This is such a unique, thrilling, intriguing, and exciting mix of archaeology, history, pro5 stars - Mystery/Action Thriller/Horror/Paranormal/Romance
This is such a unique, thrilling, intriguing, and exciting mix of archaeology, history, prophecy, religion, mystery, action, suspense, horror, and even romance. I loved it as much as the first book, and I can't wait for the epic conclusion in Blood Infernal!
Note: I went to church as a child, but I'm not a religious person. I consider myself an agnostic, and I believe the Catholic Church has committed heinous acts and atrocities throughout human history in the name of their religion. Nevertheless, this series is utterly captivating, compelling, and fascinating....more
This is such a unique, thrilling, intriguing, and exciting mix of archaeology, history, prophecy, r5 stars - Mystery/Action Thriller/Paranormal/Horror
This is such a unique, thrilling, intriguing, and exciting mix of archaeology, history, prophecy, religion, mystery, action, suspense, horror, and even romance. I loved it!
Note: I went to church as a child, but I'm not a religious person. I consider myself an agnostic, and I believe the Catholic Church has committed heinous acts and atrocities throughout human history in the name of their religion. Nevertheless, this series is utterly captivating, compelling, and fascinating....more
I've used intermittent fasting off/on since 2015 for weight loss, weight management, overall health, and disease prevention. I've done various methodsI've used intermittent fasting off/on since 2015 for weight loss, weight management, overall health, and disease prevention. I've done various methods (alternate day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and 16:8 IF), and they've all been beneficial. But there are crucial differences for men and women when it comes to fasting due to hormones.
Fasting Like a Girl provides a fasting manual created specifically to address women's needs based on their hormones and menstrual cycle. This book is so eye opening and informative, and it gives women a guide to utilize fasting and nutrition to better their health and well-being. I felt so seen and validated when I read this book. I highly recommend this to all women, but especially women who feel ignored by their doctors, or who have been told that it's just "stress".
My only negative about the book is that I wish she'd included a more extensive list of foods for the two eating programs (Ketobiotic and Hormone Feasting), a better breakdown/explanation of what the recommended macros (carbs/protein/fat) look like, and some meal plan ideas for both.
These are some of the various health matters addressed in the book:
Weight gain/weight loss Weight management Perimenopause Menopause Postmenopause Hormonal imbalances Infertility Autoimmune conditions Adrenal fatigue Thryroid health Chronic fatigue Brain health, memory loss, depression, and anxiety...more
Wow. What an incredible story of one of the most prominent French resistance leaders and spies of WWII, Nancy Grace A5 stars - WWII Historical Fiction
Wow. What an incredible story of one of the most prominent French resistance leaders and spies of WWII, Nancy Grace Augusta Wake (also known as The White Mouse). She was the Allies most decorated woman during World War II, saving thousands of soldiers and eventually becoming the most wanted person by the German Gestapo in 1943.
Even though this is historical fiction, the author based it on extensive research, biographies written about Nancy Wake, and on Nancy's own autobiography, The White Mouse, and all of the events are real, as are most of the characters in the book.
Ariel Lawhon describes her as "bold, bawdy, and brazen" in the author's note, and Nancy Wake was indeed that. She was also brave, strong, fearless, clever, courageous, compassionate, determined, cunning, stubborn, tough, and fair and had a strong sense of justice. And she risked everything to fight the Germans and to help win the war.
There is a beautiful, romantic, moving, heartbreaking, and tragic love story in this book between Nancy and her French husband, Henri Fiocca. Even already knowing how their story ended, I still wasn't prepared for it.
I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator, Barrie Kreinik, was fantastic and really brought Nancy and the other characters to life.
I highly recommend this to fans of historical fiction and non-fiction, WWII historical fiction and non-fiction, and even to romance fans. If you don't know about Nancy Wake, you really should. What a truly amazing, remarkable woman she was! 5 stars!...more
Wow. This is such a powerful, gut wrenching, inspiring, heartbreaking, and impactful read. I don't have th5+ stars - WWII/Holocaust Historical Fiction
Wow. This is such a powerful, gut wrenching, inspiring, heartbreaking, and impactful read. I don't have the words to do this book justice. It's one of those books that's impossible to review because there's so much I want to say and talk about. Most importantly, I just want everyone to read it. I'm honestly shocked and disappointed that this book only has 3,432 ratings here on Goodreads. How have so few people read and reviewed this incredible book?
The book description does a fair job explaining the main plot. The Last Checkmate tells the story of Maria's, a fourteen-year-old Polish resistance worker sent to Auschwitz, fight for survival and justice. Even though Maria ranges from age 14-18 in the story, this book is adult fiction, not YA, and I appreciate that the author didn't hold back from detailing the horrors and brutality that occurred during the Holocaust.
The Last Checkmate is a brilliant piece of historical fiction based on actual events, and some of the characters are real historical figures or based on real people. The author provides details, research, and additional information in the "About the Book" section at the end, and I was glad to be able to learn more about the events and people that inspired the book.
As many survivor accounts that I've listened to, documentaries and movies I've watched, books I've read, and museums I've visited about the Holocaust, I never cease being shocked and appalled by the incomprehensible atrocities and evil that human beings committed on their fellow human beings. I don't know if we'll ever be able to fully understand the Holocaust, but we must always keep facing it, learn all we can from it, never forget it, and most importantly, never allow anything like it to happen again.
Thank you, Gabriella Saab, for writing this incredible story, and I hope more people read it. Maria, Hania, Irena, and Father Kolbe will stay with me, forever.
My body was starving, yet my soul was starving even more. Starving for kindness, compassion, love, everything I once took for granted. Raw hunger never ceased to gnaw at me, but the hunger for human affection was a sharp ache that pierced me to the depths of my being. One simple gesture was all it took to alleviate the agony. And in this moment, this one moment, the hunger within my soul was satiated.
"Every day, I choose to live and fight, and every day, people around me choose to do the same. They give me the strength to go on. And together, we will live and fight through this."
Maybe we aren't meant to leave the past behind. Maybe we're meant to bring it with us so we can join others weighed down by the same burdens, and we can carry them together. Maybe that's how we find peace.
From terrible suffering and crippling loss rises a special kind of resilience, one unique to those who endure. Every tap of a chess piece against the board, every whisper and peal of laughter fills the room and sends a flicker of warmth into my chest. These are voices that evil attempted to silence, voices of bravery, kindness, strength, intelligence. Voices of resilience. Those ravished by hatred will be healed by love, and their courageous spirits and compassionate souls will lead them through the darkness to a life beyond.
I highly recommend this to everyone, especially fans of historical fiction, WWII fiction/non-fiction, Holocaust fiction/non-fiction, author Kate Quinn, and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah....more
This is a beautiful, emotional story about finding yourself again and the healing power of love in all i5 stars - Women's Fiction/Contemporary Romance
This is a beautiful, emotional story about finding yourself again and the healing power of love in all its forms with a tender, touching romance at the heart of it. The book needed better editing because there wasn't any spacing/separation breaks for paragraphs that started new content or change in time/scene/location. I also wanted more from the ending. I would've loved a couple more chapters and/or an epilogue showing (view spoiler)[Annie, Nick, Izzy, and baby Katie's life together in Mystic and with them spending time with Natalie and Hank all as a family. (hide spoiler)] Still, I was deeply moved by this heartrending and heartwarming story. 5 stars!...more
This is such a heartwarming and utterly delightful feel-good romance, and I savored and loved every word of it! It’s basic5 Swoonworthy Romance stars!
This is such a heartwarming and utterly delightful feel-good romance, and I savored and loved every word of it! It’s basically a historical romance remake of the movie Pretty Woman except the heroine is a feisty French ballerina in need of money instead of a prostitute.
I couldn’t get enough of the witty banter and explosive chemistry between outwardly cold-hearted, aloof Lysander and spirited, outspoken Neve. Their romance was absolutely swoon-worthy! I also loved the secondary characters, Lysander’s spinster aunt and the group of friends that take Neve under their wing. I hope we get romances for the other women in the Taming of the Dukes club.
I listened to the audiobook, and Mary Jane Wells’s narration is fabulous and truly brought the book to life. She does such a wonderful French accent for Neve and gives all the characters distinct voices. I truly loved listening to this one.
This was me every single word and every single minute of this book! *dreamy sigh* Big 5 stars!
Wow. I honestly don’t have sufficient words to convey my love for this astounding b5++ stars – Contemporary Fiction/Women’s Fiction/Historical Fiction
Wow. I honestly don’t have sufficient words to convey my love for this astounding book, and I wish there was a way to rate it higher than 5 stars. It’s not only one of my favorite reads of this year, but it’s also one of my favorite books, ever. I ugly cried so hard reading the last chapter that I couldn’t even see the screen and had to stop several times to collect myself. So many feels. And the epilogue is truly soul-stirring.
Winter Garden is more than just a book. It’s an evocative, powerful intergenerational story that takes you on an unforgettable emotional journey. Although this is women’s fiction, for romance readers like me, there are actually multiple love stories in this book, and the one at the heart of the story is epically beautiful and heartrending.
I was intrigued from the very start of the book, but I think some readers might find it slow in the beginning and also feel unsure of the likeability of the characters. But the story reveals itself layer by layer brilliantly, and the evolution of Meredith, Nina, and Anya is part of what makes it such a wonderful read. Hannah captures the complicated dynamics of relationships (mothers and daughters, sisters, husband and wife, and lovers) with authenticity and poignancy. I especially found the depiction of Meredith’s marital struggles after 20 years together relatable and realistic. Women so often put their children, partners, family, home, and work above themselves, and marital relationships can be easily neglected from just the monotony of everyday life.
Winter Garden is an insightful and intimate portrayal of the enduring strength of women, a spellbinding family saga, and an epic love story that is compelling from start to finish. It’s a story of family, country, tragedy, sacrifice, love and loss, human suffering, survival, grief, forgiveness, and hope. It’s moving, lyrically written, expertly paced, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting.
I’ve always been fascinated by Russian language, culture, folklore, food, and history, and I want to learn more after reading this book. I hope I get to see its beauty someday, including the Belye Nochi, White Nights, of St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, that means so much to Anya in the story. I love that Hannah included some Russian recipes at the end of the book because food, both the overabundance and lack of it, is an integral part of the story as well.
I’ve read about the Soviet Union during WWII, and I knew about the Siege of Leningrad in a generic, factual way. But Hannah provides candid insight into the lives of those, mostly women, children, and elderly, in Leningrad during the siege who were left to struggle to survive the unforgiving, brutally cold winters without heat or food while being constantly bombed by the Germans. The 900-Day Siege resulted in the deaths of roughly one million of the city’s civilians, including more than 700,000 that froze or starved to death. Hannah researched firsthand accounts of survivors as inspiration to create a personalized story to strongly affect the reader by allowing them to experience it.
Winter Garden is a truly remarkable, deeply affecting, and haunting read that will stay with me forever. It gave me all the feels and all the tears but also left me inspired. Winter Garden joins Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale as one of my top favorite reads of the year and most favorite books of all-time. 5++ and all the stars!
“And maybe that was how it was supposed to be, how life unfolded when you lived it long enough. Joy and sadness were part of the package; the trick, perhaps, was to let yourself feel all of it, but to hold on to the joy just a little more tightly because you never knew when a strong heart could just give out.”
“I’d be proud to have your strength. What you’ve been through—and we don’t know the worst of it, I think—it would have killed any ordinary woman. Only someone extraordinary could have survived. So, yeah, I do want to end up like you.”
“If there was one thing she’d learned in all of this, it was that life—and love—can be gone any second. When you had it, you needed to hang on with all your strength and savor every second.”
“We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we...bear what we must for our children.”
