Reviews Written By: A1CTXKA2C7BSC8provided by Amazon.com |
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 | Simon the Coldheart | |
 | "Mediaeval tale of chivalry and adventure" | 2008-11-22 |
| 'Simon the Coldheart' is one of Georgette Heyer's earliest works and one that she wrote before she really hit her stride with books set in the Regency period. This story is set much earlier in the 15th Century and follows hero Simon Beauvallet, a nobody who works his way up from poverty to a knighthood and becoming a friend of the future King Henry V. Because of the date of the story the language feels rather more Shakespearean than Heyer's Regencies and the old-fashioned language might not appeal to all readers, although I personally liked it. This isn't a mediaeval romance, it's rather more a mixture of different elements that make up an enjoyable, if perhaps less accomplished, story. We follow Simon as he works his way up in the world, as he fights battles and as he eventually finds himself up against a very worthy opponent, Lady Margaret of Belrémy. There are some good scenes amongst some less effective ones and some aspects of the writing don't entirely ring true. Simon's a quiet and self-possessed man who some people think is cold of heart (thus his name) and yet he is clearly someone who knows his mind and has worthwhile things to say, when he says them. The story is interesting as it shows the clash of two cultures after the Battle of Agincourt and gives detail of life in Mediaeval times but it's so different from her later Regencies and shows at times that she was a young author trying to find her voice that it may not appeal to all readers. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | The Pirate Lord | |
 | "Pirates and Convicts" | 2008-09-23 |
| This is a reissue of a book first published in 1998 and it was a good, swashbuckling story. Miss Sara Willis is a reforming young woman who causes endless headaches for her stepbrother, the Earl of Blackmore. Her latest scheme is to travel on a convict ship full of women to make note of the conditions, give them some education and to try to ensure their safety when landing in the antipodes. She manages to persuade her stepbrother to allow her on the ship but he makes sure one of the crew is going to look after her.br /br /However no-one expects the ship to be boarded by pirates and the women to be kidnapped. Captain Gideon Horne, known as the Pirate Lord, has a hatred of the English aristocracy and has plundered many ships belonging to nobles. However he and his pirate crew want to settle down on the island paradise they have found - but not without women. When they discover the convict ship full of women it is too good an opportunity to miss!br /br /But Gideon hasn't reckoned with Sara Willis and her care for the women. Sara and Gideon are locked into a battle of wills as she tries to protect the women and he tries to encourage them to live the utopian life on his island, Atlantis. But Gideon and Sara might be getting more than they bargained for when they spend so much time together - can Gideon's distrust of the aristocracy and the wounds of childhood be overcome? Can Sara find happiness so far from her life in England?br /br /This was an enjoyable story if rather far-fetched (I can't imagine any brother would have allowed his sister to be a passenger on a convict ship, for example). The characters were interesting although many seemed rather stereotypical, but the central love story worked quite well and the verbal sparring between Sara and Gideon was well written. The revelations about Gideon's past were perhaps rather too convenient for this story but overall it was a good read and I enjoyed it.br /br /Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008
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 | It's in His Kiss | |
| "Seventh in the Bridgerton series" | 2008-08-28 |
| Julia Quinn has a light and chatty writing style which, although initially charming, has now begun to grate on me. 'It's In His Kiss' is the seventh in her Bridgerton series and, for this reader at least, that particular series has become rather tired. Although this book doesn't refer very often to other members of the family apart from Hyacinth Bridgerton's mother, and so consequently can be read and understood by those who haven't read any of the previous books, it feels like a rather dull younger sister, as if the author has run out of steam a little. Hyacinth Bridgerton is unmarried at twenty two years old and seems to be getting less attention from possible suitors as time goes on. When the rake Gareth St Clair talks to her she finds him interesting and Gareth is surprised to discover that Hyacinth has much more to her than most of the society women he meets. With Gareth's grandmother Lady Danbury encouraging Hyacinth and Gareth to spend time together, Gareth begins to see possibilities of a future with Hyacinth. But will the rift with his father mean that a spanner is thrown into the works and will he be able to secure Hyacinth's commitment to him before she discovers he's not quite who she thought he was? There's a subplot in this story of a search from some hidden treasure which worked reasonably but which was also rather unlikely. The vast majority of the book is made up of 'sportive' conversations between Hyacinth and Gareth. The dialogue reads like the dialogue in every other Julia Quinn novel and, having read a Mary Balogh novel before this one, this reader found that it no longer provides enjoyment. Yes, these are lighthearted novels, but they are so full of dialogue and behavioural inaccuracies that they irritate me. When compared to the quality writing and deep characterisation of a Mary Balogh novel this one felt far too lightweight. I didn't feel entirely convinced by any of the main characters, particularly of the future fidelity of Gareth, and the overall plot was rather too thin for this reader. | ||
 | One Moonlit Night | |
 | "Vicar's Daughter and the Dark Earl" | 2008-07-21 |
| Olivia Sherwood has fallen on hard times. Her father was murdered a year before by a gypsy and her sister, who witnessed the murder, has gone blind. Olivia is forced to work at the home of the Earl of Ravenwood, despite being a gentlewoman. She has been hired to work because the new Earl is coming to visit and the house needs to be prepared - as does the village. It's well known that the Earl is the bastard son of the previous Earl and a gypsy woman and rumours of his raking in London have reached the village. When Olivia meets Dominic St Bride she discovers he is a complex man but perhaps not the devil he has been painted. As she gets to know him more she finds a great deal to like about him. Unfortunately for Dominic there are those in the village who want to drive him out. Can the villagers get past their antipathy towards the gypsies, even when some children are kidnapped? This was an enjoyable read, despite the fact that most of the ideas and scenes have been explored before in this kind of novel. As well as Olivia's romance with Dominic there was a sub-romance with Olivia's blind sister which was rather touching. There were occasional lapses of historicity, particularly within the dialogue, and Olivia's behaviour was sometimes rather surprising in a woman brought up in the way she must have been, particularly with regard to her understanding of what was acceptable behaviour, but it was still a good read with a few insights into the gypsy life. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter (Paperback)) | |
| "Book 7 in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series" | 2008-06-29 |
| Laurell K Hamilton certainly has a way with words - her books draw you in and the reader never knows quite where the story is going next. These books are all very unpredictable with unexpected events unfolding and an ever-widening cast of characters. The ever-widening epithet also describes Anita Blake's powers and responsibilities. Not content with 'merely' being a necromancer, as the books in this series have unfolded she has gained position as a lupa (female alpha wolf), leopard pack leader, vampire human servant and more. However this reader has found that the more this series continues, the more abstract and distant Anita Blake seems. In the first few books it was possible to identify with her as a woman trying to hunt monsters and not to become one. However at this point in the story I have found that Anita has become someone fairly unlikeable with her idiosyncratic set of rules that just don't work for this reader. This story contains all the complexity of the previous stories, if more. The love-triangle is settled for the moment so more time is spent on the difficulties of Anita's life as she juggles her varied tasks. She is asked to investigate a possible supernatural firestarter, she finds herself getting involved with were-leopard and werewolf politics and her lover, Jean-Claude, needs her help with the European Vampire Council. The level of violence in this book seems rather over-the-top at times and some aspects of the plot seem rehashed from previous books, plus I have serious doubts about Anita's sanity and her self-awareness as to her limits. The author's skill in telling the tale lift this book above many in this genre but I didn't feel it was a patch on the first four in the series. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | The Game | |
| "Elizabethan Romance" | 2008-06-24 |
| I've read several of Brenda Joyce's books and they had all been set in 19th Century America so it was a surprise to pick up "The Game" and discover that it was set in England and Ireland during the time of Elizabeth I, around 1571. It's a complex book in some ways with lots of plotting and machinations by various Irish nobles as well as the Queen and those around her. Most of the characters in this book are actual historical people and that added a great deal of interest to the story. However I found myself rather ambivalent about the book as I was reading it. It wasn't dull and I was happy to keep reading but I did found myself rather wearied by the heroine, Katherine FitzGerald. She spends the first half of the book fearing for her virtue, protecting it at all costs, and going on and on about being raped by the hero, Liam O'Neill. O'Neill is a pirate and has captured Katherine and wants to make her his mistress; however, Katherine has a dream of family life with a husband and children and so will not submit, especially as her father is a nobleman, albeit stripped of his lands and title, so she feels she deserves more than the pirate son of a murderous rapist. O'Neill seems very patient, even if he does have a one-track mind. He is also extremely forgiving, putting up with an amazing amount from Katherine and apparently still finding her fascinating. It was never clear, when reading this book, what was so great about Katherine, apart from her beauty. She didn't seem particularly loyal or trustworthy, breaking her word on a couple of occasions during the course of the book. She also seems rather self-centred which seemed odd for someone brought up in a nunnery. She had a certain amount of spirit and fire but most of the time seemed to me like an annoyingly whiny woman and it was hard to understand why virtually every man she met seemed desperate to make her his mistress. The strength of this book was the historical setting, the machinations of the various Irish Catholic lords who were trying to break away from England, and the doubts and difficulties of Queen Elizabeth as she tries to rule her nation but can't tell who to trust. The weaknesses, for me, were in the central character of Katherine and also, to some extent, of O'Neill who never felt entirely convincing. It was an interesting read but not satisfying enough in some important areas. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | Violet Fire | |
