Soil and Ceremony by Julia Byrd

September 10, 2019 By 7 Comments


Soil and Ceremony by Julia Byrd
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Genre: Historical, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (254 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rated: 4 Stars
Review by Rose

A history of loss and a terrible stammer have led gravedigger Benjamin Hood to a life of isolation.

When a rash of untimely deaths sweeps through his small English village, he cannot stand by in silence. To uncover the truth about the lives lost, he takes up a long-neglected role of responsibility among the townspeople.

As Benjamin questions the victims’ families, he finds that beautiful widow Juno Stephens has preceded him in each case. She makes no secret of her odd midnight ceremonies and dark powers of persuasion. The villagers are whispering about a woman bearing a lethal hex.

Is Juno the source of danger in the village, or a victim of it? Benjamin must resist her beguiling ways and decide if he can trust her…until another death sets his smoldering worries ablaze.

This is my first introduction to Ms. Byrd’s work, but it will definitely not be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was more mystery than romance (though there was definitely an element of romance…it was not, to me, the forefront of the book).

The cast of characters was relatively small – the village is there in the backdrop, but the main cast of characters can be distilled to two couples and two mothers. And, I would love to read more about all of them. I can see Ben and Juno getting mixed up with other mysteries. I would really like to revisit them.

The mystery was first rate – I was definitely surprised with the twists and turns. The characters were likable, and I found myself cheering them on (as well as shaking my head in disbelief at how slow on the uptake Ben was at times).

All in all, a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Time Tourist Outfitters by Christy Nicholas

September 5, 2019 By 1 Comment


Time Tourist Outfitters by Christy Nicholas
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Time Travel, Historical
Length: Full Length (370 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Retired First Nations Temporal Agent Wilda just wants to run her Toronto shop, garb Time Tourists, and send them on their merry way into the past. She finds contentment in her cat, her sarcasm, and her whiskey. All that changes when a deathly ill Traveller literally fell onto her doorstep, setting off a chain of events which forces her to return to the job she’d retired from decades before.

The Agency sends her and her assistant, Mattea, back into three dangerous eras of history to find the disease vector threatening the life of every modern Traveller. She searches through a teeming desert bazaar amongst the luxury of the court of Mansa Musa. She explores the dark forests of pre-Columbian America, fighting against the heartbreak of true love. She gets entangled in the convoluted politics of twelfth century Norse-ruled Orkney, sifting through the horrific carnage of a murdered village.

If Wilda can’t return in time with the right pathogen, the modern scientists can’t synthesize a cure for the disease before all the Travellers fall ill. She has to navigate politics, bandits, camels, and midnight coup d’etats, complete her mission, and return to the present, or lose herself in the depths of her own purposely-forgotten past.

Working at a time travel agency, you meet some seriously unique characters. Some of those people will be helpful, and some up to trouble.

It’s the future in Canada, and part of the United States have seceded into Canada. Wilda works at such an agency, and there have been some changes in the world. She is a middle-aged woman who long ago lost her family. She is spunky, and even with physical challenges, she manages to kick some serious butt in time. Even her everyday activities are interesting. Then one day when a sick and unidentifiable person comes stumbling in her place of work very sick, a mystery is afoot. Wilda has to become an active agent again and go back to find victim one of the disease in order to save many others. But it’s dangerous. She has a young, pretty assistant, Mattea, to help her, but these traits prove to distract her from the important mission. The banter between these two is realistic and sometimes troublesome.

Wilda has much to recommend her, is smart, talented, and caring, but she is judgmental.

She and Mattea go back to the Medieval Muslim world and meet a great leader’s wife in search of a “relative,” a rogue agent. The woman has interesting things to say to them, enhancing the mystery. They run into interesting people and have some wild adventurous escaping trouble. Then they go to two other remote places. Readers are treated to a taste of exotic cultures they may know nothing about.

