eyes.2c Reviews

Courting Dragons (A King’s Fool Mystery #1) by  Jeri Westerson         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A brilliant new series from the ever masterful spinner of tales, Jeri Westerson. Set in the court of Henry VIII, at the time when Henry is trying to put the Queen, Catherine of Aragon, aside and marry Lady Anne Boleyn or here known as the Lady Nan Bullen (read Westerson’s commentary at the end for further information about the spelling of Bullen). Will Somers is Henry’s court jester. (He was a real person historically in Henry’s court btw) A complicated man who can move through the court, unseen and yet not. A man who learns the secrets of the court, even as he has his own. Will is bisexual. He has one true love, Marion, a court seamstress / embroiderer, the illegitimate child of Lord Robert Heyward. He has various alliances of the moment with men. One is the Spanish contingent, Don Gonzalo de Yascar. When Gonzalo is found murdered, Will  investigates. There are so many plots brewing that Will feels stym

A Wicked Game  (Ruthless Rivals #3) by   Kate Bateman              ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Captain Morgan Davies is hell bent on finding the map maker whose map sent his ship aground and left him at the mercy of the French. Harriet Montgomery has drawn her father’s  maps as his eye sight has deteriorated. Not only that, but on orders from the government they had produced false maps with a slight degree of difference in the latitudes and longitudes to confuse the French spies who would seek to attain them. Harriet had no idea one of the altered maps would wreak havoc with Morgan’s ship. And then there’s the unrequited tension between the two! Morgan and Harriet have known each other since childhood and a shared kiss was a distant yet startling memory. Neither is aware that the sadistic Frenchman, General Jean-Luc De Caen, is tracking the cartographer who holds the key to his lost treasure. A very different regency historical novel—chaos, murder and a fortune in gold lead the way to the heart’s desire

The Marriage List  (Worthington Brides #1) by   Ella Quinn        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Another story in the Worthington series. This time it’s Lady Eleanor Carpenter’s turn. A modern woman who is keen to find out all she can about mining, her ambition is to have a model mine.  However this is her coming out season and she’s also busy making a list, along with her sisters about what to look for in a husband. At the same time John, the Marquis of Montagu has come to town to find a wife. Someone who’s not too intelligent and is content to be in the countryside. His mother supplies him with a list of likely candidates and what their attributes. Unfortunately Eleanor doesn’t fit the bill but she does set his blood afire. Eleanor is wondering if Montagu is sufficiently intelligent as he only seems to discuss the weather. The story meanders on drawing together the many facets,  each blending to make a satisfactory whole I loved it when Montagu meets the Great Danes. I adored the way the children intervi

The Secret of the Lost Pearls  (A Useful Woman Mystery #1) by Darcie Wilde      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rosalind Thorne accepts a position to guide her friend Bethany Douglas’s sister-in-law Penelope, an heiress, through the season. That’s not all! A valuable heirloom, a three string rope of black pearls have gone missing and Rosalind is called on to “advise” Bethany about the investigation. The main suspect is her friend’s sister Nora who has returned to the household, destitute and compromised, three years after running away with Douglas’s best friend Bryan Cantrell. Bethany wants Rosalind to get to the bottom of the problem. Unfortunately Nora’s other sister Mariah has just seen Cantrell alive and well, strolling through a gallery with a young woman on his arm! Something is brewing, but what? Throw into the mix Bethany’s u ncertain and volatile mother, her embarrassing father, her sister Leonora, and the possibility of a spy in the household.  Gerald Douglas is the latest heir to Sir Jasper Dou

A Death in Tokyo  ( Kyoichiro Kaga #3)   by   Keigo Higashino      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A case of a seemingly cut and dried murder turns out to be way more than first thought.  Kyoichiro Kaga—detective, Nihonbashi Precinct, and his cousin Shuhei Matsumiya—detective, Homicide Division, Tokyo Metropolitan Police  are part of a task force to investigate the murder of Takeai Aoyagi, a CEO of a small parts business. It seems an ex-contract employee might be involved. Nothing adds up for Kaga however. The murder takes place on Nihonbashi Bridge. Kaga’s investigation leads the reader through a set of circumstances that come together to make final sense of what’s happened.  Along the way we learn of cultural practices like the Nihonbashi Seven Lucky Shrines pilgrimage, the making of oragami paper cranes to be burnt offerings, health and safety coverups in factories. A solid detective story one part a flash of intuition and three parts thorough investigative work. I’m very excited to add Higashino to my gr

The Vibrant Years : A Novel  by  Sonali Dev    A sparkling intergenerational story of three women of Indian heritage. Bindu Desai (Binji), a Goan widow from Mumbai who has decided to buy a condo in Florida. Alisha, or rather Aly, her daughter-in-law who’s smart, a broadcast journalist who’s been waiting ten years for the big break. She’s lined up a major interview with Meryl Streep, but is being given the runaround by her studio. They’ve decided someone else from the firm will anchor the interview. That is when Aly gives them the pertinent information. It’s not discrimation they assure her! (Loud snorts of indignation from me!) This has happened to Aly constantly over the years.  By the way Aly is divorced from Bindu’s son Ashish who’s returned to Mumbai to find himself, follow his dream, whatever! Binji has chosen to stay in America and live with Aly. Unusual, you and I say! And that’s what’s so striking about Binji. She’s unusual! She doesn’t conform! It seems she had had enough of d

Fortress of Snow  (Dericott Tale #4) by Melanie Dickerson                ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Interesting storyline! Mazelina of Westcombe’s father has died and has left her with nothing. She turns towards her thoughtless brother John, training as a knight, for help. Only to be quashed by her brother’s attitude, part blame and part helpful. Repudiated by her half brother awareness after she’d refused to be married to a much older man, because she left in the company of a hired villager, Piers. Warin who’s petulantly bitter, and filled with his own sense of entitlement, casts her aside with no care for her reputation. All Mazy wanted was to lean on her brother and have him care. Is that too much to ask? Someone does care and that’s a Knight of the Duke of Strachleigh’s guard, Sir Berenger Dericott, also brother to the Duchess. Sir Berenger is called to court by King Richard. The king seeks to marry Sir Berenger to the Earl of Bristow’s widow Catherine Everdon . Sir Berenger is hesitant. This is a ki