eyes.2c Reviews

The Master's Apprentice: A Retelling of the Faust Legend by Oliver Pötzsch The hairs stood up on the back of my neck as soon as I started, although I had no idea of the dark route the story would travel. Aiding these feelings were the descriptive notes of the places and times, ringing all too true. In the prologue we're located in Germany in the"Knittlingen, in the Kraichgau 27 October, AD 1486." Further we're told that, "In the fall that the children disappeared, the jugglers came to town." And as the young Margarethe says to her childhood friend Faustus, “jugglers and musicians are children of the devil?...That’s what the church says. Whoever dances to their music they lead straight to hell...“Perhaps they took the children, too. I wouldn’t be surprised.” Makes one wonder what's coming! Even in those beginning pages one knows Tonio is more than an itinerant palm reader / astrologer. Later he declares he's "a master of the seven ar...

Gone With the Rogue (First Comes Love #2) by Amelia Grey       A brilliant beginning had me on the edge of my seat waiting for more. Julia Fairbright is a widow laboring under the demands of a harsh father-in-law whose never forgiven her for marrying his son. Her authoritarian father-in-law, the Duke of Sprogfield, a stickler for stringent etiquette and behavior forms, who relished the good opinion of society, a standing he basked in, has threatened to cut Julia off from her son if she ever deviates from his tyrannical demands around her code of behavior. Julia knows that he is not the honorable figure he presents to society and needs to find the proof that will give her leverage for her and her son to live independently. Garrett Stockton meets Julia under unusual cumstances. He is immediately drawn to her, and as they see more of each other their regard deepens. Garrett is determined to pursue her and he does so by being the stalwart rock she can depend on. The...

How to Catch an Errant Earl (The Disreputable Debutantes #2)   by Amy Rose Bennett         Another rather satisfying episode in The Disreputable Debutantes series. That delightful group of young women expelled from their exclusive boarding school. Forced to rethink their debut strategies, they decide to seek husbands from the ranks of the rakish rogues. A Waterloo hero with a emotionally stunted childhood who's a seductive rake of the first order meets a rather unusual member of the group, an orphaned Bluestocking, Arabella Jardine in a ruined dungeon whilst touring Switzerland, and then ... ah well life takes quite a different turn for both of them. Gabriel Holmes-Fitzgerald, the Earl of Langdale,  also known as the Errant Earl is on the continent searching for his mother.  A gifted artist BTW, he spends a lot of time during the story either lounging around naked drawing his wife, or naked pursuing her, whilst she spends time wondering how to ...

Heiress for Hire (A Duke's Heiress #1) by Madeline Hunter        An eccentric bachelor duke is dead and family expectations are not met. Minerva Hepplewhite, a woman with secrets, inherits a small fortune from said Duke. A man unknown to her. It's in her interests to investigate the circumstances around the Duke's death to ensure that her secrets aren't revealed, otherwise the suspicions about his death might fall upon her. This woman who investigates secrets meets with another more experienced investigator.  Chase Radnor, a man used to secrets, nephew to the eccentric Duke Hollinburgh, investigates his death for his own reasons, and on behalf of the home secretary, Robert Peel. Of course Chase and Minerva come into contact--in a most unexpected way. Of course that contact has an underlying frisson of sexual energy. Minerva however wants nothing to do with men, given her experience at her dead husband's hands. There are some interesting characters t...

The Virgin and the Rogue (The Rogue Files #6) by Sophie Jordan     A young engaged woman, Charlotte Langley, takes a concoction to treat the onset of her menses, made up by her herbalist / pharmacutical inclined sister, Nora. After feeling strangely like her skins on fire, she then 'jumps the bones' of her brother-in-law's visiting illegitimate step brother, the rakish, handsome Kingston. My head was reeling and this was just the opening salvo! After deciding she had obviously been under the influence of an aphrodisiac mixture, Charlotte does it again...and again. Like a cat on heat really when she's around the gorgeous Kingston. And this is the quiet, boring, middle sister. It was so ludicrous, verging on the comic, that I found I had to keep reading even as I mentally winced...continually! All this whilst Charlotte is betrothed to a childhood friend, Billy, whose mother is a social climbing tyrant. I'm in two minds about this novel. It's either a fiv...

The Girl and the Stars (Book of the Ice #1) by Mark Lawrence           I enjoyed this addition to Lawrence's world of Abeth, although at this stage I'm in the waiting room wondering what the future holds. The main character Yaz perpetuates the trope of the misfit, or rather as Katy Rose Poole described it in a Tor.com e-newsletter article (Sept. 9, 2019), the 'Chosen One' trope. Yaz is torn from the social group she desperately tries to meld with, into a new place where her differences will become strengths. Yaz's people exist in a harsh landscape. Conformity is key to survival. Those who are different are given to the Pit of the Missing. Survival in this world of ice is measured and penultimate. Children are assessed and if seen as a danger to the group they are cast out. Yaz's differences are not easily identifiable. To her horror the Pit becomes her destiny. Here she discovers that rather than ending, her journey is just beginning. In the place she e...

