Review: I Was Anastasia

I Was Anastasia by Ariel LawhonTitle: I Was Anastasia

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publication Date: March 27, 2018

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.5 stars)


Russia, July 17, 1918 Under direct orders from Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik secret police force Anastasia Romanov, along with the entire imperial family, into a damp basement in Siberia where they face a merciless firing squad. None survive. At least that is what the executioners have always claimed. 

Germany, February 17, 1920 A young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Anastasia Romanov is pulled shivering and senseless from a canal in Berlin. Refusing to explain her presence in the freezing water, she is taken to the hospital where an examination reveals that her body is riddled with countless, horrific scars. When she finally does speak, this frightened, mysterious woman claims to be the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Her detractors, convinced that the young woman is only after the immense Romanov fortune, insist on calling her by a different name: Anna Anderson. 

As rumors begin to circulate through European society that the youngest Romanov daughter has survived the massacre, old enemies and new threats are awakened.

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WWW Wednesdays: April 25, 2018

www

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It’s simple – just answer the three questions below. And check out her post this week to get inspired by what everyone else is reading!

The Three Ws are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Continue reading “WWW Wednesdays: April 25, 2018”

Top Ten Tuesday: Frequently Used Words in Thriller Titles

top ten tuesdays
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Oh, this was such a fun prompt! I’m playing loose with the genre here, mostly because mystery, thriller, and crime novels blur the lines for me. All of the covers link to the Goodreads pages of the books if you’re interested in checking any out.

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Goodreads Monday: April 23, 2018

goodreads monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Check out this week’s post to share your links.

Somehow this one had made it onto my TBR and been promptly forgotten, but I’m glad I found it again today! It’s coming out soon, so this is the perfect reminder to go and get my hands on it 🙂

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Review: Sirens (Aidan Waits #1)

Sirens by Joseph KnoxTitle: Sirens

Author: Joseph Knox

Series: Aidan Waits, #1

Genre: Crime Fiction

Publication Date: February 20, 2018 (first published January 12, 2017)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 (3.75 stars)


The mission is suicide.

Infiltrating the inner circle of enigmatic criminal Zain Carver is dangerous enough. Pulling it off while also rescuing Isabelle Rossiter, a runaway politician’s daughter, from Zain’s influence? Impossible. That’s why Aidan Waits is the perfect man for the job. Disgraced, emotionally damaged and despised by his superiors. In other words, completely expendable.

But Aidan is a born survivor. And as he works his way deep into Zain’s shadowy world, he finds that nothing is as it seems. Zain is a mesmerizing, Gatsby-esque figure who lures young women into his orbit–women who have a bad habit of turning up dead. But is Zain really responsible? And will Isabelle be next?

Before long, Aidan finds himself in over his head, cut loose by his superiors, and dangerously attracted to the wrong woman.

How can he save the girl if he can’t even save himself?

Continue reading “Review: Sirens (Aidan Waits #1)”

Links I Loved: April 21, 2018

Links I Loved Meme

Every week, I’m now trying to put together a weekly compilation of all the posts I enjoyed around the blogosphere. This was inspired by Zuky @ BookBum, who always has a wonderful list of reviews that I might have missed or are by bloggers I’ve yet to follow— everyone should go see her favorites this week! I just think it’s such a great way to spread the love, and I’m looking forward to continuing to share some of the various posts that have caught my eye while blog hopping.

Check out the posts I thoroughly enjoyed this week below.

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Stacking the Shelves: April 21, 2018

stacking the shelves

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tygna’s Reviews and Reading Reality and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

This week, I added 5 books to my stack! Three in the mystery/thriller category, one YA fantasy, and one YA romance.

If any of these appeal to you, too, check out their Goodreads pages via the links on the cover images.

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Throwback Thursday: April 19, 2018

throwback thursdays
Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme created by Renee @ It’s Book Talk. This meme lets you share old favorites published over a year ago or books that you just never got to! My list of those is miles long. If you’re interested in participating, too, check out her latest post!

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WWW Wednesdays: April 18, 2018

www

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It’s simple – just answer the three questions below. And check out her post this week to get inspired by what everyone else is reading!

The Three Ws are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Continue reading “WWW Wednesdays: April 18, 2018”

Review: The Echo Killing (Harper McClain #1)

The Echo Killing by Christi DaughertyTitle: The Echo Killing

Author: Christi Daugherty

Series: Harper McClain, #1

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Publication Date: March 13, 2018

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 (4.75 stars)


When a murder echoing a fifteen-year-old cold case rocks the Southern town of Savannah, crime reporter Harper McClain risks everything to find the identity of this calculated killer.

A city of antebellum architecture, picturesque parks, and cobblestone streets, Savannah moves at a graceful pace. But for Harper McClain, the timeless beauty and culture that distinguishes her home’s Southern heritage vanishes during the dark and dangerous nights. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Not even finding her mother brutally murdered in their home when she was twelve has made her love Savannah any less.

Her mother’s killer was never found, and that unsolved murder left Harper with an obsession that drove her to become one of the best crime reporters in the state of Georgia. She spends her nights with the police, searching for criminals. Her latest investigation takes her to the scene of a homicide where the details are hauntingly familiar: a young girl being led from the scene by a detective, a female victim naked and stabbed multiple times in the kitchen, and no traces of any evidence pointing towards a suspect.

Harper has seen all of this before in her own life. The similarities between the murder of Marie Whitney and her own mother’s death lead her to believe they’re both victims of the same killer. At last, she has the chance to find the murderer who’s eluded justice for fifteen years and make sure another little girl isn’t forever haunted by a senseless act of violence―even if it puts Harper in the killer’s cross-hairs…

Continue reading “Review: The Echo Killing (Harper McClain #1)”