Happy Release Day to Sarah J. Maas!

The day is here!

I’ve been quite excited for the release of A Court of Silver Flames. I even did the pre-order, so they’ll eventually ship a pin to me, for which I’m quite excited too! It was author Stephanie Thornton who got me into the ACOTAR books, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t give her a shoutout and a thank you, haha. I’m a little behind still and need to catch up, but I plan to do that this week, so by the time this arrives, I’ll be ready to jump in. After that is a reread of the Grishaverse stories in anticipation of Rule of Wolves–and also the Netflix series. (Hello Ben Barnes as the Darkling!!) But anyway…the cover is here.

I’m including the usual info below too! If you’ve read it already, let me know your thoughts below!

Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, richly imagined series continues with the journey of Feyre’s fiery sister, Nesta.

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.

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Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Crescent City,Throne of Glass, and Court of Thorns and Roses series, as well as a #1 USA Today and international bestselling author. Her books have sold millions of copies,  and are published in thirty-seven languages . A New York native, Sarah currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and dog.

A Well-Behaved Woman (A Review)

So, you guys have seen how excited I have been for this one. I’ve brought it up in several different posts over the last few months and well, here we are! It was released yesterday and I’m over the moon. I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy and I’m delighted to tell you that I wasn’t disappointed, I enjoyed the read. The author was truly brilliant, the book well researched and the world lively enough for me to lose myself for a while. Whilst I wish certain parts were a little faster paced, it didn’t take away from the book for me.

Ms. Fowler painted the portrait of turn of the century beautifully. I loved reading about the rules of society and what one had to do or know to get accepted into it. When one hears the name Vanderbilt, one doesn’t think if a family who has to struggle for acceptance. They are part of that legendary echelon that most of us will never be part of. Yet, it was quite a different time and I was not at all disappointed in learning about the maneuvering to attain and keep the desired status. Reading about Alva’s privileged life was certainly one of interest for me. I liked reading about the different balls and events, how she dealt with things. She was a strong woman, even though occasionally I did find her being docile when she shouldn’t have been.

You may find that the book is slow in places, that you’re left wanting. However, I attributed that to the fact that most women’s lives were like that. There were rules and one was meant to follow them. To have a woman like Alva, who is headstrong and thinks for herself, was quite uncommon. In a time when divorce was unheard of, Alva did it. She was an outcast for a time but recovered nicely. When she wasn’t granted a box in the Academy of Music, she founded The Met. Yes, that self-same Opera House in New York. (And I don’t know about you, but I damn love a level of petty. Who’s ever heard of the Academy of Music? Well, maybe a lot of people have, but The Met! C’mon!) Alva’s influence is still very present in this day and age. Her spirit and reach lives on, nearly a century after her death.

This isn’t to say that you will love her at every moment in the book. Despite nearly being destitute and facing a life where she might have needed to work for a living, Alva is surprisingly unsympathetic to the poor in certain moments. She also, for being rather progressive on some things, was a bit backward in how she raised her daughter. Despite not enjoying the silliness of one needing a husband, she was quick to try to get her daughter with the highest bidder, so to speak. She dominates this book and I found she was very well developed. I’d have liked a bit more on her best friend, Consuelo, who became Duchess of Manchester.

Also, ladies, she was a huge part of the suffrage movement. So when you vote next month, think of Alva.

So if you want a fast pace tone, this may not be the read for you. Don’t let that hinder you though, I really think you’d enjoy this. Especially if you like historical fiction. If you love The Gilded Age and reading about those prominent families of New York, like the Astors, the Roosevelts, the Rockefellers, and of course, the Vanderbilts, you’ll enjoy this. I enjoyed her Ms. Fowler’s previous work on her book about Zelda Fitzgerald, this was no different.

• I’d give it ★★★★ stars.
• I received this in exchange for an honest review. (Thank you!)
• I would recommend this to a friend.

