Tag: HF Reading Challenge

#BookReview #Ad The Paris Sister by Adrienne Chinn

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The Paris SisterAbout the Book

Three sisters separated by distance but bound by love

The Fry sisters enter the Roaring Twenties forever changed by their experiences during the Great War. Now, as each of their lives unfold in different corners of the globe, they come to realise that the most important bond is that of family.

Desperate to save the man she loves, Etta leaves behind the life she has made for herself in Capri and enters the decadent world of Parisian society with all its secrets and scandals.

Celie’s new life on the Canadian prairies brings mixed blessings – a daughter to adore, but a husband who isn’t the man who holds her heart.

In Egypt, Jessie’s world is forever changed by a devastating loss.

And back in London – where each of their adventures began – their mother Christina watches as the pieces of her carefully orchestrated existence begin to shatter…with implications for them all…

Format: eARC (480 pages)                Publisher: One More Chapter
Publication date: 3rd February 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Paris Sister on Goodreads  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61958697-the-paris-sister

Purchase links
Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The Paris Sister is the second book in the author’s series featuring the three Fry sisters – Cecilia (Celie) and non-identical twins, Jessica (Jessie) and Etta – to whom we were first introduced in Love in a Time of War which I read back in March 2022 as part of the blog tour. The Paris Sister can be read as a standalone as there are occasional references to events in the previous book but in order to get into the story as quickly as possible it probably helps to have read the first instalment.  Although quite a chunky read, the short chapters and frequent changes of point of view keep it feeling well-paced.

The events in Love in a Time of War unfolded in the years from 1913 to 1919, with occasional trips back to the 1890s. The Paris Sister takes us through the 1920s, very much ‘The Roaring Twenties’ in the case of Etta who finds herself rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous, including Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Man Ray. Very much, ‘Oh, is that Josephine Baker dancing on the table over there?’.

The sisters and their mother all find themselves faced with challenges.  In the case of Christina, a secret she hopes will never be revealed puts her in a position where she can be manipulated by others. But she wouldn’t be Christina if she didn’t find a way to fight back.

For Celie, it’s coming to terms with her new life in Alberta, trying to put behind her memories of Max, her first love, and coping with her husband Frank’s very traditional views on the role of women.  I liked the way, little by little, she manages to achieve a small degree of independence.

For Jessie, it’s the challenge of building a life in Egypt for herself and her husband Aziz at a time of political turmoil in that country, navigating the trials of a multi-racial marriage and facing up to her formidable mother-in-law who is aghast at Jessie’s ambition to become a doctor. Jessie also longs to give Aziz the child he wants.

I confess I faced my own personal challenge with feeling any sympathy for Etta.  I found her abandonment of her daughter and Carlo, her husband, imprisoned on a charge of murder, to spend time living it up in Paris difficult to empathise with. I wouldn’t have blamed Carlo if he’d told her to get lost.

By the way, those who love a chance encounter will be amply rewarded by some coincidences that I term ‘Casablanca moments’, as in ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks into mine’.

Just as in Love in a Time of War, the concluding chapters of The Paris Sister find the sisters at pivotal moments in their lives and, as yet, unaware how the Great Depression will affect their futures. So plenty to look forward to in the next book in the series.

My thanks to One More Chapter for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

In three words: Sweeping, emotional, absorbing

Try something similar: The Hidden Palace (Daughters of War #2) by Dinah Jefferies

Love In a Time of War - Adrienne_Chinn_24_6_21_210lo_res_OnlineAbout the Author

Adrienne Chinn was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, grew up in Quebec, and eventually made her way to London, England after a career as a journalist. In England she worked as a TV and film researcher before embarking on a career as an interior designer, lecturer, and writer. When not up a ladder or at the computer writing, she often can be found rummaging through flea markets or haggling in the Marrakech souk.

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#BookReview #Ad The Emperor’s Shield (Legionary 9) by Gordon Doherty

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The Emperor's ShieldAbout the Book

Easier to split the sky, than part a soldier from his blade.

386 AD. The Eastern Roman Empire faces a trident of threats. The Gothic truce grows unstable. The standoff with Persia escalates. And the ambitions of the usurper on the Western throne grow dangerously unchecked.

Pavo, a broken veteran of the legions, cares for none of these things. His life is one of pastoral seclusion on his Thracian farm. A life of love, of peace. His wife and young son are his world. Still, every so often, things seen and done in his old life haunt him, like a cold and unwelcome breeze. But that is all they are, echoes of the past…

…until the past rises, like a shade, to rip his world and the Roman Empire apart.

Format: eARC (466 pages)                      Publisher:
Publication date: 16th February 2023   Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Emperor’s Shield (Legionary #9) on Goodreads

Purchase links
Amazon UK
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The Emperor’s Shield is the ninth book in the Legionary series featuring Roman soldier, Pavo. It’s only the second book in the series I’ve read – the other was number seven, The Blood Road – although I’ve also read two books in the Rise of Emperors series co-written with Simon Turney.

As the book opens, Pavo has swapped the military life for that of a farmer – or, at least, that’s what he thinks.

The Roman Empire is divided and in turmoil, well on the path to its eventual decline and fall, with the bonds that held its disparate parts together weakening and enemies beyond its borders a growing threat. Add the machinations of those hungry for power within the Empire and you have a time bomb waiting to explode.

It’s no surprise that Pavo’s military experience and strategic nous sees him receiving a recall to the service of Emperor Theodosius. It’s a recall he initially refuses until the repercussions of the turmoil in the Empire come frighteningly close to home. ‘F**k Rome and its fat aristocrats and magnates. All that matters to me is my family… They are my empire.’

Reading the author’s note one realises just how skilfully he has conjured an exciting story out of historical fact, adding fictional characters such as the secretive Frugilo, Pavo’s faithful friend, Sura, and, of course, Pavo himself.

Once again, Pavo lives up to his reputation as a formidable fighter, an inspired tactician and a loyal comrade.  But you can’t see and do the things Pavo has without it having an impact. As he confides, ‘In my sleep, I see the ones who have fallen. So many, too many’. But is the scene that haunts his dreams over and over again, memories of his past or a vision of the future?

The Emperor’s Shield is historical fiction with something for everyone. There are intense, bloody and bone-crunching battle scenes, including some brilliant set pieces such as the storming of a seemingly impregnable fortress. There is detail of Roman army structure, weaponry and military strategy that oozes authenticity. (A helpful glossary is provided for those who don’t know their hexareme from their liburnian.) And an element of mystery is introduced by means of a man known only as Peregrinus, whom we know is a wily and ruthless traitor at the very heart of Theodosius’ inner circle, but whose identity remains a secret. His mission is to create havoc, something he does very successfully with others paying the price of his deadly game.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Emperor’s Shield. The author reveals the next book will be the last in the series. What does the future hold for Pavo? I’d like to hope it involves a peaceful life alongside his wife and son – after some more exciting adventures of course.

My thanks to the author for my advance review copy. Gordon supports the charity Myeloma UK and if you would like to make a donation to this great cause, follow this link to his JustGiving page.

In three words: Action-packed, assured, thrilling

Try something similar: Masters of Rome by Gordon Doherty & Simon Turney

Gordon DohertyAbout the Author

Gordon Doherty is a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. His novels have been Amazon smash-hits, and have gone on to be translated and published in Russia, Italy and Greece.

Gordon’s love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. His expeditions since have taken him all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing him to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age.

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