Category: Standalone Title

Sisters of Fortune by Anna Lee Huber

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, George V - 1910- 1936, Historical Fiction, Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly RecommendedLeave a comment

Sisters of FortuneBarbara’s rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Publication Date: 2/20/24
Number of Pages: 416

This book was one of the most poignant, evocative, and beautifully written books I have ever read. It made the Titanic’s voyage real to me – in every way. The author tells the story through the Fortune family who were actually on the voyage in real life, but little is known of them. Their story is fictional but, goodness, you feel it – as if you are right there with them. You feel the bubbling, electric excitement of the passengers as they board the unsinkable Titanic. You feel the glamour of the jewels and the people, the sumptuousness of the surroundings. You also feel the panic, heroism, and bravery of the passengers and crew. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book that gave me so many feels.

The Fortune family – father, mother, brother, and three sisters – were taking their version of the Grand Tour. They traveled from their home in Canada to Europe where they spent time in all the great places and even went to the Middle East to ride camels and see the sights in the desert before finally deciding to travel home on the marvel of the times – the Titanic.

The story’s main focus is on the three sisters, Flora, Alice, and Mabel, and their lives, expectations, frustrations, loves, and insecurities. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses – hopes and dreams. They also find they are stronger than they ever thought they could be – especially in a time when women were to be coddled and looked after like fine porcelain figurines. However, we also get to know, like, and respect their father as well as their mother and young brother who had so much ahead of him in life.

Flora is the older sister – dutiful, caring, obedient, and engaged to a man of her parents’ choosing. As she grapples with that expectation, she meets a man who captures her attention totally and finally wins her heart. Will her parents agree to her ending her current engagement?

Alice is also engaged, but to a man she adores – but she has trepidations of returning home. She wants adventure, travel, and excitement, not the protected life her fiancé has described to her. Can she find a way to have both adventure and her fiancé?

Mabel is the rebel of the family – she chafes at being coddled and protected – she believes women have intelligence and should receive an education, the right to vote, etc. Her father adamantly denies her when she begs to go to college. Can she convince him while they are on this voyage?

If you love historical fiction, or even if you don’t, you will surely enjoy this book. Anna Lee Huber’s research and attention to detail is second to none. When you finish the book, you will feel as if you walked the corridors of the Titanic, smelled the delicious aromas of the rich foods, felt the sea breeze on your face, met all of the people on board – the glamorous and the not so glamorous, and felt the fear and panic as the passengers tried to find and board lifeboats.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Snowed in with the Scoundrel by Kat Sterling

On By TracyIn American Historical, American Progressive Era, Christmas, Historical Rom-Com, Novella, Part of a Series, Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Snowed in with the Scoundrel: A Steamy, Ex-Childhood Friends to Lovers Historical RomComSnowed in with the Scoundrel: A Steamy, Ex-Childhood Friends to Lovers Historical RomCom by Kat Sterling

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: December 18, 2023

When budding photographer Imogen “Genie” Radford is very publicly jilted by her fiancé, she decides to take refuge in her family’s cabin, far from the prying eyes of Seattle society. She expects peace and solitude, with time to lick her wounds from both the jilting and a poor showing at a recent photography exhibition, but what she finds is a very naked man in her bed! It only takes a minute to realize that she knows this man – he is her childhood best friend and first love, Tommy Solberg, the son of her family’s former cook and the man she has not seen since the night five years ago when he broke her heart. With recognition comes anger and suspicion, she wants him gone, but under it all she still feels something for him, all the more reason for him to go. However, the weather isn’t cooperating, and no matter how angry she is, she can’t send him out in a storm that would surely kill him.

Tommy can’t believe that this is happening, he needs to get to Seattle as soon as possible, everything he has done since the night he broke her heart has led to this moment and his future depends on it. He isn’t sure how he is going to be able to stay in the same cabin with the only woman he hasn’t been able to forget and a woman he can never have. At first, they avoid each other, and things are awkward, but eventually, they figure it out and soon it’s like they never parted and the need to get back to Seattle doesn’t seem as urgent any longer. But once they cross the line between friends and lovers, he knows that he will have to walk away because just like years ago, he knows he isn’t good enough for her, no matter how much he wishes it wasn’t true. It isn’t until he walks away that he realizes he has made a huge mistake and hopes it isn’t too late to fix it.

This was a lovely story of childhood friends, second chances, and supporting the dreams of one you love. This story is filled with laughter, photography, books, steamy love scenes, lots of snow, second chances, and finally the promise of a happily ever after. The story is a relatively short novella, but Ms. Sterling executes the book perfectly by beautifully filling in the backstory between Genie and Tommy, so the reader completely understands how they met and what drove them apart, as well as what they have each been doing since they last saw each other. I loved this story and devoured the book, reading it in one sitting, and hated reaching the end because I didn’t want it to be over! This was a standalone title by a new to me author and I am hooked and can’t wait to check out her backlist!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*