Sandra Byrd's "Mist of Midnight"--a gothic Victorian treat

I've become a slightly more impatient reader in recent years.  If a book doesn't grab me fairly soon after I open it, I have trouble making myself keep reading.

Mist of Midnight, by Sandra Byrd, offered no such problem. As soon as the reader meets Rebecca Ravenshaw, then finds out her extraordinary quandary, you're in.

This from Amazon.com:

"In the first of a brand-new series set in Victorian England, a young woman returns home from India after the death of her family to discover her identity and inheritance are challenged by the man who holds her future in his hands.

"Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her...and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca's name, but her home and incomes."

Rebecca is a likable heroine, and I kept turning pages to find out how she would deal with her plight and her growing attraction to Captain Luke Whitfield, who has taken over her family's estate. In true Gothic novel fashion, we have to question whether the handsome captain is friend or foe. (We're hoping it's friend, because we're a little in love with him ourselves.)

In fact, the entire story has that Gothic atmosphere that I used to enjoy in writers like Victoria Holt.

About Sandra Byrd

Sandra Byrd

Sandra Byrd first drew me in with her contemporary French Twist  series about a young woman who becomes a pastry chef in France,  Then I loved her Tudor series, Ladies in Waiting.  I'm not surprised that her Victorian series, Daughters of Hampshire, should be any different.

I've read dozens, if not hundreds, of Christian fiction books.  Sandra Byrd has that something extra that makes a writer stand out in the genre.  Faith is naturally infused into her books in, as she once told me in an interview, an "organic" way.

Most of all, her books have the quality I ask for of any writer:  Make me care about the story and characters.  Give me the sheer enjoyment of reading that makes me keep turning the pages.  Sandra Byrd does that, in spades.

Disclosure: I was provided an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.  This is my honest review.

How can you love a book when you can't stand the characters? My review of "Flinder's Field" by D. M. Mitchell

Flinder's Field by D.M.  Mitchell

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I read this book on my Kindle because I love psychological thrillers, and this had gotten a lot of five-star reviews.

Here's part of Amazon's summary:

In November 1974, a young woman called Sylvia Tredwin goes missing. Nobody has the faintest idea where she’s gone. She was wearing only a light skirt and T-shirt, didn’t take anything with her, no suitcase, nothing. Simply went out one dark evening and never returned. 

Some say she went off with another man, because there’d already been talk in the small Somerset village of Petheram that she’s that type of woman – attractive, flirty with it, dressed too provocatively. But her husband, Bruce Tredwin, doesn’t believe a word of the callous whisperings of the locals as they gossip about his outsider wife. So he never gives up searching for her. A fortnight later on a stormy winter’s night he finds her. She’s naked in a place called Flinder’s Field, wandering aimlessly, badly bruised and in total shock. But what she says to him will astound everyone. 

She says she’s been abducted by aliens, and she was never to be the same again, with tragic consequences…

While not badly written, I had two glaring problems with this book:

1) It took SO long to get going.  It was well into the book before anything really started happening.

2) And this one is a biggie:  I COULDN'T STAND THE CHARACTERS, especially the main character, George Lee!

George returns to Petheram, the village of his birth, and decides to try to find out exactly what happened to Sylvia Tredwin.

George was quite frankly a jerk, with no endearing qualities or anything that drew me to him.  Quite honestly, I didn't care if he lived or died.

None of the other characters were much better.

I stuck it out only because other readers had raved about the huge twist at the end, but even the twist failed to wow me.

The author has been touted as England's answer to Dean Koonce and Stephen King, but judging by this book, I'm not seeing it.

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"The Luminaries" didn't light up my world

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"It is 1866, and young Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On the stormy night of his arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to discuss a series of unexplained events: A wealthy man has vanished, a prostitute has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely ornate as the night sky."--Goodreads

I really wanted to like this critically acclaimed and highly-praised book. It had so many characteristics that I like in a book: it was lengthy, well-written, had interesting characters and story, even a Dickensian flair that I enjoyed.

Why, then, was it so hard for me to read this book? I literally had to force myself to read it. I only finished it because at some point, I figured I had invested too much time in it to just abandon it.

I ploughed doggedly through it as if it had been assigned to me in school and I was going to be tested on it.

But I feel no sense of accomplishment or satisfaction on completing it. Maybe it was because there was no one character I was really rooting for? I just don't know. I liked Moody, and Anna Wetherell was a solid character, but neither were developed enough to really care about.

All I know is, life is too short and there are too many amazing, page-turning books out there to spend time forcing myself to read a book.

