Top Ten Tuesday: Authors You Wish Were Still Writing Today

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is  Authors You Wish Were Still Writing Today (These could be authors who have passed away or retired/are taking a long hiatus from writing. You could also spin this and share authors who have switched to a genre you’re not interested in.) (submitted by Rebecca @ Top100Books)

When I  checked I realise that we did this topic a couple of years ago. Most of the names are the same (although I chose different book covers to share) but I did change a couple of them! For the most part I have chosen authors who have passed away, except for the last two!

I did have another author in my list and it was only when I went to Fantastic Fiction to check that I realised that she has actually had about 5 books out in the last few years. Whoops!

Anyway, here's my list.

Diana Norman/Ariana Franklin - I loved the Mistress of the Art of Death series which this author published under the name of Ariana Franklin, but I first started reading her books under her name Diana Norman, and I particularly enjoyed her Makepeace Hedley trilogy which started with A Catch of Consequence

Sharon Kay Penman - I love SKP's books and often mention books like The Sunne in Splendour or Here Be Dragons in relation to her. This time though, I am going to use the first of her Justin de Quincy mysteries as my choice. 

Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I think it is maybe time for me to reread The Shadow of the Wind. I loved that book so much. 

Susan Vreeland - It appears I have only read three of this author's books, but they definitely left an impact!

Lucinda Riley - When Lucinda Riley passed away before the last book in the Seven Sisters series was released, her son took over the writing. Recently, it's been announced that he has written a new book set in the same world. I am invested enough to want to read the book, but also not sure how I feel about it all!

Terry Pratchett - I do occasionally find myself wondering what Sir Terry would make of the world right now. 

Stieg Larsson - Remember how popular this author's books were back in the early 2000's. Crazy to think that he passed away before the books were published and so successful.

Kerry Greenwood - When this Australian author passed last year I was sad to think that we had no more Phryne Fisher novels to come, even though I still have a lot of the series to read.

Laura Florand - Laura Florand will always appear on these lists for me. No, she hasn't passed away, but she no longer writes. When I went through a reading slump that lasted for years a while ago, she was one of the few authors who I still read! 

Lisa Kleypas - Don't panic. Lisa Kleypas is alive and well. In fact, she probably shouldn't be on this list at all given that she has recently announced that there will be a new book coming out from her soon. It's just that it has been a long 5 years since the last one! This is one of her standalone books which is probably lesser known, but it is also one of my favourites.

Top Ten Tuesday: Rereads

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I’d Like to Re-read (Share either your favorite books that you enjoy re-reading or books that you’d like to read again!) (Submitted by Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog)

I am not normally a re-reader so originally I was thinking that I would do something different this week and actually have a post started on a different theme where I have got 10 books selected. Then when I thought about it some more I did wonder if I could make it to a list of 10 books that I have re-read, and I could! I guess that means my next freebie post is pretty much already done! Yay for me!

Here are 10 books I have re-read.

Virgin River by Robyn Carr - I could actually include most of the Virgin River series in this post, with the exception of the last book which I still haven't read yet. I read all the original books in the series back in 2010-2011, and then proceeded to re-read the first 7 books in the series over the course of two weeks in 2012. Here is a post about the whole series and how it made me break several of my own rules

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley -  I have re-read this book three times so far, twice by reading the book and once on audio with the most recent time being earlier this year, and I still loved it! Note the words so far. There is every chance I will read this again at some point. It is a bit odd though. I have other Kearsley books that I have loved but I haven't re-read any of those. Maybe I should. Here is my most recent post about this book 

Hogfather by Terry Pratchell - Listening to this in the lead up to Christmas has become one of my Christmas traditions over the last four years. I first read it back in 2007 which means that so far I have read it 5 times. 

The Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson - This is now part of my Christmas tradition too. I first listened to in 2023. I enjoyed it so much that I forced my husband to listen to it too so in the end I listened to it twice in a week. My original post about this book is here

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas - Ah, Sebastian and Evie! What a book. What an author! I wish she was still writing. (my review)

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - Ah, Thomas Mackee, you break my heart. I have actually read a few of Melina Marchetta's books a couple of times but my favourite thing is to listen to the audiobook of The Piper's Son. I have listened to it five times now, including three times in about a month. It just affected me that much! I haven't listened to it for a few years now, but I have thought about listening to it again. 

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - If I had to describe my idea of aural bliss it is Richard Armitage narrating Georgette Heyer's books. I have relistened to Venetia three times and Sylvester four times after initially reading it! (original review)

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie - I had forgotten that I had re-read this one until I was searching through my blog looking for inspiration for this post. (My review)

Relish by Lucy Knisley -  I had read this years ago and then it was selected for Cook the Books a couple of years ago. I did enjoy revisiting it! (My Cook the Books post)

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - Years ago I read and loved the first three books in the series. A couple of years ago I decided that it was time to read the whole series. I started by rereading the first two book and never got any further. One day I will read that whole series. One day! (my original review)

Are you a re-reader?

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I'd Love Another Book From

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Authors I’d Love a New Book From (These could be authors that have passed away, who have retired from writing, who have inexplicably gone quiet, or who might jut not be able to keep up with how quickly you read their books!)

The first five authors I have mentioned are people who have passed away.

Terry Pratchett - When I was looking at the website, I saw that they have found a "lost" book so there will be something new.

Ariana Franklin - This is an example of a series where a family member continued the series after the author's death.

Sharon Kay Penman - While we will never have a new SKP book, I do still have a couple of books still to read.

Susan Vreeland - I really liked this authors take on historical fiction.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I did love Shadow of the Wind so hard

And the next few just don't seem to be writing anymore

Lisa Kleypas - There's an irony that I have three historical romance readers on this list because I just don't really read this genre anymore.

Liz Carlyle - I used to love Liz Carlyle's books but there hasn't been a new one for years now.

Loretta Hill - This author was writing rural fiction featuring women working in really interesting jobs before she just stopped writing.

Laura Florand - A while ago I was going through a huge reading slump and there were only two authors who I was still reading. Laura Florand was one of those.

Tessa Dare - In theory there is going to be another Tessa Dare book but it does keep on getting delayed. The release date is now 3036

Top Ten Tuesday: Series that I just sort of stopped reading

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This 

week the theme is Completed Series I Wish Had More Books. I have decided to twist it a little bit and talk about the series that I kind of, sort of, just stopped reading. It wasn't a conscious decision to stop, but just haven't picked up the next book in the series.... yet. In some cases it has been 10 years or more since I stopped.There's still time right?

The last book I read in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series was The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection which is book no. 13 in the series by Alexander McCall Smith. Book number 23 is due to be released this year. Just a little bit behind then.

The last book I read in the Play by Play series by Jaci Burton was Quarterback Draw which is book no. 9 in the series. It does look as though the series has ended at book no. 14. This is especially strange given that this was one of the few contemporary series I was reading a few years ago. Now I am reading lots! Just not sports ones!

I used to wait with great excitement for the next Diana Gabaldon book to come out. I would buy it as soon as I saw it in the shops. I still haven't bought the latest book in the Outlander series let alone read it!

I listened to the first two books in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy on audio. Goodness knows when I will get to the third one.

This is another trilogy where I have read the first two books in the trilogy and meant to read the third one, Ambulance Girls At War by Deborah Burrows. I did borrow this book from the library at least twice but still didn't read it.

I read and loved Dear Banjo by Sasha Wasley, the first book in the Daughters of the Outback trilogy, a few years ago. Still haven't read the other two books in the series. I have bought other books by Wasley since then too!

I have read the first 18 books in the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr at least twice. So why haven't I read the last book that was released a couple of years ago yet.

I have read a lot of books by Lisa Kleypas over the years. The last book I read in The Ravenels series was the third book, Devil in Spring. There are now seven books in the series. One of the issues is that I just don't read a lot of historical romance any more.

I have read the first 3 books in the Study series by Maria VSnyder twice, including a couple of years ago when I read them in anticapation of moving onto the next book in the series. Still haven't  read the next book which is sometimes referred to as the first book in the Glass trilogy or as part of the bigger overall series, Chronicals of Ixia.

A series that I really can't understand why I stopped reading is the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I loved them so much. I read up to The Golden One, book 14, and then just stopped. I feel like I would have to reread a lot of them before I could pick up the next next book in the series. The series ended up being 20 books long.

Do you ever just stop reading a series without meaning to?

Top Ten Tuesday: The Red Dress edition

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the topic is a book quote freebie. I don't really do quotes, or at least not short quotes. When I save quotes they are usually quite long so not really suitable for a TTT post!

I do, however have this one from The Christmas Party by Karen Swan

So inspired by this quote - I bring you red dress covers!

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - Now, I know I am cheating with this one because there is no sign of a red dress on the cover. However, in the scene where the two main characters meet, Tatiana is wearing a white dress with red roses on the cover.

The Jewel of St Peterburg by Kate Furnivall - Now this is a red dress!

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley - I never miss an opportunity to include a Kearsley book in one of these lists.

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - I loved this book!

To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick - I really need to read another Chadwick novel. They are always so good! Luckily I have more than one here to choose from.

The Pearlers Wife by Roxanne Dhand - I haven't read this yet but the premise sounds so interesting.

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas - I am pretty sure I could have found ten red dress covers just in the historical romance genre!

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare - Another historical romance!!

Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop - Moving on from historical romance this time to fantasy.

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan - I can't not have this book on the list seeing as it inspired this whole list!

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Have Read the Most Book By

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I am soooo excited! I have been keeping a spreadsheet of the books that I have read since 2014. For a long time I would also use it to keep track of when and where I acquired books, what series I was reading and what the new books were in each series, for my reading challenges and more. These days though, it really is just my log of what I have read. But for a question like this, it really comes into it's own! Hello, pivot tables!

The question for this week's TTT is which authors have you read the most books by. I therefore have 14 years of worth of data to analyse. Sounds like fun right!

Nora Roberts/J D Robb - with a whopping 59 titles read published under either the name Nora Roberts or J D Robb, this is the author that I have read the most over the last 14 years. The interesting thing is that over the last 4 years I have only read three Nora Roberts books, and I haven't actually read a J D Robb novel since 2009. I am up to book number 17 in the In Death series. Given that book number 50 just came out I don't think I will be catching up any time soon. This cover is from Sea Swept, the first book I ever read by Nora Roberts

Janet Evanovich - This is another case of a reader who I have read a lot of books by that I don't really read at all any more. I have read 45 books which includes her standalone romances and a copy of the shortlived series. I did read 19 of the Stephanie Plum books, but I couldn't take it any more. I was a Morelli cupcake from the beginning, but I would be okay with Stephanie choose Ranger if it just meant that she was picking one of them!

Robyn Carr - This author comes in third place, mainly due to the fact that I have reread the entire Virgin River series more than once, and I would again. As much as I love the VR series, I haven't really been that impressed by the standalone books or other series.

Lisa Kleypas - I have read 34 books by this author. At one stage I was pretty much up to date but then I haven't read that much for the last few years and so got a bit behind. This book is one of the rare standalone books. You don't hear a lot about this book but it is one of my favourites.

Mary Balogh - This one surprised me in some ways, because I wouldn't have thought I had read so many books but according to my handy spreadsheet I have read 24 books by her. The interesting thing on this author is that I haven't rated any of these books at more than a 4/5 so her books are of a pretty consistent standard.

Jill Shalvis - This is another author I have read 24 books by. I read one earlier this year for the first time but it didn't blow my mind so not sure if that was just that book! I do have fond memories of several series so it isn't time to give up just yet.

Elizabeth Chadwick - Oh, I do enjoy Elizabeth Chadwick's medieval historical fiction. I loved her William Marshall books. Really I don't think there are any books I haven't enjoyed. It is therefore surprising that I am a few books behind. Need to get back to her books.

Alexander McCall Smith - AMS's books are always very soothing reads, so I don't think it is surprising that I have read so many of his books - at last count 21. Most of those are the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books although I have read other books by him as well. I will say that these are still my favourite style of covers for this series.

Elizabeth Peters - This was another that surprised me, and then I was reminded that it has been many years since I read any of the books in the Amelia Peabody series and I haven't finished it yet. I don't really know why because I did love this series.

Julia Quinn - Another surprise entry in the list as I wouldn't have thought I would have read 20 books from this author, and there are still plenty more available, although it has been quite some time since I read any of her books. I am wondering if the upcoming Bridgerton series on Netflix may inspire me to get back to reading her books.

