When the Irish Invaded Canada

When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland's Freedom- Christopher Klein
Doublday
Release Date: March 12, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Just over a year after Robert E. Lee relinquished his sword, a band of Union and Confederate veterans dusted off their guns. But these former foes had no intention of reigniting the Civil War. Instead, they fought side by side to undertake one of the most fantastical missions in military history: to seize the British province of Canada and to hold it hostage until the independence of Ireland was secured.

By the time that these invasions--known collectively as the Fenian raids--began in 1866, Ireland had been Britain's unwilling colony for seven hundred years. Thousands of Civil War veterans who had fled to the United States rather than perish in the wake of the Great Hunger still considered themselves Irishmen first, Americans second. With the tacit support of the U.S. government and inspired by a previous generation of successful American revolutionaries, the group that carried out a series of five attacks on Canada--the Fenian Brotherhood--established a state in exile, planned prison breaks, weathered infighting, stockpiled weapons, and assassinated enemies. Defiantly, this motley group, including a one-armed war hero, an English spy infiltrating rebel forces, and a radical who staged his own funeral, managed to seize a piece of Canada--if only for three days.

When the Irish Invaded Canada is the untold tale of a band of fiercely patriotic Irish Americans and their chapter in Ireland's centuries-long fight for independence. Inspiring, lively, and often undeniably comic, this is a story of fighting for what's right in the face of impossible odds.

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An interesting, well-researched book, Klein tells the little known story of Irishmen fighting for Ireland's freedom in America. Plenty of context is provided to understand Irish and English feelings (both politically and personally), culminating in the Great Hunger when millions of Irish died and millions travelled to America to avoid the potato famine. Irishmen fought on both sides of the American Civil War, but many saw this battle as a training ground for a larger, more important, war- the war for Irish freedom from England.

As with any story of a large group of people, political and idealogical differences divided those planning to free Ireland. The focus here, as the title suggests, is the decision by Irish nationalists to hurt England by invading Canada. Three main invasion plans over a few years led to battles, the breaking of neutrality laws, political fighting, and eventually the largest unintended consequence of all: Canada as a separate nation. The political maneuverings were fascinating, with America working secretly (or not) to claim Canada for itself, Irish nationalists trying to hold land hostage to negotiate for Ireland's independence, and individuals searching for glory.

Klein does an excellent job showing the reader how the seemingly ridiculous plan to take Canada by a group of overly optimistic individuals directly influenced the twentieth century Irish rebellions and led to the country we know today. Fascinating and fast-paced, "When the Irish Invaded Canada" is a must read for anyone interested in nineteenth century America and Canada, let alone the evolution of the Irish national movement towards independence.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Boyfriend Experience

The Boyfriend Experience- Carly Phillips & Erika Wilde
CP Publishing
Release Date: March 19, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: He’s the total package.  

Except … 

Eric Miller isn’t looking for a long term relationship. And he definitely isn’t thrilled when a friend signs him up for The Boyfriend Experience app behind his back. It’s not like he has a problem getting women on his own. But when he gets a notification that someone is in need of his . . . services, he’s intrigued enough to check out her profile and can’t resist the sexy, sassy little brunette who only wants him as a decoy for a family event.  

Evie Bennett needs a boyfriend, stat. Someone who can accompany her to her family reunion so she doesn't have to explain that she's been recently dumped. Again. She’s perfectly happy being an independent woman, but what’s a girl to do when her new fake boyfriend starts to feel like the real deal?

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When Eric's friend signs him up for the Boyfriend Experience app without telling him, Eric's first response is to blow it off.  When he gets a notification that someone wants to hire him, he figures he'll tell the lady it was all a mistake and that will be that.  When he meets Evie Bennet for the first time, sparks fly.  Eric has been hurt enough by life to believe avoiding long-term relationships are the best way forward.  Evie has lost her confidence in herself and her judgement  after two bad boyfriends.  But she wants a fake boyfriend for a family weekend so she can avoid the pity and the Boyfriend Experience seems like the perfect deal.  Both people go in with eyes wide open, no expectations, and a set end to the 'relationship'. But when feelings refuse to be suppressed, can they turn this into something real?

The hype (and title) leave you with no doubt about what to expect from hero Eric Miller and Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde deliver: this guy is your new perfect book boyfriend.  Smart, kind, confident, with a wicked sense of humor and ability to roll with the flow, Eric has it all.  He's also well versed in keeping walls around his heart and up front about not doing long term relationships- although he doesn't generally share his reasons.  The instant attraction between them means Eric doesn't even consider telling Evie the truth about not signing up for the app, but dives right in with her idea- into what readers can predict will be quite a ride! 

 I loved how instantly protective and sweet Eric was with Evie and that he wanted her to have a weekend that would build up her self confidence.  Whether it was Evie, his mom, or a complete stranger, Eric wanted to make them feel better about themselves after talking to them. It wasn't a gimmick, or something her felt he had to do as a 'fake' boyfriend, but just a part of his personality.  The differences between Eric's family and Evie's were both intentionally humorous and deeply touching.  And I loved the emotional, poignant, and sweet way Eric remembered his sister Trisha and various times throughout the book.         

The Boyfriend Experience is a short and sweet book with intensely hot chemistry between Eric and Evie that will keep you glued to the page from start to finish.  A book I can definitely see re-visiting whenever I need the book equivalent of a good cuddle, and a must read romance!  

I received an ARC of this book from Booksprout in exchange for an honest review

Escape Artists

The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War- Neal Bascomb
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release Date: September 18, 2018

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In the winter trenches and flak-filled skies of World War I, soldiers and pilots alike might avoid death, only to find themselves imprisoned in Germany’s archipelago of POW camps, often in abominable conditions. The most infamous was Holzminden, a land-locked Alcatraz of sorts that housed the most troublesome, escape-prone prisoners. Its commandant was a boorish, hate-filled tyrant named Karl Niemeyer who swore that none should ever leave.

Desperate to break out of “Hellminden” and return to the fight, a group of Allied prisoners led by ace pilot (and former Army sapper) David Gray hatch an elaborate escape plan. Their plot demands a risky feat of engineering as well as a bevy of disguises, forged documents, fake walls, and steely resolve. Once beyond the watch towers and round-the-clock patrols, Gray and almost a dozen of his half-starved fellow prisoners must then make a heroic 150 mile dash through enemy-occupied territory towards free Holland.

Drawing on never-before-seen memoirs and letters, Neal Bascomb brings this narrative to cinematic life, amid the twilight of the British Empire and the darkest, most savage hours of the fight against Germany. At turns tragic, funny, inspirational, and nail-biting suspenseful, this is the little-known story of the biggest POW breakout of the Great War.  

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The Escape Artists tells the true story of a number of prisoners of war during World War I (mostly British pilots) and their attempts to escape German POW camps and into the safety of neutral Holland.  The book is well-written, well-researched, and thrilling from start to finish.  While most people have at least vaguely heard of the Great Escape of World War II (or at least know it was a movie), how many of us know about the POW camps of the first World War?  Did you know that many of the WW II pilots were taught by their first war counterparts?  Pilots who made it back to England helped prepare young men going into the second war by sharing their experiences in the camps and sharing the methods they used- or knew others used- to break out.

Bascomb's descriptions of the early fighter planes are terrifying- the fragility of these early planes meant it was a brave person willing to go up in them.  The POW camps sound like they would drive even the strongest to insanity.  I was surprised to learn how much of the treatment of POWs in the first war was still being negotiated between countries as the war progressed.  The various escape plans designed by the prisoners were often something you would expect out of a movie- from disguises as German officers or women to chutes out of windows to tunnels under the camps, complete with carefully forged papers.  For every failed escape attempt there was a lesson learned, leading to the final success of the POWs who escaped from Holzminden- considered a land-locked Alcatraz where Germans sent the most escape prone prisoners in the belief that it was escape proof.  

The Escape Artists is by turns humorous and tragic, inspirational and full of edge-of-your-seat suspense.  A wonderful and much needed look into this lesser known aspect of World War I.  A riveting, well-written, carefully researched, must read for history buffs!   

Ten Caesars

Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine- Barry Strauss
Simon & Schuster
Release Date: March 5, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Barry Strauss’s Ten Caesars is the story of the Roman Empire from rise to reinvention, from Augustus, who founded the empire, to Constantine, who made it Christian and moved the capital east to Constantinople.

During these centuries Rome gained in splendor and territory, then lost both. The empire reached from modern-day Britain to Iraq, and gradually emperors came not from the old families of the first century but from men born in the provinces, some of whom had never even seen Rome. By the fourth century, the time of Constantine, the Roman Empire had changed so dramatically in geography, ethnicity, religion, and culture that it would have been virtually unrecognizable to Augustus.

In the imperial era Roman women—mothers, wives, mistresses—had substantial influence over the emperors, and Strauss also profiles the most important among them, from Livia, Augustus’s wife, to Helena, Constantine’s mother. But even women in the imperial family faced limits and the emperors often forced them to marry or divorce for purely political reasons.

Rome’s legacy remains today in so many ways, from language, law, and architecture to the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. Strauss examines this enduring heritage through the lives of the men who shaped it: Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Vespasian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Diocletian and Constantine. Over the ages, they learned to maintain the family business—the government of an empire—by adapting when necessary and always persevering no matter the cost. Ten Caesars is essential history as well as fascinating biography.

