"Fallen Grace" by Mary Hooper [4]

The train roared, shook and swayed as it rounded a corner, and Grace grasped the window frame and waited until it straightened on it's course. Then she pushed open the door to the van containing the coffins and went in ...

London, 1861. Grace Parkes, a pale but determined figure, clutches a precious bundle closely to her as she travels on the train to the famed Brookwood Cemetery. Grace has a heartbreaking duty to carry out.

What a truly beautiful cover this is and of course I just had to have it and in hardback too! I have previously read Mary Hooper's the 'secret magician' series and it was very much a teen read, so I was a little apprehensive about reading this one.

This has truly been a wonderful story. It's set in London in 1861 which is right in the Victorian era and this is a very interesting time in history ... lots of very unusual traditions and the poverty in England at the time was amazing. Our author has totally swept you straight into the novel and your heart breaks as you get to know Mary and her sister Lily and what their story is all about. The details and background of the novel is so well written that you are just immersed into it and it feels like you are with the two girls experiencing what they are going through. While Mary is a fragile young girl she has had to grow up very quickly and be the main stay of their lives because Lily is a little slow and not able to take on the role as big sister. Mary though is a strong girl and she is put through a series of life changing experiences that make her even stronger and more determined to make their lives better. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and I would recommend it too anyone for an insight into the Victorian era and as an historical read.

I rate this book 4 stars.

In the mail

Look what I got in the Mail ..............

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce


Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.

Twenty-five-year-old Jackson Pearce delivers a dark, taut fairy tale with heart-pounding action, fierce sisterly love, and a romance that will leave readers breathless.

Just love, Love , Love the cover to this that I had to get hardback .... Couldn't help myself ... Excited to read this one ...

Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper


Anne Green can't move a muscle, can't open her eyes, can't scream. She lies paralyzed in absolute darkness, terrified by her final memory - being hanged. Is she in purgatory? Hell? Was she buried alive? An innocent woman caught up in a nightmare, Anne Green is trapped with her racing thoughts, her burning need to revisit the events - and the man - that led her to the scaffold.

Meanwhile, a shy young medical student attends his first dissection and notices something strange as the doctors prepare their tools...Did her eyelids just flutter? Could this corpse be alive?

Haunting, thrilling, and impossible to put down, Newes from the Dead is based on the true story of the real Anne Green, a servant who survived a hanging in 1650 England only to awaken on the dissection table. Newes from the Dead concludes with an excerpt from an original 1651 document that recounts this chilling medical phenomenon.

Cannot tell you how lovely this wee book is .... I got it in hardback and the details inside the book are gorgeous ......

Genesis by Bernard Beckett


Set on a remote island in a post-apocalyptic, plague-ridden world, this electrifying novel is destined to become a modern classic.

Anax thinks she knows her history. She’d better. She’s now facing three Examiners, and her grueling all-day Examination has just begun. If she passes, she’ll be admitted into the Academy—the elite governing institution of her utopian society.

But Anax is about to discover that for all her learning, the history she’s been taught isn’t the whole story. And that the Academy isn’t what she believes it to be.

In this brilliant novel of dazzling ingenuity, Anax’s examination leads us into a future where we are confronted with unresolved questions raised by science and philosophy. Centuries old, these questions have gained new urgency in the face of rapidly developing technology. What is consciousness? What makes us human? If artificial intelligence were developed to a high enough capability, what special status could humanity still claim?

Outstanding and original, Beckett’s dramatic narrative comes to a stunning close. This perfect combination of thrilling page-turner and provocative novel of ideas demands to be read again and again.

Lovin my covers at the moment ... And seem to be going through an apocalyptic phase at the moment .... lol ...

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry.


OK ... Just how pretty is this cover and in hardback as well ......... There are soooo many new series that are starting at the moment ..... But excited about this one ....