Friday, April 30, 2021

Intriguing WWII Historical Fiction -- The Paris Dressmaker

Great author. WWII historical fiction. Rave reviews. All that added up to what I expected to be a wonderful book -- and I was not disappointed.

As with most historical fiction, The Paris Dressmaker includes a mixture of real and fictional characters and events. The major elements of the story are based on true accounts of how a variety of brave men and women not only survived but strongly resisted the enemy during the Nazi occupation of Paris. The amount of research that Kristy Cambron put into this book is astounding and causes the story to jump to life off the page.

The strategy of the timeline is intriguing. The story spans a period of about five years but is presented in a non-chronological manner. It is also told mainly from the context of two different women. This process provides insight when and where it is needed and brings the stories of the main characters together at just the right time.

I highly recommend The Paris Dressmaker to fans of great historical fiction.

About the Book

Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II—from fashion houses to the city streets—comes a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they couldn’t abide.

Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hôtel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between determination to help save his Jewish family and bolstering the fight for liberation.

Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance. Beneath her compliant façade lies a woman bent on uncovering the fate of her missing husband . . . but at what cost? As Hitler’s regime crumbles, Sandrine is drawn in deeper when she uncrates an exquisite blush Chanel gown concealing a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite.

Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.

About the Author

KRISTY CAMBRON is an award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling debut The Butterfly and the Violin, and an author of nonfiction, including the Verse Mapping Series Bibles and Bible studies. Kristy's work has been named to Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, received 2015 & 2017 INSPY Award nominations, and has been featured at CBN, Lifeway Women, Jesus Calling, Country Woman Magazine, MICI Magazine, Faithwire, Declare, (in)Courage, and Bible Gateway. She holds a degree in Art History/Research Writing and lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons, where she can probably be bribed with a peppermint mocha latte and a good read. You can connect with her at: kristycambron.com and versemapping.com. Instagram: @kristycambron; Twitter: @KCambronAuthor; Facebook: @KCambronAuthor; and Pinterest: Kristy Cambron.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Uplifting Visit to Hope Harbor -- Blackberry Beach

Irene Hannon's Blackberry Beach, like each book in her Hope Harbor series, takes readers to a place filled with love, hope, and beauty . . . but with some real-life challenges to be met along the way.

The characters in this story have some major hurts and questions in their past and present situations that stand in the way of the hopeful futures they are trying to find. The beauty and unrushed atmosphere of Hope Harbor provides the perfect setting to look for answers and healing. The way the author lays out their journeys is not necessarily a fairy tale, happily-ever-after story, but one that is driven by realistic elements of life and faith.

If you have visited Hope Harbor before through this series, you will feel very much at home with familiar characters like Charley the taco guy, a couple of friendly and wise clergymen, and some special friends of the non-human type.

And there is great news at the conclusion of the author's note at the end of the book: "And next April, I'll take you back to Hope Harbor for another uplifting story set on the beautiful Oregon coast."

If you are looking for an inspiring and uplifting contemporary story, Blackberry Beach could be just the one! And just losing yourself in the author's expertly portrayed setting of the book can be a peaceful experience.

Thanks to Revell Reads for providing a copy of this book. I am happy to share my own thoughts in this review.

About the Book

Her lifelong dream is in sight, but does a new--and better--future await in Hope Harbor?

Katherine Parker is on the cusp of having everything she ever wanted--fame, money, and acclaim. So why isn't she happy? In search of answers, she comes incognito to Hope Harbor on the Oregon coast for some R&R. Maybe in her secluded rental house overlooking the serene Pacific she'll be able to calm the storm inside.

Coffee shop owner Zach Garrett has found his niche after a traumatic loss--and he has no plans to change the life he's created. Nor does he want to get involved with his reticent new neighbor, whose past is shrouded in mystery. But when Katherine and Zach are recruited to help rehab a home for foster children, sparks fly. As their lives begin to intersect, might they find more common ground than they expected . . . and discover that, with love, all things are possible?

Come home to Hope Harbor-- where hearts heal . . . and love blooms.

