Book review : A Tale of Two Hearts by Michelle Griep

A Tale of Two Hearts
Once Upon a Dickens Christmas #2
by Michelle Griep
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An engaging Christmas tale by Michelle Griep !

This is the second short novel in a series of three and I read the first one last year, it was also very good ! Each story is readable as a standalone.

____ THE PLOT___ London, 1853: Mina Scott, is the daughter of an innkeeper and dreams of living a life with more adventures like in the books she loves to read so much and dreams of becoming the wife of William Barlow, a regular guest at the inn, with whom she has become infatuated.

William is the son of a gentleman, but due to a dissolute past full of fun and zero responsibilities, he now finds himself working as an employee and longs to become his uncle's heir, also to be able to have the means to care for his very ill mother.
To achieve this goal he needs a wife immediately and must be able to unmask his wicked cousin's evil plans.

___MY OPINION ___ This is a second chance sweet tale.
The story is sweetly romantic in a clean way, so I don't recommend it to those looking purely for a Christmas love story, with passionate kisses or something more extreme, you won't find it here (nor obviously did I expect to find it).

On the Goodread page you will see that it is tagged as Christian fiction, but unlike other Christian fiction that, by chance, I happened to read, fortunately here there you'll not find mental prayers to God every 3 pages. The meaning of Christianity is given by the moral of the story:
forgiveness, the ability to give others another chance and the ability to appreciate what we have, without envy and without considering "the neighbor's grass always greener than ours".

Values that should apply to every good person of any religion (and therefore there is no need to read Christian fiction to be a good believer in God or a good person... sometimes I am shocked by the bigotry I read in some reviews of Christian fiction).

The second chance is given to many characters in the story :

1) to Mina who will be able to understand how much value family ties have and how lucky she is in her simple life.

2) to William who has already had a second chance in the past, but now he will have a second chance to find true love and show mercy towards those who they are hostile to him.

3) to William's uncle who opens his heart to his nephew WARNING SPOILER ___ he will also find the happiness of female company and a marriage to live his old age with love. SPOILER END

4) to Mina's elderly friend, who in her youth had lost her true love WARNING SPOILER ___ and will finally be able get married and be happy. ___ SPOILER END

5) WARNING SPOILER ___ second chance also to the wicked characters ___ SPOILER END .

__ANOTHER THING APPRECIATED __ The quotes from Dickens' novels at the beginning of each chapter and the interesting historical notes at the end of the novel.
I was already aware of many of the notions reported, but I nevertheless appreciated them and a couple of them were totally new to me (read the story to discover them).

___ THE FLAW __ The book involved me from beginning to end, but in reality I only rate it 4 stars instead of a full 5, because while at the beginning of the story, the reader can find a nice humor that makes the read cheerful and pleasant, from about 40 % of the story this humor disappears.

A quality that I love about this author (and in authors in general) is precisely the sense of humor, the ironic and funny jokes, which are fundamental to me both in whodunits and in romances.
Here not only after a while the story has lost this precious element (precious to me ), but the author wanted even to reinsert it at the exactly wrong moment:
WARNING SPOILER ___ after I waited for the declaration of love and the consequent kiss, throughout the book, I read a scene, which should be very romantic, with 3 people, where the third person makes jokes that should make the reader laugh .
William declares himself under the incitement of the third person and even kisses Mina at the sarcastic suggestion of the third person. A very quick and flat kiss that gave me no emotion or thrill.

---> As I already said, I wasn't expecting hot scenes, but I've read many clean romances where with a simple kiss, the writer gave me butterflies in my stomach! ___ SPOILER END
In this the author miserably failed and made me angry. So only 4 stars.

FINAL NOTE : I'm from Italy, so you will probably have found some form/grammar errors in my text, but I hope I have still managed to convey my thoughts to you in the right way.
:-) Christmas has just passed, so I count on your forgiveness and I wish you a Happy New Year!

READ ALSO my REVIEW about BOOK #1:
12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Griep


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Advent Calendar 25th December

Advent Calendar 25th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 It's Christmas !

Good morning and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY !

And to remember the true spirit of Christmas, which story should I choose if not the one that has become the Christmas story par excellence almost all over the world?
Here you are: A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens, first published in London in 1843 ( by Editor Chapman and Hall and illustrated by John Leech).

__THE STORY __ A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a very rich and very miserly old man, who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future. After their visits, Scrooge realizes how stupid and mean he has been, and deciding that he no longer wants to waste his time in such a manner, he transforms into a kinder, gentler man.

Dickens wrote his best Christmas tale at a time when the British were exploring and re-evaluating Christmas, celebrating it with cristian carols, decorating Christmas fir trees, sending Christmas cards and so on.
He was influenced by the experiences of his youth and the Christmas stories of other authors.

The attitude towards the poor and a person's ability to redeem themselves, opening up to the world and others, becoming more empathetic, are the keys to the story, this is also expressed very well by the quote that I chose to put in my graphics..

Published on December 19, the first edition sold out on Christmas Eve; by the end of 1844 thirteen editions had been published.

Since cinema was born, there have been countless transpositions on the screen both with actors and as cartoon animations :-)

... Again : HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY !!!! --KISS--

(Thanks fo reading and please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. :-) )

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Book review : A Christmas Carol Murder by Heather Redmond

A Christmas Carol Murder
A Dickens of a Crime book #3
by Heather Redmond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very nice Dickensian mystery.

The author of this book (installment #3 in a series named "A Dickens of a Crime", but readable as a standalone) introduces us to a young, friendly and affable Charles Dickens, not yet a writer (but with a book almost ready to be published), journalist and sketch artist, full of energy and enthusiasm.

The plot of the book cleverly mixes fact and fiction, borrowing characters from his own very famous Christmas story: A Christmas Carol, but changing the names slightly, as if those were the people who inspired him to tell his Christmas tale .
The concept, as I expressed it, may seem convoluted, but if you read the book you will understand what I mean.

__ THE PLOT ___ London, December 1835: Charles and Kate, two of their brothers and a couple of friends are singing Christmas carols to raise money for charity for poor children living on the streets.
Suddenly a man's body, with chains wrapped around it, falls from a window.
The group is involved in the suspicious death as witnesses, but above all, after the magistrate declares the death as accidental, Charles, as a good journalist, decides to see clearly and discover the truth.
Together with the investigation into the murder, we follow the personal events that enter the life of our young Dickens, who finds himself in such an ambiguous and complicated situation that it could ruin his engagement and planned wedding with Kate.

___MY OPINION ___
I have to admit that the murder mystery was interesting to uncover, but not as completely engaging and intriguing as I expected this book to be and this is why I didn't give 5 stars.

However, on the whole, the Dickensian atmosphere of London made up of poor dirty and barefoot children, food stalls and taverns, rich and greedy people, scoundrels and actresses of dubious morality, the enthusiasm of the young Dickens, the disinterested affection of his friends and his brother, the small moments of family life... it's all described so well, that the story kept me good company page after page until the end, without ever getting tired.

I really liked seeing this mix of real characters with fictional characters taken from Dickens' own story and placed in this book as if they had been real.

I also liked the strong feeling that unites Charles and Kate. Dickens's strong desire to have not only Kate's love, but also her trust...however, I couldn't stop thinking for a moment that then he, in reality, later in the marriage, betrayed that trust, having a lover for many years and my knowledge of reality has prevented me a little from enjoying the romantic side of the protagonist.

Up to three quarters of the book it is not possible to find out who the murderer could be, then thanks to some attitudes and jokes one comes to guess, but an unexpected surprise still remains and at the end there's also an action scene that made things more compelling.
It would have been nice if there had been more action scenes spread throughout the story.

The conclusion to the book is satisfying, so for me, overall, the 4 stars are well earned.

Thanks for reading my review and forgive my bad English, it is not my native language. :-)
Merry Christmas everybody !


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Advent Calendar 24th December

Advent Calendar 24th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 24th day Christmas countdown

Happy Cristmas Eve everybody !!

We have reached the next-to-last image of the Advent calendar and for today, Christmas Eve, I wanted to choose an iconic film, which I use to watch regularly each year without ever getting tired of it and continuing to move me like the first time I saw it as a child : IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( 1946 by Frank Capra ) starring James Stewart and Donna Reed.

The movie is based on the short story and booklet THE GREATEST GIFT self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943.

THE STORY : George Bailey, an honest and unfortunate young family man, wants to take his own life.
His guardian angel appears to him in the guise of a friendly old man and shows him what the world would have been like if he had never been born, giving George reason to understand how, through his very existence in the world, he is contributing to making it a better place.

SOME CURIOSITIES : Due to the film's disappointing sales, some studios viewed Capra as having lost the ability to produce popular and financially successful films.

It became a Christmas classic after its copyright expired in 1974 due to non-renewal and it entered the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalties.

Today It's a Wonderful Life is considered one of the greatest films of all time and among the best Christmas films.

THE BIIGEST SNOWSTORM EVER DEPICTED ON FILM : Some newspaper articles reported that two weeks into filming, three hundred tons of limestone and fifty tons of white plaster had already been used to reproduce snowstorm.
The special effects curator was Russell Shearman, who used an innovative type of chemical snow to allow the actors to speak during filming ( previously, snow was produced using crushed cornflakes, which did not allow the actors to speak, therefore requiring a subsequent dubbing phase).

Using modern (for the time) technology, Shearman mixed foamite, a material used in the composition of some fire extinguisher powders, with water and sugar, creating a solution which would then be pumped at high pressure through the machine used to reproduce the wind ; a quantity of over 22,000 liters was used to cover the entire set.

The result was a snowfall effect that was much more realistic than anything seen in any film in the past.

I hope you enjoyed today's image too and at this point all I have to do is send everyone a hug and wish you a happy Christmas Eve together with all the people and animals you love.

(Note : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors in my text )



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Advent Calendar 23rd December

Advent Calendar 23rd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 23rd day Christmas countdown

Wow ! The weekend befor Christmas ! I can't believe that these 23 day are gone so fast...

Well, as yesterday night I attended (as I do every year, but unfortunately only rarely live and too often only in front of the TV) the Nutcracker ballet ( 1892 by Marius Petipa e Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), inspired by the very famous classic Christmas story : THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING (1816 by E.T. Hoffmann ), I thought to include in my graphic a nice retellis of that well known old tale, a 2018 Disney animation : THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS .

Unlike Hoffman's fairy tale and Tchaikovsky's ballet, this Disney film, contrary to what often happens, was not very successful. Personally I didn't mind: the sets were enchanting and the actors, including big names like Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, were all very good.

_THE DISNEY ANIMATION STORY: Godfather Drosselmeyer is Mr. Stahlbaum's oldest and most trusted friend.
So, like every Christmas Eve, the rich businessman and his daughter Clara gather with the other guests in the large living room of the Drosselmeyer house, to participate in the magnificent party that the toymaker organizes every year. During the usual celebrations, however, an unusual event occurs: by playfully following a golden thread that runs through the corridors of the immense mansion, young Clara is led into a magical and unknown world, divided into four enchanted realms.

Escorted by the valiant soldier Philip and a band of lively mice, the little girl crosses the white landscapes of the Land of Snowflakes, the colorful lands of the Land of Flowers and finally the "edible" villages of the Land of Sweets. She meets new friends and precious allies, including the sappy Sugar Plum Fairy, and learns of a mission only she can accomplish: infiltrate the hostile fourth realm, home of the evil Mother Ginger, and recover a ancient key capable of unlocking a mysterious box.

I think it's not easy to accept revisitations of what we've known well all our life and I think this is the reason why it hasn't grossed as much as expected.