(view spoiler)[The engraving from Sasha to Vera on the tombstone made me bawl my eyes out. “Remember our lime tree in the Summer Garden. I will meet you there, my love.”(hide spoiler)]
From the author’s In Her Own Words section at the back of the book: “It is Anya who haunts me. She is a fictional character, obviously, but she is drawn from research. The women who survived the Siege of Leningrad were lionesses, warriors. It’s deeply inspiring to me. And even though it happened a long time ago, I find the story of their courage relevant in today’s world.”
From the Behind the Novel section at the back of the book: “I wanted to give you all this story of survival and loss, horror and heartache in a way that would allow you to experience it with some measure of emotion. I am not a historian, nor a nonfiction writer. My hope is that you leave this novel informed, but not merely with the facts and figures; rather; I want you to be able to actually imagine it, to ask yourself how you would have fared in such terrible times.”...more
Wow! The Huntress is one of the best books I’ve read this year. My other favorite book of 5++ stars – WWII Historical Fiction/Mystery/Suspense/Romance
Wow! The Huntress is one of the best books I’ve read this year. My other favorite book of the year is The Diamond Eye, also by Kate Quinn. They’ve both earned high honors on my all-time best top favorite reads lists.
History books and history lessons tend to leave out the contributions of women in WWII. Quinn sheds light on elements of history that haven’t received the attention they deserve. She reminds us that women played integral roles in WWII as pilots, snipers, spies, and soldiers and that there were also female Nazi war criminals.
The Huntress is an empowering, brilliantly written, superbly detailed, stirringly paced, and riveting page-turner with captivating characters. It combines fact and fiction to tell the story of the search for a Nazi murderess on the run. I alternated between the audiobook version narrated fabulously by Saskia Maarlevelde and reading the e-book version.
The Huntress involves three interchanging points of view/timelines: Nina Markova, a woman from remote Siberia who becomes a Soviet bomber pilot with the all-female Night Witches regiment, Ian Graham, a journalist and war correspondent turned Nazi hunter with his partner, Tony Rodomovsky, who are searching for a cold-blood Nazi killer known as die Jagerin, The Huntress, and Jordan McBride, a young photographer whose stepmother may have secrets and not be what she seems. Their stories converge and meticulously come together in a thrilling, explosive climax.
The characters are all fascinating and multifaceted, but Nina Markova definitely stole the book for me. She is a wonderfully complex, intriguing, strong, brave, tough, hard, resilient, difficult, proud, stubborn, brutal, loyal, prickly, funny, loving, and kick-ass heroine and a survivor in every possible way. Nina’s time as navigator and pilot in the Night Witches are some of the best moments of the book. The love between Nina and (view spoiler)[Yelena, her sestra and fellow pilot, (hide spoiler)] was beautiful, genuine, moving, and heartbreaking. There are two other romances in the book as well, and they both weave nicely into the story without distracting from the overall seriousness of the hunt.
Ian, Tony, and Nina (like real life Nazi hunters) worked diligently and determinedly to shine the light of justice on the war criminals hiding in the dark of indifference after WWII when most people just wanted to forget and move on like everything was normal again.
The Huntress is a poignant, inspiring, and exciting story that captivated me from the start and kept me eagerly reading until the suspenseful conclusion. And in the end, who was the true Huntress?
Don’t miss reading the "About the Book" section at the end where the author explains what is fact and fiction in the story and provides more fascinating historical details.
He yelped then, feeling the keen edge of a stropped Siberian razor pressing against the inside of his thigh. “My pilot,” Nina said sweetly, “doesn’t care for your fucking language, you bonehead Leningrad mule. Keep your mouth clean around her, or I will slice off your balls and cram them up your fucking nose.” “Women in the air,” he breathed. “World’s gone crazy, giving planes to you bitches.” “Bitches like my pilot fly better than you will ever fly in your whole goddamned life.” Nina gave another sweet smile. “So take her up there for a loop and keep your fucking language nice, and I won’t jam a propeller up your shit-factory and crank until your asshole flaps like your mouth.” –> See why I love Nina so much?
The dead lie beyond any struggle, so we living must struggle for them. We must remember, because there are other wheels that turn besides the wheel of justice. Time is a wheel, vast and indifferent, and when time rolls on and men forget, we face the risk of circling back. We slouch yawning to a new horizon and find ourselves gazing at old hatreds seeded and watered by forgetfulness and flowering into new wars. New massacres. New monsters like die Jagerin. Let this wheel stop. Let us not forget this time. Let us remember....more
Wow! What a terrific surprise this was! I often find books that I love the hardest to review. I hav5++ stars – WWII Historical Fiction/Mystery/Romance
Wow! What a terrific surprise this was! I often find books that I love the hardest to review. I have so much that I want to say about it, but I think The Diamond Eye is one of those books that’s even better because of how unexpected it is.
The Diamond Eye is based on the remarkable true life story of Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko. She was a bookish history student and librarian, a single mother turned soldier in order to defend her homeland who longed to be a historian, and a fierce, deadly sniper with over 300 kills who became a close friend to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The author used Mila’s actual memoir as her inspiration and “concrete original source” with some artistic license to fill in the “gaps and silences.”
The Diamond Eye is historical fiction at its best and a biography of sorts, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a wartime story with political intrigue, mystery/suspense, and romance. Mila is a fascinating, complex heroine with a fierce, persistent, fighting spirit who never backs down. Her transformation from a quiet, bookish, abused single mother to a courageous, determined, strong-willed soldier who endures doubts and sexism from her fellow soldiers and superiors to be become a fierce, revered sniper feared by Germans known as Lady Death is truly amazing. I loved her.
The alternating timeline of Mila’s past and present was handled really well. The mystery woven into Mila’s goodwill tour visit to America was intriguing and suspenseful, and I enjoyed the present scenes with Eleanor Roosevelt and Mila. But I preferred the past sections because I liked reading about Mila’s wartime experiences, interactions, and relationships. There are so many interesting (real) characters that I loved: her medical orderly friend, Lena, her platoon mates, Fyodor and Vartanov, her superior officer, Lyonya, and of course, her sniper partner and shadow, Kostia.
I’m a romance lover/reader at heart, so my favorite part of The Diamond Eye is the romantic elements. There are actually two love stories in this book, and they’re both beautiful and moving. And trust me that it’s not a love triangle. Lyonya and Kostia are both amazing, swoonworthy heroes, and I loved them as much as Mila.
I highly recommend this book to fans of extraordinary women, WWII history, historical fiction, historical mystery/suspense, and historical romance. Big unforgettable 5 stars!
“I had a belly full of vodka, a heart full of hatred, and a soul full of grief—but my hand was steady as a rock.”
“We are glad to visit your beautiful country. It is prosperous—you all live far from the struggle. Nobody destroys your towns, cities, fields. Nobody kills your citizens, your sisters and mothers, your fathers and brothers. I come from a place where bombs pound villages into ash, where Russian blood oils the treads of German tanks, where innocent civilians die every day. An accurate bullet fired by a sniper like me, Mrs. Roosevelt, is no more than a response to an enemy.”
I’ve seen some comments from readers on GR and Amazon saying they were concerned about the timing or that they had a hard time with the book given Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine. But the USSR, Soviet Union, during WWII is not the same as Russia today. They fought against Hitler and fascism and fended off the German invasion long before Americans joined the fight, and the Red Army provided the largest land force in the Allied victory of WWII. The Soviet Union also suffered the highest casualties of the war with around 20-27 million deaths.
From the Author’s Note of The Diamond Eye:
“It’s sometimes said that World War II was won with British Intelligence, American steel, and Soviet blood. This sweeping generalization bears a kernel of truth. Since the USSR became America’s enemy in the Cold War so soon after WWII’s end, it’s easy to forget that without them, the war against the Axis powers might have been lost. Of all Hitler’s mistakes, his colossal Napoleonic error in taking on the USSR was perhaps the most pivotal: without the eastern front soaking up so much of Germany’s manpower, the Allies might never have prevailed. The cost of that victory was millions of Red Army dead as Soviet blood gave American steel and British Intelligence time to turn the tide. The Diamond Eye is seen through the lens of Soviet blood—one woman’s fight to stanch its flow, first with her rifle and then with her voice as she crossed an ocean to bring American steel home to help her countrymen.”
