#TheRoseCode – Rosepoint Publishing

My Favorite Books of 2023 – #eBooks and #Audiobooks

As promised last year and in an effort to streamline the process of picking out a favorite book from the previous year, I chose a monthly favorite in 2023.

More selective with Indie authors, we read and listened to more library books in 2023 than in previous years and the books again include a wide range of genres from #cozyanimalmysteries to #historicalfiction. The big surprise when all tallied out was that I failed both my #historicalfiction challenge as well as the #audiobook challenge which I had been confident in winning.

Links on titles are to my review and pics are links to Amazon (US).

My Favorite Books of 2023

Jan – The Huntress by Kate Quinn. This masterful work carries a sinister, skin-crawling aura of suspense from the first chapter to the triumphal conclusion. With a frenetic pace and a narrator who totally nails each language, it became impossible to multi-task and I just sat down and listened. This one set me on a course to read more by the #KateQuinn and find additional books narrated by #SaskiaMaarleveld.

Feb – Path of Peril by Marlie Parker Wasserman. The first time a standing president departed from the continental United States, the CE was gripped with this novel regarding Rough Rider Theodore Roosevelt taking on the completion of the Panama Canal. A CE review.

Mar – The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. Three very different women are invited to participate in the war efforts in Bletchley Park. The novel is an amazing immersion into 1940 Britain as they stare down the barrel of the impending fight with the Nazis. Also, I greatly enjoyed the epilogue imparting historical details regarding the facility.

Apr – Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex. A raw memoir told in this audiobook by Harry. He lays it all out from the loss of his mother to his experiences with drugs, alcohol, women, and the military—which I have to say is impressive. I thought it sounded open, honest, and heartfelt. If you haven’t read or listened—perhaps the wait list is gone. Try again.

May – Snapshot by Don Keith and George Wallace. Just a slight misunderstanding of the boundaries of international waters between the US and Russia leads to a tension-filled fictional sea story. The novel presents the ever-present danger of a possible catastrophic response to what appears as aggression. A CE review.

Jun – The Caretaker by Ron Rash. A haunting and thought-provoking literary narrative. Perhaps just a tad slow to create the setting, the characters, and the atmosphere of this small Appalachian town. It’s 1951 and there is still a conscription in the US; boys are still being sent overseas. Some don’t come back. Some who do have changed. This one goes right to the heart.

Jul – Unwrapped by Lynda McDaniel. I love this author’s writing style, generally focused on the Appalachians, this one being a Mountain Christmas Mystery. I really love this series. Great characters, authentic setting, sweet clean domestic stories that always pack a subtle moral. Abit is a great character; innocent, sincere, earnest. He’s not always the sharpest tack, but his heart is on target. Each can be read as a standalone but they all have you coming back for more.

Aug – For All The World by Jean Grainger. A seriously radical departure from the author’s varied Irish family drama series. The storyline begins with three unusual soldiers at the end of WWI and morphs into a traveling troup with unique performance skills. The plot is multi-layered, complex, and compelling.

Sept – The Women by Kristin Hannah. Awesome book! Generation of men and women in “Nam, living the conflict, protests, division of sentiments that only now thanks the veterans for their service. The scenes are so powerful, graphic. The struggle with returning home and the effort of assimilation. I urge my readers to put it on their #TBR lists—St Martin’s Press is releasing on February 6, 2024. Amazon currently notes it as #1 New Release in #FamilyLifeFiction 5+ stars

Oct – The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman. An Amazon #1 New Release in Ghost Suspense. A layered investigation in the crime scene of the LA area. The aesthetics and atmosphere, characters, and well-plotted and paced of the storyline is magnetic, compelling. Love that southern California vibe—almost makes me miss my home state.

Nov – The Crossing by Michael Connelly. My audiobook review from the Harry Bosch Series, Book 18. Connelly is combining both Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller into a continuation of the series and I love it when they collaborate on a case. Always fast-paced, immersive, intelligent. Also enjoy the courtroom jousting by Haller. For me, an automatic go-to.

