Rebecca Hill
Richard and Anne had everything against them, but through all odds they managed to make it, and have some happiness together.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, also King Richard III of England, was one of the most ill fated, and unhappy kings of England. He lost his son, and then his wife. No man had started out with more promise, only to fall to the traitors at the end. He was betrayed by self-seeking men who sought to put someone on the throne that they might have better control over. Richard has been smeared through the ages, accused of anything that could possibly stick to his name, including the murder of the Princes in the Tower.
While the disappearance, and probable death of the boys will unfortunately remain unsolved for eternity, Tudor propagandists grabbed onto this and ran it through the history pages. With history being written by the victor, the real Richard has been lost to us. The enigma that was Richard, however, will shine through the few lines that we have left, and the dedicated historians who are determined to clear his name. The Richard that lived, loved, and ultimately lost, will someday be rediscovered.
The Richard that is met within the pages of this book is one that draws the reader in, and refuses to let go! As you walk through the adventure with the York family, you celebrate the triumphs, cry at the loss, and grumble at the double dealers. You forge links with each of the characters that at the end of the book, you are left crying and wondering why, how and for what!?
This is one of the best books that I have ever read, and will forever remain on my shelf of favorites. Sharon Kay Penman brings one of the most vilified men to life, and gives him new purpose. She re imagines Richard as he should have been remembered, and brings him out of the grave with new life breathed back into his shadowy past.
Louis is a young swan who cannot speak. When his father steals a trumpet for him, he is thrilled but troubled about the debt his father incurred. He goes to work to earn the money to pay for the trumpet.
Sam is a young boy who loves the outdoors and observing the Wild life in their natural habitat. He befriends Louis' family and he and Louis become closer friends. Sam and Louis work together at a boys camp for the summer, and then Louis heads off to look for more work.
Great read and fun to see the new adventures Louis gets into!
Throughout her reign, Mary was unequipped to deal with the tasks set before her, and basically a slave to love. She was in love with a man that did not love her in return, but instead saw the potential of a windfall for himself from England.
Had Mary better advisers, decided on tolerance instead of religious fervor, and united instead of divide, she would have had a better reign, and might have kept the people on her side.
As I was reading through this book, I was struck with how she trusted a person, someone she saw a father figure, and was almost determined to rectify all wrongs she felt had been done to her during her father's reign. I felt sorry for her, but then angry with her, as she was slow to act when she could have been decisive, and vengeful when she would have been forgiving. She alone incurred the wrath of her people, not without help, but the wrongs fall to her.
Great read overall, good concise history and factual relating.
Eleanor of Castile is definitely a shadow in the annals of history, but her life has so much more to offer than what we see at first glance. Her queenship was a different sort than that of her Mother-in-law Eleanor of Provence. She worked hand in hand with her husband Edward, and made the most of their reign together as she could. Different from other queens, she spent as little time apart from her husband as possible, and Edward's grief at her death was not hidden or faked.
The book is a great read, although the first couple of chapters are very technical and geneological, and it is very easy to get bogged down and find it hard to move forward. Once the story starts moving, it picks up a little, with a few places that seem to get bogged down, but then pick up again. I was sad when it ended, but the pictures and supplements at the end are wonderful.
Great read!
Myra Maxwell is discovered sobbing in a cemetery by her best friend and mother. She does not recognize either one of them, as she has entered into a fugue state. Joy and Zach are determined to help their friend, but she resists them. Only Weston Cline seems to be able to get through to her. While Weston helps Myra to start regaining some of her memories, Joy and Zach struggle to forgive Weston for the wrongs he did to them the year before. As Myra gains more and more of her memories, she feels something coming that she cannot stop, but is it the reason she lost her memory?
Join the adventure and dive into this book. Hannah Alexander does not disappoint with the second book in this series. She brings to life the characters and you feel the struggle as they walk through disappointments, anger, bitterness and forgiveness.
Mary Rowlandson is a housewife, ministers wife, and a member of the Puritan community. She lives in a very ordered world, and never strays far from her front yard. She is highly revered and upheld in her community, and never wants for anything. While she is safe, she is also confined. She does not question her life, until she is tragically yanked from it.
Mary is kidnapped from her home during an Indian raid, and sold into slavery to an Indian family. She struggles to keep her faith, and learn what she can about her surviving children. She is befriended by a Praying Indian named James, and while in captivity, she begins to grow fond of James, and begins to compare him to her husband Joseph.
When Mary is ransomed back to the English, she no longer fits in with their world. She longs in her heart to return to the Indians, and the freedoms she enjoyed there. Her husband is shocked when she begins to stand up to him, no longer accepting his word for everything. Can Mary survive being back in her world and the cage it puts her in?
This book was a great read and I really enjoyed it!! I recommend this one out!
This review contains spoilers... Scroll down to read more!
Dr. Linda Hazzard fashioned herself as a “specialist of fasting cures.” What she really was, was a marketer of death and greed. She took on a facade of caring and devotion to her patients, but very few of them ever lived to tell the tale. Her mistake was targeting wealthy clients, who unbeknownst to her, left a paper trail, and also relatives who wondered where their loved ones had gone. The true deprevations of her crimes would have gone unnoticed had not it not been for the caring devotion of one nurse, a nurse who had given her entire life to caring and raising two sisters.
Claire and Dora Williamson were wealthy middle aged spinsters who traveled the world, searching for the perfect cure. There was always something better, something newer, a possibility of regaining vitality they felt they had lost, as well as the myriad of other ailments they were convinced they suffered from. After a lengthy correspondence with Dr Hazzard, the sisters felt confident that she could cure all their problems and give them a better handle on life itself. The Doctor seemed so sure of her methods that the sisters did not doubt anything that she had to say. After meeting with a few family members, but not revealing their plans, the sisters headed toward Seattle and hope. What they encountered however, was anything but what they truly expected. Within weeks of their arrival they were hardly recognizable, their weight had shrunk so rapidly. Others around them were shocked with their appearances, and what about all the personal belongings they had brought with them?
Reading through this story was shocking. The fact that anyone could be so depraved with another human beings life is despicable. Dr Hazzard used manipulation and starvation as a means to an end. She took what she could from her victims, and thought none of them would ever live long enough to stop her. In her own mind, she was stronger, better, more capable of survival and success than anyone around her. Once she made up her mind to do something, she went all the way, bar nothing. In the end, her greed was her undoing. The arrival of Margaret Conway was the rest. Had Dora died before Ms. Conway arrived, more than likely nothing would have been done. Dora's pleading, and the shocking revelations made to Ms. Conway and the girls Uncle by Dr. Hazzard proved to be part of her downfall. The rest was brought about by a Vice-Consulate of the British Empire, who worked doggedly to right a wrong he felt had to be stopped and the murderer brought to justice.
The true crime genre is one that will never cease to shock, sicken, horrify, but enthrall a reader. The depravity of the human race can be manifested in a few people, but the devastation that they can incur is something that can never be forgotten. While a blind eye might be turned for a while, the truth will always find an out. While justice was never fully served during the lifetime of Ms. Dora Williamson, Gregg Olsen has outed the worst of the crime in his book. The injustice one feels while reading through the pages, almost screams for a retrial in modern times, although evidence, witnesses and time are against the case. Had forensics been what they are today during the trial, one wonders what would have truly been uncovered during the sensational trial of the “Starvation Heights” sanitarium and the unorthodox methods of its founder and “medical expert”.
I loved this book, hated it and wanted more all at the same time. It was hard to put down, but not one someone could consider “light reading”, although the sensation of it can make you feel as though you are sitting in the courtroom listening to the testimony. This book is definitely worth a go!
This book was amazing! If you want to feel as though you are involved in the plot, just get lost in this book! I felt as though I was right there with Kit Carson and riding the trails with Narbona. This tale of the West brings to life characters that have been forgotten and breathes life back into the saga that was the taming of the West. You cant just have one side of the story. Hampton Sides gives two sides, American and Indian and gives fair justice to both sides. I highly recommend checking out this book!
