Recent Reads {Surrender the Night}

Surrender the Night by MaryLu Tyndall - I read the first book in this series quite a long time ago, it seems, and finally decided to finish the trilogy.  This second book is about a young American woman, Rose, and a British naval officer during the War of 1812.  Rose is alone on her family farm near Baltimore, when a brutal naval lieutenant attacks her.  She is surprised to be rescued by the 2nd Lieutenant, Alexander Reed, and dismayed that he is injured in melee.  She cares for the wound and decides to shelter him on the farm until he is recovered enough to return to his ship, rather than turn him in to the American militia.  Naturally, the two develop feelings for one another (do you ever NOT see that coming in these types of books? LOL) but Rose's past experience has taught her that no one can be trusted, and Alex wrestles with how to reconcile his sense of honor and duty to his family and country with his growing distaste for the war and his own countrymen's treatment of the Americans.  This was an easy read and kept my interest - I finished it in one day! - and in my opinion, Ms Tyndall's writing is showing improvement from her first novels.  She still has what appears to be some overused 'favorite' phrases, but I found these far less distracting than in some of the earlier titles.  She does a great job of inventing characters and putting them in rock-and-a-hard-place situations within historical setting frameworks.  The situations are a bit on the far-fetched side, but it wouldn't make a good story if they were too ordinary, right?

By the same author:  The Falcon and the Sparrow, Surrender the Heart (first in this series), Charles Towne Belle Series (The Red Siren, The Blue Enchantress, The Raven Saint), The Legacy of the King's Pirates series (The Redemption, The Reliance, The Restitution)

 

Recent Reads {Mr Darcy's Little Sister}

Mr Darcy's Little Sister by C. Allyn Pierson - As the title indicates, this 'sequel' to Pride and Prejudice focuses on Georgiana, the younger sister of Mr Darcy.  The story picks up after Darcy and Elizabeth announce their engagement and reflects on the wedding preparations and first year of their marriage mostly from Georgiana's point of view.  Georgiana is preparing for her presentation at court and her first Season, and her close friendship with her new sister proves invaluable as she navigates London society and pursues her own dreams for happiness.  Pierson has been very respectful of Jane Austen's characters and morals, and the result is a well-researched novel that is dignified, classy, and mostly believable, yet told for a 21st century reader.  I kept turning the pages, interested in the storyline, yet not completely drawn in emotionally, but I'm not sure why.  It seemed to me that Elizabeth's character became much too staid and matronly immediately upon her marriage, with her spirit and humour much more subdued than I would have imagined, and that did disappoint me somewhat.  Overall, however, I think this book ranks among the finest of Jane
Austen fan fiction, because the main characters and major storyline are in keeping with the original work, and Austen herself would not need to blush over the behavior of the characters she created.

Recent Reads {The Bell Messenger}

The Bell Messenger by Robert Cornuke with Alton Gansky - It surprised me to see the Cornuke has also written some works of fiction, and piqued my curiosity, but I did manage to find this one through my local library.  The story follows a Bible as it passes from one 'messenger' to another, always with the challenge to "Be God's messenger as I have been."  The Bible is first passed from a young Confederate named Elijah Bell to the Union officer who shot him, and from there the Bible journeys around the world with its various owners.  Cornuke uses parallel storylines beginning with the Union officer, Jeremiah Tate, and the modern-day recipient of the Bible, Gary Brandon.  Gary receives the Bible as a graduation gift from an alcoholic uncle and begins to research the names recorded in the Bible in an attempt to find its true owner and its history.  Tate takes the Bible with him to San Francisco, and it passes through the hands of a Chinese doctor, a new bride on her honeymoon tour of Egypt, a soldier during the Great War, and a treasure-hunter seeking gold in Saudi Arabia.  The story is enjoyable, and as I expected from Cornuke, full of well-researched historical background.  I'm not sure the ending was completely satisfying, but I won't give it away. ;-)

By the same author: In Search of the Lost Mountains of Noah, In Search of the Mountain of God, In Search of the Lost Ark of the Covenant,  The Lost Shipwreck of Paul