My most read Aussie authors were just outside this top 10 and they were for Kelly Hunter and Rachael Johns. I have a Rachael Johns book on my bedside table right now so her numbers are still on the rise.

I do find it a bit curious that there are so many romance authors on this list, but I think it is because they often write series or linked books, and they publish regularly.

Which authors made your list!

Weekend cooking: Blancmange

Recently I was reading a historical romance novel by Lisa Kleypas called Devil in Spring where the characters started talking about a dessert called blancmange. Now, this instantly bought me back to home economics classes in high school where we made this dessert. I've never made it or had it since, but I did then.

In the book, our leading lady, Lady Pandora, is a bit unusual for a lady of her day, and she is contemplating all the ways she would need to change in order to be  more ladylike:

What did ladies think about? Things like starting charities and visiting the tenants, and blancmange recipes—yes, ladies were always bringing blancmange to people. What was blancmange, anyway? It had no flavor or color. At best it was only unassertive pudding. Would it still be blancmange if one put some kind of topping on it? Berries or lemon sauce

Now later in the book, Pandora has had a change of heart in relation to this dessert:

Blancmange, incidentally, had turned out to be a revelation. Everything she thought she'd disliked before, its mildness, its whiteness, and lack of texture, turned out to be the best things about it.

In fact, it turns out to become the only thing in her schedule which cannot be interrupted

"Tell him to visit at his convenience," she said. "My schedule is quite flexible, other than my midmorning blancmange, which cannot be interrupted for any reason."

For those who don't know, blancmange is defined on Wikipedia as "sweet dessert commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with gelatin, corn starch or Irish moss[1] (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured with almonds." The origins of the word are French with blanc meaning white and mange meaning eat.

The first thing that stands out in that definition to me are the words Irish moss and even after reading the definition of that (it's a type of algae), I'm not convinced about it's usage, but apparently it is used as a thickener in desserts around the world. Anyway, I digress.

I did find myself wondering about how it is that blancmange is not ever talked about and yet every smart restaurant has a version of pannacotta on their menu.There is a difference between the two, in that blancmange is generally made using thickeners that need to be cooked and pannacotta generally uses gelatin as the setting agent and isn't cooked.

Maybe it is something to do with the word itself. I say it as bla-monj which in my mind it the kind of sound that it makes as it come out of the mould!

Have you ever tried blancmange? Or flummery? When I was writing this post I kept on coming across references to flummery as well.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

This week ...

I'm Reading....

I decided that I wanted to read a book that I could get completed engrossed in. After thinking about some options, I decided that it was high time that I read another Rainbow Rowell book. There is a slight flaw in this plan as I had absolutely no time whatsoever to just sit and read over the weekend but never mind.

I am enjoying Fangirl, even though as an Australian we don't really do the college thing in the same way. It is a little interesting in terms of location though because if my son had of gone back to US college this year he would have been going to a college in Nebraska which is where this book is set.

I have long been a fan of the idea of stories with stories which this book has because Cath, the main character is a massive fan of a series called Simon Snow, even writing fan fiction. I do find it a bit odd that Rainbow Rowell has then gone onto write two Simon Snow books. Will I read them? Most likely. Do I still find it a bit odd? Yes

I also finished reading Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas. This is part of the  Ravenels series. I enjoyed the book, although I though that the subplot at the end came out of left field a bit, but overall another solid read from this author. I did love that we got to see Sebastian and Evie from Devil in Winter (review here). The hero of this book is their son, and so we got to see the family life that they have build together.

I'm watching....

We finished watching The Witcher and also Friday Night Dinners, so now we wait for new series of both of those.

We have also been watching The Good Place over the last couple of years. Now we wait patiently for each new episode, knowing that before long there will be no more because this series is the last.

I guess that means that we need something knew to watch. Any recommendations

I'm doing...

Over the weekend we went to a big outdoor concert and then to the theatre. Very cultural!

Every summer there are a series of big outdoor concerts that take place at various big wineries. There is usually a good mix of international stars and local legends. This weekend we went to see a lineup that included a local band called Magic Dirt, then Birds of Tokyo, Paul Kelly and finishing with Cold Chisel. The last two are Australian legends, and I hadn't seen either of them live before.

