Summary from Goodreads:
A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.
Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.
Read December 2012
Library Book
4.5 Stars
My review:
Several weeks ago, Shannon Hale did a blog post about her favorite reads in 2012. She asked for comments about which books were our favorite reads. As I looked over people's comments, I saw the name of this book, The Language of Flowers. I checked Goodreads for the rating from other readers as well as a summary. It looked interesting, but not a top choice for me to read, I wasn't running to the library to get a copy. I didn't think another thing about it until a few days ago when I was at the library (my number 1 stop for books). On the first display they have their "Here and Now" books (basically I think they are books that are popular, but frankly I'm not sure). The librarian was adding some books to it. My eyes were immediately drawn to The Language of Flowers which she had just put on the shelf. I picked it up, not even remembering exactly what it was about.
This book was an emotional roller coaster for me. I usually choose books to read that help me escape reality. If you look at my list of books, there are a lot of historical romance and re-telling of fairy tales. That is because they are not what life is like now and can take me to another place. This book did not take me to another place, it was very real.
The main character, Victoria, is a child who was abandoned when only a few weeks old. She grows up in the Foster Care system. Some homes are better than others, but mostly it is an extremely difficult childhood. I have a tender place in my heart for children in foster care. I have wanted to foster a child so many times and each time my husband and I discuss it, it just isn't right for us. I want every child to have a home. I want every child to have parents that love them and cherish them. To read about this girl who is so abused and lonely and abandoned over and over again just breaks my heart. I immediately wanted to foster again and wrap my arms around every lonely child I see. Unfortunately, Victoria has lots of emotional scars from this environment. She lashes out, makes poor choices, and hurts those around her that are trying to help.
I see 2 main points to this story that really struct me.
1. We have a choice. We always have a choice to go one direction or another. We all make mistakes. Some of them REALLY BIG. And, we will have to face the consequences, good or bad, that come with that choice that we made.
2. We can be forgiven. When we make a really bad choice, there is almost always a way to come back and make it better in some way. It may be really tough and heart wrenching and people may not like us, but we can be forgiven. (I have personal religious beliefs on this, but I won't go into those in relation to this book. If you are interested, then let me know).
At times as I was reading this book, I was so upset that Victoria kept making choices that were pulling her further away from those who loved her. Why was she doing this? But, I did not have the same growing up that she did. Once I let go of what I would do and let her be her, I was able to see her journey a bit better. And, luckily, the author gave her the opportunity to make her choices, but also gave Victoria friends who loved her and taught her about forgiveness. There is a wonderful message of forgiveness in this story and being able to start fresh. I appreciate this.
Warnings: Abandonment, abuse, premarital sex, birthing scene, post birth physical and emotional turmoil
I would not let my 14 year old read this story.
Lady Crenshaw's Christmas by Heidi Ashworth
Summary by Goodreads:
Ginny and her beloved Anthony, Lord Crenshaw, are finally married and have spent the bulk of their first blissful six months of marriage in the country. However, Ginny must now hostess a Christmas ball at Dunsmere, the estate of the dowager Duchess of Marcross. How is a mere vicar's daughter to carry off such an event with no experience and little exposure to the ways of the ton? And how is she to meet the expectations of her Grandaunt Regina, earn the good graces of Anthony's uncle the Duke of Marcross, endure the spite of the duke's new wife, manage the hysterical escapades of Lucinda, Lady Avery, and find the perfect gift for her husband, all while expecting a babe? All these questions and more are answered in Lady Crenshaw's Christmas, a short story follow-up to two full length novels, Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind and Miss Delacourt Has Her Day available via Montlake Romance.
Read December 2012
E-book
4 Stars
My Review:
This was a cute short story about the Crenshaws. It was a little too sweet, but fun nonetheless. It is a nice little snippet of the Crenshaw's life after the 2 previous books (listed in the summary above).
Warnings: None
I would let my 14 year old read this.
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Winter Collection
by: Sarah M. Eden, Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Joyce DiPastena, Donna Hatch, and Heather B. Moore
Summary by Goodreads:
Six Award-Winning Authors have contributed brand new stories to A Timeless Romance Anthology: Winter Collection. A collection unlike any other, readers will love this compilation of six sweet historical romance novellas, set in varying eras, yet all with one thing in common: Romance.
The Road to Cavan Town by Sarah M. Eden, set in 1864 Ireland, combines Eden’s sense of humor with her signature sweet romance. Alice Wheatley walks each weekend into town, accompanied by Isaac Dancy. And while Alice finds herself falling in love with the gentleman, unfortunately he has his eyes set on the belle of the town, Miss Sophia Kilchrest. Alice must find a way to turn Isaac’s eyes toward her.
