The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose is the tale of mother and daughter written in two time periods in alternating chapters. Sofiya is the mother who in 1917 worked as a nurse in Petrograd along with her dear friend, the Grand Duchess Olga, daughter of the Tsar. Sofiya meets an injured soldier who becomes the love of her life. But Sofiya is also dealing with how the revolution is effecting her friend Olga.
In 1947, Isobelle, her daughter, is working as an architect in the United States and struggling to be taken seriously when her mother is hit by a car and killed. When Isobelle finally decides to renovate the apartment she had shared with her mother, she discovers secrets, and the skeleton of a tiara, her mother had kept from her. Isobelle goes on a quest trying to unlock the secrets of her mother's life.
The alternating chapters slowly reveal Sofiya's life to her daughter and the reader. Some of the early chapters were slow moving but once the mystery of the tiara picks up, I didn't want to put the book down.

This book combines two of my favorite things - expensive jewelry and history, plus an engaging mystery.

Isobelle is renovating her mother’s apartment after her death and finds a tiara frame hidden in the wall along with a receipt for the sale of the diamonds. Her mother, who fled Russia while six months pregnant, right around the time that the tsar was executed, had always refused to talk about her life before she immigrated to U.S. or Isobelle’s father. Isobelle goes on a quest for answers as to how a tiara from the Imperial jewels might have come into her mother’s possession.

Isobelle is a tough-as-nails architect determined to make it in a man’s world. When her quest leads her to a handsome jeweler, she wonders if she can risk being vulnerable with him. I liked Isobelle and how involved she got in her quest.

The story has two narrators: Isobelle in 1948, just after WWII, and her mom, Sofiya, in Russia in 1915. This book included lots of details about the grand palaces and historical jewelry, and I was here for it! I liked the Romanov tie-in without it being explicitly about the Romanovs.

This was an enjoyable historical mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Author M.J. Rose takes the reader down two paths at once in this historical fiction, allowing two female protagonists to each tell us their story.

“The Last Tiara” was my first M.J. Rose novel, and I found it to be a very polished tale told by the two women, each contributing their part in a story that takes decades to fully evolve.

Sofiya’s tale begins in Russia in 1917. She is returning to the Winter Palace, once home to the Tsar and now a hospital for wounded Russian soldiers. Sofiya is joined by the Tsar’s daughters, childhood friends due to her mother being a private tutor for the princesses.

Isobelle is Sofiya’s daughter and lives in America. Her story begins in the 1940s. Isobelle is an architect, a woman struggling to find her place in what is predominantly a man’s world. Her mother has passed, and Isobelle decides to renovate the home which is now hers. Behind the wallpaper she discovers a box with a tiara inside. Thus begins the mystery.

Sofiya did not share much information with her daughter, not about the tiara and very little about Isobelle’s father. Isobelle has little choice but to pursue the few clues she has, which could easily lead to dead ends. Both women have a love interest, allowing the author to inject a romantic element into the story. There is enough romance to satisfy those who enjoy that as part of a story, but not enough to chase away someone like myself who usually steers clear of romance novels. The two stories had enough excitement to keep my interest through the entire book.

Ms. Rose has based the premise of her book on fact, lending an air of reality to the story. The novel addresses some of the issues of the day and how they affect the characters. I found the tale to be woven with care, tightly knit and never allowing any of the dangling threads to go unanswered. Highly recommended. Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this novel.

This novel alternates between two timelines: the last days of the tsar of Russia and the the forties after World War II. The chapters alternate between mother and daughter. In the mother's chapters, we find out how the mother receives the tiara and loses the love of her life. In the daughter's, we go along as she learns about her family's history that her mother kept from her and the date of her father. While this isn't my normal genre (cozy mysteries), I enjoyed this novel enough that I want to read more books by this author.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s 1948 and Isobelle Moon has been called back to New York after her mother’s sudden death. Preparing their apartment for renovation, she discovers a tiara, jewels removed, hidden behind a wall. She takes the tiara to the jewelry shop that bought the missing jewels decades earlier, and finds herself caught up in thirty year old mystery that may lead her to her father, who she believed died before her birth.