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Therese Anne Fowler (pronounced ta-reece) is the third child and only daughter of a couple who raised their children in Milan, Illinois. An avowed tomboy as a child, Therese protested her grandmother’s determined attempts to dress her in frills, and then, to further her point, insisted on playing baseball even though Milan had a perfectly good girls’ softball league. She was one of the first girls in the U.S. to play Little League baseball.

After a too-early first marriage and a stint as the single mother of two terrific (now grown-up) sons, she went on to earn a BA in sociology/cultural anthropology and an MFA in creative writing, both from North Carolina State University.  Her first novel was published in 2008.

A book’s fate is almost entirely outside its author’s control. Some are published with a lot of marketing and publicity support, but most are not. After the publication of three contemporary novels, each of which sold fewer copies than the previous one, Therese faced a hard truth: her career was in a nosedive. Her editor at the time felt she should take on a pen name and try again with the same sort of book, but Therese was not persuaded. She decided, instead, to write a biographical historical novel about Zelda Fitzgerald, Z, which was published in 2013.

Therese’s work has been translated into more than twenty foreign languages and is published around the world. Z is now available as an original dramatic series for Amazon Studios starring Christina Ricci, with Killer Films producing. (Amazon has elected not to continue with its order for a second season.)

What Therese has discovered is that she has an affinity for badass women from history whose stories have been either mistold or are largely untold. Her next novel centers on Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a determined, opinionated, compassionate, often amusing woman from America’s Gilded Age. A Well-Behaved Woman, a kind of homage to Edith Wharton with a dash of affection for Jane Austen for good measure, will be published by St. Martin’s Press on October 16, 2018.

Therese has been a visiting professor at North Carolina State University and occasionally teaches fiction writing at conferences and workshops. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and PEN America, she is married to award-winning professor and author John Kessel. They reside in North Carolina.

Happy Release Day to Dracul! {Review.}

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
• Publish Date: October 2, 2018

The prequel to Dracula, inspired by notes and texts left behind by the author of the classic novel, Dracul is a riveting novel of gothic suspense that reveals not only Dracula’s true origins but Bram Stoker’s — and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here…

A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents’ Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen — a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen — and that the nightmare they’ve thought long ended is only beginning.

It is strange to say that I never much enjoyed the book, Dracula. It has its perks and points that had me intrigued, but I never fell head over heels. I enjoyed the film with Gary Oldman greatly; as well as Dracula Untold with Luke Evans. (I was in the minority for that, I think.) Regardless, I have always loved the lure of the supernatural and when I heard about this particular book, I was interested. I never thought that I’d receive an advanced copy but I requested…and voila! Despite its large size–just over 500 pages, I finished it in two nights.

This is a stunning mix of both reality and fiction meeting. The events of this story is what inspires Bram to eventually write ‘Dracula’. If you’re looking for a bland, sparkly sort of vampire story, this isn’t it. If you like a traditional, I’m-going-to-scare-the-hell-out-of-you vampire? This is it. Both authors write seamlessly and it’s easy to forget that there are actually two people writing. Dacre Stoker has a wealth of information at his fingertips that he imbued in the story, giving life to the Stoker family in a way that we don’t really get.

I loved the vivacity of the characters. Not a one was dull nor one dimensional. Everyone seemingly jumped off the pages, even Ellen, whom we learn little about until she’s ready to tell about herself. She is a mystery yet, you do feel that you know her well. I loved Matilda, Bram’s sister. She is ahead of her time, not willing to submit to the rubbish rules of society, though using them occasionally to get her way. I loved that she was able to call things as they were even if no one else wanted to see or hear it.

Written as journal entries by the central characters, you’re brought into the mindsets of each of them, all of them forming a stunning read that I guarantee you won’t want to pull away from. I promise that if you like horror, you’ll be intrigued. Rather, you’ll be besotted by this, which I am pretty certain will become a classic and something you return to every Halloween. I loved reading things from Bram’s POV, which we get from childhood to adulthood. I enjoyed that greatly. He was a sickly young boy but when Nana Ellen comes to the Stoker household, Bram improves. No one knows quite how she does it, but eventually, she just leaves which begins the great mystery of their lives.

