The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau

I don't think I have made any secret of the fact that I am a bit Tudored out and so I am being very selective about the books that I read that are set during the Tudor period of British history. When I saw that this book was coming out though, there was no question for me as to whether I would read this or not. Bilyeau's debut novel, The Chalice, which features a novice nun named Joanne Stafford who comes from a disgraced noble family was a good read for me last year but I did have some issues with the pacing.

Everything I enjoyed about The Crown was present, but The Chalice is by far the stronger book of the two. The pacing is strong and consistent, the mystery is interesting, the plot twists and turns, the historical facts are fascinating and the characters are captivating!

After the dissolution of the monasteries, former novice Joanna Stafford is trying to make a home for herself in the town of Dartford in Kent. It is difficult to be out in the community, especially given that the town isn't particularly welcoming to the former nuns and friars. In addition to the former sisters who share her life, Joanna also has custody of a young boy, Arthur, who is the son of her cousin who was executed for committing treason in the previous book.

Joanna knows that she needs to find a way to make a living and so has a plan to start producing tapestries. She just needs her loom to arrive from the low countries and she will be able to start working and live a nice, quiet life with the only dilemma for her being her love life. At the end of The Chalice things were kind of unresolved, which made sense given that Joanne had a religious vocation. She definitely felt a strong connection to Geoffrey Scovill, a constable that she met when he saved her from a mob at the beginning of the last book, and a strong emotional connection to Brother Edmund, the apothecary who is a constant in her life.

When her cousin and his wife suddenly show up in Dartford with an invitation for both Joanna and Arthur to visit with them, it is a surprise to Joanna. She has no intention of being drawn back into the world that comes with being a member of one of England's most infamous families and related to many of the other noble families like the Howards. Only agreeing to accompany her cousin as long as she does not have to attend Court, Joanna goes with them to London.

Despite her protests, Joanna is drawn into a complicated plot that relies strongly on a prophecy that concerns her.  Suddenly her quiet life is a long way behind her as she finds herself faced with the responsibility of trying to restore the Catholic faith to England. The last thing that Joanna wants is to fulfil the terms of the prophecy but  life conspires to bring Joanna to a place where she has very little choice.  The plot is constantly evolving and bringing Joanna into different situations, even having her travelling to Flanders. Joanna is not always blindly following fate, for want of a better word, especially once there are people starting to die around her. There were a couple of times when she did do a couple of things that had me shaking my head, but she is also able to find a resolution to the prophecy that enables her to be who she wants to be. I did find the resolution to be very interesting, especially with the way that Joanna was introduced to both Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. I would think that Joanne will be back at court with everything that we know is going to happen regarding those two women in the future.

One of the pieces of history that I learned about during reading this book was about a law that was passed by Henry VIII that prevented anyone who had taken religious vows from being able to marry. Once again this left those former nuns and brothers with few options. They could no longer fulfil their religious obligations but they also could not become fully immersed in secular life either and it had very interesting implications for the story.

Once again, the book ends with some ambiguity in relation to Joanna's future. Which just left me with one major question when I finished the book ...when is the next one out?

Rating 4.5/5

Tour Details


Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thechalicevirtualtour/
Twitter Hashtag: #TheChaliceVirtualTour
Nancy Bilyeau's website.
Nancy Bilyeau on Facebook
Nancy Bilyeau on Twitter


Synopsis

In the next novel from Nancy Bilyeau after her acclaimed debut The Crown, novice Joanna Stafford plunges into an even more dangerous conspiracy as she comes up against some of the most powerful men of her era.

In 1538, England is in the midst of bloody power struggles between crown and cross that threaten to tear the country apart. Joanna Stafford has seen what lies inside the king’s torture rooms and risks imprisonment again, when she is caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting the King. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna understands she may have to assume her role in a prophecy foretold by three different seers, each more omniscient than the last.

Joanna realizes the life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are in her hands—hands that must someday hold the chalice that lays at the center of these deadly prophecies…

Sunday Salon: Ramblings

I am not sure if you have noticed or not but it has been kind of quiet around here recently. While I have still been reading up a storm, the idea of sitting down to collect my thoughts and write about a book hasn't been that appealing. Yep....I'm in a reviewing slump. The only thing that gets me to sit down and actually write something is where I have committed to post a review on a particular date, usually for a blog tour. I have even dropped off Weekend Cooking for the last few weeks because I was so uninspired. Of course, it doesn't help that even the baking I have been doing hasn't exactly turned out well either! I did have a book to write about yesterday for Weekend Cooking, but then I saw something shiny and got distracted so it didn't happen. I have posts scheduled for the next two weeks now so it could well be that I don't ever actually write about that book! We'll see!

