The Other Miss Bridgerton

The Other Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Poppy Bridgerton did not intend to get kidnapped (does anyone?), and Captain Andrew James (Rokesby, but his crew doesn't know that) never intended to hold anyone captive, but life has a funny way of turning out sometimes. If only Poppy had chosen to walk the opposite direction on the beach that day. If only Andrew hadn't needed to ensure the cave remained secret and the documents got safely delivered tomorrow. But she did, and it did, and they did, so Poppy awoke to discover herself confined to the nicely appointed captain's quarters aboard the privateer ship Infinity enroute to Portugal.

I absolutely adored this book, especially the banter between Poppy and Andrew and the way that they each slowly realize this person they are stuck with is actually someone they want to spend time with, is in fact a kindred spirit. I love that each really sees and appreciates the other in a way that no one else ever has. This is a character-driven story for sure, but with a plot twist I didn't see coming.

For readers' advisors: character and language doorways are primary, setting (at sea headed to Portugal in 1786) is secondary. A few mild swear words. The threat of violence in one scene about 3/4 of the way into the book, but no one gets hurt. Two steamy but not terribly explicit sex scenes near the end.

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Heartless

Heartless by Mary Balogh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars, but I'll round up.

The moral of this story? For the love of Mike, just tell the GD TRUTH already!!! Most of the story and nearly all of the pain and heartache would have been prevented had the main characters, Anna most especially, just told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. GAH!! Perhaps that's typical for victims of abuse, to trust no one and believe the abuser, but it's maddening to read.

My propensity to yell at Anna via my car stereo aside, much of the book was pretty good, if mostly predictable. The character development for Luc was welcome, since I did not like him at all at the beginning and appreciated his sleuthing and defense of his family by the end.

I do think the expression, "La!" was very overused. It's historically accurate, I'm sure, but to modern ears, a little goes a long way. Every time someone said it was like nails on a blackboard for my ears--even reducing the utterances to just the odious Henrietta would have been an improvement.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, setting is secondary (late 1700s England at a time when hair was powdered and women wore stomachers & wide hoops). A few mild swear words I think, and multiple sex scenes. The deaf character saves the day!

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I Love the Earl

I Love the Earl by Caroline Linden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't remember exactly how I came to download this ebook. Perhaps it was mentioned on Facebook? But I didn't realize until I'd finished it that it was only a novella. Which is fine--I just wish I'd known. Ah, well.

I liked the concept: spinster sister and bachelor brother unexpectedly inherit a fortune and, in the case of the brother, a title. The new duke decides to give his sister a 40,000 L dowry, which attracts the fortune-hunters. Conflict arises between the siblings when he objects to her choice.

I wasn't sure I would like the book when Rhys, the impoverished earl, acted like an arrogant jerk at a garden party. His "you are destined to be mine" attitude rubbed me the wrong way. Perhaps it was meant to be romantic, but it felt like a power play.

However, that attitude disappeared, and the story improved. Plus I appreciated Margaret's maturity and independence.

For readers' advisors: story & character doorways, with setting doorway as well, since it was set in mid-18th century England.

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Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner

Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh, my goodness, I now need to listen to all of the Outlander series on audiobook! Or at least I do if they are all read by voice actors as wonderful as Jeff Woodman & Rick Holmes. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when this book started playing, and I was so grateful that it was 13 CDs long. Bliss!

The Grey brothers have extensive evidence of corruption by an army officer and set out to track him down and bring him to justice. Among the papers in the packet of evidence is a poem they believe to be written in "Erse" (the language of the Scottish Highlanders), so John's brother Harold sends soldiers to fetch Jamie from Hellwater and bring him to London to translate what turns out to be an Irish poem. To Jamie's dismay, a former comrade and die-hard Irish Jacobite, Tobias Quinn, has followed him there. Next thing Jamie knows, he's on a boat to Ireland with both Lord John & Quinn, battling brutal seasickness and trying to convince his unwelcome Irish companion that the Jacobite cause is dead and should be put to rest.

This novel is sort of a bridge between Gabaldon's Outlander series and her Lord John series. It features both Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey and takes place during 1760 when Jamie is "on parole" at Hellwater--after Ardsmuir Prison but before being free & Claire coming back. The chapters switch back and forth between Jamie's & John's points of view, and the voice actors likewise switch back and forth, doing the voices for all the people in their respective chapters.

I've seen a thread on Goodreads of people complaining about the narrators--Rick Holmes, in particular--and I do not understand why they are so displeased. True, I am not Scottish and have never (yet) been to Scotland and cannot therefore say for sure how accurate Holmes' Scottish accent is, but sheesh! His voice is wonderful and brought Jamie to life in a whole new way for me!

For readers' advisors: Like Gabaldon's other Outlander books, this one is pretty long and involves intertwining subplots and political intrigue. There is some relatively graphic sexual content, but no real sex scenes (it's all memory, fantasy, and dreams). There is quite a lot of swearing but all of it makes contextual sense. Character and setting doorways are primary; story is secondary.



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Cat Among the Pigeons

Cat Among the Pigeons by Julia Golding


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fun adventure story featuring a young teen orphan (Cat Royal) trying to save her friend Pedro from being reclaimed into slavery by his evil master in 1790s London. Very fast-paced and exciting! It's the 2nd in a series (1st was The Diamond of Drury Lane), and I'm looking forward to reading the third (Den of Thieves)!

For Readers' Advisors: story doorway, with setting & character as secondary doorways



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The Diamond of Drury Lane

The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun, fast-paced read. Just a delightful book with a spunky heroine. There's even a glossary in the back to help teens understand some of the British slang circa 1790. What little swearing there is, is mostly archaic (i.e. "...you old fogrum!"), and there isn't any sexual content, so it's "safe" for tweens and teens to read. The narrator/heroine is about 10 years old, and most of the other main characters are her age up through about late teens or so. Julia Golding brings the streets and alleyways of London to life, so I'm glad this is apparently the first book in a new series.


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Return to Summerhouse

Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, so I admit, I'm a sucker for time travel stories. Love them. Can't get enough of them. There is so much "scope for the imagination" (to quote Anne of Green Gables) in time travel.

In Return to Summerhouse, Amy is more or less coerced into going to Maine to stay with two other women--total strangers--as a form of therapy to help her deal with her recent miscarriage. The two women, Faith and Zoe, come to the summerhouse with their own traumas to heal. Where the story really gets good is when Amy starts dreaming about a Lord Hawthorne in the eighteenth century...and wakes up bruised or wet, according to what happened in her dream. The women begin to open up to each other and tell their personal stories, and Amy convinces the other two to come with her to Madame Zoya's cottage and travel back in time to "put destiny back on track."

I loved this book also for believing in fidelity and for championing organic gardening of heirloom varieties (and botanical variety in general).

If you're recommending it to someone else, you should know that there are quite a few sexual references but no explicit scenes.


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