Sofiya Petrovitch is an art restorer by training but during World War I, works in a St. Petersburg hospital. There she meets and falls in love with a soldier recovering from a head wound that has stolen his memory. As he pieces together his past, the two continue their love affair as Russia collapses into revolution around them. Pregnant, Sofiya flees Russia at her father’s insistence, never telling her daughter the truth about her past.

Rich with historical details and well-researched settings, THE LAST TIARA is an evocative voyage into post-WW II Manhattan and 1910s-1920s Russia. I wanted to crawl into this book—at least the 1940s part. The details of the privations of revolution-era Russia were a bit too vivid. #TheLastTiara #NetGalley

M.J. Rose crafts this exquisite story just as wonderfully as a priceless Faberge egg ... or a certain sapphire-studded tiara...

The dual timelines were composed extremely well, and the writing is simply beautiful. M.J. Rose's most recent works are just stellar, and this book is no exception. This story pulled me in and I fell in love with all the descriptions of the jewelry. I loved the love stories too!

Thank you, Netgalley, for my arc!

The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose has a beautiful cover and a beautiful story underneath the cover. I have been a fan of Rose since I read Tiffany Blues a couple of years ago. Historical fiction, mystery, romance make The Last Tiara a beautiful story. Set in two time periods Sofiya Petrovitch is a friend of Grand Dutchess Olga and they both are volunteering in the Winter Palace which has been made into a hospital for soldiers who are hurt in the war in 1915. The second time period is set in New York where Sofiya’s daughter, Isobelle, is working in an architectural firm in 1948.

Isobelle is recovering from her mother’s death and is remodeling their apartment. She finds a tiara ( minus the jewels) inside a wall in her mother’s bedroom. The quest is set to find out something about the Tiara. She has two receipts from a jeweler that she also found. She makes an appointment with the grandson of the jeweler, Jules, to see if he has any information for her.

I loved reading about the two time periods. Both mother and daughter suffered and both made lives for themselves. I loved the twists and turns that follow. I was completely surprised with the ending. I do wonder if Rose has plans for a sequel to delve into the Midas Society and the world of Jules and Isobelle. Thank you Blue Box Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

The Last Tiara by MJ Rose is a story of mystery and discovery. In 1948, Isobelle Moon lost her mother, Sophia, when she was hit by a car as she stepped off the curb into the street. As she begins to renovate their apartment, she discovers her mother’s hidden treasures, a silver tiara without any jewels. Her mother refused to talk about her life in Russia before she immigrated to American after World War I. Isobelle begins to ask questions about the tiara and its ties to her mother, trying to unravel the mystery around it and her mother. Soon she meets Jules Reed, a jeweler who runs his grandfather’s jewelry shop. Together they begin to trace the tiara’s origins. Will Isobelle find the answers she’s looking for? Will she discover why her mother didn’t want to talk about her life before America? The story switches between Isobelle in 1948 and her mother in 1915 Russia as the two timelines reveal the horrors of World War I and the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution that drove Sophia to leave everything she had to come to America.
The Last Tiara is an interesting look at the stories of World War I in Russia. As most books featuring World War I focus on the stories of the English, Americans and even the French, they don’t really look at the other countries who fought in the war too. The tiara at the center of the story really did exist. It was a part of the Imperial Jewels of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, who were brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918. The tiara was photographed and cataloged in the 1920s but it has not been seen since. Where did it go? That’s the question Ms. Rose sets out to answer, creating a story of a mother escaping Russia and making a life with her daughter in America. Overall, I enjoyed The Last Tiara. It is a story of a mother and daughter and the mysteries behind. I enjoyed learning more about the Bolshevik Revolution and its impact on Russia and her people. I enjoyed as Isobelle discovered who her mother was before she was born and the pain she kept hidden. I recommend The Last Tiara.

The Last Tiara is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

First and foremost, I would like to thank NetGalley and Blue Box Press for providing me with an e-arc of The Last Tiara.

I would highly recommend this book to historical fiction lovers, specifically those who enjoy books based off of mysteries. In The Last Tiara, we bounce between the perspective of Isobelle in 1948 New York City, and her mother Sophia in 1922 Petrograd.

After her mother's death, Isobelle begins renovating their apartment and finds a tiara frame hidden in the wall. With this as her only clue, she embarks on a journey to discover what happened to the jewels that once adorned the tiara and how exactly her mother came to be in possession of such a priceless artifact.

