History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Brenda Joyce Leahy on Tour October 17-21 with The Art of Rebellion (YA historical) Release date: June 15, 2016 at Rebelight Publishing ISBN: 978-0994839985 252 pages Website Goodreads   Source: This book was given to me by France Book Tours in exchange for an honest review SYNOPSIS: Released June 15, 2016, by Rebelight Publishing, this beautifully written, lush piece drops you into tumultuous and breathtaking late 19th century Paris. Sixteen year old Gabrielle dreams of becoming an artist but her ambitious parents agree to an arranged marriage to an aging Baron. In protest, she runs away from her provincial home of Laval to Paris, the City of Light, intending to live with her grandmother and pursue her passion for art. Her bold plan disintegrates as she arrives in Paris to discover her grandmother has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Alone in the capital, Gabrielle wonders who to trust: her new artist friends or the handsome but irritating stranger ...

     Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Kirstin Pulioff, author of The Princess Madeline trilogy. This was a very interesting series, and you can read all of the reviews here on this blog. Mrs. Pulioff was extremely gracious for allowing me to ask her a few questions and providing some vey insightful answers. I hope you enjoy this interview about her series and writing style. Thank you, Mrs. Pulioff! What inspired you to write The Princess Madeline trilogy? 
I was inspired to write The Princess Madeline Trilogy because of my love for the fantasy and fairytale genres. I wanted to create a modern take on the traditional story. In todays’ society, it’s important to break the traditional stereotypes and paradigms. I wanted to write a story where the princess didn’t need to be rescued… Did you originally plan to write a trilogy or did it come after you wrote a sequel?
 When I originally started writing The Escape of Princess Madeline , I had an idea that ...

Tamer of Horses Author: Amalia Carosella Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Thorskona Books Release Date: October 3, 2016 Pages: 312 Source: This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review  Synopsis: More than two decades before the events of Helen of Sparta...      Abandoned as a baby, Hippodamia would have died of exposure on the mountain had it not been for Centaurus. The king of the centaurs saved her, raised her as his own, and in exchange asks for only one thing: she must marry the future king of the Lapiths, Pirithous, son of Zeus, and forge a lasting peace between their peoples by giving him an heir. It would be a fine match if Pirithous weren’t more pirate than king and insufferably conceited, besides. But Hippodamia can hardly refuse to marry him without betraying every hope her people have for peace.       After the death of Dia, queen of the Lapiths, tensions are running high. The oaths an...

The Girl Who Fought Napoleon Author: Linda Lafferty Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Release Date: September 20, 2016 Pages: 442 Source: This book was given to me by TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review Synopsis: In a sweeping story straight out of Russian history, Tsar Alexander I and a courageous girl named Nadezhda Durova join forces against Napoleon.      It’s 1803, and an adolescent Nadya is determined not to follow in her overbearing Ukrainian mother’s footsteps. She’s a horsewoman, not a housewife. When Tsar Paul is assassinated in St. Petersburg and a reluctant and naive Alexander is crowned emperor, Nadya runs away from home and joins the Russian cavalry in the war against Napoleon. Disguised as a boy and riding her spirited stallion, Alcides, Nadya rises in the ranks, even as her father begs the tsar to find his daughter and send her home.      Both Nadya and Alexander defy expectations—she as a hero...

     Today's guest writer is Jeffrey H. Konis. He is the author of The Conversations We Never Had . It is a fictional memoir of an imagining of the author's conversations he would had with his grandmother who had passed away. He always had regrets about not asking her questions about her family when she was alive. This book is a tribute to her and his family. I hope this guest post will encourage to listen to his story. Thank you, Mr. Konis! Olga      As a young woman in 1920s Europe, Olga Berenstein – my father’s aunt and, later, my Grandma Ola – left Poland alone to attend university in Liege, Belgium.  During her college years, she travelled to Paris alone to attend the Sorbonne for a period of time, intending to study medicine, before going by herself to Berlin to visit a good friend.  Here was a young, single woman traipsing alone throughout Europe, learning different languages and defying societal expectations along the way. ...

Throne of Lies ( Amethysta Trilogy #1) Author: Sara Secora Genre: YA, Fantasy Release Date: August 2016 Source: This book was given to me by YA Bound Book tours in exchange for an honest review. Summary from Goodreads:       As a seventeen-year-old ruler chafing under the obligations of her bloodline, Princess Amethysta Serelle finds the royal life anything but enchanting.      Betrothed to a nefarious highborn, Amethysta’s heart mourns her lost chance at love—that is, until she becomes mesmerized by someone other than her suitor, and her heart begins to beat anew.      Desperate to keep her daughter on the path toward duty and the throne, the queen keeps a deadly secret. But as Amethysta balances the burden of expectations and freedom, the glowing, blue truth will not stay hidden for much longer.      Desire and duty battle on, further complicated by strange occurrences happening to Amethysta’s body. She str...

Death at the Paris Exposition by Frances McNamara Publication Date: September 1, 2016 Allium Press Paperback; 276 Pages Series: Emily Cabot Mysteries #6  Genre: Historical Mystery Source: This book was given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.        Synopsis: Amateur sleuth Emily Cabot’s journey once again takes her to a world’s fair–the Paris Exposition of 1900. Chicago socialite Bertha Palmer is named the only female U. S. commissioner to the Exposition and enlists Emily’s services as her secretary. Their visit to the House of Worth for the fitting of a couture gown is interrupted by the theft of Mrs. Palmer’s famous pearl necklace. Before that crime can be solved, several young women meet untimely deaths and a member of the Palmer’s inner circle is accused of the crimes. As Emily races to clear the family name she encounters jealous society ladies, American heiresses seeking titled European...