Belinda Kroll
Great, startling read
What a fun, scary, compelling story. I'm easily frightened so I mostly had to read this during daylight hours. There are so many clever, heartrending pieces to this; definitely for older children (no younger than 13 I'd say). In today's climate, I hope we would all be Jane McKeene.
Interesting read
We are thrown into the fantasy/political mystery from the start with a murder of two parents. The result is a girl who loses all her color and the ability for people to see her. This story had grand ambitions that were mostly realized for me, but I admit, it was a confusing journeyand I'm not entirely sure I get all of it. I both appreciated and found the ending anticlimactic. There were certain thematic promises made early in the book that left me a little disjointed by the end; I seriously thought the author was angling for a sequel up until I realized there was an epilogue.
Charming, slower paced tale
Another charming book by Blackwell. It's been a while since I read the first book, so I struggled to remember some of the details obviously required to jump straight into this story. If you're a fan of the Cranwell PBS mini series inspired by Elizabeth Gaskell's book, you'll enjoy this series! There's a fair amount of scripture quoted, appropriate for the era and for the characters, especially since one of the main characters is a vicar. These books are heartfelt and move at a slower pace... Tuck in with a cup of tea and enjoy yourself.
I very much enjoyed this book. It was a nice dose of magical realism/touch of fantasy mixed in with young adult historical fiction about women's rights in Portland, Oregon. I related to the main character and had fun following her journey from beleaguered daughter to strong adult. The romance was pretty sweet between the hero and heroine, but her run ins with other suitors had me anxious because my adult mind knew how bad it could (and does still) get for women caught in situations they don't want to be in, but have no power to control. The hypnosis spin on the entire women's rights movement was so clever! I loved how removing the voices of society ladies at the end was a visceral education in what their husbands and beaus were doing to them. Loved it.
I think my favorite part of the story, however, is that the heroine and hero go their separate ways at the end. They have responsibilities to themselves and their families, and they hope to run into each other again, but it's not the end of the world that they are not together. It is what it is. I loved that.
Every once in a while in the narrative, it seemed the author clung to colors as a way to describe things... In a paragraph I read about gunmetal gray clouds and the color of a bicycle seat (red, I think), and something that was blue... it was a lot. That would be my one complaint, that sometimes in trying to describe, we lost the point because we were swimming in a bunch of colors.
Great book, though! Would totally read again.
I really enjoyed this novella! I was leery of the shorter length, but the set-up was great at pulling me right into the action and giving me a sense of place.
I empathized with both the hero and heroine, and wanted them to triumph. This is a wonderful little story about learning how to look at your situation with different eyes, and allowing others to help. It is a steamier sort of romance, definitely some second base action in the story itself and then in the epilogue you get the consummation after marriage.
This is a great example of a historical romance novella done “right.”
This book is currently free on Amazon Kindle and Nook. I read it on my Nook app.
This book was a tough read, mainly for its subject rather than production value or anything. I chose this book as research for a novella I'm working on; I needed to know what the homefront in Ohio was like during the Civil War.
This book, a collection of speeches, articles, and letters to and from the battlefield, did just that. This book, better than any other I've found, focuses on how conflicted Ohio happened to be, despite having volunteered the most soldiers to the Union Army of any Union state. We read about fathers against Lincoln, and sons for Lincoln. We read about men who went to war supporting the Union, but not Lincoln. We read about mothers asking their sons and husbands to be safe, and then read in the footnote the recipient died before the letter got there. We read about the Great Debate of slavery, and how and why Ohioans should or shouldn't care.
By the end of the book, I felt quite anxious, actually. The book begins about a decade before the war, setting up politics and the like, and ends a decade after the war, where we read speeches that show how the American memory is already rewriting history to seem more grand, more noble in motivation, than the actual war was in living it.
All in all, a great resource that I've marked and annotated thoroughly.
You know, I really wanted to like this book as much as I liked the first, but the first was a tough act to follow. The lure of the first book was as much felt during the process of getting to know the characters and landscape as it was the Gothic-inspired, steampunk-lite environment.
This book tried to recapture that feeling but fell short due to the supporting cast. Unfortunately, where the last book had a healthy troupe to love and follow, we basically abandon everyone as we adventure to Paris. The naiveté of the heroine worked for her in the first book, and was just plain confusing in this one. The ending felt rushed, and everything was tied up a little too neatly.
Not sure I will be picking up the third, if there is one.
It's been a while since I have read a historical fiction like this, in a good way. The story is compelling, I truly believe the character motivation, and the length of time it takes for understandings between characters to occur is reasonable.
I felt the ending was both timed right, and a little rushed, somehow. I can't say how it should be different, only that I guess I wish I got to enjoy a little more of the couple now that they're finally together.
