Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Menu
  • Welcome
  • Bookstore
  • Contact Me
  • MEDIA
  • Privacy Terms
Menu

Category: book review historical

Monday Review: The Paris Dressmaker

Posted on August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 by Diana Brandmeyer

We can sum up The Paris Dressmaker by Kristi Cambron up in one word—hope.

This book has been on my to-be-read list for quite a while and to be honest, it was because of the cover. I love that dress against the backdrop of the Eiffel tower. One shouldn’t judge a book by the cover, so they say, but we all know that’s not 100% true. The cover invites us to come in and discover what’s inside, a gift to be unwrapped.

This book settles you right into the lives of two women in Paris. The timeline weaves between before the Germans invade Paris and during the occupation. I found that confusing because it’s only a difference of a few years, not centuries, like most time-slip books. Cambron writes beautiful, and the story is compelling enough that I had to keep reading.

At the beginning, two normal women see what’s happening to their city but don’t really believe Paris will be involved. Before long, they discover no matter how much you hope evil things do happen.

Both women end up working for the resistance in different ways. They are called upon to dig deep for courage and hope for things they aren’t sure will happen.

One woman hopes she’ll see her French husband again. The other hopes to rectify a wrong she’s caused a man she loves.

To live in such a time that you don’t know if your neighbor or even your friend is someone you can trust, fearful that even an uttered phrase could endanger you and your family is unthinkable. Cambron shows you it isn’t. Using history and fiction, she brings us an awareness that we must be strong in our conventions and never fall asleep to what is happening around us.

What struck me while reading this is how my view of rationing has changed. Before 2019, I would read about food being hard to find and not have a vehement reaction. Reading this book now, I have a much different perspective on how scary and tiresome it would be to stand in long lines for a loaf of bread.

I said this book is about hope, and it is. Evil doesn’t succeed. This is a book I will recommend reading to anyone who enjoys a clean read, history and women of strength.

Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II—from fashion houses to the city streets—comes a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they could not abide.

Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Light slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hotel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between determination to help save his Jewish family and to bolster the fight for liberation.

Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance. Beneath her compliant facade lies a woman bent on uncovering the fate of her missing husband . . . but at what cost? As Hitler’s regime crumbles, Sandrine is drawn in deeper when she uncrates an exquisite blush Chanel gown concealing a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite.

Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.

Buy it or read in KindleUnlimited

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of Welcome to the Hamilton

Posted on August 16, 2022August 16, 2022 by Diana Brandmeyer

Tanya E. Williams gives us a gift in Welcome to the Hamilton. One would think the story of a family close to being evicted in 1927 as something tragic, and it is for sure. But Williams gives us so much more with her tale of Welcome to the Hamilton.

The Hamilton Hotel is a character in its own right. Imagine fighting to work at a brand new grand hotel in Vancouver, Canada. It’s the opening of the hotel and what goes on inside that intrigues the reader with how things work, how maids do their work and no one ever sees them. How fast must they work? What are the rules? Are they impossible to manage?

Then there are the two sisters, one who will do everything she can to keep her family from being kicked out of their home. The other sister seems to not notice there are problems at home with their father.

When both sisters try to get a job at the Hamilton, Clara is sure her beautiful, somewhat fanciful sister, Louisa will be offered the position. What then? Clara knows she can’t count on Louisa to save the family. Only Clara can do that.

The depth of the characters in Welcome to the Hamilton kept me reading. The setting had me thinking how much I’d love to stay at the Hotel Hamilton. I’d even get a passport and fly to stay there and meet these sisters. Fortunately, one doesn’t have to, just buy the book or request it from your library. Then soon you’ll be welcomed through the doors of the Hamilton and meet the sisters. Get the book here https://amzn.to/3QyfWrw

Welcome to the Hamilton has an ending that will satisfy the reader. There are no cliff hangers, nor tragic ending which I prefer. This well-written book is not only clean but shows the author’s skill in language, as she doesn’t resort to using curse words. Williams does not take the easy way out when writing difficult scenes. A mark of an intelligent writer.

maid with a hotel key strung with red ribbon.  It's time to book your room...

