Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Jun 22

28

Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 28, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2022 • Historical Fiction • Time Travel  | Tagged With: , , | 2 Comments

Speakeasy by Elyse DouglasSpeakeasy: A Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas

Publisher:  Broadback (April 5, 2022)
Category: Time Travel, Historical Fiction Romance
Tour Dates May 3-June 30
ISBN: 979-8423229016
Available in Print and ebook, 375 pages
Speakeasy

Description Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas


In 2019, A West Village Nightclub Singer, Roxie Raines, stumbles through a basement doorway into the past and finds herself in Roaring Twenties New York, with all its dangers, secrets, excitement, and romance.

Roxie Raines lurches through a secret basement doorway in 2019, and time-slips back to New York’s raucous Roaring Twenties. While she dazzles the speakeasy crowds with her “modern sound,” she gets trapped in the dangerous web of Frankie Shay, an evil club owner. She struggles to escape his control and return to the basement doorway that sent her to 1925.

When she meets the handsome detective, Jake Kane, it’s love at first sight, but Jake has a secret past, and her own time travel secret makes him suspicious.

Roaring Twenties New York comes alive with flappers, gangsters, romance and speakeasies and Roxie’s stunning rise to stardom could come with the price of losing both the man she loves and her own life.

My Thoughts Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas


It is 2019 and Roxie Raines is a struggling singer in New York City.  She has a business degree but wants to sing.  She recently sang at a wedding but getting enough work to be able to survive has been very tough.  She is even contemplating trying to get a job waiting tables until more steady singing gigs come her way.

Luckily, she has at least gotten a singing gig at Speakeasy for a few nights. The crowd loves her and so does the owner.  However, he has booked other singers but told her he will call her as soon as he can book her again.  It’s her last night, for now.

There is a homeless man who lives outside Speakeasy and he makes her uneasy but is told he is harmless.  However, the place is now closed and Roxie is alone.  The guy gets inside and says he is going downstairs and nobody can stop him.  She follows him but when he gets to a blue light, he just disappears. She can’t help staring into the light and all of a sudden, she is in the back alley and doesn’t know where she is.  She latter finds on that she is in 1920’s New York!

This is when Frankie Shay takes her hostage and locks her in a hotel.  Then makes her sing at his club. She loves the idea of singing in a real roaring 20’s club but not for Mr. Shay.  She needs to make it down to the basement to find the blue light and go back to her time. Before she finds a way, she meets a very handsome private detective but of course, she doesn’t know if she can trust him. 

Elyse Douglas brings the roaring 20’s back to life with gangsters, speakeasies, action, and romance!  It has something for just about every book lover.  Especially for those who enjoy time travel and historical fiction.  This is far from the first-time travel by Douglas and I have read most of the writing couple’s works.  ‘Speakeasy’ lives up to them all!  This is the first book in their new series and I tend to avoid reading series like this.  For me, they just aren’t different enough.  Kind of like the same book with different characters.  However, that is not the case with Elyse Douglas’s series.  I cannot get enough of their time travels and this remains the case with ‘Speakeasy’! I can hardly wait for book two!

Douglas captures the time and place and brings it to life with the characters that inhabit it! We see 1920’s gritty New York city with it’s warts and all.  The characters invite you in and won’t let go.  It is captivating!  I highly recommend it and give it the full 5 stars! ‘Speakeasy’ is not to be missed!

I received the eBook for my honest opinion.

About Elyse DouglasSpeakeasy by Elyse Douglas


Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the married writing team Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington.

She and her husband, Douglas Pennington, have completed many novels, including The Other Side of Summer, The Summer Letters, The Christmas Eve Series, Time Visitor, Time Change, The Summer Diary, and The Christmas Diary Series.

Website: www.elysedouglas.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/douglaselyse
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elyse.authorsdouglas

Buy Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas


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Giveaway Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas


This giveaway is for 3 copies with the winners choice of print or ebook. Print is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on July 1, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas

Jun 22

13

They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark-Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 13, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2022 • Historical Fiction • My Past Giveaways • WWII  | Tagged With: , , , , | 4 Comments

They Called Him Marvin by Roger StarkThey Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark


Publisher: Silver Star (September 21, 2021
Category: Historical Romance, WW2, Family Saga, Based on a True Story
Tour dates: April 25-June 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0578855288
Available in Print and ebook, 320 pages

They Called Him Marvin

Description They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark


They were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love and wanting to be a family, but WW2 and a B29 got in their way.

Three hundred ten days before Pearl Harbor, buck private Dean Sherman innocently went to church with a new friend in Salt Lake City. From that moment, the unsuspecting soldier travelled a remarkable, heroic path, falling in love, graduating from demanding training to become a B29 pilot, conceiving a son and entering the China, Burma and India theater of the WW2.

He chronicled his story with letters home to his bride Connie that he met on that fateful Sunday, blind to the fact that fifteen hundred seventy five days after their meeting, a Japanese swordsman would end his life.

His crew, a gaggle of Corporals that dubbed themselves the Corporealizes, four officers and a tech Sargent, adventured their way across the globe. Flying the “Aluminum Trail” also called the Hump through the Himalayas, site of the most dangerous flying in the world. Landing in China to refuel and then fly on to places like Manchuria, Rangoon or even the most southern parts of Japan to drop 500 pounders.

Each mission had its challenges, minus fifty degree weather in Mukden, or Japanese fighters firing away at them, a close encounter of the wrong kind, nearly missing a collision with another B29 while flying in clouds, seeing friends downed and lost because of “mechanicals,” the constant threat of running out of fuel and their greatest fear, engine fire.

Transferred to the Mariana Islands, he and his crew were shot down over Nagoya, Japan as part of Mission 174, captured and declared war criminals.