Curt Warren leaves home at an early age to pursue a dream that he has had, one which his father despises. Curt does not want to hurt his father, but at the same time, he knows that he was not cut out to be a farmer. The one thing that hurt the most as well was leaving behind Deborah. Curt loves her more than he cares to admit, and wants to marry her, but his father has made it clear that she is too good for him.
Five years later Curt comes home for his mothers funeral, and meets up with Deborah again. He is surprised to find her unmarried, and seeming to return the same feelings he still has for her. But his father is still against the match, and Curt cant figure out why. Can Deborah and Curt find a way to still love each other after being apart for so long, and can Curt's father find the forgiveness he needs in his heart for his son?
I received an advanced copy from the author
Joy Gilbert is a doctor from a small town, who cares to much about everyone around her. Her ex-fiance Zach, is a doctor at the hospital in the town where Joy is from, who hasn't stopped caring for Joy since she left, and to top it all off Weston Cline, Joy's new employer, has made it clear to those around her that he is expecting more in their relationship than what is normal between employer and employee.
As Weston's background becomes more clear to Joy, she pulls back from any relationship with him, but his teenage daughter has become a close friend of Joy's, so she continues to see the daughter and offer what friendship she can. When Joy get some devastating news and heads home to her mother, more devastation is piled on top. Joy is determined to make the best of what she can of the relationship between herself and her mother, but Molly is not the easiest person to get along with. As they learn to love and appreciate each other for what they are, Joy's relationship with Zach is brought again to the front, and they are slowly working toward forgiveness. Will forgiveness be easy to find, or will they continue to battle it out? As the health of Joy's young friend Tressa is suddenly thrust to the forefront, can an entire family learn to move past the embers of past flames and move forward to new relationships?
This was a great read!! I read through the entire book in about three hours and enjoyed the entire thing! I fell in love with a couple of the characters and found myself giggling at some of the antics that went on between the pages. Great clean read!
This was an interesting look into the life of Hatshepsut. I enjoyed the read. It was quick and easy. It took me about eight hours to get through this book.
Hatshepsut was a queen was who dared to proclaim herself Pharoah. She dreamed of a peaceful Egypt, and she was determined to bring prosperity to her kingdom. In making herself pharoah, she passed over the boy who should have become King, and kept him in the wings for years, while his angered smoldered and his passion smoldered for a woman who would never be his, and who scorned but loved him all the same.
Interesting read for those who are interested in Egyptian history!
The brilliant future that Catherine de Medici envisioned for her favorite son is about to collapse. A pampered fop, he is unable to rule the country he fought to gain control of for so long. He is under the control of his favorites and they are bent on destroying the country to gain what they want, power and wealth.
Catherine is unable to stop her son, as her illness progresses and age catches up with her. She does what she can to even out the power distribution in the country, but all factions seem intent on all or nothing.
Great read, love Jean Plaidy's writing style!
Catherine de Medici is the most untrusted woman in France. She is however, the most understated woman in France as well. Kept on the sidelines for years, her enemies have no idea what she is capable of, or how far she will go to get what she wants, and what she feels she deserves.
In the Italian Woman, we see the nature of Catherine de Medici coming out, and her enemies are starting to realize that she is a woman not to be messed with. How far will she go to get her hearts desire?
Great read! I loved it!
I was given an advanced copy by the author for an honest review
Leah has long since decided that in her life nothing is constant. Her mother died when she was young, her father is an alcoholic, and her brother has run away from home. She has decided that no matter what, nothing good was going to come her way, and no man would ever look at her they way they looked at her pretty friend Beth.
Soon, she is introduced to Steven, Beth's brother, who against all odds, determines to win over Leah, no matter how long it takes.Both Steven and Leah know there is an attraction, although neither know its mutual. They begin to talk, and as their stories come out, both reveal the hurts that they have been through with parents and family, and the forgiveness they know they need to give, but seem to have a hard time finding the right mind set for the forgiveness.
As more of Leah's past comes to light with the return of her brother, she stands to lose not only the love of Steven but that of her father as well. Will she be able to find room in her heart to forgive the past or will it continue to haunt her forever?
I loved this read, it was quick and easy, and fun. I would definitely recommend this read out to anyone who wants a good book to curl up with!
This was a great read that reveals more of the history of both of Henry VIII. Their lives unfortunately were not in their own to make, and they were at the mercy of not only husbands, and fathers, but the countries that they went to.
H. Chapman does a great job in pulling out the history and refreshing it, not the same facts presenting in a boring manner, but refreshing them to real beings again. I think this is a great read!
Elizabeth of York has long been the shadow queen. Queen in her own right, she became the consort of Henry VII, and was kept in the background, so that people would not view Henry marrying her as gaining his crown through his wife. Elizabeth as the oldest daughter of Edward IV, was brought up in wealth and oppulance. Her world revolved around gaiety and laughter, until her father died, her brothers disappeared and her uncle became king Richard III. After the death of his wife, it looked that Richard would marry his niece, but it was not well received.
In this book we see the life of Elizabeth in a different light. Here she desires the warmth of her husband, but doesn't get it, has a warmer relationship with her mother in law than what truly there would have been, and of course, held the love of her children.
I loved the read, as you get the woman, and not the picture. We see her as she could have been, not the slight mention of her name from time to time, but the actual warm woman that she was. She was deeply caring, giving up things she wanted to make sure those around her had what they needed.
Cora Cash is the catch of her day. She is wealthy, beautiful and intelligent. Her mother wants her to gain a title, something Cora really cares nothing about, but her mother dictates her life, so off to England they go in search of a husband for Cora.
As Cora gets drawn deeper into the English aristocracy, she finds that not is all what it appears. She has to struggle to keep her head above water, and not sink to the level which those around her are trying to draw her into. When Cora meets her duke, she falls in love with him, but she is not sure if he really loves her, or her money. The story here is a great one, as Goodwin weaves through the names and families with an intimate knowledge of both, even though most of the characters are fictional, they are given life on these pages.
Interesting look into the lives of the rich as they struggle to find what they consider suitable partners for their children, as well as the story of the coming of age of Cora, the main character, as she struggles for what she wants, what her mother wants, and what the world expects of her. It follows her from a selfish brat to the thoughtful wife and mother.
Revenge is something best served cold, and when it has been twenty years in the making, its even better for the one who wants the revenge!
Edmond Dantes has such a promising future ahead of him and a wonderful girl waiting for him at home. On the day of his engagement he is torn away from her, and trasported to prison, where he is left to rot for fourteen years. He was punished for the crimes of others and for one who wished that no one know. He was sacrificed for the advacement of others and those who were jealous of what he had attained in his short life.
During his imprisonment, he is fortunate to meet the Abbe next to him, and through a tunnel, they are able to communicate. The Abbe passes on his knowledge to Edmond and after the death of the elderly man, Edmond takes his place and finally find the fortune that the man had been hiding. After reinventing himself, he begins the slow painstaking job of finding and extracting the revenge of which has for so long dreamt.
But at what cost does revenge come?
Loved this read! It was one of the better books I have read through in a while, and although long, it was worth every turn of the page and sleepless night I spent going through it! I recommend this read for all!
Emma of Normandy is just a child really when her brother sends her across the sea to marry a man she has never met. This formidable man is the King of England, and it is Emma's job to make sure that peace is kept between her brothers country and her husbands. As she arrives, she is met with distain, and uncertainty. No one trusts her, least of all her husband. As Emma settles into her role as queen of England, she understands her mothers warning that she must rely on herself, and keep her cunning about her. She is determined to bear a child for the King, and win the affection of his people. When her husband orders the killing of all the Danes in the Kingdom, he unleashes an enemy upon England that threatens to tear the country apart. Can Emma keep her family together and alive, or all they all doomed to the incoming Danes?
This is a great read and story. Emma of Normandy comes alive in the pages, and one can see her as a human being, instead of just a figure in history's pages. A must read for one who loves early English history.