eyes.2c Reviews

The Accidental Countess (Playful Brides #2 ) by Valerie Bowman  Second in the Playful Brides series. Once again Lucy Hunt, the newly minted Duchess of Claringdon hatches a hare brained scheme and all fall into line. Really, I am struck by the fact that these friends and acquaintances lead themselves to the charade so readily. Such is the power that Lucy wields that others follow her mad capped, pied piper's tune. This time it is Cassandra, Lady Munroe and Lucy's best friend who is swept deeper and deeper into a tangled web of tortured love as her cousin Pen's betrothed, Captain Julian Swift, returns from the Napoleonic wars. Cass and Swift have kept up an amazing correspondence throughout this time. Swift, determined to break off his arranged marriage and seek Cassandra searches for his fiancé, Cassandra's cousin Penelope. Pen is supposed to be away with her friend, the very non existent Miss Patience Bunbury.  Cass, at Lucy's insistence, takes on the mantle ...

Madeleine's Christmas Wish (The Marriage Game) by Ella Quinn An enjoyable love story where the action is confounded by the past and confused by the future. Madeline, Comtesse du Beaune has been running the family vineyard. The lands are far enough away from Paris that that the family has escaped the fate normally held for the aristocracy. Fortunately her father had declared for the revolution. Now Madeleine's father is dead and her brother is missing. Napoleons's star has waned and Louis is on the throne. Madeleine is abducted and forced into agreeing to work in an English brothel as a spy. This is the price she must pay in order to leave her sister and mother unharmed. But with the black hearted Citizen Coupe having devised her downfall nothing is guaranteed. French spy, George's, Marquis Cruzy-le-Châte, a companion from Madeline's childhood fortuitously has business on the beach the night Madeline disembarked on the Dover coastline. Fate lends a hand and ...

Once Upon a Christmas Kiss by Manda Collins  Miss Winifred Nightingale, a gentlewoman turned governess, has along with her sister Cordelia, been invited to a Christmas house party.        Sir Lucien Blakemore has come to the same house party. He and Winnie know each other from Yorkshire and have a friendly acquaintance. Things of course change and Lucien and Winnie find themselves thrown together in an unsuspected manner.  Both Sir Lucien and Winnie are well developed characters that demonstrate both human frailties and strengths. We have a bad man in the form of an uncaring womanizer from Winnie's past, a dreadful local lady who is a major force, well a bully really in the social circle of the local village, her daughters, and various other house guests.  Nasty and strange things keep happening to Winnie. Both she and Lucien are perturbed. What is happening and why? A NetGalley ARC

Beguiling the Earl (Landing a Lord #2) by Suzanna Medeiros   Catherine Evans has been besotted with the Earl of Kerrick, her brother-in-law's best friend, since she first met him. She had hoped for the feeling to be returned during her coming out season. She certainly didn't expect him to become engaged to one Rose Hardwick, but then, to be fair, neither did Kerrick.             Kerrick's interest in Lord and Lady Thornton's daughter, Rose Hardwick, was instigated by forces at a higher command. Catherine interest in Kerrick is instigated from the heart. Kerrick's interest in Catherine? Hmm? And Rose's interest? Well, that's another story entirely. But who is behind Lord and Lady Thornton's interest in attaching Kerrick for their daughter Rose? And why? A tad predictable, but an enjoyable read with likeable characters as political machinations, matchmaking fathers and unknown traitors interrupt the course of true love. A NetGalley ARC

The Sharp Hook of Love  by Sherry Jones   A tragic love story that transcends the mists of time to re vitalize and reaffirm the strength of love itself. Heloise d’Argenteuil and Pierre Abelard fought the constraints of life and beliefs in twelfth century Paris. They made mistakes, they suffered, yet they experienced incomprehensible joy. Their love burned brightly, of such magnitude it spawned a legend that ensured their love would never be extinguished. This retelling makes us see Abelard and Heloise's humanness, their lives, and the struggles that encompassed their love. They were bound by the changing religious opinions of the day, by Heloise's uncle's plans for her, and by political manoeuvrings that reached into high places. Jones has used snippets of Heloise's lost love letters to effect as chapter introductions. The philosophical discourse between them, the scholarly aptitude of Heloise is well presented. The day to day agonies of Heloise as she seeks to ...

A Highland Wolf Christmas (Heart of the Wolf #15) by Terry Spear A light and readable Highlander werewolf love story.    Guthrie MacNeill is in cupid's path and the arrow's flying from Calla Stewart. With his clan's finances to protect and a luscious wolf maiden needing the same, Guthrie is conflicted. Could Calla be his mate? Is he acting on the rebound? Calla meanwhile is asking the same questions. After all this is the man whose boxer shorts  she'd hoisted up the flagpole before her friend Julie's marriage to clan leader Ian. And having walked out on her fiancé Baird McKinley virtually at the altar, she needs some time and space to come to grips with her near disastrous marriage, and to continue to develop her business as an events planner. Julia wants her to help plan the McNeill's Christmas celebrations. Neither Guthrie or Calla count on Baird's continued obsession with her. McNeill clan favourites are ever present in the background. A NetG...

Season For Desire (Holiday Pleasure #3) by Theresa Romain Japanese puzzle boxes, a treasure hunt, an abducted lady, a darstardly villain, an American in a search of his heritage and all at Christmas time. Brimming with unforgettable people, Lady Audrina Bradleigh is thrown into the maelstrom when her abduction goes wrong, she's rescued, and then forbidden by her harsh father to return to London for her dearest sister's wedding, in case the scandal threatening to surround her puts an end to the upcoming nuptials and her father's chance for a Duke in the family.    Audrina is a rather marvellous character, searching for understanding and acceptance, in a male dominated world where woman are expected to know their place. Audrina wants none of that. She wants to forge her own way. Giles Rutherford, is an American helping his father follow his dream, his 'adventure.' A totally unexpected read with a cast of very amusing and diverse characters. Indeed, Romaine p...

If He's Daring (Wherlocke #6) by Hannah Howell This is a lively, different and satisfying read, with a touch of the supernatural. Definitely not your normal Stuart period historical romance. Fate kindly takes a hand when Lady Catryn Gryffin de Warrene, displaying the termagite tendencies only a mother fearing for her child's safety employs, takes unusual steps to pursue her son's kidnapper Sir Orion Wherlocke was kind enough to leave his carriage ready for the purpose of pursuit. Though to be fair, he was inside his mansion at the time contemplating another sort of pursuit, of the charming widow variety. Unfortunately Catryn did not know that Orion's son Giles was inside the carriage when she hijacked it. So a long list of people all pursing each other begins this rather startling adventure. There is something otherworldly about Catryn and her son Alwyn. Catryn has strong premonitions. Alwyn sees dead spirits. Howell's well placed humour blends gratifyin...

A Matter of Grave Concern by Brenda Novak    Body snatchers, resurrections and missing persons illuminated against the backdrop of the dark side of London, is the setting for this historical, 'black noir', romantic thriller. It's 1830, and only eighteen months since Burke and Hare, resurrectionists who took the short cut, murdered people and sold their victims for dissection, are still front and centre in Londoner's consciousness, particularly those who are burying their loved ones. Schools of medicine are looking for bodies to dissect. Surgeons-in-training need more than animals to work on to increase their knowledge and abilities. When Abigail Hale, a surgeon's daughter, desperately attempts to procure bodies for her father's college, the Aldersgate School of Medicine, she runs into obstacles that most of us would flee from in terror. Instead Abigail walks headlong into a dangerous situation with nary a hesitation. Abigail finds herself at odds with ...

The Silver Pear (The Dark Forest # 2) by Michelle Diener The Silver Pear leads on from The Golden Apple, taking us down new paths and experiences of the Great Forest and Wild Magic. Here we become more intimately involved with Rane's brother Soren and a delightful new sorcerer Mirabelle. Like the golden apple, the silver pear is a magical talisman given to Mirabelle by her sorcerer father. It is stolen after a battle with a sorcerer her lord, William of Nesta. had illegally employed after Mirabelle had refused to 'question' men who kept suddenly appearing in the courtyard of his keep. Mirabelle and Soren join forces to search for the silver pear and Rane. Meanwhile Kayla and Rane traverse the Great Forest. Kayla to search for training in the use of her witchly gift with wild magic, Rane searching for Soren.     The Middleland sorcerers are vying for supremacy, focused on taking over the various kingdoms. All four, Rane and Kayla, Soren and Mirabelle are caught up in...

