S: The Smuggler’s Wife Series by Deborah Challinor #atozchallenge

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

THE SMUGGLERS WIFE SERIES
BY
DEBORAH CHALLINOR

Summary

Kitty: The Smuggler’s Wife #1

Kitty and her mother are left with no means of support, when Kitty’s father unexpectedly dies, when Kittyis 18. For various reasons, Kitty has a damaged reputation, which is why her mother sends her to Australia in disgrace, to be cared for her by her missionary uncle and aunt.

In Australia, Kitty falls in love with Ryan, a very rude and unfriendly ship’s captain, who she eventually discovers, is also a gun runner. A very drama filled romance and adventure follows.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published in January 2006. 352 pages

Amber: The Smuggler’s Wife #2

The story of Kitty continues with her meeting a street urchin, who offers her a small trinket. Her response to the urchin, sets both of them on the next stage of their lives. This causes problems with Kitty and Ryan.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Published in January 2007. 319 pages.

Band of Gold: The Smuggler’s Wife #3

Kitty is making a life for herself on the goldfields of Ballarat. Distrastrous events occur which affect most characters in this amazing story, of a strong willed woman making a life for herself in a male dominated world.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Published in January 2010. 320 pages.

The Cloud Leopard’s Daughter: The Smuggler’s Wife #4

The Cloud Lepard’s Daughter is a heart stopping adventure story, mostly set back in New Zealand, at the Otago goldfields. Kitty’s adventures in the last of this series, are very dangerous and upredictable, with love and greed central to the story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published in January 2016. 368 pages.

My Thoughts

I sometimes include Goodreads desciptions of the books that I review. In the case of the Smuggler’s Wife series, I feel that too much of the story line is given away on Goodreads. For that reason my summaries are very short, so that nothing is taken away from your enjoyment of the stories. I loved this series, and read them one after the other, in a short period of time, as I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Kitty. Each book is stand alone, but I would recommend reading the series in order.

The series is a family saga, an adventure story, and a romance novel, all rolled into the fabulous story of strong willed Kitty, and her adventures. The settings for The Smuggler’s Wife #4 are both in the goldfields of Australia and New Zealand, and also on the high seas.

I would be surprised if any reader could stop at just the first book of this series. I couldn’t get enough of Kitty and her story.

About the Author

Deborah Challinor was born in Huntly New Zealand, and has worked as a fulltime writer and historian for more than 20 years. She has a PhD in New Zealand history from the University of Waikato.

Challinor has written many historical novels but the first books she wrote were non fiction history books.

Star Rating

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

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Images and author information: Goodreads

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Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

I: Immortality: A Love Story by Dana Schwarz #atozchallenge

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

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IMMORTALITY: A LOVE STORY
BY
DANA SCHWARTZ

Summary

This is the second in the Anatomy Duology Series and continues the story of Hazel, the young girl who wanted to be a doctor. When we meet Hazel again, she is treating patients, even though she wasn’t able to study medicine, because she was a girl. She is now alone, and convinced that the events that occurred in the first book, were imagined.

After being caught treating a patient, Hazel is sent to prison, where she almost died, when a message comes that she has been requested to treat the daughter of the King.

Published in 2023
Paperback, 374 pages

My Thoughts

The first book in this series Anatomy, was a 5 star read for me, so I have been impatiently waiting for the sequel. It was worth the wait. Once again, I have given 5 stars. I found the continuing story of Hazel and her quest to become a doctor to be absolutely rivetting. The ending of Anatomy, left the story line unsolved, so this second book, tied up many loose ends.

I found Immortality to be unputdownable and read it with only a few breaks. I’m daring to hop that there is a third book in this series. The way the story ended leaves a tiny window for the story of Hazel to continue, however, I have heard that there will only be two books in this series. One can only hope for more, as I am going to miss Hazel and her world.

Once again, as with Anatomy, the cover of this book is incredibly beautiful.

