Review: The Vineyards of Champagne #bookreview #TheVineyardsofChampagne #historicalfiction @BerkleyPub #promo

*Thank you Berkley Publishing for this gifted copy for review. All opinions are my own

Title: The Vineyards of Champagne

About the author:

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publish Date: January 21, 2020

Publisher: Berkley

Purchase here

What I Loved/Thought: ★★★★☆

I’m always so fascinated at discovering the historical facts I’d never known while reading Historical Fiction. It’s one of my favorite things about this genre, not to mention the love stories woven throughout.

While reading The Vineyards of Champagne I once again learned something new with the hidden caves beneath the vineyards throughout France, that served as a place to hide women and children during the Great War.

I binge read this book and really loved the second chance at love for main character Rosalyn after losing her husband. I also really loved the epistolary style writing as she discovered letters from the past.

The champagne vineyards played a main part as well, and I loved that it was the center of this historical fiction love story but also themes of grief and finding yourself again.

About the Book:

Beneath the cover of France’s most exquisite vineyards, a city of women defy an army during World War I, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Carousel of Provence…. 

Deep within the labyrinth of caves that lies below the lush, rolling vineyards of the Champagne region, an underground city of women and children hums with life. Forced to take shelter from the unrelenting onslaught of German shellfire above, the bravest and most defiant women venture out to pluck sweet grapes for the harvest. But wine is not the only secret preserved in the cool, dark cellars… 

In present day, Rosalyn Acosta travels to Champagne to select vintages for her Napa-based employer. Rosalyn doesn’t much care for champagne–or France, for that matter. Since the untimely death of her young husband, Rosalyn finds it a challenge to enjoy anything at all. But as she reads through a precious cache of WWI letters and retraces the lives lived in the limestone tunnels, Rosalyn will unravel a mystery hidden for decades…and find a way to savor her own life again.

Praise:

“A beautifully captivating story of wartime tenacity and tenderness that celebrates the sweetest bonds of human relationships and the courage to love again after loss. So exquisitely rich in detail, you’ll feel bubbles on your tongue.”—Susan Meissner, bestselling author ofThe Last Year of the War

“Blackwell moves effortlessly between present-day France and the battlefields of WWI… The allure of the decades-old mystery of missing letters juxtaposed against the history of the caves of Champagne makes for a satisfying page-turner.”— Publishers Weekly

“Blackwell’s exquisite talent at interweaving the past with the present is on full display in her latest…telling the universal story of grief, loss, and human resilience.”— Booklist

Review: Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain #bigliesinasmalltown #bookreview #blogreview #stmartinspresspartner

*Thank you St Martin’s Press for this gifted copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Title: Big Lies in a Small Town

About the author: (credit to Amazon)

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Publish Date: January 14, 2020

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press; Macmillan

Purchase here

What I Loved/ Thought: ★★★★★

Have you read books that took place in your home state or hometown? I haven’t read many books that took place in North Carolina, but enjoyed the fact that this one did!

This was my second novel by Diane Chamberlain, but I knew that as much as I loved reading The Dream Daughter, that I had a feeling I would love her newest release too.

My feeling was right, and then some!

Big Lies in a Small Town had all of the wonderful storytelling that I’ve grown to expect and love by Chamberlain, but it also had a heavy element of mystery to the story too. Two characters. Two timelines: Morgan Christopher in 2018, held in a Women’s Correctional Facility in North Carolina for a crime she didn’t commit. Anna Dale in 1940, an artist who wins a national contest to paint a mural for Edenton, North Carolina.

I loved the way that these two stories intersected the way that they did, and I was so fascinated by the historical elements, but also the heartfelt way that their secrets unfolded. Two strong, talented, amazing women. Both suffering from uncontrollable situations in their life, that had me rooting for them both.

It looks like I’ll be binge reading all of Diane Chamberlain’s novels now!

About the Book:

From New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel in Big Lies in a Small Town.

North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher’s life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women’s Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold―until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets. 

North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn’t expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder. 

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?

Praise:

Review: All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig & Karen White #bookreview #williammorrow #allthewayswesaidgoodbye #partner

*Thank you William Morrow publishing for this gifted finished copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Title: All the Ways We Said Goodbye ★★★★★

About the authors: (credit to Amazon)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publish Date: January 14, 2020

Publisher: William Morrow; Harper Collins

Purchase here

What I Loved/Thought: ★★★★★

All the Ways We Said Goodbye was so good! It was written by not one, but three fantastic authors. This story takes three POVs, by three women in three different timelines, with the Ritz Hotel in Paris at the center of each of their stories.

This was such a beautiful story, and it captivated me right away. A beautiful story woven through the timelines of WWI 1914, WWII 1942, and post-war 1960s. I just loved this book so much, and recommend it to historical fiction lovers, and those looking to give HF a try!

About the Book:

The New York Times bestselling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel.

The heiress . . .
The Resistance fighter . . . 
The widow . . .
Three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel

France, 1914. As war breaks out, Aurelie becomes trapped on the wrong side of the front with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles. When the Germans move into their family’s ancestral estate, using it as their headquarters, Aurelie discovers she knows the German Major’s aide de camp, Maximilian Von Sternburg. She and the dashing young officer first met during Aurelie’s debutante days in Paris. Despite their conflicting loyalties, Aurelie and Max’s friendship soon deepens into love, but betrayal will shatter them both, driving Aurelie back to Paris and the Ritz— the home of her estranged American heiress mother, with unexpected consequences.

France, 1942. Raised by her indomitable, free-spirited American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, Marguerite “Daisy” Villon remains in Paris with her daughter and husband, a Nazi collaborator, after France falls to Hitler. At first reluctant to put herself and her family at risk to assist her grandmother’s Resistance efforts, Daisy agrees to act as a courier for a skilled English forger known only as Legrand, who creates identity papers for Resistance members and Jewish refugees. But as Daisy is drawn ever deeper into Legrand’s underground network, committing increasingly audacious acts of resistance for the sake of the country—and the man—she holds dear, she uncovers a devastating secret . . . one that will force her to commit the ultimate betrayal, and to confront at last the shocking circumstances of her own family history.

France, 1964. For Barbara “Babs” Langford, her husband, Kit, was the love of her life. Yet their marriage was haunted by a mysterious woman known only as La Fleur. On Kit’s death, American lawyer Andrew “Drew” Bowdoin appears at her door. Hired to find a Resistance fighter turned traitor known as “La Fleur,” the investigation has led to Kit Langford. Curious to know more about the enigmatic La Fleur, Babs joins Drew in his search, a journey of discovery that that takes them to Paris and the Ritz—and to unexpected places of the heart. . . .

Book Feature: The Poppy by Caroline Scott #ThePoppyWife #bookfeature

Title: The Poppy Wife

About the author: (credit to Amazon)

Publisher: William Morrow

Purchase here

About the book:

In the tradition of Jennifer Robson and Hazel Gaynor, this unforgettable debut novel is a sweeping tale of forbidden love, profound loss, and the startling truth of the broken families left behind in the wake of World War I.

1921. Survivors of the Great War are desperately trying to piece together the fragments of their broken lives. While many have been reunited with their loved ones, Edie’s husband Francis is still missing. Francis is presumed to have been killed in action, but Edie knows he is alive.
Harry, Francis’s brother, was there the day Francis went missing in Ypres. And like Edie, he’s hopeful Francis is living somewhere in France, lost and confused. Hired by grieving families in need of closure, Harry returns to the Western Front to photograph soldiers’ graves. As he travels through France gathering news for British wives and mothers, he searches for evidence his own brother is still alive.
When Edie receives a mysterious photograph that she believes was taken by Francis, she is more certain than ever he isn’t dead. Edie embarks on her own journey in the hope of finding some trace of her husband. Is he truly gone, or could he still be alive? And if he is, why hasn’t he come home?
As Harry and Edie’s paths converge, they get closer to the truth about Francis and, as they do, are soon faced with the life-changing impact of the answers they discover.
An incredibly moving account of an often-forgotten moment in history—those years after the war that were filled with the unknown—The Poppy Wife tells the story of the thousands of soldiers who were lost amid the chaos and ruins in battle-scarred France; and the even greater number of men and women hoping to find them again.

Praise:
“A beautiful, tender novel which explores the aftermath of the Great War, and the shattered lives left behind. Written with gorgeous prose and a cast of memorable characters, this is a stunning debut which had me spellbound from the first page to the last.” – Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter

Review: Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly

Title: Lost Roses

About the author: (credit to Goodreads)

Genre: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Publish Date: April 9, 2019

Publisher: Ballantine Books, Penguin Randomhouse

Purchase here

Pages: 448

About the Book:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The million-copy bestseller Lilac Girls introduced the real-life heroine Caroline Ferriday. Now Lost Roses, set a generation earlier and also inspired by true events, features Caroline’s mother, Eliza, and follows three equally indomitable women from St. Petersburg to Paris under the shadow of World War I. 

“Not only a brilliant historical tale, but a love song to all the ways our friendships carry us through the worst of times.”—Lisa Wingate, #1New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours 

It is 1914, and the world has been on the brink of war so often, many New Yorkers treat the subject with only passing interest. Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met years ago one summer in Paris and became close confidantes. Now Eliza embarks on the trip of a lifetime, home with Sofya to see the splendors of Russia: the church with the interior covered in jeweled mosaics, the Rembrandts at the tsar’s Winter Palace, the famous ballet. 

But when Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia’s imperial dynasty begins to fall, Eliza escapes back to America, while Sofya and her family flee to their country estate. In need of domestic help, they hire the local fortune-teller’s daughter, Varinka, unknowingly bringing intense danger into their household. 

On the other side of the Atlantic, Eliza is doing her part to help the White Russian families find safety as they escape the revolution. But when Sofya’s letters suddenly stop coming, she fears the worst for her best friend.  

From the turbulent streets of St. Petersburg and aristocratic countryside estates to the avenues of Paris where a society of fallen Russian émigrés live to the mansions of Long Island, the lives of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka will intersect in profound ways. In her newest powerful tale told through female-driven perspectives, Martha Hall Kelly celebrates the unbreakable bonds of women’s friendship, especially during the darkest days of history. 

What I Loved/Thought:

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 stars!

“𝙼𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎.”

—𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚊 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 stars!

I read a lot of historical fiction, and I was so excited to read The Lost Roses, a story of WWI, based on true events. I just don’t know if this book was so high up on my most anticipated reads, or if I waited too long to read it or what, but I just couldn’t dive into the story as I’d hoped.

Martha Hall Kelly is a wonderful writer, and I loved The Lilac Girls, so I had high hopes for this novel. I started out feeling connections with some of the characters, but quickly lost that engagement somehow. I struggled to really get a sense of the story and where it was going.

With that being said, from now on I’ve decided not to hoard books any longer, and to go ahead and read them before the hype gets to me. I really wonder if that was the case with this one.

*many thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review

Praise:

Pub Day Stack! 7/23/19

Happy New Book Tuesday to these lovelies!

I’ve made my way through most of these, and will be starting Good Girl, Bad Girl next! As you can see, I like a good mix of mystery/thrillers and historical fiction.

What books are you excited about that are on sale today?

*Thank you to the publishers for these gifted copies! #partner

Review: A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

Title: A Fall of Marigolds

About the author: (credit to Goodreads)

Publish Date: February 4, 2014

Publisher: Berkley, NAL, Penguin Randomhouse

Pages: 394

Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family Saga Fiction

Synopsis:

A beautiful scarf connects two women touched by tragedy in this compelling, emotional novel from the author of As Bright As Heaven and The Last Year of the War.

September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about assumptions she’s made. What she learns could devastate her- or free her.

September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers…the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. But a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf may open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life.

My Review:

“Everything Beautiful has a story it wants to tell.”

I fell in love with Susan Meissner’s writing, after reading As Bright As Heaven last year. It was only natural that I decided I needed to read everything else written by Meissner. A Fall of Marigolds is a beautiful story about love and heartache. It’s a journey of sorts told through the eyes of two women, years apart, but both sharing a tragedy.

I enjoyed this book very much! I loved learning more about Ellis Island and the process that takes place as immigrants crossed over to America, and were held at the hospital before they could come into the United States.

Praise:

“A shimmering novel of love and acceptance.”            –New York Times bestselling author Sandra Dallas

“[Meissner] creates two sympathetic, reliable characters that readers will applaud. Touching and inspirational.”                                        –Kirkus Reviews