| "Suffragette meets rake" | 2008-05-23 |
| This is a reissue of a Brenda Joyce book first published in 1989 but unlike many reissues this book doesn't feel dated. It visits the Bragg family again, this time featuring Rathe Bragg, youngest son of Derek and Miranda and rich rake. Rathe's lifestyle is one of playing cards, seducing women and travelling the world. When a suffragette bursts into a party he is attending to make a speech he's amused rather than appalled, like everyone else at the party, but he thinks little of it. When he meets the same woman two years later, however, he finds that he has fallen under her spell and he wants her for his mistress. Grace O'Rourke is the daughter of two radical people and believes firmly in the rights of negroes and of women. When she takes up a new post as a governess in a Southern town she discovers very quickly that the local white people have not taken on board the ideas of human rights held by those from the north. She and her schoolteacher friend Allen find themselves under attack and Grace's work is made exceptionally difficult. When she realises that Rathe is also pursuing her she finds herself both attracted to him and repelled by his presumed political views. Grace and Rathe's relationship in this book is alternate arguing and making up and yet somehow it didn't get annoying or wearing, perhaps because both characters were so feisty. The initial attraction to Grace appears to be entirely from her appearance but Rathe soon discovers that she's intelligent and passionate about justice and also that he has to keep her from running into dangerous situations, rescuing her with regularity. Rathe's rather aimless life seems to be given a boost by Grace's actions. Some of the Bragg books have been a disappointment but this one was enjoyable, if rather thin on the plot. The setting in the South in the 1870s was interesting, as were the reminders of the some of the situations that former slaves had to cope with. The central love story was more of a lust story initially but the author wrote of the way in which the two people realised they needed and complemented each other in a convincing way. I occasionally felt that Rathe was rather unheroic in his actions, trying to seduce a lady and not really taking care to protect her good name, but it was overall a pleasant read. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | The Perfect Wife | |
| "Secrets on a voyage to Egypt" | 2008-05-08 |
| "The Perfect Wife" is a reissue of a book first published in 1996 but fortunately not feeling outdated as some books written in the nineties can. Sabrina Winfield is a widow, a Marchioness and a calm and well-bred woman whose daughter has just become engaged to the son of the Earl of Wyldewood. However Sabrina is very worried as her money has all but gone and she doesn't have enough for a decent dowry for her daughter, Belinda. When she finds a treasure map to some gold that Napoleon hid in Egypt she decides to find the treasure to turn round her own fortune.
Belinda is worried about her mother, asks her fiancé Erick to do something about it and he asks his father Nicholas, the Earl of Wyldewood, to speak to Sabrina. Nicholas found Sabrina a fascinating woman when he met her at a ball previously and so goes to talk to her. Rather unexpectedly he finds himself accompanying Sabrina to Egypt, not knowing the real reason she is making the journey, but having decided he wants her as his wife. Their journey to and within Egypt doesn't go quite as planned with various people in hot pursuit, a wedding, jealousy, kidnapping and more and with Sabrina realising that Nicholas is the man who worked for the government in trying to stop a gang of smugglers led by a woman ten years before - and she was that woman. Sabrina and Nicholas both have to come to terms with each other, their histories and their different needs. This was a very enjoyable read, particularly as most of the events took place on a boat travelling to Egypt rather than balls and soirées in London. Sabrina and Nicholas were both good characters although Sabrina's daughter Belinda was rather annoying. There was a minor plot of three men from London following Sabrina and I felt that this was rather spurious and all wrapped up a bit quickly but the overall story, of Sabrina finally flowering into the person and personality she would have been were it not for events in her youth, was well written. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | Black Sheep | |
| "Return of the Black Sheep" | 2008-04-26 |
| 'Black Sheep' is one of Georgette Heyer's later Regency novels and shows all her skills as a writer, including her much-praised historical accuracy for this period. The 'Black Sheep' of the title is Mr Miles Calverleigh, a gentleman who was sent to India twenty years before after shaming his family. Unfortunately for Miss Abigail Wendover, the absent Mr Calverleigh's nephew Stacy is apparently trying to beguile her spirited niece Fanny in order to get his hands on her fortune. Abigail and her sister Serena have stood as parents toward Fanny for many years but Abigail begins to discover that Fanny has grown up enough to want to rely less on her aunt and more on her own heart. It is into this situation that Miles Calverleigh steps, having finally returned from India. The first scene between him and Abby, a case of mistaken identity, is a wonderful example of Heyer's skill in writing two spirited and interesting characters. Abigail tries to get Miles to help separate his nephew from her niece but she finds herself thwarted by his apparent lack of interest in the cares of others and his apparent wish to thwart her own strict views on being a support to her own sister which may prevent her from following her heart. There are some similarities between this book and 'Lady of Quality', also written late in Heyer's career, not least in the age of the heroes and heroines who aren't the youngsters of 'Friday's Child' or 'Cotillion' but are mature people who may perhaps feel that the opportunities in life have passed them by. As usual the side characters are excellent in this story, including the very amusing Mrs Clapham and even the straighlaced James Wendover. This book seems to contain less of the cant phrases that can render some characters in other books almost incomprehensible but the overall standard of dialogue is excellent. 'Black Sheep' makes an excellent introduction to Heyer's Regency novels and can be enjoyed again and again. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | Firestorm | |
 | "Storm in a teacup" | 2008-02-12 |
| In this historical romance, set in America in the 18th century, the improbably-named Storm Bragg is sent by her family from their ranch in Texas to San Francisco to become a lady and, hopefully, marry a well-to-do man. Unfortunately Storm's entire upbringing has been in the rough and tumble of the ranch, wrestling and brawling with her brothers, riding horses with tight breeches and generally having a whale of a time far away from afternoon tea and polite evening entertainments. Her introduction to society in San Francisco isn't very successful because of her inappropriate behaviour, especially with eligible bachelor Brett D'Archand. Brett isn't in the market for a wife and he knows that when he is he will find someone elevated in society to attempt to mitigate his status as an illegitimate child of a Mexican landowner. His instant attraction to Storm rather scuppers his plans and when they are forced to wed he finds himself struggling with an unwilling bride and one who doesn't provide the social status that he needs. He and Storm have a very stormy marriage but when the chance comes for him to make some sort of peace with his father Storm comes along for support. Brett's family are almost pantomime villains in their behaviour and Storm and Brett stumble from one misunderstanding to the next. Can they ever really understand each other and admit their true feelings to each other?
The characterisation in this story was rather novel as both hero and heroine weren't at all appealing. The hero seems promising initially but his decision to visit his mistress on his wedding night is hardly heroic. He also threatens violence occasionally, spanks Storm from time to time, gets rather close to raping her and seems bad tempered much of the time. Storm seems to waft along in a world of egocentricity, having no respect for those around her and their wishes, trampling all over her host and hostess's efforts to help her, vacillating as to what she feels for Brett and generally behaving like a spoiled child. Perhaps her relative youth, she's aged just 17, is some mitigation but overall she appeared to have nothing to her credit apart from her looks and skills at horsemanship. This book was originally published twenty years ago and unfortunately it shows its age in terms of the interactions between hero and heroine. The threats of violence, rakishness and other behaviours that appeared to be acceptable in books published in the 1980s tend to leave a nasty taste in the mouths of modern readers and there wasn't enough plot or other characterisation in this book to overcome this problem. The setting and overall concept were interesting but reading a whole book consisting of arguments and other spats between two selfish and egocentric people became very tiresome. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008 | ||
 | Spirituality in Patient Care: Why, How, When, and What | |
| "Advice for healthcare professionals" | 2008-01-07 |
| This book starts by offering lots of statistics that show that those with some kind of religious or spiritual faith are usually healthier, longer lived and more able to cope with their illnesses; it seemed that the first lesson to learn from this book was that every patient should Get Religion Now. The author continued by discussing the role of the healthcare professional in providing spiritual care to the patient, how to take a 'spiritual history' (required by law in the US), whether or not to pray with the patient, the potential difficulties that a spirituality can cause (for example some may see illness or sickness as a sign that their god has turned from them), the work of chaplains and how different parts of the healthcare system (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, mental health professionals etc) might approach a patient's spirituality differently. He concludes with a model course curriculum to train healthcare professionals in taking a spiritual history and then an overview of the different beliefs of various religions and denominations as they affect the patient's healthcare choices.
As an American book there are some difficulties in incorporating its message here in the UK. For example, our medical set-ups are very different, particularly in terms of the time that healthcare professionals can spend with patients. The assumption in the book is also that the vast majority of patients and healthcare professionals have a religious faith and this isn't the case here. Interestingly this book deals with overall 'spirituality' and incorporates Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism and therefore its message is generally a non-specific 'faith' or 'belief' one without much differentiation as to the effect on the patient. The writing style was very dry and rather unengaging and there was quite a lot of repetition in the book but overall it is a useful contribution to the debate, despite its limitations. | ||
 | A Church at War : Anglicans and Homosexuality | |
| "Sobering but also unputdownable" | 2008-01-05 |
| It's a bit of a surprise to discover that a book which discusses some of the splits and controversies within the Anglican Church is unputdownable, but "A Church At War" was indeed that. What made the book so good was, firstly, the excellent writing style of Stephen Bates, whose book "God's Own Country" about American Christianity is also fascinating. Bates identifies himself as a Catholic married to a Charismatic Evangelical and his writing shows that he is very familiar with and at home in the world of Anglicanism. This book is not just about the homosexual debate within Anglicanism. It looks wider, describing some of the political machinations behind many of the events including Lambeth Conferences, the Appointment of Canon Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading, the US Episcopal Church's Gene Robinson situation and the contribution made to events by the ever-strengthening Evangelical section of the church. The underlying theme is that the divisions over homosexuality are more of a power struggle with the evangelical wing of the Church identifying this issue as one over which they could make a stand and wrest power from the liberals. This includes conservative American Christians bankrolling the African Anglican churches in their campaigns against the loosening of the church's stance on gay people, and many of the machinations such as this are shown taking place behind the Lambeth conferences and other meetings while the Archbishops of Canterbury make statements about listening to and learning from each other in a spirit of love. Parts of this book make for very uncomfortable reading, rather akin to watching children having a punch-up in a playground. Bates speaks firmly from the side of those who believe that gay people have their part to play in the life of the church. He doesn't spend much time considering the Biblical references to homosexuality, just enough to show that there are scholarly reasons that mean it isn't a cut and dried issue, whether or not people find the arguments convincing themselves. This book isn't an impartial discussion but instead is a gripping read with caricatures of many players in the story, amusing asides and yet an overall sobering message. Bates reminds the reader many times of the inconsistencies in some of the arguments used against homosexuals (for example that divorce and remarriage are now allowed, although Jesus forbade that) and it's hard to know whether he has chosen some of the worst of the quotes from the Evangelical wing to contrast with the humble and godly statements of the gay people in his pages. Most of the evangelicals campaigning against changes in the church's acceptance of homosexuals come across very badly, with particular focus on many of the African church leaders and their own double-standards (as Bates points out, the Nigerian church vilified homosexual acceptance within the church but doesn't do anything about the polygamy, child sacrifice and the stoning of adulterous women within their own church). This book isn't an easy read. It's hard to read of the strife and arguing between people who are supposedly in mission together. It's appalling to hear of some of the abuse and discrimination that gay people within the church have suffered. It's also frightening to believe, if his overall thesis is right, that those in control of the section of the church with growing authority chose to make a stand on this subject in order to wrest power from other traditions within Anglicanism, apparently unconcerned about the human despair and devastation that would follow. This isn't an impartial book but it's an important book for people from all sides of Anglicanism to read as it acts as a mirror to those within the church and can help them to see how the outside world may see them and their squabbles. | ||
 | Destiny by Maggie Shayne, ISBN 0515130133 | |
| "Paranormal Romance set in ancient Sumer and modern America" | 2007-12-28 |
"Destiny" works very well as a standalone story and it's not necessary to have read the previous stories ("Infinity" and "Eternity") to follow the action, although one or two nuances, as well as some characters, aren't explained completely. This story follows Nidaba who was mentioned a great deal in "Eternity" as a four thousand year old woman whose mind was perhaps letting go. We meet Nidaba in this story after she has just committed suicide after jumping from a high building, only to recover in the ambulance and to be drugged and then kept in a mental asylum. When Nathan Ian King sees her photograph in the newspaper with the question "who is this woman" he is sure he knows who she is... only that she died four and a half thousand years ago. However he goes to investigate and discovers that she is indeed Nidaba, Priestess of Inanna who was his childhood playmate and only real love when he was the King of Lagesh in ancient Sumer. With the help of two of his friends, Nathan rescues Nidaba from the mental asylum and cares for her at his house, trying to help her to recover from her catatonic state. However when she does they have a lot of history to cover - they both have much for which to be forgiven. The novel takes place in two times in history, with the modern-day sections when Nathan is caring for Nidaba and the historical sections where Eannatum and Nidaba are growing up and learning to love each other in ancient Sumer. The Sumerian sections are interesting and reasonably accurate. Of course there is a 'baddie' in this book. Nathan's former wife Puabi, who is trying to get Nidaba's heart to extend her own immortality and to finally pay back her old, old adversary (and who gets her own story told in the much shorter "Immortality"). We also briefly meet Arianna and Nicodimus from "Eternity" but most of the action is between Nathan/Eannatum and Nidaba. It was an interesting story and the historical sections in Sumer added a great deal to the story but somehow it never really completely drew in this reader to the world described. | ||
 | Slider | |
| "Enjoyable novel about baseball" | 2007-12-13 |
| Patrick Robinson is known for his Submarine books, including 'The Shark Mutiny' and 'HMS Unseen' and I presumed that 'Slider' would be another of these. However I was rather surprised to discover it's actually a novel about baseball. Being English I know almost nothing about Baseball except that it evolved from our game Rounders and that it's hugely popular in America. I decided to read the book and see if there was enough of a story in the pages to overcome the fact that I'm not a Baseball fan.
The answer was yes, with some reservations. Firstly I found that it wasn't always easy to work out what was going on. For someone who hasn't grown up in a Baseball environment there are a lot of things about the game that are difficult to get a handle on. There were vast amounts of names of former baseball players in this story which of course meant nothing to me. The cast of characters is necessarily very wide but there is also continual reference to the Baseball 'greats' of former years - I imagine baseball fans would know these but the average reader possibly not. It was often hard to keep track of who was who whilst following the story. I also found Patrick Robinson's penchant for making political and tub-thumpingly nationalistic comments throughout his writing as annoying as ever. The story follows Jack Faber who is accepted to Seapuit baseball camp for 10 weeks of the summer, along with Tony Garcia, as they hope to attract the scouts for the main teams whilst they play there. Jack's father has brought him up with his love of the game and is hugely supportive of his son; Tony's mother Natalie wants Tony to get a law degree and sees baseball as a dangerous distraction from his studies and one that might cost the family dearly financially. I found myself rather siding with Tony's mum originally - the whole concept of a baseball scholarship to a university is alien to Brits (our scholarships are only ever academic) and the importance placed on the game by all the people around them seemed rather overmuch. However, comparing this with football in the UK, I could see the similarities and how it could become so all-encompassing. The novel is in three sections, the first being the initial summer camp at Seapuit, the second section being the return to Seapuit (after Jack has lost his pitching abilities) and the third section a pure fantasy on behalf of the author where the Seawolves (the Seapuit team) play against one of the major teams. The second half of the book also had another fantasy element where Jack's father becomes suddenly rich and the worries of the first half of the book, when they had no money, are all over. This felt rather like cheating to me, story-wise, as the amount of money Ben Faber received was so enormous. There's a thread throughout the novel of Ben and Natalie's romance, a plot element about Jack losing his ability to pitch, but most of the actual story is describing different games that the Seawolves play, often in intricate detail. The dialogue between the Coach and his team and the young men themselves often felt very stilted and unrealistic to me and the characters themselves seemed rather cardboard cut-out to me. However, despite all this, and despite the huge amount of baseball in this book, I did enjoy reading it. I felt the ending was far too unrealistic and pure wish-fulfilment for the author but it was a reasonable read, even for someone who knows nothing about baseball (although who now knows a great deal more!) Whether this book lives up to the hype on its cover, "you won't read a better novel about baseball. Ever." is debatable, whether its portrayal of the game is accurate and realistic has been challenged, but it's still a reasonable read. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007 | ||
 | The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity | |
| "A fascinating and thought-provoking book" | 2007-12-02 |
| This book is an update of Jenkins' ground-breaking book published nearly a decade ago and is still a fascinating and timely read today. The book amply demonstrates that our idea of 'traditional' or 'mainstream' Christianity is the result of the situation of Western European society over the last millennium and is not a true reflection of the current situation. Philip Jenkins reminds us that the Western part of global Christendom is shrinking and its importance, numerically speaking, is waning; the new Christendom will probably consist of the Southern churches - Africa, Asia and South America - whose experience of Christianity is very different than ours. Much of their Christian experience is more akin to the early church with supernatural elements being part of daily life, healings and prophecies common and their concept of culture completely different to ours.
