Questions (yes – there are a bunch – answer one or two . . . or all of them!): What is your least-favorite book(s)? Is your least-favorite book listed in your LT library? If it is listed, do you have anything special in the tags or comments section? How have others rated your least-favorite book?
This is a tricky one. I have read several books that I despised at the time, but which I suspect I would really enjoy on another reading. These are books like The Grapes of Wrath, The Scarlet Letter, or Silas Marner, and since I know I have a much greater appreciation for classics now than I did in high school, I’d probably like them. As such I can’t count any of them as my least favorite book. I went looking through the lists of books I’ve read in the last 3 or so years and I managed to find one that I think I liked the least. That book is Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. There are several reasons why I dislike this book, not all of which are the book’s fault:
I didn’t like it while I was reading it. It was confusing and while I liked the characters, I couldn’t even figure out what they were supposed to be doing, where they were, or how the magic system worked. I read it in February 2007 and it took me so long to read that I only read 3 other books that month, which is very unusual for me.
Everyone raved about the series so I was absolutely certain I was going to like it when I bought it, especially when they recommended it for fans of George R. R. Martin, one of my favorite authors.
I was so convinced that I should like the series that I bought books 2 and 3, forced myself to read book 2, and hated that. Now I have the third book hanging around and I know I’m never going to read it.
Actually, I still think that I *should* love this series, so I’m always tempted to reread the first two to see if they improve on further reading. I’ve kept them for this very reason. How stupid is that?
This book is in my LT library, but it’s not tagged as anything special. It annoys me that the hype made me go back to the series when I should have been done with it, but I don’t seem to have added anything to suggest that to someone looking at my library. Others have rated this book very highly and labeled it as the best in epic fantasy, which is why it frustrates me so much that I might be missing something, even though I hated the books.
When Lady Anne Addison’s friend Lydia writes her, desperately seeking help with a seemingly supernatural phenomenon and with matters of the heart, Anne sets off at once. When she arrives in Yorkshire, no one is there to meet her and she must make her own way to the manor after the postman acts like he is terrified by her presence. On the way to Darkefell Castle, she is nearly witness to a horrible crime and the mystery complicates before her very eyes. Determined to find out the truth, she only has one man in her way, the Marquess of Darkefell, maddening, secretive, and infuriating but somehow so very attractive.
I expected a romance out of this book, but what I got was a romantic mystery! I didn’t mind. I loved that Lady Anne was such a curious, intelligent woman. She’s determined to get to the bottom of things and even though mysteries proliferate around her and everyone wants to keep their mouth shut, she just does not give up. I even liked the Marquess of Darkefell, although to be honest I will probably love any character who knows that Edward of Woodstock was probably never called the Black Prince in his lifetime. In all honesty, though, I liked that he wasn’t nearly so “bad” as he was made out to be by the other characters. I found him quite endearing after we learned what he did and definitely did not do.
As for the plot, I definitely felt it came together towards the end. I figured out who had probably caused the murders and I was pleased when I was correct at least in part; some bits are left unexplained, which is okay since I discovered that this is the first of a series. I certainly never expected the resolution to the werewolf side story. I also found the parts about slavery infuriating, and more so when their truth was confirmed in the author’s note. Such barbarity makes me uncomfortable and I still can’t believe that humans could treat each other so abominably. Certainly made a wonderfully complex character in Osei though and I hope we see more of him.
Overall, I’m looking forward to more from Lady Anne and the Marquess of Darkefell and glad to hear that the next book will be published later this year!
Some of you on Twitter may have noticed that I spent yesterday out with my parents picking up my mom’s new baby rabbit and getting her outfitted for her new life at my parents’ house. I thought that everyone could do with a few adorable bunny pictures, so here’s the new addition to my family, although I won’t be seeing her too often. Please ignore the fact that I’m not a great photographer and she’s quite an active subject!
In her carrier on the way home, not too pleased with the car:
And in her temporary home trying desperately to escape:
Wondering what that big silver thing is:
Violet is an orange Netherland Dwarf rabbit, the same breed my Chocolate was. While we were at her breeder’s deciding between her and a baby red rabbit, she was perfectly calm. Now that we’re home, she’s very active and doesn’t just want to sit on anyone’s lap, she’s ready to explore. I think she’ll settle down once she is in her permanent home later today and has a chance to exercise and get acquainted with all the funny smells around here. We have two other rabbits, so I’m sure she’s getting accustomed to their smells too.
Now, since I’m home making sure she doesn’t escape while my parents are off getting more equipment for her, I also have a chance to get some reading done. Today I’m planning on finishing The Tory Widow by Christine Blevins, a historical novel set in New York City during the Revolutionary War. I’m really enjoying it so far. I have a huge stack of ARCs to read soon, but this has been at the top of my list for so long that I had to read it first.
Next I’m planning on reading Serendipity by Louise Shaffer, a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer’s program, and then The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen, the sequel to Garden Spellswhich I read last August and enjoyed very much. I also have to start Chivalry by Maurice Keen for my dissertation, but that is definitely less fun. I’m sure I will not manage to get all that reading done today, especially not after my parents get back, but it’s worth a try and gives me a schedule for the week.
I have three awards to acknowledge from three fabulous blogging ladies!
From Arleigh at historical-fiction.com, the Excessively Diverting blog award. Started by the blogging team at Jane Austen Today the “aim of the Excessively Diverting Blog Award is to acknowledge writing excellence in the spirit of Jane Austen’s genius in amusing and delighting readers with her irony, humor, wit, and talent for keen observation. Recipients will uphold the highest standards in the art of the sparkling banter, witty repartee, and gentle reprove.” Thank you Arleigh!
“This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award.”
I don’t have time to give this award away just now, but I will aim to do so in the future. Thank you Yvonne!
Finally, from Alyce of At Home with Books, the Butterfly Award, which was given to me because my blog is cool! Thank you!
I encourage you to visit all three blogs if you haven’t; all of them are wonderful and well-deserving of awards themselves.
Determined to find out once and for all what is between her and Brisbane, Lady Julia heads to the moors of Yorkshire with two of her siblings despite Brisbane’s admonitions to stay away at all costs. She didn’t expect to find the former owners of Grimsgrave still in residence. Lady Allenby and her daughters Ailith and Hilda are the remains of a proud, old family who claim descent from the Anglo-Saxon kings of England; the kind of family which disdains diluting their blood with lesser mortals. Neither does Julia expect the mysteries she starts to uncover when she begins cataloging the Egyptian artifacts of the late Allenby heir, Redwall. All in all, something suspicious is afoot, and Julia once again must get to the bottom of it.
I gushed about the first two novels in this series. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’m about to gush about this one too. Regardless, before you read on please note that you should check out Silent in the Grave and Silent in the Sanctuary before going near this review!
This book is most intriguing because unlike the first two, there is no murder, only attempted poisoning. So the victim lives to tell the tale, but I have to say that the mystery here was fascinating. I was compelled to read on, to figure out what was going on. You can just ask Keith, who was with me while I was in the thrall of this book, to tell you how much I wanted to get back to it. It was a constant draw. The Allenby family is like a car wreck you pass on the highway. You don’t want to keep looking but you can’t turn your eyes away. And I don’t like mysteries.
There is just something I love about this series though. It may be Deanna Raybourn’s exquisite, witty writing. It may be the plots that I can actually follow through to conclusion and find myself wrapped up in, not confused by missing hints or sudden conclusions. It may be the characters who keep developing and growing as each book goes by. It might be the romantic tension between Julia and Brisbane, or the quirky March family, or the intense atmosphere and setting captured in each book. Or it could be all of those things. They combine to make compelling, wonderful reading that I just can’t tear myself away from.
I also really appreciated that this one had something of a resolution at the end. Deanna Raybourn has said that she will be writing more Julia Grey books, but I’m sure there will be quite a wait. I’m glad the characters are temporarily static in my mind, and perhaps even more, that I will have the opportunity for a re-read.
Do I recommend these books? Absolutely. I think they’re fantastic. Possibly not for everyone, but if you’re looking for a mixture of mystery and romance with a side of great prose, look no further. I know that I’ll be buying the next Lady Julia Grey book the instant it hits the shelves.
Miss Henrietta Tweed arrives on the Duke of Blakewell’s doorstep with little but her clothing, her maid, and assurances that she is now his ward. The young and scandalous Blakewell has never even heard of her, but her story is so preposterous he decides it must be true, and in any case he is so behind on his correspondence that he can well believe a letter was sent ahead of time. All Henrietta wants is for her fortune to be signed over to her; she is nearly 20 and has experience managing money, but Blakewell is convinced that he needs to do his best by her and marry her off. When he realizes that he can’t get enough of her company, his plans take an abrupt shift.
I’m always pleased when I discover a new romance author I’ll like, and I suspect I have found one here. While this book doesn’t push any boundaries of the genre, it is a book that can be read in a day with a great deal of pleasure. Both characters are interesting, particularly Blakewell. He’s quite convinced that he’s a determined rake only to discover that he actually has a crush on his ward for possibly the first time in his life. At least, that’s how I saw it.
Henrietta, meanwhile, has never had the opportunity to get to know a young, virile man before and despite her intelligence, seems very impressed by him. My favorite segments of the book are their conversations when their words are followed immediately by their thoughts:
“All right, maybe you should start by telling me about your parents’ death. Do you mind?”
Yes. Don’t make me remember.
…
“I haven’t talked about them in a long time.” – p. 217
I like the interplay between their presented personalities and what they’re really thinking. I enjoyed the struggle to articulate their feelings for each other and watching them coax honesty from one another.
As far as the plot was concerned, I also could easily believe that Henrietta thought she was cursed. If she was told it at the impressionable age of 7 and then lived to watch guardian after guardian die, she logically might begin to wonder, no matter how clever she was.
I also enjoyed the interplay among Blakewell’s family. None of them are closely related but ties of affection are clear. I’m very much looking forward to the forthcoming novels featuring Blakewell’s two cousins. I loved the snippets at the beginning of each chapter quoting Lord Chesterfield from Blakewell’s grandmother’s letters. Apparently, Lord Chesterfield actually existed and many of these quotes are his from advice letters to his son. If they’re not, the characters question the quotations in the chapter, because many of these quotes were floating around at the time and could easily have been attributed to him. They were all relevant and the note of history really added something for me.
All in all, this is a very enjoyable romance, and I would recommend it to any romance fans seeking out a new author. For Amelia Grey fans, surely you already know what you’d be missing by not picking up A Duke to Die For.
Being a Regency author, I love to write about titled gentlemen. There is just something extremely appealing and very sexy to me about a hero born to power and privilege, though he never misuses either. When I started my new trilogy series The Rogues’ Dynasty, I wanted all my heroes to be titled and related. Hmm. That made it a bit tricky as titles are only handed down to the first born son. There are no leftovers for subsequent sons.
In the Rogues’ Dynasty Trilogy, I finally decided on a way to get around that issue by making the heroes of the three books cousins rather than just friends. It was easy enough to do that by creating their grandmother, a lady who was known far and wide because she managed to marry all three of her daughters to titled gentlemen. And all of her daughters gave her a grandson in the same year. Suddenly I had a duke, a marquis, and an earl! I was in heaven. And of course, I wanted to start the trilogy with the duke!
So A Duke to Die For was born. I knew right away he’d be tall, commanding, and powerful-looking with wide shoulders and lean hips. Yum! Oh, yes, I’d have his neckcloth look as if it had been hastily tied making him appear the devilish rogue the gossipmongers claimed he was. I’d give him grayish-green eyes so captivating that the heroine could look into them forever and never grow tired. I’d make his life chaotic and undisciplined, and then give the carefree duke a chunk of responsibility in the form of a lovely young ward to guard.
Well, the list goes on…, but you get the idea. What’s your favorite type of romance hero?
***
Thanks, Amelia, for this fabulous guest post! Award-winning author Amelia Grey has sold over 75,000 copies of her Regency romances. A Duke to Die For is the first in a new trilogy published by Sourcebooks. The book will be released on April 1st. You can preorder your copy on Amazon. In the meantime, come back tomorrow for my review!
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas … except when it doesn’t. Kitty and Ben return to their werewolf pack in Denver only to discover an invisible evil that smells of brimstone and plays with fire has followed them home. Stalking the whole pack, it leaves a charred trail of ashes and death across the city. Kitty seeks help from Rick, the master vampire of Denver, as well as from the paranormal investigators on a popular reality TV show. But when a mysterious vampire who claims to be a demon hunter – and the only one who can help them – suddenly arrives, Kitty and her allies won’t be able to predict what he really wants … or what they must do to extinguish the terror that can torch them all.”
This is another very enjoyable installment in the Kitty Norville series. In each book, it seems that Kitty is confronted with a horror she doesn’t really understand, so that she has to both figure out what’s going wrong and solve the problem that is plaguing her so much. We think we’ve got a handle on Kitty’s world and Carrie Vaughn seeks to convince us that we’re just never going to know about all of it.
I also really liked that these books are involving increasing degrees of continuity. A shadow of Kitty’s past shows up here and several of the people from Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand are around either to make Kitty’s life miserable or help her out. I’ve come to feel very comfortable in this universe and I like it a lot. Also, always glad when the series ends with a slight hook but not enough to make me NEED the next book now. Good thing because I have to wait until 2010 for the next installment!
I’d definitely recommend this entire series. I’ll be reviewing the first 4 over the next few weeks. If I knew urban fantasy could be this much fun, I’d have been reading it a long time ago.
For the past few days, I have had the immense privilege of being able to read and enjoy the Kitty Norville series back-to-back. Today’s blog tour will be featuring books five and six, Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand and Kitty Raises Hell. We’re starting with book number 5! Here’s the summary from the back of Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand:
“Already the alpha pair of Denver’s werewolf pack, Kitty and Ben now plan to tie the knot human-style by eloping to Vegas. Kitty is looking forward to sipping fru-fru drinks by the pool and doing her popular radio show on live TV, but her hotel is stocked with werewolf-hating bounty hunters. Elsewhere on the Strip an old-school magician might be wielding the real thing; the vampire community is harboring a dark secret; and the irresistable star of a suspicious animal act is determined to seduce Kitty. Sin City has never been so wild, and this werewolf has never had to fight harder to save not only her wedding, but her very life.”
I’ve been loving this series and book 5 is no exception. As can only be expected in Vegas, quite a few things are far more extreme than Kitty has encountered before, and her elopement, needless to say, does not go as expected. By this point, I feel like I know Kitty really well, and I like her a lot. I love how her character has developed over the course of the series, so by this point, she knows what her priorities are, she loves Ben, and she knows enough to be suspicious when things are strange. I loved how all the weirdness in Vegas centered around the acts because in such a place, it would seem completely natural. They don’t need to hide like vampires and lycanthropes do in other cities because exotic is normal. It seemed a perfect stagedrop for what happened.
I also really enjoyed the further involvement of Kitty’s family in this book. I like them, too, and I think it normalizes Kitty and makes her easier to relate to, at least for me, when she has a normal mother and father who are worried and concerned about her. I’m basically eloping except with our parents along, so I loved that Kitty planned the same thing.
This is the first book in the series that ends in a real cliffhanger. Let me say, I was thrilled that I had the sixth one waiting when I finished! Up until now, each was a mostly contained story, but these two go together.
So, long story short, these books have really made me wonder why I don’t read more urban fantasy. Come back a little later for my review of Kitty Raises Hell! In the meantime, you can listen to this great Blog Talk Radio show with Carrie Vaughn, hosted by Miriam at Hachette, or check out a couple of articles written by the author. Carrie Vaughn also has a blog, which you can find right here. Here’s an Amazon link to check the book out further. And finally, I will leave you with a list of the other blogs participating on the tour!
Please welcome Donna Lea Simpson to Medieval Bookworm! We earlier heard why she writes historical fiction, and now she has agreed to answer a few of my questions!
1. I loved the combination of romance and mystery in Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark. What inspired you to combine the genres rather than choose one?
I’ve been a mystery reader all my life, so writing it was a natural fit. I came to romance novels later, but fell in love with the way characterization is such a vital part of the story, how the plot emanates from the couple at the heart of the story. So I can’t imagine life without mystery, nor romance, and that is reflected in the stories I write.
I see every facet of human life as a giant mystery; what makes people behave the way they do, what secrets are they hiding… it’s all like a tangled skein of wool that I want to unravel. Even when I’m reading history, I’m trying to figure out what made people tick, why they acted as they did, what made them different from their modern day counterpart, and that is all mystery!
Romance is a vital part of life too, though, and what makes us human, that need to connect, that quest for the happy feeling of being in love. So Lady Anne is an extension of that. She’s a skeptic and an interfering busybody in some ways, but passionately romantic beneath it all.
2. One detail I picked up on and appreciated was Darkefell’s knowledge that Edward the Black Prince was probably never called “the Black Prince” in his life. Do you do a great deal of research for your novels?
Whoa, yes! More research with every book. I get pickier about historical accuracy as I go along, but luckily, research is an absolute joy to me, and I can get lost for hours in internet research or reading old books. I do have to call it quits sometimes—spending three hours researching a tiny detail that no one else is going to notice is counter-productive—but I’m never truly satisfied. I’m terrified that because I don’t really have any scholarly training I’ll have missed something important or misstated something. I’m finding with Lady Anne that it’s all coming much more naturally, though, to work historical information into the books, because both Lady Anne and Lord Darkefell are intelligent, well-read people, so they make casual references to not just English history, but also old folk tales, Greek mythology, military history, world geography.
3. Would you mind telling us a bit about your writing process? Do you plan out a novel from the start or do you let the characters take you where they want you to go?
I’ve always been a planner. I would write the synopsis, then I would take it and expand it into an outline, then I would break the outline up into a chapter by chapter plan. It was a lengthy and involved process, but I wonder now if it helped or hurt my books? It certainly made them long! I ended up writing 120,000 words with one novel, about twenty or thirty thousand more than the contract stated, and not many publishers are happy with that! So I was a detailed planner.
Until lately. A time crunch necessitated that I write swiftly, but what I found out in the process of flying by the seat of my pants is, sometimes the book just takes off. I’m learning (after all these years) that I should trust myself more. I do know what I’m doing. Kind of… LOL. And there is an exhilaration in writing fast and furious, a kind of free-wheeling liberty. Any mistakes I make or things I miss, I can fix in subsequent drafts. I do at least three or four complete drafts, smoothing it out and perfecting it as I go.
4. Can you give us a hint about what’s next for Lady Ann e and the Marquess of Darkefell?
I love these two, Lady Anne and Darkefell! What I know about Lady Anne is, she is truly a woman of her time, educated, intelligent, and beginning to challenge the status quo. Think Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Mary Astell and Hester Thrale, all women who came slightly before Anne’s time and who informed her world. And think Mary Wollstonecraft, Anne’s contemporary, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. It was a time of burgeoning agitation for more rights for women, and though a lady’s rights were circumscribed, it wouldn’t always be like that. Women of Anne’s status and intelligence were getting their first glimmer of a future in which women would have more autonomy.
Anne is a rare bird in some ways, and so she needed a rare man to appreciate her. Darkefell is just that fellow—smart, passionate, active—but he’s got a long way to go before he understands Anne, as you can tell by the ending of Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark. He is going to have to come to terms with Anne’s independence before he will be a worthy match.
Until then, Lady Anne is going to keep making her own decisions even while the world condemns her for it! She can’t be anything less that she is, not for anyone. And… she’s going to keep sticking her nose in where some would say it doesn’t belong, and, with her skeptical mind, exploring ‘supernatural’ occurrences.
5. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing inspirations? Any favorite authors or books we should check out while waiting for your next one?
Well, luckily, the wait for Lady Anne and the Ghost’s Revenge won’t be long… it’s out in August, then Lady Anne and the Gypsy Curse is out in November!!
But there are a lot of books I’ve read, historical mysteries that have thrilled me, including the fabulous Stephanie Barron, who in addition to her Jane Austen mystery series (wonderful novels!) has written an absolutely perfect book, A Flaw in the Blood. You will be blown away by the dark twists and turns she takes you on through that novel.
I know Elizabeth Peters’ Egyptian mysteries are great. I had only read the Crocodile on the Sandbank before I wrote the Lady Anne books, but I was drawn back to them when a reviewer compared Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark to her novels. I was enormously flattered, so I read another in the series, and I’m hooked. I’m going to have to go back and begin at the beginning and read them all. What I love is the romantic chemistry between Peabody and Emerson, while the mystery is speeding along… it’s the perfect blend of mystery and romance.
I hope you all enjoy Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark! Thank you for such fun and fascinating questions. I’ve enjoyed answering them so much!
If today’s discussion of Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark has piqued your interest, you can check it out on Amazon.. You can also head over to Donna’s blog. Come back next week after the book’s release for my review!
From Wendi at Wendi’s Book Corner:
on Amazon.
And in her temporary home trying desperately to escape:
on Amazon.
Miss Henrietta Tweed arrives on the Duke of Blakewell’s doorstep with little but her clothing, her maid, and assurances that she is now his ward. The young and scandalous Blakewell has never even heard of her, but her story is so preposterous he decides it must be true, and in any case he is so behind on his correspondence that he can well believe a letter was sent ahead of time. All Henrietta wants is for her fortune to be signed over to her; she is nearly 20 and has experience managing money, but Blakewell is convinced that he needs to do his best by her and marry her off. When he realizes that he can’t get enough of her company, his plans take an abrupt shift.
.
on Amazon.
to check the book out further. And finally, I will leave you with a list of the other blogs participating on the tour!
Please welcome Donna Lea Simpson to Medieval Bookworm! We earlier heard why she writes historical fiction, and now she has agreed to answer a few of my questions!
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