Historical

Emma

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Emma by Jane Austen (1815)

Emma

Fiction | Romance
4.5 stars
Blurb:

“Beautiful, clever, rich – and single – Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work.”
–Goodreads 
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Mad Miss Mimic

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Mad Miss Mimic by Sarah Henstra (2017)
-eARC Review-

mad miss mimic

(YA) Fiction | Historical | Mystery | Romance
4.5 stars
Blurb:

“Born into an affluent family, Leo outwardly seems like a typical daughter of English privilege in the 1870s: she lives with her wealthy married sister Christabel, and lacks for neither dresses nor trinkets. But Leo has a crippling speech impediment that makes it difficult for her to speak but curiously allows her to mimic other people’s voices flawlessly. Servants and ladies alike call her “Mad Miss Mimic” behind her back… and watch as she unintentionally scares off every potential suitor. Only the impossibly handsome Mr. Thornfax seems interested in Leo…but why? And does he have a connection to the mysterious Black Glove group that has London in its terrifying grasp? Trapped in a city under siege by terror attacks and gripped by opium fever, where doctors (including her brother-in-law) race to patent an injectable formula, Leo must search for truth in increasingly dangerous situations – but to do so, she must first find her voice.”
–Goodreads  Continue reading →

Olmec Obituary

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Olmec Obituary (Dr. Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth, #1) by L.J.M. Own (2015)
-NetGalley Review-

Olmec Obituary

Fiction | Mystery
4.5 stars
Blurb:

“Yearning for her former life as an archaeologist, Australian librarian Dr Elizabeth Pimms is struggling with a job she doesn’t want and a family she both loves and resents.

A royal Olmec cemetery is discovered deep in the Mexican jungle, containing the earliest writing in all the Americas. Dr Pimms is elated to join the team investigating the ancient skeletons found on site. Triumph is short-lived, however, as Elizabeth’s position is threatened by a volatile excavation director, contradictory evidence, and hostile colleagues. With everything working against her, will Dr Pimms find the cause of death for a 3,000-year-old athlete and those buried with her?  Continue reading →

The Midnight Star

~ Angela ~ 2 Comments

The Midnight Star (Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu (2016)

the midnight star

YA Fiction | Historical Fantasy | Villain’s Story
4 StarsBlurb:

“There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all that she’s achieved.  Continue reading →

Scarlet

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Scarlet (Scarlet #1) by A.C. Gaughen (2012)

Scarlet

YA Fiction | Historical4 StarsBlurb:

“Will Scarlet is good at two things: stealing from the rich and keeping secrets – skills that are in high demand in Robin Hood’s band of thieves, who protect the people of Nottingham from the evil sheriff. Scarlet’s biggest secret of all is one only Robin and his men know…that she is posing as a thief; that the slip of a boy who is fast with sharp knives is really a girl.  Continue reading →

The Cure for Dreaming

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The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters (2014)

The Cure for Dreaming
YA Fiction | Historical | Paranormal
4 Stars
Blurb:

“Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Winters breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.”
–Goodreads 
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The Last Relicuin

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The Last Relicuin by Hargus Montgomery (2013)
-NetGalley Review-

The last relicuin
Fiction | Sci-Fi | History | FBI
3.5 Stars
Blurb:

“In the 22nd century, twelve percent of the world’s population chooses history. Safe inside the guarded borders of living museums, museum dwellers resist attempts by Metro leaders to seize their lands and force them back to the cities. When Alexander Kane, (son of a powerful Metro Senator) leaves the protection of the City to enter the Federal Museum Academy, he becomes the target of a growing political struggle. Crossing borders into the 12, 18th, and 20th centuries, The Last Relicuin follows three generations of a family torn between the past and the future.”
–Goodreads  Continue reading →

And I Darken

~ Angela ~ 1 Comment

And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga #1) by Kiersten White (2016)
-eARC Review-

and i darken
YA Fiction | Adult Fiction | Historical
4.5 stars
Blurb:

“NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.  Continue reading →

Smoke

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Smoke: A Novel by Dan Vyleta (2016)
-eARC Review-

Smoke

Fiction | Fantasy | Historical | Mystery4.5 starsBlurb:

“England. A century ago, give or take a few years.

An England where people who are wicked in thought or deed are marked by the Smoke that pours forth from their bodies, a sign of their fallen state. The aristocracy do not smoke, proof of their virtue and right to rule, while the lower classes are drenched in sin and soot. An England utterly strange and utterly real.  Continue reading →

Nora & Kettle

~ Angela ~ 4 Comments

Nora & Kettle by Lauren Nicolle Taylor (2016)
-eARC Review-

Nora & Kettle

YA Fiction | Historical | Light Romance4.5 starsBlurb:

“What if Peter Pan was a homeless kid just trying to survive, and Wendy flew away for a really good reason?”

Seventeen-year-old Kettle has had his share of adversity. As an orphaned Japanese American struggling to make a life in the aftermath of an event in history not often referred to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the removal of children from orphanages for having “one drop of Japanese blood in them” things are finally looking up. He has his hideout in an abandoned subway tunnel, a job, and his gang of Lost Boys.

Desperate to run away, the world outside her oppressive brownstone calls to naive, eighteen-year-old Nora the privileged daughter of a Continue reading →