My personal opinion/note:
It’s tragic to me that governments (including the U.S.) haven’t learned from history and keep repeating the same mistakes of war resulting in the suffering of innocent people. So much money is spent on the military-industrial complex that could be used for education, healthcare, protecting and improving the environment, and helping the poor, homeless, children, elderly, and veterans. Sadly, companies who produce oil, gas, weapons, bombs, tanks, attack drones, and fighter planes and their politicians want wars because they get richer....more
Wow! Another incredible, complex, high-octane Orphan X thriller! His work as the Nowhere Man was a total na5 stars - Vigilante Justice/Action Thriller
Wow! Another incredible, complex, high-octane Orphan X thriller! His work as the Nowhere Man was a total nailbiter! I had no idea how or if he was going to pull everything off and make it out alive! This series is just fantastic! Big 5 stars!
This isn't the last book in the series, and part of me is glad there's more to come. But I also think the end of this book provides closure for Evan's life as Orphan X and the Nowhere Man. (view spoiler)[He receives an informal presidential pardon, so the government will finally stop searching for him. He also completes his final mission as the Nowhere Man, so he can retire and attempt some semblance of a normal life, ideally with Mia and Peter. (hide spoiler)] I think with just another chapter or two and/or an epilogue, this book could've made for a great ending to the series....more
Wow! This series is fantastic! I loved the previous book, Hellbent, so much that I was worrie5 stars - Vigilante Justice/Assassination/Action Thriller
Wow! This series is fantastic! I loved the previous book, Hellbent, so much that I was worried this wouldn't be as good, but it definitely delivered on the action and emotional depth.
This had me on the edge of my seat wondering how the hell Evan/X was going to pull everything off. And I really loved his work as the Nowhere Man in this one. The scenes with the boy he helped were so moving, and his vengeance was delivered brilliantly.
(view spoiler)[My heart breaks for Evan at the longing he feels for a normal life with Mia and Peter. I hope he can find happiness and peace and have a life with them at some point. (hide spoiler)]...more
Wow! Now that's how you write an intelligent action thriller with emotional depth. I really liked the firs5 stars - Vigilante Justice/Action Thriller
Wow! Now that's how you write an intelligent action thriller with emotional depth. I really liked the first book, Orphan X, and the second book, The Nowhere Man, was good but it dragged at times for me. This is intense with nonstop action, but it's also emotional and moving. The relationship between Evan and his teenage ward, Joey, is beautifully done. I cried two or three times while reading this book. I'm looking forward to more of this series. Big 5 stars!
“Remember what Confucius say: 'Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.'” “Oh,” Evan said, “I'm gonna dig a lot more than that.”...more
I only need to say one word for this review: BONES! I love the Night Huntress series, and Bones is one of my all-5+ stars - Paranormal/Vampire Romance
I only need to say one word for this review: BONES! I love the Night Huntress series, and Bones is one of my all-time favorite romance heroes, ever! I've always wished for his point of view when reading the Night Huntress books. Now, finally, we get Halfway to the Grave from Bones' POV, and it's so bloody good and sexy! I loved it! Big 5 stars!
I loved this so much! It's such a moving, passionate, and swoony romance! *Sigh*
I loved Hugh and how (view spoiler)[cluele5 stars - Historical Romance
I loved this so much! It's such a moving, passionate, and swoony romance! *Sigh*
I loved Hugh and how (view spoiler)[clueless he was to his feelings, especially when everyone else (except Penelope) seemed to know exactly how he felt about her. (hide spoiler)] I was frustrated with Penelope and how long she kept her secret, but I understood her fear and reluctance.
I loved the Duke's mother. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Kate Reading, sounded like actress Judi Dench when she read her parts, which was fabulous....more
Wow! What a fantastic read to start the year! I’ve read so many historical romances that at times it’s as if the5 stars - Victorian Historical Romance
Wow! What a fantastic read to start the year! I’ve read so many historical romances that at times it’s as if they start to blend together and are indistinguishable from the next. Mimi Matthews has crafted a unique, beautiful, eloquent, and touching romance with wonderful, distinctive characters that make you fall in love with them and root for their happy ending.
The Siren of Sussex really brings the Victorian era to life. The writing is deeply affective, and the story is so original and visual. It’s one of those books I could clearly picture in my head, and it felt like I was watching a movie. The author manages to give insights and details about horses and riding and fashion and dressmaking to make them important aspects of the characters and storyline without it becoming tedious or repetitive.
The characters in The Siren of Sussex are multifaceted, genuine, and refreshingly different. Evelyn is such an amazing, endearing heroine. She’s brave, strong, kind, resourceful, compassionate, loyal, and determined. She’s a confident, accomplished equestrienne, and she cleverly uses her skill as a rider to find a way to distinguish herself and improve her situation in life.
Ahmad Malik is such an unusual hero, and I mean that in the absolute best of ways. I’ve never read a romance with a hero who is a tailor/dressmaker or that is half Indian and half British. He’s endured a rough, painful life filled with loss, poverty, brutality, and bigotry, but he’s honorable, respectful, protective, tender, and selfless. He’s a sincerely sigh-worthy hero.
Evelyn’s friendship with fellow wallflowers/bluestockings, Anne, Julia, and Stella, reminded me a little bit of Lisa Kleypas’s Wallflowers. They’re all considered peculiar for various reasons and bond over their love of riding and facing the London season together. I really hope we get books for all of them!
The heart of this story is the relationship between Evie and Ahmad, and it’s truly romantic. Their friendship, mutual affection, and respect is so beautifully written. Their longing for each other is intense and palpable. The dress fitting scenes requiring Evie and Ahmad to be close to each other are full of intimacy, yearning, and erotic tension. The appreciative, heated glances and casual touches are more sensual than some books with drawn out love scenes.
The book doesn’t gloss over the serious obstacles faced by Evie and Ahmad being together because of their differences in class, wealth, and race and society’s censure. (view spoiler)[Ahmad loves Evie fiercely and passionately and wants her in his life desperately, but he resists because he knows the struggles they’d face and how difficult a future together would be.
It was refreshing that once Evie realized her feelings for Ahmad, she fully acknowledged and accepted it and changed her plans and her course of action rather than act wishy-washy and continue with her plans to find a wealthy husband and ignore or deny her feelings for him like in so many other historical romances. Instead of lamenting endlessly about her circumstances or pining for what she couldn’t have, she was resolute in the strength of her love for him. She made new plans and sought out ways to make it work for them to be together, despite the obstacles. It was romantic and touching because she knew he was worth making sacrifices for and more than worthy of her and was determined to show him that. I loved when Evie sought out books about India written by natives rather than by British colonizers to learn more about its history and culture and to better understand Ahmad’s past and struggles. (hide spoiler)]
The Siren of Sussex is an original, beautifully written, inspiring, and moving romance with unforgettable characters. I can’t wait for more books in this series! Big 5 stars!
“The two of them could still never hope to be anything more to each other than what they were in this moment: a man and a woman divided by wealth, rank, and the entire history of British colonial rule.”
“In that moment, she seemed very much a siren, and he no better than some poor mad sailor dashing himself upon the rocks.”
“Dressed in elegantly cut black-and-white eveningwear, he looked more broodingly handsome than on any other occasion she’d seen him. Truly a fallen angel come to earth. Not reluctantly this time, but purposefully. He’d come for her.”
“Love!” Lady Arundell scoffed. “How can that possibly be?” “He sewed pockets in all of her skirts,” Anne said. “Pockets.” Julia sighed. “Imagine.” “And she didn’t even have to ask him to do it,” Stella said.
I received a copy of this book from Berkley Publishing as part of the Goodreads giveaways, but that in no way influenced my enjoyment of the book or my review....more
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