Romance Reading Challenge Complete

I think I am going to have to start looking for some new challenges, because I seem to be getting through the ones that I have joined up with. The latest challenge that I have completed was the Romance Reading Challenge which was originally hosted over at Royal Reviews, but is now at Queen of Happy Endings.

The books that I read for the challenge were

Shadowfae by Erica Hayes
A Dangerous Love by Sabrina Jeffries
Virgin River by Robin Carr
If His Kiss Is Wicked by Jo Goodman
First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh
Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale
Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
Dance of Seduction by Elle Kennedy
Then Comes Seduction by Mary Balogh
Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James
Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran
Tempt Me at Midnight by Lisa Kleypas
Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich
Uncertain Magic by Laura Kinsale
The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen
At Last Came Love by Mary Balogh
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts
The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jeffries
Upon the Midnight Clear by Sherrilyn Kenyon

June Reading Reflections

After a slow reading month in May, unfortunately things didn't really pick up all that much for me in June. Last month I attributed the slow month to the fact that I was reading Brothers of Gwynedd. This month I am still reading that book, and have added War and Peace into the mix as well, and so yes, not that many books finished! The sense of accomplishment will be so worth it when I finish both of those books! So what did I finish?

Emma Vol 3 by Kaoru Mori 4/5
A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware 4/5
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos 5/5
The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen 3.5/5
The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley 5/5
The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey 4/5
Mort by Terry Pratchett 4/5
For the King by Catherine Delors 4/5
Fire by Kristin Cashore 4/5

Less books read means less progress on challenges as well unfortunately!

Let's start with the Period Drama Challenge. When I signed up for it, I said that I would watch 4 movies/series etc in one year. Shouldn't have been that difficult really. In the end I managed to watch one whole movie which was Sense and Sensibility and started to watch North and South (the US mini-series starring Patrick Swayze not my normal North and South). I think I watched the first disc but I definitely didn't finish it!

The book that I read for the Year of the Historical in June was Emma Vol 3 by Kaoru Mori, and that was one of my final reads for this years Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, along with Yellow House by Patricia Falvey. I have now finished this challenge!

I haven't been reading very many romances over the last few months, and I actually am beginning to feel like I NEED to read one. The only book that I read this month that counted for the Romance Reading Challenge was The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen.

I finally got to read books for challenges that I hadn't previously started. For the King counts for the French Historical Reading Challenge, and The Yellow House counts as one book read for the Ireland Reading Challenge.

In addition Burned counts for the Vampire Reading Challenge, and Mort was a book that I read for the Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge.

I also joined in a new challenge this month - the Amy Einhorn Perpetual Reading Challenge. I have got my next read from the library for this one.

The final challenges to update are the 100+ Reading Challenge, of which I have now read 69 books, and for the Support Your Local Library Challenge I have now read 47 books.

The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen

A very dangerous attraction...

Julian Harcourt, duc de Valere, is more than willing to marry the lovely young lady his mother has chosen. Little does he know, she's been sent to prove him a spy and a traitor.

And an even more dangerous secret...

Sarah Smith's mission is to find out whether the Duc's trips to the Continent are as innocent as he claims, but the way he looks at her is far from innocent...

Their risky game of cat and mouse propels them from the ballrooms of London to the prisons of Paris, and into a fragile love that may not survive their deceptions.

Have you ever read a book where the idea was just so much better than the actual experience of reading it? This is one of those books for me.

I really, really loved the set up of this book, and was completely blown away by the first chapter (which really was a prologue) which was involving, exciting and heart breaking. Our hero, Julien Harcourt, duc de Valere, lives in London. He is a French nobleman who has escaped from the French Revolution with his mother and started a new life in England.  His family did not however escape unscathed from the Revolution. Not only was his family's wealth lost, but his father was killed, and it was thought that his two younger brothers were also. Whilst Julien is accepted by the ton, he is also somewhat outside the narrow rules that govern behaviour within the ton, and so he has worked very hard to build up the family wealth again, providing shelter for his English born mother.  Julien has never however given up hope that perhaps some of his family has escaped their supposed, and so is in constant contact with France, and has on occasion travelled there.

It is this contact that brings Julien to the attention of the British government, and in turn brings Miss Sarah Smith into his life. Sarah is governess to the children of a high ranking government agent and at short notice she is given an ultimatum: accept the role of spying on the Duc by infiltrating his household or lose your position. Sarah has never known any family and spent all her formative years in an orphanage and so feels she has no choice but to accept the role or risk being on the streets, no matter how ill equipped she may be. She is to pretend to be Madamoiselle Serafina Artois, daughter of family friends of the Valere who supposedly escaped the troubles and is now coming to England to marry Julien as she is his mother's choice of bride for her handsome son.

While I loved the set up for Julien, and can only remember reading one other romance which had any hint of this type of character, I felt that the character of Sarah was less successful. Whilst I sort of liked Sarah, I was as unconvinced at her ability to be able to pull off this ruse as she was, and often thought that she was putting herself into unnecessary and unlikely situations to be able to drag the story forward.

There was certainly plenty of drama in the story. From a governess pretending to be a spy, to a Duc who may or may not have been a traitor, trips into some of the seedier parts of London that are often not mentioned in historical romances (or if they are it is in relation to a do-gooder doing charity work there),  to a perilous trip to Paris where aristocrats were still very much in danger, to a daring rescue and unlikely revelation regarding identities and the bad guys at the end, there should have been enough to make this a captivating story. In the end I don't think I was captivated as such. Maybe interested is a better way of putting it.

