October 2022 - Library of Clean Reads

Monday, October 24, 2022

The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews (Review and Giveaway!)

I've read the first book in the series and it was one of my favorites by Mimi Matthews, and this one is just as good!

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: The Belle of Belgrave Square: Belles of London (Book 2)
Author: Mimi Matthews
Genre: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Berkley Romance (October 11, 2022)
Length: (432) pages
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook
Tour Dates: October 3-23, 2022

Content: PG-13

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A BookBub Best Romance of 2022

A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a
marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.

For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.

In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes…

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

I love immersing myself in a Mimi Matthews novel because I know I will lose myself in a good story. Once again, as in many of her other books, the author explores a condition not understood well in the past: social anxiety. I cringe at the ignorance of the medical world at that time.

Julia does not like going to balls, she feels awkward and panicky, wishing to escape to go riding off on her beloved horse or ensconcing herself in her room where she can read books and not have to deal with the London season to find a suitable husband. Captain Blunt is a formidable man, with a disfiguring scar on his cheek that gives him a menacing look. He has his eyes set on Julia but she is at first terrified of him. But when he seems to be the answer to her problems, she makes a bold move, only to discover things are not as they seem.

I was pulled into this novel quickly and it was entertaining throughout. Julia was easy to like. Her family situation was sad, but she finds the courage to move forward even though this is very frightening for her. Captain Blunt is mysterious and I was intrigued by him. I liked the way they come together and fit into each other's lives. Matthews comes up with original plot twists that keep me turning the pages. Of course, the romance is always well done, in good taste, and swoon-worthy, even with atypical characters.

This was another winner by Mimi Matthews and I look forward to the next book in the series. Note that even though this is the second book in the series, it's definitely a stand-alone novel, making only references to some of the characters in the first book. If you like good historical romance novels, delve into a Mimi Matthews novel. You won't be disappointed.

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

BUY THE BOOK:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

AUTHOR BIO

USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning proper Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

VICTORIAN READING ROOM
Join Mimi at her Victorian Reading Room Facebook Group for exclusive access as she shares her love of writing, historical romance, Victorian fashion, brooding heroes, independent heroines, and of course, her beloved pets!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

Ends Oct 30, 2022

You could win a signed paperback copy of The Belle of Belgrave Square

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92989f07662/

Monday, October 10, 2022

Attribution by Linda Moore (Book Spotlight & Author Interview)

Today I'm spotlighting a debut novel that has one of my favorite subjects (art) as one of its main themes. Check it out.

Book Details:

Title: Attribution by Linda Moore
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: She Writes Press
Release date: October 11, 2022
Content rating: PG-13

Book Description:

Art historian Cate Adamson, desperate to succeed to console her grieving parents, leaves the Midwest to complete her doctorate in New York—only to find herself assigned to an impossible sexist advisor. She struggles to impress him until she discovers a hidden painting, possibly a Baroque masterpiece. Risking her career, financial disaster, and further alienation from her family, she flees to Spain with the painting to consult art experts.

Antonio, an impoverished duke, meets Cate on the train to Seville and joins her search while attempting to rescue the decaying legacy of his family. They find clues and uncover evidence that will shock the titans of art history, may destroy her prospects as an art historian, and shatter her future with Antonio.

Written with vivid prose, rich references to seventeenth-century Spanish art, compelling characters, and a historical puzzle, Attribution is the story of one contemporary woman’s journey to understand the past and unlock her future.

Buy the Book:

Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Interview with Linda Moore:

LCR: When were you first inspired to write your debut novel, Attribution?

LM: Over twenty years ago, I attended a presentation by a former curator at Yale University who worked on attributing a painting from Spain’s golden age. I was riveted by all the components of the process—the science, the connoisseurship (using the educated eye), the history-- and the controversy it created. A little voice in my head said this would make a great novel, but I put it aside while I worked on something else. I began research and writing on what became Attribution about 2015, so seven years ago.

LCR: Can you tell me more about your new book Attribution?

LM: Cate Adamson struggles to deal with her family’s grief over Cate’s brother’s death and she leaves the Midwest to complete her art history doctorate in New York in an attempt to focus her parents on the future. An impossible faculty advisor blocks her dissertation, and she despairs she will fail the program until she finds a painting in the basement of the university. She believes the artwork is a Baroque masterpiece and she takes it to Spain to search for experts and documents to prove it.

LCR: What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?

LM: I completed the novel with the subplot about Cate’s younger brother drowning. I know you might find this hard to believe, but when I’d finished that draft, it hit me that this was my story, my younger sister drowned in the north of Spain when she was twenty. While I wrote it, I did not think consciously about that connection. It was a story that came from deep inside me and obviously, I needed to tell it.

LCR: Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?

LM: Many, so many. Some are in my home and I say hello to them every morning. I love Velázquez's Rokeby Venus or Venus at Her Mirror a detail of which appears on ATTRIBUTION's cover. It's in The National Gallery, London and I have seen it many times. The painting has many unanswered questions: Who was the model? Whose face likely not the model by the angle, is in the mirror? How did Velázquez manage to paint a nude in the religious Spanish court where he had his studio? Did he paint it in Italy? In the early 1900s, a suffragette entered the gallery and slashed the canvas with a knife because she felt the work objectified women.

LCR: When choosing a vacation, do you prefer a City or Rural destination? Why?

LM: I am a city girl who enjoys museums, restaurants, and yes, shopping, but I enjoy untouched remote places like Antarctica where I have been three times. I have been to over 100 countries and that sounds like a lot but there are, depending on how you count, over 200 countries. I want to see places I have not visited like the Gobi desert in Mongolia, Tunisia and oh, Turkey, would love to go to Istanbul.

LCR: What is your most memorable travel experience?

LM: One standout is Aldabra Island in Seychelles. Seven researchers live with 100,000 giant land tortoises who roam this atoll. The lagoon stretches twenty-four miles across and each day empties with the tide and refills again. Unlike anywhere. I have a long list of memorable experiences from all the continents and over 100 countries I’ve visited.

About the Author:

Linda Moore studied art history in the Prado while at the University of Madrid. She earned degrees at the University of California and Stanford before opening an art gallery that showcased contemporary Hispanic artists. She has served on art museum boards, edited and published exhibition catalogs, contributed to anthologies, and written for art journals. Born in the Midwest, she enjoys traveling the world, spending time in Kauai with her grandchildren, and she lives in California with her husband. Attribution is her first novel.