​​Lady Elizabeth Beckett has been trained as a code-breaker and spy for the English Crown from an early age. Elizabeth watched in envy as her brother Jonathon took on dangerous missions and soon forced her way into accompanying him. Being adept at the longbow and a dagger, Elizabeth excelled in the field and earned the code name Shadow. When young ladies begin to disappear around London, Eliza makes it her personal mission to stop the man responsible for selling the women off. However, to complete the mission, Eliza must partner with the agent, Benedict, who believes his step-brother is responsible for the missing girls. When Eliza and Benedict meet, sparks fly, but the mission must come first. 

Saving Shadow is a fun, intriguing, historical spy-thriller with just the right touch of romance. I absolutely loved Eliza's character, for a story set in Regency London Eliza is a good blend of a lady of high society and a woman who gets to use her intellect while not being pigeonholed into the image of a proper woman. I enjoyed that her intelligence and unique talents of memory and coding were utilized and promoted instead of stifled. I do wish we could have seen some of the examples of the encryptions that she decoded. My favorite scenes were those where Eliza was in action, it is truly her element. The theme of being in control was prevalent throughout the story. Eliza wanted to continue having control over her life after being banished from the control of her mother's household. All of the men in Eliza's life attempted to establish control, however quickly learned that it would not work with Eliza. The man responsible for the kidnappings of the young women also wanted to feel powerful and in control. The pacing of the story was just right, I savored the scheme leading up to Eliza and Benedict finding the stolen women and bringing down the man responsible. Not to mention the super-sweet romance with a wonderful amount of witty banter that added some spice. I'll look forward to reading more about the Beckett's in A Peculiar Courtship.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Johnathan Beckett is on a mission as an agent of the Crown.  The mission is to save Lady Hannah who has been missing since an attempted abduction.  Lady Hannah's father holds sensitive information about a traitor to the Crown and her life is now in danger because of it.  Lady Hannah finds refuge on a country farm where Johnathan finally finds her; but Hannah's abductors are not far behind. While on the run, Johnathan and Hannah act as husband and wife so Hannah may stay under his protection. When Johnathan  and Hannah reach safety at his sister, Eliza's estate, Johnathan and Hannah's feelings for one another grow; however, Johnathan's attitude toward Hannah changes.  Johnathan would now like Hannah to act as a lady and Hannah would like to learn to defend herself as Eliza does.  Unfortunately, before Johnathan and Hannah can sort things out, trouble catches up to them and a conspiracy unravels.  

A Peculiar Courtship continues with Johnathan Beckett's story as it left off in Saving Shadow.  However, you do not have to read Saving Shadow first in order to enjoy A Peculiar Courtship. I enjoyed getting to know Hannah and loved that there was yet another strong female character in the story.  I liked that Hannah was a quick thinker, able to outrun her attackers for at least a little while, she was grateful and gracious to the family that saved her, even if it meant working on a farm and she was able to mold herself to be useful in a variety of situations.  I also got to learn more about Johnathan in this installment.  He is, as I expected, an excellent agent of the Crown, but surprised me with his treatment of Hannah.  Johnathan's overprotective nature almost ruins Hannah's perception of him.  As in Saving Shadow, the characters are all very well developed and I am happy to see Eliza and Benedict as a couple.  At first, the action and suspense all seemed to be concentrated at the beginning of the book, although, underneath the surface a bigger conspiracy is brewing that could affect Parliament and will need several agents of the Crown, including Shadow, in order to bring down French traitors.  With many well crafted spy elements, a sweet love story and plenty of fierce female characters, A Peculiar Courtship is a wonderful addition the The Beckett Files and I can't wait to see what's next.

About The Women in the Castle
• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (January 2, 2018)
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
  •  FEATURING AN EXCLUSIVE NEW CHAPTER
GoodReads Choice Awards Semifinalist 

“Moving . . . a plot that surprises and devastates.”--New York Times Book Review

“A masterful epic.”--People magazine

“Mesmerizing . . . The Women in the Castle stands tall among the literature that reveals new truths about one of history’s most tragic eras.”--USA Today

Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they hold
Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined—an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once-grand castle of her husband’s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband’s brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows.
First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin’s mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers. Then she locates Ania, another resister’s wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war.
As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband’s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war—each with their own unique share of challenges.
Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah’s Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck’s evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship.


Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review:
Three women are bound together by fate and their husbands choices made during World War II.  The husbands of Marianne von Lingenfels, Benita Fledermann and Ania Grabarek were all involved in the failed plot to assassinate Hitler in July of 1944.  Appointed "the Commander of Wives and Children" by her husband, Marrianne takes her duties seriously and decides to round up those she can find in the aftermath of the War in the relative safety of her family castle, Burg Lingenfels.  While Marianne succeeds at the impossible task of finding the dispersed  women and children, her harsh steadfastness combined with Benita's gentle inward intuitiveness, Ania's survival drive and the children's collective shock makes for a difficult group to have under one roof.   The secrets that each woman must keep combined with their sense of camaraderie creates  a very different post war experience for Marianne, Benita and Ania.


The Women in the Castle is an epic story that creates a great range of feelings and complicated and scenarios.   It also shines a light on the role of women and children before and after the war, but more importantly, the resistors.  In thinking of the heroes of World War II, I don't often think of the Germans who were strong enough to resist Hitler's pull, even in little ways.  All of the women's characters were strongly developed and I enjoyed that they showed their strength in different ways.  At first, I was pulled toward Marianne's conviction and dedication to her task, but as each woman's story unfolded and the layers peeled away, I felt more and more connected to their stories and understood their reasoning.  The writing does jump back and forth through time and each woman's perspective.  Keeping track of the time jumps and point of view can become a bit confusing; however, you do learn things at appropriate times instead of being bombarded with too much information at once.  There are many, many more things I could say about this book, but most importantly, it provides a different perspective of World War II, and comments on the importance of friendship, compassion and resistance.

Book provided by Harper Collins.

About Jessica Shattuck
​
Jessica Shattuck is the New York Times bestselling author of The Women in the Castle, The Hazards of Good Breeding, a New York Times Notable Book and finalist for the PEN/Winship Award, and Perfect Life. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Glamour, Mother Jones, and Wired, among other publications.

Find out more about Jessica at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

About the Book: 
The Muse of Fire by Carol M. Cram

Publication Date: December 26, 2017
eBook; Kindle Press
Paperback; New Arcadia Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction

Abandoned at birth, the grandly christened Edward Plantagenet rises from London’s Foundling Hospital to take charge back stage at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, only to be blind-sided when he rescues Grace—a young woman escaping an abusive father.

Grace finds an outlet for her passions as a Shakespearean actress, becoming ensnared by intrigues and setbacks that mar the pathway to stardom she craves.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Old Price Riots of 1809, Grace and Ned find common purpose in a quest that threatens to tear both their worlds apart.

“Meticulously researched and with an atmosphere so rich that one can almost smell the face powder, The Muse of Fire is another triumph for Carol M. Cram. The irresistible story at its heart is impeccably woven into the tapestry of British theatrical history with such precision that Grace and Ned might have stepped from the pages of the Georgian gossip sheets and straight into fiction. The Muse of Fire will linger long after reading. It’s not to be missed!” – Catherine Curzon, author of Queens of Georgian Britain, Life in the Georgian Court, and Kings of Georgian Britain
​
Review: 
Grace bolts from her London home late one night after her father comes home drunk and hits her.  Still blaming Grace for her mother's death, Grace has become the unwilling scapegoat.  However, the streets of 1800's London are not a friendly place for a lady at night.  Grace is found by Ned, a stage manager at the nearby Theatre Royale.  Ned graciously helps Grace recover over the next few days.  During their stay together, Grace tells Ned of her interest in the theatre and how she and her mother would recite lines.  Ned allows Grace to sit backstage and watch a performance before she must leave and face her father once more.  Before Grace goes, an opportunity arises for Grace to be in the Chorus of a show.  Grace falls in love with the theatre and finds the strength to part from her father's household.  Upon hearing the news, Grace's father writes her out of his will.  Soon, with help from Ned, Grace finds her place among the acting troupe.  Although, just as Grace begins to rise, the theatre burns down and when it is rebuilt and hike in prices results in a riot at theatre every night.  As Grace and Ned deal with the Old Price riots, they also uncover a mystery dealing with Grace's mother and Aunt.  

