Today im participating in a blog tour for the book Never a Gentleman by Eileen Dreyer.
Book Info: (from Hachette)
HE HIDES HIS TRUE COLORS . . .
Miss Grace Fairchild is under no illusions about her charms. Painfully plain, she is a soldier's daughter who has spent her life being useful, not learning the treacherous ways of the ton. She may have been caught in a scandal with society's favorite rogue, but how can she marry him when it means losing herself?
WHILE SHE HIDES HER TRUE SELF . . .
Diccan Hilliard doesn't know which of his enemies drugged him and dumped him in Grace's bed, but he does know the outcome. He and Grace must marry. To his surprise, a wild, heady passion flares between them. Yet Diccan is trapped in a deadly game of intrigue Grace knows nothing about. Will his lies destroy Grace just as he realizes how desperately he needs her? And how can he hope for a future with her, when an old enemy has set his murderous sights on them both?
Author Info: (from Hachette)
Born and raised in Brentwood, Missouri and a product of Catholic Schools, she lives in St. Louis County with husband Rick and her two children. She has animals but refuses to subject them to the glare of the limelight.
Dreyer won her first publishing award in 1987, being named the best new Contemporary Romance Author by Romantic Times. Since that time she has also garnered not only five other writing awards from Romantic Times, but five RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, which secures her only the fourth place in the Romance Writers of America prestigious Hall of Fame. Since extending her reach to suspense, she has also garnered a coveted Anthony Award nomination for her last paperback, Bad Medicine. She has over three million books in print world wide, and has made regular appearances on the Waldenbook and B.Dalton bestsellers list, and now the USA Today list.
A frequent speaker at conferences, she maintains membership in Romance Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and, just in case things go wrong, Emergency Nurses Association and International Association of Forensic Nurses, for which she is the unofficial mascot.
Eileen is an addicted traveler, having sung in some of the best Irish pubs in the world, and admits she sees research as a handy way to salve her insatiable curiosity. She counts film producers, police detectives and Olympic athletes as some of her sources and friends. She's also trained in forensic nursing and death investigation, although she doesn't see herself actively working in the field, unless this writing thing doesn't pan out.
My review:
I thought this book was ok. It could have been better but like I said it was an ok historical fiction read. The characters were good and it was pretty well written. I just dont think that the book really grabed your attention.
I would like to thank Brianne Beers for letting me participate in this blog tour.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Adventures of Huck Finn and Zombie Jim
Today im participating in a blog tour for the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim by Mark Twain and W. Bill Czolgosz.
Authors Info (from Simon & Schuster)
Authors Info (from Simon & Schuster)
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens. His humorous tales of human nature, especially The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), remain standard texts in high school and college literature classes. Twain was born and died in years in which Halley's Comet passed by Earth: 1835 and 1910.
W. Bill Czolgosz has written fewer books than Mark Twain, and none of them nearly as competently. His own personal favorite is Eat @t Zero's, published by Coscom Entertainment in 2005 and currently out of print. His latest project is a graphic novel called Zombifrieze, illustrated by Sean Simmans, a frequent collaborator.
Czolgosz lives in Proud Lake, Saskatchewan, with his two children and three cats, just a mile down the street from his on-again/off-again ladyfriend, who has not yet called the police.
He can be contacted by the angry, the insane, the melancholy, and the desperate at wbczolgosz@gmail.com
My Review:
I have read many of this post humanistic type books and many of these books were former classics have been given a zombie or paranormal aspect. Some of these types of books I have really enjoyed, but some I havent, this book would fall into the latter. I have always been a huge Twain Fan and you know I thought I would try to read this because it might not be so bad but I was wrong. I really didnt like this book, I think the second author ruined it but adding the zombie element to it and that this book had no need of being altered. So I would not recomend this version of the book. I however highly recomend reading the original version.
I would like to thank the people at gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour.
Czolgosz lives in Proud Lake, Saskatchewan, with his two children and three cats, just a mile down the street from his on-again/off-again ladyfriend, who has not yet called the police.
He can be contacted by the angry, the insane, the melancholy, and the desperate at wbczolgosz@gmail.com
My Review:
I have read many of this post humanistic type books and many of these books were former classics have been given a zombie or paranormal aspect. Some of these types of books I have really enjoyed, but some I havent, this book would fall into the latter. I have always been a huge Twain Fan and you know I thought I would try to read this because it might not be so bad but I was wrong. I really didnt like this book, I think the second author ruined it but adding the zombie element to it and that this book had no need of being altered. So I would not recomend this version of the book. I however highly recomend reading the original version.
I would like to thank the people at gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour.
Fever Dream
Fever Dream
by Preston & Child
This audiobook was an ok listen. The story's plot was good and it kept your attention. I think the actor who read this book did a good job he didnt have a boring vocie at all. I also liked the cover art on the box. I think I would recomend this audiobook since it was an ok read.
I would like to thank Anna from Hachette for letting me review this audiobook.
by Preston & Child
This audiobook was an ok listen. The story's plot was good and it kept your attention. I think the actor who read this book did a good job he didnt have a boring vocie at all. I also liked the cover art on the box. I think I would recomend this audiobook since it was an ok read.
I would like to thank Anna from Hachette for letting me review this audiobook.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Starcraft II: Devil's Due
Today im participating in a blog tour for the book Starcraft II: Devil's Due by Christie Golden.
Book Info: (from Simon & Schuster)
It was at times like this that Jim Raynor, former marine lance corporal, proud citizen of the Confederacy and erstwhile farm boy, felt most alive. At the speed at which he was urging the vulture, the wind cooled his face so that the oppressive heat vanished. He felt like a wolf hunting down prey, except the purpose of today's adventure was not the death of a living being but the death of the empty state of Raynor's and Tychus's wallets. This was a cargo train, not a passenger train, and inside its silvery innards was—if Tychus's tip was right, and Jim had every reason to believe it would be—a very lovely, very large safe filled with Confederate credits.