Usually I don't even like retellings of classics, but lately I feel like I'm craving something new and this year I've read several retellings of classics.

The quote may seem like a simple phrase, which any of us could say to a friend at any time...yet often we are accustomed to saying optimistic things without actually following the advice of what we are saying.

It means that we often focus too much on negative things, failing to fully enjoy the positivity and beauty that is around us at the moment.
Hoping this quote can be a point of reflection both for you and me.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Advent Calendar 22nd December

Advent Calendar 22nd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 22nd day Christmas countdown

Happy Friday everybody !
Are you ready for Christmas? Only a few days left to buy the last gifts and find the right fir tree for those who make decorations on Christmas Eve.

In Italy we use to decorate fake trees and always at the beginning of December (and in my house it usually stays until the end of January...but it should be undone on January 7th, the day following the Epiphany).

I'm talking about the Christmas tree, to introduce today's image: I chose the beautiful Christmas episode of the VICTORIA TV series, because it tells how Prince Albert introduced to England and spread it throughout much of the world the Germanic tradition of the decorated fir tree for Christmas.

The series, whose photos I have included in my graphics, is the beautiful period drama ( 2016-2019 ) named VICTORIA starring Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes, Rufus Sewell and other very good actors.

Here is a 1848 lithograph which spread the image of the English royal family around the Christmas tree and which contributed to making that tradition loved in much of the world.

I really like the quote I chose, because we often have the flaw of looking back regretting what we have lost, instead of looking at and appreciating what we have in the present (or maybe it's just my flaw) and this quote is an invitation to give more relevant to the present and to live it better even in difficulty times.

Hoping you enjoyed today's image, you can save it and print it to use as a bookmark in your paper Christmas readings.

(NOTE : please forgive my English, it is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 21st December

Advent Calendar 21st December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 21st day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody dear friends,
we are almost at the end of Christmas day countdown ...aw...how sad...don't you think? I realize that waiting is sometimes more exciting than the moment we experience the expected events, because they pass too quickly.

But let's not get sad, it's not Christmas yet and today I want to offer you all a classic, which I'm sure many of you have never read, but I consider it a good reading proposal: THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1894) by Anthony Hope, a romantic tale which was then followed by short stories entitled: The Heart of Princess Osra, 1896 (a fix-up novel containing 9 linked short stories) and another romance entitled: Rupert of Hentzau (1898, The prisoner of Zenda's sequel)

___ THE STORY : In the fictional kingdom of Ruritania, the heir to the throne is kidnapped.
Two high officials, loyal to the sovereign, contact a distant English cousin of the prince, to impersonate His Highness until they manage to free him and install him on the throne.
Everything seems to go smoothly until the fake prince falls in love with the future wife of the real heir to the throne and when he is freed and returns...

A beautiful tale of swashbuckling, perhaps a little out of fashion some of you might think, but this is precisely its charm and this is why it cannot be missed at Christmas.

Hope's novel inspired many screen adaptations, but the most famous is the one from 1952 starring a charming Stewart Granger and lovely Deborah Kerr and it's also the version I've got fond of, since is the one I've seen many times since I was a little girl.

(NOTE : I know my English is not so good, my native language is Italian, so please be lenient with me)

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Advent Calendar 20th December

Advent Calendar 20th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 20th day Christmas countdown

Happy Wednesday everybody,
here we are just a few days before Christmas day.

Today I want to propose a fairy tale known throughout the world (at least the Western one), it is a fairy tale written in the 17th century: CINDERELLA by Charles Perrault and made even more famous by Disney in 1950 with his cartoon animation. Nowadays you can find dozens of movie versions.

There are many versions of this ancient fairy tale, but the best known and still published in books are those by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.

What is really important to remember, however, is the moral teaching that this fable wants to convey to the little ones: kindness is one of the most important attitudes in life.
This is exactly what the quote I reported in the image tells us.

After the Disney cartoon, many movies have been made, the photo that I have included in my graphics is from the 2015 film by Kenneth Branagh, starring Lily James and Richard Madden.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Advent Calendar 19th December

Advent Calendar 19th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 19th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !
The film that I propose in today's image is one of the musicals that I will never get tired of watching! It's THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965 starring a brilliant Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

This timeless musical was inspired by the true story of the VonTrapp family written in the 1949 memoir.

THE STORY in the movie: The Mother Superior of the Salzburg monastery tests the vocation of a postulant, the beautiful young Maria, by making her work as a housekeeper in the home of the Von Trapp family, whose children live under a severe disciplinary regime imparted by their father, a widowed admiral . It goes without saying that Maria will revolutionize the lives of the whole family, bringing them on stage as young singers.

Two years ago I read 2 wonderful memoirs, respectively written by Maria, the main character of the movie and one of the commander's daughters : Agate Von Trapp.
Even though they are non-fiction, I assure you that they are so engaging and fun that you will feel like you are reading an adventure novel.

The titles are as follows:

1) THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS
(1949 memoir by Maria Augusta Trapp)

2) MEMORIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE SOUND OF MUSIC
(by Agathe Von Trapp)

If you want to know more,
you can read my review : JUS CLICK HERE

---> The story that is described in the movie is only the initial part of Maria's memoir and it must be said that there are some differences regarding the behavior of the father of the family, who actually was not so severe, however if you read the two books that you I mentioned and I recommend you, you will not find yourself confused or in disagreement, you will not have disappointments, the books are exciting and I add that the daughter's book is not a repetition of Maria's, but a completion of all the parts in which Maria was not present and both are worth reading.

Personally, these two books entered my heart and gave me not only a breath of optimism and hope, but a new way of looking at life when I am through difficulty.


( Please forgive me for any errors in my text, I'm from Italy, English is not my native tongue )

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Advent Calendar 18th December

Advent Calendar 18th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 18th day Christmas countdown

Good morning and happy start of the week!

