Recent Reads {The Touch of Sage}

The Touch of Sage by Marcia Lynn McClure - This was a predictable but engaging love story, and a bit of a tear-jerker at times. The supporting cast of characters - an eclectic foursome of widows at a boarding house run by the main character Sage - made the story lively and fun. The main characters Sage and her love interest Rebel were interesting too. Sage has looked after her younger sisters since the death of their parents and it seems as if her chance for happiness may have passed by. She's lonely and starting to wonder if she'll stay that way, when the nephew of one of the widows comes to town to work the widow's cattle ranch. The widows come up with some crazy matchmaking schemes to push Sage and Rebel together, but it seemed to me they didn't need a lot of help noticing each other. The final matchmaking scheme was completely harebrained and unbelievable, but at least it was humorous. Sage is gullible and doubts herself, and Rebel is courageous in the face of danger but a coward when it comes to facing Sage after he saves her life. There wouldn't be much to the story if there weren't some obstacles to the happy ever after part, so there are misunderstandings and fears that keep the two from a happy relationship too early. And then just as it seems everything will work out, Rebel's ex-fiancee shows up with some lies and deceit that muddy the waters even further. Some of the characters, such as ex-fiancee Ivy and the preacher and his wife were really not believable. The other thing that bothered me was the spelled-out dialect which I felt was overdone and distracting. It was also inconsistent, such as a character saying "you" and "ya" in the same speech. The author seemed fond of the non-word "caressive", which was  used at least four times, and constantly used "might" instead of "mite" such as in: "I'm a might tired." All in all, this was a fluffy and over-dramatic western-themed romance but still had moments that were entertaining and tugged at the heartstrings.

©2008-2013 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 {Pride's Prejudice}

Pride's Prejudice by Misty Dawn Pulsipher - I'm not entirely sure, but I think this modern day take on Pride & Prejudice is intended to be young adult fiction. In any case, it was surprisingly enjoyable! I definitely appreciated that it was a modern romance that stayed clean and that the characters had high moral standards. Yet it wasn't "preachy" as if it was attempting to force some moral point on the reader.

Beth Pride is a college student who meets young businessman William Darcy at a charity fundraiser dance when neither of them are having a very good day. Just as in Austen's original, each of them form some first impressions that aren't accurate and lead to continued misunderstandings and prejudice. Beth feels that William insulted and humiliated her, and she is unwilling to forgive and forget, or to accept that he may be a much nicer guy than she's given him credit for. As it turns out, Beth's roommate and best friend is soon in a relationship with William's best friend, so the two find themselves in each other's company frequently. Beth struggles to set aside her prejudicial attitude about William as he tries to get her attention and win her affections. Although the main character motivations were rather unclear at times and I noticed some minor plot holes, on the whole this was a cute and clean love story with characters that were modern yet had the noble and honorable character traits of Austen's Darcy and Elizabeth.

©2008-2013 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/

Tuesday's Treasures {The Seven Wonders of the World}

This post is copied from my main blog, Homeschool Coffee Break, but because this link-up is about books, my contributions will appear here too!

The Seven Wonders of the World by Ron Tagliapietra - A long time ago (but not in a galaxy far away) I picked up this book because I thought it might be helpful in our study of the ancient world, and give us more information about the seven wonders of the ancient world. It met those expectations, but there's a lot more to this book. It's sort of a combination of a travel brochure, a history lesson, and a Bible lesson. The seven wonders of the ancient world are discussed and described, but there is also great information about other lists of wonders - technical, archaeological, architectural, and natural. Of course, these lists change from time to time and vary depending on who compiles them. Kennady and I recently completed a lapbook project about the seven natural wonders of the world, and only three of them are the same as the ones listed in this book, which was published in 1999. I haven't checked, but I imagine a few of the technological wonders listed have been eclipsed by structures that are bigger or more amazing. For each of the ancient wonders, the author describes them and puts them in context of Biblical history. By comparing and contrasting the religious beliefs of the builders of the ancient wonders to the God of the Bible, there are some interesting lessons as well. The wonders from the other lists are also well described along with some historical context. This book has proved to be a great resource for studying history and geography, and has come in handy for science as well. It's probably best suited as a reference, and some of the Bible lessons are a tiny bit forced, but I'm glad it's in our homeschool library.

