Beneath a Starless Sky by Tessa Harris

Beneath a Starless Sky is a complete immersion into survival, love, espionage, and the intricacies of families and friends during Nazi Germany. The ending had me both angry and relieved, which was new for me. I highly recommend reading this novel.


Buy it today! 

Munich 1930: Smoke filled the air.

Lilli Sternberg’s quickening heart sounded an alarm as she rounded the street corner. Lifting her gaze to the rooftops, a roaring blaze of thick flames engulfed the side of the building and joined the stars to fill the black sky. Her father’s shop was no more.

Lilli Sternberg longs to be a ballet dancer. But outside the sanctuary of the theatre, her beloved city is in chaos and Munich is no longer a place for dreams.

The Nazi party are gaining power and the threats to those who deviate from the party line are increasing. Jewish families are being targeted and their businesses raided, even her father’s shop was torched because of their faith.

When Lilli meets Captain Marco Zeiller during a chance encounter, her heart soars. He is the perfect gentleman and her love for him feels like a bright hope under a bleak sky.

But battle lines are being drawn, and Marco has been spotted by the Reich as an officer with potential. A relationship with Lilli would compromise them both.

Will Lilli escape the threats facing her family, and how much is she willing to risk for the man she loves?

The Wicked Widow by Beatriz Williams

I need a family tree and Venn diagram of all these characters so that when I read this the second time around, I can revel in the delicious family sagas and drama.

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Gin Kelly, the wicked redhead, is back! Readers will delight in next installment of the Wicked City series by New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams.


June 1925. Audacious Appalachian flapper Geneva “Gin” Kelly prepares to trade her high-flying ways for respectable marriage to Oliver Anson Marshall, a steadfast Prohibition agent who happens to hail from one of New York’s most distinguished families. But just as wedding bells chime, the head of the notorious East Coast rum-running racket—and Anson’s mortal enemy—turns up murdered at a society funeral, and their short-lived honeymoon bliss goes up in a spectacular blaze that sends Anson back undercover...and into the jaws of a trap from which not even Gin can rescue him. As violence explodes around her, Gin must summon all her considerable moxie to trace the tentacles of this sinister organization back to their shocking source, and face down a legendary American family at a rigged game it has no intention of losing.

June 1998. When Ella Dommerich’s ninetysomething society queen aunt Julie ropes her into digging up dirt on Senator (and Presidential candidate) Franklin Hardcastle in order to settle old family scores, she couldn’t be less enthusiastic. Pregnant Ella’s recently ditched her unfaithful husband and settled into cozy—if complicated—domesticity with her almost-too-good-to-be-true musician boyfriend, Hector. But then the Hardcastle secrets lead to a web of shady dealings Ella’s uncovered in her job as a financial analyst, and the bodies start to tumble out of the venerable woodwork. With the help of her ex-husband and her mysterious connection to a certain redheaded flapper, Ella digs up more than mere dirt…only to discover herself standing alone between a legendarily ruthless family and the prize it’s sought for generations.

What ugly secrets lurk in the opulent enclaves—and bank accounts--of America’s richest families? And can two determined women from two different generations thwart the murderous legacy of the demon liquor?

Murder on the Golden Arrow by Magda Alexander

Agatha Christie x Sherlock Holmes x Bridgerton vibe in the 1920sPage 93, I have picked up on the scent of the murderer, and whilst one of my suspects was correct, I didn't get the case files completed. Alas, I won't be employed by Scotland Yard anytime soon.


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What’s a bright young woman to do when her brother becomes the main suspect in a murder? Why, solve the case of course.

England. 1923. After a year away at finishing school where she learned etiquette, deportment, and the difference between a salad fork and a fish one, Kitty Worthington is eager to return home. But minutes after she and her brother Ned board the Golden Arrow, the unthinkable happens. A woman with a mysterious connection to her brother is poisoned, and the murderer can only be someone aboard the train.

When Scotland Yard hones in on Ned as the main suspect, Kitty sets out to investigate. Not an easy thing to do while juggling the demands of her debut season and a mother intent on finding a suitable, aristocratic husband for her.

With the aid of her maid, two noble beaus, and a flatulent Basset Hound named Sir Winston, Kitty treads a fearless path through the glamorous world of high society and London’s dark underbelly alike to find the murderer. For if she fails, the insufferable Inspector Crawford will most surely hang a noose around her brother’s neck.

A frolicking historical cozy mystery filled with dodgy suspects, a dastardly villain, and an intrepid heroine sure to win your heart, Murder on the Golden Arrow is the first book in The Kitty Worthington Mysteries. For lovers of Agatha Christie and Downton Abbey alike.

The Casanova by TL Swan

I never got into any of the fifty shades books, even after trying multiple times to read them, but THIS, this is what I wanted and needed. It's my first T L Swan novel I've read, and she has me hooked. This novel was the perfect blend of smut for me, and I don't at all feel guilty for reading it on lunch breaks at the office.

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In T L Swan’s steamy third installment of the Miles High Club, Kate’s hot new pen pal is a welcome distraction from her horrible boss. But nobody is as distracting as Elliot Miles…and he knows it.

My favorite hobby is infuriating Elliot Miles. Just the sight of my boss’s handsome face triggers my sarcasm. God knows how he earns his Casanova reputation—if a million women want him with his personality, what the heck am I doing wrong?