Well well...17 days have already passed and Christmas is just a few days away... I can't believe it, this month has been as fast as the blink of an eye.

Today in my Advent calendar, I propose a novel, a film and a quote that only a Scrooge person could not appreciate (but then in the end he too changed his mind!) What? ...No, it's not A Christmas Carol, but you almost guessed it, indeed I'm talking about: THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS ( 2008) by Les Standiford.

A beautiful film was made from this book in 2017, starring the famous Christopher Plummer (do you remember the musical "The sound of music"?) and Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey" fans?).

__THE STORY : In 1843, four years after the success of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens suffers from financial difficulties due to the failure of his last three books.
Rejected by his publishers, he decides to write a new book and publish it himself, to restore his finances.
Seeing inspiration around London, particularly a rich man's funeral which is largely unattended and a mean old man who gives him the catchphrase "Humbug" and the inspiration of a new character, he begins to write A Christmas Carol , which will be published by Christmas.
He risked everything, despite his friends and publishers telling him that the book would also be a failure since Christmas (at the time) was considered irrelevant and few people celebrated it.

...And he was right, because we all know how it ended: all the world knows and loves A Chritmas Carol by Dickens !!!



(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 17th December

Advent Calendar 17th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 17th day Christmas countdown

Good morning my dear readers,
today is the third Advent Sunday and I couldn't put something religious in my Advent Calendar's images.

Mind: religious does not mean boring, indeed today I propose a novel, from which a film was made, very cute and funny : THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1928) by Robert Nathan.

The most famous film based on this book is the film of the same title, from 1947, starring a fantastic trio : Cary Grant ( the angel ), David Niven ( the bishop ) and Loretta Young ( the bishop's wife ).

THE STORY : Dudley is an angel sent by the Lord to Earth to help the Episcopalian bishop Henry who is going through a difficult period: too much work distances him from his wife. Henry would also like to build a cathedral, but he has no funds and risks falling for the blackmail of the richest woman in the city, ending up neglecting his friends and the old parish.
Everyone is fascinated by Dudley, even the non-religious professor Wutheridge. Everyone except Henry!!! ... And when Dudley spends a lot of time with Julia, the bishop becomes jealous and anxious that his now unwelcome guest will finish and leave.
For his part, the angel feels attracted to Julia and this is where the major complications arise...

This is one of my favorite movies to watch around Christmas time.
I don't know why, but old films have the power to give me that magic of feelings that I can no longer feel around me in the frenetic modern world.

If you like my Advent Calendar's images you can download them all and print and glue onto cardboard, to use as a bookmark or simply build your own Advent calendar with them for next year.

(NOTE : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors you may find in my text Thanks )



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Advent Calendar 16th December

Advent Calendar 16th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 16th day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, today's story doesn't need any introductions: MARY POPPINS (1934 ) by P. L. Travers from which Disney was inspired for the homonymous and unforgettable magnificent film (1964), starring the equally magnificent Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dicke.

A story for children and adults, capable of warming every heart and cheering up every soul.
I never fail to watch the film on TV in the days around Christmas (but it is beautiful at any time of the year).

Have you read the book? Well... the book and the film have various differences and unlike what usually happens, I must admit that in this case I preferred the film, it is much happier than the book and Mary Poppins is much nicer than the novel.

CURIOSITY: In 1934, P. L. Travers, pseudonym of the Australian Helen Lyndon Goff, published the novel Mary Poppins, which tells the story of the magical flying nanny who comes down from the sky to help the Banks family.
The sequel was published in 1935, followed by six more novels, published until 1988. The first novel, however, is the main basis from which the film was based.

According to the story told in "Saving Mr. Banks" movie (2013 starring Tom Hanks ) and the special features of the 2004 special edition DVD, Walt Disney's daughter Diane fell in love with the books in the series and made her father promise to produce a film based on her beloved books .

A first attempt by Disney to buy the rights from Travers was made in 1938, but this proposal was rejected by the writer, convinced that a film version of her books would not do justice to her creation.

Disney tried for more than twenty years to convince Travers to produce a Mary Poppins film, only succeeding in 1961, although the writer asked for the right to approve the film's screenplay.
The Sherman brothers composed the soundtrack and helped write the script, suggesting moving the events from the 1930s to the Edwardian era. Pre-production and songwriting took two years!!! The music, songs and scenography are absolutely timeless and manage to fascinate today's audiences as much as those of more than 5 years ago.

A sequel to the film was made a few years ago (Mary Poppins Returns 2018) and I have to admit that it's not bad, but it's a long way from being as iconic as the fantastic film that Disney brought to the screen in the 1960s.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Book review : The Silent Christmas by M.J.Lee

The Silent Christmas
A Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mystery Novella - Book 5 by M.J.Lee
My rating: 3.8 of 5 stars

A truly enjoyable Christmas novella that tells an extraordinary event that actually happened, through fictional characters and of course fictional dialogues.
---> Readable as a standalone, it's tagged as mystery but it's not a crime mystery ( at least not this book of the series ) , actually it is a search for history regarding people and events of the past.

---> The story takes place on 2 temporal planes: 1914 at the front, in the English trenches in Belgium and in 2017 in England, when the investigator Jayne Sinclaire tries to shed light on past events.

___ THE PLOT___
In 2017, Jayne Sinclaire, a genealogical investigator, receives a visit from a father and his son: they have found some old objects in the attic, belonging to his great-grandfather, of which they know nothing and would like to discover their history.

Back in time, in 1914, during the first year of World War I, private Tom Wright finds himself in the cold and in the mud, in the trenches, dreaming of being at home in England, with his wife and children preparing the Christmas goose.
A few hundred meters away is the German trench.
The soldiers of both trenches shout jokes about the war at each other, until one evening some Christmas trees appear from the German trench and classic Christmas carols are heard... here the magic begins... that magic that knows no flags and barriers and unites all men through the heart and the desire to live peacefully.
I'll let you enjoy the rest in the book. :-) it's touching.

