eyes.2c Reviews

A Brush with Shadows (A Lady Darby Mystery #6)     by Anna Lee Huber                              What a dynamic duo! Sebastian Gage and his wife,  Lady Kiera Darby . As they move forward in their life together Sebastian is called back to the family estate, Langstone Manor, deep in the landscape of Dartmoor. His father is still his supercilious self, as we see from his letters. We learn the story of Gage's upbringing. We meet his truculent and now deathly ill grandfather, the  Viscount Tavistock. We come to know about his  cousins Alfred and Roland Trevelyan. We are confronted by his aunt the Dowager Baroness Langstone, a darkly forbidding woman with a tongue of ice and a spine of unforgiving steel. We also touch upon Gage's mother, a point of great pain for him. The dark past of the family is exposed, the disappearance of the heir Alfred is urgently addressed by Gage an...

Searcher of the Dead  (A Bess Ellyott Mystery #1)   by Nancy Herriman    Set in Elizabethan England, the customs of the times dictate that a suicide leaves those behind not only emotionally bereft, but they are stripped of all their worldly goods. Widowed herbalist   Bess Ellyott's  sister's husband is found hanging from a tree and is deemed a suicide by the authorities. Bess is determined to prove his death is murder. Her search opens herself and others up to close scrutiny by the small village community. In these times of unrest and papist plots, such close observation is not welcome.  Hints of a troubled past for Bess Ellyott, her having to flee London, and the fear of being found keeps being alluded to but we are given very few clues as to what that is about. I am sure all will be revealed as the series progresses. I found the constable  Christopher Harwoode (Kit)  an interesting character, as Bess appears to also. The p...

Into the Fire (Vatta's Peace #2)   by Elizabeth Moon                                Things are not right! Having returned to Slotter Key a hero, Kyla Vatta has survivors from Miksland turning up as escapees on her doorstep, and Ky's suddenly trapped in her house having been declared a non citizen and wanted for questioning. The whereabouts of the other personnel who escaped from Milksland is unknown and alarmingly Aunt Grace is coming under legal and personal attack. Facts surrounding Grace's past are brought to light that threaten her freedom. Stella is forced to dig deep and finds herself more capable than she thought.  At times I found events in Into the Fire somewhat disjointed. Stella's self pitying stance becomes dangerous for all. On the other hand she is being kept in the dark by Ky. Even though we have seen Stella come into her own as a highly talented woman, here w...

( Lost to a Spy (All the Queen's Spies #3)   by  Sharon Cullen.                                       It's 1567 Edinburgh, turbulent times in Scottish history.  Emma Howard, Lady-in-waiting and close confidante to Mary, Queen of Scots, wakes to find herself in the care of a stranger. Lord Darnley, wedded to Queen Mary, has just been murdered and it seems Emma might have seen something suspicious.  All that is moot because she was knocked unconscious as Kirk o’ Field exploded. The stranger, Englishman Tristan Fitzherbert, a spy for Queen Elizabeth had found Emma laying unconscious near to the source of the explosion and taken her to his printing works. Tristan has been printing seditious leaflets, stirring up the people of Edinburgh. This latest happening goes to the heart of the court and Lord Bothwell, Mary's undisputed advisor. As Emma learns more, both he...

What a Highlander's Got To Do (Untamed Highlanders #)   by Sabrina York                                     I just did not identify with  Isobel Dounreay Lochlannac.   And the idea that she'd give her virginity to a handsome stable lad is just not realistic for the times, although it could be argued that it's realistic for this particular headstrong, wild, young Scots woman.  Of course the stable lad is really  Nick Wyeth, Viscount Stirling. Unfortunately, despite the swoon worthy description of Nick, and his devotion to Isobel who is determined not to marry an Englishman, I found him somewhat flat. I was so over Isobel by third of the way through the novel. Sadly my sympathies for the story as a whole just didn't engage. A NetGalley ARC **

As the Devil Dares  (Capturing the Carlisles #2)      by  Anna Harrington                                 'Death by kitten!' An hilarious scene that shows a deft writing skill, alleviating the tensions that permeate 'As the Devil Dare.' Laced with humor, personal anguish and regret are strong undercurrents in this fascinating portrayal of a woman trying to find her place in a man's world and a Lord who blames himself for the death of his father, trying to appease his conscience. Lord Robert Carlisle is desperate for a partnership in Winslow Shipping Company, desperate to prove himself. Mariah Winslow is equally as desperate to show her father that she can run a business, that she has the wherewithal and intelligence to be a part of the world she loves.  Henry Winslow proposes to Carlisle that he will become a partner if he can provide Mariah with a proper season,...

No Earls Allowed ( The Survivors #2)    by   Shana Galen                                             I was so looking forward to the next in The Survivors series, and I was not disappointed!  This time it is Neil Wraxall's story, acknowledged illegitimate son of the Marquess of Kensington. Neil was part of Draven's Dozen an elite troop who had fought hand to mouth against Napoleon, where death was a surety. It's these men's return to  peacetime England that is the problem. " They were the only men alive who had gone to hell and come back again." Neil had been known in the group as The Warrior. Now those who'd survived were feted as heroes. Unfortunately war has not prepared the survivors for peace time. "And that was part of the problem. If he wasn’t the Warrior any longer, who was he?"  Self realization, self accep...

The Marquis and I (The Worthington's #4)    by Ella Quinn                              Enjoyable, comic romantic farce opening with a wary Marquis rescuing a kidnapped damsel. Although the damsel is not so much distressed as angry and the  Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth,  keeps wondering what gods he'd offended to be in the wrong place at the right time. That is until he discovered that he rather liked  Lady Charlotte Carpenter,  and furthermore maybe marrying her might not be such a bad idea if only Charlotte would see the light. Unfortunately, the rescue attempt has unforeseen consequences and Con and Charlotte are discovered by a notorious ton gossip in somewhat compromising circumstances, forcing Con to do the 'honorable' thing. Charlotte however needs to be convinced. Charlotte has been kidnapped by the procurer and brothel owner, the dastardly, cold 'Miss Bet...