The year is 1666, and widowed Abitha is left to fend for herself amongst a Puritan community who shuns her boldness and outspokenness. But when she chances to awaken the ancient spirit of Slewfoot, she makes a deal with the devil—and both are destined to discover deep truths about themselves and the world around them, forever bonded by blood and bone.
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬.”
I could not put this down. It was witchy and worldly, dark and disturbing, it was everything I love about historical fantasy! If you are looking for something spooky to read this October, this author has some amazing stories to choose from!
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
“𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺, 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.” —𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙧
My first audiobook of September 🎧
Alice Hoffman is an auto-buy author for me. I love her style of storytelling, and this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. It did not disappoint! Lucky for me I was able to borrow the audiobook on Libby, but it’s definitely another that I want to add to my collection!
In this 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 inspired story, MC Mia falls in love with literature and becomes the hero of her own fairytale—saving herself by breaking away from the oppressive cult she was raised in. She ultimately finds herself transported back to another time, and meets her favorite author, Nathaniel Hawthorne himself. Their worlds collide and together they form a bond that time itself cannot break. Half-historical fiction/half-fantasy, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘳 is a truly enchanting exploration into the power of love, loss, time, and literature. A beautiful story of books and magic and love 📚✨❤️
M͙u͙s͙t͙ R͙e͙a͙d͙ I͙f͙ Y͙o͙u͙ L͙i͙k͙e͙:͙
-historical fiction
-magic
-romance
-time travel
-books about books
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Poetics of Passion Review
I love anything with a bookish/artsy theme, and this poetess heroine/artist hero duo was a lot of fun!
This story takes place in Victorian London, with Musa, a romance poetess who writes anonymously under a secret pen name… until she suddenly finds herself without a publisher. Women authors had difficulty being taken seriously at that time in history, and without the security of her publisher, Musa worries she will no longer be able to support her family through her passion—writing.
Musa decides to try her hand at writing for children in the hopes that she can be published in a more respectable genre. She teams up with an illustrator for her book–only to discover that the artist is actually her secret pen pal (and biggest fan of her alter-ego’s erotic poetry books). Secrets and scandal drive the story forward, and create plenty of drama for the duo to navigate in this You’ve Got Mail-esque historical romance.
Our heroine takes on a lot of responsibility and burden in order to protect her family, and I found her to be a commendable, strong, and hard-working MC that readers can look up to. Though she basically leads a double life, I think she had some good intentions, and I still found her to be noble and well-meaning.
I enjoyed the buildup of the love story between Musa and Sebastian and thought the element of secrecy offered some depth to their journeys. They have a lot in common, more than they realize at first, and they made a really cute couple!
I really enjoyed the references to famous literature and art, though at times the dialogue felt a bit forced. Miscommunication was a heavily used trope throughout the story, and at points I was left wondering why characters were driven to their actions. Overall this book had a really charming premise, and I loved the historical tone.
This was a really solid debut and I would love to see more by this author in the future
MUST READ IF YOU LIKE:
•historical fiction
•stories about female authors
•enemy-to-lovers
•books about books
•poetry & art
Thank you to the author Delphine Ross for sending me an early copy of this book! I loved it!
Bellegarde Book Tour
Bellegarde reimagines the 90s romcom classic She’s All That in 18th-century Paris, France.
The lush pastel world-building of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette meets the modern twist of Bridgerton in this YA historical rom-com debut.
Beau Bellegarde, a second-born son, makes a deal: if he can turn Evie Clément, the unapproachable baker’s daughter, into the winner of the Court Ball, making her the most desired bachelorette in Paris, he inherits the family fortune, but his target has plans of her own.
Thank you to @epicreads and @storygramtours for sending me a copy of the book!
#Bellegardetour #Bellegarde #JamieLilac #epicreads #storygramtours
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
Historical Fiction – Chicago 1911
Wow!!! I LOVED this book. It is this author’s debut novel, and I can’t wait to see more from her in the future. It was sweet, exciting, and well-researched historical fiction. I would rank it very high up in my list of favorite historical fictions, actually. I really loved it. The story is loosely based on the C. R. Patterson family. It weaves a lot of important Black history into the story, and is one of those books you could read for fun while still learning a lot, though I would still say romance is central to the story.
SHORT SPOILERY SUMMARY: First, there is Olivia, who is looking for love and ends up in a love triangle. Helen wants to be a mechanic and is on a personal journey. She wants to be respected and valued for more than a pretty face, but things get complicated when she turns her sisters’ love triangle into a love square by falling for Olivia’s suitor. Amy-Rose works for the Davenports, and has big dreams of opening her own salon. And she falls in love with Olivia’ brother, who already has something going on with Oliva’s riches-to-rags BFF Ruby!!! SO. MUCH. DRAMAAA!