___MY OPINION___
While I was fascinated by the backstory chapters (the events of which I already knew from non-fiction books I read in the past) and felt affection for the characters I read about.

Though I couldn't feel any emotion during the investigative chapters in 2017 and no empathy towards investigator J. Sinclair. That character seemed rather flat and insignificant to me.
For this reason I only gave 3.8 of 5 stars (all earned from the chapters of the past), if the storytelling of modern times chapters had also been a little bit more engaging I could have given 5 stars.

I want to add that I will read with pleasure other books by this author, hoping that in the other novels ( that are much longer than novellas ), even the character of today's temporal plane is well developed and can be more interesting than in the short story.

Still regarding the past part, I add that every time I read about that event, which happened spontaneously, outside of any war scheme and any imagination, I feel moved and I recommend everyone to read it because it is also an invitation to reflection.
Unfortunately, humanity has not learned anything and there are still wars that destroy innocent lives, but perhaps we, in our small circle of life, could try to learn something, give more value to feelings and people, without taking anything for granted .

About the Christmas Truce of 1914, a good film, with well-known actors, was made in 2005.
More I would like to advise you to read the collection of letters from the front, with the true testimony of the soldiers who took part in that very special event.

You can find more information about the movie and that book of letters collection in this post of mine from December 6th:

---> JOYEUX NOEL -MERRY CHRISTMAS (2005) THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE 1914.

( Thanks for reading my review, please, forgive any errors you may find in my text, English is not my mother tongue. Merry Christmas everybody ! :-) )

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Advent Calendar 15th December

Advent Calendar 15th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 15th day Christmas countdown

Goodmorning everybody :-)
Here I am with a Christmas classic, which everyone probably knows : MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) by Valentine Davies

Since 2005 this film has been included in the National Film Registry of the United States as it is considered "culturally and historically significant".

Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood are just two of the many good and important actors who star in this 1947 film which over the years has become a true Christmas classic in many parts of the world.

__THE STORY : The story of Kris, a man hired by the Macy's department store in New York to play Santa Claus, who pretends to really be one. For this, he is taken to court.

A lawyer and a little girl must prove that the man claiming to be Santa Claus is honest and is truly Santa Claus.

The entire moral of the film ( so as the quote I put in the image ) is based on the concept of faith: that is, believing in things that rationality declares impossible.



( Please forgive my not so good English as I'm from Italy :-))

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Advent Calendar 14th December

Advent Calendar 14th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 14th day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, Only 10 days left until Christmas Eve.

The film I chose for today is an old musical with the excellent Bing Crosby and Danny Kay : WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954 )

The film is not based on any book, but it has a peculiarity: it was shot in Technicolor, a novelty for those times. The songs are by the famous Irving Berlin, much appreciated and well known American composer and lyricist.

More what has now become a traditional Christmas song, White Christmas, which also gives the film its title, was presented in a new version (compared to the first version sung by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn_ see image from December 8th).

___THE STORY : Singers Bob Wallace and Phil Davis join sisters Betty and Judy Haynes to put on a Christmas show in Vermont. Once they reach the event location, they meet General Waverly, the commander with whom the two young people fought during the Second World War, and discover that the man is facing serious financial problems.

So the four singers immediately get busy organizing a memorable show to help the former commander.
A truly cheerful film, also thanks to beautiful music, which speaks of help and generosity, in full respect of the Christmas spirit and as it should be for each of us all year round.




( Please forgive me for any errors in my text, I'm from Italy, English is not my native tongue )

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Advent Calendar 13th December

Advent Calendar 13th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 13th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !

Today's image shows a Christmas film from 10 years ago, based on the book of the same title: THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE (2013) by Max Lucado

The book's author is both a writer and a minister at Oak Hills Church (formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ) in Texas.

___ THE STORY goes that every 25 years, an angel visits a village and touches a candle. Whoever will light that candle will receive a miracle.
However, when a new and skeptical shepherd arrives on site, the inhabitants discover a new formula for miracles: good deeds and kindness.

The quote says that no prayer is ever wasted, this sums up the moral of the film, which is none other than the definition of faith.

As the apostle Paul said: faith "is the certainty of things hoped for, the demonstration of things not seen", it therefore becomes a principle of action and the power to give us serenity. If you like my Advent Calendar's images you can download them all and print and glue onto cardboard, to use as a bookmark or simply build your own Advent calendar with them for next year. (NOTE : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors you may find in my text Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 12th December

Advent Calendar 12th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 12th day Christmas countdown

Hello my friend, the countdown to Christmas Day is almost halfway there !

For the 12th image in my graphic Advent Calendar, I put a quote a few pictures of an episode from a cozy mystery series : Miss Fisher tv series, based on MISS FISHER cozy mysteries by Kerry Greenwood.

Both the book series and the TV series are set in 1920s Melbourne, Australia.

__THE GENERAL PLOT OF THE SERIES___The protagonist, the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher, is a very extravagant and uninhibited London socialite, who has lived in Melbourne since she inherited a huge fortune. Miss Fisher loves to dress in the latest fashion and spares no expense, but she is also generous with others, in fact she knows the poverty of humble origins and never holds back when there is the possibility of helping someone.

Over the course of the series his family expands: the maid Dot, the butler Mr. Butler and the cook Mrs. Butler, the taxi drivers Bert and Cec, the sweet Dot, Ruthie and Jane. Naturally, being a very curious and very enterprising woman, she often finds herself involved in troubles such as murders that are difficult to solve and she never misses an opportunity to interfere (and then solve) in the investigations of Inspector Jack Robinson and Agent Hugh Collins.

The Christmas episode of the TV series is not actually based on any of the books, it is one of the few episodes written by TV screenwriters.

A very suggestive episode as it takes place in an old castle and the murders which occur in a mysterious manner are inspired by the ancient song: the 12 days of Christmas.

