Jane Litte's Blog, page 105

REVIEW: A Bright Young Thing by Brianne Moore

In early 1930s England, a young firebrand finds herself on a fraught and dangerous road to independence.

In 1931 England, Astra Davies defies all the conventions. Clever, witty, and determined, Astra smokes, drinks, plays a mean piano, and gallivants around London with her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. But Astra finds herself in a tight spot when her parents die suddenly, leaving her with a raft of debts. With few marketable skills and a closet full of family secrets, Astra has two ch...

REVIEW: Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

Going toe-to-toe with a brooding Scotsman is rather bold for a respectable suffragist, but when he happens to be one’s unexpected husband, what else is an unwilling bride to do?

London banking heiress Hattie Greenfield wanted just three things in life:

1. Acclaim as an artist.
2. A noble cause.
3. Marriage to a young lord who puts the gentle in gentleman.

Why then does this Oxford scholar find herself at the altar with the darkly attractive financier Lucian Blackstone, whose murky past and rut...

REVIEW: Swan Dive by Georgina Pazcoguin

Award-winning New York City Ballet soloist Georgina Pazcoguin, aka the Rogue Ballerina, gives readers a backstage tour of the real world of elite ballet—the gritty, hilarious, sometimes shocking truth you don’t see from the orchestra circle.
In this love letter to the art of dance and the sport that has been her livelihood, NYCB’s first Asian American female soloist Georgina Pazcoguin lays bare her unfiltered story of leaving small-town Pennsylvania for New York City and training amid the uniq...

Open Thread for Readers for September 2021

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general?

Review: The Alchemist’s Apprentice (The Alchemist #1) by Dave Duncan

To the legendary clairvoyant Maestro Nostradamus, the future is forever in motion. But for young swordsman Alfeo Zeno, his apprentice and protector, the present is hard enough to contend with. His days are spent poring over astrology charts and making calculations, his nights learning arcane magic or transcribing Nostradamus’s nebulous prophecies. Until one night, when the Council of Ten arrives to take the seer into custody.

It seems that a high-ranking friend of the prince died under mysterio...

REVIEW: A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore

A lady must have money and an army of her own if she is to win a revolution—but first, she must pit her wits against the wiles of an irresistible rogue bent on wrecking her plans…and her heart.

Lady Lucie is fuming. She and her band of Oxford suffragists have finally scraped together enough capital to control one of London’s major publishing houses, with one purpose: to use it in a coup against Parliament. But who could have predicted that the one person standing between her and success is her ...

REVIEW: For The Love of April French by Penny Aimes

CW: Transphobia, misgendering, discussion of racism, sexual abuse (mainly emotionally) abusive adult BDSM relationship)

Dear Penny Aimes,

I was keen to read your debut novel which features a white trans woman and a Black cis man navigating a relationship, particularly because you are a trans woman yourself. While I don’t make the mistake of thinking that April’s experience is your own or universal, I did feel confident April’s depiction would be authentic and sensitive.

April French is a 32-year-...

JOINT REVIEW: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. Translation: She’s going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the men, the better.

That’s where...

REVIEW: Tulips for Augusta by Betty Neels

A CHARMING PURSUIT OF HEARTS AND FLOWERS

What a maddening, impossible man Constantijn van Lindemann is! Wherever Augusta goes, there he is—inviting her out, paying her compliments, sending her enormous bouquets of tulips, even kissing her on occasion. Augusta must admit she does enjoy it, especially the kisses. But until she discovers how important a role the glamorous Susan plays in Constantijn’s life, how can she possibly take him seriously?

CW – collapsed building with multiple fatalities

...

REVIEW: The Actress and the Rake: Regency Romance by Carola Dunn

Sir Barnabas’s Will requires granddaughter Nerissa Wingate and godson Miles Courtenay to live together chastely in his house for six months in order to inherit his estate. He assumed they’ll fail. Fuming but penniless, they accept the challenge, but a host of hopeful relatives is determined to throw them into each other’s arms, and Sir Barnabas’s cantankerous ghost lends a hand!

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Regency Romance by Carola Dunn: originally published by Zebra as “The Lady and the Rake”

Dear Ms. Dunn, 

This plot...