Well-written, based on historical persons, and set on a plantation I now want to visit, I really enjoyed this book. Don't read if you're looking for a quick escape; this is the type of book you savor.
I think I enjoyed this book because it allowed time for people to change. If you're going to write inspirational fiction, then help me suspend my disbelief and give the characters time to wrestle through their trials with themselves and God. This book did that and more, throwing the characters into trial after trial, weakening them, strengthening them. Everyone always says, “In God's time,” well, this book is a great example of that at work.
Solid book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to read more of this series.
This was a pretty cute book. I had a couple issues with the wording about the hero... he seemed a little too sure he knew better than the heroine just what she wanted, a little too quickly into their relationship. Iw as appeased, however, because they do spend time apart and she has the opportunity to decide for herself. A good read, not too difficult, and done easily on the Kindle app.
I want to have brain children with Brandon Sanderson. Every single one of his books has kept me up past reasonable and unreasonable hours, turning pages feverishly wondering what is going to happen next and will I figure it out before the characters.
Mistborn is no exception, and same with its sequel, The Well of Ascension. I can't wait to pick up The Hero of Ages.
I picked this up from my local half-price bookstore because I thought the cover was gorgeous and it was only a dollar. I can only say that I liked this book because the romance just didn't really do it for me. I think this is because the romance started out historically correct, rather than pandering to my modern romantic sensibilities. I can't help it. I want the romance (intellectual and emotional) to come before all the smexiness.
Julianne and Michael are brought together by an arranged marriage, and they start their familial duty of producing an heir for the duchy as soon as possible. Through their entanglements in bed and the pillow talk after, they realize that it just might be possible to have that long-sought-but-rarely-found sort of marriage within the aristocracy: a happy one.
What I found interesting was that both characters came from happy marriages, yet they didn't expect to have such luck themselves. I also kept looking for the reason why the book was titled “His Sinful Secret,” and while the answer wasn't what I expected, I wish there had been a little more punch to it.
Homg. Ok. So I know the author, and I've avoided reading the book precisely because I know her. Not well, we've commented on each other's blogs before....
Anyway. I'm pissed I didn't read this sooner. Holy crap. Somehow Susan jumped into my high school head and pulled out all my memories of my high school bully. I'm not much like the heroine, but that's beside the point. She got the feelings of a person who has been bullied and the torment that comes from deciding whether or not to stand up to them. Susan's ability to channel young adult concerns, needs, dreams, drew me in and had me reading far into the night.
The supernatural element of the story only highlighted existing and compelling moments in everyone's teenage years. I have not read such a great young adult book in SUCH a long time. The story is told in first person from the hero and heroine's perspectives, allowing us to jump around locations, question motives, understand conflicts. Such an engaging narrative.
Very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
Another book which tackles the aftermath of a traumatic event, this time the raid of a compound while in India which leads to the murder of the heroine's parents. Meriel returns from India a mute, content to spend her days in her extensive English garden communing with nature and ignoring the pain of the human world. When Dominic arrives, having never been able to stand watching any animal hurt, he finds a kindred spirit in Meriel, despite her silence.
Though the plot is fairly standard for historical fiction, as always, Putney's characters shine. Meriel has these inklings, a different understanding of the world. She sees beauty in weeds, auras around those who matter, and disregards societal rules. Which made for her seductive pursuit of Dominic rather entertaining. She had watched animals in rut for years, she thinks she understands what is to be done. Poor Dominic, though he had rakish years, is mortified, making for humorous and sensual scenes where he clutches the arms of chairs and refuses to look at Meriel as she pursues him.
I feel as though the treatment of the relationship between the twins Kyle and Dominic could have been explored more. I loved the tender and passionate relationship between Dominic and Meriel. Again, this is a story where the beta hero shines, helping the heroine come out of her shell so they can have a healthy, equal relationship. Read this book for an unconventional heroine, a wonderful beta hero that I'd want to bring home with me, and hints of Putney's Guardian series through the odd little quirks Meriel exhibits.
This book had me chuckling on the first page. I follow John Green's Vlog Brothers, and looked forward to that intellectual snark that keeps me coming back for more, and I was not disappointed. First, let's address the main character's name: Colin Singleton.
Any computer programmer or mathematician would recognize the joke at once: here is a young man who is desperate to be known, to be recognized as unique and special. A singleton, in object-oriented programming, is a one-of-a-kind object. You can have a class of an object, say, Car, and then have different objects that belong to the class of Car: Honda, Ford, Toyota, etc. A singleton has only one element in its class or set: it is unique, special. Nerd!Belinda was ridiculously happy to see the intellectual snark and jokes went this far.
