Book Blurb:
HARBOR FOR THE NIGHTINGALE (Stranje House #4)
Author: Kathleen Baldwin
Pub. Date: September 26, 2019
Publisher: Ink Lion Books
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 352
Harbor for the Nightingale is the highly anticipated fourth installment in the popular award-winning Stranje House YA series! #1 New York Times best-selling author Meg Cabot calls this romantic Regency adventure series "completely original and totally engrossing."
"Enticing from the first sentence." --New York Times Sunday Book Review on A School for Unusual Girls
"Baldwin has a winning series here: her characters are intriguing and fully rendered." --Booklist, on Refuge for Masterminds
It's 1814. In this alternate history, Napoleon has forced Europe to its knees, and now he plots to seize control of Britain.
Maya brings the mystery of India with her...
With her friends' lives in deadly peril, Miss Maya Barrington, one of Miss Stranje's unusual girls, must serve as a double agent. To do so, she gains entry into Napoleon's duplicitous game on the arm of the enigmatic Lord Kinsworth. She can read almost everyone; not so with this young rascal. Quick with a jest and armed with lethal charm, Kinsworth remains just beyond her reach. Can she trust him?
With Britain's future at risk and those she loves in deadly peril, Maya questions everything she thought she understood about life, love, and loyalty.
Fans of genre-blending, romance, and action will love this speculative history Regency-era novel filled with spunky heroines, handsome young lords, and dastardly villains--fourth in the Stranje House series. Don't miss the first three books: A School for Unusual Girls, Exile for Dreamers, and Refuge for Masterminds
"An outstanding alternative history series entry and a must-have for teen libraries." --School Library Journal on Refuge for Masterminds
"This alternative history series will appeal to fans of Gail Carriger's works and The Cecelia and Kate novels by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer." --School Library Journal on A School for Unusual Girls
Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Kobo
My Review:
4 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical, Royal Court, Supernatural, Suspense, Teen--
Maya has wanted nothing more but to be returned to India and her beloved Grandmother, but her fate puts her elsewhere. The only other place she felt she belonged was among her friends and mentor at the Stranje House where she can be of use. When she becomes privy to a conspiracy against the Prince of England by invading Napoleon, Maya knows it is her duty to step up and make Stranje House proud- even it means it may cost her love and even her life.
While this is the fourth book in the Stranje House series, I feel like each book could possible stand on it's own. I have read the first book (which I highly recommend staring with) and it sets up the premise and the rumors for the Stranje House as well as what the girls are really being trained for (cough cough basically a spy school for talented girls who do not fit into society). The first book also helps to set the tone for the historical events going on in the background with Napoleon ruling the French and the brewing war with England. Keep in mind that I read the first book (forever ago) and jumped right into Harbor for the Nightingale, which is the fourth book in the series. Now that I gave you a run down, you pretty much can pick up any book in the series and jump in. Each story focuses on a different girl in the house coming into her own and understanding her unique skills, finding love and playing a part in the bigger picture of stopping a war. And yes, the war is the same, but each book focuses on a different part or battle and there is enough backstory to not make you feel lost.
I would consider this series to be historical fiction with a few fantasy-like elements. All the events that take place are real, documented elements of the war between England and France, but with these heroic, quirky girls thrown in to help save the day- without anyone being the wiser. It really puts a flare on historical fiction, which is usually a genre I do not seek out, but makes this more exciting for someone like me (but equally as appealing to true fans of historical fiction).
I found Maya to be an interesting character, with a fierce temper yet at the same time a gentle heart that seemed made of glass. She was constantly struggling to determine whether she was a trapped nightingale or a fierce lion. She has spent her life feeling cast off and unwanted, never fitting in anywhere due to her half-breed status which has played a role in making her feel adrift. I liked her determination and loyalty, never once did she want to let down the girls who have become family. The one downside I felt to this book/her personality was the almost instant love she felt towards Ben, who she previously had a LOT of feelings towards, but not always the good kind. They never had a moment to be able to chat or really know each other for her to just decide she loved him. I would have liked a few more interactions so that the relationship felt real.
