- Hid From Our Eyes

Hid from Our Eyes

(The Rev. Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries #9)

by Julia Spencer-Fleming

This is the 9^th book of the series and my first book from Julia Spencer-Fleming. I did a bit of search before reading this book to get my self a bit familiar for the story.

I got to know Claire and Russ who are living with their four months old Ethan.

Russ works in police force and is called away from a meeting to investigate a murder case.

This is a very disturbing murder case. A beautifully dressed young woman’s body found along route 137.

This all seems very familiar to Russ; he has heard of identical calls happened in 1952 and 1972.

Looking into this and the other two murders all three woman were wearing beautiful dresses and were killed around the same area.

I do not want to spoil the story by giving a summary. I do want to share my thoughts about the story.

It’s a story of very normal people trying to care for their community and do the right thing. Along the way of them helping others there are so may negative things thrown in that mad the story a page turner for me.

The story is told in three different timelines that has been weaved together perfectly. A solid mystery with perfectly developed characters. I liked the vivid details and perfectly unexpected twists and turns that led to a startling ending.

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- Miss Austen

 Miss Austen

by Gill Hornby

love all Jane Austen’s books; and I devoured this book. This is the story of Cassandra Austen. Jane Austen’s sister who would work to preserve her late sister’s reputation. The story is a mixture of fiction and biography. The story focus is not only on the Austen’s family but on the lives of women living during that period.

Cassandra who is in her sixties and has always been very attentive about her sister’s reputation, is now concerned that their family letters may fall into the wrong hands and damage Jane’s reputation. Thus, Cassandra is making one final visit to Kintbury to track down the cache of Jane's letters. Finding those letters brings back so many memories of her own past. Going through these letters caused her face parts of her sister’s life that could damage Jane's reputation. The story examines why in real life Cassandra destroyed her sister’s letters.

The writing was very much like Jane Austen’s books and that was what I liked the most about this book.

I appreciated the emphasis on the discomforts and awkwardness of the single ladies of the era. When single women are unlikely to benefit from regular income. It’s a very well researched work of fiction. A must read for Jane Austen fans.

Many Thanks to Flatiron_Books and the author Gill Hornby for an advance copy of this book.

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-The Stationery Shop

The Stationery Shop

by Marjan Kamali

This Book!!!!!!!!!

Requesting this book, I had no idea what I am getting myself into. All I knew was that it was set in Iran.

The stationary shop is a story of love and passion that stays with you for a long time. I enjoyed every single character in this book. A wonderfully developed  cast of characters  that are smoothly weaved with the story. The story and details are described vividly.  The author painted a rich portrait about Iran. I enjoyed the way Marjan Kamali described the food, the custom and the stationary shop.

  

Synopsis:

Roya is a dreamy, idealistic teenager living in 1953 Tehran who, amidst the political upheaval of the time, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood book and stationery shop. She always feels safe in his dusty store, overflowing with fountain pens, shiny ink bottles, and thick pads of soft writing paper.

When Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—she loses her heart at once. And, as their romance blossoms, the modest little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square, but suddenly, violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she resigns herself to never seeing him again.

Until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did he leave? Where did he go? How was he able to forget her?

The Stationery Shop is a beautiful and timely exploration of devastating loss, unbreakable family bonds, and the overwhelming power of love.

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- Mrs Boots

Mrs Boots

By Deborah Carr

If you like historical novel this is a book for you. It is a historical novel based on the true story.

This is the first book of a promising series, set in Channel Islands, Jersey. We get to know about Florence Rowe, 23 years old, who leaves with her family and works at her father’s stationers.

In this book Florence is introduced  Jesse Boots who is staying on the island during his vacation, Jesse is an older man , Florence’s father told her a lot about Jesse before they met, and if that’s true she could say that she has never seen any one as successful as him.

Despite the age difference, the more they talked about different topics they felt more connected. The courtship and how she was always waiting for Jesse’s letter to arrive was very interesting.

They were in love and wanted to be together. But Florence mother disapproved this marriage, and eventually promised them to reconsider their decision in a year.  

Knowing that this is the true story behind the Boots Empire made the book even more interesting to me.

I enjoyed the perfect pace of the book; the well-developed characters were relocatable. The book starts with Florence life and her father’s stationer, still towards the end it is focusing on the Rowe family, which made it more amusing for me to learn a lot about the future Mrs. Boots Background.
 I can't wait to read book #2.

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-The Woman in The Mirror

The Woman in the Mirror

by Rebecca James

This gripping, Gothic story of love and madness is set in an old British Manor that overlooks the beautiful coastline of Cornwell. a dual timeline story talking about Alice in 1947 and Rachel in 2018.

The story sucked me right in and I enjoyed every twist.

In 1947 Alice Miller accepts a job at Winterbourn to look after Captain Jonathan de Grey twins .From the moment she steps foot in the mansion, Alice falls in love with Winterbourne. She starts having emotional attachment to the children and their father.

Not long after, sinister things start to happen to her and the children. The adoration turns to hatred. And she gets to know that the house is haunted and cursed. Captain de Grey doesn’t trust her anymore.

In present day (2018) Rachel Wright who is an Art Gallery owner in New York receives a letter indicating Captain de Grey was her grandfather. Rachel was adopted when she was an infant and this relation to people of Winterbourne is through a biological parent. This is when she decides to find more about her past and find out who her parents were.

When she got to know more about her past, she decides to stay in Wintebourne. She discovers a dreadful heritage that has hunted de Grey family for over two centuries.

 Rebecca James handcrafted a dark tale of a story that is all consuming and chilling. The characters are fully developed. The story is engaging, and the plotting process perfectly shaped the story. The story ending left me entirely surprised and shocked by the way it played out.
Many thanks to Minotaur Books for the Arc

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- Second Sister

Second Sister

by Chan Ho-Kei

Chan Ho-Kei has created an engaging Novel. Second Sister is a crime thriller set in Hong Kong.

Nga-Yee Au twenty-three yrs. old lived on the twenty second floor of the Wuh Wah House with her younger sister Siu-Man Au, fifteen yrs. Old.

One evening when Nga-Yee was on her way home from the supermarket, thinking what to make for dinner. She noticed a large crowd and police officers gathering in from of her building. Not knowing what was going on her same floor neighbor whom they called Auntie Chan, grabbed her feverishly and repeated the word sister. When she gets closer the only thing, she sees is a girl in a white school uniform laying there. It was her sister. and it was then that she was told her sister killed herself.

Nga-Yee was very confused. The past 6 months was though on both of them specially Siu-Man but she was sure her sister didn’t kill herself.

What follows is a cat and mouse game through the city of Hong Kong and its digital underground, especially an online gossip platform.

It is a page turner thriller with brilliant twist and turns. This was my first book by Chan Ho-Kei who is a renowned Chinese author for thriller. 

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.I can’t wait to read The Borrowed.

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