The Secret Life of Anna Blanc

 

Review of The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: It's 1907 Los Angeles. Mischievous socialite Anna Blanc is the kind of young woman who devours purloined crime novels—but must disguise them behind covers of more domestically-appropriate reading. She could match wits with Sherlock Holmes, but in her world women are not allowed to hunt criminals. 
Determined to break free of the era's rigid social roles, Anna buys off the chaperone assigned by her domineering father and, using an alias, takes a job as a police matron with the Los Angeles Police Department. There she discovers a string of brothel murders, which the cops are unwilling to investigate. Seizing her one chance to solve a crime, she takes on the investigation herself. 
If the police find out, she'll get fired; if her father finds out, he'll disown her; and if her fiancé finds out, he'll cancel the wedding and stop pouring money into her father's collapsing bank. Midway into her investigation, the police chief's son, Joe Singer, learns her true identity. And shortly thereafter she learns about blackmail.
Anna must choose—either hunt the villain and risk losing her father, fiancé, and wealth, or abandon her dream and leave the killer on the loose.

My Review:

I am happy to be with you again to share my thoughts about my last piece of fiction. This week I review The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe.

It features a main character who is a well-known Los Angeles socialite at the turn of the century, but that’s not all she is. As the title suggests, Anna Blanc has a secret, a whole secret other life, under the name of Matron Holmes.

Her love of playing detective and the chance for excitement get the best of her. After a failed attempt at marriage, her father literally catches her immediately after marrying someone he does not approve, another man miraculously wants her for himself and his money is something that her father can’t refuse.

After being arrested as a suffragette, Anna becomes obsessed with the idea of having a job as police matron, something that she knows her father and fiancé won’t approve of. When a positon opens up at the LAPD though, she knows that she can’t let that stand in her way. So she bribes her chaperon to look the other way, tells her new boss that she is a married woman, and gets a job as Matron Holmes.

When she visits a brothel one day, she discovers that prostitutes are being murdered on a regular basis and vows to herself to solve the crime. Meanwhile it becomes more difficult by the day to keep her double life a secret from her father, her friend, and her fiancé.

My overall analysis on this was is that it is a great story. It is nice to see a strong and independent female character from this time period. The author handles the tie-in with the suffragettes nicely.

Also the ending was something of surprise for me. Don’t worry, I am not going to give anything away but the mystery itself was interesting though I think the most interesting part of the story for me was Anna story as a girl who was ruined only to be “saved” again by the attentions of Edgar Wright who then decides to risk everything to help solve a crime that the police seem to ignore.

In the end, Anna also proves herself a capable detective in her own right who is able to make decisions for herself. It would really be nice if this story became a series complete with more mysteries to solve.

On the downside, some readers might find the mystery slow going initially but for me, that part of the story was just as interesting as the mystery. I appreciate the way the author tackled a time period that does not seem to appear much in historical fiction. It reminded me of some of the stories that my grandfather used to tell me in some ways.

I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction, particularly if he or she also likes a good mystery. The background about Los Angeles during this period as well as the Arrow Collar man is fascinating in and of itself. I am hoping someday to score an interview with author about that but in the meantime pick up a copy and read it for yourself.

Contains: language, some sexual situations

 

The Jesuit Letter

Review of The Jesuit Letter by Dean Hamilton

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com:

England 1575

Ex-soldier turned play-actor Christopher Tyburn thought he had left bloodshed and violence behind him when he abandoned the war against the Spanish in Flanders, but fate has different and far bloodier plans waiting.The inn yards of London are closed due to plague and the Earl of Worcester's Men are on the road, touring the market-towns of the Midlands.When Tyburn accidentally intercepts a coded letter from a hidden Jesuit priest in Warwickshire, he is entangled in a murderous and deadly conspiracy. Stalked by unknown enemies, he must race to uncover the conspirators and hunt down the Jesuit to clear his name... or die a traitor's death.

My Review:

Again, I issue what is becoming my standard apology for being late with this post. Rather than go into all the boring details, let’s just dive right in.

