Library of Clean Reads: Jazz Age

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Tiffany Blues by M.J. Rose (Review and Giveaway!)

Book Details:

Book Title: Tiffany Blues by M.J. Rose
Category: Adult Fiction, 336 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books
Release date: Aug 7, 2018
Tour dates: Aug 6 to Sept 7, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (deals with spousal abuse, drug use and there are a few sex scenes, not too explicit)

Book Description:

New York, 1924. Twenty‑four‑year‑old Jenny Bell is one of a dozen burgeoning artists invited to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s prestigious artists’ colony. Gifted and determined, Jenny vows to avoid distractions and romantic entanglements and take full advantage of the many wonders to be found at Laurelton Hall.

But Jenny’s past has followed her to Long Island. Images of her beloved mother, her hard-hearted stepfather, waterfalls, and murder, and the dank hallways of Canada’s notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women overwhelm Jenny’s thoughts, even as she is inextricably drawn to Oliver, Tiffany’s charismatic grandson.

As the summer shimmers on, and the competition between the artists grows fierce as they vie for a spot at Tiffany’s New York gallery, a series of suspicious and disturbing occurrences suggest someone knows enough about Jenny’s childhood trauma to expose her.

Supported by her closest friend Minx Deering, a seemingly carefree socialite yet dedicated sculptor, and Oliver, Jenny pushes her demons aside. Between stolen kisses and stolen jewels, the champagne flows and the jazz plays on until one moonless night when Jenny’s past and present are thrown together in a desperate moment, that will threaten her promising future, her love, her friendships, and her very life.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million ~ IndieBound

Add to Goodreads

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

I've heard wonderful things about M.J. Rose's books and although her other books did not appeal to me this one did. The setting and the topic of art drew me in immediately. As did that stunning cover. This historical fiction contains mystery, art, historical facts and romance, the perfect blend for a great read. The author weaves a fine story about a young woman who needs to heal from her past.

Jenny Bell grew up in Hamilton Canada. She had a wonderful relationship with her mother who taught her to love painting. Their happy life changes when her mother marries a man who turns out to be abusive and a violent act changes everything for them. Jenny's past is revealed in layers and in flashbacks. She is now a grown, independent woman making her way in the art world, but she is still broken inside. When she and best friend Minx are accepted to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s prestigious retreat for artists, Jenny find a mentor who becomes a pivotal force in her life.

In the lush, gorgeous setting of Laurelton Hall, Jenny falls in love with Oliver, but someone knows about Jenny's past and wants to use this against her. The ending was bittersweet for me, but ultimately satisfying. I liked Jenny as a character. She was loyal, self-sacrificing, resilient and fiercely independent. The author brought to life the stunning gardens and grounds of Laurelton Hall as well as Tiffany's glass artistry. It was obvious the author researched this topic well and her love of art shines in this novel.

If you love 20th-century historical fiction, the art world, the jazz era and a well-written story with beautiful descriptions and strong female characters, then you will enjoy Tiffany Blues.

To read more reviews, you can follow the blog tour on Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.

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

About the Author:

New York Times Bestseller, M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother’s favorite books before she was allowed. She believes mystery and magic are all around us but we are too often too busy to notice… books that exaggerate mystery and magic draw attention to it and remind us to look for it and revel in it.

Rose’s work has appeared in many magazines including Oprah Magazine and she has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, WSJ, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the ’80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors – Authorbuzz.com

Her most recent novel THE LIBRARY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW (Atria/S&S) was chosen as an Indie Next Pick.

The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose’s novels in the Reincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield.

For more information, please visit her website and her blog, Museum of Mysteries. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Enter the Giveaway!

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on September 7th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Friday, February 10, 2017

The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams (Review)

The Wicked City was such an absorbing tale that I fairly raced through it to see how it would all come to an end.

Book Details:

Title: The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Adult Fiction, 384 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction / Historical
Published: January 17, 2017
Content Rating: PG+13 (This book deals with mature subjects. There is sexual abuse, adultery and a partial rape scene. There are f-words, profanity and explicit sexual content.)

Book Description:

New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams recreates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a debonair Princetonian from a wealthy family.

When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the place hid a speakeasy.

In 1924, Geneva "Gin" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia’s most notorious bootleggers.

Headstrong and independent, Gin is no weak-kneed fool. So how can she be falling in love with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent when she’s got Princeton boy Billy Marshall, the dashing son of society doyenne Theresa Marshall, begging to make an honest woman of her? While anything goes in the Roaring Twenties, Gin’s adventures will shake proper Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead—secrets that will echo from Park Avenue to the hollers of her Southern hometown.

As Ella discovers more about the basement speakeasy, she becomes inspired by the spirit of her exuberant predecessor, and decides to live with abandon in the wicked city too. . .

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

This is the third book I read by Beatriz Williams. The first one was Overseas which had a rocky start for me, and the second was A Hundred Summers, which I really liked. It seems that Williams' writing gets better and better. The Wicked City was such an absorbing tale that I fairly raced through it to see how it would all come to an end.

Beatriz Williams has the talent for weaving alternating stories from the past to the present so that the reader is trying to figure it all out as the clues unfold the story before us. I love this technique because it builds suspense, mystery and intrigue. In The Wicked City, we begin with Ella's story in 1998, a forensic accountant who catches her husband cheating on her. She leaves him and moves into a building she later discovers used to have a speakeasy in its basement. A speakeasy is a saloon or nightclub that used to sell alcoholic beverages illegally, especially during Prohibition.

Then we move on to Geneva "Gin" Kelly's story in 1924, a flapper who frequents the said speakeasy until it's raided. She ends up in jail and then takes up the offer from the straight-arrow Revenue agent Oliver Anson to catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, who just happens to be the man she ran away from and who is known to be a notorious bootlegger.

I liked Gin's story because she is such a great and complex character. She tells her story from her point of view, talking straight to the reader with her wry sense of humor and witty observations. She's a survivor and one can easily overlook her faults because she is also vulnerable and there's a softness to her hard edge. I loved the setting of course, during the Roaring Twenties, such a dynamic time in history. And the clever dialogue and repartees! Think Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Gin is a smart-mouthed, independent and modern 1920s woman.

I like stories with dual timelines, and this was no exception. I liked both Ella and Gin's story, although this time, the connection between the past and the present was tenuous. I was waiting for it, the connection that would tie it all together but there wasn't much. As a matter of fact, if the present story had been left out, it would not have made a difference to that of the past.

So the ending...well, it left me wanting more. It left me with questions. I felt that there were some unresolved issues, some plot threads left hanging. I don't know.

Despite all this, I really enjoyed this novel. The author kept me engaged throughout and I was so into Gin's story that I was disappointed when it ended. I look forward to seeing if Williams will write another period piece with a dual timeline, as I am eager to read more.

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

About the Author:

A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz Williams spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons, before her career as a writer took off. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore.

Find out more about Beatriz at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.