Author: Kathleen Y’Barbo
Genre: Christian Historical Suspense
Release Date: August, 2020
Death Seems to Follow Harriet’s New Friend
Book 7 in the True Colors series—Fiction Based on Strange-But True History
Three years before Jack the Ripper began his murderous spree on the streets of London, women were dying in their beds as The Midnight Assassin terrorized the citizens of Austin, Texas. Now, with suspicion falling on Her Majesty’s family and Scotland Yard at a loss as to who the Ripper might be, Queen Victoria summons her great-granddaughter, Alice Anne von Wettin, a former Pinkerton agent who worked the unsolved Austin case, and orders her to discreetly form a team to look into the London matter.
The prospect of a second chance to work with Annie just might entice Isaiah Joplin out of his comfortable life as an Austin lawyer. If his theories are right, they’ll find the The Midnight Assassin and, by default, the Ripper. If they’re wrong, he and Annie are in a bigger mess than the one the feisty female left behind when she departed Austin under cover of darkness three years ago.
Can the unlikely pair find the truth of who is behind the murders before they are drawn into the killer’s deadly game? From Texas to London, the story navigates the fine line between truth and fiction as Annie and Isaiah ultimately find the hunters have become the hunted.
Click here to get your copy!
My Thoughts
This is my second book by Kathleen Y'Barbo and I was not disappointed. I think she does an amazing job in her research and making the story believable even though its mostly fiction. This story has a bit of everything, romance, mystery and very light suspense. This is book seven of the True Colors Series, which is a series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime, but it does not have to be read in order.
The story starts in England and the flashbacks to Austin, Texas where Alice and Ike started working the case. I think that's my only complaint about the story is that it gave you a lot of the back story, which is good, but when the time line comes back to the present it felt like it was rushed. I think a little bit more time in the present timeline would have been lovely. Alice and Ike's story is one of forbidden love so to speak as Alice is of royal descent and doesn't really get to choose who she marries or falls in love with. So it was nice to see her make her own choices and choose for herself. I also loved how supportive Ike was on all her ideas especially since that is something that for that time period was not really heard of or seen.
I must make mention of another one of my favorite characters, although minor to the scheme of the story I did absolutely love Miss Hattie, who was Ike's housekeeper. She was a hoot with her no-nonsense attitude.
My Rating: 4 Stars/Really Liked it!
(I received this book as part of the Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to post a positive review. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)
About the Author
Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of more than sixty novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad.
More from Kathleen Y’Barbo
I am a tenth generation Texan, but London has held a place in my heart for over ten years. You see, I have a son who has lived there for more than a decade. Thanks to him and his family of three—my granddaughter was born there on New Year’s Eve 2019—the city will always be special to me. There is absolutely nothing like walking those streets with a thousand years of history close enough to touch.It was on a walk with my son through this great city that the stories of nineteenth century London came alive. With fog shrouding the rooftops of buildings that were hundreds of years old and our footsteps echoing on the cobblestones, I could imagine a time when lack of electricity and CCTV would make this place less than charming on a dark night. What reminded me of my favorite childhood movie, Mary Poppins, quickly became more reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. And then a story was born.
Only I just had half the story.
The other half came to me several years later when I stumbled across an article in Texas Monthly magazine about a serial killer who rampaged through Austin, Texas in 1884 and 1885 and was never caught. Some surmised this madman, called “The Midnight Assassin” by some, might have been Jack the Ripper honing his skills before he crossed the Atlantic to begin his famous crime spree in Great Britain.
But Austin? Ironically, my other two sons lived in Austin. So while part of my heart was in London, two more parts of that same heart resided in the Texas capital. I thought I knew Austin inside out. Between one of my sons getting not one but two degrees from the University of Texas (this Aggie grad is still proud of him in spite of what I jokingly call his burnt orange rebellion) and my other son living there and managing a restaurant at the time (and who just graduated from Texas A&M Galveston last month!), I had spent many years in the city. And yet I had never heard of the Midnight Assassin.
Research turned up a tale that sounds so close to fiction I had to write about it. Discovering the theory that the Austin killer might also be the Ripper just added to my interest—neither had been caught. And I like to write about Pinkerton detectives.
From there the story unfolded. If you’ve read any of my historical romances, you know that I love incorporating actual history into my stories. As you’ll see when you read The Black Midnight, this book is no exception. While I will continue writing the historical romances I love to bring to you, I will confess that writing this book has me itching to research another one like it.
What’s next in my foray into true crime novels? Maybe Houston. You see, I have a daughter who lives there…
In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy reading The Black Midnight as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Blog Stops
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, August 27
Genesis 5020, August 27
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 27
Inklings and notions, August 28
Locks, Hooks and Books, August 28
Ashley’s Bookshelf, August 28
Older & Smarter?, August 29
Texas Book-aholic, August 29
Artistic Nobody, August 29 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
For the Love of Literature, August 30
Connie’s History Classroom, August 30
For Him and My Family, August 31
Adventures of a Travelers Wife, August 31
Betti Mace, September 1
Robin’s Nest, September 1
Bigreadersite, September 1
deb’s Book Review, September 2
Splashes of Joy, September 2
Just Your Average reviews, September 2
Rebecca Tews, September 3
Just the Write Escape, September 3
Emily Yager, September 3
Christian Bookaholic, September 4
reviewingbooksplusmore, September 4
KarenSueHadley, September 4
Remembrancy, September 5
Through the Fire Blogs, September 5
21st Century Keeper at Home, September 6
Tell Tale Book Reviews, September 6
Blogging With Carol, September 6
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, September 7
Life of Literature, September 7
Mary Hake, September 7
Godly Book Reviews, September 8
Back Porch Reads, September 8
Daysong Reflections, September 8
Pause for Tales, September 9
Blossoms and Blessings, September 9
Hallie Reads, September 9
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
Happy Friday Friends!!
What a busy week it has been! Why is it always crazier when you come back from a trip? We also started school back up so I feel like my house is in a state of disarray (I mean you should see the laundry piles... ) SO glad to have a long weekend to try to catch up with it 😜. Are you guys doing anything special?
For today's First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books I chose a book that I have been waiting for The Fifth Avenue Story Society by Rachel Hauck from the library for a month now. I just picked it up and now I am not sure when I will have time to read it. But I am looking forward to actually reading it when I find some time!
My First Line
"Well this was a fine mess. Spending the night in Central Booking for instigating a fight at a wedding reception."
Your turn! Grab the closest book to you
and drop the first line in the comments!
Happy Wednesday!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I haven't done one of these in a while so I thought it was time to jump back into Wondering Wednesdays a weekly meme started by A Baker's Perspective. The idea is to give readers a chance to get to know the blogger.
Today's question is:
Do you have any hobbies besides reading?
I do! I enjoy crafting. Whether its upcycling a piece of furniture, making new wreaths for my door, love playing with my Silhoutte Cameo machine and making shirts for the kids or gifts for people.
What about you? Do you have a hobby you like to do?
Let me know in the comments!
Happy Tuesday!!
It's September and my favorite season is only 20 more days until if officially begins! I am typically a stickler for decorating at the beginning of the season but I may stray this year and begin a bit earlier! Although I am not huge on pumpkin spice lattes there are some other pumpkin recipes I want to try! Which goes perfect with today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt hosted by the Artsy Girl ! Book Covers that Make Me Hungry! I must admit there were not a whole lot I could find in the genre I typically read but I managed to find a few!
Except for the Laura Numeroff childrens books I have not read any of these but they were on my Goodreads TBR list. I will say that my kids love when I pull out the Laura Numeroff books because they know when I do we will be making the food they are talking about in the book! I typically use these when the kids are learning their letters or if we just want to do a fun cooking activity!
Do you have some favorite book covers that make you hungry when you see them?
Let me know in the comments.
On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Darling Hedgehog: Goes Down a Foxhole
Author: Auralee Arkinsly
Children's Chapter Book
Paperback & ebook, 44 Pages
August 8, 2019 by Capture Books
Darling Hedgehog goes on an adventure to look for her parents who dropped out of sight.
Darling Hedgehog learns about the animal nature of things in high humor and carefree, cute, and winning episodes. Learn about opposites, homophones, and similes as two animals in nature roll into fantasy land. For children 4-8 or preschool and kindergarten, as a read-to-me picture book, and first grade and second grade as a chapter book.
Darling and Miss Fox come to life as Darling introduces herself to the strange animal who is Miss Fox. Miss Fox gives her gifts so that Darling is distracted from her mission. The two animals look for things to do together in fantastical attempts to be friendly. When Darling enters Miss Fox's kitchen, she realizes that by nature, not all strangers are good for you. Will Darling save the day when it's already dinner time?