My review for today focuses on the novel The Jesuit Letter by Dean Hamilton. This one promised to be very much in the vein of a previous book that I reviewed a while back (and liked) called Sacred Treason by James Forrester.

Plot-wise, Mr. Hamilton’s novel measure up nicely and involves similar types of situations. Instead of William Harley, King of Arms, our main character is one Christopher Tyburn, otherwise known as Kit. His main occupation, and I mean that literally, is as a player. And when I say player, I don’t mean that he has a few girls on the side. I am guessing that it is an Elizabethan term for an actor.

Kit is out for a stroll one day while his company is playing in Stratford, yet that Stratford, when he comes upon a young Will Shakespeare being assaulted by some not so nice men. The men are after a letter that young Master Shakespeare carries. Against his better judgement, Kit retrieves Shakespeare’s letter while the later bolts only to find a longtime family friend dead at the same hands that assaulted him. Thus begins our story.

When Kit’s friend is later killed because he is suspected of having the same letter in his possession, Tyburn determines to find out why this letter is so important. To do that, he must borrow young Shakespeare from his father while the two put their heads together to try to figure out how they can stay alive.

The good points of this story are that it has plenty of action and great characters. Tyburn is not a perfect man thankfully but he does have some heroic qualities even if he does make his living by lying to people and pretending to be something that he is not. We get the impression that he is the reason for young Will’s later interest in the stage, though his impeccable Latin might also have something to do with it.

It is been a while since I last read a biography of Shakespeare so I really couldn’t remember how accurate this story is with what we know about the bard as a person. I think most of my information was about his adult life anyway.

The biggest negative was how the pages were organized. My e-book copy had references besides some of the dialogue so as to explain certain points to the reader. When you click on them you are taken to the notes section. However, when you want to go back to where you were, there’s no link to take you there. You are on your own. This was annoying. I hope that when this book comes out officially as e-book, the publisher will have fixed this problem but if not, beware.

The downside for me was, unlike Forrester’s novel, our main character is a less moral man. He has experienced his own version of PTSD and seems to be scared by it many years later. Also he has a job where he is considered only one step above a beggar in the hierarchy of things which I suppose accounts for his lack of manners at times (he likes to swear in both Dutch and English).

Because of this character trait there are scenes in the book that I skipped over due to sexual content that was a bit too explicit for me as well as the swearing which became more and more intense throughout the progress of the book. If you can overlook these things and you enjoy your Historical Fiction with a lot of intrigue, you just might enjoy this.

Half Killed

Review of Half Killed by Quenby Olson

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Dorothea Hawes has no wish to renew contact with what lies beyond the veil. After an attempt to take her own life, she has retired into seclusion, but as the wounds on her body heal, she is drawn back into a world she wants nothing more than to avoid.

She is sought out by Julian Chissick, a former man of God who wants her help in discovering who is behind the gruesome murder of a young woman. But the manner of death is all too familiar to Dorothea, and she begins to fear that something even more terrible is about to unleash itself on London. And so Dorothea risks her life and her sanity in order to save people who are oblivious to the threat that hovers over them. It is a task that forces her into a confrontation with her own lurid past, and tests her ability to shape events frighteningly beyond her control.

My Review:

More apologies from me as I have to ask pardon for making you wait so long for this latest review. I think I might have to amend my review schedule to one review every other week instead of every week. This, as I mentioned before, is due to me going back to school. I will publish more often when I can but I apologize in advance for the times when it is not possible.

This week’s story was sent to me by a fellow author on Facebook months ago and I am just now getting around to reviewing it. I also have another story from a fellow Facebook member whose book I will be reviewing next time which just shows how far behind I am on keeping my promises.

The story centers on a young London woman whose name is Thea Hawes. Thea has a troubled past but not in the way that most of us do, she is troubled by the spirits of the dead rather than the confrontations with the living. Specifically those of her parents who were mysterious killed years ago.

