Historical Romance

The Pattern Artist by Nancy Moser

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Pattern Artist by Nancy Moser was an okay book.  I honestly don’t remember much about this book because I read it at the end of last year and I don’t remember much about it.  That being said I do remember liking this book, but it was very memorable to me.  I know that this happened before with other books and it always tends to be historical fiction books.  I usually enjoy the books but after I move on to another book I forget the one that I read last.  If you like historical fiction than I would sure tell you to check out this book.

About The Book

English housemaid Annie Wood arrives in New York in 1911. On her own for the first time working as a Macy’s sewing department clerk, Annie catches the eye of a salesman at the Butterick Pattern Company. Through determination, hard work, and God’s leading, Annie discovers a hidden gift: she is a talented fashion designer—an artist of the highest degree. As she runs from ghosts of the past and focuses on the future, Annie enters a creative world that takes her to the fashion houses of Paris and into a life of adventure, purpose, and love.

About The Author


Nancy Moser is the award-winning author of twenty-nine inspirational novels that focus on discovering our unique purpose. Her genres include both contemporary and historical stories.

Her latest historical novels are the Downton Abbey-inspired Manor House Series:”Love of the Summerfields”, “Bride of the Summerfields”, and “Rise of the Summerfields.”

Also new is “The Pattern Artist” about Macy’s and the Butterick Pattern company.

Her historical bio-novels allow real women-of-history to share their life stories:”Just Jane” (Jane Austen), “Mozart’s Sister” (Nannerl Mozart), “Washington’s Lady” (Martha Washington) and “How Do I Love Thee?” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning.)

“An Unlikely Suitor” was named to Booklist’s Top 100 Romance Novels of the last decade.

Nancy’s time-travel novel, “Time Lottery”, won a Christy Award, and “Washington’s Lady” was a finalist.

Her contemporary books are known for their big-casts and intricate plotting. Some titles are “The Invitation”, “John 3: 16”, “Weave of the World”, “The Sister Circle”, “The Seat Beside Me”, and “The Good Nearby”.

Nancy and her husband live in the Midwest. She’s earned a degree in architecture, traveled extensively in Europe, and has performed in numerous theaters, symphonies, and choirs. She knits voraciously, kills all her houseplants, and can wire an electrical fixture without getting shocked. She is a fan of anything antique–humans included.

Find out more: nancymoser.com.

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The Big House On Adams Street by Alberta Sparks

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from BookLook in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Big House On Adams Street by Alberta Sparks turned out to be a book that I ended up not liking it at all.  This book was super hard for to me finish because to me the entire book seemed rushed and I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters in this book.  The book moved at a pace that made it hard to get to know the characters and things like that.  I wished that the author would have taken more time for us to get to know the characters better.  I also wish that more time would have been taken with setting up the story because I am sure I would have liked it if it had more details and more time was taken.

About The Book

Fritz, a young, wealthy German, immigrates to America and experiences a shipboard romance on the way. His dream is to use his riches to help needy people, providing housing and hopefully developing a community of one accord. His family joins him after a big house has been built in Cincinnati, Ohio. In a variety of totally unexpected episodes, the beautiful, spacious house begins to bring together many unlikely people into a community. The transformation of lives is assisted by an elderly chaplain who is bilingual and has a great store of wisdom

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Pursuing Gold by Cynthia L. Simmons

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Pursuing Gold by Cynthia L. Simmons was a super interesting historical fiction book.  This book takes place during the civil war which has always been a time period that I have had a hard time getting into the stories but this book was different for me and I am not sure why that is.  I really enjoyed the characters in this book even though at times I would forget who was who so I would be super confused for a page or so and then I would remember who was who and it all made sense again.  There are a lot of characters which is why I kept getting confused I am sure but once I was into the book a good way I was able to keep them straight.  I really did enjoy this authors writing and I am going to add her to list of authors to read more books by them in the future.  If you love historical fiction books I would for sure recommend this book to you especially if you love civil war fiction.

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About The Book

With his father dead and his business partner incapacitated, Peter Chandler inherits the leadership of a bank in economic crisis.

