A Potpourri of Opinions

  Any Where You Run Wanda M. Morris Publication Date: October 25, 2022 by William Morrow & Company, Harper Audio Genre: Historical Thriller Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢 Summary: From the award-winning author of All Her Little Secrets comes yet another gripping, suspenseful novel where, after the murder of a white man in Jim Crow Mississippi, two Black sisters run away to different parts of the country . . . but can they escape the secrets they left behind? It's the summer of 1964 and three innocent men are brutally murdered for trying to help Black Mississippians secure the right to vote. Against this backdrop, twenty-one year old Violet Richards finds herself in more trouble than she's ever been in her life. Suffering a brutal attack of her own, she kills the man responsible. But with the color of Violet's skin, there is no way she can escape Jim Crow justice in Jackson, Mississippi. Before anyone can find the body or finger her as the killer, she decides to run. With the help o...

The Picture Bride Lee Geum-yi, translated by An Seonjae Publication date: October 11, 2022 by Forge Books Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷 Summary:  “Your husband is a landowner,” they told her. “Food and clothing is so plentiful, it grows on trees.” “You will be able to go to school.” Of the three lies the matchmaker told Willow before she left home as a picture bride in 1918, the third hurt the most. Never one to be deterred, Willow does all that she can to make the best of her unexpected circumstance. But it isn't long before her dreams for this new life are shattered, first by a husband who never wanted to marry her in the first place, and then by the escalation of the Korean independence movements, unified in goal, but divergent in action, which threaten to split the Hawaiian Korean community and divide Willow's family and friends. Braving the rough waters of these tumultuous years, Willow forges ahead, creating new dreams through her own blood, sweat, and tears;...

When We Had Wings Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner Publication Date: October 18, 2022 by Harper Muse Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5 👢👢👢👢👢 Summary: From three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale about a trio of World War II nurses stationed in the South Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival. The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war. Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. military and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War....

Little Eve Catriona Ward USA publication date: Oct. 11, 2022 by Tor Nightfire Genre: Gothic, Horror Rating: 3 👢👢👢 Summary:  “A great day is upon us. He is coming. The world will be washed away.” On the wind-battered isle of Altnaharra, off the wildest coast of Scotland, a clan prepares to bring about the end of the world and its imminent rebirth. The Adder is coming and one of their number will inherit its powers. They all want the honor, but young Eve is willing to do anything for the distinction. A reckoning beyond Eve’s imagination begins when Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a brutal murder and their sacred ceremony goes terribly wrong. And soon all the secrets of Altnaharra will be uncovered. My thoughts: The cover and the brief synopsis captured my interest for this read. From the gory opening scene to the ending plot twist I never felt truly engaged with this one. It was a fairly intriguing plot. Eve tells the reader how she lived on the island of Altnaharra w...

  Barnum's Angel (The Pale Chronicles Book 1) Len Boswell Publication Date: October 6, 2022 by Black Rose Writing Genre: Historical Fantasy Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢 To some, Lily was just a beautiful little girl. To others, she was a freakish albino who ate live chickens in a freak show. Charles Darwin called her his impossible girl and tried in vain to classify her. P. T. Barnum called her his angel and tried to take advantage of her. But the creature Barnum thought to turn into a money-making feature attraction is neither girl nor angel. She is something other, a species of unimaginable abilities, with the power to destroy—or save —our world. The power is hers alone, but only the strange blood coursing through her veins will decide when and how to unleash a power she struggles every day to control. From the cold, barren shores of Tierra del Fuego and the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle to the bustling crowds of Victorian London, Lily's story—and her quest—unfolds in a thrilling historical ...

  The Myrtle Wand Margaret Porter Publication Date: October 11, 2022 by Gallica Press Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4 🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary:  The Myrtle Wand, a retelling and a continuation of the classic ballet Giselle, restores original story elements to transform a tale of blighted romances and betrayals into a quest for redemption and restorative love. Princess Bathilde de Sevreau, unlike her school friend Myrte and the peasant Giselle, doubts the existence of legendary vilis, ghostly maidens who rise from their graves by night to roam the forest to take revenge on faithless lovers. Until she, too, has cause to fear being ensnared by that spectral sisterhood . . . Destined for a marriage of convenience with Albin, Duc de Rozel, Bathilde leaves her ancestral château for the Sun King’s sophisticated and scandalous court. As participants in royal ceremonies and entertainments, the princess and the soldier gradually recognize deep feelings for each other and mutual hopes for ma...

  Hester L a urie Lico A lb a nese Public a tion d a te: October 4, 2022 by St. M a rtin's Press a nd M a cmillian A udio Genre: Historic a l Fiction R a ting: 5 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summ a ry:  A vivid reim a gining of the wom a n who inspired Hester Prynne, the tr a gic heroine of N a th a niel H a wthorne's  The Sc a rlet Letter , a nd a journey into the enduring leg a cy of New Engl a nd's witchcr a ft tri a ls. Who is the  re a l  Hester Prynne? Isobel G a mble is a young se a mstress c a rrying gener a tions of secrets when she sets s a il from Scotl a nd in the e a rly 1800s with her husb a nd, Edw a rd. A n a pothec a ry who h a s f a llen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts h a ve forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh st a rt in the New World. But only d a ys a fter they've a rrived in S a lem, Edw a rd a bruptly joins a dep a rting ship a s a medic—le a ving Isobel penniless a nd a lone in a str a nge country, forced to m a ke her w a y by a ny...

One Woman's War Christine Wells Publication date: October 4, 2022 by William Morrow & Company Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢 Summary:  From the author of  Sisters of the Resistance  comes the story of WWII British Naval Intelligence officer Victoire Bennett, the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character Miss Moneypenny, whose international covert operation is put in jeopardy when a volatile socialite and Austrian double agent threatens to expose the mission to German High Command. World War II London:  When Victoire "Paddy" Bennett first walks into the Admiralty's Room 39, home to the Intelligence Division, all the bright and lively young woman expects is a secretarial position to the charismatic Commander Ian Fleming. But soon her job is so much more, and when Fleming proposes a daring plot to deceive the Germans about Allied invasion plans he requests the newlywed Paddy's help. She jumps at the chance to work as an agent in the field, ...

  Unnatural Creatures Kris Waldherr Publication date: October 4, 2022 by Muse Publications Genre: Horror, Gothic, Historical  Rating: 5 👢👢👢👢👢 Summary:  For the first time, the untold story of the three women closest to Victor Frankenstein is brought to life in a dark and sweeping reimagining of  Frankenstein  by the author of  The Lost History of Dreams .  The Mother Caroline Frankenstein will do anything to protect her family against the nightmarish revolutions engulfing 18th-century Europe. In doing so, she creates her own monster in the form of her scientist son, Victor, whose obsession with conquering death leads to forbidden realms.  The Bride Rescued by Caroline as a four-year-old beggar, angelic Elizabeth Lavenza understands the only way she can repay the Frankensteins is by accepting Victor’s hand in marriage. But when Elizabeth’s heart yearns for someone else, the lives of those she most loves collide with the unnatural creature born...