One day she receives a visit from a Mr.Chissick who claims to know her yet she knows that she has never met him before. Soon enough she finds out the purpose for his visit and doesn’t like it one bit. Chissick brings her to the body of murder girl who has an unusual burn wound across her throat, the apparent cause of death. But who or what could have done this? This is what she must find out. And the most disturbing thing of all is that it is exactly the same way her parents were found on the night they died.

The story itself gets points for uniqueness. I can’t say that I have ever read anything quite like it before. I kept wanted to turn the page. First, I was trying to figure out the time period. I knew it was historical but I couldn’t tell in the beginning if it was the 1800’s or the early 1900’s. It was only the reference to the queen that gave me any idea at all. That and the fact that there were no cars mentioned.

Later, I was drawn in further by this unusual; I guess you could call it a supernatural mystery. It becomes apparent from the beginning that this is no ordinary crime and so the perpetrator must not be any ordinary person either.

The characters were also well-done and interesting. You can feel for both Thea and her Mr. Chissick and, to a lesser extent, some of the less minor characters.

The downsides for me were the Prologue and the description. The Prologue is set in second person and this bothered me. I didn’t want to read an entire story in second person and I didn’t know whether or not it would continue on that way. I kept thinking that if the author did it intending for the reader to identify with Thea, she would have done better to use first person, and beginning in the first chapter, that is exactly what she did.

Then there was the description. Don’t get me wrong it was beautiful. It just seemed like there was too much of it. I felt like a lot of it didn’t really need to be there, especially in the beginning.

I did like it in the end. I liked it quite a lot though I don’t think I would go so far as to say that I loved it. Still it was a great story without a lot of objectionable material so that counted for a lot and it got me through it. I hope you agree.

The Kitchen Boy

Review of The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Drawing from decades of work, travel, and research in Russia, Robert Alexander re-creates the tragic, perennially fascinating story of the final days of Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov as seen through the eyes of their young kitchen boy, Leonka. Now an ancient Russian immigrant, Leonka claims to be the last living witness to the Romanovs’ brutal murders and sets down the dark secrets of his past with the imperial family. Does he hold the key to the many questions surrounding the family’s murder? Historically vivid and compelling, The Kitchen Boy is also a touching portrait of a loving family that was in many ways similar, yet so different, from any other.

My Review:

Today we have the story of the boy who witnessed the demise and execution of the entire Romanov family. This is the fictional account of the author through his main character, a boy named Leonka.

The boy named Leonka grew up to become a man named Misha and Misha immigrated, along with his wife, to the United States. He was/is fabulously wealthy thanks to a stash of Romanov jewels that he managed to bring away from the scene of the crime.

And now, when he is old and dying, he decides to come clean about his involvement in the crime as well as his failure to protect the family.

Before committing suicide, he sits down with a tape recorder and details his confession of what happened during those last days of the Romanov’s and their heirs. His role in the House of Special Purpose and in their death is detailed for her to hear, after he has gone.

But when she returns to Russia, his granddaughter, Katya, has more questions than answers. This is her real purpose in visiting Russia and not simply to carry out her grandfather’s last wishes.

The main story however is almost entirely in Misha’s voice. His version of events is what we read even as Katya will later hear it on tape.

And how we want to believe it, that every word on the tape is true though throughout the story we are told that Dear Misha is holding something back, but what?

We obviously have an unreliable main character here, yet even as he tells his story he feels some sense of relief and absolution somehow in this altered version of what actually happened. We don’t really understand though how this is possible. More importantly, like Katya, we want to know what the real version of these events is.

The characters here seem very real though I don’t know much about the assassination of the Romanov family except that they were gunned down like dogs to make way for Lenin’s rise to power and that has always bugged me. Even if the Czar himself is partly to blame for his own downfall.

Still it is tragic in a Romeo and Juliet kind of way. So the story is a good one. It makes you think. It makes you wonder.

The only downside to this story is some of the language and the violence. If you can look past this though, it is worth a read.

Under a War-Torn Sky

Review of Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliott

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: When Henry Forester is shot down during a bombing run over France,the World War II pilot finds himself trapped behind enemy lines. In constant danger of discovery by German soldiers, Henry begins a remarkable journey to freedom. Relying on the kindness of strangers, Henry moves from town to town—traveling by moonlight, never asking questions, or even the names of the people who help him along the way. Each day brings him closer to home, yet every step in enemy territory invites new dangers.

Even as Henry fights for his own life, he quickly grows to realize the peril that surrounds all of the French people, and to admire the courage of the freedom fighters who risk death to protect him. Suspenseful and achingly true, this critically-acclaimed and deeply beloved novel explores the heartbreak of war, the strength of human spirit, and one young man's struggle to protect the things he loves.

My Review:

File this one under a recommendation from a fellow writer who was critiquing my own work. My story comes from the same era (World War II) and involves speakers of a foreign language but that is where the similarities end. Still I was intrigued.

This story is also in the YA or Young Adult genre which includes pretty much any genre that you can find for adults, just written for a younger audience. So in this case we have a YA Historical Fiction story.

Our main character is a young American pilot named Henry. He comes from a farm somewhere in Virginia. The war of course is a change of pace for him but what changes his life most dramatically when his plane is hit and he parachutes out in the middle of Switzerland.

After being treated in the hospital he is given the choice between spending the rest of the war in Switzerland or trying to escape through France. He chooses the latter and that is when his new adventures begin.

Dependent on the kindness of strangers, he must play an unwitting game of hide and seek with the SS who would love nothing better than torture and intimidate him into giving up those who helped him.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It was well-fleshed out as were the characters in it which surprised me somewhat as those characters were constantly changing as Henry tries to make his way North and hopefully to England or the Allies.

Henry was my favorite and he carried the story well. I can honestly say that reading this one was one of the few times where I could remember a story that could not be filed under the heading of Christian fiction and yet had such a positive and consistent character main character who claimed himself as a Christian. I found it refreshing.

The only downside for me was the crazy amount of dialogue that was mostly in French. The author did translate things that were important but some pieces of dialogue were left untranslated. I was able to figure out some of it based on my limited knowledge of French as well as my Italian but sometimes trying to figure it out slowed me down.

On the other hand, it did give the dialogue a bit of authenticity. I am just thinking that maybe it was a bit overdone.

As you might have guessed, it didn’t stop me from reading it to completion. Ms. Elliot’s story is an exciting one that I would have no hesitation in recommending to younger readers as well.

Contains: some war violence

Tuscan Rose

Review of Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: FLORENCE, 1914. A mysterious stranger known as The Wolf leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child’s identity. . . . FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, young Rosa must leave the nuns, her only family, and become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. Their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa—blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents—is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions. All the while, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, and no citizen is safe. Rosa faces unimaginable hardship: her only weapons her intelligence, intuition, and determination . . . and her extraordinary capacity for love.

My Review:

First off, I must apologize for not putting out a review last week. The book I am reviewing was long and it took me a while to finish it. Which by the way is no reflection on the book itself, although there were some points where I was tempted to stop (more on that later), as much as it was on my schedule for that week. I am currently registering for school as I am returning to university for some graduate work in Technical Writing. Applying to be considered a resident student was more difficult than a thought it would be.

But without any further ado, let’s get to this week’s story. As you can imagine, this week’s story takes place in Tuscany and our main character is a girl/woman named Rose. As an infant, a man appears at the convent of Spirito Santo to leave her to be raised by the nuns.

The story starts and the very beginning and goes at least half way through her life I think but all the elements of a good story are there. We have first the mystery of Rose’s origins. The man who has left her at the convent left his charge with only a key as a hint to her birthright.

She grows up there surprisingly happy until she is told by one of the nuns that she must leave. And that is when most of her troubles begin.

