Cover Reveal: Ribbons of Scarlet

You guys! I am so incredibly excited to be partnering with William Morrow books and Inkslinger PR to reveal the gorgeous cover of Ribbons of Scarlet! This is a historical fiction novel, authored by some of the best in the genre, about six women during the French Revolution. It's sure to be an absolute showstopper and I cannot wait to get my hands on this book.

Read more about it below and be sure to add it to your Goodreads!

Six bestselling and award-winning authors bring to life a breathtaking epic novel illuminating the hopes, desires, and destinies of princesses and peasants, harlots and wives, fanatics and philosophers—six unforgettable women whose paths cross during one of the most tumultuous and transformative events in history: the French Revolution.
RIBBONS OF SCARLET: A Novel of the French Revolution, releases October 1st, 2019! Check out the amazing cover below and pre-order your copy today!

 

About RIBBONS OF SCARLET: A Novel of the French Revolution 

(Coming October 1, 2019)
Ribbons of Scarlet is a timely story of the power of women to start a revolution—and change the world.
In late eighteenth-century France, women do not have a place in politics. But as the tide of revolution rises, women from gilded salons to the streets of Paris decide otherwise—upending a world order that has long oppressed them.
Blue-blooded Sophie de Grouchy believes in democracy, education, and equal rights for women, and marries the only man in Paris who agrees. Emboldened to fight the injustices of King Louis XVI, Sophie aims to prove that an educated populace can govern itself--but one of her students, fruit-seller Louise Audu, is hungrier for bread and vengeance than learning. When the Bastille falls and Louise leads a women’s march to Versailles, the monarchy is forced to bend, but not without a fight. The king’s pious sister Princess Elisabeth takes a stand to defend her brother, spirit her family to safety, and restore the old order, even at the risk of her head.
But when fanatics use the newspapers to twist the revolution’s ideals into a new tyranny, even the women who toppled the monarchy are threatened by the guillotine. Putting her faith in the pen, brilliant political wife Manon Roland tries to write a way out of France’s blood-soaked Reign of Terror while pike-bearing Pauline Leon and steely Charlotte Corday embrace violence as the only way to save the nation. With justice corrupted by revenge, all the women must make impossible choices to survive--unless unlikely heroine and courtesan’s daughter Emilie de Sainte-Amaranthe can sway the man who controls France’s fate: the fearsome Robespierre.

✭✭✭PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF RIBBONS OF SCARLET TODAY✭✭✭

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  About Kate Quinn: Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with "The Alice Network" and "The Huntress." All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with two rescue dogs named Caesar and Calpurnia, and her interests include opera, action movies, cooking, and the Boston Red Sox.  

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About Stephanie Dray: Stephanie Dray is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of historical women's fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into eight languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. She lives near the nation's capital with her husband, cats, and history books.        

Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | BookBub | Dray & Kamoie Website

  About Laura Kamoie: A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction, Laura Kamoie has always been fascinated by the people, stories, and physical presence of the past, which led her to a lifetime of historical and archaeological study and training. She holds a doctoral degree in early American history from The College of William and Mary, published two non-fiction books on early America, and most recently held the position of Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy before transitioning to a full-time career writing genre fiction. She is the author of AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER and MY DEAR HAMILTON, co-authored with Stephanie Dray, allowing her the exciting opportunity to combine her love of history with her passion for storytelling. Laura lives among the colonial charm of Annapolis, Maryland with her husband and two daughters.  

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  About Sophie Perinot: Sophie Perinot is an award-winning, multi-published author of female-centered historical fiction, who holds both a Bachelors in History and a law degree. With two previous books set in France—during the 13th and 16th centuries—Sophie has a passion for French history that began more than thirty years ago when she first explored the storied châteaux of the Loire Valley. She lives in the Washington DC metropolitan area with her husband, children and a small menagerie of pets.      

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    About Heather Webb: Heather Webb is the award-winning and international bestselling author of six historical novels set in France, including the upcoming Meet Me in Monaco, set to the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s wedding releasing in summer 2019, and Ribbons of Scarlet, a novel of the French Revolution’s women in Oct 2019. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was selected as a Goodreads Top Pick, and in 2017, Last Christmas in Paris became a Globe & Mail bestseller and also won the 2018 Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Her works have received national starred reviews, and have been sold in over a dozen countries worldwide. When not writing, you may find Heather collecting cookbooks or looking for excuses to travel. She lives in New England with her family and one feisty rabbit.  

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About E. Knight: E. KNIGHT is a USA Today bestselling author of rip-your-heart-out historical women’s fiction that crosses the landscapes of Europe. Her love of history began as a young girl when she traipsed the halls of Versailles and ran through the fields in Southern France. She can still remember standing before the great golden palace, and imagining what life must have been like. She is the owner of the acclaimed blog History Undressed. Eliza lives in Maryland atop a small mountain with a knight, three princesses and two very naughty newfies. Visit Eliza at www.eknightauthor.com/eknight, or her historical blog, History Undressed, www.historyundressed.com. You can follow her on Twitter: @EKHistoricalFic, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EKnightAuthor, and Instagram @ElizaKnightFiction.

