Review: In the Blue Hour by Elizabeth Hall

In the Blue Hour

by Elizabeth Hall

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 316

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Elise Brooks dreams of a car accident on an icy road. Weeks later, her beloved husband, Michael, is killed in just such a crash. Now, overcome with grief and uncertainty, Elise believes his spirit may be following her in the form of a raven, trying to tell her something from beyond the grave.

Desperate to understand the signs, Elise embraces both the Native American wisdom she grew up with and the world of psychics and seers. So when a tarot-card reader suggests she take a journey to the mysterious address found in Michael’s old jacket, she embarks on a cross-country trek to follow the clues.

Accompanied by Tom Dugan, an engineer and scientist who does not believe in psychics, mediums, or the hoodoo “conjure woman” they encounter on the road, Elise navigates the rituals and omens of the spirit world in an attempt to unravel the mystery of her husband’s message.

Kritters Thoughts:  This one was a little out of my comfort zone due to the subject matter, but every once in a while I like to stretch and make myself a little uncomfortable when I read!  I don't tend to really adhere to the belief of other worldly spirits and ghosts floating around, maybe because I haven't had an interaction yet with one (that I know of!), so I decided to join this tour to read the book to see if it may change my view.  

First, the reason I was able to stick with the book is the character Elise.  Yes, she was a believer from the beginning and was open to being led by spirits and her gut feeling, but she wasn't took quirky and weird.  She still felt real.  There is a chance I would have quit the book if it hadn't been for her and how the author wrote her.  

A road trip happens in this book and I started to like the book more once it started moving.  It was getting to a point where it felt as though it wasn't moving forward and once they got in the car and started traveling, it started getting better for me.  

So I liked the push out the comfort zone, but for some reason I felt like it took too long to come together and I wanted more of the book to happen after the big reveal.  I appreciated how it came together just wish it had happened sooner.  Hopefully that isn't too spoilerie!  


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

What a weekend!  It was quite full of a bunch of things, so not much reading happened - a little behind on the blog and a crazy week at work, oh no!
A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness by Maddie Dawson
Beauty and Attention by Liz Rosenberg
In the Blue Hour by Elizabeth Hall

Currently Reading:

Six Days in Leningrad by Paullina Simons

Next on the TBR pile:

The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

Review: Beauty and Attention by Liz Rosenberg

Beauty and Attention

by Liz Rosenberg

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 211

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  For misfit Libby Archer, social expectations for young women in Rochester, New York, in the mid-1950s don’t work. Her father has died, leaving her without parents, and her well-meaning friends are pressuring her to do what any sensible single girlmust do: marry a passionate, persistent hometown suitor with a promising future. Yet Libby boldly defies conventional wisdom and plans to delay marriage—to anyone—by departing for her uncle’s Belfast estate. In Ireland, Libby seeks not only the comfort of family but also greater opportunities than seem possible during the stifling McCarthy era at home.

Across the Atlantic, Libby finds common ground with her brilliant, invalid cousin, Lazarus, then puts her trust in a sophisticated older woman who seems to be everything she hopes to become. Fraught with betrayal and long-kept secrets, as well as sudden wealth and unexpected love, Libby’s journey toward independence takes turns she never could have predicted—and calls on courage and strength she never knew she had.


Kritters Thoughts:  Libby is now an orphan with the recent loss of her father.  She decides to reunite with family that she hasn't seen in a very long time in Ireland and escape Rochester, New York for the unforeseen future.  

For me this book just didn't have enough.  I think I had wished that the "outside" world had interfered with the characters.  Being a semi historical fiction book, I wanted more history and felt that there were only glimpses of the 1950s and how the characters fit into that time.  I felt as though this book could have taken place anywhere and at anytime, it just didn't stick out for me.  

Because I read so much historical fiction this one had to live up to a long list of good ones and I have a high bar at this point for this genre.  

I am still intrigued to read Liz Rosenberg's other books, this one for me just didn't do it.  I own The Moonlight Palace and may read that soon to see if I can become a Liz Rosenberg fan.  


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness by Maddie Dawson

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness

by Maddie Dawson

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 372

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Three women, three lives, and one chance to become a family…whether they want to or not.

Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She’s spent her life looking into strangers’ faces, fantasizing they’re related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she’s ready for answers.

Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they’re sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She’s too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and…oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.

But Nina is determined to reassemble her birth family. Her search turns up Phoebe Mullen, a guarded, hard-talking woman convinced she has nothing to offer. Gradually sharing stories and secrets, the three women make for a messy, unpredictable family that looks nothing like Nina pictured…but may be exactly what she needs. Nina’s moving, ridiculous, tragic, and transcendent journey becomes a love story proving that real family has nothing to do with DNA.


Kritters Thoughts:  A book that reminded me that family is how you define it and you are responsible for finding your happiness.  And what a title!

Two women who knew they were adopted never tried to search for their birth mother until one has her adoptive mother pass away and she feels lost.  She decides that connecting with her birth mother will help her feel tethered to something.  In the midst of the search she finds a sister and together they hunt for the woman who gave them up and the reasons why.

What a great story about family.  With multiple points of view which if you follow this blog you know I adore and just enough family drama and not an ounce of too much!  

I was surprised that each sister hadn't done a search prior to this book starting, so that made me wonder, but I still enjoyed watching them search and then find what happiness meant to them.  

I am giving this book to my mom and hoping that she passes it along, it is such a good read, especially if you are a sister.  It made me appreciate growing up knowing my roots and being to love them from the beginning of my life.

I own both of Maddie Dawson's previous books, but haven't read them, after reading this they are jumping up the to read list!  Have you read any of her books?


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

October - the best of fall

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October was a great transition from summer to fall.  There were some great weekends of reading and some busy weekends full of fall related activities.  I am still counting down the days to cold cozy weather with a book and cup of tea!

1. The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner
2.  Good Taste by Jane Green
3. Devil Sent the Rain by Lisa Turner
4. The Spice Box Letters by Eve Makis
5. Echoes of Family by Barbara Claypole White
6. Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
7. Fractured by Catherine McKenzie
8. Deliver Her by Patricia Perry Donovan
9. Folly Cove by Holly Robinson
10. The Lost Diaries of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Sarah Bates
11. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
12. Little Boy Blue by MJ Arlidge
13. Just Fine with Caroline by Annie England Noblin
14. Crossing the Horizon by Laurie Notaro
15. Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evelina
16. Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman
17. The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness by Maddie Dawson

Total pages read, clicked, and flipped:  6,097

Where Have I Been Reading?:

Memphis, TN (2)
Cyprus
England
Australia
Cincinnati, OH
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Johnstown, NY
Botswana
Southampton, England
Missouri
Washington, DC 

Happy Halloween

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Happy Halloween to all the ghouls and goblins out there!  

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

This is two weeks worth of reading because two weekends ago was jam packed with fun with my niece Emma!  We spent a whole day at Mount Vernon and then another day going into the mountains of VA to pick apples!   

This weekend was semi quiet and full of house cleaning and reading and autumn things!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Folly Cove by Holly Robinson
The Lost Diaries of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Sarah Bates
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Little Boy Blue by MJ Arlidge
Just Fine with Caroline by Annie England Noblin
Crossing the Horizon by Laurie Notaro
Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evelina
Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman

Currently Reading:

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness by Maddie Dawson

Next on the TBR pile:

Beauty and Attention by Liz Rosenberg

Review: Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evelina

Madame Presidentess

by Nicole Evelina

Publisher: Lawson Gartner Publishing

Pages: 400

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Forty-eight years before women were granted the right to vote, one woman dared to run for President of the United States, yet her name has been virtually written out of the history books. 

Rising from the shame of an abusive childhood, Victoria Woodhull, the daughter of a con-man and a religious zealot, vows to follow her destiny, one the spirits say will lead her out of poverty to “become ruler of her people.”

But the road to glory is far from easy. A nightmarish marriage teaches Victoria that women are stronger and deserve far more credit than society gives. Eschewing the conventions of her day, she strikes out on her own to improve herself and the lot of American women. 

Over the next several years, she sets into motion plans that shatter the old boys club of Wall Street and defile even the sanctity of the halls of Congress. But it’s not just her ambition that threatens men of wealth and privilege; when she announces her candidacy for President in the 1872 election, they realize she may well usurp the power they’ve so long fought to protect.

