Isobelle Moon is dealing with the death of her mother and has undertaken the renovating of their apartment to make it work better for her. During the renovation process, Isobelle finds a box hidden in a hollow in the wall. Inside the box are a jeweless tiara and the mystery of her mother's past. As Isobelle looks to solve the mystery surrounding the tiara, she comes to know her mother in a way she never thought possible.

A time-traveling story told between Russia in the early 1900s during the Romanov reign and New York City in 2004. The trade-off of chapters helps the flow of the story and helps us understand Sofia's story and how she came to raise her daughter in New York and her thought process in keeping her life in Russia a secret from her daughter. I found the story to be interesting and well-developed and kept my attention with ease. M.J. Rose is an author I would gladly read again knowing that I will get a story that makes me glad I picked up the book.

My favourite kind of historical fiction books are not the ones simply set in a specific time period, but ones based on or related to real events, real places, those which show that in depth research has been done rather than just “I’ll write a story set in WW2/the Victorian age” etc. This book builds on real fact (a missing Romanov tiara) and weaves historical facts from Imperial Russia & the last days of the Romanov empire, through depression era America into WW2 and post-war era in New York. We follow the start of the story through Sofiya’s eyes as a young Russian girl who had been playmate to the Imperial princesses & who is now a young women nursing wounded soldiers in the former Imperial Palace. We follow her as she leaves New York for a new life in USA though the story doesn’t elaborate on this period of her life which is a shame … The end of the story starts with Sofiya’s sudden death & her daughter Isobelle wishing she knew more about her mother’s life in Russia (which she was never willing to speak about), a desire which became stronger after finding a beautiful tiara frame – Isobelle understands why her mother sold the jewels, through necessity, but why keep the frame?
The book does lose pace a little in the middle, I think I would have liked to see a bit more of Isobelle finding out more about the tiara – the discovery of the photographs in the books, the visit to the jeweller could have been prolonged slightly and enabled a bit more suspense to build before the big avalanche of events that take the book to the final conclusion. The ending feels rushed – yes it needed to be fast paced but there is more that the author could have done to build suspense. (I think it was also odd that Sergei claimed not to have known how the tiara was acquired – surely he would have asked & been told of the gift … it would have wrapped the story/ownership up very neatly!)

I really enjoyed this book, and have to determine if the slightly rushed/weak ending is enough to knock off a full star – I don’t think it is but if I could give 4.5 stars I think that’s where I would ideally put this.

Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are

I really enjoyed this story. It had mystery, romance, and a lot of action. I could not put this one down. I will be looking for more by this author.

What a fabulous story. It is full of historical facts, intrigue, a touch of espionage, and lots of family love. I did not want it to end!

This is a story of Sophia and Isobelle, set in post WWII New York. Isobelle discovers a secrret tiara belonging to her mother, Sophia, after her death. Thlis leads Isobelle to discover the truth about her past in Russia.

This novell has strong female characters, and a quick-moving plot. I really enjoyed it.

#TheLastTiara #NetGalley

“Every heart has its own skeletons.”

Special thanks to NetGalley and blue box press for providing me with ARC.

It's been awhile since i read a novel about Russia, the last one was *Anna Karenina*
This is the first novel to me by M.J.Rose but i loved it so much, it's heartwarming, i loved the history in this novel, the Russian Revolution and WWll

Beautifully and expertly written along the backdrop of WWII Russia and England as well as post war New York City. I kept hoping the secrets would be revealed before the end and found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for the other shoe to drop. This was an amazing book and I highly recommend it.

I received this arc thanks to NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
I really liked this book. Not knowing much about Russian history, I found it very interesting. I did like Sofiya's story better than Isobel's but the way they finally tied together was great. I would definitely recommend.

I normally do not like books set in different time periods but I found this one easy to read and follow and recommend to historical fiction lovers.

This book is a MASTERPIECE! MJ Rose, just keeps getting better and better ! This historic mystery will keep you educated about the era it is written in, the characters are flawless in originality, also inviting you in with each chapter to know them alittle more, and seducing you into thinking about “ What will happen next”.. sophisticated intelligent writing at its best. I for one will be purchasing several hardback copies for gifts! Her book covers are always gorgeous and mysterious! This one is a jewel 💎 of a book!

This is a romantic historical mystery told from two perspectives - Sofiya Petrovich’s in Russia leading up to and during the Russian Revolution and Isobella Moon’s in New York City in post World War II. The story alternates chapters between Isobella and her mother, Sofiya (Americanized to Sophia Moon on arrival in the United States).

I did enjoy the characters and the two story lines, each including a romantic relationship. There was a justified need for establishing settings and moods, however, too often excessive detail was given which interrupted the flow of the story. The mystery of the tiara was very casually woven through both women’s storylines and only intensified very near the end of the book, which gave a good “punch” to the story.

I received a free copy of “The Last Tiara” from NetGalley for my honest review. There are a few scenes that handle intimate relations without very graphic details, but in general, I can recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history and romance.

I loved the premise of this book, but I found the execution quite lacking, with too much exposition and stilted dialogue. I did enjoy the twist about the tiara's real purpose toward the end.

This book alternates between Russia at the time of the Romanovs and New York City after WWII as a woman tries to figure out her deceased mother’s mysterious past after finding a tiara . I thought the ending was a little too contrived, but it was a very enjoyable read

The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose Is about romantic love and parent child love. I found out what Midas Society is.And I learned a little about the Russian Revolution.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley. What a beautiful story! I love historical fiction & especially Russian history. This story did not disappoint. The characters were described perfectly throughout this story. The description of the jewels was absolutely wonderful! I imagined myself holding & looking at each jewel.
A must read. Thank you!!

This captivated me from the moment I read the summary and this book didn’t disappoint. The dual story kept me engaged and eager to find out more. The characters were well developed and I absolutely loved this book!

The concept was interesting, the characters not so much, especially Isobelle. Understandably the author had to have a jumping off point to set the story in motion. However, for me reading about Russia and the tiara in 1917 and going forward, was much more to my liking. I definitely could have done without Isobelle's background when it came to her brief "affair" with her boss. I could have done without her constant questions...to be honest I could have done without her. The historical plot of this novel is what I found so much more interesting. I have enjoyed reading M.J. Rose's novels in the past, I usually like her writing style. This one was mediocre if only because of Isobelle's portion of the story. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for this book. The story is intriguing. It alternates between two time periods. One set in 1915 Russia and another during the 1940s.The world build up was quite interesting.However, I did not find the two main characters to be that much strong. Overall it was a good story especially for historical fiction readers.

A start so slow that I almost gave up reading, but I am glad I powered through! An interesting mystery about Russian jewels, love, betrayal, feminism, and history.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.