Shorefall (The Founders Trilogy #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett           Things are different in Tevanne now for Sancia Grado and her group. Tevanne a place where "where machines are run by plates scribed by sigils that convince objects of a different reality, which in turn sets them in motion according to the demands inscribed." If you remember Sancia is able to unlock scriven sigils and send them down a different path. With her associates Orso, Gregor, and Berenice, the search to finally overthrow the powerful barons who control much of the scriven capabilities and thus the population appears to be on the horizon, well closer than that. However there's a but with a capital B. It seems one of the legendary inventors of scriveners is about to rise from the dead, reappear and that takes the fight against the ruling class to a fight against the gods. Gregor is uneasy. Sancia is warned in a dream like sequence by Valaria, "THE MAKER MUST NOT COME BACK!" ...

First Comes Scandal: A Bridgerton Prequel (Rokesbys #4)   by Julia Quinn Nicholas Rokesby has been studying in Edinborough to be a doctor. When his father calls him home urgently he little knew the proposal his father had in mind. He was imagining one sort of tragedy and was gob smacked by something quite different. Local neighbor and his father's goddaughter Georgiana Bridgerton, whom Nicolas regarded as a sister, has against her will been placed in a compromising position by an impecunious admirer, Freddie Oakes. This had a brilliant beginning, some truly funny moments, and a feisty heroine who had expected to marry for love. The various cat inclusions were delightfully different bordering on hilarious. Our hero started off fabulously and then in my mind lagged, although he does keep reviewing his attitudes towards women. We see enough of Georgina to understand she has a truly enquiring mind that could take action when needed. The last part of the book is a comment on ...

Closing Time (A Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery #7) by Brenda Chapman          There are obviously depths and challenges to Ontario Provincial Police Officer Kala Stonechild that to me, a first time reader of the  Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series, are fascinating. I feel the need to know more. Holidaying with Dawn her foster charge, Karla looks forward to canoeing and recharging her batteries in the wilderness that so calls to her. Unfortunately Karla finds herself catapulted into the murder investigation of a sixteen year old waitress working at the isolated lodge they're guesting in, located to the north of Sault Ste. Marie in the far reaches of Ontario. At the request of the local officer Clark Harrison, a former acquaintance of Karla's, she is seconded to the investigation. The inquiry dances down some rather twisted paths. It seems the victim Rachel Eglan is not the quiet churchgoing young woman she appears to be. She's somewhat of...

Betsey: A Memoir by Betsey Johnson; Mark Vitulano Don't get me wrong, I love Betsey Johnson designs. I own jewelry, shoes, sunglasses and my particular passion these days, watches. I loved her zany mixture of fabrics. So who was this woman with such ingenious designs! I did watch a TV series about her that I enjoyed, but for some reason I didn't connect as I thought I would with this title. Some of her reasons for doing things seemed unconventional, even when wrapped up in conventionality. Like marriage. Her reason for marrying burger flipper Jeff? Well it's ... really, I have no words. Possibly it was the times, the 60's. Still Betsey's reasoning maybe says it all. As she tells it, it was 'because that’s what I was designing at the time—a collection for an entire wedding party: the bride, bridesmaids, the hot ex-girlfriend, and of course, the flower girls.' The thought of capping off a new collection with a high profile occasion seemed liked a good...

Hid from Our Eyes (Rev. Clare Fergusson & Russ van Alstyne Mysteries #9) by Julia Spencer-Fleming       Three murders over three different periods in time, from the 1950's to 1972 and now in the present day. How could they relate, particulate given the span of years? All three were young attractive women, posed identically. There is nothing nearby to reveal who they are. All are nicely dressed, special occasion garments. Their cause of death is unknown. Nothing can be detected. Clare Fergusson and Russ van Alstyne are an interesting couple.  Van Alstyne is the Police Chief at Millers Kill, Clare his wife, is the local Episcopalian Church minister. We have a cast of fascinating characters with interesting hints of the stories behind them. I am still intrigued by the past and present of many of them. I love Clare's struggle s with being a Reverend and a new mother, and her deeper struggles with alcoholism. The reality of her genuineness is a gift. I like ...

Who Speaks for the Damned (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery #15) by C. S. Harris         What a sensitive and unusual couple Hero and Sebastian, Lord and Lady Devlin are. I wouldn't like to cross Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. When he's quiet and controlled is when people should be wary, particularly when his much loved wife Hero is threatened. Both characters are independent and strong, both with their own developed interests that weave together in amazing ways. Parenthood has only enhanced their connection. This story reaches back into the past. Sebastian's valet Calhoun brings to his attention the plight of a man sentenced eighteen years ago, under strained circumstances, to transportation, serving the life of a convict in Botany Bay. Inexplicably that man is later found not only back in England, but dead in Pennington’s Tea Gardens at Somer's Town.  Nicholas Hayes, the youngest son of the late Earl of Seaforth had been a byword for what happens to rebell...