Those who support her laud “Notorious Victoria” as a gifted spiritualist medium and healer, a talented financial mind, a fresh voice in the suffrage movement, and the radical idealist needed to move the nation forward. But those who dislike her see a dangerous force who is too willing to speak out when women are expected to be quiet. Ultimately, “Mrs. Satan’s” radical views on women’s rights, equality of the sexes, free love and the role of politics in private affairs collide with her tumultuous personal life to endanger all she has built and change how she is viewed by future generations.

Kritters Thoughts:  A book that takes place before women can vote and before women really had a say in their own futures beyond being a good wife and mother.  This book takes our society back in time when women were helpmates and that was the goal in life.  My how times have changed and I am so thankful!

Bare with me as I am a book blogger and that is where I will always be, but it was very interesting to read this book in the life and times that we are having now as the election nears us.  I don't care how you will vote, but as a female it is at least interesting to see a female in the race backed by a major party.  This book reminded me how it wasn't too long ago that women were given a voice via a ballot and the power that that voice is.  I am so glad I was able to vote in this election whether it was for a female or not, just being able to vote is a privilege that I will no longer take for granted.  

Last Thursday, I reviewed a book called The Lost Diaries of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Sarah Bates and I was excited to see her make an appearance in this book.  I love when my reading intertangles and "characters" or people from one book pop up in another!

I hope that Nicole Evelina tackles another time and place in history and I can't wait to see what it could be.  I will be on the lookout for what is coming from her next.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Crossing the Horizon by Laurie Notaro

Crossing the Horizon

by Laurie Notaro

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 464

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Ten thousand feet in the sky, flipping and twirling through the air, aviatrixes from London to Paris to New York—fueled by determination and courage—have their eyes on the century’s biggest prize. The year is 1927, and Amelia Earhart has not yet made her record-breaking cross-Atlantic flight. Who will follow in Charles Lindbergh’s footsteps and make her own history?

Three women’s names are splashed daily across the front page: Elsie Mackay, daughter of an Earl, is the first Englishwoman to get her pilot’s license. Mabel Boll, a glamorous society darling and former cigar girl, is ardent to make the historic flight. Beauty pageant contestant Ruth Elder uses her winnings for flying lessons and becomes the preeminent American girl of the sky.

Kritters Thoughts:  An interesting cross between fiction and non fiction with most of the content of the story being true, but told in a fictional way - I enjoyed reading the ups and downs of the first women to try to cross the Atlantic by plane and all of the hoops they had to jump through just to potentially get the plane in the air.  

The cast of characters was massive and with the common goal in mind it was hard at times to remember who was who and who they were working with.  This was definitely a notepad kind of book and at times I was a little frustrated.  In the first few chapters the ladies had their own chapters, but once they were all introduced their stories intermingled in each chapter, I am not sure I liked that.  Only as an editing opinion, I would have liked shorter chapters with each of their stories more defined than having them weave in and out.  

My timing of reading this book couldn't have been more spot on!  In early September I took my husband to see the Kitty Hawk Wright memorial museum and it was so fun to read about the first attempts for man to get into the sky!  Reading these women's stories after visiting that museum helped put the book in perspective as to not just financing but parts and the mechanics of flying took a lot for this industry to form.  

I appreciated the book for providing a lot of knowledge in such a great format through full stories.  I would absolutely read another book by Laurie Notaro, this was a fun way to learn something without cracking a "textbook."


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Gallery Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Just Fine With Caroline by Annie England Noblin

Just Fine With Caroline

by Annie England Noblin

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 368

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Caroline O’Connor never dreamed she’d be back home in Cold River, Missouri, the Ozark Mountain town where everyone is ‘up your business.’…they mean well as they drive you crazy. She thought she’d left town for good, but now she’s back, helping to care for her New York born mother—struck with Alzheimer’s, and prone to saying and doing anything—and her father, the beloved local doctor frustrated he can’t cure his own wife.

As for Caroline, she’s doing ‘just fine’ coping with her parents, her brazen cousin Ava Dawn’s marital disasters, her mostly-deaf dog…and with Noah Cranwell, far-flung relative of a local family mostly infamous for running moonshine, an ex-veteran who’s come to Cold River with troubles of his own.

Caroline believes she knows everything about Cold River and the people who live in its hills and hollers … but sometimes life’s greatest surprises happen closest to home.