The Marchese of the Villa Scarfiotti has hired her as a governess for his daughter Clementina and from the get-go it is clear that his wife, the Marchesa, intensely dislikes her along with almost everyone else. And there seems to be a very evil force at work. A force that eventually gets her labeled as enemy of the new Fascists state and compels her to leave her beloved Clementina.

As World War II progresses things get gradually worse for both Rosa and the majority of the Italian population who live and sometimes die at the whim of Mussolini and his black shirts. It seems that she goes from one problem to the next but manages to keep her style and dignity while trying to discover the history of her past.

I liked most of the story as I said earlier because it was in Italy and I appreciated that it covered a part of Italy’s history that I previously knew little about. I did not realized exactly how much the citizens of Florence suffered under the Mussolini government as well as under German occupation.

I liked Rosa for the most part but there were times when the things that she did bothered me. I mean I know people aren’t perfect but sometimes it was hard to like her. It probably had a lot to do with the love triangle part of the story since I have never been a fan of love triangles.

The other characters had their intended feel I am guessing. The Marchesa and Osvaldo creeped me out while I couldn’t help but also like Clementina.

This story also relied on the supernatural quite a bit as we discover early on that Rosa has the ability to sense the origin of items, especially those that once were alive such as the fur coats. That was an interesting twist to the story as well and it fooled me a bit as to which direction the story was going.

There is some language in the story but most of the words are in Italian so I don’t know if that will offend anyone. There are also two sex scenes which account for the two times that I almost stopped reading. One in particular bothered me a bit but I kept reading in an effort to find out the end of both the story of Rosa and the city of Florence.

So in the end, I am recommending it but with the above caveats. It is a unique and interesting story. Give it a try.

The Crown in the Heather

Review of The Crown in the Heather by N. Gemini Sasson

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Love and loyalty. Betrayal and murder. What is the cost of a crown?

In 1290, Scotland is without a king. Two families - the Bruces and the Balliols - vie for the throne.

Robert the Bruce is in love with Elizabeth de Burgh, the daughter of an adherent of the ruthless Longshanks, King of England. In order to marry her and not give up his chances of someday becoming King of Scots, Robert must abandon his rebel ways and bide his time as Longshanks' vassal.

But Edward, Longshanks' heir, doesn't trust the opportunistic Scotsman and vows to one day destroy him. While quietly plotting his rebellion, Robert is betrayed by one of his own and must flee Longshanks' vengeance.

Aided by the unlikely brilliance of the soft-spoken young nobleman, James Douglas, Robert battles for his throne. Victory, though, is never certain and Robert soon learns that keeping his crown may mean giving up that which he loves most-his beloved Elizabeth.

My Review:

This week’s story, like many, is the first in series (probably a trilogy). It was free when I got it on Barnes & Noble’s website. And last I checked it is still free now as an e-book.

Our story opens with Robert the Bruce and primarily features his point of view. Although some of the action shows Robert as a young man, most of it takes places as he is aging. The narrative seems to take off when he crosses his father by deciding that he will no longer be Longshanks’ man—think Braveheart because that is exactly the time period we are talking about.

Later Robert changes sides briefly to be with the woman he loves and to stay alive. It is not enough to put him back in his father’s good graces even if he thinks he is only doing what he thinks is best for his beloved Scotland.

Robert along with another main character, James Douglas, another Scottish noble, knows what it means to play both sides of the fence. Unfortunately James Douglas also sees what happens to those who double cross Longshanks when Longshanks kills his father.

Our final main character, the one I liked the least, is Longshanks’s son, also named Edward I think. We get an idea of the hatred between father and son from the get go as Edward refers to his father as his “sire.” It struck me as a rather cold name for a father and as I read further and further into the book, I believed that this was the author’s intention.

The writing was well done. I kept turning pages and wondering what was to happen next and yet the language seemed respectful of the time period it came from. Also, two out of the three protagonists were likable. The third was someone I felt sorry for but not enough to find him likable. He seemed as cruel as his father was and was not able to turn his bad childhood experiences into something positive the way that Douglas did.

