ReadingAdventures

Published under the name His Majesty's Dragon in the US this is the first book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series. The book is called Temeraire in the UK and also here in Australia.

Set amid the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars, Temeraire is a thrilling tale of one of the most dramatic chapters of European History with a brilliant veneer of bold fantasy.

As Napoleon's Grande Armee tears Europe apart, his vast armada threatens Britain. But the battles are not fought upon land and sea alone, for both sides have an air force. And the fiery death they rain down upon their enemies has little to do with gunpowder - it comes from the very guts of the beasts they are flying: dragons.

Weeks out of port at Madeira, a British vessel - the Reliant, commanded by Captain William Laurence - captures a French frigate. Within its hold lies a greater prize than the ship herself: a dragon egg. And it is close to hatching.

Young dragons must be put to harness immediately or they go feral, and once harnessed, the beast will accept no other master. When the newborn ignores his chosen rider and approaches Laurence instead, his life is changed forever.

But even more astonishing than the young dragonet - named Temeraire by Laurence - is the revelation that the egg was meant for the Emperor Napoleon himself...

I don't read a lot of fantasy, but this book was attractive to me for a couple of reasons. One is that it has been getting a lot of positive reviews, and the second is that it could almost be classified as historical fantasy. Novik has taken the events of the Napoleonic wars, and just tweaked them, by giving the combatant countries an air force, not made up of planes or balloons, but rather of dragons. One of the reasons I don't read a lot of fantasy is that I don't really enjoy the world building that sort of has to happen to establish the rules for the society, hierachy, social rules etc. By only having to tweak the world as we know it a little, it means that the story can get going a whole lot quicker and for me that is a bonus.

When Captain William Laurence engages in battle with a French warship, he is kind of surprise that the crew fights so fiercely given that they are practically starving, and there doesn't seem to be any great treasure or anything on board, until they come across a dragon egg...very close to hatching.

The thing with dragon's eggs is that they must be harnessed and bonded with their rider pretty much immediately because otherwise they will go feral or will not accept another handler - a waste of a terribly precious resource, particularly in these troubling days. It is therefore agreed that the officers on board will all draw lots to see who the unlucky handler is going to be. It is considered unlucky because to be a dragon handler pretty much means leaving life as you know it behind, to live in the dragon coverts where they are trained and cared for. Gone are the chances to be courted in society - where naval officers are welcomed in society, dragon handlers are pretty much shunned. Also gone is pretty much any chance of marriage, family, and gaining advancement and material wealth.

So when the dragon shuns the chosen handler and instead attaches himself to Laurence, he is quite upset but realises that he has no choice as a man of great honour but to do his duty for his country. And yet, as he gets to know the dragon he has chosen to name Temeraire, he finds that he enjoys his new life- including their many conversations about life, reading books together, hunting, and eventually when they are bought back to England for training, getting ready for their coming life together during their manoeuvres. One of my favourite conversation between the two was when the normally unflappable Laurence had to explain to Temeraire why the men from the dragon corps visit the nearby town to visit the local prostitutes...very funny. I did find Laurence's habit of calling his dragon "My Dear" a little affected but I got over it eventually!!

The thing with Temeraire is no one really knows what kind of dragon he is, and so they don't know what his special skill is. They know he is a Chinese dragon but that is about as far as it goes. With his superior speed and intelligence he is still a very valuable asset and when his weapon is revealed it is very key in the battle against those fiendishly clever French men under the rule of Napoleon.

The other interesting dynamic in the book is the relationship between the other flyers and Laurence. It is very unusual for someone to swap from the Navy to the Flying corps (and vice versa), and Laurence brings with him very different ideas of how his crew should be run. It is interesting to watch both the other flyers and Laurence begin to get an understanding and working together. One of the more interesting relationships is between Laurence and a female officer by the name of Roland. There is a good build up in the relationship, but I can't help but feel that the author backed away from building the relationship up completely - but maybe that is just the romance reader in me talking!! I hope to see this relationship develop further in the next books in the series.

The other day I was in one of our department stores looking longingly at the second book in the series. I think I am going to have to ask the library to see whether they will order this one and the third one in the series in for me.

As an added bonus there is a short story on the author's website which fits between the first and second books, and there is also a web game that Harper Collins UK put up to coincide with the release of this book in the UK.

Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Rating 4.5/5

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Finding Wonderland
Bookworm

July 1209: in Carcassonne a young girl is given a book said to contain the secret of the true Grail. Although Alais cannot understand the strange symbols hidden within, she knows that her destiny lies in protecting the secret of the labyrinth - a secret that stretches back thousands of years to Ancient Egypt....

July 2005: Alice Tanner stumbles upon two skeletons during an archaeological dig outside Carcassonne. Stepping into the tomb, Alice sets in motion a terrifying sequence of events that will lead her to realise that her destiny is inextricably tied up with the fate of the Cathars 800 years before.

Whenever I finish a book I try to choose something completely different genre or subject wise. I always also have more than one book in my handbag so that if I finish one then I can just start the next one, so when I finished Ceremony in Death, the next book in the bag was this one. Now you would think that if you go from a futuristic, police/suspense book to a historical, search for the grail type thriller they would be sufficiently different, but I have to admit that during the first few pages I was most surprised at the similarities.

The book opens with Dr Alice Tanner stumbling into what appears to be an altar that she has found in a cave whilst volunteering on a archeological dig in France. With ancient symbols and letters strategically placed, a couple of artefacts that have a mysterious labyrinth symbol, as well as two skeletons, there was a certain synchronicity regarding the likelihood that the skeletons were linked to some kind of rituals, reflecting some of the themes from Ceremony in Death.

From that point on, the two books parted ways. With two strands of storyline that gradually merged together towards the end of the novel there was a lot going on in this book. The first strand of the story was that of Alais - a newly married young woman who is a healer living in Carcassonne during the early 13th century. It turns out that her father was a keeper of a secret thousands of years old, and chief adviser to Viscount Trencavel. She was living during a dangerous time, when, in the only Crusade to be held on European soil, the French were building up to attack the city of Carcassonne and it's surrounds for it's support and acceptance of the heretical Cathar Christians and Jews. When her father entrusts her with his secret, she becomes guardian of one book of the Labyrinth trilogy, which in turn when all three parts are together, reveals the secret of the Holy Grail. Along the way she must successfully evade danger, both from the marauding Crusaders, and people closer to home, like her own jealous and manipulative sister Oriane. She must also work out whether she can trust the people around her, most especially her husband, Guilhelme.

In the more modern strand of the story, Alice Tanner has discovered a cave filled with symbols, most strikingly a labyrinth. What she doesn't know is that she may have revealed the secret location that has been searched for for years, to enable all three books of the trilogy to come together again, and for the power of the grail to be revealed. As soon as the location is revealed, Alice find herself being chased to obtain the information and the mysterious ring that she may or may not have. Not only are those who want to keep the secret trying to track her down, but also those who want to exploit the power of the Grail for their own purposes. In the end the decisions that Alice makes could very well cause the lives of her friends to be in danger, as well as herself.

Of course, given the type of book that this is, and the fact that it is a Holy Grail type story there have been inevitable comparisons to the Da Vinci Code, but I would think that there really only superficial similarities . Personally, I think that this was a better all round read than DVC, with the characters developed more fully, and more depth to the story. When I read DVC though, I just wanted to devour it in just one sitting, I was hooked so completely into the story. Given that this is a bigger book that was unlikely to happen, but also I was happier to read it over a couple of settings. The hook is still there but the pacing is better, with lots of action in both threads of the story, but time taken to develop the story and background. There was only one point in the novel towards the end where I felt like I was having details told to me as opposed to having them shown to me, but by that time I was so engaged in the story that I just wanted to get the various threads drawn together, and reach the conclusion.

With two strong female primary characters, a touch of magic, mysticism and romance, and a very interesting storyline, this was an entertaining read.

