Showing posts with label Historical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Historical. Show all posts

Monday, 29 May 2017

~419 ~ Dancing at Lughnasa

Dancing at Lughnasa

Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars







I would not have chosen to read this book, probably under any circumstances.

I had to though, as is is a set book for my upcoming Open University A230 'Reading and Studying Literature', which will be my last module at Level 2 (having just finished A215 'Creative Writing ... not that you need to know this!).

The front cover is appealing, and is the reason I dragged it off the reading pile in the first place - the dress seems genteel and is set in juxtaposition to the black wellingtons.

The theme of A230 is home and away, and after reading this short text I can see why it was added to the list. Not only is the home/away theme running through it, but also religion/paganism, responsibility/irresponsibility, setting rules/breaking rules and the face you project/the way you are perceived.

All round a very interesting text, if slightly intellectual read. Interestingly, it is only around 3 star review on Good Reads (more on Amazon), but that might be that you would not find it riveting if you were not studying, or interested in, humanities and the human condition.



View all my reviews on Good Reads


I purchased my copy on Amazon HERE.  At the time of writing this review it is priced at £9.98, which is a hefty price for a paperback book as thin as wafer ham.


Hugs

xXx

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

#411 ~ The Marriage List

The Marriage List

The Marriage List by Dorothy McFalls

My rating: 3 of 5 stars








This book had been kicking around on my Kindle for some time, I'm not sure if it was one of the free daily book deals, or I paid for it.

On paper, or at least on the Kindle in this case, it was everything that I don't like: full of Americanised English and what passes for grammar, it was also fairly high on the not terribly authentic scale, but some little tiny thing kept me turning the pages.

Taking all of the above into account it scored the thick end of 3 stars.

The good, the bad and the ugly:

As mentioned above it was not high quality writing based on sound historical research and knowledge and so there were very many ugly bits.

One golden moment, for all the wrong reasons was Page 81 'The green-eyed monster, jealousy, stabbed her but good.'  - a sentence such as this should never, ever, ever be seen this genre.





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Thursday, 21 July 2016

#504 ~ Longbourn

Longbourn

Longbourn by Jo Baker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars





Editor's Pick



Unusually, this is one that I bought (some time ago) and is not part of of my Kindle Unlimited package.  A bargain at £4.99 you can get it HERE.

A piece of fiction that is not only compelling, but well thought out and executed.

It focuses on a servant in the Bennet Household and mirrors from the point of view of the under stairs occupants what went on with Elizabeth and D'Arcy in Pride and Prejudice. Fair enough, this doesn't seem that exciting when one states the bare facts like that, but the skill and attention to detail that must have taken is second to none.

It is so well written, with both beautiful straightforward and complicated characters that I couldn't read it quick enough.

The production values were, as you would expect, really excellent. It's another's Editor's Pick from me. There were some highlights, one error and no bug bears for this one:

Location 532: 'kneeb-ritches'

Some of the highlights

Location 55: A definite highlight and a great example of how to weave words when describing the everyday detail in the hard life of a servant 
'Over the eastern hills the sky was fading to a transparent indigo.  Sarah, glancing up, hands stuffed into her armpits, her breath clouding the air, dreamed of the wild places beyond the horizon where it was already fully light, and of how, when her day was over, the sun would be shining on other places still, on the Barbadoes and Antigua and Jamaica where the dark men worked half-naked, and on the Americas where the Indians wore almost no clothes at all, and where there was consequently very little in the way of laundry, and how one day she would go there, and never have to wash other people's underthings again.'

Location 5290: 


'It was not the end, of course; it was just an end.  Mrs Hills thread may have become snarled up into an intractable knot, but others were still unspooling'

Location 5330:


'Threads that drift along will sometimes simply twine themselves together, without need for spindle or distaff:  brought into each other's ambit, they bind themselves tight with the force of their own torsion. And this same torsion can, in the course of things, bundle the resulting cord back upon itself, ravelling it up into a skein, returning to the point of its beginning.'

'ambit' - the scope, extent or bounds of something.

Bibliography details:

Longbourn by Jo Baker
Kindle Edition, 448 pages / Published August 15th 2013 by Transworld Digital (first published 2013) / 
Original Title Longbourn / ASIN  B00CQ1D3BY / Edition Language   English


Happy reading.

xoxox


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Monday, 11 July 2016

#502 ~ The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue

The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue by Piu Marie Eatwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




Interesting story, and true, story, but written with a little too much eye on the plain facts. It would be so much more interesting if it was written into a fictional piece. At time this book was a little slow going.

The odd error, but on the whole not a bad production value.  Errors found were:

Location 2477:  '...ched' - watched

Location 2489: 'Thomas ner Turner' - Thomas Warner Turner

Location: 2499: 'Harrig-ton' - Harrington



Happy reading

Hugs

xoxox



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Sunday, 10 July 2016

#501 ~ Burying the Honesuckle Girls

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily Carpenter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars









Although not quite sure at first, this turned out be a first-class read. In fact, I would say that I could truly class it as an Editor's pick, and highly recommended.

I did discover something reading this: I don't mind "gotten" when it's in a contemporary, or location appropriate setting. When in this book the use of that word (and not overly so) seemed to fit.

It's a nicely stranded contemporary and historical family saga, which moved me to tears at the conclusion.

Without giving too much away, the plot at the end reminded me of my own childhood growing up in a village with a large and very scary Institution at one end ... so many lives ruined sometimes through genuine mental health issues and disabilities that were hidden away, and most distressingly of all, just some patients that had simply failed to keep to the strict moral code of the day or to bow down to a voice of authority.

This book is a nicely judged piece of work, with a very high production value - just one mistake, which (as usual) is detailed on my blog.

For a first novel, it is exceptionally well done, and I look forward to more by Emily Carpenter.

Hugs

xoxox



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Saturday, 9 July 2016

#500 ~ The Wicked Lady

The Wicked Lady (The Ladies, #4)

The Wicked Lady by Brenda Jernigan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars





Book 4 in the 'Gentlemen Always Play Fair' Box Set Compilation, and thank goodness for that - Location 21980 thankfully onward to the conclusion.




Quite frankly, I am as fed us reviewing these mediocre offerings as you are probably reading the fact that I have nothing to say about them other than the errors etc. Stick with the reviews though, there has been much, much better reading going one.

As far as this books is concerned, it was lucky to make 2 stars and not be consigned to the DNF pile out of sheer lack of production values, interest or writing skills.

By this point in the exercise I am so fed up that I don't think I can be bothered to list the actual errors and bug/bears, but just to be thorough I will force myself.

Location 22410: '...got a handful of jelly as she snatched him to his feet...' - jam in the UK, and probably historically known preserve.

Location 22600: '...sidewalks' - nope.

Location 22958: 'bourbon' - Brandy or Whisky.

Location 23209: '...Chatsworth' - the country seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, if you are going to name an estate, don't use one that is so obviously not connected with the characters.

Location 24454: '...don't mind fixing two horses for us?' - are they broken?

Location 24913: 'She bumped his shoulder, and the connection forced her to backed up'.

Location 24918: '...cream-coloured pants'. - Have a little look at the Two Nerdy Histrory Girls blog for some pointers on historical dress(both American writers and both knowledgeable - they are most definitely not 'pants'.

Location 25543: 'A cool breeze tease Kristen's lose strands of hair...' - teased and lose is past participle of lost, so that would be loose.

Location 25983: 'Trevor's mouth moved in such an mesmerizing way...' - a mesmerizing way.





Having considered all the books in the set, I would think that a three star rating overall would be appropriate, but only just if I still had the possibility of half stars it would have been 2.5.

Do I wholeheartedly recommend it?  No, not unless you are into poorly written and produced historical romances without the feel of decent research or effort.

Happy reading.

Kay xoxox










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Thursday, 7 July 2016

#498 ~ My Lady, The Spy



My Lady, The Spy (Brethren of the Coast, #2)

My Lady, The Spy by Barbara Devlin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars






Fourth book in the 'Gentleman Always Play Fair' Box Set (location 16322 to 21971), although as mentioned before I will be doing separate reviews and rating, and then at the end give the whole box set a rating based on sum of its parts.

The other two books so far in the box set scored three stars overall, which was judged on the usual, plot, pace, characterisation and also errors and highlights (sadly no highlights for either of them, or this one).