Perfectly crafted with intrigue and suspense, M.J. Rose pulls you into the world of the last tsars of Russia as well as life post WWII.

M.J. Rose is a master at capturing the time period she writes about as if she lived during those time periods. I wonder how well she is at writing a contemporary novel and if she has I must explore that book. The Last Tiara is such a bittersweet read that it grabs your attention with all the well know history we know and yet takes you off guard by the realness of it all. Rose research of The Russian Revolution really shows in her work especially by capturing how everyday people are always the casualty of power struggle.

At the heart of this tale is a mother/daughter story set during a time woman are trying to emerge into their own power while trying to hang on to hope of a better future. Sofiya and Isobelle Moon tell the story through alternative storyline as they navigate heartbreaks while trying to survive devastation after devastation. Their last link to each other is a tiara that holds answer to a mystery many have been searching for but, for them its a crown of love and hope. M.J. Rose really knows how to find the ugly things and restore it to beauty.

Rated 4.25 stars.

In 1948, Isobelle Moon has returned to New York City after the loss of her mother Sophia, formerly Sofiya, a woman who kept her former life in Russia a secret. Isobelle is a talented architect trying to work her way up the ladder in a male-dominated profession. In 1915, Sofiya Petrovich and her best friend, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaeyna help wounded soldiers in a hospital set up in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Sofiya finds herself drawn to a young, wounded soldier who has no memory. She decides to call him Carpathian and they soon fall deeply in love.

This lovely book alternates between Isobelle and Sofiya’s stories. As Isobelle starts to renovate her mother’s home, she find a silver tiara and receipts for the sale of its gems, which helped her mother and Isobelle start their life in America. Hoping this discovery will help her learn more about her mother and the father she never met, Isobelle searches for answers. As the chapters alternate in time periods, we learn that the tiara was a gift to Sofiya from the Grand Dutchess as the Romanovs prepared to go into hiding to escape the Bolsheviks.

I enjoyed author M.J. Rose’s last book Cartier’s Hope and I was very excited to read The Last Tiara. It was a very satisfying read and swept me away into the lives of these characters. Both the period of the Russian Revolution as well as life in New York City, when women started to seek some level of equality, held my interest as did the mystery of the tiara. Author Rose has done a great amount of research to bring this story to life and anyone who loves Historical Fiction, as well as fine jewelry and art, should check this book out.

*3-3.5 stars. A lovely new work of romantic historical fiction from M. J. Rose and what a gorgeous cover design to go with it!

The last tiara was given to the youngest daughter of the Russian tsar for her birthday and, in this story, she makes a gift of it to her best friend, Sofiya Petrovich. In 1915, Sofiya and the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana volunteer to work as nurses with the Sisters of Mercy in the former staterooms of the Winter Palace in Petrograd, which have been turned into hospital suites. There, Sofiya meets the man who will change her life--a soldier whose wounds have caused amnesia.

The story actually has two alternating timelines and two main characters--the second set in Manhattan in 1948 and is the story of Sofiya's daughter, Isobelle Moon. Isobelle, a young architect, has recently lost her mother in a tragic accident and laments that she knows so little about her mother's past. When Isobelle would ask questions as a child, her mother would tell her 'if she didn't keep the past buried, the memories would bury her alive.' All Isobelle knows is that Sofiya brought her baby to NYC from Russia in the 20s and that Isobelle's father died in a Siberian prison camp.

As Isobelle begins some renovations on her mother's apartment, she finds a hidden niche which contains a tiara sworn of its jewels and the receipts for the sale of said jewels. This launches her on a quest to learn more.

The historical elements in the story are fascinating but I found it hard to get to know these two female characters. There seemed little character development. The mysteries the story contains are only thinly veiled. All in all, for me this was a pleasant read but not one of Rose's best.

I received an arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

In THE LAST TIARA by M.J. Rose, Isobelle is a young woman architect still mourning the loss of her mother Sophia the previous year. Her mother never shared her past in Russia with the Romanov family, so her secrets of love, loss, betrayal, and hardscrabble struggles to survive died with her. When Isobelle discovers a tiara stripped of its jewels hidden behind a wall, she begins the search for her mother's past that continues to impact and shape her world in another time in another country. I could not put this book down once I'd fallen under its spell of wonderfully well-drawn characters, beautifully described settings, and the urgent secret at its heart. I received an advance reader copy of this novel from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.

