ShellieLovesBooks

Publication Date: November 16, 2020 Length: 274 pages My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Just in time for New Year's Eve and the last day of December 2022 I have completed a full season of these delightful mysteries!  When I discovered they were written with the setting for each season I thought that was pretty neat and am now looking forward to reading four per year during the matching time period until I've eventually caught up with all of them. This story takes place, of course, in winter and was just perfect in that I started reading it Christmas Eve and ended it New Year's Eve, roughly coinciding with the same days as the story itself. It was a great end to a great year of reading! In this adventure, Eleanor and Clifford are hot on the trail of a murderer who has seemingly killed a local villager who has come to Henley Hall to partake in the Christmas Eve festivities along with those residents of Little Buckford. At the time of his death everyone assumed he had died during the fun run i

  Publication Date: March 14, 2023 Length: 320 pages My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Thank you to NetGalley for loaning me this book for review. This was my first book by Rhys Bowen to have read but I had heard of her before and knew she was very popular. Even though this is a series book I decided to just jump in and read the one being published this spring. I plan to eventually read the latest book in her other series, Royal Spyness. This is the continuing story of Molly Murphy, a housewife and mother who has come a long way from her days as a single gal newly arrived from Ireland.  Molly is slowly adjusting to her quiet domestic life with her policeman husband, Daniel, and their son and foster daughter. She is retired from her former life of sleuthing and is Molly Sullivan now, living in Greenwich Village in a home she loves, albeit a simple one. When her husband tells her they are moving to a new home in the swanky area of Fifth Avenue with servants and plush surroundings she is bewildered. He al

This is book 4 in the Margaret Beaufort mystery series. I had not come across the other books before so was excited to know there are more. I have precious little time to read all of an entire series, but if I really enjoy a book I want to go back to the beginning. Hopefully this one does not disappoint.  Margaret Beaufort is a fascinating figure and I always associate her with the dark side of things in the Wars of the Roses. Perhaps this is unfair and perpetuated by the STARZ series, The White Queen and The White Princess, nevertheless I can realistically see her caught up in a mystery like this one. March 7, 2023 Historical Fiction/Mystery, Thrillers 224 pages Book description courtesy of NetGalley 1472. Edward IV reigns triumphant over England and his rivals, the Lancastrians. But he is uneasy, for one true claimant remains: the young Henry Tudor, son of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. Henry's continued existence worries Edward, so he hatches a plan to bring a cuckoo i

  This week's Top Ten Tuesday is  "what books did Santa bring you for Christmas?" Or, alternatively, what books are you planning to buy with all those gift cards and money Santa brought you? Well not only did Santa bring me money for books, I got a brand new Kindle Paperwhite to read them on. So Merry Christmas to me! Of course I bought it and wrapped it without looking inside the Amazon box and then told my husband what he'd bought me. He was very surprised when I opened it on Christmas morning, ha! But I wanted to make sure I got the one I really wanted. Now I have the same dilemma I always have....I want ALL the books.  Here are the ones I either received from someone in paperback form or plan to buy. Some are so new they are expensive so if I can get them through my online library app I will go there first. Happy Reading in 2023 everyone! 1. The Sun in Splendour by Jean Plaidy- The story of Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses comes to life in this novel which bear

Publication Date :  December 19, 1938 Length : 288 pages My Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ I have been saving this book for awhile now because I wanted to join the Read Christie challenge and this is the book they chose for December. Also, who wouldn't love this book around Christmas time of course! I am still a newcomer to Agatha Christie books and am learning to adjust to her style. As someone who expects a lot of historical atmosphere from her novels it has been a stretch to remember that Christie books are all about the crime and the whodunit and not necessarily the historical setting. But I think I'm finally appreciating her the way she intended. This book had a lot of colorful characters to keep track of and my original theory was way off. Seeing the story develop and realizing how wrong I was made it an interesting read. Summary We begin in London on December 22nd at a train station where a mysterious stranger, Stephen, is returning home from South Africa after a long absence. His cryp

This is my first post for Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings . I chose The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz because anytime I see the words "Jacobite" or "Scotland" I'm hooked! This book is set during the first Jacobite rising of 1715 and looks unique and interesting. I've gotten a little ambitious with my TBR pile for 2023 so I'm not exactly sure when I will get to it. If you have read it or plan to, let me know what you think. Happy Reading! January 23, 2023 Christian Historical Fiction/Romance 416 pages Book description courtesy of NetGalley In 1715, Lady Blythe Hedley's father is declared an enemy of the British crown because of his Jacobite sympathies, forcing her to flee her home in northern England. Secreted to the tower of Wedderburn Castle in Scotland, Lady Blythe awaits who will ultimately be crowned king. But in a house with seven sons and numerous servants, her presence soon becomes known. No sooner has Eve

Last January I joined this challenge with the intent of reading 25 historical fiction books. I also planned to leave a review for each book on Amazon or Goodreads. Then I saw the beautiful book blogs others had created and wanted to try it myself in order to leave my reviews all in one place. Nearly a year later here I am ending the challenge with my blog and it all started here! Thanks to Marg at The Intrepid Reader and Baker for hosting this challenge. Below is my list of books I read in 2022. Reviews for each book can be found on my blog ShellieLovesBooks . My goal was 25 books and I read 27 (not counting other genres like history, etc.) so I'm pretty pleased with that. Something I noticed was the number of sequels and certain authors I gravitate to. While it is fun to read and review new books I find it hard to let go of characters I love. In the coming year I'm going to try to work on more classics and new books but it will be a challenge! Happy reading everyone! Go Tell t

Publication Date:   January 1, 1981 Length:  357 pages My Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ This is the second book in this series and since I almost always go in order when reading series books, my second one to read by this author. I enjoyed book one, Crocodile On the Sandbank, enormously and was really looking forward to seeing what was happening with these characters. Peters really got my attention with her unique style of dialogue and the humorous inner monologue of Amelia. It reminds me of the old movies of the 1940's and 50's. The setting is also a big draw in that there aren't a lot of mysteries that take place in Egypt except for a few Agatha Christie stories.  SUMMARY Our story begins in England where Amelia and her husband Radcliffe Emerson are attempting a normal, quiet life with their young son Ramses. It is clear both feel stifled by domestic life and the social niceties that go along with 19th century upper crust society. Amelia especially is frustrated at home as wife and mot

TOP TEN TUESDAY HOSTED BY  THAT ARTSY READER GIRL This week's topic is ten books I'd like to read this coming winter. I had a hard time with this one because narrowing it down to only ten books is impossible for me! There are just too many to choose from but I did my best. What is your bookish wish list for the coming season? ( All book descriptions are from Amazon books ) 1. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder—and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.  Christmas Eve, and the Lee family’s reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.  When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man. . . . 2.