I read this in June, so I’ve been sitting on my excitement for months. But I’m about to reread it because, hey, it’s autumn and it’s October! Read all the spooky things!

• I’d give it ★★★★★ stars.
• I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion.
• I would and have (!) recommend this to a friend. 🙂

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Dacre Stoker is the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker and the international bestselling co-author of Dracula: The Un-Dead, the official Stoker family-endorsed sequel to Dracula. He is also the co-editor of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years. He currently lives with his wife, Jenne, in Aiken, South Carolina, where he manages the Bram Stoker Estate.

J.D. Barker is the internationally bestselling author the internationally bestselling author of Forsaken, The Fourth Monkey, and The Fifth to Die. He was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, and winner of the New Apple Medalist Award. His works have been translated into numerous languages and optioned for both film and television. Barker currently resides in Pennsylvania with his wife, Dayna, and daughter, Ember.

Happy Release Day!

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: jimmy patterson
• Publish Date: September 18, 2018)

The #1 New York Times bestselling series that started with Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula continues in this third bloody installment! A luxurious ocean liner becomes a floating prison of madness and horror when passengers are murdered one by one…with nowhere to run from the killer. 

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

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Happy Release Day!!

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Viking
• Publish Date: September 18, 2018

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, a novel about what it takes to become a vampire.

On the battlefields of the American Revolution, Matthew de Clermont meets Marcus MacNeil, a young surgeon from Massachusetts, during a moment of political awakening when it seems that the world is on the brink of a brighter future. When Matthew offers him a chance at immortality and a new life free from the restraints of his puritanical upbringing, Marcus seizes the opportunity to become a vampire. But his transformation is not an easy one and the ancient traditions and responsibilities of the de Clermont family clash with Marcus’s deeply held beliefs in liberty, equality, and brotherhood.

Fast-forward to contemporary Paris, where Phoebe Taylor–the young employee at Sotheby’s whom Marcus has fallen for–is about to embark on her own journey to immortality. Though the modernized version of the process at first seems uncomplicated, the couple discovers that the challenges facing a human who wishes to be a vampire are no less formidable than they were in the eighteenth century. The shadows that Marcus believed he’d escaped centuries ago may return to haunt them both–forever.

A passionate love story and a fascinating exploration of the power of tradition and the possibilities not just for change but for revolution, Time’s Convert channels the supernatural world-building and slow-burning romance that made the All Souls Trilogy instant bestsellers to illuminate a new and vital moment in history, and a love affair that will bridge centuries.

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Photo by © Scarlett Freund

Deborah Harkness is a professor of history at the University of Southern California. She has received Fullbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships, and her most recent scholarly work is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. She also writes an award-winning wine blog.

Happy Release Day to Fiona Davis!

In her latest captivating novel, nationally bestselling author Fiona Davis takes readers into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, fifty years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them. For the nearly nine million people who live in New York City, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different.

For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future, which she is certain will shine as the brightly as the constellations on the main concourse ceiling. It is 1928, and twenty-five-year-old Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art. A talented illustrator, she has dreams of creating cover art for Vogue, but not even the prestige of the school can override the public’s disdain for a “woman artist.” Brash, fiery, confident, and single-minded—even while juggling the affections of two men, a wealthy would-be poet and a brilliant experimental painter—Clara is determined to achieve every creative success. But she and her bohemian friends have no idea that they’ll soon be blindsided by the looming Great Depression, an insatiable monster with the power to destroy the entire art scene. And even poverty and hunger will do little to prepare Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come.

Nearly fifty years later, in 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay’s life. Full of grime and danger, from the smoke-blackened ceiling to the pickpockets and drug dealers who roam the floor, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be demolished? For Virginia, it is simply her last resort. Recently divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby. But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor hidden under the dust, her eyes are opened to the elegance beneath the decay. She embarks on a quest to find the artist of the unsigned masterpiece–an impassioned chase that draws Virginia not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrator who disappeared from history in 1931.

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F  I  O  N  A   began her career in New York City as an actress, where she worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After getting a master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School, she fell in love with writing, leapfrogging from editor to freelance journalist before finally settling down as an author of historical fiction. She’s a graduate of the College of William & Mary and is based in New York City.

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Happy Release Day to Suzanne Rindell!

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
• Publish Date: July 3, 2018
• Genre: Historical Fiction

Two young daredevil flyers confront ugly truths and family secrets during the U.S. internment of Japanese citizens during World War II, from the author of The Other Typist and Three-Martini Lunch.

Louis Thorn and Haruto “Harry” Yamada–Eagle and Crane–are the star attractions of Earl Shaw’s Flying Circus, a daredevil (and not exactly legal) flying act that traverses Depression-era California. The young men have a complicated relationship, thanks to the Thorn family’s belief that the Yamadas–Japanese immigrants–stole land that should have stayed in the Thorn family.

When Louis and Harry become aerial stuntmen, performing death-defying tricks high above audiences, they’re both drawn to Shaw’s smart and appealing stepdaughter, Ava Brooks. After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and one of Shaw’s planes mysteriously crashes and two charred bodies are discovered in it, authorities conclude that the victims were Harry and his father, Kenichi, who had escaped from a Japanese internment camp they had been sent to by the federal government. To the local sheriff, the situation is open and shut. But to the lone FBI agent assigned to the case, the details don’t add up.

Thus begins an investigation into what really happened to cause the plane crash, who was in the plane when it fell from the sky, and why no one involved seems willing to tell the truth. By turns an absorbing mystery and a fascinating exploration of race, family and loyalty, Eagle and Crane is that rare novel that tells a gripping story as it explores a terrible era of American history.

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Last Seen Alive: A Spotlight.

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Publish Date: June 26, 2018
• Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

One woman is trapped in the death-grip of the past—and every one of its dark secrets—in this riveting novel of psychological suspense from the award-winning author of The Sisters and Local Girl Missing.

She can run…

As much as Libby Hall needs a vacation, she’s never considered taking one until she sees the note for a house swap. Suffering a miscarriage was a personal turning point. Saving a child from a burning school was a public one. Just as the emotional fallout of both incidents takes its toll, along comes her lifesavers—the Heywoods, a couple in need of a getaway of their own.

But she can’t hide…

Libby and her husband Jamie can’t believe their good fortune when they arrive at the Heywood’s isolated seaside estate with its panoramic views—and just in exchange for their drab two-bedroom apartment. How generous of the Heywoods! Yet how odd. Libby almost feels guilty until the home yields disquieting surprises: a fortune in hidden surveillance equipment, a stranger in the garden who watches them, and the make-shift operating room in the basement…

Because someone knows her secret…

When Jamie falls dangerously ill, all Libby wants is to return to their comfortably imperfect lives. But it’s already too late. Libby has just discovered the Heywoods’ biggest secret. And when it appears that even Jamie is hiding something from her, Libby’s paranoia gets the best of her. It should. For she has buried secrets of her own. As the past comes crawling out of the darkness, Libby fears she’s walked into an elaborate trap. But who has set it? What do they want of her? And what is she willing to risk to make it out alive…?

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“Thrillingly tense and twisty, a great read.”  (B. A. Paris, the bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors)

“Just finished Last Seen Alive . . . it’s so twisty, turning and grippy. Highly recommend it!  (Gilly Macmillan, the bestselling author of What She Knew)

“Fast-paced and chock-full of twists, Last Seen Alive is both absorbing and gripping. After reading it you’ll never dream of a house swap again.” (Paula Daly, author of The Mistake I Made)

Happy Release Day to Amber Tamblyn!