Dec – None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell. An Amazon Charts #20 this week. Two women, “birthday twins,” one of whom is not who she appears to be. Toxic relationships, dysfunctional families, well-developed characters. The novel is well-plotted and fast-paced. Love the twists you don’t see coming.

All these monthly favorites garnered five-star reviews from us.

There is a good mix of genres among which are legal thrillers, family dramas, historical fiction, literary fiction, and a memoir. Once again, it would appear that historical fiction is a favorite, so unless I missed counting the category, still not sure why I didn’t score success with that challenge.

Of my favorites in 2023, there are two that stand out: Kate Quinn’s The Huntress and Kristin Hannah’s The Women. (I’d be hard put to name number one.) Did you read or listen to either?

Do any of these grab your interest? Read it already? On your #TBR? Disagree with our reviews? I’d love to know and always welcome your comments!

Coming Soon:
»My Reading Challenges for 2024
»Netflix Series All the Light We Cannot See vs eBook All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

©V Williams

#TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Reviews – March Recap – Hello April—Are We There Yet?

Rosepoint Review Recap-March-Hello April!

March was a big one around here—with the birth of a new great-granddaughter on March 7 and my birthday—a big one. Age changes perceptions, but it’s both encouraging and getting scary.

March is also a month of weather extremes; snow one day and warm enough to ride a bike the next. I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t start my garden until late April, so that’s a ways off yet but beginning to think I might be able to clean and prepare the deck. Living in the Rust Belt is a whole new experience.

Of course, around here, we also celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and for the last several years have participated in #ReadingIrelandMonth, so jumped on board with that as well. We read or listened to thirteen books in March, six of which were dedicated to #begorrathon23, and as many NetGalley books as audiobooks with some oldie but goodies as well. (Links below are to my reviews that include purchase info.)

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson (audiobook-bookclub selection)
The Strange Courtship of Kathleen O’Dwyer by Robert Temple (CE review for #begorrathon23)
Molasses Murder in a Nutshell by Frances McNamara
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (audiobook)
Retribution by Robert McCaw (CE review)
The Sea by John Banville (#begorrathon23)
Desert Star by Michael Connelly (audiobook-#begorrathon23)
Cold Light of Day by Elizabeth Goddard (CE review)
A Week in Summer (audiobook-#begorrathon23)
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (audiobook-#begorrathon23)
Operation Storm King by Elliott Sumers (CE review)
The Donut Legion by Joe R Lansdale
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (audiobook-#begorrathon23)

Have you read any of the above? We narrowed the scope of genres last month but still included historical fiction, thrillers, fantasy, crime, and even a touch of horror (John Connolly).

Favorite Book of the Month

Hands down—no contest. I’m a consummate fan of Kate Quinn—my second book The Rose Code as spell-binding as The Huntress, interested me so much I continued to research Bletchley Park after reading her Epilogue. So that is the March choice for Book of the Month.

Blogger Post

I didn’t have a lot of time to do blog hopping in February, but I did catch several of my favorites, including those from Yesha at Books Teacups and Reviews. I particularly enjoy her personality which not only shines through on her blog posts but her stories on Instagram as well. If you haven’t already, check out her blog and follow her. She’ll lighten your day.

My Reading Challenges page… I have 38 books of a goal of 145 in Goodreads (three books ahead of schedule) and keep a 97% feedback ratio in NetGalley. Lagging behind on the others but hope to have it caught up shortly.

For us, March spells participation in Reading Ireland Month 2023 and just loved Cathy’s post on March 31 regarding the eventful month for Irish literature. If you haven’t had a chance to read that, I’d urge you to enjoy her list of Irish lit accomplishments along with her humorous comment regarding Wild Mountain Thyme—somewhat of a “cult classic”. (Yeah, Christopher Walken has been seriously miscast in more than one film!) I love participating in this challenge and also posted a poem from my grandfather—which would totally confirm his story of kissing the Blarney Stone (maybe more than once?). I also included a post regarding one of our more inglorious St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations–here—in case you missed it.

