The Queen's Rivals by Brandy Purdy - Blog Tour, Book Review and Giveaway #QueensRivalsTour

I received a free copy of The Queen's Rivals from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for my honest review.

About the Book:

Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Kensington Publishing
Paperback; 384p
ISBN-10: 0758265999

Their ambitions were ordinary, but they were born too close to the throne…

As cousins of history’s most tempestuous queens, Ladies Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey were born in an age when all of London lived beneath the Tower’s menacing shadow. Tyrannized by Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen, the sisters feared love was unthinkable —and the scaffold all but unavoidable…

Raised to fear her royal blood and what it might lead men to do in her name, Mary Grey dreads what will become of herself and her elder sisters under the reigns of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I. On their honor, they have no designs on the crown, yet are condemned to solitude, forbidden to wed. Though Mary, accustomed to dwelling in the shadows, the subject of whispers, may never catch the eye of a gentleman, her beautiful and brilliant sisters long for freedoms that would surely cost their lives. And so, wizened for her years, Mary can only hope for divine providence amid a bleak present and a future at the whim of the throne — unless destiny gains the upper hand.

A gripping and bittersweet tale of broken families and broken hearts, courage and conviction, The Queen’s Rivals recounts an astonishing chapter in the hard-won battle for the Tudor throne.

Please note this book will be published in the UK on September 12, 2013 as THE FALLEN QUEEN by Emily Purdy.

About the Author:

Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), THE QUEEN’S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR), and THE QUEEN’S RIVALS (THE FALLEN QUEEN). An ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Visit her website at www.brandypurdy.com, you can also follow her, and her cat Tabby, via her blog at http://brandypurdy.blogspot.com where she posts updates about her work and weekly book reviews.

My Opinion:


Rating:


You can see The Queen's Rivals Tour Schedule

You can preorder The Queen's Rivals on Amazon.com (releases 6/25)

The Giveaway:

One lucky reader will win a copy of The Queen's Rivals. How do you win? It's easy! Just hop on the Rafflecopter. Good luck everyone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure:  I received a free copy of The Queen's Rivals from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for my honest review. I received no compensation for this post.

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky - Giveaway

I received a free copy of Sweet Salt Air from St. Martin's Press for my honest review. That review will appear on 8/27/13. I received no compensation for posting this giveaway.

One lucky US reader will win a copy of Barbara Delinsky's brand new book, Sweet Salt Air. I will be reviewing the book in August but for now here is all you need to know:

About the Book:

On Quinnipeague, hearts open under the summer stars and secrets float in the Sweet Salt Air... 

Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole's coastal island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague, for a final summer, to help. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees. 

But what both women don't know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage, but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole’s friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own.

About the Author:

BARBARA DELINSKY is a New York Times bestselling author with more than thirty million copies of her books in print. She has been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. A lifelong New Englander, Delinsky earned a B.A. in psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in sociology at Boston College. Delinsky enjoys knitting, photography, and cats. She lives in Needham, Massachusetts.


You can purchase Sweet Salt Air on Amazon.com

You can read an excerpt of Sweet Salt Air

Be sure to come back on August 27th and see what my thoughts are on Sweet Salt Air!

How do you win? It's easy! Just hop on the Rafflecopter. Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: I received a free copy of Sweet Salt Air from St. Martin's Press for my honest review. That review will appear on 8/27/13. I received no compensation for posting this giveaway.

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann - Book Reveiw

I received a free copy of Astor Place Vintage from the publisher for my honest review.

About the Book:

Amanda Rosenbloom, proprietor of Astor Place Vintage, thinks she’son just another call to appraise and possibly purchase clothing from a wealthy, elderly woman. But after discovering a journal sewn into a fur muff, Amanda gets much more than she anticipated. The pages of the journal reveal the life of Olive Westcott, a young woman who had moved to Manhattan in 1907. Olive was set on pursuing a career as a department store buyer in an era when Victorian ideas, limiting a woman’s sphere to marriage and motherhood, were only beginning to give way to modern ways of thinking. As Amanda reads the journal, her life begins to unravel until she can no longer ignore this voice from the past. Despite being separated by one hundred years, Amanda finds she’s connected to Olive in ways neither could ever have imagined.

About the Author:

Stephanie Lehmann received her BA at UC 
Berkeley and a MA in English from New York University. She has taught novel writing at Mediabistro and online at Salon.com, where her essays have been published. She currently lives in New York City. Visit her online at StephanieLehmann.com and AstorPlaceVintage.com.

My Opinion:

This novel takes place in two different time periods and truly has three protagonists; Amanda, the owner of a vintage clothing store in the present day, Olive, a young woman just recently moved to the city with her father  and the city itself - New York. The book would not be nearly as compelling without the history of Manhattan woven into the lives of the women who love it so.

Olive experiences the ups of being a young lady living in the city for the first time as she believes she can pursue a career but soon learns that life for a woman of her time is harsh.  Amanda, while believing herself independent lives under a cloud of bad decisions and an inability to move forward in her life.  New York continues to change, grow and yet somehow stay the same exciting, vibrant city that so many flock to in search of their dreams.

I enjoyed the circular nature of the book as Amanda goes through some vintage clothes offered for sale and discovers Olive's diary and the story moves back and forth between the lives of the two women. Both were very engaging characters but I found Olive to be the more likable. She really pulled up her bootstraps and just did what needed doing!

It was a perfect beach read for the upcoming summer or a book just to be enjoyed for the fun it provides.

Rating:

4

You can purchase Astor Place Vintage on Amazon.com

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of Astor Place Vintage from the publisher for my honest review. I received no compensation for this post.