It took me a few days of thinking of the right word to describe my reaction, and in the end I came up with the word skimming. It felt as though the action moved from one point to the next propelled by unlikely plot twists and scenarios with the reader just skimming along with them. I wanted more depth, and more emotion, and to be more invested with our main couple. If anything I preferred the sections where Julien was moving his cause forward despite Sarah's actions (for example in Paris) whereas generally a romance should be about the two halves that come together to make a whole.

The set up for the next two books in the Sons of the Revolution trilogy is started up in this novel, and they sound exactly like something I would enjoy reading, so while I didn't necessarily love this book, I haven't yet given up on Shana Galen.

Her next book, The Making of a Gentleman, sounds as though it features my favourite type of hero - those dark, tortured men whose scars are often more than just physical and is due out in October of this year

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy.

Rating 3.5/5

For other opinions:

Gossamer Obsessions
Readin' and Dreamin'
Rundpinne

Edited to add: You can win a copy of this book if you are interested over at Hist-Fic Chick.

Uncertain Magic by Laura Kinsale

A man damned by suspicion and innuendo

Dreadful rumors swirl around the impoverished Irish lord known as "The Devil Earl". But Faelen Savigar hides a dark secret, for even he doesn't know what dreadful deeds he may be capable of.

A woman cursed by the gift of "sight"

Roderica Delamore fears no man will ever want a wife who can read his every thought and emotion, until she encounters Faelan. As the two find their way to each other against all odds, Roddy becomes determined to save Faelen from his terrifying and mysterious ailment. But will their lvoe end up saving him ... or destroying her?

A breathtaking historical romance filled with poignancy, darkness, love, and an unexpected twist of Gaelic magic…

I am going to have to start this review with a bit of a rant! I really, really don’t like books where the hero refers to the heroine as little girl or little love or anything like that. Unfortunately, the author uses this as an endearment between our hero of this novel, Faelen Savigar, and the heroine,  Roddy Delamore,  and every time he called her that name I wanted to throw the book down and walk away. I was hoping that it would just be in the early part of the book, and that in due course Faelen would grow to see her as more than a little girl, but alas it didn't happen, at least in terms of endearments. To me, it just sounds so condescending and a little bit wrong. 

Now that that is out of the way a bit more about the book. Roddy has always been a little bit different, and she has always been aware that other people look at her a bit askance, a little bit fearful of what it is that is different about her. She can hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of humans and creatures near her. When she is at the races, she feels the pain of a racing horse, knowing that if it keeps on being forced to race it’s heart will give out. The owner of the horse is known as the Devil Earl, including that he murdered his father at a young age. He is a man who lives on the periphery of accepted society, and about whom many rumours swirl. He doesn’t really even trust himself as there are many occasions where he loses days, not knowing where he has been or what he has been doing. Amazingly for Roddy who wants a life away from her parents meaning marriage and children, he is also a man that she can’t get inside the head of, even if she tries, and that makes him attractive to her. She therefore suggest to him that perhaps he could court her.

Whilst her family are initially reluctant to agree to the match, Roddy convinces them that he is indeed the man she wants to marry and they agree. What follows their wedding is danger, intrigue, rebellion and mysticism with its heart in the Irish countryside. Faelen is hoping to rebuild his family’s crumbling estate, but before he can do that, his friend must move on the guns that he has illegally stored at the estate. It is however no easy matter to remove that number of weapons undetected by the English soldiers who are on the lookout for traitors, and feel no sense of injustice by destroying peoples homes and livelihoods in the process. From spectral haunting, to dangerous attempts to free people from jail, this book would seem to have all the ingredients for a cracking good read.

While all of this sounds very dramatic, I had trouble being interested enough in the storyline, and actually felt a bit lost at times as the mystical and then the temporal elements jostled for time at the forefront of the book.
I have liked the books I have read by this author before, but unfortunately this one didn’t work as well for me! Even by the time I got to the end of the book, I wasn't quite sure what at least two of the characters were and how they fitted into the big picture.

Whilst the paranormal elements in this novel were different from a lot of the books that are being released now, I do think that if you have been reading romance for a while you would recognise the style as a more older fashioned type of paranormal, which makes sense give that this book was originally published in 1987.


Thanks to Sourcebooks who provided me with a review copy of this book.

This book counted for the 2010 Pub Challenge, and the Romance Reading Challenge that I am participating in.

Rating 3.5/5

March Reading Reflections

It's been a busy month here at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. It is still a surprise to me to get emails saying that I have received a comment from that blog name, after having been Reading Adventures for so long, but I like it! Not only was there the makeover here and at Historical Tapestry but we also managed to get a few days away. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will get a few photos up. Maybe.

Reading wise, I continue to surprise myself by managing to read more than the eleven or twelve books that I figured I would be able to read each month when I was looking at my goals for the year in January. This month I managed a respectable total of 15 books:

Lord Sunday by Garth Nix (4/5)
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (4/5)
Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer (5/5)
Dance of Seduction by Elle Kennedy (3.5/5)
The Struggle by L J Smith (4/5)
Then Comes Seduction by Mary Balogh (4/5)
Tempted by PC Cast and Kristin Cast (4/5)
Dance Upon the Earth by Nora Roberts (4/5)
The Champion by Elizabeth Chadwick (4.5/5)
A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James (4.5/5)
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (4.5/5)
The House on Tradd Street by Karen White (4.5/5)
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (4/5)
Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff (4/5)
The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham (4/5)

I actually managed to read quite a few books for challenges this month, so let's see what progress I made, or didn't make as the case may be.

