The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham Book Review

Publication Date: February 15, 2022
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: ebook, print and audio
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Paris, 1940: He pressed the tattered book into her hands. ‘You must go to the café and ask at the counter for Pierre Duras. Tell him that I sent you. Tell him you’re there to save the people of France.’

Sliding the coded message in between the crisp pages of the hardback novel, bookstore owner Laurence slips out into the cold night to meet her resistance contact, pulling her woollen beret down further over her face. The silence of the night is suddenly shattered by an Allied plane rushing overhead, its tail

Jane and the Year Without a Summer by Stephanie Barron

Publication Date: February 8, 2022
Publisher: Soho Press
Series: Being a Jane Austen Mystery (Book 14)
Length: (336) pages
Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook
Genre: Historical Mystery, Austenesque


Synopsis

May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript—about a baronet's daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain—cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at

Summer Half by Angela Thirkell Book Review

Synopsis

To his parents' dismay, Colin Keith - out of the noble but misplaced sense of duty peculiar to high-minded young university graduates - chooses to quit his training for the Bar and take a teaching job at Southbridge School. Little does Colin imagine that he will count among his pupils the demon in human form known as Tony Morland; or that the master's ravishing, feather-brained daughter Rose will, with her flights of fancy and many admirers, spread chaos throughout school and village. Humorous, high-spirited and cleverly observed, Summer Half is a comic delight.

My Thoughts

Tangled relationships and quirky characters abound once more as quiet and unassuming

The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb Book Review

Publication Date: February 8, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Format:Print and ebook
Genre:Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Ellis Island, 1902: Two women band together to hold America to its promise: "Give me your tired, your poor ... your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

A young Italian woman arrives on the shores of America, her sights set on a better life. That same day, a young American woman reports to her first day of work at the immigration center. But Ellis Island isn't a refuge for Francesca or Alma, not when ships depart every day with those who are refused entry to the country and when corruption ripples through every corridor. While

Six Degrees of Separation: From No One is Talking About This to Heidi

It's the first Saturday of the month and time to play Six Degrees of Separation. This meme is hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. The aim is to link six books to each other from the starting point.

This month the starting point is No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. Usually when I haven't read the novel I look to Goodreads for help. Unfortunately, the book's blurb didn't provide any flashes of inspiration so I'm going with a book that I have flagged as "Want to Read": The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healy.

In 1939, Hetty Cartwright is given the job to evacuate and look after a collection of mammals from the natural history musuem. Lockwood Manor is the destination, where Hetty and her charges are to remain for the duration

Out Front the Following Sea by Leah Angstman Book Review + Blog Tour Giveaway (US only)

Publication Date: January 11, 2022
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook; 334 pages
Genre: Historical / Literary / Epic

Synopsis

**Shortlisted for the Chaucer Book Award**

OUT FRONT THE FOLLOWING SEA is a historical epic of one woman’s survival in a time when the wilderness is still wild, heresy is publicly punishable, and being independent is worse than scorned—it is a death sentence.

At the onset of King William’s War between French and English settlers in 1689 New England, Ruth Miner is accused of witchcraft

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews Book Review + Blog Tour Giveaway (US only)

Publisher: Berkley Romance
Publication Date: January 11, 2022
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook
Length: (432) pages
Series: Belles of London (Book 1)
Genre: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Victorian high society’s most daring equestrienne finds love and an unexpected ally in her fight for independence in the strong arms of London’s most sought after and devastatingly handsome half-Indian tailor.

Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she's worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling

European Reading Challenge 2022 My Sign-up Post

Hosted by: Gilion @ Rose City Reader

Challenge period: 1st January to 31st December, 2022, with until 31st January, 2023, to finish reviews and write a wrap-up post.

Aim: To read books set in European countries or books by European authors, any genre – fiction, nonfiction, novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, etc. No two books

A Literary Christmas Challenge 2021 My Wrap-up Post

Hosted by: In the Bookcase
Challenge period: Now to 31st December, 2021
Aim: To read and review as many Christmas-themed titles as you can from a list you

Top Ten Tuesday Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. A topic is assigned to each Tuesday. For that topic you are encouraged to make a top ten list, putting your own spin on it, if needed. Upcoming topics and

The Girl from Paris by Ella Carey Book Review

Publication Date: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: Daughters of New York #3
Format: ebook, print and audio
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Vianne rushes through the crowded streets of Paris as the German bombs begin to fall. As she rounds the corner she sees the familiar spires of the old church burst into flames. Too late, she realizes that her mother and sister are trapped inside…

Paris, 1918. The end of war is in sight, and young seamstress Vianne Mercier is longing for the day when she can stop sewing military uniforms and start creating the beautiful dresses that she has been dreaming up in her

Top Ten Tuesday Most Anticipated Books Releasing In the First Half of 2022

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. A topic is assigned to each Tuesday. For that topic you are encouraged to make a top ten list, putting your own spin on it, if needed. Upcoming topics and