One Fatal Flaw (Daniel Pitt #3) by Anne Perry           An unremitting and fascinating case for Daniel Pitt, even as he becomes a more reluctant player. As the story built I was exhausted by the first court case and nowhere near ready enough for the second. Good grief I thought! By the end of a third one I was wrung out like a wet bleach cloth (currently being used constantly around my home). Perry has given us a Daniel Pitt intricately woven story centered around two deaths from arson. Toby Kitteridge, a senior in the chambers, is as usual a wonderful foil for Daniel. I am quietly interested in Toby Kitteridge whom Miriam thinks of him as being surprisingly "agile of mind and clumsy of body." Miriam fford Croft is involved once again, assisting Daniel with her forensic expertise. However, as we know, as a woman Miriam has no legal authority or acceptance by the courts. She puts Daniel in touch with Sir Barnabas Saltram, an expert in arson cases. Saltram ...

The Body in the Garden (A Lily Adler Mystery #1)   by Katharine Schellman  Two delightful characters in the lead roles in this new Regency mystery add to its charm. Lily Adler is a young widow, a no nonsense woman who knows her way around the ton. Attending her friend Lady Walter's Ball was a beginning to her new, independent life. Unexpectedly coming across a couple of men exchanging terse and threatening comments in the garden, after having slipped out of the crowded ballroom for fresh air,  Lily beats a hasty retreat. As she quietly sidles away from the scene she is frightened by a gunshot as she retreats. That's where her dead husband's friend, Captain John Hartley—Jack, comes in handy. Stumbling back towards the ballroom she runs into him and seeks his help. Disbelieving he accompanies her, only to confirm the truth. There obviously was a gunshot because they find a dead body. When Lord Walter has the investigation into matters surrounding the death, includ...

Sin Eater: A Novel by Megan Campisi          This was such a different historical/fantasy fiction read. I was totally drawn in and fascinated by what happened to fourteen-year-old May for stealing a loaf of bread. In the 18th century she probably would have been transported. In 16th century England she's sent to be a Sin Eater. A young girl sentenced apprenticed (can one really say that?) to an older Sin Eater, to a life of isolation where she must hear the last confessions of the dying, must learn what is eaten to mark their sins, and then take those sins upon herself. Somewhat like a court imposed Pardoner, without the freedom and ability to mix with people. May had a somewhat checkered upbringing. An orphan raised by a criminal family, which I think colors the way she moves forward once she decides to take control of her destiny. The journey towards that independence is fraught. This is a story of incredible resistance, and hope despite the horrific s...

Sword of Shadows (Crispin Guest Mystery #13) by Jeri Westerson          Tintagel Castle and the sword Excalibur!  When I think about it, with all the relics Crispin Guest has either fallen in the way of,  or had thrust upon him in his time as the Tracker, of course this is a place he would eventually be led to! 1396, Crispin and Jack run into a stranger, a Cornishman, Carantok Teague, who knew much about Crispin. Carantok, is a seeker of lost artifacts, who had 'permission from the crown to find such diverse treasures across the kingdom as could be found.' That the decree had been signed in 1377 by Edward III, the present king's grandfather did seem to be stretching things just a little, to me and to Crispin. Nonetheless Crispin and Jack find themselves heading to Cornwall in search of the legendary sword of King Arthur! A long journey with a few mishaps. On the way they meet up with a musical troupe and then a more perilous situation as they ...

A Stroke of Malice (A Lady Darby Mystery # 8)   by Anna Lee Huber        Sebastian Gage and Lady Kiera Derby are all set to enjoy Twelfth Night Ball revels courtesy of the Duke and Duchess of Bowmont at their palatial castle Sunlaws in Scotland. They're an unusual couple whom like so much of "the nobility [didn't] marry for love, but married for wealth and connections." Taking lovers is par for the course. They have a spawned family of legitimate and illegitimate children who are close and supportive, accepted and loved as one.  Keira is pregnant and has been looking forward to working on a portrait of the Duchess before going into seclusion. The last thing she and Gage want is a murder to solve. When on a ghost tour through the castle as part of the Twelfth Night romp, a body is discovered, Kiera and Gage's sojourn becomes an investigation into what happened, at the bequest of the family. Assured full disclosure by them, Gage and Kiera find the oppos...

The Pardoner's Crime (Sandal Castle Medieval Thriller #1)   by Keith Moray             Chaucer's Canterbury Tale hints, and a medieval mystery--two favs! How could I resist reading this. If you know The Pardoner's Tale, then of course the rift off that title will catch your eye--as it did mine. Add to this Robin, err that is, Robert Hood and what more can I say. Moray throws us right in at the deep end. It's 1332 Yorkshire, England. The traitor Lancaster has been executed, Edward II is King. Sir Richard Lee, Sergeant-at-Law, has been appointed the Circuit Judge of the King’s Northern Realm. He and his assistant  Hubert of Loxley, are heading for Sandal Castle and the court of the Manor of Wakefield, where the King wants him to begin exercising his office. Richard and Hubert's relationship is one of trust, reliance and friendship, strengthened by the bond the two men have tested in warfare.  As they pass through the forest of Outwood ...