Book 30: The Laird’s Forbidden Lover – Amelia C. Gormley

Gormley, Amelia - The Laird's Forbidden Lover Where to start with this book… It’s not that it was a bad book, but it wasn’t a great book either. Overall the story was good and the writing was better than many of the romance novels I’ve read, but at the same time I felt the author could have done better.

I have to partially wonder if I stack the decks against this type of novel when I generally read them after having finished a tome of a classic (this time it was Middlemarch). But at the same time I have to think that it should still hold up regardless of what precedes or follows it. I will say that this book was definitely further along in the editing process than many of the galley’s I’ve read previously which was a nice change. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and received no compensation for my honest response.

As I said above, the book was a good read and I flew through it as it is just under 100 pages. The story was engaging enough to keep me interested and the steamy scenes were few and far between which I appreciate more than just a book that’s all steam and no story. I wish there was more character development as I felt there was a lot more to all of the characters but especially Tavish’s sister and mother and Iain’s father. There were enough hints about all three of these characters that I would’ve loved to know more!

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Book 23: Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

Gruen, Sara - Water for ElephantsAlthough I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it was beautifully written, it didn’t really leave me with much of an opinion. It’s hard to say whether this is because of the writing or the very succinct writing of the plot and story. Many times the books that leave me wanting more are the books that I desperately cling to because I don’t know the happily ever after.

In this book you get everything and it’s great, but the author wrapped the story up in a perfect finite package with only a hint of a what’s next, which was great at the end, but not enough to leave me wowed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad I read it and can’t believe it took me this long to jump on the band wagon and I would recommend it to everyone, I’m just sort of lackadaisical about it. There were two great things that stood out for me, the minor characters (and animals) and the juxtaposition of the old Jacob and the young Jacob.

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Book 18: The Madman’s Daughter (The Madman’s Daughter #1)- Megan Shepherd

Shepherd, Megan - The Madman's DaughterA friend from UNC (Go Heels! – it’s a gut reaction :-D ), Hi Lizzie!,  recommended The Madman’s Daughter as the author is a family friend (or something along those lines) and I’m glad she recommended it! It was a fast paced and engaging read and although it wasn’t perfect, it was an amazing debut novel and I can’t wait to see where her writing takes her in the future.

It has been a very long time, over 10 years if not closer to 15, since I went through my H.G. Wells obsession and read everything he wrote and from what I remember this mirrors The Island of Doctor Moreau pretty closely. I think at some point in the next few years I will go back and read Wells work again as I really enjoyed The Time Machine and The Invisible Man.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the author’s story telling ability and her great descriptions. At one point when I was getting reading my final chapter for the night before bed I had chills all over my body because of what happened and the cliff hanger of that chapter (almost the exact half-way point). Honestly, I was shocked I was able to put the book down and go to bed.

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Book 16: The Mysteries of Udolpho – Anne Radcliffe

Radcliffe, Ann - The Mysteries of UdolphoWordPress decided to move this post to the trash bin and I, assuming it was duplicate draft, permanently deleted it. The first three paragraphs are verbatim as I was able to recover them via caching, however after that is a poor substitute of what I spoke about previously.

I  had to add this to my Classics Club list because of its reference in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I wish I would’ve spaced things to read Northanger Abbey immediately before or after, but I didn’t and I’m sure I will enjoy it just as much when I next read it.

The Mysteries of Udolpho counts for every challenge I’m currently participating in. It is first and foremost the 20th book in my Classics Club list and signifies my 1/5th completion (right at the year mark, so keep an eye out for a longer post later this week)! In addition it counts for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge, Back to the Classics Challenge and through a bit of questionable math as a bonus book for my Tea and Books Reading Challenge (the physical copies average out to 666 pages).

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Book 11: Blessed Isle – Alex Beecroft

Beecroft, Alex - Blessed IsleWhile waiting on another book from the library I decided to request a copy of Blessed Isle from NetGalley. I had luck with the Tucker Springs series and wanted something light and fun to read and I wasn’t disappointed. This is my honest opinion and I received nothing in return.

This is how you write a romance novel! (To me at least.) There’s no rushing into things, there’s no the world is ours after 2-3 months (or shorter) and there’s plenty of conflict and potential heartbreak. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for the Wham Bam style of romance novel, but they’re just not the type of love story I’m generally drawn to. In addition, there’s a subtlety about Beecroft’s writing and her efforts (and total success) at keeping the sex out of the book. In doing so she created a novel that was much less low-brow than you would assume and the focus was shifted to the love story and the time period, which really only adds to the story. And to top it off, Beercroft did a good job of building at least one sympathetic character,

“But one day, perhaps, when the world has grown kinder, this journal will be read by less jaundiced eyes. To them I will be able to say there was fidelity here, and love, and long-suffering sacrifice, and joy. To them I will be able to speak the truth.”

And then closing with,
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