A Christmas to Remember by L. Kleypas, L. Heath, M. Frampton, and V. Lorret, and a couple final Fiona Friday pics

I can't leave for a holiday break without being completely caught up! And, I just finished A Christmas to Remember, last night. So . . . one last review, at least for now. I'm not going to stop myself from jumping online to review over the holiday break, if I feel like it, this year. Youngest son is the only person coming home and he isn't going to be around for long, so I'll return or just drop in to do a post or two if I feel like it.

A Christmas to Remember is a book of short stories with a Christmas theme (although, honestly, I don't recall a reference to Christmas in the first story -- I might have just overlooked it). I'm not a regular romance reader, so it's worth mentioning that I may approach this book through a different lens than the romance crowd, although I used to hang out with romance writers and published a romantic short story, myself (long ago, in a land far, far away). I'm completely unfamiliar with all four authors but I've heard the name Lisa Kleypas and her name appears in the largest font, so I presume she's the better known of the four. A little about each:

"I Will" by Lisa Kleypas - With a father on his death bed and threatening to cut off all money (but not the rest of the estate), Andrew, Lord Drake, needs to come up with a solution to convince his father to release the funds. He must find a young lady with an impeccable reputation and convince his father that she has reformed him from his dissolute ways. He convinces Miss Caroline Hargreaves to help him, promising to clear her brother's debts and stop leading him astray. But, Drake is surprised to find that the petite Miss Hargreaves hides a passionate, lovely personality behind her stiff exterior and spectacles. Will she reform the rake or will he use her and leave her hanging?

"Deck the Halls with Love" by Lorraine Heath - Lady Meredith Hargreaves is soon to be wed to Lord Litton, thanks to a kiss in a garden. Caught by her father and brothers, a wedding was considered the only possible solution to her compromising position. And, Lady Meredith thinks Lord Litton will make a fine husband. Months after the Season, she's still stung by the rejection of Alistair Wakefield, the Marquess of Chetwyn. Now, Chetwyn's intended is marrying another man and his sights are back on Lady Meredith. With a Christmas wedding soon to take place, can Chetwyn convince the only woman he ever truly loved that he's right for her?

"No Groom at the Inn" by Megan Frampton - Lady Sophronia Bettesford's father was not wise with his money and now she's on her way to take care of a relative's children and chickens. While she's waiting for her coach to arrive, James Archer shows up and asks her to marry him. Then, he clarifies. He needs a fake betrothed to accompany him to a party in the country. For mere weeks of pretending, he's willing to set her up in a country cottage. Sophronia is thrilled to have her lady's maid restored to her side and no prospect of chickens in her future. But, will she be able to tame the restless traveler who is slowly stealing her heart?

"The Duke's Christmas Wish" by Vivienne Lorret - Ivy Sutherland has passed her season without success and is now firmly planted on the shelf. But, her friend Lilah is in need of a husband and Ivy is certain that the Duke of Vale will perfectly fit the bill. Lodged in the duke's immense castle with at least 100 guests, there are plenty of young ladies from which the duke might choose. But, he's distracted by his science experiments and inventions, especially a formula for marriage that the duke believes will save the trouble of going through that awkward Season business. In his ledger, he says Ivy is of "no consequence". Then, why does he find that he has eyes only for her? And, how can he resist a woman who comes up with a better idea to fix a problem with one of his inventions than he himself has imagined?

So . . . not the typical romance reader and I would not have thought to buy this book, but Avon sent it to me, unsolicited. And, wow, am I happy they did! Some years I'm in the mood for holiday reading, sometimes I avoid it. This year, I was craving a little Christmas spirit and I am perfectly fine with a bit of fluffy, predictable romance. And, for the most part, these stories were very predictable. While the final story, "The Duke's Christmas Wish" was, in my humble opinion, a little rough around the edges, I thought it was the least predictable of the four. But, I enjoyed them all.

My hands-down favorite was the third story, "No Groom at the Inn," by Megan Frampton. Sophronia starts out the story a bit on the stiff side. She doesn't want to be called Sophy or Sophycakes, as James lightly proposes. She has a love of words, her father having played the Dictionary Game with her for many years, and each chapter begins with a quiz - which of the three definitions fits the word? The answers are at the end of the story. There are loads of references to the chickens Sophronia will no longer have to tend, some surprisingly witty dialogue, and a marvelously clever ending in which James plays a game to let Sophy know his feelings have been altered. Even at around 100 pages, I found "No Groom at the Inn" surprisingly convincing because the two characters seem suited to each other. They're able to catch each other's meaning when necessary with vague gestures and their dialogue is frankly adorable. By the end of the story, Sophronia is fine with whatever James wants to call her and even responds in kind.

Highly recommended - I'm not sure how regular romance readers would feel about this set of short Christmas stories, but I loved being swept up in a little holiday romance and thoroughly enjoyed A Christmas to Remember. There were several deflowerings of young ladies, so I added a family warning for those who are sensitive about sex scenes. When I regularly read romance, I favored clean romance but I that was primarily because I prefer that a romance is about the things (apart from sex) that make a relationship magnetic, like what two characters have in common, what makes them laugh or lean in to hear more or think twice about that person that didn't appear to be their type, at first. I thought the interaction between the characters was charming and I was enchanted by all four stories.

Final cat photos! It would be easy to blame today's cat crazies on the unexpected snow we got overnight (!!!!) but they never go outside, so I think it was just cats being normal. Here's a pic of their dust-up, followed by the innocent look, after they finished whacking each other.

