Caroline Woods

This is well written historical fiction that keeps the tension high right up to the last page. It’s about an ambitious young woman who gets caught up in the Cold War intrigue of the early ‘50s. She’s talented and intelligent but the execs at the magazine start-up she contributes to don’t take her seriously - to the point that they run her articles under a man’s name and ‘edit out’ key elements in her writing to publish later under their own bylines. And not only that but why does the CIA care about the science fiction romance she’s working on in her spare time? Just how many strings are they pulling in the publishing industry anyway?
Be sure not to miss the Author’s Note at the end that explains how the CIA’s Cold War propaganda machine inspired this novel – in fact, I’d say read it first. Also, check out this tiktoc https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdpL1Rnt/ video another reviewer posted. It really captures the book’s vibe. My thanks to the publisher and Goodreads Giveaways for the chance to review a book that wouldn’t have been on my radar and now might be the best one I read this year.… (mere)

Louise is a writer. She has published several works under a male pseudonym for her boyfriend’s magazine. She is also writing a science fiction novel which is showing great promise. With her love life and her professional life going so well, it comes as a shock when she overhears a conversation. So, she starts to investigate and and ends up in dangerous territory.

Now, I am in the minority on this book. I read a few reviews and a lot of people loved this book. I, however, did not. This is a story which I enjoyed while I was reading it but, if I ever put it down, I didn’t want to pick it back up. I did not like either one of the main characters. Louise is wishy washy and Joe is just not a nice man. He does his best to cut Louise down to size on several occasions even going behind her back to make sure she didn’t achieve her goals and that just did not sit well with me.

I am also not a fan of the story within a story format. We get to read Louise’s novel throughout this novel. I will be honest…I skimmed a good bit of that part.

That being said…there was still something about this story which kept me reading. I did enjoy the name dropping and reading about Hemingway. I also enjoyed the time period and the mystery surrounding Joe.

Need a glamorous historical fiction novel…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.… (mere)

Set in New York City in 1953, this is a frothy (I thought!) story about a young journalist making her way through a man's world in publishing. Louise Leithauser is writing articles for her boyfriend's new literary magazine, Downtown, under a male pseudonym, of course. She's also writing a science fiction romance on the side, The Lunar Housewife. I missed the part that this was historical fiction so imagine my surprise when I read the author's notes that this book was inspired by the true story of the CIA's use of American arts and letters as propaganda during the Cold War. Still a quick fun read!… (mere)