Jane Litte's Blog, page 40

REVIEW: Valiant Women by Lena S. Andrews

A groundbreaking new history of the role of American servicewomen in WWII, illuminating their forgotten yet essential contributions to the Allies’ victory.

Valiant Women is the story of the 350,000 American women who served in uniform during World War II. These incredible women served in every service branch, in every combat theater, and in nearly two-thirds of the available military occupations at the time. They were pilots, codebreakers, ordnance experts, gunnery instructors, metalsmiths, ch...

REVIEW: The Starlet Spy by Rachel Scott McDaniel

Hollywood Star Turns Spy

In 1943, Movie producer Henrik Zoltan approaches Amelie Blake under the guise of offering the Hollywood star a leading part in his upcoming film, but he has a more meaningful role in mind. Amelie’s homeland of Sweden declared neutrality in the war, but Stockholm has become the ‘Casablanca of the North.’ When top-secret atomic research goes missing in Sweden, the Allied forces scramble to recover the files before they fall into Nazi hands.

The United States Office of St...

Review: Washed Up Former Child Star Ryan Lee by Lisa Henry and J.A.Rock

Ryan Lee is a hot mess.

In another lifetime, Ryan had it all. He was a child star in one of the biggest sitcoms on the planet. Now he’s an adult, unemployed, and a poster child for bad decisions. Okay, so he hasn’t robbed a convenience store yet, but only because he’s always either too high or too hungover. When the opportunity to film a reunion show comes up, Ryan jumps at the chance. He needs the money, but more than that, it might be what he needs to drag his career—and himself—out of th...

REVIEW: The Woman in the Castello by Kelsey James

Set in 1960s Italy, this stylish, atmospheric debut spins a bewitching web of ruthless ambition, family secrets, and the consequences of forbidden love, as an ambitious American actress snags the starring role in a mysterious horror movie shooting on location in a crumbling medieval castle outside Rome…
Readers who enjoy the moody gothic allure of Kate Morton and Silvia Moreno-Garcia or the immersive settings of Lucinda Riley and Fiona Davis will be enthralled by Kelsey James’ spellbinding web...

REVIEW: Muscle: The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement by Roy A. Meals

An entertaining illustrated deep dive into muscle, from the discovery of human anatomy to the latest science of strength training.

Muscle tissue powers every heartbeat, blink, jog, jump, and goosebump. It is the force behind the most critical bodily functions, including digestion and childbirth, as well as extreme feats of athleticism. We can mold our muscles with exercise and observe the results.

In this lively, lucid book, orthopedic surgeon Roy A. Meals takes us on a wide-ranging journey th...

Review: If Found, Return to Hell by Em. X. Liu

Being an intern at One Wizard sounds magical on the page, but in practice mostly means getting yelled at by senior mages and angry clients alike. And so, after receiving a frantic call from a young man who’s awoken to a talisman on his bedroom wall—and no memory of how it got there—Journeyman Wen jumps at the chance to escape call-center duty and actually help someone for once.

But the case ends up being more complicated than Wen could ever have anticipated. The client has been possessed by a d...

REVIEW: The Lady from Burma : A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery by Allison Montclair

Murder once again stalks the proprietors of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in the surprisingly dangerous landscape of post-WWII London.
In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture – The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous – and never discussed – past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a war widow with a young son entangled in a co...

REVIEW: JOINT REVIEW: Resonance Surge by Nalini Singh

We usually start the reviews in this series by noting how many books are in the series and how many Janine and I have reviewed together. I insist on doing this for some reason, even though I find the math confusing and challenging at this point. But anyway, by my count, this is our 11th year reviewing these together. Resonance Surge is the 22nd book in the series (which is technically two series – the Psy/Changeling books – 15 and the Psy/Changeling Trinity books – 7). This is the also 11th book...

REVIEW: Fatal Legacy by Lindsey Davis

In first century Rome, Flavia Albia takes on an easy case that soon proves to be anything but as, at every turn, bodies —old and new — dog her path.

Flavia Albia, daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, has taken over her father’s business as a private informer. She only has two hard and fast rules – avoid political cases and family cases because nothing good comes of either of them. Unfortunately, since Albia isn’t good at avoiding either, it’s really more of a guideline. So when her Aunt Junia dema...

REVIEW: The Winter Sea – Dark Water Daughter by H. M. Long

A stormsinger and pirate hunter join forces against a deathless pirate lord in this swashbuckling Jacobean adventure on the high-seas.

Launching the Winter Sea series, full of magic, betrayal, redemption and fearsome women, for readers of Adrienne Young, R. J. Barker and Naomi Novik.

Mary Firth is a Stormsinger: a woman whose voice can still hurricanes and shatter armadas. Faced with servitude to pirate lord Silvanus Lirr, Mary offers her skills to his arch-rival in exchange for protection – a...