Read this book for a contemporary satire on the road trip story, while at the same time feeling heartfelt and snarky, as we all were in high school. A quick read, followed with an appendix where Green asked his mathematics professor friend to go through the math of Colin's Underlying Katherine Predictability. With graphs and everything. I've never been so happy to see a parabola in my life.
Ever wonder what would have happened if Sherlock Holmes, the master of dispassionate problem-solving, found his equal? Yeah, me too! Especially since the BBC's most recent incarnation of Sherlock came out and boy do I have a mind crush on him.
Back to the point, Belinda. Why should you read this book? Because it's about a woman who knows she has a talent and isn't afraid to use it. It's about a man who recognizes that talent and respects her for it, even if he doesn't understand it. It's about two highly intelligent people who are working together to solve a mystery, and in the process happen to ignite a passion between them that is intellectually, emotionally, and physically satisfying. You just don't get that every day.
Quick has once again written a story that had me laughing out loud, eager to turn the page, and happy as both a fantasy/paranormal and historical fiction fan.
Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2010/11/book-the-perfect-poison/
I sincerely enjoyed reading this novella. It was similar in theme to Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson and if anyone knows me, they know I'm obsessed with Sanderson's work.
However, the thing I love about Sanderson is he knows when a work is stand-alone. Even though it is obvious the story continues due to how Day of Sacrifice ends... I felt it ended in a way that it could have been a stand-alone. There just aren't enough good stand-alone fantasy these days!
All in all, a good read that I wish wasn't part of a series because I felt the storyline was wrapped up for me in a short story sort of way.
This is my first Candace Camp and I picked it up because I have been on the hunt for A Hidden Heart for my mother. The other Candace Camp books didn't interest me, but the title intrigued me. This book was a fun, quick read, that had little history and the right amount of romance.
The selling point of this book is the description of Juliana and Nick. Admittedly, at the beginning I tired of Juliana's constant wondering “Will he remember me? Won't he remember me? What if I don't meet his expectations?” Given that she is an independent woman, having made her way for years as a lady's companion to nice (and not-so-nice) employers, that grated on my nerves a bit.
I adored the fact that Camp didn't have them jump into bed right away. This book is a great example of a romance which allows the characters to get to know one another as people, to discover their personalities, their complements and clashes, before any hanky-panky begins. Their grudging respect for one another even while pissed off is what kept me smiling and reading; it's what made them real for me.
Originally posted at my blog, http://worderella.com/2010/10/book-an-independent-woman/
Those of you following me on Twitter might be surprised I finished this book. I'm certain my mother is, as she gave up on it. I had my misgivings because it felt as though the tension keeping Elijah and Jemma apart was, well, grasping at straws. It was far too obvious that they cared for one another, and the way Jemma in the early pages of the book seems to be manipulating anyone and everyone to begin the seduction for her estranged husband because he “needed some fun” really annoyed me.
It took me a while to realize why it annoyed me so; I'm like Elijah, I don't like to play games and flirt needlessly, so for Jemma to convince women to throw themselves at Elijah because he hadn't ever flirted made me think Jemma wasn't good enough for him because she didn't care to know him or what mattered/worked for him.
I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because by the end I felt I understood both characters better. They were flawed, which I liked. They compromised, which I liked. They had scenes which made me glad my family was off somewhere else because I would have been embarrassed to be reading them knowing my younger brothers could have peeked over my shoulder and seen an errant, highly suggestive word. I liked that too, heh.
So all in all, while it's not the best romance I've read, I was highly entertained, and fascinated by the fact that Ms James, through the power of her writing, convinced me to keep reading. However, I will say that if Jemma had said “Oh, Elijah,” one more time, I was going to jump into that book and drag Jemma by her hair out of the bed for a good scolding.
Sorry. Pet peeve. “Oh, Name-of-Hero-Who-Stirs-My-Loins,” just looks cheesy on the page.
Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2010/09/book-this-duchess-of-mine/
I love Neil Gaiman. This is the second book I've read by him (Stardust was the other). I saw the movie MirrorMask and loved it. Gaiman's tone is clever and funny; when you read his books you feel like he is sitting there telling you a story, rather than you reading a book (especially so with Stardust, where the characters are more archetypal). His descriptions are precise, accurate, and oftentimes hilarious because he doesn't give any of his characters a break.
If you like Doctor Who or Monty Python, this is a book for you. If you write fiction that takes any hint whatsoever from fairy tales, mythology, or legends, Gaiman is an excellent example to read to get a feel for what other writers are doing. (Another good example would be Marquez, but I'll save that for when I review Of Love and Other Demons.) Gaiman, to me, is what I imagine the Grimm Brothers were to their contemporaries. All three men take inspiration from life, make the most mundane or horrible facts fantastical, and demand in the nicest way possible that you get something out of the story by the end. I highly suggest reading the author note at the end to really drive this point home.
Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2008/05/book-neverwhere/