Category: Reviews
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Favorite 10 Reads of 2023
I read a hundred books this year, which is not unusual for me. Most of them I liked, and I want to share my ten favorite ones with you. I’ve presented them here with the most recently read first and the ones I read at the beginning of the year last. I hope you find…
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Top Hist Fic Picks December 2023
I hope you are finishing 2023 with memories of a good year. This month’s picks will make great last-minute holiday gifts. They also will be wonderful rewards for you, no matter what you’ve accomplished for the year. Every month, there’s a single day where it seems a whole bunch of books are released. This month,…
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Top Hist Fic Picks for November 2023
This is the month for giving thanks. I’d like to start by being thankful for family, friends, and good books. I’m also thankful for all our followers’ support of last year’s Paper Lantern Writers anthology, Unlocked, featuring eight stories revolving around a sea chest over several centuries. This year, we have an all-new anthology of short historical…
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The Orchid Hour
There is a certain hour, in the dead of night, when the orchid’s scent can put you under a spell… I was drawn to The Orchid Hour, by Nancy Bilyeau, by that wonderful title. The mystery is set in Manhattan in the 1920s and it makes Jazz Age New York come alive. Zia, a librarian,…
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Top Hist Fic Picks for October
October is the beginning of the holiday season—Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas—and a perfect time to curl up with a book and a pumpkin spice latte. This month brings Paper Lantern Writer Ana Brazil’s long-awaited second novel, The Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse. It’s a Viola Vermillion Vaudeville mystery. With a name like that, Viola is going to be great!…