#BookReview for Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd #BlogTour @hfvbt @SandraByrd @Joni2345zb #LadyofaThousandTreasures #SandraByrd #HistFic #Christian #Victorian #HFVBTBlogTours

It was my pleasure to take part in another historical fiction blog tour hosted by Amy Bruno of HF Virtual Book Tours. Thanks so much to author Sandra Byrd for providing me a copy of the first book in this new series.

LADY OF A THOUSAND TREASURES BY SANDRA BYRD

Publication Date: October 9, 2018
 
Tyndale House Publishers
Hardcover, Paperback, & eBook; 480 Pages

Series: The Victorian Ladies Series, #1


Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

Description
Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.

The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry—the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.

Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.

With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold—and what is meant to be treasured.

Purchase Links
Amazon  Barnes & Noble   IndieBound

Praise for Lady of a Thousand Treasures

“Sandra Byrd’s amazing cast of characters and Victorian settings pull the reader right into the story. I became happily lost in this compelling, lovely book.” -Karen Harper, NYT bestselling author of The Royal Nanny

“Lady of a Thousand Treasures delivers mystery, romance, and suspense in a well-researched Victorian setting.” -Julie Klassen, bestselling author

“I’m always swept away by a Sandra Byrd novel, and Lady of a Thousand Treasures will be long remembered as one of Sandra’s best.” -Jane Kirkpatrick, NYT bestselling author of All She Left Behind

“Sandra Byrd is the rare writer whose evocative, prose grabs hold and doesn’t let go. The Victorian Ladies Series is off to a stunning start!” -Laura Frantz, author of The Lacemaker

“With stunning characters and impeccable research, Sandra Byrd has woven together an exquisite treasure hunt with an ending that will leave you breathless.” -Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of Catching the Wind

“Sandra Byrd’s writing is an absolute piece of art! If I had to sum up this story all in one word, it would be satisfying.” -Michelle Griep, award-winning author of the Once Upon a Dickens Christmas series

My Review
The first thing I noticed about this book was the beautiful cover art...love it!! This is my first read by this author and my first Gothic romance novel and I enjoyed it a lot. This is the first book in a new series called The Victorian Ladies and what a great start. 

The author was able to grab my attention and keep it throughout. This is another book where I was able to learn new things. The main character Miss Eleanor Sheffield a talented evaluator of antiquities, able to tell the difference between true artifacts and a fraud.

I highly recommend this to those who love historical fiction mixed with a touch of danger and mystery. I can't wait for the next in this series!

About the Author

Bestselling author Sandra Byrd has published more than fifty books over her editing and writing career. Her traditionally published books include titles by Tyndale House Publishers, Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, WaterBrook Press, a Penguin Random House imprint, and Bethany House. She’s also an independent author.

Sandra’s series of historically sound Gothic romances launched with the best-selling Mist of Midnight, which earned a coveted Editor’s Choice award from the Historical Novel Society. The second book, Bride of a Distant Isle, has been selected by Romantic Times as a Top Pick. The third in the series, A Lady in Disguise, published in 2017 and was named by the American Library Association’s Booklist as one of the Top Ten Inspirational Fiction books of the year.

Her contemporary adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, which was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2011, and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012.

Please visit www.sandrabyrd.com to learn more or to invite Sandra to your book club via Skype. You can also connect with Sandra on Facebook   Twitter  Instagram Pinterest  Goodreads

#BlogTour for Beneath The Surface by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn @RevellBooks @Joni2345zb #BookReview

I'm delighted to be sharing my review on the Revell Reads Fiction Blog Tour for Beneath The Surface. Thank you to Lynn H. Blackburn and Revell Books for a copy of this book and the opportunity to take part.

 About The Book

Leigh Weston thought she'd left a troubled past behind when she moved back home to Carrington, North Carolina. But when dive team investigator Ryan Parker finds a body in the lake near her home, she fears the past hasn't stayed where it belongs.
 
My Rating:  
3 out of 5 🔍🔍🔍
 
My Review:

Beneath The Surface by author Lynn H. Blackburn is the first installment in the Dive Team Investigations series and my first read of this author. I noticed AFTER receiving my copy in the mail that it was a romantic suspense which truthfully I never read. I didn’t pick up on the romance while reading the blurb so this one was a surprise. But I decided to take the plunge…into Beneath The Surface! Lol!

