Novel Maven

This will be my last review on Blogger/Blogspot as I am moving to Wix . Summary: Mathinna is the daughter of the deceased chieftain of her tribe. When the British come to Australia, the orphan is adopted by the new governor and taken to a part of Australia where no one looks like her.   Evangeline Stokes is the daughter of a vicar working as a governess in London. She is wrongfully accused of stealing from her employer and is convicted and sent to Australia in 1840. She meets Hazel, the daughter of a Scottish midwife/herbalist, on the journey. Hazel barters her remedies for items from the other passengers, and Evangeline teaches her to read on their journey to Australia. The ship surgeon begins to trust Hazel's knowledge of midwifery and herbs, and allows her to assist with his patients. Upon her arrival in Australia, she begins to work as a lady's maid in the governor's house, where she crosses paths with Mathinna. Ruby is Evangeline's daughter, born on the Madea durin...

Summary: Diana Foyle is a graduate student studying architectural history when World War II begins. She has a passion for Christopher Wren's churches and is recently married to theology professor Brent Somerville. Brent was injured during the war while working carrying stretchers, and Diana spent the war codebreaking at Bletchley Park. After the war, Diana is still trying to solve the mystery of clues left behind in Wren's churches by Russian agents. She feels distant from her husband because of her inability to tell him what she is working on and what she did during the war. His nightmares don't help their tense relationship. But then Brent becomes entangled in the plot surrounding "Eternity" and the dangers Diana faces by investigating the church clues. I received an electronic audio recording ARC of this title from the publisher through  Netgalley  in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my  Disclosure P...

Summary: Princess Elizabeth has a girlhood crush on Prince Philip of Greece, and is determined to marry him. The story follows both Philip and Elizabeth through the years of their separation because of the war, and leads up to their engagement and the disapproval of Elizabeth's' royal family at her choice of the pauper Prince Philip. The novel ends with their royal wedding. I received an electronic ARC of this title from HarperCollins UK through  Netgalley  in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my  Disclosure Policy  for more information. Earlier this year, I picked up a book called The Queen's Secret: A Novel of England's World War II Queen by Karen Harper and I was disappointed in its content and that it centered on Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother instead of Queen Elizabeth II. This is the book I wish I had picked up instead! Flora Harding creates a sweet love story between the Princess Elizabeth and...

Summary: When Leena is given paid time off from work after having a panic attack during a meeting with a client, she decides to leave London life behind and go live in the country with her grandmother. Leena's grandmother Eileen is newly single, and decides to swap places with Leena and trades simple country living for the bustle of London. Each woman finds herself and a bit of romance along the way.   I received an electronic galley copy from the publisher through  Netgalley  in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my  Disclosure Policy  for more information. The age differences in this book were refreshing. Typically women's fiction focuses on one age group, but having a young woman interacting with her grandmother's friends and having Eileen interact with young, hip Londoners made the story feel original. Each character had a romance, but they were one part of the story rather than having the whole ...