Wishing the happiest of holidays to all!

Bookfool, with Isabel, and Fiona

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck

[. . . ] like it or not, this town was a part of me.  I could feel its dust on my feet, its rivers like blood in my veins, its street patterns etched on my skin; to leave would mean amputating a part of myself.

~ from Advance Reader Copy of Fallen Beauty (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

Two up-front warnings: 

1.  It's 2:00 in the morning. I diddled around all day when I knew I should have been finishing this book to review it because . . . 
2.  The timing was wrong.  But, I loved where Erika Robuck took the story, in the end. I just had a terrible time getting into Fallen Beauty.

Fallen Beauty follows Erika Robuck's pattern: the fictional biography of a historical character told via the placement of an entirely fictional character whose life intersects with that of the real-life character, in this case poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and fictional seamstress Laura Kelley.

The year is 1928. Laura is 19 when she falls in love. In the course of a single night of passion, she becomes pregnant. But, the man she loves is not available. Before her child arrives, tragedy strikes, leaving the family business on shaky ground.

Laura chooses to keep baby Grace and becomes a pariah in her small community. It is difficult enough to survive as a seamstress after the stock market crash. With few people willing to cross the threshold of her shop, Laura is barely surviving when Edna St. Vincent Millay (who chose to go by the name "Vincent") comes into the picture.

Vincent is married but her marriage to Eugen is open and she is bisexual. She's known for her wild parties and love life as much as her poetry in the town near her mountain home.  Vincent is drawn to Laura after hearing Eugen's description of her and wants Laura in her life. But, she also desires to help Laura after realizing the hardship Laura endures, both as an outcast and a single mother.

There's much more to the story than I can or should go into, but . . . gypsies, sister, kind sculptor, nasty village woman, one-night stand between Millay and a villager that complicates things . . . those are some of the other elements.  

What I loved about Fallen Beauty:

Exceptional characterization, to the point that "Vincent" initially made my skin crawl, believable dialogue, skillful narrative and an uplifting ending are some of the things I loved about Fallen Beauty. Laura is a fascinating character. She battles grief and guilt yet she's willing to place herself in an untenable position because she is also a loving person.  She is strong enough to remain true to herself, even while filled with self-doubt.  By the end of the book, I admired her deeply.  Edna St. Vincent Millay struck me as bizarre, at first.  But, the author managed to show her humanity at the same time she revealed her dangerous weaknesses (which eventually led to her death), the impact of her upbringing on her behavior and her mad genius.  When Robuck spoke from Vincent's point of view, I felt a little like I'd jumped on the crazy train but it was the fact that Millay's wildly creative viewpoint was believable that made it so uncomfortable.

What I disliked about Fallen Beauty:

That skin-crawling distaste for Edna St. Vincent Millay's wild life and her unique point of view really put me off to the point that I considered not finishing Fallen Beauty.  Fortunately, Tammy (whose review I'll link up to, below) convinced me that I would not regret finishing. She gave it 5 stars and it was thanks to her encouragement that I continued reading. While it took me nearly a week to read the book, I truly think that can be chalked up at least partially to poor timing because I did love the writing; it's both fluid and self-assured.

And yet I had enough trouble dissociating myself from the discomfort of reading the portions told from Millay's viewpoint that I kept dragging my feet and occasionally zoning out. Fallen Beauty is, for me, a book that I appreciate more upon reflection than I managed while I was reading it. Weird but true.

Other thoughts:

I didn't mind the secret of Laura's unknown lover being dangled throughout most of the book, even though some small part of me was thinking of the secret as a literary device. So what, another small part of me said. I rather like the not knowing because it opens up the option to gleefully theorize. 

Recommended - Fallen Beauty is at once a fictional story of love and loss, pain and redemption and a glimpse into the life of a famous poet, masterfully told. Between my distaste for Edna St. Vincent Millay's lifestyle and the wrong mood, I can't say I fell in love with Fallen Beauty; my attention strayed. And, yet, after finishing I have that, "Oh, I see what she did," sensation that Tammy described.  I get it, now; Tammy was right. I am quite impressed with Erika Robuck's storytelling skill.  

Tammy's review of Fallen Beauty at Under a Blood Red Sky

My thanks to TLC Book Tours and NAL for the review copy of Fallen Beauty.  Thanks, also, to Tammy for convincing me not to give up.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin

If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin
Copyright 2013
Sourcebooks Fire - YA/Contemporary
330 pp.

I've already labeled this post with the comment that it has sexuality and alcohol use but please read on.  I think in many ways drunken parties and sex are handled well, but they're topics worth discussing . . . in a minute.

If He Had Been With Me tells the story of Finny and Autumn.  Finny has tragically died (the title gives you a hint of how Autumn feels things would have turned out if she'd been present) and If He Had Been With Me reflects on Finny and Autumn's lifelong relationship, from friends to cold and distant frenemies and back, up to and a little after Finny's death.  Their mothers are best friends forever.  Autumn has a mother who periodically goes through dangerous depression.  Her father is distant, both literally and emotionally as he is almost always away on business.  Finny's mother is a single parent.  They have been next-door neighbors for most of Finny and Autumn's life.  If He Had Been With Me is told from Autumn's point of view.

There are a lot of details I don't need to go into but I think the most interesting thing about If He Had Been With Me is the way Autumn changes over the years.  I was a little annoyed that she was beautiful and Finny is the typical blond, athletic, popular character that's so very overused but Autumn is only popular for a while.  Then, she decides she wants to be more of an individual and begins dressing in her own unique style, coloring her hair wildly and often, and hanging out with a different group of people while Finny remains with the popular crowd. Autumn develops a penchant for tiaras, which brings about some interesting scenes.

Finny and Autumn both enter into long-term relationships in high school, Finny with Sylvie and Autumn with another very handsome boy named Jamie.  This is, of course, where sex comes in.  Autumn resists Jamie and eventually sets a time when she'll be willing to sleep with him, which is also interesting in many ways -- and I don't recall any graphic sex scenes.  I thought the sex talk was realistically handled but we're talking as young as 14 or 15.  And, when one of the girls gets pregnant, there's not the panic or trouble that I would anticipate from real life.  

However, I really think Laura Nowlin has her pulse on the teen world.  The dialogue, the divisions between different groups, the parties and school days, the worries and plans, young love and break-ups -- most of those seemed totally on-target to me.  I liked the grown-up relationships, as well, and how they affected Finny and Autumn.  

If He Had Been With Me is a difficult read because all the way through the book you are both falling in love with Finny and well aware of the fact that he is dead, which sucks.  But, for such a rough storyline, I must admit I was stunned at how completely it sucked me in and would not let go. I was captivated by the relationships, adored Finny, loved Autumn's quirkiness and cared how her story would end.  I actually had two different ideas which way the ending would go and the author used both, which was bizarrely satisfying.

Highly recommended - I absolutely could not put If He Had Been With Me down.  Well-written prose and characters that you can believe in carry the reader through a difficult story of love and death. I was very impressed.  I think If He Had Been With Me would be especially great for discussion in a mother-daughter book group.

One of my favorite recent bird pics:

I love how very different the two indigo buntings look -- one so consistently colored and the other speckled with grey.  Kind of a cool action shot, too.  Birds are awfully fun to watch.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock

The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72 by Molly Peacock

Copyright 2010

Bloomsbury - History/Biography/Memoir/Art

397 pp., incl. extensive bibliography and index

The subtitle and the gorgeous cover of the hardback copy of The Paper Garden (a poppy) drew me to this book. An artist who began her life's work at 72? One can always stand to read about something as hopeful as a dramatically late start in life. The Paper Garden had already been on my wish list for a year when I was contacted by TLC Tours. Would I like to review it? Why, yes, I certainly would.

As it turns out, The Paper Garden is not just about the paper artist, Mary Delany, and the artist didn't begin crafting and art in general at 72, but created her own method of paper collage at that age. The Paper Garden tells Mary Delany's entire life story but focuses on Delany's early artwork, her gardening, her two marriages and the long stretch of independence between those marriages and how they the combination of creativity and experience led to the making of her collages. Mixed in with Mary's story is a bit of memoir about the author, a poet who has drawn some parallels with her own life.

What I loved about The Paper Garden:

I adored the detail of Mary's life. She was truly an amazing woman; full of life, a woman of many lasting friendships, creative and intelligent, always busy, curious, engaged and engaging. While a major part of her broad creative work involves the fact that she was well-placed and suitably comfortable in life to have plenty of leisure time, I think I can safely say that Mary Delany used her time better than most. I enjoyed reading about her because she was a fascinating person and her master work, the flowers, capped off a vigorous, creative life. She was truly an amazing woman.

I've borrowed an image of one of the flower collages (a passionflower, which just happens to be one of my favorites of those few images in The Paper Garden) from the British Museum's website:

The detail is astounding. She cut all the tiny petals and curlicues after dyeing her paper and dissecting the flowers for accuracy of representation. And, then she added painted touches to shade and sometimes a real leaf of other part from the actual flower. Not only that, but she managed to amass a whopping 985 of these works of art before loss of vision halted her.

Besides the fact that Delany's life and the historical context were engrossing, I loved the fact that the author was passionate about her interest in Delany's life and work. She did a tremendous job of research, including numerous interviews, and her eye for detail, while overwhelming at times, made for a well-rounded picture of a talented, strong, admirable woman of the 18th century.

What I disliked about The Paper Garden:

I was expecting a biography, not the memoir bits, and I can't say I loved reading about the author's life. There were some minor parallels, but for the most part I found Molly Peacock's life story interesting but less entertaining than that of Mary Delany and not particularly relevant.

But, what I really found appalling and the reason this book will come with a family warning was the sexualization of the flower descriptions -- as in "disgusting". I considered stopping at page 6, when I came to the first passage that I found offensive enough that you'll have to highlight to see two of the words:

They all come out of darkness, intense and vaginal, bright on their black backgrounds as if, had she possessed one, she had shined a flashlight on nine hundred and eighty-five flowers' c***s.

--from p. 6 of The Paper Garden

At one point, I was so irritated by the sexual references (flowers to body parts) that I handed the book to my husband and pointed out a passage to see if he felt the same. "You read vulgar stuff," he said. Exactly. I see flowers as objects of beauty for their color, delicacy and contrasts, not for their reproductive bits and pieces (I always felt that way about Georgia O'Keefe's paintings, as well -- they're gorgeous representations of life to me, nothing more). Fortunately, as the author and subject aged, the sexual references tapered off and the cringe moments ceased. The Paper Garden intrigued me enough that I've ordered a copy of Mrs. Delany, Her Life and Her Flowers by Ruth Hayden, a book that is frequently mentioned in The Paper Garden.