I learned a lot from this story. The thing I appreciated the most was learning about Marjorie Bruce, Robert’s daughter. I didn’t know she had even existed. Her relationships with her father and step mother were beautifully portrayed here.

The story took me on a great ride and it was nice to see someone other than Mel Gibson as William Wallace as well, even if it is only in this story. I recommend this one as a great read and not too much bad language though there is some. There is also some violence, as well as attempted rape.

Two Reviews for the Price of One

First up: The Eyes That Moved (short story) by Rachelle M. N. Shaw

Overview from www.amazon.com: Kendra is a young girl who has a knack for spotting unusual trinkets and abandoned houses that hold treasures of their own. When she meets Adam, a fellow sleuth and collector, they decide to embark on their biggest adventure yet: the Whitson house. The house is a marvel, and its secrets are even juicier than Kendra had imagined. The third and final floor of the house holds something Kendra has been waiting a lifetime for. But she may have signed on for more than she bargained. There’s a darkness in the house that wasn’t there before, a pair of eyes in every corner, watching, waiting for her time to come. And Adam isn’t at all who he claimed to be.

My Review:

This story was given to me to review by a fellow writer in any way I see fit so I’ll begin with this one. Our main character, a girl named Kendra, likes old houses and has a date with another young man to explore one close to her neighborhood.

At first she finds no one there. She begins looking around and finds an old family tree that fascinates her for a while but her friend Adam wants her to move on.

That’s when she finds the creepy dolls and the truth about why she has been brought there. But is it too late?

I don’t usually review short stories but I was approached by someone on Facebook and I agreed. I am glad that I did because I thought it was really well-done. For those who like supernatural stories that are not too scary, it is perfect.

Review of  Caledonii: Birth of a Celtic Nation by Ian Hall

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: The year is 69 AD, and the Romans have been lords of the southern part of Britain for over twenty years, but their roads stretch forever northwards. Knowing their armies will one day march on these roads, the Brigante King Venutius decides to send two of his young sons further north to safety.

Sewell, a northern druid, is given the task. He must first locate the boys, then get them safe to his homeland in the Caledonii nation.

It is a dangerous journey into hostile lands
He cannot fail.

My Review:

The next story for review was slightly longer but I think it was just designed as a teaser to get the reader into the series. And, as I suspected, at the end of the story there was a blurb about reading more books in this series.

But was it good enough for me to even consider that? The answer is a resounding yes. I hope the author is reading though because I am not sure if I can actually afford to buy future novels so if he would consider sending me a review copy I’d greatly appreciate it.

Our main character is a Druid named Sewell. The time is 69 AD in the South East of what would one day become Scotland.

His new assignment is to help a local king get his wife and children out of the area before the nasty Romans come through destroying everything in their path. And to top it off they also have to look out for their fellow monarch Cartimanda who has joined the side of the terrible Romans. She will no doubt be looking to curry favor with them.

The story combines some elements of Fantasy and the supernatural along with Historical Fiction. The writing is well-done and the characters are interesting.

Though I suppose it might not have interested me so much if it were not for my love of history and the fact that I remembered a lot of these characters (Cartimanda) from The British History Podcast.

There are some elements of sexuality but there was nothing graphic as I recall. Of course there is also some violence. Still, I found it engaging and well-done.

Into The Whirlwind

Review of Into The Whirlwind by Elizabeth Camden

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: As owner of the 57th Illinois Watch Company, Mollie Knox's future looks bright until the night the legendary Great Chicago Fire destroys her beloved city. With her world crumbling around her, Mollie will do whatever it takes to rebuild in the aftermath of the devastating fire.

Zack Kazmarek, an influential attorney for one of Chicago's finest department stores, is a force to be reckoned with among the city's most powerful citizens. Bold and shrewd, he's accustomed to getting exactly what he wants--until he meets Mollie Knox, the beguiling businesswoman just beyond his reach.