"Why, it's a rescue mission, Jim," Tychus had rumbled, his blue eyes dancing with good humor as he had filled Raynor in on the plan. "Those poor creds—they'd just be condemned to lining the pockets of some Old Families who don't need any more money. Or else put to some nefarious scheme that could hurt somebody. It's our duty—hell, it's our calling—to liberate them creds to where they could do something that really mattered."
"Like buying us drinks, women, and steak dinners."
"That's a good start."
"You've got a heart of gold, Tychus. I've never met such an altruistic man in my life. I got goddamn tears in my eyes."
"It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it."
Jim grinned as he recalled the conversation. He and Tychus were behind the train, catching up to it quickly. He stayed right and Tychus veered left. Tychus crossed over the maglev tracks, adjusting the magnetic frequency on his bike to compensate so that he, like the train itself, could cross easily. Jim increased his speed, moving alongside the maglev until the right car came into view. He and Tychus had spent hours analyzing all kinds of transportation vessels over the last few years, sometimes simply from blueprints or images, but usually up close and personal, as they were about to do now. They had "liberated" other credits before—it seemed to them like hundreds of thousands over the years, although the liberated credits never seemed to stay with them very long. That was all right too. It was part of the ride that life had become.
***
The year is 2494. Almost five years ago, Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay were members of the Heaven's Devils, an elite Confederate marine unit praised for its nerves of steeland combat expertise. After making a stand against their corrupt commanding officer, the two men were forced to go AWOL or risk being unjustly prosecuted and resocialized.
Now, Raynor and Findlay are outlaws hounded by an unyielding interstellar marshal. Life, however, has never beenbetter. Each day is another chance to pilfer more credits from the Confederacy's deep coffers. Each night holds the promise of spending their hard-earned profits in bars, brothels, and gambling halls. But a man can only run so far before the law—and his past—catch up with him. . . .
Devils' Due recounts an unforgettable period of Jim Raynor's life as he descends into the Koprulu sector's criminal underworld alongside the street-savvy Findlay. Here, far from his humble upbringing on the fringe world of Shiloh, Raynor will face some of the most trying challenges of his life. The decisions he makes will alter his destiny forever and put his father's oft-spoken wisdom, "A man is what he chooses to be," to the ultimate test.
Author Info: (from Simon & Schuster)
New York Times bestselling and award-winning author CHRISTIE GOLDEN has written more than thirty-five novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among her many projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and several original fantasy novels. An avid player of World of Warcraft, she has written two manga short stories and several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm), with more in the works. She has also written the StarCraft Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and Twilight, as well as the most recent hardcover, Devils' Due.
Golden is also the writer of three books in the major nine-book Star Wars series Fate of the Jedi (in collaboration with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning). Her first two books in that series—Omens and Allies—are available now. Golden lives in Colorado. She welcomes visitors to her website: http://www.christiegolden.com/.
My Review:
I thought this book was just ok. I wasnt impressed with it but the book wasnt horrible. I just dont think this book was for me. This is not the first book I have read by this author but I have not been impressed with any of them. I dont think I would recomend this book.
I would like to thank the people at Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour.
Book Info: (from Simon & Schuster)
It was at times like this that Jim Raynor, former marine lance corporal, proud citizen of the Confederacy and erstwhile farm boy, felt most alive. At the speed at which he was urging the vulture, the wind cooled his face so that the oppressive heat vanished. He felt like a wolf hunting down prey, except the purpose of today's adventure was not the death of a living being but the death of the empty state of Raynor's and Tychus's wallets. This was a cargo train, not a passenger train, and inside its silvery innards was—if Tychus's tip was right, and Jim had every reason to believe it would be—a very lovely, very large safe filled with Confederate credits.
"Why, it's a rescue mission, Jim," Tychus had rumbled, his blue eyes dancing with good humor as he had filled Raynor in on the plan. "Those poor creds—they'd just be condemned to lining the pockets of some Old Families who don't need any more money. Or else put to some nefarious scheme that could hurt somebody. It's our duty—hell, it's our calling—to liberate them creds to where they could do something that really mattered."
"Like buying us drinks, women, and steak dinners."
"That's a good start."
"You've got a heart of gold, Tychus. I've never met such an altruistic man in my life. I got goddamn tears in my eyes."
"It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it."
Jim grinned as he recalled the conversation. He and Tychus were behind the train, catching up to it quickly. He stayed right and Tychus veered left. Tychus crossed over the maglev tracks, adjusting the magnetic frequency on his bike to compensate so that he, like the train itself, could cross easily. Jim increased his speed, moving alongside the maglev until the right car came into view. He and Tychus had spent hours analyzing all kinds of transportation vessels over the last few years, sometimes simply from blueprints or images, but usually up close and personal, as they were about to do now. They had "liberated" other credits before—it seemed to them like hundreds of thousands over the years, although the liberated credits never seemed to stay with them very long. That was all right too. It was part of the ride that life had become.
***
The year is 2494. Almost five years ago, Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay were members of the Heaven's Devils, an elite Confederate marine unit praised for its nerves of steeland combat expertise. After making a stand against their corrupt commanding officer, the two men were forced to go AWOL or risk being unjustly prosecuted and resocialized.
Now, Raynor and Findlay are outlaws hounded by an unyielding interstellar marshal. Life, however, has never beenbetter. Each day is another chance to pilfer more credits from the Confederacy's deep coffers. Each night holds the promise of spending their hard-earned profits in bars, brothels, and gambling halls. But a man can only run so far before the law—and his past—catch up with him. . . .
