Tag: Roseanna M White

18 December 2024

Bookish Question #362 | What are your top 10 books for 2024?

Ten? You want me to pick just ten?

In past years, I’ve focused on my list (and my reading) on contemporary Christian romance. This year, I’ve branched out with my reading, so my list includes a combination of fiction and nonfiction from Christian and general market authors.

So here are ten of the most memorable books I’ve read this year, in no particular order:

Broker of Lies (Travis Brock #1) by Steven James, for the unique and intriguing hero.
Across the Ages by Gabrielle Meyer, for yet another installment in this fabulous dual-timeline series with a deep faith thread.
An Honorable Deception by Roseanna M White, for her fascinating characters (and I especially loved her crossover characters)
So Into You by Kathleen Fuller, a unique Christian romance featuring an introverted YouTube influencer and an ex-con.
Dead Ahead by Susan J Bruce, an enjoyable cozy mystery set in South Australia.
The Mapmaker’s Secret by Jennifer Mistmorgan, a fascinating World War II romance.
Trust and Trickery by Christine Dillon, for bringing a lesser-known Old Testament story to life.
Always and Forever, Elizabeth by Emily Dana Boutrous, for a second-chance romance that deals with the sensitive topic of spousal abuse.
Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski, a book I wish I’d read years ago because prevention is better than cure.
You Had Me At Halo by Amanda Ashby, a general market clean rom-com in which the afterlife seems to be run by the English civil service (no, this one isn’t Christian but it gave me a good laugh).

Do you make a top 10 (or top 5) list each year? What books are on your list?

21 October 2024

Book Review | An Honorable Deception (Imposters #3) by Roseanna M White

An Honorable Deception brings back the Imposters, the secret private investigation agency created by Lord Yates Fairfax and his sister, Lady Marigold, their cousin Graham, and Gemma, the daughter of the family’s former steward.

The story starts with Yates in the church, meeting his prospective client under cover of the confessional box. But their meeting doesn’t go as planned, and his new client is shot as she leaves the church.

Yates takes Lady Alethia home to keep her safe, and places her in the care of his sister as they investigate who could have harmed Lady Alethia and the whereabouts of her missing ayah (nanny).

The story takes us straight back to the Fairfax family home in Northumberland, which gives us a chance to meet the menagerie again

That’s a lot of fun.

Lord Yates Merritt, next-door neigbour Lady Lavinia Hemming, and client Lady Alethia Barremore are all point of view characters, which provides the romantic tension: who will Yates choose? This could have been really awkward, but White handled it brilliantly and I was completely satisfied with the result.

And there was also the suspense element of the plot: who has kidnapped the ayah? Who shot Lady Alethia? What is the secret she’s hiding? These questions were all answered with perfect timing and the perfect amount of information.

Yes, I loved An Honorable Deception.

I loved Yates from A Beautiful Disguise, where we first met Lavinia. I love the characters and the way they mix skill, intelligence, humour, and a genuine Christian faith. I loved the way the romance worked out perfectly, even if it didn’t work out the way I’d originally anticipated.

An Honourable Deception is the third book in Roseanne M White’s The Imposters series, and I hope weget to see more of Yates, Marigold, and the rest of the Imposters. If you’re read White’s other historical romances set in England, you’ll recognize a few of the characters who pop up toward the end of An Honourable Deception, like Barclay. I’d love to read a crossover series Upstairs Downstairs or Downton Abbey style with Yates, Barclay, Mr. V, and their associates … hint hint.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for reivew.

About Roseanna M White

Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna has a slew of historical novels available, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her new British series. She lives with her family in West Virginia.

Find Roseanna M White online at:

About An Honorable Deception

As the leader of elite private investigative firm the Imposters, Lord Yates Fairfax has made an art of concealing his identity. But when his newest client, the beautiful Lady Alethia Barremore, is shot while leaving their meeting, he throws caution to the wind and rushes to her aid. Though Lady Alethia thought she was only looking for her missing former nanny, she has clearly stumbled upon dangerous secrets.