Once again, thank you sooo much for reading and commenting on my posts. I always appreciate the participation!

#RosepointPub

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn – #AudiobookReview – #WWIIHistoricalFiction – #TBT – #HarperAudio

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.

The year 1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything – beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious, self-made Mab, product of East End London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.

The year 1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter – the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger – and their true enemy – closer….

My Review:

Some books are too long; others you hate to see end. This one fell under the category of the latter.

What an amazing immersion into 1940 Britain starring down the barrel of the impending fight with the Nazis!

From two wildly different backgrounds come Osla; debutante, privileged, and beautiful. She’s had the advantage of having had an exclusive education resulting in the fluency in German that puts her square into the sights of Bletchley Park. From the other side of the tracks, East End London poverty comes Mab who is hiding secrets that left scarring on her soul but not her brain and she is called to work codebreaking machines.

The two, finding a rooming house not far from Bletchley Park, are introduced to Beth—spinster, mousy Beth, kept firmly under her mother’s thumb. But she is brilliant with puzzles and both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential for her work at BP as well. It is her chance to be independent, separate from her mother, discover her worth.

The three bond quickly, each in their own niche, and find the work both incredibly difficult and rewarding at the same time. They are part of something big, monumentally big. They do astonishing work under strict secrecy laws that save a lot of lives and they manage to survive the war, their friendship intact until tragedy strikes.

The storyline splits timelines. It is now 1947 and post-war London finds the three still estranged, each having moved on in their private lives. Only Beth remains tied to the years in Bletchley Park—and she is now three years in an asylum facing a radical surgical procedure that will forever alter her life (and her memory) unless she can find the traitor that lived and worked with them in BP (and is responsible for her admission to the asylum). Osla and Mab are the only persons she can trust, who have knowledge of the conditions, and the people they worked with. She absolutely must convince them to help her.

First, the war time conditions, the rations, the bombs, even the music, and the reader is plunked into the middle of it. The three have the kind of bond somewhat experienced by their male counterparts but the rip between them was extreme. Still, something nags at them regarding the details and they all search their memories for significant moments. What if she’s right and there was a traitor? Is he still active in that position?

Was there a traitor?

The three main characters are intensely engaging and their friendship is enviable. The support characters work well, adding depth to the storyline, cementing a complete vision of the time, the area, and the tension. The well-plotted, paced narrative provides twists, snappy 40s dialogue and sensibilities. It’s complex, swinging between the timeline, and thrilling. The writing is punctuated with expressive prose.

Hooked from the beginning, you’ll find yourself lost in this book to the end. The audiobook is deliciously narrated—each of the characters so well developed—easy to visualize. I also enjoyed the epilogue—the explanation of the characters, both fictional and historical, details about the facility. The author had employed untold hours of research to make it so authentic and the narrator is amazing.

I read The Huntress in January and was totally sold on this author’s dedication to writing strong and dedicated women warriors. They are gripping entertainment.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. Highly recommended.

Book Details:

Genre: World War II Historical Fiction, War Fiction, War & Military Fiction
Publisher: HarperAudio
ASIN: B089WHV9Y7
Listening Length: 16 hrs 2 mins
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Publication Date: March 9, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Rose Code [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.

The Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld is an experienced audiobook narrator and voice-over actress based in New York City. Raised in New Zealand and France, she is highly skilled with accents and dialects, and many of her books have been narrated entirely in accents other than her own. In addition to audiobooks, Saskia’s voice can be heard in animation, video games, and commercials. She attributes her love and understanding of reading books aloud to coming from a large family where audiobooks were the only way to get though car rides without fighting! Visit saskiamaarleveld.com to learn more.