The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Title: The Glass Hotel

Author: Emily St. John Mandel

Publisher: Knopf 2020

Genre: Literary Fiction

Pages: 321

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby's glass wall: "Why don't you swallow broken glass." High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis is running an international Ponzi scheme, moving imaginary sums of money through clients' accounts. When the financial empire collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan's wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call.

I was so incredibly excited to read this one. I adored Station Eleven and was looking forward to Mandel’s next piece of fiction. Unfortunately this one felt so incredibly flat to me. There’s hardly any plot to speak of, but that was to be expected from her previous work. I didn’t think I was going to read a plot-driven book and that would have been okay. I need to really dive into the lives of interesting characters. This book did not have any. Every single character we met was terrible. I couldn’t root for any of them. I couldn’t make myself care about any of them. I just wanted them all to go away. Beyond that, I’ve found that I really don’t care about reading books where rich people behave badly. I just don’t care. I found no hope in this book. Definitely not for me at all.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Title: Asylum (Asylum #1)

Author: Madeleine Roux

Publisher: HarperCollins 2013

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 321

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - 365; UnRead Shelf Project

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, the New Hampshire College Prep program is the chance of a lifetime. Except that when Dan arrives, he finds that the usual summer housing has been closed, forcing students to stay in the crumbling Brookline Dorm—formerly a psychiatric hospital. As Dan and his new friends Abby and Jordan start exploring Brookline's twisty halls and hidden basement, they uncover disturbing secrets about what really went on here . . . secrets that link Dan and his friends to the asylum's dark past. Because Brookline was no ordinary mental hospital, and there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

That was a quick and enjoyable read. I sped through this creepy young adult horror book in just a few hours. I love a good asylum-based horror novel and this one really did hit the spot. We get some likable characters to follow as they uncover secrets about Brookline and about themselves. The plot is a slow build. We don’t get a ton of action until the last 100 pages, but the tension builds consistently through the first 2/3 of the book. I really fell into the creepy setting and kept want the characters to revisit the basement. Enjoyable read for this week. I will definitely be continuing to read the series.

Asylum:

#0.5 Escape from Asylum
#1 Asylum
#1.5 The Scarlets
#2 Sanctum
#2.5 The Bone Artists
#3 Catacomb
#3.5 The Warden

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sever by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Sever (The Chemical Garden #3)

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2013

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Pages: 386

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

With time ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed, and she takes refuge in his dilapidated house. However, the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and on the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

While I really enjoyed the first book in this series, the second and third books just didn’t really land for me. I was disappointed that the relationship between Rhine and Gabriel went really no where in this volume. In fact, he doesn’t even appear in the book until the last section. Instead, we get more focus back on Linden and Cecily and I was just bored with those characters. The ending was incredibly weak and I just didn’t buy the conclusion. Meh. Just another book off my list I guess.

The Chemical Garden

Next up on the TBR pile:

Whisper of Scandal by Nicola Cornick

Title: Whisper of Scandal (Scandalous Women of the Ton #1)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2010

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

Lady Joanna Ware has no desire to wed again but that doesn't stop the flurry of suitors knocking on her door. Desperate to thwart another proposal, Joanna brazenly kisses Arctic explorer Alex, Lord Grant. Unable to deny the blazing attraction that flares, Joanna knows she's just set the gossip mill turning.

After suffering countless infidelities during her marriage, she's accustomed to scandal. But nothing prepares her for the shocking news that her deceased husband has bequeathed his illegitimate child to her and his friend Alex. As rumors run rampant in the ton, Joanna and Alex travel to the Arctic to claim the orphan. Battling blizzards, dangerous wildlife and a treacherous plot, Alex must protect Joanna, but not before he wickedly seduces her….

Ultimately this was such a disappointment. I was intrigued by the plot and wanted a fun steamy romance. Instead, we get two characters that hate each other right until the last 15 pages or so. Other than sexual chemistry, they were completely ill-suited to one another. I wanted to see more actual connection between the characters. All of the side characters were either boring or incredibly irritating. I just came away from this book with lots of meh feelings. In reading the plot summaries for the rest of the books in the series, I think I will be abandoning this series all together.

Scandalous Women of the Ton

#1 Whisper of Scandal
#2 One Wicked Sin
#3 Mistress by Midnight
#4 Notorious
#5 Desired
#6 Forbidden

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

Title: Hollowland (The Hollows #1)

Author: Amanda Hocking

Publisher: Createspace 2010

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 330

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; TBR Random

"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

This was a pretty fun zombie book. The plot sped through at breakneck pace following Remy as she tries to reach quarantine and, more importantly, her brother. Along the way we get many zombie encounters plus those involving not-so-great humans. There’s not a ton to this book, but I really enjoyed this romp. I will definitely be reading the sequel. This one ended in a doozy of a cliffhanger.

The Hollows

#1 Hollowland
#2 Hollowmen

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreaker #1)

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 507

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

I picked this one up on Kindle sale awhile back and let it languish on my iPad for months. Why? I started reading this book and just couldn’t stop. This Beauty and the Beast retelling is right in my wheelhouse. I love a good fairy tale story with wicked evil, not quite perfect heroes, and plucky heroines. This story isn’t quite surprising, but I loved how Kemmerer put her own spin on the classic tale. I loved Harper and all her insecurities and strength. I loved Rhen and his secrets and charm. And Grey was a delightful surprise full of loyalty and surprising tenderness. I was gutted by the last section of this book. And I’m desperately wanting to finish out the series with book #2. Guess I will have to put that on June’s TBR pile.

Cursebreaker Series

#1 A Curse So Dark and Lonely
#2 A Heart So Fierce and Broken

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Undoing of a Lady by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Undoing of a Lady (Brides of Fortune #3)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

Courting scandal since girlhood, free-spirited Lady Elizabeth Scarlet vows there is just one way to save her childhood friend from a loveless marriage: to kidnap him! But Nathaniel is furious. So angry that he challenges her to take their assignation to its natural conclusion and seduce him.

When her inexperienced attempt flares into intense passion, Lizzie is ruined…and hopelessly, unexpectedly, in love with Nathaniel, the Earl of Waterhouse. Now the wild and willful Lizzie must convince Nat that they are a perfect match—in every way.

I really really wanted to like this one. I thought we would get another fun couple, but instead we get an entirely too obtuse hero and an annoying heroine. I did not like Lizzie and Nat at all. They were a terrible couple. The steamy scenes were kind of awkward and felt voyeuristic in a bad way. I wasn’t excited about how the overall mystery played out. And don’t get me started on Flora and Lowell. Not a great ending to a sometimes enjoyable romance series.

Brides of Fortune

Next up on the TBR pile:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Title: All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2017

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 155

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

I picked this up as a free download from Tor.com and absolutely loved it so much! We get a concise novella following a “murderbot” as it navigates it’s latest work assignment that goes wrong. I loved getting into the mind of the SecUnit but especially loved it’s voice. Such fun to listen to it’s stream of consciousness and journey. I sped through this adventure story in just a few hours and can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Murderbot Diaries:

#1 All Systems Red
#2 Artificial Condition
#3 Rogue Protocol
#4 Exit Strategy
#5 Network Effect
#6 Fugitive Telemetry

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Scandals of an Innocent by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Scandals of an Innocent (Brides of Fortune #2)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

Miss Alice Lister feels anything but respectable. Bad enough that she is a maid-turned-heiress. Now the insufferably attractive Lord Miles Vickery is certain he can gain her fortune by blackmailing her into marriage—even though it was his deceitful charm that broke her heart once before. But she's positive the terms of her inheritance will prove an impossible task. After all, what rake could be completely honest for three long months?

For his part, Miles finds his newfound frankness invaluable in entangling Alice in positions deliciously unbecoming of a lady. Of course, he doesn't yet know that he's falling hopelessly in love with this formidable innocent…or that he will soon go to impossible lengths to prove himself hers forever….

Another fun Regency Romance for the week. I enjoyed Miles and Alice much more than I did the previous couples in the series. Alice has so much grit and resolve, it’s hard not to like here. And Miles is a great version of the rake who reforms. I enjoyed their back and forth sparring. I enjoyed their arguments. I enjoyed their romance. As always, I wish that the ending spent a bit more time on the resolution, but that’s a reoccurring complaint of mine.

Brides of Fortune

#0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan
#1 The Confessions of a Duchess
#2 The Scandals of an Innocent
#3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

Title: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

Author: Hallie Rubenhold

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2019

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 359

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; TBR Random

Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden, and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffeehouses, lived on country estates; they breathed ink dust from printing presses and escaped human traffickers.

What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women.

For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that “the Ripper” preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, but it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, revealing a world not just of Dickens and Queen Victoria, but of poverty, homelessness, and rampant misogyny. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time—but their greatest misfortune was to be born women.

So much research went into this book! I am amazed at the level of detail Rubenhold discovered to recreate the world of the victims of Jack the Ripper. Overall and overall I marveled at the amount of detective work to uncover the lives of these women. History has certainly painted them in a specific light and one that is not accurate. I really enjoyed getting to know each of them in life. I learned a bit more about England in the 1880s (not my expertise in history) and revealed in the atmosphere Rubenhold creates. This book is very dense, but such a good collection of biographies.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Oracle Code

Title: The Oracle Code

Author: Marieke Nijkamp and Manuel Preitano

Publisher: DC 2020

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 208

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme - April

After a gunshot leaves her paralyzed, Barbara Gordon enters the Arkham Center for Independence, where Gotham's teens undergo physical and mental rehabilitation. Now using a wheelchair, Barbara must adapt to a new normal, but she cannot shake the feeling that something is dangerously amiss. Within these walls, strange sounds escape at night; patients go missing; and Barbara begins to put together pieces of what she believes to be a larger puzzle.

But is this suspicion simply a result of her trauma? Fellow patients try to connect with Barbara, but she pushes them away, and she'd rather spend time with ghost stories than participate in her daily exercises. Even Barbara's own judgment is in question.

In The Oracle Code, universal truths cannot be escaped, and Barbara Gordon must battle the phantoms of her past before they swarm her future.

I’m not usually one for capes or even for DC Comics, but this one peaked my interest. I really enjoyed this origin story for Barbara Gordon. We get a great coming-on-age angle. We get a bit of mystery. We get friendship. And this fits neatly into the larger DC universe. I don’t think I will be picking up more capes comics anytime soon, but this was a good afternoon’s reading material.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deep by Alma Katsu

Title: The Deep

Author: Alma Katsu

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2020

Genre: Horror

Pages: 432

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. Between mysterious disappearances and sudden deaths, the guests of the Titanic have found themselves suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone from the moment they set sail. Several of them, including maid Annie Hebley, guest Mark Fletcher, and millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, are convinced there's something sinister--almost otherwordly--afoot. But before they can locate the source of the danger, as the world knows, disaster strikes.

Years later, Annie, having survived that fateful night, has attempted to put her life back together. Working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship, she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier fighting in World War I. At first, Annie is thrilled and relieved to learn that he too survived the sinking, but soon, Mark's presence awakens deep-buried feelings and secrets, forcing her to reckon with the demons of her past--as they both discover that the terror may not yet be over.

Alma Katsu is also going on my must read author list! I adored The Hunger and The Deep is an amazing follow-up! I have always been fascinated with the sinking of the Titanic. Scratch that, I’ve always been fascinated by shipwrecks, all shipwrecks. Ships being lost as sea has always held my attention. I especially love the ones surrounded by mystery like the Andrea Doria or the Mary Celeste. Seriously, I went down a giant rabbit hole a few years ago learning about ghost ships through history. But back to this book… We get a great story split between the Titanic and Britannic. We all know how the story is going to end, but thankfully Katsu keeps the tension high. We have to know just exactly how we get to the ending. We have to know why Annie acts strangely at times. We have to know the fate of Caroline, Ondine, and Mark. We have to know if Annie will understand why she felt the need to hid herself away. We have to know if the creepy feeling we have is due to real supernatural entities or just the fact that we know the ships will sink. I sped through this one in only a few days. I love how Katsu keeps up the pace throughout her books making the reader keep going. There are no lags in the story even when we get to the quieter moments. We have to find out how it all ends. I absolutely loved this one!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Title: Upright Women Wanted

Author: Sarah Gailey

Publisher: Tor.com 2020

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 171

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

“That girl’s got more wrong notions than a barn owl’s got mean looks.”

Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her—a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.

The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.

So Sarah Gailey is most definitely going on my must read author list. I love how they write with fun classic tropes turned on their heads. On the surface, this is a story of a post-apocalypse(ish) world where a resistance faction has risen up with the aid of traveling librarians. Sounds like a typical scifi book. But Gailey really focuses on the relationships of the characters and explores gender and identity in this strange world. They did similar things in River and Teeth and Taste of Marrow and I am totally on board of this! This short novella really packs a punch. I wanted so much to see the the further adventures of Esther and Cye along with the resistance. I wanted to learn more about the world they live in. I wanted to meet more interesting characters. Maybe we will get another book set in this world from Gailey.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Title: A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: Broadway Books 2010

Genre: Nonfiction - Travel Memoir

Pages: 397

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf Project

Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.

For a start there's the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa along for the walk. Despite Katz's overwhelming desire to find cozy restaurants, he and Bryson eventually settle into their stride, and while on the trail they meet a bizarre assortment of hilarious characters. But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods has become a modern classic of travel literature.

Our book club selection for May. We really wanted to get away from historical fiction specifically WWII historical fiction. This definitely delivered on that point. Instead of historical narrative, we get Bryson’s account of his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail. At times I found Bryson and his various hiking companions to be insufferable but at least he can acknowledge that fact. I kept having flashbacks to reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed and how much I hated that book. I finally pinpointed that one of my issues with Strayed was her philosophy of life. Many times it cam across as “everyone should do this to live a fulfilled life.” I just didn’t get that from Bryson at all. He had more of an attitude of “I got this idea of walking the trail, I attempted it, I had some thoughts about my own life, but you do you.” In the end, I found that I really enjoyed this book and need to add some of his other books to my TBR list.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Title: Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1)

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Publisher: HarperTeen 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 518

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf; Monthly Theme - April

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.

Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

I have been looking forward to this book for months. I finally fit it into my reading month and was very disappointed. Lou is a great character and I really loved Ansel and Coco. I think the concept of white and red witches. And that’s where the positives ended for me. The readers are constantly reminded that this isn’t our world, but it sure looks a lot like 18th century France complete with the constant use of French words and phrases and that really looks like the Catholic Church. But apparently it’s not our world. I would have liked this better as an alternate history where witches are real. Instead, I kept having to remind myself that this was supposed to be a fantasy world. Second, I quickly grew tired of the constant misogyny present in all the characters. The author could have established that in the beginning and then just dropped it. Instead, we are constantly reminded of how women in this society are worthless at best and evil to the core at worst. I was so tired of reading it over and over. And having Reid keep reminding us was extra annoying. To that end, I totally didn’t buy his love for Lou in the end. Someone doesn’t completely change their entire perspective on life that quickly. Unrealistic… And finally that sex scene between Lou and Reid was a bit much for a young adult novel. We are supposed to believe that Lou is 18 and Reid is 22. It was a bit creepy to read their graphic sex scene (and this is coming from someone who occasionally reads erotica). We really could have done with that. I don’t think I will be reading the sequel when it is released.

Serpent & Dove

#1 Serpent & Dove
#2 Blood & Honey

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Title: The Song of Achilles

Author: Madeline Miller

Publisher: Ecco 2012

Genre: Historical Fiction / Mythology

Pages: 389

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; Monthly Theme - May

A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller’s monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights.