Lady Lavinia Hemming suspects there’s more to her oldest friends than they’re willing to admit, and when she stumbles upon the truth that they’re the Imposters, she recruits herself into the firm. Happy as she is for the distraction of an investigation, Lavinia’s own family secrets continue to haunt her. And the one thing to bring laughter back into her life–her friendship with Yates–lands her squarely on the bad side of her best friend, his sister.

Tormented by a past that she doesn’t dare to voice aloud, Lady Alethia does what she can to help her handsome host, her new friends, and the investigators. But as clues lead them deeper into the darkest of society’s secrets, Alethia, Yates, and Lavinia soon learn anew that the gentry isn’t always noble . . . and truth isn’t always honorable.

Find An Honorable Deception online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

17 September 2024

Bookish Question #349 | Who are your favourite historical fiction authors and why?

I am so glad this question is phrased as a plural, because that means I can have more than one favourite historical fiction author.

There’s no way I could choose just one!

So I have chosen five. I’ve also chosen a favourite book I think you should start with if you haven’t read their work before.

Elizabeth Camden

Elizabeth Camden’s novels are mostly set in the USA during the Gilded Age. I enjoy Elizabeth Camden’s novels because she tends to write intelligent heroines who can think for themselves, and who often have an unusual career for the time.

If you haven’t read any of Elizabeth Camden’s novels, I recommend With Every Breath, in which the characters are trying to find the cure for tuberculosis.

Christine Dillon

Christine Dillon’s first published books were contemporary Christian fiction, starting with Grace in Strange Disguise. She’s now moved to Biblical fiction, which is what she started writing. I love her books because of their depth in terms of plot, character, and Christian principles.

If you haven’t read any of Christine Dillon’s books, I recommend Plagues and Papyrus, a unique take on the familiar story of the ten plagues of Egypt.

Gabrielle Meyer

Gabrielle Meyer is a prolific author who is probably best known for her many Love Inspired titles or her American Brides series. But I discovered her through the absolutely brilliant Timeless series, featuring women who live in two (or three) times at once …

This is a series that’s best read in order, so you will want to start with When the Day Comes.

Carolyn Miller

I have always had a soft spot for Regency Romance (blame Georgette Heyer!), but there were many years where it was difficult to find any good Christian titles. There are a lot more choices now, but Carolyn Miller remains my favourite because her novels have a strong Christian thread.

If you haven’t read any of Carolyn’s Christian Regency Romances, I recommend starting at the beginning with The Ellusive Miss Ellison, the first in her A Legacy of Grace series.

Roseanna M White

Finally, I have always had a fascination for codes and investigations, so I’ve loved all Roseanna M White’s spy and cypher stories, especially The Number of Love, the first in her Codebreakers series.

However, my latest favourite Roseanna M White series is A Beautiful Disguise, the first in her Imposters series.

What about you? Who is your favourite historical fiction author, and why?

4 March 2024

Book Review | A Noble Scheme (Imposters #2) by Roseanna M White

This is the second book in Roseanna M White’s The Imposters series, following A Beautiful Disguise. I do suggest reading that first, because it is the better book (well, I preferred A Beautiful Disguise), and because it introduces The Imposters, Inc so well.

A Noble Scheme has The Imposters undertaking a pro bono case to rescue a boy kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity.

The story focusses on Gemma, a gossip columnist, and Graham, an architect. A Beautiful Disguise made it apparent that there was a history between the two, and hints at a romance gone wrong. A Noble Scheme explores the origins of their enmity.

Gemma kept thinking back to the event a year earlier where Graham broke her trust and her heart. It was obvious she knew what had happened, but her recollections were frustratingly vague, and the reader doesn’t find out what actually happened until close to the halfway point. I could understand her not wanting to think about what had happened … but she was thinking about it, and she was making that clear in her viewpoint scenes, so it felt unnatural for her to not reveal the secret of the event. Keeping the secret was probably intended to increase the tension, but it just increased my frustration.

Graham is also suffering. He lost Gemma, and he lost his faith. He still believes in God, but he doubts God’s love and doubts God’s ability or perhaps His willingness to care for us. I was initially impressed, because I’m always keen to read Christian fiction that tackles life’s hard questions.

And “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” is a hard question.

