duchessofreadin's reviews
2461 reviews

THE TITANIC HAS SUNK!

These words reverberated around the world, and tore countless families apart. But for the people who were on the Titanic and survived it created a bond. Regardless of station in life, they had to pull together to save themselves, and then learn to cope with the guilt of surviving in the aftermath.

The story follows three passengers, Esme, Charlotte and Anna. Each one of these ladies have goals, dreams and secrets. Esme is cheating on her husband. Charlotte is pretending to be a married woman. Anna is secretly in love with Josef who is going to marry another.

Esme covers her affair by eventually marrying the man whom she pulled into the boat, leaving her husband to his fate aboard the sinking vessel. Time has not been kind her to her, and the excitement that she felt with the clandestine relationship quickly soured after a few years of marriage. Seeing the marriage through to the end, she discovers a secret strength within her, and of course, a friend who has always been there. While Sabine may have only started as her maid, she has been the one constant in the headstrong Esme's life.

Charlotte is a thief. She has fallen in love with the roguish Reg Evers, and is willing to follow him anywhere. But he has been hiding several secrets from her, and while she goes along with his plans, she is deeply hurt by his rejection of her affections. Styling herself Mrs. Evers aboard the vessel, she and Reg are travelling with a young English aristocrat who has been disowned by his family. The secrets that she carries from the Titanic that night will push her to new heights in creating her new identity, but they also eat away at her as the years go by. After she is contacted by a family looking for their son, she begins a search that will take her from England to America in search of answers, resolution and peace.

Anna survives, but has to live with the guilt of being separated from her two companions. She wants to search for them, but the rest of the people in the boat cannot understand her Swedish tongue. As she makes her way to Josef, she worries about what the future will hold, and what she will say to him when she arrives. He lost his brother and fiance in the sinking. But as they grow their lives together, she has one secret that she never shared with him....

As we watch the story of these three ladies unfold, and how the Titanic sinking affects them in the future, we see more than just people. We see their stories, their pain, and the growth that they must learn to accept as time moves forward.

Fantastic book! I loved the twists and turns, and the many layers that each person seemed to possess. Anna's story really struck me harder than the rest, and of course, the massive loss of life that was incurred during the sinking. Strength and determination are some of the major themes through this book, and I enjoyed watching many of the secrets play out and unfold upon the pages of this book!

Gilly is trying to put the past behind her, but the memories refuse to stay buried...

Gilly has moved to Wyatt, Texas hoping to move on and put the murder of her husband and the loss of her daughter behind her. She meets a young single dad, and his daughter Zoe - who come into the cafe where she works each Wednesday morning for breakfast. Gilly has dreams, disturbing dreams about things that are going to happen. Sometimes they come true, sometimes they don't. But the newest dreams really bothers her. Zoe is being taken by a woman. When she gets to work and discovers that the dream is true, she is frightened. She knows that her past could catch up with her and she could become the prime suspect.....

This book was fantastic! I read it in one sitting. I could not put it down at all. There are some adult scenes, and language throughout the book.

This book will keep you guessing through all the twists and turns that it takes. A missing girl, a frantic community, and the one person that no one can place - yet will break the case wide open...

A huge THANK YOU to Lake Union Publications and NetGalley for the chance to read this book! It was amazing!

She was suffering from a loss. So was he. She was ready to end it all, but he refused to let her.....

Jenna Shaw is suffering guilt and grief from losing her entire family in an accident. She was supposed to be there, but the chance to have some quiet time was something she could not pass up. Sending her family to Alaska, she gets ready to settle down to some much-needed rest and recuperation after a busy summer. But then tragedy strikes, and she is left alone - forever. She has coped the best she can, but she is ready to let everything go, and join her family in death. She hears her daughter Cassie's voice in her mind - but nothing from the remainder of her family - just her teenage daughter giving her advice, and questioning the choices that she is making.

Lars is suffering from a loss of his own. He has covered the grief over the many decades that have gone by, but the memories are still there. He does the best he can to cope, but at any moment, the memories can rear their head. Two children missing, one son who was left behind, and the one person who knows where they might be is not talking. Lars has done the best he can to move on, but both he and his son have buried the memories of the day his mother walked out of their lives, taking her two youngest children with her. While no sign of Francine or Will is ever discovered, Audrey is discovered - incoherent and mentally broken.

Jenna shows up next to his house, thinking that she will walk out into the lake and just end everything, but Lars catches her and refuses to let her kill herself. Saving her life, he drags her back towards his house. Instead of bringing her inside, he leaves her on his porch, in a frigid Minnesota winter. When the tow truck driver finally shows up, she is in for an even bigger surprise. Owen forces his dad to take Jenna in until he can get her van fixed, and neither of them is happy with the situation. As the days go by, a truce is formed, and little by little a friendship begins to form.
As their stories unfold, they both find that they are burying painful memories, and perhaps the other can help them get through the grief.

Eventually, Lars asks Jenna to use her skills as a journalist to see what she can uncover about his family and the mysterious disappearance of his children. He is desperate for any information that can be uncovered, holding onto the slimmest shred of hope. Jenna is hesitant to do so, but she does not want to let Lars down. She begins to dig into the families past, but she discovers that there is more than one secret lurking, and the truth just might destroy the fragile older gentleman's heart once and for all...