One of the main characters is Leigh Weston a nurse practitioner living in Carrington, North Carolina. Leigh is sort of alone right now in life as both her parents have died and her only sibling lives far away. Leigh has recently moved to Carrington because of some problems in her past. Ryan Parker is a homicide investigator and volunteer underwater investigator for the Carrington Sheriff Department. Leigh and Ryan have known each other since high school and you can probably guess the romance part of the romantic suspense involves these two. It wouldn’t be fair for me to critique the romantic part of the story for a couple of reasons. One, as I stated earlier I never intentionally read a romance unless I agree to review one thinking it was a genre that does interest me. For that reason I don’t have many to compare to. The other reason is most romances to me feel cheesy, unrealistic, and just over-the-top. So I will instead focus on the suspense side which is what I usually review.

Lynn H. Blackburn does a good job grabbing the reader’s attention right from the start with the discovery of a dead body while dive team investigators were doing a practice dive. Pieces of the puzzle are spread nicely throughout the book and I never did figure out who was responsible until the end. The ending could have been wrapped up a little better. I was left with a big “why”? that was never really answered. There were hints but the why was never explained or I somehow missed it. For a reader that cares more about the suspense and mystery, leaving that part out was sort of a big deal.

Overall I liked the book, the mystery was interesting and I did find myself wanting to keep reading to find out “whodunit”, it was just sort of a let-down for me at the end with some unanswered questions. Fans of the Christian Romantic Suspense genre will enjoy this the most. At the end of the book there is a sneak peek at In Too Deep Book two in the series, expected publication November 6, 2018.  I give this one 3 out of 5 🔎🔎🔎!

Thank you Lynn H. Blackburn and Revell Books for providing me with a review copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

Missing Isaac by Valerie Fraser Luesse @RevellBooks #BookReview #Debut #HistoricalFiction @Joni2345zb

Missing Isaac by Valerie Fraser Luesse

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Details
Publisher: Revell, 337 pages
Publish Date: January 2, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction; Christian Fiction

About The Book

There was another South in the 1960s, one far removed from the marches and bombings and turmoil in the streets that were broadcast on the evening news. It was a place of inner turmoil, where ordinary people struggled to right themselves on a social landscape that was dramatically shifting beneath their feet. This is the world of Valerie Fraser Luesse's stunning debut, Missing Isaac.

It is 1965 when black field hand Isaac Reynolds goes missing from the tiny, unassuming town of Glory, Alabama. The townspeople's reactions range from concern to indifference, but one boy will stop at nothing to find out what happened to his unlikely friend. White, wealthy, and fatherless, young Pete McLean has nothing to gain and everything to lose in his relentless search for Isaac. In the process, he will discover much more than he bargained for. Before it's all over, Pete--and the people he loves most--will have to blur the hard lines of race, class, and religion. And what they discover about themselves may change some of them forever.

My Review

I was so excited to start this debut novel from author Valerie Fraser Luesse. The first thing I usually notice about a book is its cover and I totally loved this one. Missing Isaac is a beautifully written story that takes place during the 1960’s in the small southern town of Glory, Alabama.

The main character was Pete, an eleven year old boy who loses his father to an accident at the beginning of the book. Pete has an unlikely friend on the farm, a field hand named Isaac who works for his grandpa. Pete feels that his mom is so sad about the death of Pete’s dad that he doesn’t want to add to her sorrow by showing his. So Pete shares his feelings with Isaac about his father’s death. Then one day out of the blue, Isaac disappears. Pete is left now without his best friend and he is determined to find out what has happened to him.

There were so many things that I loved about this novel. First the author is just flat out an AMAZING storyteller. The plot was original and flowed smoothly. The characters were believable and wonderfully developed. The dialogue and interaction between the characters was realistic and smooth flowing. Valerie Fraser Luesse’s descriptive prose brings Glory, Alabama and its inhabitants vibrantly to life.

Missing Isaac is a story of class and race in the 1960’s South…a story of loss, unlikely friendships, and a boy’s determination to not give up on his friend…. I hope this is the beginning of a long writing career by this gifted storyteller. Four out of five stars for Missing Isaac!!!

Thank you Valerie Fraser Luesse,  Revell, and BookishFirst for providing me with a review copy of this book to read.