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Remembering favorite writers from my early years

From the Rosamund du Jardin website:

"Most people wonder why I like these books so much when I am a child of the '80's and the '90's and these books are about what it was like to be young during the '50's and the '60's. To tell you the truth, I don't know myself! Perhaps it's because they are about a time when it was safe to walk a girl home at night or when people drank malteds in the soda shop while wearing their charm bracelets and sweater sets. In some ways, their world of wearing class rings and hoping for orchid corsages is the opposite of my world of MTV, gangs and violence, and teenage pregnancy, but it's still the same when it comes to joys and heartaches, growing up and learning."

Most people remember Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) for his poem, The Road Not Taken.

However, my favorite Frost poem is Reluctance. It ends like this:

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Mary Stolz, et al

I've liked that poem ever since my early teen years, when I read a book whose title was taken from it: A Love, or a Season, by Mary Stolz. To be honest, I don't remember what the book was even about. I do remember that Mary Stolz was one of my favorite writers at the time, along with the likes of Betty Cavanna, Rosamund du Jardin and Janet Lambert.
(By the way, if you were ever a Rosamund du Jardin fan, this website dedicate to her is really enjoyable.)

While some of these books were already ten to 20 years old when I was reading them, they still resonated with me as a starry-eyed bookworm.

Francena H. Arnold

Christian fiction was in its early stages, but there was some good stuff out there even then. I loved Not My Will, Light in My Window and Then Am I Strong, by Francena H. Arnold. (I even listed Not My Will as one of my Top 25 Books of All Time.)

I've since lost track of most of my copies of these books, but I see now that many of them are available online. Moody Publishers has even re-released Not My Will. I will probably eventually purchase some of my favorites online. Reading them again will be a delight.

Any favorites that you'd like to let me know about?

 (Originally posted on my main blog, Notes in the Key of Life, 3/26/07.)

Deeply Odd was deeply enjoyable

Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deeply Odd was deeply enjoyable.

It's been a while since I read an Odd Thomas book. I skipped "Odd Apocalypse" because, frankly, I wasn't in the mood for an apocalyptic read. So when I saw this one at my local library, I decided it was time for a return to the world of a uniquely sweet young man who "sees the spirits of the lingering dead."

Honestly--unlike some of the reviews I've read on here--I think "Deeply Odd" is one of my favorites in the series.

Although there was the requisite evil and the horrific tragedy Odd needs to avert, it was also infused with a spirit of hope and goodness.

The book leaves the enigmatic Annamaria in the background. (She's the pregnant young woman that he befriended a couple of books ago. Enigmatic almost to the point of being annoying, I might add.)

It also introduces a wonderful new character that I hope sticks around...the elderly, but feisty and sparkling, Edie Fischer. Edie is also enigmatic and mysterious, but also down-to-earth and very likable.

For example, after the story's suspenseful and nerve-wracking climax, this exchange:

Edie: "How do you feel, Oddie?"
Odd: "Starved. I need a big pile of breakfast."
Edie: "First you need a shower, dear, so the rest of us will have the stomach to take breakfast at the same table with you."

A new ghost is also introduced (in the past, Odd has helped ghosts like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra pass over to the other side), and there's a new, awesome twist with this one. Plus, he seems to be even more helpful to Odd than some of the spirits in past books.

One of the criticisms I've read has been that Odd didn't ever seem to be in very much danger. Umm, did you read the same book I did? I would think being relentlessly pursued by a bloodthirsty demon would qualify as "dangerous."

I actually appreciated that the story seemed to be a tad less chaotic than some of the "Odd" books. For me, the main attraction of an Odd Thomas book is Odd himself. His thoughts, his ponderings, his humor, his unique outlook on the world. All that I got in spades.

Another criticism was that "not enough questions were answered." The better to keep us buying the next books, maybe?

As for the element of hope? Previous Odd Thomas books have held the gloomy undertone that the world as we know it is being overtaken my evil. "Deeply Odd" revealed that the good is out there too, and working just as hard.






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Lauren Willig's "The Ashford Affair"

The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Two books came out at about the same time, both set in Africa in the 20s. I couldn't finish one of them--Deanna Raybourn's A Spear of Summer Grass--but I really enjoyed the other, Lauren Willig's The Ashford Affair.

I'm normally a big Deanna Raybourn fan. I love her Lady Julia series. Lady Julia is an eminently likable character, and her husband Brisbane is one of the most attractive male characters ever--brooding, mysterious, very cool.

But I had to quit reading A Spear of Summer Grass simply because I didn't like the characters. I had no sympathy or connection whatever with Delilah, and her male love interest just bored me. Definitely no Brisbane.

