5 stars I received an ARC from Wolf Publishing, and I was excited to read about Clarity's younger sister, Purity. I loved it! Truth be told, Purity seemed like the better match for Clarity’s eventual husband, but he needed someone fun and willing to break the rules and Purity needed someone like that as well—Baron Matthew Foxford, dubbed the Bachelor Baron at times, and at other times Foxy or the Fox. Needless to say, he is a rake who sets his sights on Purity, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and determines she will be his bride. Of course, being exceedingly proper, she wants nothing to do with him. Similarly to the storyline in Clarity, Matthew begs Purity to teach him to be proper, and the more time she spends around him, the more she comes to see the man underneath the persona. What I noticed immediately about this book was the author’s frequent use of archaic terms that were popular at the time. Although I could figure out words based on context, I nevertheless found myself looking up words and phrases simply because I wanted to know more information. There were things like: “beard-splitter,” gimcrack ewes, tipping the velvet, royster, nip-cheese, tweague, rantum-scantum, spoony loggerhead, grinagog, fustilugs, lewd bobtail, game pullet, green gown in a dark garden, looby, lobcock, danced the blanket hornpipe, having a proper smack, pully hawly, “a muff is a tuzzy-muzzy is a quim all the same,” flourish in the bushes, whore’s bird, primsy-pate, thundering buck, “landing a nosegay or even a full floorer,” feather bed jig, buttered bun, wapped, “cove of a man,” toss off, “long-tongued, chaff-cutter of a mouth,” given him the mitten, tweague, swabbers, “half seas over,” “living under the cat’s foot,” sway a-plenty, betwattled, aigrette, rantipole, buck dangler, rum husband, bandbox, Carvel’s ring. At one point, I wondered where Bailey found a dictionary of these terms and why she was using so many of them, almost to the point of showing off. But I was so amused by them, I really didn’t mind. It encouraged me to learn a few new phrases and do some additional research of my own. I wonder, did she use the 1811 Dictionary in the Vulgar Tongue, by Francis Grose? Even if she did, there were many phrases not included. For example, there was this complete sentence, “He was drunk as David’s sow, sucking the monkey for a fortnight straight before he sobered up.” Although it was easy enough to figure this out, I still wanted to look up the various elements of the sentence to understand the origins. I loved Matthew, the polar opposite of stuffy and proper Purity (who turned out not to be, after all). He was surprisingly pure for someone so impure. With a nickname like Fox, it’s no shock he was frequently featured in the gossip section of the newspaper. Still, he managed to bounce through life happily as if every day were a new adventure, and he didn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body. He genuinely never intended to hurt anyone. Meanwhile, Purity was, in a word, pure. She did everything properly and would never end up in the gossip pages. Until she did. The two of them are a perfect balance, with him encouraging her to push the boundaries while she strives to teach him the importance of societal limitations. Early on, she admonishes him that he must not be flippant. “‘Flippant?’ Matthew asked. He might have to remain silent for his normal everyday parlance was ripe with flippancy.” And that’s what made him so much fun. Matthew is a fan of the double entendre, but he cannot get a rise out of Purity. She explains to him, “When presented with a double entendre, a lady has two choices. She can remain silent because she has not heard you, even if she has, or she may say ‘I do not understand you.’” Her voice rose. “And then she can only pray you shut your vulgar potato trap!” This was funny, but I found it much more amusing when, during a different conversation, she simply said, “Cease your nonsense.” Matthew is not one to be easily discouraged. When he suggests they go for a walk in the garden, Purity responds sarcastically that she’s sure her mother won’t mind them wandering around in the dark. He questions whether the book of etiquette she is so fond of quoting offers some kind of warning about sarcasm. “Probably,” she said. “Accordingly, if you can behave, I will curb my tongue. He responds, “Without access to your tongue, I suppose I shall have to behave.” By the time they are married, Purity is no longer shocked by his comments. She worries about her hairpins allowing one of them to be pricked, and that she will be to blame. He replies, “I assure you, lady wife, you shall be pricked, but the blame will be mine.” This time she laughs, finally acknowledging she understands. Matthew teases Purity mercilessly, nicknaming her “Kitten” the first time he meets her, which she repeatedly asks him not to do. But it’s all in good fun. During a dance, he calls her Purity and she is aghast because he uses her “given name. He grinned at her. ‘It slipped out. Do you prefer kitten after all?’” The conversation continues until she accuses him of going too far, saying, “Now I know you are testing me with your impudence.” And he says, “Or is it imprudence?” It is with great difficulty that she remains serious. Because every romance must contain an element of uncertainty, often through some kind of misunderstanding between the main characters, Matthew goes to his club to get drunk and is found there by his friend Quinn. “‘Another,” he (Matthew) called out to the waiter. ‘You're speaking to a floor lamp,’ Quinn said. ‘Blast!’ He looked again. No wonder the chap hadn’t moved the last two times he’d demanded liquor. ‘I don’t think the lamp knows where the best brandy is stored.’” There is not really any subterfuge with Matthew. What you see is what you get, and I think that’s what makes him so lovable. He doesn’t hide what he wants and he asks for it, which is probably why he has had so many conquests prior to meeting Purity. Even in his interactions with her, he pretends to need her help with etiquette, but he quickly admits it’s because he wants her to be his wife and that was the best way he could think of to be near her. Lucky Purity. May 30, 2022
0 Comments
5 stars I love this story (this series, really), and it’s not because I edited it. James and Laura were introduced back in Billionaire Trifecta and they’ve been mentioned in subsequent books, so I’ve been dying to read their story. It turns out to be way more complicated than I could have imagined. And the road to their happy ending, though it doesn’t include any villains trying to disrupt their happiness, is a rocky one nonetheless. They do a sufficient job of impeding their own happy ending; they don’t need the help of any bad guys. Because the story has many surprises, I hesitate to say much of anything in this review. Suffice to say, Laura and James are the kinds of heroes you root for, hoping they’ll find their way to one another, and their story is great. I highly recommend it—although I definitely think it should be read after the author has tortured you with hints of what’s to come in other books. ;) May 28, 2022 5 stars I knew I would love this story because Kate Meader wrote it, and I was thankful to receive an ARC. I didn’t expect it to hit me as hard as Gunnar and Sadie’s story, so I was surprised when this one hit me right in the feels. Although I shouldn't have been. Now, it didn’t make me cry like Gunnar and Sadie, but Tara was a remarkably sympathetic and relatable character, and her story did bring tears to my eyes. And Hale astonished me with the depths of his feelings and his openness to admitting them, even to his friends. Most of us have suffered at the least the occasional bout of self-doubt and unworthiness, but Tara takes it to a new level. Part of the reason she comes across as she does, a gold-digger looking for a jock who’s “young, dumb, and hung,” is because she thinks her only assets are her looks and her ability to make men feel good about themselves. It’s not necessarily what she wants for her life, but she has her reasons for thinking this is the only path for her. And she more than makes up for it with her generosity and cheerfulness. She’s one of those people who brings sunshine with her every time she enters a room. Hale Fitzpatrick is the new GM of the Rebels hockey team and not on Tara’s radar. Not only does he judge her and her goals (a rich, famous, athlete husband), but the more she gets to know him, the more she also becomes convinced that she’s not worthy of someone like him. And although he’s extraordinarily attracted to her, he doesn’t seriously consider her as a long-term partner. Clearly, the two of them are about to discover some unexpected things about themselves, and each other. Tara shows some exceptional wisdom, which bely her dumb blonde persona. At one point, she tells Hale, “If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.” And this observation was along the lines of something I’ve always thought myself. Receiving texts from O’Malley, the man she’s being paid to pretend-date, she thinks, “The texts were along the lines of ‘Where R U?’ and ‘UOK?’ (It actually took more energy not to let the words autofill, but whatever.)” Tara feels an uncontrollable attraction to Hale, and for that reason, she feels uncomfortable around him. While talking to him, she told herself to stop talking, but instead she “babble(d) like there was a sale on words in the word store.” During another uncomfortable conversation, during which she found herself unable to stop talking, this happened: “‘Trains entering tunnels are all about sex,’ she continued because apparently she needed to finish this very important TED talk.” This here made me laugh out loud: “When had she made the switch from ‘you irritate the f— out of me’ to ‘please f— the irritation out of me?’” And when Tara tries to resist Hale’s charms, but especially his thoughtfulness and kindness because they endanger her heart, he does something over-the-top, remembering something she told him about her childhood, and the narrator says, “The hits, they kept on coming.” The story is told from alternating POVs so Hale has some observations of his own. I loved the alliteration in this: “The taste of her still lingered on his lips. The scent of her was lodged in his lungs.” As he begins to realize his feelings for Tara are more than anything he planned, “Time slowed as he moved inside her, every tiny nudge bringing him closer to a place he’d never visited.” And then there were the observations about players on the Rebels team. Of course, every time Hale sees Tara with Dex O’Malley, he sees red. At one team party, he thinks, “O’Malley was standing and talking to Tara, who must have arrived in the last couple of minutes. Though standing was more like “looming” and “talking” was closer to leering.” And because all of the players from previous books make an appearance in this one, Theo Kershaw is acknowledged as he enters a conversation already taking place. “Kershaw appeared out of nowhere as if he was waiting to be summoned to the perfect entry point.” Bottom line. I love Kate Meader and I’m forever impressed by her ability to create characters who wiggle their way into my heart and make me feel for them. Her writing is clever, witty (without being outrageous), and poignant. Any time I have the opportunity to read one of her books, I’m there. I suggest you read her books also. May 28, 2022 4 stars I read the first book in this series, Duke of Madness, and rated it five stars. Somehow, I missed book #2, until I received this one, book #3. The nice thing is that each story is free-standing and doesn’t require knowledge of the others. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to book two, mostly because I have so many ARCs in need of review that I can’t see myself purchasing one of these books to review it. On the other hand, if the author gave me an e-copy and requested a review, I’d be happy to do so because the series is enjoyable. As in book one, and I assume in book two, the story is told by the current heroine in the form of a story of how she met her husband. Diana Kendricks, another student from Mrs. Rutley’s school for girls, comes to visit Mrs. Rutley on her deathbed, and at Mrs. Rutley’s request, she recounts the story they all know. The thing I like most about this method of storytelling is that there is no doubt that the two main characters will end up together, so even though there is tension and uncertainty about how things will unfold, there’s a certain sense of calm as well. The problem is that the POV switches to allow the narrator to tell the story from the POVs of both main characters. Once you get into the story, it doesn’t matter, but if you analyze it, it doesn’t make sense. Diana’s neglectful father sends her gifts rather than giving her his attention and this turns her off to men, especially those who give gifts. Additionally, she remembers a time when her parents were in love, but now they’re estranged and she fears a similar fate. She’s afraid of trusting a man because “what if he promises her the moon only to giver her its reflection?” As a result, Diana is determined to be a spinster, until she meets James. James Barrington, a local marquess, is the man she didn’t know she was looking for. I’m not entirely sure how likely it is that so many of the landed gentry class can live in such a small geographic area, but putting that aside, the books are fun. Although James is not against marriage, he has some personal issues that prevent him from seeking one. Once he meets Diana, he tries to find a way around those issues because he so enjoys her company. Meanwhile, Mr. Stonebrook plays the villain. He cozies up to Diana’s father and gains his blessing to court Diana, despite the fact that she has told him she doesn’t want that. He manipulates her into believing this is what her father wants and it would be a great way to please him, thus gaining his love. James has his own history with Stonebrook and despises him, and we find out what a jerk he is as the story unfolds. Baldwin, James’ butler, serves as his confidant. As such, he can be a bit saucy with James and has the freedom to implement plans without his approval. I loved one conversation between them for Baldwin’s dry wit: “Would you like me to send for a rug maker, my lord?” Baldwin asked James. “I believe I can find one willing to call from London.” James turned and scowled at the butler. “Why would I need a rug maker?” “Forgive me for saying so, my lord, but you’ve been pacing the room so much over the past two days that I’m afraid the one you have is wearing thin. And once the rug is gone, you may want to consider getting your shoes resolved.” I also loved the banter between Diana and James, as she demonstrates her intelligence and cleverness, and impresses him. And this bit of internal dialogue from James when he first meets Diana was quite amusing: “What woman ran from a marquess? How dare she! Surely, society was on the brink of disaster when a woman was so inconsiderate toward a man of his station.” Mrs. Rutley features prominently in this story, as Diana’s confidant and her biggest advocate. The theme of secrecy is a bit heavy-handed. Every character seems to be holding a secret, and every character seems to suffer the consequences of those secrets, some more than others. For the most part, things work out well in the end and everyone achieves their just ending. May 22, 2022 5 stars I’ve been editing for L Steele for a few years now, and her books continue to improve. In this one, the author delves so deeply into the motivations, thoughts, fears, and passions of Jeanne and Luca, it’s difficult to remain detached. These are real people suffering through real problems, with the added twist of an enemy of the Mafia trying to kill them. And it’s mostly believable, at least, based on my little bit of knowledge from books and movies. Jeanne comes across as a goody-two-shoes at the beginning, even admitting she attended school at a convent and that’s why she can’t use any bad words. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that she’s a strong woman who knows how to take care of herself and won’t put up with anyone’s bull. Along comes Luca. The second-oldest of the Sovrano brothers, who has featured fairly prominently in the rest of the Mafia stories, Luca turns out to be a huge revelation. This guy who came across as a major a-hole, and the kind of man I’d be inclined to avoid at all costs, turns out to be a romantic with a tender heart. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. That’s one of Steele’s talents: she takes unlikable, domineering men and transforms them into loving partners through the power of love. She still manages to hold onto the animalistic and base tendencies of her heroes, and it helps to reveal their innermost feelings, the things they cannot express in words. What we learn about Luca is that he’s intense—he throws himself into everything he does, he’s volatile, he’s loyal, and he loves everything without restraint. One of the things I like best about this book is the relatively slow build of sexual tension between Jeanne and Luca. I’ve become accustomed to these books starting with a “bang,” pun intended. In a move unusual for this series, the couple doesn’t do anything more than flirt and kiss until almost page 50! God knows, Luca tries, but Jeanne seems to be resistant to his charms. Of course, like all of Steele’s heroes, he won’t force himself on her until she clearly tells him she’s ready. Then, like all of the others, he’s super-bossy. I enjoyed Luca’s internal dialogue, in which he was surprisingly self-aware, as when he thinks about Jeanne: “She seems like one of us. Only she isn’t. She’s someone who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or the right place, if I’m being honest. Which I’m not.” And this, when he’s starting to realize the depths of his feelings for her: “She tries to burrow into me, as if she wants to crawl under my skin and live there. Doesn’t she know? She already has.” I love the banter between Luca and Jeanne and would love to add lots of examples, but I found this one, from Jeanne’s POV, particularly amusing: "If you think I’m going to simply fall in line with your command, then you have another thing coming." "Think," he drawls. "Eh? What do you mean?" "You have another think coming. It’s think, not thing." "No, it’s not. Think?" I scoff. "That makes no sense at all." I try to brush past him, and this time, he grabs my arm. "Have you been crying?" He peers into my face. "You have been crying." His voice hardens. "What happened?" Damn him, and his over-attentive gaze which never seems to miss a thing. And this time, it is thing. Not think. It couldn’t have been think in that previous sentence, could it? May 20, 2022 5 stars I was so excited when I found the hardcover edition of this book in the Goodwill Store because it’s a book I’d heard about and hoped to read at some point. Apparently, someone read it and thought to share it with someone else, and I was the lucky one to find it. If you think you know the full story of Donald Trump and his connections to Russia, you don’t. And if you think you’ll know everything by the end of this book, you still won’t (since much of it is still classified), but you’ll certainly know more. It’s a fascinating view into the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails and Trump’s relationship with Russia, specifically Putin, and Peter Strzok’s role in both. There were a couple of times he made me laugh, like when he said, “Historically, trying to get DOJ to prosecute mishandling of confidential-level information was like trying to persuade a fraternity house that spiked seltzer is a real drink.” And if you’re more attracted to ironic humor, there’s this: “The fact is that if Clinton’s email had been housed on a State Department system, it would have been less secure and probably much more vulnerable to hacking.” While describing FBI laptops which constantly dropped their secure connection the author states, "Chinese or Russian intelligence would have been hard-pressed to develop a more infuriating product." And this bit of sarcasm was priceless while describing his interrogation in Congress: “I learned some things—for instance, at least one congressman trained as a dentist believed that his profession conveyed an expertise in reading body language…” Overall, I found the book both discouraging and hopeful. I feel hopeful because he shed some light on what the FBI was doing when we couldn’t see anything and were convinced no one was doing was paying attention; it makes me think that perhaps that’s what’s happening now. And I’m comforted to know there are many people within the intelligence community who truly care and have honor. It’s depressing because there were so many times when people in positions of power were given the opportunity to demonstrate that honor and they failed, fearful of the potential personal repercussions. In fact, there’s one particularly depressing comment toward the end. Strzok reminisces about words from a former FBI mentor: “Understand that we don’t have a truly equal system of justice. Some crime is too complex, and with enough money and political clout, the bad guys can bury us, or just wait us out. Worse, with enough power, they can find ways to make the injustice legal. Don’t forget that.” It really is a great book for anyone who wants an inside look at this shameful period of US history and how the FBI worked diligently and tirelessly to do the right thing. Even if you are well-informed and have a decent understanding of current events (since 2016), you will find some of the gaps in your knowledge filled. May 12, 2022 4 stars I received an ARC of this book from Wolf Publishing. It’s part of The Dubutante Dares’ series, and finally tells the story of Edmund and Katherine. I’ve given the book only four stars because, while I thoroughly enjoyed the writing, I found parts of the plot and actions of the characters absolutely infuriating. Christiana (step-mother of Edmund and Jane) was incredibly annoying in A Dare Too Far, but in this story, the steps it up to a whole new level. In fact, the prologue, during which we are introduced to Christiana and Thomas, as well as Edmund and Katherine had me ready to pull my hair out. I could not have imagined more self-aborbed and self-centered characters than Christiana and Thomas, but I think it was Edmund’s tendency to make excuses for his father and Katherine’s tendency to coddle her sister that pushed me to my limits. It was difficult for me to have any respect for any of them—Christiana was self-centered, Thomas was self-entitled, Katherine was a doormat, and Edmund was helpless. Really, both Edmund and Katherine allowed themselves to be victims, and I find it difficult to feel compassion for people who refuse to stand up for themselves. I like strong heroes. So, from the start, I had a problem. I didn’t like the characters. However, I reminded myself that I had liked them in the previous book, so I decided to give them a chance to prove themselves to me. They both had a journey to make, and ultimately, they did make it. One of the things that impresses me about this author’s writing is her ability to echo certain metaphors throughout the book, creating a kind of metaphorical theme. In this metaphorical theme, love takes the shape of a curve of the body. When Katherine and Edmund are just beginning to know one another, not long after his mother has died, she observes this about him. “‘There’s a certain inward hollow of your shoulders when you’re thinking of your mother. Like a fallen tree.’ She whispered the last words, and they fell right on top of him. One by one, hammering him into the ground.” Not only does love take the shape of a curve, but the curve is also compared to a fallen tree, and then it is used to hammer him into the ground, where the tree would be growing. Much later in the story, Edmund finds himself admiring Katherine. “He kept his gaze trained on the curve of her back. If love had a shape, it would be that curve.” Unfortunately, I’m afraid my attempts to dissect the imagery and highlight its reappearance only serve to emphasize my inferiority in this regard. The important thing is that I’m impressed by the author. I loved the banter between Edmund and his best friend George. Edmund confides the feelings he has for Kathrine, and during a gathering of male friends, George reveals it to them. Edmund complains, “...I’ve invited you merely for emotional support and, apparently, to spill to one and all my deepest secrets…” But they have a serious problem to resolve: Lady Edith has her sights set on Edmund and seems determined to place herself in a position that will force him to propose, the last thing he wants to do. He schemes to find a replacement suitor for her, and muses about the kind of man she’d want. “She obviously likes a man older than herself, kind and gentle, yet intelligent...” “I’m not quite sure,” George said,” but I think you just complimented yourself three times over.” “Can’t be helped sometimes, Georgie.” This was a beautiful description of Edmund after making love to Katherine. “His mind seemed broken, blank, and incandescently happy.” Katherine desperately wants to be free from taking care of her sister, Chrissy (Christiana). Edmund wants to help her to do that, even if it means she will leave him. That would devastate him, but he loves her enough to want her to be happy. She’s writing a book and hopes this will be her ticket to freedom. “This” —her arms tightened around the folio— “this could be it.” Her gaze wandered over an ocean of dreams he wanted to cross with her. At the very least, he’d build her a boat, paint it the same color as the sea and make it tight and safe. “This could win me my independence, my future,” she continued. And he stood stranded on the shore, watching her shrink in her bobbing blue boat, her stormy myriad-colored hair streaming behind her. Edmund, envisioning Katherine leaving him, is broken-hearted but silent, because he wants her to follow her dreams. This part made me giggle out loud. What a visual! Edmund finds out that Katherine has gone to Jane and George’s home and is impatient to be with her again. He…ran all the way to George’s townhome. He arrived sweaty and windswept and entirely out of breath, falling through the door and laying in a puddle on the foyer floor. The butler looked down at him, no concern showing on any lines of his face. “Lord Escher. Shall I alert the earl to your presence?” And this also made me chuckle. Katherine finally stands up to one of the villains of the story. “‘We will not invite you to the wedding,’ Edmund said, waving exuberantly beside her.” And finally, there’s this line in the epilogue which is everything to me. They’ve put the children to bed and lay upon their own. Edmund asks Katherine, “So, shall we unmoor ourselves from the earth a bit and revel in the clouds?” May 5, 2022 5 stars This may well be my favorite book yet from Charlie Lane, which is odd because I found it a bit slow-moving and disorienting when it began. By the end, the word that kept coming to mind was lush. The writing seemed almost experimental, as if the author were testing out a more visceral way of describing characters/scenes/feelings, but the more I read, the more I realized just how masterful it was. If this were my first book from Charlie Lane, and if I weren’t already hooked on her writing, this one would do it for me. I have only a few suggestions for improvement, although sadly, I’m not really sure how I would fix them. At the beginning of the story, Cass (the rogue) is described in such a way that I envisioned him as a young man uncertain of himself and gangly in his movements. I understand the reason: Ada needed to see him that way and the reader saw him as she did. Unfortunately, while she came to see him as a man, there was still a bit of the little boy in him that I couldn’t erase from my imagination and it was reflected in some of his physical movements and facial expressions. (As an aside, I found it fascinating to realize that Ada had the mind of a codebreaker.) My second suggestion? I remember encountering this in one of her other books, The Secret Seduction, and it was my complaint about that one too. I realize these are fictional stories, but when I start reading, I immerse myself in the lives of the characters. When they do things in places where they shouldn’t, it makes me nervous. Can we please not have characters kissing or feeling one another up in public? This time, “In the middle of Berkeley Square. Where anyone could see.” (Coincidentally, The Secret Seduction introduced me to Lord Trevor, hero of the book and son of Lady Hemsworth, author of “Lady’s Guide to Moral Rectitude,” a book that Cass and Ada purchase in a bookstore.) My third suggestion is this. This book could have benefited from more thorough editing. I found some of the missing words and word repetitions distracting. Obviously, none of my complaints warrant the removal of stars from my rating. This is not an action-packed story. It’s very introspective and thought-provoking, and although there are, naturally, activities involved, much of the story is conveyed through the feelings of the characters. And the hero’s journey is not limited to only one character, even though the reader is led to believe that at the beginning. Cass needs to learn to forgive himself and Ada needs to learn to value herself. As Ada tries to help Cass to reform, which is what he believes he needs, he realizes that she needs someone to accept her without judgment and teach her to value herself. Who better to offer no judgment than someone who can’t forgive himself? Family ties are also a strong theme running through the plot, and the love shown by family members for one another is truly remarkable. But let me get back to the word lush and try to explain my use of it. I think it was the way Ms. Lane used imagery and metaphors to describe feelings. For example, one of Cass’ reactions to emotional discomfort is to laugh. “He laughed, but a dark edge pulsed just under his skin, like he wore a suit of knives inside his body and any wrong move would flail him from the inside out.” Cass is very denigrating about himself. He is drawn to Ada, while also trying to protect her from himself. When he looks at her, he sees “spring-green eyes containing oceans of emotions he lacked the intelligence to understand… He swallowed the desire to understand them.” At one point, Ada has a fight with her sister, Nora, who does not want her to have anything to do with Cass. Nora has just finished cleaning her pistol and follows Ada up to her room where they have words and Nora laughs derisively at something Ada says, “the tin sound echoing like bullets off the close walls, shattering the looking glass, the windows.” After Nora slammed the door shut behind her, Ada’s “chest ached, the fight with Nora like an unremoved knife in her heart.” There is one particular scene, in chapter 13 (also the scene of the PDA mentioned earlier) that particularly impressed me with its descriptions and the author’s ability to carry the metaphor over multiple pages without it growing old, but rather, transforming it. In fact, I’m going to elaborate for a few paragraphs because I was so enamored with it. Ada can be very demonstrative, coming from a large family with many younger siblings. She frequently touches him without considering the physical reaction he might have. At one point, “He shrugged away from her touch and scooted his ass across the wet grass, planting distance between them he hoped to grow into an impenetrable forest.” Then, he proceeds to watch Ada eating an ice from Gunter’s and can’t take his eyes off of her as her “dimple appeared and disappeared, a flickering star guiding a lost man home.” And he feels something soft and mossy forming within himself. “He’d taken the forest metaphor too far, but he felt a green boy…new to the emotions rocking him…” As Ada begins to sense a closeness growing between them she informs him she has a suitor, and he feels like a “tree must have fallen directly onto his head. He felt dazed, defeated. Might as well be dead.” When she continues blithely along, telling him they’re not in love and that there’s no need for love in her marriage, his response is immediate. “...that killed him more than the falling tree had. A hundred bees stung him in a hundred different places. Those thorns from his caution-grown forest snagged him, tightened, pierced. Impossible pain. Suffocation.” He begins to lose control and before long, he’s kissing her. “He had tried to grow a forest, dark and deep and tangled, but one touch, one breath, and the world became a garden instead—fragrant, open, softening the sky with a rainbow’s splash of gentle color. He sank into it more deeply…” She pushed him away. “And the garden flickered out of existence. The moss inside browned, crisped, crumbled. His arms dropped to his side, dead logs with little purpose but to be burned.” But it’s only temporary and she soon resumes what he started. “He could not name or describe the relief crashing through him, crunching his forest trees like twigs, crumbling to dust all his defenses.” A couple of chapters later, when Ada asks him what color he would most like in his room… “‘Green,’ he said, but he really meant you.” (Annnd, scene.) Ada has a bit of a strained relationship with her father so she’s surprised when he tells her he’s happy she broke things off with her suitor. He tells her, “He’s too closed-in for you, Ada. You need wide skies and possibilities. And he prefers ceilings and routine.” I love this! He continues to give her a bit of advice about hearts and I found his counsel the kind of thing I’d like to offer my own child. “It doesn’t break as easily as you think. It’s a flexible thing. And as you learn to love a million new places, you’ll find you can leave your heart everywhere all at once and keep it in your chest, too.” In case I was unclear, I absolutely loved this book. It feels different, and for that reason, it may not be accessible to as many people, but for those who enjoy something a bit unusual, you won’t want to miss this one. May 4, 2022 5 stars I received a copy of this book from the author, the second in The Debutante Dares series. Apparently, I’m reading this series in reverse order. Luckily, that doesn’t matter. Although I really enjoyed this story, I wasn’t quite as impressed as I was by Kiss or Dare, Lillian and Devon’s story. This one focuses on George and Jane, both of whom are afraid of love because of the risk of pain, but both for different reasons. It’s not surprising that once George convinces Jane to take a chance on love, he panics and pulls back and she has to convince him. Her way of doing so is clever and I found it amusing. Both George and Jane have to come to terms with their own definitions of courage versus cowardice and face their own cowardly actions to choose courage. May 2, 2022 5 stars I received an ARC of this book from the author; it’s a part of the prequels to the Kingdom of the White Sea series. This, the story of Corin and Yesenia and their forced marriage, is a compelling and memorable one. We also see a bit into the marriages of Yessenia’s two brothers Kallum and Byrne, and of course, Corin’s sister Gretchen (but only until she leaves) and older brother Aidan, a chip off the old block if ever there was one. We gain insight into the struggle for Yesenia, coming from a family in which she was mostly respected and given the opportunity to express her opinions. And the struggle for Corin, who has somehow rejected the lust for power embraced by his father, brother, and even his mother. It’s difficult not to fall in love with Corin. He sees himself as weak, but he’s not. As Yesenia points out, referring to Aidan’s bullying, “Ye donnae bully someone because they are less than you. You bully because they aren’t.” When Corin realizes his strength, it is something to behold. I loved this description of Chasten Quinlanden, Corin’s father: “His crisply defined features—a sharp jaw, aquiline nose, and eyes so chillingly blue they looked preternatural—were emphasized in startling relief, as if painted by one who had never actually seen a man with their own eyes.” Yesenia’s assessment of Corin’s parents is sadly accurate: “The difference between Chasten and Marianna was not the degree of warmth each possessed, Yesenia thought, but the desire and ability to act in possession of it.” This is an emotional read about two people thrown together by circumstance, against their wills, who grow to care for and, eventually, love one another. I loved it! April 25, 2022 |
Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
Categories |