I sat and read the entire book in just under three hours - it was that good! I am going to warn you though - this book will run you through the gambit of emotions, and run you through an emotional wringer. I wanted to set it aside and finish another time, but there was no way I could set the book down and move on. I had to know what was going to happen next! Add this to your summer reading pile! It is one that is definitely worth the read.

*Some adult language used in the book*

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishers for the ARC for an unbiased and honest review

If you are looking for a fun, quick and easy read for your kids this summer, check out these books! I listened to The Missing Mummy through Scribd, and it took me less than an hour to listen through.

Three friends are looking forward to some fun at the museum during the week. The first item up is Mummy Monday. But while the professor is showing them the mummies, someone steals one of the mummies out of the case! The three friends stumble upon a few clues and work to help the police solve the mystery.

If your child is learning to read on their own, or just looking for some summer books, then you need to check these out! My boys and I will be finding these books at the library and working through them together.

The ever-changing tide of the court can be a dangerous place. What was okay with one is not okay for the next. Frances has been known as a healer and even helped the queen with her pains when she was still alive. But the new King is determined to find witches in his court, and Frances has returned home, to weather the changing tides.
Her uncle, however, does like that she is away from court and forces her back, to attend the new princess. As time goes on the princess and Frances form a close attachment. But there are many undercurrents going on, and Frances may not escape the prying eyes of the court, anyone who is determined to sacrifice another to keep their position and influence.

This was a great read! I enjoyed it immensely.

The Kings Witch will be released on 13 July 2018. **Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book for an unbiased and fair review.**

If you love to spend time outdoors, then this is the perfect book for you! We love to hike, and this book is chalk full of awesome ideas and tips for all your hiking adventures.

We spend a lot of time outdoors with the Boy Scouts, and this is one book that I am going to recommend to the parents of our new scouts to look into. From clothing to food, and more, this book outlines and shares information on a level that kids 8 and up will easily understand.

Get ready to learn all the safety tips and fantastic ideas for hiking! Then get outside and enjoy nature!

Samuel loves the woods. He is more comfortable in the woods than he is in his small community. He spends the time hunting, providing food. But when he returns home from one of his hunting trips, he finds a scene of devastation and death. People who he knew and loved are gone. But where are his parents? They are nowhere to be found.

As he looks for his parents and tracks the party that was responsible for their disappearance. As he comes across more of the devastation as he moves closer to the people who have kidnapped his parents, he comes across a family who offers him food. Shortly after he leaves, that same family is hit by Hessian soldiers, with only the daughter escaping into the woods. Samuel goes after her, to find and help her get somewhere safer. As he and Annie work their way toward where his parents have been taken, they find a group of people willing to help him find his parents.

See the American Revolution as told through the eyes of Samuel, and his quest to not only find his parents but save a young girl who has lost her entire family.

Poops has been hiding at the convent since the accident that disfigured her. She hopes that she will be able to remain there, that is until Edmund comes home. When he arrives everything is thrown into disarray and her feeling for him have grown from that of a friend to love. As the feelings between the two intensify so to dontje dealings of the dukes cousin who wants to take the dukedom by any means necessary.

Pippa must overcome her fear and help Edmund before something happens and he is killed....

I loved this book! I could not put it down and read it in one sitting! Amazing!

William works as a lost letter detective. When letters and packages are lost on their way to their destinations, they come to his department. He must try and find the person they were intended for, or else they perish into the flames of the incinerator.

While his work life can be dull, it seems to be slipping into his personal life as well. The smooth marriage he once had is now falling apart. Claire seems withdrawn and holding resentment for everything that he does. He is not perfect enough, looking for sufficient achievement, and she is tired of being the primary breadwinner of the family. William is working on a book, but that too seems to have fallen by the wayside. He holds onto hopes of writing a book about the lost letters, but his boss does not full seem on board with the idea. He feels they are too personal to share with the entire world. William feels otherwise, he thinks they should be shared with the greater public. You never know who might be reading! What a way to find someone!

When he receives letters from "Winter" in his pile, he is drawn to a woman he has never met, and wonders what it would be like to meet her, and if they are destined for each other. Even though he knows its stupid, and he is married, he cannot help himself from going to look for her, and to solve the mystery of the many letters that she has been sending.

~Closing Thoughts~
This book was fantastic! I loved it! The many twists and turns of the book, leave you wondering what will happen next! Hard to put down and definitely one that should be on the top of everyone's list of must reads! Y'all, I think this is going to be one of those books that will fly off the shelves. The stories and the hopes - it makes you wonder what happens in mailrooms today! Do they really look this hard to find the owners of these letters, or are they merely thrown into a fire to be destroyed once and for all? I would love to think that somewhere, there is a William Woolf who is trying to bring letters and packages back to their rightful owners.

Release Date: 4 June 2019

Author: Helen Cullen

Rating: 5/5 stars

Matilde was plagued with dreams from a young age - dreams of those who would die, dreams of those she loved. From a young age, she wanted nothing more than to enter the life of a convent and live peacefully, but life had other plans for her. When her father arranged a marriage for her, she was unsure at first, but a fierce love grew between her and her husband. Like all marriages, there were ups and downs, but he never ignored her dreams.
When her husband becomes King, she continues her charitable works, gaining the love and admiration of all those around her. When her son comes to the throne, everything that she and her husband worked for is threatened, and the dreams still come...

This book was fabulous! I am embarrassed it took me this long to finish it! Life got crazy and books fell by the wayside, but this book was enchanting and I cannot for the life of me figure out how I did not devour it in one sitting. I loved this book from start to finish!