Gail

This is the second book in a new series by Carolyn Crane and it far surpasses the intro book. Laney is on the run from a crazed ex-husband and hiding out in Bangkok. This is where she runs into the Association's Macmillian, who's on a mission to track down an arms dealer selling off a dangerous weapon. The two form a connection thru their love of words and all the secret meanings behind them.

I don't feel I can write a review that will live up to the examples set up Macmillan, Laney and Carolyn Crane. What I can say it that this book was fantastic. It was a gripping suspense that kept you engaged the entire time. I didn't want to put it down but at the same time I was trying not to read too fast so I could savor the language and the story. This is a great book!

Wow! I loved this book, 4.5 stars! This is the third book in the Associates series by Carolyn Crane. For background, The Associates are a privately funded group of under cover agents looking to take down international crime syndicates with a smarts over brawn. In this installment, Thorn is moving up the ranks of Hangman, one portion of the deadly Quartet crime syndicate with the goal of taking over and bringing the gangs and the government officials that cover for them down. But his former girlfriend, Nadia is causing trouble by stealing from the gangs. He's fighting to protect her while keeping his mission on track.

Thorn is the most complicated and damaged (my favorite) hero yet. He doesn't think he's good enough to be a real Associate, doesn't think he's good enough for the woman he loves and is so broken he doesn't care if he lives or dies so long as he completes his mission first. My heart was breaking for Thorn pretty much from the start. He is so morally sound and yet thinks of himself only as a thug and a loser. Nadia loves him but is afraid of the life he leads and the danger it would bring her and her family. These two made quite great pair and I was pulling for them all the way!

This series keeps surprising me. The characters are so well drawn that I'm hooked on them from page one. I can't wait to see who is next!

Skip it

I'm a fan of Sally MacKenzie's books but found this one disappointing. Jack and Frances mistakenly spend a night in the same bed in an inn while Frances is dressed as a boy. The rest of the book they are working to restore her reputation while also trying to capture a Jack the Ripper type killer. The problem is that Frances isn't very likable. She's prickly, judgemental and at times even mean. She had some good reasons for being that way, but I still didn't like her so it was hard too root for her and hard to like the book. Sally MacKenzie has written some fun books and I'm a fan but this book didn't cut it for me.

Outstanding historical fiction

This is the first book I've read by Harris and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story of Dreyfus has always intrigued me and I was eager to read this historical fiction retelling. It is hard and yet sadly easy to imagine this gross miscarriage of justice taking place as a government scrambles to find a scapegoat and a rallying point. The book was compelling, it kept my interest, it made me angry on Dreyfus' and his supporters' behalf even though I knew that they would be exonerated in the end. I highly recommend checking e cling this book out! And I will be look I my into Harris's backlist!

I won a copy of this book as a Goodreads first reads five-year. It's a very good 3.5 star book.

The story starts with the discovery of the body of a young girl covered in strange drawing. Felix Guichard, a professor of occult religions is called to identify the drawings. His research leads him to the work of John Dee and Edward Kelley, two 16th century alchemists and to Jackdaw Hammond, who is holding on to secrets about the alchemists and the dead girl.

This story has a lot going on, the Countess of Bathory, Vatican inquisition, dual timeline stories, a little romance...but it ties most of it together nicely. I was pulling for Jack to triumph, she's a very engaging character.

The book is well paced for suspense, both in the present story of Jack and Felix and the past story of Edward and Dr Dee. I was tempted to race through but also wanted to savor a great story. The only bad note in the book was the romance between Jack and Felix. This underdeveloped and in the end unfinished. It didn't detract from the story but didn't add anything either.

DNF. This book was horrible. I can't understand why it was so well reviewed. It kept getting more ridiculous with every chapter. Once I got to the time travelling automobile that the 15th century highlander just instinctively knows how to drive, I had to stop. I wish I could go back in time and not purchase this book.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. The story follows Robert Tarza, his fiance Tess and two former colleagues, Oscar and Jenna. Oscar is clearly in over his head in a shady seeming rate book deal and is soon kidnapped. Robert and Jenna distrust the police and investigate the kidnapping on their own. Eventually, a French judge and an honest captain in the police manage to save the day and solve the crime despite never been given all the information that Robert and Jenna managed to collect.

First, it wasn't mentioned as a series book but it looks like this is the second or third book featuring Robert and Jenna. I think this stunted the character development and I never connected with Robert or Jenna. The book setting is Paris and many times, the two main characters are painted as stupid or arrogant Americans. Story is ok but there are too many times when convenient accidents or coincidence push the story forward. I was just never really cared much what would happen to anyone in the book. The book is an easy read, but ultimately left me unsatisfied.

DNF. I had high hopes for this book. It is so well reviewed and I've always been fascinated with stories of possible escaped grand duchesses. But this book didn't hit the mark for me. The romance was saccharine. The love at first sight lacked believability even more than usual. More frustrating, the timeline stories didn't really connect in my opinion. The transition between present and past was choppy. There's only one moment when present day Kitty finds a charm that probably matches up to something mentioned in the previous past timeline chapter and starts wearing it on a necklace. Of course, if it was the charm from the previous chapter then it was a fancy tag for the royal dog. How romantic.

My suggestions is that is you want a historical fiction novel featuring a grand duchess, read City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin. Skip The Secret Wife.

I didn't know anything about Coco Chanel before reading this book. I found the book interesting and would think of Chanel as a complicated but interesting person if I took the book at face value. She owned her sexuality. She was unapologetically ambitious. She was a visionary. Unfortunately, she was also a Nazi collaborator and an anti-Semite. The book would have you believe that she wasn't really anti-Semitic, despite her string of anti-Semitic lovers, German lovers, financial baking of an anti-Semitic magazine and use of Nazi laws to try and oust the Jewish owners of her perfume company. I takes a lot of twisting to ignore all these facts. I think this is a much more interesting book if you don't ignore the uncomfortable parts of Chanel's character.

The best I can say about this book is that it was so obviously glossing over the truth that I was compelled to look for more information. Even a quick internet search found a lot. It's a shame. I like Gortners writing style, he's a good storyteller. But if you're telling stories about historical figures, you should try to keep closer to the truth.

Solid historical fiction bringing light too a little known part of history.

This book starts with a forward by Chip Beck, about the many U.S. POWs that have been held captive long after a conflict ended or transferred outside of the conflict zone. In this case, it's a marine captured in Vietnam and transferred to Prague. The historical note states evidence leaked after the fall of the Soviet Union that troops were moved from Vietnam via Prague for experimentation. Congress investigated but not much of a conclusion. Boris Yeltsin confirmed this occurred when he was president of Russia in the 1990s.

The story about the POW, a JOB colonel, a U.S. spy left behind in Prague after WWII, and his decision to try and help was compelling. The information about the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and the KGB colonel at the center was fast paced, the conflict building to a tense and realistic final showdown. I enjoyed this part of the story a great deal. The small town setting and the town's struggle with the Colonel and oppression was a great (but hard) read. I felt their anger and fear and frustration.

There's a love story subplot that honestly seems unnecessary. That's the only reason for the 3 star rating. It wasn't a bad storyline. Just a bit of a distraction.

I won this book.as a Goodreads giveaway. And I received it just as I was leaving for a trip to the Czech Republic! Perfect timing.

I don't usually read the big city career/small town guy trope, it feels too Hallmark Christmas to me, but I really enjoyed this book. It felt very realistic to me. Giving up or changing her career was a non-starter. The way they navigate the relationship while she stays true to her career goals was handled well. I liked both main characters and was rooting for them.

The book does deal with issues of emotional and physical abuse, both with the main character, Alexis, and one of the side characters. I liked how they handled it with Alexis, but with the side character, who was in a worse situation, it seemed a little too easily handled.

2.5 Stars. A Taste of Paris looks at the history of food in Paris and Parisian attitudes towards food. The book starts it's history with the Roman conquest of Paris and goes through modern times. Each section gives a brief overview of the bigger moments of the period under discussion and then moves on the the ways the period shaped the eating habits of Paris in the future and where you can see elements of this history in today's Parisian restaurants. I guess I'm more of a historian then a foodie because I found the histories more interesting than the food-restaurant recommendations. Once Downie moved on to talking about the restaurants or food trends that harken back to a certain period I got a little bored. These sections sounded a bit too “tour guide” to me. Still,there are definitely some places that I will want to check out if I'm lucky enough to make it back to Paris. Ie keep this book around for reference.

I won this book through a good reads give away.

All The Winters After tells the story of lonely and damaged people finding family, forgiveness and themselves in the Alaskan wilderness. The book begins 20 years after the death of Kache's parents and older brother in a plain crash. Kache has not been able to move past the sorrow and survivors guilt, but he is finally heading back home after losing his job and his girlfriend. He thinks his parent's home has been left abandoned all this time but instead finds that Nadia has been squatting in his home, and acting as caretaker. His home is exactly as he remembers it and Nadia seems to know everything about him.

Nadia escaped a violent husband and left her family and life behind, hiding out in the cabin. She has immersed herself in the life of Kache's family, reading their books, watching their movies, living in their memories. She's a shut in, never leaving the property, fearing that the husband will find her, but instead Kache does.

