Bringing Down the Duke/ Evie Dunmore/ 356 pgs

There was a lot of hype surrounding this book. It's very well written and I appreciate that the mores of the time were followed instead of playing fast and loose with the way things were during the Victorian period. Annabelle is a poor relation of an even poorer vicar. Her vicar cousin expects her to be a maid/nanny for his wife and five children. Annabelle would prefer to do anything else and when she's offered one of the first spots for women to attend Oxford, she talks her cousin into letting her go (for a price, of course). At Oxford, Annabelle is properly chaperoned and not really allowed to mix with the male students. She becomes involved with a suffragist group as they are providing her with a scholarship. As the group fights for changes to the rights of married women, Annabelle meets the Duke of Montgomery. He's very stuffy and unemotional but there is a spark between them. Of course they spend more time together and fall for each other, but Annabelle wisely refuses to become his mistress. He flat-out refuses to offer her marriage. Much angst ensues until Montgomery finally comes to his senses (a fall from a horse helps:-)). This is the first in a series and I am interested in reading the other stories as I loved the writing in this one as well as the historical authenticity.

Victoria & Abdul / Shrabani Basu / 334 pages

When Abdul Karim came from India as a servant for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, he became so much more.  Queen Victoria was a long reigning monarch and woman ahead of her time, but also mourning the loss of the two most important people in her life: her late husband Albert and her gillie John Brown.  Fascinated with India, a country she ruled, yet was forbidden from visiting, she sought out Abdul and ultimately found in him a friend, confidante, and teacher.

While the book highlighted a time in Queen Victoria's rule that I knew nothing about and offered a glimpse into her personal dealings with India during her time as Empress of India, I found the book to be very dry.  It was hard to find the motivation to get through the whole book.

Marrying Mr. Winterborne/Lisa Kleypas/416 pgs

This is the second in Kleypas' Ravenel series and it's received high praise from some quarters. My enthusiasm for the book was already dimmed at the outset because the hero is just not my type and, unfortunately, the story did nothing to change my mindset.

Rhys Winterborne is the son of a Welsh grocer who has made a name, and tons and tons of money, from opening a successful department store. What he doesn't have is access to the upper reaches of society. He decides that marrying a lady from an aristocratic family, Lady Helen Ravenel will help cement his place in society. Helen and Rhy met in the first book of this series and I really feel like that's where they fell in love. In this book they already seem to care for each other and the romance isn't really expanded on. The only thing keeping them apart in the beginning is that Helen is still in mourning for her brother. The second half of the book throws in a conflict that feels very contrived because the two characters can't seem to communicate.

Though Kleypas' writing is still gorgeous and her attention to detail extraordinary, overall this wasn't a favorite of mine.

Cold-Hearted Rake/Lisa Kleypas/416 pgs

When Lisa Kleypas was strictly a historical romance writer, I read everything she wrote. I didn't follow her when she switched to contemporary. Then about 2 years ago she jumped back into historical romance with Cold-Hearted Rake. I'm not really sure why now, but at the time I wasn't interested in reading the book. I know I sampled the first chapter and didn't fall in love with it, so I put it aside. However, when it was announced that Kleypas would be publishing a sequel to her much-loved book Devil in Winter this year, I knew I wanted to read that. Turns out that book, Devil in Spring, is actually the third in Kleypas's newer trilogy so a colleague talked me into starting at the beginning with Cold-Hearted Rake.

I was not disappointed. I had forgotten what an awesome writer Kleypas is. The one word I would use to describe her writing is: Rich. She includes so much detail, whether it's setting, characters, emotions, actions. She does not skimp on anything and reading one of her books is like enjoying a layered confection--with icing on top!

This is the story of Devon, the new earl of Trenear. His cousin died, leaving Devon an ancient house in need of repair, tenants farms that are struggling, a mountain of debt, and oh yes, a young widow, Kathleen. Devon and Kathleen get off on the wrong foot when Devon initially decides to sell the estate and kick Kathleen and his 3 female cousins out the door. He eventually softens and puts his heart and soul into trying to revive the estate. Along the way, he and Kathleen fall for each other.

I wouldn't say that this book is as good as Kleypas's older historical romances, but it's still really good. I finished this one and immediately downloaded the next one, Marrying Winterborne, so look for my thoughts on that one soon.

Garden of Lies/Amanda Quick/359 pgs.

It's Victorian London, and Ursula Kern is the owner of the Kern Secretarial Agency which provides professional, secretarial services to wealthy clients. When Anne Clfifton, one of Ursula's employees and friends, dies, Ursula isn't convinced it's from natural causes. Upon investigation, Ursula discovers clues that Anne has left for her. With the help of Slater Roxton, Ursula uncovers more than she expects to find: murder, secrets, and treachery. It's a fast, entertaining read!

A Clockwork Heart/Liesel Schwarz/283 pgs.

Liesel Schwarz is not getting the creds she deserves! This is the 2nd book in the "Chronicles of Light and Shadow" series, and it is every bit as good as A Conspiracy of Alchemists. Elle Chance and ex-Warlock Hugh Marsh are now married. Elle has assumed her duties as Oracle; she alone has the power to keep the undesirable elements of Shadow at bay. Both Elle and Hugh are adjusting to married life; Elle wants to continue manning the Water Lily, and Hugh is missing his life as a Warlock. When Commissioner Willoughby seeks Hugh's help, Hugh jumps at the opportunity. That's where the story truly begins. Unbeknownst to Hugh and Elle, there is an operation going on that replaces human hearts with mechanical ones. Hugh disappears, and when Elle finds and rescues him, he has been turned into a Zombie-like creature. There is suspense, horror, vampires--elements of a novel that normally would never appeal to me. Yet, this is "steam punk," and I find it highly entertaining. This author would easily appeal to older young adults, as well as the adult population. I'm looking forward to the next installment; I just hope more readers discover her!

Second Sight / Amanda Quick 305 p. First in Series

This first in the Arcane Society novels introduces Venetia Milton and Gabriel Jones.  Gabriel hires Venetia to photograph all the treasures of the Arcane Society, a 200 year old highly secretive organization founded by an alchemist.  Venetia decides the remote location, far from family and London's gossip driven society, is the place to have a one-night fling with Gabriel.  Upon reading of his death, Venetia adopts Mrs. Jones as her professional name and portrays herself as a widow.  She embarks upon a career as a photographer in London, where her gift of  'seeing' beyond her subjects, allows her to capture a quality that makes her photographs very desired by the fashionable elite.  When Gabriel strolls back into her life, she finds herself somewhat bound to him, as he seeks to find the someone who goes to any length even murder to gain the Arcane Society's ancient secret.  A romantic story involving the paranormal set in Victorian times is deftly handled by Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz).

Night Circus / Erin Morgenstern 387 p. ALA Rusa Reading List - Best Adult Genre Fiction Award

“The circus arrives without warning.

No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No color at all, save for the neighboring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields. Black-and-white stripes on grey sky; countless tents of varying shapes and sizes, with an elaborate wrought-iron fence encasing them in a colorless world. Even what little ground is visible from outside is black or white, painted or powdered, or treated with some other circus trick.

But it is not open for business. Not just yet.”So the reader is pulled into the magical world of Le Cirque des Rêves. Set in the Victorian era, a love story emerges between two competitors in a game of illusions. Each is fabulous at creating magical images. The competition turns to collaboration as each builds on the other’s work—and the circus expands. Great delightful tents appear—an ice garden that never melts, a living carousel, as each seeks to pleasure the other. The wonderful spell-bounding concoctions of Celia and Marco grow and grow. But like a garden, need their attention to stay and bloom. The dark secret is not revealed to Marco or Celia that the game ends when only one person is left standing. What will happen to the two lovers?

Many other characters emerge—Bailey, a Massachusetts farm boy who chums with the clairvoyant twins, Frederick Thiessen, clock maker extraordinaire, and Chandresh Christophe Lêfevre, the organizer behind the circus.

Slowly, practically imperceptibly, the world changes, pieces fall, the fanciful places begin to fail. The lives of everyone are at stake.

The reader is immerged in such lush and lavish descriptions that swirl around that one may miss important details. This work would benefit from being read a second time just to see how all the parts intertwine.

This feels somewhat like Harry Potter in that the author creates another world where perhaps things in the circus tents are not are they seem-- paper birds that fly, charms, and magic. The magicians work to make the illusions explainable in the Victorian world where it takes place. So that when the magician conjures impossible things, the circus audience willing accepts the show as being an illusion.


2012 ALA Best Adult Genre Fiction