A beautifully written novel of historic fiction! I like how the story of the actual tiara was woven into the fiction. And I also enjoyed how there always seems to be a supernatural thread running through M.J. Rose's work. Told in alternating points of view and 2 different time periods, (post WWII Manhattan & 1915 Russia) there unfurls a mystery regarding the titled tiara and how the mother of the protagonist comes to possess it.

*Special thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.*

The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose creates a an intriguing story that dips into the world of the Romanovs and explores life in America after WWII. Isobelle's mother, Sophia never talked about her past in Russia. Now that Sophia has passed away Isobelle realizes she may never know her mother's history. This frustrate Isobelle even more when she finds a tiara hidden in her mothers history.

The Last Tiara is a fun, interesting read. I loved how the author talks about the Romanovs but not Anastasia or Rasputin. When talking about the Romanovs writers usually do not focus on Olga. While this book does not center around her it does bring her to the forefront to represent the family in this book. I will say Isobelle's story was more boring compared to her mother. For me her story line was a tool to put mystery in the book otherwise this would have just been a historical novel. I liked how Rose showed the different sides of immigrant families. Some like Sophia do not talk about their past whereas Lana (Isobelle's aunt) seems to incorporate her heritage into her life in America. The pacing was fast and I devoured the book in a second.

I enjoyed this book and give it 3.5 stars with a round up for making me curious about Olga. Thank you to NetGalley, Blue Box Press and M.J. Rose for an ARC. This was an honest review.

I was excited to read The Last Tiara because I love books that involve art mysteries, and I also love books set in Russia. Isobelle Moon finds a mysterious tiara with missing jewels in her mother Sophia's apartment in NYC after Sophia suddenly dies. Isobelle is puzzled by the find because Sophia never shared many details of her life in Russia with her daughter.

With the help of a young jeweler, Jules Reed, she starts to investigate the provenance of the tiara in the hopes of learning more about her mother's early life and about her father, whom she never met. Jules and Isobelle discover that this tiara may have been a part of the Romanov jewels collection that went missing after the revolution. The question is, how did it end up in Sophia's possession?

The Last Tiara has an intriguing premise, and I enjoyed the book overall, but I didn't love it. I found the writing repetitive and info-dumpy. I also noticed few inconsistencies, especially in the usage of Russian names. This book could have been improved with more editing, in my opinion.

If you have always been intrigued by the mystery of the Romanov family (and obsessed with the movie Anastasia), then M.J. Rose's "The Last Tiara" is the book for you. Told through dual timelines we learn about how this mysterious tiara plays a role in the Moon family past.

Sofiya's early life brings her in close contact with the Romanov family, especially the daughters Olga and Tatiana. Her timeline explains how the tiara came to be in her possession and what it meant to her. Isobelle's timeline begins with her reeling from her mother's untimely death and being left with no knowledge of her life prior to living in America. During her work renovating their shared apartment, Isobelle finds the tiara hidden in the wall and begins to dig into why it was there, why her mother hid it all these years, and all the other secrets her mother kept from her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and loved how Rose entwined the story with the Romanov history and mystery.

The Russian Romanov family has always interested me, so I was happy to be able to read MJ Rose’s newest novel, The Last Tiara. Told in two timelines, 1915 and 1948, the story centers around Sofiya, the daughter of the Romanov’s teacher.

Sofiya and the Grand Duchess Olga were close friends, but when it became clear that the Romanov’s were to go into hiding, Olga gave her tiara to Sofiya as a token of their friendship.
Also during this time, Sofiya met and fell in love with a jeweler who had worked at Faberge before the war.

During this time of instability in Russia, Sofiya and her lover become separated and her father decides to send her to New York for a better life. Once in New York, Sophia manages to run a business and raise a daughter, Isobelle.

Readers meet Isobelle as a young woman who has recently lost her mother and ended a doomed love affair. She is a successful architect, but as the only woman in the firm, she feels destined to play second fiddle to the men in her office.

