Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of this book.

What is your favorite Frank Sinatra song or movie?  I have been on a Frank Sinatra kick the last couple of months listening to his songs.  I love so many of them and Strangers in the Night is one of my favorites.  My favorite movie starring Frank Sinatra is From Here to Eternity.  I’ve known Ava Gardner as a star, but I think the only movie I’ve seen of hers is Showboat.  I love old movies so I’m not sure how that has happened!

Strangers in the Night is a historical fiction novel detailing the tempestuous relationship between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.  Frank was a married man with three children when he fell in love with Ava Gardner.  Ava had previously been married and divorced twice and was already a star.  Frank and Ava together brought out both the best and the worst in each other.   This novel is their love story through the decades.

I enjoyed that Strangers in the Night was told from the dual narratives of Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra from when they first met through Ava Gardner’s death.  As a classic movie fan, I loved that the filming of my favorite movies that these actors were in was discussed.  It was fun as they interacted with various members of the golden age of Hollywood. 

Frank and Ava’s romance was very turbulent.  They were constantly cheating on each other, fighting, there were suicide attempts.  Frank was constantly with prostitutes and did not think that was cheating.  Through it all, they always felt that they were each other’s greatest love.  They ultimately found they couldn’t live together, but the love never stopped.  Frank had a quote, “ My girl liked to be courted, and I’d give it to her better than anyone else.  Courting was my specialty.”  I agree.  Frank was great at courting, but not so great at actually being a good long term partner.

I enjoyed the author’s note at the end, information about Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra, as well as great questions for a book club.  This would be a fun book to read for a book club.  It has Classic Hollywood, historical fiction, romance, adventure, etc.  The short chapters with alternating viewpoints kept this book moving.

The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

 

Title:  The Old Curiosity Shop

Author:  Charles Dickens

Narrated by:  Anton Lessor

Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks

Length: Approximately 22 hours and 19 minutes

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

What is your favorite Charles Dickens novel?  I would have to say A Christmas Carol as I’ve read it so many times.  David Copperfield is my second favorite with probably A Tale of Two Cities as number three.  Dickens wrote a number of memorable novels.  The Old Curiosity Shop is probably one of his lesser-known novels.  It was one of the most popular novels during his lifetime, but it is not as popular to modern audiences.

The Old Curiosity Shop tells the story of Little Nell Trent.  She lives in the old curiosity shop with her Grandfather.   Her Grandfather loves her beyond measure, but he is secretly gambling all of their money and money he has borrowed. They lose everything and wander the countryside trying to find a safe haven and to stay out of the grip of the evil Daniel Quilp.  They meet many interesting characters along the way.

This was the March pick for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  The book club enjoyed the novel and had a great discussion about it earlier this week.  Dickens writes such great characters and was able to bring them back together to wrap up storylines at the end.  He also had such a way with words that really resonated with the group.  We also discussed that the main premise of the book was an in-depth look at the addiction of gambling and how it can ruin many lives.

I had read this book years ago (review here) and I went with an audio version this time around.  I loved narrator Anton Lessor’s unique voices for all of the characters In particular, I loved his Daniel Quilp.  I just had a hard time with the audio quality.  I was playing this through Libby on my phone and I had a hard time hearing it at times such as when the narrator was whispering.  I don’t usually have this problem with audiobooks.  One downfall of listening to it on audiobook was that there were so many characters and many were just cameos, that it was hard to keep track of them all.  It would have been nice to has a physical copy with a list of characters as one book club member had.  I did find myself laughing out loud while listening to it as Dickens has such a great sense of humor in his writing and such perfect descriptions.  I love how he names his characters.

I think this story hasn’t held up as well as others because there are just too many characters and the story wanders away from main characters, such as Nell, for too long of periods of time.  Dickens improved on his pacing and keeping focused on his central characters in his later works.  I did find it interesting to learn that Nell was based on his sister-in-law who passed away in her teens.

The Old Curiosity Shop is a good Victorian novel.  We will be watching a film version of it in April at our next book club meeting.

Favorite Quote:

“Because the memory of those who lie below, passes away so soon. At first they tend them, morning, noon, and night; they soon begin to come less frequently; from once a day, to once a week; from once a week to once a month; then, at long and uncertain intervals; then, not at all. Such tokens seldom flourish long. I have known the briefest summer flowers outlive them.”

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

 

Title:  The Golden Spoon

Author:  Jessa Maxwell

Narrated by:  Andrea Emmes, Andy Garcia-Ruse, Graham Halstead, Kitty Hendrix, Kamran Khan, Jackie Sanders, André Santana, Emily Tremaine

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 37 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

Do you like to bake?  Do you watch any cooking shows?

I love baking, especially pies, cakes, and cookies.  I don’t watch cooking shows very often just more from the fact that I don’t get much time to watch TV.  I have watched a bit of The Great British Bake-Off which seems to be the inspiration for this novel.

The Golden Spoon starts off with the host of the show Betsy Martin, discovering a dead body.  The story then flashes back to the start of Bake Week.  Bake Week is filmed at Grafton, the family estate of Betsy Martin in Vermont.  We are introduced to the six contestants and they along with Betsy narrate the story through each day of the competition.  As contestants are eliminated, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on with the competition.  It all leads to the answer to the question, who is the victim and who is the murderer?

I loved how there was a unique narrator for each of the contestants and Betsy. I enjoyed learning about each of the characters and getting involved in their stories.  I thought Grafton itself was interesting and wished I could see pictures of the old estate.   I did guess some of the mystery as the story went along, but not all of it.  It was a satisfying ending.  I love baking so the baking details were fun for me as well.  I just really wished I could have the recipes!  It was a quick read.

The Golden Spoon was an engaging cozy mystery and a great debut novel.  I can’t wait to read what Jessa Maxwell writes next!

 

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Have you ever visited a castle?  Do you have any historic homes or buildings near you with haunted legends?

I have sadly never visited a castle yet.  I live in a historic home, which luckily does not have any stories of being haunted.  In Kewaunee, we do have a haunted hotel and a haunted jailhouse museum.  I have not seen the ghosts myself, but the curious visit to find the ghosts and they have been featured in books and TV.

Castle Moreau is the story of a haunted castle in Wisconsin.  Built around 1800 on the Mississippi River, a legend has grown up around it that women disappear in the castle never to be seen again.  In 1870, an orphan girl named Daisy takes up a position at the castle.  She is not sure of her role, but finds the castle mostly abandoned.  Madame Ora Moreau is a famous Gothic authoress who lives in the castle.  Her Grandson Lincoln believes that Daisy should be there to look after her and do some light cleaning.  As Daisy settles in, she starts to notice many mysterious happenings at the castle.  As she starts to investigate, will she be able to discover the secrets the castle holds?

The other timeline is present day.  Cleo has been hired by the mysterious rich son, of a famous American family, Deacon, to help his Grandmother, Virgie, sort through her hoarded junk that has filled up the Castle Moreau.  When she arrives, Cleo quickly gets wrapped up in the mystery of the castle as the townspeople fill her in on the disappearances that have happened over the centuries.  Will Cleo finally be able to solve the mystery of the disappearances?

I really loved the dual timelines in this novel.  I thought the two stories really parallel and also built on each other.  I also really liked the light romance in both stories.  In the modern story, Deacon is a reformed rake who has turned his life around.  I enjoyed the characters and learning more about them.  I loved how the stories were very Gothic and mysterious.  Wright really built a creepy atmosphere that pulled me into the book. I really wanted to know how it ended!  I did really enjoy the ending.  I did not guess it at all and it was a very satisfying ending.

I also loved that it was a castle in Wisconsin.  It made me wish it were real and I could visit it!  I loved the suspense of this story and think it would be a great book to read for Halloween.

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright as a riveting Christian Gothic romance novel and I highly recommend it!

Review Copy from author Bethany House Publishing.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Vanishing at Castle Moreau

·       Author: Jaime Jo Wright

·       Genre: Historical Suspense, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction

·       Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (April 4, 2023)

·       Length: (384) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook 

·       ISBN: 978-0764238345

·       Tour Dates: March 27 – April 10, 2023

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A haunting legend. An ominous curse. A search for a secret buried deep within the castle walls.

In 1870, orphaned Daisy François takes a position as housemaid at a Wisconsin castle to escape the horrors of her past life. There she finds a reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress who hides tales more harrowing than the ones in her novels. As women disappear from the area and the eerie circumstances seem to parallel a local legend, Daisy is thrust into a web that could ultimately steal her sanity, if not her life.

In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of an American aristocratic family to help his grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stash of collectibles, a century-old mystery and the dust of the old castle's curse threaten to rise again . . . this time to leave no one alive to tell the sordid tale.

Award-winning author Jaime Jo Wright seamlessly weaves a dual-time tale of two women who must do all they can to seek the light amid the darkness shrouding Castle Moreau.

PRAISE FOR THE VANISHING AT CASTLE MOREAU

·       “Wright (The Souls of Lost Lake) captivates with a thrilling tale of two women who get caught up in the secrets of a Wisconsin castle…The twisting, fast-moving plot is loaded with secrets, and the characters remain morally ambiguous until the end. Readers won’t want to put this down.”— Publisher’s Weekly

·       "Wright (The Premonition at Withers Farm) pens another delightfully creepy tale where nothing is quite as it seems and characters seek freedom from nightmares both real and imagined.”— Library Journal

·       "Jaime Jo Wright never disappoints, and The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is no exception. With real, flawed characters who grapple with real-life struggles, this gripping suspense novel will draw readers in from the very first page. Good luck putting it down. I couldn't."— Lynette Eason, bestselling author of the Extreme Measures series

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of eight novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of two novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her cat named Foo; her husband, Cap'n Hook; and their two mini-adults, Peter Pan and CoCo.

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS

The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of this book.

If you could have a sequel to any stand-alone which would it be?

The Kind Worth Saving is a follow-up to Peter Swanson’s riveting thriller The Kind Worth Killing.  It’s a new mystery that keeps a couple of characters from the first novel while also keeping the atmosphere.  You can read it as a standalone, but I really enjoyed reading it right after The Kind Worth Killing.

Henry Kimball is a private investigator.  Earlier in his life, he was a high school English teacher for one year before his career ended when a school shooting took place in his classroom.  A student from that classroom, Joan, has turned up asking him to investigate her husband whom she believes is cheating on her with a co-worker.  As Henry digs into the case, the story takes many unexpected turns and he seeks out help from a person from his past. 

Like The Kind Worth Killing, the Kind Worth Saving had a plot with many twists and turns that kept me guessing all of the way through.  I loved the characters that returned from the first book and the path that this book took.  I really like to be surprised and this book delivered.  The characters all had serious flaws, but they were intriguing.  I kept trying to figure out why they did what they did.  It was a fascinating psychological thriller that made you think.

This was a fast-paced thriller that also kept me up too late at night to see what happened just like the previous book.  I highly recommend it to all thriller lovers out there.

The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftis

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of this book.

What do you think of the trend of naming books with relationships such as someone’s daughter, wife, sister, etc.?  I’ll admit, I am not a fan.  In this book in particular, Corrie Ten Boom was the first female licensed watchmaker in Holland.  Why is she regulated to being The Watchmaker’s daughter?

The Watchmaker’s Daughter is subtitled The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie Ten Boom.  At the start of World War II, Corrie Ten Boom was a fiftyish watchmaker living above her family’s watch shop in Haarlam in the Netherlands.  She was a devout Christian and couldn’t believe the treatment she saw of her fellow human beings because they were Jewish, old, or disabled.  She became part of the resistance and her and entire family worked to help everyone that they could.  They also hid Jews and “divers” (young men trying to avoid conscription by the Nazis) in their home.  The day came that they were discovered and Corrie Ten Boom’s life changed forever.

I had read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom a few years ago for Rogue Book Club and it was inspiring.  It was her autobiography of these years in World War II working for the resistance and then being in a concentration camp.  What is different about The Watchmaker’s Daughter is that author Larry Loftis has put together the complete story from not only The Hiding Place, but Corrie Ten Boom’s other books as well as publications from other family members.  Into the story he also weaves other famous Dutch people at the time – Anne Frank and Audrey Hepburn, and relevant political events.  It was fascinating story and I couldn’t put this book down.  I stayed up too far into the night to finish it.  This is one of those rare non-fiction books that reads like fiction to me.  I also loved all of the pictures that were part of the story too.  I had never seen them before. 

What amazed me again in this narrative as it did in her autobiography was Corrie Ten Boom and her family’s great faith.  When Ten Boom and her sister Betsie were together in the concentration camp, they preached the word of God and kept their faith through the most trying of times.  They also were kind of like Pollyanna, always striving to look for the good and for what to be thankful.  They weren’t perfect, but they really tried. My favorite part was when Ten Boom and her family talked to the person in charge after they were first arrested.  They all discovered he was a person to witness to and got him thinking about Christianity, God, and the work that he was doing.  It was a nice wrap-up to discover that Corrie Ten Boom met him again after the war and he had completely changed his life around.  This was a great book to read during Lent and it made you think about keeping your faith through all of life’s trials.