Of course, getting obsessed with something new isn't going to help motivate me to write reviews! Today, after hearing about them for a long time, I started watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. My intention was just to watch a few episodes. Do you think that 40 can still be quantified as a few or have I crossed the line into many, many episodes now? I can't wait to watch more! So much fun! I have no idea why I didn't start watching them earlier!

I am also way behind on blog hopping but I did notice a few posts the other day announcing that it was time for Once Upon a Time again, being hosted by Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings for the seventh time.

This year I am going to undertake the Journey level of participation.

This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to read at least one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 21st period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic! If not, then we have still had the pleasure of your company during this three month reading journey and hopefully you have read a great book, met some interesting people, and enjoyed the various activities that occur during the challenge. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.

In a way it kinds of feels as though I am cheating just a little bit on this one because the book that I finished the day that the challenge started is one that met the criteria, and I did have that in mind at the time I was reading it so technically, I could have finished the challenge already. Of course, see my opening paragraph to find out the likelihood of a review being written is.

Other books that I might reading for the challenge that are sitting on my shelves include:

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham
Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

I am sure that there are others on my shelves that might make the grade too!

In other news I am still going strong on the #estellagram front and so far haven't missed a prompt for the month of March! Normally I drop off after a few days from these photo a day challenges so I am quite happy with that achievement. Some time this week I will probably do a post with the photos that I haven't yet shown here. I do have to laugh at myself though because for yesterday's prompt I did something a teensy bit embarrassing. I am not sure if anyone has noticed because no one has said anything, but I am going to out myself anyway.

Yesterday's prompt was e-reader, so I put my e-reader on top of a book and took a photo of the both of them saying something along the lines of I am happy to read either paper books or using my e-reader, and didn't think much more about it! After I had received a few likes, I had another look at the picture and I realised that the page I was showing on the e-reader was of....ummm...sexy times in the steamy romance I was reading and not the Tudor set historical mystery that I had thought it was! Whoops! But it is there now so I am not going to take it down! Note to self....make sure you take a look at what you are taking photos of.

So that's it for my rambly Sunday Salon post this week! There will be at least a couple of reviews this week because they are scheduled. We'll see what else happens shall we!

Currently Reading

The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau and listening to Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Up Next

Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison

Library Loot: March 20 to 26

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Busy, busy week at work this week so not much time for preamble! Let's just get down to the loot straight away and not many books to talk about either! I do have some waiting to be picked up but I won't be getting to the library to pick them up until the weekend probably.

Here's what I picked up from the library this week:

The Autumn Bride by Anne Gracie - This is the start of a new series so I wanted to get in at the beginning!

The Stranger Prince by Margaret Irwin - I have been fascinated by Prince Rupert of the Rhine ever since I first heard about him. When this book was mentioned in a group I am in, I knew that I was going to have to try to get this book and luckily it was available via interlibrary loan (I have been going a bit crazy on the ILLs recently! Going to have to watch that!)

Share your Library Loot links in Mr Linky below

Sunday Salon: On following and the demise of Google Reader

I was just a bit panicked over the last few days when the news broke that Google Reader will be shut down as at 1 July this year.  And coming just a few days after I was forced into changing from the Tweetdeck app to the web version, and not really liking it, it hasn't been a great week for me technologically.

Many years ago now, I discovered how much easier blog hopping is once you start using a RSS Feed to follow your blogs. This is especially true as you accumulate more and more blogs. For each blog I remove from the list (usually because they haven't posted for more than 6 months or so) I am sure I add at least three or four more! I am sure I am not the only one who does this!

On Twitter the other day the question was asked why people use a feed reader anyway, so I thought I would talk about my experiences with feed readers, the positives and negatives, why I don't choose to follow via other methods and maybe talk about the options going forward.

My number one reason for using a feed reader is that it is a time saver. When I first started, I maintained a blog roll and each day I would faithfully click on each link and see if there was a new post or not. It was all very well if there was but if there wasn't, there was a pointless visit. With a feedreader, you can see exactly who has posted since the last time you visited and how many times (yes, those people who post 5 times a day or more I am looking at you!)