Yet again, I made no progress with the Period Drama Challenge or with the Harry Potter Reading Challenge. The Pacific is about to be shown here though so I am going to make a special effort to watch that, which will count for the first of those two challenges! The other challenges I made no progress with were the French Historical Reading Challenge (although quite a bit of The Champion was set on the tourney fields of France so I did think about counting that book for the challenge), the Art History Reading Challenge, the Tudor Challenge, In Death Reading Challenge, the Ireland Reading Challenge, but I should be able to do something with those in the not too distant future...hopefully. The Champion does however qualify as a chunkster so I am now half way through the Chunkster Challenge.

Another challenge that The Champion qualifies for, along with Susan Higginbotham's The Stolen Crown, is the Tournament of Reading. In theory I have now met the challenge requirements for this challenge, but I the first book I read for it only just qualified (should have a medieval setting where medieval is quantified as occuring between 500-1500 AD) I might read another book just to be sure!

The Struggle is the second book in the original Vampire Diaries series, which means that I am halfway through The LJ Smith reading challenge. This book and Tempted also counted for the Vampire Series Challenge, so I am third of the way through that challenge now.

Lord Sunday is by Australian author Garth Nix, so that book counted towards the Aussie Authors Challenge, which I am have now read 5 out of the 8 books required to finish this challenge.

The book that I have used as my Year of the Historical read for March was Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer, which is also the book that I reviewed when the Classics Circuit came to visit earlier this month. This book also qualified as a read for the Romance Reading Challenge, along with Dance of Seduction, Then Comes Seduction, Dance Upon the Air, and A Duke of Her Own. I only have two more books to read before I have completed the Romance Reading Challenge.

Another challenge that I only need to read another couple of books before I can say I have completed it is the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. This month The Champion, The Book of Unholy Mischief, The Postmistress, The Stolen Crown and Fireworks Over Toccoa all counted towards this challenge. Those last three book were all published this year and so also count towards the Pub 2010 Reading Challenge as well.

The new challenge I joined this month was Once Upon a Time IV, and The Girl who Chased the Moon qualifies for that challenge, so I am on the way for that one too!

Phew! That's a lot of books for challenges, or challenges for books, whichever way around you want to see it! All that is left is to update my progress on the 100+ Reading Challenge (I have read 42 out of the 100+ I am aiming for), and the Support Your Local Library Challenge where I have read 35 out of the 100 books I was aiming for.

On Sunday I will be posting about Reading Our Own Bookshelves, which is going to put a bit of a dent in my library reading, but I am very excited about participating in!

Classics Circuit: Those devilish Alastairs

Today I am glad to be participating in the Classics Circuit for Georgette Heyer.  When I signed up for the blog tour, I was asked what I was going to be post about, and because I had just borrowed it, I said that I would post about The Devil's Cub. I then realised that I hadn't actually reviewed the book that comes before it which is These Old Shades, so I thought I would do a post about my experience of reading Georgette Heyer, and a comparison of the two books. In addition, I am also using this post as my entry for the letter H in the Historical Tapestry challenge, Alphabet in Historical Fiction.

Up until a few years ago I hadn't read any Georgette Heyer novels, which in some ways was quite surprising given that I love both romance and historical fiction. Georgette Heyer is often creditted with creating the Regency Romance sub-genre, and over the years I have read quite a lot of those types of romances. I am not really sure what it as that I was waiting for. Since I started reading this author, I have read one of her straight historical fiction novels, one of her mysteries, and now three of her romances. I liked the first romance I read, but I didn't really know what to expect when I picked up These Old Shades. It was therefore a pleasant surprise when I enjoyed it as much as I did!

Here is the synopsis for These Old Shades (the recent Sourcebooks rerelease)

A notorious duke with a devilish bent...

Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon, is called "Satanas" by enemy and friend alike. In the aristocratic circles of both London and Louis XV's Paris he has a reputation as a dangerous and debauched rake.

A cast off urchin with a secret past...

Late one evening, the Duke stumbles upon Leon, a red-headed urchin fleeing a certain beating at his brutal brother's hands. On a whim, Avon buys the boy and makes him his page. But it soon becomes clear that Leon is not what he seems...

When the grubby Leon turns out to be the enchanting Leonie, the Duke is not prepared for the breathtaking transformation or the tender emotions she awakens in him, or the unconditional love she has for the man who saved her.

One of the issues with being a pioneer of a genre, is that in the 80 plus years of subsequent imitators, many of the tropes used in the novel have become pretty standard tropes of the regency romance sub-genre. In this one alone there is the cold, distantly aloof aristocrat, the girl dressing as a boy and the suspense subplot, and yet, despite the fact that these are all storylines that have been reproduced numerous times over the years, there is still a freshness to them in Heyer's writing.

