Category Archives: Young Adult

Review: Youngbloods (Imposters #4) by Scott Westerfeld

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Title: Youngbloods
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher/Year:  Scholastic Inc 4/5/22
Length:  432 pages
Series: Imposters #4

Overview

IT’S TIME TO

COME OUT OF HIDING

Frey has spent her life in a family of deceivers, a stand-in for her sister, manipulated at her father’s command. Free from them at last, she is finding her own voice — and using it to question everything her family stood for.

Tally was once the most famous rebel in the world. But for over a decade, she’s kept to the shadows, allowing her myth to grow even as she receded. Now she sees that the revolution she led has not created a stable world. Freedom, she observes, has a way of destroying things.

As the world is propelled further into conflict and conspiracy, Frey and Tally join forces to put a check on the people in power, while still trying to understand their own power and where it belongs.

My Thoughts

It’s been a minute since we’ve been with this series but it’s so easy to slip back into the series. Getting back into the world of Tally and Frey really leads us down an exciting path, and throughout this fourth book, we don’t know who to trust.

The journey here is one to watch how Frey tries to get over the loss of Col, the one person that she loved, knowing that it was her twin sister who murdered him. Frey doesn’t know who to trust since she knows that her sister isn’t loyal and is moral missing, so she has to tread carefully.

We get to watch the relationships grow with the Youngbloods and all the other cliques that were once part of the city – especially now that laws and dust aren’t a thing, an everyone’s got the chance to reinvent themselves. It’s a reliance on some of those old ‘friends’ that gets us through some of the trials in this storyline.

We see a ‘come to terms’ between Boss X and Frey and the realization that they are more similar than they thought, but have the same scars to get through life which make things harder. These similarities make it that much harder to predict what the future will hold with them since the dynamic is tough.

There’s a quest to uncover an destroy the old dust files that Frey/Rafi’s father had saved – knowing that there’s a lot there that the AI of other nations can use against them. Part of the issue of course is that they are radioactive so it’s harder to get to, and once they discover the hiding place, they learn that they’re not the only ones on this same quest. just for different motives.

Rarfi has made a trade, a deal with another nation without thinking through the repercussions and that means that we’re on the backfoot throughout the quest to save the world.and then when we realize that she perhaps made deals with multiple people, well that means that we have even more to worry about.

Even within the Youngbloods we see that there’s a power struggle on who’s making the right choices for them and for mankind that we don’t know who’s going to be on the right side of things.

There’s strife, stress, fear, angst….everything with the exception of romance since that’s been killed. But…all in all a great next chapter in their journey and in this series. Enjoy!

Review: Believe Me (Shatter Me #6.5) by Tahereh Mafi

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Title: Believe Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher/Year:  HarperCollins Publishing 11/16/21
Length:  96 Pages
Series: Shatter Me #6.5

Overview

The devastatingly romantic fifth novella in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shatter Me series, chronicling the events after Imagine Me, the explosive sixth novel.

Juliette and Warner fought hard to take down the Reestablishment once and for all. Life in the aftermath isn’t easy, as they and their friends at the Sanctuary work with their limited resources to stabilize the world.

Warner has his sights set on more than just politics. Since he proposed to Juliette two weeks ago, he’s been eager to finally marry her, the person he loves more than anything and has endured so much to be with. But with so much chaos around them, it’s been nearly impossible for them to have a wedding. And even Juliette has been distracted by everything they need to do.

At long last, Warner and Juliette’s future together is within reach, but the world continues to try to pull them apart. Will they finally be able to be happily, officially, together?

My Thoughts

It’s been a minute since I was last with this series and i’ll never be able to truly sort out if/when we have gotten to the end of what our creative author has given us. In this novella, we are now past the worst of it we think – Ella/Juliette is alive and well, and she and Warner have a chance at their happy ending.

Of course though, you will remember (I hope?) from the last book that things didn’t end perfectly. While they were trying to clean things up to rebuild, destroying buildings that were deemed to be unsafe, Kenji followed ordered and knocked down a building….that housed the design studio that was making Ella’s dress. So…no wedding dress…GASP!

That of course sets the tone for everything in this novella. We watch how they try to make those arrangements work and well, they just don’t. The wedding gets postponed because the world is still so unsettled. We watch how there’s a need for Ella/Juliette to go out into the world, but Warner is so worried for her safety that he doesn’t let that happen. People pull them apart in every moment and direction and we wonder if they will ever get what they have waited so long for.

