Author: whatcathyreadnext

My Week in Books – 15th September ’19

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MyWeekinBooks
On What Cathy Read Next this week

Blog posts

Monday – I published my review of The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott as part of the blog tour.

Tuesday – I shared an exclusive excerpt from Stephen Clark’s new crime thriller, Hands Up. For Top Ten Tuesday I took a look back at my Summer 2019 TBR to see how many of the books I’d managed to read.

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next…and have a good nose around to see what other bloggers are reading.

Thursday – I shared my review of The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan.

Friday – I joined the blog tour for historical novel Wicked By Design by Katy Moran, sharing my enthusiastic review of this follow-up to Hester and Crow (previously published under the title False Lights).

As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media this week.

Currently reading

New Arrivals

The Lady of the RavensThe Lady of the Ravens by Joanna Hickson (eARC, courtesy of Harper Collins and NetGalley)

My baptismal name may be Giovanna but here in my mother’s adopted country I have become plain Joan; I am not pink-cheeked and golden-haired like the beauties they admire. I have olive skin and dark features – black brows over ebony eyes and hair the colour of a raven’s wing…

When Joan Vaux is sent to live in the shadow of the Tower of London, she must learn to navigate the treacherous waters of this new England under the Tudors. Like the ravens, Joan must use her eyes and her senses, if Henry and his new dynasty are to prosper and thrive …

A Ration Book ChildhoodA Ration Book Childhood by Jean Fullerton (eARC, courtesy of Corvus and NetGalley)

In the darkest days of the Blitz, family is more important than ever.

With her family struggling amidst the nightly bombing raids in London’s East End, Ida Brogan is doing her very best to keep their spirits up. The Blitz has hit the Brogans hard, and rationing is more challenging than ever, but they are doing all they can to help the war effort.

When Ida’s oldest friend Ellen returns to town, sick and in dire need of help, it is to Ida that she turns. But Ellen carries a secret, one that threatens not only Ida’s marriage, but the entire foundation of the Brogan family. Can Ida let go of the past and see a way to forgive her friend? And can she overcome her sadness to find a place in her heart for a little boy, one who will need a mother more than ever in these dark times?

MothersMothers by Chris Power (paperback)

Mothers is peopled by men and women who find themselves at crossroads or dead ends – characters who search without knowing what they seek.

From remote and wild Exmoor to ancient Swedish burial sites and hedonistic Mexican weddings, these stories lay bare the emotional and psychic damage of life and love in a stunning debut collection.

Coming up on What Cathy Read Next

  • Book Review: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
  • Top Ten Tuesday
  • WWW Wednesday
  • Buchan of the Month: Introducing The Blanket of the Dark by John Buchan

#BlogTour #BookReview Wicked by Design by Katy Moran @HoZ_Books @KatyjaMoran

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Wicked by Design Blog Tour Poster
I’m thrilled to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for Wicked by Design by Katy Moran, the follow-up to Hester and Crow (previously published as False Lights).  My thanks to Vicky at Head of Zeus for inviting me to join the tour and for my proof copy.

Wicked by DesignAbout the Book

1819, Cornwall. Four women sit in the candlelit drawing-room at Nansmornow, an ancient Cornish manor house. The air is thick with unspoken suspicion and secret malice. As Hester Lamorna pours tea for her three guests, she has no idea one of them is about to rock her new marriage to its very foundations.

St. Petersburg. Half a world away, Hester’s impossible and charismatic husband, Jack ‘Crow’ Crowlas, will be caught up in a chess game of sexual manipulation, played out across the sumptuous ballrooms of St. Petersburg. All Hester and Crow hold most dear will be tested to the limit and beyond: their love for each other and their child, and for Crow, the loyalty of his only brother.

Format: Hardcover (464 pp.)                     Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 5th September 2019   Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Kobo | iBooks | Hive
*link provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Wicked by Design on Goodreads

My Review

I really enjoyed False Lights, the book that first introduced me to Lord Lamorna, aka Jack ‘Crow’ Crowlas, and the then Hester Harewood. You can read my review here. (The book has since been republished under the title Hester and Crow.) I was thrilled to learn there was to be a follow-up and opened the book with high expectations; I’m pleased to say I wasn’t disappointed. Although Wicked By Design can be read as a standalone, give yourself a treat and start with the first book in order to experience every sizzling moment of the development of Crow’s and Hester’s relationship.

Hester – spirited, resourceful, fearless – and Crow – troubled, brooding, sultry – make an ideal hero and heroine. There’s constant crackling sexual tension between them and who can be surprised when the book includes references to Crow’s ‘illustrated expanse of lean torso’ or his precise knowledge of how to leave a woman ‘in his power and wanting more’. (Excuse me a moment while I go and cool down.)

Continuing the alternate history premise first introduced in False Lights – that Wellington lost not won the Battle of Waterloo – Wicked By Design sees Crow’s loyalty to the government of England doubted despite his pivotal role in freeing the country from French occupation. Crow has made himself some dangerous and powerful enemies and it soon becomes clear they will stop at nothing to exact revenge. Across the Channel, Napoleon Bonaparte is still a force to be reckoned with and no-one knows quite where the sympathies of Tsarist Russia lie.

Transporting the reader from the rugged coastline of Cornwall (ideal for those pining the absence of Ross and Demelza Poldark from their lives) to the salons of St. Petersburg, Wicked By Design races along like a golden Turkoman mare galloping across the steppes. Along the way there are twists and turns, vividly depicted action scenes and unexpected revelations. I loved every suspenseful, breathless minute of it, especially the riveting final chapters and that ending which I’ll confess left me a little blurry-eyed. Please, please tell me this is not the end of Hester’s and Crow’s adventures?

If you like your historical fiction to come with leading characters you really care about (flaws and all), an intriguing period backdrop, a storyline that encompasses deception, personal and political intrigue, betrayal and revenge plus a generous helping of spice, then Wicked By Design is the book for you.

In three words: Enthralling, spirited, passionate

Try something similar: Fled by Meg Keneally or The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau (click on title to read my review)

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Katy MoranAbout the Author

Katy Moran is a Carnegie nominated author who writes high-octane Regency romance which include muskets, gunpowder, Cornwall and Russia. She writes that when she is inspired by a new place ‘Regency England, Cornwall, Russia, the ancient palace of Fontainebleau – I want to actually be there. I want to take you there too, in the company of complex characters that you will fall a little (or a lot)in love with on the way.’

Connect with Katy

Website | Twitter