I loved Amy-Rose and her love story, hers was my favorite couple, easily! Helen was an awesome SFL and the chapters from her POV were my favorites overall. But, its hard to pick favorites because Olivia was also amazing!! I think Ruby was my least favorite, just because I got jealous-friend-vibes from her near the beginning and I couldn’t shake them off. But it left lots of room for her character to grow, so that was valuable.
I love when authors hide character traits within the characters’ names (the closest word I can find is ‘Euonym‘: a name well suited to the person, place, or thing named. I feel like there is a better literary device for this, if you know it please help me!). I thought it was clever that there was flower imagery in Amy-Rose chapters, gemstone imagery in Ruby chapters, and Olivia gets an olive-branch moment that is super adorable.
Overall I enjoyed Marquis’ writing style. Having four main characters can be a lot to juggle, but each perspective is so different that it makes it really easy to keep them separate in your head. The multiple POV also allowed readers to see the differences in class, the challenging of gender roles, and the difficulty of aquiring and maintaining wealth and status. There were places where I thought the grammar could have been better, and passages that I thought could be reworded for readability, but this copy was just an ARC and those things are usually fixed in final copies. I did think the story moved very fast, and because of the multiple POVs certain characters and relationships could have been fleshed out more. Also, more history!! I selfishly would have loved to this done as a series, but that’s just because I wanted more lol!
I also maintain that this could make a really great show or movie adaptation!
Follow Krystal Marquis on Instagram @krystabelle_reads and @krystalmarquis on Twitter.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an ARC of this title. All opinions are my own.
#PenguinTeenPartner!
A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman
“Their three kisses would be just the beginning. He wanted all of her, body and soul.” —Kate Bateman, A Wicked Game
This was my first Kate Bateman book and right away I fell in love with this author’s writing style! It is the third book of the Ruthless Rivals series, but can easily be read as a standalone. A Wicked game was exciting, fast-paced, and steamy. Now I can’t wait to read more of this author!
It was a light and easy read, and it brought me back to a time when all I wanted to do was read harlequin resonances under my desk. This was a fun book to start the year with—romance, scandal, and smut, what more could you want!
𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖:
-Harlequin romance
-Rivalry & Revenge
-Old Maps
This was a pleasure to read! Two childhood rivals, one bet: three kisses. A rogue and a lady tease each other, constantly bickering, but in a tension-building way that is irresistibly hot.
An anonymous act of heroism from one leads to dangerous consequences for another. But not everything is as simple as it seems. Can their desire for each other overcome their desire for revenge?
Thank you to @macmillanusa and @stmartinspress for sending me an ARC of this title! All opinions are my own.
Reputation by Lex Croucher
Reputation is a Regency-era historical romantic comedy from a hilarious new British voice, Lex Croucher. This book was described as Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl with a dash of Jane Austen, so naturally, I had to pick it up. I had high expectations for this book, and I was honestly disappointed. I would describe this book as edgier than expected, but not necessarily well-written. The dedication says it all. “For Jane Austen. Sorry, Jane.” Because any true regency lady would be completely shocked by the sordid behavior in Reputation.
So don’t read this if you are a stickler for historical accuracy, because you won’t find it in this book. I appreciate what this book is trying to do for diversity, but there are some passages that are just plain bad and positively inaccurate for any century.
Continue reading “Reputation by Lex Croucher”Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly
Based on the true story of a New York socialite who championed a group of concentration camp survivors known as the Rabbits, this acclaimed debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.
Lilac Girls follows the three stories of Caroline, Kasia, and Herta as they navigate the perils of WWII era life. The novel weaves together accounts from three perspectives – Polish, German, and American – each girl has a different experience, but all are connected and affected by the atrocities of the war. Continue reading “Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly”
Paulo Coelho, The Spy: A Novel Of Mata Hari
Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist and The Witch of Portobello, again bewitches readers with The Spy, a novel based on the life of Mata Hari.
Based on real events
Based around the historical facts surrounding her life and 1917 arrest, Coelho weaves together a first-hand account of what really happened during her life – how she felt, and justifies some of the reasons for her actions.
The Prologue describes Mata’s gruesome execution by firing squad. Imagining her final moments as she gets dressed for a final time and fearlessly faces her own death with open eyes – refusing to be blindfolded.
Continue reading “Paulo Coelho, The Spy: A Novel Of Mata Hari”
MANDY'S READING LIST 