Book Review | Cross My Heart | Sasha Gould

May 31

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Cross My Heart | Sasha GouldCross My Heart by Sasha Gould
Series: Cross My Heart #1
Published by Delacorte on March 13, 2012
Genres: Europe, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 262
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Venice, 1585.

When 16-year-old Laura della Scala learns that her older sister, Beatrice, has drowned, she is given no time to grieve. Instead, Laura’s father removes her from the convent where he forcibly sent her years earlier and orders her to marry Beatrice’s fiancé, a repulsive old merchant named Vincenzo. Panicked, Laura betrays a powerful man to earn her way into the Segreta, a shadowy society of women who deal in only one currency—secrets. The Segreta seems like the answer to Laura’s prayers. The day after she joins their ranks, Vincenzo is publicly humiliated and conveniently exiled. Soon, however, Laura begins to suspect that her sister’s death was not a tragic accident but a cold-blooded murder—one that might involve the Segreta and the women she has come to trust.

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Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review | The Garden Intrigue | Lauren Willig

Feb 16

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Garden Intrigue | Lauren WilligThe Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig
Series: Pink Carnation #9
Published by Dutton Adult on February 16, 2012
Genres: Adult, Europe, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
Pages: 388
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Secret agent Augustus Whittlesby has spent a decade undercover in France, posing as an insufferably bad poet. The French surveillance officers can’t bear to read his work closely enough to recognize the information drowned in a sea of verbiage.

New York-born Emma Morris Delagardie is a thorn in Augustus’s side. An old school friend of Napoleon’s stepdaughter, she came to France with her uncle, the American envoy; eloped with a Frenchman; and has been rattling around the salons of Paris ever since. Widowed for four years, she entertains herself by drinking too much champagne, holding a weekly salon, and loudly critiquing Augustus’s poetry.

As Napoleon pursues his plans for the invasion of England, Whittlesby hears of a top-secret device to be demonstrated at a house party at Malmaison. The catch? The only way in is with Emma, who has been asked to write a masque for the weekend’s entertainment.

Emma is at a crossroads: Should she return to the States or remain in France? She’ll do anything to postpone the decision-even if it means teaming up with that silly poet Whittlesby to write a masque for Bonaparte’s house party. But each soon learns that surface appearances are misleading. In this complicated masque within a masque, nothing goes quite as scripted- especially Augustus’s feelings for Emma.

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Filed Under: Adult, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Book Review | The Name of the Star | Maureen Johnson

Nov 3
Book Review | The Name of the Star | Maureen JohnsonThe Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Series: Shades of London #1
Published by Penguin on September 29, 2011
Genres: Contemporary YA, Europe, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Paranormal YA, People & Places, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

 

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult