We Love Books at Chanticleer for Valentine’s Day
Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day, and what better way to find yourself than curling up with a good book and a warm drink. But, with the advent of romance, we thought we’d give you the chance to “date” a few of the many excellent books Chanticleer has reviewed.
Of course, now is the time that most people think about romance for Valentine’s Day like our Chatelaine Authors. Like with dating sites, the best way to improve your book’s dating profile is by submitting it for Reviews and Awards — and we have some great ones for you to look over here!
As the adage goes, don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
What we’re doing for this is just providing you some images and part of the review associated with the book, but not the book itself. If you think you’d be interested in giving it a read, feel free to click the “see more” button at the end of our review excerpt.
We do have to give a special thanks to Village Books and Paper Dreams right here in Whatcom County for inspiring us with their idea for “Blind Date with a Book,” where customers buy a book based on a review rather than knowing what it is.
Let’s look at some of the books for Valentine’s Day:
Do you like Paranormal Romance wrapped in Mystery and Family Relationships?
At first, Aura hopes that Natalie just went off with friends and didn’t bother to call. But the silence continues for more than a week. Aura jumps in her truck to search the last place Natalie’s cell phone had been used, a mountain near Somers, Montana, behind a place called the Diamond Ranch. Before she can get onto the mountain to search, Aura becomes embroiled in a darker mystery when she finds a mutilated hand near where Natalie had been staying. With the gruesome discovery, she fears that Natalie ran into more serious trouble than she had first suspected.
When a handsome sheriff’s deputy questions her, Aura feels a stirring she hasn’t ever experienced.
Dane Burke, a no-nonsense lawman, has a case to solve. He shouldn’t be thinking about the mysterious, beautiful drifter in any way except as a possible suspect. With one failed marriage and a non-existent relationship with his estranged brother, he can’t allow himself to feel anything, not even lust. Little does he know, Aura feels much the same, but for very different reasons. Aura keeps her true identity hidden: a shape-shifting nymph. As part of her supernatural nature, any man who loves her or that she loves will die. The two delve deeper into the mystery and the search for Natalie, and their feelings become impossible to deny.
Do you like Women’s Fiction that has Divorce, Romance with a splash of Literary Fiction?
In 1966, Jenny, a Mud Angel, dropped everything to fly to Florence, Italy, in search of treasures buried in mud and water after the Arno flooded. She worked tirelessly alongside her fellow Mud Angels to rescue these priceless works of art and ancient books.
For all of Lyn’s life, she heard her mother’s stories until they became mundane and commonplace. But before Jenny passe away, she gave Lyn instructions on where to find her precious journal from her time in Italy. She left a cryptic message, so when Lyn, an up-and-coming writer, has a chance to teach at a writer’s retreat in the city her mother loved, she jumps at the opportunity. Three years later, she still journeys there yearly for one month to explore Florence. With her latest book under her belt, Lyn decides to tell her mother’s story.
Do you like Historical Renaissance Fiction with a Literary Twist?
Vittoria Colonna, an Italian noblewoman and poet born in 1490, lives with grief and isolation. As an adult, she meets and forms a deep friendship with the revered painter and poet Michelangelo. This meeting forms the center point of the novel that takes readers back and forth through time. The story traces Vittoria’s life from her childhood and betrothal to her future husband Ferrante, to her later years with Michelangelo.
As a child, Vittoria leaves home for the island of Ischia. There, she lives with her betrothed Ferrante and his aunt Costanza d’Avalos.
Vittoria and Ferrante’s future union will strengthen political alliances. But will Vittoria and Ferrante happily fall in love?
Later, Vittoria becomes a widow and withdraws from public life for several years. One day, she meets Michelangelo, while he paints The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Their friendship changes each other’s lives forever.
Do you like Medieval Historical Fiction steeped in Alternate Religions with a nod to Ancient Civilizations?
Nonbelievers of the Great Mother Goddess threaten certain persecution. But Herrwn has maintained the traditional practices passed to him by his own father. As an orator in charge of repeating the legends and beliefs of his people, he knows the importance and the heavy responsibility required by his sacred office. With the decrease in believers outside of the valley, he understands the precarious position of the community and the difficult balance he must maintain.
Over the course of his long life, he has come to rely on his cousins, Olyrrwd, Chief Healer, and Ossiam, Chief Oracle, but as the years pass, his loyalties become torn when what starts as simple gibes between the two priests morphs into unspoken fear of what the other might do to gain favor with the various priestesses chosen as the Goddess Incarnate. Having lost his beloved wife and young child, Herrwn grows closer to Olyrrwd, and becomes the peacekeeper between the priests to keep what remaining family he has left.
Do you like Historical Thriller Adventures?
Jack Volant, an aspiring painter and Union cavalry officer, wounded at Gettysburg, travels to Paris following the war to become a more accomplished artist. It is there that he begins a tumultuous relationship with Charlotte, a sculptor who sells her work to Empress Eugenie, wife of the Emperor, and a noted art patroness.
Jack’s younger brother Steven, while still in America, becomes embroiled in an affair with a professor’s wife. When the professor, an expert shot, learns of it, he challenges the young man to a duel. Fearing for his life, Steven changes his name and flees to Paris where he engages in the eerie occupation of unwrapping mummies in the salons attended by the elite.
All these dynamic characters, many involved in intrigue and murder, will interact in the decadent City of Light. They enjoy its ambience for only a short time, however, before war finds them once again. In 1870, the influence of the Empress, Prussian militarism and national rivalry will lead to disaster for France in the Franco Prussian war, the siege of Paris. In the chaos, Charlotte, deeply in love with Jack, waits anxiously as he attempts to save his brother and Jerome from the Prussian onslaught.
Thank you for joining us on this adventure of books, and we hope you found a read that caught your fancy!
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Aura Montgarten needs to find her sister, Natalie, in Danica Winters’ paranormal romance, Montana Mustangs.
invented, need not tell that lie. In fiction, the devil is everywhere. And everyone has their story
The Watcher is a story where “…ancient history is only the beginning.”
Catherine Greenfeder
Chanticleer Book Reviews is seeking today’s best books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