>With only a newly-minted college degree and little experience, Peter joins his partner’s daughter, Mary Beth Roper, in a struggle to keep C&R Bank afloat while the Civil War rages around Chattanooga. Political pressure for unsecured loans of gold to the government stirs up trouble as tempers and prices rise. Their problems multiply when Mary Beth discovers counterfeit money with Peter’s forged signature. Can they find the forger before the bank fails? The two friends must pursue gold on behalf of their business, as they learn to pursue their heavenly Father to find hope and peace.

cynthia-l-simmons

About The Author

Cynthia L Simmons and her husband, Ray, have five children and reside in Atlanta. She has taught for over thirty years as a homeschool mother and Bible teacher. She’s a columnist for Leading Hearts Magazine and she directs Atlanta Christian Writing Conference. Cyndi has a heart for encouraging women in today’s crazy, upside-down world. She loves history and peppers her speaking and teaching with fascinating vignettes from the past. Her first book, Struggles and Triumphs, was nominated for 2008 Georgia Author of the Year. She co-founded Homeschool Answers and hosts Heart of the Matter Radio.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Everlasting Lies by Barbara Warren

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Everlasting Lies by Barbara Warren wasn’t my favorite book that I have read lately.  I had such a hard time with it because of the lying that goes on.  When I saw this book I thought for sure, it would be something that I would enjoy reading but in the end, it just bugged me.  It was well written, and I enjoyed the author writing.   I kept thinking of my parents who lie all the time, and I just wasn’t able to get past that while I was reading this story.  I  am going to hold on to this book because I am sure I would like it, so I am going to pull it out in the future and give it another chance.  Like I said this book is well written, and I know that most people would enjoy this book, and I want to try and read it again in the future to see if my thoughts change.

everlasting-lies

About The Book

Edina Paxton is kissed at twelve, seduced at fourteen and married with child at fifteen. She immediately regrets her marriage to Charles Vernon and is relieved when he leaves to fight in the trenches during WW1. She soon finds love, comfort and sexual satisfaction with Bill, another soldier and the boy who first kissed her.

Charles is invalided out of the army and is sent to India on a hospital ship. There, he becomes a manager of a coalmine in Britain’s Indian Empire, with all the privileges that his position rewards, including sexual favours from female employees. At the end of his army service in 1920 he returns to England to collect his family and return to India, only to be greeted with the news that while he was away Edina was at play. She is pregnant.

Reluctantly, Edina and her three children sail for India with Charles and Edina gives birth to her fourth child while sailing south on the Red Sea. On reaching India, Charles finds his Indian mistress is pregnant, and Edina finds Charles’s Indian boss to be very attractive. It’s a mutual attraction. Neither Edina nor Charles is a saint.

Piecing together fragments of her grandmother’s remarkable and tragic story, Everlasting Lies is Barbara’s loving tale of the early life of Edina, her grandmother, and Charles, Edina’s husband. They both experience the horrors of WW1 and, in hopes of renewing their marriage, start new lives as members of the upper class in Imperial India.

barbara-warren

About The Author

Barbara Warren always has the pedal to the metal. Born in England and educated at a convent, she left school at sixteen and was selling encyclopedias in the roughest part of London at eighteen. She married and emigrated to Canada when she was twenty-three, had three charming daughters, went to university when she was thirty-six and retired from teaching in her mid fifties.

Then she pursued her passion for the arts and travel. She and her husband rode camels in India, elephants in Nepal and horses in Montana. They hitchhiked in Norway, cycled across Denmark and snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. Barbara’s paintings grace homes in Canada, USA, and Mexico and she designs her clothes. She spends the winters in Mexico and the summers in the bible belt of southern Alberta.

Her first novel, Everlasting Lies, tells the story of her grandparents’ love affairs with each other and with others. They struggle to survive in the last years of Victorian England and the horrors of WW1 and then start a new life with four children in Imperial India.

