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Nov 12, 2021

Witches, Heretics & Warrior Women by Phoenix LeFae

Friday, November 12, 2021


Witches, Heretics & Warrior Women: Ignite Your Rebel Spirit Through Magick & Ritual by Phoenix LeFae

Llewellyn Publications, January 8 2022

eGalley provided in exchange for this review, thank you!

 
Filled with transformative stories of powerful women from legend and history--as well as rituals, spellcraft, and workings for you to try--this book explores themes that rebels, witches, warriors, and heretics confront as they make their way in a patriarchal world. Each chapter examines a topic like standing tall in your beliefs, finding your voice, embracing your sexuality, and loving your body, and shares hands-on practices designed to inspire and support you as you connect with your inner witch, heretic, and warrior. Within these pages, you will find stories and exercises based on Circe, Anne Boleyn, Marie Laveau, Mary Magdalene, Jeanne D'Arc, Salome, Boudicca, Moving Robe Woman, and Harriet Tubman.
 

 

 

I have been exploring mysticism, spiritualism, tarot and rituals for about a year now and when I found this book up for review I felt it was destiny. My earliest blog backgrounds will find mostly historical based reads both fiction and non-fiction but it all started with Anne Boleyn. We would now recognize that name due the success of the tv show The Tudors, but I was intrigued by Anne Boleyn’s witchy rumors. Years later I am still fascinated by Anne Boleyn and her ability to turn heads before she lost hers.

 

The author Phoenix LeFae chose Anne as just one of the many warrior-witch women to highlight in her new book to draw inspiration from. Ohers are a New Orleans legend Marie Laveau, Joan of Arc, Circe, and Harriet Tubman to name a few.

The premise of the book is not to be a biographical account of these women but to highlight how these women were revolutionaries for their time and in their own way.
Imagine if each shining being on earth polished their inner glow and let themselves be seen for the fabulous creature they truly are! The night sky would be lit up from the power of it all. You were not born to be small. You were born to be you, a radical shining star.
This work reads more like opinions and the author’s personal view on how to mold yourself into a rebel/witch/warrior using these women as examples. The author provides tools and helpful insight on how to be a proponent of positive change in the world around you while incorporating rituals, meditations and even charm bags. I do not feel like this is a reference book on witchcraft and magick but is instead geared towards inspirational self-care and how to shed the goal of fitting into the patriarchal society of the modern world. For that alone this book is worthwhile if that is the path you are embarking on. With the intriguing women she chose as a backdrop this is an “opportunity to learn more about each of their lives and connect with their power.” Very enjoyable read that is recommended for those interested in the feminist movement with a touch of magick and history sprinkled in.

 


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Oct 10, 2021

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Sunday, October 10, 2021

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Published by St. Martin's Press, September 14, 2021; 752 pp. 
Illustrations by Ben Orthwick
Personal eBook copy 
Synopsis:
From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hand sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:

The Holy Grail.


-
Author Jay Kristoff is well known for his young adult fantasy series such as Aurora Cycle, Illuminae Files, but Empire of the Vampire is definitely not for the young reader. It is a twisty, dark, smutty fantasy tale with Game of Thrones vibes and has one of the most intriguing anti-heroes that I have ever come across in its MC Gabriel.

I am not one to say I like vampires, yet I also read A Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires (for book club) and that one was a little more shocking on purpose for the thrill of it which was simply over the top. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff does it right: An entire world of clans of witches and vampires, distinctions between highbloods and palebloods, and a church in the same world.

"That saints and sinners suffer one and the same. I know every time you give a piece of yourself to someone, you risk them breaking it. I know there are some wounds that never truly heal, and sometimes all that’s left of people are their scars. I know time eats us all alive.”
I love the religious aspect of the story: there's a lot of faith and loss of faith but strong redemption vibes, full of hope threads throughout. 

Readers compare this to Interview with a Vampire which I haven't read but I can say this is a similar narrative that upon capture Gabriel is telling his story to a historian, so there are a lot of punctuation quotes in this book. Otherwise this is an entirely new level of vampires. 

"I’ve seen armies of faithful men slaughtered like hogs while God stood by and did nothing. I’ve seen parents eat their children. And I can’t say it gets better. I can’t tell you I believe like Chloe did – that you’re going to be the one to fix all this. I won’t lie to you like that.” 

There is a bit of a slow build up as we are trying to see why Gabriel is imprisoned as the story begins. Gabriel proceeds to tell us his story of a unique day's death world that the author has created, complete with various creatures and swords that speak. We are jostled about from bloody event to bloody event in slightly different time frames, but it is such a good beautiful slow bloody torture.
 There are so many things going on there is no way that the author could edit this chunkster down from its 752 pages but also a special treat is the illustrations. And there is no way to easily express in my own words the perfection of reading bliss that Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff bestowed upon us. 

I bought the eBook as there was no way I could wait for a hard copy to arrive via the postal office and these are some of the screen grabs from the eBook:

The author has done a great job of pre - selling multiple special editions and I am still a little bit annoyed that I haven't scored one of those but I am trying to simplify my living space and continue buying ebooks plus there's that instant satisfaction for downloading immediately, but I am not going to say no right away for his next release of a special edition which I pray that he will release book two ASAP. While I tend to forget about characters and specifics between releases of books of a series I do not think I will ever forget this book it was that amazing of an experience for me. 

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff:
Definitely a Five Star Favorite.

⚠ 
Not for the feeble stomach. 
Probably a zillion trigger warnings.

There is blood. Sex. Heresy? Lots of gore. Language. Everything else spicy is here. You are warned. 

Sep 15, 2021

The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley

Wednesday, September 15, 2021




The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley 
Sourcebooks Landmark, published October 5 2021
448 pages 
Egalley via netgalley 


A sweeping love story set against the Jacobite revolution from much-loved, million copy bestselling author Susanna Kearsley

There are many who believe they know what happened, but they do not know the whole of it. The rumours spread, and grow, and take their hold, and so to end them I have been persuaded now to take my pen in hand and tell the story as it should be told…
 
Autumn, 1707. Old enemies from the Highlands to the Borders are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England, the French are preparing to launch an invasion to carry the young exiled Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh the streets are filled with discontent and danger.
 
Queen Anne’s commissioners, seeking to calm the situation, have begun settling the losses and wages owed to those Scots who took part in the disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier.
 
When Lily, the young widow of a Darien sailor, comes forward to collect her husband’s wages, her claim is challenged, and one of the men who’s assigned to examine her has only days to decide if she’s honest, or if his own feelings are making him blind to the truth, and if he’s being used as a pawn in an even more treacherous game.
 
A story of intrigue, adventure, endurance, romance…and the courage to hope.



I decided to choose this book for review as I have read and enjoyed several of Kearsley's works. This one is a little different from those and I missed the gothic/majestic themes of those works. The Vanished Days is more of a historical detail dump with some shady characters. 

Lily is an easy character to empathize with but the main crux of this novel was to prove a marriage occurred. The story goes back and forth with a myriad of characters that we don't know who is important or not. 

The narrative of Adam the investigator is dry and plodding. I honestly did not care about the info dump on Scotland/Caledonia/Jacobites but if you are an avid lover of this Era 1699-1707 this would interest you with the history and a dash of hope for a romance. 

If you are interested in starting with Susanna Kearsley, I had rated Named of The Dragon five stars, The Shadowy Horses four stars. Start there! 

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Aug 5, 2021

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

Thursday, August 05, 2021

Hodder & Stoughton, October 2021
egalley via Netgalley

Synopsis:
Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...
A scrappy maid must outsmart both palace nobles and Low Gods in a new YA fantasy by Margaret Owen, author of the Merciful Crow series.

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love, and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.


Author Margaret Owen already has a following due to her successful Merciful Crow series and I was very intrigued by the synopsis of Little Thieves coming out this fall. I loved the energy of the characters and oh how flawed they are! The only thing that Vanja needs is survival.. but still that takes skill, money, time. She has skill at stealing money and a specific identity (Gisele's) but she is not in a fantastic situation even though she technically is to marry a prince.

There are so many fun elements in this story such as fairy tale (Grimm's!) vibes, godmothers, orphans, magic, palace guardian goblins, rags vs. riches, wicked rulers, nerdy love interests, I could go on..but I absolutely love the antihero plot. 

While the writing style was witty and flowed well with interesting storytelling chapter openings, there were hiccups for me with the Germanic words. They were heavily used and it was a bit maddening for me trying to work out the context of the foreign word. The other noticeable thing is that I felt like I was rushed to the ending and boom it's done. I wonder if I just wanted to live in the world of Vanja and Gisele for a while longer.

My favorite supporting character was Ragne (probably because she shape shifted into a cat) and I was rooting for her side story to work out. She was a sweet thing who could have been a pain in Vanja's life but instead she helped her out of many situations. 

Because there were so many different things going on that I may have missed, I am putting this book on a very high pedestal that has potential for a re-read. While this is a stand-alone I would like to read more about this set of diverse characters. Little Thieves is a thrilling adventure and now I am going to have to read some of the other books by Margaret Owen.  

Jul 11, 2021

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Sunday, July 11, 2021


The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Park Row Books March 2, 2021 

Description:
A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose—selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.


This book caught my eye because of the cover, all of my favorite colors splendidly splashed together. The book is actually much more dark than the cover as it deals with murders by poison for the historical timeline and a crumbling marriage for the present day.

While this present day Caroline was obnoxiously irritating with how she was dealing with her husband James, I liked having someone who was unraveling the mystery of the lost apothecary from 200 years earlier at the same time as the reader.

The historical characters of Eliza and Nella the Apothecary with their new relationship was compelling and sweet even if they were keen on poisoning all men who were not faithful. The only thing where I felt where it missed the mark was at the promised magickal/mystical theme as that was just skimmed over and not very insightful. 