But my curiosity about how Gemma and Graham would discover the answer to the hard question was overshadowed by the fact I didn’t know what had happened to cause them to feel this way. When the secret was finally revealed, it did make sense in the context of the story, and it was a sufficiently important event that I could see it causing the rift between them. However, it also fundamentally changed the tone of the story.

It also makes this review hard to write.

Reviews shouldn’t contain spoilers, yet the big secret twists the second-chance romance plot into a related trope that not all readers like (marriage reconciliation), and it also introduces an event that some readers may feel needs a trigger warning (no, it’s not sexual assault or similar act of violence). But because the big reveal didn’t happen until around the halfway point and isn’t even hinted at in the book description, would sharing that information be considered a spoiler? I think so … but I also think readers should know what they are getting. If you want to know, highlight the white text below so you can read it:

*Spoiler Alert”

A Noble Scheme is a marriage reconciliation story that also deals with the death of a small child, Gemma and Graham’s son.

*End Spoiler Alert*

Aside from that, A Noble Scheme was excellent. I enjoyed seeing more of Lady Meredith and her brother (although I would have liked some scenes set in their ancestral home, and I would have liked to see Sir Merritt a little more). The plot was excellent, and I loved the way Gemma was able to use the example of God and Jesus to bring Graham back to God.

Overall, A Noble Scheme is a solid story, but I did prefer A Beautiful Disguise.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Roseanna M White

Find Roseanna M White online at:

About A Noble Scheme

Gemma Parks is known throughout high society as G. M. Parker, a columnist renowned for her commentary on the cream of society. Behind the scenes, she uses her talent to aid the Imposters in their investigations by gathering intel at events and providing alibis for the elite firm’s members through her columns. Yet her clandestine work would be more exhilarating if it weren’t for the constant presence of the gentleman who broke her heart.

Graham Wharton has never had eyes for anyone but Gemma, and she left his soul in tatters when she walked away from him. When the Imposters take on a new job to recover a kidnapped boy mistaken for his aristocratic cousin, Graham is determined to use the time with Gemma not only to restore the missing boy, but also to win back the only woman he’s ever loved. As they trace the clues laid out before them, Graham must devise a noble scheme to save the boy’s life and heal their hearts.

Find A Noble Scheme online at:

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Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

28 August 2023

Book Review | A Beautiful Disguise (Imposters #1) by Roseanna M White

Roseanna M White’s historical fiction has ranged from Biblical fiction to Gilded Age America to Edwardian England. My favourite stories are her romantic suspense stories set in England and which feature spies or investigators.

I’m thrilled to see her new series is back in my favourite sub-genre.

A Beautiful Disguise is the first in the Impostors series, and features Lady Marigold Fairfax, her brother, Lord Yates Fairfax, and the rest of their ragtag household. They make up the Impostors, a group of incognito private investigators who use their position in society–and their unconventional skills and talents–to ferret out information people need to know.

They are commissioned by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Merritt Livingstone to discover who Lord Hemming is corresponding with in Germany, England’s enemy and why.

We’re dropped straight into the story, as Marigold and Yates use their acrobatic skills to eavesdrop on a conversation that solves their current case, and the pace never lets up, taking us from London to a rugged coastal home with some unexpected residents.

Lady Marigold is my favourite kind of heroine.

She’s intelligent and brave and will do anything for her family and friends. She has a range of unusual skills, including the curious ability to be both the centre of attention and barely noticed. Sir Merrit notices her, and for all the right reasons. I’m always a fan of a man who notices and values the heroine’s intelligence, personality, and faith, rather than her looks and station in life.

But Marigold is obviously hiding a secret, so there’s the ongoing tension of if and how Merrit will find out, and how he will react. I have to say I thought that was brilliantly done, and spoke will to both their characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching these two characters fall for each other, and I am looking forward to the next story in the series.

A Beautiful Disguise has all the same strengths as White’s Shadows over England and Codebreakers trilogies: a closeknit group of friends and family working together to serve their country, and finding love along the way.

Recommended for fans of historical Christian romantic suspense, and circuses.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Roseanna M White

Find Roseanna M White online at:

About A Beautiful Disguise

In Edwardian London, not all that glitters is gold as a lady and an intelligence officer’s secret mission take them from the city’s dazzling ballrooms to its covert intelligence offices.

