Archive for the ‘Historical’ Category

“The Havoc Machine,” Steven Harper

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

Pros: Interesting world-building and story
Cons: Some discordant tones
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Release date: May 7, 2013
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

The clockwork plague reduced some people to mindless plague-spreading zombies, while elevating others to empathy-free brilliant mad scientists called clockworkers. As the clockworkers fall deeper and deeper into plague-fueled fugues, they lose touch with their humanity, often hurting, torturing, and killing people in their mad quest to build ever-stranger devices. Thaddeus Sharpe has dedicated himself to hunting and killing clockworkers, often destroying their automatons and devices in the process. When a mysterious young woman, Sofiya, working for an even more mysterious man named Mr. Griffin, hires Thad to steal a device from a clockworker, things inevitably go wrong. Thad cares more about killing the clockworker and rescuing a young boy than he does obtaining the device, and soon he finds himself forced further and further into Mr. Griffin’s dangerous schemes.

Those schemes take him, the circus he travels with, Sofiya, and the boy he rescued (Nikolai) to the palace of the tsar, embroiling him in court politics, assassination attempts, and one great, horrific clockworker plan that threatens everyone.

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“Heartbreak Creek,” Kaki Warner

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Pros: Heart-warming romance/family story
Cons: Some loose ends and a shaky start
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Edwina Ladoux is losing her home—and truth be told, it’s been in ruins ever since the Civil War paid an all-too-personal visit. On impulse she sets herself up as a mail-order bride, hoping that starting over in Heartbreak Creek, Colorado, will make everything all right again. She sets off with her half-sister, Prudence, not expecting huge, taciturn Declan Brodie, a widowed rancher who was himself expecting a sturdy farm wife who could mother his four children, not a temperamental Southern girl who can’t even cook.

With some (okay, a lot) of help from Prudence, and her own fiery temper and steel backbone, Ed slowly adjusts to ranch life and even riding herd on a bunch of unruly kids—until an Indian attack leaves the ranch in ruins. Ed finds that just as things are getting dangerous, she’s ready to fight for her new family—and it’ll take all her fire and steel to hold onto what she’s gained.

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Jo Goodman’s “The Last Renegade,” a short take

Friday, November 30th, 2012

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted on Epinions.com.

 

Lorraine Berry owns the Pennyroyal Saloon and Hotel, and she’s worried about her little town of Bitter Springs, Wyoming. So worried that she’s sent word to a gunslinger, offering to hire him to come protect the town from a ruthless local rancher.

Kellen Coltrane is having a comfortable train ride when a mysterious encounter sends him on a detour to Bitter Springs to carry out a dying man’s last wish. Once he meets Lorraine, he finds himself swept up in the town’s troubles and pretending to be something he isn’t. And as he learns more about Lorraine, he finds himself wanting to be more than just her protector.

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“Angel’s End,” Cindy Holby

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

Pros: Super sweet and fun
Cons: Predictable and a little over-the-top in places
Rating: 4 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Cade Gentry is, more or less, a bad guy. His life has led him to bad places, and about the only good thing he can say about himself is that for once, he did the right thing. His boss wanted him to do something terrible, and instead he warned a young couple and saved their lives. Now he’s on the run, shot, nearly dead on his feet in the Colorado snow—when he has the good fortune to meet Timothy Key, a pastor on his way to take up residence in the tiny town of Angel’s End. Key saves Cade’s life, and in turn ends up losing his own. With his last words he urges Cade to look after his flock, and Cade, hoping to throw off his pursuers, takes Key’s identity and sets off in the direction of the town.

Leah Findley’s husband was the sheriff, but he was killed several years ago, and now she struggles to raise her young son on her own. She had agreed to take on the pastor as a boarder in return for some money from the town, but she certainly didn’t expect him to show up half-dead in the middle of a snowstorm. She can’t put off the feeling that the preacher isn’t who he seems to be, but she becomes less inclined to look too hard as she starts to fall in love with him.

Soon the town will expect Cade to take up his work as the pastor, and he knows he can’t keep up the charade. He also knows that if he stays, eventually his old employer will catch up with him, putting Leah in danger. But the longer he remains in Angel’s End, the harder it gets to leave Leah and her son behind.