Justin Alastair is in Paris when he comes across a young boy being accosted by others, and decides on a whim to make the boy his page. He very quickly realises that his page is actually a girl and sets out to find out more about her. It seems that she is most definitely something more than a young peasant, and soon Justin finds himself plotting and scheming to unveil a villain of the French Aristocracy.

I really enjoyed that this book was partially set in pre-revolutionary France.

When I rated These Old Shades, I gave it 4.5/5. Some times though the gut reaction rating that I initially apply isn't what I would have rated it a couple of weeks later. I will leave it at 4.5, but having now read The Devil's Cub, I would probably amend that to 4/5, not because I didn't still think I had enjoyed it immensely, but rather because when I put the two books together and compare my reading reaction, then These Old Shades is left in the shadows.

In this novel Miss Heyer has woven 'affairs' of lovely ladies and handsome, if some times wicked, men into a design as intricate as old lace. Love and desire, abductions and escapes, gaming and duelling are inevitable incidents in this full-blooded eighteenth-century story. The many thousands of admirers of Miss Heyer's These Old Shades will meet familiar friends again in Devil's Cub

The main male character in The Devil's Cub is Dominic, Marquis of Vidal, and son of Justin and Leonie, the Duke and Duchess of Avon. Dominic shares many of the same traits that his father possessed. They are both dark and broody, cold and aloof, but where were told that Justin is a man with a deserved reputation as a rake, it is really with Dominic that we see this for ourselves. Dominic is a man who trifles with young women with little thought for the consequences for the lady concerned, the man who fights in duels with the slightest of provocation, and the man who takes on the most ludicrous wagers, and to my mind, he is more overtly amusing than his father.

As a result of an illegal duel, Dominic is hustled out of the country to France, but not before he makes arrangements to have his current young lady, Sophia Challoner, accompany him. When her older, and much more sensible, sister inadvertently finds out about the plan, she is determined to save her sister from certain ruin, and therefore shows up at the rendezvous in her place. Mary expects that she will be able to be back before most people realise that she is gone, but she had not counted on Dominic's temper, and determination, to travel onto Paris urgently. When she wounds him, Dominic begins to realise that Mary is not as dull as he thought she might be, and that he may have at last found a woman who could live up to his mother in terms of spirit, and her sense of adventure.

There was only one scene very early in the book where I didn't like Dominic, and I must confess that I was a bit concerned that I was not going to be able to connect to him as a reader as a result of those actions. Whilst not forgivable, it was not repeated and I got no sense that it would be in the future, and I was therefore able to move on from.

I must confess that there were times that Mary came awfully close to making stupid decisions, but she was saved from being a TSTL (too stupid to live if you aren't sure what that acronym means) heroine by the fact that for most of the time she is no simpering young woman (something that Leonie had down pat in the previous book). In fact, I often found myself wondering what exactly it was that Mary was supposed to be living up to!

It was an absolute delight to watch the chemistry between Dominic and Mary leap from the pages, and to watch a rake whose family members despair of ever reforming (not counting his devoted parents of course) fall in love with a woman that no one would have thought would have been attracted to, and to do so with the utmost care for her reputation once he started to fall for her.

All through both of these books there is a superb cast of supporting characters. Justin's brother and sister, and their respective children in the later book, provide colour, vibrancy, depth and humour, meaning that The Devil's Cub in particular, is an incredibly balanced and readable novel. Leonie and Justin also worked better for me in this novel, having been married for many years now. I still found it a bit hard to connect with Leonie, but I did enjoy that no matter how well she thought she had managed to conceal Dominic's doings from her husband, Justin was almost omnipotent - always having ways of knowing exactly what his firebrand of a son had been up to!

As an aside, the edition of The Devil's Cub that I read was printed in the late 1970s, and it is very interesting to look at the differences between the synopsis and the covers! The other thing that I didn't realise until I was writing this post, is that Barbara from An Infamous Army is a member of the Alastair family! Given that An Infamous Army was the first Heyer I read, I feel as though I have come full circle, and in fact I think if I was to reread her book, I would appreciate more fully Barbara's character. I can totally see myself picking up These Old Shades and beginning my adventures with the fantastic Alastair family again, and this time reading through Devil's Cub and onto An Infamous Army.

In the end I rated The Devil's Cub 5 out of 5.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy of  These Old Shades.

If you are interested in reading more posts from the Classics Circuit, here are the other stops on the Georgette Heyer tour this week:

March 15, 2010 Booklust Review: Penhallow
March 16, 2010 Carol’s Notebook Review: Cotillion
March 16, 2010 Musings Review: These Old Shades
March 17, 2010 Reading Adventures Review: Devil’s Cub
March 18, 2010 Blog Jar Review: Royal Escape
March 19, 2010 Reading, Writing and Retirement Review: Friday’s Child
March 20, 2010 Staircase Wit Review: The Grand Sophy or Devil’s Cub
March 21, 2010 Medieval Bookworm Review: Cotillion

Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale

He's always been trouble...

Trevelyan and Callie are childhood sweethearts with a taste for adventure, until the fateful day her father discovers them embracing in the carriage house and, in a furious frenzy, drives Trevelyan away in disgrace...


Exactly the kind of trouble she's never been able to resist...

Nine long, lonely years later, Trevelyan returns. Callie discovers that he can still make her blood race and fill her life with excitement, but he can't give her the one thing she wants more than anything—himself.