On the other hand, The Ashford Affair captured me immediately. I liked the main character, Clementine, very much. As for the characters from the past (the 1920's), I wasn't crazy about any of them, but I was vitally interested in their story.

Addie is one of the most multi-dimensional characters I've encountered in fiction. Kind of like real life--few people are totally good or bad. Addie had her likable, admirable qualities, but definitely her questionable ones as well.

Bea was much like Delilah in Raybourn's book, but unlike Delilah, she had to face the consequences of her selfish, devil-my-care attitude.

Altogether, an entertaining and absorbing tale.



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My review of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park"

Warning: This review contains spoilers


Although I've thoroughly enjoyed other books by Jane Austen, this is the first time I've read "Mansfield Park."

I was riveted from the first page. I seriously had a hard time putting this book down, so utterly captivating and engaging was the story.

The book shows how, although morals and mores have changed drastically since the early 18-hundreds, basic human nature has changed not at all...and Ms. Austen had a laser-sharp grasp on it, and how to unerringly depict it.

I loved Fanny, and wanted her to be able to claim her deserved status as well as the man she loved.

****SPOILER ALERT****

This is from the movie...in the book, no such scene is depicted

The one thing in which I was disappointed was how the ultimate union of Edmund and Fanny was almost anticlimactic. They didn't even get a "reveal" scene in which Edmund could tell Fanny that he had been an idiot and it was Fanny he had really loved all along, and that they could at least share a heartfelt kiss and/or embrace.

The closest we get to any such scene is when Edmund comes to get Fanny from Portsmouth, and he clutches her to his heart.

I would have loved to have seen Edmund's feelings for Fanny be revealed to him gradually and culminate in a joyful scene of realization.

But that isn't enough to ruin the book for me. It was a truly enjoyable read, and a triumph for anyone who has experienced unrequited love.

My latest book trailer...

One of the things I love to do as a voice-over artist is voice book trailers.  Here's my latest, for Kathi Macias' The Deliverer.  It's produced by Misty Taggart with Trailer to the Stars.

My review of Kate Alcott's "The Dressmaker": so what happened after the Titanic sank?

The Dressmaker: A Novel by Kate Alcott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tess, a young maid who dreams of being a dressmaker and designer, lucks into boarding a ship in the employ of famous fashion designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon and her husband.

The ship is the Titanic, and of course we know how that voyage turned out. Fortunately for Tess and the Duff Gordons, they survive, and once in New York, Tess's dreams begin to come true.

But questions are being raised about the reasons for the Titanic's tragedy and who was to blame, as well as why many of the lifeboats were only partially filled. And the Duff Gordons are squarely in the middle of the controversy.

That means Tess's loyalties are torn between her new employer and a handsome sailor she befriended on the ship, Jim Bonney, who is determined to tell the truth about what really happened on the lifeboat he shared with the wealthy couple.

Good story

I gave this book four stars mainly because it's a good story that held my interest and propelled me along. It also renewed my interest in one of the most fascinating true stories of all time.

Pretty much everything about the doomed ship is intriguing, and I liked this book because it centered around the aftermath of the sinking. We've seen and heard a lot of stories about the actual event...what happened to the survivors who had to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on?

As well, many of the people in the book (although not Tess and Jim) were real people who figured prominently in the Titanic's story, including the Duff Gordons.

"Modern sensibility"?

However, the story falls a bit flat in the area of character development and emotion. It's not a surprise to find that Kate Alcott is a journalist who has covered national politics.

Another reviewer on Goodreads said that the book is guilty of giving its characters a "modern sensibility." I have to agree. They're quite politically correct, and even the hero, Jim Bonney, admits he "doesn't dismiss" the Bolsheviks and tells Tess "hopefully": "There's this bloke, Vladimir Lenin...have you heard of him?"

Also, will someone please tell me when the use of the word "okay" became common? Did people really say it frequently in conversation in 1912? I'm genuinely curious.

I will say that the characters in this book generally talked like contemporary people.

These are quibbles, though. If you like a good, entertaining tale against the backdrop of one of history's most fascinating events, you'll probably enjoy this book...just as I did.










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Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books: Anne Perry's The Face of a Stranger

"With insight, compassion, and a portraitist’s genius, Perry illuminates the shifting tide of emotions encompassing Queen Victoria’s London and the people who live there—aristocrats, brothel owners, thieves, Dickensian ruffians, and their evil keepers. She takes us through dangerous backstreets where the poor eke out their humble livings, and into the mansions of the rich, safe and secure in their privileged lives. Or so they believe..."--Goodreads.com

Not long ago, I realized I was up-to-date with Elizabeth George's mysteries (and not only that, I was having some reservations about her books), when I started casting about for a new series to get involved in.

I love Victorian mysteries, so I decided to check out Anne Perry's Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series.  I read and enjoyed a couple of them.

But then I read the first in her William Monk series, and I was hooked.

William Monk is the kind of man Heathcliff would be if Heathcliff wasn't violent and cruel. :)  He's dark, brooding, attractive and mysterious.  But he also has a heart, and I fell in love with him immediately.

The author's troubling history

It wasn't long before I found out that Anne Perry is a convicted murderer herself.  It's complicated, but she was very young when it happened, she has served her time and apparently deeply regrets the whole thing.

Some people have said they wouldn't read Perry's books because of that.  But I actually believe in redemption, second chances, and that people can change.

And darn it, she writes a great book!

If you decided to get into the series, I definitely recommend you start at the beginning, with "The Face of a Stranger."  There's a definite arc to Monk's story, and each book adds to its trajectory.

The story


I found the book riveting from page one.  William Monk wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who is or how he got there.

He has been in a serious carriage accident that has robbed him of his memory.  Eventually he learns that he is
a London police detective...and a very good one, but also a very disliked one.  Apparently the William he used to be was arrogant and downright mean.

He can't tell the police--especially his supervisor, Superintendent Runcorn, who obviously dislikes him and probably for good reason--that he has no memory.  He has to go back to work, because it's the only way he has of earning a living.

Immediately he's thrust into a high-profile murder investigation.  Fascinatingly, it seems his detecting skills haven't suffered too much from the accident--those seem to return instintively.

But obviously he's hampered by the fact that there are people everywhere who know him (and most can't stand him), while he doesn't know them at all.

(By the way, snatches of his memory do return throughout the series, but I'm well into it, and he still doesn't remember everything.)

Monk is a fascinating character, and as we can see his basic goodness and compassion, we like him and are rooting for him to succeed.

Hester Latterly

This book also introduces a character who becomes extremely important to the series--Hester Latterly, a nurse who worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War and who is on sort of a mission to reform the appalling Victorian hospitals and antiquated ideas about nursing and health care.

Outspoken, independent and strong, Hester is the opposite of the kind of woman Monk is usually attracted to, and yet he is drawn to her.

Thanks to the character of Hester, I've learned so many fascinating things about the history of nursing.  In fact, each Monk book has significantly enriched my knowledge about a remarkable time in history.

I'm really enjoying these books, and I dread when I'm finally up to date on them.  They've pretty much comprised my leisure reading for the past couple of months.

I highly recommend them to anyone who loves mysteries and enjoys books set in the Victorian era.

I'm linking up today with Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books!

Revisiting my reviews of some Christy Award nominees!

I'm delighted to see that some of the books I've reviewed on this blog, as well as a couple of others but I read but didn't review, have been nominated for Christy Awards.

What are Christy Awards, you might ask? Named for Catherine Marshall's classic, "Christy," the awards are given each year to honor and promote excellence in Christian fiction.

The awards will be presented July 16th in Orlando.

Check out my reviews of four of the nominees (click on the title to go to my review):

Nominated in the category CONTEMPORARY SERIES, SEQUELS, AND NOVELLAS:

Dancing on Glass, by Pamela Binning Ewen

Nominated in the categories CONTEMPORARY STANDALONE and FIRST NOVEL:

Words, by Ginny Yttrup

Nominated in the category HISTORICAL ROMANCE:

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, by Julie Klassen

To Die For, by Sandra Byrd

Nominated in the category YOUNG ADULT:

Waterfall, by Lisa T. Bergren

Although I never reviewed it, I also blogged about (and highly recommend) Mine is the Night, by Liz Curtis Higgs, nominated in the HISTORICAL category.

And I read and really enjoyed My Foolish Heart, by Susan May Warren, nominated in the CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE category.

You can find the complete list of nominees here.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

My Review of Maid of Fairbourne Hall, by Julie Klassen

OK, so that lasted all of 20 days...the retiring of my book blog!

Turns out, this really does seem like the best place to put my book reviews.  So I'm back.  And you know what they say about a woman's perogative, and all that! :)

Anyway, on to my review....

After reading all of Julie Klassen's previous books, my interest is always piqued when I hear she has another out.

And reading The Maid of Fairbourne Hall was the perfect antidote to the intensity of The Hunger Games and a string of P.D. James mysteries.

