eyes.2c Reviews

Someone Perfect (Westcott #9) by Mary Balogh  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So I finished reading this with a soppy smile on my face, exhausted from trying to remember all the various members of the involved families. And that’s what this story is about. Families, loss, hurt, misunderstandings, forgiveness and gain. A mystery threads throughout covered with lies and revealed with truth. Justin Wiley, Earl of Brandon was banished from home at twenty-two. Years later, without reconciliation to the father he adored, he finds himself the Earl of a place he doesn’t feel comfortable in. Too many memories! His half-sister and his step-mother have repaired to another property, Prospect Hill in East Sussex, after his father’s death. His stepmother (a piece of work!) was ill and eventually died. His half sister Maria has been living with her governess turned companion. It’s  well past her time of mourning.  As Maria’s companion is under thirty she’s regarded as unchaperoned. Justin decides that...

A Counterfeit Suitor  (Rosalind Mysteries #5)   by Darien Wilde          ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rosalind Thorne , daughter of Sir Reginald Thorne, (habitual drinker, gambler and forger), is supporting herself by offering her services to those wanting the know how around running the gauntlet of polite society. Years before, Rosalind’s father, heavily in debt, had fled to Paris taking her sister Charlotte, leaving behind Rosalind and her mother. Returning to England years later, Charlotte,  now a highly sought after courtesan has  relocated their alcoholic father to Bath in the care of minders. He escapes with the help of one Russell Fullerton, an opportunist not above blackmailing others. Indeed he’s well known for being a blackguard. Fullerton has plans to ruin Rosalind. When Sir Reginald is found dead, other factors come into play. Currently Rosalind is helping a Mrs Walford throw a ball for charity. In reality she’s been hired to investigate a man the ...

The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️        Fascinating story inspired by American heiress Mary Jane Gold, Nanée is a wealthy young woman caught up in efforts to help artists and intellectuals to escape France during WWII. Nanée, whom many saw as an eccentric, is a pilot, a focused individual. She’s determined, a person who just rolls up her sleeves and gets on with the task. There’s the heady energy of various artistic and intellectual giants such as André Breton, as the Nazis march towards Paris. I loved the description of Nanée flying into Paris for a Surrealist exhibition, adding further to the illustration that Nanée is an original who charts her own path. I smiled at the image of her next to her plane with her dog Dagobert as she, “dug out a reliable old black Chanel dress and pulled it over her head, slipped her blouse off underneath, and let the silk fall into place over her leather flight pants. Better. Not warmer, but bette...

Dead Man’s Grave (DS Max Craigie  #1) by Neil Lancaster              ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ DS Max Craigie, of the Serious Crimes Squad, ex military and suffering from PTSD, finds himself in the middle of the bizarre death of a Scottish Crime Lord. The mode of the gangster’s death links back into the 1890’s. That beginning leads Max to uncovering corruption that spreads to the heights of the Scottish Police force. From here on in violence and death spreads out like a festering sore. An exciting and very readable piece, complete with a couple of very interesting characters including his partner DC Janie Calder. I particularly liked his great aunt Elspeth, and his dog Nutmeg. A  HQ Harper Collins  ARC via NetGalley 

The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Once more a richly interwoven story that spreads across the Australian landscape of the lushly appointed Hunter Valley region. Two women become immersed in their individual trajectories as family secrets are uncovered, and a deep historical mystery is given prominence—the disappearance of explorer Ludwig Leichhardt of the face of the continent. One of the greatest puzzles of Australian European history. Spanning the years of 1880, the story centres around Evie Maynard and her mapping  skills and is picked up in 1911 with Letitia Rawlings. Lettie’s family has been estranged from Great-Aunt Olivia Maynard. The whys are unknown. A family tragedy leaves the Maynards, particularly Lettie reeling. She  volunteers to inform their great aunt of events. Anything to get away.  The devastated Lettie travels to her great aunt’s home at Wollombi. It’s here the family mystery deepens. It’s here her Aunt Evie is revealed. As secre...

The God is Not Willing (Witness #1) by Steven Erikson     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A return to the world of Malazan is truly a pleasure, exhausting and invigorating—all in the same breathe. Diving into Erickson’s complex and mind bending writing, reminds me again of how much I enjoy his work. I was hooked from the beginning with Gardens of the Moon and the roller coaster ride that is Malazan has never ceased to engage. Descriptive, poetic, bardic in scope. Just re-read the Preface. Amazing! T he cadence embedded in those few pages is a sample of what’s to come. TGINW is at times visceral. (Is it too far flung to think of Erickson’s works as an Odyssey? Not to me.) The Malazan arc is epic, a saga of heroic proportions, tragic with subtle humorous intent Set some years after the Crippled God, TGINW combines all this and more.  Unrest on its borders has the Malazan army on alert. A war chief with an agenda is stirring in Teblor. Gods, heroes, fighters, some we’ve met before, others who r...

The Singles Table (Marriage Game #3) by Sara Desai     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ On the surface a light hearted story but with underlying depths, all wrapped up in Bollywood like hilarity. Indeed I can’t get several momentous moments out of my head (including the steamy bits) The oh so colorful Zara Patel shooting the committed game player and exponent, Jay Dayal, in the rear at her cousin’s bachelor-bachelorette paintball party, even as she ogled him. As her friend Parvati Chopra calls it,  the occasion is “alpha central” with all the male testosterone about. Ok, Zara is definitely catastrophe prone, even if she is a super smart lawyer. She just moves to the beat of a different drum, which is why the Cruz & Lovitt law firm, injury specialists, is such a great fit for Zara. There’s “ a partner who wears Yoda ski hats and carries a custom lightsaber? Another partner who wears bike shorts and Rollerblades around the office?”  Seriously terrifying images! The moments of Zara’s ex...

