Review & Giveaway: Madam in Lace by Gini Grossenbacher

Madam in Lace by Gini Grossenbacher

Publication Date: November 29, 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series, The American Madams, Book 3

They could be walking into a trap. The authorities made it their business to lie in wait for smugglers and thieves. Celeste wondered which tree could conceal them. With each question, her temperature rose. She no longer cared about whether anyone heard or saw her. Let the guards come. How dare she be used as a pawn in this game.

Montmartre, Paris, 1857. Unable to move on with her life until she finds her missing mother, twenty-year-old Celeste Bazin arrives from San Francisco in her native France. She takes up with the charming Carlo di Rudio and a band of Italian and French revolutionaries who wish to overthrow Emperor Napoleon III. If Celeste agrees to act as a courier to the Court of Compiègne, revolutionary Odéon de la Mere will provide her transportation where rumor says her mother has been living.

She embarks on a journey through France with the ruggedly handsome Odéon through checkpoints thick with imperial guards, secret agents, and devious spies. Celeste ignores the warnings and persists in her search despite growing fear that her mother might be a murderer. Only when she joins the plot to assassinate the emperor does she realize the power of her mother’s secrets and the depth of a love that transcends time.

Based on historical events and the author’s on-site research in France.

Available on Amazon

Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Madam in Lace is the 3rd book in Gini Grossenbacher's American Madams series, yet each title can be read as a stand-alone. This title focuses on Celeste and is set in 1850's Paris.

As the novel starts, Celeste's father is dead and her mother who ran a brothel has been arrested. Her mother tells Celeste to go to America to find a better life. Her cousin runs a brothel in New Orleans and she is sent there to work at the age of 14. Fast forward some years and Celeste has made some money and is back in Paris with friends Brianna and Edward. She is determined to find out what happened to her mother and sets out to do just that. Along the way, she meets with a group of resistance fighters including Carlo and Odeon who help her and keep her safe.

I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that it's an exciting and page-turning read! Celeste is a strong and determined young woman and it will require all of that and then some to find her mother.

It's apparent that the author did a lot of research and used her travels to Paris to help set the scene, which she does masterfully. I greatly enjoyed my time with this book and am looking forward to the others in the series. The author is also working on a new series that feature more incredible women from the past so be sure to keep an ear out for that. I know I will!

About the Author

  

California author Gini Grossenbacher was a successful high school English teacher until she abandoned grades and term papers, choosing to write historical novels instead. Now she leads small writing groups and coaches other writers. She loves researching the history behind her novels, and enjoys traveling to the setting where they take place. Her hobbies include needlepoint, nature walks, and Scrabble. She lives in the Sacramento Valley where she grew up, east of San Francisco.

For more information, please visit Gini's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of Madam in Lace by Gini Grossenbacher!

The giveaway is open internationally and ends on April 22nd. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Madam in Lace