Julie Klassen's books may contain some danger and intrigue--they're not all fluff and frivolity--but they are books that you can just sit back and enjoy, for the sheer pleasure and fun of a good story.

Margaret Macy is a typical young lady of the Regency era--rich, beautiful and spoiled.  But she's not without decorum, and when her stepfather tries to force his boorish nephew on her in marriage--even to the point of suggesting the nephew compromise Margaret in order to insure the marriage--Margaret decides to make like Joseph fleeing Potiphar's wife.

And of course, the stepfather is only after the fortune she'll inherit when she turns 25 in just a few months.

She has no one to turn to and only a few coins to her name.  So what does she do?  She joins her own maid in leaving London and seeking a position elsewhere.

As a housemaid.

A good deal of enjoyment of this book is watching the tables turn on this pampered girl.  Disguised with a wig and spectacles, Margaret--now "Nora"--now literally finds out how the other half lives.  And that includes scrubbing floors and emptying chamber pots.

But Margaret is always likable, and we grow to respect her for adapting to her new lifestyle and gaining respect for the kind of people who have served her all her life.

And of course, there's a complication or two when Margaret finds out just whose house it is that she's working in.

Julie Klassen has obviously done her research when it comes to the part that servants played in that era--basically, that a wealthy home couldn't exist without them.  They often lived under severe rules and regimens, rarely getting any time off and working for very little pay.

I enjoyed the story's romance, and appreciated the element of faith that is an undercurrent of the main character's lives.

If you need an escape from the winter doldrums, you can probably find it in this light but refreshing historical romance.

I'm participating in Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books!

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Saturday Review of Books: Siri Mitchell's She Walks in Beauty

She Walks in Beauty, by Siri Mitchell, had been on my to-read list for quite while, so I was delighted to find it at my local library.

Several other bloggers had enthusiastically recommended this book, and I can say it didn't disappoint at all.

The story

Clara Carter is the daughter of a wealthy physician, living on Fifth Avenue in New York City during the so-called "Gilded Age" of the late 1890's.

Although she mourns her beautiful mother, who died when she was a child, Clara is happy enough pursuing her studies with her governess and reading poetry.

In fact, she's bright and intelligent enough that her governess thinks she could get into Vassar, the college for women.

But academically-minded girls are not particularly wanted in society, and Clara had a different destiny.

She must marry. And she must marry the heir to the DeVries fortune, in particular. To that end, her studies are ended and replaced with different learning: things like which fork to use, how to communicate by using a fan, how to waltz, and most difficult of all, how to wear a corset 24/7 to whittle one's waist down from 22 inches to 18.

Clara is to be a debutante, thrust into a whirl of social obligations to which marriage is the only possible outcome.

There are complications. Her best friend, Lizzie, is her main challenger for the hand of Franklin DeVries. Added to that is the fact that Clara much prefers Franklin's younger brother--a kind, funny young man who also has a depth of spirituality that Clara hasn't seen since her mother died.

Then, Clara learns things about her father that cause her carefully-constructed world to crumble.

My Thoughts

I loved this book, and read it in a very short time because I had a very difficult time putting it down.

Siri Mitchell's writing is perfect for getting inside the mind of a young girl of that era. Her obvious in-depth research lends an effortless authenticity to the story.

Things like the corruption of New York City politics, the shameful poverty of immigrant tenement dwellers, as well as the often hypocritical and haughty world of the wealthy are among the themes that inform this truly absorbing story.

Clara's character is also faced with the question, "Does God really love me just as I am?" In a world where she has to change everything about herself, including her waist size, to please society, Clara surmises that God's unconditional love would be an extravagant gift indeed.

I'm participating today in Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books--click the icon for more information!

My Review of The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen with notes by David M. Shaphard

The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Not long before Borders closed in my town, I made a stop there, hoping to find a wealth of classic literature for a fraction of the price. As it turned out, there was very little left in the way of classic literature by the time I got there. However, there were pretty paperback versions of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" and "Mansfield Park," so I snapped them up.

Then I found the Annotated Persuasion at my local library. As a result, it's taken me twice as long to read the book, because I've been utterly fascinated by the comments and explanations on the opposite page of every page of Austen's writing.

I've read other books by Austen and enjoyed them immensely, but the annotated version of this book so enhanced my reading experience, opening up a window to an era so different from ours.

Yes, I'm just curious enough to like knowing the difference between a curricle, a barouche-landau and a chaise-and-four--and sometimes it sheds light on the meaning of what the characters are saying.

I've never quite understood the difference in addressing the wife of a baronet, the daughter of an earl, or the younger daughters of any of them! The annotations explain all that.

And without explanation, I think it's hard for us 21st-century readers to grasp just how rigid were the rules of society in the early 18-hundreds. Suppose, as a woman, you wanted to let your ex-boyfriend know that you still had feelings for him. You couldn't even write him a letter to let him know of your feelings!

The story

Persuasion is the story of Anne Elliot, a sweet, lovely young woman who had, eight years ago, been "persuaded" to break up with the love of her life, Captain Wentworth.

Basically, Anne had listened to bad advice, and she lived to regret it. She never got over Captain Wentworth, but figured he was out of her life forever.

And then, through a change of circumstances, he shows up in her circle of acquaintance, and they are thrown together repeatedly.

Does the captain still have feelings for Anne? Did she break his heart too badly for him to try with her again?

It all plays out in inimitable Austen style, complete with snobbish and vain relatives, scheming social-climbers and dashing cads.

Taking to Bath

The main setting for the book is Bath, England, a place where Austen lived at one point and often visited, and her familiarity with the town is obvious throughout the book. Actual street names and place names are used, and the annotations clue the reader in on all of them.

The book whetted my curiosity about Bath, which boasted hot springs where people went to "take the waters." Apparently, Austen never really liked the town, but her name has been honored with a Jane Austen Centre and a city walk.

What did I think?

I enjoyed the story very much, and as always when reading Austen, I'm struck with her understanding of human nature--and with the fact that, despite changing mores and modern technology, human nature really hasn't changed at all.

Oh, and I dare you not to be moved by one of the most romantic love letters in fiction. Who wouldn't be moved if someone told you, "You pierce my soul"!


And I heartily recommend reading this annotated version, especially if you're a true Austen lover. It's almost like taking a mini-college course in the customs and culture of the era of which she writes.



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Mindy Starns Clark's Secrets of Harmony Grove

Secrets of Harmony Grove by Mindy Starns Clark

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was delighted to find this book at the library, since I've loved other books by Mindy Starns Clark--particularly her Million Dollar Mysteries, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

This is essentially a good book, but I have to say I struggled with it a bit--thus only giving it three stars.

This is one of those cases where I have to give part of the blame to my frame of mind, distractions, etc. The book is well-written and has an intriguing plot.

Still, I found it almost confusing at times...there was SO much going on.


Sienna is an up-and-coming Philadelphia advertising executive, on the cusp of spectacular success, when she comes into work one day to face a complete shocker.

Then a shady ex-boyfriend contacts her from the Lancaster B & B they earlier renovated together, in a phone call that's so bizarre, she heads out to the B & B, only to find a murder and two unconscious people.

Sienna and her boyfriend, Heath, stay at the B & B to try to help authorities figure out what's going on--and how it all ties into her late grandfather and his obsession with a grove memorializing his deceased wife. And especially, the priceless diamonds that may be buried in that grove.

I liked the heroine, Sienna--like other heroines of Clark's, she is feisty, intelligent, and knows how to protect herself. I also like the spirituality Clark doesn't try to hide in her books--Sienna's faith plays an important part in this book.

One of the few criticisms I have is that, in lengthy conversational narratives, the characters often sound like they're reading or writing rather than actually talking. That and the fact that there were so many layers to the story, it occasionally seemed like too much.

Overall, this was a good book, and I would actually recommend it to people who enjoy mysteries.



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Saturday Review of Books: Diane Noble's The Betrayal: Brides of Gabriel Book Two

Having read and been very moved by the first book in this series (my review here), I was delighted to find The Betrayal: Brides of Gabriel Book Two, by Diane Noble, at my local library.

It's not a very big book, and I had it read in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

This book is just as engrossing, just as compelling, as the first one.

The first book focused on Lady Mary Rose Ashley, who fell madly in love with Gabriel MacKay aboard an America-bound ship. They married and were converted to Mormonism.

How would you like it if you married someone, both of you deeply in love, planning to spend the rest of your lives together--and your husband decided to add another wife to the mix?

This is what happened to Mary Rose in Book One, and the pain and devastation were made worse by the fact that Wife Number 2 was her very best friend.

Bronwyn's viewpoint

Book 2 is mainly from the viewpoint of Wife Number 2, Bronwyn. At first, I didn't like this. But it's to Diane Noble's credit that I came around to understanding and even liking Bronwyn.

Now, there's a third wife in the mix--Enid, who was Gabriel's teen-aged sweetheart. Enid is determined to supplant both Mary Rose and Bronwyn in wifely status and in Gabriel's heart.