Connect with the author:  Website  ~  Facebook

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Starving Hearts by Janine Mendenhall

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Starving Hearts by Janine Mendenhall was a great book. I usually am not the biggest fan of historical fiction books but I loved this authors writing. She was able to make me feel like I was there with the characters and I understood everything that was going on. I am not sure how she was able to do that and not bog down the book with details but she did and I loved that. I would have to say that I think this is my favorite author who writes historical fiction.   You could tell when you are reading this book that the author really loves what she writes about. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series because I am hoping it will be just as good as this one is. If you like historical fiction, then you need to pick this one up because I am confident that you will love it as much as I did.

 

Starving Hearts by Janine Mendenhall

About The Book

Since her assault, Miss Annette Chetwynd has been plagued by nightmares and worries about an arranged marriage. But she yearns to find her anonymous rescuer. Unfortunately, her health and intellect prevent it. Both repel suitors and cause Annette to doubt God’s existence, at least until He answers her prayers in an unusual way …

Mr. Peter Adsley is joining the clergy, and he desires a godly wife by his side. After his failed attempt to obtain one, he engages in a clandestine meeting with the bewitching young woman who keeps crossing his path. But she is so unsettling.

Destined for disappointments, Peter and Annette endure disgraceful situations. Will Peter’s faith sustain him through overwhelming setbacks? Can Annette overcome her doubts? Or will their starving hearts yield to the machinations of a mad man?

Janine Mendenhall

About The Author

My interest in reading and historical ball gowns grew into a magnificent obsession with beauty and the Ultimate happily ever after.

I lose myself somewhere in time using: Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice or a number of other classics like Jane Eyre and Redeeming Love. I also cry over nearly everything Nicholas Sparks (because it ends sadly) and Amazing Grace, both the movie and the hymn, because they point to the Ultimate happily ever after.
(The crying could also stem from being lost in Austen one too many times, or because I’m a high school English teacher and the end of the school year is coming so quickly.)

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Northern Light by Annette O’Hare

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Northern Light by Annette O’Hare was an interesting book. This book was an easy book to read but at times it seemed rushed, and I wished that they would have taken more time explaining certain things. Even with that being said I still really enjoyed this story. I was always laughing at some of the antics that June with pull. I spent a good part of the book just laughing about things she said. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Margaret, and I am not sure why. She annoyed me right from the start of the book, but it wasn’t so bad that I didn’t want to read the book. I like Thomas, but I am usually a big fan of characters that are from Ireland. All in all, this was an excellent book, and if you like historical fiction, I would say check this one out and see what you think of it.

Northern Light by Annette O'Hare

About The Book

Civil War has robbed Margaret Logan of all she holds dear, including her beloved New Orleans home and her fiancé. When her family moves to the desolate Bolivar Peninsula to manage a lighthouse that is no longer there, all her hopes for a normal future are dashed. Her world is rocked once again when a wounded Yankee soldier washes ashore needing her help. Despite her contempt for the North, Margaret falls in love with Thomas Murphy. As their love blooms, Margaret’s sister is overcome with neurosis, and her mind slowly slips away. Bitterness, psychosis and depression yield a decision fueled by contempt. Will one fatal choice cause Margaret to lose the man she loves and condemn Thomas to death?

Annette O'Hare

About The Author

Growing up in Houston, Texas in the 1970’s, Annette loved the stories about ghosts haunting the Spaghetti Warehouse and the mysterious “blue light” cemetery. But it was “Devil’s Island,” the magical woods across from home where her imagination blossomed. She created fantastic scenarios to act out with her brother and the neighborhood kids where worlds were conquered and dragons were slain. Annette is still making up stories, and is looking forward to the release of her first historical romance with Pelican Book Group. Her love for the history and heritage of her home state of Texas shines through in her writing and she’s made it the backdrop for her book series. Annette is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and her local chapter, ACFW-Writers on the Storm. She lives north of Houston with her husband, Dan of 30 years. Dan and Annette are the proud parents of two Texas A&M graduates, one exceedingly imaginative high schooler, and two rambunctious, loveable rescue dogs.
http://www.annetteohare.com

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