Book Review: Yarn to Go (Yarn Retreat Mystery #1) by Betty Hechtman

November 30, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON Dessert chef Casey Feldstein doesn’t know a knitting needle from a crochet hook. But after her aunt dies unexpectedly, leaving Casey to run her yarn retreat business, the sweets baker finds herself rising to the occasion—and trying to unravel a murder mystery…

When Casey finds out that her late aunt’s business, Yarn2Go, has one more yarn retreat scheduled, she decides to go ahead and host the event, despite her complete lack of experience as a knitter. At least the retreat is on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula.

But the idyllic setting is soured when a retreat regular is found murdered in her hotel room. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Casey begins to weave the clues together and detects a pattern which may shed light on her aunt’s suspicious death. Despite the danger, the last thing Casey plans to do is retreat. She’ll catch this killer…or dye trying.

Includes a knitting pattern and a recipe!

Book Review: India Black and the Widow of Windsor (Madam of Espionage #2) by Carol K. Carr

September 13, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON India Black is back! Her Majesty’s favorite spy is off to Scotland! In this new adventure to ensure the Queen doesn’t end up getting killed.

When Queen Victoria attends a séance, the spirit of her departed husband, Prince Albert, insists she spend Christmas at their Scottish home in Balmoral. Prime Minister Disraeli suspects the Scottish nationalists plan to assassinate the Queen. So he sends the ever resourceful India and the handsome British spy, French, to the Scottish highlands.

French will take the high road, looking for a traitor among the guests-and India will take the low road. She is disguised as a servant in case an assassin is hiding among the household staff. India is certain that someone at Balmoral is determined to make this Her Majesty’s last Christmas…

Book Review: Micah (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton

September 2, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON “RAISING THE DEAD IS EASY. LOVE IS HARD…”

There are lots of reasons to raise the dead-some private, some public. In this case, the feds have a witness who died before he could speak on the record. They want him raised so his testimony can be taken. So here I am, on a plane to Philadelphia, flying off to do my job.

But I’m not alone. Micah is with me. Micah, head of the St. Louis wereleopard pard. King to my Queen. The only one of my lovers who can stir my blood with just a glance from his chartreuse cat’s eyes. I was happy to have him at my side.

Until he mentioned that this will be our first time alone together. No Master Vampire. No Alpha Werewolf. Just me and Micah. And all my fears and doubts…

Book Review: Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman

August 29, 2020August 31, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON Unorthodox: The instant New York Times bestselling memoir of a young Jewish woman’s escape from a religious sect, in the tradition of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel and Carolyn Jessop’s Escape, featuring a new epilogue by the author.

As a member of the strictly religious Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism, Deborah Feldman grew up under a code of relentlessly enforced customs governing everything from what she could wear and to whom she could speak to what she was allowed to read. It was stolen moments spent with the empowered literary characters of Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott that helped her to imagine an alternative way of life. Trapped as a teenager in a sexually and emotionally dysfunctional marriage to a man she barely knew, the tension between Deborah’s desires and her responsibilities as a good Satmar girl grew more explosive until she gave birth at nineteen and realized that, for the sake of herself and her son, she had to escape.

Book review: Molly s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker by Molly Bloom

July 16, 2020August 31, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON When Molly Bloom was a little girl growing up in a small Colorado town, she watched her brothers win medals, ace tests, and receive high praise from everyone they met. Molly wanted nothing more than to bask in that glow a little herself, so she pushed herself too—as a student, as an athlete. She was successful but felt like she was always coming from behind. She wanted to break free, to find a life without rules and limits, a life where she didn’t have to measure up to anyone or anything—where she could become whatever she wanted.

Molly wanted more, and she got more than she could have ever bargained for.

In Molly’s Game, Molly Bloom takes the reader through her adventures running an exclusive high-stakes private poker game. Her clients ranged from iconic stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck to politicians and financial titans so powerful they moved markets and changed the course of history. With rich detail, Molly describes a world that until now has been shrouded in glamour, privilege, and secrecy, one where she fearlessly took on the Russian and Italian mobs—until she met the one adversary she could not outsmart, even though she had justice on her side: the United States government.

Molly’s Game is an incredible coming-of-age story about a young girl who rejected convention in pursuit of her version of the American dream. It’s the story of how she gained—and then lost—her place at the table, and of everything she learned about poker, love, and life in the process.

Book review: Incubus Dreams (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #12) by Laurell K. Hamilton

July 6, 2020August 31, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON

Anita Blake:

In the latest New York Times bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, Anita’s life is more complicated than ever, as she is caught between her obligations to the living and the undead. A vampire serial killer who preys on strippers is on the loose. Called in to consult on the case, Anita fears her judgment may be clouded by a conflict of interest. For she is, after all, the consort of Jean-Claude, the ever-intoxicating Master Vampire of the City. Surrounded by suspicion, overwhelmed by her attempts to control the primal lusts that continue to wrack her, Anita does something unprecedented: she calls for help.

Book Review: The Queen’s Pleasure by Brandy Purdy

July 1, 2020June 28, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON

A review of The Queen’s pleasure:

When young Robert Dudley, an earl’s son, meets squire’s daughter Amy Robsart, it is love at first sight. They marry despite parental misgivings, but their passion quickly fades, and the ambitious Dudley returns to court. Swept up in the turmoil of Tudor politics, Dudley is imprisoned in the Tower. Also a prisoner is Dudley’s childhood playmate, the princess Elizabeth. In the shadow of the axe, their passion ignites. When Elizabeth becomes queen, rumours rage that Dudley means to free himself of Amy in order to wed her. And when Amy is found dead in unlikely circumstances, suspicion falls on Dudley – and the Queen…Still hotly debated amongst scholars – was Amy’s death an accident, suicide, or murder? – the fascinating subject matter makes for an enthralling read for fans of historical fiction.

Book Review: The Last Romanov by Dora Levy Mossanen

June 28, 2020August 31, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON A child of the Romanov line…

She was an orphan, ushered into the royal palace on the prayers of her majesty. Yet, decades later, her time spent in the embrace of the Romanovs haunts her still. Is she responsible for those murderous events that changed everything?

If only she can find the heir. Maybe she can put together the broken pieces of her own past. Maybe she can hold on to the love she found.

Bursting to life with the rich and glorious marvels of Imperial Russia, The Last Romanov is a magical tale of second chances and royal blood

Book Review: The Jewel of St. Petersburg (The Russian Concubine #0) by Kate Furnivall

May 24, 2020August 31, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON Jewel of St. Petersburg: Russia, 1910. Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St. Petersburg’s elite aristocracy-until her romance with a Danish engineer creates a terrible scandal and her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count.

Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the Tsar and the Duma at each other’s throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of Tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be forced to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her forever…

Book Review: The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes

March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

LON

The private lives of the Plantagenet’s, that ‘passionate brood‘ who were the children of Henry the Second and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard and Johanna, Henry and John.

Margaret Campbell Barnes explores the Crusader King’s triumphs and tragedies in a compelling novel of love, loyalty, and lost chances. The fierce Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine birthed a Plantagenet dynasty before her marriage to Henry II became a mockery, and her family’s future hinges on Richard. With a persistent link you always see the Lionheart in folklore with Robin Hood. Portrayed here as Richard’s foster brother and conscience, who so enraged the King that he is banished. The Passionate Brood is a tale of a man driven to win back the Holy Land, beset by the guilt of casting out his childhood friend, and shouldering the burden of being the lionhearted leader of the Plantagenet’s.

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