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The Girl from Botany Bay by Carolly Erickson: A Book Review

The Girl from Botany Bay Author: Carolly Erickson  Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Trade Paper Books Book Release Date: 2008 Pages: 252 Source: Personal Collection  Synopsis: On a moonless night in the early 1790s, prisoner Mary Bryant, her husband William, her two small children, and seven other convicts stole a twenty-foot longboat and slipped noiselessly out of Sydney Cove, Australia, eluding their captors. They sailed north, all the way to Indonesia, traveling some thirty-six hundred treacherous miles in ten weeks—an incredible feat of seamanship. For a time, Mary and her companions were able to convince the local Dutch colonial authorities that they were survivors of a shipwreck, but eventually the truth emerged and they found themselves back in captivity, in irons, on their way to England for execution.       In time, Mary's fateful journey would win her tremendous admiration. A woman once reviled as a criminal w...
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The Body on the Beach (Jane Austen Investigations #4) by Laura Martin: A Book Review

The Body on the Beach (Jane Austen Investigations #4)  Author: Laura Martin Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery and Suspense Publisher: Sapere Books Book Release Date: 2023 Pages: 239 Source: Borrowed Synopsis: The Austen sisters find themselves embroiled in another murder case! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Elizabeth Bailey and Ashley Gardner.      Have a series of murders been covered up…?       1798, Dorset, England        Jane Austen is on holiday with her parents and her sister, enjoying time at the seaside in Lyme Regis.         But one morning, while out on an early stroll, her peace is shattered.       There is someone lying at the bottom of the cliffs.       After rousing her father and sister, she hurries along the beach to find a young woman, dead.     ...

Sisters of Fortune: A Novel of the Titanic by Anna Lee Huber: A Book Review

Sisters of Fortune: A Novel of the Titanic Author: Anna Lee Huber Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Kensington Books Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 418 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: April,1912: It’s the perfect finale to a Grand Tour of Europe—sailing home on the largest, most luxurious ocean liner ever built. For the Fortune sisters, the voyage offers a chance to reflect on the treasures of the past they’ve seen—magnificent castles and museums in Italy and France, the ruins of Greece and the Middle East—and contemplate the futures that await them.       For Alice, there’s foreboding mixed with her excitement. A fortune teller in Egypt gave her a dire warning about traveling at sea. And the freedom she has enjoyed on her travels contrasts with her fiancé’s plans for her return—a cossetted existence she’s no longer sure she wants.       Flora is also returning to a fiancé, a well-to-...

Murder Road by Simone St. James: A Book Review

  Murder Road Author: Simone St. James Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Paranormal  Publisher: Berkley Publication Date: 2024 Pages: 363 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases .        July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.       When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of...

Cover Reveal of A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

I’m so excited that People Magazine just revealed this gorgeous new cover for the upcoming historical novel, A FOUNDING MOTHER about the amazing Abigail Adams, coming May 5, 2026 from my friends Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie! This is going to be the perfect way to celebrate Mother’s Day and to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence! Let me know what you think of the cover! ✭✭✭ Coming 5/5/26! PRE-ORDER NOW ✭✭✭ You can also pre-order on Amazon , Apple , Audible , Barnes and Noble , Books-A-Million , Bookshop.org , GooglePlay , and Kobo ! You can also add the book to your Goodreads and Bookbub ! ✭✭✭ ABOUT THE BOOK ✭✭✭ In time for the 250th Anniversary of the birth of the United States comes a sweeping, intimate portrayal of Abigail Adams—wife of one president and mother to another—whose wit, willpower and wisdom helped shape the fledgling republic. A stunning historical novel with modern-day implications from the New York Times bestselling autho...

A Most Murderous Wedding (Murder Most Gilded Age #1) by Bianca Blythe: A Book Review

A Most Murderous Wedding (Murder Most Gilded Age #1) Author: Bianca Blythe Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense  Publisher: Somerset Park Press Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 194 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A jilted heiress, a blood-drenched ex-fiancé, and scandal in Gilded Age Boston.       Boston 1892. Ruby Irving, heiress of a Nevada tycoon , is thrilled to have landed a viscount . Ascending to the English aristocracy is normally reserved for elegant New Yorkers and New Englanders. Unfortunately, when she stands at the altar before Boston’s bewildered elite, decked in a bridal gown from the House of Worth, and the church brimming with orchids shipped from Africa, her fiancé jilts her . Shortly after, she discovers him dead, stabbed with the wedding cake knife .       The scandal is immediate, and everyone declares her father the killer . If only Pa hadn’t loudly threatened to kill t...

Red Kingdom (Fairy Tale Retellings #2) by Rachel L. Demeter: A Book Review

Red Kingdom (Fairy Tale Retellings #2) Author: Rachel L. Demeter Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance Publisher: Rachel L. Demeter Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 410 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Little Red Riding Hood reimagined with a dark and realistic twist.         Princess Blanchette’s world shatters when the Black Wolf tears apart her castle and everything she holds dear. All she clings to is the vow she made to her grandmother on her deathbed.       Hailed as the people’s champion, Sir Rowan Dietrich liberates the capital in a quest for vengeance. He takes Winslowe Castle with an army at his back and his wolf, Smoke, at his side.       United by a shared cause and powerful attraction, Rowan and Blanchette embark on a journey of self-discovery and redemption—a path filled with loss, transformation, and ultimately, the healing power ...