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Archive for the ‘Waiting on Wednesday’ Category

Title: Married by Morning (Hathaways, book #4)
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Release date: May ‘10

Leo, Lord Ramsay, makes the unwelcome discovery that he and the other Hathaways may lose their beloved Ramsay House . . . unless he marries immediately and sires a son within a year . . .

Title: Love in the Afternoon (Hathaways, book #5)
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Release date: June ‘10

Captain Christopher Phelan has been corresponding with the beautiful golden-haired Prudence Mercer while he was away fighting in the Crimean War. What he doesn’t know, however, is that the woman who wrote to him is actually Prudence’s best friend, Beatrix Hathaway.

Upon his return home to Hampshire, it becomes clear that Christopher’s experiences in war have changed him. In this scene, Beatrix and Christopher argue over the dog he brought back with him, a regimental mascot named Albert . . .

I love Lisa’s historical fiction romances

Title: The Botticelli Secret
Author: Marian Fiorato
Release date: March ‘10

In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Birth of Venus, an irrepressible young woman in 15th-century Italy must flee for her life after stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli…

When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn’t mind serving as the model for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli’s masterpiece “Primavera.” But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals an unfinished version of the painting–only to find that somone is ready to kill her to get it back.

What could possibly be so valuable about the picture? As friends and clients are slaughtered around her, Luciana turns to the one man who has never desired her beauty, novice librarian Brother Guido. Fleeing Venice together, Luciana and Guido race through the nine cities of Renaissance Italy, pursued by ruthless foes who are determined to keep them from decoding the painting’s secrets.

Gloriously fresh and vivid, with a deliciously irreverent heroine, The Botticelli Secret is an irresistible blend of history, wit, and suspense.

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I was supposed to get a review copy through the Librarything Early Reviewers program but alas I sent a book I’d already read and reviewed. Oh well here’s hoping it comes out in Kindle eBook version next month.

For the second week my Cover Attraction is also my Wish List and Waiting On post. I spotted this beautiful cover at Fantastic Fiction (one of my favorite sites), immediately dashed over to Amazon to update the already super-sized wish list and then found out that a copy is in the mail and on it’s way to me.
Title: The Sheen on the Silk
Author: Anne Perry
Release date: March ‘10

The Sheen on the Silk is an epic historical novel with a heart-stopping love story at its core, and a deep spiritual quest.

It’s set in the gorgeous, cosmopolitan and enlightened city of Byzantium, in the twilight years of its Empire. Surrounded by the fierce Ottomans to the East, Saladin and the infidels to the South, the barbarian European tribes to the North and the powerful Venetian Empire to the West, Byzantium’s Emperor badly needs an ally. The city has never recovered from its sack by the Venetians in 1204, and now, in 1272, it’s in acute danger. Another Crusade is being mounted, and Byzantium is in its path.

This is the city into which Anna arrives. A handsome woman with an unhappy past, she has just learned that her brother has been imprisoned for murder. Unable to believe that he’s guilty, she will stay in Byzantium until she can find out the truth and secure his release. However, she needs a way to move freely in all levels of society. This isn’t something she can do as a woman and as a stranger. She will pose as a eunuch; this cadre, while past its heyday, still has power and influence. And she will work as a doctor.

As the future of Byzantium grows ever darker, Anna struggles to navigate the complex truths of her brother’s guilt or innocence, the intrigues of the powerful, long-simmering revenge plots… and the even more perilous currents of her heart and her spirit. Only in Byzantium’s darkest hour does she discover the truths that will lead to salvation for Byzantium and the soaring path to the forgiveness and love of God.

I’m covering all my bases with this post. I love the cover, I added it to my Amazon wish list yesterday and found out just today that a copy is in the mail and on it’s way to me. Happy dancing
Title: The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
Author: C.W. Gortner
Release date: May ‘10

The most infamous queen of the Renaissance reveals her secrets in an epic tale of persecution, intrigue, and betrayal.

At the age of fourteen, Catherine de Medici, last legitimate descendant of the Medici blood, finds herself betrothed to the King Francois I’s son, Henri. Sent from her native Florence to France, humiliated and overshadowed by her husband’s life-long devotion to his mistress, when tragedy strikes her family Catherine rises from obscurity to become one of 16th century Europe’s most powerful women.

Patroness of Nostradamus and a seer in her own right, accused of witchcraft and murder by her foes, Catherine fights to save France and her children from savage religious conflict, unaware that her own fate looms before her — a fate that will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and passion of her own embattled heart.