Another reason I like using a feed reader is the ability to categorise blogs into groups. It means that if I am time poor for whatever reason, I can make sure that I have read at least one group. I have mine sorted into groups like Aussie bloggers, Historical Fiction bloggers, Must Read Romance, Must Read Book bloggers, Book Blogs, Others, Challenge Blogs and New Feeds. The last one is a label that I use when I meet a new blogger who I think I might like to follow, but I want to take a look at a few more posts before I decide for sure. Once I have decided I will move them into a different category.

One thing that I do find easier in a feed reader is finding a post that I know I have seen but can't remember where. By using the search feature, I can usually narrow down the list of blogs which talked about a specific book or perhaps a specific recipe. You can also "star" posts so that you can come back to them later.

There are downsides. That feeling of being "behind" is so much easier to succumb to when you open your feed reader and it tells you that not only are there posts to read but in fact there are more than 1000 of them! Some days that causes me to go "Mark all as read" and start again, but often I sit here and go through each category and read the posts, stopping to comment on the ones that interest me. And then I give myself a mental pat on the back for getting through them all and promise never to get in that situation again. Obviously I need to work on that second part because it keeps on happening.

The other thing is that sometimes it is easy to just read through your feeds and not actually click through to the blogs to make comments. There are some times that I am really good at that, but other times when I am not so good. One of the things I might do is to say I am going to make sure that I am going to comment on 10 posts in each group, or in an hour or something like that so that I can ensure that I am not  just reading but also connecting with other bloggers.

So what about the other ways of connecting to bloggers, using methods like Google Friend Connect or subscribing to blogs via email?

I choose to be able to follow all of the blogs that I follow in one place, regardless of whether they are Blogger blogs or Wordpress or Typepad or whatever different variation they are. I don't want to have to look in one place for some and another for others etc. There are also some times when I think that the GFC thing is more about numbers than the connection that builds between bloggers.  Let's not talk about the fact that my follower count in Blogger broke once I went to my own domain name. Apparently I haven't had a new follower in the last 3 years. In theory that could be true, but I would like to think that it isn't!

How about receiving posts via email? Like many other people, I get more than enough email without also getting a new email every time there is a new post from multiple blogs. Whenever there is the option I choose to follow any new comments that come on a post I have commented on previously so that I can possibly continue the interaction which is more than enough mail coming into the inbox.

I do get a bit cross when I see contests and the like that are specifically only for GFC followers or email subscribers. I do get that people can do what they like with their own blogs, but the fact that I choose to follow via RSS does not make me any less of a follower than someone who chooses to receive the emails or use GFC. Anyway... moving on.

So, I guess for people like me who choose to use Google Reader currently, the big question is where to from here? I could go back to Bloglines which was actually the first RSS feed reader that I used. The only reason I moved from there was that it was supposed to be closing down. I moved all of my feeds and then came the news that Bloglines was being taken over by a new company but given that I had already moved I never went back.

Whilst I have signed one of the #saveGoogleReader petitions that sprung up, the fact of the matter is that it is totally in Google's hands and even if it is saved this time, there is no guarantee that it won't be under threat again at some point in the future.

I get the impression that part of the reason for this closure is to try and get more people using Google+. I have to say that I have had a Google+ account for ages now, and I don't think I have actually worked out the best way to use it. I do participate in a closed group there which mostly works effectively but in terms of being a blogger I haven't yet worked out why I should expend my time and energy there or how I should go about it.

Maybe this is a good time to be having a look at what other services are out there in terms of RSS readers.

The kind of things I will be looking for in a new feed reader will be the ability to import my existing feeds from Google Reader, web based (I don't need yet another reading distraction on my phone - Twitter and Instagram take up enough of my time as it is), ability to organise into categories, easy to subscribe to new blogs and to manage existing blog, functional search facilities, preferably free or at the very least minimal cost.

Possible alternatives that I have seen mentioned include The Old Reader, Newsblur, Feedly, Feedreader, Google Currents (which I have never even heard of until today - who knows if that will close in due course as well), Taptu and Zite.

Tania from Girlxoxo.com has done a comparison post of four services: Netvibes, Bloglines, Bloglovin and Feedly which you may find interesting and I am sure that there will be other posts along those lines in due course.

At this stage I am leaning towards Feedly, but it is early days yet. Do you know what you are going to switch to with the demise of Google Reader?