(NOTE : please forgive my English, it is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 11th December

Advent Calendar 11th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 11th day Christmas countdown

Today I propose an old Hollywood musical classic : MY FAIR LADY (1964), starring a fabulous Audrey Hepburn and equally good Rex Harrison.

The musical film is based on the 1956 musical of the same name, inspired in turn by the opera PYGMALION (1913) by George Bernard Shaw.

__THE STORY___ A pompous professor in Henry Higgins, he is so confident in his abilities that he takes on the task of transforming a working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society.

It's not a Christmas movie, but the Christmas holidays are the days when it is shown on TV every year and my mother and I are always happy to watch it again.

A funny film that will make you laugh more than once.

The quote I chose leads us to reflect on our prejudices and our way of treating others.

Too often society uses courtesy and deference towards those who appear well dressed and hold an important position, while it tends to give less consideration to those who are less wealthy.

It's up to us, in our small circle of people, to change things.

Thaks for visiting my blog. Wishing you a happy start of the week and please, be lenient with my text, since English is not my native language. :-)

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Advent Calendar 10th December

Advent Calendar 10th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 1'th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !

Here you are my creation for the 10th day of the month.
I was inspired by a nice Christmas movie starring two actor I love very much.
The film in question is BUTTON: A CHRISTMAS TALE (2018) and the 2 actor I was talking of are Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke.

Starring also Jane Seymour, another acterss among my favs.

and the film's narration is performed by none other than Robert Redford and Kate Winslet!

___ THE STORY : Two orphan girls have only one wish: is to find a forever home for Christmas.
With a little help from their guardian angels, they come discover that miracles can truly happen if one find the strength to believe.

Even though the film is not based on any book and is not a classic, I really liked it and recommend everyone to watch it during this Christmas time.

(NOTE : Sorry for any errors in my text, English is not my native tongue. :-) Thanks for stopping by! )

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Advent Calendar 9th December

Advent Calendar 9th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 9th day Christmas countdown

Hello my lovely friends !

Here we are for another sparkling image in our calendar. Today my illustration offers few pictures from the cheerful musical film HELLO DOLLY (1969) starring the great Barbra Streisand and the talented Walter Matthau , directed by Gene Kelly based on the Broadway musical with the same title.

Brodaway's musical in turn was based on The Merchant of Yonkers, a 1938 play by Thornton Wilder.

The quote I chose tells how crazy and cheerful this film is and, if you think about it, both for better and for worse, this quote says exactly how things are in the world.

There is a little bit of madness in all of us, the secret is to bring out the good madness, the creative and optimistic one that helps us to always see the glass of life half full.

(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 8th December

Advent Calendar 8th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 8th day Christmas countdown

Hello, here we are on the Immaculate Conception Day.

December 8th. Today, I would have liked to choose a more religious film, but I was watching an old Hollywood classic among the musicals on TV and so I chose: HOLIDAY INN (1942).

In addition to the very cozy scenography, this film features an exceptional duo:
Fred Astaire perhaps the greatest dancer in American cinema and Bing Crosby among the most beautiful and talented voices of the 40s (and here he sings the song "White Christmas" which would later give its name to another Christmas film from 1954).

Music by Irving Berlin a great American composer and lyricist.

The quote I chose is taken from the song and brings back memories of our childhood Christmases.

It doesn't matter if they were Christmases with snow or not, what matters is that childhood memories, for most people, represent a serene memory, in which there were no problems, because we were children and we felt pampered and protected from our family.

Everything becomes more difficult as we become adults, which is why childhood memories must be kept in the heart like precious possessions!

(Note : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors in my text )



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Book review : The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen

The Twelve Clues of Christmas
A Royal Spyness Mystery Series Book 6
by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing ! 5 FULL STARS absolutely well deserved and I would add a sixth GOLDEN STAR !

One of the best Christmas mysteries I've ever read (and I've read many), which has remained firm for years in my TOP 3 of "whodunits" set at Christmas (and in the TOP 5 of all genres Christmas books).

____ THE PLOT ______ 1933. Lady Georgiana, affectionately called Georgie, is stuck in the castle of her brother and his unbearable wife, in Scotland, when she finally receives an invitation for a job as a hostess, at an elegant party that will run for the full 12 days of Christmas in Tiddleton.
The village is truly enchanting and the snow makes it seem like something straight out of a Dickens story... however, strange accidents and unexpected deaths will soon occur.
While Georgie's lover, the charming Darcy, was supposed to be in South America, our heroine will find him among the guests and together with him she will live a thrilling adventure to unmask the culprit and prevent further deaths.
Not far away, in a cottage in the same village, Georgie's frivolous but in her own way affectionate mother is spending her holidays.

___ SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT ___
---> It is common in recent years for mystery crime authors, especially those who write series that feature the same protagonist in each book, to write a novel or often just a short story, set in the Christmas season.

___ :-( Unfortunately for most of the books I have read, Christmas is only mentioned in words here and there in the book or worse only in the title. :-( ______
An example ? We have it from the queen of mystery with "Poirot's Christmas", anyone who has read it can confirm that there is no Christmas atmosphere, on the contrary the "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding " is extremely Christmassy and there is a pleasant festive air.

__YEAHHH ! :-D ----> This is why I loved reading this book: the 12 Christmas crimes, throughout the book the Christmas atmosphere is palpable, imbued with the charm of old English traditions, both in the celebrations and in the events that happen, thus determining the mystery to be discovered.

____ THE MYSTERY ____ the murders and therefore the mystery to be discovered, are not only really well thought out by the author, but they are even more engaging for the reader, because they are related to an old traditional Christmas song: THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.

Despite being a cozy mystery, the writer also gives us a bit of traditional English history which for me always has an added value. Especially for non-English readers, therefore not so aware of British habits and customs, it adds an extra charm.

