February 16, 2022
Royal Trivia: Your Guide to the Modern British Royal Family
Royal Trivia: Your Guide to the Modern British Royal Family is geared toward fans of Netflix’s The Crown or anyone who loves the royals, this book is a great way to keep up with (and quiz your friends about!) one of the most iconic families in the world.
About Royal Trivia: Your Guide to the Modern British Royal Family
Test your knowledge of Kate, William, Meghan, Harry, Diana, Charles and Elizabeth II!
This collection of fascinating facts and anecdotes about the British monarchy will keep you in the know and ready to impress with tid bits on all your favorite modern royals—perfect for cocktail hour (or afternoon tea) conversation. From the jaw-dropping weddings and headline-making fashion moments, to the births of new royals and history behind the most regal events, this book has trivia for any enthusiast. Inside you’ll find the royal scoop, including:
- Details about the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Drama decoded, from the Sussexes’ move to Montecito to the Cambridges’ path to the throne.
- Facts about Princess Diana’s royal courtship Sartorial specifics (hello, revenge dress).
- And so much more!
Geared toward fans of Netflix’s The Crown or anyone who loves the royals, this book is a great way to keep up with (and quiz your friends about!) one of the most iconic families in the world.
My Thoughts
Similar to Rachel, my first exposure to the royal family and all things British was through my Mom. She adores the royal family and had us waking up early to watch weddings, events and funerals. Her cabinets are full of commemorative cups, plates and more of the royal family. While I think they are a lovely family and love watching their weddings and following them on television, I must admit that I didn’t know too much about them.
I couldn’t wait to dive into this adorable book that promised a collection of facts and stories about the famous family. The book covers The Cambridges, The Sussexes, Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth, as well as providing a family tree and further resources if you would like to learn more. Although each chapter covers a specific branch of the family (such as Will and Kate, Harry and Meghan) you will find some additional tidbits of information on other figures of the family in these chapters. The facts that were contained in the book were new to me (some I knew a little bit about for example, that Prince William was the first royal born at a hospital or Princess Diana’s struggles with bulimia) and were not what I was expecting at all. I had no idea that a then 19 year old Princess Elizabeth and her 14 year old sister, Margaret, were able to leave the Palace and celebrate with the public on May 8, 1945 – what street did she dance down and what did they experience? Or that Princess Diana was laid to rest with a gifted set of rosary beads and a photo of her children – but who were those beads from?
Royal Trivia was easy to read and I appreciated the smaller size of the book, which would make it great for trivia nights. It has a wealth of knowledge on the royal family with interesting facts that are geared towards both those with limited knowledge of the royal family and for those who cannot get enough. Royal Trivia will make a great gift for those who love all things royal, especially with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year (70 years of service to her people!).
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
About the Authors
Rachel Bowie is cohost of the Royally Obsessed podcast, recently named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by Town & Country. She’s also director of special projects for PureWow.com, a role that has led her to cover the royals—say, test driving Kate Middleton’s go-to coat brand or penning an op-ed about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s future beyond the Palace—among other subjects for over six years. Her love of the royals was sealed at a young age following the death of Princess Diana, but also growing up as a mega-fan of Prince William.
Roberta Fiorito is cohost of the Royally Obsessed podcast, recently named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by Town & Country. She’s also senior editor of branded content at Gallery Media Group, and has covered the royal beat for PureWow.com for over five years, meticulously poring over every Meghan Markle sighting and Kate Middleton outfit choice. She’s been a devotee of the royals ever since her family moved to Scotland for a year, where she was immersed in U.K. culture and history.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
February 2, 2022
Ashes to Ink: A Memoir
A story of heartache and the power of forgiveness, Ashes to Ink shines a light on the challenges of living true to who we are, especially for single parents.
About Ashes to Ink
Acceptance struggles to emerge from a cocoon of family secrets . . .
After her parents’ divorce in 1974, Lisa Lucca’s idyllic Midwestern childhood is shattered when she learns her father is gay. Sworn to secrecy, she begins carrying the emotions of her family like a cracked bucket, making a mess as she embarks on a life of rebellious choices.
Decades later, faced with the aftermath of her father’s death, Lisa revisits the complicated relationship she had with him, delving deeper into the stories she’s held about love, sexuality, and the family she comes from with a shimmering clarity that arises from her grief.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Indiebound, Target and Barnes & Noble.
About the Author
Lisa Lucca’s work has been published in several publications and anthologies, most recently in Crone Rising. She is the co-author of the epistolary memoir, You Are Loved, with her partner, Mark Mathias, a love story she will continue telling in her next book.
She shares a home with Mark in the high desert of southern New Mexico where she continues her work as a life coach, and hosts a weekly public radio show, Live True, bringing insightful and engaging interviews to her listeners. The show streams globally at lccommunityradio.org where the shows are available in the archives.
You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
The Giveaway!
Enter to win a signed copy of this book here.
Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
February 1, 2022
L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece Book Spotlight
L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece is the riveting odyssey of one of the world’s most scandalous works of art.
About L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece
In 1866, maverick French artist Gustave Courbet painted one of the most iconic images in the history of art: a sexually explicit portrait of a woman’s exposed genitals. Audaciously titled L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World), the scandalous painting was kept hidden for a century and a half. Today, it hangs in the world-renowned Orsay Museum in Paris, viewed by millions of visitors a year.
As the first artist authorized by the Orsay Museum to re-create Courbet’s The Origin of the World, author Lilianne Milgrom was thrust into the painting’s intimate orbit, spending six weeks replicating every fold, crevice, and pubic hair. The experience inspired her to share her story and the painting’s titillating, clandestine history. L’Origine is a tale of survival, replete with French revolutionaries, Turkish pashas and nefarious Nazi captains. Hold onto your berets for a riveting ride through history.
You can purchase this book on Amazon, B&N, Bookshop and Waterstone’s.
Book Trailer
About the Author
Paris-born Lilianne Milgrom is an internationally acclaimed artist and award-winning author residing in Washington DC. In 2011, she became the first authorized copyist of Gustave Courbet’s controversial painting L’Origine du Monde, which hangs in the Orsay Museum in Paris. Milgrom spent a decade researching and writing L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece. Her debut novel has been awarded six literary honors including the Publisher’s Weekly 2021 US Selfies Book Award for Best Adult Fiction.
You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Instagram.
The Giveaway!
Enter to win a signed copy of the book here.
Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 28, 2022
The Healing of Natalie Curtis Book Review
Author Jane Kirkpatrick weaves a lyrical tale based on a true story in The Healing of Natalie Curtis that will keep readers captivated to the very end.
About The Healing of Natalie Curtis
Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can’t seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she’d never before encountered–the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans.
But their music is under attack. The US government’s Code of Offenses prohibits American’s indigenous people from singing, dancing, or speaking their own languages as the powers that be insist on assimilation. Natalie makes it her mission not only to document these songs before they disappear but to appeal to President Teddy Roosevelt himself, who is the only man with the power to repeal the unjust law. Will she succeed and step into a new song and a new future?
My Thoughts
Natalie is a young woman caught in time – she was once a classically trained pianist on her way to her debut when a breakdown and illness halted her career and life for her in general. Now she finds herself at home, forcing herself to get up and carry on with life but not really living. Her brother, who he himself had made his way to the West to find himself, encourages her to come visit him and this is where her story really begins.
Natalie not only finds physical healing, capturing a portion of her strength and love of life – she finds such beauty not only in the natural environment but the amazing people she meets. She finds the power of music again when she meets the Indigenous community in this area and the music and dancing of their people. But she is also confronted first hand with the unjust and terrible laws that are tearing apart and destroying the Indigenous community. She is a first hand witness to the cruelty of the laws that are not only taking away their rich culture but an attempt to erase them from history. Natalie at first does not know how to help but she knows there is something she must do. She uses her position to push the importance of preserving the Indigenous way of life – their music, their history and culture and language. She devotes her time to establishing trust and recording the songs, dance and stories of the people (there were so many Indigenous people that she worked so hard to try to capture) but in a way that ensured it was their voice speaking and that she did not add her own influence and voice.
I enjoyed this story and while it did speak to Natalie and the work that she did, it also told the powerful story of the Indigenous people, what they suffered at the hands of the government and ensured that this story was at the fore front. It is a truly special story.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
Rating: 4/5
About the Author
Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling and award-winning author of 40 books, including Something Worth Doing, One More River to Cross, Everything She Didn’t Say, All Together in One Place, A Light in the Wilderness, The Memory Weaver, This Road We Traveled, and A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center. Her works have won the WILLA Literary Award, the Carol Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2016 Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award. Jane divides her time between Central Oregon and California with her husband, Jerry, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Caesar. Learn more at www.jkbooks.com.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 28, 2022
A Deep Divide Book Review
In A Deep Divide, with her past behind her, she has nothing — and everything — to lose.
About A Deep Divide
After being kidnapped as a child, heiress Emma Grace McMurray has seen firsthand the devastation that greed causes in the world, and she wants nothing to do with it. When she discovers her father has offered her up as a bargaining chip to expand his empire, she disappears into the night. Determined to stay hidden, even if it means always looking over her shoulder, she finds herself working as a Harvey Girl at the El Tovar Hotel.
When Ray Watkins arrives at the hotel on business, he is immediately captivated by the beauty of the Grand Canyon. Though his fame-seeking father aims to lure new investors to the Arizona Territory, Ray dreams of one day taking over the family business and doing good with the profits.
Ray immediately admires Emma Grace, and though an attraction begins to form, she can’t let go of the deep-rooted fear that he’s just like every other wealthy man she’s known. When suspicious activity follows Emma Grace and Ray to the El Tovar, they are pulled into a mystery that stirs up their worst fears. And as shocking revelations come to light, they are left to question all they thought to be true.
My Thoughts
Emma Grace is a girl on the run from her past – a past so many would envy from the outside, until they learn the truth of her family, greed and the importance of money over family.
At a very young age, Emma Grace had to learn the hard way that money and power mean more to the world to her Father then even her and the love of family. Despite the wealth and privilege she has, she escapes in the middle of the night and never looked back. While she finds employment that she loves, she is constantly on the run – never allowing herself a break, never allowing herself a friend or ever allowing her guard down. She changes everything about herself to ensure that no one will know her past, mostly out of fear for her own life.
All of this changes when she arrives at the Grand Canyon. Whether it is the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon in all of its glory and power, or out of exhaustion, Emma Grace learns to trust again. She finds friendship for the first time in a long time, and you find your heart aching for her. You want her to know her worth and that she deserves such a beautiful future, one that is as kind, full of love and patience just like her. When she meets Ray, he is so much like her in his views on society and money, it almost feels to good to be true. You want her to trust him, but you can also understand why she would hold a part of herself back. The story takes quite the turn, when her past collides with the present for better or for worse. She finds herself at a crossroads – she must either walk away or finally confront her past in order to move forward with her future.
I loved every moment of this special story, and would love to see a part two to Emma Grace’s story. I fell in love with her character and her journey through healing, trusting again and overcoming fear and uncertainty to embrace our future. A definite must read!
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Kimberley Woodhouse is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than twenty-five fiction and nonfiction books including The Heart of Alaska series and The Treasures of Nome series. Kim and her incredible husband of twenty-nine-plus years have two adult children. She loves the gift of story and is passionate about music and Bible study. You can connect with Kimberley on her website www.kimberleywoodhouse.com.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