It’s been decades since I last read The Iliad but reading this reimagining of Achilles’s story brought me right back to Classical Studies in college. Overall I really enjoyed Miller’s telling of a very classic story but framing the events from the viewpoint of Patroclus. I loved learning about Achilles not from himself, but from one who loved him. We get an interesting picture of a classical hero. Plus we get to experience the strangeness of encountering gods and goddesses. The horrors of war are particularly affecting coming from an acknowledged poor soldier. We get a proper coming of age story within the pages all the way through the deaths of both of our main characters. Tragic for sure, but with lush writing and storytelling. I enjoyed it very much.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Confessions of a Duchess by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Confessions of a Duchess (Brides of Fortune #1)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

When an ancient tax law is invoked requiring all unmarried ladies to either wed or surrender half their wealth, it's not long before the quiet village of Fortune's Folly is overrun by a swarm of fortune-hunting bachelors. Marry again? Never! Not after what Laura, the dowager duchess, was forced to endure. Even if the arrival of her onetime paramour, Dexter Anstruther, is oh-so-tempting, she knows the secret she's kept from him would destroy any chance at a future together. Young, handsome and scandalously enticing, Dexter suspects Laura has a hidden motive for resisting his charms…and he intends to expose her, by any means necessary.

This one was much more fun than the prequel short story. I really liked Laura and Dexter. The whole hidden child plot in romances is not my favorite, but this one was done better than usual. I was much more interested in the back and forth between the main characters. The subplot involving Lydia was a bit much, but thankfully the book rarely focused on it. What I really want is more from Miles! Here’s hoping the next book stars him and Alice.

Brides of Fortune

#0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan
#1 The Confessions of a Duchess
#2 The Scandals of an Innocent
#3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Secrets of a Courtesan by Nicola Cornick

Title: The Secrets of a Courtesan (Brides of Fortune #0.5)

Author: Nicola Cornick

Publisher: HQN 2009

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 69

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

All's fair in love and matrimony in Nicola Cornick's wildly romantic new series that introduces the ladies of Fortune's Folly--spirited heiresses who are more than a match for society's most dashing rogues!The epitome of privilege and power, the handsome Duke of Welburn sets all the ladies' hearts aflutter as he strides into the village of Fortune's Folly.

For Eve Nightingale this fluttering is a mixture of wariness and wonder. Once his glittering society mistress--caught up in his glamorous world by day and tangled in his bedsheets by night--she is now no more than a penniless yet proud shopkeeper.

It's a world Eve can't go back to--she has secrets to keep. But this determined duke seems very keen on unravelling them....

Hmmm… I liked the premise, but wasn’t the biggest fan of the characters. Eve is fine. Alasdair is much too much of a pompous ass for me to really like him. At least this one was quick…

Brides of Fortune

#0.5 The Secrets of a Courtesan
#1 The Confessions of a Duchess
#2 The Scandals of an Innocent
#3 The Undoing of a Lady

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Title: The Secret Life of Bees

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Publisher: Penguin Books 2003

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - Top 100 YA, 21st Century Women Authors, Rory Gilmore; Goodreads Random

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sister, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

A really beautiful coming-of-age story set in a fraught time period and place. I was rooting for Lily to find her place int he world away from her father and the ignorant perspectives of many in her community. I loved meeting the sisters and learning about beekeeping and their particular brand of religion. Many of the sequences feel very dreamlike. Almost like the opening scenes of Lily watching the bees swarm in her room. My only quibble with the book is the format. At times, the constant flashbacks muddled the prose. Transitions were not the best. Overall this was a lovely atmospheric book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss #1)

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Speak 2010

Genre: YA Romance

Pages: 382

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - NPR Teen, NPR Romance, 365 Days of YA; Ebook

Anna can't wait for her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end in the French kiss Anna awaits?

I absolutely devoured this book in a day and a half. This is such a great young adult romance. We get that initial meet-cute. We get the complications. We get a ton of will they or won’t they. And we finally get to see the two main characters come together. Even though there were some more serious parts, this was the light-hearted read that I needed for this week. I definitely was rooting for Anna and Etienne throughout the book. I loved the pretty straight-forward plotline propelling the romance. I loved the side characters, especially Rashmi and Josh. All of the characters act like late teens. Often in YA, we get 17 year olds acting either like 13 year olds or 25 year olds. It was nice to see appropriate teen behavior and though patterns. I finished the last page of the book and just sighed with a smile on my face. Lovely little book. I will definitely be reading the two companion books (not quite sequels, but involving some of the side characters).

Anna and the French Kiss

#1 Anna and the French Kiss
#2 Lola and the Boy Next Door
#3 Isla and the Happily Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile: