35. Then Comes Seduction

By Mary Balogh
Rated 5 Stars
Amazon

 The best thing about Mary Balogh is that you always get what you expect.  I have never had the urge to either not finish one of her books or throw one at the wall.  After my two previous disappoint reads this turned into a real comfort read.

Jasper Finley, Baron Montford, had never lost a wager until he met Katherine Huxtable. But when he bets his friends that he can successfully seduce Katherine, after their first meeting, he not only admits defeat but also patiently listens to Katherine as she verbally decimates his character, then sends him on his way. When the two meet again three years later in London, Jasper finds he is still intrigued with the beguiling Katherine, so he proposes another wager: he will make her fall in love with him. Katherine knows the smart thing to do is to send Jasper away once again, but somehow she finds the idea of romance with a dangerous rake irresistible.

DNF - Coventry

By Helen Humphries
Rated No Stars
From Library

I started and then gave up on  Coventry, by Helen Humphreys a novel of WWII.  It just didn't seem to be going anywhere.  I gave it 50 pages but if a book can't pull me in by then I am not willing to invest anymore time and effort into it.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Humphreys's lethargic latest depicts the intertwining lives of two British women during the world wars. Harriet and Maeve meet on the streets of Coventry, England, in 1914. Both are of troubled mind: Harriet's husband has just left for the battlegrounds of France, and Maeve can't shake a deep sense of loneliness. The women share laughs on a bus ride, but afterwards their lives continue on different paths. Harriet's husband, Owen, goes missing (and is presumed killed) in action, and Harriet spends the next two decades mourning his loss. Maeve becomes pregnant out of wedlock and works a string of odd jobs to raise her son, Jeremy. In the chaos of the German bombing of Coventry in 1940, Harriet befriends Jeremy, who, at 22, stirs intense memories of Owen. Together, they search the town for Jeremy's mother and forge an intense bond. Humphreys's characters are given to poetic tendencies that occasionally yield interesting insights on the nature of loss and change, though the cast tends toward the indistinct and the narrative feels too in service of the historical record.

DNF - The Long Way Home

Audrey Howard has been one of my favorite UK authors ever since I read The Mallow Years, All the Dear Faces and There is no Parting.  While browsing I saw she had a new book out called The Long Way Home, a novel of WWI.  So I ordered it from amazon.uk.  I hardly ever order from them because the exchange rate and shipping is usually so high.  Elizabeth Chadwick is my only must order from there.  But this book was such a mess that I would like to know who really wrote it and what have they done with Audrey Howard.  There is no way the same woman who wrote All the Dear Faces is the same one who wrote this over the top melodrama. (and for a melodrama to go over the top . . . well!)  I didn't hurl it at the wall but I thought about it.

34. The Swan Maiden

By Jules Watson
Rated 5++ Stars
From:  Jani

A lush, romantic retelling of one of the most enduring Irish legends, reigniting the tale of Deirdre-the Irish Helen of Troy-in a story that is at once magical, beautiful, and tragic.

She was born with a blessing and a curse: that she would grow into a woman of extraordinary beauty-and bring ruin to the kingdom of Ulster and its ruler, the wily Conor. Ignoring the pleadings of his druid to expel the infant, King Conor secrets the girl child with a poor couple of his province, where no man can covet her. There, under the tutelage of a shamaness, Deirdre comes of age in nature and magic.. And in the season of her awakening, the king is inexorably drawn to her impossible beauty.
But for Deirdre, her fate as a man's possession is worse than death. And soon the green-eyed girl, at home in waterfall and woods, finds herself at the side of three rebellious young warriors. Among them is the handsome Naisi.

His heart charged with bitterness towards the aging king, and growing in love for the defiant girl, Naisi will lead Deirdre far from Ulster - and into a war of wits, sword, and spirit that will take a lifetime to wage.

Brimming with life and its lusts, here is a soaring tale of enchantment and eternal passions - and of a woman who became legend.

