The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly (eBOOK)
The Medici Return (Cotton Malone #19) by Steve Berry (eBOOK)
Hi, everyone!
So not surprisingly on "Publishing Day Tuesday" two books on my Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) hold list became available TODAY!!
Since I have not started the most recent Isabel Allende eARC, I will pause it until I read the two above books which I have been anxiously awaiting to read!!
As an avid reader, I go where the books take me!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
OVERVIEW
Writing: 4.0 stars
The writing was good, but not exceptional.
I am unsure if Patrick utilized a ghostwriter, but if he didn't - good job!
Narration: 4.5 stars
Patrick narrates beautifully and laughs at himself throughout the book. He sounded tired at various times during the reading. However, throughout his life, he always pushed himself through pain, and this book was no exception.
Character Arc: 4.0 stars
The audiobook is fairly chronological but somewhat superficial.
But I wanted more. I wanted more about his childhood and meeting Lisa as well as his cancer diagnosis.
Memorable: 4.0 stars
Patrick had to deal with a lot of physical pain in his life from a knee injury playing football his senior year of high school, to breaking both legs while filming a movie, to his ultimate fight against cancer. Patrick had emotional pain as well with depression and imposter syndrome plus he lost his father young and his older sister died by suicide.
My heart broke for Patrick and Lisa. When I checked Wikipedia for Patrick, it was good to see Lisa is remarried and seems happy again.
Entertaining: 4.0 stars
This book wasn't entertaining, per se. It was more informative about his life, but we were not fully let into it.
It wasn't full of anecdotes, funny stories, or lots of spilled celebrity tea (there was some). It was dark and sad especially when Patrick read about how hard it was to get a foothold in the entertainment industry.
Book cover: 4.5 stars
Lovely.
Book title: 5.0 stars
A great double entendre.
DEFINITE recommend
STATISTICS
Release date of 9/29/2029
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
OVERVIEW
This was a free short story offered by Amazon First Reads for February 2025. Since I have never read anything by Abby Jimenez, this was an easy way to start!!
I really enjoyed this short story about a difficult topic - stalking. But the author made it not so difficult with some fun characters!
Now looking for the rest of Abby's books to add to my TBR list!
TRIGGER WARNING: Stalking, violence, incest, physical injury, infidelity
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
Abby is an easy to read and fun writer. It was a perfect read after my very scholarly previous book.
Character development: 5.0 stars
The two main characters are Charlotte (the frightened stalkee) and Seth (the injured foot arborist) who are neighbors.
There are a lot of secondary characters including Izzy (Charlotte's friend), Gabe (Seth's friend), and John (the apartment property manager).
The tertiary characters were the hysterical ladies from the California Poppy Retirement home and George (the stalker).
Storyline: 5.0 stars
This short story is about two neighbors forced to spend Valentine's weekend together because their apartment stairs are erroneously removed.
NOTE: If you don't think this storyline could happen, it happened to me in my first apartment. The only difference was the banister was removed on a steep set of stairs and the only way to my apartment.
The main location is Burbank, California.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
For me, the girl power of Charlotte and Izzy was awesome! Put a sock on your baseball bat - read this short story to find out why!
Book cover: 4.0 stars
Nice.
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect - double entendre!
HIGHLY recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
Amazon First Reads
The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
82 pages
Amazon Original Stories
FUTURE release date of 3/1/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
OVERVIEW
This is the first book by Helen Rappaport that I have read and finished (DNF another of her books). This is a dense, footnote-heavy, and thoroughly researched non-fiction book. It was very scholarly and detailed which was not what I was expecting rather than a historical fiction novel.
I liked this book but would have loved it if I understood more about the main character, Julie. She sounds like an amazing historical individual but not much remains of her letters, journals, or anything else that would allow insight into her thoughts and feelings.
It might have been a better book if each chapter was devoted to a member of the Saxe-Coburg family starting with Julie's parents and ending with their children. There was a lot of backstabbing, social climbing, and secret alliances in this family.
If you are a huge British/Russian history nerd, this is the book for you!
