The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

Ok so I've been to the Ursuline convent that's mentioned in the story... It's a museum now...which makes me sad. Did I know more about the stained glass windows and the statues than the tour guide...yes.
I love Bastian. Like. I just love him. So much. 
480 Pages

Jazz by Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Traces and talks about the evolution of jazz. Parishes of New Orleans sparked the fermenting of jazz, later Chicago became a magnet when southerners moved north. Kansas City was hot in the 30’s and LA was in the 50’s, but New York became the focus where jazz matured.

Audio:  29 hrs. 45 min.

Print:  619 pages

Ran Away by Barbara Hambly

A Turk living in 1830s New Orleans is accused of murdering two of his concubines. Someone saw him throw the women to their deaths from an upper story window. Enter Benjamin January- musician, doctor, and unofficial detective. It turns out that Benjamin knows the Turk, Huseyin Pasha, from his medical school days in Paris.  Hambly takes us back to Benjamin's earlier life in Paris. We get to know his first wife Ayasha and the role she played in the first encounter between Benjamin and Huseyin Pasha.  Once again, Benjamin uses his connections among the servants and working class of New Orleans to solve the murders.  An engrossing story with lots of historical detail.  256 pages.

"Touch & Geaux" by Abigail Roux

Book seven in the Cut & Run series mostly takes place in New Orleans where FBI Special Agents Zane Garrett and Ty Grady have gone to celebrate the birthday of a fallen comrade.  This fellow agent had also been in Ty's Marine Force Recon team Sidewinder, and those guys are there, too.  However, instead of celebrating the life of their buddy, Ty and Zane's undercover histories come back to haunt them in the forms of a crooked N.O. police sergeant, gris-gris bags, and Miami gangsters.

There were many anxious moments in this book.  Huge secrets kept by Ty involving his relationships with Zane and a former NIA spook are revealed, and much angst and heartbreak ensues.  Some of it was difficult to read since I have so much invested with Zane and Ty and their ongoing partnerships, both professional and personal.  Ty's Sidewinder team also feels betrayed when the truth of some of his deeds when they were stationed overseas years ago is revealed.  Action, suspense, shock, and negative emotions dominated this book.  There were also some great flashbacks that showed Ty and Zane's separate pasts - we see some of Ty's first military training and a trip to New Orleans taken by Zane with his late wife.  That latter scene is almost too good to believe for the event that occurs, but I still loved it.  And the ending scene - WOW - talk about a cliffhanger!  288 pages (Kindle edition).

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

I've enjoyed several books by this author focused on life in the Americas.  This one follows Zarite, known as Tete, the daughter of an African mother she never knew, and a white sailor, as she grows up in slavery in Saint-Domingue in the 1770s.  She is purchased by Toulouse Valmorain, to serve in his house and later as his concubine.  The book conveys well the horrid conditions of slavery in the sugar cane plantations that leads to a slave revolt.  When the Valmorain family escapes to Cuba, and later New Orleans, Tete accompanies the family and eventually gains her freedom.  Characters are connected in surprising ways, in some cases in ways that stretch credulity, but the overall picture of the time is very colorful, and you have to root for Tete to pull through.  Translated from the Spanish.  457 pages.

Fever Season by Barbara Hambly

Benjamin January is back in this sequel to A Free Man of Color.  It's summer and those that can afford to have traded the heat and sickness of New Orleans for the coolness of Mandeville by the lake.  The poor slaves and freed folks left behind are starting to disappear.  Benjamin is asked to find out where they've gone.  Have they died from cholera? Have they been hijacked and sold up the river? Another engrossing story of early days in New Orleans! 336 pages.

A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly

Benjamin January is a freed black man in 1830s New Orleans.  Though trained as a pianist and doctor in Paris, he can only find work as a musician.  When he is accused of murdering a beautiful but universally hated young woman, he must find the real killer or hang.  I loved learning all about the culture of freed people of color, creoles, and those pesky Americans in pre-Civil War New Orleans.  Great read! 412 pages.

"La Luxure: A Human Vampire Novel" by C.D. Hussey

Julia Brown is an engineer from Alton, IL, who's in New Orleans for a week-long conference.  Hoping to break out of her ordinary lifestyle, she chances into La Luxure, a Goth bar, and is immediately attracted to its owner, Armand Laroque.  He and the people patronizing his business seem more like vampires than Goths, but that only intrigues Julia, much to her surprise.

This was a free e-book that I downloaded because I like vampire stories.  It tended to drag in the middle just a bit but kept my interest through the end.  Julia's struggle between safe but boring life and her attraction to Armand was nicely done.  Plus, Columbia, MO, was mentioned as the home of another conference attendee, which was a nice surprise.  312 pages.

Dead and Buried by Barbara Hambly

Benjamin January is a free man of color in pre-Civil War New Orleans.  He has trained as a doctor in Paris but now has to earn his living as a musician. On the side, he helps various friends and acquaintances out of their troubles with the law. Benjamin gathers information by talking to house servants and field hands. As he solves the mystery, you get a taste of the issues of the day.  A great read!  250 pages.