Zoya lost her parents at a young age when they were killed by Muslim extremists. People always want to talk about terrorists and assume they are all of some Middle Eastern descent. Every religion has extremists that can turn into terrorists. Terrorists wreak havoc in all areas, and the Middle East has been especially treacherous. This girl left Kabul and joined a group that challenged the Taliban and their regime. It was very brave of her to do that, and her story is extremely inspiring. 

 In this second book of the Merry series, we find Merry and some of the Queen's Guard who she took on as lovers in an attempt to get pregnant, have returned to LA. Some of them are working with her at the detective agency and are adapting to life in the human world. They become involved in a murder mystery as well as an unfortunate fey event. Merry realizes she has some previously unknown powers, and is also beginning her rotation of sexual partners. I'm not mad at this series, and am looking forward to the rest. 

 I bought this book because I love The Great Gatsby, the whole look of the 1920's flapper era, and other works by F Scott Fitzgerald. I loved learning about all of those things in this book, as well as the murder in nearby New Jersey that was featured. I was unaware of how the Mills-Hall murder influenced The Great Gatsby. I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Gatsby or true crime. Lucky for me, I am interested in both. 

 This book covers the life of Carmine Persico, from childhood through his life in the Mafia. I remember reading his name in other Mafia books, so I was excited to catch this one on sale on Audible. It was interesting and action packed. I learned a lot about the Profaci/Colombo family that I had not read before. This was a pretty good read. 

 The Cartier family was founded by Louis-Francois Cartier in 1847. His son took over in 1874. His sons took over the company and sent the name worldwide and became the company that is known today. The sons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques, were responsible for some of the most beautiful and well known pieces that are featured in museums around the world.

Louis was responsible for the Tutti Fruitti style jewels, as well as Art Deco pieces and the mystery clocks. He was also in charge of the Paris branch. Upon his death, Claude Cartier, his son, took over his affairs. Pierre was the head of the New York branch of the business, selling a lot of jewels to society girls. The men's wristwatch collection was also a major seller. Jacques was a friend to several royals and notable members of high society. He was a great designer and, thanks to him, the company was able to sell vast quantities of luxury jewelry items. Cartier jewels were purchased by Edward VII, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans, Elizabeth Taylor, Czar Nicholas II, Albert I of Belgium, Princess Grace of Monocco, Marie Antionette, and Kate Middleton.

This book was written by a granddaughter of one of the Cartier brothers. Her desire to research the members of her family and write about them provided a great story here. It was part memoir, part history book. I really enjoyed learning about this family and some of the famous pieces. I enjoyed hearing the stories that her grandfather told to her. This book was suggested to be on the "because you purchased" section on Audible, so I picked it up. I didn't mean to get into a famous family reading spree, but I'm not sorry I have. This was a great book. I look forward to reading House of Gucci next. 

 This book is about the Chateau Marmont, a hotel that was once an apartment building, located in California. This hotel played host to many stars of the day, and the walls have seen a lot and have many stories to tell. Desi Arnez stayed here when he fought with Lucille Ball. Jean Harlow had a suite here. Bette Davis almost burned the place down on two occasions. Sharon Tate lived there and moved out just before her murder. A lot of bands and writers have stayed here over the years, including Jim Morrison and Led Zepplin. I love books like this about historic buildings, and I have a couple of books similar to this that I am really looking forward to. This was a really interesting book, and I would recommend it for anyone interested in California history or who likes stories about celebrities. 

 Catherine de' Medici was born in 1519 in Florence. She was raised by family members, as both her parents died before she was a month old. She was from a very wealthy family, but not a terribly noble one. She was married to Henri, Duke of Orleans in 1530. Henri was not very interested in her as a wife, and openly took a mistress. They did manage to have several children, six of which survived infancy. Henri was absolutely in love with his mistress, but the did respect Catherine and her position. She was eventually crowned Queen Consort when Henri attained the throne. She survived her husband and several of her children. (Joan, Victoria, Francis II, Charles IX, and Henri III) Aside from that, she was a patron of the arts. She also was rumored to be very capable with poisons to eliminate her enemies, which is featured on the show Reign. She was accused of having ties to the occult, using witchcraft to conceive children and entertaining Nostradamus at her court. She was interested in astronomy and astrology, which added fuel to those rumors.

All I knew about Catherine before reading this book was what I saw on the television show Reign. I really wanted to read something that was a more historically accurate picture, and I happened to run across this book for .75! I really enjoyed learning about the actual woman behind the tv character. This book was an entertaining read, but full of facts as well. I enjoyed it. 

 Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg was born in the Kingdom of Prussia, part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1729. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt. She was educated by tutors, as was the custom for royals at the time. She mastered her native German language, and also French. She was something of a tomboy and loved swords. In fact, she taught herself how how to master the use of a sword. Despite her royal bloodlines, her family was not really wealthy. Her best chance at wealth and position was marriage.

Unfortunately for her, she was pawned off onto her second cousin, Peter, who she met when she was ten. She disliked him immediately. She thought he was wan and ugly, and she was not impressed with his desire to consume alcohol. Sophie was sent to Russia in 1744, marrying Peter in 1745, when she was sixteen. She learned the Russian language quickly, turning her into a multilingual princess. She also developed a fondness for reading. She converted to the Eastern Orthodox religion before her marriage, and as a result of her conversion, her name was changed to Catherine. The marriage was not consummated for years, but she and her husband had lovers on the side. Empress Elizabeth, Peter's mother, told them they must produce an heir, and she did produce a son-but the father has been doubted. Peter rose to the throne and ruled for only six months before dying. Catherine was crowned in 1762 and reigned until 1796. She expanded the borders of Russia, had a commercial treaty with Great Britain, regulated merchant activities, had several different wars occur, and a host of other policies. She was received mostly favorably by her people, and is generally seen as a competent monarch.

This book was very well researched. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't bored at all. One really interesting thing that I learned in this book was that Catherine was the reason for the creation of one of the most amazing pieces of jewelry in the world. The Imperial Crown of Russia was designed specifically for her coronation, and was used until the last of the Romanovs. I liked this book a lot. 

 This book covers the events in Petrograd, Russia, (the former St. Petersburg), in 1917. The February Revolution began when riots and strikes hit the city over the scarcity of food items. (I found it very interesting to note that this actually began in March, but Russia used the Julian calendar, so the dates are different from other sources.) Thousands of people took to the streets, destroying police stations and other buildings. Russian troops shot a lot of protesters- estimates are over 1,000. The result of this February Revolution was the deposition of Czar Nicolas II, who would later be murdered with his wife and children. In the meantime, a Provisional Government was formed to try to formulate a standard of living and proper laws that the people would be satisfied with. (Which went the way of the wind during the October Revolution.)

I really like Helen Rappaport's work. I have several of her books, and every one that I have read has been amazing. She is very detailed in her research and her writing. She puts the facts out in a way that is educational and entertaining. I always learn so much from her books. If you haven't read any of her work, you should. You are missing out. 

 This book finds Kay and Benton continuing their affair while investigating the drowning death of a reported in a restricted naval area. As the story progresses, we have a terrorist/cultish cell that is behind some major shenanagins. It seemed a little far fetched at the time when I read this book, but as I write this review there are plenty of similar events actually happening the the US. It isn't as far fetched as it once seemed. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. The ending of this book was a real let down for me. There were just too many unresolved things. Lucy is back to being extremely irritating in this book, and I wish she would cut the nonsense out. She has the potential to be an amazing character and is a whiz with the rapidly changing technology, but she just wants to be annoying about the whole thing. This was not one of my favorite books in the series, but it wasn't terrible either.