I find Sera to be an interesting character and I am so glad that the next book features her. She seems to be the most overlooked and underestimated of the characters but there were moments in this story where she showed backbone, strength and skill nobody saw coming and I am so on board for that.I also absolutely loved Tess and her spunk so I need to go back desperately and read her book that I am missed out on!
Overall I found this an entertaining read and I will certainly go back and read the books I missed while I am waiting for the next book to come out. I recommend this series to anyone who loves historical fiction, political/court intrigue, spies, romance and strong females who can save themselves.
------------------------------------------
Catch up on the Stranje House Series!
Book Blurb:
A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS (Stranje House #1) by Kathleen Baldwin
Pub. Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 352
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.
After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts...
Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | TBD
------------------------------------------
Book Blurb:
EXILE FOR DREAMERS (Stranje House #2) by Kathleen Baldwin
Pub. Date: May 24, 2016
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
A School for Unusual Girls is the first captivating installment in the Stranje House series for young adults by award-winning author Kathleen Baldwin. #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot calls this romantic Regency adventure "completely original and totally engrossing."
Tess can't run far enough or fast enough to escape the prophetic dreams that haunt her. Dreams bring nothing but death and grief, and Tess refuses to accept that she may be destined for the same madness that destroyed her mother. Until her disturbing dreams become the only means of saving Lord Ravencross, the man she loves, and her friends at Stranje House from Lady Daneska and her lover, the Ghost-agent of Napoleon, who has escaped from Elba. Can the young ladies of Stranje House prevail once more? Or is England destined to fall into the hands of the power-mad dictator?
"Enticing from the first sentence." -New York Times Book Review
A School for Unusual Girls is a great next read for fans of Gail Carriger's Finishing School series and Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin series.
Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | TBD
------------------------------------------
Book Blurb:
REFUGE FOR MASTERMINDS (Stranje House #3) by Kathleen Baldwin
Pub. Date: May 23, 2017
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Pages: 352
It’s 1814. Napoleon has escaped his imprisonment on Elba. Britain is at war on four fronts. And at Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, five young ladies are secretly being trained for a world of spies, diplomacy, and war…
Napoleon’s invasion of England is underway and someone at Stranje House is sneaking information to his spies. Lady Jane Moore is determined to find out who it is. If anyone can discover the traitor, it is Jane—for, according to headmistress Emma Stranje, Lady Jane is a mastermind.
Jane doesn’t consider herself a mastermind. It’s just that she tends to grasp the facts of a situation quickly, and by doing so, she’s able to devise and implement a sensible course of action. Is Jane enough of a mastermind to save the brash young American inventor Alexander Sinclair, her friends at Stranje House, and possibly England itself?
Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | TBD
------------------------------------------
Award-winning author, Kathleen Baldwin, loves adventure in books and in real life. She taught rock climbing in the Rockies, survival camped in the desert, was stalked by a mountain lion, lost an argument with a rattlesnake, enjoyed way too many classes in college, fell in love at least a dozen times, and married her very own hero. Together they’ve raised four free-spirited adventurous children.
SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS is her first historical romance for Young Adults. Awarded 2016 Spirit of Texas, it is also a Junior Library Guild selection. Publisher’s Lunch listed it in 2015 YA BookBuzz. Scholastic licensed it for book fairs. Ian Bryce, producer of Spiderman, Saving Private Ryan, and other notable films optioned the series for film.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot calls Kathleen’s romantic Regency adventure, “completely original and totally engrossing.”
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Week One:
9/23/2019- Caffeine & Composition- Excerpt
9/24/2019- Dazzled by Books- Excerpt
9/25/2019- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt
9/26/2019- Wishful Endings- Review
9/27/2019- Fire and Ice- Review
---
9/30/2019- Don't Judge, Read- Interview
10/1/2019- Smada's Book Smack- Review
10/2/2019- Lisa Loves Literature- Review
10/3/2019- Book Briefs- Review
10/4/2019- BookHounds YA- Interview
---
Review tour provided by Rockstar Book Tours
No comments:
Post a Comment