Even within these adventurous settings though, the characters go about their business in a realistic way; having to deal with such time-foreign situations has its own set of logistical problems. It’s a bonus learning about some ways to survive without modern conveniences in a wilderness.

A little mystery is woven into the larger mystery, making for a good, complementary subplot. Is Wilda meeting the same woman in different times and places? And if so, will this be significant? Some moral dilemmas come up when Wilda and Mattea travel back in time. How will they handle these

There are scary moments, funny moments, and tender moments, and the boundaries of friendship are tested. The characters, the settings, and the plot all make for quite an entertaining story.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

In the Shadow of the Moon by Francis French

September 5, 2019 By Leave a Comment


In the Shadow of the Moon by Francis French
Publisher: Bison Books
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction
Length: Full Length (464 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon. Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families, technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human experience and a rollicking global adventure. From the Gemini flights to the Soyuz space program to the earliest Apollo missions, including the legendary first moon landing, their book draws a richly detailed picture of the space race as an endeavor equally endowed with personal meaning and political significance.

Spaceflight and the stories of the astronauts right from the men who left the earth.

I’m a sucker for stories about NASA and spaceflight. I’d watched the movie that accompanied this book, but I wanted to get every detail. This book does just that. I learned about flights made by the Russians, flights made by lesser known (to me) astronauts. I had no idea some of the flights were marred by problems, or how some were a little scary. I felt like I was riding with the astronauts and immersed in their world.

I almost can’t put into words how I felt about this book. I enjoyed it and while it’s not easy reading, you have to go back and make sense sometimes of what they’re talking about–especially if you don’t understand some of the terminology–but it’s worth the time. I enjoyed every page and am glad I found this book.

If you’re into anything astronaut and spaceflight, then this might be the book for you.

Give it a try!

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit

September 4, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: Recent Historical Fiction
Length: Full Length (240 pgs)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

They arrived in New Mexico ready for adventure, or at least resigned to it. But hope quickly turned to hardship as they were forced to adapt to a rugged military town where everything was a secret–including what their husbands were doing at the lab. Though they were strangers, they joined together–adapting to a landscape as fierce as it was absorbing, full of the banalities of everyday life and the drama of scientific discovery.

While the bomb was being invented, babies were born, friendships were forged, children grew up, and Los Alamos gradually transformed into a real community: one that was strained by the words they couldn’t say out loud or in letters, and by the freedom they didn’t have. But the end of the war would bring even bigger challenges, as the scientists and their families struggled with the burden of their contribution to the most destructive force in the history of mankind.

The Wives of Los Alamos is a testament to a remarkable group of real-life women and an exploration of a crucial, largely unconsidered aspect of one of the most monumental research projects in modern history.

Different and interesting.

I picked up this book because I’ve been on a historical binge. Okay, maybe it’s more recent historical, but still. This book fit right into what I wanted to read.

This book is listed as haunting. On some levels it is. I mean, to know these women were in a situation where they knew only about a third of what was going on and still going about their business…it’s crazy. I enjoyed reading about their struggles, hardships, thoughts and how even back then, women could be catty to each other when they had little else to do.

There is a certain rhythm to this book, though. It’s not written from any one person’s point of view. It’s an original, but if the reader expects to learn how these people lived from one person, then the reader is out of luck. I have to admit, it’s a little difficult. I could, yet I couldn’t, identify with the characters because there were so few named.

If you’re interested in reading a book about Los Alamos from a different point of view, then this might be the book for you.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan

September 3, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction
Length: Full Length (416 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

The story of Biltmore spans World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, and generations of the famous Vanderbilt family, and features a captivating cast of real-life characters including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Teddy Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent, James Whistler, Henry James, and Edith Wharton.

Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York’s best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House.

Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness. He summoned the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to tame the grounds, collaborated with celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to build a 175,000-square-foot chateau, filled it with priceless art and antiques, and erected a charming village beyond the gates. Newlywed Edith was now mistress of an estate nearly three times the size of Washington, DC and benefactress of the village and surrounding rural area. When fortunes shifted and changing times threatened her family, her home, and her community, it was up to Edith to save Biltmore—and secure the future of the region and her husband’s legacy.

A huge house, a wide landscape and a fairy tale in a real place.

I knew when I picked up this book that I’d be transported and I was. I’ve never seen the Biltmore estate, but through this book, I did.

This book tells the story of the Biltmore through the years, the way it’s changed and just how expensive it can be to keep up the house.

One thing about this book, the author not only discusses the house, but the branch of the Vanderbilt family that created it. I got to learn about the people and the home. I liked learning about the peripheral people as well–who were the movers and shakers at the house, who helped make the house fabulous. I can’t imagine my day to day life having so many fascinating people who are historical figures just being part of it. There are a ton of details and this isn’t an easy read, but it is fascinating.

If you want a book about a place you can just about only dream of, then this might be the book for you.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Challenging Mountains by Tricia McGill

September 2, 2019 By 48 Comments


Challenging Mountains by Tricia McGill
Publisher: Books We Love
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: Short Story (140 pgs)
Heat Rating:Spicy
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

By 1840 the colony of New South Wales was expanding. Transportation of convicts to the east coast ended, and many free squatters set out to settle on lands to the south. In 1836, the Government in London authorised Governor Bourke to establish a settlement in The Port Philip District of New South Wales, and an Association was formed to make the district a separate colony.

Timothy, Tiger and Bella Carstairs eldest son has turned 21. Bored with his Government job and intent on seeking adventure and a new life away from Sydney, Tim decides to journey south in an endeavour to find this adventure, accompanied by his Uncle Carlos. Where else to find it, but in a newly formed settlement.

In the 1840s the road south might not be as hazardous as the one across the mountains travelled by his parents when he was a child, but the month long journey overland holds many dangers and challenges to be faced. Escaped and ex-convicts seek the easy life by forming gangs to take what they can where they can. Forced to fight off the intruders who take claim to the land they have cared for over many, many generations, the Indigenous people are faced with many trials and battles of their own.

Not the least of Tim’s personal challenges is a young headstrong woman who, uninvited, takes it upon herself to join him on his travels. When they reach their destination, their troubles have only just begun.

This book was an easy read and was also an interesting look at the history of New South Wales. I loved the characters – it reminded me a bit of watching an old TV show. I could see the action taking place in my mind’s eye.

I absolutely loved Jo (well, there were times near the end of the book I wanted to shake her…but I don’t want to give away any plot points, but I was disappointed in her then). She knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t shy about going after it. She had spunk.

I did get aggravated the way Tim kep calling her a wench. It seemed rude, but for the time and area it might not have been. I knew he didn’t mean anything by it.. after all, they had been friends for years, but I grated on my nerves just a big. But, that’s just me and probably wouldn’t bother anyone else.

I enjoyed this book so much, I want to now go back and read the two earlier books in the series. Good job, Ms. McGill!

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , ,

What the Gods Allow by J.S. Frankel

September 2, 2019 By 2 Comments


What the Gods Allow by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (230 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Medusa, the Gorgon, is free—temporarily. Penned up in Tartarus, the gods—Zeus and Hera—show her mercy. Medusa is given two weeks in which to track down their wayward daughter, Eris. Transformed into a beautiful young woman, Medusa is given only one warning: not to use her powers of transforming those to stone. She agrees and adopts the name Meddy Gorgonne. In a stroke of chance, she finds lodgings with the Goldstein’s, Sam and Trudy, and tries to figure out how modern Portland works. Cars, showers, television—all are mysteries to her at first, although she adapts.Meddy is somewhat naïve about life and especially about love, as she slowly falls for Sam, a teen who is suffering from Usher’s Syndrome, a disease that will blind and deafen him in time. What is more troubling to Meddy is that her powers of turning people to stone have returned, and she is at a loss as to why. With the police slowly closing in and time running out on how to get Eris to return to Olympus, Meddy discovers that sometimes old is new, and that time-worn traditions can surmount modernity.But will they be enough for her to stay with Sam, or will she be forced to return to Tartarus for eternity?