In the tumult as the people of Chicago race to rebuild a bigger and better city, Mollie comes face-to-face with the full force of Zack's character and influence. Zack believes this may finally be his chance to win her, but can Mollie ever accept this man and his whirlwind effect on her life, especially with her treasured company on the line?

My Review:

Elizabeth Camden’s novel brings “into the whirlwind” in more ways than one. And it all begins with the Great Chicago Fire.

Our main character, Mollie Knox, owns a watch making company known as the 57^th Illinois Watch Company. She inherited it from her now deceased father who lived for his work and Mollie has inherited his drive though her business skills are all her own.

Before the fire, Mollie is a tough, no nonsense business women who wears her hair in braids to keep it out of her way as she works.

Zack Kazmarek is the lawyer for Hartman’s, a fancy Chicago department store. He is equal parts ambition, control, and craziness. Although he has known Mollie for three years in their business dealings (his store sells Mollie’s watch) he had never seen this side of her before nor had he ever had the guts to let his true feelings for her show. But the fire changed all that.

Realizing how easily he could have lost her, Zack finally declares his real feelings for her. But winning her love will not be easy.

Mollie dislikes the pressure that Zack has put her under and on top of that her business burnt to ground during the fire. The factory workers are counting on her to keep them employed, many of them dear friends of her father’s during the Civil War, and she can’t let them down.

The world she lives in has turned upside down overnight, something we can all relate to I think. At least those of us who remember the days after 9/11 and what a shock that was. As much as we might think it is something that only we modern citizens have experienced, it is nothing new.

I liked the character of Mollie Knox. In many ways she is different from the type of woman that we usually think of when we envision woman of the day and yet she is believable. She is tough but not so tough that we don’t see her vulnerable side. And she is kind at the same time, always taking time to care about her employees as well as fighting to keep the company that her father loved afloat.

I also liked how the message to trust in God’s love was not too heavy-handed like you see in many works of Christian fiction. And I liked how this book delved somewhat into the heart of Chicago’s Polish Community. I am not sure if it exists as such these days but it is nice to imagine how it might have been.

While it is not my favorite type of Historical Fiction, I appreciated this Romance nonetheless. At least it didn’t insult my intelligence and hopefully not yours. I suggest you give it a try.

Game of Empires

Review of Game of Empires by Richard Blake

Overview from www.goodreads.com: Constantinople, 617 AD. 

Chained up in a condemned cell, Rodi thinks it’s the last day of his life. 

It becomes the first. 

Though only fourteen, his brains and skill at forgery make him too valuable for the Roman Empire to waste on a public execution. 

The Lord Treasurer Alaric recruits him into a top secret security agency – his job, once trained, is to turn the tables in the Empire’s war with the so far victorious Persians. 

This is a story that takes you from the glittering palaces and sordid streets and brothels of the Imperial City, to the barbarian-ravaged provinces, to high mountain tops fringed with pine. 

Here, with no one to help but a naïve Christian missionary, Rodi must prove himself in a contest with the devotees of an obscene and bloody idol and a Persian spy. 

Can young Rodi survive and come out on top in this ruthless and secret Game of Empires…? 

My Review:

The story for this week takes place in an era and place that I have not seen a lot in Historical Fiction. The time is 617 AD. The place is Constantinople. For those of you who don’t already know, Constantinople is the old name for modern day Istanbul which is in Turkey.

Our main character, a young man named Rodi, is about to be executed for forgery. At the last minute his life is spared by Lord Alaric. In exchange, he must devote his life to his new master while working as a spy for the Byzantine Empire i. e. the Eastern half of the Roman Empire.

I don’t have such a great knowledge of this Empire but I seem to recall that there was an Emperor named Alaric. I am not sure if this is the same one in the history books but it probably is.

Scratch that. I might have gotten my facts wrong. I probably have. Sorry for the confusion.

Anyway, as he continues on his quest to find out what the Persians and their spy Ephraem have planned for the Empire. Already it seems that it will lose yet another chunk of its territory—Egypt. Now they must prevent the rest of the Empire from falling to the Persians.