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Book Review: Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly

Thank you Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for an advanced digital copy of this book for review.

Lost Roses releases April 9, 2019.

I predict that this book is going to be very popular this spring. As the follow up to Martha Hall Kelly's incredibly popular historical fiction novel, Lilac Girls, it's sure to be a hit with historical fiction lovers. And overall, I really enjoyed this book too. I am a lover of historical fiction and this book while not without its shortcomings (more on that in a minute) is a beautifully written and researched account of human resilience and love. For the most part it's well paced, the writing is digestible and overall the book is one that I'll remember. It would have been nearly perfect five star read if not for one little thing.

I'm sure that I'm being a little nitpicky with this, but there's one thing about this book that's been nagging me since finishing it. At 448 pages, I can't help but think this was a little too long. It's a tri-narrative that could have easily been a dual narrative and I know this is going to be a very unpopular opinion, but this story could have been a dual narrative focusing only on Sofya and Varinka that would have been incredible. I read the author's note, I get that her intent was to feature Eliza Farriday - but in my opinion, Eliza was boring. Her chapters felt forced and while I understand that she has a pretty big role to play, everything she does could have been just as effective in the background of the story. I found myself skimming her chapters so much that I think they could have been cut out completely. I know it's pretty bold of me to suggest that the entire POV of a character be wiped out from a book, but her activities felt completely detached from the heart of the story, which was Sofya and Varinka's experience with the fall of Imperial Russia and the rise of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Where I found Eliza's storyline lagging and dull, Sofya's and Varinka's were fascinating. I was invested in both of them. One a socialite with royal bloodlines and the other a peasant girl who finds herself attached to the bloody Bolshevik revolution, their intersecting stories were captivating. I only wish that we would have had a little more detail on their respective journeys to Paris because I think it would have added some more tension to the storyline.

This book is definitely one that I would recommend to my friends who enjoy historical fiction. This book is well researched and written - and the parts set in Russia completely engrossing. And while I think it could easily have been a dual narrative, it's still a fantastic story. I think fans of Martha Hall Kelly will appreciate this as much as Lilac Girls.

Buy It:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

Book Review: The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the digital ebook for review. 

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres - and throughout the years I've spent a fair amount of time reading books set during or in World War II. Jane Healey's novel, The Beantown Girls, is a new favorite for me. I absolutely loved this book and its incredible cast of brave women and their experience in the European Theatre during the war and it's one that I know I'll read again.

In all my reading, I had never come across the Red Cross Clubmobile trucks or the women who ran them. Often the Red Cross conjures images of nurses or other civilians assisting with the war effort - for some reason I always think in terms of the medical field - so I was absolutely enthralled by these women whose job it was to drive outfitted trucks to military camps bringing little comforts in the way of hot doughnuts, coffee, cigarettes and candy to the men stationed there.

Jane Healey's fictional account of three women who join the Red Cross to serve in the Clubmobile in Europe is a wonderfully written account of friendship, love and bravery. I loved following Fiona, Dottie and Viv as they travelled throughout Europe boosting morale of the soldiers fighting there, finding love and experiencing loss. Together they experience the tragedies and triumphs of the war - I so loved their friendship, the hopefulness they exuded and their hard work in a very bleak time and place. This book was well researched and expertly paced, I couldn't put it down.
It's a beautiful portrayal of the brave ladies who wanted to make a difference in war that brought so much loss and heartache. I loved it.

To all you kindle/kindle app users out there this one is free with Kindle Unlimited or Prime Reading! 

Get it on Amazon

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced galley of this book!

Sometimes you just need a book that allows you to escape from the daily life things and enjoy a story about family, falling in love and growing up. That's exactly what The Simple Wild was for me - and I loved it so much. K.A. Tucker's latest contemporary romance novel is exactly the kind of book that I want to read - and then reread as soon as I've finished it because I can't imagine leaving these characters behind. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed this book.

Some of that may be personal for me because I live in the Pacific Northwest (not Alaska though), and spent a pretty good amount of time with my dad in the copilot's seat of his Piper Turbo Arrow growing up. I am all too familiar with the way pilots obsess over weather patterns and the small planes that they meticulously care for and fly. So it's not a stretch for me to relate to the people who run and fly the planes of Alaska Wild, the business run by Calla's father in the book.

I loved these characters and how K.A. Tucker wasn't afraid to shy away from some difficult emotional subjects - loss, estrangement, guilt, love, personal growth - all find a way to be relevant and important to the storyline. I find that with a lot of contemporary romance - we typically get the tropey romantic aspect but loose out on the bigger story at play or we have to sacrifice a well written book for cliched, and again tropey, romance that has me eyerolling so much I need my head set straight. While Tucker does employ the hate to love trope (my favorite of them all) she does it well and with very minimal eyerolling on my part and a believable love story that I totally could get behind.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Simple Wild and will happily recommend it to my friends who enjoy contemporary romance. K.A. Tucker's books will be auto buys for me from now on - and of all the contemporary romance I've read lately this is one of my favorites.

Buy It:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound