I don’t like romance novels. If I read these it was because I couldn’t find anything better in the library. That said these were worse than what I was expecting, not merely romance but bodice rippers! Ughhhh!
So list them just for the sake of being through.
“The fall”, “The temptation”, and “The willing wife” by Claudia Dain.
"The MacGregors: Serena(Playing The Odds) and Caine(Tempting Fate)" by Nora Roberts.
I love “A Royal Spyness Mystery” series by Rhys Bowen. I waited a long time to receive the latest one: “Naughty In Nice”.
Lady Georgina is having a hard winter in London. Her brother and his wife are staying in the town house and Fig’s nasty behavior is getting on Georgie’s nerves. All the while everyone who is anyone is heading to Nice to enjoy some sun and sand. When Georgie is asked to go on another mission specifically in Nice, it’s like all her dreams are coming true. But when she gets to France, instead of relaxation and sun tanning; she become a suspect first in a theft then in a murder! Also her heart might break: Was that Darcy with a beautiful woman and a gorgeous child?
I really didn’t want to read “Hard Bitten” (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 4) by Chloe Neill. I started reading it in June and gave up. Then in September my compulsive personality made me take it up again and finish it this time! Such a disappointment!
The vampires are under threat from mayor and city officials, a militia group is threatening Cadogan house , a new drug is making vamps aggressive and blood orgies and human killings are becoming a problem. Merit and Ethan are investigating. What is behind all of these? Of course Celina the former Navarre’s master! At the end, Ethan is killed to protect Merit. Merit kills Celina and mayor is send to jail.
Am I going to read the newest in the series “Drink Deep” (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 5)? I seriously doubt it!
I wasn’t a big fan of “The Carrie Diaries” although I loved a few episodes of “Sex and the City”. Anyhow, I was surprised to find “Summer and the City” by Candace Bushnell in Young Adult shelves of the library.
The story is a back-to-the-beginning type, starting when Carrie first enters NY. She is there to take a summer writing course before starting college in the Fall. As she steps down from the train her handbag is stolen and she has to relay on kindness of no other than Samantha Jones. Then she makes her first (or is it second) friend in NY, a feminist named Miranda…
OK, if you are a fan of Carrie Bradshaw, go read the book!
My favorite team of police detectives are back in the latest story of Nic Costa, book 9 of the series; “The Fallen Angel” by David Hewson. An aging academic commits suicide by jumping from his balcony while Nic and Agata are watching. Nic feels obligated to investigate if only to put his own mind to rest. There is every similarity between this dead man’s young daughter and a famous historical case made eternal by the painter Guido Reni. Is the English teenager Mina a modern Beatrice Cenci?
In an obsessive pursuit Nic searches through historical sites and modern intrigues, looking for truth, to put a haunting image to rest.
I read “The Orchid Affair” from (Pink Carnation) by Lauren Willig many months ago (in February) and just last week finished “Away in a Manger: A Very Turnip Wedding Night” and “Ivy & Intrigue” as two ebooks.
Chronically, “Ivy & Intrigue” happens at the same time as “The Mischief of the Mistletoe” at Christmas. It is Amy and Richard’s first Christmas together at Richard’s ancestral home. Richard is retired as Purple Gentian and with the help of Amy is running his spy school. The Christmas party at his parents state is a shock to him and Amy both since Richard’s old flame turns up to be as lovely as ever. As Amy starts to become suspicious and jealous, it is up to Jane, Richard, Miles and Henrietta to find out why the foxy Lady Gerard is trying to endear herself to Richard again. In this story we hear about Miss. Gray for the first time.
“Away in a Manger: A Very Turnip Wedding Night” happens right after “The Mischief of the Mistletoe” and before New Year. Turnip and Arabella are married and are headed toward Turnip’s country house when a snow blizzard causes them to lose their way and spend their wedding night in a barn. Suffice to say, it takes them three days to travel a fifteen mile distant!
In “The Orchid Affair”, we learn more about Miss Gray. She is the first graduate of Purple Gentian spy school and is sent to Paris to spy on a French high official. As she plays the role of a teacher to his children, she discovers secrets and starts to fall in love with the children in her charge. What she is not expecting is her reaction to children’s father!
What I love about the Pink Carnation series aside from intriguing espionage and politics (which involves my favorite era of French history) is the narration and the mix of present and past. The way Eloise and her PhD research and love life are woven into her topic and the lives and affairs of her research subjects. I love the clever way of storytelling in this series.