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publish Date: June 26, 2018
• Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

“An explosive, shapeshifting piece of literary real estate, Amber Tamblyn’s arresting debut offers a scathing portrait of American celebrity culture and the way in which it transmutes human tragedy into a vicious circus; victims are forgotten as likes and shares swirl, and ‘news’ becomes a squalid orgy, a lurid feast. Tamblyn takes every risk in this astonishing and innovative work, and succeeds, gloriously.”
— Janet Fitch, bestselling author of The Revolution of Marina M. and Paint It Black

• Vanity Fair’s Summer Ultimate Fiction List
• Entertainment Weekly Summer Preview List

In this electric and provocative debut novel, Tamblyn blends genres of poetry, prose, and elements of suspense to give shape to the shocking narratives of victims of sexual violence, mapping the destructive ways in which our society perpetuates rape culture.

A violent serial rapist is on the loose, who goes by the name Maude. She hunts for men at bars, online, at home— the place doesn’t matter, neither does the man. Her victims then must live the aftermath of their assault in the form of doubt from the police, feelings of shame alienation from their friends and family and the haunting of a horrible woman who becomes the phantom on which society projects its greatest fears, fascinations and even misogyny. All the while the police are without leads and the media hound the victims, publicly dissecting the details of their attack.

What is extraordinary is how as years pass these men learn to heal, by banding together and finding a space to raise their voices. Told in alternating viewpoints signature to each voice and experience of the victim, these pages crackle with emotion, ranging from horror to breathtaking empathy.

As bold as it is timely, Any Man paints a searing portrait of survival and is a tribute to those who have lived through the nightmare of sexual assault.

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If you’re near any of these locations, Amber will be on tour. 🙂

Happy Release Day to Sally Koslow!

Publish Date: May 29th, 2018

Format: Hardcover | E-Book

Page Count: 352 pages

Genre: Fiction/Historical

The author of the acclaimed international bestseller The Late, Lamented Molly Marx imaginatively brings to life the shocking affair of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his longtime lover, Sheilah Graham, in this dazzling novel of romance, celebrity, and Gatsby-esque self-creation in 1930s Hollywood

In 1937 Hollywood, gossip columnist Sheilah Graham’s star is on the rise, while literary wonder boy F. Scott Fitzgerald’s career is slowly drowning in booze. But the once-famous author, desperate to make money penning scripts for the silver screen, is charismatic enough to attract the gorgeous Miss Graham, a woman who exposes the secrets of others while carefully guarding her own. Like Scott’s hero Jay Gatsby, Graham has meticulously constructed a life far removed from the poverty of her childhood in London’s slums. And like Gatsby, the onetime guttersnipe learned early how to use her charms to become a hardworking success feted and feared by both the movie studios and their luminaries.

A notorious drunk famously married to the doomed “crazy Zelda,” Fitzgerald fell hard for his “Shielah” (he never learned to spell her name), a shrewd yet soft-hearted woman—both a fool for love and nobody’s fool—who would stay with him and help revive his career until his tragic death three years later. Working from diaries and other primary sources from the time, Sally Koslow revisits their scandalous love affair, bringing Graham and Scott gloriously alive in this compelling page-turner saturated with the color, glitter, magic, and passion of 1930s Hollywood and Sheilah’s dramatic transformation in London.

 

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In Another Side of Paradise (Harper, May 29, 2018), Sally Koslow brings to life the tender yet tumultuous tale of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Hollywood affair with the Gatsby-esque Sheilah Graham, a gossip columnist and scrappy self-invention. After four books rooted in the here and now—including the international bestseller, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx and her debut, Little Pink Slips, an insider’s view of the magazine industry (which she knows only too well, but that’s another story)—this is Sally’s first historical novel. She lives in Manhattan but hopes the statute of limitations never ends on bragging that she was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota.