3 Stars. I am a surprisingly big fan of Ms. Willig's Pink Carnation series for someone who doesn't consider herself a fan of romances. But the witty banter, intrigue, and Napoleonic settings sucked me right in. I inhaled that entire 12-book series and wished for more. The author's newer books look more serious to me so I've [...]
4 Stars. I slightly preferred the first book to this one, only because this one dwelled so much on politics. I’m not a strategist so reading the machinations of the Mughal court was a bit less interesting to me than the events of Mehrunnisa’s earlier life. I also have very little patience for characters who make repetitive mistakes in [...]
3 Stars. One of my go-to guilty pleasures for years was The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig. I’m really not a romance reader, and they are most definitely romances, but the witty dialog, fantastic characters, Napoleonic setting, and light action/suspense kept me going back for all twelve books. I knew they were influenced [...]
4.5 Stars. I've struggled a little lately with a bit of a reading slump. I can usually break out of those by reading a few quick fantasies. This book should not have worked for me right now but it absolutely did. I know very little Indian history so I didn't know anything about this emperor, his wives, or even this period in [...]
3 Stars. I'm so torn. I adore A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. Like, top-five-books-ever adore it. So I know she can write. But this is her debut novel and it shows. It also got laughably melodramatic. There's a better word to describe this book but it's escaping me. Dickensian? Maybe. Fiona's tragedies just pile one on [...]
4 Stars. Oh my. I did not ever, in my wildest dreams, expect a book about Miss Gwen! What a hoot! Somehow, I'd decided that she was at least 70. She's actually only about 45. And an attractive 45 at that, if you can get past the fierce way she wields her parasol in defense of Jane's virtue. I'm so glad she got her own story [...]
Claire Harris is a New York socialite, throwing extravagant parties and softening up her husband's potential business partners for him. Her past comes back to haunt her one night and she flees to Paris on the eve on the German occupation to find an old lover. Their reunion doesn't go well and she finds herself working in a florist shop and reluctantly assisting the French Resistance. I'm not quite sure what to think. On the one hand, I did enjoy the book. I love almost any WWII novels and this is no exception. On the other hand, it was a bit too romance-y for me. It just couldn't quite make up its mind what it wanted to be. I can overlook romance--who doesn't love a good love story?--but when I'm suddenly hit with "Heat flooded her core," my eyes start rolling in my head and I start turning pages faster. "Can we please just get through this already?" To be fair, there were only a couple of those scenes but that was a couple too many for me. I can't put my finger on any examples of this, but I'm also left with the feeling that it needed one more good proofreading before it was published. It's not bad by any means, it could have just been a little more polished. I knew that the love story was going to center around Claire and Grey from their first meeting, so I did buy it. In retrospect though, I wish that part had been more fleshed out. Well, not that kind of fleshed out, but just the slow, getting-to-know-you part of things. Claire hates him at first, they meet a few times and she starts to change her mind, and then we're to the heated core. Quite a bit of time…
Laura Grey is tired of her life as a governess, so she joins forces with The Pink Carnation. After the requisite training, she is sent to work as a governess for Andre Jaouen, a high-ranking official in the French Ministry of Police. She's also tasked with finding out any information that might be of use to the Pink Carnation and her league of British spies. I consistently love this series and rate them around 4 stars but this is one of my favorites. But maybe I say that about all of them--I wouldn't be surprised. They are full of intelligent women who don't need men to protect them but they like to keep the guys around anyway. I grin like an idiot at the witty dialog as I read and I hate to turn the last page. What more can you ask for? I love the chemistry between Laura and Andre and I love that it is impossible to guess exactly what he's up to. He's a good father who genuinely cares for his children and grieves for his dead wife. He's doing his best to navigate the tumultuous politics of Napoleonic France while staying true to his ideals and protecting his children. Laura is beautifully flawed and full of contradictions that work. She's the archetype of a strait-laced governess but it's easy to see that there's much more to her than that. She's learned to tame any desires and wishes that she has and just be glad that she's able to support herself and keep a roof over her head. She's scared when she finds herself in dangerous situations but she handles them beautifully and ingeniously. She's probably one of my favorite heroines in the Pink Carnation series. But I probably say that after I read every book too.…
Morgan McClain and his brother are shipping out to Europe in the last year of WWII. They spend their last night in the States at a USO dance where they meet Liz Stephens. Liz and Morgan immediately feel a connection, despite the fact that Liz is practically engaged to someone else. Complicated circumstances arise, as they do, and Morgan unwittingly finds himself dancing with Liz's friend, Betty, although he doesn't know the two women are friends. Betty promises to write him overseas. Flighty Betty asks Liz to help her write to Morgan. She intends to write one letter and be done with him. But when Morgan writes back, Liz receives the letter and can't get the author out of her head. She continues to write him as Betty throughout the war. It sounds more complicated than it is. It's a Cyrano story set in WWII. 3.5 stars. I liked it. The writing could be more polished, but I liked the characters and cared what happened to them. The snooty non-romance reader inside me would occasionally scoff at the likelihood of some of these events ever happening, but mostly I was able to shove that voice down and enjoy a charming story. We all need a dose of romance now and then, whether we admit it or not. And who am I to say this would never happen? We all agree that truth is stranger than fiction, right? I really liked Morgan. He has no pretensions of being anything other than he is--a farm boy, albeit one with above-average intelligence. His ambitions are small and homey, and his interactions with others are honest and sincere. Liz was a good match for him, but the tone of her letters was overblown. I found myself rolling my eyes at her prose sometimes. Betty…
Carrie McClelland is an author struggling with writer's block. She heads for Scotland for some alone time to try to work through it. When she arrives, she is immediately attracted to Slains Castle and decides to use it in her book. In 1708, Sophia Paterson finds herself at Slains Castle as well. She finds herself mixed up in a Jacobite rebellion and falls in love with one of the soldiers. I know, that's pathetic, but it's been ***coughcoughalmostayearcoughcough*** since I read this. I loved it so much that I did want to get some sort of review down. I love Scotland. I haven't been, but I think that will be our next European vacation. I'm just dying to go. I don't actually read all that many stories set there, I think because I don't want to get sick of it. It just seems so beautiful, so different, yet so familiar. There's a reason so many Scots settled in the Southern Appalachians--they were reminded of home. It works both ways now. Anyway, I read this on our cruise last year, and even though I was bathed in sunlight on the Caribbean, my mind was totally lost to the coolness and mist of Scotland. I liked both stories equally, which is pretty rare. I usually read through one story just waiting to get back to the one that I'm really interested in, but I was happy just going back and forth between Carrie and Sophia. I liked Graham and John Moray. They are both handsome, solid, dependable men. With Scottish accents. What's not to love? The ending has a twist that I did see coming from pretty far away. My mom read this around the same time I did and it caught her completely off guard. We were both happy with it…