A family fallen on hard times. Two sisters with different dreams. Can a luxurious hotel forever change their lives?

Vancouver, Canada, 1927. The Roaring Twenties are anything but extravagant for seventeen-year-old Clara Wilson. With her family struggling to make ends meet and under the threat of eviction, she applies for a job at the soon-to-be-opened Hotel Hamilton. But with her impulsive, adventure-seeking sister quick on her heels, she may find herself battling more than she anticipated.

Feeling the intense burden of responsibility and doing her best to navigate the opulent hotel’s rigorous training program, her hopes for survival crumble when she encounters rivalry from an out-of-place socialite. And as both women strive to win the coveted position, Clara fears she could be losing the only way to keep her family afloat.

Will Clara overcome extreme adversity and save her loved ones from ruin?

Welcome To The Hamilton is the heartwarming first book in the Hotel Hamilton historical fiction series. If you enjoy resilient protagonists, illustrious backdrops, and blossoming sibling relationships, then you’ll adore Tanya E William’s tale of strength.

Buy Welcome To The Hamilton to step into an era of grandeur today!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of Memories of Glass

Posted on July 4, 2022July 8, 2022 by Diana Brandmeyer

Memories of Glass by Melanie Dobson is a time-slip novel set in 1942 Holland. I picked this one up to read because I was taking time off from social media reading. It was a better choice and one I think I’ll do more of. It’s always nice to read the entire story rather than fragments of thoughts on social media. 🙂 No worries, I’ll still show up there, just not ALL THE TIME.

Back to this book. First let me say that I loved Dobson’s writing so much that I went on to read a lot of her books, even though time-slip novels are not my favorite kind of read.

Memories of Glass is the story of Jose van Rees and Eliese Linden, childhood friends whose lives were upended by the war. While this is a tough story to read—families torn apart and sent to camps, children taken from their parents—all awful. Yet, Dobson was able to write this in a way that it was tolerable to read and absorb.

Josie becomes a nursery worker and Eliese, hoping to save her own family, becomes a register, keeping track of where Jewish families are taken. The courage these two women show throughout the story is to be celebrated.

The time-slip comes with the introduction of Ava. That took me a while to figure out the connection, but once I did it was a wild ride to redemption and justice.

There are some emotional parts to this book which one should expect when reading about this war. So if you only like to read happy books this might not be for you. Or if you are triggered by Holocaust stories, stay away from this one.

IF not… then pick this one up to read. Knowing the history of such events can only enrich your life and your beliefs, along with making you question what would you do? https://amzn.to/3bI9m27

Woman holding suitcase and holding hand of young Jewish boy.
https://amzn.to/3OXn9jG

Reminiscent of Diane Ackerman’s The Zookeeper’s Wife, this stunning novel draws from true accounts to shine a light on a period of Holland’s darkest history and bravest heroes.

1942. As war rips through the heart of Holland, childhood friends Josie van Rees and Eliese Linden partner with a few daring citizens to rescue Eliese’s son and hundreds of other Jewish children who await deportation in a converted theater in Amsterdam. But amid their resistance work, Josie and Eliese’s dangerous secrets could derail their friendship and their entire mission. When the enemy finds these women, only one will escape.

Seventy-five years later, Ava Drake begins to suspect that her great-grandfather William Kingston was not the World War II hero he claimed to be. Her work as director of the prestigious Kingston Family Foundation leads her to Landon West’s Ugandan coffee plantation, and Ava and Landon soon discover a connection between their families. As Landon’s great-grandmother shares the broken pieces of her story, Ava must confront the greatest loss in her own life—and powerful members of the Kingston family who will do anything to keep the truth buried.

Illuminating the story and strength of these women, award-winning author Melanie Dobson transports readers through time and place, from World War II Holland to contemporary Uganda, in this rich and inspiring novel.

READ IT NOW!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of For a Noble Purpose

Posted on June 13, 2022June 13, 2022 by Diana Brandmeyer

Hop on this series train! For a Nobel Purpose by Kelsey Gietl is a grabber from page one. I’d suggest reading the author’s notes before you even read chapter one of this book. Gietl has packed a lot of fun information in that section, which will only deepen the reader experience. No spoilers are in that section, so it’s safe to read first.