Just as an aside to this my interest was definitely grabbed by the mention of one of the more minor characters in this novel - Simon de Montford. At first, my heart was in my mouth thinking that the noble Simon introduced to me in Sharon Penman's Falls the Shadow was involved in this book, but it turns out that it was his father! Sometimes it can be a bit tricky keeping all these historical figures straight!

The other thing that this book really made me want to do was to go to Carcassonne. Looking at many of the pictures that are available on the net, it seemed that the walled city has been protected and was restored in the 1850's so it is still pretty much as it was, and is now listed in the World Heritage listings. Makes me want to go to France to visit now! Thanks goodness for cyber tourism!

Rating 4.5/5

The third and final book in the In the Garden trilogy following on from on from Blue Dahlia and Black Rose.

Three women learn that the heart of their historic home holds a mystery of years gone by, as number-one bestselling author Nora Roberts brings her In the Garden trilogy to a captivating conclusion, following Blue Dahlia and Black Rose.

A Harper has always lived at Harper House, the centuries-old mansion just outside of Memphis. And for as long as anyone alive remembers, the ghostly Harper Bride has walked the halls, singing lullabies at night...

Hayley Phillips came to Memphis hoping for a new start, for herself and her unborn child. She wasn't looking for a handout from her distant cousin Roz, just a job at her thriving In the Garden nursery. What she found was a home surrounded by beauty and the best friends she's ever had-including Roz's son Harper. To Hayley's delight, her new daughter Lily has really taken to him. To Hayley's chagrin, she has begun to dream about Harper-as much more than a friend...

If Hayley gives in to her desire, she's afraid the foundation she's built with Harper will come tumbling down. Especially since she's begun to suspect that her feelings are no longer completely her own. Flashes of the past and erratic behavior make Hayley believe that the Harper Bride has found a way inside of her mind and body. It's time to put the Bride to rest once and for all, so Hayley can know her own heart again-and whether she's willing to risk it...

It is 3.50am, my eyes are falling out of my head, but it was so worth it to wrap up this trilogy from Nora Roberts. I love it when a book does that to you, when it is so good that you just can't put it down!



Later...so staying up until 4am to finish a book probably isn't the smartest thing given that you still have to function later in the day! LOL!!

As this trilogy has progressed the story of the Harper Bride has become stronger and stronger, and in this book for me it was definitely the highlight. That doesn't mean to say that I didn't enjoy Harper and Hayley as a couple, but that my anticipation as to the discovery as to what actually happened to the ghost, Amelia, had been sufficiently tempted so that I just HAD to keep reading.

The interesting thing is that in relation to the ghost, her presence in the books, including how she manifested herself to the characters also grew as everyone got closer to the truth of her identity, and her role in the Harper family history, and I found her truly scary in this one. During this book she manifests herself by possessing Hayley, and the scenes where this happened were so well written - they were seamless, but you could feel the slide from where Hayley would be talking, to where it was Amelia talking so clearly - quite skillful, especially seeing as sometimes this change of viewpoint happened halfway during a sentence!

As for Hayley, I completely understand her concerns about undertaking a relationship with a man who she not only worked with, but she was friends with his mother, and living in his family home. I got the feeling though, especially throughout the last couple of books, that Harper had been the one who recognised very early on that he was developing feelings for Hayley, so it was something of a shorter build up in my opinion for Hayley.

Can I just say that I wouldn't mind a guy like Harper! Good with his hands, and knows how to treat a lady. Of course, it would be handy to not have to worry about the garden as well!!!

I did wonder though if things moved too fast for Hayley and Harper. Yes, in book time they had known each other for a couple of years, but once they did get together everything moved at break neck speed.

By finishing this book, I feel that I am saying goodbye to people that I have come to know, and in a way it is sad, but I am definitely looking forward to getting hold of Roberts' next trilogy. I guess you could say that I am rapidly becoming a fan, although because she has such a huge backlist it could take me a while to get through them all!!

Overall, an satisfying conclusion to a really good trilogy!

