One of my favorite storytellers, M.J. Rose's books never disappoint and her latest, The Last Tiara is no exception. If you love historical novels, post WWI Russia, gorgeous jewels and intrigue, this book is for you. Wonderfully detailed, with excellent characters and a well driven plot, this book is a fantastic read.

M.J Rose's books never disappoint and The Last Tiara is no exception. What would you do if you found a tiara in a secret hiding place with no information about where or when it came from? If you are interested in tales post WWI Russia, this one is for you!

The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose is a captivating historical read. Alternating between St. Petersburg, Russia beginning in1915 and New York City in 1948, the story follows Sofiya Petrovitch and her daughter, Isabelle Moon.

While volunteering in a makeshift hospital during the Russian Revolution,Sofiya meets Carpathian, the love of her life, who has lost his memory due to a head wound.
She is gifted a tiara by her good friend, the Grand Duchess Olga Romanov. As the revolutions worsens, Sofiya finds herself pregnant and escapes Russia for the USA. Living in NYC, she sells the jewels from the tiara to buy a house and art restoration storefront. She stoically raises her daughter, Isabelle, but refuses to discuss her life in Russia with her.

When Sofiya suddenly dies in a hit and run accident, Isobelle discovers the jewel less tiara hidden in the wall of her mother’s bedroom. Her quest to discover her mother’s past and the source of the tiara lead her to the jeweler who bought the jewels from the tiara and his grandson, Jules. Together, Isobelle and Jules learn about Sofiya’s life and love in Russia.

Historically accurate, this is a story of love and determination. A thoroughly enjoyable book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for providing me with an advanced reader copy of The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first of M.J. Rose’s books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last! This story takes off with the discovery of a hidden tiara, and unraveling the mystery of its origins and how it came to be in Isobelle Moon’s possession. This is a captivating story, filled with intrigue, history, perseverance and love as it follows two women, each on a separate but related journey.

Told in a dual timeline that follows Isobelle Moon when we meet her in 1948, an architect focused intently on her career in New York City and dealing with the recent loss of her mother, Sophia Moon, who we learn about though her own story beginning in Russia in 1915. I enjoyed how Ms. Rose introduced us to these women and built their characters, sharing their emotion with us through their struggles and their triumphs, allowing the reader to really get to know them and their motivation. Through well-crafted prose, we experience their passion and love, longings and loss, and strength to keep moving forward and find themselves in the process. I also truly enjoyed the mystery of the tiara woven throughout each of their stories, which kept my interest and fed my need to know more! I had honestly never heard the true story of the lost tiara involved in this book, which is one of the reasons I really enjoy historical fiction, because you learn about real life events while the author creates a beautiful story you can get lost in. I highly recommend you pick up this book when you can – you won’t be disappointed!

There's no rest in reading this book as it's a page turner with romance and history. The question is: what happened to a beautiful tiara with diamonds and stones that was gifted to Sofiya Petrovitch in Russia at 19 years old from her best friend, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna? And who was the young man that stole her heart while she was a nurse during the war? With the dual time frame, the reader follows the life of her the mother, Sofiya and daughter, Isobelle Moon, in NY years later.

Every woman reading this book sympathizes with the female workers in predominantly male fields. Sofiya works to restore paintings and her daughter is an architect - both with challenges. While the romance was predictable, there's many elements that kept my interest with the movements of the revolution and so many secrets. It's books like this that remind us of the horrors of war with the hopes that it won't happen again. "You cannot focus on the present until you understand the past."

My thanks to the publisher and NetGallery for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and happily give it five stars. I loved the alternating points of view between Sophia and her daughter, Isobelle. The mystery of the tiara, and why it is so valuable is secondary to the love story of Sophia and Carpathian, my favorite part of the book. We learn early on that the duo are separated -- but not what happened and whether or not they were ever reunited, until the end.

The story takes the reader through the Russian revolution, with Sophia, and then across the ocean to New York after WWII, with Isobelle. The author captures the eras very well and creates a second love story with Isobelle and a jeweler who helps her solve the tiara's mysterious secret.