Regency author Heidi Ashworth’s delightful story, It Happened Twelfth Night, set in England 1812, follows Luisa Darlington who discovers the man of her dreams, Percy Brooksby, isn’t in love with her as much as she thought he was. When Percy’s friend, the mysterious foreigner, Mr. Flynn, visits for the twelfth night holiday, he promptly sweeps Luisa off her feet, quite literally. Luisa is left catching her breath in more ways than one.
An Unexpected Proposal by Annette Lyon is a captivating romantic novella, set in remote Wood Camp, the snowy canyon of Logan, Utah, 1880. When Caroline Simpson is forced to thwart the aggressive advances of Mr. Butch Larson, she discovers that her long-time friend, James, has genuine affection for her. But as stubborn as Caroline is, she minimizes the feelings he’s awakened in her, and it takes almost losing James to admit her true feelings for him.
In Joyce Di Pastena’s charming medieval story, Caroles on the Green, we enter England of 1151, in which Lady Isabel has a dilemma. She promises herself that she’ll marry the man who sent a ring hidden in her pastry since the man she truly loves, Sir Lucian de Warrene, has proved to be impossible and exasperating. To forget him, Isabel sets her eyes on other eligible men, only to face another confrontation with Lucian—who isn’t about to back off and leave her to her newest plot.
Donna Hatch’s enchanting novella, A Winter’s Knight, begins when Clarissa Fairchild’s coach just happens to break down in front of the most forbidding estate in the county, that of Wyckburg Castle, a place where young brides have been murdered for generations by their husbands. Clarissa is horrified yet curious all in the same breath. When she meets widower Christopher de Champs, Earl of Wyckburg, she must decide if she should flee or uncover the greatest secret in the county about her handsome rescuer.
In Heather B. Moore’s exciting turn-of-the-century story, A Fortunate Exile, Lila Townsend finds herself the victim of a broken heart—broken by the most notorious bachelor in 1901 New York City. If that isn’t bad enough, her father sends her to Aunt Eugenia’s remote farm where Lila must wait for her father’s anger to subside and the gossip columns to find new fodder. When Lila meets her aunt’s boarder, Peter Weathers, she discovers a man who isn’t afraid to stand up to her formidable family and take a chance on a woman with a sullied reputation.
Read December 2012
E-book
4 Stars
My Review:
I have read some books by 2 of the authors in this anthology. I knew that I would enjoy these stories if they were anything like the books I had previously read. I was not disappointed in this collection of historical romance stories. I will now look for other works by the authors in this anthology.
Warnings: None
I would let my 14 year old read this book.
The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath
Summary from Goodreads:
Pride and Prejudice's Mary Bennet gets her own story...
The third of five daughters, Miss Mary Bennet is a rather unremarkable girl. With her countenance being somewhere between plain and pretty and in possession of no great accomplishments, few expect the third Bennet daughter to attract a respectable man. But although she is shy and would much prefer to keep her nose stuck in a book, Mary is uncertain she wants to meekly follow the path to spinsterhood set before her.
Determined that Mary should have a chance at happiness, the elder Bennet sisters concoct a plan. Lizzy invites Mary to visit at Pemberley, hoping to give her sister a place to grow and make new acquaintances. But it is only when Mary strikes out independently that she can attempt to become accomplished in her own right. And in a family renowned for its remarkable Misses, Mary Bennet may turn out to be the most wholly unexpected of them all...
Read December 2012
Library Book
4 Stars
My Review:
This story takes place a year or so after Pride and Prejudice. I thoroughly enjoyed this story for Mary. Mary is more mature and comes in to her own. I thought some things were a little too much out of character for her and also for the other characters. Otherwise, it was a lovely story.
Warnings: None
I would let my 14 year old read this story.
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Summary from Goodreads:
Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners. There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.
Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.
Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.
Read November/December 2012
3.5 Stars
My Review:
This is the second book in the Heist Society Series by Ally Carter. I really enjoy that she makes teenagers heroes and heroines and they have such interesting jobs. In the Heist Society books Kat is a thief and her crew are mostly teens/young adults also. It makes for some fun situations.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the first book, but I still liked it and feel invested in the characters. Heist Society #3, Perfect Scoundrels, is coming out in February 2013 and I am looking forward to this next installment.
Warnings: None
I would let my 14 year old read this, as well as my 11 year old. In fact, the 14 year old has already read this book and is looking forward to book #3.