From the splendors of the Loire palaces to the blood-soaked battles of the Wars of Religion and haunted halls of the Louvre, this is the story of Catherine’s dramatic life, told by the queen herself.

Title: City of Dragons: A San Francisco Mystery
Author: Kelli Stanley
Release date: February ‘10

February, 1940. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice–whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor’s shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city–her city–seeking the truth.

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Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?

US Cover

Title: Fantasy in Death (In Death #37)
Author: Nora Roberts / J.D. Robb (auto-buy; I love this series)
Release date: February ‘10

UK Cover

They were best friends, driven by one shared vision – to rule the world of virtual reality games. Cill, hard-edged and beautiful, Var and Benny, brains and business acumen, and Bart, the genius behind the idea. Their newest invention, developed to transport the player into a fantastical virtual world, is just about to be launched. Then, suddenly, Bart is found brutally killed, defeated by their own game. Their close-knit group is torn apart. Who could have engineered a virtual death with such devastating consequences? Even Eve Dallas, New York City’s most cunning investigator, is hard-pressed for an answer. But as she digs deeper, peeling back layers of secrets, revenge and misplaced allegiances, she realises with growing dread the depth of the killer’s master plan. And she knows his game is far from over…

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Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?

I’m a very visual person and love beautiful, or interesting, cover art. It entices, and invites, me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by. Here’s a cover that caught my eye.
Title: Blood Royal
Author: Vanora Bennett
Release date: April ‘09

Catherine de Valois, daughter of the French king is born in troubled times. Though she is being brought up in a royal court, it is a stormy and unstable environment. Her only firend is the remarkable poet and writer Christine de Pizan. She is married off to Heny V as part of a treaty honouring his victory over France, and is destined to be a trophy wife. Terrified at the idea of being married to a man who is at once, a foreigner, an enemy and a rough soldier, Catherine nevertheless does her duty. Within tow years she is widowed, and mother of the future King of England and France – even though her brother has already claimed the French crown for himself. Caught between warring factions and under threat the powerful lords of the English court and her own brothers-in-law, she has to find her own way, if only for the sake of her baby son.She takes strength from the teachings of her mentor de Pizan, and the possibility that she will be able to return home to France. She is also supported by Owain Tudor, controller of her household-a dangerous support as rumours of their relationship would jeoperdise her right to keep her child. To save her son, and herself, She must turn away from her love and all that is familiar and safe to find another way forward.

Title: Figures in Silk / Queen of Silks
Author: Vanora Bennett
Release date: 2009 (WL)

US/UK Cover HB

UK Cover PB

UK Cover PB - title change

Two sisters discover passion during the War of the Roses–one in the arms of the king, the other in the world of silk From the author of the acclaimed novel “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” comes an epic tale of love and intrigue. The year is 1471. Edward IV, who won the throne with the help of his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is restoring law and order after years of war. Under Edward IV, life in England begins to improve. Business is booming once more and the printing and silk industries prosper in London. When silk merchant John Lambert marries off his two beautiful daughters, their fortunes are forever changed. Elder daughter Jane Shore begins a notorious liaison with the king while industrious and clever Isabel finds herself married into the house of Claver, a wealthy silk dynasty. Fate delivers Isabel a challenge when her new husband is killed and she is forced into apprenticeship to her mother-in-law, Alice Claver. It is from Alice Claver that Isabel learns to love silk and the exotic and passionate fabrics from Italy, Persia, Spain, Tunisia, and beyond. Isabel learns to make her way in this new world of silk–to find friends and enemies–and she strikes an alliance with her sister’s lover, King Edward IV, that will bring the secrets of silk-making to London. As Isabel grows in power and her plan for a silk industry run by Englishwomen is set into motion, the political landscape shifts in dangerous ways. One sister will fall as the other rises and choices must be made that will change their lives forever.

Title: Portrait of an Unknown Woman
Author: Vanora Bennett
Release date: 2007 (WL)

