historical - No Apology Book Reviews

Interview with Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White (The Glass Ocean)

October 6, 2018September 15, 2018

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Glass Ocean by the three Amigos, aka Team W, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White, is a captivating mystery that has as its backdrop the Lusitania and its sinking. As with all good teamwork they effectively created a story that blends their three styles into one. Readers take a journey with the characters as the suspense ratchets up to that fateful day when the Germans sank the Lusitania in 1915, leaving people …

Interview with Eleanor Moskowitz (from Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis)

October 6, 2018September 8, 2018

Find an interview with the author HERE Elise Cooper: Thank you for doing this. It looks like you are trying to find your place in this post World War II world where anti-Semitism still looms large. Yet, being a Jew collided with the WASP world of the Bellamy family after Patricia hired you to tutor her daughter Margaux. Unfortunately, the father and husband Wynn sexually harassed you and you fell in love with Patricia’s brother Tom. Both these caused conflicts …

Interview with Kitty Zeldis (Not Our Kind)

October 6, 2018September 8, 2018

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis brings to life post World War II in New York City. 1947 was an enlightening year for two women and a child, brought together after a traffic accident. Eleanor, a young Jewish teacher and a WASPy married woman, Patricia, find an unexpected connection, after Eleanor is hired to home school Patricia’s daughter Margeaux, who sees herself as a polio cripple. This story delves into class issues, differences of …

Interview with Beatriz Williams (The Summer Wives)

October 7, 2018July 8, 2018

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams combines romance, secrecy, and suspense. As with all her books she concentrates on a mystery, the murder of a rich playboy, and social issues, class conflicts. Intertwined within the plot are complex relationships that connect all the characters. The setting plays an important role in this novel, just as it had in William’s blockbuster novel, A Hundred Summers. Both take place on an island with an obvious clash …

Interview with Katharine Ashe (The Prince)

October 10, 2018June 22, 2018

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Prince by Katharine Ashe is the fourth and last book in the “Devil Duke series.” With each new book, she outdoes herself. The latest is always better than the last. As with most of her books, she writes how nothing on the surface is what it seems to be. Both the hero and heroine hide their identity, she her gender, and he his background. He becomes a portrait painter so no one will …

Interview with Libby Shaw (from The Prince by Katharine Ashe)

October 10, 2018June 20, 2018

Find an interview with the author HERE Elise Cooper: You are pretty single-minded about achieving your goal to become a doctor even though the social norms emphasized women lacked the physical and moral nature to be physicians or surgeons. But it is obvious you could not do it without Ziyaeddin Mizra who is your greatest supporter and advocate. Thanks for the interview. EC: So why do you want to be a surgeon? Libby: The human body is absolutely fascinating, especially …

Interview with Melissa De La Cruz (Love & War)

October 10, 2018May 19, 2018

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Love & War by Melissa De La Cruz is the second book of the Alex and Eliza love story. The Revolutionary War still looms prominently although it is coming to an end. This story shows the struggles of early married life as Alexander Hamilton is trying to make a name for himself to prove himself worthy, while Eliza is trying to make her way into high society. The story delves into the same problem …

Interview with Melissa De La Cruz (Alex & Eliza)

October 10, 2018May 12, 2018

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Alex and Eliza has taken the world by storm. Whether the play by Lin-Manuel Miranda or the novel by Melissa De La Cruz people are craving for more information about the Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza Schuyler. The novel, Alex and Eliza, emphasizes the romance more than the historical, as the author brings to life the love story of these two Revolutionary figures. The plot spans the years from when they …

Jilliand by Clare Gutierrez

October 9, 2018April 22, 2018

Title: Jilliand Author: Clare Gutierrez Series: n/a Lots of heartbreak, lots of passive voice I would like to thank Clare Gutierrez, River Grove Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I kind of had a minor breakdown while reading this. This is what I wrote at the time: This was a different kind of romance, and not the kind I like. I’m sorry, I didn’t finish it. My heart couldn’t …

Laird of the Black Isle by Paula Quinn

November 6, 2019April 10, 2018

Title: Laird of the Black Isle Author: Paula Quinn Series: Highland Heirs #7 Could have been better but who cares because MACGREGORS!! I would like to thank Paula Quinn, Forever/Hachette Book Group, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Two years ago, Lachlan MacKenzie, Laird of the Black Isle, tucked himself away in his dark, empty castle to mourn the murders of his wife and four-year-old daughter. He provides for his tenants, …