While the ending seemed a bit forced, I found this a satisfying read. I even would love to see this turned into a movie as I could picture the various scenes.

I found this book on NetGalley in return for an honest review.

In The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose, you will be taken back to the time of the last tsar of Russia.. Sophia Moon had not told her daughter about her life in Russia before she emigrated to America. When she was killed on a wintery evening in New York, Isobelle thought all her mother's secrets died with her. While renovating her mother's apartment, she discovered a silver tiara with the jewels missing.

Her research into the tiara's provenance keeps leading her to dead ends until she meets a young jeweler who wants to help her. He is torn between his loyalty to the Midas Society, a secret international organization sworn to return missing jewelry and art work to their original owners, and his growing attraction for Bella.

It is told in alternating stories of Sophia and Isobella. Sophia Petrovitch and her best friend the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolavena, and Isobella. These young women work in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg treating the wounded of the 1915 revolution. It is here Sophia finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobella works against the sexism in the male-dominated field of architecture. Sophia's story is told incrementally as Isobella works to solve the mystery of the Romanov tiara (which is based on an actual Romanov artifact that is still missing). I enjoyed the book much more than I thought I would. The only negative is I wish the author had not included a few descriptive love scenes.

First of all, I have had a lifelong obsession with anything concerning the Romanov family and this book just fits right in with that. I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the dual point of views enter-twining. I will say that I found myself for most of the book a little mad at Sophia for keeping so much from her daughter. I loved the entire book until the end. I think it could have ended better, but overall I did enjoy this book.

Thank you to Netgalley fir the chance to read and give my honest review.

Intrigue, history, and love? Count me in! The book's premise was interesting and it did not disappoint! I love how not one element overwhelmed another (not too romancy or dry history) but they worked off one another well.

After reading, I started Googling some of the people and even the history of the jewels. Definitely hooked!

The book is why I am in love with historical fiction.

A tale of love and mystery. A wonderful read. This book is holds your attention the whole way through. A story so different from others. A joy to read.

The prose in this novel is beautifully written, and its tone compliments the story perfectly. I love the wave of books lately that go back and forth in time. This one does it well in that I wasn't lost or trying to remember what part of the story I was in. It flowed well and didn't seem like the author was just trying to be clever by using this structure.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I loved the atmosphere in this book. It was so much. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

THE LAST TIARA-M.J. ROSE

I received this free for the purpose of review.

What a great story with intrigue, action and excellent storytelling. Rose does a great job of setting up the story of Sofiya and Isobelle. Mother and daughter told from both viewpoints and yet tied together.

Sofiya, a Russian immigrant has come to America with her six month old baby Isobelle. Sofiya has changed their last name because of the time in history 1917. WWI is raging and life in USA was challenging. Due to Sofiya's time in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) she has not shared anything of her heritage, family or information with daughter, Isabelle.

Sofiya dies suddenly and puts Isobelle on a trajectory after her death. Hidden boxes in dry wall and wallpaper over them opens an entire question and asking session for Isobelle. Unfortunately Sofiya has died.........

Great book. Keeps your interest and the story is refreshing.

The book started out strong and interesting but began to lag in the middle. However, it did pick up again towards the end. I really enjoyed the character of Jules but I found the extent of Isobelle's insecurities to be a real distraction to the story, in addition to being frustrating. She was a woman who seemed to be having some real success as an architect in a man's world so I didn't quite understand why she had such a lack of confidence.

Overall, I did find this to be an interesting book with good historical detail, especially Sophia's storyline. I would have liked the mystery to have been revealed a little more evenly instead of everything coming together with a bang at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!

Juxtaposing timelines between the present (Isobelle) and the past (Sofiya) really kept me curious about the story, I really enjoyed that style of writing.

A mother is determined to keep the past on the past and the daughter is just striving for answers after she (the mother) passes away. So many unanswered questions by Isobelle and the reader can't help but ask similar questions along the way. The descriptive way the author explains the decorations and the setting of the brownstone her mother had purchased are so vivid I really felt as if I was IN the story.