When Isobelle decides to remodel her apartment, she begins by removing the wallpaper in her mother’s bedroom, only to discover a box hidden in the wall. Inside the box, is a tiara that has been stripped of jewels. Isobelle’s curiosity leads her on a mission to discover the story behind the tiara and why her mother had hidden it away.

As she uncovers the clues to the past, Isabelle finds love, a new family member and a better understanding of her mother’s past.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

It’s not just American or British history that I’m interested in, I also dabble a bit in Russian history, especially during the Russian Revolution of 1917 that led to the capture and killing of Tsar Nicholas and his family. So when I saw The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose being offered on NetGalley and Blue Box Press for my honest review, I took a chance. The Last Tiara will be released to the general public February 2, 2021.

From the publisher: “Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother’s secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother’s effects—a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.

Isobelle’s research into the tiara’s provenance draws her closer to her mother’s past—including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler, who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners.

Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars. In 1915, young Sofiya Petrovitch, favorite of the royal household and best friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, tends to wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital within the grounds of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobelle Moon works to break through the rampant sexism of the age as one of very few women working in a male-dominated profession and discovers far more about love and family than she ever hoped for.”

I had a hard time putting down The Last Tiara (Amazon). From the beginning of Sofiya and Isobelle’s journeys, I wondered how they would end. Of course, we find out how Sofiya came to have the tiara (a gift from Grand Duchess Olga), but Isobelle doesn’t. And we don’t know how Sofiya met Isobelle’s father until the story progresses. Isobelle is in the dark about her mother’s past, and slowly uncovers clues that lead to more questions than answers.

In 1948 New York, when Isobelle finds the tiara with two receipts from a jeweler dated 1930, she sets off on a journey of discovery of her mother’s past, including information about her father. With the help of the jeweler’s grandson, Jules, Isobelle slowly peels back the layers of Sofiya’s life. Jules and his grandfather reveal that the tiara was part of the Romanov collection, so how did Sofiya end up with it? But soon Isobelle learns that Jules has an ulterior motive: he’s a member of a secret society that vows to return stolen art and jewels to their rightful owners. Isobelle knows her mother wasn’t a thief, but proving that is another matter.

Going back and forth in narratives, M.J. Rose weaves a tale that compels the reader to continue on to find out all the secrets. Of course, the reader knows the provenance of the tiara from reading Sofiya’s story, but Isobelle doesn’t, and that’s what makes the journey so interesting. The secrets of the tiara are more than Sofiya even knows. When a man from Sofiya’s past in Russia turns up, claiming to be Isobelle’s father, long thought dead in a Siberian prison, the mystery gets more tangled.

I did not see the ending unravelling the way it did. What started out as a historical novel with a mystery and two love stories ends up like a Dan Brown novel, with intrigue and adventure thrown in. I was pleasantly surprised with the ending, although I found the very last entry unnecessary and out-of-place for the plot.

I can imagine future books for Jules and his Midas Society and would gladly read them.

Forgive me but I am lost. Having just finished this book I am confused as to what genre it belongs to. The Last Tiara is the free-handed concotion of historical fiction, romance, mystery, and #metoo piece of writing. Having read this book till the end I am yet to figure out where it belongs.

The next big confusion comes from 'cultural appropriation'. Yes, I hated this term when it first came out. But today I caught myself thinking, angrily at that, that The Last Tiara is yet another example of very arrogant cultural appropriation. I am yet to hear of or read a Russian speaking author who does something so freestyle with American or British history and culture. However, American writes do not feel any objections or obstacles when doing exactly that - freestylying Russian history and culture.

Every time I pick up an English Language 'Russian' book I hope for respect, understanding, and consideration towards material used but... fail to find it every time.

I was truly trying to read The Last Tiara from the perspective of reading a historical fiction or a romance novel. However, I can't be objective when it comes to something I hold dear. Starting from horribly mimicked names to 'fairytale' situations that could never have happened in Petrograd of 1917 and the fact that Russian emigrants wanted to delete their russianness... I found this book disappointing.

I wanted to like Isobelle but I found her boring because she was tring too much. I wanted to respect Sofiya but I could not get her at all.

The book might be based around historical fact of missing tiara and include some historical facts but it failed to take me and immerse me in the fabric of the story. One, I did not grasp what the story was truly about. And two, the story was such a one-dimensional fairytale that it was neither believable nor interesting.