eyes.2c Reviews

Cast in Sorrow    (The Chronicles of Elantra #9)  by Michelle Sagara Returning to the Chronicles of Elantra and life with Private Kaylin Neya is a privilege and a joy. As I was reading this it once more occurred to me that our writers are the Bards of yesteryear, opening our eyes, enabling us to see through their eyes  into the worlds they create. To be able to see what Sagara sees, look through her eyes into the world of Elantra and of Kaylin is fantastic and a reader's delight. Thank you. In Cast in Sorrow we continue on from Cast in Peril with Kaylin (as Lord Kaylin, a Barrani appointed title from past deeds) well and truly into The West Marches. Things are not going well, Kaylin has an unasked for duty to perform as a Lord and her healing gift keeps wanting to overpower all. Healing the Green is an imperative. She is of course accompanied by her small dragon which is both a complication and maybe a blessing, or not! Kaylin meets a water elemental, ...

The Lotus Palace (The Lotus Palace #1) by Jeannie Lin An earthquake! Could anything be less propitious in the pleasure area, The Pingkang li during the Tang Dynasty of 847 AD. Well yes! A dead courtesan, Huilan, one of the Four Beauties of the Pingkang li, another body dragged from the river, a nobleman's son playing the fool, and a young servant probably too observant for her own good caught in the middle of happenings beyond her control. Add to that the suspicious new police constable Wu, and things become tense and uncertain. And so the tragedy begins! Yue-Ying, who was sold as a child to a procurer and forced into prostitution sees her current role as a servant to the beautiful courtesan of The Lotus Palace, Mingyu , also one of the Four Beauties, as a position of safety and freedom.  So different from her previous one! She is fully aware of how quickly she could sink back into the morass of that existence.           Yue-Ying's face is...

Blind Justice (William Monk Series #19 ) by Anne Perry Having been given an ARC of  Blind Justice I decided to read as many of the William Monk Series as I could before this one. To say that I became entangled and embroiled in them to the point of distraction is no understatement. William Monk and Hester's journey along with their friends from Sir Oliver to Scruff and others is precious, a journey in growth of the characters involved and in insightful moments of reflection on life, integrity, justice, freedom and love.  The series is  well worth the reading time. Whether you start at #1 or #19,  without a doubt you will want to devour the series. In Blind Justice Hester takes up the cause of her employees at her clinic for sick and injured prostitutes. Her employee's father has been defrauded by the church he belongs to and is now in serious debt. This seemingly worthwhile cause has repercussions that stretch back to Jericho Phillips and for Oliver Rathbone,...

Sometimes a Rogue (The Lost Lords #5) by Mary Jo Putney A dastardly  kidnapping, a daring rescue alongsidetalks of love and the differences between honour and justice. The relationship between Lady Sarah Clarke-Townsend and Rob Carmichael, the Bow Street runner certainly starts with a jolt.  Other nefarious deeds are waiting in the wings with the Irish fighters as central. Harrowing rides across Ireland is just the beginning. The level of conversation between the Sarah and Rob is quite fascinating and not what one is used to in the usual regency romance. Intrigue and high adventure dog their every step, accompanied by family skeletons and family reconciliations. Little hints concerning the stories of other of the Lost Lords has left me determined to explore the rest of this series. I love the fact that Sarah in many respects steps outside of the bounds of acceptable behaviour, or even knowledge for women, given the times she lives in, yet the doing of, m...

The Mac + Cheese Cookbook: 50 Simple Recipes from Homeroom, America's Favorite Mac and Cheese Restaurant by Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade Ah! Mac 'n Cheese! The very words conjure up for North Americans of all ages security and warm memories. The comfort food of generations, Mac n' Cheese is a symbol of our childhood, our college years, our camping trips, endless summers and cosy  winter evenings. It can be a mother's quick answer to the hungry hoards, a singleton's food grab en route to other occasions. It's food that we treasure. Be it a celebration or a pick-me-up, mac 'n cheese sustains us on all occasions.  As Erin and Alison, restaurant owners and authors of this gem of a cookbook say in the forward, 'people of all ages and backgrounds have deep connections to our food.' This is a treasure of a cookbook with amazing recipes, tried and true from the Homeroom Restaurant in Oakland, California. The subtitle may read 50 Simple Recipes, h...

Once Upon a Wallflower (Entangled Scandalous) by Wendy Lyn Watson Mirabella, known to her less than loving family as Mira, may be a wallflower but she is no shrinking violet.  She is intelligent, compassionate and not at all in the usual mode. Mira lives her life in the shadow of her cousin Bella, also called Mirabella. The poor dependent relation. And therein lies the twist of fate. A bartered bride given over to pay a gambling debt, a family deception exchanging daughter for niece of same name, and a young woman's path opening up before her, a path of magic overlaid by a healthy dose of logic. Dark moors, towers on the edge of cliffs, murders and mystery in the depths of Cornwall.      Mira's first view of the castle she is to live in is dark and foreboding, 'out upon this spit of inhospitable rock there arose a forbidding tower, a stark and ominous edifice right out of a gothic novel, Nicholas's tower.' Heathcliffe lives on in the guise of N...

Once Upon a Tartan (MacGregor Trilogy)  by Grace Burrowes Ah! The tangled webs woven by others and left for our various proponents to unravel. I may have been disappointed in the first offering in this series, but I absolutely enjoyed this next offering. I smiled through the entire reading. Hester comes alive as never before and Tiberious (Tye) is a quixotic joy of a man torn between duty and love. Fiona is the beguiling scrap of innocence that lines are drawn around with her Scottish family trying to protect her and her English Marquis grandfather trying to take her for his own reasons. Tiberious his son is charged with her delivery. Thus the meeting of Hester and Tiberious. There are wonderful asides and moments throughout this novel that take it from merely pleasant to greatly enjoyable. And I have to say I love the description of the wool sock in all it's abandonment. It gets to me every time and if you want to know more then you'll have to read this lates...

Passion Pursuit: What Kind of Love Are You Making? by  Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery I was intrigued by this title. Indeed tackling this topic seems long overdue.   The last book I remember reading on this was The Total Woman by Marabel Morgan that encouraged things like the famous scene of greeting your husband at the door in Saran Wrap (plastic food wrap). I was hoping for something less banal and more respecting of partnering in marriage. Passion Pursuit is a far cry from such earlier books.  I was actually looking for the Christian answer to 50 Shades of Grey. Passion Pursuit is not this. It is something more. A chance for Christian women to ponder passion and sexual intimacy in their marriage. Passion Pursuit opens the door for exploring the gift God has given us.     As the authors say, 'Sexual intimacy is a delicate and discreet subject that must be approached with candour yet sensitivity.' I feel 'intimacy' is a key word. The au...