Recommendation:

4/5 - A thoroughly-researched, passionate account of the life and work of Mary Delany, sharply detailed and poetic but marred by the authors insistent sexuality (with special emphasis on female body parts). In spite of the bits I considered unnecessary and offensive, I found the book so engrossing that I just ignored the parts I disliked and plowed on. Still, the book deserves a family warning.

I do love flowers, don't you?

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus

By Sonya Sones

Copyright 2011

Harper - Fiction in Verse

420 pages

AFTER AN ARGUMENT WITH HUBBY

Which of

us hasn't passed

a vengeful hour thinking

of ways to spend the insurance

money?

p. 77 of The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, ARC (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

Without reaching the point of reviewing, I've managed to talk at least three friends into reading The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, a sometimes-sad, often-funny, warm and witty book about being a middle-aged woman that is written entirely in verse.

Holly is about to turn 50. Her daughter is applying for distant colleges (none of them within even 1,000 miles of home), her husband may be having an affair, her mother is going through a health crisis and Holly has to deal with the doctor's annoying way of using humor to avoid honesty. Holly's reproductive years are officially behind her and the horrors of menopause are in full swing.

RUDE AWAKENING

While waiting in line at the grocery store,

I glance at the cover of Glamour and see:

"Happy and Sexy at 20, 30, and 40!"

Wait just a hotter-than-thou minute!

I think to myself.

What about all of us happy, sexy fifty-year-olds?

I gnash my teeth

and flip the magazine over on the rack

so that the cover's facing in.

A second later,

when it's my turn to pay,

the buff young guy working the register

does something as unexpected

as a flying pig:

he winks at me.

Did you see that, Glamour?

He winked at me!

Who's happy and sexy now, huh? Huh?

I press my money into the hunky cashier's hand

with a seductive smile

and a flirty flutter of my lashes.

He gives me the once over,

then flashes me a sly grin and offers me something

that no man's ever offered me before:

the

senior

discount.

pp. 115-6

You cannot help but love Holly. When her concerns start to really burden her, she becomes a bit of a Debbie Downer and you're afraid that nothing's going to improve, but then suddenly she takes charge, gets a grip, finds out the truth about this and that and you'll have laughed and cried yourself through one of the most genuine, touching, funny, poignant reads.

I'm going to skip the usual like/dislike parts because the only problem with the book is actually something you'll end up liking. Things just keep getting worse, incriminating evidence building up against a secretive husband, mother going downhill fast, teenager no longer the little girl Holly wants her to be. Holly is miserable and because you care about her, you're miserable with her. And, then, slowly she realizes her world is a good one.

The bottom line:

Highly recommended. A roller coaster emotional ride that's so fresh and unique and funny that you'll probably shove it into the hands of your friends, like I did -- especially if you're nearing 50 and can relate. I laughed, I cried, I passed my copy around. When my friend Lisa handed the book back to me, she said, "I loved this book! And, I'm only 45!" The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is great fun. I think anyone can enjoy and appreciate it, except perhaps teenagers or maybe a few young, upwardly mobile folks who refuse to think so far ahead, but those who like to read anything will likely still love it because it's a good story. The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is definitely a new favorite of mine, a 5/5. Be patient when Holly gets really whiny. I promise the ending is worth the journey. There is some graphic sex talk, so I'll add a family warning. I don't think it's likely any kid will pick the book up and keep reading it, though, to be honest.

Gushy thanks to HarperCollins for the Advance Review Copy!

It's not Friday, but it seems like it's been too long since the girls made an appearance, so here's a shot of one of my little companions. When I sit at the computer, Isabel tucks herself under or around the monitor, sometimes watching action outside the window, sometimes dozing, often batting at pens, my watch, barrettes and anything else I leave lying about on the desk. Fiona usually stays on the floor (the treadmill mat is her favorite hangout), but she's also nearby unless she has something crucial to attend to.

Sometimes I'll just reach under the monitor and rub Isabel's cute little nose or forehead. She's very tolerant of me.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare

It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare

Copyright 2011

Sourcebooks Casablanca - Romance/Paranormal

390 pages

Goodness, that's a steamy cover, isn't it? Guess what It Happened One Bite is about. Go ahead, guess.

Kiddo: "There's a vampire, right?"

Yes, but not just a vampyre (<---that's how the author team known as Lydia Dare spells it). There are witches, too. And, a werewolf. But, please, don't call him a werewolf. That's an insult; he's a Lycan. "Werewolf" is the equivalent of calling a vampyre a "blood-sucker". Who knew?

It Happened One Bite begins with a coven of witches casting a spell on James Maitland, Lord Kettering, basically putting him into a form of stasis. He appears to be a sweet, innocent vampyre just minding his own business, out for a smoke. But, the witches are really pissed off about something. At least, it seems that way.

Fast-forward 20 years and there's an entirely new generation of witches, the daughters of the women in the original coven. Blaire Lindsey is one of them, a "battle-born" witch. Her brother, Captain Aiden Lindsay, has inherited a castle that Blaire didn't know existed and of which he had only unconfirmed, vague memories. And, he's just dying to see his new digs. Blaire, Aiden and their little brother, Brannock, take off to check out the castle and find a very dusty castle in good condition -- and a little surprise. There's a vampyre in the cellar.

