The Crimson Field: Nurses Bring Scandal & Smarts to the Battlefront

It's WWI. Yea, I seem to be on a nurses in WWI kick. (I've been watching Anzac Girls too, more about that later.) A group of British nurses are treating the wounded on the front (France). We not only get to know them, but also the surgeons they work closely with, and with this group comes lots of secrets and tensions. A six-hour series, it comes on two DVDs.

There's the matron, with a soft heart for her patients, but not so much at times for her volunteers. There's a huge debate over how much the volunteers should be allowed to do. There's a secret engagement, secret babies, possible love affairs. Resentment, jealousy, fear. Each episode brings up something new to think about: the trials of nursing, how very difficult it can be for a young lady in those times to see a man's body. Cowardice. Should they be shot? Not every man is cut out for war...yet should they shot for their weakness?


There's Irish/British tensions, and even more fascinating to me was the experimental procedures the surgeons perform. I'm not a medical expert, but though brief, the side story involving a wounded patient being put through a painful routine every two hours rather than losing his leg was intriguing.

While the first episode was slow and I had my doubts the series would improve, by the third episode, I was hooked. I became engrossed in everyone's lives and scandals. I found myself shouting at people, especially the wife who tells her husband she doesn't want to hear his war stories. What a shocker of an episode. I dare not say what happens, but I will say it raised a lot of emotion in me.

The secret engagement turned into a shocker of epic proportions bringing the issues of treason. Right man, wrong time... I was happy with the way this resolved. It was realistic and yet could have been worse. I must say though, I am not pleased with one sidestory's resolution...Kitty. Fascinating woman with hints of a scandalous past...but yet we never get the full story. I wanted the full story there and I didn't care for her love interest. I'd have chosen the other guy.

I bought this DVD set on Amazon.

Hecate's Moon by Carol Ann Dobson

The title of this book intrigued me.  I knew it was a historical romance.  I have read and reviewed a few of them.  So I accepted a free copy of Hecate's Moon from the author in return for this honest review.

                                                         

I had really hoped for some lore about Hecate, but there isn't much content about this Goddess in Hecate's Moon.  The herbalist/healer/midwife Esther Cerfbeer struck me as a more authentic Hecate priestess than Mrs. McAlpine who didn't appear to have a clue about her nature. Based on my knowledge of Greek mythology, the sort of rituals that Mrs. McAlpine performed seemed like they should be devoted to Dionysus or Aphrodite Pandemos.

When the hero Armand arrived in the town of Ilfracombe after fleeing revolutionary France to take up residence at his family's Devon estate he found missing girls, witchcraft hysteria, smuggling and shipwrecks.  He also discovered that his house had been named after his estate manager, and mysteriously never even objected to that.  I intellectually understood why he was obsessed with returning to France to fight in the royalist cause, but I didn't think it made him sympathetic.    It wasn't just that it was a lost cause, it wasn't a particularly worthy one.  The House of Bourbon hadn't shown itself to be good rulers.   Of course the revolutionaries weren't any better.  Someone with better judgment would want to stay well away from France and its volatile political situation, but Armand never thought anything through.       

I thought that Esther was the most interesting and best developed character in the book.  There were numerous things that bothered me about  Armand, but what absolutely drove me crazy about him was that he was too trusting.  So I had to categorize him as TSTL (Too Stupid To Live).  He and the heroine, Isabella, both took too long to figure out what was really going on in Ilfracombe.    Esther didn't figure it out at all, but she was old and not in good health. What was Armand and Isabella's excuse?

There is a requisite HEA for the romance, but I didn't like Armand.  I kept on wishing that Isabella had a more sensible alternative.

                                               

                                                           

Jam on the Vine by @LaShondaKatrice: An African American Girl Who Grew Up To Be " The Voice of A Community"

I'm pretty sure that Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett was on the Goodreads page for Balm which I reviewed on this blog here.  It was a book that was added by people who liked Balm.  Since I was looking for another high quality African American historical novel, I prioritized the book on my library TBR.  The protagonist is Ivoe Williams who wanted to be a journalist from an early age.  I've never read a historical novel dealing with African American newspapers.  So I thought I'd learn a great deal about their history and the historical context by reading this book.

                                         

The book starts in late 19th century Texas.  I am well aware that the issues which the current Black Lives Matter campaign focus on have a long history.  In the minds of some individuals, slavery was never abolished.  Black people owning anything, or having any degree of independence angers these people.  They don't want to accept that African Americans are human beings with the same rights as other Americans.  

 Ivoe  was born to parents who had been free all their lives.  Her  mother was an Islamic woman who owned land and had a small business.  She sold jam made from the tomatoes that she grew in her garden.  Everyone called her Lemon, but her birth name was Leila. Lemon's parents came from a Muslim enclave in 19th century Alabama.  To learn more about the history of African Muslims in the United States read Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas by Sylviane A. Diouf . Ivoe's father Ennis was a metalsmith.  Both were well regarded within Little Tunis, an African American neighborhood.

 Yet this community was an island surrounded by a sea of hatred. As a child, Ivoe first became aware of this when her school was burned down because a little black boy was seen reading to an elderly white woman. A generation earlier it was a crime to teach blacks to read.  Ivoe's writing ambitions were anathema in this context.

Since my last review for Book Babe dealt with a novel whose protagonist was a journalist, I noticed that like Rebekah Roberts in Invisible City, Ivoe's first attempt at an article didn't credit its sources.  It's important to point out that Rebekah had the opportunity to study journalism, so she really should have known better.  Ivoe never had that opportunity.  She did learn how to write better stories from Ona Darden, a woman who became very important in Ivoe's life.  Ona told her, "You are the voice of a community."  So Ivoe's journalistic career wasn't just about achieving her own dreams. She was representing African Americans.  Ivoe's sense of what it meant to speak on behalf of her people evolved over time as she matured.

The discovery I made in this book that astonished me most was that African Americans were engaged in sign carrying street protests against segregation in the early 20th century.  I had always thought that civil rights demonstrations began in the 1960's, but there was one described in this book that really did take place in 1905. There were all sorts of African American protests before the 1960's that were reported in African American newspapers like Ivoe Williams' fictional publication, Jam on the Vine. Some historical African American newspapers have been digitized. You can access them on the Library of Congress website. 

African American newspapers also reported on atrocities.The mass murders of African Americans and burnings of their neighborhoods in the early 20th century which are mentioned in Jam on the Vine remind me very much of anti-Jewish pogroms in Eastern Europe during this period. A great wave of  Jewish immigration appeared on the shores of England and America. At the same time,  a vast influx of African Americans arrived in the cities of the North. This was called the Great Migration which is often framed as a quest for factory jobs.  I realized with Ivoe that although such jobs may have been a consequence of this exodus for some, blacks were really fleeing for their lives.

I was very impressed with the coverage of issues dealt with in Jam of the Vine and their relevance to  Black Lives Matter.  I also loved the way the major characters and their relationships were portrayed.  Lesbian love was shown to be the equal of heterosexual love.  This is certainly one of the best novels that I have read in 2015.

Just One Lie by @_KyraDavis

Before reading this story, I read the short story that Kyra Davis released titled Just Once More. I was very intrigued by the ending and couldn't wait to read Melody/Mercy's story.

Melody is Mercy, however, her family thinks she's dead and her new name is Mercy. The story takes place mostly in 1999, and I thought the author did a good job staying true to those times with bands, etc. Mercy is a lost soul with a complicated side to her.

Two men play a part in her life, Ash the hopeful actor and Brad, the drummer in her band. She likes them both, but as a reader, we know only one of them is right for her. Through this story, we go through life's struggles with Mercy until she finally grows into a strong individual, getting over the hurt of her past from her parents.

The story ends in present day witch Mercy getting her happily ever after, which as a reader I was very ready for. At times I felt like this story dragged and I was ready for it to fast forward. Each scene presented added to the story, but I still felt like it dragged a bit at times.

Over all, I liked the story and I would read more from this author. Her writing is good and her descriptions make you feel as though you're there and can feel the emotions. I haven't read Just One Night yet, but after meeting Kasie and Robert in this story and Just Once More, I'm interested to see how their story came about.

Lacey's Rating

About The Book

In the instant international sensation Just One Night, sensible Kasie Fitzgerald unleashed her passions—and found herself—through an explosive affair. In Just One Lie, we meet Kasie’s wild and tortured sister, whose impulsivity and lack of self-control has set off a chain of events that changes her family forever.

Melody Fitzgerald is the opposite of the “perfect” daughter. The lead singer of an indie rock band, she is impulsive and creative, with a rebellious streak that both defines her and becomes her greatest enemy. Her lover, the enticing and unpredictable Ash, shares her free spirit and penchant for trouble. On the face of it, he seems to be her perfect match.

So why is she so drawn to her soft spoken, reliable drummer, Brad Witmer? How can a man who wears polo shirts and reads the financial section of the paper be of any interest to her at all? And why on earth does someone like that appear to be so captivated by her?

Before she knows it, Melody finds herself on a path of self-discovery, passion, and affairs of the heart. But will a dark secret from her past derail it all? Or will its exposure be the very thing that unburdens her heart and allows her to seek a future with the one man who loves her completely?

Killing Secrets by @DianneEmley #giveaway

This was a very interesting book and kept me reading. A teacher and student are murdered and it's made to look like a murder suicide. The male student being obsessed with the teacher and he has a history of attempted suicide.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book as I tried to figure out the truth of who did it, as well as the mystery around the killed teenage boys family.

I found the writing to be good. It flowed well. The author did great on her descriptions and showing us the scenes instead of telling us. I really liked Nan and her daughter Emily. Enjoyed seeing how they reacted.

This isn't the first book in the Nan Vining Mystery series, however it's the first one I've read. I didn't feel like I was missing anything or any pieces of the story by not reading the prior books. I would be interested in reading more stories from this author and in the series. She actually surprised me with the ending, and that's a hard thing for writers to do. I thought I had figured out who the killer was, but I was wrong.

Lacey's Rating:

About The Book

For fans of Patricia Cornwell, Tana French, and Lisa Gardner comes a razor-sharp novel of suspense featuring Detective Nan Vining—a single mother whose worlds collide when her teenage daughter stumbles upon a grisly double homicide.

When she gets the call, Nan Vining responds as a mother first and a detective second. Her daughter, Emily, has made a gruesome discovery in a secluded section of a Pasadena park: a pretty, popular young teacher from Emily’s high school and a bright yet troubled transfer student—both dead and bloody in a copse of trees. But the crime scene isn’t the only thing that seems off to Detective Vining. There’s also the cocky classmate who was with Emily in the park—the boyfriend she never knew about. What else doesn’t she know about her daughter?

As she attempts to channel both her maternal and investigative instincts into one single point of focus, Vining’s superiors at the Pasadena Police Department are moving at lightning speed. Before the evidence has even been processed, the case is closed as a clear-cut murder/suicide: a disturbed teenager murders his teacher, then takes his own life. Vining doesn’t buy it. Now she’s chasing dangerous, powerful people with secrets they would kill for—and taking them down means risking her own flesh and blood.

The Giveaway

A $25 eGift Card and a copy of the book!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About The Author

Dianne Emley is the bestselling author of The Night Visitor and the Nan Vining series: The First Cut, Cut to the Quick, The Deepest Cut, and Love Kills. A Los Angeles native, she lives in the Central California wine country with her husband, Charlie.

Author's website: http://www.dianneemley.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianneEmleyAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianneEmley

Vote for Remi

I love women-running-for-president stories. The drama, the competition, the paparazzi, the politics...all make for great intrigue. And oh, the opposition for being a woman. That'll always be there.

This isn't just your run-of-the-mill story though. This woman ends up running for president by accident and it's actually very touching and cool how this comes to be. She is a government teacher who stresses to her students that anyone who meets the legal requirements can run for president. She encourages kids whom everyone else has given up on to be all they can be, to strive for more. Testing her theory, her students announce she's running for president.... Long story short, they become her campaign team and she ends up really running for office.

But it changes her life and she battles with herself. Is she doing the right thing? Is she doing it for her country or for herself? How many people in her life will walk away from the all the stress and drama before it becomes too much? And then political threats and blackmail enter the picture...and Remi has some moral decisions to make.

I enjoyed this for the most part, but at times it became really bogged down, especially as Remi began debating with herself back and forth on the same personal issues. Should I do that? Should I do this? This stuff was too drawn out and over explained. I began to get bored and wanted it to just "get on with it already".

But Remi is a terrific and likable heroine.

I received this thru Netgalley.

Ten Questions from Tara: Interview with @DrKimFoster #giveaway

Welcome. You’re here to promote A BRILLIANT DECEPTION, a heist caper. Tell me, please, what was the inspiration behind this story (or series)? How did it come to you?

When I first got the idea for the Agency of Burglary & Theft series (of which A Brilliant Deception is the third book) many years ago, I was reading books like Bridget Jones and watching Sex & The City and I thought those stories were fun…but I thought: how much MORE fun would it be to read about a girl-next-door type who isn’t quite so innocent and well-intentioned? What about a story about a young woman who is a career criminal? But that story wasn’t out there. So I decided to write it. I came up with the idea that being a crook could simply be my protagonist’s job—she works for an agency that hires people for high-stakes heists—but she has a whole life otherwise. Friends, family, a disastrous love life, etc…

We focus a lot on heroines here on Book Babe. Tell me what makes your heroine strong. 

My heroine, Cat Montgomery, does happen to be physically strong—she’s a jewel thief, so a lot of her job is very physical, and depends on her agility and strength.

But her other strength is a mental toughness. She frequently has to go into dangerous situations, and that takes a lot of courage. She has to problem-solve her way out of sticky spots.

And in this third book of the series, she faces the moral implications of what she’s doing more than ever. She has to confront the ethics, the right and wrong, and decide what kind of person she is going to be—which may mean turning her back on people who want certain things from her, and people who expect her to be a certain way…and letting go of what has worked for her in the past.

Do you see any of yourself in her?

Mostly, no. I am such a chicken and I could never do the things my protagonist does. I have a major problem with heights, for example, which would pretty much kill the career of a jewel thief. But to be honest I think that’s one of the reasons I had so much fun writing about her. She’s in extreme peril, dangling from a tall building, and I’m safely at my desk with a steaming cup of coffee, wondering how on earth she’s going to get out of this one…

Was there any particular part of this story that was the hardest for you to write? Tell me why.

Choosing between her love interests. She has a deep connection with both men in this story—one is a cop, and the other is a fellow thief. One is a classic warrior/hero type and the other a bit of a rogue—although, interestingly, they swap sides in this third instalment. They have both helped her at different times in the series, and they have both hindered her at other times…and in this book she has to figure out where her future lies.

It was tough for me because I am genuinely attached to both men also, and I hadn’t predetermined which way this was going to go. But I knew she had to make a decision to let one love go…and I felt like I went through that heart-wrenching struggle along with Cat.

What kind of research did you do when you penned this novel? Did anything surprising come up in your search? (Perhaps something you had no need to put in the book but stayed in your mind nevertheless?)

I did lots of research for these books. Location-wise, I have been lucky enough to have traveled a lot in recent years, so I was able to draw on first-hand experience for the settings (like Paris for book two, and Venice for book three). As far as research into how to be a jewel thief—that’s a challenge! I’ve needed to research high-tech security systems and biometrics (and how to bypass them), organized crime, the history of famous diamonds, parkour, rappelling, and scuba diving…all super fun stuff. But given my subject matter, particularly the stuff about how to break into places, it’s sometimes difficult to get all the details I need. Some of my google searches are ridiculous—I must be on a watch-list somewhere. But I research as much as I can, and when I get to the point that requires a higher national security clearance than I possess, I splice in a little imagination. The beauty of fiction!