I really liked at the end of the book that there was a section called “The Rest of the Story” that went into what happened to a variety of the people mentioned in the book complete with pictures.  This is always what I wonder about after a book ends, especially a nonfiction book.  The Author’s Note was also interesting.  This was my first book by Larry Loftis, but this book and his Author’s Note definitely made me want to check out more of his nonfiction books.

 

Favorite Quotes:

Corrie Ten Boom’s father was going to be released from jail as they said he could die in his own bed.  Opa responded, “If I go home today, tomorrow I will open my door again to any man in need who knocks.”

“We have learned so much here and now we must go all over the world to tell people what we now know – that Jesus’ light is stronger than the deepest darkness.  Only prisoners can know how desperate this life is.  We can tell from experience that no pit is too deep, because God’s everlasting arms always sustain us.”

“Each had a hurt he had to forgive, the neighbor who had reported hi, the brutal guard, the sadistic soldier.  Strangely enough, it was not the Germans or the Japanese that people had most trouble forgiving; it was their fellow Dutchmen who sided with the enemy.”

Overall, The Watchmaker’s Daughter is a book not to be missed.  I highly recommend it.  Corrie Ten Boom’s story is one that everyone should know.

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

 

What is your favorite color for a book cover?  I really love greys in the cover of this book and it matches my cat Bob so well!

I have been meaning to read The Kind Worth Killing for years and was glad to get to it this month as I got ready to read the new Peter Swanson book, The Kind Worth Saving.  I read his novel Eight Perfect Murders in the past and really enjoyed it.

Ted Severson is flying back to the United States from London when he meets the beautiful Lily Kintner on the plane.  He finds himself opening up to her about his problems.  His wife, Miranda, is cheating on him with the contractor that is building their new home.  Ted says he would like to kill his wife, and Lily agrees that she would like to help. Will they go through with it?

This starts the wild and crazy ride this book is.  I did not guess the ending of this book and was completely surprised by it so I don’t want to ruin it for others.  The first part of the book alternates chapters in the present with Ted and in the past with Lily to lead up to current events.  The second part of the book brings in different narrators to complete the story.  The Kind Worth Killing was a great suspense thriller that kept me up too late at night reading as I wanted to see what would happen next.  The twists were great.  I felt like just when I would think I knew where the story was heading a new twist would come in and change the direction of the story.  The twists all made sense in the story.  I loved it!

The Kind Worth Killing reminded me of the classic Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train (I still need to read the classic Patricia Highsmith novel).  I love Hitchcock movies and would so love to see this book made into a movie.

I really want to talk about the ending of this book with someone.  It was open ended and has definitely kept me thinking about it.

Favorite Quote:

”Truthfully, I don’t think murder is necessarily as bad as people make it out to be. Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended? And your wife, for example, seems like the kind worth killing.”

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

 

Title:  The House of Eve

Author:  Sadeqa Johnson

Narrated by:  Ariel Blake and Nicole Lewis

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 27 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

Do you like book covers that show faces?  I love this book cover, but it goes with the trend of having a headless person.  The other trend I notice is the back of someone walking away.  I think it's so you can imagine yourself as the character.  I like covers that show faces and also those that don’t.  I love the color of the dress on this cover.

The House of Eve is a riveting new historical fiction novel that I couldn’t put down.  I was listening to it on audiobook and I had a hard time stopping the story to do things like work, eat, or talk to my family.  The House of Eve is set in 1948 and is the story of two very women. Ruby is a fifteen year old in Philadelphia.  She is working on getting good grades and a scholarship to be the first person in her family to go to college.  It’s hard work as her single mother doesn’t care to raise her and cares more about her boyfriend of the month.  When Ruby meets Shimmy, sparks fly and she will make a decision that could potentially impact her life forever.

Eleanor is attending Howard University in Washington DC and is the pride her family from Ohio.  She has the dream of becoming an archivist at a library.  When she meets the handsome William Pride, she is instantly smitten.  William is from an elite and rich family in Washington DC.  Eleanor feels that William’s mother Rose will never accept her. Will having a baby bring her into the family more?

I really enjoyed the two different alternating narratives.  Ruby grew up in poverty with a single mother, while Eleanor had a more middle class upbringing with two parents.  They both have ambitions, and they both have to work hard for what they want.  I don’t want to ruin the story for others, but I loved the realistic challenges that the two women faced including pregnancy, racism, social pressures, body image issues, etc.

I also loved learning about the social scene of elite African Americans in Washington DC in the late 1940s.  It was new to me and so interesting.  There was also a section of the book that was disturbing showing what happened to unwed mothers who were sent to religious homes for unwed mothers.  I can’t stop thinking about this and how these mothers were treated.

Author Sadeqa Johnson previously wrote another historical fiction novel that I thought was excellent, Yellow Wife.  I LOVED that there was a connection to Yellow Wife at the end of The House of Eve.  It made me want to clap.  It was perfect.  I also read that this was a personal story for Johnson as her grandmother found herself a 14-year old unwed mother.

Ariel Blake and Nicole Lewis were great and engaging narrators.  The story was told through both Ruby and Eleanor’s point of view.  Each narrator told the story of each character and it made it so it seemed like their own personal story.  I enjoyed it.

 

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline

 

If you and your family disappeared one day – would you be missed?  Would anyone in your neighborhood ask what happened to you?  I feel like living in a small town that I would be missed at some point. 

Jason Bennett is a Dad with a court-reporting business driving home one evening from his daughter’s lacrosse game.  When his family is carjacked, a tragedy occurs and their lives are changed forever.  The Bennetts are put into the Witness Protection Program and they are gone from their regular lives.  It leaves the neighbors wondering, what happened to the Bennetts?   After Jason decides to take matters into his own hands, he will discover that nothing is as it seems.

This was a very fast paced suspense novel that kept me on my toes.  I did not guess at all what was going to happen.  It didn’t allow for much character development, although I found myself caring about characters such as Jason’s poor son that was struggling. 

What Happened to the Bennetts was the March pick for the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a great discussion about this book complete with great questions from the reading guide. 

Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan

 

Do you have any locally set books that you like to read or shows you like to watch?  Have you ever visited Door County, Wisconsin?

Morgan Carter owns a unique shop called Odds and Ends in Door County Wisconsin.  The shop has mystery books and other strange supernatural items for sale.  Carter is also a cryptozoologist.  She has degrees in zoology and biology and is basically a mythical monster hunter.  She is enlisted by the Washington Island police chief, Jon Flanders, for help.  Two people have recently mysteriously drowned.  Even more mysterious, they were found with giant bite marks on them.  What caused these bite marks?  Will Morgan be able to solve the crime before becoming the next victim?

A Death in Door County is the first book in a new planned Monster Hunter Mystery series.  This is a fun cozy mystery novel.  I loved the setting.  I live in the county south of Door County, Wisconsin.  It was fun to read about the local setting.  The characters were fun as well.  I loved learning more of their backstories throughout the novel. I think my favorite character was Newt the rescue dog.  I loved how he and Morgan went on their swims in the bay. The story kept moving for me and was interesting.  The action picked up at the end of the novel.   I will admit that it reminded me of a Scooby Do mystery at the end.  If you are looking for a cozy mystery where justice is served, this is the novel for you.

A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan was the March Selection for the Rogue (AKA Flicks Book Club).   It was interesting to discuss.

Purchased at The Peninsula Bookman – a wonderful bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin.

The Book Spy by Alan Hlad

 

What is your favorite novel or movie that has a female spy?

The Book Spy is an intriguing new WWII historical fiction novel.    Maria Alves is a microfilm expert at the New York Public Library.  One of her colleagues becomes a part of a new government program that is sending librarians that are microfilm experts to Europe as part of a new branch of the Office of Strategic Service.  In Europe, the librarians will work as espionage agents to look through newspapers, magazines, and books that could contain any information that will help with the Allied cause.  Maria uses her wit to be recruited and she is sent to Lisbon, Portugal.  While there she meets Tiago Soares.  He runs a bookstore, but is also helping Jewish refugees escape Europe with counterfeit passports and visas.  As the war progresses, both of their futures are thrown into question as Maria becomes a double agent.  Will they be able to help push the allies to their final victory, and will they survive?

