authentic reviews and insightful interviews for inquisitive readers
Find an interview with the author here. Elise Cooper: Victoria, thank you for sitting down to this interview. Since you are in constant danger, I promise I will not publish this until after the war. I hope we can meet up again if you survive the war. It is very brave of you and your four counterparts to be willing to be sent by the OSS into Nazi occupied Paris. Dragonfly is an interesting code name for the group since …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Dragonfly by Leila Meacham is a spellbinding novel. The story from the very first line pulls readers into the mystery: which of the five American spies embedded in Nazi occupied Paris has survived? The dramatic scenes are riveting as each character plays a cat and mouse game with the Nazis. In 1942, Americans Brad, Bridgette, Bucky, Chris, and Victoria have been recruited as spies for the CIA’s Office of Special Services. They are recruited …
Book Review by Elise Cooper Reluctant Belle by Beth White has a love triangle, assassinations, and the upheaval that occurred during the Reconstruction Era in the US. Readers are transported to the time period. Through the character’s banter and dialogue White is able to lighten the somber and disturbing events. Showing the injustice, the story delves into how freed slaves struggled to negotiate their new lives. Those that supported them in the white community had to face bitterness, resentment, and …
Title: Death Comes to Dartmoor Author: Vivian Conroy Series: Merriweather and Royston Mystery #2 rather convoluted and written blandly I would like to thank Vivian Conroy, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Lord Raven Royston and Miss Merula Merriweather journey to Dartmoor in an effort to escape the scandal they’ve recently been involved in in London. Expecting to relax with some peace and quiet, they are dismayed …
Title: The Baron and the Enchantress Author: Paullett Golden Series: Enchantresses #3 Got a bit long, otherwise a beautiful story My thanks to Paullett Golden, who asked me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This was typical Golden (Is it too early to start saying “classic” Golden?)—a well-told, heartfelt story with endearing characters, deep themes, historical detail, bittersweet irony, and humor. The only real issue, in my eyes, was the length. I …
Find an interview with the author here. Elise Cooper: Milady, thank you for sitting down and doing this interview. You are no longer a teenager, but now a woman who has seen and been through so very much. Some claim you are a devil, but others see you as a heroine fighting for justice. You have overcome life’s challenges against incredible odds, especially by those who call themselves The Three Musketeers. Hopefully anyone reading this they can see the true …
There may be tiny spoilers for some of the books I mention, so here’s your warning. This spring I was craving Simone St. James. She put out one book a year from 2012 to 2016, but then it was two years between Lost Among the Living and The Broken Girls and will now be two years between The Broken Girls and The Sun Down Motel. I don’t know why there has been longer waits between books, if St. James has …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb brings Grace Kelly back to life. Readers will take a journey to the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 as the authors intertwine the romance between the actress Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco and their characters Sophie Duval and James Henderson. These two authors, “Team H,” have a chemistry when writing together. They have a knack for creating an enchanting story written in …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Summer Country by Lauren Willig is a very potent story. It allows readers to transport themselves into the minds of the characters during the 1850s in Barbados. What Willig does best is to bring a story to life through heartfelt characters. This engaging tale of Victorian values has love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion. The story is powerful enough but Willig infuses into it a mystery surrounding the Peverills and Beckles sugar plantations. The …
Double Exposure by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of the TV series, “Smallville,” brings to life a unique storyline. Set in the 1960s to make the story believable, they explore the question, what if Hitler did not die in the bunker, and is still alive? The plot begins with a KGB Russian agent, turned CIA asset, smuggling a film canister over the Berlin Wall. Because the East Germans shot the agent as well as the canister the CIA …