It is with a heavy heart that I close the last page on this fun series because the next one doesn't hit the shelves until February 2012.
We went to France this time with Laurie Grey, Governess, recently recruited spy for the Pink Carnations group.
Laurie is tired of being a governess, but low and behold that's exactly what the Pink Carnation needs Laurie to do. Infiltrate Andre Jaouren's household as the teacher of his children while she's looking for information to foil the latest plot that the Pink Carnation has discovered.
However, Laurie is the daughter of famous parents and as that comes to light and she reunites with old friends she still has to keep her new purposes a secret.
We can't forget Eloise and Colin in all this either. Eloise is our intrepid researcher still trying to pull her dissertation together and enjoying her new boyfriend at the same time. Before she and Colin can enjoy some romantic one on one time in Paris they have to meet Colin's mother and her 2nd husband who also happens to be Colin's cousin. Yes, you will have to read the books to get the whole low down on that.
This was a fun adventure through the streets and countryside of Paris and as usual Ms. Willig has given us a happy ending.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily & The Mischief of the Mistletoe by: Lauren Willig
Lauren Willig is writing full time now and when you read these next two novels in the series you will be able to tell. With each novel her craftsmanship goes up a notch.
In the Blood Lily we are following Penelope Deveraux in her continuing adventures of trying to find her place in society.
Of all Ms. Willig's women characters I think Penelope has the truest Swashbuckling spirit of all so far. Penelope has made some bad decisions, but is trying to make the best of what she has created for herself.
We've traveled to India at the turn of the nineteenth century for this adventure. I like the way Ms. Willig has taken her stories from England to France and now to India. Since I'm not able to travel in real life I enjoy traveling through books and not trying to spoil any of the stories for you, but I do like how she gives us happy endings.
As you read each novel in the series you want to make sure you keep all the characters in mind because like in the Mischief of the Misletoe she brings back characters to the fore. In this story we follow Turnip Fitzhugh, who has been the brunt of everyone's jokes through the whole series. Again not to spoil the story for you, but it's nice to see how Ms. Willig has brought Turnip forward with another minor character Arabella and brought them together showing us that sometimes people true selves are not always seen by everyone only the special people in our lives.
One thing I would like to point out--I don't ever read the last chapter in a book before I start, but I have found that Ms. Willig has put a Historical Note at the end of each book and I have found that reading that first gives me some nice background to place the story as I read along. I should have told you that at the beginning of this reading adventure, but I bet there are some of you who look in the back of the book before beginning your read ;-)
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
In the Blood Lily we are following Penelope Deveraux in her continuing adventures of trying to find her place in society.
Of all Ms. Willig's women characters I think Penelope has the truest Swashbuckling spirit of all so far. Penelope has made some bad decisions, but is trying to make the best of what she has created for herself.
We've traveled to India at the turn of the nineteenth century for this adventure. I like the way Ms. Willig has taken her stories from England to France and now to India. Since I'm not able to travel in real life I enjoy traveling through books and not trying to spoil any of the stories for you, but I do like how she gives us happy endings.
As you read each novel in the series you want to make sure you keep all the characters in mind because like in the Mischief of the Misletoe she brings back characters to the fore. In this story we follow Turnip Fitzhugh, who has been the brunt of everyone's jokes through the whole series. Again not to spoil the story for you, but it's nice to see how Ms. Willig has brought Turnip forward with another minor character Arabella and brought them together showing us that sometimes people true selves are not always seen by everyone only the special people in our lives.
One thing I would like to point out--I don't ever read the last chapter in a book before I start, but I have found that Ms. Willig has put a Historical Note at the end of each book and I have found that reading that first gives me some nice background to place the story as I read along. I should have told you that at the beginning of this reading adventure, but I bet there are some of you who look in the back of the book before beginning your read ;-)
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
Monday, August 1, 2011
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by: Lauren Willig
I'm back to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation series. This is the fifth book in this series.
In this book Eloise our intrepid researcher, who is still gathering information for her dissertation is following Charlotte and Robert.
Charlotte lives with the Dowager Duchess at Girdings. The Dowager is in residence until Robert returns from India to take his place as Duke. Charlotte has been secretly in love with Robert since they were children and upon Robert's return Charlotte begins to hear trumpets.
Robert is on a quest to right a wrong and Charlotte becomes unknowingly involved.
Ms. Willig's heroes and heroines have strong personalities which keeps the stories moving along at a good pace.
She also keeps all the families and friends that she has brought into the previous stories moving through the series with a wonderful continuity.
We're also following Henrietta, Charlotte's friend who is ever the headstrong one of the bunch, who doesn't take anyone's advice and that's why she leads us straight into the next book in the series-The Betrayal of the Blood Lily.
Be sure to start this series from Book One.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
In this book Eloise our intrepid researcher, who is still gathering information for her dissertation is following Charlotte and Robert.
Charlotte lives with the Dowager Duchess at Girdings. The Dowager is in residence until Robert returns from India to take his place as Duke. Charlotte has been secretly in love with Robert since they were children and upon Robert's return Charlotte begins to hear trumpets.
Robert is on a quest to right a wrong and Charlotte becomes unknowingly involved.
Ms. Willig's heroes and heroines have strong personalities which keeps the stories moving along at a good pace.
She also keeps all the families and friends that she has brought into the previous stories moving through the series with a wonderful continuity.
We're also following Henrietta, Charlotte's friend who is ever the headstrong one of the bunch, who doesn't take anyone's advice and that's why she leads us straight into the next book in the series-The Betrayal of the Blood Lily.
Be sure to start this series from Book One.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Folly du Jour by: Barbara Cleverly
Barbara Cleverly has crafted an interesting mystery set in Paris of the 1920's. Her use of real people and real events adds to the flavor of the story.
Joe Sandilands has to rescue his old wartime friend from a murder charge he is sure he couldn't have committed. While he is following the clues and searching for witnesses he works with a young French policeman that he has worked with in the past also. With Joe's British calm demeanor and the Frenchman's joie ve vivre you want to keep reading to see if and how they can free Joe's friend from the dire straits he has got himself into.
Even though there are other books in the series before this one I feel like I got enough background that I don't have to go back to the first book to catch up. I can search for the next book in the series which is Strange Images of Death and see what adventure Joe Sandilands gets himself embroiled in next.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
Joe Sandilands has to rescue his old wartime friend from a murder charge he is sure he couldn't have committed. While he is following the clues and searching for witnesses he works with a young French policeman that he has worked with in the past also. With Joe's British calm demeanor and the Frenchman's joie ve vivre you want to keep reading to see if and how they can free Joe's friend from the dire straits he has got himself into.
Even though there are other books in the series before this one I feel like I got enough background that I don't have to go back to the first book to catch up. I can search for the next book in the series which is Strange Images of Death and see what adventure Joe Sandilands gets himself embroiled in next.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Book of Earth--Volume One of The Dragon Quartet by: Marjorie B. Kellogg
I have been fascinated by Dragons since I was a very young girl. I guess because my Mom peeked my interest in reading with so many Fairy Tales.
I finished this book last night and am waiting for Volume 2 to arrive in the mail.
This has all the elements of those long ago loved fairy tales I mentioned.
A destiny realized, a quest begun, new friends made, enemies to escape from, I could go on and on, but don't want to spoil the story for you.
If you have a love of good fantasy stories like I do, this is a series you don't want to skip.
I'll be back when I've finished reading Volume 2.
Happy reading,
Beverly G ♥
I finished this book last night and am waiting for Volume 2 to arrive in the mail.
This has all the elements of those long ago loved fairy tales I mentioned.
A destiny realized, a quest begun, new friends made, enemies to escape from, I could go on and on, but don't want to spoil the story for you.
If you have a love of good fantasy stories like I do, this is a series you don't want to skip.
I'll be back when I've finished reading Volume 2.
Happy reading,
Beverly G ♥
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Ninth Daughter by: Barbara Hamilton
Barbara Hambly is writing as Barbara Hamilton a new series with Abigail Adams as the main character. Yes, that is the wife of John Adams who was the second President of the United States.
I have to say that this is a well thought out story and Ms. Hamilton always does wonderful research to bring you into the time and flavor of the era. She also surrounds Abigail with all the rich characters of the time that she and her husband were friends with. Yes, you guessed it, here comes the but.
I couldn't seem to get the impression of Abigail and John that I already have in my mind of them separated from this story.
If you don't have preconceived notions of some of the characters and how they would have behaved in the time they lived you will probably like this book.
You get a good feel for the atmosphere of early Boston. If you are a mystery reader the clues are here for you to guess who the murderer is. I would have enjoyed the book more if the author had picked some characters that were just regular Bostonians of the time and kept the famous characters more to the background.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
I have to say that this is a well thought out story and Ms. Hamilton always does wonderful research to bring you into the time and flavor of the era. She also surrounds Abigail with all the rich characters of the time that she and her husband were friends with. Yes, you guessed it, here comes the but.
I couldn't seem to get the impression of Abigail and John that I already have in my mind of them separated from this story.
If you don't have preconceived notions of some of the characters and how they would have behaved in the time they lived you will probably like this book.
You get a good feel for the atmosphere of early Boston. If you are a mystery reader the clues are here for you to guess who the murderer is. I would have enjoyed the book more if the author had picked some characters that were just regular Bostonians of the time and kept the famous characters more to the background.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation Series by: Lauren Willig
I have sorely neglected my book blog for quite some time. There's that pesky thing called general living and in my life I have no little elves that come in the night to do those mundane chores that pile up if not tended to on a regular basis.
I have been reading and the latest books that are well worth passing along some good words about are:
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
The Masque of the Black Tulip
The Deception of the Emerald Ring
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
These are the first four books in this series. The French Revolution is the backdrop for these stories. One of my favorite movies is The Scarlet Pimpernel with Leslie Howard and Ms. Willig has taken the Pimpernel as her spring board and built some wonderful characters and stories to go with them.
Eloise is the modern heroine trying to get her dissertation written for her Ph.D. Eloise is like a lot of us modern women who have a hard time finding a man whose interested in more than himself. Who knew that the man she would be most interested in would have some of the valuable papers she needs to finish her project.
The historical heroines are just the right mix of femininity and strong mindedness to keep you turning the pages to see what kind of fix they are going to get themselves into next and don't forget we always want to see if they get their man.
This time in history is ripe with spies, murder, and mayhem and Ms. Willig has brought it all together with some delicious twists and turns.
I have just ordered the next 4 books in the series because I must keep following the story along as Ms. Willig unmasks spies, and brings all her characters to a happy ending.
I highly recommend this series for a fun romp through 19th century England and France and 21st century England.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
I have been reading and the latest books that are well worth passing along some good words about are:
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
The Masque of the Black Tulip
The Deception of the Emerald Ring
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
These are the first four books in this series. The French Revolution is the backdrop for these stories. One of my favorite movies is The Scarlet Pimpernel with Leslie Howard and Ms. Willig has taken the Pimpernel as her spring board and built some wonderful characters and stories to go with them.
Eloise is the modern heroine trying to get her dissertation written for her Ph.D. Eloise is like a lot of us modern women who have a hard time finding a man whose interested in more than himself. Who knew that the man she would be most interested in would have some of the valuable papers she needs to finish her project.
The historical heroines are just the right mix of femininity and strong mindedness to keep you turning the pages to see what kind of fix they are going to get themselves into next and don't forget we always want to see if they get their man.
This time in history is ripe with spies, murder, and mayhem and Ms. Willig has brought it all together with some delicious twists and turns.
I have just ordered the next 4 books in the series because I must keep following the story along as Ms. Willig unmasks spies, and brings all her characters to a happy ending.
I highly recommend this series for a fun romp through 19th century England and France and 21st century England.
Happy Reading,
Beverly G ♥
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