This was less A Discovery of Witches series and a lot more 18th century suspense and mystery, with an attempt at historical fiction, but it still pulls off the dual time line feature. It is a very short read, (perhaps a blessing..?) and I am very surprised that this is selected for a TV adaptation by Fox which definitely has potential.

Even though the present timeline's characters are adults I really feel like this should be be marketed for YA as it is not as fleshed out as expected for what it should be for historical fiction time slips. I read this over a two day span, I would still recommend it for an intriguing weekend read.

*Also want to mention that the eBook was better than the Audio, I tried to start it on audio but the narrator for Caroline made me hate her to start with. 

May 18, 2021

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

Tuesday, May 18, 2021


The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin 
Published by Sourcebooks, June 2021
eGalley provided via Netgalley in exchange for this review, thank you! 


The Summary:
"One of the Most Anticipated Young Adult Debuts of 2021!

From a stunning new voice in YA comes the fierce, romantic story about a world on the brink of destruction, the one witch who holds the power to save it, and the choice that could cost her everything she loves.

For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, their power from the sun peaking in the season of their birth. But now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic. All hope lies with Clara, an Everwitch whose rare magic is tied to every season.

In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It's wild and volatile, and the price of her magic—losing the ones she loves—is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.

In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she's the only one who can make a difference.

In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she's terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.

In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves...before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos."


This was such an intriguing concept of Witches versus Shapers but I will say that it is definitely not geared towards the perception of witches that most people think of.  It's really more of a science/nature/climate control novel where teenagers are trying to hold off impending doom by controlling weather patterns.

The main character is especially gifted and called an 'Ever' who is able to create her magic during all seasons. She has issues with her powers and decides that she is tired of being used and tired of hurting those she loves. The novel centers on how Clara deals with her powers and how it affects her relationships. She herself was an easy character to root for, but some of the things she worried about were repetitive and sometimes she went through the same thing twice.

"We aren’t in this alone and shouldn’t act like we are; the atmosphere is hurting, and that’s a problem for all of us, witches and shaders alike. The challenge is great, and we have a lot of work ahead of us. But we’re in this together, and if there’s anything I’ve learned this past year, it’s that together is where the magic lies."

I loved the relationship Clara has with Paige and Sang as they added depth to both the story and the character development. There were a few spots of ingenious scenes that I don't want to give away that have to deal with flowers or creations which were spectacular. The teacher Mr. Burrows was quite easy to dislike, and it gave off the villainy Hogwart's vibes. A very enjoyable and entertaining experience with a worthwhile ending to savor. 



Mar 17, 2021

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Chain of Iron, book 2 of The Last Hours 
Available March 2021


(The silhouettes will appear randomly in the Kindle version) 
LitJoy Crate did a special edition with an added bonus of this Cordelia Carstairs print.
The LitJoy edition comes with a gorgeous slipcase and this quote is on one side. 

----
Synopsis:

The Shadowhunters must catch a killer in Edwardian London in this dangerous and romantic sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling novel Chain of Gold, from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Cassandra Clare. Chain of Iron is a Shadowhunters novel.

Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.

But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.

Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

------


OK so last year I fell in love with Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters.
I have read everything on this list except for the last two in red & Ghosts of the Shadowmarket which is a short story collection. Those last two in red were co-written so I am not in a rush for those.

Chain of Gold is the last one on this list, and not yet shown on the list is Chain of Iron which is book two in The Last Hours series. Technically you can read The Last Hours series after you have read The Infernal Devices series (shown in green) but I recommend that you read her books in the same way shown in the graphic.

It is hard to review a book that is like #19 that I have read from this Shadowhunter world but I felt like I needed to write about it just because I have enjoyed being devoted to this unique world. 

It's Young Adult, fantasy, angels, demons, all-inclusive and delightful fun. Werewolves and vampires. 

The love interests are verrry slow burn but mostly worth it.. HOWEVER in Chain of Iron I felt ready to throw the book. It was slightly predictable with the build up of tension and SO MUCH MISCOMMUNICATION that it was stressing me out. 

But of course I will have to pray it resolves itself in the next book but I will have to wait a year. 

My all time favorite character is still Tessa from The Infernal Devices. I love that this universe is modern times and also Victorian England depending on the series, but I love most of all the saga of all the intertwining families. 

Find me on Facebook or Instagram for any questions about these books! 

Mar 9, 2021

When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin

Tuesday, March 09, 2021
When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin 
Revell Baker Publishing February 2021

Synopsis:
Munich, 1938. Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent as determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession as she is to expose the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country--or worse. If she fails to truthfully report on major stories, she'll never be able to give a voice to the oppressed--and wake up the folks back home.

In another part of the city, American graduate student Peter Lang is working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party--to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can't get off his mind.

This electric standalone novel from fan-favorite Sarah Sundin puts you right at the intersection of pulse-pounding suspense and heart-stopping romance.

Review:
I have read a few of Sarah Sundin's novels and she is an expert at World War II historical romance. Her passion for accurate detail and for telling a compelling story shines through in her newest novel When Twilight Breaks.

Firebrand Evelyn is a wonderful character to root for, eager to break glass cielings, while Professor Peter is a kind man focused on law and order in Germany.

Unfortunately it is 1938 and tensions are running high with Hitler's regime which both Evelyn and Peter realize that they are not safe among the fascists. They try to gather information about their anti-semetic friends but time is not on their side.

I enjoyed the story inasmuch the setting is harrowing and the love angle that was a little tedious but a thrilling end made it worthwhile. The small reminders of trusting in the Lord were also well placed. 

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of the novel in exchange for this review. 

Feb 20, 2021

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Saturday, February 20, 2021




Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Random House Ballantine, June 2021
Women's Fiction/Saga, 384 pages
eGalley via publisher, thank you




From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six . . . Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever. 
Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.
And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come rising to the surface.
Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.



I have read a few titles by Taylor Jenkins Reid previously so I knew I would enjoy Malibu Rising where us normal people get a salacious look inside the overly rich and famous/other people in this universe/ and I was not disappointed. Reid's newest book reminded me a bit of her Daisy Jones and The Six due to the number of characters and the going back and forth between their characters, but this time Malibu Rising focuses not only on the siblings but also dips into their parents' pasts so we can get a bigger picture of the proverbial Ferris Wheel of family matters that will either make or break you.

Her mother had screwed up almost as much as she'd succeeded.

Malibu Rising definitely has a message even from the title, and the first pages of the book eludes to Malibu burning and you can't help but think of the phoenix rising from the ashes. When we think of people living in their multi-million dollar mansions we automatically assume that life must be so easy for them yet this book quickly takes that impression away. The family of siblings Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit have definitely not had a spectacular life even though their dad was a rock star but yet the family knew how to stick together and truly look out for each other, with most of the work being done by Nina. The plot's current timeline is focused on the famous Nina Riva Party but we keep getting pulled back in time to learn how these characters actually made it this far. 
 June was gone. Yet here she was living on through her children.
It was a very intriguing story, although very depressing when you look at how parenting is portrayed here. Lots of sex, scandal, drugs and crazy things going on all culminating in a tearful ending that still leaves you wanting to see what happens after.  Taylor Jenkins Reid succeeded once again in providing an addictingly fabulous story with bonus eccentric characters that really fleshed out the entire saga. You will definitely want to add this to your summer reading list for 2021.




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Feb 13, 2021

Cosmic Health by Jennifer Racioppi

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Cosmic Health: Unlock Your Healing Magic with Astrology, Positive Psychology, and Integrative Wellness by Jennifer Racioppi
Little, Brown and Company
Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 12 Jan 2021
(Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of the eGalley in exchange for this review)

“A life-changing way to apply astrology to your health and well-being.”—Colette Baron-Reid, author of The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in the Story of Your Life



2020 was not a great year in so many ways for us here in the United States. As 2021 began I realized all my hope for change/renewal was not going to happen automatically and would require a bit of soul searching for me to get started on this journey of self-care and well-being. No one is going to be able to take better care of myself than myself, but I lack the necessary tools to do so. Combined with my interests in the more esoteric fields of everything from astrology to tarot to crystal healing, this new Cosmic Health book was the perfect book to get me started on my quest.
 
Examples of titles of sub-chapters: Healing Through Self-Compassion, Can You Really Have What You Want?, Jupiter: Harbinger of Joy and Abundance, Cultivating Your Awesome

This book took me two weeks to read because it is jam packed with facts and tools/exercises for you to follow along with. You need to go into this book knowing how to find out your natal chart, and have an intention. Do you require healing from trauma? Do you need to find the willpower to change a habit? Start a new one? Follow along with Jennifer's thinking and look to the stars. You need to find a balance in your life? The planets will help you, or thwart you depending on your natal chart. In easy to understand text the author will bring you through topics from mythology to moon rituals and Mercury retrograde to help you learn how to apply a form of medical astrology. 

Astrology is a very vast field and as I said, two weeks for 416 pages is quite a long time for me to get through a book. While there are many more books out there to dive deep into any special niche, Cosmic Health by Jennifer Racioppi is an absolute gem to women who need a little direction in understanding how many elements of our solar system pull on your psyche.

Some favorite takeaways from Cosmic Health: Relentlessly commit to your future self. You are here to learn sovereignty and how to self-authorize without needing approval from others. Using the natal chart and your astro-individuality you can find insight into what you're innately excellent at as well as what drives you and why.

While I was able to enjoy this book via the eGalley, due to the images and format within the text I would recommend purchasing a hard copy for the illustrations alone. This is definitely a book that would be a useful tool to look back through as your personal situations arise. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with the eGalley for this review and getting me on my way to a higher state of well-being.



Just for fun, here's my natal chart, courtesy of Cafe Astrology!! I am a Cancer Sun, Virgo Moon and Virgo Rising. My true north is in Capricorn. 

As a Cancer, I can be touchy and indirect, and my Virgo Ascendant makes me come across as shy and aloof. This Virgo ascendant also makes me super sensitive to the pain I feel from my endometriosis and since Cancer is ruled by the moon I need to channel my moon energy to work for me as opposed to against me. Jennifer's Cosmic Health has specifics on each of my planet's placements and ideas on how to harness this energy to propel me towards a better understanding of my place in this amazing solar system. We are star dust and it is time to honor that!


Oct 3, 2020

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

Saturday, October 03, 2020


The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

Published by Random House Delacorte Press, November 10, 2020

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White


"The second book in a new fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White, exploring the nature of self, the inevitable cost of progress, and, of course, magic and romance and betrayal so epic Queen Guinevere remains the most famous queen who never lived.

EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom’s influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.

Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde, Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen’s knight, and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere–the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn’t belong. She never will.

When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere’s younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving–Camelot, or herself?"

4.5 stars!

I read this directly after book one, The Guinevere Deception, and I feel like this was paced a lot better.

 The Camelot Betrayal was really well done for a second installment and brings a lot of magic along with more fairytale stories that it's hard for Guinevere to know what's real. I loved the storyline behind the newest characters and it kept me guessing as to who to trust. How it ends of course opens up an entirely new set of problems for Arthur and Guinevere that has me wishing for the final book in the trilogy.

Thank you for the eGalley, Random House!

Sep 7, 2020

A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe

Monday, September 07, 2020





October 2020, Wednesday Books
review copy via netGalley, thank you!


In her debut novel A Golden Fury, Samantha Cohoe weaves a story of magic and danger, where the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone will haunt you long after the final page. 
Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness. 
While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of a revolution looming, Thea is sent to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists. 
But there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse—instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die. 

My first love is historical fiction so when magic/fantasy collide with it I am happy! This story of a young Thea opens up with her leaving her crazy wizardly mom behind in revolutionary France so she can find her father in England. Thea has learned a lot at her mother's skirts as an apprentice of alchemy and when she reaches her father in England that skill is all she has to her name.

Thea's entire purpose for living is to be loved by William Percy but more importantly to achieve the ultimate success in creating the magical Philosopher's Stone. Fame, health and fortune beckon as Thea pursues this potion but it has to be under the careful watch of captors of her beloved Will. 

While there are a few threads of converging storylines with each of the characters the author does not digress far from focusing on the Golden Fury of what is the Philosopher's Stone. The plot is fairly straightforward and could be a double edged sword as it teeters towards lacking in depth but yet again it sticks to the point of the storyline. A Golden Fury is an intriguing debut novel with a spunky heroine in Thea who makes it easy to be invested in her quest, so much so that if there is a sequel I'm on board!


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Jul 27, 2020

Into The Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan

Monday, July 27, 2020
Into the Unbounded Night



September 1 2020 from Regal House Publishing
Biblical Historical Fiction
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for this review, thank you!

When her village in Albion is sacked by the Roman general Vespasian, young Aislin is left without home and family. Determined to exact revenge, she travels to Rome, a sprawling city of wealth, decadence, and power. A “barbarian” in a “civilized” world, Aislin struggles to comprehend Roman ways. From a precarious hand-to-mouth existence on the streets, she becomes the mistress of a wealthy senator, but their child Faolan is born with a disability that renders him unworthy of life in the eyes of his father and other Romans. Imprisoned for her efforts to topple the Roman regime, Aislin learns of an alternate philosophy from her cellmate, the Judean known today as the apostle St. Paul. As the capital burns in the Great Fire of 64 AD, he bequeaths to her a mission that will take her to Jerusalem. There, Yohanan, son of Zakkai, has been striving to preserve the tradition of Hillel against the Zealots who advocate for a war of independence. Responding to the Judeans’ revolt, the Romans—again under the leadership of Vespasian—besiege Jerusalem, destroying the Second Temple and with it, the brand of Judean monotheism it represents. Yohanan takes on the mission of preserving what can be preserved, and of re-inventing what must be reinvented.


 When a nation dies, destroyed by another, what survives? When great leaders wander like shadows under the Earth, when monuments stare at us silently or disintegrate, what is left?

In today's society of ever prevalent conflicting viewpoints we tend to have a general airing of grievances and then move on. In the age of Early Christianity having conflicting viewpoints would easily get you killed. The author Mitchell James Kaplan brings us several opposing viewpoints in his compelling novel Into The Unbounded Night with an intriguingly unbiased view from each character.

The mystical Aislin and her simple village ways collides with aggressive Roman General Vespasian with his belief in his own gods while trying to put down all of Britannia and Judean revolts. Yohanan, lover of Solomon's Song of Songs, attempts to preserve his family's legacy of protecting treasured historical scrolls and encounters Saul in the temple trying to discredit Yohanan's childhood friend Stefanos. Septimus is a young soldier who survives Vespasian's cruelty once, but can he outlast him during Nero's murderous reign?

The most intriguing thing about this novel is not just that it draws from multiple philosophies skillfully blended together, but that the author was able to pull from actual people who lived two thousand years ago. The novel brings us St. Paul who killed St. Stephen (Stefanos) and also Vespasian, who ultimately became a Roman Emperor; all set against a backdrop of Jerusalem struggling under Roman aggression, not to mention the rumors of a messiah whose prophecy was to save them all.

Into The Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan is a fascinating tale with the author's knowledge clearly evident as he pragmatically holds nothing back as far as rape, murder and the truth of the barbaric way of life that surrounded the people of the time of Roman oppression. The intricate look at the Christianity tenet of 'the Way' is woven in with the Judean philosophy and helps to bring the many threads together to an ultimate message of hope. This was not an easy read as it does have some triggers with the violence, but I would recommend this to anyone interested in a brilliant telling of how it was to be living in those uncertain times of the earliest days of Christ's followers.

We forget. That is a blessing. If we were unable to forget, the cruelties of our mortal existence would overwhelm us.


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Jul 11, 2020

Stories That Bind Us by Susie Finkbeiner

Saturday, July 11, 2020


Stories That Bind Us by Susie Finkbeiner
Bethany House/Revell June 2020
review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Five Stars All Day Long

Betty Sweet never expected to be a widow at 40. With so much life still in front of her, she tries to figure out what's next. She couldn't have imagined what God had in mind. When her estranged sister is committed to a sanitarium, Betty finds herself taking on the care of a 5-year-old nephew she never knew she had. 
In 1960s LaFontaine, Michigan, they make an odd pair. Betty with her pink button nose and bouffant hair. Hugo with his light brown skin and large brown eyes. But more powerful than what makes them different is what they share: the heartache of an empty space in their lives. Slowly, they will learn to trust one another as they discover common ground and healing through the magic of storytelling. 
Award-winning author Susie Finkbeiner offers fans a novel that invites us to rediscover the power of story to open the doors of our hearts.


I really enjoyed the previous novel from Susie Finkbeiner so I was eager to read Stories That Bind Us. The title refers to the main character's storytelling talents that she would lean on to help get her sister through trying times and later her nephews. Betty's story is a simple one focused on family drama but the setting is an evocative one: set in the sixties with John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King trying to make a difference in the United States. 

With such a prime setting there for an amazing story, Finkbeiner instead focuses on Betty and what happens to her. While the events may not be earth shattering to many of us, it is indeed in the storytelling that weaves us into Betty's heartbreaking world and makes us love her like one of our own. Her resilience and ultimate fatigue are a mirror of ourselves but the beauty of the story and the moral lessons that can be learned are heartfelt and timely. 

Favorite Quote: "Dreams of equality, of the end to racism, that children of all colors would hold hands, that they would be brothers and sisters."

I read this novel in a day and it is one of my favorites of 2020. Themes of grief, racism and love come together beautifully in this timeless (timely?) story. I love Susie Finkbeiner's talents to make me care so much about her words and how her prose does nothing but honor the Lord. And I love her characters that I would love a sequel to see how Hugo grows up to change the world. 

Jun 30, 2020

Halfway through 2020 For the love of God

Tuesday, June 30, 2020






My year started with Ruthless Gods by Emily Duncan. Did that title signal the coming of the Covid-apocalypse of 2020? Maybe. Here we are at the last half of 2020 (hallelujah!) and I am aiming for my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 70 books. I am sitting at 44 books now, most of those are pictured above.

I kinda wove around a bit but loved reading all of the Cassandra Clare Shadowhunters books. The other pleasant surprise was the Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir and also The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater which I have to finish both of those but I don't want to rush through them. I have Tahir's December 2020 release on pre-order though!

The two Audio books before Covid derailed me: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid was excellent on audio, and so was Sadie by Courtney Summers. Both excellent stories via audio.

I have started the famously popular Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas but it didn't knock my socks off yet. I am told the series gets better as you go as the author matured as the books were written but I am not in a rush to continue with them.

Here's my newest Five Star Read:


I just finished This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger and I LovVVEd it:
  "Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an en­thralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole." 

I absolutely have totally enjoyed having access to library eBooks while this Covid stuff has everything topsy turvy. If you have a smartphone and/or a kindle and have a library card you can set up a Libby aka overdrive account to get access to your library's eBooks. Yes, you may have to wait for them to become available like This Tender Land was, but it was so worth it!

I haven't read an abundance of more books than usual due to Covid as one would expect. I am still blessed to be able to bring in a paycheck (knock on wood) but not having to go in the office as much as things were so nutty. Every time I think we could be turning a corner it turns out to be another detour. I am trying to be positive and manage my anxiety successfully but sometimes I feel like it's just giant black hole. Hence my desire to try and focus on books instead but that's easier said than done.

Feel free to friend me over on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1170687-marie-burton

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May 4, 2020

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke

Monday, May 04, 2020




Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke
North Star Editions/Flux
Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA
Kindle Pub Date 26 May 2020
Full release February 2021
EGalley via netgalley in exchange for this review, thank you!


Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.
Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.
But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.


I do not read tons of books in the sub-genre of sci-fi but I have been loving the fantasy/teen/YA genre over the past year and this book is another great fantasy novel (with additional themes of LGBT so be forewarned) and a really delicious debut. Ren's character of being a silver wielder, an outlawed talent, is easy to like: she is tough, independent, snarky and realistic. A concurrent character storyline of a soldier of the monarchy follows Adley, who is an orphan with a dangerous love interest but wholly focused on her mission to kill for her evil leaders. And it turns out that Adley is hunting Ren and is eager to do so as it would guarantee Adley the highest position possible for her dire life's existence: the King's Fang. The setting of the kingdom of Erdis is dark, lonely and hopeless but the author is skilled at offering a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel for the main characters who are working towards a better reality but the endgame of our characters work against each other.

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke is a courageous story that doesn't hold back; its myriad of rough characters pulls you in as they reveal their insecurities as the plot unfolds. The themes of forbidden love and violence with poetic justice really give this story a punch but it is the flowing writing style of the author that makes this novel so easy to enjoy. There is so much going on that this review is very subpar when it deserves to much more. Very well done and can't wait to read more from the author.

~~~

Unfortunately with the Covid -19 pandemic I can't really tell when the book is to be published, it was originally slated for May 2020 and that is what Amazon shows the kindle release it but paperback is 2021.

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Apr 18, 2020

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Saturday, April 18, 2020



The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Simon & Schuster
pub November 2019
library loan


Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.


I borrowed this book from the library as for some reason I did not meet the criteria to receive an eGalley from NetGalley from Simon and Schuster pre-publication. It must be because I am not one of those gushy 'oh quote me for a blurb please' type of bloggers, so screw you all, I am still reviewing this damn book! Just to throw it in your face for declining my request to review this on netgalley I really want to say I hated this book but I can't, for Lisa Jewell is very good at what she does. She is a wonderful gothic-esque suspense writer and The Family Upstairs is a solid four star read, so take that Simon and Schuster morons who didn't want me to review this book. 😘

I really loved Libby's character and learning her family's secrets slowly.. the suspense/mystery angle was well played out and I didn't exactly know all the connections of the characters though there was certainly an aura that something more was happening under the covers. I really loved the way the plot filled itself out as it was indeed like one more cover lifted, then another till we reach the end.  There were several ways the whole thing could've played out and the ultimate finale was very well done and satisfied my need for closure with a twist.

The other Lisa Jewell book I read was Then She Was Gone, which was a five star read. Check that out here on Goodreads. I think I will be looking for more Lisa Jewell reads as Ruth Ware has totally made me ban her because of her lame ways of closing out her own suspense/thrillers.


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Mar 12, 2020

House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City #1 by Sarah J Maas

Thursday, March 12, 2020

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas 
March 3, 2020 from Bloomsbury, 816 pages 

****Not inserting a synopsis because it contains a huge spoiler **** (first clue this book contains zero merit) 

I fell in love with Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series last year; so much so that I reread them this year. I also fell into the hype trap and pre-ordered a signed copy of the House of Earth and Blood book one of the newest series by Sarah J. Maas, Crescent City, marketed as an adult book as opposed to her previous titles. The writing is the same though so it was decided to reissue the previous titles soon as adult, too. Whatever brings in the money, right? 

It is a huge book! I love huge books, I cannot lie! Except this one, as it was 800 pages of repetitive whining back and forth between the fallen slave angel Hunt and the druggie half-Fae half-human Bryce. They were in heat for each other throughout the 800 pages, demons are unleashed and supergirl Bryce saves the day. Surprise! That's the synopsis. 

Second clue I would hate this is the purposeful insertion of the F**K word 528 times. Then the third clue was how many times Bryce's toes curled as a reflex of being attracted to the fallen angel who is an 'alphahole' (eyeroll). 

Fourth clue is that I zzzzz'd through 700 pages before action started to happen. The actual climax at the end of the book didn't make up for the utter disappointment of the majority of the book so One F**King star from me. Too crass, crude and way too long of a build-up. 

Sex crazed Bryce needs her Fae Daddy to love her for who she is so she does drugs to get away from her sadness/stupidity of her life. She seeks redemption and revenge on her Fae Fam by eschewing their traditions and battles demons to save babies. The End. 

Mar 2, 2020

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis by Stephanie Marie Thornton

Monday, March 02, 2020


And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Berkley Publishing Group, March 10 2020
Hist-Fic, 480 pages
Review copy via Netgalley 
An intimate portrait of the life of Jackie O…
Few of us can claim to be the authors of our fate. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy knows no other choice. With the eyes of the world watching, Jackie uses her effortless charm and keen intelligence to carve a place for herself among the men of history and weave a fairy tale for the American people, embodying a senator’s wife, a devoted mother, a First Lady—a queen in her own right.
But all reigns must come to an end. Once JFK travels to Dallas and the clock ticks down those thousand days of magic in Camelot, Jackie is forced to pick up the ruined fragments of her life and forge herself into a new identity that is all her own, that of an American legend.

This was my first book regarding the famous Kennedy family and the woman who married into the political Kennedy clan. Jackie died in New York the same month I left New York and I grew up hearing about her and her children so I had an idea of how uptight she was. And that definitely shone through in this novel as we get a good summary of what her life was like during the brief courtship and ten years of a rocky marriage (but with tons of bling!) to the 35th President of the United States. 

The summary is that Jackie had children and lost children and she really despised Texas according to this depiction. She spoke languages fluently and was a public curiosity that helped the Kennedys seem a little more dainty and less masculine political machines. Whether he or she was faithful or not is left open to our imagination. 

I forced myself to finish this to be honest. It was a very dry narrative but is that the author's fault or Jackie's fault? I could not really relate to Jackie as a woman as she was able to snap her fingers and get whatever her heart desired. Plus the multiple times Dallas and Texas was ridiculed was a complete turn off. 

Where this story is heartfelt is when Jackie experienced loss and tragedy just like an ordinary person would. An iconic woman she was able to survive everything that happened to her with grace and poise while in the public eye but behind the scenes she was just keeping her head above water, from the way the author depicts her. 

There is not a lot of Kennedy historical fiction out there so I do recommend this well researched novel for anyone interested in the nuances of the era. I did get a little lost with the lengthy author's note and was disappointed in how many times the author said that she shifted events or scenes that I finally just stopped trying to wrap my head around what was true or not, and didn't finish that author's note. The aspects of biographical fiction versus historical fact is a conundrum of historical fiction and a subject of lengthy debate. 



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Feb 11, 2020

The Queen's Fortune by Allison Pataki

Tuesday, February 11, 2020


The Queen's Fortune A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire by Allison Pataki
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, February 11 2020
Historical Fiction, 448 pages
Review EGalley via netgalley, thank you! 

A sweeping novel about the extraordinary woman who captured Napoleon’s heart, created a dynasty, and changed the course of history—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Traitor's Wife, The Accidental Empress, and Sisi.
As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone and it’s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine.
A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister Julie marries his brother Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon’s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Josephine de Beauharnais. Once again, Desiree’s life is turned on its head.
Swept to the glittering halls of the French capital, Desiree is plunged into the inner circle of the new ruling class, becoming further entangled with Napoleon, his family, and the new Empress. But her fortunes shift once again when she meets Napoleon's confidant and star general, the indomitable Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. As the two men in Desiree’s life become political rivals and military foes, the question that arises is: must she choose between the love of her new husband and the love of her nation and its Emperor?
From the lavish estates of the French Riviera to the raucous streets of Paris and Stockholm, Desiree finds herself at the epicenter of the rise and fall of an empire, navigating a constellation of political giants and dangerous, shifting alliances. Emerging from an impressionable girl into a fierce young woman, she discovers that to survive in this world she must learn to rely upon her instincts and her heart.
Allison Pataki’s meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined novel sweeps readers into the unbelievable life of a woman almost lost to history—a woman who, despite the swells of a stunning life and a tumultuous time, not only adapts and survives but, ultimately, reigns at the helm of a dynasty that outlasts an empire.


Way back in 2010 I read a fabulous book originally written in 1953 by Annemarie Selinko: Desiree. I absolutely loved this story about Desiree Clary, a merchant's daughter who grew up to first be Napoleon's girlfriend then eventually a major part of his family as his brother married Desiree's sister. This newest novel brings Desiree's story to us once again and while fictionalized for hist-fic's sake, it is a story that is so amazing that it inspires several other famous works as Pataki notes at the end of her novel.

I do not need to go into a listing of the intriguing facts of Desiree's life story as it starts in the novel circa 1794 but definitely must expand on the fact that Pataki's retelling of Desiree's story -- and by default Napoleon's and Josephine's as well - is not to be missed. I never tired of Desiree's story, and I always found myself eager to pick up the book even while I was reading another at the same time. While Pataki's writing is done in a matter of fact style, thankfully avoiding being overly dramatic, she gives an easy to read snapshot of the life of Desiree Clary.

And while I found myself disliking the characters of Napoleon and Josephine throughout this telling, it was tear- jerking when their saga was over and that's only because of the storytelling of Allison Pataki.

But what of fate? Just imagine if Desiree and her sister Julie didn't bump into Joseph Bonaparte when their brother was arrested, would there be such a dynasty that Desiree Clary was a matriarch of? Desiree would not have met Napoleon, who requested Bernadotte to pay special attention to Desiree in the first place. Then Desiree and Bernadotte would not have been married and would not have become King and Queen of Sweden.

Desiree becomes Queen of Sweden (her husband the inspiration for Dumas!) and her descendants are still rulers today, forever linked with Empress Josephine, hence the subtitle of this novel. I really enjoyed this story of revolution, revival, love and revenge among rulers. It even makes me want to read Selinko's novel again just to see if Desiree comes off as willing to go to heaven and hell and back again just because of her love for her beloved Bernadotte.

Read my review of The Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki at this link https://www.burtonbookreview.com/2014/01/the-traitors-wife-by-allison-pataki.html

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