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Saving Mrs. Roosevelt
Saving Mrs. Roosevelt
Candice Sue Patterson | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Saving Mrs. Roosevelt is a good book about some actual historical events. It deals with someone that needs to be a spy to help keep the first lady safe. But this also has some fiction in it as it is historical fiction. Some actual historical events do take place. This book is about Shirley Davenport and a few SPARS that help on the home front.

The author does a beautiful job of telling the story and adventures that Shirley Davenport goes through. She goes through some training and trials as she is on a mission but can not tell her family. The way she comes home and has to deal with losing her brother on the same day she comes home from training.

You will be surprised as to who it is in the end. Shirley and her friend Joan sign up to be SPARS. Will Joan be loyal to her country, or will she not be? Things do not all seem as they are when Shirley gets home. She must lie to protect herself and her family. Will she be found out?

She seems to be charming a young man who is a Captain. Will the Captain fall for Miss Davenport, or will he wall in his grief for his two young brothers? They have stood paired up to capture the person trying to kill the Roosevelts. Will Shirley be successful in finding out about the conspiracy against the first lady?

Suppose you are looking for an excellent book to read about history and the woman that help during world war two on the homefront. This book does tell a story about a few heroes of ww2. With a little bit of romance as well.
  
The Botanist
The Botanist
L.K. Hill | 2015
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
In the heat of the desert, Detective Cody Oliver inadvertently stumbles upon a strange garden adorned with exotic flowers. Upon closer inspection, he finds the garden is but a cover for the scores of bodies buried below. Soon, the small town of Mt. Dessicate plunges into chaos as journalists, reporters, and cameramen from across the nation descend upon the tiny, desert town to get a piece of the murder mystery.
Along with the media, a mysterious woman appears. She may be the only person who has come face to face with the killer, dubbed the Botanist, and lived to tell the tale. If Cody can't piece together a timeline of the land the crime scene is located on, decipher how the woman's mysterious past is connected to the killer, and bring the Botanist to justice, he may finding himself standing alone in the midst of a desolate, desert graveyard...

Wow. This is an excellent read! Very creepy, and interesting, and with a buildup to the finale that was riveting.
 The suspense and action was thrilling. The story line is good, it is well written and well plotted.
This is more than just a crime fiction book; it has mystery and thriller thrown in the mix too. The creepiness from the beginning doesn’t let up and continues throughout the entire book.
 Characters really well developed.
The main characters, Cody & Alex, were realistic & sympathetic. The ending was brilliant.
This is a crime novel. It's detailed and not for the faint of heart. I leave hoping this detective will continue on into a few more books solving crimes; in other words please let there be more!!!!!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
  
The Hemlock Cure
The Hemlock Cure
Joanne Burn | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Hemlock Cure was a fascinating insight into the lives of ordinary people during the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) epidemic of 1665-1666. The plague is very much in the background of this story for most of it, though.

The real evil isn’t a disease, it’s being shut in with people who clearly do not have good intentions.

The village of Eyam is well known for the decision to shut itself off from the outside world when its inhabitants started to become ill and die. They understood that the only way to halt the spread of the disease was to isolate themselves - a selfless act.

This novel looks at some of the families and their relationships inside and outside of their family units. The local apothecary and his daughter Mae, are one such family. Mae is desperate to be her fathers apprentice, but this isn’t a time in history where it’s safe for a woman to be working with herbs. So Mae studies with the midwife and a local wise woman (who are both also skating on thin ice, truth be told).

The plague wasn’t a constant in London it appears, and we travel there with one of the main characters. The contrast between the country village and London was quite something to read. I could almost smell the difference off the page!!

I enjoyed the pacing of this book: in Eyam the time crawls, whilst in London everything is all hustle and bustle.

The slow reveal of the terrible secrets in Mae’s family are not so much shocking as terrifying. Wulfric, Mae’s father, is not a well man. It seems to be a race against time for Mae.

I would most definitely recommend this book to historical fiction fans - and if you like a mystery, you may well like this as well.
  
The Second Sight of a Zachary Cloudesley
The Second Sight of a Zachary Cloudesley
Sean Lusk | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I don’t quite know how I can write anything about this book and still do it justice! It’s a wide sweeping novel, that takes the reader from a clockmakers in London to Constantinople.

Starting in 1754, Zachary is born on the day that his mother dies. His father, Abel, loves him fiercely, and wants to always do his best for him, which brings a Mrs Grace Morley and her baby daughter Leonora into their lives. She’s a strong, forceful woman who is to leave an impression on everyone that meets her.

After a near-fatal accident leaves Zachary blind in one eye, his father sends him to live part of the year with his Aunt Frances. This is another strong, independent woman who is determined to make Zachary the son she never had. She sees in Zachary the gift that his mother had: the ability to read people and see inside to their hopes, wishes and dreams - and also their not-so-positive thoughts.

Abel finds himself forced to go to Constantinople, and Zachary begins to have visions that send him on a chase across Europe to find his father after he loses contact with him.

The descriptions of London, Frances’ house and land, and those of Constantinople are rich and detailed - I could have been there. I was gripped from the first page, immersed in an 18th century world where lives were at stake and a boy had to be brave to save the life of his father. I loved Aunt Frances and Tom, Abel’s apprentice, who both join the Cloudesley’s in Constantinople.

The love between the characters is bright and clear, and their losses are the readers losses as well (I cried). This is historical fiction, an adventure story with a dash of fantasy and the love of family and good friends.

Highly recommended.