Disgusted with my love life, I join a dating app under a fake name. I start chatting to a man named Edgar. He’s not my type and lives on the other side of the world, but we hit off a friendship, laugh and confide in each other.

But lately things are getting weird at work. Elliot’s being…attentive. His eyes linger a little longer than they should, and there’s a heat behind them that I haven’t felt before. And then, in the shock of all shocks, he tells me that my vulnerability is appealing. But when was I vulnerable?

Horror dawns…Has my boss been reading my emails to Edgar?

Damn it, why did I use my work email?

Oh no, does he know what I really think of him? I’d rather die than ever admit it.

Or, even worse: is it possible that the man I loathe in real life is the man I’m falling for online?

The Riviera House by Natasha Lester

I absolutely loved the dual timeline of this novel. If you want a family saga that crosses multiple decades, this book is recommended. I cried at the end of this novel, so prepare tissues, just to be safe.

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Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again? She has no way to know for certain . . . until a trip to a stunning home on the French Riviera brings a whole new level of peril.

Present Day: Wanting to forget the tragedy that has left her life in shambles, Remy Lang heads to a home she’s mysteriously inherited on the Riviera. While working on her vintage fashion business, she discovers a catalog of the artworks stolen during World War II and is shocked to see a painting that hung on her childhood bedroom wall. Who is her family, really? And does the Riviera house hold more secrets than Remy is ready to face?

The Secrets of Latimer House by Jules Wake

"Friendship improves happiness and abates grief by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief." - Cicero 

The Secrets of Latimer House will have you weeping with grief, joy, laughing through the darkness, and calling your best friends to tell them you love them. With all the things the universe is tossing at you right now, this novel will remind you to find the beauty in living. 

"What shall we make a toast to?          To tomorrow, because today is done." 

Buy it today!

In the war against Hitler every secret counts…

Society heiress Evelyn Brooke-Edwards is a skilled interrogator – her beauty making her a non-threat in the eyes of the prisoners.

Farm girl Betty Connors may not be able to type as she claimed, but her crack analytical skills soon find her unearthing covert connections.

German ex-pat Judith Stern never expected to find herself listening in to German POW’s whispered conversations, but the Nazis took her father from her so she will do whatever it takes to help the Allies end this war.

Billeted together in the attic of Latimer House – a place where secrets abound – Evelyn, Betty and Judith soon form a bond of friendship that carries them through the war. Because nothing is stronger than women united.

Tucked away in the Buckinghamshire countryside, Latimer House, a grand country estate, stands proudly – a witness to some of greatest secrets of WW2.

Used by the SOE to hold Nazi prisoners of war, this stunning historical novel is inspired by the untold story of the secret listeners of ‘M Room’ who worked day and night to help the Allies win the war.  Burrowes.

Hemingway's Daughter by Christine M. Whitehead

I have been an ardent admirer of Ernest Hemingway and everything related to his life, having made the trip to his home in Key West, as well as his haunts in Spain, and have Cuba on my bucket list. If you have ever fancied yourself to be one of Hemingway's Daughters and wished to have known him as Papa, you simply must read this! I felt I had missed a secret manuscript and frantically searched for "A Single Drop of Red Wine" and then realized that I must implore Ms. Christine M. Whitehead to write a sequel to this so titled. Please, madame, give me that love story!

Buy it today!

Finn Hemingway knows for a fact that she’s been born at the wrong time into the wrong family with the wrong talents, making her three dreams for the future almost impossible to attain. She burns to be a trial lawyer in an era when RBG is being told to type and when a man who is 500th in his law school class is hired over a woman who is first in hers. She yearns to find true love when the family curse dictates that love always ends for the Hemingways and usually it ends badly. And finally, she’d give up the first two dreams if she were able to snag the third. She longs to have an impact on the only thing that matters to her father: his writing. To accomplish that would require a miracle. All three dreams are almost impossible, but it’s the “almost” that keeps Finn going.

Hemingway had three sons but ached for a daughter.

This is her story.

A Small Hotel by Suanne Laqueur

Of all the historical romance novels I've read, this is the first that has me holding my breath and happy crying over a lit cigarette and a Zippo lighter.

You are fully immersed in the character's development when reading this novel; you can see and feel what's occurring during the war, both internally and externally. I am truly baffled at how swept into this novel I found myself. If you have any interest in historical fiction and romance during this era, you must read this book.

It’s the summer of 1941. Europe is at war, but New York's Thousand Islands are at the height of the tourist season. Kennet Fiskare, son of a hotel proprietor, is having the summer of a lifetime, having fallen deeply in love with a Swedish-Brazilian guest named Astrid Virtanen. But the affair is cut short and the young lovers permanently parted, first by Astrid’s family obligations, then by America’s entry into the war.

The rigors of military life help dull his heartache, but when Kennet’s battalion reaches France, he is thrown into the crucible of front line combat. As his unit crosses Europe, from the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Kennet falls into a different kind of love: the intense camaraderie between soldiers. It's a bond fierce yet fragile, vital yet expendable, here today and gone tomorrow. Sustained by his friendships, Kennet both witnesses and commits the unthinkable atrocities of warfare, altering his view of the world and himself. To the point where a second chance with Astrid in peacetime might be the most terrifying and consequential battle he’s ever fought.


With her signature blend of soul-stirring prose and emotional complexity, Laqueur takes readers on a journey through events that shape an American family’s weakest moments and finest hours. A Small Hotel illuminates the experience of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and their once-in-a-generation camaraderie, courage and resiliency. It’s a novel for the world, a heartbreaking, uplifting story of family, love and human endurance.

Pub Date 28 Sep 2021 

The French Baker's War by Michael Whatling

If you want an excuse to angry cry and experience having your heart ripped out, this novel is the one. Mothers, take heed, this is not an easy read if you are an empath or have an overactive imagination.

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Absence isn’t a hole. It’s a presence living inside you, eating its way out.

Occupied France, 1943. Returning home from the daily hunt for the rationed ingredients necessary to keep his family pâtisserie open, André Albert finds his four-year-old son in the street, his wife gone, and a Jewish escapee cowering behind the display case.

Without Mireille, the foundation of André’s world crumbles. He desperately searches for her, but finds more trouble than answers. Lives are further jeopardized when he agrees to hide Émilie, the escapee, and a Nazi officer shows up to investigate Mireille’s disappearance.

André will do anything to bring his wife home, catapulting him, their son, and Émilie on a perilous journey impeded by temptation, past trauma, and stunning revelations.

The French Baker’s War is as relevant today for its themes of duty to strangers and sacrifice for family.

Recommended for readers who enjoyed The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Book Thief, and The Nightingale.

Pub Date 14 Apr 2021 

The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes

Curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and dive into the waters of this mysterious family! I learned so much reading this book and Ecuador is now on my travel list.

I did not correctly guess as I was reading and learning the characters who the murder was and who sent him; that reveal was amazing. I enjoyed the family dynamics and need this to be made into a telenovela!

Set against the lush backdrop of early twentieth-century Ecuador and inspired by the real-life history of the coastal town known as the birthplace of cacao, this captivating #OwnVoices novel from the award-winning author of The Sisters of Alameda Street tells the story of a resourceful young chocolatier who must impersonate a man in order to survive...


Puri inherited two things from her father: a passion for chocolate, and a cacao plantation located in Ecuador. After learning the art of chocolate-making from her grandmother, Puri opened a chocolate shop in her native Spain. But the Great War that devastated Europe has also ruined her business. Eager to learn more about the source of her beloved chocolate, Puri sets out across the ocean with her husband,
Cristóbal. But someone is angered by Puri’s claim to the plantation...

When a mercenary sent to murder her aboard the ship accidentally kills Cristóbal instead, Puri dons her husband’s clothes and assumes his identity, hoping to stay safe while she learns the truth. Though freed from the rules that women are expected to follow, Puri confronts other challenges at the plantation—newfound siblings, hidden affairs, and her father’s dark secrets. Then there are the dangers awakened by her attraction to an enigmatic man as she tries to learn the identity of an enemy who is still at large, threatening the future she is determined to claim...

Pub Date 28 Dec 2021

Undercurrent of Secrets by Rachel Scott McDaniel

I've only read a handful of Christian novels because I'm not religious, but oh my goodness this book is absolutely amazing and I recommend it to everyone; it's just the right amount of personal reflection without being preachy or converting folks like me.

I'm an Appalachian woman that lives on the Ohio River, four hours east of Louisville, and I was enamored with the dual timeline stories of Devyn and Hattie. I couldn't put this book down; just as I started suspecting that I knew what would happen next, the author threw me into a tailspin of shock and gasping. I really, really, want this novel to become a movie or TV series!

Buy it today! 

Walk through Doors to the Past via a new series of historical stories of romance and adventure.


As wedding coordinator for the 100-year-old steamboat The Belle of Louisville, Devyn Asbury takes pride in seeing others’ dreams come true, even though her engagement had sunk like a diamond ring to the bottom of the Ohio River. When the Belle becomes a finalist in the Timeless Wedding Venue contest, Devyn endeavors to secure the prestigious title with hopes to reclaim some of her professional dreams. What she hadn’t planned on was Chase Jones showing up with a mysterious photo from the 1920s.

A century earlier, Hattie Louis is as untamable as the rivers that raised her. As the adopted daughter of a steamboat captain, her duties range from the entertainment to cook. When strange incidents occur aboard the boat, Hattie’s determined to discover the truth. Even if that means getting under First Mate Jack Marshall’s handsome skin.

Two women, a century apart, are bound by a haunting secret aboard a legendary steamboat.

Pub Date 01 Sep 2021

A Light in the Window by Marion Kummerow

Marion's characters make you question humanity during times of war --internal conflicts of ethics, morality, survival instincts that are necessary, and the duplicitous nature of loving someone society is telling you not to.

Reading this reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Pretty Woman, if it was set in WWII Germany and I am so excited for the rest of this series!

 

Margarete stumbles out of the bombed-out house, the dust settling around her like snow. Mistaking her for the dead officer’s daughter, a guard rushes over to gently ask her if she is all right and whether there’s anything he can do to help her. She glances down at where the hated yellow star had once been, and with barely a pause, she replies “Yes”.

Berlin, 1941: Margarete Rosenbaum is working as a housemaid for a senior Nazi officer when his house is bombed, leaving her the only survivor. But when she’s mistaken for his daughter in the aftermath of the blast, Margarete knows she can make a bid for freedom…

Issued with temporary papers—and with the freedom of not being seen as Jewish—a few hours are all she needs to escape to relative safety. That is, until her former employer’s son, SS officer Wilhelm Huber, tracks her down.