Along with the very real problems of three women married to one man, matters heat up to a dangerous degree for the Latter Day Saints.

Bronwyn and Mary Rose are appalled by the increasing practice of marrying off very young girls to very old men, as well as the Saints' new creed of "blood atonement"...literally killing people they consider apostates, or people opposed to Mormon doctrine.

It becomes clear that in order to save their combined family from danger--and because they are both now repudiating objectionable Mormon doctrines, thus targeting themselves as apostate--they have to make plans to flee.

Gabriel makes me mad

I've got to admit, I can't bring myself to like Gabriel very much.

Although he does it all in the name of his understanding of God's will, it's got to be a pretty cushy gig for a man to keep adding beautiful women to his harem.

These books further illustrate the fact that, although it may be cool for the man, women were simply not created to share a man. A woman needs to know that she alone is the focus of her husband's love and devotion. I cannot, under any conceivable circumstances, imagine sharing my husband with another woman!

Compelling read

Noble refrains from any blanket condemnation of the Latter Day Saints, but she doesn't stint on depicting the faults and excesses of some of the early Mormon hierarchy. That would probably be difficult for a modern-day Mormon to read.

But this book was compelling and absorbing from start to finish--one of the best I've read all year.

I haven't heard if there's going to be a Book 3, but I certainly so! I believe the stories of Gabriel and his wives still have a lot to be told.

I'm participating today in Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books!

Two Tales of Two Husbands: Dancing on Glass and Picture Perfect

I don't know how I ended up reading two books in a row that deal with domestic abuse--I certainly didn't plan it that way!

Jodi Picoult's Picture Perfect I picked up at a half-price bookstore in Texas, needing a page-turner that would help eat up the miles of the long car trip back to Illinois.

And a page-turner it certainly was. I had it finished well before we got home, where, surprise! A book titled Dancing on Glass, by an author I had never heard of--Pamela Binnings Ewen--was waiting for me in the mail our neighbor had collected for us, sent unsolicited by a wonderful book publicist.

Both books were very good and had some things in common. However, one of them stood out, gripping me in a way I haven't felt while reading a book in quite some time--and I've read some really good books lately. I'll tell you which one in a moment. First, some re-capping:

Picture Perfect, by Jodi Picoult

This is the story of Cassie Barrett, who wakes up in a cemetery one day with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Cassie is found by a man who has just arrived in Los Angeles to join the LAPD--William Flying Horse, a half-Sioux Indian man from South Dakota.

Will takes Cassie under his wing, but her memory begins to return, and she is soon claimed by her husband, Alex Rivers--who just happens to be the biggest movie star in Hollywood.

When she joins Alex, Cassie begins to remember why she left him, and why everything is definitely not as "picture perfect" as it seems.

Dancing on Glass, by Pamela Binnings Ewen

Amalise Catoir is an innocent...a young girl raised by loving parents in rural Louisiana now working her way through Tulane law school in 1974 by waitressing in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Amalise is optimistic, joyful, and has a strong personal relationship with God, with whom she talks frequently.

She's also intelligent, hardworking and ambitious, determined to realize her dream of being a lawyer in a time when female attorneys are just beginning to make their way into law firms.

Enter Phillip Sharp--a moody, brooding, mysterious artist who sweeps Amalise off her feet with his irresistable passion for her.

Just as Cassie has Will to depend on in Picture Perfect, Amalise has Jude...a young man a few years older than herself who she describes as her "oldest, dearest friend," a strong rock who has always been there for her.

Along with Amalise's parents, Jude finds himself increasingly appalled at her relationship with a man who is not what he claims to be.

Phillip Sharp of Dancing on Glass and Alex Rivers of Picture Perfect share many of the qualities of an abusive spouse. Both are handsome, charismatic, and have convinced their spouses that they love them above anything.

Both have had childhoods filled with neglect and/or abuse, which lead Cassie and Amalise to feel that only they can save and heal them.

Both Phillip and Alex, also, are fanatically possessive of their spouses, unreasonably demanding and ultimately cruel.

I have to say I liked Dancing on Glass better...

Although both books are superbly written and strongly compelling, I have to say I liked Dancing on Glass the best.

While Picture Perfect definitely kept me turning the pages, Dancing on Glass was absolutely riveting. Ewen did such a masterful job of drawing me into the story that I simply couldn't wait to see how it unfolded. Her writing is beautiful and evocative--I could almost feel the humidity in New Orleans, taste the beignets on Jackson Square, and feel the shattering blows Phillip delivered in his alcohol-laced rages.