The Muse of Fire transported me directly to London's Theatre scene in the early 1800's.  I was taken with the historical detail, I had never heard of the Old Price Riots and were surprised to learn that they were very real and just as comprehensive as described.  I also enjoyed that some of the actors, actresses and directors were also taken from history.  The thoroughness in describing how backstage operations at the theatre worked was entertaining as well, from costuming to props, fly rigs and makeup, to orchestras and prompters the liveliness and excitement of live theatre is revealed.  Grace and Ned's characters were complete and well thought out.  Both had interesting histories and good backbone.  From the beginning I wondered what their relationship to one another would be and I was pleased to see how they ended up.  I loved Grace's direct nature and willingness to endure.  Ned is exceedingly kind and able to use his wit to his advantage.  The mystery and drama created by Grace's Aunt, Father and cousin Percival was exciting and unexpected, creating just as much drama as the stage.  Overall, another rich and exhilarating historical fiction from Carol M. Cram.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About The Wicked City
• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks;
Reprint edition (December 26, 2017)

In the first book of a breathtaking new trilogy by bestselling author Beatriz Williams, two generations of women are brought together inside a Greenwich Village apartment —a flapper hiding an extraordinary past, and a modern-day Manattanite forced to start her life anew.

When she discovers her banker husband has been harboring a secret life, Ella Gilbert escapes her SoHo loft for a studio in Greenwich Village. Her charismatic musician neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement after midnight, when a symphony of mysterious noise strikes up—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano, the occasional bloodcurdling scream—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the basement was home to one of the city’s most notorious speakeasies.

In 1924, Geneva “Gin” Kelly, a quick-witted flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway. Caught up in a raid, Gin lands in the office of Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather, Duke Kelly, one of the biggest bootleggers in Appalachia.
But Gin is nobody’s fool. She strikes a risky bargain with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent, and their alliance rattles Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead.

As Ella unravels the strange history of her new building—and the family thread that connects her to Geneva Kelly—she senses the Jazz Age spirit of her exuberant predecessor invading her own shy nature, in ways that will transform her existence in the wicked city.

Campaign hashtags for Twitter and Instagram posts: #BeatrizBinge #TheWickedCity.


Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review:

In 1924 Geneva, or Gin, as her friends call her, has become entwined in the atmosphere of Manhattan's speakeasies.  A typist by day, Gin let's loose in the evenings and often visits the speakeasy, Christopher's in the basement of the building next door to her apartment.  Life is good for Gin until Christopher's is raided one night and she is pulled back into the life she thought she had escaped and the step-father she would rather forget back in River Junction Maryland. Prohibition officer Oliver Anson has recruited Gin to help him bring down one of the biggest bootleggers in the East, her step-father Duke Kelly.  At first, Gin is hesitant, but when she returns home to see how Duke has influenced everyone, she agrees to join, the stoic and strong prohibition officer on his mission.  Recently, in 1998, Ella Hawthorne  walks in on her husband cheating and promptly walks out of their home.  Ella finds refuge in a humble apartment on Christopher street.  Ella immediately finds a friend in her upstairs neighbor, Hector.  Hector also gives her a warning to not go downstairs to the laundry room at night since there was a speakeasy in the basement next door and strange sounds can still be heard.


I found myself immediately pulled into The Wicked City.  The writing and the characters grabbed my attention.  First of all, I adore dual time stories.  I do admit that Gin's story grasped my attention more; the writing so perfectly conveyed Gin's personality that I felt that this is someone that I would want to be friends with.  Her strength, resolve and willingness to do what was right for her family and town made Gin irresistible to me and the other characters.  I loved her sayings and her witty banter, everything she said felt so perfect for the time period but not overly done.  The city itself also became a character; the city becomes alive as Gin states:

"...and I thought I had made a terrible mistake, that I would never belong in this sea of stink and vice, this hive of determined bees ling heir cells with hones.  Ant then I tasted the honey, honey , and I stared to understand what New York City was all about.  Hallelujah.  I started to glimpse my place in the hive, how each tiny insect contributed her mite of pollen, how grand it was to live in a hive like this at all..." 

With the city taking on a life of it's own, it made more sense that there was a lingering of spirits and the hint of a ghost story waiting in the wings for Ella to find and explore. I do feel like this side of the story could have been expanded, but the air of mystery it left was ideal for the atmosphere.  As Ella connected more with Gin's story line, I did feel a stronger pull toward her as well.  As Ella and Gin's story lines weaved together, I could see the parallels of their situations despite the years apart, both women were dealing with issues within their professions, man troubles and above all else, a new found sense of independence.  Overall, a great mix of history, atmosphere, mystery and a touch of romance.  I can't wait to see where it goes next!


This story was received for free in return for an honest review.