K.C. Bateman made an impactful entry into the historical romance genre in 2016 with To Steal a Heart, a Napoleonic Era romantic adventure featuring a former acrobat-turned-informant and a sexy spy, which I loved and rated a DIK. The other books in her Secrets and Spies trilogy were similarly enjoyable, and I’ve been eagerly waiting…
I’ve read books that keep me up at night for a variety of reasons. This one certainly kept me up – by sucking me into a gripping plot and also by scaring me with reminders of the realities of life in the past. This book, about a pair of physicians (he is Italian, she is…
I’ve been a fan of Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily series since Emily’s first appearance in And Only to Deceive. Emily has gone through a lot of changes and solved many mysteries since then. The latest entry finds Lady Emily and her husband Colin in Venice to investigate a recent murder. However, classical scholar Emily is…
Have you ever wondered what people did before the number zero? It has always existed, right? Not so. Changeling is about a world where zero is just starting to exist and to open up whole new worlds for people – and that is a fascinating adventure to be a part of. Luca is known as…
You might need to suspend some logic when it comes to enjoying The Treasures of Venice by Loucinda McGary. But if you do, enjoy it you will. Sam Lewis was supposed to be on her honeymoon, and when her fiancé broke things off at the last minute, she decided to go to Italy anyway. While…
Conceptually, The Rossetti Letter is similar to Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series: Both tell the modern day stories of doctoral candidates in Europe, searching for a mystery lost in the crumbling papers and bound books of the past, and at the same time recounting the historical story about the people they are researching. However, this…
How many authors could write a mystery series featuring a madam running a brothel and paying rent to the Catholic Church in 12th century London? And how many of those could turn around and begin a new series starring Lucrezia Borgia? And in both cases make those characters sympathetic and their stories intriguing? One of…
Having enjoyed several of Susan Wiggs’ recent books (especially The Charm School) I’ve been picking up her older works whenever I find them. And in Lord of the Night, I found a real treat. Sandro Cavalli is a Lord of the Night, one of the aristocratic aids to the doge of Venice who investigate crime…