We want to believe that love will be enough for them, especially through all the books that we read about their start, middle and now ending? but….it seems like they will just have to wait until another moment in time because the need for order, and power, and unity is more important than romance.

So, as a reader, of course when I finished this book, I went online to see if there’s more to the story coming since if you’ll remember, it was intended as a trilogy that was extended. Well, it seems as though there’s nothing more planned, but the ending here hints at there being a need for more. Is that the game of Ms Mafi? leaving us on another cliff should she decide that she’ll continue the story – knowing that there’s more that we could get, or ….we are just left with an open ended ending? I don’t know and it’s going to bug me. But, it shouldn’t keep you guys from reading this one so…enjoy!

Review: Mirror’s Edge (Imposters #3) by Scott Westerfeld

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Title: Mirror’s Edge
Author:  Scott Westerfeld
Publisher/Year:  Scholastic 4/6/21
Length:  352 Pages
Series: Imposters #3

Overview

The danger rises and the deception grows in the heart-stopping third book in the New York Times bestselling Impostors series!

Frey’s return to the city of her birth isn’t going to be an easy one. She and her love Col must surge on new faces and bodies in order to infiltrate Shreve by dropping from the sky and landing undetected.

Frey’s sister Rafi — no longer a twin in features, but still a twin by birth — is the wild card. Are the sisters on the same side . . . or are they playing to their own agendas? If their father is deposed from Shreve, who will take control? And what other forces may be waiting in the wings?

My Thoughts

Here we are, back in the insanely engrossing world of the Uglies, where the past never truly led us in the right direction, and the semi truths of today aren’t what they seem. Everything that Frey thought she knew about Rafi and her father isn’t the truth, and that makes every move they make from here on out a question mark. The mission that this story takes us on is multi-pronged. There’s the need to rescue Boss X from the clutches of Schreve, and we don’t know what they will be up against. Frey goes under the knife with Col and several others to camo themselves from the nano dust in the city- creating new identifies for themselves in order ot sneak in, save X, destroy Shreve and hopefully free the city. The republic of Diego is in on this as well partially because that’s where the surg is happening and partially because the end game is for Diego to put Frey in control of Shreve and make the world a better place. The question though is are all the tests and prodding for the benefit of Frey, Shreve, Rafi or something else entirely.

The journey takes us under the radar into Shreve, under ground, where crims reveal secrets to Frey about her home city that she had no idea about. She’s introduced to cliques who may be able to set diversions so they can sneak into the high security prison where X is held, but since these are unknowns to the crew and rebels, we don’t know what’s the benefit and real truth here. Everyone has their own motivation and again we’re in a place where we don’t know who we can trust.

There’s eerie construction happening and we quickly uncover that there are radioactive deposits that Frey and Rafi’s father is looking to dig up in order to create a nuclear weapon. There’s intelligence that tells us that he’s stockpiled it in his tower meaning that they can’t blow him up with out destroying the city. So we’re at an impasse of sorts.

Relationships are put to the test, identities are uncovered and mysteries still hold strong where we don’t know what’s real, what’s illusion and what’s on the allied side.

Many lives are lost, and may twists takes us down a path where we realize that if you can’t fight for yourself, you can’t trust someone else to do it. We watch Rafi take Frey’s persona, her courage and her mannerisms and use them for her own benefit, yet again reminding us that she’s not to be trusted and that she’s only motivated by her own sense of power. We don’t know what that means for the rest of this story, since she’s done something yet again at the end of this installment that raises flags and questions that are impossible to answer.

We learned early on in this series of a death of a family member that was unknown at the time, and that’s been used against Frey and Rafi throughout the first three installments. We have a death of a favorite that was caused at the hands of someone that we were wrong to trust, changing the trajectory for our mains going into book four. We also find ourselves back in Paz at the end of this story, meeting with at least one if not two unexpected characters in the hopes that we can change the future for the better.

In my review for book two, I was left with some many philosophical questions – but in this book, it’s not so much a deep seeking question that I have but rather will we ever live in a time where over-baring power isn’t the only motivation? Where you always have to put someone else down in order to gain power, authority, money, all that comes with being in charge? We’ve seen that there’s a need and hunger for some people to lead, but there are also some who do it with a balance of respect. Sadly, that’s not the case in this story for some of the twisted paths we go down. There’s too much being sacrificed, and I wonder what that means should this story really transpire in the future. I can’t wait until book four now, and I hate how our author does this to me. Leaves me hanging on a cliff, and I have to wait far far too long for the next installment. oh well. Enjoy!

Review: A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses #4) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Silver Flames
Author:  Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year:  Bloomsbury USA 2/16/21
Length:  768 Pages
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Overview

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other. 

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.

My Thoughts

I’ll have to be a bit honest at first here and say that I had to wrack my brain to get caught up to where we left off since it’s been quite some time since we’ve last been in this world. The War with King Hybern left a jarring memory in my brain, and remembering what happened to Elain and Nesta at the end of it all made me wonder what the future could hold. Elain, the beautiful perfect and delicate sister was taken against her wishes, put into the couldron and Made into something immortal. Nesta followed after her and took everything that she could from the Coulderon as a way to get her revenge out. What happened after though, you’ll all remember is that Nesta couldn’t deal with her pain, with her guilt and with her hatred of herself and that took her down an awful spiral.

We’re now a year or so past the war and Nesta is no better off. She’s a shell of a person, empty and all she does is spend Feyre’s money on booze and men. She’s rude to everyone who makes an effort to be around her that they are forced to give an ultimatum. either fall in line and train with Cassian, get some structure and figure out how to harness her power, or go back to the human lands where she won’t be accepted. It’s really no choice, so she finds herself training with Cassian in the morning and working in the library for the rest of the day.

It’s interesting to see how long it takes to break Nesta down in this story – frankly, I don’t know that we ever really see her break down her walls, but we see her find some purpose in her life. Figure out what’s a bigger goal and to go there. She makes friends with a priestess in the library named Gwyn who starts to play a big role as well as another Illaryian named Emerie. The notion that she’s able to make ‘friends’ makes everyone have hope that she’s going to come around, but even that is a wish that may never come true.

The undertone throughout this 4th installment is that there’s still unrest in the world. While The King of Hybern is dead, the human queens are not united as they should be ever since one went into the Cauldron and lost her beauty to become eternally old. She’s hungry for the power to get her beauty back and that means that we’re about to see the world turned upside down.

Throughout this book, we learn about things older than anyone, Amren even has a hard time remembering the full history. We’re taught about the Dread Trove, a collection of items that were so dark and evil that they have wards to hide and protect them, they have the ability to raise the dead and make people do their bidding. In the wrong hands, that means that the world that they know will be completely destroyed. The queen who’s looking for her youth wants the Trove as she’s made a deal with one of the oldest evil immortals who has his own motivation as well to get released from his prison.

So, we watch the journey as the one human Queen gets a hold of the Crown which is able to control the minds of anyone who’s within reach. That leave a Mask which is able to raise the dead and a Harp which is able to open wards and pass through time. Nesta’s ability to scry which helped them find the Couldron in the last installment means that she’s ripe for the asking to find the Dread Trove. She’s of course not willing to help anyone, especially seeing how the past turned out when she tried to help and her loved ones died or changed form. She objects strongly, and that means that Elain offers herself to do it. That’s what finally gets Nesta to agree to go on the hunt. She trains to become a warrior, to strengthen her mind body and soul, and at the same time, with her friends, they bring back the Valkryies – a female warrior unit that was stronger than many men back thousands of years ago and died off in a war that was a set up.

In addition to that storyline, we have another where Feyre and Rhys are expecting their first child, just as the Bone Carver told them from his visions. The Challenge here is that she fell pregnant when she was in Illaryian form during the war when she was able to shift her shape (thank all the High Lords who gave her powers when she was about to die in book #1). It’s a blessing and everyone’s beyond happy that she’s pregnant and then they learn that because of the form that she was in, the baby is due to have wings. An exciting time for the Illaryian’s but Feyre is now in her Fae form and her body won’t survive a birth of a child with wings. They keep this from her of course, and we watch the journey throughout the story to see if they’re able to keep Feyre alive.

I’ll admit that the first few chapters were a bit draggy for me – it took me a few minutes to get back into it even though I LOVE this series. The characters all have their deep and interesting stories that lead us on so many crazy adventures that we don’t know necessarily what we’re going to get. Some are older than others, some have other forms that were taken from them in the last war. And some really don’t know what to do with the life that they have now.

Elain has found herself mated to someone that she’s got adverse feelings towards, and we see hints of something perhaps between her and Az. Azriel is one of the main characters that we’d do anything to see happy and when it seemed as though there was something more between them at Winter Solstice. Maybe that will come in the next book since we know that there’s a continuing story here.

We have the battles of good and evil in this forth book. We have the notion that everything is NOT what it seems and you never know who you can trust even if you make allies. We also see that there’s redemption for even the worst offenders. We see that there’s transition in life and when you’ve had some of your greatest horrors take away your very breath, there are people out there who care enough to lift you up, support you and never leave you behind. And there’s love. That’s likely the most important of all and perhaps the one thing that we see carry us through this vicious forth installment.

Now I don’t know about any other reader, but I know for myself that i’d love more than anything to get book five sooner rather than later. It’s been years since we had the last one and I think i’ll scream and wither away if we have to wait that long again. On that note – ENJOY!

Review: On the Way to the Wedding (The Bridgertons #8) by Julia Quinn

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Title: On the Way to the Wedding
Author:  Julia Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 4/25/17
Length:  300 Pages
Series: The Bridgertons #8

Overview

A funny thing happened …

Unlike most men of his acquaintance, Gregory Bridgerton believes in true love. And he is convinced that when he finds the woman of his dreams, he will know in an instant that she is the one. And that is exactly what happened. Except …

She wasn’t the one. In fact, the ravishing Miss Hermione Watson is in love with another. But her best friend, the ever-practical Lady Lucinda Abernathy, wants to save Hermione from a disastrous alliance, so she offers to help Gregory win her over. But in the process, Lucy falls in love. With Gregory! Except …

Lucy is engaged. And her uncle is not inclined to let her back out of the betrothal, even once Gregory comes to his senses and realizes that it is Lucy, with her sharp wit and sunny smile, who makes his heart sing. And now, on the way to the wedding, Gregory must risk everything to ensure that when it comes time to kiss the bride, he is the only man standing at the altar …

My Thoughts

We knew that the series was going to come to an end because there were no more Bridgertons to write about, but i’m sad nonetheless. What we have is a great finale though to the series, and a nice way to tie up the journey that we’ve gone on with the Bridgertons.

Just like the summary notes- we are kicking off this book in an exciting fashion . We are watching Gregory, the youngest boy in the family sprint to the chapel in the hopes of stopping a wedding. We don’t know the background just yet as to who this girl is and what brought him to stop the wedding, but we know that it has to be good – right?

We go back about two months when there’s a party at Anthony and Kate’s country home where Gregory is invited and stops in. What we know of him so far from the other stories is that he’s a bit more outgoing and cynical than his older siblings and he often gives Hyacinth a run for her money because he tries to protect her and he knows that he can get away with more hassle than most. We also watch as he acknowledges that romance and true love are a thing seeing as how all his siblings made love matches ahead of him, so he’s hoping to find his love and knows that he’ll feel this earth moving moment as soon as he sees her.

Which is exactly what happens at this party.

Two guests that are also invited are Lucinda (Lucy) and Hermoine, two friends who are having a pre-season debut here at the country party – as their guardians/parents believe that they need to get a bit polished in smaller events before they make a true debut among the ton.

When Gregory walks in and lays sight on Hermoine and Lucy, he thinks that he’s felt the earth move – that his life has been changed forever. He sees Hermoine across the room and she’s the kind of lady who hast he attention of just about any and every man out there – yet she doesn’t return the attentions at all. She’s in love with a man from back home but of course every man out there thinks that he can change her. Gregory included.

One of the ways that he goes about it is through a friendship with Lucy who’s able to give him ‘good insight’ on how he can try to win Hermoine over by doing the opposite of what every other man has done. Of course we readers know that there’s more to the story than meets the eye and perhaps Lucy doesn’t know what’s best.

Anyhow, we watch how Gregory does his best to win over the woman that he thinks is his true love, all while we watch Lucy gain interest in Gregory, while knowing that she’s been promised to marry another man. Her uncle who’s taken over as her guardian has engaged her to a man who’s destined for power. Everyone tells her that he’ll treat her well, but she herself wants to have a love match too.

We can only anticipate what will happen right? WRONG.

There are so many twists thrown into this one. We watch how Hermoine starts to feel something more for Gregory and we think that he may succeed in what he has set out to do – meaning that she’s the one that he stops the wedding of – as she’s likely gone back to her love from back home. Mind you – he’s not the only one who’s managed to gain her attentions. When Lucy’s brother comes to retrieve her as her uncle wants to have the wedding sooner than later, we see a quick and scandalous interaction between her brother and Hermoine which changes the trajectory of this story completely.

What happens from there is that we see an interesting connection grow between Gregory and Lucy before she’s rushed home. We see fast wedding arrangements made for Hermoine, and again that leads us to a stopping of a wedding back in London.

There are interesting circumstances that brought that wedding about, and blackmail that we love to get to the bottom of. We have professions of love and still the idea that happiness will never come because that’s just not meant to be in this story. We also learn personal secrets about a few characters in this story that make us really enjoy the comedic relief that can sometimes be brought.

It’s an exciting culmination to everything that’s gone on thus far in the series. We watch as the power of family continues to be important and the sway that the Bridgertons have in society truly means something even when they don’t hold the highest title in England.

What’s even better is the 2nd Epilogue although I was almost certain that we would see a slightly different ending and I was almost hopeful for things to end up not as they did, just because I think that the story maybe deserved a new resolution. Regardless, it was a nice way to end the series and now i’m sad to be done with it. On that note – off to find something new to read. Enjoy!

Review: It’s In His Kiss (The Bridgertons #7) by Julia Quinn

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Title: It’s In His Kiss
Author:  Julia Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 3/28/17
Length:  298 Pages
Series: The Bridgertons #7

Overview

Meet Our Hero . . .

Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth’s sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past . . . and the key to his future. The problem is—it’s written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.

Meet Our Heroine . . .

All the ton agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She’s fiendishly smart, devilishly in small doses. But there’s something about her—something charming and vexing—that grabs him and won’t quite let go . . .

Meet Poor Mr. Mozart . . .

Or don’t. But rest assured, he’s spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual—and annually discordant—Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth’s every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other . . . and that there is nothing as simple—or as complicated—as a single, perfect kiss.

My Thoughts

I’m still surprised every time I read another installment to this series as it must be such a challenge to write about continuations of the same family story but with new eyes, new personalities and new trials. It seems as though our lovely author Ms Quinn has saved the most dynamic and troublesome for last and that’s what we get with Hyacinths story.

The way that this one is laid out is a bit of tellings us where we are in time and what we may have missed in a blurb at the onset of every chapter. What’s nice about that is that we’ve managed to set the stage and we know from whom’s perspective we’re about to read.

We don’t know much about Mr St Clair – which is the point. What we do know is that he’s got a reputation much like that of Anthony, Benedict or even Simon, but what also comes with that is a dark and troubled family backstory. That’s always the case with the ‘to be spouse’ of a Bridgerton so I was excited to see how that one evolved.

Gareth was the younger son of the Lord St Clair and clearly not the favorite child. It’s safe to say even that his father hated him, had it out for him, tortured him and even disowned him once he hit an age where he would be able to manage on his own. He also told Gareth’s older brother to cut him off, but the brotherly bond is more important than anything. At the same time he was thrown out of the house, Gareth also learns that he’s the result of an affair that his mother has and that his ‘father’ doesn’t even know who his real father is.

At the same time we get to engage in the world of Hyacinth. She’s the youngest of all the Bridgertons and if you’l recall, she was born after her father passed away. She’s always been a bit more independent or strong willed than the others, even more so than Eloise, but at the same time, she does want to find a husband, just that it has to be someone who can match her. She’s been out in society for three seasons and has had a handful of proposals, just none that she wants to take up on the offer.

We watch as their worlds collide from time to time through a relationship that Hyacinth has with his Grandmother Lady Danbury, and how Gareth also dotes on her very much. As a result, they are around each other more and more and come to realize that perhaps they have an attraction even if they irritate one another. If that’s not enough, they have a puzzle that they need the other to solve which continues to pull them together.

Gareth is given the diary of his grandmother from Italy which he needs someone to translate. That’s where Hyacinth’s role comes into play as she’s able to read a bit of Italian and she goes on her quest. What she discovers is so much more than anyone expected. She reads how his grandmother hated to be matched with the man that she married, and how she truly wanted to be anywhere else. She also shares that she received a gift of jewels from her grandmother which she chose to hide because she didn’t want her husband to get his hands on them.

That’s where the bulk of our story takes place – watching as they try to translate and decipher clues that will take them to where the jewels were hidden, in Gareth’s father’s house…and what that means for their reputations and relationship when they are forced to spend so much time together.

They try to be proper and they continue to antagonize one another so much that it’s inevitable that something will happen that may take decisions out of their hands. I enjoyed this one and I enjoyed the discovery of the jewels, even if it wasn’t what we had all hoped for. Were they what was expected? did it meet the thrill of the hunt?

All that’s left now is Gregory’s story and I can’t wait to dive into that one and see how this series resolves. Enjoy!

Review: To Sir Phillip, With Love (The Bridgertons #5) by Julia Quinn

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Title: To Sir Phillip, With Love
Author:  Julia Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 1/31/17
Length:  432 Pages
Series: The Bridgertons #5

Overview

he wrote him a letter…and he stole her heart.

Sir Phillip knew that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster, and so he’d proposed, figuring that she’d be homely and unassuming, and more than a little desperate for an offer of marriage. Except . . . she wasn’t. The beautiful woman on his doorstep was anything but quiet, and when she stopped talking long enough to close her mouth, all he wanted to do was kiss her . . . and more.

Did he think she was mad? Eloise Bridgerton couldn’t marry a man she had never met! But then she started thinking . . . and wondering . . . and before she knew it, she was in a hired carriage in the middle of the night, on her way to meet the man she hoped might be her perfect match. Except . . . he wasn’t. Her perfect husband wouldn’t be so moody and ill-mannered, and while Phillip was certainly handsome, he was a large brute of a man, rough and rugged, and totally unlike the London gentlemen vying for her hand. But when he smiled . . . and when he kissed her . . . the rest of the world simply fell away, and she couldn’t help but wonder . . . could this imperfect man be perfect for her?

My Thoughts

I do love a sweet story that has Eloise as the leading lady. We know that she’s got more sass and spine than some of the other Bridgetons. and as we watched her best friend Penelope find happiness, we knew that her time was likely to come. Add to that the notion that Epilogue #2 in the previous book teased what was to come, well there was no worry that her story wouldn’t be exciting.

If you’ll think back to the endless chatter around who Mrs Whistledown was, there was thought that it was Eloise since she truly enjoyed to write a lot and was likely more observant than most others in the Ton. Well, she insisted that it was her correspondence that gave her fingers ink stains and when that was proven true, everyone started to wonder who she was writing to. That in itself is the crux of this story.

When Eloise learned of the passing of a cousin, she sent a note of condolence to the husband and that began a year long interesting friendship that was was based in short letter to one another and a growing friendship. This friend is a one Mr Phillip Crane. He’s the father of rambunctious twins (who are 8) and who really need to be tamed. He’s a botanist and a man who enjoys the simpler things in life until of course his older brother passed who was the heir to the family ‘stuff’ and as a result, Phillip now has a whole new set of responsibilities that he didn’t want – and a wife that was due to marry his brother.

There’s a welcome change in the air in the invitation that Mr Crane extends to Eloise. Through their correspondence, he begins to think that any woman who’s still unmarried at twenty eight and who seems intelligent would be just the woman to marry him and take over the tasks of the home and…help raise his kids. He gets a shock when Eloise runs away from London and she arrives on his doorstep…and she’s more beautiful than he could have imagine.

We know that strong willed Eloise has expectations on what her life should be and she’s well bred enough to expect the best. Phillip on the other hand knows none of that stuff and doesn’t even really know how to engage with Eloise in person. Add to that – his kids are monsters and don’t want Eloise there so we spend much of the book watching them terrorize her.

As we all know, during the 18-teens, a single lady cannot be with a single gentleman without a chaperone, and when Eloise’s family discovers this fact, they force a marriage, faster than anyone’s comfortable with.

We then spend the remainder of the story watching how the dynamic shifts again and again. There are trade offs that everyone has to make and there are fears that there’s never going to be trust, kindness and love. To date, all of the Bridgerton marriages have been true love matches and that’s all that Eloise hopes for. I don’t think that’s in the cards here, and it’ll be a wonder if a companionship is something that can come along too.

In any event, we get a resolution to the strong willed Eloise and in the epilogue we see what the future holds for Phillip’s daughter. It’s a nice introduction to an extended story and I kind of wish that we got to have more of her tale. Now i’m off to book 6 which I believe is Francesca. We know from past books that she’s married to a man from Scotland and that he passes fairly soon after their wedding – so i’m intrigued to see that story develop and evolve. enjoy!

Review: Romancing Mr Bridgerton (The Bridgertons #4) by Julia Quinn

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Title: Romancing Mr Bridgerton
Author:  Julia Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 11/24/15
Length:  432 Pages
Series: The Bridgertons #4

Overview

Everyone knows that Colin Bridgerton is the most charming man in London . . .

Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend’s brother for . . . well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret . . . and fears she doesn’t know him at all.

Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought of as nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can’t seem to publish an edition without mentioning him. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad, he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same—especially Penelope Featherington! The girl who was always simply there is suddenly the girl haunting his dreams. When he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide . . . is she his biggest threat— or his promise of a happy ending?

My Thoughts

We have watched Penelope walk around the edges of society for years and now we see what her life has become now that she’s twenty eight and apparently a spinster. Her mother has decided that she’s going to remain unmarried and will care for her at home in her old age. Lucky for Penelope, she’s got her best friend Eloise Bridgerton who’s the same age and who has decided that she will not marry and will remain a spinster with Penelope.

The challenge of course is that Penelope’s been harboring this crush on Colin, Eloise’s brother since they were teenagers, knowing that she was never clever enough or beautiful enough to catch his attention. They have great banter and are good friends, and as they’ve both gotten older, they’ve found that they value each other in a new and deeper way, but still, there’s no returned love or emotion from Colin much to Penelope’s dismay.

What we have throughout this fourth installment is a story of watching people dance around each other, knowing that sometimes a friendship and close family bond is more important than anything else – and at times that sort of relationship leas you down paths that you didn’t even think about. Self discovery, realizing that you’re more comfortable in your own skin than you knew, and had more to offer society than anyone else gave you credit for.

We see Penelope’s wit and intelligence in full force in this storyline – we watch how Lady Danbury brings out the best in her – how she’s unafraid to speak her mind and have opinions which endears her to the older lady quite well. We also watch as Colin questions what value he can bring to society now that he’s of age. His eldest brother runs the family line his next eldest is an accomplished artist. Colin travels and keeps journals of his travels, but he’s unsettled.

It’s sweet when you think about it – watching how they each bring light to the other’s lives. If there’s a chance that romance can also come with it, then great, but what we see is a different sort of development since their foundation is unique to the other Bridgertons.

There’s also the story of who Lady Whistledown is and who’s going to unmask her. Penelope and Lady Danbury lead the conversation on this one with Eloise chiming in, but no one is quite sure who the writer is. We watch that story unfold as well, wondering who’s going to figure out the secret and then fearing the reaction of the Ton.

I can’t wait to see what comes next though since we do see Eloise go missing at the end of this story and we know that there are secrets being kept. I’m excited at where the 2nd epilogue takes us and will dive straight in to see how that story came about. Again – this fourth book will make for a great fourth Netflix season, so here’s to hoping it gets renewed!

Review: An Offer From a Gentleman (The Bridgertons #3) by Julia Quinn

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Title: An Offer from a Gentleman
Author:  Julia Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 8/25/15
Length:  416 Pages
Series: The Bridgertons #3

Overview

BENEDICT’S STORY

Sophie Beckett never dreamed she’d be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton’s famed masquerade ball—or that “Prince Charming” would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.

Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid’s garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers her his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy-tale love?

My Thoughts

I can’t wait to see how all these books transform into a new series on Netflix. There’s so much great description of what live is like among the Ton and I think that the Bridgerton family itself allows for even more entertainment.

We met Benedict through each of the first two books. He’s the second eldest, so he doesn’t get the responsibility that Anthony has, but he has the desire and interest of every single lady of marriage age and their mammas. Like his older brother, he’s not ready to settle down and does what he can to avoid the women in society. Until a masquerade ball at his own home – where he sees a lady that takes his breath away, and makes him feel sparks. He knows that she’s special yet he doesn’t know who she is.

Backing up a minute though, we actually start our story with our leading lady – Sophie. In those times, it was an embarrassment to have a child when you’re not married, or not to force to marry, yet here’s Sophie. She’s a ‘bastard’ – ghastly word of course, and that means that she’s never going to have much of anything except a soiled reputation. Her father is an Earl who does what he should but to the barest amounts by taking her in and making sure she has an education. Aside from that, he stays far away and really doesn’t do much to give her any love or emotion. IT’s when her father marries a lady that has daughters about Sophie’s age that she think her luck is about to change, but it won’t be for the better.

This Is the start of what I like to relate to Cinderella. Essentially, Sophie’s stepmother is the evil step mother who makes behave like a servant. From the moment they lived together, Sophie was lesser and that meant that Arminta, her step mother would go out of her way to ensure that Sophie had nothing, that her daughters weren’t nice to her and that Sophie knew that she was unworthy. When her father passes though, Arminta is forced by the will to take responsibility for Sophie until she’s 20 unless she wants less money to live off but that again means nothing good for Sophie.

Our story really takes shape on one evening during the season when Sophie’s step sisters are trying to find their matches. There’s a masquerade ball that they are attending and that means that Sophie has to work over time to make sure they look their best. The servants and maids in the house know that Sophie deserves more than what she’s been given, and once the others leave for the ball, they help Sophie transform into a mystery beauty and she’s given the chance to enjoy one night out as well.

If there’s such a thing as love at first sight, it seems like these two may have found it. There’s an immediate connection, a chemistry and a draw that makes it relationship goals for everyone. They are easy to banter and yet they don’t fear the usual rules about reputation. Sophie enjoys her time with Benedict in a way that makes him feel special since no one ever really is able to tell the difference between the Bridgerton boys.

One night of enjoyment turns into years of misery. Sophie is forced to flee her house when her step mother throws her out and that takes her down a path of being a low paid servant where ever she’s able to find a job. Benedict spends years searching for his mystery girl and never finds what he’s looking for. It’s one night at a dull party out in the country that Benedict comes a cross a woman who needs his saving, and that puts them on another path that they aren’t ready to see the end.

We watch how they dance around each other – how Sophie knows immediately that she’s remembered their night together, but Benedict doesn’t seem to realize that she’s the masquerade girl. She’s depressed about this but there’s nothing that she can do since he also thinks his mystery girl is a lady of society. Even though they are of different classes, we watch how they start to develop an interested bond and friendship, even if the motives that start it weren’t always pure.

Benedict takes Sophie back to london with him and gets her a job in his mother’s home, but things don’t end up rosy even here. We watch how secrets are unraveled, how emotions are high and how there’s another shoe that will drop since we’ve not yet seen the last of Sophie’s family.

This story takes us on a path that’s a bit less pure than all the others – where there were clear points that everyone knew was respectable to stop, and to stay away from one another, these two seem to feel as though those rules don’t matter. Be is that Sophie thinks that she’s not good enough for it to matter, or the notion that Benedict is a man and that means for him it doesn’t matter anyway. The resolution to it all is a round about but very enjoyable conclusion. The first epilogue gives us closure and the second gives us a foreshadowing of what’s to come for the others in the family. So…we all know what that means. I’m off to find book 4! Enjoy!

Review: The Duke and I (Bridgerton #1) by Julia Quinn

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Title: The Duke and I
Author:  Julia Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Harper Collins 4/28/15
Length:  464 Pages
Series: Bridgerton #1

Overview

From New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn comes the first novel in the beloved Regency-set world of her charming, powerful Bridgerton family, now a series created by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix.

In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable…but not too amiable.

Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honestfor that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule…

My Thoughts

I have to admit that the reason that I dove into this series is because I watched the season on Netflix and the show has me HOOKED. Not only are the characters amazing, the actors beyond attractive, but the hints of what’s happened and what’s to come is intense. We have a cross between Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girls all thrown into England in 1812. It’s a must read!

This first book of the series introduces us to the world of the Bridgertons, a family that’s well to do in society in England, and one that has a lot of children that need to be minded once they come of age. This first book focuses on Daphne, the eldest sister of the brood now that she’s of age to be married and her quest to find a husband. Daphne has been in society now for a year and has not secured a husband, partially because she’s got older brothers who want only the best for her and partially because most men for some reason only see her as a friend and not as a lover. She’s beautiful and she’s quick witted and intelligent – all things a man should want, but that’s not the norm back in those days.

Enter Duke of Hastings – Simon. A close friend of Anthony, Daphne’s oldest brother and a man who’s got a reputation that preceeds him. He’s only returned to London now that his father has passed away and he needs to settle loose ends. The challenge though is that Simon has made a vow to his father that he will never marry, that he will never have kids so that the family line dies with him because his father treated him so horribly when he was young.

Daphne’s quest for the perfect love match and Simon’s quest to stay out of the clutches of all society mammas and their daughters who need to be married off gives us the perfect scheme that has been developed. Simon and Daphne will pretend that they are in love, which in turn will make Daphne seem more attractive now that she’s got the attention of the most eligible man alive, and Simon will be free to live his life how he wants.

We all know that this will explode and not in a good or expected way. The way that this always plays out is that they will develop a great friendship and they will start to care for one another. They will become attracted to each other in a way that’s going to cause problems in their polite society. Someone’s heart will get broken, someone’s reputation will get destroyed and their future will be a roller coaster of misery and despair.

What’s nice about this story is that our author Julia Quinn has managed to lead us down all the right paths to see how this will play out from scene to scene, and at the same time be surprised by the new bit of information that we learn at every turn. There are so many dark secrets from Simon’s past that cloud how he sees every situation today that it’s no surprised that he’s damaged. AT the same time, we have come to know that Daphne is a woman who can handle her own, yet there are soooo sooo many things that are so naive and innocent about her that we also watch how that really hampers any chance of her finding a happiness that’s possible in this day and age.

We get a nice bit of closure to this story – not one that was expected but one that works for this series. There are stories that follow for the other siblings in the Bridgerton family, so it was nice to see how it was set up a bit in this first book although it does spoil things a bit for when the next season comes around on Netlix.