Bibliophile Support Group

The Pelican Bride is a Christian historical fiction novel by Beth White and the first in the Gulf Coast Chronicles . In the 1704 Louisiana colony, the French stronghold on the land is wavering in the face of continual difficulties with the British and the Natives. To help settle and civilize the large population of men in the colony, a frigate named the Pelican has come in from France with lovely, mannered young women as potential brides. On the Pelican are Genevieve and her sister Aimee. Unlike the other girls who are primarily from a convent, Genevieve and Aimee are hiding their persecution from their outlawed beliefs and a tragic, haunting loss in France they hope to escape in the colonies. Yet, as Genevieve finds herself drawn to Tristan – an exile mapmaker turned farmer – she comes to realize that even in this land of freedom, peace is not guaranteed. Nor can she practice her reformed beliefs without fear of suspicion. Both inside and outside the fort, danger is looming...

The Geography of You and Me is a YA contemporary novel by Jennifer E. Smith. When a citywide blackout traps Lucy and Owen in their New York City apartment building elevator, the two previous strangers find they have nothing to pass the time but to talk. And even after they’re rescued, neither of them having anyone waiting for them in their respective apartments, they find they’re drawn to each other’s company and spend the rest of the sweltering night wandering the dark streets and standing in awe of the stars in the sky – visible for once. When the lights come back on, though, the dreamlike feeling of a comfortable conversation and magical chemistry fades to reality. Lucy knows she needs to let her traveling parents know she’s okay, now that she has the ability to make that phone call. Owen needs to find his father and make sure he’s gotten home all right. Before they know it, their lives are pulled apart just as swiftly as they were brought together for that memorable even...

Heartless is the fourth novel in the hilarious, supernatural, alternate Victorian England steampunk adult series The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger. All month long I’ve been posting reviews of this awesome series – and yet again I strongly recommend that you read the books IN ORDER and WITHOUT SPOILERS , which means if you haven’t read books 1 – 3, you really should not read my review of Heartless. It’s all too much fun to ruin surprises! OKAY?! When a ghost, barely holding on to her sanity, expresses that the Queen’s life may be being threatened amidst much illogical prattle, Alexia, soulless preternatural, is on the case. She, along with her hulking werewolf husband Lord Maccon, attempt to follow the trail to disrupt the designs against the Queen – and Alexia finds that it leads to some revelations of her beloved’s shadowy past. Meanwhile, Alexia finds herself dealing with a sister that suddenly has an interest in the suffragette movement, Madame Lefoux’s increasi...

A Beauty So Rare is an adult Christian historical fiction by Tamera Alexander, and the second in the Belmont Mansion novels. As is usually the case with Christian historical fiction trilogies or series – this book has a stand-alone story featuring its own characters, but there are overlap characters and tidbits of info from the first book that are more greatly appreciated when read in the correct order. So, I still recommend reading A Lasting Impression first – which you can read my review of here . This review will give nothing away of A Lasting Impression , however. So, you’re safe from spoilers!! Eleanor Braddock – nearly thirty years old – had to come up with a plan. Her father, once a prominent, intelligent, admired attorney, is ailing. Their money has been nearly completely depleted. Her mother has long since passed and her beloved brother died in the War Between the States. Plain, tall and practical Eleanor has long accepted that she will never marry. She’s come up w...

The Wolf Princess is a middle grade contemporary fairy tale of sorts by Cathryn Constable. Sophie, orphaned without a family and only a distant friend of her late father’s as a guardian, lives at a boarding school in London most of the time. Yet she dreams of snow, of silver forests… of Russia. Her friends, fashionable Delphine and academic Marianne, are the only things that make life at school pleasurable. Yet Sophie’s mind still wanders to winter and log cabins warmed by a roaring fireplace… When, as if by magic, Sophie and her friends are offered a trip to Russia she cannot believe it. And then when a blizzard leaves the three abandoned and fearing for their lives, they are rescued by a lovely, regal, mysterious princess named Anna Volkonskaya who takes them to a magnificent, dream-like winter palace that is now in disrepair. Among the wild white wolves and snowy surroundings, Sophie feels her dreams have come true. But underneath she cannot help but wonder - why is...

Blameless is the third book in the adult, steampunk, comedic supernatural series The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger. Have you read Soulless and Changeless ? If not – LOOK AWAY! Close this window, seriously! I do not want to be the cause of your spoilers. Or read those reviews, instead. Only continue reading my review of Blameless if you’ve read up to this point in the series. GOT IT? Last warning… Alexia, Lady Maccon, has returned home to her dreadful family. Everyone is astir, and then when the gossip comes out – as to why she is no longer living at Woolsey with her husband and his werewolf pack… well, it’s the scandal of the London season. Having little experience defending herself when she is actually innocent, Alexia finds herself both numbed by her husband’s rejection and also terribly angry. How dare he?!? Of course, it may indeed be a fact that there is no known werewolf-sired pregnancy – as werewolves are technically dead – in all of their genealogy. C...

Tandem is a YA contemporary sci-fi novel featuring the concept of parallel worlds by Anna Jarzab. Sixteen year old Sasha has long gotten over her diehard crush on popular yet nice senior Grant. Yet when he out-of-the-blue strikes up a conversation with her – at the library no less – her heart can’t help but go-a-thumping. When he states interest in taking her to the prom, Sasha can hardly believe it – but Grant is believable and seems to really like her – despite how invisible she’s felt for so long. Of course it was all too good to be true. Stories of parallel worlds where an alternate Sasha is living an alternate life were fairy-tales to Sasha’s as she grew up with her theoretical physicist grandfather after her parents’ death when she was young. Now? All too real. Sasha is thrust into an alternate universe in which the other version of herself is a princess that has vanished less than two weeks before her arranged marriage to a rival country’s prince. And now Sasha i...

Changeless is the second book in Gail Carriger’s alternate-Victorian, steampunk, comedic adult paranormal series The Parasol Protectorate . If you haven’t read book one, Soulless , I recommend reading my review from last Friday and getting on that stat!!! There will be inadvertent, unavoidable spoilers of the first book if you continue reading – so please stop now unless you have read the delightful first book. Got it? Final warning… SERIOUSLY . Now as Lady Woolsey, Alexia Maccon finds herself the Alpha female of a werewolf pack. She has resigned herself to the fact that this is met with many tribulations, such as an inordinate amount of nudity due to werewolves changing to human form, etc. An English lady of delicate sensibilities should not have to surrounded by such improper supernatural realities. Yet Alexia always was made of sturdier stuff. Her new life also means occasionally being awakened by her brash werewolf husband. Such as this morning when he is angrily yel...

Inhuman is a YA futuristic sci-fi dystopian novel by Kat Falls, and the first in the Fetch series. After a biological disaster has left all of the United States east of the Mississippi River blocked off by a huge, sprawling wall life is completely different. Time has passed and Lane McEvoy does not know anything different. But there is that stomach churning fear and curiosity over what lies on the other side of the wall. A place now called the Feral Zone, where the millions of people infected with a virus have been mutated into bloodthirsty savages. Curiosity can truly kill you though – punishment for violating the border is execution. But when Lane is faced with the knowledge that someone she loves has passed the wall – and she’s tasked with bringing them back she sees just how unprepared she is to travel through the Feral Zone. Will her humanity prove to be her strength… or her downfall? My synopsis may not do the plot of Inhuman justice, but I definitely didn’t want t...

Soulless is the first in Gail Carriger’s alt-Victorian England steampunk humorous paranormal adult series The Parasol Protectorate . I was recommended this book by a friend before I even had gotten a chance to read Carriger’s Etiquette & Espionage (first book in the YA series The Finishing School that takes place in the same universe as The Parasol Protectorate ). Once I’d read that and the second book in that series, Curtsies & Conspiracies , I knew I definitely wanted to read this series. So, I took a leap, and bought the box set of all five books in this series at a good price. A case of the Amazon.com bibliophile trigger finger, if you know what I mean. Twenty-five year old Alexia Tarabotti has been ruled a spinster. She has many marks against her in English society. Her father is both Italian and dead – and she’s inherited his darker coloring and more exotic looks. She also has no soul. Not that that is any one’s business, of course. Only the paranormal societ...