It’s never too late to try to fix old mistakes.

Some of my favorite parts of this book involved Meddy’s reaction to modern life. So much had changed in the world over the last few thousand years since her glory days. She was surprised by everything from the food to the fashion of the modern day, and I was fascinated by her adjustment to our era. There were certain things she noticed that I never would have assumed would be an issue, and other changes I assumed she would struggle with turned out to be no big deal at all. This was all thought out very nicely, and I appreciated how much effort Mr. Frankel put into it.

The pacing was perfect. I’d originally assumed it would be a little slow in the beginning as Meddy explained what she’d done to anger the gods, but the plot quickly jumped into showing what happened when she was given a temporary pardon from her sentence instead. While these details were given all of the attention they needed later on, I loved the fact that the audience got to move on to main storyline so quickly in this tale. That really kept my interest levels high beginning with the first page and going on through to the final one.

Meddy’s character development was handled wonderfully. She was always someone I sympathized with, but I only grew to like her even more as I got to know the parts of her personality that weren’t immediately noticeable. Yes, she had her fair share of flaws, but she also had a genuinely kind heart and a willingness to learn from her past. Those are always lovely things to discover about a character, especially when they’re followed by genuine personal growth.

What the Gods Allow was a stellar addition to J.S. Frankel’s long list of works. Whether you’re a new or longterm fan of his stories, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll

August 30, 2019 By 4 Comments


For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical
Length: Short Story (30 pages)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A dark fantasy about Jeoffry, a cat who fights demons, a poet, who is Jeoffry’s human confined to an insane asylum, and Satan, who schemes to end the world.

No one is better equipped to fight demons than a cat.

It’s not every day that I see poetry referenced in this genre, so I knew I needed to read this piece as soon as I read that part of the blurb. The poetry Jeoffry’s human wrote was far more important than most of the characters realized. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover why this is so, but I was impressed with how much effort Jeoffry put into describing his person’s passion in life since cats in this universe aren’t particularly interested in poems in general.

There’s something special about the relationship between humans and the animals they live with. My favorite scenes were the ones that explored this relationship from the perspective of a cat. As the main character, it was his job to explain and understand humanity even when the choices we make are nonsensical to other species. More than once I was impressed with how much thought the author put into how even the most ordinary human behavior could look incredibly strange to a cat.

The world building was perfect. Like every cat that has existed in any universe, Jeoffry had a high opinion of both himself and what he was capable of. One of the most interesting things about reading his tale was learning why these animals behave this way. It’s not a coincidence, and the explanation for it was as satisfying as it was fascinating. If the author ever writes a sequel, I’d sure like to learn more about Jeoffry and the rest of feline society.

As if all of these reasons weren’t enough, I also adored the humor in this piece. Mental illness and asylums are not amusing topics by any stretch of the imagination, so I was surprised and delighted by how effortlessly the main character was able to find the joyful side of such a serious setting.

For He Can Creep was the funniest and most thought-provoking piece of fantasy fiction I’ve read in ages. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The History of Money by Jack Weatherford

August 29, 2019 By 1 Comment


The History of Money by Jack Weatherford
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Genre: Non-fiction, Historical
Length: Full length (268 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

In his most widely appealing book yet, one of today’s leading authors of popular anthropology looks at the intriguing history and peculiar nature of money, tracing our relationship with it from the time when primitive men exchanged cowrie shells to the imminent arrival of the all-purpose electronic cash card.

As someone with a degree in history, I find myself drawn to the subject on a regular basis, constantly on the lookout for informative and engaging books. There are many sub-genres of history, of course, and economic history is but one.