And the last several chapters? Honestly, I can't remember when I physically felt the suspense the way I did in the last few chapters of Dancing on Glass! Rather than just empathetically observing Amalise's terror, I felt it. People, that's good writing.

And I won't lie that as a person of faith, I appreciated the strong faith element in the story. I've often wondered how people make it through such horrific ordeals without God. Amalise didn't have to.

I would recommend both books to anyone who loves suspense, but Picture Perfect does contain some language and sexual situations that may be offensive to some.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Dancing on Glass, and I absolutely can't wait to read more from Pamela Binnings Ewen.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Linking up with Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books today!

My Review of Lisa T. Bergren's Cascade--and a Give-away!

My very first give-away! See details after my review

Romance! Danger! Intrigue! Political machinations! Violent medieval battles!

They're all part and parcel of the nonstop action that makes up Lisa T. Bergren's Cascade, the second in her River of Time series aimed at YA readers.

Being a big fan of time travel and of Bergren's writing, I was looking forward to this book.

The two modern-day sisters, Gabriela and Evangelia Bettarini, decide to go back to medieval Italy. This time, their Mom--an avid historian and archeaologist--takes the trip with them.

Naturally, Gabriela is delighted to be re-united with her medieval love, Marcello. But in less time than it takes to say "space-time continuum," the Ladies Bettarini are plunged back into the danger and intrigue of the enmity between Marcello's Siena and Firenze.

It doesn't help that the sisters' actions in the previous book leave them with a big target on their backs.

From Page One until the end of the book, the action is pretty much nonstop. I don't doubt that YA readers will love the nonstop chases, battles and life-threatening situations--there's not a moment for them to get bored.

As an older reader, though, I have to admit that I would have appreciated a few more lulls in the action. It seemed to me that the sisters barely had time to catch their breath before another life-endangering scenario ensued.

Younger readers will also appreciate the romance between Marcello and Gabriela, while I cringed a bit at a 17-year-old even thinking about marriage. But again, that's my take as an older reader.

And those are small criticisms. Bergren is a wonderful writer, her research into the era obvious in every authentic detail, and she's adept at narrating those fast-paced, often breath-taking action scenes as well as the quieter ones.

She's also created a compelling and lovable heroine in Gabriela, a modern girl whose feistiness and courage--not to mention skill with a sword from fencing lessons with her father--stand her in good stead in the violent and perilous age in which she finds herself.

As for the next book in the series--Torrent--the last few pages of Cascade ensure that we're going to want to be there when the Bettarinis next show up in 13-hundreds Tuscany.

Now for the give-away!

I'm giving away a brand-new copy of Cascade, by Lisa T. Bergren!

Here's what you need to do to enter:

--Comment below, and leave an e-mail address where you can be reached

For additional chances to win:

--Follow this blog on Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs

--"Like" this blog on Facebook

Leave separate comments to let me know if you followed (or are already a follower), and if you like this blog on Facebook!

DEADLINE: You have until midnight Sunday, July 31st at 12:00 PM Central.

NOTE: This contest is limited to readers in the United States and Canada.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My Latest Book Trailer: Kathi Macias' Deliver Me From Evil

I'm a professional voice-over artist, and I sometimes have the pleasure of voicing book trailers (like movie trailers, only to promote books.)

Here's my latest, produced by Video Trailers to the Stars.

From the Archives: Third Time's a Charm, by Virginia Smith

Originally posted at Notes in the Key of Life on February 8, 2010

I interview Virginia Smith, author of "Third Time's a Charm"

It appears I'm late to the party! Although I've known Virginia Smith via e-mail from when voiced her book trailer for Age Before Beauty (you can see the trailer here if you like), I had never read any of her books until I recently finished Third Time's a Charm--which is actually the last of her Sister to Sister trilogy.

It was such an enjoyable read that I plan to backtrack and read the other two: Age Before Beauty and Stuck in the Middle.

The books are about the Sanderson sisters, with this final one focusing on the baby of the family, Tori.

While Smith's style is breezy and accessible, don't make the mistake of thinking this is all chick-lit fluff. Along with the fun, she tackles some serious issues in Third Time's a Charm--like how having daddy issues here on earth can often cause young women problems with fully trusting their heavenly Father.

In this short excerpt from our interview, Smith talks about that theme.

Having two sisters myself that I adore, I really enjoyed Smith's obvious firsthand understanding of how sisters relate and interact. There's a good reason for that: she based the Sandersons on herself and her own two sisters.

More about that in this clip from our interview.


Find out all about Virginia Smith and her books here.