About the Author

Irene Hannon is the bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including the long-running Hope Harbor series, as well as Point of Danger and the Code of Honor, Private Justice, and Men of Valor suspense series, among others. Her books have been honored with three coveted RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, and she is a member of that organization's elite Hall of Fame. Her many other awards include National Readers' Choice, Daphne du Maurier, Retailers' Choice, Booksellers' Best, Carol, and Reviewers' Choice from RT Book Reviews magazine, which also honored her with a Career Achievement Award for her entire body of work. In addition, she is a two-time Christy Award finalist. Learn more at www.irenehannon.com.

Monday, April 5, 2021

Historical Suspense (True Crime) -- The Purple Nightgown

About the Book

Book: The Purple Nightgown

Author: A.D. Lawrence

Genre: Christian Historical Suspense

Release date: March, 2021

Marvel at true but forgotten history when patients check into Linda Hazzard’s Washington state spa in 1912 and soon become victim of her twisted greed.

Book 10 in the True Colors series—Fiction Based on Strange-But True History

Heiress Stella Burke is plagued by insincere suitors and nonstop headaches. Exhausting all other medical aides for her migraines, Stella reads Fasting for the Cure of Disease by Linda Hazzard and determines to go to the spa the author runs. Stella’s chauffer and long-time friend, Henry Clayton, is reluctant to leave her at the spa. Something doesn’t feel right to him, still Stella submits herself into Linda Hazzard’s care.

Stella soon learns the spa has a dark side and Linda a mean streak. But when Stella has had enough, all ways to leave are suddenly blocked. Will Stella become a walking skeleton like many of the other patients or succumb to a worse fate?

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts

The Purple Nightgown is a fascinating story, although the true crime from American history it is built around is quite unsettling. Like the others in the True Colors series, much of the story is fictional, although the main perpetrator and several other characters are either actual historical figures or based on real people. As I understand it, this is A. D. Lawrence's debut novel, but her writing gives the feel of a well-seasoned author.

The two main characters, Stella and Henry, are fictional but jump vividly to life from the pages of the book. Their strengths and weaknesses, hopes and fears all make them people you care about from the beginning of the story to its end. I found myself very involved in their lives and read almost the entire book in one afternoon. Their personal and relational growth, as well as an important faith thread, worked with the suspense to keep the story very engaging.

I highly recommend The Purple Nightgown to fans of inspirational historical suspense.

Thanks to Celebrate Lit for providing a copy of the book. I am happy to share my own thoughts in this review.

About the Author

A.D. Lawrence makes her home in Northeastern Nebraska. She has been passionate about writing and true crime for years, and her two obsessions melded into the goal of authorship. She is an active member of the ACFW, writes a true crime blog, won the 2019 Crown Award and was a 2019 First Impressions finalist.

More from A.D. Lawrence

Times have changed. And like so many things, health retreats have experienced their own metamorphosis. Sure, they’ve always catered to people with both spare money and time, but aside from similar clientele, the face of the health spa is nothing like its early 20th century sister.

If you could afford a getaway to a modern-day health spa like The Golden Door, you’d be treated to the luxury of rest. Yoga on the beach. Deep tissue massages. A much-needed break from technology and life’s constant pressures. Mental well-being is valued almost as highly as physical health, and the two are thought to be connected. After days or weeks of pampering, you would return home relaxed, recharged, and ready to dip back into the hustle of the real world.

In 1911, during the time of The Purple Nightgown, the medical community took a diametrically different approach to health. Weight equaled health.The prevailing assumption was that any ailments were directly connected to weight. Thus, ‘fat camps’ grew in popularity. Men and women checked into sanatoriums where the aides put them through grueling exercise regimes and provided them with just enough food to sustain life. No coddling. Not many of us would subject ourselves to the treatments early health spas required.

In this era of already extreme health measures, Linda Hazzard made her mark in Washington State. Obsessed with fasting, she ran her patients through an unfathomable course of ‘diet and exercise’ that proved the undoing of many. She did give massages though, which you’ll learn more about when you read The Purple Nightgown.

Although it’s fun to long for a simpler time while reading historical books and watching shows like Little House on the Prairie, there are some modern ways of thinking and advances in human comfort I’d rather not give up. One of those is the vastly superior spa experience we have today. Somehow, a facial with soothing background music sounds much more appealing than running mile after mile every day with nothing to look forward to but a glass of orange juice or a bowl of canned tomato broth.

Hot stone massage anyone?