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 Summary from the back:
As growing up in pre-war London looms large in the lives of the Carne sisters, Deirdre, Katrine, and young Sheil still cannot resist making up stories as they have done since childhood; from their talking nursery toys to their fulsomely imagined friendship with real high-court Judge Toddington. But when Deirdre meets the judge’s real life wife at a charity bazaar the sisters are forced to confront the subject of their imaginings. Will they cast off the fantasies of childhood forever?
I really wanted to love this book. I think what threw me was how imaginative the sisters actually were. I had such a hard time figuring out when they were playing and when they were actually living. It’s playful and funny, but almost too much so for the first half. Luckily, it improved when Deirdre met Mrs. Toddington because finally real life started to have a discernible effect on the novel and it all interwove in a charming way as the girls start to grow up and realize how damaging their fantasies can be.
I did enjoy the language; it’s so playfully British that it’s hard not to cherish each individual word! The time period is also interesting and I know I’d like to read more classics with this sort of feel to them. But mostly, I feel like I missed the part that makes this book brilliant. I think I was too caught up in just how childish their games felt to me – and I thought it was a little mean on their part, as well. It was all in fun but it did feel a little like they were mocking the people when they didn’t even know what they were like. I guess I’m just too much of a wet blanket!
In short, I think The Brontes Went to Woolworths could be charming for another reader, but it didn’t quite cut it for me.
I am an Amazon Associate. I bought this book.
I fully intended to write full reviews for these books, but time has gone away from me! I thought mini-reviews would be easier and then I’d have less chance of forgetting what I actually read.
 Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher
In this memoir, Carrie Fisher takes the opportunity to humorously reflect on what she remembers of her life since she got electroshock therapy. The famous actress talks about such topics as her parents’ many marriages and her movie experiences with pictures to illustrate her life.
I mostly chose this book because I’ve always been a huge Star Wars fan. I knew Carrie Fisher has had quite a challenging life, so I thought it would make for interesting reading besides the Star Wars memories. Unfortunately I was disappointed on both fronts. She mentions very little about Star Wars and she treats her whole life as a joke. I could definitely tell the book was first a stand-up routine, but it wasn’t really funny in writing. A couple of jokes caught me, but for the most part I could tell it was meant to be funny but wasn’t working.
On the bright side, the book was short and it took me less than two hours to read, making it a good Read-a-Thon choice from a totals perspective!
 On the Edge, Ilona Andrews
Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the magic world (The Weird) and the nonmagic world (The Broken). Edgers can easily travel between the worlds – Rose works in the Broken – but don’t feel at home in either. Because Rose’s magic is far stronger than it should be, she’s been pursued as a marriage prospect for years. All she wants is to stay home and take care of her little brothers. The world’s not going to leave her alone, though, because one day Declan Camarine, a noble from the Weird, walks straight into her life and refuses to leave. When strange things start attacking people in the Edge, Rose has to get past her dislike of Declan and work with him to save her home.
Ilona Andrews, really the pseudonym of a husband and wife pair of writers, continues to put out awesome books. This one is definitely not an exception. It’s more romantic than the Kate Daniels series (not like I mind!) and is quite self-contained, so I’m not sure whether not it will be developed into a series. I really liked the two boys, Georgie and Jack, and the different ways they, Rose, and Declan all had magic. If there is another book in the series, I hope we can spend more time in the Weird!
I am an Amazon Associate. I borrowed one of these books and purchased the other.
 Reese’s Bride, Kat Martin
Reese Dewar left to fight for England with a promise from beautiful Elizabeth Clemens – that she would marry him when he returned. But days after he left, Elizabeth married an earl, gaining wealth and status beyond anything she’d achieve with Reese. Broken-hearted and determined to hate her, a wounded Reese returns to England, but finds his defenses alarmingly low when Elizabeth and her young son need his protection from her abusive in-laws.
I could probably complete this review with “meh”. The book was enjoyable, but nothing particularly special. Most of it felt like it had been done before, right down to the phrases the author used to describe various feelings. I remembered Kat Martin as a better author than this – I often find that my experience with authors I enjoyed as a teen is disappointing as an adult. This one was no exception.
 Bound by Your Touch, Meredith Duran
When she gives a speech on her archaeologist father’s research, Lydia Boyce is dismayed to find that James Durham, Viscount Sanburne, takes all the attention away from her father’s important research. She gets back at him by pointing out that the statue he’s brought is a fake – but as it turns out, Sanburne’s bust was in one of her father’s shipments. Lydia determines to find the answer to this mystery herself, with no help from the eloquent and mischievous James, but she is drawn to him, surprised that he sees beneath the cold spinster to the woman who longs for love.
