Review ~ A Final Reckoning by Susan Moody

Severn House Publishers
2013

Thirteen year old, Chantal Frazer’s happy-go-lucky childhood is overshadowed by her elder sister’s murder. Twenty-three years later, Chantal returns to Weston Lodge in the Cotswolds, the scene of her sister Sabine’s murder, which is now converted into a luxury hotel. Determined to find out more about Sabine’s, untimely death, Chantal finds that events were not as clear-cut as she was first led to believe.

The Gothic setting, the chilling characters and misleading clues all add up to a fairly standard murder/mystery, which didn't quite keep my attention. Somehow, the story lacked a sense of authenticity, and I found myself skipping parts of the narrative, which for me is never a good sign. There is potential in some of the novel but the epistolary communication between the sisters seemed a bit contrived and rather uninspired.In the end, I was left feeling let down by the whole story.

Not a great book, but, as always make up your own mind.

My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for my digital ecopy of this book.

Review ~ The Lake House by Marci Nault

Gallery,Threshold,Pocket Books
2013

On the surface, Victoria Rose and Heather Bregman have little in common. The odds that they would ever strike up a friendship are stacked high against them and yet, when they are brought together in the idyllic setting of Nagog, New England, their unlikely differences are the very bond which brings them together.

Victoria is learning how to come to terms with the life she once left behind, and the breaking of promises made fifty years ago, now leave Victoria feeling alone and vulnerable. On the the other hand, Heather is an international journalist, who is at a crossroads in her life and who has now chosen to live a quieter existence. Both women have their own demons to erase, but what is achingly exposed about the story, is the way in which the author brings together a real sense of community with all its faults and foibles.

For me, the story got off to rather a slow, and it must be said, rather meandering start but about a third of the way into the novel, I began to warm to the characters and empathised more with their personal dilemmas. The lakeside setting is idyllic and is captured very well, and really adds depth to the story.

Overall, this is a pleasant story, about the power of friendship.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my ecopy of this book

Book Beginnings on Fridays....

Hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader


Book Beginnings on Fridays as stated by the host was started:

"to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires."

You can share on Google + and social media , please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings and there's also a Mr Linky on the host's blog.

Book Beginnings: Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Montefiore

Burb from Goodreads:

Ellen Trawton is running away from it all - quite literally. She is due to get married to a man she doesn't love, her job is dragging her down and her interfering mother is getting on her nerves. So she escapes to the one place she know her mother won't follow her - to her aunt's house in rural Ireland. Once there, she uncovers a dark family secret - and a future she never knew she might have.

Prologue

It is autumn and yet it feels more like summer. the sun is bright and warm,the sky a translucent, flawless blue. Ringed plovers and little terns cavort on the sand and bees search for nectar in the purple bell heather, for the frosts are yet to come and the rays are still hot on their backs. Hares seek cover in the long grasses, and butterflies, hatched in the unseasonal weather, flutter about the gorse in search of food.Only the shadows are longer now and the nights close in early, damp and cold and dark......

The flowery description of the beginning of the book suggests a book of light and yet the ending sentence suggests that perhaps there are some darker forces at work....time will tell as I read on....

Santa Montefiore is the bestselling author of 14 books

Secrets of the Lighthouse

 was published

 in

July 2013 by Simon and Schuster

***

Review ~ Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir

Random House Publishing Group
Ballantine
December 3 2013

I was really excited when I was given the opportunity to read this book in advance of its publication, as Elizabeth of York has long been one of my favourite Tudor queens. The documented evidence of her life and times, and the turbulent period of her early youth certainly has enough information to warrant several books about her life.

As always, Alison Weir has produced an impeccable and very readable biography, which begins with Elizabeth's birth on the 11th February 1466 in the royal palace of Westminster.  Born to Edward IV and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, she was the first princess to be born to an English monarch for over a century. The news of the birth of a royal princess was met with great jubilation and the prosperity of the ruling house of York seemed secure. However, the dark and violent years which followed Elizabeth's birth would see brother pitched against brother, and the country plunged into political turmoil, which culminated at the ill fated Yorkist defeat at the battle of Bosworth in 1485.