Blaire's return has broken the spell, but with the awakening of a very smelly James Maitland comes something even more sinister (Yippee -- danger! Conflict!) Plus, naturally, it's a romance and you can probably figure out who is going to fall in love with whom and why there might be some problems involved in the romance. Why did Blaire's mother and the other women of the previous coven lock Lord Kettering up for 20 years? Can Blaire really save her family from his dangerous enemies by letting Lord Kettering do that to her??? Yes, of course, it involves some erotic blood sucking and at least one graphic love scene; fortunately, there's not a great deal of sex.

What I loved about It Happened One Bite:

Fluff break! I like a little romance, now and then. Admittedly, It Happened One Bite is pretty silly and I don't get the whole concept that having one's blood sucked can be in some way erotic. I just don't. But, there was definitely something about this particular story that kept pulling on me. I liked Blaire and Lord Kettering. Blaire's brother Aiden was nice in a "big brother protector" way and young Brannock is just as cute as a bug's ear. I liked the setting and the storyline, although I did think there were some plot holes and the ending and beginning didn't quite mesh. In general, a plucky heroine and a romance that was at least unusual from my end (I've never read a witch/vampyre romance) made It Happened One Bite a pretty good read -- not great, not awful. Pretty good.

What I disliked about It Happened One Bite:

Vernacular. Argh!! Scottish vernacular!!! Major ugh!! I do not like having to mentally translate. Example found at random:

"Brannock Lindsay!" a woman cried. "I doona have time for such nonsense. Climb inta bed. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"But, Blaire," the child complained, "I just want ta catch the kitty first."

"Aye. Ye always have somethin' ye have ta do first. But tonight I doona have the patience for it." Her voice dropped as she grumbled, but he heard her nonetheless. "Only ye, Brannock, could befriend a mangy, mottled bag of fur as soon as we arrived. "Ye're lucky it dinna scratch yer eyes out."

"It's no' a bad cat, Blaire."

--p. 27 of It Happened One Bite, Uncorrected Advance Copy. Some changes may have been made to the final print version.

Personal opinion and one I share with the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark: Accent can be detected just fine via the use of properly-spelled wording. The structure, cadence and the use of local slang will make dialect clear. It's not necessary to guide readers like the blind via misspelled words. That's my opinion and I stick to it . . . well, most of the time. Sometimes I change my mind. It's a woman's prerogative, you know.

The bottom line:

Don't go into It Happened One Bite expecting brilliant writing. Read it for escapist paranormal entertainment and offbeat romance. There are some astoundingly stupid moments. You won't believe how the battle between vampyres ends, for example. To be honest, I didn't care. I knew what I was getting into when I picked up the book and I liked it. I did hang my mouth open a bit, a couple of times, and there were moments that the tension was oddly broken when it should have remained taut and action-filled. Truly, it just didn't faze me. I was in the mood for a change of pace and It Happened One Bite was definitely something different. I'd particularly recommend this one to paranormal romance lovers.

Speaking of fun:

Wheeee! Ceiling fan pulls are a hoot! I didn't like the photos I took of Izzy chewing on the chain and the little crystal pulls, but I'll keep trying to get one I like. It's so fun watching her play up there. She's going to be irritated when we finish painting and move that cabinet away from the ceiling fan.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy

Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy

Copyright 2010 (orig. published 2003)
Sourcebooks Casablanca

Romance/Fantasy
350 pages

Mahri Zin is a swamp rat, a woman who makes her living alone, smuggling the coveted zabba root that can kill or infuse those who eat it with amazing power. She's strong, but she doesn't have the power to heal. When an illness hits her village, she has no choice but to kidnap a healer to save the people she loves. Last time she asked politely . . . and failed.

Korl Com'nder is a prince of the Sea Forest, a man who has lived in comfort and who would never stoop to associate with a lowly swamp rat. But, when he's accidentally kidnapped for his healing ability, he finds himself transfixed by one very independent woman with a power she's not supposed to use.

Will Korl willingly heal Mahri's people? And can Mahri overcome her unwillingness to love again?

What I loved about Beneath the Thirteen Moons:

Beneath the Thirteen Moons is a romantic fantasy that's very original. I thought Kathryne Kennedy's particular skill was in creating not only a unique world but a world with spectacularly beautiful scenery. There were at least four occasions during which I was totally blown away by Kennedy's imaginative use of flora, fauna and geology. She certainly knows how to set a sparkling scene.

What I disliked about Beneath the Thirteen Moons:

The story was a bit too long and repetitive and I was hoping for a little more plot than romance, but that's not to say the plot wasn't engaging -- and I knew it was a romance going into the book, so I have no reason to complain. There is definitely plenty of action in Beneath the Thirteen Moons. It's just a little too heavily weighted on the romantic side for my personal taste. And, yet, I liked it enough to keep going.

The bottom line:

A fascinating fantasy world with a uniquely beautiful setting and an interesting storyline, heavy on the romance and definitely at least PG-13 for some graphic sex. Particularly recommended for romance fans who like an unusual, original storyline with plenty of action or fantasy fans who don't mind a whole lot of romantic thoughts. A little repetitious and overlong, in my humble opinion, but romance fans might not agree with me on that.

Cover thoughts:

The cover fits the story in that it's romantic (man with bare chest) and is a fantasy that takes place on a planet with 13 moons (moons, fantasy look) but there's one small problem. The hero is blond. Oh, well. Close enough.

Big Brother is watching:

My thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy! I can't think of anyone to send it to, off the top of my head, so the first American to beg for it wins. Any takers?

In other news:

I'm still on Christmas break but I neglected to get this book finished up and reviewed before taking off, so I'm just back temporarily to post the one review and I'll return in January! Happy Holidays!