I found it available through Amazon and through Christian Book Distributors. I'm sure it's available through other vendors as well.

(I originally wrote about The Seven Wonders of the World a couple of years ago for this blog.)

The original post is linked at Every Bed of Roses for Tuesday's Treasures. Blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading, or one you found at the library.

©2008-2013 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 {The Matters at Mansfield}

The Matters at Mansfield, Or, The Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris - I had read this fourth novel in the Mr & Mrs Darcy Mystery series before, and I found that I enjoyed it much more the second time through, which isn't to say I didn't like it the first time. After my first reading, I'd said it was "definitely an enjoyable read" but also thought is was the "weakest outing of the four" in the series I'd read so far. Hmmm. I'm not sure I still agree with that assessment! This one is different from the first two in that it doesn't include a supernatural element to the mystery. Darcy's cousin Anne DeBourgh has finally summoned enough backbone to do what she wants to do, and to the great surprise of everyone, she elopes with the dashing Henry Crawford in order to escape the plans Lady Catherine has to marry her to a titled gentleman with a reputation for being anything but gentle or honorable! Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam ride after the couple but arrive too late to stop the marriage. An accident delays them in the village of Mansfield, where it is discovered that Anne's new husband has quite a history of romancing the ladies, and has even married at least one of his conquests, although under an assumed name. Elizabeth and Lady Catherine join the group at Mansfield and all are involved in trying to untangle the affair, which soon includes murder and further plotting.

What disappointed me in this book was the number of times that Lady Catherine is incredibly rude - even for her! - to Elizabeth, and Darcy does not defend his wife. Elizabeth doesn't tattle about all of this to Darcy, of course, but when he is standing in the same room and his aunt calls Elizabeth a "stupid, common baggage" I certainly thought he would have drawn a line at that, no matter how distraught everyone was at the time. Lady Catherine is also terribly rude to Meg, the young woman claiming to be married to Crawford, which seemed to me to be slightly out of character. I would have expected Lady Catherine to act as if Meg (a commoner, and a serving girl) was completely beneath her notice. Meg provides some welcome humour, however, as she blithely assumes that Lady Catherine is perhaps losing her mental faculties and speaks to her and about her patronizingly. 

My comments from a previous read: The Matters at Manfield. 

By the same author: The Intrigue at Highbury, North By Northanger, Suspense and Sensibility, Pride and Prescience. 

©2008-2013 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 {The Black Swan}

The Black Swan by Philippa Carr - This is the sixteenth in Carr's Daughters of England series, and is set in Victorian England. It focuses on Lucie Lansdon, the daughter of a respected politician. Her beloved father is murdered near the beginning of the story, and as the key witness, Lucie is able to identify the assassin, leading to his execution for the crime. She is haunted by her grief and by the worry that she may have condemned an innocent man, but another blow is yet to come. The rising young politician that she is planning to marry is kidnapped while on a diplomatic mission in Africa and she later receives word that he has been killed. In the meantime, her childhood companion (sort of a sister - the relationship is complicated and is the subject of the previous book in the series) Belinda, comes back from Australia, and convinces Lucie to go with her to visit Belinda's father in France. Lucie develops a fast friendship with a brother and sister and eventually returns to England with them and winds up marrying the brother. There is danger lurking around every corner for her, it seems, and her happiness and her very life are threatened.

In keeping with the Gothic romance style of this series, there are suggestions of haunting and questions raised about Lucie's mental stability; and there are sinister men with questionable motives in mysterious and ancient castles. It also struck me as I was reading this one that the standard advice given to young ladies facing great grief and tragedy throughout this series has been "you need to get right away from it"; the family and friends always seem to believe that removing from the scene of any horrible event and "putting it right out of your mind" is the cure-all for getting over the death of loved ones or the trauma of witnessing or being a part of something tragic.

By the same author: The Changeling; The Witch From the Sea; The Lion Triumphant; The Miracle at St Bruno's.