The Day of the Serpent (Brother Chandler Mystery #2) by  Cassandra Clark            ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Regicide, jealousy, heresy, all are present in this sequel to Hour of the Fox set in 1400.  Brother Rodric Chandler once more leaves us wondering if he’s an opportunist, a cynic, or a man who sees injustice and greed.  A friar and yet still a man. A man of secrets—his own and others. A man who can’t stop thinking about Geoffrey Chaucer’s servant, the maid Matilda.  And what game is Master Chaucer playing as King Richard II is imprisoned in Pontefract Castle, John of Gaunt’s Lancastrian hold in the North?  Chandler is under orders from his master Sir Thomas Swynford to oversee the starvation of Richard, hoping the lack of food will hurry along Richard’s demise. Meanwhile  Henry Bolingbroke, Richard’s cousin, now King, is tightening his grip on the people of England using heresy  to point away from the fate of his stepbrother...

Down a Dark River (Inspector Corravan Mystery #1) by Karen Odden     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A sturdy new character in the shape of the rough-edged Yard man, Corravan bursts onto the Victorian Mystery stage as a welcomed addition. Chief Inspector Michael Corravan of Scotland Yard has grown up under hard circumstances in a harsh part of London—Whitechapel. This background gives Corravan insight into the struggles of the poor and the true value of kindliness. He knows the River and the people. He used to be part of the River Police but he moved on. That part of his story is shrouded in hurt. Fascinating though is his relationship with the very interesting author Belinda Gale.  Ma Doyle, the woman who saved Corravan as a youngster in Whitechapel asks him to take care of her nephew Harry Lish for a bit. He’s unsuited for the area and Ma’s worried about him.  A young woman’s body is found floating down the Thames in a lighter boat (used for transferring cargo short distances) arrange...

Never Fall for Your Fiancée (Merriwell Sisters #1) by Virginia Heath     ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham embroils himself in a pastiche of falsities, up to his earlish neck and then some, when he spins a tall tale to his mother about the fiancée that he doesn’t have. Hugh works hard to stay away from his mother’s marriage plans for him. In desperation, he created his perfect fiancée, Minerva. He imbues Minerva with pathos, endurance, near death experiences, superb horse riding skills, kindness, beauty, a stellar young woman floating through life like a veritable angel. You name it, Hugh’s bestowed upon his perfect fiancée all the qualities to be desired in a gently bred young maid.  When his mother decides to return to England to meet his delightful fiancée (now that said fiancée is recovered from consumption and out of mourning for her beloved father!) and to help plan the wedding,  Hugh is in despair. As he ruefully muses, “The trouble with lies is they ha...

The Virgin Who Bewitched Lord Lymington (Swooning Virgins Society #4)  by   Bradley, Anna             ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1790, Fifteen year old Emma Downing found her way to the Clifford Charity School for Wayward Girls. Her arrival was disconcerting, with “great gouts of blood” staining her dress, but as Lady Amanda Clifford noted, Emma had survived the abuse she suffered at Madame Manchard’s brothel. “That made her extraordinary. No, more than that. It made her a miracle.”  The School for Wayward Girls is dedicated to bringing justice for young woman abused at the hands of the aristocracy. Now Emma will join their ranks. Five years later, 1795, Emma is on the hunt for a nobleman who is abusing courtesans at that same establishment, the Pink Pearl. Emma is concerned about two missing servant girls who’d disappeared from Lymington House, “and now the third , Caroline Francis, is pointing her accusing finger at Lord Lovell.” A charming young r...

The Moorland Murderers (Bloody Mary Mystery #6) by Michael Jecks            ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Once again pseudo assassin, card sharp and self proclaimed ladies man, Jack Blackjack finds himself caught in a mire of chance and design. It’s 1556 and the word’s abroad that Lady Elizabeth Tudor’s comptroller Sir Thomas Parry has been taken to the Tower under orders from Queen Mary. Jack’s worried that he might be caught up in the purge as his master and employer John Blount works for Parry. Jack’s survival, being always front and center of his concerns, has him fleeing to France via a circuitous route. He takes to the road ahead of rumour about his imminent capture by the Queen’s Officers, and we catch up with him at the Green Cock Inn at Okehamptom, Devonshire on the edge of Dartmoor. Of course, things go haywire. (When do they ever not?) Jack ends up being accused of murdering a miner. Not just any miner but Daniell Vowell, leader of a powerful miner’s group. J...

Miss Moriarty, I Presume?  (Lady Sherlock #6)   by  Sherry Thomas       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ To come face to face with her nemesis Moriarty is not what Charlotte expected.  Moriarty, using the pseudonym Mr. Baxter turns up with Mr. Marbleton to engage Miss Holmes.  To be asked to rescue Moriarty’s daughter from a group of occultists in Cornwall—Hermatists is quite the shock. Apparently Moriarty had forced her to return to him but that was short lived. She had returned to the commune with certain obligations. It seems Miss Baxter has been leading Moriarty quite the dance. Engaged to six unsuitable men in fifteen months, he gave into her imploring as he didn’t want to be seen as her ‘jailer.’ Moriarty’s solicitor has not been able to see ‘Miss Baxter.’  Needless there are some alarming aspects. So many things afoot! Just what is Charlotte going to discover. Apart from the fact that Moriarty is able to exercise an hypnotic quality. Pertinent in these day...