33. Eve : a novel of the first woman

By  Elissa Elliott
Rated 4 Stars
From Library

It is the world’s oldest tale: the story of Eve, her husband, Adam, and the tragedy that would overcome her sons…. In this luminous debut novel, Elissa Elliott puts a powerful twist on biblical narrative, boldly reimagining Eve’s journey. At once intimate and universal, timely and timeless, this unique work of fiction blends biblical tradition with recorded history and dazzling storytelling. And as it does, Eve comes to life in a way religion and myth have never allowed—in a novel that explores the very essence of love, motherhood, faith, and humanity. In their world they are alone…a family haunted by banishment, struggling for survival in a harsh new land. A woman who has borne and buried children, Eve sees danger shadowing those she loves, while her husband drifts further and further from the man he was in the Garden, blinded by his need to rebuild a life outside of Eden. One daughter, alluring, self-absorbed Naava, turns away from their beliefs. Another, crippled, ever-faithful Aya, harbors a fateful secret, while brothers Cain and Abel become adversaries, and Dara, the youngest, is chosen for a fate of her own. In one hot, violent summer, by the shores of the muddy Euphrates, strangers arrive on their land. New gods challenge their own. And for Eve, a time of reckoning is at hand. The woman who once tasted the forbidden fruit of paradise sees her family unraveling—as brother turns on brother, culminating in a confrontation that will have far-reaching consequences for them all. From a woman’s first awakening to a mother’s innermost hopes and fears, from moments of exquisite tenderness to a climax of shocking violence,Evetakes us on a breathtaking journey of the imagination. A novel that has it all—romantic love, lust, cruelty, heroism, envy, sacrifice, murder

32. The Boar Stone

By Jules Watson
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Interlibrary Loan

This was my favorite book in the series although I liked them all.  I especially liked the way she brought the story to such a smooth and satisfying conclusion.  I highly recommend this series.

PRODUCT INFORMATION:
Archeologist Watson concludes her popular Dalriada trilogy (after The Dawn Stag and The White Mare), with another richly imagined and action-packed saga. Watson's heroine, Minna, is a nursemaid for a Roman family living south of Hadrian's Wall that separates Roman Britannia from barbarian Alba (present-day Scotland). A half-caste with unnatural eyes and strange ways, Minna runs away after the death of her beloved grandmother. Traveling north where her brother serves with the legions, Minna is captured by slave traders and sold into slavery. Her new owner, Queen Maeve, the wife of King Cahir of Dalriada—one of the tribal kingdoms of Alba—assigns her to tutor royal children. King Cahir soon realizes that the new tutor is a 'sign of the prophecy' that it is his destiny to free Alba of Rome. King Cahir forges an alliance among the usually fractious northern tribes and marches south to confront the Romans. Standing in their way are the hated Roman legions, their despised Wall, Minna's split allegiance to her Roman roots and her captors, and treachery among Cahir's family and allies. Watson's work is as inventive, eloquent and exotic as ever; her fans will relish this rousing conclusion.

31. Mr. Darcy's Dream

By:  Elizabeth Aston
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Jani

I had a little trouble orienting my self with this story since I have been reading the Rebecca Ann Collins series.  Aston's books are more of a Regency Romance book while Collin's series border on a more serious look a the life and times of the Regency period.  But for what it was, it was a good, diverting read and I enjoyed it.


LIBRARY SUMMARY:  When Phoebe, a young niece of Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley and is joined by kind-hearted Louisa Bingley, unmarried after three London seasons. Once the young ladies are situated in the house, several handsome strangers also arrive -- all hopeful of winning the girls' hearts. As preparations for the ball which Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are to give at Pemberley gain momentum, mischief and love triangles abound, making life as difficult as possible for anyone connected with the Darcy family. Populated with authentic characters firmly rooted in Jane Austen's mores and stylistic traditions,Mr. Darcy's Dream has an unforgettable combination of romance, societal scandals, friendship, family, and marriage.

29. Still Alice

By Lisa Genova.
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

Sad, but good.   Naturally since my father had Alzheimer's I saw myself on every page. *sigh*

LIBRARY SUMMARY: Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying. Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind...Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People and The Curious Incident of the Dogin the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

30. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

By Galen Becket
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Connie

When I started reading this book I didn't think I was going to be able to get into it.  It started so slow for me.  I almost lost interest in reading it when the author spent so much time phaffing around setting up for the story.  Lucky for me I stuck with it long enough to get interested.  I get the feeling that the author had fun writing this story and therefore it makes it fun to read.

I am having a little trouble picking up on the Pride and Prejudice aspect of the story though.  I am channeling  more Sense and Sensibility with the three Lockwell (Dashwood) sisters and Mr. Rafferty (Willoughby)  And I did have to laugh at the gothic Mr. Rochester (Mr. Quent) and the locked upper room that the housekeeper makes sinister allusions to. (shades of Grace Pool)  I never did figure out who in the world Mr. Garritt was a parody of and also wondered  and if the Highway Man had anything to do with ghostly galleons tossed upon storm swept clouds?

Product Description:
Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and H.P. Lovecraft collide in Beckett's periodically entertaining debut. Young Ivy Lockwell, the unmarried daughter of a family stricken with poverty after her magician father went mad, travels from her home in Invarel, a mirror of Austen-era London, to become a governess at the country estate of Heathcrest, a Bronte-analogue complete with mysterious Rochester stand-in, Mr. Quent. As a woman, she is forbidden to perform magic and consoles herself with the study of magical history, discovering an ancient story still working its will on the world. Treading a fine line between homage and unoriginality, Invarel occasionally sparkles with descriptions of illusionist shows and quasi-fascist government activity, but Heathcrest is lifted part and parcel from Jane Eyre, and Beckett relies too much on references to that work to fuel emotional arcs and reader attachment.

28. Neither Here nor There

By Bill Bryson
Rated 5 stars
From Library - Audio

After 20 years as a London-based reporter, American journalist Bryson ( The Mother Tongue ) set out to retrace a youthful European backpacking trip, from arctic Norway's northern lights to romantic Capri and the "collective delirium" of Istanbul. Descriptions of historic and artistic sights in the Continent's capitals are cursory; Bryson prefers lesser-known locales, whose peculiar flavor he skillfully conveys in anecdotes that don't scant the seamy side and often portray eccentric characters encountered during untoward adventures of the road. He enlivens the narrative with keen, sometimes acerbic observations of national quirks like the timed light switches in French hallways, but tends to strive too hard for comic effects, some in dubious taste. He also joins other travelers in deploring the growing hordes of peddlers who overrun major tourist meccas.

27. Shadows in the Jungle

By Larry Alexander
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

Determined to retake the Philippines ever since his ignominious flight from the islands in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur needed a first-rate intelligence-gathering unit. Out of thousands, only 138 men were chosen. They were the best, toughest, and fittest men the Army had to offer. They were the Alamo Scouts.

Larry Alexander follows the footsteps of the men who made up the elite reconnaissance unit that served as General MacArthur’s eyes and ears in the Pacific War. Drawing from personal interviews and testimonies from Scout veterans, Alexander weaves together the tales of the individual Scouts, who often spent weeks behind enemy lines to complete their missions. Now, more than sixty years after the war, the story of the Alamo Scouts will finally be told.

26. For Valour

By Douglas Reeman

Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

The story of the convoys delivering supplies to the Soviet Union through German controlled waters off Norway is not often told.  This book is a novel of the northern convoys. Commander Graham Martineau is still haunted by the ship he lost as he takes command of the crack Tribal Class destroyer Kakka and her weary crew to excort the cargo ships on the long run across the northern ocean.

World War II was a war which involved the home front as well. The irony of sailors in harm's way losing families at home is portrayed well. The characters are human and vulnerable, and entirely believable. They have the courage to continue human involvements in the face of separation and loss. All in all, the book is immensely moving and a good description of human character. The technical details are informed and accurate, as in all of Reeman's novels.

25. The Scent of Sake

By Joyce Lebra
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Library

This was a fair book but for some reason or other it never quite made it from an all right read to a very good read.  It just didn't ring true for me.

LIBRARY SUMMARY:  The sole heir to the House of Omura, a venerable family of Kobe sake brewers, nineteen-year-old Rie hears but cannot heed her mother's advice: that in nineteenth-century Japan, a woman must "kill the self" or her life will be too difficult to bear. In this strict, male-dominated society, women may not even enter the brewery--and repressive tradition demands that Rie turn over her family's business to the inept philanderer she's been forced to marry. She is even expected to raise her husband's children by another woman--a geisha--so that they can eventually run the Omura enterprise. But Rie's pride will not allow her to relinquish what is rightfully hers.