Thouroughly enjoyed this book overall. This was my first book by M.J Rose, which compells me to check out the other titles Rose has written in the hopes that they are just as good as The Last Tiara.

Thank you to NetGalley and BlueBoxPress fpr this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

While this book started out slow, it picked up in the middle and ended up being really enjoyable. A story of multiple layers of grief and love that transcends generations.

I was graciously allowed to read The Last Tiara in exchange for an honest review.
The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the cover. I think that the cover is beautiful and the colors attract people to it. I was also intrigued by the description of the book.
Overall, I enjoyed reading The Last Tiara. It follows the story of Sofiya and Isobelle, a mother and daughter duo. Sofiya (or her Americanized version Sophia) has recently passed away. She was always very quiet about her life in Russia. She lived through difficult times and when she came to America, she completely started over and was determined to keep her past in her past. Because of this, Isobelle was raised with very little knowledge of her mom’s background. A problem arises when Sofiya dies and Isobelle finds a tiara. She begins her search for answers as to why her mom owned this tiara.
As the reader dives further into Isobelle’s search for answers, they also get a chance to read Sofiya’s journey with love and loss and how she came about the tiara. Sofiya, a young woman during WWI, is friends with Olga, a member of the royal family. They both volunteer to be nurses. While they are there, Sofiya meets Carpathian, a young man who was injured in the war and as a result, has memory loss. Sofiya decides to help him regain his memory, and they grow close. Not much longer after that, the Russian Revolution begins and Sofiya learns the power love has to build a person up and destroy them as well.
The intertwined past and present storylines give the reader just enough insight without revealing everything. I thought that their story was intriguing and I was interested in discovering how everything played out. I found myself wanting Isobelle to discover more of her mom’s past. I also wondered how Sofiya’s story played out in a way that she eventually ended up in America. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in historical fiction.
There were some parts of the book that weren’t finished or explained well. For example, there’s a part of the book when Isobelle is talking to Jules and they broach the topic of an afterlife. Jules begins to explain that his grandfather told him that when people die, they turn into something. That something isn’t elaborated on, but has a “/.” Because of that lack of elaboration, the passage isn’t entirely clear.
Another thing I noticed is that is mentioned several times that Sofiya escaped to America with her baby already a few months old, but when Sofiya is at Ellis Island, there is no mention of Isobelle or picking her name. She only has to pick a name for herself. Another part of the book like that is at the very beginning, when Isobelle talks about it being the holidays but nothing ever comes from that. I think it wouldn’t matter as much if the author didn’t make a point of specifically pointing it out.
Lastly, there were some parts of the book I found myself skimming over. I didn’t get into Isobelle’s background story as much as Sofiya’s. I didn’t think she was as relatable of character. She talked a lot about her mom but it was always kind of superficial until she tells Jules about the things they used to do together. I think that Isobelle could develop her mom’s character a little bit more before we reach that part of the story.
All in all, I enjoyed reading it. Thank you again for the ARC!

M.J. Rose never disappoints, and her latest does not either! The Last Tiara is full of likable characters and a storyline that will hook you from the first page. Loved how the ending tied up the loose ends, but in a very believable setting. The Last Tiara will keep you engrossed and highly entertained!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Tiara, M J Rose, St Petersburg, Russia 1915. Sofyia Petrovitch, a friend of Grand Duchess Olga Romanov, meets the love of her life while volunteering at a hospital for wounded soldiers in New York City, 1948. Isobelle Moon, the daughter of Sofyia Petrovich, discovers the skeleton of a tiara hidden in her mothers bedroom shortly after her mothers death.
The stories of both young women, Sofyia's life during and after the Russian Revolution and Isobelle's search to discover the truth of her mother's life in Russia and the origin of the tiara make for a fascinating story.
M J Rose has written a "curl up with a good book and beverage" winner.

I was so thankful for the type of chapter headings...name and date. With this book’s multiple generation theme and Russian, London and American settings it helped me to enjoy the book that much more. I loved the brownstone in New York. I live in one in KS! I loved how most of the characters met and watching them mature. Many stories don’t always tie up loose ends. This one did and left room for a nice twist! You will enjoy this book.