#320 (#38 of 2013) - Letter of Love ~ Virginia Henley *NEW AUTHOR

Letter of Love ~ Virginia Henley

Kindle > Books > Fiction > Historical > Romance

Description:

At Hampton Court Palace, Queen Elizabeth has arranged a marriage for her ward Burgundy Bedford with Lord Nicholas Mountjoy, Earl of Devon.

This union will join two great shipping families and provide Mountjoy with vessels to transport his troops to Ireland to quell the uprising led by Tyrone of Ulster.

Burgundy plans to thwart the queen, as her mother did before her, by eloping the day before the wedding.  He comes into possession of an ancient book passed down through two centuries from mother to daughter.

Between the pages of the book, Burgundy finds a letter written to her by her mother when her daughter was born.

The book's ancient legacy and the letter of love touches her heart and alters the course of her life forever.

Product Details:

I snagged this as a freebie on the Kindle Store back in December, but currently it is listed as 77p.  You can get it HERE.

Novella - 35 pages.

* * * *

Summary:

Okay for a really quick read, as it was only 35 pages long.  I snagged it as a free download, but I don't think I would have been happy to pay the current listed price even so.  Not because of the length, but the lack of credibility.

Notwithstanding that this is a work of fiction, very early on Good Queen Bess bared her chest to a nobleman .... really, would that really have happened? I know that morals were lax them, but come on.

The next incident of credibility was towards the end, where the couple were riding in landscape of  Rhododendron and Azaleas.  From my limited knowledge of our history, I'm pretty certain that they were brought over from China in the late 18th century.

I'm no Historian, and I am willing to be corrected if the above points are in fact correctly stated by the author.  Call me a nitpicking whatsit, but a passing nod at research is nice to have.

That along with a few typographical errors kept the overall rating down to a 2.5 stars, and probably on Amazon just a 2 star rating as it doesn't rate the upgrade.

Hugs

Kay

#194 (#130) - Dancing with Dr Kildare ~ Jane Yardley *NEW AUTHOR

ISBN or Kindle:

978-0-55277-310-2

Publisher:

Black Swan (www.rbooks.co.uk)

Main Characters:

Ninah Hannay with various sub-characters too numerous to mention

Brief Outline of Plot:

When Nina's father dies she finds an old music manuscript written in his hand in a locked desk.  Although he played the violin, he was no musical genius, and this manuscript had Sibelius positively shrieking off the pages.  The question is did he write it, and if so why keep such a masterpiece hidden?

Nina has to dig back in the past, which leads to her contemplation of her traumatic childhood, almost wishing in the end that she had never unlocked the desk.

Rating and conclusion:

I really tried to like this book, but the constant switching around of time lines etc, put me off a bit.  I also had a problem with getting any kind of connection with the characters.

In the end it probably merits a 2.5 Star rating.

On the plus side, I now know more than I did before about Argentinian Tango and an obscure Finnish battle.

Not too sure I would read another book by this author, but never say never.

Hugs

Kay

#112 (#48) - The Other Woman ~ Iris Gower *NEW AUTHOR

ISBN: 978-0-55215-434-5

This is part of her "Drover Series", but it's quite possible to read as a stand alone book.  My only criticism was that there was a little too long spent over the "love him him/her ... but I also love the other" throughout the book, and therefore that cut down the story content slightly.  Obviously I recognise the need for some of those internal monologues, but just not quite that much.  Therefore I decided on a 2.5 *** Star rating.

Gwenllyn Lyons had nursed back to health a handsome man, Caradoc Jones, after he had lost his memory, and they had an idyllic time together.  When his memory returned he also returned to his wife, leaving young and spirited Gwenlly Lyons on her own and pregnant.

To protect her name, she offers Drover Harry Rees a bag of gold in return for marriage and his name, that's all.  Harry however has other ideas and sticks around after the wedding.

When Caradoc finds out that Gwenllyn has bourne him a son, he just can't keep away and it ruins his marriage and the realtionship that Gwenlly and Harry have been building too.

#101 (#37) - Loveday Conspiracy ~ Kate Tremayne

ISBN: 978-0-7553-4767-4

The saga of the Loveday clan continued, but I have to admit not as quickly as I had hoped (or mentioned beforehand).

The author's proclivity of re-telling the events that went before, seemed even  worse than in previous books.  Indeed, it wasn't until the last third that it picked up any kind of pace at all.

In a nutshell, the continuing feud between Adam Loveday and his Cousin Tristan.  The other festering discontent of Japhet Loveday for the man that plotted to have him sent off to Australia the night before his pardon was granted.  Richard Allbright's rakeish ways and a seduction of an innocent young girl.  Tragedy and loss of a son for Peter Loveday ans his Bridie, and the resulting loss of faith that Peter suffers.

After giving it careful consideration a 2.5 *** Star rating was the best I could do, and the half star was only gained in the last third.  Although I would say that if you want to see out the Loveday saga is has to be endured!

As I haven't been well this weekend I have treated myself to a lot of laying around on the bed and reading, and have consumed two further books, but I will be back tomorrow with those ones.

Kay

#46 - The Reckless Bride ~ Stephanie Laurens

ISBN:  978-0-349-40005-1

I am behind because of the horrendous weather here in our bit of the Kentish Countryside, so this is a scant review.  Probably in truth just a record of the fact that I read it, and gave it a star rating.

The fourth, and final book in the Black Cobra Quartet.  The story of Rafe (Reckless) Carstairs and Loretta Michelmarsh.

Very slow to get going at all this book, and only improved for the last third.  On that basis I am afraid that I could only merit a 2.5 *** star rating.  I feel bad about it, as it is no secret that Stephanie Laurens is a favourite of mine....but you have to tell it the way it is!


Happy reading.

Kay xoxox