©2008-2013 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 {Loving Mr Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley}

Loving Mr Darcy by Sharon Lathan - I should have known better, after suffering through the inanity of the first book in this series. Actually, I did know better, but I'd intended to read all three so I set out to get through the second. This offering is just as full of repetitious bedroom scenes, and just as devoid of anything resembling plot as the first. In fact, I could sum up the book as follows: Darcy and Elizabeth continue to be completely ruled by raging hormones and immature obsessive passion all the way through Elizabeth's pregnancy. There is a pattern to most of the chapters that basically describes some tedious detail of their daily life and then includes a rehash of the standard breathless rush to the bedroom to once again reach the heights of passion and delight. <insert eyeroll here> 

What the book lacks in plot, it makes up for in complete absence of direction and momentum. What it lacks in intelligent dialogue, it makes up for in overly sentimental and repetitious moaning and wheezing of endearments during lustful encounters. (Both Darcy and Lizzy frequently "wheeze" during their lovemaking - not very attractive, in my opinion, but it provided a moment of amusement for me when I read it.)

Elizabeth's progressing pregnancy tends to give the illusion of a storyline, but mostly it serves as a reason for Darcy to be sentimental and overprotective, and for the reader to (presumably) be even more impressed that Elizabeth continues to be just as lascivious and enthusiastic in the bedroom as her baby bump grows. Towards the end of the book, Darcy takes Elizabeth on a tour of Derbyshire and plays the part of tour guide. There are several chapters of description of the sights and history of the region, which are frankly, horribly boring, and are still punctuated by their insatiable lust. The bedroom scenes became boring long ago, because they are all basically the same. Then they are set upon by highwaymen at one point and unbelievably, even that event turned out to be ho-hum because it was resolved within the chapter, and completely predictably. How can you include a scene with an armed robbery, violence and attempted rape and murder, and still not achieve a sense of tension or crisis in the narrative? Incredibly, Lathan manages it.

As in my review of the first book, I do have to temper my harsh criticism with something positive. I really do appreciate a point that I think Lathan is trying to make. I have the impression that by being very clear that Darcy and Elizabeth have both remained completely chaste until their marriage, and then indulging in scene after scene of their intense physical satisfaction within marriage, the author may be attempting to show that the most secure and fulfilling marriage relationship is best achieved by waiting until the wedding and being completely faithful to each other. That said, I firmly believe that the point could have been made more effectively with far less description of "burgeoning desires" and "evidence of arousal" etc. 

Why these books are receiving favorable reviews is completely beyond my understanding. Despite my original intention to read all three in this series, I refuse to put myself through the literary torment of even skimming through the third. I have the book which I believe is intended to be the fourth, and focuses on a character Lathan invented, Darcy's uncle Dr George Darcy. In hopes that it might actually have something sort of resembling a storyline, I may give it a chance at some point. My hope is slim, however. 

By the same author: Mr & Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy; and one of the novellas in A Darcy Christmas. Neither of which is worth your time or trouble either, and certainly not any of your money, in my opinion.

©2008-2013 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 {The Changeling}

The Changeling by Philippa Carr - I must say I like the cover art on the edition I have much better than the one above, but anyway... I had been reading through Carr's "Daughters of England" series again and left off quite awhile ago. (And I haven't bothered writing about them as I read them either - the last one I mentioned on the blog was #3 in the series, and this is #15! oops.) I picked up where I left off and just finished this one, which is set during Victorian England. (The series follows a family tree from mother to daughter, beginning in the time of Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn. Each is a romance novel in a rather gothic style - high drama and adventure, with dark secrets and hints of the supernatural.) Young Rebecca Mandeville is not at all happy when her widowed mother married Benedict Lansdon, and resents many of the changes it brings to her life. Worst of all, her mother dies in childbirth, and Rebecca helps to mother her young sister, Belinda. Their relationship with Benedict is distant at best. Rebecca brings another child into the family circle when a tragedy at a party leaves Lucie an orphan. Just because of the title, the reader clues into the possibility that Belinda may just be a changeling early in the story, but the clues don't fall into place for the characters right until the end. In the meantime, Rebecca and Benedict begin to develop a friendship amid the other tragedies and mysteries that surround them and their loved ones. Of course it all comes right in the end, although it's amazing to me how placidly they all seem to accept the startling revelation about the changeling at the end.

By the same author: The Witch From the Sea; The Lion Triumphant; The Miracle at St Bruno's.

©2008-2013 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/