A Call to Duty (Manticore Ascendant #1) by David Weber and Timothy Zahn A brand new series in Weber's Star Nations saga that spawned Honor Harrington, set before Manticore's ascendancy when the Star Kingdom was one of many the Diaspora nations and when Haven was still fairly young. Travis Uriah Long is an exciting new character with that sense of honour, truth and gutsy characteristics that those gallant icons we loved in the Honor novels displayed. On the converse side there are those money grabbing politically adapt morally bankrupt characters and downright evil plotters as well. As I see, it the character that could go either way is Travis' half brother Gavin, the young Baron Winterfell, who's tied up with the 'let's get rid of the RMN' group. Will he go the way of the corrupt or will he become a bulwark for the navy group. Only time will tell. So when it seems politically expedient to cut up the Royal Manticorian battleships and send that budget s...

The House of the Four Winds: One Dozen Daughters #1   by Mercedes Lackey James Mallory The Duchy of Swansgaarde has been blessed with twelve beautiful princesses and one prince. Twelve royal dowries would impoverish the small Duchy so it was determined by the princesses at a family council that the only way forward was for them to leave the Duchy on their eighteenth birthday and seek their fortune. Each daughter is allowed to pick a trade on her tenth birthday. Duke Rupert advises them to expect the best and plan for the worst. Wise words indeed.   It is Princess Clarice of Swansgaarde's eighteen birthday. She goes forth to make her way in the world. Princess Clarice had chosen the way of the sword. Her search for her fortune, her life's journey, is an eventful story full of merit. The New World is her destination. Disguised as a young man, Mr. Clarence Swann takes ship. Pirates, entrapment and ensorcellment are encountered. The major characters are interesting bu...

The Chia Cookbook: Inventive, Delicious Recipes Featuring Nature's Superfood by Janie Hoffman Here's a great opportunity to take a serious look at chia and learn more 'about foods with health enhancing powers.' As Hoffman descibes it, 'these minuscule seeds from the mint family have an astonishing amount of omega 3's, protein, fibre, calcium antioxidants and more.' Obviously for Hoffman they have been a miracle food. Janie Hoffman is the founder of Mama Chia, an organic chia-based food and drink company in 2009. These credentials  give substance to what is an exciting voyage into new possibilities for a healthy regime. As she says and proves you can do more with chia than sprinkling it your food for a healthier lustre, and this cookbook helps to achieve that goal. There are hints on buying, storing and using. The peach chia jam was a winner in the just ended peach season. Caprese baked eggs, smokey baba ghanoush, and much much more.Yum! This book...

Christmas Brides by Suzanne Enoch, Alexandra Hawkins, Elizabeth Essex, Valerie Bowman Old favourites and delicious new tales to lighten hearts at Christmas time! Common themes emerge: heiresses, damsels in distress, knights in shining armour (figuratively speaking), villains, men being pursued by title seeking harpies, damsels being pursued by fortune hunters; all of course at this holiday period. One Hot Scot by Suzanne Enoch       Oh my! Thrown from a horse, fleeing from kidnappers and confronting a stunningly gorgeous naked brawny fellow emerging from a lake just as you've helped yourself to his plaid kilt to ease the chill you were feeling! Life for Duncan Lenox and Lady Julia Prentiss was taking unexpected turns. Once Upon a Christmas Scandal by Alexandra Hawkins 1826 All her father's actions had done by increasing dowry was to ensure every fortune hunter in England would cross Lady Ellen path. One of these is Lord Derek Swainsbury. A twist to the plot e...

Moonlight Raider (Border Nights) by Amanda Scott  The Borders, Scotland,1426. Ettrick Forest on Clan Scott lands. A young woman, Molly Cockburn has fled into the night in nothing but her chemise from her father's keep. Pursued by her brother's sleuthhounds and her enraged family, she is escaping the travesty of a forced marriage to a brutish clan leader.  A young Scots Lord, Walter Scott of Rankilburn, newly come to the position by way of his fathers death grieves his loss alone in the forest he rules. Romance, lawlessness, and fulfilling promises to the King all become part of the story. Wat (Walter) is an honourable young man with an icy temper. Molly is an innocent young woman, grown to womanhood amongst men. Her knowledge of relations between men and women is sadly lacking. Which is a piece of information that becomes an important part of the plot. Well crafted this is all in all an engaging story. A NetGalley ARC