I have struggled how many stars overall to give this one based on the same criteria, given that there were not many errors it came out nearer a 3 star than 2, and thus I think I will generously go with the 3 stars. There wasn't too much else to say about it I'm afraid, it was not good, but neither was it truly terrible. Simply it suffered from the usual malaise of American grammar and a feeling of not enough true research to engender a truly authentic historical novel for that period. I am, however, quite hard to please, and others may love it and not be so bogged down with detail. It seems the more I study the subject of Creative Writing, the harder it is to please me.


Errors/Bug Bears/Highlights:

No highlights, and as you can see above general moaning about a feel of authenticity, i.e. 'entryway' (location 16796) and 'sidewalks' (location 17040).

Errors:

Location 16537:  'kept the miniature next to his.' - missing bit?

Location 17632: 'Just when things were getting interesting, she was relegated to the position of hall monitor.' - I rest much case about authenticity of language or phrase for historical novels, especially ones centred around England.

Location 17903: 'Well, that is just swell dandy fine.' - see comment above and insert derisive snort.

Location 20437: 'rested a shoulder on the sidewall ...' - oh dear, oh dear, oh dear what would be wrong with just 'leant against the wall wit a furrowed brow'?

As mentioned in the previous posts, I will rate each book separately and then given an overall rating to the box set at the end.


Happy reading.

Kay xoxox









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Wednesday, 6 July 2016

#497 ~ Highlander in Her Bed

Highlander In Her Bed (Highlander, #1)

Highlander In Her Bed by Allie Mackay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars









The second book in the Kindle Unlimited Box Set 'Gentleman Always Play Fair' (locations in the box set are 4414 to 10567).

The story started quite well with an attempt at humour, but failed to add up to anything substantial.  It simply did not gel I am afraid, in fact I would go so far as to say that the pace of the plot was on the slow side.

Unfortunately gaining no more stars that its already reviewed counterpart (for the same reasons) and also a few errors. I looked hard, but could not come up with any highlights.



Errors/Bug Bears and no highlights:

Location 4759: 'dash the flew blocks.'  ARGGGH blocks, we do not have 'blocks' and it is most definitely not correct in novel about England - lack of bloody research.  This is one step down from 'gotten'.

Location 9649: 'done by a highly talent artist.' - talented.

As mentioned in my previous post, I will rate each book and then give an overall rating at the end.

Happy reading.

Hugs

Kay 
xoxo

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016

#496 ~ My Lord Wicked

My Lord Wicked

My Lord Wicked by Cheryl Bolen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars










Purchased as Kindle Unlimited as a Box Set Compilation: 'Gentlemen Always Play Fair'. In the box set it is location to 4404.

This is the first in that set, and I am hoping that the remainder of them will be more interesting and less predictable and Americanised attempt an an historical romantic novel - granted, it's not the worst one I've read, but it was far from the best either.

There were several errors, and the usual lack of conjunctions, I knocked off a star from its ultimate rating beause of this.

As usual, the errors/bug bears, and in this case no highlights are:-

Location 1428:  'I have come to gt your permission have Bay Lady saddled'

Location 2212: 'She slid her feet to the steps and count.' 

Location 2954:  ' ... to lep from he sofa and trot over to the window, where he leaped upon it sill.'

Location 2998: '... Morton while his brother played at host.'

Location 3102:  '... him being the head of the family and all.' [insert snot of derision here!]

Location 3571:  '... he wrote him.' [insert further snort]

Location 3733: '... and gladly took the drank he offered.'

Location 4034: 'Never had he sullied the memory of the lovely blond with the dancing the blue eyes.'


I will do a separate review for the other books in the box set.  Each will get a star rating, and then at the end I will also rate the entire box set.

Happy reading.

Kay


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Sunday, 3 July 2016

#494 ~ The Color of Secrets

The Color of Secrets

The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford

My rating: 4 of 5 stars







I found it to be well-written and seemed to have an authentic resonance to it, which is usually generated by skill of the author coupled with sound research.

Although enjoyable, it scored a four with me, and for the life of me I can't put my finger on why it just did not reach a five rating - it could be that the more I read, the more harsh my opinion of them is.

Please, please don't be put off by it's lack of a further star ... it is good, well-written and enjoyable offering, but just not quite there for my own personal taste to get the fully whammy of marks.

The production values seemed sound too, and as I didn't highlight any notes, there are no errors/bug bears etc to be detailed here.

Purchase details


Like most of the books reviewed recently, this was purchased/borrowed as part of the Kindle Unlimited deal.  You can find a copy of the book HERE.  Although at £3.49 (at the time of preparing this post) it's a reasonably priced book.


Hugs

Kay



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Tuesday, 28 June 2016

#492 ~ A Man Above Reproach

A Man Above Reproach

A Man Above Reproach by Evelyn Pryce

My rating: 3 of 5 stars







I borrowed this as a Kindle Unlimited book, and luckily it came along with a free audio file.

Whilst it had all the constitute parts, they failed to make a really interesting and completely satisfying whole. I am not sure why that was the case, now matter how much I think about it. Mediocre is the best way to describe this offering.

The inevitable 'gotten' made an appearance (something that I abhor) and it felt like a few inconsistencies: can somebody who will inherit a Marquisate have an elder brother?

On balance I can't award it more than a 3 star rating ... even though I would like to have been more generous.

Hugs

Kay

xxooxx


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Monday, 31 August 2015

#468 ~ The American Lady


The American Lady (The Glassblower Trilogy #2)The American Lady by Petra Durst-Benning



My rating: 3 of 5 stars













#Book 2 in the Glassblower Series



I was a little disappointed with this second book in the series. It felt like the author had drifted along with no real purpose, or indeed, determination with the development of the characters.

It was humdrum, just telling, not showing, ordinary lives that had nothing remarkable in them. Whereas the plot did have things going on, and would have lent itself to the coming together of the two. There were also a strand from the first book (the wholesaler), which could have been expanded upon and brought a lot to the party.


The Good ... the Bad ... and the Ugly


I'm looking forward to the next book, which is due out in September 2015 and praying that the author kicks the plot up a notch.  I strongly feel that the ability is there to provide a truly brilliant read, and have got all my fingers crossed.

The 'Bad' element, as always was "gotten" rearing its ugly and useless head.

As far as 'Ugly' goes, there simply isn't enough of that in the text as a whole, it needs menace and suspense.

Happy reading.

Kay
xoxo


Saturday, 29 August 2015

#466 ~ The Earl and His Tiger



The Earl and His Tiger Special Edition: Regency RomanceThe Earl and His Tiger Special Edition: Regency Romance by Elizabeth Moss



My rating: 2 of 5 stars













I am afraid it was lacking the essentials. It felt like a facsimile of Georgette Heyer's 'These Old Shades'; and not a good one. Just like it is wrong to try and sing a Celine Dion hit, so it is wrong to try and undertake a Georgette Heyer'esque book without the talent to pull it off. It takes a brave and talented writer to do that.

It would have scored a 3 star rating, but "gotten" reared up and bit this books's rating on the bottom and knocked it down to 2 stars after some thought.

I don't think I will be in a hurry to read more by this author, when there is better and effective writing out there.


The Good, The Bad and, The Ugly

A moderately constructed book; it left me wanting though.

Badly done was the use of 'gotten'.  This writer should be perfectly capable of steering away from its use.  EDITED TO ADD:  FOLLOWING THE COMMENT BY THE AUTHOR I AM GOING TO RE-READ THIS AGAIN IN CASE I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE ABOUT "GOTTEN", IN WHICH CASE I WILL BE PERFECTLY WILLING TO APOLOGISE.

Now for the ugly bits:

'... rubbing down his forehock' (Moss, E (2015) Location 1055).

The hock of a horse is at the rear.

'... his immaculate riding habit ...' (Moss, E (2015) Location 2474).

I'm not thoroughly sure, I must confess, but I am not certain a gentleman would wear a riding habit.  It is a untidy phrase in any event.

'...'Knox, where are my pistols kept?' (Moss, E (2015) Location 3804).

Wouldn't a gentleman know where his own pistols were?  I don't believe that they would have been entrusted to a servant.

'... I shall take up to visit your father.' (Moss, E (2015) Location 4163).

There appears to be a word missing.



Bibliography

Moss, Elizabeth 'The Earl and His Tiger' 8 January 2015 published by Thimblerig Press on Amazon UK.  I downloaded as a Kindle Unlimited title.

Happy reading










Friday, 21 August 2015

#465 - For Love of Sarah

For Love of Sarah

For Love of Sarah by Hazel Statham



My rating: 5 of 5 stars















I am without a shadow of a doubt a Hazel Statham fan. She is such an easy an entertaining read.

This book didn't, therefore, disappointing. Clean, efficient and endearing to the end. As always from Hazel, there language is period appropriate and delightfully put together.

Another lovely offering.

Happy Reading

Hugs

Kay xoxo

Thursday, 20 August 2015

#464 ~ Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts


Custard Tarts and Broken HeartsCustard Tarts and Broken Hearts by Mary Gibson



My rating: 5 of 5 stars














In the end it was a simple choice to give this 5 stars. Not because of the amazing prose or rhetoric, but for the simplicity of the work.

A solid, down to earth, good old fashioned story of a Bermondsey girl and the enduring love she found for her family, and her Sam.

It was simply written well, with no added flourishes, that would have diminished its power. Beware it had me bawling like a little babe at the end.

I loved it, and a worthy 5 stars.


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I loved it all; no mistakes that I picked up on and not a "gotten" in sight.

Happy reading.

Hugs

Kay
xoxox 


Sunday, 16 August 2015

#463 ~ The Glassblower


The GlassblowerThe Glassblower by Petra Durst-Benning



My rating: 4 of 5 stars











#Book 1 in the Series



I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, I don't usually pick foreign authors with translations.

The cover originally drew me in, and as I do the odd bit of glass lampwork there was no harm, I thought, in giving it a go - after all I could just use the 'Return' button if this Unlimited Kindle offering and I didn't get on.

It was a little sluggish at the beginning, but after that turned into a delightful offering. It isn't all light stuff contained in this book, there were dark under-tones; it certainly wasn't as clear as the glass the girls work with. The author has also left strands behind to be woven (or better still embroidered) into future work, which I am very much looking forward to picking up.

The subject matter is a worthy one, that of the empowerment of women; the author dealt with it well, but there was still room for a little bit of growth and playing around with the darkness offered, especially with the strand about the wholesaler. I am hoping that she will play around more with this more in the coming books.

I docked-off 1 star for the use of 'gotten' throughout the book. If you can write well, and this author certainly can, then there is no excuse for using it. That word is a disgusting plague on the written word. A shame, as that took the score to 4 stars rather than 5.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Apart from "gotten" there was nothing truly ugly in this book, and there didn't appear to be an blatant errors.

The good, though were things like this passage:

"... they called them "plum-cake days".  All summer long the songbirds had trilled in the pear tree outside the kitchen window but they were gone now.  The only sound these days was that of a blackbird chirruping or the high piping of a lark, and soon the mists would fall and silence even these."  (Durst-Benning, P (2003 - translated version 2014) Page 7).

The cover image, was also beautiful, which I believe was designed by Marc Cohen (see link below to Amazon page if you require more details on this).


Bibliography

Durst-Benning, P 'The Glassblower', 2003 Ullstein, Germany (2014 Translated from German by Willcocks, S AmazonCrossng, Country Unknown

Book was purchased via Kindle Unlimited HERE.


Happy reading.

Hugs

Kay 

xoxo





Wednesday, 12 August 2015

#462 ~ Merely a Mister

Merely A Mister (Regency Trilogy, #3)

Merely A Mister by Sherry Lynn Ferguson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars








#Book 3 in Regency Trilogy



Finally, my wait and see attitude to this author has proved vindicated.

Yes, there is no doubt that her writing style still remains changeable within a work, but there were only a couple of times in this current read.

I was, additionally, delighted that she ramped up the content. I really loved the progress of true love with Myles and Anne, and it was a very pretty scene at the end between the two ... it brought a tear to my eye (and I am a fairly hardened reader!).

On my blog under 'The good, the bad an the ugly' I have done into a little more detail about things that annoy me about her style, if anybody is interested.

Other than that, I still believe that she does hold promise of a higher rating. What I require from her are more baddies, twists and turns and conflict. Not everybody is capable, but I strongly feel she really is. O look forward to furthering our writer/reader relationship in the future - I would love to say great things of her.

For now, a very solid 4 star rating.



The good, the bad and the ugly


For those who are perhaps of the English persuasion, it might be difficult to comprehend what I mean by style with regard to this author's writing.

