The German Wife [Book Review]

June 29, 2022

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

Genre/Categories/Settings: Historical Fiction, Operation Paperclip, Dust Bowl, WW11 and 1950, Germany, Oklahoma, and Alabama

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Welcome to my stop on the Harlequin Trade Publishing Summer Blog Tour for Historical Fiction. Thanks #NetGalley @HTPBooks @ClubBookish #GraydonHouse for a complimentary eARC of #TheGermanWife upon my request. All opinions are my own.

The United States operated a secret intelligence program called Operation Paperclip that arrested and employed former Nazi scientists after WW11. The German Wife tells the story of how Jürgen and his wife Sofie Rhodes became participants in the program, came to live in the United States and were eventually pardoned. Jürgen was granted a position in America’s space program. Tensions rise as Lizzie Miller and her friends/neighbors begin to hear rumors that Jürgen and Sophie were former Nazis.

My Thoughts:

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6 Favorite Historical Fiction in 6 Months [2022] #6BooksIn6Months #ThrowBackThursday

June 23, 2022

6 in 6 [2022]

The Six in Six is a meme created by Jo at The Book Jotter At the end of June, we are halfway through the year, so the idea is to share the books we have read in these first 6 months. When I looked at my list of the top 6 so far this year, I realized that they were all Historical Fiction. You’re not really surprised, are you?!

I’m also linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #ThrowBackThursday (since I’ve previously reviewed 4 of the 6 titles).

In the true spirit of the 6 in 6 meme, we are asked to share 6 books in 6 categories. Coming up with 36 books will take more brain power than I have available right now, so I will share 6 of the best (most memorable) historical fiction books I’ve read so far this year. Bonus: At the end of the post, I’m sharing 6 books in 6 more categories!

If you need to fill your beach bag or your summer TBR, I hope you’ll find something here to match your reading taste! I highly recommend each one!

***Titles are links to my reviews or Amazon affiliate links.

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The Last Dress From Paris [Book Review]

June 21, 2022

The Last Dress From Paris by Jade Beer

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Complicated Relationships, Fashion, Paris

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Thank you #NetGalley @BerkleyPub #BerkleyWritesStrongWomen #BerkleyBuddyReads for a complimentary e-Arc of #TheLastDressFromParis upon my request. All opinions are my own.

In dual timelines (2017 and 1952), The Last Dress From Paris is a page-turning story of family secrets, romance, and couture. In the present-day timeline, Lucille’s grandmother asks her to go to Paris and retrieve a priceless Dior dress for her. Upon Lucille’s arrival in Paris, she realizes that there’s more than one dress and a mystery involving her grandmother’s past to solve.

My Thoughts:

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Recommendations For Historical Fiction With a Side of Thriller #WhatsOnYourBookshelfChallenge #WOYBC

June 17, 2022

Do you have a histfic with a side of thriller on your bookshelf?

Today for the June #WhatsOnYourBookshelfChallenge I’m focusing on Historical Fiction with a side of Thriller.

First, thrillers are not my go-to genre. I’m an HSP (highly sensitive person/reader) and susceptible to nightmares. However, I don’t mind a side of a gentle thriller as a mashup with another genre.

(Kate Quinn is the queen of histfic/thriller mashup!)

***Titles in this post are links to my reviews or Amazon affiliate links.

Recommendations For Historical Fiction With a Side of Thriller

(in no particular order)

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

Rose Code by Kate Quinn

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck

Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

Woman 99 by Greer Macallister

Mrs. England by Stacey Halls

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

QOTD:

Do you have a favorite histfic with a side of thriller to share?

I’m linking up with Deb @ Deb’s World and Sue @ Women Living Well After 50, Donna @ Retirement Reflections, and Jo @ And Anyways…. for the June installment of #WhatsOnYourBookShelfChallenge.

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

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Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photos are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.

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A Place to Hang the Moon [Book Review]

June 10, 2022

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

Genre/Categories/Setting: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, WW11, Found Family, Siblings, Books About Books, Books About Libraries/Librarians England

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

During WW11, Anna, Edmund, and William are evacuated from London to the countryside where it is safer from bombing. The children are seeking more than safety from bombs as they have just lost their grandmother, their only guardian, and are in need of a “forever” home. The children encounter cruelty, cold, and hunger. They find one place of comfort and refuge in the library; The librarian, Mrs. Müller becomes a significant person in their lives. With her, they experience cozy fires, hot chocolate, hot buttered thickly-sliced toast, bedtime stories, and someone who thinks they “hang the moon.”

My Thoughts:

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Red Sky Over Hawaii [Book Review] #ThrowBackThursday

June 9, 2022

Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman
#throwbackthursday

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction, WW11, Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, Love Story

Welcome to Throwback Thursday where I highlight an older review or post a current review of an old read. Today, I’m re-sharing a story set in Hawaii during WW11, Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman. She’s one of my auto-buy histfic/women’s fiction authors, and I’ve read each of her five books.

I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

WW11 + Hawaii + Saving Neighbors + a Side of Cowboy Romance

The attack on Pearl Harbor during WW11 sets the events in motion. Lana has recently learned of the passing of her father. Even though they were estranged at the time of his death, Lana is saddened by his passing and is left with unanswered questions. As the government begins to arrest her German and Japanese neighbors as suspected sympathizers, she takes two young German girls and a Japanese fisherman and his son to a secret property hidden away in the remote rain forest of Kilauea volcano. Lana struggles to keep her secrets and those in her care safe. Would you save your neighbors in a time of crisis?

Women’s fiction with a WW11 perspective….

Continue here for my full review of Red Sky Over Hawaii…

QOTD:

Have you read Red Sky Over Hawaii or is it on your TBR?
I’m a Sara Ackerman fan and love her histfic/women’s fiction books set in Hawaii around the time of Pearl Harbor. Her other work set in the same time and place: The Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers, The Lieutenant’s Nurse, RadarGirls, and (soon to be released) The Codebreaker’s Secret.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle [Book Review]

May 30, 2022

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, “UpLit,” Women’s Fiction, WW11, English Village, Friendship

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Thanks #NetGalley #BallentineBooks @RandomHouse for a complimentary eARC of #TheWeddingDressSewingCircle by Jennifer Ryan upon my request. All opinions are my own.

“Make Do and Mend”

In The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, women come together during the WW11 years to mend, repurpose, and recycle clothing. Led by three spirited women, the sewing circle project to repair a wedding gown grows into mending wedding gowns for local brides and for brides across the country.

“The Wedding Dress Exchange is our way to show that we might be losing our homes, our families, and our normal way of life, but there are some traditions that live on in spite of the Nazis–that romance and hope and love can flourish, no matter what our ememies do. It is a reminder that the most important parts of us…our hearts–will always be free.”

My Thoughts:

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The Book of Lost Names [Book Review] #ThrowBackThursday

May 26, 2022

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
#throwbackthursday

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, WW11, France

Welcome to Throwback Thursday where I highlight an older review or post a current review of an old read. Today, I’m re-sharing a page-turning historical fiction, The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel.

I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Inspired by true stories from WW11, a young Jewish woman who flees Paris with her mother after the arrest of her father finds herself committing to a forgery ring whose primary goal is to create documents that will help hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis. The story is told in dual timelines from the present-day perspective of Eva who is a semi-retired librarian living in Florida and the young Eva as she flees Paris and joins an underground forgery operation in a small mountain town near the Switzerland border. The Book of Lost Names becomes an important link between the two timelines.

Engaging and page-turning…

Continue here for my full review of The Book of Lost Names…

QOTD:

Have you read The Book of Lost Names or is it on your TBR?
Have you read other books by Kristin Harmel?
Also Reviewed: The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The Winemaker’s Wife

Our Last Days in Barcelona [Book Review]

May 24, 2022

Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton

Genre/Categories: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Spain

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Thanks #NetGalley @BerkleyPub #BerkleyWritesStrongWomen #BerkleyBuddyReads for a complimentary eARC of #OurLastDaysInBarcelona upon my request. All opinions are my own.

In 1964, Isabel Perez travels to Barcelona to check on her sister Beatriz after the family loses contact with her. The family is worried about her disappearance because they fear Beatriz may be involved in espionage. Isabel meets a (handsome) gentleman friend and coworker of Beatriz’s who helps locate Beatriz. While in Barcelona, Isabel stumbles upon an old picture that causes her to question her family history. The story takes us back to 1936 as family secrets are revealed.

My Thoughts:

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Bloomsbury Girls [Book Review] #BlogTour

May 17, 2022

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction (post-WW11), Book About Books, London, Bookshop

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Welcome to my stop on the Bloomsbury Girls Blook Tour. Thanks for the invite #AustenProsePR and thanks #Netgalley @StMartinsPress for a complimentary eARC of #BloomsburyGirls by Natalie Jenner upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Bloomsbury Girls is a spin-off of The Jane Austen Society but can be read as a stand-alone. The story takes place in an old bookstore in post-war London. Bloomsbury books is run by men and the staff is dedicated to following the general manager’s fifty-one rules; however, the three women working there have their own ambitions and dreams. Because it’s the 1950s and women have been thrust into the workplace while men have been at war. women are often taking leadership and asserting their own ideas which may differ from the way things have always been done. At this very traditional bookshop run by men, stylish and creative Vivian, hard-working Grace, and scholarly Evie join forces to shake things up a bit, add their own flair, introduce new ideas and procedures, and chase their own dreams. As a bonus, there is plenty of name-dropping of (their) contemporary literary legends.

My Thoughts:

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6 in 6 [2022]

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Do you have a histfic with a side of thriller on your bookshelf?

Recommendations For Historical Fiction With a Side of Thriller

QOTD:

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

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Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman#throwbackthursday

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The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel#throwbackthursday

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Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman
#throwbackthursday

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
#throwbackthursday