Connie’s letters reveal life for a brand new mother whose husband is declared MIA. The agony for both of them, he in a Japanese prison, declared a war criminal, and she just not knowing why his letters stopped coming.

My Thoughts They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark


When Dean and Connie met on a blind date, they fell instantly in love. However, there were complications.  1. Connie was a Mormon 2. Dean training to become a B29 pilot 3. The U.S. was just about to be brought into WWII.

Dean converts to Mormonism and Connie’s parents then agree to their marriage and they get married.  Connie travels with Dean during his training and military placements around the U.S. Soon Connie becomes pregnant. However, when Dean has to go abroad to fight in WWII, Connie goes back to her parents and lives with them.

‘They Called Him Marvin’ is based on a true story about Dean and Connie.  Connie saved their correspondence and their real letters are printed in this book, with their sons, Marvin’s permission.  He told Roger Stark the story of his parents and agreed with Roger that it should be told.

Besides the real letter, Stark uses history and fiction to recreate what Dean and Connie when through during the war.  He also used the character of a little boy in Japan to show what life was like for civilians there. The letters themselves not only show the couples deep love for each other but what it was like for a solder and his family during the war.

I bet you are wondering or even guessing what happened to Dean, Connie, and Marvin. I wish I could tell you but it may spoil it. So, you will have to read the book to find out.

The way Stark tells the story with the use of the letters, real history and fiction to fill in the story is magical.  I felt like I was there, with both Dean, at battle and Connie, waiting for his letters and of course, having their son. This book is near impossible to put down!

I highly recommend it and give it 5 stars!

I received the ebook for my honest opinion.

About Roger StarkThey Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark


Roger Stark, by his own admission, is a reluctant writer. But there are stories that demand to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest we forget and the stories be lost. Six years ago, in a quiet conversation with his friend, Marvin, he learned the tragic story of his father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan, just months before the end of the war.

The telling of the story that evening by this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled Roger to ask if he could write the story. The result being “They Called Him Marvin.”

Roger Stark’s life has been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of documenting this sacred story. He prays that we never forget, as a people, the depth of sacrifice that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and his father and mother on our behalf.

Website: https://theycalledhimmarvin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TCHMarvin

Buy They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark


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Giveaway They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark


This giveaway is for 3 print copies, one for each of 3 winners. This giveaway is open to  the U.S. only and ends on June 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark

Dec 21

26

Moon Hall by Gabriele Wills

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on December 26, 2021
Posted in Books Read in 2021 • Historical Fiction  | Tagged With: , , ,

Moon Hall by Gabriele WillsMoon Hall by Gabriele Wills

Description Moon Hall by Gabriele Wills


Two women who live a century apart. Two stories that interweave to form a rich tapestry of intriguing characters, evocative places, and compelling events. Escaping from a disintegrating relationship in the city, writer Kit Spencer stumbles upon the quintessential Norman Rockwell village in the Ottawa Valley, where she buys an old stone mansion, Moon Hall. But her illusions about idyllic country life are soon challenged by reality.

Beneath the seemingly calm backwater run powerful currents, dramas already close to breaking the surface. In her rural community of farmers, hippies, and yuppies, Kit unwittingly precipitates events that will change them all forever.

Violet McAllister, the ghost that reputedly haunts Moon Hall, comes vividly to life through her long-forgotten diary. From the gritty shantytown of the newly-minted capital of Canada to the extravagant balls given by the popular and flamboyant Governor General and his wife, Violet’s tragic tale unfolds. Kit feels a bond with this strong and passionate woman, and realizes she must grasp her own happiness while she can.

Moon Hall is a haunting tale of relationships in crisis, and touches on the full spectrum of human emotions – from raw violence and dark passions to compassion and love.

My Thoughts Moon Hall by Gabriele Wills


Kit Spenser wants to get away from the city. Somewhere quiet, where she can write her next novel. She finds a small, charming village in the Ottawa Valley and buys a stone mansion with the name, Moon Hall. She soon realizes, that the village, the people, and the mansion are not what they seem. For starters, there is said to be a ghost in Moon Hall.

Her name was Violet and she grew up in Moon Hall and lived there her entire life.  It holds all of her secrets until happens to find her diary.  Kit develops a strong bond with Violet, through her words and the shattered life she lived.

Kit also is visited by her new neighbors , some who want to be friends and some who want to work for her.  She becomes good friends with the hippies that live in a commune, just down the road.

In turns we learn more about Kit and Violet and the era that she lived it.

I loved both the historical and modern-day plots!  Wills is an excellent story teller and her characters come to life.  They grab the reader and won’t let go! She captures place and time in poetic prose.  I felt like I was there, in both time periods, bearing witness. In fact, I would love to see it be developed into a movie!

I became a fan of Wills’ writing from the first novel I read of hers.  It was ‘The Summer Before The Storm’, book 1 of her ‘Muskoka’ series.  I highly recommend the series and ‘Moon Hall’.  If you love historical fiction and excellent character development, you will love Gabriele Wills!

I give ‘Moon Hall 5 out of 5 stars!

I received the ebook for my honest opinion.

About Gabriele Wills


Moon Hall by Gabriele Wills

Gabi at Claires rock

Gabriele Wills is the author of 6 highly acclaimed historical novels, including 4 in The Muskoka Novels saga set in North America, Britain, and Europe through the two cataclysmic World Wars and the seductive Jazz Age.

Her passion is to weave compelling stories around meticulously researched and often quirky or arcane facts in order to bring the past to life, especially with regard to women’s often forgotten contributions.

The first novel in her ‘Muskoka Novels’, ‘The Summer Before the Storm’ was the “Muskoka Chautauqua Reading List Winner”

Website: https://www.themuskokanovels.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GabrieleWills
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabrieleWills

Buy Moon Hall by Gabriele Wills


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