I adored this novel.  It had a bit of everything – romance, intrigue, suspense.  I love learning something new in a historical fiction novel and I felt like I learned so much in The Book Spy.  I had no idea that this program existed in WWII and it was fascinating to learn about. I’ve also never read a WWII novel set in Portugal and I learned a lot about what was going on in that part of the world during the war.  Over one million refuges escaped through the port of Lisbon.  I also learned about the tragic crashing of the Yankee Clipper through Maria experiencing it in this novel. It was a heartbreaking accident. Maria and Tiago were both very brave characters and I enjoyed reading about them.  The side characters were interesting as well.

The Book Spy was the Brenda Novak Book Group February selection.  I was a bit behind on reading it, but I enjoyed listening to Brenda Novak interview author Alan Hlad at her monthly book club on Facebook. Alan Hlad stated that he likes character driven novels with characters that you root for.  He succeeded with that in the The Book Spy.

The Book Spy ended with a great author’s note that detailed all of the real history and historical characters in the novel.  It was fascinating.  It also had great questions to use if you read this with a book club.

Review Copy from Netgalley.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

To Win Her Hand by Jen Geigle Johnson (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What are your thoughts on Daylight Savings Time?  Yay or nay? 

I feel like I lost an hour of reading time this weekend!  I wish we just stuck with one time all year round with no time changes.

I did read To Win Her Hand by Jen Geigle Johnson very quickly.  It was a gentle and enjoyable story.  Lady Loveluck appears to be a wealthy widow, but she has a secret.  Her late husband gambled away their fortune and she can hardly make ends meet.  In order to eat and keep the roof over her head, she has turned to being a paid matchmaker.  Lord Featherstone also is keeping his finances straight by being a matchmaker for gentleman.  As the two meet over their clients, will they discover that they may be the most perfect match of all?  Will Lady Loveluck be able to trust a man again after her disastrous first marriage?

I loved the characters.  Lord Featherstone was a worthy gentleman and Lady Loveluck was a wonderful woman.  I also loved their clients.  The setting was also fantastic.  It was mostly set at a Regency house party.  The dialogue was witty and the ending was one that you want to celebrate.

This was the first novel in the new Gentleman’s Match series.  It looks like Lord Featherstone’s brother is next which I am eager to read.

This novel was a clean read.

Review Copy from author Jen Geigle Johnson.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: To Win Her Hand

·       Series: A Gentleman’s Match (Book 1)

·       Author: Jen Geigle Johnson

·       Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Romance, Inspirational Fiction

·       Publisher: King’s Row Press (December 15, 2022)

·       Length: (272) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, Trade Paperback, & eBook 

·       ISBN: 978-1737592174

·       Tour Dates: February 27 – March 13, 2023

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

An expert at winning a woman's hand. A woman who cannot be won.

Lord Featherstone has the world on his shoulders. Or at least his world. With two brothers and a failing estate he must make funds somehow. But what happens when he falls for a woman? Will his tactics work when the situation is so close and personal?

Everyone thinks Lady Loveluck is a wealthy widow. What they don't know is that she is on the brink of hiring herself out as a Governess in order to pay for her next meal. The only thing keeping her from employment is a growing reputation as a matchmaker. As long as she never falls for another man, as long as she doesn't allow herself to be fooled into marrying, she will be just fine.

But she never counted on being caught up in the beguiling tactics of London's renowned and not so secret matchmaker for men.

 

PRAISE FOR TO WIN HER HAND

• "I loved the character growth, watching them learn more about the other’s heart and hardships, and the realization that perhaps they had more choices than they first thought. Such a sweet regency. I’m so grateful I had the chance to read this one."— Makayla Branson, Reading Past Bedtime
• “The house party, the quiet moments, the collection of other characters, and much more all combined together made this is delightful read.”— Julie Carpenter, Goodreads
• “Two matchmakers with a wager. What fun for all! [A] heart touching story.”— Shauna Jones, Goodreads

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Jen Geigle Johnson is an award-winning author, including the GOLD in Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards and LDSPMA Praiseworthy's top award for Romance,

Jen has more stories circulating in her brain than can possibly be told. She discovered her passion for England while kayaking on the Thames near London as a young teenager. History is her main jam. Her literary heroes include the greats: Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. But she has modern sensibilities as well.

Six children and an inspiring husband keep her going and make certain she doesn't stay glued to a keyboard or lost in obscure fascinating details of old castles.

Now, she loves to share bits of history that might otherwise be forgotten. Whether in Regency England, the French Revolution, or Colonial America, her romance novels are much like life is supposed to be: full of adventure.

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