____ THE HISTORICAL and TRADITIONAL PART so interesting ___ In this Christmas mystery, set in England in the 1930s, we experience 12 days, from 22 December to 1 January, joyfully traveling together with the protagonist and the supporting characters through all the traditions of the old traditional English Christmas (Old fashioned English Christmas).
---> The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings' Day).

---> The crimes committed in the book refer to one of the oldest Christmas songs: "The 12 Days of Christmas". According to what I learned from Wikipedia (this song does not exist in Italy and it is not customary for us to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas), the music is of unknown origin, although present in the British and Scandinavian areas as early as the 16th century.
The text is a children's nursery rhyme published for the first time in the book Mirth without Mischief in London in 1780.
It had to be recited by some players in a circle during a memory game in which the players took turns reciting a verse from the nursery rhyme, in sequence.
The interpretation of the meaning of the text is not universally recognized.

Some sources would trace the origin of the song to English Catholics during the period in which the Catholic religion was banned in England, between 1558 and 1829. The "12 days of Christmas" would represent a mnemonic form for children in order to learn the basics of the Catholic faith.

Years later, the game and nursery rhyme were revived by a collector of folk songs, Lady Gomme, as "Great entertainment for the whole family before dinner on the Twelfth Night of Christmas."
This historical/traditional part is certainly what made the detective story so gripping to me.

___ ICING ON THE CAKE ___ I absolutely would never have guessed the murderer!!! It often happens that you can guess halfway through the book or towards the end who the culprit might be, sometimes even by exclusion or because it is often the least suspicious person... But of all the least suspicious people, I wouldn't have guessed the culprit here.
I must say it was partly a shock to me, but a surprise ending is what makes a mystery definitively successful (obviously it has to be well justified, not like in some books where the surprise ending makes no sense).

Despite the high number of people in this "cozy mystery" (too many characters are sometimes difficult to remember), it is a perfect Christmas read: every preparation, every entertainment game, every tradition in the house and in the village is described so well in colors, scents and sensations that seems to be there on the scene together with the friendly heroine Lady Georgiana.

__ A NICE HINT OF ROMANCE between Georgie (Lady Georgiana Rannoch) and her lover Darcy ____ This book can be read as a "standalone", so much so that in the past I read it as my first book in the series.
Those who know the series, however, will know that there are 5 other books before this one in which Lady Georgiana, carrying out various jobs, to survive the post-war poverty, becomes involved in various mysteries and murder cases, during which she meets Darcy, a spy in the service of the English Crown.
The two fall in love and the story grows slowly in each book of the series.
However, I assure you that this book has the most beautiful and exciting romantic content and if you have never read the previous books, don't worry, the book is absolutely enjoyable and the author will inform you, during the story, of all the important details previous ones!

_____ IN CONCLUSION ____ The festive atmosphere and the old fascinating traditions will pleasantly involve you.
There are many twists and turns, the moments of romance between the protagonist and her lover are sweet, the desire to discover the culprit while reading is pressing and the author expertly manages to mislead the reader until the final twist.
It is a book suitable for lovers of the genre: light detective stories with a historical setting:
I am sure that, after this book, you will want to read other adventures of the enterprising Lady Georgiana from the "Her Royal Spyness mystery series"


( Too long review, I know, but I couldn't contain my enthusiasm!
Also my English isn't that good...I'm Italian, please,be patient with me and all grammar or form errors in my text)

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LIBRO disponibile anche in EDIZIONE LINGUA ITALIANA, presto disponibile la mia recensione !

La mia valutazione : 5 stelle su 5 !

I dodici delitti di Natale
Libro 6 di Her Royal Spyness
leggibile anche come standalone
di Rhys Bowen

Bellissimo ! 5 stelle piene e assolutamente ben meritate !

Uno dei misteri natalizi più belli che abbia mai letto ( e ne ho letti tanti ), che rimane fermo da anni nella mia TOP 3 dei "whodunit" ambientati a Natale ( e nella TOP 5 generica dei libri natalizi ).

____ LA TRAMA IN BREVE ______ 1933. Lady Georgiana, affettuosamente chiamata Georgie, è bloccata nel castello del fratello e della sua insopportabile moglie, in Scozia, quando finalmente riceve un invito  per un posto di lavoro come hostess, presso per un'elegante festa che durerà per tutti i 12 giorni di Natale a Tiddleton. 
Il villaggio è davvero incantevole e la neve lo fa sembrare uscito da un racconto di Dickens... tuttavia ben presto si verificano degli strani incidenti e morti inaspettate...
Mentre l'innamorato di Georgy, l'affascinante Darcy, avrebbe dovuto essere in Sud America, la nostra eroina lo ritroverà tra gli invitati e insieme a lui vivrà un'avventura da brivido per smascherare il colpevole e prevenire altre morti.
Poco lontano, in un cottage dello stesso villaggio, trascorre le vacanze, la frivola, ma a modo suo affettuosa, madre di Georgie.. Presente tra i personaggi anche l'ex poliziotto nonno di Georgie... il che aggiunge un tocco di calore familiare, seppure originale e non tradizionale, a tutta la storia.

E' usuale negli ultimi anni che gli autori di mystery crime, specialmente quelli che scrivono delle serie con gli stessi protagonisti, scrivano un romanzo o spesso solo una breve storia, ambientato  nella stagione Natalizia. Purtroppo per la maggior parte dei libri che ho letto, il Natale viene solo nominato a parole in qua e in là nel libro o peggio solo nel titolo.
Un esempio ? Lo abbiamo dalla regina del giallo con "Il Natale di Poirot", chiunque l'abbia letto può confermare che non vi è alcuna atmosfera natalizia, al contrario il "Giallo del dolce di Natale" è estremamente natalizio e si respira una piacevole aria festiva.
Ecco perchè ho adorato leggere questo libro : i 12 delitti di natale, in tutto il libro è palpabile l'atmosfera natalizia, intrisa del fascino delle vecchie tradizioni inglesi, sia nei festeggiamenti sia negli eventi che accadono determinando così il mistero da scoprire.

