Posts Tagged ‘YA Muses’

Apr

2014

Bookanistas Review: BRAZEN by Katherine Longshore

Filed under: Book Reviews, Bookanistas, Check-it-out, YA Books, Young Adult (YA)

Katherine Longshore keeps getting better and better. In my opinion, BRAZEN (The Royal Circle, Book 3) is her best book yet!

Mary Howard has always lived in the shadow of her powerful family. But when she’s married off to Henry Fitzroy, King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, she rockets into the Tudor court’s inner circle. Mary and “Fitz” join a tight clique of rebels who test the boundaries of court’s strict rules with their games, dares, and flirtations. The more Mary gets to know Fitz, the harder she falls for him, but is forbidden from seeing him alone. The rules of court were made to be pushed…but pushing them too far means certain death. Is true love worth dying for?

Kimberly’s Review of BRAZEN:

I’ve never been one to lean in the direction of historical fiction until I started reading Katherine Longshore’s books and BRAZEN is my favorite to date. Her writing just keeps getting better and better. It’s so rare to find a book that is historically educational while also as tantalizing and swoon worthy as a very popular romance. An amazing read.

Mary Howard and Henry FitzRoy are chess pieces in the very real and dangerous games being played in King Henry VIII’s court. But love has a power all it’s own and Longshore gives us front row seats to the danger and intrigue. You do not want to miss your chance to be a part of this. Read BRAZEN–better yet–read GILT, TARNISH and then BRAZEN asap!

You can pre-order BRAZEN by Katherine Longshore here…

*Amazon

*Barnes & Noble

*IndieBound

Having spent time as a freelance travel writer, travel agent, coffee shop barista, bookseller, ship’s steward, construction company contracts manager and Montessori preschool teacher, I have finally found my calling. I write historical fiction for young adults. I am represented by Catherine Drayton of InkWell Management.

You can find out more about Katherine Longshore and BRAZEN here…

Want to know what other must-reads the Bookanistas have been consuming? You’re in for a treat…

Lenore Appelhans is nuts for NOGGIN by John Corey Whaley

Tracy Banghart swoons for STAR CURSED by Jessica Spotswood

Rebecca Behrens raves about PUSH GIRL by Bookanista Jessica Love

Christine Fonseca is riveted by SEKRET by Lindsay Smith

Jessica Love sings the praises of OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord

Katy Upperman is crazy for THE SYMPTOMS OF MY INSANITY by Mindy Raf

If you could read a historical fiction about any time period in history, what time frame would you like to see between the pages of a good book? I want to hear more about the Berlin Wall and what that felt like for families separated and trying to get home to each other. Okay historical fiction writers–get on that for me.

Tags: Bookanistas, Brazen, Gilt, Historical Fiction, Katherine Longshore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, review, Tarnish, YA Author, YA Book, YA Muses, Yanarella School of Dance

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Dec

2011

Class of 2k12 in the Spotlight – GILT by Katherine Longshore

Filed under: Apocalypsies, Book Reviews, The Class of 2k12, Touching the Surface, YA Books

The cool thing about the Class of 2k12 ARC Tour is that I’m picking up books that might not necessarily find their way into my stack of reading material. This is not because I don’t want to give them a try, but rather because there are so many books on my TBR list (that I know I NEED to read) that I’m less inclined to wander down a less traveled reading road without a strong recommendation. I am so glad that I was given the chance to challenge myself with GILT by Katherine Longshore. I was utterly fascinated with this book. Let me give you a little bit of information before I tell you why you MUST read it.

When her best friend marries Henry VIII, Kitty must learn to walk the fine line between secrets and treason, discovering that in the Tudor court, the price of gossip could literally be her head.

In the Tudor age, ambition, power and charismatic allure are essential and Catherine Howard has plenty of all three. Not to mention her loyal best friend, Kitty Tylney, to help cover her tracks. Kitty, the abandoned youngest daughter of minor aristocracy, owes everything to Cat – where she is, what she is, even who she is. Friend, flirt, and self-proclaimed Queen of Misrule, Cat reigns supreme in a loyal court of girls under the none-too-watchful eye of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

When Cat worms her way into the heart of Henry VIII and becomes Queen of England, Kitty is thrown into the intoxicating Tudor Court. It’s a world of glittering jewels and elegant costumes, of gossip and deception. As the Queen’s right-hand-woman, Kitty goes from the girl nobody noticed to being caught between two men – the object of her affection and the object of her desire.

But the atmosphere of the court turns from dazzling to deadly, and Kitty is forced to learn the difference between trust and loyalty, love and lust, secrets and treason. And to accept the consequences when some lessons are learned too late.

You can pre-order GILT here:

If you would like to request a copy of GILT to review on your blog, email Penguin Young Readers Group at yrmarketing@us.penguingroup.com. Be sure to include your name, the name and URL of your blog, an address to which a possible review copy can be sent, plus any statistics and/or sample reviews. Please understand that galley quantities are limited and that not all requests can be filled.

Kimberly Sabatini’s Review of GILY by Katherine Longshore

I’m going to be perfectly honest when I tell you that often historical fiction is not my thing. Sometimes I find the factual details to be mind numbing–but when it’s done right–it gives me shivers. The truth can be scarier than the imagination.

GILT gave me shivers.

Longshore was a master of the skill, show–don’t tell, particularly when it came to sharing her historical information. She painted a rich, vivid picture of the times and I never felt like I was pulled from the story in order to get the details. And then then there were the characters… I was utterly fascinated and appalled by Catherine Howard and Katherine Tylney. I couldn’t look away from their friendship, escapades and dysfunction. The rest of the cast of characters were equally as engrossing–each one falling into place like the interlocking gears of a watch. When Cat Howard was in motion, it made the whole Tudor Court spin and I couldn’t look away. And lastly, I loved the play on words with the title. Gilt means to be thinly covered with gold leaf or gold paint. But if you scratch at the lightly veiled corruption of the times, you easily discover a lot of guilt.

This is one of those books that perfectly straddles the line between literary and commercial. I absolutely loved it!