By Philippa Gregory ** Publication Date 24 November 2020 ** 3.5 stars Book reviews are always subjective. Philippa Gregory is a fabulous novelist and the stories are well written. But try as a might, this book was a challenge for me to finish. Perhaps because I hadn’t read Tidelands, I wasn’t completely invested in the …
By Alice Hoffman ** Publication Date 6 October 2020 ** 5 stars It is the late 1600s and Hannah Owens has found a baby in a basket in a snowy, open field. The baby is wrapped in a blanket stitched with the name Maria. Perched on the basket is a crow. Hannah takes the baby …
by Kathleen Y’Barbo 4 stars Annie may be British, and distantly in line for the throne, but she’s not the royalty kind. Annie wants to be a detective and live her best life away from the throne. Grandmother, Queen Victoria, might have other ideas though. When the Queen interferes on behalf of her father to …
By Alex Landragin ** Publication Date 28 July 2020 ** 4 stars What a unique concept and story. Crossings deals with a rare manuscript, supposedly written, in his own hand, by Charles Baudelaire. Tragedy follows anyone who has had hands on the manuscript. One of the wild concepts of this tale, is the fact that …
By Liz Tolzma ** Publication Date 1 June 2020 ** 3.75 stars It’s 1886 in Boston and Harriet Peters has finally gotten what she’s always wanted – her own flat above her own millinery shop. While working in her shop one day, her best friend Lizzie’s brother arrives to ask her to come quickly. Lizzie …
By Shannon McNear ** Publication Date 1 March 2020 ** In 1797 Knoxville is still a wild “west” town. Rachel Taylor lives with her parents and helps to run their mercantile – more just a stop along the way for travelers. When she stands up for her best friend Sally at her wedding to the …
The Gray Chamber
By Grace Hitchcock ** Publication Date 1 January 2020 ** Edyth is a quirky, orphaned socialite in New York during the late 1800s. She lives in her ancestral home with her Uncle Boris who has recently remarried. She’s as sane as they come, if not a little different. Edyth wears garish clothing and fences for …
By Thomas Wheeler & Frank Miller ** Publication Date 1 October 2019 ** Many times has the story of Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin been told. Arthur is nearly always the receptor of the magical sword that makes him the one true king. This time around the sword belongs to a girl, Nimue. Nimue is a …
By Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb ** Publication Date 23 July 2019** Princess Grace was the princess of American film before she ever became the Princess of Monaco. The world was captivated by Grace Kelly, and then when Prince Rainier captured her heart, the world was captivated by their marriage. Meet Me in Monaco takes …
By Elizabeth MacNeal ** Publication Date 13 August 2019 (US) ** In Victorian London live twins – Iris and Rose. They work in a doll factory. Rose sews the clothes for the dolls, Iris paints them. Often the dolls are created to imitate a child, living or dead. Rose was struck by smallpox which renders …