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.
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Summary from Goodreads:
It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jump-starting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.
But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret—one that could change their society... or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.
Read November 2012
5 Stars
My Review:
Jane Austen's Persuasion set in a post apocalyptic society. Fascinating. Really this was a surprise for me (meaning I liked it more than I thought I would). There was the familiar elements of Persuasion, but also so much more.
The setting was almost a character on its own. So many of the circumstances of the story revolved around the setting. Elliot, the heroine of the story, was tied to her farm, keeping it running, trying to keep her family and the workers alive.
The ages of the characters is very young. It was hard for me to picture these teenagers dealing with all of this, but that is part of the post-apocalyptic society.
The post-apocalyptic rules and regulations create much of the conflict in the story. When do you follow the rules? When do you do what you believe is right, if that goes against those rules?
This was a book about decision making and the consequences that follow, good or bad.
Luckily, with the base of Jane Austen's Persuasion, there was at least some sense of there being a happy ending. And, as much as this is a love story, it had little physical romance in it.
Warnings: None
I would let my 14 year old read this story.
Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer
Summary from Goodreads:
When spirited, independent Miss Annis Wynchwood embroils herself in the affairs of a runaway heiress, she is destined to see a good deal of Lucilla’s uncivil and high-handed guardian Mr Oliver Carleton.
Read November 2012
3 Stars
My Review:
This is another regency romance by Georgette Heyer. It has similar writing, words and sayings that I have no idea what they mean but I "go with it", and a wicked leading man. She has a good formula going.
My main complaint about this book is the lack of romance between the lead characters. The wicked leading man was really a mean guy. I had a hard time finding anything I liked about him. How the leading lady ever fell for him I'll never understand. I did enjoy the few kisses they shared at the end, but other than that, the romance part of this book was lacking.
I've enjoyed other books by Georgette Heyer more than this one.
Warnings: None
I would let my 14 year old read this, though I don't think she wouldn't like it, too wordy.
A Season for Tending by Cindy Woodsmall
Summary by Goodreads:
In a community where conformity flourishes, seeds of Rhoda’s odd behavior were planted long ago. Can she cultivate her relationships with the same care and tenderness that she gives her beloved garden?
Old Order Amish Rhoda Byler’s unusual gift and her remarkable abilities to grow herbs and berries have caused many to think her odd. As rumors mount that Rhoda’s “gift” is a detriment to the community, she chooses isolation, spending her time in her fruit garden and on her thriving canning business.
Miles away in Harvest Mills, Samuel King struggles to keep his family’s apple orchard profitable. As the eldest son, Samuel farms with his brothers, the irrepressible Jacob and brash Eli, while his longtime girlfriend Catherine remains hopeful that Samuel will marry her when he feels financially stable.
Meanwhile, Samuel’s younger sister Leah is testing all the boundaries during her rumschpringe, and finds herself far from home in Rhoda’s garden after a night of partying gone badly. But Leah’s poor choices serve as a bridge between Rhoda and the King family when a tragic mistake in the orchard leaves Samuel searching for solutions.
Rhoda’s expertise in canning could be the answer, but she struggles with guilt over the tragic death of her sister and doesn’t trust herself outside her garden walls. As the lines between business, love, and family begin to blur, can Rhoda finally open up to a new life? And what effect will this odd, amazing woman have on the entire King family?
Read November 2012
5 Stars
My Review:
I am now officially obsessed with the Amish people. I want to learn all about them and their culture after reading this book.
I grew up in Maryland and we often traveled to areas of Pennsylvania where we saw Amish and Mennonite people. As a kid I always found them interesting and I've even taken my children to Lancaster, PA to a "touristy" Amish community (with shops selling their goods, a restaurant, photo opportunities, etc.).
Lately on TV, there has been a show about Amish young adults who are going through a time of self discovery, do they want to be Amish or do they want to leave what they've known all their lives. I have not watched this show. However, I have heard others post about it on Facebook. I am a little saddened to see these youth exploited at such a vulnerable time in their lives. Reading about their culture in this book has increased my emotions toward them.
Now, I don't know how accurate the depiction is of the Amish culture since this is a fiction book, but I could tell the author had done a lot of research and was trying her best to be true to the culture she was writing about.
A Season for Tending is a fiction book that takes place in an Amish community, with both Amish and Englisch (non-Amish) characters. I was drawn in by the characters, their stories, as well as their culture. I was carried away in this book. It is the first in a series called "Amish Vines and Orchards" and unfortunately the next book doesn't come out until sometime next year. This book wrapped up the immediate story, but left off with quite a cliff hanger. I want to find out what happens next!
Warnings: Teen drinking and sex mentioned
I would let my 14 year old read this book.