I wish I had written this review sooner to reading the book so I could do it the proper justice. Suffice it to say that I loved it, that Meredith Duran is equally as skilled with two characters in ordinary England as she is with exotic ones, and that I think she only got better. I sincerely adored the relationship between these two people. They found each other’s flaws and not only did they learn to accept one another but they also learned that they had to compromise in order to stay with one another. Both of their stories were wonderfully done. The whole book was excellent and made me immediately want to pick up Written on Your Skin.
 Written on Your Skin, Meredith Duran
On the surface, Mina Masters appears to have it all. She can lay claim to beauty, charm, and wealth – but she’s not free. Trapped by a hateful stepfather and a looming unwanted marriage, Mina finds herself drawing close to a handsome stranger. But Phin Granville isn’t free, either, and has little interest in an empty-headed society girl. When Mina saves his life, however, he finds himself bound to her until they rediscover one another four long years later.
While I didn’t like this one as much as The Duke of Shadows or Bound by Your Touch, Written on Your Skin was still a great romantic read. Meredith Duran’s writing is, if anything, getting better, and I really look forward to what she’s able to write in the future. I think great things are on the way.
I liked the reversal of character roles in this one; Mina is the tough, clever girl who fakes a lack of brains to fool people into thinking she’s defenseless. I didn’t really appreciate that she had to fake stupidity, but I did like that she took on the role more traditionally assigned to men in romances. Phin has been forced into espionage, but he’s really a mapmaker at heart and wants to discover the world. I wouldn’t call him submissive, exactly, but he’s more so than Mina.
 Archangel’s Kiss, Nalini Singh
This second book in the Guild Hunter series again focuses on Elena and Raphael. Though her life has changed drastically, Elena is still a Guild Hunter. She’ll face great danger in her new role but still fights to keep her friends safe.
I liked this and I thought it was good for the Read-a-Thon, but I thought there was too much sex – there was much more than in the first of the series. It probably wouldn’t bother someone who liked more of it but I’m not really that person. I’ll probably keep reading anyway because I’m interested to see what happens!
I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased all of these books.
 Fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to live with her aunt Penn and cousins in England when her stepmother gets pregnant. At first upset by her exile, Daisy quickly adjusts to life with her cousins and finds herself in the bosom of a family. At that moment, however, England finds itself in a severe war and the children are left without any parental supervision as the war comes right to their doorstep.
This is an incredibly compelling book. Daisy is a fifteen-year-old with serious issues. She makes light of her anorexia, which is severe, and she proceeds to fall in love with her first cousin in a matter of days. Yet I found her voice incredibly compelling, very much like a teenager would talk. I may be the only one who wasn’t annoyed by the run-on sentences. I just loved the way it changed over the course of the book as she matured and had to deal with harder and harder situations. I felt bad for her at the beginning but she really strengthened and even though her situation didn’t really improve, I started to believe she could handle it. Some of the realizations and changes she makes towards the end were brilliantly done.
I also thought the whole book was a stunning look at the effect a real-life war would have on a first world country at this point in time. The enemy takes over England and everything changes. I actually thought some of the sections towards the end, when two of the characters are particularly desperate, were some of the best in the book. They were so realistically drawn, even though there is a slight hint of fantasy throughout the book. It’s hard to tell whether it’s actually meant or just children’s imaginings but it fit well.
I suppose if I were to have any problem with this book, it might be the fact that Daisy almost instantly falls in love with her first cousin. But she’d never met him before, so it’s difficult to blame her even if it is a bit unnatural. Perhaps it’s just uncomfortable because the author writes their love story so well in the first place!
This was a perfect Read-a-Thon book but I’d recommend How I Live Now to anyone, especially those who like YA dystopias.
 It’s 1941. Frankie Bard, a rare female radio personality, reports from London every night on the state of the burgeoning war in Europe, trying desperately to convince Americans that the time has come to intervene and stop Germany. In Franklin, Massachusetts, both Emma Fitch, the doctor’s new wife, and Iris James, the town’s postmistress, listen to Frankie from the comfort of a small town in Cape Cod. But the war can’t stay out forever and these three women will find their lives intertwined as the question of who delivers the news becomes paramount in all of their lives.
I’ve heard a lot of hype lately about The Postmistress. It seems that everyone who reads it enjoys it. I’m not an exception – I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy reading this. It’s a smooth read, very well-written, with some fantastic imagery. I loved in particular Frankie’s radio stints. I could almost hear her voice in my head, especially when the other characters described how she sounded – like she was smiling, or if she sounded tired or angry. I almost never listen to the radio personally, but it always strikes me as an essential part of twentieth-century history.
In fact all around Frankie was my favorite, but I also appreciated the contrast between war-time Europe and sleepy Cape Cod. It seemed amazing to me – as it did to Frankie – that throughout so many European countries people were regularly exiled from their homes, shipped off to concentration camps, or trapped in hiding while Americans did nothing even though they knew precisely what was happening. The contrast seemed strikingly relevant to the present day as well, where there are plenty of war-torn countries while we sit comfortably in our homes and hardly ever have to worry about our safety when we go to the grocery store. I have no solutions, but the book certainly brings up plenty of questions that are still relevant to our lives.
For some reason, though, this never became a book I loved. Maybe because of the ending, which I found a little on the unnecessary side, or maybe just because the whole book was full of secrets. I know others feel more strongly about it than I do, but I don’t think it’s one I’ll need to revisit. I’d probably still recommend The Postmistress to someone looking for fiction about the Second World War with a female focus.
I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased this book.
 Astronomer Jimmy Quinn is having a long night at work after time with his friends when he hears an alien radio signal. Almost immediately, plans are laid to explore this alien signal, and a group of friends, including a few Jesuit priests, heads into space to make contact with and study the alien population. While on the planet, however, things go wrong, and only one damaged man returns.
The story begins with him, Emilio Sandoz, and his return, switching between time periods to explore the back story of the mission. So don’t worry, I haven’t spoiled anything. And let me also start off by saying I simply loved this book. I read it when I started working and I actually enjoyed that because this was the first book that I really enjoyed that I had to spend more than a day with. Spreading it out over four days meant I could grow to love these characters and I was completely wrapped up in the story every single time I picked up the book.
This is science fiction which works for people who don’t like science fiction, with tons of character development and a truly enthralling plot. We know the basics of what’s happened from the start, but finding out why it’s happened, especially to people we care about so much, is amazingly compelling. There isn’t really any technical jargon at all; there is only basic detail to understand what’s happening. The focus is all on the breathtaking story. Even though so many clues are laid, it’s hard to guess what’s happened. I feel like I could almost certainly pick up more on a reread than I did this time, and this is a book that is worth rereading.
I also thought that Russell’s worldbuilding was interesting and well-done, but not extensive enough to bore any readers. Rather, it’s wrapped up in the sense of discovery and each revelation ramps up the tension, so it’s impossible not to keep turning the pages whenever you have the opportunity. The book really made me think about culture clash and what would happen if we ever really came into contact with aliens – and what we’d do if aliens came into contact with us.
Overall, my review doesn’t feel particularly coherent, but I doubt talking about such an amazing book will ever be coherent! The Sparrow comes hugely recommended by me.
I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased this book.
 Tasha and I decided to team up and read a classic together for Classics Month in March. We chose Lorna Doone when we realized I had it and she could get it easily out of the library. This is the first part of our joint review, head on over to Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books for the second half!
First, though, a summary:
John Ridd is a young mischievous school boy faced with the abrupt reality of his father’s death, reportedly by the Doones of Exmoor, a band of high-born outlaws who constantly terrorize the area around his home town. On a fishing trip after his return home to care for his mother and sisters, John accidentally enters Doone territory and meets young Lorna Doone, who is something of a queen to them. John can’t help but fall immediately in love with her, but his struggle to win her from the Doones will be long-lasting and dangerous for both of them.
Heidenkind: Love or hate? 
Meghan: I think I have to go with hate!! Actually, my feelings aren’t quite as strong as that. I mostly just feel a mild dislike. I know you disagree though. =)
Heidenkind: Yeah, I actually liked it a lot. I love the A&E miniseries based on the book, and I think the actual novel is a lot better. It’s very romantic, no?
So, in the introduction in my copy, the person compared Lorna Doone to Jane Eyre and bemoaned the fact that it’s not as popular as Jane Eyre even though it’s just as good–if not not better–and has similar themes. What do you think–is LD the forgotten Jane Eyre?
Meghan:
Definitely not! I love Jane Eyre and I think it’s vastly better. For one thing, I don’t think it suffers nearly so much from the same long-windedness. I love a well-crafted sentence as well as the next former English major but I think there are definitely extremes. Charlotte Bronte does it well, but R.D. Blackmore not so much. I can’t really forgive any book pages on nature – maybe it’s for others, but not for me.
Also I have to admit that Mr Rochester is a far more dashing hero than John ever could be. I think of John as big and strong but rather boring. At least Mr Rochester has a bit of a scandalous history to make him more interesting and I can’t help but imagine him as a very attractive man. I also much prefer the romance in Jane Eyre, obviously, even if it is initially bigamy.
What do you think?
Heidenkind: Even though I enjoyed Lorna, I don’t think it’s anywhere close to Jane Eyre, and I can’t see any modern high schooler picking up LD and just falling in love with it the way I did with JE. For one thing, there’s too much pointless stuff in the book. And for another, the writing is just impenetrable, especially in the first part. A Victorian trying to do 17-th-century speak is just not good–and don’t even get me started on the accents. Ugh! Every time that John Fry guy started to speak, I just skipped it. My brain had a hard enough time trying to understand the book already.
Meghan: I think I skipped a whole conversation that they had in there somewhere. There was the cook who spoke in it as well. I shuddered! I really, really hate dialect in books and it was NOT done well here.
Heidenkind: I agree. As for John, he’s not as dashing as Mr. Rochester, no, but he’s the “average guy” hero of the story. Lorna is supposed to be the dashing, mysterious love interest. I actually liked John a lot–I though he was charming in a simple way. Not that I would ever go out with him or anything. 
Meghan: I certainly wouldn’t, I didn’t like him at all and he was one of the problems I had with the book. I really felt like he was constantly demeaning to the women in his life even though I could tell he loved them. I’m not sure whether the author was just that bad or he was trying to emulate 17th century attitudes, but I did not appreciate feeling like all the women were silly and little and cute. And he didn’t like the sister he had with a brain, Eliza, instead being annoying about how she was always buried in books. I could not figure out why Lorna wanted to be with him. And his behavior towards his cousin Ruth really annoyed me as well – once it was established that he was going to marry Lorna, he still flirted with her and IMO really led her on when he shouldn’t have been doing that.
Heidenkind: I couldn’t figure out what John and Lorna saw in eachother, either! But on the other hand, Lorna did really want out of the Doone encampment, and here’s John telling her he loves her and offering to help her escape. So maybe there’s a knight-in-shining-armour complex going on there.
 I’m not sure I need to summarize this, but why not? Dorothy lives in the gray land of Kansas with her aunt, uncle, and little dog called Toto. One afternoon a tornado strikes and Dorothy, her house, and her dog are swept away to the magical land of Oz. Accidentally, she kills the Wicked Witch of the East, and attains some measure of fame in Oz, but how will she get home?
This was a surprisingly delightful read. It’s not too old and reads very smoothly. The movie and the book are very similar in story, and I’ve seen the film about a million times, so there weren’t many surprises for me here. There are a few extra lands, and some of the events are a little different, but the basic story and characters are completely the same. I’ll admit that it dragged towards the end for me when these extra things were introduced, but I think someone less familiar with the film wouldn’t have felt so impatient.
The book is written for children, so some things are rather simplistic; it’s fairly clear that as the characters develop a bit that they don’t really need their gifts from Oz, but it was all very sweet. Dorothy is a bit too sweet, but I love that she actually had some initiative and seemed quite clever for a little girl. The message for children is excellent, IMO, as all the characters work together to vanquish their foes and try their hardest to be smart, good, and courageous.
I actually read this on my phone and was surprised by how well it held my attention, especially given it was the first book I ever read on there. It’s helpful that it’s so short, but I did find the story absorbing and I looked forward to continuing it when I got pulled away. I’m really looking forward to sharing this with my own children someday, although I think I’ll be getting a paper version before that time! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has held up as a great children’s classic and I can see it continuing on into the future.
I am an Amazon Associate. I downloaded this book to my phone for free through Aldiko.
 Four women, who have been friends since childhood, together run a wedding company called Vows. Each woman has control over one aspect of the business. Mackenzie Elliott is the photographer and, despite capturing other people’s special moments every day, is determined to resist every special moment of her own due to a selfish, overdramatic mother who has effectively ruined any concept of romance she might have had. Until Carter Maguire enters her life again, at least. Carter had a huge crush on Mac in high school and it hasn’t gone away, but he needs to convince her that love isn’t always a battlefield.
I actually enjoyed this first book, Vision in White. I didn’t think any woman but Mac was particularly fleshed out, and if they hadn’t had one defining characteristic each, I’m sure I would have mixed them up easily. That one characteristic makes them incredibly shallow, but their relationships still manage to be sweet and makes me think about how nice friends can be. The romance between Mac and Carter was similarly sweet – actually the whole book is probably best described as that. They get together about halfway through and then the book becomes a struggle between Carter loving Mac and Mac determined not to stay with him, which is a little tiring. Overall, though, it wasn’t too bad, and it was perfect for my stress-fogged brain.
In Bed of Roses, Emmaline Grant is the total opposite. She adores romance and has held her parents’ love story as ideal for her entire life. She wants candles, dancing in the moonlight, expensive dinners, and weekends away in New York City. The girls’ close friend Jack Cooke has almost always been attracted to Emma, as most men seem to be, but only just gets the courage to act on it when she realizes she might be reciprocating his feelings. But Jack hesitates with women, and doesn’t want the permanency that is Emma’s goal. She’ll have to convince him that their love is worth it.
 I’m sure just by reading that summary it’s pretty obvious that this book is almost a carbon copy of the last one. Sure, some of the events are different, but it’s exactly the same pattern of someone wanting a marriage because their family is perfect and someone determined to avoid it because their parents screwed up. Does every child of divorce remain convinced that marriage isn’t for them? Obviously not, given my own marriage (and those of a number of my friends). This sort of stereotype irritates me because it casts all people as the same. The book was way too predictable on the heels of the last one. The characters are still much too shallow, with virtually one facet each. Parker plans, Emma is romantic, Mac is a tomboy. Laurel is the only one I can’t really pin down as anything but a little outrageous. Jack is defined by his desire to avoid marriage and long-lasting relationships.
I’m sure at least a little part of my dislike of these books is because I’m not really into the wedding thing. My wedding was tiny and involved a minimum of fuss. For these people the wedding practically is the marriage and that’s an attitude I don’t really understand. Their job is wedding planning, of course, so the books contain plenty of details about the days. I may have to reconsider Nora Roberts as one of the only two contemporary romance authors I read, though. I know all romances are predictable to an extent, because they have happy endings, but if I can predict what goes up to the ending as well, I just get bored. And it doesn’t help that she’s already established exactly who is going to match up in the next two books. I find I’m not really interested after all.
I am an Amazon Associate. I bought these books (at a charity shop, which I am now happy about, and where I suspect they will go back.)
 Emmaline Martin is the only passenger rescued from a boat crash that killed her parents. They were traveling to India so Emma could marry her long-standing fiance, but he isn’t as happy to see her as she’d hoped. In fact, most people think she’s been compromised by the men on the fishing boat that saved her life. Sick of society and hating the way that the British in India simply pretend they’re in England, Emma finds herself meeting and sympathizing with Julian Sinclair, the heir to the Duke of Auburn. When the Indians mutiny, Emma and Julian are thrown together, and he is determined to keep her safe. But it isn’t until years later, marred by the tragedies they’ve endured, that they will meet again.
Okay, this is the way to write a romance novel. This book was simply stunning. Everything about it, in fact, was stunning. The book is so dark that it perfectly matches its setting, a rebel India defying the too-confident British occupation. It’s a beginning that neither Julian nor Emma can forget – and honestly, neither will I. The images depicted here are so powerful, Emma’s loss of innocence as she’s forced to keep herself alive is masterfully done. This is not light and fun – this is tragedy depicted as heart-wrenchingly as in any other type of novel. It’s not just romance between two people, it’s a struggle for nationality, for independence, for survival. It’s about figuring out who you are.
The romance is, simply, perfect. The couple are together for such a short time that I think, normally, I would have been perplexed how they managed to fall in love. Somehow Meredith Duran makes it work and work perfectly. The interactions between these two are pitch-perfect, from their frustrated meeting to their exile and fleeing together. And, in London later in the book, I just can’t describe how much I felt for these people. It was like they were real. Julian’s struggle to figure out who he is, rejection from both sides of his heritage, the way he blames himself for everything that’s happened, because he has nothing else to do – for once I understood why a hero was tortured, which believe me, is unusual. Similarly, Emma can’t escape her actions, and though I doubt she’d ever be able to, she can find some sort of peace in knowing why they happened. These characters grow and change throughout the book and it’s all spellbinding.
The writing is probably the most beautiful I’ve ever come across in a romance novel. Duran’s descriptions are gorgeous. I felt like I was in India. I was hanging from that wrecked ship just like Emma was. I could feel her later frenzy to paint. And her use of the title of the book to flesh out Julian’s character with shadows and light and depict the changes in him was really well done. I know there is good, bad, and mediocre in every genre, but this is truly one of the best, and I think it could hold its own against books in a variety of other genres, too.
Meredith Duran has written two more books, I own them, and I can’t quite tell you how glad I am about that. The Duke of Shadows is completely recommended.
I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased this book.
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