4 stars If you’re looking for a light and breezy fake boyfriend/girlfriend trope with an adorable 4-½ year old girl thrown in, this is the book for you. It’s a clean romance with wholesome characters and the expected ending. Maxine “Max” and Nate are an unlikely couple since he’s the town man ho and she’s the librarian, but they are fairly compatible, their main commonality being their love of Autumn, Nate’s surprise little girl. Max is 27, two years older than Nate, and was friendly with Nate’s older sister Rachael during high school. “She’d listened to Rachael talk more than once about the pieces of broken bottle and broken heart she’d had to pick up for her little brother.” Nate knows everyone and is friends with everyone, and it seems like he has slept with every woman. This influences Max’s decision not to sleep with him, because she doesn’t want to be like the others. When Nate finds out about Autumn and agrees to take care of her until her aunt can come get her, he doesn't know how he can do it without help. Meanwhile, Max has met Autumn and immediately feels something for her and wants to help. Both are secretly wondering whether Max could live with Nate and Autumn to help take care of her (nothing more than that at first), but Nate immediately shuts down the idea, thinking, “She was way out of his league.” I found this fascinating because Nate came across as extremely confident, and rightly so, based on his popularity. Nevertheless, he felt a certain amount of inferiority due to Max’s perceived superior intelligence and more mature behavior. At the same time, Max felt inferior because Nate appeared so confident and was so well-liked and well-known around town. Autumn, of course, was the primary focus of the story, and it was obvious that Nate would want to keep his daughter. It was also obvious that he and Max were going to fall in love. When he and Max found out that Autumn’s aunt Penny would be coming a month earlier than expected, they put off telling Autumn. I understand the tendency to procrastinate something unpleasant, but they waited until the night before Penny was scheduled to arrive to tell Autumn she would be leaving the next day! To me, that showed a poor understanding of the need to prepare a child for a significant change and demonstrated an immaturity and lack of fitness to care for her. The other thing that struck me as odd was that when Nate talked about keeping Autumn, he told Max that he would see if he could “adopt” her. That doesn’t seem like the right word to me, since he was her father. It seems like more of a custody issue. Other than that, the plot worked. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book, a quick and fun Christmas read. December 28, 2020
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5 stars This book has one of the best opening sentences I have ever read: “They burst from the still-settling stagecoach like two cats from a burlap sack.” I cannot imagine not reading more after a hook like that. Wow. Kate is described thusly: “Her amber eyes held his; eyes brimming so sharply with intelligence that they almost diminished the beauty of her face.” I was determined to read more. I had already read To Seduce a Rogue so I was thrilled to see Charlie and Adam again, and loved that Kate was the daughter of Mrs. Peters, Charlie's stuffy chaperone. I didn’t remember Tanner from the previous book, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of this one. The characters of Kate Peters and Tanner Sloane Barkley are well-developed and well-matched. There is reference to a past relationship, bits and pieces remembered, that creates the basis for their current state of estrangement. While Tanner recognizes he still loves Kate, Kate has buried her love for Tanner and has convinced herself that she no longer cares for him. There are some very sweet and sentimental touches, like the hair clip that Tanner has been carrying for almost two years and when he angrily tells Kate in Chapter 2 that she broke his heart (something she doesn’t believe is true). There are also details that are highlighted that reflect the silly things we notice during times of stress and also serve as metaphors for something more significant. There’s a scene in which Tanner tries to get through to Kate in Charlie’s kitchen, to make her understand how he feels. “She shook her head, focusing on the sliver of apple touching his boot.” Charlie intervenes because she can see Kate is close to tears. “Bulky, black boots appeared beside Tanner’s and squashed the apple sliver to bits.” And he leaves. “He slapped the door wide, his footfalls echoing down the hallway. The door rocked with disintegrating creaks, finally expiring like a serpent breath.” The imagery was so strong here. First, Kate focuses on the insignificant piece of apple on the floor to avoid focusing on the feelings that are tearing her apart. After Tanner leaves, I can clearly hear the swishing sound of the swinging door, slowing down, then softly expiring. Kate is insistent in her refusal to hear what Tanner has to say, convinced she could never recover from another heartbreak and unwilling to chance it. He begs her to listen. “Jesus, he hated her for making him grovel—respected her for making him grovel.” Although the story is told in third-person past-tense, it is mostly Tanner’s feelings that carry the story, since Kate is so cut off from her own. She doesn't deny the attraction between them, but attributes it to lust. Tanner knows better. “He felt her passionate cry, in his chest, in his soul, as if she’d plunged it in with a sharp blade.” He tries to tell her that what they have is special, but she is steadfast in her denial. The emotions conveyed through the story are convincing, and the characters are authentic. The plot, at times, is disjointed. It’s not that it’s difficult to follow. Rather, there are some jumps in time that do not have the transitions that would make them smoother. Although it’s not surprising what happens, there is little explanation for the sequence of events. For example, as Tanner briefly awakens, he tells Kate he will always come for her. Next, Kate is in her sister’s house in Richmond, wondering if Tanner will come for her. Again, it’s logical that she is back there, and it was expected that the story would go that way. It’s just that she goes from one place to another outside of the story. Similarly, the transition from refusal to acceptance of Tanner’s love and acknowledgement of the love she feels for him is lacking in the steps needed to get from one point to the next. I still loved the story and I still recommend it. In the afterward, the author says this was her “very first historical romance.” Reading this helped me to understand why this wasn’t her best book. It’s still better than a lot of stuff out there, but her skill as an author has grown so much that it makes this seem inferior (but only to her own writing). If I were to rate this book on a Tracy Sumner 5-point scale, I would give it 4 stars. Since the scale includes all writers, I’m giving it 5. December 27, 2020 5 stars In this book, everything takes a tragic turn. Every major character experiences some kind of personal tragedy and awakening, a final understanding of what everything means. It’s funny, that I found the most tragic characters to be Jacob and Cooper, the “drug addicts,” for lack of a better description. They felt the most like victims to me and I was saddened by what happened to them. It seemed they were the most interested in helping others, and as a result, the most likely to get carried away into doing things they didn’t want to do. Steve’s emotional condition is explored a bit more, as he seems to be slowly falling apart. “He wanted to do something and nothing at the same time. It was an odd feeling. He wasn’t aware that he wanted to fill an emotional void, he just knew he needed a distraction… And he couldn’t have his spare time spent like this with his new friends Anxiety and Doubt.” He’s still coming to terms with the loss of his mother and his acknowledgement of his loss of Olivia, and as he watches TV and hears someone describe one of the characters, he has an epiphany. He suddenly realizes how funny it is “how differently people see you than how you see yourself.” Meanwhile, a couple of Steve’s fellow officers are working a case. “When Rhonda LaJoyce answered the door, she wore nurse’s scrubs and a scowl. It was almost impossible for her to appear more annoyed, but she managed it once she saw who was at her door.” This made me chuckle. Which was a good thing, because there was so much depressing about this story. Luckily, some of the cops from outside of the department offered some comic relief. I loved this exchange between Nate and Nelson (from the suburb of Cambria): “There’s at least two handguns and a shotty we know about,” Nelson said. “A shotty?” “You call them something different in the city?” “We try not to sound stupid trying to be hip, yeah.” When the Feds, Roundtree and Palmer arrive, Martins tells them he was wondering whether they’d show up before or after the case had been closed. Without missing a beat, “We always try to make it just after,” Roundtree said, smiling. “Got to keep our reputation intact.” With this in mind, this later exchange was priceless: “Some people,” Roundtree said, “no matter what it is, they got to take credit for someone else’s work.” Palmer nodded like Roundtree’s words were solemn and sacred, not realizing the irony of what he just said, given their office’s reputation. For the first time, the reader is privy to Dana’s experience. I felt a small bit of sympathy for Joe but then read this from Dana: “Every time she pictured the future, she saw Joe and the kids—actually , when she pictured the future, she saw the present, thinking it would never change.” I felt much more sympathy for Dana after that. Surprisingly resilient and intelligent, she is no longer the two-dimensional character Joe imagined her to be. That’s refreshing. Bridget reappears, playing an important role in the plot direction. Chelsea, Joe and Steve’s sister, also emerges as one of the stronger characters, supporting the pivot away from the male “victims” to the female “survivors/nurturers.” Overall, the total shift in the plot takes the story in a new direction. There was much more exploration of the characters and the plot was almost secondary. I only wish Brian Gold had gotten what he deserved, but there’s always next season. December 26, 2020 5 stars Poor Cooper can’t make the right choice to save his soul. He sees everything he wants slipping away from him, but he just can’t seem to stop himself from slipping into the same old habits that put him on the wrong track. Near the beginning of this episode, Cooper is dumbstruck when an unlikely source tells him: “Mistakes don’t have a big neon sign telling you what they are when you choose them. People just do things. They fuck up.” As usual, pithy observations come through characters in the story, like when Parker says, “Best cops are just criminals with a badge.” Similarly, sometimes the police force is just another form of a gang, with different uniforms. Later, when the top brass is celebrating the success of Parker and Sofia on the resolution of a case they worked, Sofia says, “They’re celebrating that they were smart enough to hire us. It’s their good deed, having the foresight to know we'd be good at our job.” Joe sees Lane again and is forced to recognize that, even though she never asked him for money she is an escort. Tearfully, she tries to explain it to him as they sit together in a bar and the waitress suspects him of abusing her. Joe gets annoyed and snaps, “People cry sometimes, it doesn’t always mean abuse.” She responds, “But sometimes it does.” Joe has a gut feeling that Lane is manipulating the situation, but he ignores his intuition and decides it’s time to set his plan in motion. Cooper manages to wriggle out of charges for selling guns with Roy because Sanders covers for him. In no uncertain terms, Sanders warns him this is his last chance. He tells him to keep his nose clean and stop butting into police business, but Cooper just can’t seem to help himself. When Jacob offers him a spot on the team to pull off the heist of the armored truck, Cooper finds himself sucked into the plan. He just can’t decide whether he’s doing it as a cop looking to go undercover again or a criminal because he has gotten so used to that lifestyle. December 26, 2020 5 stars Well, that took some unexpected twists and turns. There was a bit more focus placed on interpersonal relationships so I liked that. I even felt the slightest bit of sympathy for Joe because "... he felt like he was drowning. He was just under the surface, his fingers close to breaking through, to get the air and hope he needed. It was right there. But his family had a firm grip on his ankle, keeping him under." I still think he's a jerk, but he seems to genuinely believe he's the victim. Cooper said one of my favorite things. While working as a Uber driver, Cooper has a conversation with his passenger, during which the passenger tries to tell him what to do in a zombie apocalypse. When Cooper seems disinclined to believe there's any reason to worry, the passenger responds by pointing out something that happened in Florida. Cooper says, "That was in Florida." When the guy starts to argue, he repeats, "No, I mean that was Florida." There's also a joke by one of the cops after they discover a couple of murder victims. They're Peace to the Streets volunteers wearing the group's red shirts. They are compared to the red shirt characters popularized on Star Trek. It made me chuckle. It's a good installment to the series. It ends a bit abruptly, with Cooper's fate in question, and since that's my favorite character, I now have to read the next book. I would have anyway. December 25, 2020 4 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. On plot, this book would get 5 stars. It’s exciting and had me turning pages well into the wee hours of the morning. The writing was simply okay. There was nothing wrong with the writing, but it was simplistic and did little to draw me in and make me care about the characters. It was akin to reading a newspaper article about a crime spree and feeling terrible for the victims, but not really knowing them. I haven’t read a John Grisham novel in years, but based on memory, I would say this writing is comparable. In my opinion, John Grisham has mediocre writing and fabulous plots. That’s why they make for great movies. This book would make a great movie. Although the plot centers on Anna, we are treated to a preview of John Brookner before she meets him. We know he is bad news, but the depth of his depravity is barely touched until much later. Leon Loy does an admirable job of building suspense, mostly because we know Brookner is going to make an appearance, but we don’t know how or when. Because I had some idea of what he was capable of doing, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book, prior to the appearance of Brookner in Anna’s life, and even more so after. And like a true movie villain, Brookner seems to be indestructible. Scenery was described in such detail that it was easy to imagine it. The feel of the mid to late seventies was heavily dependent upon the vehicles driven and the music played. There was talk of Vietnam veterans and the innocence of this particular time in history was palpable. The thought of a young woman taking off in her car to “wander” without a map in a time before cell phones is hard to believe. At that time, young people were being warned that hitchhiking was dangerous so the thought that Anna’s parents (okay, maybe not her mom) did not put up more of an argument about her plan was baffling. Faced with some unexpected choices, Anna’s decisions reflected her immaturity and naivete. Her reactions were definitely believable and the descriptions used to convey her indecision were all-too-familiar to me. When you’ve been raised with good parents in a safe community, you have no experience with sociopaths. When approached by one, you have no defense because you will excuse their actions as a