All too often we see repetitive biographies of the great and the good of our historical inheritance, whilst those who somehow stand quietly in the background tend to be forgotten. Such has been the case, I think, with Elizabeth of York, as all too often we see her merely as a shadowy figure against the more robust rendition of Tudor history in relation to her husband and infamous son. It is refreshing, therefore, to view an interesting and very readable account of this most enigmatic of English queens.

I think that Alison Weir has really brought to life the challenging times in which Elizabeth lived and demonstrated how the very survival of the newly established house of Tudor was largely reliant on the convincing political association which Elizabeth brought to the marriage. It is entirely credible that without Elizabeth of York's vital input, the royal house of Tudor would have been much maligned.

If, like me, you love to read historical fiction set during the Plantagenet and Tudor periods in English history; then this is definitely one of those books to have in your historical arsenal. It’s an interesting dip into and out of sort of book, but which also works well, as it reads as easily as a good historical novel. 

My only niggle is that this is one of those books I would prefer to have in hardback rather than on my kindle, as I like to be able to see good illustrations and to be able backtrack within the text.

Highly readable and highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing /Ballantine for my advance copy of this book.

***

Review ~ The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden

Ebury Press
November 2013

Emme Fifield is lady- in -waiting to Queen Elizabeth and as such holds a privileged position at the English court, but this protection does not extend to the capricious nature of a courtier who is hell bent on claiming Emme has his own. When personal scandal threatens to overwhelm Emme, she persuades Sir Frances Walsingham to intervene with the Queen, and gain her approval to allow Emme to sail for the New World, ostensibly to report back to the Queen on activity in one of the new world colonies, but in reality to escape public disgrace.

What then follows is a well written and beautifully researched novel, which takes the reader from the dangerous beauty of the high seas, in the company of a shabby assortment of passengers and crew, to the wild and untamed splendour of the New World, where the indigenous people are not as welcoming as was first believed. Throughout the story, and in fact what gives the book its heart and soul, is the developing relationship between Kit Doonan, a charismatic, and it must be said, handsome mariner, and Emme, whom fate seems to throw together in the most challenging of circumstances.

The story zings along at a cracking pace, there is danger, excitement, romance and deep emotion and by the clever weaving together of fact with fiction, the danger of this untamed period in history comes gloriously alive. By the end of the novel, and with the wild backdrop of the New World firmly ensconced in my imagination, I felt like I had spent time in the company of a wonderful array of adventurers. When the last page was turned, I breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief, not because the story was finished, far from it, but because the book’s ending was really well done.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to lovers of well written and decisive historical fiction.

***

**Those who have read The Mistress of the Sea will appreciate the subtle binding together of some of the loose ends which were left at the end of that novel, but it is by no means essential to read this book first as The Lost Duchess is more than capable of standing alone.

There is an interview with the author Jenny Barden where she talks about her inspiration for
The Lost Duchess

Find it here

A little more about Jenny and her writing can be found here:

www.jennybarden.com

twitter @jennywilldoit

facebook jennybardenauthor

goodreads Jenny Barden

My author spotlight falls on...Stephanie Elmas

I am delighted to welcome

Stephanie Elmas

Author of

The Room Beyond

*~Welcome Stephanie~*

What do you love about Writing?

I think that writing exercises my brain. I spend a lot of time with my young children - who are wonderful in every way! – but writing gives me the intellectual stimulation I need. When I’m writing, the hours can tick away without me even noticing. Before I know it my time’s up and I haven’t eaten, done that paperwork I was supposed to do, filled the dishwasher … I love creating sentences that sound beautiful, like music, and often agonize about my work when I can’t get it right. But when the words flow smoothly it’s the best feeling ever!

Do you write stories for yourself, or other people?

Both. I write because it’s my favourite way of spending time but I also love sharing my work with others. I still can’t get over the fact that people all over the world are buying and enjoying my book and I love getting messages and feedback from my readers.

Why do you choose to write in your particular genre?

After several years of working in the commercial world I returned to university to complete a Masters degree in Victorian literature. It was there that I fell in love with sensation writing, a very popular genre during this era. Perhaps the two greatest sensation writers were Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, best known for Lady Audley’s Secret. I was so inspired by the dark dangerous world of sensation writing that I had to write one of my own – with a modern twist of course!

When do you find the time to write, and do you have a favourite place to do your writing?

I wrote most of The Room Beyond during my children’s daytime naps! Now they’re getting older and going to school I have a bit more time in the day but my youngest is only two so writing is still something I have to juggle. Ideally I’d like to write in the evenings but my brain is usually too tired by then to produce anything worthwhile. I write on my laptop at a small desk at the front of my house. From there I can watch the world go by and try and think great thoughts.


Which writers have inspired you?
Obviously the sensation writers I mentioned earlier. I’ve been likened to Kate Morton and I do enjoy her writing. I’ve grown up reading and loving the classics from Chaucer to the great modernist writers, so I love to read on a huge scale. Two quite obscure writers who have inspired me greatly are Arthur Machen – fabulous for Victorian mysticism - and Sarah Grand who wrote an extraordinary book called The Heavenly Twins.

Can you tell us what you are writing next?

Yes! One of the lesser characters in The Room Beyond is a Victorian mystic from the East End of London called Walter Balanchine. He is a strange eccentric character who walks the streets of London in wizard like clothing with bottles and charms hanging around his neck. I had so much fun with him that I simply couldn’t leave him there and so I’m writing a novel all about Walter’s early life – from East End workhouse boy to conjuring sensation!

***

Stephanie is very kindly offering a kindle copy of The Room Beyond to one lucky winner of this great giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*~Stephanie ~ thank you so much for spending time with us~*
Jaffa and I wish you continued success with your writing, we shall follow your books with great interest

***

My thoughts on The Room Beyond

I have a real passion for dual time narratives, especially when the setting is as gloriously Gothic as The Room Beyond.  

In the present Serena arrives at 36 Marguerite Avenue, ostensibly to take up a position as nanny to young Beth Hartreve. The very air shimmers with a heat haze which settles like a net of gauze, revealing a family which is eccentric beyond comprehension , and with characters so compelling that as they come into a room you sense that life for Serena is about to get very complicated. With comparative ease the story time-slips back to 1892, when Marguerite Avenue was a very different place, with a set of characters equally unconventional, and as a real sense of the macabre starts to pervade, the strands of narrative start to reveal a story illicit desire and supernatural control.

I read the story over a couple of evenings around Halloween and found that the creeping feeling of unease starts to build imperceptibly until the darkness of the narrative really starts to take you by surprise. There is a perfect blend of mystical gloom and supernatural imagery, all combined with a thriller which keeps you guessing until the very last few pages.

In The Room Beyond, Stephanie Elmas has used her obvious love of Victorian literature and has created an entirely believable world within a world, which combines to give the best of both present and past.

A commendable debut novel and a new talent worth watching.

***

Review - The Funeral Owl by Jim Kelly

Philip Dryden #7
December 1 2013
Creme de la Crime
Severn House

The mysterious, and it must be said, rare sighting of the enigmatic Boreal, or ‘funeral owl’, in the fenland area of Brimstone Hill is seen as a portent of death. When this is linked with some strange occurrences and spate of violent crimes, the local newspaper reporter, Philip Dryden, can scarce keep up with events.

This is the first of the Philip Dryden mystery books I have read, and I was surprised to find that this is number seven in the pecking order. I half expected it to be difficult to understand the hidden nuances which can litter an established series, but I’m pleased to say that this one works rather well as a standalone mystery, but I am sure that as with all series, it is probably better to start at the beginning with a proper emotional investment in the main characters.

I was very quickly drawn into the story, and thought that the conjured images of the wild and lonely fens are really well described. The beginning of the book gets off to a dramatic start with the arrival of a violent dust cloud, something I have never experienced in real life, but I feel that the author did a great job of making this strange phenomenon appear scarily realistic. The mystery itself, which is after all, the heart and soul of the story had enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep me turning the pages long into the night. I think that it is commendable that the author can grab the interest of a new reader so quickly.

I am intrigued by Philip Dryden, that's always a good sign, and would like to find out more about his character, so I shall tootle off to the book store and find myself the first book in the Philip Dryden series.

My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House and Creme de la Crime or allowing me access to this book in advance of its publication. 


More about Jim Kelly can be found here