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“The Anatomy of Death,” Felicity Young

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Pros: Interesting look back at the movement for women’s right to vote in England
Cons: For me, there seemed to be some tonal and genre confusion
Rating: 4 out of 5 (3 for me personally)

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Dody McCleland is a female autopsy surgeon in England at the beginning of the 20th century, one of a very few women allowed to practice any kind of medicine. Despite her unusual and forward-thinking career choice, she doesn’t entirely agree with her younger sister Florence’s flamboyant rallies and marches for women’s rights. She thinks a slower, quieter method would be more effective than the more militant stance taken by some women. But when a rally turns violent, Dody finds herself examining the body of one of her sister’s own friends, a lady of some station, who was apparently beaten to death.

Tensions between the women and the police rise. One police inspector, Pike, who particularly loathes the use of brute force to solve problems—particularly against women—manages to get several of the instigators out of the department even though he doesn’t agree with the women’s cause. Then he meets Dody, listens to the woman’s concerns about the suspicious death, and begins to suspect that something larger and more important is afoot.

The police superintendent is eager for any reason to get rid of Pike and smooth over the woman’s death; the women of the suffragette movement believe they have to up the ante in order to get anywhere; and Dody is caught somewhere in the middle just trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

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“Song of the Nile” by Stephanie Dray

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Pros: The relationship between Selene and Augustus is absolutely fascinating to watch unfold.
Cons: Selene’s single-mindedness can be a bit irritating at times.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Having come of age, Cleopatra Selene was to be married to a man of Augustus’ choosing. She is now Queen of Mauretania, and she demands to be more than a figurehead. Working to build her new country into a Roman asset, she finds her relationship with Augustus becoming even more complex. Selene’s goal through all of this never changes: she wants Egypt back, the kingdom of her mother, that should have been hers by right. Yet even with the magic of Isis, it seems that Egypt remains just beyond her grasp. Will the price for her heritage be something that Selene is willing to pay? Or does Isis have another destiny in mind?

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“Mark of the Rose” by Kate Pearce

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Pros: Interesting world-building, and an interesting way of integrating history and fantasy.
Cons: The heroine can be irritating at times, and I wish I understood more of why some of the conflict was taking place.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

When Rhys Williams finds out that King Henry VIII’s new wife may be in peril, he convinces his old friend Verity Llewellyn to come to court and aid him. Verity wants very much to prove herself capable, and when they learn that it may be a vampire that threatens the queen, Verity knows she must train herself to be able to face this threat. Though they each have different suspects, they must each move past their past and work together, otherwise the queen and her child may both perish.

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“Outrageously Yours”, by Allison Chase

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Pros: Readers who wanted something different from the last story have gotten their wish!
Cons: Readers who want clear scientific basis/explanations of events are going to be rather disappointed.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Queen Victoria has found herself in a bit of a situation. A stone with unique properties has gone missing, and she’s desperate to get it back before its absence is noticed. She calls upon Ivy Sutherland to reclaim it. Ivy finds herself rechristened Ned Ivers, beginning science student at Oxford. It’s the perfect way to get to know Simon de Burgh, the Marquess of Harrow, who is rumored to be in possession of the stone. She’s going to have to find a way to work her way into his confidence, and even if she does he can’t find out the truth about her or her mission. Yet the closer that Ivy gets to the truth, the more danger she finds herself in. Will she be able to recover the stone for Victoria?

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“Awakened by a Kiss” by Lila DiPasqua

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Pros: Fresh, steamy takes on classic fairy tales.
Cons: Resolution of one story’s conflict seemed too easy.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Three fairy tales are retold with steamy new twists… these aren’t your daughter’s fairy tales! “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Puss In Boots” are delightfully retold, with some very sexy twists.

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“Sinful In Satin” by Madeline Hunter

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Pros: The reader has plenty of opportunities to get a good picture of who these characters are.
Cons: Several historical romance cliches act as plot elements in this book.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

 

Upon the death of her mother, a famous courtesan, Celia travels to London to settle her mother’s estate. Even after her mother’s debts are settled, Celia should still be able to keep a small second house in town, where she hopes to help a friend expand her business. But the house comes with an unexpected tenant: Jonathan Albrighton. Jonathan has a reason for keeping his lease upstairs; there may be a link between Celia’s mother and French spies. He’s here to either prove or disprove these rumors. As Celia considers following her mother’s footsteps to settle the last of her debts, she begins to realize that Jonathan might be the only man she wants to seduce.

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