This is not just an Oregon Trail romance. This book has characters with special abilities, romance, and downright difficult situations to handle.

This book starts out with an enormous question. Sarah is about to get married to husband number 7. She’s dreading it because the previous 6 husbands died before midnight. Why would number 7 be any different?

The way Geitl builds the setting gives you the feeling of bing right there next to the campfires on the Oregon Trail. You can almost smell the burnt food. And you may find yourself reaching for water to get the trail dust off your face.

The characters are real, complete with flaws and sometimes ignorance of the pain they’ve caused.

Because this is book one in the Larksong Legacy, you’ll be introduced to characters that will no doubt (hopefully!) find their way into the following books in the series. No worries if they don’t. Geitl does a great job of giving enough information that you aren’t hanging on a cliff at the end of the book.

For a Nobel, Purpose is lengthy and worth every penny to enjoy the journey from Missouri to the Washington Territory. Will Sarah be able to overcome the curse and have a genuine marriage? Sometimes I wondered if she would survive the trip! It’s a great vacation read or a rainy day read. You don’t want to stop turning until you’ve finished the story.

book cover, woman in yellow dress, mid-1800s style. Blond braids wrapped around her head. Looking at mountain range standing by a tree
https://amzn.to/39jdVil

Back Cover Copy

What if your worst curse could also be your greatest gift?

As a Missouri plantation owner’s daughter, Sarah Walcott has always experienced the best society has to offer, yet her charmed life also carries unexplainable tragedy. She’s been widowed six times, always on her wedding day. When a seventh husband meets the same fate, her parents determine to send her to an asylum, where she can no longer be a burden to them or a danger to society. In desperation, Sarah joins the Larksong wagon train on their way to the West and soon learns that her saviors also harbor extraordinary gifts…ones that may finally bring her the answers she needs.

Anxious to be free from a family legacy he would rather not claim and a slave-built society he doesn’t support, Tobias Lark believes the only way to find his perfect town is to create it himself. Joined by his three brothers, he sets out for the Washington Territory with a collection of carefully curated supporters, all determined to build a new life in the West. When a young plantation widow unexpectedly joins their party, he fears the curse she carries will crack the solid foundation upon which all his plans are built.

With each step along the trail, Tobias and Sarah encounter hardships that test their resilience and threaten the idyllic life they’re searching for. Will they stand together in the face of adversity or is the community of Larksong just another unobtainable fantasy?

Get it here! https://amzn.to/39jdVil

Already read this book? Maybe you missed Broken Lines by Kelsey Geitl? Read the review here: https://dianabrandmeyer.com/what-im-reading-monday-3/

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of Her Mail-Order Mix Up

Posted on January 10, 2022December 27, 2021 by Diana Brandmeyer

Let’s get to our first Monday Review of the year!

I chose to start the year with this sweet historical romance novella set in Montana. Her Mail Order Mix-Up is book 1 in the Brides of Lone Hollow series by London James. I was blessed to get my hands on an advanced reading copy. The book will release on January 25, 2022, but you can preorder it now. PREORDER

Maggie Colton leaves home in secret to escape her parents’ desire for her to marry someone she doesn’t like. Why would she do that when she’s fallen in love through letters to a man with a charming daughter in Montana? She’s quite shaken when she discovers her trip is not going to turn out the way she imagined.

Her fiancé is dead. There will be no wedding. No being a mother to pretty little Sadie.

Great hook! I mean what will Maggie do? If she goes home, she’ll have to deal with her parent’s displeasure and marry someone she doesn’t like. She’s disappointed because she’d already fallen in love with Clint and his little girl. But she can’t stay, she hasn’t enough money to rent a room for long, nor does she have a job.

But wait! There’s another brother! Cullen McCray. But don’t think for a minute he’s going to step into his brother’s shoes and marry Maggie. After all, he has already been thrown into being his niece’s guardian. All he wanted was to live in his cabin all alone away from memories and the family ranch he walked away from years ago.

