Isobelle Moon is struck with the recent death of her mother Sofia. While dealing with the sudden death, she decides to renovate her home, being an architect by trade, it is how she feels most comfortable. While renovating she uncovers a hidden Tiara in her mothers things, and some additional clues as to her family before Sofia came to the US from Russia.
Told through a dual storyline, Sofia's life in Russia as a young girl, and Isabobelle's life in the US trying to uncover the mystery of the tiara and its jewels, and her mothers past.
This is a rare instance when both storylines are equally compelling. The characters are strong, and the historical references are vast.

Not a favorite but it was an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the dual storylines and how they added to the mystery of the story.

I am very interested in Russian history and specifically Romanov history and had requested this for that reason.

I think I would recommend to those who have an interest in that historical time period and I would definitely read another from this author.

3 stars. I appreciate the opportunity to get to read and review this title.

I really wanted to love this one as I'm a sucker for Russian history and royalty and Russia set historical fiction. Unforutnely for me something fell flat. Though I didn't like the storyline or the characters the writing and setting were beautiful, And some other reader is going to find this is the perfect read for them.

Sophia Moon used to live in Russia, but has always been reluctant to talk about that time in her life. Her daughter, Isobelle, fears that her mother's secrets have dies with her. That is until, she discovers a tiara stripped of its jewels. As she tries to find out what happened to the tiara and her mother's previous life, she meets a jeweler who might be able to help. He however, has his own motives. Can they uncover her mother's secrets?

i never ended up downloading this but i picked it up recently.

Perfect blend of mystery, history and romance. I've definitely have recommended to my friends who love historical fiction!

this was an interesting dual timeline historical mystery. i appreciated the timeline and found that it was done very very well. that being said this book dragged at times and could easily have been 2oo pages shorter.

The Last Tiara refers to a tiara that Isobelle Moon finds among her mother’s things when she dies. The story revolves from that time in Manhattan around 1950 to 1915 in Russia where the story of the tiara begins. I love stories with double timelines like this. The characters in this book are fully fleshed out and wonderful. The plot is delicious. I highly recommend this book.

After her mother dies, Isobelle finds a tiara hidden inside a wall in her mother’s bedroom. Sophia never talked about her past in Russia before the Russian Revolution. All Isobelle has ever heard about her father is that he died and haven’t even seen a picture of him.
The book follows two timelines: Isobelle in the 1940s after her mother’s death and Sophia just before and during the Russian revolution.

I love M.J. Rose’s books, and this was no different. It’s not often that I like both timelines as much, but both worked here. The jewellery house Faberge has been featured in previous books too so there is a theme in her books it seems. Really enjoyable historical book.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond had a display of Faberge eggs years ago and they were stunning.

fabergeegg

And I couldn't have been the only one thinking Isobelle's mother was a future Joan Rivers wearing her egg charm necklace.

joanriverseggs

I enjoyed the bits here about jewelry making, the Russian royal family and even Oak Ridge...but they zipped by right at the beginning. Then the action picked up at the end and was really rushed. Rose could have taken out 100 pages from the middle and put that towards the ending!

I'll make my usual distinction here between historical fiction and historical romance. This was certainly historical romance. I understand there has to be some romance--you need future babies after all--but this was too much female dithering. And again with the duel timelines! When is this plot device going to end?

This was an advance reader's copy from Netgallery.

Photos can be seen at goodreads--https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3563219935

First of all, this cover is absolutely STUNNING. It was the first thing that grabbed my attention. I loved that there was a mysterious aspect woven into the romance. It was so well written.

Interesting and great story.

I liked the flow and the characters. There was a great amount of conflict and interest to keep page turning.

Attractive title and cover.

Recommend.

This was an amazing novel that went back and forth between the 1940's and the time of the Russian Revolution. When a daughter finds a hidden tiara frame in her apartment, she is sent on a historical fact finding mission that will completely change her view of her mother and her life.

dnf at 30 %. " The last tiara " is a historical fiction mixed with mystery and romance. The premise was interesting. We follow a girl called Isobelle Moon in 1984 as she tries to discover her mother's secrets after she passed away. Isobelle is a architect in New York. While renovating her mothers old room she notices a box in the wall. In the box is a silver tiara, with a note that says 1930 and that the tiara is from a jeweler in New York City. Isobelle doesn't know much about her mother and this find encourages her to look further into her past.

We follow Isobelle and her mother Sofiya. Sofiya's pov is set in Russia, starting in 1915 when she's a nurse to help soldiers in the war.

The reason I dnf:ed this was because I lost interest. I would read it again.

Thank you to the author M J Rose, the publsher, and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

I loved this book. It is a fascinating story about the end of the Russian Monarchy and the beginning of Russian Communism which takes place in 1917 through 1922 in Russia and after World War Ii in New York City.

It is the story of Sofiya, a childhood friend of the Romanov Grand Duchesses who volunteers to help nurse wounded soldiers who have returned from the front. It is the story of the end of the Romanov dynasty, the house of Faberge, the rise of communism and the suffering of the Russian people, and the story of a young lady who flees communist Russia in order to save her young daughter.

The story is also about her daughter who grows up not knowing anything of her mother's history and story in Russia and who finds the skeleton of a tiara that leads her on a grand adventure to find out who her mother really was.

It is a story of love, betrayal, finding love, losing love, and who to trust. The only criticism is that the author may have tried to capture too many story lines in her book.
Other than that, I loved it and would highly recommend it.

Four Stars
Just a pleasure
Having never read any of MJ Rose's works I went in not knowing what to suspect. What I found was a historical mystery well written, heart wrenching full of witticism, romance, and informative. Rose's command of how a women thinks when used was superb and her definitions of many nuances of interpretation of life experiences were most interesting. I found myself taking some notes, looking up words, and just overall enthralled with the story.

2 romances and a mystery
This book tells the story of a painting restorer in Russia in the 1920's and her daughter's search for answers about her parents after her mother dies in 1948 having told her very little about her life before immigrating to New York. There are interesting facts about the Hermitage and the Bolsheviks and about the difficulties women faced as architects in 1940's. The mystery is how the mother came to own the last tiara Faberge designed and made for the Tzar.

I’m not into romance books or fiction, but I enjoy reading historical fiction books more and more, because while the story is fictional, the historical facts are true and I still learn something new (or at least look at history from a different perspective). I liked the story plot in this book and since I haven’t read much about the revolution in Russia, I was interested in having that angle in the book as well.

This story is told in the alternating POV of two women, mother and daughter. After her mother's death in New York, Isobelle Moon returns to her childhood apartment and decides to renovate, where she discovers a tiara with the jewels missing along with the receipts for the sale of the jewels. Her mother had sold them to finance her new life in America after leaving Russia. Investigating the mystery of the tiara reveals that it once belonged to the royal family and has been reported stolen. Weaving the story of the missing tiara with her mother Sofiya's past in Russia as the best friend of the Grand Duchess and her nursing work at the makeshift hospital in St. Petersberg, the story seamlessly flows from past to present.
I received a complimentary advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in my review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

I loved this book, the story line and the characters!! This book was so entertaining and I found it hard to put down It kept me engaged the entire book! I have never been unhappy with an M.J. book!

I love historical fiction and this book did not disappoint. It engages the reader from the first chapter. Thank you for letting me read this book for an honest review.