Together, Kache and Nadia heal each other. This book is a beautiful story about finding your way through great tragedies. Moving on, but never forgetting.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book a while ago but needed to sort thru my feelings on it before I could write a review. The book was beautiful and wrenching. It broke my heart and I loved every moment of it. I went into this book decidedly anti-Hemmingway and somehow, despite his treatment of Hadley Richardson, he was humanized to me. He was flawed, childish, complicated, cruel. And he loved her and she him. And Hadley. I am fascinated by her. She is one of my favorite characters in a long while and to know she was real just makes her more compelling.

I've already told many people this. Read this book. It's worth the anger and tears.

This is an great story about an amazing group of men and women who fought to save the cultural history of Europe in the final months of World War II. I'm glad that this book and the new movie are bringing attention to this forgotten part of Allied history. These men and women are examples of why our grandparents have earned the right to call themselves The Greatest Generation.

Edsel tells the story well, weaving in the paths that each of the Monuments Men took through Western Europe into one narrative. This is a history book that is written to be accessible to the non-history types who just want to read a good, fast paced, almost too crazy to be true story. It's really a treasure hunt and the twists keep story moving and the pages turning!

Time traveling, Highlanders, Druids...this book has a number of my favorite things but I can only give it 3 stars. It's a cute book and I liked it, but when I compare it to the Karen Marie Moning books along the same line it just falls short. Still it was a fun story and I liked reading it enough that I would probably check out the other books in the series at some point. The main characters, Tara and Duncan, are likeable but both a bit serious. It's Duncan's family that adds a bit of humor to the story and keeps it from being too serious.

I won this book as a First Reads give-away. It is a Nancy Pearl Book Lust Rediscovery originally published in 1987. I am a fan of spy-novels and I think this was a great one! The story is about Viktor Tronko, who is either a Soviet defector with very little real value or a Soviet disinformation plot meant to confuse the CIA and/or end an internal mole hunt for a Soviet spy code-named Dmitri. The story unfolds as Michael Kessler gets a visit from an old CIA informant and former member of counter-intelligence, Mel Pokorny, who tells him of Tronko and Dmitri and then is killed right after leaving Kessler's home. Kessler can't stop himself from following the story through despite the contradictory information he is being fed and the danger he is putting himself in.

I was drawn into this book right from the start but it is not an easy read. There are a lot of characters, none of whom should be trusted as telling the complete truth about what they know. I read another review of this book that said it would be an easier read in e-book format since you could more easily search back to jog your memory about certain characters. I totally agree with this. Absent the e-book version, taking notes would have helped me a lot and may be something I'll do on a second reading. But the book is fascinating. David Quammen weaves his setting so well that I felt I was on the journey with Kessler to find the truth. The twist ending will surely leave me thinking about this book for some time. I highly recommend this book to fans of spy and cold war fiction.

Dearest Rogue is part of the Elizabeth Hoyts Maiden Lane series. The heroine of this book is Lady Phoebe Batten. Phones is blind and her over-protective brother has hired a bodyguard, Captain James Trevellion to keep her safe. 2 attempted kidnappings, 2 successful kidnappings and a hideout later, Phoebe and James are in love. HEA for everyone.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The story was fast paced and fun. Both the main characters are very likable. The only problem I have is that they have no chemistry. Not great for romance. Maybe a buddy story but not a romance.

Overall, I give this 2.5 stars.

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

I won this book as a Goodreads first reads give-away. The book is about the reign of King Hatshepsut who ruled Egypt first as regent to her toddler nephew, Thutmose III, and then as co-king with him. Kara Cooney writes in the Author's Note at the beginning of the book that due to the length of time and the Egyptians superficial methods of reporting on a ruler's reign, there was a lot of conjecture in the book. This was distracting at times since the author would propose one theory for a large portion of a chapter and then end with...but maybe that person was already dead by that time or maybe the complete opposite reasoning was behind a particular outcome. She does this a number of times with Hatshepsut's daughter Nefrure, who was maybe being raised to succeed her mother when the tide changed against her. Or maybe she was dead.

I did like the book. It seems very well researched and it is an interesting defense of a woman that wielded great power for over twenty peaceful years. The author mentions many times how suspicious early Egyptologists where of her reign...assuming that she was a power-hungry bitch that stole the throne from the rightful heir. Nevermind that he was 2 or 3 years old at the time and quite unable to rule. Nevermind the fact that she was a successful ruler that greatly increased the wealth of Egypt during her reign. Nevermind the extensive building that she sponsored. There seems to be no evidence that she was not considered a good ruler and a great deal of evidence showing that she was the reason her dynasty was able to continue. When Thutmose III finally did elect to have her erased from the records, he intentionally did not do a complete job (taking out only references to her as King) and waited 20 years after her death to even do this. It seems likely he was motivated more to try and shore up the line of succession for his heir than to get rid of the evil usurper.

Overall though, I feel that the book would have made more sense at times if it were a well researched work of historical fiction than as a history book filled with so much theory.