About the Author

Dana Schwartz was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She attended Brown University where she studied biology and public policy before realizing that she would only be happy if she tried to be a writer. While in college, she created the viral parody twitter account @GuyInYourMFA. Dana worked as a writer for Mental Floss, The Observer, and Entertainment Weekly, with additional bylines for GQ, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, and NewYorker.com. Dana is the host and creator of the hit history podcast Noble Blood. She also writes for television. She lives in Los Angeles. – Goodreads

Key To Star Rating

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book. For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

D: A Distant Hope by Ellin Carsta #atozchallenge

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate, by publishing a blog post every day in April, except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B, and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads

A DISTANT HOPE
BY
ELLN CARSTA

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY

“In this breathtaking and emotional saga, a family must travel far from home to save what they hold dear” – Goodreads

A Distant Hope is set in Hamburg in 1888. Family business Peter Hansen and Sons, coffee importers, established for over thirty years, are struggling to stay afloat. There are three brothers involved in the business and they need to pull together to save the formerly prosperous business, after the death of their father. They decide that one brother must relocate his family to Cameroon, Africa, to take over a cocoa plantation.

His fifteen year old daughter discovers a new life that she loves in Africa, far from the social life that she is accustomed to in Hamburg. In Cameroon, she works in the plantation and loves every moment of it.

Eventually, bitter rivalries and betrayals tear the family apart and very difficult decisions need to be made.

Published 2018. 284 pages

MY THOUGHTS

Historical fiction is my favourite genre, so I was always going to enjoy this book. I found it an unusal story line, going from Hamburg to Cameroon, Africa, but really enjoyed following along with this family. I felt myself feeling very concerned for them and wanting to know what happens next. I was very pleased when I finished the book, to discover that there is a Die Hansen #2, which I’m very much looking forward to reading.

Translated from German to English.

Key To My Star Rating

Books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

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Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

C: Crows Nest by Nikki Mottram #atozchallenge

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

CROW’S NEST
BY
NIKKI MOTTRAM

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

SUMMARY

Dana Gibson is a child protection worker who is having marriage problems. She leaves Sydney for a temporary job in Toowoomba, Queensland. Shortly after arriving, she visits a family, who are having problems, in nearby Crows Nest.

Soon after her visit, a tragedy occurs, and Dana finds herself more involved in the situation, than she would like to be.,

This story very quickly goes from a story about a social worker to a story about a murder, secrets and corruption in a small town, where Dana is very much an outsider.

Published in January 2023. 320 pages.

MY THOUGHTS

This is a debut novel from Nikki Mottram and a great read. She captured life in a small town very well. Mottram was a social worker herself, so I expected more accuracies in her novel. I’m not or never have worked in this area, but there were quite a few things in the story line that didn’t ring true to me. I won’t talk about them here, as I don’t give away spoilers, but I’m sure that other readers would notice. This is the reason for the lower star rating. The story itself was worthy of a higher rating as it had everything to keep me interested.

My Star Rating

Books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

A: Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz #AtoZChallenge

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads

ANATOMY A LOVE STORY
BY
DANA SCHWARZ

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A gothic tale full of mystery and romance about a willful female surgeon, a resurrection man who sells bodies for a living, and the buried secrets they must uncover together.” Goodreads

SUMMARY

Hazel is an upper class seventeen year old girl with a fascination for science and medicine. She has a strong desire to be a doctor and no interest at all in marriage, as is expected by her parents. Anatomy is set in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1817, a time when the idea of a female surgeon was inconceivable. Hazel needs to pass the medical exam but is thrown out of medical lectures for being a woman. As she now isn’t able to have official lessons, she needs a supply of corpses to study. At the time, grave robbing isn’t at all unusual, and she has recently made friends with Jack, a grave robber who helps her obtain the bodies for her research and study.

Published in 2022
Kindle edition

MY THOUGHTS

This is the beginnings of the story, and it develops into much more with macabre and unusual twists. I wouldn’t class this book as gothic, but it is definitely macabre. It’s not a scary read, but I did wish my stomach was stronger at times. Some passages for me, were quite difficult to read. After I finished reading the book, I discovered that it was YA, and did wonder how younger readers coped with those parts. Perhaps, being younger, they have a stronger tolerance than me, for gore and a bit of yukkiness.

This didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book. I absolutely loved it, and read it very quickly, as I couldn’t put it down. I read this book when it first came out in early 2022, and have just read it for the second time. My reason for reading it again, other than that I adored the story line, is because the sequel was about to be published. I felt the need for a refresher before diving into what happened next to Hazel. I’m so pleased that I read it the second time. With the knowledge of what happens in the end, I was able to pick up on certain things during the book, that went over my head on the first reading.

Anatomy: A Love Story – audiobook – short sample

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Star Rating

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family