The author tells this story well. It flows and intrigues. The characters are also intriguing and in no way stereotyped. Also, it is not as long as many Historical novels are which makes it easier to get through.

But I have to mention that I did stop reading it for a day or so and debated with myself whether or not I should continue reading.

There was some language that I didn’t like. Also certain elements of the story bothered me. I tried to ignore it and continue reading though because I liked the writing and rarely have the chance to read something from this time period.

I did like the historical background at the beginning of the story, even if it was a bit different. My memories of studying the Byzantine Empire were a little sketchy so even though I at first wondered what was going on, later into the story I appreciated it.

It was a good story though, so if you are not put off by the things I mentioned, you might give it a try. Though I am glad I finished it, I am not sure if I would read another one or not. We’ll see.

Gatsby Girls

Review of Gatsby Girls by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: She was an impulsive, fashionable and carefree 1920s woman who embodied the essence of the Gatsby Girl -- F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda. As Fitzgerald said, "I married the heroine of my stories." All of the eight short stories contained in this collection were inspired by Zelda.

Fitzgerald, one of the foremost writers of American fiction, found early success as a short story writer for the most widely read magazine of the early 20th century -- the Saturday Evening Post. Fitzgerald's stories, first published by the Post between 1920 and 1922, brought the Jazz Age and the "flapper" to life and confirmed that America was changing faster than ever before. Women were bobbing their hair, drinking and flirting shamelessly, and Fitzgerald brought these exciting Gatsby Girls to life in the pages of the Post.

A foreword by Jeff Nilsson, archivist for the Post, adds historical context to this wonderful, new collection, which is highlighted by an introduction written by Fitzgerald himself. Each story is accompanied by the original illustrations and the beautiful cover images from the Post. Read the stories that made F. Scott Fitzgerald one of the most beloved writers in America -- and around the world -- still today.

My Review:

Going off into a new direction this week, I am reviewing a collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald called Gatsby Girls. This book contains some of the stories that Fitzgerald wrote for “The Saturday Evening Post,” many of which Norman Rockwell illustrated. Sometimes the cover would even feature a Rockwell illustration based on his stories.

Why is that important? I don’t know. But to me it was interesting since I enjoy a Norman Rockwell painting as much as the next person.

Anyway, back to the stories. I was thrown off at first because the first writing by Fitzgerald was not a story at all but an essay. In it, he mainly wrote about his journey as a writer and in particular his experience with short stories. It was a very insightful little gem though I did start to wonder if I’d read the book description right. It distinctly mentioned that this was the book with Fitzgerald short stories.

Not to worry though because the next item was a short story. There was a short blurb about it with some background information including when it was published. And then the story followed.

I did begin to see something that surprised me in these stories. Over and over again, they were about relationships between men and women. The women were usually rich Southern belles who were either looking for something different than the life that had grown up in or were just thrown into something different.

I also began to see how the introduction to the book was right. The person who wrote that introduction explained how Fitzgerald created all or nearly all of his heroines based on one person—his wife Zelda. She was that spoiled Southern belle but she had spunk. Maybe these stories were his attempt to figure her out. Who knows?

My favorites were “Myra Meets his Family” and “The Off Shore Pirate.” These seemed to be the most original of the lot. And I did enjoy the Rockwell illustrations even if in some spots they seemed a little strange. It might have been mostly because I am not used to illustrations in a story for adults. They did add though in helping me visual the time period and atmosphere in the stories.

The other odd thing was the placement of the illustrations. I don’t remember which story it was in particular but one of the stories had an illustration of the last scene in the story. I thought if I had been scanning through this issue and not really read that story, that photo would have given the ending away. It seemed to be a strange thing to do.

All of the stories are also divided into sections with Roman numerals telling the reader which one it was. This was helpful as most of the stories were a bit long.

Overall though, I liked reading them. I think I learned something about Fitzgerald’s process as well as the time period. If you enjoy his writing, I think you would probably enjoy this collection as well.

Contains: some sensuality