Currently Reading

Not actually reading anything at the moment. I am still listening to Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Up Next

I am in the strange position of not having any library books due until early April and no review books due for 10 days or so so I can pick whatever I like! No idea what that will be yet though!

Library Loot: March 13 to 19

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

A few weeks ago I went through a bit of a phase of requesting CDs from the library! Turns out that they are just like books because several of them have come in at the same time!

Here's the loot I got this week:

Wedding Tiers by Trisha Ashley - I recently read my first Trisha Ashley book and thought it was fun so I have borrowed the next one already!

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear - The next Maisie Dobbs book in the series.

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham - According to Kelly's guide to reading the Fables series, this is my next book in that series.

Truth About Love by Pink - Love Pink's music!

Red by Taylor Swift - I have liked everything I have heard off of this album so far so time to give the whole thing a listen

The Amber Ambulet by Craig Silvey - I think I have had this book out from the library before but I saw someone mention it and had to borrow it again. As an object this is such a great little book - fab cover treatment, compact size!

The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen - When this book first came out I kept on checking the library catalogue to see if it had been added. Ended up having to get this one via interlibrary loan.

Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars - Love Bruno Mars' fun brand of music!

Head over to Claire's blog to share your library loot this week!

And now....just because I can.....

Hope's Road by Margareta Osborn

When Margareta Osborn's first book, Bella's Run, came out she came and visited my local bookstore. Bree and I went to the signing and chatted with Margareta for ages. I duly bought the book, which Margareta signed, and that was that. I never actually got around to reading the book.  Now, having read Hope's Road, I am pretty sure that I am the one who has missed out by not having read Bella's Run and I will be rectifying that as soon as I can! I feel like I should apologise profusely to Margareta! Sorry, sorry, sorry!

Hope's Road focuses on three people who live on three properties near each other that are connected by Hope's Road in the Gippsland region of Victoria. There is curmudgeonly old Joe, his estranged grand niece Tammy and neighbour Travis Hunter who lives with his young son Billy. All three of them are used to living pretty much alone and always self reliant. While for Joe and Travis this is pretty much a lifestyle choice, for Tammy this has come about as a result of being in an emotionally and, more recently, physically abusive marriage all the while trying to keep the family farm going.

Tammy was married to Shon Murphy for years. While her grandparents were alive, he helped around the farm, but once they died and the property was specifically left to Tammy only he became resentful and that resentment only kept on growing. Now, he has moved on to someone else and he wants a divorce straight away. The fact that the farm is Tammy's and has been part of her family for generations is no concern to him. He wants a payout and if the only way for him to get it is for Tammy to sell up, then so be it. One of the few things I wasn't sure about in this book was the way that the divorce, and in particular the property settlement, had to happen so quickly. It is a minor qualm though.

Travis Hunter has bought his mother back to her home town with his son Billy in tow. Travis is a feral dog trapper (the dogs being feral, not Travis), a solitary job for a solitary man. Trav is doing his best for his son, but to say they are just getting by is probably about all. He has no clue about creating the emotional connection to his son that Billy requires. There are a number of reasons for this, but one of those reasons is that when his wife walked away from the both of them when Billy was just a toddler, Travis left his son with his mother and continued to do his job, leaving her to practically raise her grandson. Now that his mother is no longer capable of being the main care giver, Travis has to work out how to go about that, and he needs to learn quickly.

Joe is an embittered old man who walked away from his family 60 years before because of a woman and never spoke to any of them again - not the woman, or his brother, or his niece or even his grand niece (unless you count yelling at her when she was a small girl to get off his land as talking). He can see the house that was once his home from his front verandah through his rifle scope and has a regular series of informants, so he usually knows what is going on at Montmorency Downs but that is as close as he wants to get to his grand niece. He is content to do what needs to be done on his own property and to sit on his verandah and watch the world go by.

Billy soon becomes the glue that starts to unite these three strangers. He often finds himself up at Joe's place or down at Tammy's house helping out and also using the computer because his father refuses to recognise that he needs one for his schooling. Tammy can see that Billy is desperate for his father's approval and she isn't shy about letting Travis know. In fact, Billy is desperate for any kind of family relationship, as evidenced by his hope when his mother turns up in town. I felt so much for Billy many times throughout this book. He was a great kid who just needed a bit of attention, not least of which to attend to an undiagnosed medical condition, and who was desperate for love where ever he could find it.

