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Review: The Lady Of The Ravens by Joanna Hickson
The Lady Of Ravens was a great introduction into historical fiction. The Tudor years seemed to be filled with the brutal way that life was and also the romantic way of living with the dress, the relationships and the dreams and aspirations. I enjoyed the experience of being transported back in time to a land where you could truly count your enemies and friends on the same hand, and not really distinguishing between the two. I did struggle with the speed at which the story pushed forward and would have benefitted from a faster pace. Our protagonist, Joan Guildford was an honourable friend and a lady in waiting for Queen…
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Review: White Rose by Kip Wilson
I am a huge fan of Historical Fiction. This refreshing take on Young Adult Historical Fiction was just sublime. It was such a beautiful take on prose and I enjoyed it immensely. It is a novel written in verse and let me be honest I haven’t ever really connected with a novel being written in this format. Kip Wilson however, nails the craft and had me hungering for more…I inhaled this book in a mere afternoon. The writing style just blew my mind. This author now has a firm fan in me and I just hope that their other books have a similar effect because they are getting added to…
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Review: The Crown Agent by Stephen O’Rourke
I bring to you on the blog today an awesome little Scottish treat. We have The Crown Agent a serious gem in the Historical Fiction genre. I was extremely impressed with this novel. The world building and the stylistic invigorance that I was submerged in was so fascinating. I absolutely love the history of this wee country and its realism was outstanding. From the clothing, to the descriptions within Edinburgh, the trading ports…it was all so perfect. The author didn’t hold back, and he had me hook, line and sinker. I was ready to be transported back in time, back to a time with no internet, no distractions but a…
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Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon
We continue onwards with Jamie and Claire’s story with Voyager. Twenty years have passed since Claire passed back through the stones again leaving the love of her life behind and emerging back in the future Pregnant with Jamie’s daughter, Brianna. Can an absent love survive the test of time? A tale of a lost love, duty and pain. I was really looking forward to getting stuck into this one but there was a few things that left me feeling supremely disappointed, this is upsetting as I was fully invested in Claire and Jamie’s story. I started this book over a week ago (this is an unusually large amount of time…
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Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2) by Diana Gabaldon
Claire and Jamie return in a story of time travel, epic romance and historic foretelling. The second instalment opens with Claire returning to the Highlands with her grown daughter Brianna. Frank has passed on and Claire is a trained doctor. Brianna of course, doesn’t know the true reason for the visit, Claire plans on using the guise of the visit to tell her who her father really is…not Frank Randall. Claire promised Jamie that she would name the baby after his father, Brian. Claire visits the reverends adoptive son, Rodger Wakefield Mackenzie (a descendant of Dougal Mackenzie). They visit all the old sites, criag na dun, Wentworth Prison, and a…
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Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon
First of all let me start this review by saying that the characterisation and world-building by Gabaldon is stunningly beautiful. Your mind runs away with you imagining a dangerous but flawless highland countryside. It’s always a time I’ve wanted to have a peek at. Being a very proud patriot member of this wee country, it brought a sense of pride where we have come from. For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary. Claire Randall…Can stand toe to toe with any Highlander We first meet English nurse, Claire in 1945 in the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. This is a second honeymoon for them after the spoils of…