Month: October 2017

Lies Jane Austen Told Me – Review

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lies

 

  • by Julie Wright
  • Series: Proper Romance
  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Shadow Mountain (November 7, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1629723428
  • ISBN-13: 978-1629723426

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Ever since Emma read Pride and Prejudice, she’s been in love with Mr. Darcy and has regarded Jane Austen as the expert on all things romantic. So naturally when Emma falls for Blake Hampton and he invites her home to meet his parents, she is positive an engagement is in her future. After all, Blake is a single man in possession of a good fortune, and thus must be in want of a wife.

But when it turns out that what Blake actually wants is more of a hook-up than a honeymoon, Emma is hurt, betrayed, and furious. She throws herself deeper into her work as CMO of Kinetics, the fastest growing gym franchise in the nation. She loves her work, and she’s good at it, which is why she bristles when her boss brings in a consultant to help her spearhead the new facilities on the East Coast. Her frustration turns to shock when that consultant turns out to be Blake’s younger brother, Lucas.

Emma is determined not to fall for Lucas, but as she gets to know him, she realizes that Lucas is nothing like his brother. He is kind and attentive and spends his time and money caring for the less fortunate.

What she can’t understand is why Lucas continues to try to push her back into Blake’s arms when he so clearly has fallen as hard for her as she has fallen for him.

Realizing that her love life is as complicated as anything Jane Austen could have dreamed up, Emma must find a way to let Blake know that it’s time for him to let her go and to let Lucas know it’s time for him to love her back.

I rarely read contemporary novels but after reading the description, I knew I wanted to read it.  Immediately, the title is going to grab any Jane Austen fan but as the main character questions, can you really break up with Jane?

I was completely engaged in this book and didn’t want to put it down.  Each character was multi-dimensional and I felt for them and was invested in their lives.

I liked the strong female characters and everyone seemed to have real emotions and the relationships felt realistic.

There is a theme of feeling broken due to Emma and Lucas’ pasts and their struggles to get beyond that. Like Mr. Knightley and Emma, we all have our faults but we want to find someone who looks past us and loves us anyway.

I recommend reading this and am interested in more from Julie Wright.

So, can you really break up with Jane? I think the real question is, should you even want to? 🙂

The Regency Brides Collection: 7 Romances Set in England during the Early Nineteenth Century – Review

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regencybridesby Amanda Barratt, Angela Bell, Susanne Dietze, Michelle Griep, Nancy Moser, MaryLu Tyndall, and Erica Vetsch

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Barbour Books (November 1, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1683223713
  • ISBN-13: 978-1683223719

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Romance is a delicate dance bound by rules and expectations in Regency England…
Seven couples must navigate society’s gauntlet to secure the hand of true love….

Charity and Luke are strangers who were forced to marry three years ago.

Adelaide and Walter share a love of music and disdain for elitism.

Caroline and Henry are thrown together by three orphans.

Helen and Isaac harbor his unlikely secret.

Esther is empowered to choose between two men.

Sophia is determined not to choose a man like Nash.

Jamie and William face a daunting London season together.

Will their faith grow and love prevail in a time when both were considered luxuries the elite could not afford?

Barbour Books brings us another great collection of Regency stories.

First Comes Marriage by Amanda Barratt
Young naïve Charity finds herself in a compromising situation and must marry Captain Luke Warren to save her reputation. As soon as the vows are read he returns to sea for 3 years without a word and he ignores her letters. When he finally returns, will they be able to have a real marriage or just a marriage of convenience?

Overall, I liked the main characters. However, Luke is supposed to have repented but he returns to his vices later in the story which is worrisome.
At the end of the story I was left with lots of questions, like what happens to the sister and the father.

Masquerade Melody by Angela Bell
After her father died and the estate is entailed, Lady Adelaide must become a companion to her spoiled cousin and hide her musical talents.

Colonial Walter comes back from Waterloo with a loss of faith in God after his brother’s death.

Can music help them overcome their past and provide a hopeful future?

Lydia was a mean selfish person but I didn’t like the captain deceiving her and pretending to like her.

I loved the main couple!

While this was a shorter story it felt very complete, though I would love a sequel with Quinby’s story.

Three Little Matchmakers by Susanne Dietze
Caroline, Henry and Esther all play together as children. As they grow, Caroline becomes governess to Esther’s 3 children. After Esther and her husband die, Caroline brings the children to their uncle Henry who wants to dismiss her and send the children to school. Will the children’s matchmaking attempts make them a family again?

I found it strange the Henry was so worried about becoming his father, yet he tried to copy him by being boring and stoic all the time.

I loved the stories of Caro and Henry’s past and how the children tried to recreate their adventures.

This was such a cute story!

The Gentleman Smuggler’s Lady by Michelle Griep
Isaac smuggles to regain what was stolen from him. On his last run, he meets Helen who was arriving to tend to her sick father.

Helen locks away the negatives of the world by pretending that everything is fine even though her father is dying.

After finding out his enemy is involved, will Isaac lose Helen’s trust by going against his promise to not smuggle again?

This story had a strong theme of trusting in God to provide us with what we need.

When I Saw His Face by Nancy Moser
Esther is thrilled when her step-daughter is married off and she can live a quiet life.

Chester has been waiting six years to marry Esther. She agreed that she would when her step-daughter married. Now that the time has come, will a stranger change their plans?

I had a really hard time finishing this story. Esther is everything that a Christian shouldn’t be. She is incredibly shallow and fickle. She complains about gossips, yet she trashes her step-daughter to anyone who would listen. Her step-daughter lost her father at a very young age and instead of helping her, Esther writes her off as a brat.

Instead of trying to get something out of the sermons and prayers she just tunes them out and later trashes the preacher to others.

Esther strings Chester along for six years and then only agrees to his proposal because she is afraid of losing him. Then she lies and cheats on him. Chester never had the opportunity to learn how to read. He justifies it by saying he doesn’t need to know how to read to do his work and Esther calls him an ignorant fool.

She meets a stranger and falls in “love” with him after a few days.

This story was my least favorite and I recommend skipping it.

The Highwayman’s Bargain by MaryLu Tyndall
While on her way to London to marry her fiancé, Sophie’s carriage is held up and she is kidnapped by her childhood friend who is trying to save her from marrying a moral less rake.

This was another story that had the theme of trusting in God and His time, even when life is hard.

Sophie thinks she has to choose between her parents’ health and a happy future.

I was surprised that Sophie couldn’t see her fiancé for what he was sooner and his reasons for wanting to marry her were awful.

I liked this story. I did predict the ending but still enjoyed it.

Jamie Ever After by Erica Vetsch
Jamie had been in love with her best friend’s brother William since she was a girl.

William was injured in the war and believes himself to be a shell of a man and no woman would love him.

During Jamie’s first season,  William’s cousin threatens to compromise her and force her to marry him.  Williams’s sister Polly begs her brother to marry Jamie and save her.

Will William be willing to believe in love and have a real marriage? Will Jamie get her happily ever after?

This story was about facing our biggest fears and overcoming them.

I loved William and Jamie and thought they were so good together. They needed each other.

I also loved the dogs in this book. Dogs seem to know people’s true selves even better than people.

This story had a great pace. I would love a continuation of it!

The Austen Escape – Review

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escapecoverby Katherine Reay

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 7, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0718078098
  • ISBN-13: 978-0718078096

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Falling into the past will change their futures forever.

Mary Davies finds safety in her ordered and productive life. Working as an engineer, she genuinely enjoys her job and her colleagues—particularly a certain adorable and intelligent consultant. But something is missing. When Mary’s estranged childhood friend, Isabel Dwyer offers her a two-week stay in a gorgeous manor house in England, she reluctantly agrees in hopes that the holiday will shake up her quiet life in just the right ways.

But Mary gets more than she bargained for when Isabel loses her memory and fully believes she lives in Jane Austen’s Bath. While Isabel rests and delights in the leisure of a Regency lady, attended by other costume-clad guests, Mary uncovers startling truths about their shared past, who Isabel was, who she seems to be, and the man who now stands between them.

Outings are undertaken, misunderstandings arise, and dancing ensues as this company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation, work out their lives and hearts.

From Austin to Austen

Mary Davies is an engineer working in Austin, Texas. She loves her job and has secretly been crushing on a consultant named Nathan.  Frustrated by a colleague, Mary is talked into a Regency experience get away in Bath, England with Isabel Dwyer, her best friend since second grade.  They have lost touch over the years and their relationship is more like frenemies. Things take a turn when Isabel loses her memory and secrets come between the friends.

escape

The book switches between the office setting in Texas and the Regency experience in England. As an IT major and an English minor, I really appreciated both locations.  The office scenes seemed so real to life. I especially love that Mary made a collection of little wire animals. Her relationship with her co-workers who worked together since their days starting the company in a garage was really something special.  The Regency experience was also fun with all the characters and quotes from Jane Austen’s novels.

When I first read the description, I was wondering if the book would be similar to Austenland. It wasn’t.  I felt that The Austen Escape was more realistic and emotional. For instance, the romance in the book was more real world and less fairy tale and “sigh-worthy”.

“Austen really had a thing against Marys.”

When I first read this quote, I found this funny and completely true. I have often wondered what Marys must have done to Jane Austen!

Mary’s relationship with Isabel also resonated with me. Even as Isabel’s “sidekick”, Mary was close to her for many years growing up. They seemed to have a relationship more like sisters. However, Isabel treated her very badly and they drifted apart.  If Mary had given up on her, she would not have known just how deeply Isabel was hurting and how they needed each other.

This book was more than just the physical escape; it was about finding yourself and being the best version of yourself you could be.

The Dishonorable Miss Delancey (Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace #3) – Review

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delanceycoverby Carolyn Miller

  • Series: Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace (Book 3)
  • Paperback: 296 pages
  • Publisher: Kregel Publications (October 24, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0825444527
  • ISBN-13: 978-0825444524

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Will a damaged reputation and desire for society’s approval thwart the legacy of grace?

Tainted by scandal and forced to leave London for the quieter Brighton countryside, the Honorable Miss Clara DeLancey is a shadow of her former society self. She’s lost the man she loved to another and, in a culture that has no patience for self-pity, is struggling with depression. A chance encounter brings her a healing friendship with the sisters of an injured naval captain. But Clara’s society mama is appalled at the new company she’s keeping.

Captain Benjamin Kemsley is not looking for a wife. But his gallant spirit won’t let him ignore the penniless viscount’s daughter–not when she so obviously needs assistance to keep moving forward from day to day. Can he protect his heart and still keep her safe?

When they’re pushed into the highest echelons of society at the Prince Regent’s Brighton Pavilion, this mismatched couple must decide if family honor is more important than their hopes. Can they right the wrongs of the past and find future happiness together–without finances, family support, or royal favor?

The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey is full of the captivating, flawed characters, fascinating historical details, and masterful writing that Carolyn Miller’s fans have come to know in The Elusive Miss Ellison and The Captivating Lady Charlotte. If you love Lori Wick, Georgette Heyer, and other clean, wholesome Regency romance, you’ll love this third book in the Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace series.

delancey

 

The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey (Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace #3) by Carolyn Miller was filled with adventure, plot twists and of course, romance.  The book kept me completely engaged the entire time.

It is the third book in the series. Things are mentioned from the first two books and briefly explained but I would recommend reading the other two books first. They are worth it though!

The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey brings back the character Miss Clara DeLancey who has been shunned from society due to her actions and the actions of her rebellious brother.

Heroic Captain Benjamin Kemsley’s generosity outweighs his coffers and even if he were to fall in love, he would not be able to support his wife without title or money.

“For how could a humble sailor ever hope to win a viscount’s daughter”

For Love or Honor (The Jonquil Brothers #5) – Review

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honor

by Sarah M. Eden

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc. (October 2, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1524402567
  • ISBN-13: 978-1524402563

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From the moment they met, Marjie’s heart has belonged to handsome Captain Stanley Jonquil, younger brother of the Earl of Lampton. But six long months ago, when Stanley’s sense of honor required that he do as he had sworn and return to the Continent to fight in defense of King and country, neither Stanley nor Marjie could have dreamed what the cost of his service would be. It has been ages since Stanley last wrote, and Marjie and the Jonquil family are plagued by his unknown fate—until the day he unexpectedly reappears.

Marjie’s joy, however, is quickly shadowed by confusion—the aloof, battle-worn soldier before her is not the man he once was. In the wake of Stanley’s blatant disinterest in renewing their acquaintance, Marjie’s devastation turns to determination as she vows to help him find peace. But his scars run far deeper than anyone realizes.

Despite his feelings for her, Stanley believes Marjie deserves a man whose hands are not stained with the violence of battlefields and whose mind and heart are not haunted by the horrors he has seen. Honor requires Stanley to return once more to the life he has grown to despise, one he knows will destroy him in the end, even as his heart beckons him to stay with Marjie, the only woman he could ever love, and the promise, at last, of redemption.

This series has been a favorite of mine, and after reading Captain Stanley Jonquil’s story, it continues to be a favorite. This is a story of trying to find peace and hope during war, sickness and the general chaos in life.

Since a lot of the book is centered around Stanley’s return from war and his emotional and physical healing, it has a lot of serious topics. However, this being the Jonquil family, there will always be a lot of fun as well.

One of my favorite scenes was the Black Rod Summons scene and the poetry. It was hilarious!

I loved that it had so many previous characters from the series in it, especially Philip and Layton.

lovehonor

On the serious side, I really felt for Stanley and Marjie. Marjie just wants to help Stanley and her sister but is turned away making her feel useless and unwanted. Stanley has done so much for so many people but doesn’t see the positive. He only remembers the battles and having to choose his men’s fate during the war.

Keeping one’s word is so rare and I love that the Jonquil family believes in loyalty and in honoring a promise.

The author read letters from soldiers and truly seemed to have a sense of what they were going through. It was a very powerful story.

I look forward to future books and I wonder if the next one in the series will be when a certain American invades Harry’s life.

A Wager Worth Making (Arrangements, Book 7) – Review

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wagerby Rebecca Connolly

  • File Size: 376 KB
  • Print Length: 277 pages
  • Publisher: Phase Publishing; 1 edition (October 1, 2017)
  • Publication Date: October 1, 2017
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B075SL3H2P

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The riskier the wager…

Everyone knows that Gemma Templeton is a wonderful, cheerful, friendly young woman who is well worth one’s acquaintance. She is vibrant and warm, and plays the violin with exquisite talent. The only thing she lacks is a husband, and time is growing short for her in that regard. When an interesting opportunity arises from an unlikely source, Gemma’s future is suddenly far more appealing, and a small wager makes all the difference.

…the sweeter the return.

What everyone does not know is that a certain man of a less warm reputation is very much interested in changing Gemma’s unmarried state, and he doesn’t care what anybody says. Lucas Sinclair, Lord Blackmoor, is a dark mark upon the face of Society, and his unexpected interest in Gemma leaves many to wonder if his motives don’t hide some sinister purpose. He takes her ridiculous wager, and will stop at nothing to see it paid.

This is the seventh book in the Arrangement series with A Wager Worth Making being darker than the others. I usually don’t care for darker books but this book is well worth it and needs to be darker due to the main character.

Rebecca Connolly’s characters continue to be unique and well developed. I did have a little bit of trouble keeping track of some of the side characters from previous books but I love the reappearance of previous characters, especially Kit, Marianne, Nathan and the Gent.

There was a mystery throughout the book that I liked even though I had predicted who and what was involved.

The characters are what stood out the most for me. Lucas Sinclair, Lord Blackmoor, is a tortured soul. My heart really felt for him and his circumstances. He had to go through a lot of bad things that were not of his own making.  As an outside observer, I questioned why felt he needed to protect others instead of sharing the burden with those he loves. However, I am the same way though my situations are nothing like his. I think everyone can relate to him and his struggle in some way.

Gemma Templeton was a perfect match for Lucas.  A depressed person would have brought him down, a fake, bubbly person would have annoyed him, but Gemma’s positive, honest personality brought out the best in him. They seemed meant for each other.

I am looking forward to spending Christmas with the Gerrards.