What would you like readers to gain from reading your book? Is there a strong moral? Do you hope they will laugh, learn something about a particular subject/person, ponder a point?

In this book, even more than the first two in the series, my protagonist struggles with choosing a path in life. She wrestles with the dichotomy of good and bad, and living an honorable life. I’m not sure I’d call it a “moral” because I don’t exactly provide answers, and I would never want to be preachy.

But mostly? I hope to take my readers on a really fun ride. Cat is off on a wild adventure that takes her across different continents—there’s excitement, action, and romance—and I hope to give readers that vicarious experience. That’s my main goal.

Your book takes place in Venice (among other places). If I were a tourist, what would you recommend I see in this town/country? 

I just got back from a trip to Italy with my family, actually…so I have lots of thoughts on what to see and do in Venice! (See our photos on my Instagram account https://instagram.com/drkimfoster/ )

In Rome, Florence, and other parts of Italy, there are so many sights to see – the Colosseum, the Vatican, and all the fabulous art galleries and museums. But to do Venice well, in my opinion, it’s more about experiencing the atmosphere than checking off the sights. You should stroll along the canals, ride in a gondola, taste gelato, sip a cappuccino while listening to beautiful, live music in Piazza San Marco…

Moving on to personal things...if you could time travel to absolute any time and place in history, where and when would you go and what is it that draws you to this time period? What would you do whilst there?

I have a fascination for Victorian London (it’s where my next book is set—the new project I’m working on right now!). I find it such an intriguing and exciting historical era, with new discoveries and lots of world-changing events. There was a fascinating juxtaposition between all the glamour and the gritty hardship of the Industrial Revolution—a fantastic backdrop for stories…although maybe not so great to live through. But it was also an age of exploration, and the dawn of much of modern science—I’d love to travel in time and experience it all firsthand. Plus the fashions were fabulous!

Oooh. Do I smell a historical? You'll have to query me on that one, Kim.

There are so many books out there nowadays... What makes your book stand out from them?

I like to think my particular combination of action, romance, and humor is what sets this series apart. My protagonist is somewhat atypical, also, in that she’s a career criminal. She’s definitely an anti-heroine (which is what I wrote about the last time I visited Book Babe).

I’m a dog mom, so I always ask this. Do you have pets? If so, tell me about them and do provide pictures.

We have rabbits! They live in a converted playhouse in our backyard (our winters are very mild here in Victoria so they can live out there all year round). Sodapop and Darry (yes, my husband is an Outsiders fan). Here’s a pic of Darry (Sodapop is quicker…and more camera shy).

***

Kim Foster is the author of the Agency of Burglary & Theft Series, a series of novels about a professional female jewel thief. Kim has a typical background for someone who writes thrillers about thieves and spies and criminals: she has a degree in medicine and is a practising family doctor. (Don’t worry, it doesn’t make much sense to her friends and family, either.) She’s addicted to yoga, loves to travel, and has a clinical weakness for dark chocolate with sea salt. Kim lives with her husband and their two young sons in Victoria, BC, where she's hard at work on her next book. And drinking a ridiculous amount of coffee.

And Kim is offering digital copies one all three books in the series to one lucky winner! Leave a comment with your email address and at the end of two weeks, we'll pick one of you. Contest ends August 6th.

More about A Brilliant Deception:

Fresh from pulling off her latest heist, Cat Montgomery believes she’s ready to leave her thieving lifestyle behind. But old habits die hard. When she’s recruited to retrieve the Lionheart, a legendary medieval ring made from the finest gold and excavated from the grave of Robin Hood, Cat’s determined to end her career with a bang.

Or so she thinks…until the Caliga Rapio, a mysterious brotherhood of thieves, beats her to the punch. Now she has to high tail it to Venice to swipe it back. With two old flames thrown into the mix and an Interpol agent hot on her tail, things are about to get a lot trickier. Cat’s troubles only worsen as she realizes the legend of the Lionheart runs deeper than she could have possibly imagined…