I really enjoy Paul Kelly's music because he is a storyteller within his music, which I love. He is a voice for social justice issues, and he was phenomenal on stage. I am definitely keen to go and see him live again

Cold Chisel are an Aussie band who were huge in the 70s and 80s before going their separate ways. I had seen the lead singer, Jimmy Barnes, in concert several times but not the band as a  whole.  They have so  many iconic songs that had the crowd going wild!

A funny story to give you some idea of how entrenched Cold Chisel was back in the day. The first time I went to America was in 1993 and my friend and I were doing a Contiki tour of the south west corner (San Diego, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas etc). The first morning we got on the tour bus, the guide was talking about playing music during the tour. Basically everyone could send their cassette tapes (remember those) or CDs (fancy new technology!) and they would then be played over the course of the week. After everyone had done so, the guide said that she was somewhat puzzled as were the first tour she had done in 8 years where there were Aussies on the bus and no one had bought a Cold Chisel tape!!

The other thing we did this weekend was going to see the theatre of War Horse!  The puppetry was totally mesmerising and there were times that you had to remind yourself that they weren't real horses on stage. The story can't help be somewhat bleak given the subject matter, but there were moments of light relief, mainly from the goose.

I'm glad we went to see it this time it was here!


I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Save the Contemporary

Jane from Dear Author and Sarah from Smartbitches have teamed up to try and Save the Contemporary. Now I am probably not the best advocate for contemporary romance, because I really don't read a lot, but when there is a chance to win one of 20 copies of the upcoming Lisa Kleypas novel, Smooth Talking Stranger, and also a chance to win a 20 book pack from St Martin's Press, then I am definitely interested.

I am not really sure why I don't read a lot of contemporaries. I don't have any real aversion to them, but the only ones I seem to be reading lately are really the previous two novels by Lisa Kleypas, Nora Roberts and Jennifer Crusie. I do own a few that I haven't read yet.

Are there any authors writing contemporaries at the moment that I really MUST read?

Speaking of DA and Smartbitches, how is everyone going in DABWAHA?

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas

A devil's bargain

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.

But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.

I am finding it somewhat curious that my reading patterns seem to be changing a bit. How you may ask? Well, this is a reread, and I don't really do rereads as a rule. Last year, I only reread one book and that was Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. The only reason I reread that one was because the library had it on audio book and I wanted something to listen to, so I picked that up. I didn't reread anything in 2008 or 2007, and in 2006 there was only one book - The Summer of My German Soldier, which I had originally read when I was back in high school - some twenty years before.

Every now and again in the past I have thought about rereading other books, and even a couple of times I have reborrowed a book, but in the end I never got around to reading it. At the moment, I have one book out from the library that I read and loved last year and I am intending to read again soon, and I just finished one book last week, and I am already listening to the author read it which counts as a reread.

I originally read this book about two and a half years ago, when I was madly glomming anything I could find by Lisa Kleypas. These days I have to wait for each new book from Kleypas, as there are only two books from her backlist that I haven't already read because they are a bit hard to get hold of here. I read this book in one sitting and loved it, with just a small issue in terms of the suspense subplots. This time, instead of racing through it, I took a little bit more time to savour the relationship that develops between Sebastian and Evie, and to take note of the little things in their relationship development. Whilst I still remembered the big scenes in the book (the billiard room scene and the scene where Evie makes Sebastian lose their bet for example), there were many smaller scenes that were the stepping stones to those marquee moments in the book that were worth revisiting.

Even though I think that I enjoyed different things this time around, the book itself still stood up well to the reread, and I still rated it at 4.5/5. Evie and Sebastian still go through the wringer (d'uh - the events in the book haven't changed at all!) but I didn't mind so much this time around. If there was one scene that seemed redundant this time around it was the scene between Daisy and Cam Rohan. It was a fun scene and all, but given that I have now read both of their books it didn't seem to need to be there. It is but a minor quibble though.

Now I can go back to just revisiting the 'good' bits until it is time to reread the whole book again.

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas

Their lives defy convention

When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.

Their desire consumes them both...

Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter….

As soon as we met Cam Rohan in a cameo appearance in Devil in Winter, it was clear that he was hero material! At that time it looked as though his destiny might have been with Daisy in the last of the Wallflower books, Scandal in Spring, but instead it is in this book, and it was worth the wait.

Cam Rohan is half gypsy, and as such finds it somewhat difficult to fit in anywhere in society. He manages Jenner's, the London gambling club run by Sebastian St. Vincent (phwoar!) who got his own happily ever after in Devil in Winter. Cam is somewhat cursed (according to him anyway). It doesn't seem to matter what poor business decisions he makes, or how much money he gives away, he always seems to get more, and for a man whose heart is gypsy this is somewhat traumatic.

Luckily for him then, that he falls in love with Amelia Hathaway, whose family really, really needs some money. There brother has just unexpectedly become a viscount, and to say that they are poor gentry is an understatement. They have just moved into the ancestral home, but it has been empty and neglected for many years and there is a lot of work required to bring it up to any kind of acceptable standard. Their neighbours are Lilian and Marcus (It Happened One Autumn) who are also friends with Cam.

After an initial meeting in London where Cam assists Amelia (for the price of a kiss) in locating her wastrel brother Leo and pulling him out of a brothel, Amelia and her family move to Ramsay House, where she hopes that being away from the bright lights of London, her brother might be able to get back to being more like himself instead of the drunk belligerent man that he has become since the death of his fiancee some time previously. Thinking that she will never see the mysterious Cam again, she is therefore completely surprised when she does meets him again, in a very amusing scene.

This book feels as though it was especially written for Cam, and Amelia's character development is weaker as a result. Cam is a completely drool worthy man. He is handsome, capable, charismatic, mysterious and yet also taunted by events in his past that he doesn't understand, undecided about his future direction, and really seeming to want to belong to a group somewhere. Amelia is portrayed as being beautiful without really knowing it, and has having already decided that she will remain a spinster and take care of her family. Where Cam is memorable, Amelia is a heroine that you have read many times before. Luckily, Lisa Kleypas is one of the premiere historical romance authors out there, so even if Amelia wasn't exactly an original, she is never boring. Liz Carlyle is able to do the same kind of thing - take a common storyline and still make it special.

One thing that was a bit strange was that there was not much made of the fact that Amelia marrying Cam would cause a bit of a scandal in the ton. It was mentioned, but sort of brushed off as inconsequential. I guess that that makes it a bit easier when it comes to the next book, which is going to be the story of Amelia's sister, Win, and Merripen. Merripen is another gypsy character who has been living with the Hathaways for many years, and secretly been in love with Win for most of the time. The foundations for that next book were definitely being put in place in this book.

This is the first in a series, and therefore we were introduced to the future main characters in this one. There are 3 younger sisters in the Hathaway family, plus the aforementioned wastrel of a brother, plus Merripen. In addition to the people who made guest appearances from the Wallflowers series, plus Amelia's former admirer who broke her heart, a ghost, and a few other minor characters there was a lot going on in this book. In all honesty it was probably too much, but I am hopeful that it will settle down a little going forward.

If for no other reason this book is worth reading just for Cam. I am looking forward to Seduce Me at Sunrise which is out in September, and I will be interested to see just who the young lady is that will need to reform Leo in later books in the series.

This book is one of the books that I had said I would read for the Romance Reading Challenge. Two down, three to go!

Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

The New York Times bestselling author of Sugar Daddy is back with her most breathtaking, hot-and-bothered novel yet!

MEET THE BLUE-EYED DEVIL

His name is Hardy Cates. He's a self-made millionaire who comes from the wrong side of the tracks. He's made enemies in the rough-and-tumble ride to the top of Houston's oil industry. He's got hot blood in his veins. And vengeance on his mind.

MEET THE HEIRESS

She's Haven Travis. Despite her family's money, she refuses to set out on the path they've chosen for her. But when Haven marries a man her family disapproves of, her life is set on a new and dangerous course. Two years later, Haven comes home, determined to guard her heart. And Hardy Cates, a family enemy, is the last person she needs darkening her door or setting her soul on fire.

WATCH THE SPARKS FLY. . . .

Filled with Lisa Kleypas's trademark sensuality, filled with characters you love to hate and men you love to love, Blue-Eyed Devil will hold you captive in its storytelling power as the destiny of two people unfolds with every magical word.

