Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble Book Review

// Butterfly Palace //

 

By Colleen Coble

 

{Review By Bethany}

Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 1595547835
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: January 21st, 2014

Source: Litfuse Publicity Group
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

// Book Synopsis //

 

Taken from Good Reads

 

"Lilly secures a job as lady's maid in a grand manor in Austin, Texas. But even far from home, her past lurks around every corner.

When Lilly Donnelly arrives at the Cutlers' famed Butterfly Mansion in 1899, the massive house and unfamiliar duties threaten to overwhelm her. Victorian Austin is lavish, highly political, and intimidating, but with the help of the other servants, Lilly resolves to prove herself to her new employers.

Then, while serving at an elegant dinner party, Lilly recognizes one distinguished guest as Andrew, the love of her life, who abandoned her without a word back home. He seems to have assumed a new identity and refuses to acknowledge her, leaving her confused and reeling.

Before Lilly can absorb this unwelcome news, she's attacked. Could it be the sinister Servant Girl Killer who has been terrorizing Austin? Or is it someone after something more personal--someone from her past?

Does she dare trust Andrew to help or is he part of the danger threatening to draw Lilly into its vortex?"

 

// Bethany's Book Review //

 

Romantic suspense author Colleen Coble has done it again! Filled with lots of mystery and suspense along with a light dose of romance, this Downton Abbey-like novel is sure to delight and impress, keeping you up late into the night!

 

This is the third novel I've read by Colleen Coble, and for sure my favorite of the three. (The first two were Tidewater Inn and Rosemary Cottage). I was completely blown away with this novel, since the other books I'd read by her weren't as good as this novel, in my opinion, and I absolutely loved every singe page of this novel! I remember just finishing the first chapter and thinking to myself that I already knew that without a doubt I'd have this book on my favorites list. In fact, I loved it so much, I'm putting it on my top three favorite reads of 2014!

 

If you enjoy historical fiction set in the 1900's, placed in an elaborate Texas mansion, complete with the inside look at the everyday life of the servants who keep the house functioning (this book reminded me a lot of the beloved T.V. series Downton Abbey); mixed with a health dose of mystery and edge-of-your-seat suspense, then you absolutely must read this novel!

 

I just loved this setting! I mean being a proud Texan, I was already excited how the book is set in Austin Texas, and to find that it was set in a huge mansion that reminded me a lot of Downton Abbey, then I knew I'd enjoy it. This novel was everything I was hoping for based on reading the synopsis, and then some! The suspense in this novel really surprised me. I knew Colleen mainly wrote suspense novels, but this one was a masterpiece! I loved how she combined the time period and setting with the mystery, and found it to be a very interesting suspense, filled with lots of historical details. Another thing I noticed was how well thought out the plot was. There were constant twists and turns in the story that left me on the edge of my seat and re-evaluation who I assumed was behind the dangerous undercover work. It was obvious with how smoothly the story flowed that the author thought out the plot very well, and it definitely showed! 

 

While I do highly recommend this book to historical suspense fans, I will say that due to some mature content, I would only recommend this book to mature readers. Mature content included a scene where a couples' kissing lead went too far and resulted in an alluded love scene whilst in a barn alone. While not many details were given of the event, the idea that they were involved in an inappropriate love scene was obviously alluded to, though not obviously stated. I felt like the romance scenes were a little overly mushy, and ended up skipping most of the kissing scenes as there was a bit more passion than I cared to read. There were also several scenes involving a murderer, and while again not many details were given, there were a few details on how the victim's necks were slit, as well as a scene were a body was found. While the author did handle these scenes without giving overly gory details, younger readers will still want to take caution when reading.

 

D I S C L A I M E R :: I received a free copy of Butterfly Palace from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not paid to write this review, and all thoughts expressed in my review are completely unbiased and honest.