Jenkins provides much statistical evidence to back up his points as well as a thorough discussion of how global Christianity spread through mission work in the past and how it might change in the future. There is much encouragement in this book, mainly in the reminder that Christianity is still a growing religion globally and that perhaps Islam will have less of an effect than we think, but it was also occasionally sobering in discovering that the form of Christianity that many of the Southern churches use is not one that would be a comfortable fit with post-Enlightenment western Christians. | ||
 | Eternity | |
| "Magic and witch-hunting through the ages" | 2007-11-30 |
| "Eternity" focuses on Raven St James, a young woman who is learning her craft as a witch from her mother. However when she and her mother are denounced by a priest to the local magistrate they are ordered to be hanged. A trainee priest, Duncan Wallace, tries to save Raven's life but is unsuccessful and she is hanged along with her mother. The shocking events of their trial cause a breach between Duncan and Nathanial, his training priest, and he decides to set out to the New World to see if people are more accepting of others in that country. However on the journey across he becomes ill and is tended by a woman he is sure is Raven although she doesn't admit to being the young woman he saw die and he loses touch with her as soon as they arrive in Boston.
The story continues with Raven making her life in Sanctuary, living with her aunt and trying to avoid the notice of the religious authorities. However when Duncan arrives at Sanctuary to be their priest she realises her past is catching up with her and that Duncan, who cannot be told what she is, may be in danger. The story skips forward three hundred years when Raven has another chance to have a relationship with Duncan, who has been reborn in this time, and she hopes this time to trust him fully. However their foe from three hundred years ago also has had his eye on Duncan for a long time and Duncan isn't going to want to believe the wild tales of immortality and evil and good witches; it's possible Raven may have to give her life to save Duncan's this time. The story was well written with some interesting detail of the witch trials in England and America in the 1700s. An awkwardness was the way that parts written from Raven's point of view were written in the First Person but the other sections in the Third Person which made the story feel disjointed and odd. It's written with quite a new-agey feel and Christianity doesn't come across too well so those for whom this might be uncomfortable reading might do better missing it. However the overall plot was interesting and the supporting character, Arianna, who is the heroine of the sequel, "infinity", is a strong and feisty woman whose own life t tragedy runs through the events of this story. | ||
 | Infinity by Maggie Shayne, ISBN 0515126101 | |
| "Follow up to "Eternity"" | 2007-11-30 |
| "Infinity" is the follow-up to "Eternity" and it features Arianna, who featured in the previous book, although the first person narrative is that of Nicodimus Lachlan, an Immortal High Witch whose wife and children died back in the 700s and from which loss he has never recovered. When Nicodimus returns to the village of Stonehaven in Scotland he realises that the young girl of fourteen he saw last time, Arianna, has grown to be a very independent woman on the cusp of her eighteenth birthday. She is also in a great deal of trouble with the other villagers suspicious of her as she spends time with the three women known as The Crones, who are thought to be witches, and some of Arianna's own behaviour is unusual. She is supposed to be betrothed to a local boy but refuses to submit and her family life is difficult since the death of her sister, Raven, some years before. Nicodimus finds himself intervening a little, trying to warn Arianna to be careful but realising that her personality means that she feels like a free spirit. When frightening events take place in the village they end up betrothed, for her safety, and in due course married. But Nicodimus doesn't want to feel love again and Arianna doesn't yet know of her future as an Immortal High Witch. Before long the problems that have dogged Nicodimus throughout his long life come to find him at Stonehaven and Arianna is dragged into them, along with other villagers and another Immortal High Witch, Nidaba, who has been a friend to Nicodimus his whole life. This story, like "Eternity", is in two parts, separated by hundreds of years. There is a short chapter which overlaps events in "Eternity" where Arianna and Raven free the hearts of trapped High Witches and Arianna believes one is that of Nicodimus who was imprisoned by Nathanial Dearborne hundreds of years before. However when Arianna is able to reunited Nicodimus's heart with his body he remembers her as his enemy, not his wife. This part of the story actually felt rather rushed and the happy ever after ending came perhaps too quickly, along with a revelation about Nidaba which I hadn't expected. "Infinity" is a reasonable read and Arianna is certainly an interesting character, although one who tends to rush headlong into things and not consider others' opinions, finding it acceptable to lie to get her own way, and so she wasn't always appealing. However their love story felt tender, although I wasn't entirely sure what Nicodimus saw in her. Again, there is a high emphasis on new-agey mysticism and a negative view of Christianity in this story but it's an interesting read, not least in that it reminds us of the witch hunting trials and many of the awful things that were done at that time to those who were different. | ||
 | Johann Sebastian Bach ,Philippe Herreweghe ,Peter Kooy - Bach: Cantatas for Bass | |
| "Wonderful CD from this rich Bass" | 2007-11-11 |
| Peter Kooy has appeared as Bass on many of Harmonia Mundi's CDs and I became familiar with him after he appeared on many of the Bach Cantatas with Andreas Scholl. I originally bought this CD as it was under five pounds and helped make a Super Saver order so I had free postage. However I have found myself returning to listen to it again and again as it's a wonderful piece of music.
Peter Kooy's voice is one of those wonderful warm Basses which is soothing and relaxing to listen to. He doesn't add too much vibrato to his singing (and I find this style works so much better with Bach's music) and his diction in the German is always very clear. Quite simply he makes these songs come alive and they are always a joy to listen to. The CD is conducted by Philip Herreweghe who does his usual masterful job along with La Chapelle Royale orchestra (and a choir on the last track). However Peter Kooy is very much the star of this CD with his warm and rounded phrasing in the three cantatas. The first, BWV 82 "Ich habe genug" or "ich habe genung" (apparently 'genung' is an old-fashioned but acceptable variant of the word) is the sort of cantata that really sticks in your brain. The first track ("Ich habe genug") is outstanding and the long third track ("schlummert ein"), a little more contemplative in nature, equally enjoyable. I'm not personally a big fan of recitatives but at least I can say they're fairly short in this cantata! The third main track of this cantata is "Ich freue mich" and it shows Peter Kooy's technical skills in singing a fast-moving piece. The second, BWV 56 "Ich will den Kreutzstab gerne tragen" is, according to its subject matter, more introspective. The final piece in this cantata ("Komm, o Tod") has the choir joining in and makes a fitting conclusion. The third cantata, BWV 158 "Der Friede sei mit dir", was less memorable for me than the previous two although the last piece which includes the choir, "Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm" was very good. All in all this is an excellent value CD which will give many, many hours of listening pleasure. | ||
 | An Infamous Army | |
| "The Battle of Waterloo from the master of Historical fiction" | 2007-10-08 |
| Georgette Heyer was the master of historical fiction, particularly in the Regency era. 'An Infamous Army' focuses rather more on historical events than the romance than most of her other novels, its central theme being the description of the Battle of Waterloo and the events leading up to it.
The main characters in this story are Colonel Charles Audley and Lady Barbara Childe; Charles Audley appeared as the younger brother of Lord Worth in "Regency Buck" and Barbara Childe is the grandaughter of Dominic and Mary from "Devil's Cub". There has been a slight fudging of historical dates to fit these characters in but it is interesting to read more of Lord Worth and Judith's marriage in this story as parts of the book are told from Judith's point of view. Many readers may find Barbara Childe a rather unsympathetic character, her wild behaviour and rather cavalier treatment of Charles Audley can be hard to stomach; however, as the book continues and the battle takes place she shows more depth to her character, despite her faults. Charles's instant attraction to her isn't always understandable but in some ways the love story in this book feels very much as a hook upon which to pin the main thrust of the book, the battle itself. The romance in the story is definitely subsidiary to the historical events which are described with an excellent attention to detail. The way that society in Brussels continued its usual round of Balls and Soirées as the French troops drew nearer was fascinating, as were the portrayals of several historical characters, not least the Duke of Wellington, the horror and agony of war and the real possibility that Napoleon's troops might have prevailed. Although an excellent book the heavy emphasis on the fighting of the battle of Waterloo means that it isn't particularly easy reading. It's also quite a long book and with the usual Heyer writing style which is full of cant phrases that can be hard to understand for a first-time Heyer reader. Still she is many people's favourite historical novelist for good reasons and this book does not disappoint with the quality of the writing, the historical detail and the author's excellent storytelling ability. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007 | ||
 | Tempting Harriet | |
| "Shorter Balogh but still great" | 2007-10-01 |
| Mary Balogh's older novels are hard to find but usually worth it. "Tempting Harriet" is the third of a series of three books, preceded by "Courting Julia" and "Dancing with Clara". We first meet Harriet in "Dancing With Clara" when she is Clara's companion - Harriet meets Lord Archibald Vinney and is offered carte blanche by him - twice - but refuses. "Tempting Harriet" is her story, picked up six years later after she has been married to a kind older man who has died and left her with a four year old daughter, Susan. When she bumps into Lord Vinney again, now the duke of Tenby and looking for a wife, she realises that she still holds a candle for him. In this book we see events both from Harriet's and Tenby's point of view and we learn at the outset that Tenby, too, has never forgotten Harriet. Fairly soon he decides to go against the wishes of his family and his breeding and to offer Harriet marriage, only to be forestalled by Harriet offering herself as his mistress. And so they begin an affair, Harriet not realising she could have had marriage, Tenby still under pressure to find the right woman - and clearly his family don't believe Harriet is the right woman (they can all see which way the wind is blowing). Mary Balogh's writing is, as always, excellent. Somehow she shows the effect that this illicit relationship is having on Harriet, a moral and upright woman, as well as the unexpected disappointment that Tenby finds in it because Harriet is going against her conscience. The two lead characters are very believable, simply because they are unable to cast their social mores and family expectations aside for their own needs. The supporting characters are excellent, including Tenby's deaf aunt, his friend, the understanding lady with whom Harriet resides and of course Clara and Frederick from the previous novel, now living very happily ever after (which was good to know as it wasn't entirely clear from their book if that would happen). When reading a lot of Mary Balogh books you tend to find recurring themes. Archie, the duke of Tenby, has definite hints of the Duke of Bewcastle in his nature; the mistress theme was explored further in "more than a mistress" and the unsuitable duchess theme in "slightly dangerous". Still each book is always fresh and despite this one being shorter than her more recent novels it's still a very satisfactory read - if you can find it! | ||
| A Regency Christmas: Five Stories | |
| "Five Christmas-themed stories by Regency authors" | 2007-08-22 |
| This is another anthology of five Christmas stories with selected Regency authors.
THE CHRISTMAS GHOST Sandra Heath's "The Christmas Ghost" was a pleasant enough read with a touch of the supernatural as Rebecca Winterbourne tries to recover from the death of her husband Edward and her father. Edward died two years ago but Rebecca still hadn't recovered; however she knows she must contract a marriage so that she no longer has to depend on her brother Clifford and his wife Margaret, and she has received an offer from Sir Oliver Willoughby, a friend of her father's. Sir Oliver wants her to attend an event but she is concerned that Piers Winterbourne will be there - Piers inherited the title after the death of her husband. She used to have a friendship with Piers but after her marriage that died and she dislikes him. However Rebecca starts to see some strange things, papers get moved about that she is working on and she sees a man who looks very like her father. Eventually she is thrown together with Piers Winterbourne and he thinks she must be hallucinating. But is there more to Rebecca's strange behaviour? They find themselves having to talk to each other about past events and uncovering misunderstandings. This was a pleasant enough story although some might not like the supernatural element. In some ways there were few surprises in the story but Rebecca and Piers were reasonable characters, if both a little blind to their own behaviour and feelings. THE RAKE'S CHRISTMAS I enjoyed Edith Layton's story "The Rake's Christmas" where new Viscount Ian Hunt finds himself attending a house party with Lord Shelton, a well-known rake. Ian himself is beginning to get a name as a rake and is unsure whether he wants that reputation. Lord Shelton tells him about a particular young women he is planning to seduce at the house party but on the way there is waylaid and Ian goes on alone. Eve Thomkins is a poor relation, a woman who is overlooked by others at the house party. However Viscount Hunt soon realises she is the woman that Lord Shelton has described and he tries to get to know her so that he can warn her what to avoid in the rake. However as time passes and they get to know each other Hunt finds himself feeling more for her than he should. The resolution at the end, when Shelton arrives at the party, was hardly unexpected but it was an enjoyable story and hero and heroine were both good characters in their own way. LADY BOUNTIFUL Laura Matthews' story features Drucilla Carruthers who has been looking after the estate of her father, who has dementia, for many years. She's been trying to put off her father's solicitor who might declare her father incompetent so that Drucilla and her companion, Miss Script, lose their home to her father's heir, Lord Meacham. When Lord Meacham arrives following a letter from the solicitor Drucilla is careful to show him all the work that she has been doing and to convince him of its importance. However Meacham begins to discover that Drucilla may be more important to him than he had previously thought and that she is under a false impression of his style of landownership. There isn't actually very much plot in this story, it is more a description of how Drucilla shows Meacham the work she has been doing and tries to cover up her father's unfortunate behaviour. Meacham is an amiable man and a good landlord and the reader is in no doubt that he will do the right thing. Still it's pleasant enough and a light read. A MUMMER'S PLAY Jo Beverley, a well-known name in this genre, writes about Miss Justina Travers whose husband died three years before. She blames Lucky Jack Beaufort, the Duke of Cranmoore and formerly her husband Simon's commanding officer, for his death - Jack Beaufort was the only survivor of an ambush when fighting Napoleon in Spain. She decides to go to Jack Beaufort's house and find evidence that he was spying for the French all along, surely the reason he survived, and so enters the duke's house with a band of mummers as her disguise. She starts looking for evidence in his library and is soon discovered. They end up talking and, although Jack doesn't know who she is, he doesn't believe her cover story. Still they get talking and he tells her a little about the events in the war and eventually she seduces him in order to get the truth out of him. However the truth isn't necessarily what she was expecting and Jack's guilt might be for reasons other than she thought. This is well written although Justina's behaviour seems very odd, particularly her seduction of Jack. It's a decent read and has some interesting insights into the fighting on the Peninsular and the ways in which officers and men related to each other. THE SURPRISE PARTY Mary Balogh continues to write with unrivalled mastery. I've become acquainted with a lot of her short stories and I have been very pleasantly surprised at how good they are. Often authors of full length novels can't write good short stories, or vice versa, by Mary Balogh, with one or two exceptions, seems to be able to excel at both. Her trick with her short stories is not to bite off too much plot but instead to focus on a small event and the way in which it shapes characters. As with many of her other short stories, the hero and heroine here have known each other a long time and are estranged. This story, similar in theme to many of her others, has the Christmas season and the traditional activities functioning as a turning point in various people's lives and bringing healing and rapprochement between them. This story, entitled "The Surprise Party", begins through the eyes of three young children, orphans living with a nurse and mourning their parents. Christmas is approaching but Nurse has told them they can't celebrate it as they're in mourning. However when their aunt and uncle arrive things start to change. The aunt and uncle aren't blood relatives - Aunt Ursula, the widow Lady Carlyle was sister to the children's father and Uncle Timothy, otherwise known as Lord Morsey, was brother to the children's mother. The children's parents' marriage actually cause the breaking of the betrothal between Ursula and Timothy nine years before and Ursula promptly married someone else as an escape - one that didn't lead her to marital happiness. The two have avoided each other for years and yet they are brought together as they have responded to letters about the children's welfare and have come to each offer them a home. The Christmas magic that Mary Balogh weaves with such mastery catches both children and adults and as they all spend time together they begin to understand anew what is important in life. In conclusion, this is a better-than-average collection of stories and is pleasant reading at Christmas time but none of them are brilliant and I'm not sure this book will stay on my Keeper shelf. However it's one that many will enjoy and the variety of the stories adds to its charm. | ||
 | Fire in the Blood | |
| "Book 5 in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series" | 2007-08-21 |
| I find this review not in agreement with the others on this page. Yes, this book isn't a 'must read' but I still think it's an excellent story with interesting characters, a plot and learning more about Jack and his vampiric nature. The first page in this book is great fun as we meet Jack apparently stripping Olivia Vandemore's evening gown from her and about to sacrifice her on an altar to Sabajajji, the Spider God. Fortunately this is just part of the novel he is writing rather than reality - although reality for Jack Fleming, Vampire PI, is often as bloodthirsty as this novel. Jack and Charles Escott, Private Agent, are summoned to see Mr Sebastian Pierce, a rich retired Chicago man who tasks them to find a valuable bracelet that his daughter's boyfriend or a friend of his may have stolen. Jack finds himself shadowing the daughter to Bobbi's club and soon enough they stumble into murder and mayhem. A new member of the Chicago Underground, Vaughn Kyler, comes into play in this book and he's a particularly creepy individual who is resistant to Jack's vampire hypnosis. This book also sees the darker side of Jack having an outing after an episode of hypnotising goes rather wrong. Once again Jack finds himself in dodgy situations and only escapes by the skin of his teeth - is this ability going to pall any time soon? The ending of this book is rather open and in fact leads directly into the next story, "Blood on the Water", although fortunately this episode does reach some sort of a conclusion. However Jack's rather more off balance in this book because of the darker side of his powers and we are learning more about him through it. Another great episode in this excellent series - a series that it probably pays to read in order. | ||
 | Art in the Blood | |
| "Book 4 in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series" | 2007-08-21 |
| This book, along with all the other Jack Fleming books I've read so far, is an entertaining supernatural story which leavens the 'vampire' moments with the humanity of our bloodsucking protagonist, Jack. He's a great hero because he's fallible, seems to get shot and knocked out rather regularly, cares for his girlfriend Bobbi and his friend Charles Escott and tends to blunder around not being quite sure what he's doing a lot of the time. Perhaps his blundering and being shot may pall over time but at the moment it makes for a very different, and very likeable, hero.
"Art in the Blood" sees Jack coming to the rescue of a man at a party and then being sucked into problems within the art world. Alex Adrian was a famous artist but hasn't done anything since his wife committed suicide; Evan Robley and his sister Sandra are also artists and when more suspicious events start taking place, including a death for which Alex Adrian might be responsible, Jack and Escott have to unravel the plot and work out what's really going on. The Chicago underworld plays its part as usual with more dodgy characters who have it in for Jack and Escott. This story gives us more of an insight into the relationship between Jack and Bobbi as well as Jack needing to use his powers of vampire hypnosis more and more, leading to more people finding out what he truly is. It's another great read with a lighthearted feel and yet sometimes a darker undertone. | ||
 | The Vampire Files (The Vampire Files) | |
| "Books 4-6 in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series" | 2007-08-21 |
| This is a collection of books 4-6 in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series and contains entertaining supernatural stories which leaven the 'vampire' moments with the humanity of our bloodsucking protagonist, Jack. He's a great hero because he's fallible, seems to get shot and knocked out rather regularly, cares for his girlfriend Bobbi and his friend Charles Escott and tends to blunder around not being quite sure what he's doing a lot of the time. Perhaps his blundering and being shot may pall over time but at the moment it makes for a very different, and very likeable, hero. ART IN THE BLOOD "Art in the Blood" sees Jack coming to the rescue of a man at a party and then being sucked into problems within the art world. Alex Adrian was a famous artist but hasn't done anything since his wife committed suicide; Evan Robley and his sister Sandra are also artists and when more suspicious events start taking place, including a death for which Alex Adrian might be responsible, Jack and Escott have to unravel the plot and work out what's really going on. The Chicago underworld plays its part as usual with more dodgy characters who have it in for Jack and Escott. This story gives us more of an insight into the relationship between Jack and Bobbi as well as Jack needing to use his powers of vampire hypnosis more and more, leading to more people finding out what he truly is. It's another great read with a lighthearted feel and yet sometimes a darker undertone. FIRE IN THE BLOOD The first page in this book is great fun as we meet Jack apparently stripping Olivia Vandemore's evening gown from her and about to sacrifice her on an altar to Sabajajji, the Spider God. Fortunately this is just part of the novel he is writing rather than reality - although reality for Jack Fleming, Vampire PI, is often as bloodthirsty as this novel. Jack and Charles Escott, Private Agent, are summoned to see Mr Sebastian Pierce, a rich retired Chicago man who tasks them to find a valuable bracelet that his daughter's boyfriend or a friend of his may have stolen. Jack finds himself shadowing the daughter to Bobbi's club and soon enough they stumble into murder and mayhem. A new member of the Chicago Underground, Vaughn Kyler, comes into play in this book and he's a particularly creepy individual who is resistant to Jack's vampire hypnosis. This book also sees the darker side of Jack having an outing after an episode of hypnotising goes rather wrong. Once again Jack finds himself in dodgy situations and only escapes by the skin of his teeth - is this ability going to pall any time soon? The ending of this book is rather open and in fact leads directly into the next story, "Blood on the Water", although fortunately this episode does reach some sort of a conclusion. However Jack's rather more off balance in this book because of the darker side of his powers and we are learning more about him through it. Another great episode in this excellent series - a series that it probably pays to read in order. BLOOD ON THE WATER This story starts directly after "Fire In The Blood" and I think it would probably be rather difficult to understand everything that's going on, along with the fairly large cast of characters, without reading some of the previous books. Jack Fleming, Vampire, had a bit of a shock in the last book when his vampiric nature got away from him and he nearly killed a woman. He's still struggling with the aftermath of those events in this story and is unwilling to use his hypnosis skills but equally doesn't want to talk about it to the rather perceptive Charles Escott, his partner. The 'baddie', Vaughn Kyler, who we first met in the last book plays a significant role in the beginning of this story when he gives Jack the ultimatum to leave town or die. This gives Jack huge moral qualms - Jack knows that if he doesn't kill Kyler then neither Charles nor Bobbi will be safe, and yet how can he become a murderer? I think the way that the author showed Jack's fears about this was excellent. In this story everyone is still chasing the bracelet from the last book and Jack enlists the help of Gordy, another local crime boss who's helped them in the past. Unfortunately a turf war seems to be breaking out with a new entrant, Angela Paco, playing her part as well. The three-sided war looks to be unstoppable and Jack has to decide on his actions with Kyler. Once again, as in most of the other stories, Jack gets himself into various fixes and nearly dies. His physical limits are tested in a new way and there is more violence surrounding him. In the earlier books there was a lot of situation comedy where Jack was acting like a ghost and it happens again, very amusingly, in this book. However the turf war in this book lends it a darker feel and no doubt sets up for further instalments. In short, it's another good read and we're getting further and further into Jack's character as the stories continue but this wouldn't be a good first book for a reader in this series. | ||
 | Three Weddings & a Kiss | |
| "One good story, three also-rans" | 2007-08-02 |
| Anthologies are curious things. With different authors you often find you're reading several entirely unrelated stories, possibly linked around a theme but with little else to enable them to sit happily together. This book is the same, with two stories set in America and two in England, most around the English Regency period (although I'm not sure of the dating of the two set in America) and all featuring a wedding but apart from that there seems little to tie them together. As an introduction to the works of these authors this is a useful book but sadly this reader only found one story worthwhile in the collection. FANCY FREE The first story, "Fancy Free", by Catherine Anderson surprised me by not being set in the Regency period in England, which is what I thought this book was about (although this was my mistake as it doesn't specify English Regency on the cover, it was just the featured authors that made me assume this). Instead it was set in America in some unspecified time in history (my knowledge of American history isn't enough for me to know when) and features Clint Rafferty, a cattle rancher, and his family of seven younger brothers who finds himself getting married, rather unexpectedly, and at the end of a pistol, to Rachel Constantine. So how can people settle down after a shotgun marriage when they know very little about each other and when Rachel is well aware she's not want Clint wanted? He wants someone to make a home but her cooking skills are somewhat lacking, especially as she can't see anything due to excessive short-sight and that she believes if she wears her spectacles men will be appalled by her ugliness. I felt the realism of this story was sorely lacking in terms of how Rachel could cope with her short-sight, especially when we learn she couldn't read a recipe - short sight would meant that she COULD read paper close to, it's distance things that would be a problem. Somehow Clint and the boys don't seem to mind her disasters and very quickly she becomes important to them. But Rachel has a low self image and doesn't understand this and when another woman comes to the house she can't handle it and runs away - Clint and she have to decide what is important to them. This was a pleasant enough story but there wasn't any great character depth and I did have some problems overall with Rachel's domestic skills, especially bearing in mind her eyesight problems. Sometimes she seemed almost blind, other times it was clear she must have been able to see reasonably in order to function in public without her spectacles. It was an OK read but nothing that special and didn't inspire me to read anything more from this author. THE MAD EARL'S BRIDE The second story, "The Mad Earl's Bride" by Loretta Chase, was rather more engaging. We are given a brief history of Dorian Camoys' youth under his autocratic grandfather. Dorian knows that he is beginning to succumb to the same brain disorder that killed his mother - after she had spent some time in a lunatic asylum. He returns to Dartmoor to live his last months in peace but his peace is shattered when the other close members of his family die and he inherits the title of Earl of Rawnsley and finds one of his distant relatives trying to help arrange the succession. Dorian is asked to marry Gwendolyn, a young woman who badly needs his money in order to build a hospital. Gwendolyn wishes she had been born a man as she wants to be a doctor but no men except for one doctor ever take her seriously. Her experiences in learning about medicine mean that she can help Dorian in his last months and so they marry. However there is much research to be done about his condition and as it begins to worsen they begin to plan for the future and to learn about each other. This story has links to "Lord of Scoundrels" and some of the characters from that story appear in this. It's a very enjoyable read and although a short story it seems surprisingly detailed. I very much enjoy Loretta Chase's writing style although her Regencies occasionally slip into Americanisms, but overall this is a good story with a likeable hero and heroine and a rather different theme from the norm. PROMISES "Promises" by Lisa Kleypas is another story set in England in the Regency period. Lidian Acland, our heroine, has been holding a torch for the improbably named Chance Spencer for a year whilst he does the Grand Tour. However her mother (along with pretty much everyone else) thinks Chance isn't worth her devotion and tries to encourage Lidian to look at other men. None interests her until she meets Eric de Gray, heir to an Earldom and squiring his sister at various parties. She and Eric clash a number of times as he tries to get her to see Chance for who he really is and Lidian wants to hang on to her dream. There's another mini romance within this story which isn't particularly detailed but is enjoyable. The writing in this story was fine and the setting (for example the hero and heroine take a walk in Vauxhall Gardens) was well described but unfortunately I didn't get into the characters in this story. Eric seemed over-harsh and not very warm to Lidian, Lidian seemed rather stupid about Chance when we are told she is intelligent. Her behaviour is also not appropriate for a woman in her situation, going out unchaperoned etc, and her supposed constancy towards Chance is also dropped surprisingly quickly. Still it was a reasonable enough read if not particularly deep. THE KISS The final story is much shorter than all the rest (the first two accounted for over two thirds of the book) at only 29 pages. Written by Kathleen E Woodiwiss it was evidently a follow-up to another previous story (which I haven't read) which detailed the relationship between Brandon and Heather Birmingham. This couple's relationship is referred to repeatedly in this story and we also meet them in this tale. "The Kiss" takes place in Charleston, America, and is about Brandon's brother Jeffrey who finds himself unexpectedly coming to the aid of a woman whose guardian is about to sell her to a man. Jeffrey buys her instead, takes her home and then realises that he hasn't necessarily helped her situation as he will have compromised her by buying her in public. He resolves this in a fairly obvious way and then the story ends. It's a 'love at first sight' story which I couldn't always believe but then a story this short can't go too much in depth. However there was one significant irritant - the author seems to have rather a small stock of adjectives and she massively over-used the adjective 'manly'. We had 'manly shoulders', 'manly scent of his cologne', 'manly form', 'manly costume', 'manly desires' and the rather bizarre 'manly tread' as he walks across the room - all in 29 pages. The other descriptions were all rather basic, 'narrow hips', 'slender waist', that kind of thing. This writing style proved rather irritating to this reader and the rest of the story wasn't really engaging enough to make it truly enjoyable. In conclusion this is a rather bitty collection of stories. The only real stand-out story is Loretta Chase's one, the other three are ultimately fairly forgettable and seem to have either plot problems or writing disappointments. I understand this book won a number of awards but I'm not really sure why as I felt it was rather a disappointment. | ||
 | Lifeblood | |
| "Second in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series" | 2007-08-01 |
| The second story, "Lifeblood", takes place just a few weeks after the first story finishes. Jack and Bobbi have settled into some kind of a relationship and Jack also spends some of his time helping Escott with his private investigations. However they soon decide that it would be wise for Jack to have some more of his home earth stored at Escott's place in case he has a problem with returning to his hotel room so Jack drives 'home' to Ohio to collect it. On the way he realises he is being followed and eventually has a showdown with the two people in the car - vampire hunters. They're obviously both rather loony and have read far too many vampire novels, thinking that they are safe from Jack with their garlic and crosses. He gives them a flat tyre and then continues on his way. Once he's collected the earth he passes his parents' house to find the vampire hunters are there. He chases them off, then returns to Chicago but worried about his parents. Unfortunately he hasn't completely escaped the vampire hunters and they start to plague him in Chicago; he's worried about Bobbi and whether they will go after her. His attention is also taken by an old woman, Gaylen Dumont, who has responded to his adverts in the papers asking for Maureen to contact him (Maureen is his lost love and the vampire who made him). Gaylen is Maureen's sister, now 74 years old, and she gives Escott some information which might help him to find Maureen. However there's more to Gaylen than Jack initially realises and more danger to Bobbi than just from the vampire hunters. Jack is faced with an impossible situation, one that he realises Maureen found herself in, and it's only with the help of Escott his friend that he can survive at all. This story is more gritty perhaps than the first as we have more emotional engagement from Jack. Being a vampire makes him mostly bombproof but it doesn't mean that he isn't extremely vulnerable because of the friendships he has made and because of his family. The story is always interesting with some great humorous touches and Jack as a character is always very appealing. I found that as a reader I really cared about what happened to him and wanted things to work out well for him. It's a great second book in the series and possibly could be read as a standalone book although it might seem rather complex. The ending leaves the question of Maureen still unresolved and this is dealt with more fully in the third book. | ||
 | Bloodcircle | |
| "3rd in Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series" | 2007-08-01 |
| The third story, "Bloodcircle", continues straight from where "Lifeblood" left off. Jack Fleming, vampire investigator, and his assistant/boss Charles Escott are still trying to find out what happened to Maureen Dumont, the female vampire that made Jack. She disappeared five years ago when realising her sister Gaylen was going to force her to make her a vampire. Jack and Charles have a small clue to follow about Maureen's disappearance so they set off on a trip to New York State to follow the clue. Eventually their search takes them to a rich household of the reclusive lady Emily Francher whose mother died in strange circumstances. Jack goes to investigate and soon discovers that Emily's gigolo lover is rather more significant than he might seem. They follow more clues which culminate in Jack being seriously injured and with a very amusing scene where Charles appears to be a body snatcher. The unmasking of the villain and the explanation of what really happened five years before is no great surprise but is well written and enjoyable nonetheless. In this episode of the Vampire PI series we learn more and more about Jack's personality, particularly with regard to his morals and his feelings. There are some really interesting little vignettes into his thoughts, for example when seeing coffins sized for children when he is in the funeral parlour. Jack's about as far from the traditional view of the evil vampire as it's possible to get and yet he also has to drink blood and carries out mind control on people. The scene where he's trying to find a meal in a farmyard is an amusing episode amongst some of the darker events of the story. Again this is a great read, like the two previous stories, and it seems like P N Elrod has settled well into her characters and is slowly revealing more and more about them. It's a most enjoyable series and a welcome change from the usual overblown and sex-obsessed vampire genre tale. | ||
| The Vampire Files (The Vampire Files) | |
| "First three in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series" | 2007-08-01 |
| PN Elrod's "Jack Fleming, Vampire PI" series is a great read with humour and a fantastic setting in 1930s Chicago with film noir aspects. This collection of the first three stories is excellent value for money. BLOODLIST The story begins with "Bloodlist" where we meet Jack Fleming waking up having crawled out of the sea. No sooner has he staggered to the road when a passing driver clips him with his bumper - clearly on purpose. Jack finds himself in discussion with the car driver and discovers that he is supposed to be dead, killed because he wouldn't tell people where an important list was hidden. Jack realises pretty quickly that he has become a vampire. Fortunately he knows about the vampire life, having had a vampire girlfriend previously, and he prepares his life accordingly (fetching some of his home earth, finding somewhere safe to sleep the day, feeding from the stockyards). Elrod gives her own particular selection of traits to vampires - garlic, crosses and invitations into rooms don't work, disappearing, extra strength and glamour do. What's fun about this story is that we learn about Jack's skills and nature as he does and because he's clearly not evil, just a pleasant and friendly ex-reporter who wants to get to the bottom of his own death. Chicago is a city of gangsters and other dodgy types in this story and Jack falls foul of several of them. What's great about Jack as a character is that if he were fully human he would have died multiple times as he really isn't quite up to dealing with these characters. However his vampire nature gets him out of a lot of sticky situations and also enables him to have a great time scaring some of the people who were involved in his death. Assisted by the trusty Charles Escott, a brave private agent and sometime actor, the two of them try to find out why Jack was killed and what was on the list. In the course of their investigations Jack meets Bobbi, girlfriend to one of the gangsters and a surprisingly phlegmatic person who seems able to cope with his vampiric nature. There are a lot of amusing jokes and allusions to various books and films which went over the head of this relatively young English reader but that didn't matter as the story was always enjoyable. The best parts are when Jack is 'haunting' his killers but the fun is interspersed with some serious moments as he slowly begins to remember all that they did to him and to come to terms with his new nature. This is an excellent first story in the series and Jack is a great new character, both as a vampire and also as a slightly hapless investigator. LIFEBLOOD The second story, "Lifeblood", takes place just a few weeks after the first story finishes. Jack and Bobbi have settled into some kind of a relationship and Jack also spends some of his time helping Escott with his private investigations. However they soon decide that it would be wise for Jack to have some more of his home earth stored at Escott's place in case he has a problem with returning to his hotel room so Jack drives 'home' to Ohio to collect it. On the way he realises he is being followed and eventually has a showdown with the two people in the car - vampire hunters. They're obviously both rather loony and have read far too many vampire novels, thinking that they are safe from Jack with their garlic and crosses. He gives them a flat tyre and then continues on his way. Once he's collected the earth he passes his parents' house to find the vampire hunters are there. He chases them off, then returns to Chicago but worried about his parents. Unfortunately he hasn't completely escaped the vampire hunters and they start to plague him in Chicago; he's worried about Bobbi and whether they will go after her. His attention is also taken by an old woman, Gaylen Dumont, who has responded to his adverts in the papers asking for Maureen to contact him (Maureen is his lost love and the vampire who made him). Gaylen is Maureen's sister, now 74 years old, and she gives Escott some information which might help him to find Maureen. However there's more to Gaylen than Jack initially realises and more danger to Bobbi than just from the vampire hunters. Jack is faced with an impossible situation, one that he realises Maureen found herself in, and it's only with the help of Escott his friend that he can survive at all. This story is more gritty perhaps than the first as we have more emotional engagement from Jack. Being a vampire makes him mostly bombproof but it doesn't mean that he isn't extremely vulnerable because of the friendships he has