reecaspieces

Overview

Four years after tragedy, Meredith Harper is tired of hiding in her corner of Texas and living life like a game of dodgeball. She packs up her grief, awkward social graces, and sizable life insurance in search of a vacation and investment property in Colorado Springs. A botched dinner reservation throws her into the path of a bona fide movie star, and Meredith pushes through her comical celebrity neurosis to discover he is charming but a terrible dancer.

A viral video of a daring rescue makes Harlan Holcombe’s celebrity star stronger, with millions of his fans deeming him a real-life Hercules. But a minute of heroism doesn’t absolve his past mistakes. As Harlan and Meredith spend more time together, he helps her believe there might be more for her not just in life but in love. And she might be part of the solution to restore the legacy he fears is tarnished. But what happens when the path to redeem his mistakes collides with the path to redeem her loss? 

A poignant and humorous contemporary romance of second chances with swoon but no spice, grief and healing, celebrity meets reluctant widow, love after loss, and new beginnings. This clean and wholesome love story will delight fans of Abby Jimenez, Katherine Center, Annabel Monaghan, and B. K. Borison.

Review

I am in the minority on this one.

Four years after tragedy, Meredith Harper is tired of hiding in her corner of Texas and living life like a game of dodgeball. She packs up her grief, awkward social graces, and sizable life insurance in search of a vacation and investment property in Colorado Springs. A botched dinner reservation throws her into the path of a bona fide movie star, and Meredith pushes through her comical celebrity neurosis to discover he is charming but a terrible dancer.

This is a love at first sight romance and it started off strong but it fell off for me as this went along.

Plus, this is not a light and fluffy read. This is very heavy! Grief is the main focus of Meredith’s life. So, it has a lot of trauma to experience as a reader.

I did enjoy Meredith and Harlan, especially at first. But, the instant attraction did not really fit. This story is heavy and the groundwork for that type of relationship just seemed a bit off.

But if you need a story with great characters and a good setting…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

From the internationally bestselling author of The Porcelain Moon comes a haunting Gothic novel set in 1911 China. Two young women living in a crumbling, once-grand Shanghai mansion face danger as secrets of their pasts come to light, even as the mansion’s own secret threatens the present.

Shanghai, 1911. Lisan Liu is elated when she is hired as secretary to wealthy American Caroline Stanton, the new mistress of Lennox Manor on the outskirts of Shanghai’s International Settlement. However, the Manor has a dark past due to a previous owner’s suicide, and soon Lisan’s childhood nightmares resurface with more intensity and meld with haunted visions of a woman in red. Adding to her unease is the young gardener, Yao, who both entices and disturbs her.

Newly married Caroline looks forward to life in China with her husband, Thomas, away from the shadows of another earlier tragedy. But an unwelcome guest, Andrew Grey, attends her party and claims to know secrets she can’t afford to have exposed. At the same party, the notorious princess Masako Kyo approaches Lisan with questions about the young woman’s family that the orphaned Lisan can’t answer.

As Caroline struggles with Grey’s extortion and Thomas’s mysterious illness, Lisan’s future is upended when she learns the truth about her past, and why her identity has been hidden all these years. All the while, strange incidents accelerate, driving Lisan to doubt her sanity as Lennox Manor seems unwilling to release her until she fulfills demands from beyond the grave.

Review

This is an unexpected gem!

Shanghai, 1911. Lisan Liu is elated when she is hired as secretary to wealthy American Caroline Stanton, the new mistress of Lennox Manor on the outskirts of Shanghai’s International Settlement. However, the Manor has a dark past due to a previous owner’s suicide, and soon Lisan’s childhood nightmares resurface with more intensity and meld with haunted visions of a woman in red.

I am usually not a fan of the gothic genre. But this book set in China reeled me in. This actually has two different storylines. This follows Caroline and Lisan. And both of their tales are intriguing and will keep you wondering what secret is going to be revealed next. I enjoyed the guessing game and the haunted house…but is it really haunted? Like I said…read it!

In the author’s note she revealed she had too much history in this story on her first pass. She took most of it out to make it more gothic. The history is one of the things which fascinated me…and the secrets! I would like to read the first version 😜.

