Icon Tag: Historical

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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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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F. Scott Fitzgerald: American Spy by Murray Sinclair

F. Scott Fitzgerald: American Spy by Murray Sinclair Published by Eclectic Books on February 15th, 2023 Genres: Historical Fiction Pages: 248 Format: ARC Source: Reedsy Discovery Buy on Amazon Goodreads Did you know that, in the Spring of 1940, the once famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald was recruited by an agent of the French Resistance to assassinate the premier of Vichy France? Fitzgerald had hijacked the “Jazz Age” and made it his own in the Roaring 20s, but now a struggling, impecunious alcoholic, his only real comforts are multiple Coca-Colas and the elusive embrace of his paramour, gossip columnist Sheilah Graham. Hemingway has become the real ticket, making the big money, but when our narrator Henri Duval, a double agent for the Vichy government and the French Resistance, surfaces in Hollywood at the legendary Garden of Allah hotel on Sunset Boulevard across the street from the star-studded Schwab’s Pharmacy, he hatches a harebrained scheme that might just change the entire course of history and restore Fitzgerald to his rightful position on the top of the literary heap. As we peruse Duval’s secret correspondence to his colleague in Washington D.C., we eavesdrop on wild nights with the Marx Brothers, intrigues engineered […]

Posted February 15, 2023
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Percy Hare and the Girl in the Game by Craig Martin

Percy Hare and the Girl in the Game by Craig Martin on October 27th, 2022 Genres: Historical Fiction Pages: 308 Format: ARC Source: Reedsy Discovery Buy on Amazon Goodreads Percy the Hare lives just beyond the notice of most decent folk in 1880’s Lafayette, Indiana, a town on the Wabash River and the Wabash & Erie Canal. But the aging hare plays a vital role in the city’s illicit activities and has a colorful mix of friends and acquaintances. When his longtime companion and madam Evaline Wells needs an escort for her adopted daughter’s excursions into the late-night euchre circuit, who better than the ornery hare to see her through its challenges. Through their clever friendship, Percy and young Esther Wells bring to life the gas-lit world of early Lafayette town, in all its color, pageantry, grit, folklore, and mystery. Percy Hare and the Girl in the Game is one of those rare books you simply don’t know where to slot in. Part Historical Fiction, part Folklore, part Animal Fantasy and a huge part Tall Tale as fluffy as a bunny’s tail. Or in this case – a hare. When I saw the synopsis for this book, it immediately drew […]

Posted January 9, 2023
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Blog Tour & Review: The Socialite’s Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden

The Socialite’s Guide to Murder by S. K. Golden Series: Pinnacle Hotel Mystery #1 Published by Crooked Lane Publishers on October 11th, 2022 Genres: Mystery Pages: 320 Format: ARC Source: Great Escapes Tours Buy on Amazon Goodreads The hotel was her refuge, but scandal is afoot—and a killer stalks the halls in this charming series debut perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver. It’s 1958 and Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy has not left the Pinnacle Hotel in fourteen months. She suffers from agoraphobia, and what’s more, it’s her father’s hotel, and everything she needs is there. Evelyn’s always been good at finding things, she discovered her mother dead in a Manhattan alleyway fifteen years earlier. Now she’s finding trouble inside her sanctuary. At a party for artist Billie Bell, his newest work is stolen, and Evelyn’s fake boyfriend (and real best friend), movie star Henry Fox, is accused of the theft. But just as Evelyn sets out to prove Henry’s innocence, she finds Billie Bell dead. The murder weapon links the crime to the hotel’s chief of security. But why would he use a knife with his initials on the handle? With her beloved home in disarray, Evelyn […]

Posted December 10, 2022
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Wednesday Wisdom – The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak Published by Viking Adult on August 5th, 2021 Genres: Fiction Pages: 368 Format: Paperback Source: Book Club Buy on Amazon Goodreads A rich, magical new book on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love. Years later, a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has […]

Posted November 23, 2022
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The Brilliance of Stars by J’nell Ciesielski

The Brilliance of Stars by J’nell Ciesielski Series: Jack & Ivy #1 Published by Thomas Nelson on November 1st, 2022 Genres: Historical Fiction Pages: 400 Format: ARC Source: Author’s Copy, Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads Amid the chaos of the Great War, two master assassins risk it all for love. Washington DC, 1914. Ivy Olwen knows how to survive on the streets without two coins to rub together. But when she finds herself whisked into a secret society that seeks to maintain the balance of good and evil in the world, she can’t believe there’s more to life than just surviving. In the hallowed and historied halls of Talon, she learns European languages and ballroom dancing, as well as demolitions and sharpshooting—in short, everything a spy and assassin will need to survive in the field. The first day Jack Vale meets Ivy, he knows she is not to be underestimated. The second day, he knows his heart will belong to no one else. Between sparring bouts and constellation gazing, Jack takes Ivy under his wing, and the two form a bond that soon turns to love. While the rest of the world tumbles into war, the two embark on an […]

Posted November 12, 2022
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The Classics Club Spin #31 – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Greetings you guys! I am ever so proud of my Mommy. She just managed to finish her Classics Club Spin #31 book. Luckily it was a quick read, but by no means a light or an easy read. I’m sure we are in the minority of Classics Lovers who haven’t read this one yet: To review this book, will be no easy task either. If you look on Goodreads, there are over 43 000 reviews on this book, some of our favorite readers and bloggers amongst them. It does appear as if we are going to be in the minority with our 3.5 Star review as well. Yes, this book was beautifully written – wow. You can get lost in the prose and forget about the content as a whole. But then again, reading is a holistic experience. So why only 3.5 stars? The world has changed. Hasn’t it? Somehow, it became lighter. Somehow, it became heavier to carry a friend. Somehow, having a piece of the land isn’t the dream anymore. And somehow, we live in that world and adapts to it. As humans do. We become isolated to the story of George and Lennie. Animal cruelty will not […]

Posted October 30, 2022
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Missteps Perfecting the Shutterbug Strut by J.L. Michael

Missteps Perfecting the Shutterbug Strut by J.L. Michael Published by Swanky Owl Press on August 21st, 2022 Pages: 372 Format: ARC Source: Reedsy Discovery Buy on Amazon Goodreads It is 1927. An “Era of Wonderful Nonsense.” Vague maps tout grand mysteries, each snapshot means something, and jazzy hijinks abound. Insouciant vagabond ALEXANDRA ILLYRIA BATHENBROOK sets off from Montana to capture images never photographed, hoping to earn an interview with National Geographic. Operating from her London office, she will flirt with becoming a royal mistress, reunite lustful ghosts at notorious Borley Rectory, and stir up mischief at the Winter Olympics in ritzy St. Moritz. Those are the easy ones. More perilous assignments send Alexandra in pursuit of a thrill killer through the dusty alleyways of Marrakech and into the feral bushlands of Uganda to join a hunt for man-eating lions. While seeking a famed explorer in Amazonia, she must face down her inner demons in a desperate bid for survival. Along her brazen journey, she will outwit, outcharm, and outbrave detractors and rapscallions… even romance a few. Yet most telling, Alexandra will find her best self in rekindling hope within her war-scarred brother and uncovering the scandalous reason she’s forever lost […]

Posted October 24, 2022
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Icon Tag: Historical

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