Belinda Kroll

Easy, comforting, charming read

Exactly the sort of charming and one-sitting holiday read I was looking for. I enjoyed the subtle references to Gaskell's North and South, and appreciated the author note at the end, being a Victorian history nerd myself.

Because it is a love story to readers and writers. This just might be my favorite book if 2007, just as Elantris was my favorite of 2006. I will be hard-pressed, I think, to find another book that immediately enfolded me in its mystery and charm, leaving me dazed in my everyday activities as I contemplated the characters and plot. Every character is tangible and sympathetic, the setting is distinct, and the plot is original (to me, at least). The style is romantic in the classic sense of the word, yet entirely believable given the narrator's (Margaret) deep appreciation of books. We're never given a time period, yet I'm left with the impression that Margaret lives in the 1930s, 40s, or perhaps even 1950s.

Reading this book left me with sensations of DuMarier's Rebecca, Bronte's Wuthering Heights, LeFanu's The Wyvern Mystery, and other such romantic, gothic, books. Read it for the intense characterizations. Read it to know the language of a bibliophile speaking with another bibliophile, describing favorite works. I feel as though The Thirteenth Tale has changed me and so my writing: it's let me believe that there are readers willing to entertain a more romantic and classic style from a modern author, and that is good news indeed.

Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2007/05/book-the-thirteenth-tale/

The text has a certain poetry to it, once you get used to its peculiarity. For instance: there are no double-quote marks denoting speech. My third excerpt above is an example of every conversation in the book. That's one of the more straight-forward conversations. The entire book is a sort of rambling narration, disjointed in its timeline and sometimes in its sentence structure. Makes for frustrating reading if you don't have the patience to work through it. An interesting idea, with an interesting execution, I can't decide if I actually liked this book. As the narration is hazy, seen through the drugged mind of a cancer patient, the reader has a distinct level of abstraction so that no real connection is ever made with the characters or, dare I say it, plot.

Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2007/11/book-evening/

I actually found this book in my library while looking for Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Marquez's book was out, for the curious, so I picked up this one). I've never read a book by Manners before, but I really enjoyed this. Some characters are flat, but the majority are flush, amusing, and heartening to read. The romance(s) are all interesting, and have a wonderful quality of reality. Manners does little to hide the underside of the Regency, which I love, because it's different from the typical comedy of manners (no pun intended) we usually see in Regency Romance. A lot of themes are tackled in this book: paternal piety, loyalty, love, murder, prisons, etc; altogether, they make an entertaining and thoughtful read that made me feel better for reading it, which is rare these days.

Tight writing, impressive world building that is neither too much nor too little. Really enjoyed this story and its cast of characters.

Good if you don't mind a ton of internal exposition

I loved Uprooted; by comparison, this book took too long to really get started and had WAY too many narrators. I honestly got a little angry when two more narrators were introduced halfway through the book. This might have been better as third omniscient.

It was pretty painful to read this as an ebook because I didn't realize how long it would be to get to the actual plot. I kept going because the reviews are so split down the middle and I was curious where I'd fall. I wish the first half had gone much faster, and I wish we didn't have to live in everyone's head, context switching every scene. At the end of the day, this was a pretty ambitious work, referencing tales like Rumplestiltskin, Persephone and Hades, Beauty and the Beast, and even Snow vs Summer. It's almost too much. But if you have time to savor your books, I can see how this would be an enjoyable read. Since I was reading this between non-leisure stuff, it was pretty stressful.

Entertaining read, but I never got past the first book. Kind of wish this had been a stand-alone, rather than a series.

Great, startling read

What a fun, scary, compelling story. I'm easily frightened so I mostly had to read this during daylight hours. There are so many clever, heartrending pieces to this; definitely for older children (no younger than 13 I'd say). In today's climate, I hope we would all be Jane McKeene.

Interesting read

We are thrown into the fantasy/political mystery from the start with a murder of two parents. The result is a girl who loses all her color and the ability for people to see her. This story had grand ambitions that were mostly realized for me, but I admit, it was a confusing journeyand I'm not entirely sure I get all of it. I both appreciated and found the ending anticlimactic. There were certain thematic promises made early in the book that left me a little disjointed by the end; I seriously thought the author was angling for a sequel up until I realized there was an epilogue.

A nice, quick read when you want to escape and not think too hard. It felt like a chick flick in book form, and I was totally ok with that. It doesn't go very deep into potential problems of being in an interracial relationship, which again, I was ok with because it's not always as frought as the movies would have you believe, going off my own personal experience. I read this in the winter, but this would be a perfect Beach Read option.

I continue to enjoy Ms Heyer's books, even though there seems to be a pattern to them. I loved the strong male character who says exactly what is on his mind, even if (and especially if) it will anger the heroine.

Entertaining read, not my favorite Heyer, but fun nonetheless.

I remember reading this in elementary school; it stuck with me.

Sutherland is obviously well-read, and any reader can discover this from his effortless allusions to well-known classics to today's popular fiction, to books I've never heard of. (Thankfully, the latter is a small number.) His prose is easy to read despite it being full of asides to his audience. If you don't know much about the publishing industry, this is a great introductory book, as Sutherland goes through the history of the novel, as well as take the novel apart, explaining every facet of the book you hold in your hands.

I will say, however, that about halfway through the book, I started to feel like Sutherland was just ranting about the deprecation of the situation, that people don't spend enough time reading fiction and yet, there isn't anything we can do about it, because there is no way anyone today can possibly read everything that is available. Which is part of his point. A moderately entertaining read, I feel like I wasn't exactly the target audience, given that I knew a lot of what Sutherland said already, but hadn't read it in such an entertaining, so characteristically cynical and British fashion.

Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2007/03/book-how-to-read-a-novel/

If you've seen the musical Annie, you basically know the plot of this book. However, I like Annie, and I liked this book because of the heroine, Pamela Lockhart. She values her mind before her looks, and in order to obtain a governess position that will secure her future finances, she dresses and wears make-up to look like an old maid.

The banter between Pamela and Devon, the hero, was entertaining and interesting, actually, because for once the hero didn't have looks to distract him. In fact, he forgets the way she looks because she's so engaged his mind! Just my kind of romance. Read this for fun banter, but don't expect a lot from the reasons why these two have trouble coming together. That was the weakest part of the story for me. Still, an enjoyable read.

This book is a romance, no doubt about it. The intimate scenes are hot, and most importantly, imperative to the relationship between Gigi and Camden. As a married couple that hasn't seen one another for ten years, there are past disputes that have to be resolved, old wounds re-opened, and ten years of desire to be satiated. Which they do, but always with a purpose.

For those of you writing romance, read Thomas's book for an example of well-written intimate scenes that not only further the plot, they shove the plot forward with gusto, making you feel everything the characters feel and more. This is the first romance in a long time where I felt like the author really knew what they were doing. I'm definitely adding Thomas's backlist to my TBR.

Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2008/09/book-private-arrangements/

This is my favorite book out of the Pink Carnation series, perhaps because the historical heroine, Letty, isn't a madcap adventurer like Amy, or a self-indulgent younger sister of a great English operative... she's a nobody, a younger sister that no one thinks of despite the fact that she makes sure everything is good for everyone else. Finally, we get to see a little about what other people think of this Pink Carnation character who have no connection with the operative. This romance, despite its hasty beginning, is more organic to me, much more believable, because it seems the characters are actually meant for one another. There are obvious clues that let you think this, whereas the other books...well, the first one was “lust first, love after,” and the second was “childhood friends turned lovers.”

As always, an entertaining series, well-written, a good amount of history and other allusions thrown in, something great if you want a bit of fluff in-between your heavier reading. I look forward to reading the next book, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose. Writers should read this book for a believable burgeoning romance between previously unknown persons.

Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2008/03/book-the-deception-of-the-emerald-ring/

I couldn't get past how anachronistic the main character was, and ended up dropping this book about half way through. 😔

Once again, another fun read from Candace Camp. I love her stories because her heroines aren't helpless; they tend to be a little older, a little caustic, with lots of spunk. Irene is no exception: she won't get married because she doesn't want to “belong” to a man the way her mother belonged to her abusive father.

The hero in this book is great, too. Gideon doesn't really want to get married, he's doing it because he's expected to. The twist on the familiar trope is that he's marrying so his children, should he have any, will have more legitimacy, being that he has been the lost heir for the last, oh, twenty years. When Gideon meets Irene, of course they argue. He's rich because he worked his way up from being an abandoned child in London. She's rich because she was born to it. Their sensibilities, however, are very similar, even if their modes of expressing them are different.

Read this book for a hero who looks bad but isn't, a heroine who tells herself she won't ever marry, and a little mystery about how the hero came to be the lost heir returned.