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fade by Lisa McMann

Fade by Lisa McMann
Copyright 2009
Simon Pulse - Young Adult fiction
248 pages

I bought the first book in this series, Wake, and ended up staying up so late to finish it that I just knew I had to read on. It took a week or two, but I managed to buy a copy of Fade. I don't regret it, but I will say that it was a totally different experience from Wake in that most of the secrets that tug you through Wake and, thus, make it compulsively readable have already been revealed by the end of the book.

Having said that, I like the protagonist, Janie, and the boy she falls in love with, Cabel.

Warning: This paragraph may contain some information that could spoil the reading of Wake. Please skip this part if you plan to read Wake, soon. I'll tell you when it's safe to continue reading.

In the first book, Janie's "dream-catching" has gotten totally out of hand because she's in high school and wherever she goes, there are sleeping students. If someone is sleeping nearby, she falls into their dream. By the end of Wake, Janie is learning to control her ability and she and Cabel are using her ability to help try to put a drug dealer in jail.

Okay, it's safe, now. You can come out from under the rug.

In Fade, Janie and Cabel continue onward with their on-again, off-again relationship -- a rocky one because they both have their own demons to fight, metaphorically speaking and, this time, Janie must put herself in a dangerous situation in order to discover whether or not a crime is being committed by one of the teachers at her high school. She also finds out that her dream-catching ability is causing her physical damage.

I liked this book almost as much -- but not quite as much -- as the first in the series, in spite of the fact that much had already been revealed and I thought it didn't work quite as well. I think there are a couple of reasons I like the continuation of the series. For one thing, I really like Janie, Cabel and most of the side characters. I find Cabel a little hard to believe in because he's almost too perfect and when he does tear himself a way for a time, his reasons never quite click with me. But, he's such a wonderful character that Janie and I keep forgiving him. The other reason I think I like this series so much is its uniqueness. Maybe this has been done before, but if it has, I haven't read it. I like the whole concept of dream-catching and the way it plays out in the books.

I'll wait for the next in the series, Gone, to go to paperback because I really kind of hate hardback books, but I do plan to read on.

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Making of a Gentleman by Shana Galen

The Making of a Gentleman
by Shana Galen
Copyright 2010
Sourcebooks Casablanca - Historical Fiction/Romance
364 pages
Shana Galen's Website

Well, there's just no getting away without mentioning the romantic elements, this time, but after reading Shana Galen's The Making of a Duchess, I jumped up and down and waved my hand when The Making of a Gentleman was offered to me for review and it is every bit as fun and adventurous as The Making of a Duchess.

The Comte de Valere has spent twelve years in prison and lost the ability to speak. He has no manners and cannot bear to be touched. When his family hires a lovely tutor to teach him how to speak, he begins to change, emerging from the protective shell in which he has wrapped himself.

Felicity Bennett has a problem. Promised to a devious rogue, her only way out of a potentially disastrous marriage is money. In order to escape her commitment, Felicity takes a job as a governess. But, she's stunned to find that her job is to help the handsome Armand Valere learn to speak and act like a gentleman. As Felicity teaches Armande, attraction grows between them and Armande begins to remember his past. But, the secrets buried in Armande's mind are frightening and some dangerous men are determined to find answers.

Will Felicity ever break free of the nasty man who threatens to ruin her life if she doesn't pay up? Why has Armande forgotten his past? And, will the secrets he harbors destroy their growing attraction?

Well. You'll just have to find out by reading the book, won't you? Shana Galen captured me, again, with this delightful story of passion, adventure and pure fun. Galen has a delightful sense of humor and a tremendous knack for page-turning plots. I absolutely loved this book.

One warning: There are graphic sex scenes and this time they happen between an unmarried couple. Oh, the shock. I survived. But, I thought I'd give you fair warning.

The bottom line:

Highly recommended, especially to those who love a little more action in their romantic reads. The setting is a few years after the French Revolution, in England, although there's a wee little jaunt to France to make sure you get a good dose of, "Oh, no, they're all going to die!!"

What else is up in Bookfool's world?

The kitten is not yet afraid of the toilet. In fact, little Izzy likes to pad around in the bathtub after the water has drained. We have paw-prints on our bathroom floor. They're dry, don't worry. She likes to take drinks out of the sink, too.

Today, I started reading The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. Ghosts! Sometimes they're scary ghosts, but ghosts!!

Hmm, not much else is going on. I need to work on that.

Something bright to go with the dress on that cover:

That's a little girl feeding a squirrel in St. James Park, London.

Happy, happy day!

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice by Abigail Reynolds

The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice by Abigail Reynolds
Copyright 2010 - Originally publ'd as Pemberley by the Sea in 2008
Sourcebooks Casablanca - Romance
426 pages

"Now, before we conclude today, I'd like to take a few minutes to review common errors in experiment design and write-ups. Not only do these occur in our lab," she clicked to display the cover of a lab notebook on the overhead screen "but also in some of our finer scientific journals." She replaced it with an image of the tabloid's front page.

The class was accustomed to her tongue-in-cheek humor, so it took a moment before any of them looked closely enough to recognize her picture. She spoke over the first gasps and whispered comments. "The scientific method requires following a particular series of steps. First, you make an observation, and then you formulate the hypothesis, a possible explanation for your observation."

She clicked to show the headline of the article, "Calder Westing in Love Nest with Sexy Scientist." "Your observation must be a neutral one that avoids bias. A good scientist will, of course, define any terms that might cause confusion." She used her laser pointer to circle the words "love nest" and "sexy". "And, then there is the most fundamental error, which is to mistake the hypothesis for an explanation of a phenomenon, without performing experimental tests."