I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone who reads this blog if I was to say that I am a bit of an Lisa Kleypas fan girl - not a rabid fan girl though - just a person who really enjoys nearly everything that she writes, and who looks forward to her next book all the time.

It should also therefore not be a surprise if I was to say that I really, really enjoyed this book! Before I read Sugar Daddy (the prequel to this book), I was a little skeptical about LK's change from writing purely historical romances to doing both contemporary and historical novels. Fortunately, she has handled that transition very well, and there was no need for any concern on my part. (I am sure that she will be relieved to know that!)

Once again, this novel is not a pure romance in that Haven spend much of the first part of the novel married to another man - in this case an abusive and violent man. When she is rescued by her brother Gage and comes home, she has many, many issues to deal with as a result of her marriage. The last thing she needs is to fall in love with Hardy Cates, especially with the opposition to the relationship from her overprotective family.

Hardy is a man who knows what he wants, and who gets what he wants. What he wants for most of this novel is Haven. What he doesn't realise is that she has lots of emotional baggage that she is carrying around with her, and yet, in the end, it may well be his emotional baggage from his childhood that ultimately comes between the two of them.

The author pulls no punches in relation to Haven's past and the events that happened within her marriage - we get to see what she had to deal with in detail - and yet, as horrifying as those events were, the book is so well balanced, that it didn't have the effect of bringing the reader down or lessening the emotional richness of the book.

Hardy is in many ways the modern equivalent of many of LK's best historical romance heroes - a self made man who has pulled himself up from the bootstraps and now finds himself involved in a world of rich and powerful men, and holding his own in that world.

This is another entertaining read from Kleypas, and one that I basically devoured in one session yesterday. I even read it instead of paying full attention to my football team playing a winning game!

Only With Your Love by Lisa Kleypas

Celia Vallerand fears for her life as she stares into the deep, arresting eyes of the dashing man who purchased her from the brigands who had abducted her. But it soon becomes clear that it's her virtue, not her life, that's in danger. The rugged, powerful renegade known only as "Griffin" arouses desires in Celia as dangerous as they are forbidden. And though she knows she must resist him, she fears she may be unable to do so.

But the magnificent adventurer is a man trapped in a perilous deception. And the shocking secrets he guards could deny him the love of the fair captive lady who has enslaved his reckless heart.

I am gradually getting to the end of the backlist for Lisa Kleypas **sob**. Luckily I just picked up Blue Eyed Devil from the library, and I still haven't read Mine Til Midnight, otherwise I will get to the end and then what will I do!

This is one of the few historicals that Lisa Kleypas has written that isn't set in England. This time the setting is the deep south of America - Louisiana I believe - which brings me to my first question. What the heck do the swans on the cover have to do with this book? There's lots of mentions of swamps and bayou but no swans!

Anyway, Celia always believed that she was an unexceptional woman compared to all of her family. When she begins to be courted by a young doctor, Philip Vallerand, she is honoured and flattered and more than happy to wait for years for him to come and get her and take her to her new life as his wife. It is while they are on that journey to a new life that the boat that they are on is attacked by pirates and Philip is killed. Celia appears to be destined for a much shortened life where she will be a sexual plaything for a depraved member of the pirate crew, until she is rescued by Griffin and he delivers her to her husband's family who are a powerful Creole family. Unfortunately he delivers her only after taking her virginity. (I know...she was married, how could she still be a virgin? There's an explanation, which is barely plausible, but we'll let that slide!)

The next time that Celia meets Griffin, it is under much different circumstances, and when she is forced by fate to spend more time with him her feelings for him change from passion driven animosity to realisation that the feelings that she has for him are much, much stronger than those feelings that she had for her husband. At the same time, it begins to appear as though Celia really didn't know her husband all that well, leaving her with conflicted emotions all round.

I can't really say too much more without giving away major plot twists, but suffice to say the past comes back to haunt the Griffin, in the form of his pirate enemies, and he is forced to make a choice between his past and Celia, particularly after Celia does something a bit stupid and is captured by those same pirates.

I loved reading about Max Vallerand (Philip's father), and if I understand correctly, he is the hero of the Only in Your Arms, which I will have to track down at some point.

You can tell that this is early Kleypas, but the quality is still there in terms of the writing, and the spark between the main characters.