HB Cover

PB Cover

PB Cover

“The year is 1527. The great portraitist Hans Holbein, who has fled the reformation in Europe, is making his first trip to England under commission to Sir Thomas More. In the course of six years, Holbein will become a close friend to the More family and paint two nearly identical family portraits. But closer examination of the paintings reveals that the second holds several mysteries… ” Set against the turmoil, intrigue and, tragedy of Henry VIII’s court, “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” vividly evokes sixteenth-century England on the verge of enormous change. As the Protestant Reformation sweeps across Europe to lap at England’s shores, relations between her king and the Catholic Church begin to plummet-driven by Henry VIII’s insatiable need for a male heir and the urgings of his cunning mistress Anne Boleyn-and heresy begins to take hold. As tensions rise, Henry VIII turns to his most trusted servant and defender of Catholic orthodoxy, Sir Thomas More to keep peace in England, but soon the entire More family find their own lives at risk. At the center of “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” is Meg Gigg’s, Sir Thomas More’s twenty-three year old adopted daughter. Intelligent, headstrong, and tender-hearted, Meg has been schooled in the healing arts. And though she is devoted to her family, events conspire that will cause Meg to question everything she thought she knew-including the desires of her own heart. As the danger to More and his family increases, two men will vie for Meg’s affections: John Clement, her former tutor and More’s protege who shares Meg’s passion for medicine, but whose true identity will become unclear, and the great Holbein, who’s artistic vision will forever alter her understanding of the world. With a striking sense of period detail “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” is an unforgettable story of sin and religion, desire and deception. It is the story of a young woman on the brink of sensual awakening and of a country on the edge of mayhem.

Title: The Secret of the Glass
Author: Donna Russo Morin
Release date: February ‘10

At the dawn of the 17th Century, the glassmakers of Murano are revered as master artisans, enjoying privileges far beyond their station, but they are forced to live in virtual imprisonment, contained by the greedy Venetian government who fears other countries will learn the intricacies of the craft…and reap the rewards.

Sophia Fiolario, the comely daughter of a glass making maestro, has no desire for marriage, finding her serenity in the love of her family and the beauty of the glass. She learns of its secrets at her father’s side, where a woman is forbidden to be. The life Sophia loves is threatened by the poor health of her father and the determined attentions of a nobleman who could and would never love her but seeks to possess her wealth and the privilege it affords. Thrust into the opulent world of the Venetian court, Sophia becomes embroiled in the scheming machinations of the courtiers’ lives. The beauty of Venice, the magnificence of the Doge’s Palace, are rivaled only by the intrigue and danger that festers behind their splendid facades. As she searches for an escape, she finds the arms of another, a man whose own desperate situation is yet another obstacle in their path.

Amidst political and religious intrigue, the scientific furor ignited by Galileo, and even murder, Sophia must do anything to protect herself, her family…and the secret of the glass.

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Title: The Courtier’s Secret
Author: Donna Russo Morin
Release date: February ‘09 (WL)

In this historical adventure novel set in the fascinating, sexy, excessive, and dangerous world of Louis XIV’s court of Versailles, Jeanne du Bois, the daughter of a cruel and controlling comte, fights against an arranged marriage to a weak, ineffectual, effeminate man of her father’s choosing; she fights with a small, dedicated group of Musketeers to save the life of the Queen of France; and she fights for the true love of her life.

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Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?

US Cover

Title: The Wild Zone
Author: Joy Fielding (auto-buy author for me)
Release date: February ‘10

UK Cover

This is how it starts. With a joke.

Two brothers – Will and Jeff – and their friend Tom are out one night at their favorite South Beach bar when they decide to make a bet on who can be the first to seduce a mysterious-looking young woman drinking by herself. Pretty, dark-haired, blue-eyed Suzy has an innocent – almost ordinary – girl-next-door way about her. “Just waiting for Prince Charming to hit on her,” Jeff says.

But Suzy isn’t as naive as she seems. And she has an agenda of her own. Soon another challenge is born, only this one proves to be lethal.

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Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?

I’m a very visual person and love beautiful, or interesting, cover art. It entices, and invites, me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by. Here’s a cover that caught my eye.
Title: The Queen’s Dollmaker
Author: Christine Trent
Release date: January ‘10

On the brink of revolution, with a tide of hate turned against the decadent royal court, France is in turmoil – as is the life of one young woman forced to leave her beloved Paris. After a fire destroys her home and family, Claudette Laurent is struggling to survive in London. But one precious gift remains: her talent for creating exquisite dolls that Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France herself, cherishes. When the Queen requests a meeting, Claudette seizes the opportunity to promote her business, and to return home…Amid the violence and unrest, Claudette befriends the Queen, who bears no resemblance to the figurehead rapidly becoming the scapegoat of the Revolution. But when Claudette herself is lured into a web of deadly political intrigue, it becomes clear that friendship with France’s most despised woman has grim consequences. Now, overshadowed by the spectre of Madame Guillotine, the Queen’s dollmaker will face the ultimate test.

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What book cover caught your eye? Leave a post link and share with your fellow readers. Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?