The Invitation by Belinda Alexandra

Paris, 1899. Emma Lacasse has been estranged from her older sister for nearly twenty years, since Caroline married a wealthy American and left France. So when Emma receives a request from Caroline to meet her, she is intrigued. Caroline invites Emma to visit her in New York, on one condition: Emma must tutor her shy, young niece, Isadora, and help her prepare for her society debut.

Caroline lives a life of unimaginable excess and opulence as one of New York's Gilded Age millionaires and Emma is soon immersed in a world of luxury beyond her wildest dreams - a far cry from her bohemian lifestyle as a harpist and writer with her lover, Claude, in Montmartre.

Emma hopes for an emotional reunion with her only family, but instead she finds herself in the vice-like grip of her charismatic and manipulative sister, who revels in the machinations of the ultra rich. As Emma begins to question her sister's true motives, a disaster strikes, and New York society is stripped bare - beneath the glittering exterior lies a seething nest of deceit, betrayal, moral corruption ... and perhaps even murder.

To say that I loved this book is an understatement. As soon as I saw this stunning book that is set in New York, in the early 1900's I new that I must read it. The characters were all fascinating, and I found myself googling them once I had finished the book. I loved the glamour, the mystery, the scandal and everything about this story. I loved that it was set in The Gilded Age where everything looks luxurious and opulent, but underneath the gold exterior it is dark, scandalous and full of terrible, terrible things. The author wrote glorious descriptions of the exquisite clothes, mansions and characters, that I felt as if I was truly there. I would do anything to time travel back to this time period and experience it for myself! What a fabulous novel.

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The Silk House by Kayte Nunn

Australian history teacher Thea Rust arrives at an exclusive boarding school in the British countryside only to find that she is to look after the first intake of girls in its 150-year history. She is to stay with them in Silk House, a building with a long and troubled past, where the shadows hide more mysteries than she could ever imagine. In the late 1700s, Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work in the home of an English silk merchant. She is thrust into a new and dangerous world where her talent for herbs and healing soon attracts attention. In London, Mary-Louise Stephenson lives amid the clatter of the weaving trade and dreams of becoming a silk designer, a job that is the domain of men. Arriving in the market town of Oxleigh, she brings with her a length of fabric woven with a pattern of deadly plants that will have far-reaching consequences for all who dwell in the silk house. The Silk House was such a gorgeous story, and I was so blessed to receive an ARC

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