But strangely he doesn’t reveal her true identity right away. Instead, he insists she comes and lives with him in Paris, and seems determined to keep her hidden. His only condition: she must continue to pretend to be his sister. Because whoever would suspect a Nazi girl of secretly being a Jew?

His plan seems impossible, and Margarete is terrified they might be found out, not to mention worried about what Wilhelm might want in return. But as the Nazis start rounding up Jews in Paris and the Résistance steps up its activities, putting everyone who opposes the regime in peril, she realizes staying hidden in plain sight may be her only chance of survival…

Can Margarete trust a Nazi officer with the only things she has left though… her safety, her life, even her heart?



Book Release Date 20 Jul 2021

City of Time and Magic by Paula Brackston

As a devoted fan of the Found Things series, Paula has really outdone herself on this installment! Mistress Flyte, Erasmus Balmoral, and the Visionary Society will have you sipping tea and fanning yourself in dismay. I truly needed a victorian fainting couch! Remember to not keep your mouth open for too long dearest, when you discover the truth about Mr. William J. Morris.

Buy it today!

Paula Brackston's City of Time and Magic is the next installment in the time-traveling Found Things Series.

City of Time and Magic sees Xanthe face her greatest challenges yet. She must choose from three treasures that sing to her; a beautiful writing slope, a mourning brooch of heartbreaking detail, and a gorgeous gem-set hat pin. All call her, but the wrong one could take her on a mission other than that which she must address first, and the stakes could not be higher. While her earlier mission to Regency England had been a success, the journey home resulted in Liam being taken from her, spirited away to another time and place. Xanthe must follow the treasure that will take her to him if he is not to be lost forever.

Xanthe is certain that Mistress Flyte has Liam and determined to find them both. But when she discovers Lydia Flyte has been tracking the actions of the Visionary Society, a group of ruthless and unscrupulous Spinners who have been selling their talents to a club of wealthy clients, Xanthe realizes her work as a Spinner must come before her personal wishes. The Visionary Society is highly dangerous and directly opposed to the creed of the Spinners. Their actions could have disastrous consequences as they alter the authentic order of things and change the future. Xanthe knows she must take on the Society. It will require the skills of all her friends, old and new, to attempt such a thing, and not all of them will survive the confrontation that follows.

Pub Date 16 Nov 2021 2021

The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown

I know this just got published but I need to know what happens next!

I could relate to Hannah's relationships with her parents and the self-doubt her childhood gave her. I felt like she could be a friend that needs a serious pep talk and a reminder of how awesome she is. Walking around Paris with these characters made me so happy and I hope to one day visit in person and re-trace their steps. I may even book a train ticket!

Buy it here! 

When Hannah and her boyfriend, Simon, set out to Amsterdam, they’re confident that they’ll make it to his sister’s wedding in time. However, unbeknownst to them, their train is scheduled to divide in the middle of the night. And when it does, half of it continues the route to Amsterdam. And the other half—the one with Hannah in it—heads three hundred miles away, to Paris.

Left without her belongings or hope of reuniting with Simon, Hannah has no choice but to spend the day in Paris before the next train out. Worse than being stranded in a foreign city alone? Being stuck with Léo, the handsome but infuriating Frenchman who blames Hannah for his own unwanted delay. The series of mishaps that sends them traipsing through the City of Light is only further proof that Hannah’s day has gone from bad to worse. But as she takes in the glorious sights of the city—and spends more time with Léo—Hannah discovers that the unexpected detour might actually be leading her to the life she was always meant to live . . .

Pub Date 24 Aug 2021

The Gentleman's Daughter by Bianca Schwarz

I was SO excited for this second book in the series and it was more than I could have possibly asked for. How am I supposed to rave about this novel without giving spoilers! Sigh.

Listen, I was worried at first that my anxiety would be triggered like the first novel, but I only needed to remind myself to not hold my breath, because the twists and turns in this novel are AMAZING. The ending, oh my sweet goodness. I sat and devoured this book in five hours and I regret nothing. I'm coming prepared with snacks for the next book.

Bianca, you have my reading loyalty; you wrote the underlying issues of PTSD, trauma, and consent so well and I friggin' love you for that. I'm a survivor, and seriously, you nailed this book and I wish I could hug you.

Buy it here! 

Sir Henry, secret agent to the crown, must marry a lady above reproach to afford his illegitimate daughter entrance into society. After narrowly escaping marriage to a highborn bigot, he takes an assignment in Brighton, leading him to an abandoned abbey full of dark whispers, and a sinister secret society, the very one Henry has been investigating for three years.

Isabella is as beautiful as she is talented, but falling in love isn't part of her plans. She only wants to paint, forget her painful past, and keep her overbearing mother at bay. But gaining one's independence isn't easy for a woman in 1823, so Isabella embarks on a fake courtship with Sir Henry. Soon, love and a painting career no longer seem so utterly incompatible.

But when the man Isabella fears most kidnaps her, all appears lost. Realizing the kidnapper is part of the same organization he is investigating, Henry chases after them. Entrapped in a web of secrets, both Henry and Isabella must face old enemies, and fight for their happily ever after.

Be sure to also read the first book in the The Gentleman Spy Mysteries series, The Innkeeper's Daughter.

