It’s time for another month of the Unlocking the Past Reading Challenge: Unlock an Adventure. I’m so excited to join you on an adventure this year with guest reviews from our reading challenge participants. If you want to submit a review for upcoming months, feel free to sign up for a month here and use the Google form to submit your review. As my time has become too limited to do a suggestions post each month, I encourage you to jump over to the Unlocking the Past Reading Challenge page and ask for suggestions from there or from any of a number of amazing reader groups like Avid Readers of Christian Fiction or check out the Inspirational Historical Fiction Index.
*The list of prizes available from my prize shelf can be found here.*
July’s Theme: Heroines in Unusual Professions for Their Time
August’s Theme: Bounty Hunter
To Write a Wrong
by Jen Turano
Review by: Crystal Caudill
Jen Turano never fails to be witty, entertaining, and exciting. To Write a Wrong was such a fun story with its dime novel heroine writing during an era when female mystery writers were not accepted. With the hero also a mystery writer and her competitor at that, this story is filled with laughs, romantic tension, and even a murder case. I’d probably call her style light and comedic romantic suspense. How can a book be both comedic and suspenseful? Turano just manages to pull it off with moments of concern for the protagonists and a constant trying to figure out who is the “would-be” murderer, all while laughing at the awkward situations. It truly was just the read I needed, and I’m so glad that I FINALLY got around to taking this one off my TBR pile.
For Fans of: historical romances with a gallon of comedy and a quart of suspense, novelist protagonists, secret identities, light-hearted mysteries, and clean romance
Genre: Historical Romance
Plot Overview:
Miss Daphne Beekman is a mystery writer by day, inquiry agent by night. Known for her ability to puzzle out plots, she prefers working behind the scenes for the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, staying well away from danger. However, Daphne soon finds herself in the thick of an attempted murder case she’s determined to solve.
Mr. Herman Henderson is also a mystery writer, but unlike the dashing heroes he pens, he lives a quiet life, determined to avoid the fate of his adventurous parents, who perished on an expedition when he was a child. But when he experiences numerous attempts on his life, he seeks out the services of the eccentric Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency to uncover the culprit. All too soon, Herman finds himself stepping out of the safe haven of his world and into an adventure he never imagined.
As the list of suspects grows and sinister plots are directed Daphne’s way as well, Herman and Daphne must determine who they can trust and if they can risk the greatest adventure of all: love.
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Baker Bookhouse | Barnes & Noble | Christianbook.com
Giveaway
For your chance to win a print copy, comment with what book YOU read for this month and you will also be entered into the year-end Grand Prize Reader Basket. Use the Rafflecopter below for extra entries and to mark that you left a comment. Entries end on the 7th of each month at midnight EST, and the winner will be drawn sometime that week and notified by email. The winner will be announced don’t the Rafflecopter widget.
*Open to all residents of the contiguous USA, legally able to enter, and an e-book format or Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to those outside that range who are legally able to enter.
What did you read for the challenge? What were your thoughts on it? Would you recommend it?
Recommendations for August:
- The Bounty Hunter’s Bargain by Lucette Nel
- A Match of Sorts by Lucette Nel (A female bounty hunter!)
- Claiming the Bounty Hunter’s Heart by Clari Dees
- A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer
- Her Secret Song by Mary Connealy
- Claiming Her Legacy by Linda Goodnight
- The Bounty Hunter’s Baby by Erica Vestch
For the month of July I read A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher. It was a good book that I enjoyed reading. It made me laugh,and had a little mystery trying to figure out the bad guy(s). I always enjoy and recommend Robin’s books. I’ve not read one that has disappointed.
That is awesome. I’ve read a couple of her older books, but I’ve not read that one!
A Distance Too Grand by Regina Scott. Highly recommend. The storyline was great. So interesting to see how early photography was done. Also, loved seeing the Grand Canyon through the characters eyes.
Oh that one does sound good. I think it’s been sitting on my TBR for a while.
I read A Daring Venture by Elizabeth Camden. I hadn’t read her books until recently, but I have been enjoying them!
I read Committing to the Cowgirl by Jody Hedlund.
I read Courting Misfortune by Regina Jennings in July. It was a humorous and lovely story, very well done.
I read “Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin” by,
Pamela S. Meyers. I enjoyed the writing, setting, and the characters! Overall I’d recommend. 🙂
For July’s challenge, I read The Express Bride by Kimberly Woodhouse (heroine ran a Pony Express station after her father died), The Heart’s Choice by Tracie Peterson/Kimberly Woodhouse (heroine was a court stenographer), and The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green (heroine was the Assistant Curator of Egyptology at the Metropolitan Museum). I enjoyed all three, with The Metropolitan Affair being my favorite.
“18 Tiny Deaths,”about France Glesner Lee and the birth of modern forensics. This was an amazing true story about the discovery of all the scieince we take for granted today on TV crime shows. Fascinating true tale about a wonderful lady.
I read The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner. It’s about the first ladies’ baseball teams in the USA. One of the characters is a female baseball player. It’s a fascinating story.
For July’s challenge, I read Resistance Women – about women in Nazi Germany who were previously literary scholars turned resistance women against the Nazi’s
For July, I read The Lady of Bolton Hill, by Elizabeth Camden. The main character is an investigative journalist is 1879. That was around the time that women started writing for newspapers, but they were usually restricted to society and homemaking articles. The book is well researched, fast paced, with clean romance. 10/10 recommend!
For July, I read The Girl From the Papers by Jennifer L Wright. The main characters are criminals. The novel was inspired by Bonnie and Clyde. Interesting!
For July I read Lost in Darkness by Michelle Griep. Amelia is a travel writer in 1815 England. I loved that she included Mary Godwin (Shelley) the author of Frankenstein as a character in the story.
By the way, thank you so much, as it is thanks to you I was able to read this book. I chose it when I won the Feb challenge.
For August I have A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer out from the library. I really enjoyed her newest book, Fairest of Heart, so I really need to read more of her books.
I read A Reluctant Bride by Jody Hedlund. I loved it and can’t wait to read more of her books!