Need a tale set in China full of intrigue and secrets…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

1552, PARIS: The print­ing press is quickly spreading new ideas across Europe, threatening the power of church and state and unleashing a wave of book burning and heretic hunting. When frightened ex-nun Lysbette Angiers arrives at Charlotte Guillard’s famous printing shop with her manuscript, neither woman knows just how far the powerful elite will go to prevent the spread of Lysbette’s audacious ideas.

1952, NEW YORK: Milly Bennett is a lonely housewife struggling to find her way in her new neighborhood amidst the paranoid clamors of McCarthy’s America. She finds her life taking an unexpected turn when a relic from her past presents her with a 400-year-old manuscript to decipher, pulling her into a vortex of danger that threatens to shatter her world.

From the risky backstreets of sixteenth-century Paris to the unpredictable suburbs of mid-twentieth century New York, the stakes couldn’t be higher when, 400 years apart, Milly, Lysbette, and Charlotte each face a reality where the spread of ideas are feared and every effort is made to suppress them.

Dramatic and affecting, and inspired by the real-life encrypted Voynich manuscript, Book of Forbidden Words is both an engrossing story about a timeless struggle that echoes through the ages and a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who dare to let their words be heard.

Review

I have never read this author. How I have missed her, I will never know. I really enjoyed this book! I need to read her others soon!

1952, NEW YORK: Milly Bennett is a lonely housewife struggling to find her way in her new neighborhood amidst the paranoid clamors of McCarthy’s America. She finds her life taking an unexpected turn when a relic from her past presents her with a 400-year-old manuscript to decipher, pulling her into a vortex of danger that threatens to shatter her world.

I love a book which has an old, mysterious manuscript. Oh the possibilities are endless. And this author opens up all kinds of mysteries, murder and espionage in this tale. And, it is based on a real manuscript!!

This story follows Milly in 1952 and Lysbette in 1552. Both time periods are great, but I enjoyed Milly’s the best. And boy does she get herself in hot water. I mean, it is the McCarthy era.

Need a book full of historical mystery…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way.

Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI’s, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes.

Philadelphia born Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the recently desegregated army in 1948, eager to make his mark in the world. While serving in Manheim, Germany, he meets a local woman, Jelka, and the two embark on a relationship that will impact their lives forever.

In 1965 Maryland, Sophia Clark is given an opportunity to attend a prestigious all white boarding school and escape her heartless parents. While at the school, she discovers a secret that upends her world and sends her on a quest to unravel her own identity. 

Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one woman’s vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms—familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self—can be transcendent.

Review

Y’all! This book!

Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI’s, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes.

This book takes you on a ride you will not soon forget, especially Sophia’s story. Sophia’s tale will make you want to come through the pages and beat the heck out of someone. But Ethel’s tale makes you see the good in people. I love the way the author creates conundrums to help you see the difference in people.

This book is full of emotion, racism, love and it is full of history you never knew!

Need as emotional roller coaster…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

For fans of Kate Quinn, a dual-timeline adventure novel of a historian who risks everything—including her life—to discover the truth about a female Renaissance sculptor unjustly erased by history.

Two determined women four hundred years apart. One mysterious statue. And a bombshell that could change history.

Art historian Mia is running out of time to prove her theory that the sculptor of an unearthed erotic statue was a courtesan erased from history—a scandal no one will believe. Chasing through Venice, she tracks down hidden details of Sofia, a powerful courtesan who seems to have left a trail of sex-fueled art buried across the city, but Mia’s now being followed, and even her boss might be in on the lie.

Meanwhile, in 1609, Sofia defies Venice’s unfair laws to create illicit art that could ruin her future. Her aspirations to become a great artist go up in flames when her patron’s wife steals her work and threatens her lover.

Four hundred years later, it’s up to Mia to discover the truth, but now she’s uncovered a world of art theft that could leave her ousted—or, worse, right in the crosshairs of the most powerful crime family in Italy, who will stop at nothing to force her to authenticate the famous statue. Mia’s only hope is to prove Sofia’s existence before everyone involved silences them both forever.

Review

I am in the minority on this book.

Two determined women four hundred years apart. One mysterious statue. And a bombshell that could change history.

There are so many places of brilliance in this novel. I loved the historical setting, the dual timelines, the strong women characters plus the premise behind this tale…I mean a secret woman artist in 1600 Venice…what is not to love. But, the pacing is a bit off. There are places that are bogged down in descriptions. And it has some repetitive issues as well. I also wanted more momentum between timelines.

Need a historical fiction tale that puts you on the hunt for the truth…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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