Catherine Meyrick's Blog, page 10

The Husband Criteria by Catherine Kullmann

Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Catherine Kullmann’s newly released novel The Husband Criteria as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The Husband Criteria is a Regency romance set during the 1817 London Season and is the third book in Catherine’s series, The Lorings.

Blurb

London 1817

The primary aim of every young lady embarking on the Spring frenzy that is the Season must be to make a good match. Or must it? And what is a good match? For co...

My Reading – August 2023

The Secret Guests by Benjamin Black (2021)
The young girl stood in the darkness before the tall window and watched with excitement and fascination the bombs falling on the city.

Snow by John Banville (2020) – A Strafford and Quirke Mystery
I’m a priest, for Christ’s sake – how can this be happening to me?

April in Spain by John Banville (2022) – A Strafford and Quirke Mystery also Quirke #8
Terry Tice liked killing people.

The Lock-Up by John Banville (2023) – A Strafford and Quirke My...

The Shadow Earl by Stella Riley

Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Stella Riley’s recently released novel The Shadow Earl as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club.

Blurb

At the end of his Grand Tour, somewhere between Athens and Constantinople, Christian Selwyn, the young Earl of Hazelmere, vanished – seemingly without a trace.

Time passes.  In London, his uncle and cousin move into his home … while his unofficial fiancée, Sophia, is left desolate and in limbo.  Finally, his frie...

One Minute Book Reviews

Genuine Deceit by Joy York
When her grandmother is murdered in what at first seems to be a burglary gone wrong, Reagan Asher undertakes her own investigation alongside the police. What starts out as a ‘who done it’, quickly becomes a compelling ‘why done it’ as Asher uncovers decades of deception that has her questioning everything she thought her life to be and endangers not only her own life but that of those closest to her. With well drawn characters, realistic relationships and a touch o...

Book Review – Adalbert by Craig R Hipkins

Adalbert, the imagined son of Astrolabe and grandson of Heloise and Abelard, is a rash young man, eager to make his own way in the world. The recognition that a scroll that belonged to his father is, in fact, a treasure map, set him on course for what is not only a treasure quest but a page-turning adventure encompassing formidable villains, battles on both land and sea, the counsel of a knight with a mysterious past, family secrets, romance and Adalbert’s growth into the responsibilities of...

My Reading – July 2023

Homecoming by Kate Morton
And, of course, there was to be a lunch party to mark the new year. A small affair, just family, but Thomas would require all the trimmings.

Adalbert by Craig R Hipkins
The humble priest sat in the straight-backed ash chair looking at the young man who was perusing the letter with a dull interest.

Book Review – No Stone Unturned by Pam Lecky

When Lucy Lawrence’s husband, Charlie, is killed in what appears to be an accident, her world falls apart as she discovers that not only was Charlie far from the man she imagined him to be but that she is almost penniless. In the aftermath of Charlie’s death, friends melt away and those Lucy should be able to rely on, her family, are far much less than supportive. She is forced to turn to the cool and possibly calculating Phineas Stone, an insurance investigator with a ‘confidential’ interes...

Book Review – The Convent Girl by Tania Crosse

Beginning in 1926, The Convent Girl follows Maisie O’Sullivan from age four to her early forties. Brought up in a Catholic convent in Cobh, Ireland from two years old, Maisie has been told that both her parents are dead. Remembering no other life, she has adapted to the regulated life of the convent and, like the other boarders, knows and generally follow the routines. Both the nuns and the other girls are a mixture of personalities – there is kindness and playfulness as well as sternness an...

The Convent Girl by Tania Crosse

Beginning in 1926, The Convent Girl follows Maisie O’Sullivan from age four to her early forties. Brought up in a Catholic convent in Cobh, Ireland from two years old, Maisie has been told that both her parents are dead. Remembering no other life, she has adapted to the regulated life of the convent and, like the other boarders, knows and generally follow the routines. Both the nuns and the other girls are a mixture of personalities – there is kindness and playfulness as well as sternness an...

Book Review – Fat Dogs and French Estates by Beth Haslam

Fat Dogs and French Estates is a delightful and humorous memoir of the adventures of Beth Haslam and her husband, Jack, as they look for a second home, a domaine, in France. They have a list of requirements: around 100 hectares complete with game, space for long walks with their dogs, a few outbuildings and a garden for their hobbies, and a golf course nearby. From the start there are the challenges of finding a reliable real estate agent and the language barrier.

The whole alphabet busin...