She had to raise her voice to be heard over the laughter. She flashed up the first paragraph of the story. "It simply will not do to formulate your hypothesis without a thorough review of the literature. In this case, the researcher states that the two subjects under observation have just met, whereas a quick check of a book written by Calder Westing makes mention of their acquaintance well before this date." The acknowledgments page from Pride & Presumption appeared on the screen.

--excerpt from Advanced Reader Copy of The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice (changes may have been made to the final edition).

My brother-in-law has asked me why I torment myself by reading offshoots, spin-offs, and adaptations of Pride & Prejudice and I think I can answer him, now. Because you never know when some fabulous writer like Abigail Reynolds is going to come along and turn the story on its head, alter it enough to make it her own original and you'll end up closing a book thinking, "Wow. That was really satisfying."

The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice is that kind of book. Cassie Boulton is the modern version of Elizabeth Bennet and Calder Westing III is her Mr. Darcy. But, apart from his reticence and her brisk offense at his perceived arrogance, plus the eventual happily-ever-after, the two stories are really quite different. Cassie is a marine biologist with a particular affection for salt marshes. She's intelligent, driven and not overly interested in bothering with relationships. Her past was rough and must remain hidden. The most important thing in her life is tenure at the university where she teaches, but her biggest love is her summer job researching life in the salt marshes of Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Calder Westing III is quiet and aloof. He doesn't seem to have much personality at all and, even worse, he comes from a famous political family. If there's one thing Cassie doesn't need it's a famous Republican family breathing down her liberal neck.

But, as Cassie gets to know Calder, she finds that she's strongly, almost unbearably attracted to him. "Pheremones", she tells herself. It's just an animal attraction and she, as a scientist, certainly knows better than to let hormones get the best of her. But, then they spend a passionate evening by the sea. Actually in the sea, but that's neither here nor there. After Cassie brushes Calder off, he writes a story about their short time together and eventually she realizes there's more to Calder than meets the eye.

What I loved about this book is that the author did not bind herself to the Jane Austen story. She used pieces of plot and characteristics, but in Cassie and Calder she created two distinctive characters. It's not simply an updated P & P. The characters are smart and interesting and the storyline is unique enough to not reek of "knock-off". It's a tremendously satisfying book. The only thing I might complain about is the length, but let's face it . . . I'm not a chunkster-loving type of gal. I'd chop at least 50 pages out of anything that reaches 400+. When I closed the book, I recall thinking that there really wasn't much tightening that could have been done.

Since the book is classified as romance there are some graphic sex scenes. Otherwise . . . no complaints. I loved this book and will look for more by the author. I'm not the typical romance fan, but I like the occasional reliable happily-ever-after.

4.5/5 - Only the barest skeleton of Pride & Prejudice is used as the basis of this remarkably original modern romance. Smart characters, lovely setting, excellent dialogue and rocking fine writing make this juicy romance a winner.

Whew! 5 reviews in . . . uh, 3 or 4 hours. My butt is numb. I think I'll get up and do some laundry, now. One can only stand so much time on the hindquarters.

If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous

If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous
Copyright 2010
HarperPerennial - Fiction/General
356 pages + 16 pages of extra material about the author and her experiences in Japan

From the beginning, loyalties have been clear. We both love Amana but she belongs to Carolyn, who knows just how to pet her, how to play with her, when to pick her up, and when to leave her alone. She honors her feline whims and is rewarded with canine loyalty. [. . . ]

"The gomi froze," Carolyn says, as she sets the cat down and peers into the garbage can in front of our house. Sure enough, water has dripped from the roof and filled the can, melted and frozen solid, forming a giant cube of ice sealing in the garbage. She pushes the can onto its side and the cube slides heavily to the pavement. The setting sun, faint as a headlight pushing through fog, illuminates the cylinder of yellow-veined ice. Like scraps of insects trapped in amber, I see a wine bottle, a milk carton, kibble, and cigarette butts.

"It's a trashsicle," I say.

"An unsorted trashsicle," she says, looking at me from beneath one arched brow.

If You Follow Me is the story of a 22-year-old named Marina. After her father's suicide, Marina found comfort from a college friend named Carolyn and ended up falling for her (Oh, yeah - WARNING: Lesbian characters). Both are seeking escape in some form and Carolyn comes up with the solution. She applies to teach English in Japan for a year. Marina decides to do the same and they end up in Shika, a very small town on the Noto Peninsula. They move into a traditional Japanese home and immediately begin having difficulties -- with trash, also known as "gomi", which must be sorted to very specific rules and deposited at the correct place on the right day or the neighbors become very irritable, and with their relationship.

While Carolyn and their relationship is important to the story, If You Follow Me is really Marina's story. It's about the pain that she still hasn't figured out how to face and her frustrated attempts to forge an identity.

I read just one review (and the comments that followed) when I was seeking out an image and I found that a lot of people found the book negative because of suicide, the not-so-harmonious lesbian relationship, the heavy emphasis on trash and frustrating characters.

Fortunately, while I think all of those are valid concerns, none of that bothered me. What really bothered me was the attitude toward the relationship; Carolyn wanted to keep it open and had no interest in settling down permanently with one life partner. That's something I simply can't understand or relate to, a very negative way to go into a relationship of any kind. It's like saying, "We're doomed," from the outset.

The trash was, as I saw it, an illustration of conformity. Marina is a person who fights rules so she has to fight her own yearning to break the rules, to just toss out her trash as she pleases in the same way she fights conforming to certain societal standards -- and, then, has to fight to fit in when she needs to. Internally, there's a big wrestling match going on. Marina has absolutely no idea how to handle her father's death and running far away is at least partially symbolic of her fear to face his death and just walk through the grief.

What I liked about the book was that there was a hint of heterosexual romance with both women. I guess they weren't really homo- so much as bi-sexual. Seriously, much as I try to be accepting, I just don't like to read about gay romance; and, I don't like graphic sex, period. I do not believe sex scenes forward a plot. But, I kept reading at least in part because I was hoping Marina would end up with Miyoshi-sensei, her male supervisor and by far my favorite character. I found that I was very fond of several of the secondary characters.

I loved the setting. I like learning from a book and I thought I learned a little bit about the Japanese way of life. The fact that Marina's father committed suicide didn't bother me, but I can see why people who've experienced the suicide of someone close might want to avoid the book and the replaying of emotions. I have the same problem when cancer heavily figures into a book's plot. I don't want to read about it, period. I've been through it too much, already. It's not entertaining.

What I disliked was the fact that Marina and Carolyn were pretty negative people and they have a problem with a really nasty young neighbor. I would have liked some funny, upbeat scenes that didn't involve trash -- although, admittedly, I got a little bit of a kick out of the picky trash-sorting rules and I absolutely loved the letters Miyoshi wrote to Marina whenever she did something wrong.

3/5 - I liked this book, but I didn't love it. The ending is upbeat and pleasant, but you have to wade through a lot of pain, difficulty with students (including some way-too-graphic instruction about sex education) and a very uncomfortable relationship. There is also one terribly gross roach-invasion scene that I think could have been left out entirely. The author's writing --purely looking at it from a standpoint of skill-- is excellent, but I'd like to see a cleaner, more positive book from her. If you can't bear reading about suicide and the emotional fallout, you might want to avoid this book.

More reviews are coming . . . wish I could think faster. I spend an awful lot of time crafting reviews. "Hammering them out" is a bit of a misnomer.

Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap

Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap
Copyright 2010
Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
Historical Fiction/YA
333 pages
Susanne Dunlap's website

Anastasia is used to being a little bit invisible. Her younger brother, the heir to the throne, is ill and the focus of her parents' attention. The youngest Romanov daughter and Grand Duchess, she has lived a privileged but sheltered life. But, when WWI breaks out and the Bolsheviks threaten her family's 300-year rule, things change dramatically.

During a walk around the palace grounds, Anastasia meets a young guard named Sasha. Throughout the Romanov family's exile in Siberia and the downward spiral of the monarchy, Anastasia grows up while her secret friendship slowly changes from infatuation to true love.

Last year I read Susanne Dunlap's first young adult novel, The Musician's Daughter, and enjoyed it (I did not get around to reviewing -- long story) so I've been looking forward to reading more by the author. The fact that Anastasia's Secret is a book about the legendary Anastasia whom many thought to have escaped from the hideous murder of the Romanovs was a bonus. I've read very little about the Romanovs and the Bolshevik Revolution but I've desired to read more.

I think the author did an amazing job of sticking as close to the facts as humanly possible and I also think the story proposed an excellent "What if?" scenario. Anastasia's Secret is what I'd call a "quiet" book; the pace is fairly slow, for good reason. Careful pacing gives the reader an excellent sense of the timing as the Romanovs' world slowly crumbled. Occasionally, the meetings between Anastasia and Sasha became repetitive and the romance was definitely a bit of a stretch, but I enjoyed the historical setting so much that I wasn't particularly bothered by the implausibility.

There is some explanatory material that rounds the book out very nicely. In the introduction, the author describes the cast of characters, Russian naming and the necessity to limit the cast to certain key characters plus the fictional romantic interest. An epilogue and author's notes detail what happened to the family after the story ended, the most recently unearthed information concerning the Romanovs and why she chose to write about Anastasia.

Anastasia's Secret is a Young Adult novel told in first person, from Anastasia's point of view. In one of the other reviews I've linked to, below, you may note that the author says it's for ages 14 and up. That's because the romance becomes less innocent and a little more graphically described as Anastasia ages.

4/5 - Well researched and vividly imagined, an excellent peek into the final years of the Romanov rule overlaid with a sweet, if implausible, fictional tale of teen romance

The historical information that I gleaned from reading Anastasia's Secret came in very handy, last week, when I read The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister. Nonna Bannister was a Russian whose grandfather was in the Tsar's Imperial Guard. The two books complemented each other surprisingly well and I'm eager to read more about the Romanovs and the Russian experience during WWII.

If you follow me on Twitter you've probably already seen this photo, but I'm such a big fan of wisteria that I thought it was worth sharing on the blog, as well. We've driven around in search of wisteria to photograph twice, this week. Isn't it beautiful?

I thought it fit the purple Anastasia's Secret cover theme well.

Other reviews:

Fantasy Book Critic

Novel Novice

Books at Midnight - I like the way this blogger rated the writing, plot, romance, characters and cover separately.

I received my copy of Anastasia's Secret directly from the author, who chose to bypass the usual route and inscribe the book to me. How cool is that? Thank you, Susanne! I've got another of Susanne Dunlap's books, which I'm really looking forward to reading (and bought with my very own money): Lizst's Kiss.