Pub Date 06 Jul 2021

The Bookseller's Secret by Michelle Gable

I've been enthralled by the works of Michelle Gable since she published "A Paris Apartment" and this one has even more of my heart because I'm an aspiring author whose day job is grant writing. I'm also from Northern Virginia and grew up cheering for the NFL Washingtons until I transplanted to West Virginia and Appalachia. Yeah yeah, I know this is a book of fiction, but finding yourself on the pages of one of your favorite authors is still really rad. Just let me have a moment to fan-girl, mmk?

(If you want to understand the above connection to the main characters, then read "The Bookseller's Secret".)

She tied historical fiction in with women's fiction for two subplots that aligned beautifully and had me whispering "Oh my God, what!?" so many times.

Exhibit A:

"We were always either on a peak of happiness or drowning in black waters of despair; our emotions were on no ordinary plane, we loved or we loathed, we laughed or we cried, we lived in a world of superlatives."




Buy it here! 

In 1942, London, Nancy Mitford is worried about more than air raids and German spies. Still recovering from a devastating loss, the once sparkling Bright Young Thing is estranged from her husband, her allowance has been cut, and she’s given up her writing career. On top of this, her five beautiful but infamous sisters continue making headlines with their controversial politics.

Eager for distraction and desperate for income, Nancy jumps at the chance to manage the Heywood Hill bookshop while the owner is away at war. Between the shop’s brisk business and the literary salons she hosts for her eccentric friends, Nancy’s life seems on the upswing. But when a mysterious French officer insists that she has a story to tell, Nancy must decide if picking up the pen again and revealing all is worth the price she might be forced to pay.

Eighty years later, Heywood Hill is abuzz with the hunt for a lost wartime manuscript written by Nancy Mitford. For one woman desperately in need of a change, the search will reveal not only a new side to Nancy, but an even more surprising link between the past and present…

Pub Date 17 Aug 2021

Happy Endings by Thien-Kim Lam

I love this novel for its intercultural couple that faces family pressure to follow in parental plans and the adversity that comes with daring to break out of those cultural roles and traditions. The entire novel I was hoping for recipes and was so excited to find them from the author! I'll be traveling to her website shortly for her subscription boxes, wink wink.

Buy it here! 

Trixie Nguyen is determined to make her sex toy business a success, proving to her traditional Vietnamese parents that she can succeed in a nontraditional career. She's made a fresh start in Washington DC, and her first pop-up event is going well—until she runs into the ex who dumped her. With a Post-it note.

The last person Andre Walker expected to see in his soul food restaurant was the woman he left behind in New Orleans. Their chemistry is still scorching, but he's desperately trying to save his family restaurant from gentrifying developers. The solution? Partnering with his ex to turn Mama Hazel’s into a vibrator pop-up shop for hungry and horny clients.

Thanks to their steamy truce, both businesses start to sizzle and their red-hot desire soon reignites deeper feelings. But when Trixie receives an incredible career opportunity, will pride ruin their second chance at happiness?

Pub Date 18 May 2021

The Nine by Gwen Strauss

I am really looking forward to purchasing this book so that I can see the illustrations of these women and again read their tenacious story of survival. The amount of strength they show and how they support one another is astounding.


My paternal ancestors lived in France during this war. I can't help but wonder how my great-grandparents survived this time period.



My maternal grandfather fought during this war as an American soldier. I'm going to go through his things with new eyes.

Buy it here!

The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.

The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, in transit, and at Ravensbrück. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.

Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.

Pub Date 04 May 2021 

The Radio Operator by Ulla Lenze

Ulla’s writing style reminds me of Ernest Hemingway’s and I love historical fiction. Nonetheless, I found myself zoning out at times and having to rescan paragraphs. I didn’t connect with the novel.

Pub Date 04 May 2021 

Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras

I can't wait to travel again so that I can go roam Key West with this novel in hand. Shout out to the author for writing a small-town tropical romance.

Buy it here!

Award-winning photographer Alejandro Miranda hasn’t been home to Key West in years—not since he left to explore broader horizons with his papi’s warning “never to come back” echoing in his ears. He wouldn’t be heading there now if it wasn’t for an injury requiring months of recuperation. The drama of a prodigal son returning to his familia and their beloved Cuban restaurant is bad enough, but coming home to the island paradise also means coming face to face with the girl he left behind—the one who was supposed to be by his side all along . . .

Anamaría Navarro was shattered when Alejandro took off without her. Traveling the world was their plan, not just his. But after her father’s heart attack, there was no way she could leave—not even for the man she loved. Now ensconced in the family trade as a firefighter and paramedic, with a side hustle as a personal trainer, Anamaría is dismayed that just the sight of Alejandro is enough to rekindle the flame she’s worked years to put out. And as famillia meddling pushes them together, the heat of their attraction only climbs higher. Can they learn to trust again, before the Key West sun sets on their chance at happiness?
 

Pub Date 27 Apr 2021

The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen

I am dedicated to devouring every novel about the Paris apartment that was left untouched for 70 years, and this one is by far one of my favorites!

The number of times I caught myself breathless and wrapped up in the characters was astounding and by the end of the novel I was shouting, "Wait, but what about --?" Lo-and-behold, the author threw a curveball and gave me the ending I needed.

This historical fiction romance reminded me that the fights against fascism are still not over and many changes are still needed, for "If I am not fighting -- if I am not doing everything I am capable of -- then I am complicit in every atrocity that has happened and will continue to happen. This I know with every fiber of my being."

I'm buying this book and reading it again and again!

Buy it here! 

London, 2017: When Aurelia Leclaire inherits an opulent Paris apartment, she is shocked to discover her grandmother’s hidden secrets—including a treasure trove of famous art and couture gowns. One obscure painting leads her to Gabriel Seymour, a highly respected art restorer with his own mysterious past. Together they attempt to uncover the truths concealed within the apartment’s walls.

Paris, 1942: The Germans may occupy the City of Lights, but glamorous Estelle Allard flourishes in a world separate from the hardships of war. Yet when the Nazis come for her dearest friends, Estelle doesn’t hesitate to help them, no matter the cost. As she works against the forces intent on destroying those she holds dear, she can’t know that her actions will have ramifications for generations to come.

Set seventy-five years apart, against a perilous and a prosperous Paris, both Estelle and Lia must unearth hidden courage as they navigate the dangers of a changing world, altering history—and their family’s futures—forever.

Pub Date 20 Apr 2021 

The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik

I love reading about persistent and resilient women like Dorothea Lange and went down a rabbit hole to look at her photography, realizing I knew her works but not her life. This novel was needed and I highly respect it.

Buy it here! 

In 1918, a young and bright-eyed Dorothea Lange steps off the train in San Francisco, where a disaster kick-starts a new life. Her friendship with Caroline Lee, a vivacious, straight-talking Chinese American with a complicated past, gives Dorothea entrée into Monkey Block, an artists’ colony and the bohemian heart of the city. Dazzled by Caroline and her friends, Dorothea is catapulted into a heady new world of freedom, art, and politics. She also finds herself unexpectedly falling in love with the brilliant but troubled painter Maynard Dixon. Dorothea and Caroline eventually create a flourishing portrait studio, but a devastating betrayal pushes their friendship to the breaking point and alters the course of their lives.

The Bohemians captures a glittering and gritty 1920s San Francisco, with a cast of unforgettable characters, including cameos from such legendary figures as Mabel Dodge Luhan, Frida Kahlo, Ansel Adams, and D. H. Lawrence. A vivid and absorbing portrait of the past, it is also eerily resonant with contemporary themes, as anti-immigration sentiment, corrupt politicians, and a devastating pandemic bring tumult to the city—and the gift of friendship and the possibility of self-invention persist against the ferocious pull of history.

As Dorothea sheds her innocence, her purpose is awakened and she grows into the figure we know from history—the artist whose iconic Depression-era photographs like “Migrant Mother” broke the hearts and opened the eyes of a nation.

Pub Date 06 Apr 2021 

Lost in Paris by Elizabeth Thompson

"Lost in Paris", mon dieu, je nais se quois!

Visiting Paris is still on my bucket list and I need a tour agency to follow THIS novel! I am so excited to order this book!

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Hannah Bond has always been a bookworm, which is why she fled Florida—and her unstable, alcoholic mother—for a quiet life leading Jane Austen-themed tours through the British countryside. But on New Year’s Eve, everything comes crashing down when she arrives back at her London flat to find her mother, Marla, waiting for her.

Marla’s brought two things with her: a black eye from her ex-boyfriend and an envelope. Its contents? The deed to an apartment in Paris, an old key, and newspaper clippings about the death of a famous writer named Andres Armand. Hannah, wary of her mother’s motives, reluctantly agrees to accompany her to Paris, where against all odds, they discover great-grandma Ivy’s apartment frozen in 1940 and covered in dust.

Inside the apartment, Hannah and Marla discover mysterious clues about Ivy’s life—including a diary detailing evenings of drinking and dancing with Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, and other iconic expats. Outside, they retrace her steps through the city in an attempt to understand why she went to such great lengths to hide her Paris identity from future generations.

A heartwarming and charming saga set in the City of Lights, Lost in Paris is an unforgettable celebration of family and the love between a mother and a daughter.

Pub Date 13 Apr 2021 

Everything After by Jill Santopolo

I usually cry when reading Jill Santopolo, but I was not mentally prepared for the emotional rollercoaster of this heart-wrenching novel.

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Emily has come a long way since she lost her two passions fifteen years ago: music, and Rob. She's a psychologist at NYU who helps troubled college students like the one she once was. Together with her caring doctor husband, Ezra, she has a beautiful life. They're happy. They hope to start a family. But when a tragic event in Emily's present too closely echoes her past, and parts of her story that she'd hoped never to share come to light, her perfect life is suddenly upturned. Then Emily hears a song on the radio about the woman who got away. The melody and voice are hauntingly familiar. Could it be? As Emily's past passions come roaring back into her life, she'll find herself asking: Who is she meant to be? Who is she meant to love?

Pub Date 09 Mar 2021

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

"And while my story is terrible, every woman has faced a man's wickedness to some degree. Even you."

There is nothing terrible about this novel. I just HAD to know what happened to the characters before I fell asleep. I desperately want to go mudlarking (Yeah, I didn't know what it was either, look it up! It sounds fun!) and down a research rabbit hole now with Sarah Penner. When's the next book coming out?

Buy it here!

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.

Pub Date 02 Mar 2021 

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

Note to self, do not read this on an empty stomach. Otherwise, be prepared to place an order on instacart and grubhub. I'm preordering this romance for my overseas friends and starting a bookclub.

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When it comes to bread, Reena Manji knows exactly what she's doing. She treats her sourdough starters like (somewhat unruly) children. But when it comes to Reena's actual family -- and their constant meddling in her life-well, that recipe always ends in disaster.

Now Reena's parents have found her yet another potential Good Muslim Husband. This one has the body of Captain America, a delicious British accent, and lives right across the hall. He's the perfect, mouthwatering temptation . . . and completely ruined by the unwelcome side dish of parental interference.

Reena refuses to marry anyone who works for her father. She won't be attracted to Nadim's sweet charm or gorgeous lopsided smile. That is, until the baking opportunity of a lifetime presents itself: a couples' cooking competition with the prize of her dreams. Reena will do anything to win -- even asking Nadim to pretend they're engaged. But when it comes to love, baking your bread doesn't always mean you get to eat it too.

]

Pub Date 02 Mar 2021

The Stills by Jess Montgomery

Reading this novel made me feel so much better about quarantine and the craziness of 2020 and 2021. I'm so glad that we aren't living in Prohibition right now! Also so grateful for my modern life in Appalachia and having broken through poverty.

Buy it here! 

Pub Date 09 Mar 2021

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

I'm hooked on the first four chapters and buying the book. Whose this Daniel guy and what is his angle? 

Sips tea and squints eyes. Flips page.

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Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor — have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .

For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

Pub Date 09 Jun 2020

Up for Air by Christina Berry

I've always had the rule of not sharing sexual partners or toothbrushes, but after this novel, damn if I ain't curious about the "what-ifs".

 Buy it here! 

At a funeral on her 29th birthday, Ari takes stock of her life and comes to a startling conclusion: she’s not happy. Mired in a relationship that’s gone stale, she approaches her husband Greg about opening their marriage. To her shock, he agrees.

Ari throws herself headlong into an adventure through the bars and bedrooms of Austin. For the first time in her life she’s living in the moment – sex and kink, karaoke and drink – new friends, new lovers, new boundaries to cross. It’s all just innocent, no-strings fun…until she meets Alex.

Alex changes everything. While Ari and Greg grapple with their changing relationship, Ari struggles to control her heart. During hedonistic self- discovery, has she stumbled across love?

Book one of the Lost In Austin series, Up for Air is a sexy, funny, heartfelt romp through life, love, and adulthood.

Pub Date 11 Feb 2021

RomCom Author Panel

I was so happy to virtually attend the RomCom Author Panel event with Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System where Abby Jimenez, Helena Hunting, and Lyssa Kay Adams talk about writing and reading romance. Tune in at the 10:00 mark to hear my question answered! Abby and Lyssa's answer was so empowering. 

When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin

Evelyn is a strong, independent woman and is an inspiration to fight for what you believe in. I went down a rabbit hole because character names were so familiar to me and I needed to know more. The number of times I held my breath while reading caused hiccups; I regret none of it.

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Munich, 1938. Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent as determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession as she is to expose the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country--or worse. If she fails to truthfully report on major stories, she'll never be able to give a voice to the oppressed--and wake up the folks back home.

In another part of the city, American graduate student Peter Lang is working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party--to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can't get off his mind.

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021

The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan

I enjoyed how the characters intertwined and how their stories converged with fate. This resonated with me—

“..it is only as teenagers that we plunge into love as if we were going to die the next day. The older we get, the more we hem and haw; as if time no longer mattered. Isn’t it funny?”

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When Anne-Lise Briard books a room at the Beau Rivage Hotel for her vacation on the Brittany coast, she has no idea this trip will start her on the path to unearthing a mystery. In search of something to read, she opens up her bedside table drawer in her hotel room, and inside she finds an abandoned manuscript. Halfway through the pages, an address is written. She sends pages to the address, in hopes of potentially hearing a response from the unknown author. But not before she reads the story and falls in love with it. The response, which she receives a few days later, astonishes her…


Not only does the author write back, but he confesses that he lost the manuscript 30 years prior on a flight to Montreal. And then he reveals something even more shocking—that he was not the author of the second half of the book.

Anne-Lise can’t rest until she discovers who this second mystery author is, and in doing so tracks down every person who has held this manuscript in their hands. Through the letters exchanged by the people whose lives the manuscript has touched, she discovers long-lost love stories and intimate secrets. Romances blossom and new friends are made. Everyone's lives are made better by this book—and isn't that the point of reading? And finally, with a plot twist you don't see coming, she uncovers the astonishing identity of the author who finished the story.

Pub Date 12 Jan 2021 

The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston

I didn't download this NetGalley book in time before the publish and archive date, but my local library came to the rescue with the audiobook. This was my first audiobook experience and I am so grateful to our libraries because being able to "read" while taking care of my toddler has been my newfound favorite thing.

 I am absolutely enthralled with the Found Things series and can't wait for the next release! If someone would make a fanfiction copy of the spinner's book, my life would be complete. (Paula, please do write this as well. Also, could we create merch that involves teapots and such for you? I'm in, take my money.)

Buy it here! 

New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston's second novel in the Found Things series, Secrets of the Chocolate House, was called a "time-swapping romance [that] will please fans of Alice Hoffman" (Publishers Weekly). Now, Brackston returns to the Found Things series with a third book, The Garden of Promises and Lies.


As the bustle of the winter holidays in the Little Shop of Found Things gives way to spring, Xanthe is left to reflect on the strange events of the past year. While she's tried to keep her time-traveling talents a secret from those close to her, she is forced to take responsibility for having inadvertently transported the dangerous Benedict Fairfax to her own time. Xanthe comes to see that she must use her skills as a Spinner if she and Flora are ever to be safe, and turns to the Spinners book for help.

It is then that a beautiful antique wedding dress sings to her. Realizing the dress and her adversary are connected in some way, she answers the call. She finds herself in Bradford-on-Avon in 1815, as if she has stepped into a Jane Austen story.

Now in Xanthe's time, Fairfax is threatening Xanthe into helping him with his evil doings, and demonstrates all too clearly how much damage he is capable of causing. With Fairfax growing ever more powerful, Xanthe enlists the help of her boyfriend Liam, taking him back in time with her. It is a decision that might just ensure she prevails over her foe, but only by putting her life—and his—on the line.

Pub Date 15 Dec 2020

Casting Shadows by Dziyana Taylor

West Virginia has a piece of my heart, as do authors that write about it. The time pieces were beautifully interwoven and immersed me in her thoughts. Well done!

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For two years, Rebecca Grimwood has been plagued by the same dream: an overturned ambulance vehicle, a long winding road, a motorcycle, and a man whose face she can’t make out. Dreams are just dreams, though, and she tries not to pay them much notice. Yet when a fortune teller tells Rebecca that her destiny involves a sacrifice, Rebecca seeks the answers she didn’t know she needed. To find them, she returns to the beginning: her old hometown of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

There’s always been something haunting about Harpers Ferry— maybe because it’s old Civil War ground, or the fact that ever since arriving, Rebecca has started seeing things she can’t explain. Things lurking in the shadows, in the farthest corners of streets, their voices whispering. Things out to get her. But one night, when a man named Derek saves her from certain death, Rebecca can’t help but feel that some good can come from the shadows.

Pub Date 12 Jan 2021 

A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe

It is so refreshing to have characters that are neither completely enthralled with motherhood nor pretending that motherhood is the end-all of the dreams and goals that make their life complete.

"It’s this motherhood thing that is making you look so cadaverous,” she said, giving me another once-over. I shrugged. “Small children are terrible, Katharina. Everyone knows it, but nobody says it out loud. It makes us look weak and cowardly. Unfeminine.”

It is truly frustrating that society still expects motherhood to make us fulfilled and to never complain about our children, or how exhausting it is mentally and emotionally.

I related with Katharina so much; post-partum depression, missing my career, not having "a village" to raise children on the hard days, a husband always working, and completely clueless on what it takes to survive daily. I'd take this woman for cocktails immediately.

Buy this novel. Seriously. Pour a martini and lock yourself in the bathroom. Make the spouse deal with the kids while you read this.

Buy it here!

A Fifth Avenue address, parties at the Plaza, two healthy sons, and the ideal husband: what looks like a perfect life for Katharina Edgeworth is anything but. It’s 1954, and the post-war American dream has become a nightmare.

A born and bred New Yorker, Katharina is the daughter of immigrants, Ivy-League-educated, and speaks four languages. As a single girl in 1940s Manhattan, she is a translator at the newly formed United Nations, devoting her days to her work and the promise of world peace—and her nights to cocktails and the promise of a good time.

Now the wife of a beloved pediatric surgeon and heir to a shipping fortune, Katharina is trapped in a gilded cage, desperate to escape the constraints of domesticity. So when she is approached by the FBI and asked to join their ranks as an informant, Katharina seizes the opportunity. A man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy, but no one has been able to infiltrate his circle. Enter Katharina, the perfect woman for the job.

Navigating the demands of the FBI and the secrets of the KGB, she becomes a courier, carrying stolen government documents from D.C. to Manhattan. But as those closest to her lose their covers, and their lives, Katharina’s secret soon threatens to ruin her.

With the fast-paced twists of a classic spy thriller, and a nuanced depiction of female experience, A Woman of Intelligence shimmers with intrigue and desire.

Pub Date 20 Jul 2021

Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce

This novel was an amazing stroll through Chicago’s history of jazz music and a beautiful blend of past, present, and how they intertwine. Five stars!

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1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper's daughter, willing to work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the good life, socializing with celebrities like Louis Armstrong and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. But Chicago is also awash in bootleg whiskey, gambling, and gangsters. And a young woman driven by ambition might risk more than she can stand to lose.

2015: Film student Sawyer Hayes arrives at the bedside of 110-year-old Honoree Dalcour, still reeling from a devastating loss that has taken him right to the brink. Sawyer has rested all his hope on this frail but formidable woman, the only living link to the legendary Oscar Micheaux. If he's right--if she can fill in the blanks in his research, perhaps he can complete his thesis and begin a new chapter in his life. But the links Honoree makes are not ones he's expecting...

Piece by piece, Honoree reveals her past and her secrets, while Sawyer fights tooth and nail to keep his. It's a story of courage and ambition, hot jazz and illicit passions. And as past meets present, for Honoree, it's a final chance to be truly heard and seen before it's too late. No matter the cost...



Book Release Date 30 Mar 2021