For Trevelyan, Callie is a spark of light in a world of darkness and deceit. Before he can bear to say his last goodbyes, he's determined to sweep her into one last, fateful adventure, just for the two of them.

There was great excitement when it was announced that Laura Kinsale had a new book coming out this year. I was pleased because she is a big name in historical romance circles in particular, but personally I wasn't truly excited mainly because I have only read one of her books previously, albeit one of the classics - Flowers from the Storm. I am thinking that I am going to be more excited when we get news of the next book from Laura Kinsale, and now it is my intention to read through as much of her backlist as possible.

Lady Callie Tallefaire is the daughter of a duke, but at the age of 27, and having been jilted by fiances three times, she is resigned to the fact that she is never going to be married. Her cousin is now the duke, and his insufferable wife duchess, and Callie is waiting for the day when her younger sister marries so that she can move out with them. Callie is somewhat unique amongst her class. She is a lady, but she is also intensely passionate about her animals, in particular her prize bull, Hubert.

As youngsters, Callie was often caught up in escapades and adventures with her neighbour, Trevelyn d'Augustin. Trevelyn is a French emigre whose family escaped from The Terror with little more than the clothes on their back. However, when Callie and Trevelyn are caught in a somewhat intimate situation by her father, Trev is banished, returning to France ostensibly to try to regain his family's lands.

After ten years, Trev has returned, and he is completely surprised to find that Callie is not yet married with children, and finds that the feelings that he once had for her are not as dead as he thought. Trev has returned to visit his sick mother, but in so many ways he is not anything like he initially seemed. I am very much a hero-centric romance reader, and in this book I was not disappointed. Gradually we get to know the man that Trev has become as a result of the life he has experienced, and it is fair to say that he hasn't been living an elegant, or gentlemanly, life while he has been away.

Being the unmarried cousin to the current duke means that Callie is subject to the whims of her cousin and his wife. She is devastated when she finds out that he has sold her prize bull to one of her former suitors, Major Sturgeon, just before she is about to exhibit Hubert at the local show. It is to Trev that she turns in her despair, and there begins a series of misadventures featuring the two of them.

There is a definite sexual chemistry between Trev and Callie, but there is an underlying feeling of yearning, particular on Trev's part. He is a man used to thinking on his feet. His plans quite often don't necessarily work out as he intended, but he improvises as necessary, with often funny results, particularly as he leads Callie into some unlikely situations.

He is ,however, not what he seems, and neither Callie or his mother have any idea of exactly what is going on in his life until the very end of the novel. If there is a weakness with this novel, it is the ending. Suddenly we find out exactly how dangerous it is for Trev to have returned to England to see his ailing mother, and for him to remain there because of his attachment to Callie, and also some explanation of why Callie has been so unlucky in love for all these years. All's well that ends well I guess.

I loved how unusual some of Trev's past experiences have been and how they have influenced him, and I loved how certain he was in his feelings for Callie. Yes, he may have been tempted to walk away from Callie, but not because he didn't love her, but because he did love her and he knew what her life may have been had she stuck with him.

Callie wasn't quite as well defined for me. Whilst so many romance heroines are described as spirited (particularly the red haired ones who are so prevalent in historical romances) often they can be a bit too modern, or a bit too clever. There's no doubt that Callie was intelligent, and she did have unusual interests for a woman of her time, but she did still seem to fit her time in terms of setting.

This novel is a welcome return from Laura Kinsale, and one that I enjoyed very much. Whilst the story was funny (with a touch of slapstick at times) and somewhat light, there were also well developed characters with interesting back stories, and plenty of depth lying just under the surface waiting to be discovered.

This is my first read for the 2010 Pub Challenge, and also counts for my Romance Reading challenge.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Rating: 4.5/5

November reading round up

Before we get too much further into December, I really should do my November round up! At first I thought that I had had a pretty good month when it comes down purely to numbers but I might have been a bit wrong.

This month I managed to read 11 books. One of those, Night Play, was a reread. I don't often do rereads, but in this case I had gone to my friend's house for a cocktail party and was up at 6am despite the late night we had had the night before. I actually didn't take a book with me, but I have been lending my friend quite a few vampire romances so this one was at her house. I couldn't help but to keep reading once I had started! Mmmm....Vane.

Here are the books that I read in November.

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson 4.5/5
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 4.5/5
Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin 4/5
Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning 4/5
Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts 4/5
When the Duke Returns by Eloisa James 4/5
The Food of Love by Anthony Capella 4/5
The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters 4/5
Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell 4.5/5
Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon 4.5/5
Painting Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis 4/5

Do you have a scientific method for grading your books. For me, the grading is purely a gut reaction, and not really something that I can define enough to say well I gave this book 4 out of 5 and this one 4.5 out of 5 and these are the differences between the two books. The reason I mention this is that there is at least one book in there that I would probably have graded differently if I was to assign a grade to it now.

As far as challenges go, the year is coming to an end, and I think I have been pretty good at finishing most of the challenges I signed up for. The other thing that the end of the year means is that next year's challenges are all being announced, and it is fair to say that I have been signing up for more than I have been finishing!

One challenge that I don't think I will be completing this year is the Art History Challenge, although I did manage to finish one book for it during November. Painting Mona Lisa gives us a story behind one of the most famous faces in the world. It was a pretty good read. In order to complete the challenge you need to read 6 books, but I think this is only my third one so far.

