Book Haul~End of Month!

The end of April and I'm so psyched to have these final beautiful books to read.  This has been a month of awesome books.  I'm so grateful to the publishers who have kept me in the loop with new authors and some of the best of the known authors.  I've also been really impressed with little known authors who've shared their debut books with us.

Here are some summaries of the books above.  I have to say that I've started several of them...taken sneak peeks, and these are fabulous!

First of all, my purchase:

From the grand master of the historical novel comes a dazzling, epic portrait of the City of Light

Internationally bestselling author Edward Rutherfurd has enchanted millions of readers with his sweeping, multigenerational dramas that illuminate the great achievements and travails throughout history. In this breathtaking saga of love, war, art, and intrigue, Rutherfurd has set his sights on the most magnificent city in the world: Paris.

Moving back and forth in time across centuries, the story unfolds through intimate and vivid tales of self-discovery, divided loyalties , passion, and long-kept secrets of characters both fictional and real, all set against the backdrop of the glorious city—from the building of Notre Dame to the dangerous machinations of Cardinal Richlieu; from the glittering court of Versailles to the violence of the French Revolution and the Paris Commune; from the hedonism of the Belle Époque, the heyday of the impressionists, to the tragedy of the First World War; from the 1920s when the writers of the Lost Generation could be found drinking at Les Deux Magots to the Nazi occupation, the heroic efforts of the French Resistance, and the 1968 student revolt.

With his unrivaled blend of impeccable research and narrative verve, Rutherfurd weaves an extraordinary narrative tapestry that captures all the glory of Paris. More richly detailed, more thrilling, and more romantic then anything Rutherfurd has written before, Paris: The Novel wonderfully illuminates hundreds of years in the City of Light and Love and brings the sights, scents, and tastes of Paris to sumptuous life.

I had to have this one for my collection.  Paris is my favorite city in Europe, and my favorite setting for most of the books I read.  I've started this novel and love it so far.  Highly recommended!!

A vivid novel of Charles Baudelaire and his lover Jeanne Duval, the Haitian cabaret singer who inspired his most famous and controversial poems, set in nineteenth-century Paris. For readers who have been drawn to The Paris Wife, Black Venus captures the artistic scene in the great French city decades earlier, when the likes of Dumas and Balzac argued literature in the cafes of the Left Bank.

 

More of Paris and the famous poet Baudelaire!  This is a book I can hardly wait to read in the coming months.  Baudelaire is my second favorite poet...next to Keats.   Thanks to St. Martin's Press for this copy.

 

 

 

 

Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible.

 

Author Anne Easter Smith is one of the top historical fiction authors on today's market. She's the author of "A Rose for the Crown."   I'm looking forward to reading her latest in this volume.  With gratitude to Simon & Schuster!

 

 

 

 

One innocent mistake . . . a lifetime of consequences.

After growing up an only child, Amanda Lisandra wants a big family. But since she and her soldier husband can’t afford to have more children right away, Mandy decides to earn money as a gestational carrier for a childless couple. She loves being pregnant, and while carrying the child, she dreams of having her own son and maybe another daughter. . . .

Just when the nearly perfect pregnancy is about to conclude, unexpected tragedy enters Mandy’s world and leaves her reeling. Devastated by grief, she surrenders the child she was carrying and struggles to regain her emotional equilibrium.

Two years later she studies a photograph of the baby she bore and wonders if the unthinkable has happened—could she have inadvertently given away her own biological child? Over the next few months Mandy struggles to decide between the desires of her grief-stricken heart and what’s best for the little boy she has never known.

 

I just received this book today and had to start reading it.  It's a book that will be toured with LITFUSE GROUP in May.  Here's the link to see all the reviews associated with the book beginning May 5th:  http://www.litfusegroup.com

 

This is an exceptional book which I'm thoroughly enjoying.  Beautifully written and heartwrenching.  Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Litfuse for the copy.

 

 

 

 

Achingly tender, yet filled with laughter, The Lake House brings to life the wide range of human emotions and the difficult journey from heartbreak to healing.

 

VICTORIA ROSE. Fifty years before, a group of teenage friends promised each other never to leave their idyllic lakeside town. But the call of Hollywood and a bigger life was too strong for Victoria . . . and she alone broke that pledge. Now she has come home, intent on making peace with her demons, even if her former friends shut her out. Haunted by tragedy, she longs to find solace with her childhood sweetheart, but even this tender man may be unable to forgive and forget.

HEATHER BREGMAN. At twenty-eight, after years as a globe-trotting columnist, she’s abandoned her controlling fiancé and their glamorous city life to build one on her own terms. Lulled by a Victorian house and a gorgeous locale, she’s determined to make the little community her home. But the residents, fearful of change and outsiders, will stop at nothing to sabotage her dreams of lakeside tranquility.

As Victoria and Heather become unlikely friends, their mutual struggle to find acceptance—with their neighbors and in their own hearts—explores the chance events that shape a community and offer the opportunity to start again.

 

Cannot wait to dig into this one!!  What a great summer read!  Many thanks to Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books for this copy.

 

 

The final book is:  "Marilyn's Red Diary" by E. Z. Friedel ~

 

Summary:  Based on shocking new information, MARILYN’S RED DIARY documents Miss Monroe’s roller-coaster final years, culminating in her murder.The star, yearning to become a mother, suffers several miscarriages. Distraught, she becomes infatuated with the Kennedy’s, only to be brought down by their enemies. Through her renowned psychiatrist, Marilyn's medical problems, drug use, and cause of death are explained.

So ends my book haul for April....

I have lots to catch up on in reviews.  Hope you're having fun reading as the month comes to a close. 

Let me know what you're reading!!!

Deb/TheBookishDame