Kritters Thoughts:  Caroline returned to her small hometown in Missouri to help her father take care of her mother as she declines due to Alzheimer's.  Life had been moving at the same pace until an "heir" to a longstanding family returns to reopen the family business and maybe sparks will fly?  

I would put this book in the middle of a venn diagram between women's fiction and romance.  It had all of the plot of a women's fiction, but had the somewhat predictability and the sexy times of a romance.  I kind of liked the mix of both in one book.  

I may have said this before, but I come from a small town, so as much as I love reading the small town girl in big city, I love reading small town girl returns to small town and remembers the good and the bad of small town living!  I loved Caroline because she was real and honest about it all.  She had flaws and a "broken family" and she was honest and open about it all, she just felt real.  

My second Annie England Noblin and I am definitely a fan!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Little Boy Blue by MJ Arlidge

Little Boy Blue

by MJ Arlidge

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 432

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Detective Inspector Helen Grace is no stranger to tragedy. But when a body is found in a Southampton nightclub, the death cuts too close to the bone. Hiding her personal connection to the victim - and a double-life which must remain secret at all costs - Helen becomes a woman possessed, working her team around the clock to chase down every lead. As the killer strikes again, the investigation takes its toll not only on Helen but also her senior officers. Tempers flare, friendships fray and Helen faces an impossible choice. Confess her sins and lose control of the case? Or keep living a lie, protecting her darkest secrets, and risk getting trapped in this tangled web? But whatever she does, this killer will not stop until the truth is revealed: there are some fates worse than death.


Kritters Thoughts:  MJ Arlidge can write a mystery and can always surprise me out of left field with the culprit and every time I am completely satisfied!  

This installment in the series not only has a gruesome murderer, but takes place kind of in the underworld - in a community that likes to be under the radar, the BDSM community.  I have no opinions on this group, but even after reading this book I get the feeling that they are ok that they are known to be unknown.  I loved combining this underground community with a murder it made the book a little extra creepy and mysterious.  

I realized in this book that MJ Arlidge has a fantastic group of kick butt ladies taking center stage.  Basically the top three investigators are serious ladies who want to work hard to get to the bottom of the case and I am glad that it took me 5 books to see the lady power!  

I am excited to know that there are already two more books in this series and as they are perfect quick, creepy reads I can't wait to get my hands on them!  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2016 Challenge: 32 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley NAL.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Lost Diaries of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Sarah Bates

The Lost of Elizabeth Cady Stanton

by Sarah Bates

Publisher: Booklocker.com

Pages: 420

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Johnstown, New York, 1823: It is a time when a wife’s dowry, even children, automatically becomes her husband’s property. Slavery is an economic advantage entrenched in America but rumblings of abolition abound. 

For Elizabeth Cady to confront this culture is unheard of, yet that is exactly what she does. Before she can become a leader of the women's rights movement and prominent abolitionist, she faces challenges fraught with disappointment. Her father admires her intellect but says a woman cannot aspire to the goals of men. Her sister’s husband becomes her champion–but secretly wants more. Religious fervor threatens to consume her. As she faces depression and despair, she records these struggles and other dark confidences in diaries. When she learns the journals might fall into the wrong hands and discredit her, she panics and rips out pages of entries that might destroy her hard-fought reputation. Relieved, she believes they are lost to history forever.

But are they? Travel with Elizabeth into American history and discover a young woman truly ahead of her time.


Kritters Thoughts:  Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a name that you would know if you have read a few books about the relationship between getting women the right to vote and freeing slaves.  I hadn't known that these movements actually came together until I read about it a few times.  

I enjoyed this one.  It definitely was a good historical fiction read.  I loved seeing how one woman just kept pushing the envelope over and over again until someone got it and helped her move forward.  I loved how headstrong she was and I felt that the author portrayed that well in the book.

If I hadn't read those books before this one would have been a good introduction, but having already knowing a lot of what was the foundation of this book, there were moments where it didn't feel original.  There were also a few things that the characters repeated almost exhaustingly and I just wanted to say ok, I got it!  

I would say if you read this book and it made you want to read more on this topic or time period, I would recommend:
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
My Notorious Life by Kate Manning



Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2016 Challenge: 31 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Virtual Author Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.