The Harry Potter Reading Challenge doesn't finish until the middle of next year, but there is a fair chance that I am not going to finish that one either. When I originally signed up it was because my brother had told me that he had bought me all of the audio books narrated by Jim Dale so my plan was to listen to them. So far, I have not yet sighted those audio books, and I am not sure if I am really going to any time soon.

I have been waiting for what seems an eternity for the first book in the L J Smith series, The Vampire Diaries. It has just come into the library so I am planning to go and pick it up in the next week or so.

So, have you started thinking about the challenges you are going to sign up for next year? I have been signing up to a few. I am particularly partial to challenges for lovely buttons.

The first new challenge that I have signed up for this month is the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which is being hosted by Royal Reviews. I will be going to aim for the top level which is Obsessed and read 20 novels. Full details of the challenge can be found here.

Another challenge being hosted by Royal Reviews is the Romance Reading Challenge. Again, I will be aiming for the highest level, Obsessed, and try and read 20 romances during the year.

There are at least two challenges that I am waiting for announcements on so that I can formally sign up for. Of  course, there is also my own Terry Pratchett challenge which I will also be trying to read for as well!

I can't help but feel that there is another challenge somewhere that I said I would particpate in, but at the moment I can't think what it is. It will come to me eventually.

Reading Challenges update Part 1

Given how close it is to the end of the year (gasp!) it is time for one last look at the outstanding challenges that I have for this year. Over the next couple of days I will do a best of 2008 type post with some stats and then some details of the challenges that I will be taking part in during 2009.

Pub 08 Reading Challenge

Whilst I didn't get around to reading the first three books off of my original list (but I will!) and I read but didn't review the last two books, I have read 47 books this year that were published in 2008, so I definitely finished the reading part of the challenge. Some highlights (with reviews) were The Host by Stephenie Meyer, The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Maryann Shaffer, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick and East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. I am swapping these titles in, so this is challenge complete!

I've signed up for the Pub 09 Reading Challenge already!

Romance Reading Challenge

This challenge finished earlier this month. I still didn't manage to read either The Huntress or Lover Unbound, so I didn't quite make it to completion on this challenge.

Naida is running this challenge again this year. I am not signing up this year, but not for any other reason than I need to have some kind of limits on the number of challenges that I participate in!



Chunkster Challenge

I finally read Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden, but I haven't done the reviw yet. So I kind of finished this one.

Does anyone know if someone is running this again next year? I have tried to contact this year's host but haven't had a response yet. Are people interested in participating in this challenge? I definitely still am, and I might be willing to host it as long as no one else wants to.

Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

I never did get around to reading Counting the Stars. I do have it out from the library again at the moment so maybe I will get to read it early in the new year. This challenge ended on November 30.

Stephenie Meyer Mini Challenge

I have read both The Host and Breaking Dawn, but haven't reviewed Breaking Dawn. I also went to see Twilight tonight. With the challenge finishing on January 30, I should still be able to complete this one.

Reading Challenges update

So I really need to sort out where I am up to with each of the challenges that I have said that I was going to participate in, so that I can figure out my reading priorities for when I have gaps between library books!

Pub08 Reading challenge

I still need to read Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith, Fire Study by Maria V Snyder and Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland.

I have two reviews written, one for The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin and the other for The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig. Those reviews will be posted in the next week or so. I still need to write my review of The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

This challenge ends on 31 December 2008. I figured out that so far this year I have read 35 books that have been published this year, so if I don't get to read the remaining two books on my list, I have plenty of choices on books to swap in. In effect this challenge is completed.



Romance Reading Challenge

I still need to read The Huntress by Susan Carroll or Lover Unbound by J R Ward. I have read and reviewed the other books nominated.

This challenge also finishes at the end of the year.





Chunkster Challenge


I still need to read Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden.

A chunkster is defined as a normal print book of more than 450 pages. So far this year I have read 29 books that would qualify so for I have kind of finished this challenge as well. This challenge officially finishes on December 20.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

I've read Rhett Butler's People, Dreaming the Serpent Spear and The Witches Trinity, but haven't yet written the reviews and still need to read Aztec by Gary Jennings and Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore.

This challenge actually finished on 1 October. I read way more than 6 books in the period from 1 April to 1 October (whoops), so I am going to sub the following books in and declare this challenge complete:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes


I Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

Need to read Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore to complete this challenge.

This challenge finishes on November 30






Stephenie Meyer Mini Challenge.

I have read and reviewed The Host, and have read Breaking Dawn. Just have to write the review for that one, and then I am done. This challenge finishes on January 30 2009.







Book Awards Reading Challenge II

I have read a couple of books for this challenge already. It finishes on June 30 2009.



Bang Bang Book Challenge

The books that I nominated for this challenge were:

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Winston's War by Michael Dobbs
Flashman and the Dragon by George Macdonald Fraser
Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig
The Birth House by Ami McKay

I have read the last three, just need to read the first two. This challenge finishes on February 29 2009.


RIP III Challenge

The books I nominated were:

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Before They are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan

I haven't read Before They Are Hanged or The Blackstone Key yet, but I have read Faefever by Karen Marie Moning and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer which will both qualify so I am going to swap those books into my list, and then say, I am done, with the reading part of the challenge anyway!



Phew! That took a while!


The Pulitzer Project, The Orange Prize Project and The Booker challenges are all ongoing challenges. I really need to read at least one book for each just to show that I am still intending to participate!