She does really well to stick to an authentic historical language, without tending towards the Ye Olde Worlde, but dips in and out of it at times with Americanism.

I don't tend to cite many examples of this, but as examples here a couple:

Query:

"Anne dear, you do look tired," Vera said in the light of the entry" (Ferguson, SL Location 1091).

Reasoning behind my query:

I would strongly argue that 'entry' is not really appropriately used here, and feel that it would be more commonly used in the North American language, rather than Regency England.  It would have been better to express this as hallway rather than entry.  

It may feel a really small criticism, but it can - and certainly does in my case - grate against the nerves.  Easily solved by solid and authentic research.  Given this might prove problematic, but there are always other to discuss this with by email.

Query:

"Mr Myles stood outside by the tiny front gate, just steps from the stoop."


Reasoning behind my query:

'Stoop' is another North American term, it is a 'door step' her in England.

These examples (and many others throughout the book) may feel a really small criticism, but it can - and certainly does in my case - grate against the nerves, and spoils anything with promise.

They are easily solved by solid and authentic research.  Given this might prove problematic, but there are always other to discuss this with by email.

Bibliography

Fergusion, SL 'Merely a Mister' October 2013 Montlake Romanc, Country of publication Unknown

Kindle Unlimited HERE.


Happy reading.

Hugs

Kay xoxo

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

#461 ~ Major Lord David


Major Lord DavidMajor Lord David by Sherry Lynn Ferguson


My rating: 3 of 5 stars












I am beginning to realise that this author has a decent approach, but is inconsistent with style.

I am fairly sure that with a it more work on staying in a consistent style and language, and a little bit further conflict for characters, she could easily develop to a solid 4, or even 5 star writer.

She's playing safe, and it is annoying. I grade this read, a 3 star, could try harder.  I keep reading, and praying at some point she will pick up the gauntlet and run with it.


The good, the bad and the ugly

See the above, if nothing else this author is consistently inconsistent.



Sunday, 9 August 2015

#460 ~ Quiet Meg

Quiet Meg

Quiet Meg by Sherry Lynn Ferguson





My rating: 3 of 5 stars












I am afraid that it was fairly mediocre overall. 

There were mistakes in punctuation. It also dipped in and out of the slightly more formal language, just like the previous book I reviewed by this author.

However, I did like the ending. It rounded off at a decent pace, and was satisfactory; it warrants three stars due to the ending, otherwise it would have only reached two.

The good, the bad and the ugly:

Too hot today to be bothered to complete this section for this current read.

Something that has occurred to me for future reviews is the fact that I should make sure I reference the quotes differently.  In future I will change the layout, but inevitably it will make the section longer.

Click HERE for link to book on Amazon.co.uk.



Happy reading.

Hugs

xoxox

Friday, 7 August 2015

#459 ~ Lord Sidley's Last Season


Lord Sidley's Last SeasonLord Sidley's Last Season by Sherry Lynn Ferguson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars












This was a reasonable attempt at fairly accurate historical writing, a la Georgette Heyer, but failed somewhat in its attempt; a bit like the Curate's egg, it was good and bad in places. I hasten to add not all the time, it seemed to go in fits and starts, especially it seems around 80 to 90% when the pleasing set of the language took a nose dive. After that, it seemed to go up a notch or two. However, the ending was going along fairly well, but then just seemed to finish, and then was rushed right at the very, very end.

I therefore deducted 1 star for the erratic behaviour. I was delighted to find that 'gotten' did not appear to the best of my knowledge, and therefore no stars lost for that. Additionally, there was a matter of the 'House Guard' which felt a little uncomfortably expressed (more details on my blog) which coloured my view of the overall rating.

I have downloaded some of the author's other titles to see how they measure up, and for this title I have awarded 3 stars; give it a go and see how you get on with it.

The good, the bag and the ugly:


Loc  1535:  I am by no means an expert, but I do have a little knowledge of the Household Division, and was not really sure about the expression  'House Guard' at this location.  I would be fascinated to find out if I am wrong about it being incorrect to express it thus.  Even better, I would delighted to be proved wrong.  I haven't the time to do the research now, but if anybody can put me right on this please get in touch.

Happy reading.

Hugs

Kay
xoxox