misunderstanding and shrug off your misgivings as erroneous. You have no yardstick with which to measure evil. When faced with unimaginable circumstances, you may find yourself rooted to the spot, unable to move or speak as your brain tries to catch up and make sense of what you're seeing. These are the things that happened to Anna. Luckily, because she was intelligent, she adapted quickly and was proactive. She prayed that Travis would rescue her, but she didn’t completely rely on him. Travis was the hero of the book, but Anna was not the damsel in distress. It was near the end, as they were wrapping up loose ends, that the writing began to bother me. At this point, the connection between Travis and Anna was solidified, but their conversations always seemed stilted and superficial, implying there was no need for words because their hearts understood one another. I was relieved they were safe, naturally, but I didn’t feel anything else for them. Although all of the characters in the story were described adequately, the one for whom I felt the most empathy was Kate. She felt real; the others felt like stereotypes. As I mentioned previously, this works well for movies. Imagining this as an action movie, eases the need for a deep connection with the characters. The plot takes precedence, and the plot for this book is remarkable. I’d watch it. December 24, 2020 3 stars Had I read this book before the other books in the Big Bad Billionaires series, perhaps I would have liked it more. Instead, I found it really doesn’t compare to the others. All of L. Steele’s books are told in present tense, which has the benefit of pulling the reader into the story and making them feel like they are experiencing it in real time. The book starts from Sienna’s POV in first-person, but when it switches to Jace’s POV, the voice changes to third-person. Every time this happened, it jolted me out of the story. To go from a voice saying “I” this and “I” that, to one saying “he” this and “he” that is very jarring, and initially it made me go back to see if I had misread the first part. The characters are not as well-developed and the plot seems abridged. There could have been so much more. Sienna’s background is sketchy and the explanation for how she came to be adopted has some holes. There is some mention of her adoptive family and one childhood friend, but little else (no concrete memories to speak of). The reader is told how much she loves her sister Bella, but there’s never any interaction between them. The mother is a shadowy figure. The issue with Tom is never really resolved. And honestly, I’m not sure why Sienna was so bothered about a video from when she was 18 showing her topless. I mean, it’s not ideal, but it’s not devastating either. Jace’s backstory also seems inadequate to explain his relationships with his friends and family. We never really find out why he’s friends with Damian and Arpad. At one point, Damian says something in his “Texas drawl” and that threw me because I thought all of the Seven, of which Damian is a part, are British. I’m not clear on how Jace met Eric either. And does he resolve things with Asher? Asher played a big part in Jace’s development into an adult, but I feel like he needs to deal with that history (and Asher’s current actions) to be able to move one. I’d like to see another interaction with Asher before Jace heads back to the US. Overall, I felt like I was reading the surface of a story rather than getting the complete picture. I read about the characters, but I didn’t feel their emotions. Sure, I know a bit more about Sienna and Jace, and that’s useful for reading the other stories. On the other hand, I feel like I don’t really know them at all. This book doesn’t pack the emotional punch of the other books in the series (especially The Billionaire’s Christmas Bride). Secondary characters felt more like props than real people. For example, Natalie seemed to serve the sole purpose of facilitating bringing Sienna and Jace together. She was the bride-to-be and immediately glommed onto Sienna like they were best friends, and there was no evidence of other friends at the wedding. Didn’t she have bridesmaids? This could be a really good book, but it needs more development. First of all, I would change the POV to first-person and continue to switch between Sienna and Jace. Next, I would explore Sienna’s and Jace’s backgrounds, before they met each other, to explain why they are who they are and how they relate to other people in the book. Finally, I would delve into the feelings they have for one another by providing more interactions and emotional responses. We know they’ve both built up walls to protect themselves. Who hasn’t? We want to know why and how the other person helps to break down those walls. Show; don’t tell. Give the reader some credit for being able to interpret the information provided and understand the characters. December 23, 2020 5 stars I have a tendency to gush when I read one of Tracy Sumner’s books. I am truly in awe of her ability to weave words together to create images and feelings. She conveys the emotions of the characters and describes the scenes in vivid detail, immersing me in the worlds and with the people that she creates. Sometimes it’s hard to remember it’s fictional. Sometimes the words claw their way inside of me and I just have to put them on paper (so to speak) to relieve myself of the burden of carrying them alone because they are so poetic and need to be shared. I sound like a fangirl. Guilty. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Piper Scott, and with Julian Alexander as seen through her eyes. This is the first book in the League of Lords series, focused on individuals with supernatural powers. Julian can see through the eyes of the person who last touched an item while Piper can see auras and can heal people, particularly those who struggle with their “gifts.” Theirs is a case of love at first sight, but Julian feels compelled to push aside those feelings because he feels a greater need to protect her than anything else. Plus, her grandfather, as he lay dying, told Julian that Piper was not the one for him. Like a fool, he believes he owes it to her dead grandfather to deny his love for her. As you can imagine, that doesn’t work out so well. Meanwhile, the League is forming, its headquarters at Harbingdon, a property purchased by Julian, the home staffed only by those who have “gifts,” few of whom have ever been trained for the positions they hold, which leads to some interesting problems. Julian is convinced that only having those with “gifts” as a part of this enclave will help to protect them from prying eyes. Unfortunately, one villain in particular, Sidonie, is quickly closing in on their location via a connection through Finn’s dreams. When Piper inevitably meets Sidonie, she is horrified to discover she has no aura. “Only skin, bone, and madness.” Further, she sees Sidonie’s hair “snarled, a black demon hanging down her back,” a very apt and foreboding observation/metaphor. I unknowingly read The Rake Is Taken prior to reading this book, which is fine in terms of understanding, but it gave me what is probably a different take on Finn. I couldn’t help but notice the frequent descriptions of him: “...a born trickster, able to bend the truth seven ways to tomorrow and come out clean.” At one point, Piper observes, “If a crowd hadn’t surrounded Finn as he lounged against a marble column, a careless sprawl calling to the cats in the room like a putrid plate of tuna,” she would have requested his assistance. The descriptions of Finn paint a picture of a man I’d be intrigued to know (if I hadn’t already read the sequel), with phrases like: “carefully crafted facade,” “unruffled mein,” “the height of elegance and ease on his worst days,” “he pushed off the cart with an agile kick and a jaunty wave,” and “strolled as if he owned the space.” “The handsome face, the immaculate dress, the intelligence Finn stored in a portmanteau, and placed at his side during most encounters made people overlook him.” “Finn, who’d slipped into the role of bastard son like he slipped on his drawers, one easy, elegant leg at a time.” Truly, I could go on about Finn as he is a complex and riveting character, but he’s really only a small part of this story. My focus should be on Piper and Julian. Julian, seemingly always in control, is “unmanned” by Piper. Early on, we have a window into his mind as he regards Marianne (his mistress), with “eyes the color of fresh cow dung.” Later, as he tries to restrain himself when it comes to Piper, he presses “his hands to the desk to keep them from following commands his mind issued at rapid speed.” “He didn’t know if he could fight her when two infinitesimal letters—no—were all separating them.” When he eventually submits, he admits to her, “...you are the only treasure my gift has given me.” When near Julian, Piper “...felt as diaphanous as the smoke surrounding her, dissolving in his arms.” Her connection/distance from him is metaphorically portrayed like this: “The scent of him drifted to her, subtle, woodsy, close to the ground but not rooted.” Unable to reason with him, she remembers she has another option: “As he’d told her on more than one occasion, she would make an excellent thief. So, she’d steal his heart if he would not readily give it to her.” Their interactions are always intense, passionate (“Her power rose as his attraction raced across the space like a bullet discharged from a pistol.”), even out of control, yet also fun. “She was an angel in his arms and a determined, independent fury out of them.” She makes him laugh like no one else can, and she burrows into his soul, finding places he hides even from himself. “She had punctured a hole in his life and let blissful contentment flood in. Let joy and fun flood in.” They banter, as she tries to downplay her feelings for him with lies (directed at him) and he tries to hide his love with denial (directed at himself). “...she whispered, the denial as fragile as one spun with gossamer thread. She could hear the lie ringing between them like the village’s church bell...He laughed, razor-sharp, an uncharitable retort.” Another time, Julian questions Piper’s stitching skills as she strives to sew his wound closed, she responds, “Are you expecting daisies on your arm?” Julian laments, “You’re not helping.” Piper responds, “Our goals differ.” Later, he confides in her: “My desires sit at the opposite ends of the galaxy. I want to shield you from danger while I spread you like butter over my body. And I cannot find a way to combine those two with any judiciousness.” I think the reason I love Piper is because, like so many of Tracy Sumner’s heroines, she knows herself, she knows what she wants, and she’s unwilling to settle for what society tells her she can have. In the words (thoughts) of Piper, “Men were encouraged to obtain what they wanted, confess desire, yearning, attraction, while women were left to ache and burn, forced to hide their feelings where no one could see them.” This is another masterpiece worth reading. December 22, 2020 5 stars I read a preview of this book on Bookish First and it sounded wonderful so I wrote a review based on my first impression. Then, I found the book on Netgalley and requested an ARC. Soon, I was gifted an ARC from Bookish First. What I’m saying is, I have two sources to thank. When Bookish First chooses to give you an ARC, they mail a copy of the book (in this case, a softcover). When you get an ARC from Netgalley, it’s an ebook. I’ve gotten used to reading ebooks, but I decided to switch things up and read the physical book this time. I think I’ll stick with ebooks when I have the option. This book is so much fun! I love the characters and the plot. The fairy godmothers, Petunia, Bluebonnet, and Jonquil might be a little overdone at times, but it’s hard to fault them for that. Lucky and Ransom (love that his last name is Payne) are sweet. I thought it was a bit silly that the thing that haunted Ransom was the nickname of “The Boy Who Missed,” but since it’s a silly book, I suppose it’s as good a motivation for him as any. Clearly, he needs to overcome his desire to avoid looking foolish. Lucky has to overcome her belief that she is unlucky, which is difficult to do when everything seems to indicate that’s exactly what she is. There’s a lot of talk about fairy tales and princes and princesses, and someone asks why it always has to be a prince saving a princess. After that, “Roderick (Ransom’s best friend) nodded along but then he said something that surprised RAnsom. ‘Sometimes, when princes save the princess, they’re really being saved, too.’” It’s a bit of foreshadowing, naturally, but it’s not just that Ransom has to save himself, but also that Lucky needs to save herself (and maybe him as well). In other words, both H&h need to experience the hero’s journey, and because there is an HEA, both of them do. The entire book was amusing and it never feels heavy-handed in the “lessons/morals” department, but there was one scene in particular that made me laugh out loud. I hate to use that phrase because it’s so cliche, but it’s true. I really did. Lucky doesn’t know that Ever After is truly magical and her godmothers are fairy godmothers. She wanders through the dress shop looking for Rosebud and happens upon a scene from Cinderella. There, she sees a beautiful dress on a dress form, surrounded by mice with bobbins, a doe watching through the window, a bunny also perched on the windowsill, and a fat cardinal holding a needle in his mouth. They all freeze, until finally the cardinal drops the needle and says “Caw?” And it sounds like a human making fun of a bird. His next comment is, “Shit, that’s not it.” The town is made up of fairy tale characters who each make appearances—Red and Grammy, Hansel, Rosebud (the seamstress), Ravena (the “evil” witch), and Prince Charming, currently in the form of a frog. Apparently, he’s a really disgusting-looking frog, and I love the backstory for how/why he ended up that way, but this cracked me up: “The frog made a sound that might’ve been a “ribbitt” on a smaller creature, but this one sounded like the doorbell to the underworld.” Overall, I love the book and I highly recommend it. I think it’s appropriate for adults and teens—anyone who likes whimsy and fantasy and true love. December 21, 2020 5 stars I received an ARC from the author, but didn’t read it immediately. Once I did, I really liked it. At the beginning, we find out that Oliver Conway is the great grandson of Godric St. Laurent and his wife Emily from Wicked Designs, the first League of Rogues book. I like that Lauren Smith keeps going back to the same families, sometimes generations apart, like she does in the British Stepbrother series (I think related to the Earl of Pembroke, although I may be getting that confused with another one). It was hard to imagine Godric and Emily as great grandparents, but it was an interesting concept. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book and I was happy to read the author's historical note near the end. It’s not something that needs to be read before enjoying the book but it adds a bit of context afterward. And it gives me an insight into the mind of the writer. While reading the book, I was pulled into the setting of the train—the reflections of the black and red, the steam swirling on the platform, the interior windows of the day cars, and the sleeping cars. I think Rayne’s father was a bit lax in his supervision of her, but the chemistry between her and Oliver was believable and powerful. It was clear that the two of them were bound to fall in love, even if Oliver originally thought it was a secondary motivation for potentially marrying her. It was inevitable that she would find out his intentions before he had the opportunity to explain himself to her, so that came as no surprise. The ensuing drama was also expected. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it. I’m also interested in reading Everette and Adelaide’s story. December 19, 2020 |
Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
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