Sir Merritt Livingstone has spent a decade serving the monarch in the field, but when pneumonia lands him behind a desk in the War Office Intelligence Division just as they’re creating a new secret intelligence branch, he’s intent on showing his worth. He suspects an aristocrat of leaking information to Germany as tensions mount between the two countries, but he needs someone to help him prove it, so he turns to The Imposters, Ltd. No one knows who they are, but their results are beyond compare.

Left with an estate on the brink of bankruptcy after their father’s death, Lady Marigold Fairfax and her brother open a private investigation firm for the elite to spy on the elite. Dubbed The Imposters, Ltd., their anonymous group soon becomes the go-to for the crème of society who want answers delivered surreptitiously. But the many secrets Marigold learns about her peers pale in comparison to her shock when she and her brother are hired to investigate her best friend’s father as a potential traitor.

Lady Marigold is determined to discover the truth for her friend’s sake, and she’s more determined still to keep her heart from getting involved with this enigmatic new client . . . who can’t possibly be as noble as he seems.

Find A Beautiful Disguise online at:

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Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

1 February 2021

Book Review | Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M White

I’m a big fan of Roseanna M White’s historical romances. I’ve enjoyed her series of spy novels, set against the backdrop of various US conflicts. I especially enjoyed her trilogies set in and around World War I London. So I was on the lookout for her next series.

But I wasn’t expecting a series set in the South during the American Civil War.

It’s not my favourite setting in terms of time or place, because while they claimed the South claimed the war was over the state’s rights to govern themselves, it comes back to their right to own slaves. If the war was merely around state’s rights, there would have been white slaves as well as black slaves, and we wouldn’t still see the effects of slavery and racism 150 years later.

As such, I found it difficult to empathise with either of the main characters. Cordelia is a nice enough young lady, but she is sheltered and naïve (to the point where she’s noticed she and her slave have similar unusual features, but hasn’t realised her slave is actually her half-sister).

Phineas Dunn is a nice enough young man, but has completely bought into the Southern lie that black slaves are somehow subhuman (despite the presence of mixed-race slaves and apparent acceptance of how mixed-race slaves are conceived).

I guess both characters were products of their upbringing.

Neither had ever been put in a situation where those beliefs might be challenged. As a result, I wasn’t interested in either character at first. But I was interested in two of the black characters, Selina and Luther, and the main reason I kept reading was to find out what happened to them.

I’m glad I pushed through, because the second half of the Dreams of Savannah was excellent. Delia and Phin changed and grew as people, there was a solid underlying Christian message, and I realised I was interested in finding out whether Delia and Phin would get their happy-ever-after, against the wishes of Delia’s father.

While I'm not a big fan of American Civil War stories, Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M White has a strong and worthy message, and is worthwhile reading. #ChristianFiction #BookReview Share on X

While this is never going to be my favourite Roseanna M White story, the writing is excellent, the story has a strong and worthy message, and is worthwhile reading.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Roseanna M White

Find Roseanna M White online at:

About Dreams of Savannah

Cordelia Owens can weave a hopeful dream around anything and is well used to winning the hearts of everyone in Savannah with her whimsy. Even when she receives word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, she clings to hope and comes up with many a romantic tale of his eventual homecoming to reassure his mother and sister.

But Phineas Dunn finds nothing redemptive in the first horrors of war. Struggling for months to make it home alive, he returns to Savannah injured and cynical, and all too sure that he is not the hero Cordelia seems determined to make him. Matters of black and white don’t seem so simple anymore to Phin, and despite her best efforts, Delia’s smiles can’t erase all the complications in his life. And when Fort Pulaski falls and the future wavers, they both must decide where the dreams of a new America will take them, and if they will go together.

Find Dreams of Savannah online at:

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Read the introduction to Dreams of Savannah below:

15 January 2021

First Line Friday | Week 168 | Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M White

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M White. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About Dreams of Savannah

Find Dreams of Savannah online at:

Amazon | Bookbub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

7 September 2020

Book Review | Portrait of Loyalty (Codebreakers #3) by Roseanna M White

Lilian Blackwell spends her days volunteering in Charing Cross Hospital … at least, that’s what her mother thinks. She actually spends her afternoons in the basement of the Admiralty building, retouching and manipulating photographs to be used in the war effort. Propaganda—something Lily and her mother have opposing views on.