Pictures similar to Charlotte's Web and the Mercy Watson series are characterized and painted in full-color, though the pages are set up like a chapter book.
This book helps to train children in natural wisdom, analysis, and discernment. It helps to balance the teachings of acceptance of everyone and friendliness to all. There may be good purposes for everyone to exist under heaven, yet all purposes may not be good for a child. So, beware, and flee from crafty foxes especially when they are holding your parents in the pantry.
(Affiliate links included.)
My Thoughts
This is a good book to teach children about strangers and the dangers of believing things that people may say. This is an especially important subject in the times we are living right now. The book is geared for children Kindergarten to second grade (ages 4-8). The illustrations are whimsical. My boys didn't care much for the book but my youngest little girl did. She loved the hedgehog with the tutu. Overall it was an okay story and short enough to keep the attention of younger children.
My Rating: 3 Stars/Liked it
About the Author
Tour Schedule
Tour Giveaway
One winner will receive a $25 Amazon eGift Card
Open internationally to those who can receive the gift card through one of Amazon's branches
Ends September 2, 2020
Happy Tuesday!!
I hope everyone is having an amazing week so far! It's another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the Artsy Reader today's topic is Top Ten Questions I would ask my favorite authors! I pretty much read the same type of genre so my questions wouldn't fluctuate that much between authors unless I know something specific about them. So here are the general questions I would ask.
1. What is your drink of choice coffee, tea or something else?
2. What made you start writing?
3. What inspires you to write the genre you do?
4. Who has been your biggest supporter/cheerleader?
5. What is your favorite book you have written and why?
6. Who is your favorite author?
7. What is your favorite book quote?
8. If you could go back and change something about one of your books what would it be and which book?
9. Do you have a favorite spot you do your writing in?
10. When should we expect your next book?
What about you? What questions do you have for your favorite author? I'd love to know so comment below 😊!
Author: Rhonda Starnes
Genre: Christian Suspense, Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Release Date: July 1, 2020
To survive her deadly homecoming
she’ll need to trust a man from her past…
Temporarily home to help at her family’s vet clinic, Grace Porter has no intentions of staying—but someone’s determined she won’t live long enough to leave. With both Grace and her sister in the crosshairs, her ex-boyfriend, Police Chief Evan Bradshaw, must protect them. But can the single dad lawman uncover the truth about why a killer’s out for vengeance before time runs out?
she’ll need to trust a man from her past…
Temporarily home to help at her family’s vet clinic, Grace Porter has no intentions of staying—but someone’s determined she won’t live long enough to leave. With both Grace and her sister in the crosshairs, her ex-boyfriend, Police Chief Evan Bradshaw, must protect them. But can the single dad lawman uncover the truth about why a killer’s out for vengeance before time runs out?
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Holy Suspense! This book definitely grabs you right from the start. The story is about Grace who is a veterinarian who has left the town of Blackberry Falls partly because of her pre-conceived ideas of what small town life is like. She returns to Blackberry Falls to help her sister Chloe through her divorce and manage the veterinary office that her father left her.
Seriously when I say that the first chapter of the book completely has you on the edge of your seat, nail biting as you are trying to figure out what is happening and who is the person out to get these sisters. As the story evolves you think you have it all figured out then the author throws in something else into the mix to throw you off! I loved it!! I love suspense novels so this one had me hooked. I honestly had to stop in the middle of the book and see if Rhonda Starnes had any other books out for me to read and I was completely surprised that this was her debut novel.
There is some romantic aspects in this story as the story is also about Evan the sheriff in town, who was in love with Grace and even proposed to her before she left town. So there is definitely some unresolved feelings between them but the story line itself is not simply about their romance which I thought was refreshing. Don't get me wrong there was romance going on but you are so focused on figuring out what is happening that it just kind of blends and flows well together.
If you love suspense stories this is the book for you! Definitely expect the unexpected with this one. I would not mind returning to Blackberry Falls and seeing a bit more of these characters again!
My Rating: 4 Stars/ Really Liked it!
Favorite Quote: "You woouldn't make a promise unless you meant to keep it, but don't make promises that are out of your control. Whether or not everything is okay isn't up to you." Her voice softened. "All you can do is try to make the best choices in any given situation and know the rest is in God's hands."
(I received this book as part of Just Read Book Tours. I was not required to post a positive review. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)
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