Scripture and a Snapshot - October 4, 2014

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

~John 1:1-5~

Scripture and a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.

The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - Beauvallet

Beauvallet by Georgette Heyer - When I first looked up Georgette Heyer's novels just over a month ago, this was the one that originally caught my attention. Because there was a mention of pirates! I chose to start my journey into Heyer's books with the time period that she usually wrote about though - the Regency period. This novel is a little different from the rest of her work because it is set during the Elizabethan era.

The title character, Sir Nicholas Beauvallet, is an English nobleman with a reckless taste for adventure, and a well-earned reputation in Spain as a crafty and dangerous pirate. The story opens with Beauvallet taking a Spanish galleon, which just happens to be transporting a Spanish governor and his daughter home to Spain from the West Indies. Upon finding Dona Dominica and her father on the galleon, Beauvallet takes them onto his own ship with the intention of dropping them off on the nearest islands, During the voyage, he treats them with all courtesy, and is attracted to Dominica - and against her better judgment, she to him - and when he realizes that Don Manuel is very ill, he pledges to return them home to Spain. Against the odds, he does just that, and promises Dominica that he will return within the year to claim her as his bride.

Because of the hostility between England and Spain, Beauvallet has to be extremely clever and not a little bit lucky in order to get to Madrid. He boldly impersonates a French messenger in order to gain entrance to Dominica's household, and there are many dangers and adventures for both of them when Beauvallet is accused and imprisoned, and Dominica is taken to the country by her aunt (Dominica is expected to marry her arrogant cousin, against her own wishes).

This story was exciting from start to finish, and although Heyer's writing style employs dialogue full of unfamiliar words and phrases meant to evoke the time period, I never had difficulty following the action or understanding the conversations.   

(Book #41 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

WWW Wednesdays - October 1, 2014

Should Be Reading hosts this weekly update on what we're reading, what we recently finished reading, and what's next. 

• What are you currently reading?  I focused mostly on Beauvallet by Georgette Heyer over the past week. I'm still working (slowly!) on Song of Redemption by Lynn Austin; Robin: Lady of Legend by R.M. ArceJaeger; She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell; Waiting for Summer's Return by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

    

    

• What did you recently finish reading?  I finished Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad. (Read my thoughts about this book HERE.)

• What do you think you'll read next? I have a new book waiting for me - A Lady's Honor by Laurie Alice Eakes. Just yesterday a book arrived that I will be reviewing soon - The Brickmaker's Bride by Judith Miller. I'm eager to get started on both of those! And I have plenty of others on my stack to choose from as well!

   

What are you reading? Anyone can join in this link-up by answering these three questions. Visit Should Be Reading for this week's link-up.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Teaser Tuesdays - September 30, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

A little background before the teaser - Dominica is the Spanish lady that Englishman Sir Nicholas Beauvallet has promised to seek out and marry, and she is secretly in love with him, although she is a ward of her aunt's in Spain during a time of great hostility between their two countries.

It was not caution made her [Dominica] so reticent, for she could not think that she would ever see Sir Nicholas again, but she had a dread of letting her aunt into her confidence. Dona Beatrice was like a snail, she thought, trailing a sticky poison in her wake. What she touched she soiled; all virtue was made to seem a little foolish; all vice was merely smiled upon.

~Beauvallet by Georgette Heyer, page 202

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Scripture and a Snapshot - September 27. 2014

Show me the right path, O Lord; 

point out the road for me to follow.

Lead me by your truth and teach me,

for you are the God who saves me.

All day long I put my hope in you.

~Psalm 25:4-5~

Scripture and a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life. 

The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - Making Waves

Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad - This book was offered for free on Kindle not that long ago, and the humorous and summery cover attracted me. The reviews were mixed but I was willing to give it a try. The setting is a resort lake in Iowa during 1895, and the main character is Marguerite Westing, an impulsive and adventurous young lady chafing against the strict and joyless life her mother is pushing her towards. Mrs Westing fully expects Marguerite to marry Roger Gordon, but Marguerite finds him exceedingly boring and loathes spending time with him. He is completely serious and although he is polite and proper, it doesn't seem as though he has any emotions or that he actually cares about Marguerite other than as a trophy for his collection. Meanwhile, Marguerite discovers that she loves sailing and she is determined to take lessons even though it was not considered at all ladylike. The boating instructor, Trip Andrews, reluctantly takes Marguerite and her younger brother as students, and the attraction between her and Trip is obvious. She takes to sailing quite naturally, and she and Trip are clearly very taken with each other. But Marguerite has a tendency to be sneaky and tell fibs to get her own way, and when Trip discovers her deception he finds it very hard to trust her in anything. Marguerite is not the only one with secrets and lies, and much more than her sailing lessons is at stake when Roger determines that he will marry Marguerite no matter what. Will Marguerite live a lie in order to protect her family, or will she follow her heart?

I enjoyed the lighthearted tone through most of the book, and the humor. I liked that the main characters were not presented as practically perfect, but had realistic flaws that they didn't immediately acknowledge, but had to work through. The ending was overly dramatic and not nearly as believable as the first three quarters of the book and I thought it over the top, but in general this was an enjoyable beach read type book.

(Book #40 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

WWW Wednesdays - September 24, 2014

Should Be Reading hosts this weekly update on what we're reading, what we recently finished reading, and what's next. 

• What are you currently reading?   I've just started Song of Redemption by Lynn Austin. I read the first book in that series awhile ago, so I am rather overdue in starting the second! And on my Kindle, I am working going on - Robin: Lady of Legend by R.M. ArceJaeger, which I started last week; She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell; Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad; and Waiting for Summer's Return by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

   

    

• What did you recently finish reading?  I finished The Eight by Katherine Neville. (Read my thoughts about this book HERE.)

• What do you think you'll read next? I am waiting for a new book to arrive in the mail soon, so I'll probably start that next.

What are you reading? Anyone can join in this link-up by answering these three questions. Visit Should Be Reading for this week's link-up.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/