Rating 4/5

This is the 5th book in the In Death series, following on from Rapture in Death. Once again Kailana and I are doing a joint review of this one.

Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics before personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own sense of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil...

I actually finished this novel a week ago, started the post in draft...and then promptly forgot about it! Not quite sure what that says, other than the fact that I am forgetful! My comments are in black, and Kailana's are in blue.

Anyway, this book opens at the funeral of a fellow police office...a man who has seemingly died of natural causes in the prime of his life. When his granddaughter passes Eve a note to arrange a meeting, Eve starts to get suspicious about why. When the granddaughter ends up dead shortly after she talks to Eve and then another person is killed not long after talking to her as well, Eve is gradually drawn into a world where there are good and evil, witches and wiccans, power and sex, and ultimately danger and death for many people. It sounds like a good beginning, huh? A lot seems to happen in the opening pages, but I started this book, read the beginning and then put it aside for a while. I think Eve annoyed me in this book more than any other. I understand she is supposed to be tough and independent, but she does not back down at all in this book. Sometimes you just want to tell her it okay to believe in something. Her need to fight every thing gets a bit tiring from time to time. It hasn't been bad in others that I have read, but for some reason, she annoyed me in this book. Maybe because she breaks writing conventions and is not open-minded about what happens in this book at all.

It was obvious that there had been a lot of research done into the various practices and rituals of both the Wiccan's and the witches and I guess there were times during this novel when there was a hint of infodump, but for the most part it was well paced and interesting enough. In other words, zoning out periods.

There were a couple of stand out scenes in this book - I nearly cried my eyes out when Eve and Feeney had a falling out. I loved the fact that Eve is gradually realising that despite her terrible beginnings, it is possible for someone to build a family around them. I am not a "cry my eyes out" sort of person (no offense), but I agree that this was an interesting scene. By this point in the book I am getting over being annoyed with Eve's character and have started to once again enjoy the story. I think this is actually touching, with the argument, Eve's reaction to it, Roarke's reaction to it, and then the making up part.

The other interesting development for me in this story was the inclusion of Jamie, the younger brother of the young lady who is killed. He is an interesting character, with his ability with electronics, even being able to short circuit Roarke's security system. I wonder if he will continue to make appearance throughout the series, as there definitely would seem to be some scope for him to be included. He was an interesting character. You were never really sure what to make of him, but the kid has brains. If it wasn't for him, some very bad stuff might have not been prevented. He was determined to get the people that hurt his sister, which made for some interesting scenes. My favourite was when he broke into Roarke's yard, my there were some scenes as a result of that where you got to see other sides of Roarke.

Overall, I would say that whilst this wasn't the best of the series, it was still remarkably consistent in terms of it's quality. Not my favourite by her either, but enough that I will read more of the series. Every series has their slight faults, Robb is no exception. I must say though, was it just me, or does there seem to be even more sex scenes in this book than normal? I hope that doesn't become the norm...

Rating 4/5
Rating 3.5/5

The third book in the Bridgerton series, following on from The Viscount Who Loved Me.

Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball — or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.

Who was that extraordinary woman? Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other — except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid's garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers her his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love?

The first part of this book is ostensibly a retelling of the Cinderella fairytale story. All the factors are there - an evil stepmother and two stepsisters for whom our Cinders is basically a servant, a fairy god mother, a masquerade ball which Cinders has to leave from before the clock strikes midnight, a handsome hero who is transfixed by this unknown lady. She knows who he is, but he has no idea who she is, and for the next couple of years he is forever looking out for any lady who could be the mysterious lady from the masquerade.

Fast forward from the ball and Sophie is no longer the maid of her stepmother, but she is working in the country estate of a well-to-do family when she is nearly attacked by a group of young gentlemen. When Benedict saves her and takes her off to his own cottage not too far away, Sophie nurses him through an illness. As they spend time together Benedict recognises that he is attracted to Sophie, but he is still stuck on the idea of the mysterious lady from the ball. I just wanted to shout at Sophie to stop being silly and just tell him who she was for goodness sake.