______ IL MISTERO ______ gli omicidi e quindi il mistero da scoprire, non solo sono davvero ben congegnati dall'autrice, ma coinvolgono maggiormente il lettore perchè sono relazionati ad una vecchia tradizionale canzone natalizia : " I 12 GIORNI DI NATALE ".
Pur essendo un cozy mystery ( gialli leggeri dall'atmosfera accogliente ) e quindi un libro poco impegnativo, la scrittrice ci regala anche una parte storica e un po' della magia delle vecchie tradizioni inglesi, cosa che, per me, rappresenta sempre un valore aggiunto e soprattutto per lettori non inglesi ( e quindi non così consapevoli degli usi e costumi britannici ) aggiunge un fascino straordinario alla storia.

______ LA PARTE STORICA e  TRADIZIONALE _____  In questo giallo di Natale, ambientato nell'Inghilterra degli anni '30, si vivono i cosiddetti 12 giorni di Natale, dal 22 dicembre al 1° gennaio, percorrendo in allegria insieme alla protagonista e ai personaggi di contorno tutte le tradizioni del vecchio tradizionale Natale inglese ( Old fashioned English Christmas ).    ---> I 12 giorni di Natale sono il periodo della teologia cristiana che segna l'intervallo tra la nascita di Cristo e la venuta dei Magi, i tre saggi. Inizia il 25 dicembre (Natale) e dura fino al 6 gennaio (l'Epifania, a volte chiamata anche il Giorno dei Tre Re).

---> I crimini commessi nel libro fanno riferimento ad una delle più antiche canzoni natalizie : "I 12 giorni di Natale". Secondo ciò che ho appreso da Wikipedia, la musica è di origine ignota, benché presente in area britannica e scandinava già nel XVI secolo.
Il testo è una filastrocca infantile pubblicata per la prima volta nel libro Mirth without Mischief (Gioie Innocenti) a Londra nel 1780. Doveva essere recitata da alcuni giocatori in circolo nel corso di un gioco di memoria in cui i giocatori recitavano a turno un verso della filastrocca, in sequenza. L'interpretazione del significato del testo non è universalmente riconosciuta. Alcune fonti farebbero risalire l'origine del canto ai cattolici inglesi durante il periodo in cui la religione cattolica era vietata in Inghilterra, tra il 1558 e il 1829. I "12 giorni di Natale" rappresenterebbero una forma mnemonica per i bambini al fine di far imparare le basi della fede cattolica. Anni dopo, gioco e filastrocca furono riproposti da una collezionista di canzoni popolari, Lady Gomme, come "Un bel divertimento per tutta la famiglia prima della cena della dodicesima notte di Natale."

______ CILIEGINA SULLA TORTA DEL MISTERO _____ Io non avrei mai assolutamente indovinato l'assassino !!! Capita spesso di intuire a metà libro oppure verso la fine chi possa essere il colpevole, a volte anche andando per esclusione oppure perchè spesso è la persona meno sospettabile... Ma tra tutte le persone meno sospettabili, qui non avrei indovinato il colpevole e devo dire che in parte è stato uno shock, ma un finale a sorpresa è ciò che rende un mistero definitivamente vincente ( ovviamente deve essere ben giustificato, non come in alcuni libri dove il finale a sorpresa non ha alcun senso ).

Nonostante l'alto numero di persone in questo "cozy mystery" (per chi non lo sapesse sono definiti così i gialli con atmosfera accogliente, privi di scene di violenza e sesso e parolacce ), è una lettura natalizia perfetta: ogni preparativo, ogni gioco d'intrattenimento, ogni tradizione in casa e nel villaggio viene descritta così bene in colori, profumi e sensazioni che sembra di essere lì sulla scena insieme alla simpatica protagonista Lady Georgiana.

______ UN PIACEVOLISSIMO ROMANTICISMO tra Georgie (Lady Georgiana Rannoch ) e il innamorato Darcy ____ Questo libro è leggibile come "standalone ", tant'è vero che in passato io lo lessi come mio primo libro della serie.
Chi conosce la serie però, saprà che ci sono altri 5 libri prima di questo in cui Lady Georgiana, svolgendo vari lavori, per sopravvivere alla povertà del dopoguerra, viene coinvolta in diversi misteri e casi di omicidio, durante i quali incontra Darcy, una spia al servizio della Corona inglese. I due s'innamorano e la storia cresce pian piano in ogni libro della serie. Vi assicuro però che questo libro ha il contenuto romantico più bello ed emozionante e se non avete mai letto i libri precedenti, non preoccupatevi, il libro è assolutamente godibile e l'autrice vi metterà al corrente, durante la storia, di tutti i dettagli importanti precedenti !
RIPETO : questo libro sta nella mia TOP 5 dei miei preferiti di Natale e sta esattamente al 3° posto !

_____ IN CONCLUSIONE ____ L'atmosfera festiva e le vecchie affascinanti tradizioni vi coinvolgeranno piacevolmente. Tanti sono i colpi di scena, dolci sono i momenti di romanticismo tra la protagonista e il suo innamorato, incalzante è la voglia di scoprire il colpevole durante la lettura e l'autrice riesce sapientemente fuorviare il lettore fino al colpo di scena finale.

E' un libro adatto agli amanti del genere : gialli leggeri e con ambientazione storica e dopo questo libro sono sicura che vorrete leggere altre avventure dell'intraprendente Lady Georgiana della serie Serie Her Royal Spyness
di Rhys Bowen
10 libri in italiano Edizione Kindle
Purtroppo le copertine messe dal GIALLO MONDADORI sono davvero orrende ( ecco perchè io preferisco i libri in lingua originale LOL), ma vi assicuro che i gialli di Rhys Bowen sono stupendi e godibilissimi.

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