she’s on a time-budget here. Just a quick hello and then we are on the couch reading. What I am willing to share, is the latest edition to our little family! This is Kristoff and he is just the sweetest little chap ever. Even I like him. Well, sort of. He is way better than the other mutt! She is still nothing but a terror and nope, I do not like her. She does love her new little playmate though and doesn’t try to bite me and chase me up the walls all that much anymore. Mommy is still living in […]

Posted March 12, 2023
27 Comments

Six Degrees of Separation: Passages in an Overcrowded Mind

Greetings you guys! Welcome to Six Degrees of Separation. I know we’ve said that we will not miss any Six Degrees this year and we’ve already missed February’s. To be quite honest, we’ve rather skipped February as a whole this year. But hopefully March is going to be so much better. For those of you who don’t know this fun monthly meme, it’s hosted by Books are my favorite and Best and here’s a few tips and ideas: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the ones next to them in the chain. The fun thing about this meme, is that no two chains are ever the same and the directions the links can go to, are endless. As you […]

Posted March 5, 2023
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The Wishing Spells and Other Stories by Enid Blyton

The Wishing Spells and Other Stories by Enid Blyton Series: Popular Rewards on January 1ste, 2003 Genres: Childrens Pages: 192 Format: Hardcover Source: VCS Buy on Amazon Goodreads List of Content: The Wishing Spells -Story: untraced story She Never Could Remember -Story: Stories for Tuesday The Blow-Abouts -Story: Enid Blyton’s Bedtime Annual [1969] It Happened One Afternoon -Story: The Twelfth Holiday Book A Surprise for Bimbo -Story: untraced story Tip, Top and Tup -Story: Sunny Stories for Little Folks No.16 Feb 1927 Do-As-You’re-Told! -Story: A Second Book of Naughty Children The Little Lost Brother -Story: Enid Blyton’s Good Morning Book James’s Feather Headdress -Story: untraced story The Enchanted Toadstool -Story: News Chronicle Boys’ and Girls’ Story Book No. 4 The Top That Ran Away -Story: The Enid Blyton Holiday Book He Wouldn’t Buy a Ticket -Story: The Seventh Holiday Book The Runaway Cows -Story: The Enid Blyton Pennant Readers No.1 Greetings you guys! We haven’t done a book report from one of our school’s students in ages. And it’s not as if they don’t pile up on my Mommy’s desk. It is however, a fact that she doesn’t get to blogging and reviewing as much as she would like. Luckily […]

Posted March 2, 2023
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Review & Guest Post: Bakeries an Buffoonery by Elizabeth Pantley

Bakeries and Buffoonery by Elizabeth Pantley Series: Magical Mystery Book Club #4 on February 15th, 2023 Genres: Cozy Mystery Pages: 310 Format: ARC Source: Great Escapes Tours Buy on Amazon Goodreads It’s a magical book club! When this group chooses a book, magic happens. The mystery comes to life, and they find themselves part of the story. To exit the book and get back home, they need to solve the mystery and reach The End. This time, the club chooses a book called The Great Cake Rivalry, because, well … cake! They read the back cover and it’s unanimous. So off they go into another grand adventure into a town aptly named Frosting. Frosting is a rural town in an idyllic setting. The people live quiet lives most of the year. But in the spring, things change. The Annual Cake Competition becomes the focus of every man, woman, and child. They take this competition seriously. The cakes are spectacular. The festival is fabulous. For a week there are contests featuring all kinds of cakes. The people of the community become official tasters and vote for the winning cakes in each category. The grand finale is a display of finely decorated […]

Posted February 27, 2023
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The Sunday Post #90

Hi there you guys. Oh I feel I can just take a huge sig of relief to be able to say hi to you! Gosh, it’s been a really tough couple of weeks. The year started crazy with Mommy opening the new learning clinic and getting used to not being at school every day. All good, a change is a good thing and my Mommy is starting to settle into her new routine. And then a large part of her world came crashing down with one devastating event. On Sunday night, 06 February, the staff at the school my Mommy teaches, received the upsetting news that one of our students have passed away by taking her own life. Wow, what a blow. The whole school was just dumped in silence and disbelief. This beautiful, beautiful girl was one of my Mommy’s students and no-one, not even her parents, who we also know quite well, suspected a thing. How, oh how is this possible? The shock and sadness that rippled through our tight-knit community was unbelievable. Getting through the week up to her funeral, was a tough one and last weekend, my Mommy literally just stayed in bed. Crying, sleeping and […]

Posted February 18, 2023
26 Comments

Author: elzaread

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