This mail-order bride book is just what I needed for a quick little read curled up on my couch next to the woodstove and a cup of warm cinnamon tea in my hand. Treat yourself to an evening of romance with Her Mail Order Mix-Up by London James. Preorder it now and it will arrive on your reader just when the January days never seem to end.

book cover for Her mail order bride mix up by London James. Night sky with a full moon, snow on mountain caps man hugging woman

Preorder now!

Cullen McCray has no desire for marriage and love after the death of his first wife. A self-proclaimed lone wolf, he only wishes to spend his life in his cabin in the mountains, far away from his family’s ranch and his brother. But when Clint dies in an accident, he leaves behind a young daughter and it’s up to Cullen to pick up the pieces to help the girl. Question is can he also pick up the pieces for the woman, who he knows nothing about, coming to marry his dead brother?

When Maggie Colton steps off the stagecoach in the small town of Lone Hollow, she’s unaware of her intended husband-to-be’s accident. She also doesn’t know about his brother or the condition of the cattle ranch she believed was something other than what it is. Clint hadn’t exactly been honest about everything, leaving Maggie to rough it in an older ranch house, an even older guest house, and barn that has seen better days. Not to mention hundreds of cattle, dozens of chickens, pigs, horses, and what she is sure is fattest cat she’s ever seen.

Will Cullen send her back before her bags are unpacked? And if she stays, will Maggie be able to not only win his heart, but survive this new life she’s found herself in?

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review Finding Lady Enderly

Posted on December 27, 2021January 7, 2022 by Diana Brandmeyer

This book was a joy to read and review. Finding Landy Enderly by Joanna Davidson Politano captures your attention by the end of the first paragraph when Raina is caught in a Cinderella moment.

Review of Finding Landy Enderly the cover has a woman holding a book in a dark room

Haven’t we all dreamed of being someone else for just a bit? That happened to Louisa in Mind of Her Own–writing that book almost made me what to hit my own head! But that’s a contemporary book and Finding Lady Enderly is historical so let’s get back to Raina!

Imagine living in London in squalor stitching rags together to make money. The clothing you wear is seldom clean. You share a room with a widow and story your valuables behind a loose brick in the wall. Your family has left you for better lives.

People make fun of you and you’re known as the Rag Woman, no one calls you by your name. What if the man you loved had drowned at sea before he asked you to marry him? You’d be miserable right?

Then this amazing thing happens. You get an offer to be a substitute countess! You feel a little strange about it but it will change your life forever.

Would you do it? All the servants, the big house, the clothes… too perfect to be true? Yes, yes it is. But Raina is stuck and she can’t see a way out but it is a book so there is a way out.

There are twists and turns and you’ll be racing to the end to discover them all in this gothic era novel.

Read Finding Lady Enderly today!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of Queen of the Rockies

Posted on October 18, 2021October 10, 2021 by Diana Brandmeyer

Queen of the Rockies Book 1 by Angela Breidenbach delighted this reader with the true details added about Montana history.

Living in the present day I never considered that in 1889 Helena, Montana would have even considered the need to make the city a tourist attraction.

Calista Blythe while not a real person is a very believable character. In my mind, I could see her struggles with entering a beauty pageant. Not everyone wants to be one but when there is a chance to help others if she does enter it becomes harder to say no.

I felt her sadness at the plight of the street urchins, many left because it was the last stop of the Orphan Trains. Can you imagine being six years old and having to work? Calista can’t either.

Of course, it is the Snowflake Pagent so heartstrings are pulled with each disaster that occurs. Then there’s the funny moments and a love that Calista doesn’t even notice.

It’s a great read.

Dark haired woman wearing long blue dress that spreads across the floor.
Get in the mood for Christmas! Read this charming tale!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of Fancy Pants

Posted on October 11, 2021October 10, 2021 by Diana Brandmeyer

This is an old book but oh so much fun to read. Fancy Pants by Cathy Marie Hake is a delightful and funny read about a woman who refuses to marry a man who can’t remember her first name! It’s Lady Syndey Hathwell by the way. So how does she escape this problem? Let’s just say there are scissors and pants involved.

woman covered in bubbles in clawfoot tub with cowboy boots on the floor

This is one of those can’t put down books. What I didn’t realize is there are more books in this series! Color me happy! I’ll be adding the rest of the series to my TBR pile. Someday that tower is going to come crazing down on my head. Hmm, bed rest and books to recover?