Devils' Due recounts an unforgettable period of Jim Raynor's life as he descends into the Koprulu sector's criminal underworld alongside the street-savvy Findlay. Here, far from his humble upbringing on the fringe world of Shiloh, Raynor will face some of the most trying challenges of his life. The decisions he makes will alter his destiny forever and put his father's oft-spoken wisdom, "A man is what he chooses to be," to the ultimate test.
Author Info: (from Simon & Schuster)
New York Times bestselling and award-winning author CHRISTIE GOLDEN has written more than thirty-five novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among her many projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and several original fantasy novels. An avid player of World of Warcraft, she has written two manga short stories and several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm), with more in the works. She has also written the StarCraft Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and Twilight, as well as the most recent hardcover, Devils' Due.
Golden is also the writer of three books in the major nine-book Star Wars series Fate of the Jedi (in collaboration with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning). Her first two books in that series—Omens and Allies—are available now. Golden lives in Colorado. She welcomes visitors to her website: http://www.christiegolden.com/.
My Review:
I thought this book was just ok. I wasnt impressed with it but the book wasnt horrible. I just dont think this book was for me. This is not the first book I have read by this author but I have not been impressed with any of them. I dont think I would recomend this book.
I would like to thank the people at Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Eternal Rider
Today im participating in a blog tour for the book Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione.
Book Info: (from Hachette)
They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.
Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.
Author Info: (from Hacette)
I began writing the way so many writers do—the moment I learned to wield a pencil. But even as a child, I didn't write "kid" stories. I preferred something more dramatic. Something that didn't include Dick, Jane, and a dog named Spot. I wanted my characters to be named Dracula and my dogs to have names like White Fang or Cujo. I'll always have my parents to thank for that. They never censored my reading material (though I suspect that if they had truly known what was between the covers of some of the books, they'd have been a little more careful,) so when other girls my age were reading Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume, I was immersing myself in Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
Later, after I'd joined the Air Force and was in dire need of something to read between shifts at the weather station, I continued to read horror, but I'd branched out into fantasy, and then, finally, romance (though I admit I went kicking and screaming to the latter.)
Turned out that I loved romance! So I started writing it, but again, my style and voice leaned toward the dark, paranormal side. Fortunately for me, paranormal romance, as a sub-genre, was booming. I let my imagination fly, and soon I'd sold a series of dark, sexy paranormal romances to Grand Central Publishing.
I still read a lot of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and in fact, one of my all time favorite books about writing is On Writing, by my favorite childhood horror author, Stephen King. If you're an author or a reader, I highly recommend this book for an insight into an author's mind—which can sometimes be a very scary place.
Go ahead; Seduce your dark side.
My Review:
I thought this book was good. It was a cool and different read. I have read other books by this author as well so I would say this I am now a fan because they are all very enjoyable. I think to I liked this book alot because it was a paranormal romance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmhjoeTD2UM
I would like to thank Brianne Beers from Hachette for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from Hachette)
They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.
Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.
Author Info: (from Hacette)
I began writing the way so many writers do—the moment I learned to wield a pencil. But even as a child, I didn't write "kid" stories. I preferred something more dramatic. Something that didn't include Dick, Jane, and a dog named Spot. I wanted my characters to be named Dracula and my dogs to have names like White Fang or Cujo. I'll always have my parents to thank for that. They never censored my reading material (though I suspect that if they had truly known what was between the covers of some of the books, they'd have been a little more careful,) so when other girls my age were reading Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume, I was immersing myself in Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
Later, after I'd joined the Air Force and was in dire need of something to read between shifts at the weather station, I continued to read horror, but I'd branched out into fantasy, and then, finally, romance (though I admit I went kicking and screaming to the latter.)
Turned out that I loved romance! So I started writing it, but again, my style and voice leaned toward the dark, paranormal side. Fortunately for me, paranormal romance, as a sub-genre, was booming. I let my imagination fly, and soon I'd sold a series of dark, sexy paranormal romances to Grand Central Publishing.
I still read a lot of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and in fact, one of my all time favorite books about writing is On Writing, by my favorite childhood horror author, Stephen King. If you're an author or a reader, I highly recommend this book for an insight into an author's mind—which can sometimes be a very scary place.
Go ahead; Seduce your dark side.
My Review:
I thought this book was good. It was a cool and different read. I have read other books by this author as well so I would say this I am now a fan because they are all very enjoyable. I think to I liked this book alot because it was a paranormal romance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmhjoeTD2UM
I would like to thank Brianne Beers from Hachette for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Finding Emilie
Today Im participating in a blog tour for the book Finding Emilie by Laurel Corona.
Book Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
Woman is born free, and everywhere she is in corsets. . . .
Lili du ChÂtelet yearns to know more about her mother, the brilliant French mathematician Emilie. But the shrouded details of Emilie's unconventional life—and her sudden death—are elusive. Caught between the confines of a convent upbringing and the intrigues of the Versailles court, Lili blossoms under the care of a Parisian salonniÈre as she absorbs the excitement of the Enlightenment, even as the scandalous shadow of her mother's past haunts her and puts her on her own path of self-discovery.
Laurel Corona's breathtaking new novel, set on the eve of the French Revolution, vividly illuminates the tensions of the times, and the dangerous dance between the need to conform and the desire to chart one's own destiny and journey of the heart.
Chapter 1
1759
"STOP WINNING all the time!" Delphine tossed her cards in the air in frustration that turned to laughter as they cascaded over Lili's head and fell around her on the bed. The two ten-year-old girls sat cross-legged in muslin nightdresses, curling their bare toes around ripples in the green velvet coverlet. Next to them, a small white dog snorted at the disturbance to his sleep.
Lili picked up the strewn cards and tapped the sides of the pack until they were aligned. "Want to play again? I told you how I do it."
Delphine sighed. "I know. You remember the cards we've already played. Me, it's king, queen, la-la-la."
"Well, you can't win at piquet if you don't know what's already happened."
"All of that remembering is like schoolwork. No more fun than doing sums." Delphine stood up on the bed behind Lili. "Want me to play with your hair? I'll get some combs and put it up just like Madame de Pompadour's." She picked up Lili's brown hair and crushed it in her hands on top of Lili's head. "Just like that," she said, pursing her lips and kissing the air in imitation of King Louis XV's mistress. "Where did you put your brush?"
Lili didn't answer. "They're arguing about something downstairs," she said, cocking her head. "Can you hear them?"
Delphine sniffed as she retrieved the brush from Lili's dressing table. "Who cares? Silly old men." While her back was turned, Lili hopped off the bed and tiptoed out into the upstairs hallway of HÔtel Bercy. The dog jumped down to follow her.
"Stanislas-AdÉlaÏde! Come back here!" she heard Delphine scold. "You're practically naked!" Lili turned and put her finger to her lips. "I'm going to try to listen."
"Well, at least put on your robe! I can see the outline of your bottom under your chemise!" Ignored, Delphine gave a dramatic sigh and, throwing on her dressing gown, came out into the hallway. "It's freezing," she whispered, picking up the tiny bichon frise and holding it to her chest. "Look! Tintin is shivering, even with his fur coat." She nuzzled him. "Aren't you, mon petit?"
"Shh!" Lili held a finger to her lips. "They're talking about the Jansenists, I think. Or maybe it's the Jesuits. It's hard to hear." Lili stood by the railing at the top of the staircase and cocked one ear. "I thought I heard someone call Jesuits a plague on France, but that can't be right." She listened again. "Or maybe it was that there's no place for them in France, but that doesn't make much sense either." She looked at Delphine. "They're priests. How could anyone think there's no need for priests?"
"You'll need one soon enough if you catch your death of cold," Delphine said, prancing on her bare toes. "My feet are turning to ice."
The voices downstairs had quieted again to an indistinguishable murmur. Lili suddenly became aware of floorboards so cold they burned her toes and sent goose bumps up her arms and legs. "Race you to bed!" she said with a grin as she dashed past Delphine. The two girls leapt onto the soft pile of bedcovers, and Tintin joined in the jumble of arms and legs, licking their eyes and noses until they squealed.
"Time for your hair," Delphine reminded her. Lili sat up, with Tintin in her lap, and Delphine knelt behind her. Lili closed her brown eyes in contentment as Delphine brushed her hair, but Lili's ears remained focused on the murmuring downstairs. "I'd like to know what they're so passionate about, wouldn't you?"
"Who?"
"The men at Maman's salon."
"Unless it's about me, I don't really care," Delphine said. She sat back on her haunches. "It would be rather nice to be Maman, wouldn't it? So beautiful and kind that everyone comes to her salon because they're secretly in love with her."
She crawled around in front of Lili, shooed the dog away, and laid her head in Lili's lap. "My arm's tired. Tell me a story," she pleaded. "About a beautiful princess. I don't care which one."
"Don't you get tired of those? How about 'Puss and Boots,' or something else for a change?"
Delphine glared at her and said nothing.
"All right," Lili conceded. "If you promise that just one will put you to sleep."
"Promise."
Lili took a deep breath. "Once upon a time …"
Corinne, the girls' femme de chambre, gave a cursory knock on the door frame before coming in. "I beg your pardon, mam'selles," the young servant said with a quick curtsey. "Madame said I am to make sure you have a good sleep before you return to the abbey tomorrow." She went to the table and extinguished an oil lamp. "Madame says that you may sleep in one bed if you wish."
With a groan of annoyance, Lili wiggled out from under Delphine's head and lay down beside her. When Corinne had arranged the covers over them, she blew out the candles, and shut the door behind her. Lili immediately sat back up in the dark, and Delphine resumed her position on her lap.
"Once upon a time there was a king and queen who had no children for years and years. Finally they had a baby daughter, and they asked seven fairies to be the godmothers. But they forgot about one fairy, who was so old she rarely left her tower."
"An ugly fairy," Delphine murmured. "With one good eye."
"Mmm. When she arrived and saw there was no place for her at the christening banquet, she was angry, and she cursed the baby girl to die of a spindle prick before she could be married …" Lili stroked Delphine's forehead. "Sleepy yet?"
"Of course not. You barely started. But skip to the part about the dresses she wore."
"Let's say the princess was called …" Lili pretended to be choosing a name before coming up with the same answer she always did. "Princess Delphine." Delphine sighed her approval and wiggled deeper into Lili's lap. "A new dress magically appeared for her every morning, and her petticoats left a trail of sparkles behind her."
"Sparkles?"
"Well, they are magic dresses," Lili said. "Do you like it?"
"Oh yes," Delphine whispered. "Put the sparkles in every time."
"One day the beautiful princess was wandering through the palace and she saw an old woman spinning …"
By the time Lili reached the point where Sleeping Beauty was awakened from a hundred-year sleep, Delphine's breathing was shallow, and her head was heavy on Lili's lap. "The prince noticed right away that her gown was hopelessly out of style," Lili continued. "Even his grandmother would not have been seen in public wearing it." If Delphine were awake, they would have added detail after ugly detail to the dress, but her breathing did not change. "So the wolf went to the grandmother's house and tricked the little girl into getting into bed with him. Then he ate her up, and they all lived happily ever after." Lili waited a few seconds before transferring Delphine's head to a pillow and snuggling in next to her.