As far as characterisations go, I really liked Benedict, although there were times that I felt that the author introduced something about him to differentiate him from his brothers, but that that then wasn't really followed through all that well.

As for Sophie, I didn't really connect with her all that well, and thought that her reluctance to reveal her identity to firstly Benedict and then others was something that could definitely have been avoided.

Overall I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the previous book, but it wasn't too bad. I did love the little glimpses that we saw into the next book, which I already have from the library ready to read!

Rating 4/5

Saira Shah grew up in Britain, but she was always told she came from somewhere else: a fairytale land of orchards and gardens, a place where even the water had magical qualities.

The country was Afghanistan, the storyteller her father and the tales were embellished with every telling. Then, at the age of twenty-one - with her father's tales as her guide - Saira set out to find the truth about her family's homeland.

Instead of finding a paradise, she was plunged into a country at war. It was the beginning of a journey spanning more than fifteen years. Whether extricating herself from an arranged marriage, walking through minefields with the mujahidin, or slipping clandestinely into the Taliban's Kabul, Saira learnt the bitter limits of the stories she loved. But, in the process, she discovered the reality of a country more complex and challenging than anything she could have imagined.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction but I do love to read books about other times, places and cultures. I know of a group where they are trying to go "Around the World in 80 books", and when this was their first book I was sufficiently interested to go and get it from the library and read along with them. There are several other books on their journey that I am hoping to read along with as well.

Saira Shah was been heavily involved with a couple of documentaries (Beneath the Veil and Unholy War) that went into Afghanistan and showed life as it really was in the Afghanistan that was ruled by the Taliban. These were not, however, her first journeys into this strife torn land. Her first harrowing journeys had been made years before by foot through the mountains during the time that the mujahadeen had been fighting against the Soviets.

As Saira travels into and out of Aghanistan, living in the volatile border town of Peshawar in Pakistan, she strives to try and work out her identity - is she an Afghanistani who has grown up in Britain, or is she British of Afghanistani heritage? Is she more Easterner than Westerner, and if so how can she make her life meaningful and help the women and children in her homeland. She is also trying to reconcile the men of the mujahadeen for whom honour means everything, with the same men who would sell Stinger missiles on to Iran, and for whom the fact that she questions them is more dishonourable than the actual deed itself.

There are moments of good humour within this book, so it is not all gloom of doom. There are times when it appears that the order of the stories is not quite right, and it sometimes seems like we have got a little off track, but for the most part this is quite an eye opening and entertaining look at the life of a woman who has taken quite amazing risks to bring the story of life in Afghanistan into our living rooms.

Because I don't normally read non-fiction, there were some questions that I did want more information on. For example, when she left Peshawar under threat of death for revealing some details that several sides of the conflict did not want revealed, how was she able to reestablish her life with her husband, is she still drawn to Afghanistan etc...but I think that that is because I like to have a happy ever after and know that the story is over. Having done a little googling, it seems that she has gone on to cover stories in more trouble spots including Gaza.

Overall, this was a very interesting read about a fascinating subject, and I am glad that I read it!

Rating 4/5

Tagged by Dev. When I first sat down to write this, it took me ages to think of them all. Of course after I went to bed I thought of at least half a dozen more, and then since then...well lets just say I could have written quite a lot more! So these are the things that annoyed me a couple of days ago.

1. Those little bits of skin or nail that grow on your finger. I had one that I pulled off about 10 hours ago. In the last hour or so my finger has started throbbing and gone red. Amazing how much it hurts!

2. Noisy train carriages - don't you know I am trying to read people!!

3. Reading a series of books out of order - hate it, hate it, hate it!

4. Being tired - by the time I work full time, be a single mum and try to have a life, I am pretty much always tired.

5. Being overweight - but feeling too tired most of the time to do anything about it. Can anyone say "vicious circle"?

6. Office politics - man, I can't start it when the drama starts building and everyone is bitching about such small, inconsequential things.

7. Narrow minded and obnoxious people - especially in web forums and the like. Isn't it amazing how often those things go together.

8. One sided friendships - When I lived in the UK I made some quite close friends. When I ring them every six months or so, they are always delighted to hear from me, and inevitably say something along the lines of "Why don't you ring more often?". Leaves me wondering what's up with their dialling fingers that they can't ever ring me! Of course, there are others that are the same here as well.

9. Late trains - normally I don't mind having to rely on public transport, but if the trains are all running on time, there is literally a minute's changeover between when one arrives and the other leaves. Really annoying when you pull into the station just in time to see the connection leave!

10. Mornings

11. Shopping - that's right...I don't like going shopping. Doesn't matter what kind of shopping it is...clothes, groceries. Only exception would be book shopping and I am not even doing that at the moment!

12. Grey hair - on my head that is...not so bad on other peoples head!

13. Being broke

14. Confrontation - I am really not good at it!

15. Corns on my little toe - it really hurts

16. Whiny people...oh wait..that's me!

17. Out of print books - Now I know that not all books can stay in print all the time, but why can't the ones that I want to get hold of always be available!

18. My mum - oh the stories I could tell....but I won't!

19. People who take steps to get out of paying child support - I work in payroll and there are always people who are trying to get out of paying the money they are supposed to pay for Child Support. Could be because I never see any of the money that I should get from the ex. Of course, when the amount he is supposed to pay is so insulting, it's not worth fighting for.

20. Weekday cooking - I love finding a recipe, buying all the ingredients, and then cooking something nice, but the Monday to Friday "what are we having for dinner" question is really, really annoying!

The second book in the In the Garden trilogy. The first book in the trilogy was Blue Dahlia. Please beware...there are spoilers for Blue Dahlia in this review.

Three women meet at a crossroads in their lives, each searching for new ways to grow-and find in each other the courage to take chances and embrace the future.

Roz is a woman of independent means who thought love was behind her, but when romance takes her by surprise; she won't allow anything to keep her from her second chance at happiness.

Black Rose takes up a couple of months after the events of Blue Dahlia. Stella and the kids are still living at Harper House with Roz, although with the wedding between Stella and Logan is coming up shortly so they will be moving out. Hayley is also still living at Harper House, getting used to life as a single mum to little Lily and so is the resident ghost, known only as the Harper Bride. In Blue Dahlia, Roz started the process of trying to find out who the Harper Bride was, and what happened to her, by contacting Dr Mitch Carnagie, a genealogist.

At the beginning of this book, Mitch is available to start his investigation, and so we have our two main characters for this novel. The main difference between this and most other romances is that our two central characters are both, shall we say mature adults. Both are in their forties, with grown children, and with marriages behind them. Mitch has been divorced once, and Roz both widowed and divorced in her previous two marriages. What having a hero and heroine of this age does mean is that there is no possibility of a sappy epilogue where there are three lovely little children running around and another one on the way. I guess that that doesn't happen as regularly in contemporaries as it does in historicals, but it wasn't an option at all here which makes a nice change.

The other thing is that Mitch and Roz are both well established and successful in their chosen careers, and have a strong sense of their own identities. Whilst they are both immediately attracted to each other, and are both interested in a relationship, you also get the feeling that it is the icing on the cake for them...not their entire focus in life. There is also no need for any conflict between the two of them...something that seems to be standard romance fodder. Instead the conflict finds the two of them and it is something that they work through together. The first source of this conflict is from the Harper Bride, the second is from Roz's slimy ex-husband Bryce.

As Mitch and Roz get closer and closer to each other, the Harper Bride makes her opposition known, including in a couple of really dangerous incidents. I loved that Roz, who was willing to let anyone know what she thought about things, was strong enough to even stand up to the Harper Bride. This whole section of the trilogy is building nicely to a climax in the final book in the trilogy.