The History of Money manages to educate readers in an entertaining fashion about humans’ use of money to engage in consumption.

The book starts at the beginning with “chocolate cash.” Sounds good, right? Readers get a bit of Aztec history by reading the chapter entitled “Cannibals, Chocolate, and Cash.” Other food items for trade are discussed. Eventually, the first coins are produced, and I learned about this too. It’s interesting to discover how turning to coins affects the spread of commerce.

As expected, gold had its part to play, and this is covered (other metals as well). Readers get treated to a little Ancient Greek history and different monetary revolutions. Going to paper money is one of the revolutions. Where was the dollar born? I found out. How did the use of money affect interaction between human beings? Perhaps in ways one might not expect.

The next section is about the Romans and their economy. For example, I learned that “Rome built the world’s first empire organized around money” (49). Moving along, I got some Medieval and Renaissance history. The common thread of money ties the eras together like a fine tapestry, and I was treated to fascinating human happenings along the way. Bits and pieces of other histories are found throughout, such as math, decimals, and even language and the arts.

This is a world history, a trip throughout different countries as well as eras. Every section of this book is engaging, but there are certain highlights one might appreciate, such as the look into American money, its history, and how it’s made. There are many surprising facts to be found such as coin and paper money being less than ten percent of the dollars in existence, and the other dollars are “numbers in a ledger or tiny electronic blips on a computer chip” (124).

There’s discussion of the scientific revolution, the British economy, American Civil War era money, and even how The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had something to say about gold and silver usage. Moving along, I read about credit cards and eventually electronic money. At last, the author leaves the reader with much to think about. This book is about more than money and is well worth the read.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath by Annette Oppenlander

August 21, 2019 By 20 Comments


Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath by Annette Oppenlander
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Science Fiction/Fantasy (time travel), Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (292 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Poppy

When nerd and gamer, Max Anderson, is lured into trying an experimental computer game, he doesn’t realize he’s playing the ultimate history game, time-traveling into the past…anywhere…anytime. Survival is optional. To return home he must decipher the game’s rules and complete its missions–if he lives long enough. Tofail means staying in the past–forever.

Now he’strapped in medieval Germany, unprepared and clueless. It is the year 1471 and he quickly learns that being an outcast may cost him his head. Especially after rescuing a beautiful peasant girl from a deadly infection and thus provoking sinister wannabe Duke Ott. Overnight he is dragged into a hornets’ nest of feuding lords who will stop at nothing to bring down the conjuring stranger in their midst.

Filled with realistic historical references and a lot of adventure to keep even the pickiest of readers happy, Escape from the Past: The Duke’s Wrath was nearly un-put-downable. I read it in just two days.

I adored our hero, Max (“Max Nerds”). He actually took to going back in time with a pretty level head, which is good since if he’d panicked at any time, he’d likely have been killed or worse (and, yes, in that time there is definitely “worse” than death). The author is honest about the time: the food, the stench, the lack of understanding about germs or medicine and more. It’s clear the folks not born into priviledge (or earning it, like the squires/knights) had a horrendously hard life. Max gets to see both sides of the coin as he moves through the era with his new friend Bero and the family that takes him in. He sees poverty and hunger, pain and abuse. He saves Bero’s sister with some good ideas on how to treat a wound, even without modern medicine, and teaches his new family how to forage for edibles in the woods.

I enjoyed learning more about the time period–typically when I read historical fiction, it’s not from this time so it was interesting to go somewhere new! I don’t understand the cover, despite how eye-catching it is, since it seems to imply there’s a time machine involved, and there isn’t. Also, Max talks, thinks and acts like someone much older. In fact, at the beginning, I thought it was an adult looking back on an adventure he’d had. Max’s friend, Jimmy, acted more like that age group but Max was exceptionally mature.

Despite that very small blip, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I wish it had been around when my own, history mad, daughter was younger. I would have given it to her with no reservations, and she would have loved it, too.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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