Honestly, I couldn't get past the first chapter. The story never engaged me, and the narrator already seemed like a marytr. 😔

Reading very much as if Georgette Heyer decided to write fantasy, this book was charming and fun, full of flowery language and round about way of saying simple things that require you to read dialog twice to make sure you're understanding what characters say to one another. Great to have POC main characters, but annoying how obsessed the narrative was with how “other” they were, given the author is also POC. I don't feel we learned anything with this preoccupation other than in order to break free, one must be audacious and assume success until proven otherwise.

I very much enjoyed this book. It was a nice dose of magical realism/touch of fantasy mixed in with young adult historical fiction about women's rights in Portland, Oregon. I related to the main character and had fun following her journey from beleaguered daughter to strong adult. The romance was pretty sweet between the hero and heroine, but her run ins with other suitors had me anxious because my adult mind knew how bad it could (and does still) get for women caught in situations they don't want to be in, but have no power to control. The hypnosis spin on the entire women's rights movement was so clever! I loved how removing the voices of society ladies at the end was a visceral education in what their husbands and beaus were doing to them. Loved it.

I think my favorite part of the story, however, is that the heroine and hero go their separate ways at the end. They have responsibilities to themselves and their families, and they hope to run into each other again, but it's not the end of the world that they are not together. It is what it is. I loved that.

Every once in a while in the narrative, it seemed the author clung to colors as a way to describe things... In a paragraph I read about gunmetal gray clouds and the color of a bicycle seat (red, I think), and something that was blue... it was a lot. That would be my one complaint, that sometimes in trying to describe, we lost the point because we were swimming in a bunch of colors.

Great book, though! Would totally read again.

I read this book because I adore the movie. Now, usually, I tell people to read the book before watching the movie because the movie never delivers quite the same impact.

I'd say the same thing with this book, except that it's not just the impact, this book felt like an entirely different story from the movie! I was so accustomed to the pacing of the movie, the theme and what was important, that I often found myself bewildered and wondering what the point was with a particular passage.

I didn't dislike this book, I was just surprised by how different it was from the movie. It wasn't the sort of explicit magic the movie portrays. It's a quiet read, for sure.

Another book which tackles the aftermath of a traumatic event, this time the raid of a compound while in India which leads to the murder of the heroine's parents. Meriel returns from India a mute, content to spend her days in her extensive English garden communing with nature and ignoring the pain of the human world. When Dominic arrives, having never been able to stand watching any animal hurt, he finds a kindred spirit in Meriel, despite her silence.

Though the plot is fairly standard for historical fiction, as always, Putney's characters shine. Meriel has these inklings, a different understanding of the world. She sees beauty in weeds, auras around those who matter, and disregards societal rules. Which made for her seductive pursuit of Dominic rather entertaining. She had watched animals in rut for years, she thinks she understands what is to be done. Poor Dominic, though he had rakish years, is mortified, making for humorous and sensual scenes where he clutches the arms of chairs and refuses to look at Meriel as she pursues him.

I feel as though the treatment of the relationship between the twins Kyle and Dominic could have been explored more. I loved the tender and passionate relationship between Dominic and Meriel. Again, this is a story where the beta hero shines, helping the heroine come out of her shell so they can have a healthy, equal relationship. Read this book for an unconventional heroine, a wonderful beta hero that I'd want to bring home with me, and hints of Putney's Guardian series through the odd little quirks Meriel exhibits.

I like Ceony, but there were some seriously overconfident choices made by an apprentice in this story. I kept thinking about Harry Potter, and how at least in the first books, trouble found him rather than him chasing after it. I wonder how this story may have gone if it had shifted slightly in that direction a little more. An easy, entertaining read otherwise.

This was a solid read for me, the characters were well-rounded enough and the mystery was such that I didn't guess what was happening until only just before the characters. I felt the setting was well-done and I got a feel for the time period without it beind shoved down my throat.

In terms of the inspirational aspect, the heroine is very steadfast in her faith and the hero finds himself wishing he had her “simple trust,” which... we never really see him develop this. He kind of goes from “Oh I wish I had that simple faith/trust,” to suddenly he has it. I wanted to see more of his struggles.

The characters appear in the second and third books as well, but we don't get a glimpse of their inner struggles anymore. So it made me wonder why the author even brought up the hero's struggle at all; it fell a little flat for me.

That said, I am reading the entire trilogy, and I'm not a fan of series.