The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel

 

Title:  The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

Author:  Kristin Harmel

Narrated by:  Madeleine Maby, Kristin Harmel

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 25 minutes

Source: Thank-you to @simonaudio for the review copy.

Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry?  I have a necklace my Great Grandma gave me when I was young that I love and still wear often.

Colette Marceau was trained as a thief by her mother as a child in France before WWII.  Her family is descended from Robin Hood, and they take their duty of robbing from the rich and morally corrupt and helping the poor seriously.  Colette’s mother, Annabel, helped the resistance during WWII, but she was arrested, and Colette’s four-year-old sister Liliane disappeared.  Annabel was executed and Liliane was found floating in a river with the valuable bracelet that Annabel had sewn into her nightgown, missing. Colette has spent her life continuing her mission to steal from the rich and help the poor, while also trying to determine who killed her sister and why. When her sister’s bracelet shows up at a museum display, will Colette, now an elderly lady, find the answers she seeks?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book in September for the Brenda Novak Book Group.  Brenda Novak had a great interview with the author as part of the book group meeting. You can still watch it on Brenda Novak’s Facebook page.

·       This was a riveting WWII mystery.

·       The story was told in a dual timeline.  Colette in 2018 at almost 90 and Colette as a young girl during WWII were the two timelines.

·       The characters were well developed.  I loved them all especially Colette and her friend Aviva. 

·       I love Kristin Harmel’s novels.  This was fast paced and engaging like previous novels.

·       I liked the romance between the two different sets of characters.

·       My only disbelief in the story was that there was so many very elderly characters who were all sharp and traveling around fine.  I know there are some 90 years old and older folks out there that are traveling around the world, but they are in the minority.

·       Loss and grief are explored in the novel.

·       It has a satisfying conclusion.

Overall, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel is a riveting and engaging WWII historical mystery and worked wonderfully on audiobook.

 

Love’s a Witch by Tricia O’Malley

 

Title:  Love’s a Witch

Author:  Tricia O’Malley

Narrated by:  Imogen Church, John Hartley

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 14 minutes

Source: Thank-you to @simonaudio for the review copy.

Did you read any books for Halloween?  I love reading magical books during the Halloween season.

Sloane MacGregor has returned to Briarhaven in Scotland to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday, which is the birthday where a witch receives her powers.  She also hopes to work with her sisters to break a curse that haunts their bloodline.  Mayor Knox Douglas does not want the MacGregors in town causing problems, but he once had a crush on Sloane, and those feelings may still linger.  Will the curse be crushed?

My thoughts:

·       This was a cozy contemporary fantasy novel.

·       This novel was the first in the new Scottish Charms series.

·       My favorite character was Blue, the fire breathing ember wolf.

·       The story was told through a dual point of view with Sloane and Know narrating alternating chapters.  Narrators Imogen Church and John Hartley did an excellent job capturing the tone and narrating the novel.

·       This book had all the makings of a story that I would love, but it fell short for me and didn’t engage me.  I think the plot moved too slowly for me as it was setting up further books in the series.

·       I did enjoy the strong female characters and the entire town.

Overall, Love’s a Witch by Tricia O’Malley was a good cozy contemporary fantasy novel but didn’t quite engage me fully.