made and because of his family. The story is always interesting with some great humorous touches and Jack as a character is always very appealing. I found that as a reader I really cared about what happened to him and wanted things to work out well for him. It's a great second book in the series and possibly could be read as a standalone book although it might seem rather complex. The ending leaves the question of Maureen still unresolved and this is dealt with more fully in the third book. BLOODCIRCLE The third story, "Bloodcircle", continues straight from where "Lifeblood" left off. Jack Fleming, vampire investigator, and his assistant/boss Charles Escott are still trying to find out what happened to Maureen Dumont, the female vampire that made Jack. She disappeared five years ago when realising her sister Gaylen was going to force her to make her a vampire. Jack and Charles have a small clue to follow about Maureen's disappearance so they set off on a trip to New York State to follow the clue. Eventually their search takes them to a rich household of the reclusive lady Emily Francher whose mother died in strange circumstances. Jack goes to investigate and soon discovers that Emily's gigolo lover is rather more significant than he might seem. They follow more clues which culminate in Jack being seriously injured and with a very amusing scene where Charles appears to be a body snatcher. The unmasking of the villain and the explanation of what really happened five years before is no great surprise but is well written and enjoyable nonetheless. In this episode of the Vampire PI series we learn more and more about Jack's personality, particularly with regard to his morals and his feelings. There are some really interesting little vignettes into his thoughts, for example when seeing coffins sized for children when he is in the funeral parlour. Jack's about as far from the traditional view of the evil vampire as it's possible to get and yet he also has to drink blood and carries out mind control on people. The scene where he's trying to find a meal in a farmyard is an amusing episode amongst some of the darker events of the story. Again this is a great read, like the two previous stories, and it seems like P N Elrod has settled well into her characters and is slowly revealing more and more about them. It's a most enjoyable series and a welcome change from the usual overblown and sex-obsessed vampire genre tale. | ||
 | Bloodlist | |
| "First in Vampire PI series" | 2007-07-31 |
| PN Elrod's "Jack Fleming, Vampire PI" series is a great read with humour and a fantastic setting in 1930s Chicago with film noir aspects. The story begins with Jack Fleming waking up having crawled out of the sea. No sooner has he staggered to the road when a passing driver clips him with his bumper - clearly on purpose. Jack finds himself in discussion with the car driver and discovers that he is supposed to be dead, killed because he wouldn't tell people where an important list was hidden. Jack realises pretty quickly that he has become a vampire. Fortunately he knows about the vampire life, having had a vampire girlfriend previously, and he prepares his life accordingly (fetching some of his home earth, finding somewhere safe to sleep the day, feeding from the stockyards). Elrod gives her own particular selection of traits to vampires - garlic, crosses and invitations into rooms don't work, disappearing, extra strength and glamour do. What's fun about this story is that we learn about Jack's skills and nature as he does and because he's clearly not evil, just a pleasant and friendly ex-reporter who wants to get to the bottom of his own death. Chicago is a city of gangsters and other dodgy types in this story and Jack falls foul of several of them. What's great about Jack as a character is that if he were fully human he would have died multiple times as he really isn't quite up to dealing with these characters. However his vampire nature gets him out of a lot of sticky situations and also enables him to have a great time scaring some of the people who were involved in his death. Assisted by the trusty Charles Escot, a brave private agent and sometime actor, the two of them try to find out why Jack was killed and what was on the list. In the course of their investigations Jack meets Bobbi, girlfriend to one of the gangsters and a surprisingly phlegmatic person who seems able to cope with his vampiric nature. There are a lot of amusing jokes and allusions to various books and films which went over the head of this relatively young English reader but that didn't matter as the story was always enjoyable. The best parts are when Jack is 'haunting' his killers but the fun is interspersed with some serious moments as he slowly begins to remember all that they did to him and to come to terms with his new nature. This is an excellent first story in the series and Jack is a great new character, both as a vampire and also as a slightly hapless investigator. | ||
 | Irresistible Forces | |
| "6 sci-fi/romance stories" | 2007-07-30 |
| I imagine a lot of people will buy this book simply for the Lois McMaster Bujold story 'Winterfair Gifts', which shows the wedding of Miles Vorkosigan and Ekaterin from the viewpoint of Roic, one of Miles's armsmen. We also have a side romance between Roic and Taura and a mystery as to whom is trying to injure Ekaterin before the wedding. It's a great little story full of all the usual Bujold magic and probably the reason that most readers are buying this anthology. It's worth the cover price, too, as an enjoyable romp and giving more depth to Taura and Roic who have featured in previous episodes in the Vorkosigan saga. Definitely one to enjoy for Bujold fans and works well on its own for those new to her writing. But there are five others stories in this collection as well. Perhaps none of them are as good as the Bujold story but they are still worth reading and their variety adds to the enjoyment. It's a chance to dip into the writing styles of other writers (some of whom are better known for historical romance books rather than sci-fi) and gives a good overview of the different kinds of stories in the romantic sci-fi genre. 'The Alchemical Marriage' by Mary Jo Putney is a historical story which introduces her Guardians, subjects of three (to date) full length novels. The Guardians are magicians with various skills including weather working who try to use their skills for good. Sir Adam Macrae (ancestor of some of the Macraes in the later books) is in the Tower of London at the behest of Queen Elizabeth because he is a Scot who supported Mary Queen of Scots. However he is granted freedom because his weather working skills are required to turn back the Spanish Armada which is preparing to attack England. He is taken to the home of Isabel de Cortes, a Jewish refugee from Spain, who is also a mage although not of the weather as it is thought if they work together they will be more successful. Macrae finds himself without enough power to work the weather on his own and has to learn to trust Isabel and to gain more of an understanding about the consequences to Scotland of the Armada, he is unable to assume that it is only England that will be harmed. It's an enjoyable story without too great depth but with some appealing characters, particularly Isabel whose quiet wisdom and willingness to help is well written. 'Stained Glass Heart' by Catherine Asaro is set on a world where technology had been forgotten and is only now being remembered. Vryn is a Prince but he works as a farmer and enjoys dancing in secret - no men on the planet dance but his mother, an off-worlder, was a famous dancer and she and then dancing masters have trained him. He loves dance, he loves farming and he loves a neighbour's daughter Lily, but it appears Vryn can't have all he wants when a dynastic marriage is arranged for him. Vryn precipiates a potential crisis by his actions and has to evaluate what is most important to him when he is offered the chance to dance. The story is slightly twee and in some ways I was disappointed that Vryn made the decisions he did - one wonders how good a decision a fourteen year old can really make. However the descriptions of the planet and of the wildlife were enjoyable, as was the thought of the culture shock that people from that planet might find elsewhere. It's a good read but not really great and whiny teenagers who are rather selfish in thoughts can get a little irritating. 'Skin Deep' by Deb Stover has a very amusing central event - Nick Riley who died two years ago is sent back to earth to make up for some of his wrongdoings by helping his widow Margo to find happiness. Unfortunately for Nick he returns to earth in the body of a beautiful woman and very soon he discovers the man that Margo is supposed to marry was her first love with whom Nick spent his entire youth in competition. Jared is an undercover DEA agent and he meets Margo again when she is a journalist covering events at a nightclub where Jared is performing as a male dancer. There are several misunderstandings between Jared and Margo that need to be cleared up before Nick can finally get all the way into heaven. There are some fun moments in this lighthearted story and it's an enjoyable read. 'The Trouble with Heroes' by Jo Beverley is a fascinating story about a planet named Gaia colonised from Earth which experiences a strange new problem of energy forms turning people into ashes. Within the community there have always been a few 'fixers', people able to heal physical injuries and mend crockery, that kind of thing. Dan Rutherford, a fixer, begins to investigate further what his powers mean when the uprising of the blighters is causing people to leave their towns to avoid the frontline. His friend Jen, although afraid of some aspects of the world that Dan is explaining to her, seeks to try to understand what needs to be done. When it appears all the fixers have been killed in turning back the tide of blighters she carries on with her life. However when Dan Fixer returns to their town he is no longer welcome, people being afraid that he may have been changed in some ways by the blighters. Dan talks to Jen about what had to happen to win the war and she gains a new understanding of the nature of power and responsibility. This story is set in a great world and the events that take place are excellently described, particularly the way that Jen begins to understand what Dan knows and feels. The final story, 'Shadows In The Wood' by Jennifer Robertson was by far the shortest inclusion in this collection. It mixes the Robin Hood and Maid Marian stories with Merlin and King Arthur when Robin and Marian find someone who is sealed into a tree and discover that a lot of the old legends have more reality to them than they had expected. They have a short quest to do on behalf of Merlin before continuing their lives in Sherwood Forest. This story was rather light and, although well written, I felt it was a bit short on actual plot and interest. In conclusion this is a better-than-average collection of stories. They are all fairly romance based so plain sci-fi readers might find them a little irritating. However the variety of worlds, times and plots make it an interesting read for fans of the genre. | ||
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