She heard the voices of two departing guests and the sound of horses' hooves in the street just beyond the courtyard of HÔtel Bercy. What could they care enough to argue about week after week? Certainly not fairy stories, or anything she and Delphine were taught at the convent. Tintin snored softly next to her, and Delphine murmured something in her sleep. Lili yawned and put her arm around her, and let her thoughts drift off into nothing.
* * *
A SPRING THUNDERSTORM had drenched the city overnight. The next morning Corinne held up the backs of Lili's and Delphine's skirts to avoid muddying their hems in the few steps to the carriage, and sent them off before Maman was awake. The sky was clearing, but one gray cloud after another drifted in front of the sun, darkening the coach bearing the two girls down the Rue Saint-Antoine toward the center of Paris.
Wrapped in the gloom that always overcame them on these mornings, neither girl said a word as the carriage made its way between the narrow rows of shops and houses lining the Pont Notre-Dame, and then rattled across the Île de la CitÉ and the Petit Pont to the far side of the Seine. Though their private room at the Abbaye de PanthÉmont was furnished at Maman's expense with soft bedcovers and a thick rug on the floor, life at home was as cozy as the thick warm chocolat and fresh-baked brioche they had eaten for breakfast that morning. Being at HÔtel Bercy meant not having to get up for prayers and going to sleep only when Maman remembered to send Corinne. It meant being asked what they would like for supper, and having a dog that would beg and roll over for the tiniest scrap smuggled from the dining room.
Delphine sniffled. "I hate Sister ThÉrÈse." After a moment she added, "But not as much as I hate Sister Jeanne-Bertrand." Lili was silent, and Delphine went on. "I can't do anything well enough for them." She pinched her nostrils. "'Ladies don't get ink on their fingers when they write,'" she said in an imitation of Sister Jeanne-Bertrand so perfect that Lili giggled in spite of her dark mood.
In Rue Saint AndrÉ-des-Arts, the coach slowed to a stop. Obstructions in the streets were common enough that Delphine took no note. "'A lady's quality can be seen in the way she signs her name,'" she continued in the same nasal tone. "'Your handwriting is getting bigger. It must be all the same size, or you must start again.'"
Hearing the voices of a group of children in the narrow, unpaved street, Lili pulled back the curtain and peered out. Her eyes locked on a young man in a threadbare coat, but sporting a new hat in the latest style. He was swinging his walking stick at a group of ragged children, while one of them dangled just out of reach a book-size parcel tied with string.
"Give it back!" he shouted, as another boy with a dirty face and unkempt hair made a grab for the man's coat pocket. Two women in shabby dresses and soiled white caps watched the commotion from the doorway of a bakery, with no more interest than if they were watching birds peck for crumbs. Another passerby, older and slightly better dressed, grabbed one of the children and shoved him to the ground.
"Street scum!" he hissed, kicking the boy over and over again. "Get out of here before I knock your rotten little teeth out!" Neither woman made any move to intervene, but one of them shook a fist. "Leave him alone!" she said. "Can't you see he's got nothing in this world, and you so rich and all?"
The boy holding the parcel grinned and cocked his head as he danced backward down the street, and the others who had escaped the man's wrath followed slowly enough to convey they were not frightened in the least by anyone or anything. Lili's carriage started forward with a lurch, just as another coach passed in the other direction and sprayed thick, black mud onto the window where her face was pressed. Startled, Lili sat back, but she immediately leaned forward again to look out through the one spot that was not covered with slime. Splattered black from head to toe, including the new hat, the two men waved their fists in the air, cursing the world.
Lili giggled for a moment, before pressing her gloved fingers to her mouth so Delphine wouldn't notice. She was sure to turn the men's misfortune into something to joke about, and what happened really wasn't funny. The carriage had barely moved before stopping again, and Lili craned her neck to keep watching. The boy had gotten up and was now walking in their direction, showing no signs at all that he had just been kicked repeatedly in the ribs. He had his hands in his pockets and under his muddy cap he was grinning and bobbing his head as if he might be humming a tune.
He stopped for a moment to make sure the older man wasn't watching and then pulled a gold watch from his pocket. As he brushed a spot of mud from its surface, he looked up and saw Lili watching him from the carriage. With a smirk, he swung it by the fob for a moment just to make sure she saw. Then he stuck out his tongue and ran down an alley before the man had a chance to notice his pocket had been picked.
ALONG THE RUE de Grenelle, the tight squeeze of buildings and narrow streets gave way to more stately buildings and patches of tidy gardens as the street left the city and became a country road connecting the farming village of Grenelle with Paris. Just before the grounds of Les Invalides, the coach pulled up at the Abbaye de PanthÉmont. A porter and a young novice emerged from the imposing stone building, and the girls and their belongings were whisked inside.
Despite the chill lingering in the walls, the fire was unlit, as it was May. Lili unwrapped the copy of Madame d'Aulnoy's fairy tales she had brought from home. She opened it to the place she had left off, marked by a ribbon between the pages. "I wish I could stay here and read," she said, looking at the engraving of the sad and ragged princess Finette Cendron.
Delphine sighed as she unlaced her boots. Shivering in the musty cold, they changed out of their traveling clothes and into the simple dresses that were the uniform of the convent, before going out into the hallway.
"Time to say hello to Mother-Ugly," Delphine whispered softly enough not to be overheard. At one point in her life, Abbess MarieCatherine had lost an eye, and though the embroidered black velvet patch she wore was tasteful, a one-eyed nun was enough to warrant horror, if not abject fear.
"Do you think she used to be a pirate?" Delphine had asked when they were eight and saw her for the first time.
"I'm quite sure not," Lili had said. "Maybe she was born that way. Maybe she had a tiny eye patch even then. A pretty white one to match her christening bonnet."
Delphine's eyes were huge. "Do you really think so?"
"Maybe a raven pecked her eye out," Lili went on. "You know, like the birds who ate Prometheus's liver."
"Over and over again," Delphine shuddered. She thought for a moment. "Do you think perhaps she was supposed to be born a Cyclops and some goddess had mercy on her and softened the curse?"
"Or maybe an evil wanderer in the streets of the Faubourg Saint-Germain scooped it out with a spoon."
Lili knew she had gone too far when she saw Delphine's face. "Things like that can't happen to us, can they?" Delphine had whimpered.
Lili rushed to reassure her that she just liked to make things up, and Delphine forced her to promise never to invent anything that involved people who might actually live in Paris.
A few minutes later, the two made the short visit required of returning girls, and before being turned away by a servant, they caught a glimpse of the abbess without her patch. Over the hollow cavity, her lids had been sewn together, and the scars formed what looked like stubby white eyelashes. The girls backed away in shock and ran to their room, where Delphine vomited into a washbasin and Lili retched in sympathetic dry heaves until her stomach was sore.
Still, Lili told Delphine later, when she had a chance to think about it some more, it wasn't fair to blame the abbess, because it was hard to imagine how losing an eye was her fault.
"I know," Delphine said, "but still, there should be something she can do not to bother people so much."
"Perhaps she could wear a hood that covered her whole face, with one hole for her good eye," Lili suggested. She meant it as a joke, but Delphine took all solutions seriously, including wearing shimmering veils like a harem girl, until Lili pointed out how unlikely that would be for a nun.
Finally Delphine dismissed the entire subject. "All I know is I would never let that happen to me," she said, touching each of her eyes tenderly. "I'd die first, wouldn't you?"
Wondering for a moment if losing an eye might give someone a secret, compensatory magic, Lili didn't respond. Maybe that's the real reason the abbess is so frightening, she thought. She has a power we don't even know about. "I think I'd have to wait and see," she finally replied. "It's probably a good idea to wait to see how desperate you really are."
THE AFTERNOON OF their return to the abbey, Lili and Delphine went with a few other girls to a wood-paneled study with large windows giving out onto a lawn bordered with tidy flowers and neatly clipped hedges. Sister ThÉrÈse, their catechism nun, was leafing through one of the leather-bound books in an ornately carved bookcase.
"Good afternoon, madame," each girl said before taking her place on one of the couches arranged around a fireplace.
"Bien," the middle-aged nun said, coming over to her chair without sitting down. "Shall we pray?" The girls all stood up and crossed themselves, and Lili heard Delphine suppress a burp from their just-completed midday meal. "in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen," they murmured before droning an Ave Maria and a Pater Noster. Sister ThÉrÈse gestured to them to sit down, and after she was settled in an armchair facing them, she opened her book.
"Today is the feast day of Saint Solange," she said, looking over the top of her spectacles at the girls. "Would anyone like to tell us who this blessed martyr was?"
Delphine straightened her back so quickly that Lili thought she might fly off the chair. "She was a shepherdess on the estate of the Comte of Poitiers, who had an evil son," Delphine blurted out, and though her feet were hidden under her skirt, she jiggled them so intensely that Lili felt the motion against her own thigh.
"Young ladies, wait to be called upon," the nun said. "And don't speak so quickly. It isn't becoming to sound so excited."
"Oui, Sister ThÉrÈse," Delphine said, looking down at her lap. "Saint Solange took a vow of chastity because she was so devoted to God and when the count's horrid son Bernard tried to—tried to—"
"Tried to force himself on her," the nun prompted.
"Oui, Sister ThÉrÈse. When he tried to do that, she resisted him with all her might, so he killed her."
Sister ThÉrÈse frowned. "Does someone else feel they can tell the story with the dignity it warrants?"
Lili felt Delphine sit back in surprise, and knew that back in their room she would be in tears. "What did I do wrong?" she would ask. "Didn't I know the story? Didn't I care enough about that stupid saint?"
"Mademoiselle de Praslin," the nun said, "would you be so kind as to say what happened, and do so with the proper demeanor for a lady?"
Delphine pushed her hand down in the space between her skirt and Lili's. Lili's hand followed, and squeezing their interlaced fingers, they stared at the floor while Anne-Mathilde de Praslin spoke. Anne-Mathilde was the daughter of the Duc de Praslin, one of the richest and most powerful men in France. At twelve, she was two years older than Lili and Delphine, and her body was beginning to take on the curves of a woman. Her hair was pale gold and her skin, a radiant ivory, was so lacking in flaws it seemed to be made of something other than flesh. "A perfect beauty," Lili had overheard one of the nuns remarking. "A bride worthy of a great noble of France." If Delphine hated Sister ThÉrÈse, she truly loathed Anne-Mathilde—a sentiment she could count on Lili to embellish in the darkness of their room.
"Bernard tried a number of times to grab Solange and force her to the ground," Anne-Mathilde said in a deliberately musical voice, casting a gloating look at Delphine that only Lili saw. "But Solange prayed to the Blessed Virgin, who gave her the strength to fight him off. He was angry, not just because he couldn't have her, but because she had embarrassed him in front of his friends."
Anne-Mathilde's best friend, JosÉphine de Maurepas, nodded. "If I may add a detail," she said in a voice so simpering, it was all Lili could do not to grab the girl's hair and twist it until she squealed. JosÉphine was also twelve, like Anne-Mathilde, but so scrawny it was hard to imagine she would ever look like anything but a little girl. The drab ash-brown of Josephine's hair and the way she scurried around in thrall of her best friend made Lili think of the little mice she'd watched the scullery maids shoo away with a broom at home.
"I'd like to remind everyone that Bernard fell off his horse once trying to reach down and pull Solange onto it," JosÉphine was saying. "To fall off a horse for a peasant girl …?" Her voice curled up, as if she were asking whether anyone in the room really needed her to explain the disgrace.
Sister ThÉrÈse gave them each a nod of approval. "And now, Stanislas-AdÉlaÏde," she said, her eyes narrowing, "will you finish the story for us?"
I should have known Sister ThÉrÈse would do this, Lili thought. Delphine had been ridiculed, and now Lili had to retell the part of the story Delphine relished most. Lili withdrew her hand and brushed her ear, the secret signal with which she and Delphine warned each other to keep a straight face regardless of what was said next.
"I can certainly do that, Sister ThÉrÈse," Lili said, copying Anne-Mathilde and JosÉphine's unctuous tone. "Because at home Mademoiselle de Bercy and I often discuss the important message about piety the story contains for girls our age." A lie is a small sin, she thought, especially for Delphine. "However, I find it particularly edifying to hear Delphine tell it, and I believe the others have not had that opportunity. May I ask if she might be permitted to finish the story herself?"
Lili heard the rustling of Anne-Mathilde's and JosÉphine's dresses and knew without looking that their faces were shining with anticipation of something new to disparage. Sister ThÉrÈse stared at Lili for a moment before she spoke. "If Mademoiselle feels she can control her urge to tell it so breathlessly?" Her eyebrows arched as she turned to Delphine.
"Bernard beheaded her," Delphine said. "But even with her head on the ground, she was able to invoke the name of God three times." Though Delphine may have sounded demure and ladylike, Lili recognized the discouragement in her tone. At home, away from the nuns' disapproval, Delphine would have stood up and tapped her shoulders and neck with her hands, as if surprised to realize that her head was no longer there. "Mon Dieu," she would have said in a loud voice, before repeating it more plaintively as she crumpled to the floor. "Mon Dieu," she would have whispered a third time, tapping the floor like a blind person until she found her head and picked it up.
"Then Solange walked into the town," Lili heard Delphine say. "It wasn't until she reached the church that she fell to the ground and died."
"May God's holy name be praised," Sister ThÉrÈse murmured, and everyone made the sign of the cross.
"Did I do better?" Delphine asked, her voice rising in hope of at least faint praise.
"It was an improvement," the nun said. "But it isn't seemly for a young lady to beg for approval." Anne-Mathilde and JosÉphine stifled a giggle behind their hands.
"I understand," Delphine said. Lili could hear the tremor in Delphine's voice. "I want nothing more than to improve myself," Delphine added. Lili looked to see if she was touching her ear, but she wasn't.
"And with God's grace, you will succeed, my child," Sister ThÉrÈse said. "With God's grace, and with faith, anything is possible." She crossed herself. "After all, look at our blessed Saint Solange."
"Oui, Sister ThÉrÈse." Out of the corner of her eye, Lili saw Delphine cross herself. She rushed to do the same, but so quickly that she did it again, just to make sure it counted.
DELPHINE'S TEARS GAVE way to exhausted sniffles and then to light snoring in their room that night. The candle was still lit, and Lili picked up her book of fairy tales to read until her mind was quiet enough for sleep.
"Once upon a time there was a king and queen who ruled so badly they lost their kingdom, and they and their three daughters were reduced to day labor." The story of Finette Cendron was one of Lili's favorites, but tonight none of the stories in the book was likely to amuse her.
She went to the desk and took out a sheet of paper already nearly full of penmanship exercises. I could try writing a story myself, she thought. She touched the tip of a quill in the inkwell on the desk. Then, squinting to focus in the dim light, she began.
"Once upon a time …"
Once upon a time what? She thought for a moment, and suddenly it came to her.
"Once upon a time, there was a girl living in a dreary village who wanted nothing more than to travel to the stars. Her name was …"
Lili thought for a moment. She could call her Delphine and put some dresses in the story, but she didn't want to do that. She scratched out the last three words and dipped her quill again.
"Meadowlark had a laugh like a songbird, so everybody called her Meadowlark. Every night Meadowlark would sneak outside and hope with all her might that her wish could come true. And then, to her surprise, one night a horse made of starlight appeared in front of her. 'Are you the girl named Meadowlark?' the horse asked. When she said yes, the horse snorted and reared up. 'My name is ComÈte,' it said. 'Climb on my back.' Before she knew it, ComÈte had galloped off with her into the night sky, leaving behind a trail of stars wherever its hooves touched."
Lili's eyes ached in the flickering candlelight. She would have to stop. Dipping her pen one more time, she wrote in big letters at the top of the page, "Meadowlark, by S.-A. du ChÂtelet."
© 2011 Laurel corona
My review:
I thought this book was great! It was really well written and I got so involved in the story. I loved the characters and every aspect of this book it was such a breath of fresh air. This book also made me want to try to find out more about Emilie as well! The cover of this book was great! I would very highly recomend this novel!
I would like to thank the people from Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
Woman is born free, and everywhere she is in corsets. . . .
Lili du ChÂtelet yearns to know more about her mother, the brilliant French mathematician Emilie. But the shrouded details of Emilie's unconventional life—and her sudden death—are elusive. Caught between the confines of a convent upbringing and the intrigues of the Versailles court, Lili blossoms under the care of a Parisian salonniÈre as she absorbs the excitement of the Enlightenment, even as the scandalous shadow of her mother's past haunts her and puts her on her own path of self-discovery.