Read Fancy Pants now!

When Britisher Lady Sydney Hathwell’s father dies, the American who planned to wed her suddenly reneges. Stranded in America and penniless, Sydney contacts a relative in Texas who, mistaking her male-sounding name, invites his “nephew” to join him on his ranch.

“Big Tim” Creighton, however, is appalled when this mincing fop arrives at Forsaken. He determines he’ll turn Fancy Pants Hathwell into a man before the boss returns home. From the get-go, he has “the kid” mucking stalls, clearing and plowing a field, and assisting with a difficult calving. But when Sydney’s true identity is uncovered, Tim resents being deceived. Yet in time, he also finds that he doesn’t like all the attention Sydney garners now that she’s wearing pretty gowns…

Together Sydney and Tim will discover the importance of family and what it means to be a man–and a woman–of God.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of The Number of Love

Posted on October 4, 2021September 25, 2021 by Diana Brandmeyer

The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White caught me by surprise. The heroine of this story works as a codebreaker during the Great War. The story takes place in London. But the fact that she was a woman working with men during this time wasn’t what caught my attention.


Margo De Wilde’s life is all about numbers. Again, not unusual as we all know people who are brilliant with math. Margo is neurodivergent. That label is never applied in this book but if you are aware of friends or family who are high functioning autistic, you’ll see it right away.


Because I’m not neurodivergent it was difficult for me to put myself into this character—WAIT! That does not mean I disliked the book or Margo!
Instead of imagining myself as Margo as one tends to do when reading good books—they are after all escape hatches into worlds you can’t explore—I found Margo fascinating. Watching her go from happy with her ability to break codes, experience tragedy, and then finding herself in social situations she never expected kept me reading right through to the end.
The story itself is well-written and has intrigue, some action, and romance. Win-win!

Woman using her finger to write a number on fogged window. The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

Get it here

Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network–field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren’t enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy who just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the intelligent Margot, but how can he convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?

Amid biological warfare, encrypted letters, and a German spy who wants to destroy not just them but others they love, Margot and Drake will have to work together to save themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.

Read it now!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter

Monday Review of Cowboy for Keeps

Posted on September 27, 2021September 9, 2021 by Diana Brandmeyer

Once again Jody Hedlund has kept me up until I finished reading Cowboy for Keeps.

What is it that makes reading (or writing) about life when it was so hard to survive? I look at the things Greta did to make money in this book and I shudder to think what would happen to me and my husband if I couldn’t put in a Walmart order!

Books with a child side character always touch my heart and this one has Astrid. She is spunky despite her illness. Again, something I lack, a cold will set me to fussing and asking for hot tea and a blanket.

Cowboy for Keeps starts off with a bang and sends Greta right into desperation mode when she finds out the man she’s to marry has died. Now she has no money and no husband. I admire this character as she sets out to find another way to earn money other than working at the brothel. No worries, she doesn’t go there. Instead, she ends up marrying before nightfall.

Hedlund makes me feel like I’m right there in the Colorado mountains looking at all the beauty of the trees, feeling the crisp air and breathing the fresh air that is so good for Astrid.

What I liked about this book is there is an attraction between the two of them—a slow simmering pot of water just ready to boil. The romance feels realistic, what should happen when people are getting to know each other. Hedlund carries this off well throughout the book never crossing the line of what Christian readers expect from a Christian romance.

Mountains in the background, man wearing a cowboy hat sitting on a brown horse with a white strip done it's face

Greta Nilsson’s trip west to save her ailing little sister, Astrid, could not have gone more wrong. First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died. Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.

Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He’ll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt’s ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.

Get Cowboy for Keeps

carry out cup for hot drink, old fashioned typewriter, picture frame with book cover

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next
all in good time book lake with a pier

Get your free book!

Connect with me!

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
©2023 Diana Lesire Brandmeyer | Theme by SuperbThemes