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The Virgin Elizabeth: A Novel
The Virgin Elizabeth: A Novel
Robin Maxwell | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
41 of 250
Book
Virgin
By Robin Maxwell

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

 
...a riveting portrait of Elizabeth I as a romantic and

vulnerable teenager, dangerously awakening to a perilous

liaison with the wrong man.

England, 1547: King Henry is dead. Elizabeth's half-brother, nine-year-old Edward, is king in name only. Thomas Seymour, brother to the ambitious duke who has seized power in this time of crisis, calculatingly works his way into Elizabeth's home in genteel Chelsea House. He marries Henry's widow, Catherine Parr, and uses his venerable charms and sexual magnetism to indulge his infatuation for young Elizabeth. Caught hopelessly under Thomas Seymour's spell, surrounded by kind friends and hidden enemies, Elizabeth can only follow her heart to ensure survival.



I’m fascinated by the Tudors and our English history and I love historical fiction so this was right up my street! Robin Maxwell certainly knows how to spin a tail! Elizabeth is definitely one of my favourite royals and to have an insight of her young life after already overcoming the embarrassment of her mother’s demise then this scandal truly shows why she remained unmarried and one of the longest strongest rulers!!
  

"I was on a panel at NYU a few years ago with Larson and enjoyed immensely listening to him talk about his craft. I’m also a Winston Churchill junkie, having recently finished Andrew Roberts’ 800-plus-page juggernaut. But this is a Churchill largely unseen in other works. It focuses on a finite time period as Britain, the last country standing after France falls, desperately tries to not just hang on until Churchill can convince the Yanks to join the fray, but to take the fight to Hitler. Larson has drawn on new material, some just recently released, to build upon the legendary status of a man who did enough during his life to justify three lives. The only historical figure who might have rivaled him in the energy and “nine lives of a cat” persona was Theodore Roosevelt. This book will reinforce many things you might have already known about the Second World War and Churchill’s place in it. But you will also learn many new things about that man and that time period that will compel you to find out more. A thoughtful, at times part funny and horrific, and scintillating read that I would recommend to all."

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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Rainbow in Books

Aug 1, 2021  
The Rainbow
The Rainbow
Carly Schabowski | 2021 | History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What a read that was ... so good!

I am not normally a fan of historical fiction but the cover and then the blurb had me interested and I am so pleased I didn't let this pass me by. Although this is a work of fiction, it is inspired by a true story but it feels like a "real" story and I was totally and utterly absorbed and invested in the lives of all the characters.

The story starts off in the present when Isla finds a photograph of her grandad in a German uniform, this raised questions and caused confusion as the story always told was how her grandad fought against the German's in World War II. Unable to find answers from her grandad, who has dementia, she begins a quest to uncover the truth and so begins this brilliantly written story of war, adversity, strength, courage, love, loss and friendship.

I am unable to give this book the review it deserves, I can't find the right words to put across how much I enjoyed it for which I apologise but a massive thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Aug 3, 2021  
Happy book birthday to the Christian historical fiction novel UNDER THE BAYOU MOON by Valerie Fraser Luesse Books! Read some of the author's favorite quotes from the book on my blog, and enter the giveaway to win a copy of the book, a Flavors of the Bayou seasonings gift box, and a $10 Starbucks gift card!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-under-bayou.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
When Ellie Fields accepts a teaching job in a tiny Louisiana town deep in bayou country in 1949, she knows her life will change--but she could never imagine just how dramatically.

Though rightfully suspicious of outsiders, who have threatened both their language and their unique culture, most of the residents come to appreciate the young and idealistic schoolteacher, and she's soon teaching just about everyone, despite opposition from both the school board and a politician with ulterior motives. Yet it's the lessons Ellie herself will learn--from new friends, a captivating Cajun fisherman, and even a legendary white alligator haunting the bayou--that will make all the difference.

Take a step away from the familiar and enter the shadowy waters of bayou country for a story of risk, resilience, and romance.
     
Phantoms (1998)
Phantoms (1998)
1998 | Horror, Mystery
Peter O'Toole was the bomb in 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘴, yo. Features elements of a horror movie but fails to actually make a horror movie out of them - spends most of its runtime focusing on the bracing thrills of walking around slowly and looking at stuff, and the heart-clenching horrors of sitting in some lab talking about chemicals and stuff. Dean Koontz is the Dan Brown of horror, ineptly weaving together such laughably idiotic historical appeals (forced to be played straight) for people who don't know they aren't cultured and then doing nothing with them. Also Rose McGowan is either genuinely crap here or she just doesn't care. The sci-fi violence/gore is honestly quite vicious and damn cool for what this is, and there is a noticeable amount of enjoyable stupidity to be had (terrified Affleck pleading for his life to a golden retriever, O'Toole screaming about how some ancient extraterrestrial-demon shapeshifting oil killed the dinosaurs, etc) but it's too slapdash for its own good. Gets right into it then takes multiple breaks to sit on its ass, not awful but also not worth any sort of time, tbh. The Blob for those thirsty for cardboard vapidity. *Please* just watch 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 7𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 instead.
  
The Living Daylights (1987)
The Living Daylights (1987)
1987 | Action
Fifteenth Bond movie is obviously trying to toughen the franchise up a bit after the knockabout fun of the last couple of Roger Moore films: Dalton's 007 is a hardened assassin who is repeatedly despatched on missions to execute people. Nevertheless, the producers hedge their bets by still including a few sight gags and comedy bits here and there. The plot is one of the franchise's knottiest, which isn't necessarily a bonus: possibly as a result of this, it's quite hard to work out who the evil mastermind is - Joe Don Baker gets the big confrontation and death scene, but Jeroen Krabbe has a lot more screen time.

Still, all the globetrotting, fights and chases and so on you would expect from a Bond film in the classic style, and Dalton brings enough of the literary Bond to the screen to make this satisfying for people who like the franchise in slightly grittier mode. Has a certain value as a historical oddity, given it concludes with Bond teaming up with (essentially) the Taliban to attack an airbase in Afghanistan. Dalton arguably never got a proper crack of the whip as Bond; in this film he shows enough promise to make that a real cause for regret.