One day, Billy is up at Joe's place when there is an accident which leaves Joe with a broken hip. When the doctors tell him that he can not go home until he is healed and that he will have to live in the nursing home in the mean time, he is horrified and reacts badly. Both Travis and Tammy offer to help look after him. At first Joe refuses belligerently, pretty much because he is a stubborn old coot, but given the choice of the nursing home or the help of strangers, he relents.

Slowly but surely the relationship between the three of them grows. Tammy begins to get to know her Uncle Joe without actually knowing why it was that her only blood relative has always been a stranger. Joe and Travis begin to recognise that they share quite a lot of traits which can be seen as both good and bad. And for Tammy and Travis there is a strong attraction that is growing between them.  But with Tammy's divorce proving so difficult, Trav's ex-wife in town, a fragile trust growing between them all and Mother Nature determined to throw in a big curveball too, there are a lot of challenges for this group of people to deal with.

I really enjoyed Hope's Road. With three different backstories to include in the book, including establishing several peripheral characters, there were times at the beginning of the book where it felt a bit slow, but once it got going ... boy, it got going. I was trying to read this yesterday before I went out but I didn't quite make it, so I ended up taking it with me to the pool. It was boiling hot and I really needed to go for a swim but I couldn't do that before I knew exactly what was happening with these characters! I had to know!

I have a big list of jobs that I would never do. These include things like being a childcare worker or a nurse, a cop and more. After reading some of the things that Tammy had to do on her farm (bloat...ugh!), I am pretty sure that you could add farmer to that list.

The rural lit genre is one that seems to be growing and growing here in Australia. For the most part, I have been really pleased with the books I have read. They represent a side of life that I as a city dwelling Aussie wouldn't normally see as much but I can still find the characters relatable. They also often have a really strong sense of Australia in the humour and the language and this book is no exception!

Now, where did I put my copy of Bella's Run?

Rating 4/5


Blog Tour

I was invited to participate in a blog tour for this book by the publisher. Check out other stops in the tour including yesterday's stop at MrsMichelles and tomorrow's stop at Daystarz's Books.

You can see all the stops below. Click on the banner to make it bigger.

Banner created by Marcia from Book Muster Down Under

Synopsis

From the author of the bestselling Bella's Run comes another captivating rural romance set in the the rugged, beautiful high country of East Gippsland.

Hope's Road connects three very different properties, and three very different lives …

Sixty years ago, heartbroken and betrayed, old Joe McCauley turned his back on his family and their fifth-generation farm, Montmorency Downs. He now spends his days as a recluse, spying upon the land - and the granddaughter – that should by rights have been his.

For Tammy McCauley, Montmorency Downs is the last remaining tie to her family. But land can make or break you - and, with her husband's latest treachery, how long can she hold on to it?

Wild-dog trapper, Travis Hunter, is struggling as a single dad, unable to give his son, Billy, the thing he craves most. A complete family.

Then, out of the blue, a terrible event forces the three neighbours to confront each other - and the mistakes of their past …

The Turncoat by Donna Thorland

When I signed up for the War Through the Generations challenge for this year, I knew that I was going to struggle to find books set in the American Revolution, but that's okay. It just means that you have to work a bit harder to complete the challenge. That doesn't mean to say that if a book that fits the criteria lands in your lap you don't say yes, so when I heard about this book I knew I was going to read it if only because of that. Fortunately, it sounded like a fascinating read too.

Kate Grey has been bought up in a Quaker family, but it is fair to say that hers wasn't a typical upbringing. Her father was a former soldier who converted to the faith for his wife and who has seen fit to ensure that his daughter is educated and has been freely allowed to share her opinions on many subjects that are not normally seen as womanly.When her father decides to join Washington to fight against the British, Kate is left to manage the household alone. Their home is on a major through road between New York and Philadelphia and it doesn't take long for some British troops to requisition the house. The leader, Major Lord Peter Tremayne, is carrying important plans regarding the invasion of Philadelphia. Kate feels an instant attraction to the man, and while at first he doesn't notice the Quaker miss, she is soon debating him on the finer points of military strategy and he is definitely paying attention, to the point where he plans to seduce the young lady. Unfortunately, while he is distracted by Kate, a rebel spy who happened to be staying there steals the papers, thereby implicating Kate in high treason and putting Peter in military disgrace, to the point where he could have been hanged.