Cryptographer Zivon Marin escapes Russia in the fourth year of World War I, escaping the rise of the Bolsheviks … and the murder of his fiance. He ends up in London, working for the British Admiralty, although he doesn’t think the British trust him, especially not after certain photographs show up.

The two meet when Lily’s father invites Marin home for dinner, and start getting to know each other. But it’s not an easy relationship, as the Admiralty aren’t sure if they can trust Marin, as it’s not clear which side of the Russian Revolution he supports. What does become clear is that he is on one side … and his brother is on the other, which places Marin in danger …

Portrait of Loyalty brings in more history than simply the backdrop of World War I, and that is a strength.

The other nod to history (which I should have seen coming) is the Spanish Flu arriving in London from Kansas via half of Europe. And that’s not pretty, particularly given what we now know about living through a pandemic. So if you’re one of the people avoiding pandemic books, you might want to wait before reading Portrait of Loyalty.

Overall, Portrait of Loyalty is another excellent installment in Roseanna M White’s Codebreaker series. The characters are people of faith, so it’s clearly Christian fiction. It has romance, suspense, and tragedy, and the writing is excellent.

A Portrait of Loyalty is yet another brilliant World War I Christian romance from Roseanna M White. Recommended! #ChristianFiction Share on X

It’s a standalone novel, so you don’t have to have read earlier books in the series to enjoy this one. However, if you have, you’ll recognise some characters. Recommended for fans of historical fiction.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Roseanna M White

Find Roseanna M White online at:

About A Portrait of Loyalty

Zivon Marin was one of Russia’s top cryptographers until the October Revolution tore apart his world. Forced to flee to England after speaking out against Lenin, Zivon is driven by a growing anger and determined to offer his services to the Brits. But never far from his mind is his brother, whom Zivon fears died in the train crash that separated them.

Lily Blackwell sees the world best through the lens of a camera and possesses unsurpassed skill when it comes to retouching and re-creating photographs. With her father’s connections in propaganda, she’s recruited to the intelligence division, even though her mother would disapprove if she ever found out.

After Captain Blackwell invites Zivon to dinner one evening, a friendship blooms between him and Lily that soon takes over their hearts. But both have secrets they’re unwilling to share, and neither is entirely sure they can trust the other. When Zivon’s loyalties are called into question, proving him honest is about more than one couple’s future dreams–it becomes a matter of ending the war.

Find A Portrait of Loyalty online at:

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And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

14 August 2020

First Line Friday | Week 148 | A Heart’s Revolution by Roseanna M White

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from A Heart’s Revolution by Roseanna M White. Here’s the first line of Chapter One:

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About A Heart’s Revolution

In 1783 peace has been declared, but war still rages in the heart of Lark Benton.

Never did Lark think she’d want to escape Emerson Fielding, the man she’s loved all her life. But when he betrays her, she flees Williamsburg for Annapolis, taking refuge in the nation’s temporary capital. There Lark throws herself into a new circle of friends who force her to examine all she believes.

Emerson follows, determined to reclaim his betrothed. Surprised when she refuses to return with him, he realizes that in this new nation he has come to call his own, duty is no longer enough. He must learn to open his heart and soul to something greater—before he loses all he should have been fighting to hold.

(Actually, I’m still working my way through my to-read pile, and I have the 2011 paperback version of this, titled Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland.)

You can find A Heart’s Revolution online at:

Amazon | Goodreads

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

7 April 2020

Bookish Question #149 | What novels have you read and recommend that feature Easter?

Lots of people write (and lots more read) Christmas stories. Valentine’s Day stories are also popular, especially in romance. But I can’t think of many novels that feature Easter as a central plot point. Sure, several take place in March/April, but there is more to Easter than roast lamb and hot cross buns on Good Friday, and Easter egg hunts on Easter Sunday.

The only novel I can think of that features Easter is A Stray Drop of Blood by Roseanna M White. It’s one of the many books on my to-read pile … Maybe I’ll get to it over Easter.

What novels can you think of that feature Easter? What do you recommend I check out?