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A concise, yet detailed, history of the Roman Empire and its emperors in one book seems like it would be impossible.  Yet in Ten Emperors: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Barry Strauss manages the feat.  Structuring his book around ten of the most influential of the Roman emperors (Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Vespasian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine) Strauss provides readers with a comprehensible, detailed view of the Roman Empire: its rise, its fall, and everything in between.

Each chapter provides a biography of an emperor, examines the larger world he grew up in, how he came to the throne, and the impacts he had on the empire- whether for better or worse.  Strauss also explores the sources this information comes from and reminds us that many of the more famous stories (like Nero fiddling while Rome burned) were written by people with their own agendas and not a recording of unbiased facts.  Whether today we can believe what is generally "known" about many of these figures is often up for debate and Strauss does not hesitate to say so.

Another excellent highlight of Ten Caesars is Strauss' crediting the powerful women involved in the empire.  Mothers, sisters, and wives of emperors get their due here as influential people- even if women technically played no part in Roman politics.  Strauss is upfront about the idea that Roman society itself often felt threatened by powerful women, and so stories of women poisoning their emperors husbands, fathers, brothers, etc abounded.  The reality probably involved far less poisoning.  Although since women around the emperors were used as pawns to strengthen dynastic alliances, and those alliances often involved the emperors than murdering the men their women married, one can see the temptation.

Although often repetitive, Ten Caesars is well-researched, well written, and maintains a steady pace.  Whether novice or expert on the Roman Empire and its emperors, any reader will enjoy Strauss' Ten Emperors and come away from it with a more detailed understanding of this fascinating and complicated period of history, and the men and women who influenced it.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Madame Fourcade's Secret War

Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler- Lynne Olson
Random House 
Release Date: March 5, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In 1941 a thirty-one-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of a vast intelligence organization—the only woman to serve as a chef de résistance during the war. Strong-willed, independent, and a lifelong rebel against her country’s conservative, patriarchal society, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was temperamentally made for the job. Her group’s name was Alliance, but the Gestapo dubbed it Noah’s Ark because its agents used the names of animals as their aliases. The name Marie-Madeleine chose for herself was Hedgehog: a tough little animal, unthreatening in appearance, that, as a colleague of hers put it, “even a lion would hesitate to bite.”

No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence—including providing American and British military commanders with a 55-foot-long map of the beaches and roads on which the Allies would land on D-Day—as Alliance. The Gestapo pursued them relentlessly, capturing, torturing, and executing hundreds of its three thousand agents, including Fourcade’s own lover and many of her key spies. Although Fourcade, the mother of two young children, moved her headquarters every few weeks, constantly changing her hair color, clothing, and identity, she was captured twice by the Nazis. Both times she managed to escape—once by slipping naked through the bars of her jail cell—and continued to hold her network together even as it repeatedly threatened to crumble around her.

Now, in this dramatic account of the war that split France in two and forced its people to live side by side with their hated German occupiers, Lynne Olson tells the fascinating story of a woman who stood up for her nation, her fellow citizens, and herself

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Author Lynne Olson (Last Hope Island) specializes in bringing to life little known aspects of some of history's most powerful moments and Madame Fourcade's Secret War is a stellar addition.  Marie-Madeleine Fourcade is a young woman who rebelled against not only the Nazis but also the generally accepted role of women as second class citizens to become a major part of French resistance movement during World War II.  Fourcade's resistance network, Alliance, was the largest and most successful operation during German occupation of France and worked closely with MI6 during the entire war, attempting to stay out of politics and focus on freeing France at a time when so many other groups (both British and French) fought as hard against each other as they did against the Germans.

Fourcade recruited men and women from all parts of France and all walks of life into Alliance, which the Gestapo called Noah's Ark because all the members used the codenames of animals.  Olson is able to recreate the very human elements of this time- from the early days of occupied Paris to the heartbreaking final months of the war.  The reader feels Fourcade's triumphs, stresses, joys and sorrows as the spymaster known as "Hedgehog" tried to keep her people safely out of German hands.  We learn the little known stories of agents who risked their lives to deliver detailed maps and crucial information to MI6- including much of the information that made the Allies D-Day landing on Normandy possible.

Marie-Madeleine Fourcade might have been tailor made for the starring role in a new Hollywood spy movie or best-selling novel.  But Lynne Olson has once again proven that history can be just as fascinating as fiction.  Her clean, vibrant writing style adds no frills to a story that needs no embellishment.  Her research and attention to detail mean that events speak for themselves and the reader can't help but be swept along on Fourcade;s fight for freedom.

A must-read for history lovers!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Beast's Heart

The Beast's Heart-Leife Shallcross
Ace
Release Date: February 12, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both.

I am the Beast.

He is a broken, wild thing, his heart’s nature exposed by his beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowls the dusty hallways of his ruined château with only magical, unseen servants to keep him company—until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.

Bewitched by the man’s dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the château. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father’s life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau’s love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse . . .

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Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite fairy tales.  I love reading new variations on the tale as old as time- whether it is in 14th century France, Regency England, or a science fiction adventure far in the future- and watching the heart of the story remain.  Because the heart of the story is one we seem to need to be constantly reminded of: no matter what you look like on the outside, no matter the cold or selfish person you once were, it is always possible to discover the good person inside yourself and change.  It is always possible that someone can see who you are and love you for it, no matter what.

The Beast's Heart, the first published novel by Leife Shallcross, returns to the original fairy tale and gives us the Beast's version of it.  He wanders the forests for over a century as more animal than man before being drawn back to his (once grand) chateau.  As he begins to try and become a man again, magic returns the chateau to its former spender and invisible servants assist the Beast.  But he is lonely and when a lost traveler stumbles onto the chateau, the Beast sees an opportunity.  We all know (or do we?) what happens next: the man's youngest daughter trades a year of her life for her father's freedom, the Beast falls in love with her, and if Isabeau will fall in love and agree to marry him the curse will be broken.  

I enjoyed seeing through the eyes of the Beast and watching him come to understand not only why he was cursed in the first place, but what true love is.  Weaving in the stories of Isabeau's two sisters as they find their places in small village life and discover love of their own kept the pace strong and was an excellent way to bring in new characters, conflicts, and plot twists. 

 But one of the things that I loved the most, and stood out so strongly to me, was the writing.  The writing and language in The Beast's Heart was wonderfully well done and made me feel like I was entering a truly magical fairy tale each time I picked the book up. Shades of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters mix with original, classic fairy tales to create something both highly original and completely classic at the same time.

This is a must-read for fairy tale lovers, those who love new versions of fairy tales, romance readers, and will become a classic go-to read for adults and children alike.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Black Leopard Red Wolf

Black Leopard, Red Wolf- Marlon James
Riverhead Books/Penguin Group
Release Date: February 5, 2019

Rating:
📚📚

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

As Tracker follows the boy's scent--from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers--he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying?

Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that's come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.

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I love fantasy and was excited to try this book- it had all the makings of a classic fantasy epic.  A group of misfits, each with their own special skill, trying to work together to find a kidnapped child who seems to be important to warring groups of royals.  African history and mythology coming to life as our group crosses the land and fights demons, vampires, magic, and each other. 

It took me about one hundred pages to start getting into Black Leopard, Red Wolf.  The writing style took a lot of getting used to, not just because it is told as if the narrator is telling stories, but because he jumps around.  There's no chronological order, we don't really meet characters as much as they just appear, and things are rarely explained or described.  When Tracker finally gets to telling us the story of him getting paid to join up with a group searching for a child who was kidnapped three years ago, the pace picks up and the story gets (mostly) easier to follow.  We still don't really know who any of the characters are, or why they are doing anything.  We get a lot of stories to explain why things happen and who people are but it's also understood pretty much up front that at least half of what anyone says will be a lie.  The end result being I didn't have much of an emotional connection to any of the characters and liked them even less- including Tracker, who despite being our narrator isn't likable but instead is mostly an arrogant, misogynistic jerk even to the few characters who try to get along with him.

Pages of descriptions still left me with no image in my head of what I was supposed to be seeing during the traveling, many of the magical beings met along the way got no description because Tracker assumes we know what he's talking about.  But let it come to killing something/one, rape, torture, or any other horrible thing and don't worry- those episodes get described in such minute detail you can smell the blood and guts.  

There were times when I enjoyed the story-telling narrative, when it reminded me of The Odyssey as Homer describes travels and magics and wonders.  But more often the technical aspects of the book were distracting and what I ended up focusing on more than the story.  If it had been a more 'conventional' narrative, would I have liked the book better?  No, I don't think so. Basically it comes down the fact that this was a raw, gritty, dark fantasy and I am not a fan of dark fantasy.  I can handle violence is small doses but Red Wolf gives us huge overdoses.  Friends become enemies, enemies fight as allies, and it is jarring each time because we only get the story of 'why' afterwards.  Far before we get to the end we find ourselves asking what the point of all of it was.  Maybe that is the point, maybe the book is meant to be a philosophical questioning of who we are and what is truth and why do people do anything.  But when I end a book asking myself "This is how it ended? What was the point of this?" it's pretty certain I'm not going to read the rest of the series to find out out.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is 600 pages of raw violence, betrayal, rape, gang rape, torture, and killing surrounding a quest you're never sure the point of.  The technicalities of the writing probably mean some people will love it and others will hate it.  Those who enjoy dark fantasy may like the story, but readers hoping for something lighter, uplifting, or positive should probably steer clear of this one.   I rather wish I had. 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review