Thursday, February 23, 2012

Historical Fiction Tour Stop: The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose



Title: The Book of Lost Fragrances
Author: M.J. Rose
Publisher: Atria Books
Publish Date: March 13, 2012
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours







Why You're Reading This Book?:

  • You're a fiction fan.
  • You like your historical fiction with a side of mystery.
What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances—and of her mother’s suicide—she moves to America, leaving the company in the hands of her brother Robbie. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac discovers a secret the House of L’Etoile has been hiding since 1799: a scent that unlocks the mysteries of reincarnation. The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past."

My Two Cents:

This book takes you to America, Paris, China and Ancient Egypt. Add a scoop of the supernatural and a handful of mystery and a little bit of romance and you have all the makings of a book that will have you entranced. Once you get into the thick of the book (and it does take a bit to get there so be patient), you won't be able to put it down. The last third of the book found me straining my eyes to read on my Kindle up the dark escalators of the DC metro because I couldn't bear to put the book down quite yet.

The subject matter itself is fascinating. I didn't realize how important perfume had been to civilizations like the Egyptians. It's so interesting that such a thing is so enduring. I'm a bit of a scent junkie myself so to read about all of the different scents was pretty awesome. Jac L'etoile has an amazing nose in the book. She can smell just about anything. The way that Rose describes what Jac is experiencing throughout the book through scent is sort of a cool, different feature. Scent doesn't usually seem to make its way in to too many books. On the downside (but not really), the book made me sort of wish that it was a scratch and sniff book of some kind so I could experience some of the more amazing smells!

This is definitely one of those books where you're going to be anxious for all of the different story lines to come together and eventually they do fall together but it takes awhile for Rose to lay everything out and put everything all together. The wait is definitely worth it!!!  I've talked about my love of authors being able to keep readers on their toes with anticipation of how all of the story lines are going to come together. I thought I started to figure out what was going on sort of with how things were coming together but Rose still managed to surprise.  

Bottom line: This is a great book for history lovers who like a bit of mystery.



Don't Forget to Follow The Rest of the Tour:

 
Monday, February 20th
Review at Attack the Stacks
Guest Post at From the TBR Pile

Tuesday, February 21st
Review at By the By Books

Wednesday, February 22nd
Review at Reading the Past
Guest Post at Savvy Verse & Wit
Thursday, February 23rd
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Elle Lit
Guest Post at The Literate Housewife
Guest Post at Love of Books

Friday, February 24th
Review at From the TBR Pile
Monday, February 27th
Review at The Bookworm
Guest Post at Elle Lit
Guest Post at By the By Books

Tuesday, February 28th
Review & Guest Post at The Book Faery Reviews
Guest Post at A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, February 29th
Guest Post at Let Them Read Books
Thursday, March 1st
Review at A Novel Source
Guest Post at A Chick Who Reads

Friday, March 2nd
Guest Post at The True Book Addict

Monday, March 5th
Review at Workaday Reads
Guest Post at Reviews by Molly

Tuesday, March 6th
Review at The Book Garden
Author Interview at A Novel Source

Wednesday, March 7th
Review at Books Devoured
Review at Misfit Salon
Guest Post at Literary Marie

Thursday, March 8th
Guest Post at Workaday Reads
Guest Post at Mrs. Q Book Addict

Friday, March 9th
Review at Reviews by Molly

Monday, March 12th
Guest Post at Books Devoured

Tuesday, March 13th
Guest Post at Bippity Boppity Book

Wednesday, March 14th
Guest Post at Life in the Thumb
Guest Post at Book Fan Mary

Thursday, March 15th
Review at My Reading Room
Review at Man of La Book

Friday, March 16th
Guest Post at Daisy's Book Journal
Guest Post at To Read or Not to Read

Monday, March 19th
Review at Broken Teepee
Guest Post at Debbie's Book Bag

Tuesday, March 20th
Guest Post at My Reading Room

Wednesday, March 21st
Review at Unabridged Chick
Review at Love of Books
Guest Post at The Owl Bookmark Blog
Guest Post at Under the Boardwalk

Thursday, March 22nd
Guest Post at Man of La Book

Friday, March 23rd

Guest Post at Broken Teepee
Author Interview at Unabridged Chick

Monday, March 26th
Review at Booksessed
Review at Ravishing Reads

Tuesday, March 27th
Review at The Paris Blog
Guest Post at Girls just Reading
Guest Post at Kelsey's Book Corner

Wednesday, March 28th
Review at My Bookshelf
Guest Post at vvb32 Reads
Guest Post at CMash Loves to Read

Thursday, March 29th
Review at Ravishing Reads
Guest Post at Books and Needlepoint

Friday, March 30th
Review at vvb32 Reads
Guest Post at My Bookshelf

Monday, April 2nd
Review at Book Den
Guest Post at Diary of an Eccentric

Tuesday, April 3rd

Wednesday, April 4th
Guest Post at Book Den

Thursday, April 5th
Review at Bellas Novella
Review at Drey's Library
Guest Post at Layers of Thought
Guest Post at Alexa Loves Books

Friday, April 6th
Review at Mari Reads
Guest Post at CelticLady's Reviews
Monday, April 9th
Guest Post at Drey's Library

Tuesday, April 10th
Review at Book Nook Club
Guest Post at Mari Reads

Wednesday, April 11th
Review at My Bookish Ways
Guest Post at Reading in Winter

Thursday, April 12th
Review at Luxury Reading
Guest Post at Cheryl's Book Nook

Friday, April 13th
Guest Post at My Bookish Ways
Guest Post at Lesa's Book Critiques
Posted by Meg @ A Bookish Affair at 6:00 AM
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2 comments:

  1. AnneFebruary 23, 2012 at 9:50 AM

    I had a hard time putting this one down too, I couldn's wait to see how everything turned out. Great review!

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Welcome to A Bookish Affair. If you leave a comment, I will try to either reply here or on your site!

As of 6/6/2011, this book is now an awards free zone. While I appreciate the awards, I would rather stick to reviewing more great books for you than trying to fill the requirements.

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