Rosemary Cottage By Colleen Coble Blog Tour

/ / R o s e m a r y   C o t t a g e / /

 

B y    C o l l e e n    C o b l e

 

{R e v i e w   B y   M a d i}

 

Title: Rosemary Cottage

Author: Colleen Coble

Source: Review Book

Number Of Pages: 323

ISBN: 978-1-59554-782-8

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: 2013

My Rating: 5 Out Of 5 Stars

 

 

/ / B o o k   D e s c r i p t i o n / /

 

The cottage by the sea offers Amy a refuge to mourn her brother’s death and perhaps even discover a new love. But what if Ben’s death was no accident?
Rosemary Cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina has been in Amy Lang’s family for generations and offers her a haven within its peaceful walls. There she hopes to discover what really happened to her brother, Ben, even as she tries to come to grips with his death in the ocean months before.
She hopes the Coast Guard team will help her find closure, but they are quick to dismiss her concerns of foul play. Everyone in Hope Beach regards the suspicious e-mail she received as a vicious prank. When it seems discovering what happened to Ben will take longer than she expected, Amy moves her midwifery practice to Hope Beach.
Coast Guard officer Curtis Ireland may hold the key to many of her questions, but he also hides a secret that will change her world forever. And her own secrets could tear apart the fragile love developing between them. Will Amy have the courage to put down her mask and let Curtis love her for who she is? And can they both weather the danger that threatens to destroy the most precious thing in their lives?

  

/ / M a d i ' s   B o o k   R e v i e w / /

 

Amy is a midwife who moved to Rosemary Cottage to get some answers about the unexpected death of her brother Ben, but she never expected things to go down the way that they did. Soon she has fallen for a local guy named Curtis and his beautiful niece, and when connections are made between his sister Gina and her brother Ben, accusations and sparks fly.

 

Curtis is employed by the Coast Guard, and saving people is part of his every day routine, but can he saves those that he cares about from the evil bent on hurting them? After his sister died and left him with her daughter Raine, he isn't so sure.

 

Soon both Amy and Curtis find out that their siblings are not the people that they thought they were. When investigating their deaths leads to clues that compromise their memories, things get really heated. How can someone who never even met Ben and Gina think that they know them better than their own siblings?

 

I was really impressed with this book. I will admit that going into this book, I was a little bit reluctant because I had read one other book of Colleen Coble's and I remember telling my friend shortly after that it was slightly lacking. But Rosemary Cottage has made me a fan. I will definitely be checking out some of Coble's books on my next library trip. There wasn't too much romance, which, for me is a plus. I feel that if you need to include a bunch of ooey-gooey stuff to draw in a reader than you have a problem anyways. This books was suspenseful, intriguing, sweet, and totally unexpected. You never knew what was going to happen next, and every problem had a very unique answer. I don't want to spoil it for those of you who have yet to read this little gem, but I have to tell you how much I loved the conclusion. This book ended with some major action, and what happened was so unexpected that even Adrian Monk couldn't have seen it coming. It was fantastic. If you are looking for something to read this weekend, this is the book you need to get your hands on. Like me, you probably won't be able to put it down. 

  

~ The Literary Maidens 

 

Note: I was provided with a free print copy of Rosemary Cottage through a blogger book review program. I was not paid to review Rosemary Cottage, and all thoughts expressed in this review are unbiased and completely my own.  

Rosemary Cottage By Colleen Coble Book Review

// Rosemary Cottage //

 

Hope Beach Novel, Book #2

 

By Colleen Coble

 

{Review By Bethany}

 

 

Title: Rosemary Cottage
Author: Colleen Coble
Series: Hope Beach, Book #2
Source: Review book from BookSneeze.com

Number Of Pages: 336

ISBN: 1595547827
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Publication Date: July 9th, 2013
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

 

//Book Description//

 

Taken From GoodReads.com

 

"The cottage by the sea offers Amy a refuge to mourn her brother’s death and perhaps even discover a new love. But what if Ben’s death was no accident?

Rosemary Cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina has been in Amy Lang’s family for generations and offers her a haven within its peaceful walls. There she hopes to discover what really happened to her brother, Ben, even as she tries to come to grips with his death in the ocean months before.

