eyes.2c Reviews

The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger (Lady Travelers Society #2)   by  Victoria Alexander                                Widowed Lady Wilhelmina Bascombe finds that all was not as smooth sailing as she thought. It seems she and her husband had partied their way through life, incurring the sort of debts that fit their new extravagant lifestyle. Having paid off most of what was owed, Willie's last hope of some monetary security is to reclaim a Renaissance painting her husband used as collateral for a loan. And that's where the Lady Travelers Society comes in. Willie has to travel to Venice to seal the deal. She will lead a tour of American women through Europe, including Paris and Venice. Unfortunately Dante Augustus Montague is searching for a lost painting to make up a triptych that once belonged to his family's collection. The painting that belongs to Willie...

The Lady and Mr. Jones  (A Spy in the Ton #4) by Alyssa Alexander                                    A story that sparkles 'the whole night through' and beyond. Spiced with two great lead characters, Jones a man of secrets and action, a spy extraordinaire from the harsh humble beginnings of the Rookeries and now in service to the Crown. A spy's spy who hunts traitorous agents. Jones has to in his sights Lord  Wycomb, a coldly efficient master of the art.  Which leads Jones straight to Baroness  Cat Ashdown.  Cat has found herself 'wedged between the trustees, her uncle, the estate, and the husband she would soon [be forced to wed]. [It seemed] whatever happened she couldn't win.'  Cat 'had trained to be Mary Elizabeth Frances Catherine Ashdown, 13th Baroness of Worthington. Fought to prove she could carry on the legacy of the first Mary Elizabeth Fra...

The Scoundrel Who Loved Me   by Lauren Smith, Kristin Gabriel,  Ella Quinn, Laura Landon.       A scintillating meld of stories with handsome, daring heroes and their ladies who may not all be princesses but who have the hearts of strong regal women.  His Wicked Embrace by  Lauren Smith A rake with a conscience and a stolen Persian princess. Rescued from a slave sale in a brothel by Mr. Lawrence Russell, the half-English princess Zehra Darzi takes shelter with Lawrence, a shelter that feels right. A variation on the 'Taken' movie set in Regency London. A daring rescue, a damsel in distress and a dashing hero. The Secret Scoundrel by Kristin Gabriel A sudden meeting in a darkened garden has spinster Diana Harwood wondering if she's bereft of her senses. Accepting a package from an unknown man is unusual--even for her. Well he was taller than her, and that's a start. But really! A nicely timed romance with the adde...

The Chase (Brides of Beadwell #3) by Sara Portman                                           'A wooden spoon for courage'. An uncommon choice. But then Juliana Crawford is not by any stretch of the imagination ordinary.  Juliana is running from a desperate situation. She is running to a possible future.  Stranded at an inn, in a highly unorthodox move, she approaches an elderly gentleman to request a place in his coach. Michael Roseyear (illegitimate son of an earl) is in pain from being confined to a carriage. His leg is hurting and he's bored. He needs distraction and it seems the wan, poorly clothed young woman seeking assistance will provide that. He and his wolfhound Gelert make room for their unusual guest. Of course their journey is eventful, unavoidably delayed and downright dangerous. After all the drama they encounter their relations...

Mr. Campion's Abdication  (An Albert Campion mystery)    by  Mike Ripley                              This was unusually difficult to get into. I really wanted to connect more fully with the story as the whole events around Edward's abdication, Mrs Simpson and there Nazi leanings has always fascinated me. The 'what ifs' are too horrendous to contemplate.  The thing is that this was my first meet up with Albert Campion and so I do not have an understanding of who he is. He worked in mysterious ways--not fully visible to the naked eye, mine that is! Thirty plus years later Campion is assisting with a film/documentary by an Italian company about the Prince and Mrs Simpson during their time at  Heronhoe Hall and of a gift supposedly sent to show the Prince's appreciation to the Hall's owners, a gift now dubbed the Abdication Treasure. Campion's son and daughter-in-law app...

The Silent Duke  ( The 1797 Club #4)   by Jess Michaels   I swear Charlotte is a warrior woman, a lioness in her defence of  Ewan Hoffstead, Duke of Donburrow. Right from when they met, Ewan a terrified ten and Charlotte Undercross, a perceptive seven, Charlotte has defended and encouraged Ethan. Even years later, when he turned his back on her she still loved him and wanted only the best for him. Ewan cannot get past the terrible burden his despicable father lay on him. Taunted as being deformed, defined by his muteness as less, this words have been poisoned darts that have burrowed their way into the deepest corners of his psyche. Not only his father's angst and derision did Ewan have to endure, but the coldness of his mother and the same bullying as his father, inflicted on him by his brothers. His brothers have been brought up to disregard Ewan as the heir. It's only his uncle's pursuit of justice that has Ewan declared the rightful heir and Earl....

The Ghost of Christmas Past ( Molly Murphy #17)   by  Rhys Bowen.   This is the first Molly Murphy mystery I've read. Even so, I was not lost with what was happening, or the relationships between the main characters. I am sure earlier readings would have given me more depth of understanding into the intricacies of the various relationships--between Molly and Bridie and Daniel, Daniel Sid and Gus, Molly and Daniel's mother. Through a series of almost happenstance events,  Molly, Daniel and Bridie end up spending Christmas at Greenbriars, the home of Cedric and Winnie Van Aiken, near Scarborough on the Hudson River.  The loss of a child is devasting, and in Winnie Van Aiken's case, the disappearance of her daughter Charlotte years ago, the not knowing if Lottie is alive or dead, continues to be shattering.  The plot around Charlotte's disappearance is convoluted. The child's footsteps led outside to the edge of a frozen stream and disappeared. S...

Twelfth Night with the Earl (The Sutherland Sisters #3)    by Anna Bradley                               Ethan Fortescue's return to Cleve's Court in Devon is full of surprises. The Earl of Devon has come to finally shut up the family seat--a place of terrible memories. This Christmas he's putting the past behind him. Or is he? The house that should be silent and dark is alight and full of merriment. There in the midst of things, directing the proceedings is his childhood friend Theodosia Sheridan. The cut and thrust of the repartee between these two is so entertaining. Indeed, it seems the wicked Earl has a decidedly wicked sense of humor.  Ethan is burdened with the most appalling sense of guilt centered around his brother's death at Cleve Court. Thea has determined to make Ethan face his ghosts, hoping to bring about his healing. Ethan needs to stop running! It seems tho...

Monet: Itinerant of Light by  Salva Rubio, illustrated by EFA (Ricard Fernandez)                              A fascinating chronicle that brings one face to face with Monet's life, his struggles and his achievements. I found the graphic presentation challenging at the beginning, the background coloring seemed to swamp things but as Monet's life unfolded I came to appreciate those shadings that seemed for me to reflect the stages of his life and along the way incorporates references to the styles of Monet and his companions in the search for a new way of seeing. The illustrating is fantastic. There's a richness that the artist EFA ( Ricard Fernandez) beings to bear.   I'm awed. Sometimes I find the comments in the word balloons a little stilted, but to me that always is a product of this medium. Graphic novels are not easy reading. I find they require more concentration than the writ...

The Chaperone’s Secret  ( Classic Regency Romances #19)     by    Donna Lea Simpson                              I felt like I was reading a version of the Cinderella story with Cinders being Amy Corbett and her charge Rowena, the ugly stepsister. Amy has been snaffled away from her kind employer by Lady Rowena's autocratic father, the Duke, to chaperone his daughter during the coming season, and to ensure that Rowena finally marries. Failure is not an option. He really is a very unlikeable man. Unfortunately, Amy in accepting the employment that is, well 'fait accompli' is at the mercy of the Duke and his daughter.  Lady Rowena is disdainful of others and solely concerned about her impact on men in particular. Her shallowness and meanness is breathtaking. Lord Dante Pierson  sees a vision go by late at night when he's sprawled in the gutter with two helpful 'ladi...

Valiant Dust (Breaker of Empires #1)     by  Richard Baker.                            An interesting reworking of space opera themes. Recontact  by more developed interstellar powers  with isolated frontier worlds from Terra  and how that plays out. In this case the two major powers are the Aquilan Commonwealth and the Dremark Empire. The world that is in question, Gadira II, is populated by those of Islamic leanings, adhering to moderate Quranist understandings of that faith. It seems an agent of the Dremark Empire is setting up Gadira, for planetary unrest and thereby being able to install a puppet government aligned with Dremark's self interest.  (Is it all sounding familiar?) The main character, Lieutenant Sikander Singh North, a gunner officer, is from a similar frontier world, Kashmir. This system has been able to escalate its development under the more m...

Lord Edward's Mysterious Treasure: The Breton Adventure (The Victorian Adventures #4)  by   Lillian Marek.                                Marek's novel takes us to Brittany and a gothic Victorian type mystery with a romantic interest. The scholarly Lord Edward Tremaine,  son of the Marquess and Marchioness of Penworth,  is lured to Brittany's coast and the forbidding Chateau Morvan by his friend Antoine on the pretext of being able to interview Tony's great grandfather, the vicomte de Morvan. Edward is excited at this possibility of direct research  into the  Breton rebellion, and  relationship between the peasants of the area and the aristocracy during the French Revolution. Antoine really want wants Edward to help search for lost treasure from that time. Edward reminds me of a Tom Conti or Oscar Wilde type hero. On the surface he seems like an I nef...

Third Son's a Charm  (The Survivor's #1)     by  Shana Galen.   I really enjoyed the first entry in Galen's new series, The Survivor's. Lady Lorraine, daughter of the Duke of Ridlington, is a bundle of energy that she has trouble keeping inside. She's determined, inquisitive, daring and delightful. Ewan Mostyn is a returned soldier, a younger son of Lord Pembroke. He was one of a number of younger sons who fought and survived the Napoleonic Wars with Lieutenant Colonel Draven’s special unit. 'The survivors called themselves the Survivors. They called Ewan the Protector.' Back in civilian life, the Colonel has opened a club for the men of his unit. A place they can gather and support each other, eat and sleep. For Ewan it's his lifeline. The story begins with a runaway dog, a slightly damaged owner and a large bulk of a man who saves both from impending doom, not that the lady seems at all grateful much less aware of her eminent danger....

A Christmas Return (Christmas Stories #15)    by Anne Perry.                              Never disappointing, Perry pens a mystery novella that keeps you wondering. An unusual Christmas present, the wretched reminder of a tragic past and a cry for help, catapults Mariah Ellison, (Charlotte Pitt's grandmother), into a situation that has her drawing on all the fortitude she can muster. Mariah Ellison finds herself facing her own dark past memories as she comes to the aid of a friend. A dark wound of twenty years ago is reopened and Mariah is called to aid a friend in need. Twenty years ago Mariah's friend, Cullen Wesley died under strange circumstances just after he'd withdrawn as the attorney for a man accused of the rape and murder of a child. Subsequently, his ex client  Owen Durward  was acquitted.  is back in  Now Durward has returned to the village of ' Hasl...

POK POK The Drinking Food of Thailand:A Cookbook     by   Andy Ricker and JJ Goode.                     I must say this book brought back the exciting sights and smells of Northern Thailand, siting at roadside stalls eating combinations of foods that were added by me pointing and hoping for the best. Downing a beer or two with a small side snack and watching the world go by. (I steered clear of the whiskey.) Just for that tug on the memory strings, I enjoyed this book. That was in the early 70's and my love for Thai food has never diminished. Drinking Food is not as Ricker says, 'full-on meals.'  It is 'a subset of [Thai] cuisine ... called aahaan kap klaem, or “drinking food.” In Thailand, you almost never see people drinking without something to eat. Rocker continues, 'I have yet to enter a Thai establishment where there’s booze but no food on offer. That impromptu alley bar, for example, migh...

Murder on Black Swan Lane  (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #1) by Andrea Penrose Reading the first couple of pages of this new series I gave a 'Ho Hum'. Except, those Ho's and Hum's soon turned into 'Oh My's. All I can say is that this new Regency Mystery is masterful--a page turner! The Earl of Wrexford, a brilliant man of science, doesn't suffer fools gladly and has been carrying on a damning, acerbic public conversatio with the  Reverend Josiah Holworthy. When Holworthy is found with his throat cut and his face disfigured by chemicals, the Earl  is suspected of his murder. His case is not helped by the cleverly penned caricatures from the caustic artist A.J. Quill that hit the London streets featuring the very public fight between the two men. Widowed Charlotte Sloane is a talented and clever caricaturist always looking for someone to skewer with her rapier pen work in broadsheet illustrations, created under the name of  A.J. Quill, the p...

Sword and Sorceress 32   by Elisabeth Waters                                Another stellar collection of fantasy stories with a female protagonist, who is either witch, warrior or sorceress, or a combination of all. The forward to these collections is always an informative read, and the one here is no exception. I have been reading these collections since they first began and have always found rewarding the range of subject matter and  the quality of writing. Many of the top fantasy writers have begun their careers here. If one must have favorites I particularly enjoyed, although the list could go on ... and on... Sound of the Moon by Robin Wayne Bailey Wight Nights by Steve Chapman The Girl from Black Point Rock by Deborah J. Ross Add a Cup of Terror by Michael Spence & Elisabeth Waters A NetGalley ARC ****