Recent Reads {Mine Is The Night}

Mine Is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs - This is the continuation of the story of the Kerr widows, Marjory and Elisabeth, from Here Burns My Candle, and it's another real gem.  Marjory and Elisabeth return to Selkirkshire, where Marjory has a cousin she hopes will take them in despite their scandalous ties to the Jacobite rebellion.  The ladies are in extremely reduced circumstances, and Elisabeth finds work as a seamstress in order to provide a small income.  Just as in the Bible story of Ruth, Elisabeth finds another income and favour with a wealthy landowner in the neighborhood, who shows her great kindness.  But he is also an Admiral in the King George's Navy, and Jacobites are still not safe.  Elisabeth and Marjory both find love and second chances in this novel, but face trials of their faith and courage along the way.  One element of the story that struck me as rather unusual is that the heros and heroines are all honorable, God-fearing people from start to finish in the book - none are reprobates that must change in order to earn the respect of the one they love.  It seems like Ms Higgs has a winning 'formula' - a parallel based on a Biblical story set in historical Scotland - but it shouldn't be a surprise that the Bible's demonstrations of love, justice, and salvation are the basis of the best stories.

By the same author:  Here Burns My Candle, Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came A Prince, Grace in Thine Eyes

Recent Reads {Shakespeare Undead}

Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland - Believe it or not, my local library has a whole feature shelf of zombie lit right now.  Creepy, right?  But since I liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so much, I have glanced over the titles on that shelf a few times.  This was the title that caught my eye, and it turned out to be an entertaining book.  The fantasy premise is that William Shakespeare was a vampire (in case you are not up on your trivia of the undead, vampires are capable of raising zombie armies) and the mysterious Dark Lady in his sonnets was a zombie-hunter with whom he had a love affair.  Now, if the Bard was a vampire many centuries old, that would certainly explain how he had the knowledge background to write all those plays, even though it seemed that he had a relatively modest education and wasn't well-traveled. ;-)  In this story, Will has a run-in with a young zombie hunter - a young woman dressed as a boy - and they join forces to combat the growing number of zombies in London, eventually falling in love.  Will is trying to find out who is raising the zombie army and what their purpose is, yet he cannot let his Dark Lady guess that he is not human.  Shakespeare's inspiration for his plays comes often in the form of ghosts of people he has known in his long un-life, and there are many humorous references to the plot ideas he has and how they may play out.  In the future, under the names of other authors and playwrights, of course.   And the ending is a bit of a cliff-hanger!

Recent Reads {Eco-Chic Home}

Eco-Chic Home by Emily Anderson - I can't even begin to explain why this caught my eye at the library, because while I do attempt to be smart and responsible when it comes to the environment, I am certainly NOT a tree-hugger or anything like that. Basically I recycle, reuse, reduce consumption, and avoid unnecessary chemicals and processing when it's economical and/or relatively convenient. Anyway, these little how-to book is full of little tidbits of environmental information tucked in among a selection of projects that are supposed to be economical and environmentally-conscious ways to add style and function throughout the home. There were a lot of projects that I found intriguing and possibly worth trying; a few projects that I thought were irresistable; and quite a few that I thought were a whole lot of expense and trouble. Even those, however, were clever ideas.  Not a book that rocked my world, but a book that sparked a few ideas.

Recent Reads {Thief}

Thief by Linda Windsor - In the second novel of this trilogy, the attention is on Caden, the second son of Glenarden.  Caden had proved to be a traitor in the first story, which focused on oldest son Ronan, and had been exiled from the kingdom.  Bitter and hopeless, Caden has been making his way as a mercenary soldier until he is injured in a battle.  He is nursed back to health with the help of a gentlewoman who gives him his next mission - the search for her long-lost daughter who was kidnapped years previous.  Sorcha had been adopted by a Saxon family, and was making a living a minstrel and carrying on her father's business, and is suspicious of Caden's offer to take her back to her mother.  No surprise that the two of them are meant to be together, but of course there are roadblocks and trials in the way.  Eventually they are accused of murder and wind up running for their lives.  It took me a little longer to get the characters and locations straight in my mind when I started reading this book, but once I had it settled who belonged to which kingdom, I was drawn in by the story and found it difficult to put down.  Since the third in this series is probably not going to be available till sometime next year, I may see if I can pick up one of Windsor's other titles in the meantime.

By the same author:  Healer