She hopes the Coast Guard team will help her find closure, but they are quick to dismiss her concerns of foul play. Everyone in Hope Beach regards the suspicious e-mail she received as a vicious prank. When it seems discovering what happened to Ben will take longer than she expected, Amy moves her midwifery practice to Hope Beach.

Coast Guard officer Curtis Ireland may hold the key to many of her questions, but he also hides a secret that will change her world forever. And her own secrets could tear apart the fragile love developing between them. Will Amy have the courage to put down her mask and let Curtis love her for who she is? And can they both weather the danger that threatens to destroy the most precious thing in their lives?"

 

//Bethany's Review//

Rosemary Cottage by Colleen Coble is a page-turning suspense, delightfully set on the peaceful and relaxing Hope Beach Island, and is sure to grab the attention of all suspense lovers, and make a memorable summer or vacation read.

Amy Lang and Curtis Ireland have something in common: both of them recently lost a sibling. While on the outside both deaths of Amy and Curtis's siblings Gina and Ben seem natural enough, events begin to take place that would suggest otherwise. Amy and Curtis begin to look into the seemingly natural deaths of their siblings, and in the process are confused with the realization that they may not know their siblings as well as they thought, making things more frustrating as they try to figure out the truth. As they progress with information that suggest the deaths were indeed planned, they face hardships in the relationship as they battle to keep Curtis' niece, one-year old Raine safe, they begin to put together the puzzle pieces of their siblings lives one by one and find that they are connected in some way. As time runs out and they are in danger, will they be able to figure out the puzzle before it's too late?

When I finished Rosemary Cottage, my first though was "Wow!". I was so shocked with the ending that I had eagerly awaited so that I could figure out what happened, but was totally surprised by the answer! This is the second book of Colleen's that I've read, the first book being Tidewater Inn which is the first of the Hope Beach novels. While I didn't enjoy Tidewater Inn as much as I did Rosemary Cottage, I am glad I took the time to check it out from the library before reading Rosemary Cottage to ease the part of me that utterly will not read a series out of order, unless absolutely necessary. While this "series" in my opinion are more stand alone novels, the only connection to the novels would be one or two characters from the previous book that don't make up a large part of the following book. However, I'd best recommend that if you have the opportunity to read Tidewater Inn before Rosemary Cottage that it would make Rosemary Cottage a more enjoyable read, since you would get to see a continuation of the main characters, Libby and Alec from Tidewater Inn. But if you are unable to do so, it would certainly in no way take away from your experience in reading Rosemary Cottage first.

One thing I really liked about Rosemary Cottage is how even though it is skirting the murder mystery/suspense genre, (While I didn't realize until beginning the book) it was a super clean one. What I mean by this is, when you think of a murder mystery, you would think it would get dirty and have a bunch of boring scenes with the FBI, and plenty of nasty images of the diseased person. But this is as far from the truth as it gets concerning Rosemary Cottage, and I considered the death aspect of this book to be handled very well by the author in a clean manner. I was quite surprised as how clean it was and enjoyed how the main focus and attention is on Amy and Curtis who take it upon themselves to do some investigating of their own, and contained only a few scenes/mentions to the authorities, FBI, etc.

The only thing I didn't really like about this book was the writing style. I noticed rather quickly that Colleen chooses to spend most of the main attention in sentences on details rather than flowering it up, so to speak. It was the kind of writing style that I would assume makes it harder to imagine a scene, for lack of details. But this is not to say that Colleen didn't give details, just not in a flowery manner. I just think it was in a different way than I'm used to. While it wasn't a major concern and one I got used to after a hundred pages or so, it's just a personal opinion that I noticed, but is in no way a reason to turn down the book as a whole.

Overall I'd recommend this book to lovers of clean suspense that you won't want to put down, with a nice amount of romance in the mix. Since this book is set in the luscious Hope Beach, it would make a lovely pool and beach vacation read, and is sure to grab your attention!

N O T E :: I'd like to sincerely thank Thomas Nelson publishers from BookSneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of Rosemary Cottage to read and review. I was not required to give an honest review if I didn't like the book, and all opinions expressed are my own, honest and unbiased.