The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick

In the wild, windswept Welsh marches a noble young lord rides homewards, embittered, angry and in danger. He is Guyon, lord of Ledworth, heir to threatened lands, husband-to-be of Judith of Ravenstow. Their union will save his lands - but they have yet to meet...

For this is Wales at the turn of the twelfth century. Dynasties forge and fight, and behind the precarious throne of William Rufus political intrigue is raging. Caught amidst the violence are Judith and Guyon, bound together yet poles apart. But when a dark secret from the past is revealed and the full horror of war crashes over Guyon and Judith they are forced to face insurmountable odds. Together...

I have this crazy tendency to want to read authors works in order, especially if I try a new release and like it. Having read and really enjoyed the last three new books by Elizabeth Chadwick, it was time to go back to the beginning and start glomming the back list, and you can't get any more back than this book - the first book published by Elizabeth Chadwick. In fact, this book has been out of print for a long time and for a while there I very much lamented the fact that I couldn't find a reasonably priced copy anywhere, until I finally lucked out on Ebay and bought a copy from the UK. Fast forward just under two years and I finally managed to read it, and quite frankly I don't know what I was thinking of waiting so long to do so!

The book opens with Guyon somewhat reluctantly having to marry a young girl, at the persuasive encouragement (or perhaps less encouragement than given no choice) of King William Rufus. By doing so, he is able to protect his own inheritance but also gets to stop his enemy Robert de Belleme from gaining further. The young girl is Judith of Ravenstow, and de Belleme is her paternal uncle who has his eye on her land. The young couple therefore marry hastily without having ever met each other previously. Guyon is handsome and sophisticated, with an established reputation at court as something of a romancer. For all Guyon's experience, Judith is an innocent, perhaps unusually so. She is well trained at the arts of healing and in the other skills required in order to run a household, but when it comes to interaction with the males of the species, she only has the abusive example of how her father treated her mother and she is skittish to say the least.

Guyon is prepared to be patient with Judith, until she is ready to deal with him as her husband, but as the relationship deepens between them, so the conflicts in the Marches and the Royal Court also deepen with Guyon getting caught up in the plotting and battling that is endemic in the court at the end of the 11th century and beginning of the 12th century.

It is hard not to compare this first book of Chadwick's with the later books because in many ways they are very different. There is less balance between the relationship between the characters and the battles and politics of medieval England. I think the sexual tension and the build up to the consummation of the marriage is less subtle than we see in her later books. The language of the novel is much less concise and at times there is too much description.

Having said all of that, the story itself was excellent, and I certainly was enchanted by Guyon. What Chadwick hasn't done with this character is made him whiter than snow. He is known at Court for his liaisons with the ladies, and very early on in the novel we know that he is prepared to take care of his responsibilities in this regard. We also know that he is a man of honour, and of faithfulness once he is married. He is in fact an all round good guy. If not for his past indiscretions there would be a chance that he would be too good to be true, but I can live with that. In fact, I wonder if I was to venture out to the Welsh Marches today whether I would be able to find my own Guyon - good looking, honourable, courageous. Yes please!

The same can not be said for the bad guys who are all very bad, but again this is something that I was willing to forgive because the actual story itself is so good!

Elizabeth Chadwick has confirmed that this book and the two others that form part of the Ravenstow trilogy are being rereleased after having been edited. In the case of this book, there have been approx 15000 words cut out of it, so it will be interesting at some stage to read the new version and see how it holds up to the revisions. The new version of the book is being released in the UK in December, and the cover is to the right, and fits in beautifully with the cover treatment that her newer books are receiving.

This is another winner from Elizabeth Chadwick, and I am very much looking forward to reading the other two books in this trilogy.

This book was one that I read as part of the Romance Reading Challenge and having read this one that means that I just have one more book to read before this challenge is complete!

If you have reviewed this book, leave me a link in the comments and I will link to it in my review, which is also being cross posted at Historical Tapestry.



Other Blogger's Thoughts:

The Eclectic Reader

Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter

Handsome, suave, and carnal as the devil, Lord Elliot Rothwell awaits readers in Lessons of Desire, bestselling author Madeline Hunter’s latest book in the Rothwell series and her most provocative novel to date. A man used to getting what he wants, Elliot is every woman’s most secret fantasy in the living flesh. He first appears beneath her prison window as her savior—a sinfully attractive man whose charm and connections have ensured her release from an unjust arrest. But author and publisher Phaedra Blair quickly learns that the price of her “freedom” is to be virtually bound to her irresistible rescuer. For Elliot Rothman didn’t come solely on a mission of goodwill. He came to extract a promise that Phaedra won’t publish a slanderous manuscript that could destroy his family’s name, and he’s not above bribery, threats, or bedding her to get his way. And with each erotic encounter raising the stakes between them, Elliot discovers he’s ever more reluctant to lose this sensual game…or the one woman who’s every bit his match.

One of the common things that you hear from romance fans is that we want to read something different. Having read this book, I think that maybe we THINK we want something different...but we really don't.

The thing is that this book does have different in spades - the heroine is an advocate of free love meaning that there is no simpering virgin here. Another example of different is that at least half of the book is set in Italy travelling from places like Naples, Pompeii and Positano.