Kate and the spy flee their home, never imagining that Kate won't be able to sit out the conflict in a safe home with her friends. Instead, she is drawn into the world of espionage and is recruited to gain entry into the inner circle of the British command. She soon finds herself caught up in the inner circle, including an engagement with an unsuitable man, but one who gives her unparalleled access to the military secrets that she then can pass on to her mentor and to the rebels.

However, it is when Peter Tremayne returns to the scene that the trouble starts. He believes that Kate was part of the plot to steal the papers, which nearly ended in him losing his life. He has been charged with the task of finding the women who caused his disgrace and bringing them to justice. Peter is not the only person on Kate's trail though. With their feelings for each other growing stronger, an engagement to another man who happens to be closely linked to Peter, and the dangerous situation that Kate has put herself in, there is no guarantee that they will both make it to the end of the war, let alone that they will make it to the end together. And, if they do, how can they possible make a life together when everything in their lives puts them on opposite sides of the political fence.

The author of this book has a background in screen writing and there are times you can tell, with some of the dramatic plot twists and turns. Sometimes that can be a bad thing because there is all plot and not enough focus on characters or the history, but in this case I think Thorland got the balance pretty much right, although there was a touch of melodrama. For example, you do have to suspend disbelief a little as you see Kate transform from a Quaker lass to a woman who would give away her virginity so easily, to a beautiful and worldly spy. This screen writing and involvement in TV and movies also meant that the author was able to bring those skills to making the book trailer below.

For a while there I was wondering if this book could have been classified more as a historical romance rather than historical fiction with romantic elements, but then some things happened that you would just never see happen in a straight romance novel!

On her website, the author has the tagline 'Sex, Violence and History' and I think that is perfectly apt for this book. While there aren't too many sex scenes, the ones that are there are quite revealing. There is also no backing away from the fact that the American Revolution was a violent time to be living in places like Philadelphia where the war came virtually to the door of the cities and where the people suffered due to blockades and the like, and it was doubly dangerous to be a 'rebel' against the British rule. The history seems to be strong, although I must confess that I don't know much more than the basics about this period in time but there were some familiar names coming to life on the page.There were some characters that I was surprised to see were actual historical figures given their actions!

This book is apparently the first in the Renegades of the Revolution series, and I can't wait to see where the author takes us next!

Rating 4/5
Synopsis

They are lovers on opposite sides of a brutal war, with everything at stake and no possibility of retreat. They can trust no one—especially not each other.

Major Lord Peter Tremayne is the last man rebel bluestocking Kate Grey should fall in love with, but when the handsome British viscount commandeers her home, Kate throws caution to the wind and responds to his seduction. She is on the verge of surrender when a spy in her own household seizes the opportunity to steal the military dispatches Tremayne carries, ensuring his disgrace—and implicating Kate in high treason. Painfully awakened to the risks of war, Kate determines to put duty ahead of desire, and offers General Washington her services as an undercover agent in the City of Brotherly Love.

Months later, having narrowly escaped court martial and hanging, Tremayne returns to decadent, British-occupied Philadelphia with no stomach for his current assignment—to capture the woman he believes betrayed him. Nor does he relish the glittering entertainments being held for General Howe’s idle officers. Worse, the glamorous woman in the midst of this social whirl, the fiancée of his own dissolute cousin, is none other than Kate Grey herself. And so begins their dangerous dance, between passion and patriotism, between certain death and the promise of a brave new future together.

Sunday Salon: Bookish Photo a Day Challenge #estellagram

Since joining Instagram a few months ago, I have tried to join in on the Photo A Day style challenges that happen each month. Some months I am a better than others but the most common outcome is that I run out of steam before the end of the month. For example, in February I was doing the #fmsphotoaday challenge and had photos up for the first three weeks but I just didn't do any of the final week's prompts. In March, I put up photos for a couple of days but no more.

Despite the fact that I don't often finish the challenges I was very excited to see a couple of bookish challenges appear for the month of March. While I might try the one being run by Book Soulmates next month, for March I am going to attempt to complete The Estella Society Bookish Photo a Day challenge.

Today I am going to share my photos for March 1 to 10

Day 1 - bookshelves - getting towards needing to cull and reorganise both of these! #estellagram #bookishphotoaday#books

Day 2 - tbr - just the library books#estellagram #bookishphotoaday#books #catchingup

Day 3 - unread - even though bookclub is tomorrow night - eeek #estellagram#bookishphotoaday #books

Day 4 - fiction - my current read#estellagram #books

Day 5 - non fiction - one of the few non fiction books i have out from the library#estellagram #books

A sentiment you will never hear me express #whoadorescleaning #notme. Just realised that this could be my day 6 photo for #estellagram because this is a mystery to me!

Day 7 - it will be a #crime if i return this to the library unread... Again#estellagram

Audiobooks are awesome for when you are travelling even if it is just to work and back #estellagram #books#audiobooks

#day 9 I had every intention of baking today but it's too hot so my reading snack today is ice cream with milo#estellagram #longhotsummer

10. Reading space - i have recently been reminded that i need to get back to reading this series (which is set in space. #estellagram #books

Are you playing along with the challenge?

I do have a question for those of you that use Instagram and put the photos up on your blogs. What is the easiest way to do this? In the past I have shared to Facebook but you have to do that when you create the photo otherwise it doesn't work. I don't necessarily won't to put all those photos up on my FB page either so today I have uploaded from my phone to my computer and then to the blog which is a bit slow and laborious.

Currently Reading

Hope's Road by Margareta Osborn and listening to Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Up Next

The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Ann Long

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

This year the tenth book in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear is being released. To celebrate, there is a month long blog tour called The Month of Maisie which will focus on the whole series, with the first seven books in the series being featured in this first week of the month, leading up to the newest book at the end of the month.

Because I was a bit slow in jumping on board this series, I have just read the fourth book, Messenger of Truth. Once again, investigator/psychologist Maisie Dobbs is asked to investigate a murder, or perhaps I should say possible murder. The young man who died was Nick Bassington-Hope, a young man who was forging a name for himself as an artist of some repute. When he died he was alone in an art gallery setting up for the installation of what he thought was going to be his greatest work yet. By all appearances he had been high up on the scaffolding when he fell and died. The police were called and it was declared to be an open and shut case of accidental death.

His twin sister, Georgina, is not convinced though. She believes that there was foul play and that her brother may have been murdered. The art piece that he was installing was one that he knew would upset people but no one was going to see it before the big unveiling at the art gallery. In fact, no one even knows where the major piece is. There is an American buyer who is keen to purchase, but Nick had made it clear that he wanted it to be donated to a public institution like the War Museum.

In the course of trying to work out how Nick Bassington-Hope died, Maisie is pulled in several different directions. There is his arty but dysfunctional family who draw Maisie into their colourful lives and to the darker London underworld, his friends who lived near the seaside in converted railway carriages (that sounded rather fab!) complete with strange goings on, as well as Nick's own history as a war artist and the legacy that left on his psyche, and the strange behaviour of the police.

Personally, Maisie is still recovering from an emotional breakdown the year before, a floundering romantic relationship and an icy distance to her mentor who has previously meant so much to her and been so helpful when he has acted as a sounding board for her in the past.

One of the things I really enjoy about this series is the way the legacy of World War I is explored. Just over 10 years after the war has ended, life continues to be heavily influenced by those dreadful years and now there is additional hardship as the effects of the Great Depression really begin to affect the lives of many, especially Maisie's assistant Billy. I also like the way that Maisie continues to develop as a character. It is clear that she has a lot more development to go too, which makes her an interesting character to read about. She clearly still is impacted heavily by her war time experiences, and sometimes she is not willing to concede that. She is a career driven woman in a time where the norm was still to get married and have children, but the times are changing and not only because there is a shortage of eligible men thanks to the war.

While I do enjoy these books, there are things that don't always work. For example, Maisie relies a lot on 'intuition' to help her move her cases forward - things like being able to sit in the space of a person and see their actions to help her find clues - and whilst this might be interesting, it doesn't always make sense when something comes completely out of the blue. Ultimately, the solution to the mystery made sense, but the pieces fell together in quite a rush in some ways. The other story lines also got a bit distracting at times too.

I did have reservations about this instalment, but they are not strong enough to prevent me from continuing on with the series. I just read the synopsis for the latest book and I have to say that I was intrigued. What a pity I still have five more books to read in the series in order to get to it!

Rating 4/5

Tour Details

Month of Maisie tour schedule
Jacqueline Winspear's website
Jacqueline Winspear on Facebook.

In addition to the normal blog tour stops, there are several chats with author Jacqueline Winspear, one taking place on Goodreads on March 12 (join the discussion group here) and a Book Club Girl On Show with Jacqueline scheduled for March 18 at 7 pm EST (set your reminder for the show here).

Synopsis

London, 1931. When controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope is found dead, the police believe it is an open and shut case and his death from a fall is recorded as'accidental'. But his sister is not convinced, so she turns to Maisie Dobbs for help, drawn by the investigator's growing reputation for her unique methods of solving crimes.

Moving from the desolate beaches of the English coast to the dark underbelly of post-war London, and full of intriguing characters, Maisie's new investigation entertains and enthrals at every turn.

Library Loot: March 6 to 13

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I had to make a rush visit to the library tonight to ensure that I had any loot to share. Well, that and the fact that I got a phone call from the library telling me I had more than the number of hold requests allowed so did I need them to SMS me when the books arrived. After I explained that I actually had less than the limit until they added some newly ordered books to my hold list, they let it go...this time!

A quick visit to the library tonight means that I now have some space, although not for long as I did intend to request a couple of other books tonight!

Here's what I picked up:

Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman - For reasons that aren't altogether clear to me, I have only read a short story collection of Neil Gaiman's adult books. I have, however, read quite a few of his children's books! This one looks so cute, I couldn't resist!

The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall - the next Vish Puri mystery (and a potential Weekend Cooking read!)

Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman - A couple of years ago Kimberley Freeman's book Wildflower Hill was getting quite a lot of good reviews. I read it and liked it too. I was surprised to find out that this book had been out for a while because I haven't heard much about it at all!

Powerful Italian, Penniless Housekeeper by India Grey  - Recently Susanna Kearsley wrote a post about why she reads romance and used a passage from this book as one of her examples so I thought I would give it a go. I had to get it from interlibrary loan though.

What loot did you get this week? Add your link to Mr Linky below:

February Reading Reflections

Is it just me or does the year seem to be going really, really quickly! Summer is officially over and autumn is here although the hot weather remains! In other ways though, it doesn't seem that quick. I looked at the list of books I read this month and found myself wondering if I really did read the first few books in February because it feels like ages ago to me!

February was a really big reading month for me in terms of number of books read. I don't really know why other than the fact that I had a couple of weekends where I did nothing but read. Not going to be able to do that as much over the coming couple of months.

Here's what I read:

The Wedding Party by Robyn Carr 4/5
Big Sky River by Linda Lael Miller 3.5
The Best Man by Kristin Higgins 5/5
The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts 3.5/5
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth 4.5/5
Night Music by Jojo Moyes 3/5
15 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver 4/5
Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh 4/5
Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley /54
Valentine's Dates by Rhiann Cahill 3.5/5
A Basic Renovation  by Sandra Antonelli 4.5/5
Venetia by Georgette Heyer 4.5/5
Fast Forward by Juliet Madison 4/5
The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall 3/5
Lifesaving for Beginners by Ciara Geraghty 4/5
Addicted by Charlotte Stein 4/5
The Long Way Home by Mariah Stewart 4/5
Fables: Wolves by Bill Willingham 4.5/5
The Little Russian by Susan Sherman 4.5/5
Reconstructing Jackson by Holly Bush 4/5
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 5/5 (Reread)
One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming 4.5/5
Poppy Comes Home by Gabrielle Wang 3.5/5
Beach House No. 9 by Christie Ridgway 4/5
Bungalow Nights by Christie Ridgway 4/5
The Love Shack by Christie Ridgway 4/5
Kiss the Bride Anthology 4/5
Wild Man by Kristen Ashley 4/5
Tart by Lauren Dane 4/5
Children of Liberty by Paullina Simons 3/5
Law Man by Kristen Ashley 4/5

I had two 5/5 reads this month which is quite unusual. I don't know about you but I grade a book as soon as I have finished it. Some times that means that a couple of days later I might think about it a bit more and want to change my grade a little but I never actually do. The grade is a reflection of exactly what I thought of the book at the time I finished it. If I did change my grades though, I would probably have changed The Best Man to a rating of 4.5/5 but on the day I finished reading it, it was just what I needed to read. The Jojo Moyes is totally still a 5/5 read, even taking into consideration the fact that this was a reread.

Challenge updates:

Australian Women Writer's Challenge

Valentine's Dates, A Basic Renovation, Fast Forward, Poppy Comes Home

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - I am only counting Australian authors for this challenge this year.

Poppy Comes Home, Bitter Greens

What's in a Name

The Wedding Party

Currently Reading

Aussie Rules by Jill Shalvis, Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear and listening to Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Up Next

A Winter's Tale by Trisha Ashley or The Turncoat by Donna Thorland.