I loved that from the very first scene in the book, the sense of Roz's strength and personality shown through very consistently, including her strong sense of family, which now includes both her boys, and her friends. A perfect example of her strength are the scenes involving her ex husband. As he tries to destroy Roz's reputation in the community, she is prepared to let things go, until he takes things a step too far, at which point she stands up for herself in a very funny scene where she humiliates him in front of his friends and colleagues at the country club. I also loved Mitch's ability to recognise his own weaknesses and strengths, and thought the relationship he had with his son was lovely. I did wonder where the author was going with the storyline when she started to introduce some of the details about Mitch's own demons. Where it would have been easy to take things a step too far and have Mitch wallowing in his past, instead it was presented, dealt with, and it was clear that Mitch was a man who was now comfortable in his own skin, whilst still being aware of his limitations.

One thing I did wonder about was the character of Jane that was introduced in this book. It will be interesting to see what role she has to play in the culmination of this story. Jane is a relative who was working for Roz's cranky old aunt. As Roz assists Jane to escape from the crotchety old lady, it would seem that there is more to come for this character.

As usual, this is a well written romance, featuring well drawn and likeable characters. I can't wait to get Red Lily and read the culmination of both the mystery surrounding the Harper Bride as well as what appears to be a budding relationship between Hayley and Roz's son Harper.

Rating 4/5

Well..I know how many books you can request at the library at any one time now....20!

Found out when I went to request a book and the library very politely said "Don't you think you have enough requests already, you greedy cow!".

Now I have been suitably chastened I will have to wait until I can pick a couple of books up before I can request anything else.

Of course, I haven't quite figured out how many books I can have out at any one time yet!

I did ask today about Interlibrary Loans, and the librarian gave me a couple of forms to complete to request books. I thought about asking for the whole pad of forms, but thought it may have been pushing my luck a bit much. The next question is....which ones shall I ask for??

When Gemma's mother dies after there were harsh words spoken between them, Gemma finds herself at Spence, an English boarding school whose main aim is to produce young ladies who will be prized catches during the season, and find worth husbands. Feeling incredibly lonely and ostracized, Gemma struggles to make friends and to make sense of the strange visions that she has had. As events spiral out of control, can Gemma and her friends make the correct decisions to maintain both their friendship, and their lives.

I wish I could remember where I first saw this book, so that I could thank the person who bought it to my attention. What a little gem of a book! With a tone that is moody and atmospheric, almost gothic and so fitting! The last book that I remember reading that conveyed this kind of sense of impending events was the Australian classic "Picnic at Hanging Rock".

With interesting locales (both in India and then at Spence school), the world that Gemma (and the reader) is introduced to following the tragic death of her mother is one where anything can happen, both good and bad, and is an interesting look at the consequences of getting what you think you want.

And yet, as gloomy as that may sound, there were sections of fun, delight fantasy and growing friendship between the girls. In some ways this book could be a gothic/fantasy/historical version of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books. Both explore friendship and a growing sense of self, and are marketed as Young Adult books, although I was a little surprised at a couple of the scenes that were in this one, as I felt that it might be pushing the YA label a bit far!

The sequel to this book is already out - called "Rebel Angels", I will definitely be looking out for it to continue the adventures of Gemma and her friends.

Rating 4.5/5

Other Blogger's Thoughts:

Tanabata
Leafing Through Life

I am participating in a blogging experiment hosted at dearauthor.com. To enter the contest, put up this blurb, image, and trackback and you are entered to win the following prize package.

$200 Amazon gift certificate
Signed copy of Slave to Sensation
New Zealand goodies chosen by Singh
ARC of Christine Feehan's October 31 release: Conspiracy Game

You can read about the experiment here and you can download the code that you need to participate here.

SLAVE TO SENSATION
Nalini Singh
Berkley / September 2006

Welcome to a future where emotion is a crime and powers of the mind clash brutally against those of the heart.

Sascha Duncan is one of the Psy, a psychic race that has cut off its emotions in an effort to prevent murderous insanity. Those who feel are punished by having their brains wiped clean, their personalities and memories destroyed.

Lucas Hunter is a Changeling, a shapeshifter who craves sensation, lives for touch. When their separate worlds collide in the serial murders of Changeling women, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities…or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.

Excerpt