eyes.2c Reviews

Murder in a Cornish Alehouse: An Elizabethan Spy Thriller (A Mistress Jaffrey Mystery)   by Kathy Lynn Emerson                                Mistress Rosamund Jaffrey is such a strong character, sometimes perhaps too strong. Husband Rob balances her nicely. It's June 1584 and Rosamunds stepfather Sir Walter Pendenni is dead, possibly murdered.  His links to Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's spymaster, and Rosamund's concern about the wardship of her half-brother send Rosamund back into Cornwall, to Priory House, to act as an agent for Walsingham and to act on her brother's behalf. Her mother is part of Rosamund's fears. The old hurts and conflict between the two are ever present and vitriolic. Alongside these worries is the more personal one. Rosamund is always wondering if Rob will sail off in search of adventure, leaving her behind. Cornish pirates, smugglers and treason are a tantalizing threat hovering on the periphery. All is a giant puzzle! 

It Started with a Kiss (The Worthingtons #3)   by  Ella Quinn                                  Lady Louise Vivers, the Earl of Worthington's sister, is wonderful. Intelligent, opinionated and compassionate, and wanting true love like her siblings. A woman who knows her own mind. And her mind is set on her brother's friend,  Gideon, the Duke of Rothwell. Their first sighting of each other is galloping down Hyde Park in the early morning mists. Louise accompanied by a massive dog seemingly straight out of the Hound of Baskervilles. (Ok, I'm mixing up my timelines for the sake of an adequate descriptor!) On inheriting his title, Gideon has found his estates in disarray with scandal nipping at his heels, and is doing all he can to bring things around. That's not all, his father has acted strangely just before his death, running up debts and setting up a mistress.  Unfathomable behaviour that has Gideon appalled and yet his mother seems strangely detached and

The Duke of Desire (The Untouchables #4)   by  Darcy Burke                                Ivy  Breckenridge  is a woman with secrets. When she and  Sebastian Westgate, Duke of Clare, or rather,  the Duke of Desire, so named by Ivy and her friends, meet at a house party something zings. (Really, these house parties seem to be designed, in novels at least, to be hot beds of gossip and extra martial, or not so extra marital, intrigue.) I really liked West and Ivy. Ivy on the outside is a blue stocking who holds her feelings in check, for good reason as we painfully discover. West is attracted to Ivy and even more so as he comes to appreciate, not only her hidden beauty, but her intelligence and devotion to her charity work. Ivy and West both have to come to terms with their past before they can move forward. Ivy gives in to her feelings for the Duke of Desire and in true 'carpe diem' fashion seizes the moment, more than once with West, like a thirsty woman crying f

Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse   by  Tamera Will Wissinger and  Matthew Cordell  (Illustrator)                                Complete with meter and in rhyme. Stupendous! Ok, I wriggly giggly loved this! Such fun! So clever! Took me back to my childhood. Us kids and the car packed the night before and then up and out by an early 2am morning!  Rolled from our beds into snugly places in the car. Dad always wanted to miss the traffic.  Did I mention how much I really liked this book?  The illustrations are lively, humouress and easily associated with. A fun, fun  book! So free ... and easy to read. A big, big hit with me How could it not be? This book is a treat in more than one way. The variety of poetic aspects is a real winner. Adding amusement and vigour. An entertaining look at the camping experience, great for kids and the kid within. I'm rushing out to buy it for all my families with kids that go camping. And that's quite a f

The Highland Duke (Lord of the Highlands #1)   by  Amy Jarecki                               A young Gypsy healer finds herself on horse back racing through forests, dodging trees and bullets and the English after helping a Scot she finds wounded by a musket ball in the leg on the battlefield. Akira Ayres prides herself on her healing abilities. She knows that the Scot, Geordie is more than he seems, just by his manner and actions, and occasional mumbling so when he's feverish. She contracts to help him to safety. Unfortunately they are pursued by an English Captain who sees the capturing of Geordie as a stepping stone to his own advancement. Geordie, the Duke of Gordon cannot be allowed to be captured, else all will be forfeit. He has gone into battle in disguise without followers. Fighting against his English sovereign is treasonous. I really found Geordie's stance reckless, given his responsibilities towards his people. Akira and Geordie's mad dash

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See                                 A powerful story woven around the Akha people, a Chinese ethnic minority, their culture and customs, the developing market of rare teas, and the adoption of children from China by Americans. The story of Li-yan's life as a girl, her ambitions always surrounded by the religious and cultural mores of her Yunnan village is amazing. When she falls pregnant she gives birth in secret and leaves her child at an orphanage, wrapped in a blanket with only a tea cake from the secret female family tea grove. From there the story of her daughter Haley continues. However we constantly come back to Li-Yan's journey...and tea. Haley is adopted by a Californian couple and her story here is filled with coincidences that verge on the mystical, especially as she pursues her chosen career. I was engrossed in all that happened to Li-Yan and those of her village. Tea is a central motif, othe cross roads

A Lady in Disguise: A Novel (The Daughters of Hampshire #3) by  Sandra Byrd                                   An engaging mystery and romance set smack in the middle of the Drury Lane theatre district of London in Victorian times. There's treachery, mystery and fear. Young children, the 'pantomime children', discarded when too old or when the season is over and who are lured into darker employment in London or taken to Paris are at the heart of the matter. Miss Gillian Young is a talented seamstress whose father, a hitherto respected inspector in the police force, has recently been killed in a mysterious 'accident'. Gillian is left with nothing but puzzles, and fear.  What happened to her father? It seems he is being accused of corruption and more. Few of the constabulary turns out for his funeral. Gillian is determined to find out the truth, despite the menacing warnings she has to let things be. Gillian has inherited a property outside London.

Romancing the Rogue (Passion & Promises #3)   by  Erica Ridley.                                 I loved the opening premise, ' Miss Rebecca Bond was nobody’s fool. She was, however, desperate. And destitute. After five long years of living virtually unnoticed within the countless nooks and crannies of Castle Keyvnor, she’d come to think of it as her home.' Rebecca has made the castle her home, wandering its length and breadth, forgotten yet able to sustain herself and helping with castle affairs along the way. But now the Earl was dying. (Mind you how anyone can live in a castle unnoticed for five years is a mystery to me--but Ridley manages to make this completely believable! Rebecca has a decision to make. The new Earl will give her a dowry upon her marriage. Daniel Goodenham, Lord North-Barrows, is a childhood friend of Rebecca's who treated who badly, spurning her, when she came out years ago. Daniel has never forgotten her. Rebecca has never forgiv

Skeleton God (Inspector Shan #9)   by Eliot Pattison                                    Having not read any of Inspector Shan Tao Yun's exploits before I found myself fascinated with the hints about his past and fall from grace. There is much for me to catchup on, yet the lack of background did not detract from my understanding of trouble in Shan's past and how that placed him in the now. Here he is a constable in an isolated Tibetan town of Yangkar in Lhadrung County. Shan is confronted with two bodies found in an ancient Tibetan tomb on the Plain of Ghosts. The story stretches from the ancient past, to the not so ancient past to the now. The People’s Liberation Army and the Hammer of Freedom Brigade's actions in this area have had long tentacles, and those tentacles still have a stranglehold on the area. That story is set against the background of the army's roundup of 'feral' (undocumented) Tibetans, the destruction and seizure of Buddhist

A Lady's Code of Misconduct (Rules for the Reckless #5)   by  Meredith Duran                                   Handsomely wrought story that pleases from finish to end. Jane Mason, an heiress, has been virtually held captive by her uncle and his family. Now she has come of age and her uncle intends to marry her to his despicable cousin Archibald and take control of her fortune. Crispin Burke intends to be Prime Minister and how he gets there will be through cold manipulation and a will of iron.  Jane's uncle and Crispin have been partners in this endeavour, intent on forcing a bill through parliament that will enhance Crispin 's reputation and bring monetary gain for those behind the scheme. The coming together of these two is a a story of opportunity that turns into something more. It's Jane who takes the massive step that Crispin has opened up to her. Crispin just didn't foresee the road she would take and his involvement. An attempt on his lif

The Daring Duke (The 1797 Club #1)   by  Jess Michaels                                It's all here. The band of friends who have each other's back from their school days at  Braxton Academy . They form the 1797 club, for the heirs of Dukes. That band of brothers' support carries over into their futures as peers and leaders of the land. A great premise for a series.  The group is led by the gorgeous 'golden' James, the  Duke of Abernathe.  Then there's the wall flower, the intellectual young woman,  Miss Emma Liston,  whose life has heavy secrets. Emma catches the interest of the Duke of Abenathe with her discrete interaction with his sister and mother in a difficult situation.  James is determined not to marry, to have his name die out. Emma is being pushed into marry by her mother, no matter the type of man as long as he can provide. What starts as a glancing comment to a solution to both their problems ends up taking root. Emma's fat

Murder on the Serpentine (A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel   #32) by  Anne Perry In this novel Pitt finds himself undertaking a mission for Queen Victoria. One that could have grave consequences for the Prince of Wales and the future of the monarchy.  We meet some interesting new characters along with old friends. A boating accident on the Serpentine, ' a decorative stretch of water that curved across the middle of Hyde Park.' I n the dead of night of a trusted and favoured courtier of the Queen's--Sir John Halberd drowns. This leads to Pitt being called before the highest figure in the land. His task, to discreetly continue the inquiries Halberd had undertaken for the Queen and to discover the truth behind the boating 'accident.' It seems embroiled in the affair is Delia Kendrick, a former mistress of the Prince of Wales and now wife to one of his closet friends.  For me a huge part of the intrigue of this novel lies in the emotional and psychol

Last Night with the Duke (The Rakes of St. James #1) by Amelia Grey Enjoyable characters and story.  Benedict Mercer,  The Duke of Griffin will go to great lengths to protect his twin sisters from the consequences of a stupid and damaging wager he and his dukely friends (The Rakes of St. James) had participated in years ago. Part of those lengths is to hire a chaperone,  Miss Esmeralda Swift. That was his first battle with Esmeralda and those battles would continue. (Both Griffin and Esmerelda are stubborn). Esmeralda has her own secrets and burdens including her beloved half sister Josephine. There's a dog of great consequence included--Napoleon of course! The thing is that the Duke has strong feelings about the right behaviour due to those in his service, even if he has a great deal of difficulty mastering that as far as the delectable Miss Swift is concerned. Esmeralda definitely is not indifferent to the wretched man, but he is a Duke and she is only a lowly empl

Cursed Command (Angel in the Whirlwind #3)   by  Christopher G. Nuttall                                           Another rewarding adventure with Kat Falcone and crew as they are ordered to investigate the outer reaches of space for the Commonwealth, seeking out allies and partners in the war against the Theocracy. (The Theocracy has some of the earmarks of the Masadans in the Honor Harrington novels. They are implacable enemies of Kat. She has bested them in all encounters.) This time Kat's former executive officer has been granted his own command.  William McElney is to captain his own heavy cruiser, the HMS  Uncanny.  The cruiser has been dogged by the deaths of two former captains. It is commonly referred to as HMS Unlucky--not a glowing recommendation. Captain McElney is faced with command of a cruiser where the crew are undisciplined, both the crew and the ship are physically and mentally unready for action, and with some crew discontent verging on mutiny. All this

Hood: A Guy of Gisburne Novel (Hunter of Sherwood #3)   by  Toby Venables      I must admit to being enthralled by Venables' Guy of Gisburne novels. He's taken the legend of Robin Hood and turned it on its head. At every step! So what is the truth? I've read so many versions and watched so many movies. In fact Prince of Thieves was screening just as I was reading this. But these--the Guy of Gisburne novels are my far and away favourites. We have legend and tradition and the need for heroes--but heroes can be used in different ways.  As King Richard says to Guy, "I could make use of Hood. Use his legend to bolster my own. And I shall. But I am a practical man. That legend will be easier to control when he’s dead.”  Guy replies, "Legends prosper best when their hero is absent." Cutting both ways--the legend of Richard and that of Hood. So Guy is charged with killing Hood and his leaders.  How cunning is the plot that Richard has a mind to

Pilgrimage to Murder: A Medieval Mystery set in 14th Century London (A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery #17) by  Paul Doherty 1381, 'The Great Revolt' is over, the rebels crushed.  The rebellion  has been put down but the aftermath is a horrendous sea of treachery, uncertainty and fear. The Upright Men, the Reapers, the Earthworm Men dead and scattered. 'The scaffolds .... heavy with cadavers, the lumbering execution carts and corpse barrows a common sight. The quartered remains of traitors, all tarred and bloodied, decorated a forest of stakes on every available gateway, but the revolt was definitely over.' Doherty is just so fantastic with his descriptions. I am constantly in awe of his use of language. The images he produces are vivid and colorful and stay with you. Brother Athelstan, Dominican friar and parish priest of St Erconwald’s in Southwark, is to lead his parish council on a pilgrimage to St Thomas a Becket’s shrine in Canterbury 'to give