TRIGGER WARNING: Death, forced marriage, violence, animal abuse, infidelity, alcohol abuse, war, intermarriage, pregnancy
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5 stars
Writing: 3.0 stars
The writing in this book was research-like but also salacious as well. Julie is believed to have destroyed most of her received correspondence and requested that her letters be destroyed upon reading. There was no way to verify much about Julie, herself, as so much was drawn from others' letters, official records, and observations. The gossipy aspect of this book just bothered me.
Also, why I love to increase my vocabulary and knowledge, so many SAT words were included as well as unknown places and individuals. It hurt my reading experience to look up so many words, places, and individuals.
Character development: 3.5 stars
The main character is Julie of Saxe-Colburg. She was one of three sisters from her family who were summoned by Catherine the Great to evaluate her as a potential wife for her grandson.
The secondary characters are Konstantin (Julie's husband), Leopold (Julie's brother), and Auguste (Julie's mother).
The tertiary characters are the royal families of Europe and Julie's extended family and friends which are one and the same.
This historical book had a huge cast of characters. Many family members became royalty in another country and changed their names to the country they joined via marriage.
Unfortunately, there were too many characters to be able to fully develop them very well. This was a massive project to undertake and it just didn't succeed to me.
Storyline: 3.5 stars
The basic premise was that a Coburg princess married the grandson of Catherine the Great at FOURTEEN. The husband was an erratic and violent individual which resulted in an unhappy marriage. In the background, Napolean is marching through Europe and the other Coburg siblings are also marrying into the Russian royal family and/or marrying first cousins.
The main locations were in various cities in Europe; particularly, St. Petersburg, Russia, Bern, and Geneva, Switzerland. and Coburg, Germany.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
My knowledge of European royalty was that there was a lot of intermarrying between the royal families for power and money. Also, marriages were conducted along religious lines unless the prospective spouse converted. So this resulted in cousins marrying cousins, especially first cousins.
Since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were first cousins, Julie was their aunt. Auguste (Julie's mother and Victoria/Albert's grandmother) plots the marriage of Victoria and Albert when they are infants knowing the close familial ties to consolidate the influence of Saxe-Coburg.
Finally, when the brides and grooms were presented to potential royal in-laws, it was like a cattle call. It was humiliating and arranged without regard to love matches. The women especially were helpless as it was a fait accompli if selected.
Book cover: 4.0 stars
Pretty!
Book title: 4.0 stars
The subtitle is very misleading as Julie was unlikely to ever be Empress of Russia.
Recommend
NetGalley ARC (eARC/eBOOK)
The Rebel Romanov by Helen Rappaport
328 pages
Simon & Schuster UK
FUTURE release date of 4/15/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
OVERVIEW
Writing: 5.0 stars
Darren writes strongly and so from the depths of his soul. He shares such deeply horrible and devastating things that happened to his family during his childhood. It was brave and very well written. Kudos to you, Darren.
I don't know if he had a ghostwriter, but if not - BRAVO!
Narration: 5.0 stars
The narration was fantastic! Darren narrated which is my preferred choice with autobiography or memoirs audiobooks. His voice is lovely and he has a talent to mimic so well along with a beautiful Australian accent.
Character Arc: 5.0 stars
The audiobook is fairly chronological with more explanations or flashbacks which explain so much about his childhood, career, and recent new beginning.
This memoir was difficult in the first few chapters as Darren details the ongoing abuse that occurred in his family of origin. If this is triggering, this may not be the book for you.
Memorable: 5.0 stars
Darren had to deal with a lot as a child. Those deep and repressed memories are buried deep in our memories affecting our lives now. However, Darren used Eye Movement and desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to work through his childhood trauma. I have done the same for my fear of heights and flying which are related to my childhood also. Thank you, Darren, for sharing this incredible therapy tool!
What really stuck with me and will stick with me was that the person who first used a homophobic slur towards Darren was his own father. His first bully was his father. This really broke my heart.
This memoir touched my heart deeply. It aches for all of the pain that Darren endured, but he has overcome it. I am very proud of him and his hard work to heal.
Entertaining: 5.0 stars
Darren is funny but has a very dry humor. I loved it!
He didn't "spill the tea" on any celebrities or name names of his past lovers. This is not a tell-all book, but it is so life-affirming.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
Book title: 5.0 stars
Sad, but true.
HIGHLY recommend
STATISTICS
Release date of 11/5/2024
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
