Virtual Book Tour & #Giveaway for The Secret Language of Stones by M.J. Rose

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour, presented by France Book Tours, for The Secret Language of Stones by M.J. Rose.  Please leave a comment or question for M.J. to let her know you stopped by.  You may enter the tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You may follow all of the stops on the tour by clicking on the banner above.  The more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.  Good Luck!

The Secret Language of Stones

By M.J. Rose

The Daughters of La Lune, Book 2

Publisher:  Atria/Simon&Schuster

Release Date: July 19, 2016

Genre: Historical/Paranormal/Occult

Length: 320 Pages

ISBN: 978-1476778099

ASIN: B0176M3XQ2

Buy the book:  Amazon  |  Barnes& Noble  | Indiebound | Books A Million| Simon & Schuster

About the book:

AS WORLD WAR I RAGES AND THE ROMANOV DYNASTY REACHES ITS SUDDEN, BRUTAL END, A YOUNG JEWELRY MAKER DISCOVERS LOVE, PASSION, AND HER OWN HEALING POWERS IN THIS RICH AND ROMANTIC NOVEL BY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR M.J. ROSE.

Nestled deep within Paris’s historic Palais Royal, safe inside La Fantasie Russie’s once-bustling workshop, young, ambitious Opaline Duplessi spends her days making trench watches for soldiers at the front and mourning jewelry for the mothers, wives, and lovers of those who have fallen. Opaline has a rare gift, a form of lithomancy that allows her to translate the energy emanating from stones. Certain gemstones enable her to receive messages from beyond. In her mind, she is no mystic, but merely a messenger giving voice to soldiers who died before they were able to properly express themselves to loved ones. Until one day, one of these fallen soldiers communicates a message—directly to her. So begins a dangerous journey that will take Opaline into the darkest corners of wartime Paris and across the English Channel, where the exiled Romanov dowager empress is waiting to discover the fate of her family.

Full of romance, seduction, and a love so powerful it reaches beyond the grave, The Secret Language of Stones is yet another “entrancing read that will long be savored” (Library Journal, starred review).

“Spellbinding.” — Alyson Richman, author of The Lost Wife

*****

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M.J. Rose grew up in New York City exploring the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum and the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park —and reading her mother’s favorite books before she was allowed.

She is the author of more than a dozen novels, the co-president and founding board member of International Thriller Writers, and the founder of the first marketing company for authors, AuthorBuzz.com.

She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Please visit her website, her blog: Museum of Mysteries

Subscribe to her mailinglist and get information about new releases, free book downloads, contests, excerpts and more.

Or send an email to TheFictionofMJRose-subscribe at yahoogroups dot com

To send M.J. a message and/or request a signed bookplate, send an email to mjroseauthor at gmail dot com

Follow her on Facebook and Twitter

 A gifted storyteller M.J. Rose takes us back to Paris during World War I in The Secret Language of Stones, the second book in The Daughters of La Lune series.  Melding historical fiction, romance, and paranormal/occult gifts, Ms. Rose has created a world with multi-faceted characters, intriguing mysteries and an almost fantasy like romance.  Although this book can be read on its own, to really enjoy the book I personally recommend reading The Witch of Painted Sorrows first. 

Ms. Rose does a wonderful job introducing the primary character, Opaline Duplessi, right from the start.  An apprentice jeweler, Opaline has inherited a rare gift from her mother, a form of lithomancy/necromancy.  Able to receive messages from the precious stones she works with, Opaline uses her talents to pass on messages from the dead to their loved ones, and she’s got plenty to work with living in Paris during World War I.  I really liked Opaline’s character right from the start, she’s determined not to make the same mistakes with the gifts she’s inherited from her mother, Sandrine (the main character in The Witch of Painted Sorrows) and works to make sure her gift doesn’t drag her into the darkness. 

The secondary characters are also well developed and I really enjoyed getting to know Monsieur Orloff, the master jeweler Opaline goes to work for, his wife Anna and their son Grigori.  Russian ex-patriots living in Paris, they secretly work to gather funds, and whatever else they can, to free the Russian Royal Family from the Bolsheviks and restore the Russian monarchy so they can go home.  I enjoyed the occasional glimpses we got of Sandrine, Opaline’s mother, and her continued attempts to get Opaline to embrace and build on her gifts from La Lune. 

Using the darkness of World War I, and the political, social and emotional upheaval it caused, Ms. Rose makes you feel as if you are in Paris through one if it’s most difficult periods.  Air raids, food shortages, severely wounded soldiers, and the fear of the unknown, all become a part of daily life.  Still, this is Paris and Ms. Rose reminds us of its beauty and charm, a beauty and charm that no war can fully destroy.  The story’s pace is fairly even, though there are some points that were a little slow, and Ms. Rose’s voice as an author is well established and highly enjoyable.

The romantic aspect of the story is different and interesting because Opaline has several relationships throughout the book.  And not all of them are with flesh and blood characters – and that’s all I’ll say about that because I don’t want to give away too much.  I will say that the story has a really great ending and that the epilogue really brought things together. 

Will Opaline learn to embrace all of her gift or will she only dabble with the “magick” she has inherited from her family?  Will she become an accidental victim of the political machinations of her friends and mentor?  And will she find the love she’s looking for?  You’ll have to read The Secret Language of Stones to find out.  I really enjoyed this installment in the La Lune series and hope we get to read about both Opaline and Sandrine’s future.

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Crowns

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