So how did those differences work for me? The setting did work. I definitely found the setting fresh although the reasons for moving from Naples and from Positano were a bit contrived.

Having the heroine be Phaedra really didn't work for me though. First off...how the heck do you pronounce that name. Phaedra Blair was basically shunned by society because she has chosen to live a very different lifestyle to most people in the ton. She is an advocate of free love, a woman who chooses to have 'friends' who are lovers, and very definitely does not believe in marriage. She also chooses to dress in a very strange way, avoiding current fashion. Every time she talked about free love I couldn't help but think of 1960's hippies which is a long way from the setting that we are given in the book.

Phaedra Blair goes to Italy to try and found out the truth about her mother's last days. Her mother was a very famous woman. She spent years with Phaedra's father without ever marrying him, but something happens in her last years of life that causes her downhill slide, and eventually her death. One of the clues that Phaedra has is a beautiful ancient cameo that supposedly came from Pompeii.

Elliot follows Phaedra to Italy because she holds the publishing rights to her father's memoirs, and inside those memoirs is an allegation made about his father that the Rothwells want to keep out of the public realm.

When they first meet Elliot has to rescue Phaedra from a situation where she has come to the attention of the local authorities. He has to rescue her again in another town when she is accused of witchcraft, and this time the rescue includes marriage vows, that both Elliot and Phaedra hope they will be able to get out of when they return back to England.

I felt like I was being bashed over the head repeatedly with the free love thing, and also with the possessiveness of Elliot - I can't remember how many times the word 'mine' was mentioned throughout this novel. He did temper this possessiveness many times, which means that he was a bearable character.

I guess that one thing that I have to confess is that when I read Rules of Seduction at the beginning of last year, I did wonder if our heroine, Phaedra, was destined to hook up with Christian, Lord Easterbrook. Instead, she ends up with his younger brother, Elliot. Lord Easterbrook's book is the one that I really, really want, but it seems as though it won't be out until next year some time!

I really loved Rules of Seduction. It was the first book I read last year, the first time I had read Madeline Hunter, and I was blown away. If this had of been the first book I read from this author, then I think it would have been fair to assume that I wouldn't have read more. As it is, I have read the excerpt for the next book in this series, Secrets of Surrender which came out a few days ago, and I am looking forward to reading it!

This book was one of the books that I nominated to read as part of the Romance Reading Challenge.

Reading Challenge Round up...and a new one!

Thought it was time to do some kind of review on where I am up to with the various challenges that I have joined so far this year. Given that I haven't joined a new one for a while either, it's a good chance to do that as well. First though...how am I going with the ones I have already committed to:


Pub08 Challenge

Read 8 books published in 2008. The books that I originally chose to read for this challenge were:

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith (out February) (Own but not read yet)
Fire Study by Maria V Snyder (out February) (Coming in my Amazon order as we speak)
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland (out March) (Not at my library yet)
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin (out January) (Not at my library yet)
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (out January)(no sign of this being released here yet!)
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati (or Rosina Lippi depending on where it is to be published) (not read yet)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brook (Read but not reviewed yet)

I also added The Crystal Skull to my challenge list because it was the first book that I read this year that was published this year.

In addition, I have read The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander, Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas and This Charming Man by Marian Keyes that were all published this year, but for now I am keeping the challenge books as those above, just to make it a bit harder for myself!

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Romance Reading Challenge

The challenge was to read 5 romances. Because I do read a lot of romance, I decided that to make the challenge harder for myself I would only list books that I already owned to read. The books I originally chose were:

The Huntress by Susan Carroll
The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick (sits on my bedside table all the time!)
Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan (read)
Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter
Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (read)

As a backup I also had Lover Unbound (and no I haven't read it yet!)

Two down, three to go!


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Chunkster Challenge

Read 4 books that had more than 450 pages in. The books I originally chose for this challenge were:

Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden
Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks
A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick (reading at the moment)
Shadowbrook by Beverly Swerling

So I am at 2 done, 2 to go. Having said that I have read a whole heap of other Chunksters but again I am keeping my list as above just to keep the challenge aspect high:

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes (676 pages)
Island in the Sea of Time by SM Stirling (609 pages)
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (509 pages)
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (508 pages) (read but not reviewed yet)
PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern (503 pages)
Haunted by Kelley Armstrong (495 pages)
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky (484 pages)
Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry (477 pages)

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100+ Reading Challenge

I am currently reading books numbered 66, 67 and 68 so going alright on this one!




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Once Upon a Time II Challenge
I do need to watch the end date for this challenge because it doesn't run as long as some of the other challenges! The books I chose for this challenge were:

Belladonna by Anne Bishop (read but not reviewed yet)
Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (read but not reviewed yet)
Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix
Lions Honey by David Grossman (review here)
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente
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Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

The books I chose for this challenge were:

Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon (review here)
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
Aztec by Gary Jennings
Dreaming the Serpent Spear by Manda Scott
Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore
The Witches Trinity by Erika Mailman

and as spare/alternate choices

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Thinking by Carrie Tiffany
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

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New Challenge - I Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

And now, for the new challenge that I am joining in on. The challenge is to read three books that have been recommended by someone else between May 1 and November 30.

My three choices are:

Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore, which I first heard about at Reading the Past.
The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer, also from Reading the Past (Review here)
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente, which was recommended to me by Kailana for the Once Upon a Time Challenge. (Review here)

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!