Laurel Corona's breathtaking new novel, set on the eve of the French Revolution, vividly illuminates the tensions of the times, and the dangerous dance between the need to conform and the desire to chart one's own destiny and journey of the heart.
Chapter 1
1759
"STOP WINNING all the time!" Delphine tossed her cards in the air in frustration that turned to laughter as they cascaded over Lili's head and fell around her on the bed. The two ten-year-old girls sat cross-legged in muslin nightdresses, curling their bare toes around ripples in the green velvet coverlet. Next to them, a small white dog snorted at the disturbance to his sleep.
Lili picked up the strewn cards and tapped the sides of the pack until they were aligned. "Want to play again? I told you how I do it."
Delphine sighed. "I know. You remember the cards we've already played. Me, it's king, queen, la-la-la."
"Well, you can't win at piquet if you don't know what's already happened."
"All of that remembering is like schoolwork. No more fun than doing sums." Delphine stood up on the bed behind Lili. "Want me to play with your hair? I'll get some combs and put it up just like Madame de Pompadour's." She picked up Lili's brown hair and crushed it in her hands on top of Lili's head. "Just like that," she said, pursing her lips and kissing the air in imitation of King Louis XV's mistress. "Where did you put your brush?"
Lili didn't answer. "They're arguing about something downstairs," she said, cocking her head. "Can you hear them?"
Delphine sniffed as she retrieved the brush from Lili's dressing table. "Who cares? Silly old men." While her back was turned, Lili hopped off the bed and tiptoed out into the upstairs hallway of HÔtel Bercy. The dog jumped down to follow her.
"Stanislas-AdÉlaÏde! Come back here!" she heard Delphine scold. "You're practically naked!" Lili turned and put her finger to her lips. "I'm going to try to listen."
"Well, at least put on your robe! I can see the outline of your bottom under your chemise!" Ignored, Delphine gave a dramatic sigh and, throwing on her dressing gown, came out into the hallway. "It's freezing," she whispered, picking up the tiny bichon frise and holding it to her chest. "Look! Tintin is shivering, even with his fur coat." She nuzzled him. "Aren't you, mon petit?"
"Shh!" Lili held a finger to her lips. "They're talking about the Jansenists, I think. Or maybe it's the Jesuits. It's hard to hear." Lili stood by the railing at the top of the staircase and cocked one ear. "I thought I heard someone call Jesuits a plague on France, but that can't be right." She listened again. "Or maybe it was that there's no place for them in France, but that doesn't make much sense either." She looked at Delphine. "They're priests. How could anyone think there's no need for priests?"
"You'll need one soon enough if you catch your death of cold," Delphine said, prancing on her bare toes. "My feet are turning to ice."
The voices downstairs had quieted again to an indistinguishable murmur. Lili suddenly became aware of floorboards so cold they burned her toes and sent goose bumps up her arms and legs. "Race you to bed!" she said with a grin as she dashed past Delphine. The two girls leapt onto the soft pile of bedcovers, and Tintin joined in the jumble of arms and legs, licking their eyes and noses until they squealed.
"Time for your hair," Delphine reminded her. Lili sat up, with Tintin in her lap, and Delphine knelt behind her. Lili closed her brown eyes in contentment as Delphine brushed her hair, but Lili's ears remained focused on the murmuring downstairs. "I'd like to know what they're so passionate about, wouldn't you?"
"Who?"
"The men at Maman's salon."
"Unless it's about me, I don't really care," Delphine said. She sat back on her haunches. "It would be rather nice to be Maman, wouldn't it? So beautiful and kind that everyone comes to her salon because they're secretly in love with her."
She crawled around in front of Lili, shooed the dog away, and laid her head in Lili's lap. "My arm's tired. Tell me a story," she pleaded. "About a beautiful princess. I don't care which one."
"Don't you get tired of those? How about 'Puss and Boots,' or something else for a change?"
Delphine glared at her and said nothing.
"All right," Lili conceded. "If you promise that just one will put you to sleep."
"Promise."
Lili took a deep breath. "Once upon a time …"
Corinne, the girls' femme de chambre, gave a cursory knock on the door frame before coming in. "I beg your pardon, mam'selles," the young servant said with a quick curtsey. "Madame said I am to make sure you have a good sleep before you return to the abbey tomorrow." She went to the table and extinguished an oil lamp. "Madame says that you may sleep in one bed if you wish."
With a groan of annoyance, Lili wiggled out from under Delphine's head and lay down beside her. When Corinne had arranged the covers over them, she blew out the candles, and shut the door behind her. Lili immediately sat back up in the dark, and Delphine resumed her position on her lap.
"Once upon a time there was a king and queen who had no children for years and years. Finally they had a baby daughter, and they asked seven fairies to be the godmothers. But they forgot about one fairy, who was so old she rarely left her tower."
"An ugly fairy," Delphine murmured. "With one good eye."
"Mmm. When she arrived and saw there was no place for her at the christening banquet, she was angry, and she cursed the baby girl to die of a spindle prick before she could be married …" Lili stroked Delphine's forehead. "Sleepy yet?"
"Of course not. You barely started. But skip to the part about the dresses she wore."
"Let's say the princess was called …" Lili pretended to be choosing a name before coming up with the same answer she always did. "Princess Delphine." Delphine sighed her approval and wiggled deeper into Lili's lap. "A new dress magically appeared for her every morning, and her petticoats left a trail of sparkles behind her."
"Sparkles?"
"Well, they are magic dresses," Lili said. "Do you like it?"
"Oh yes," Delphine whispered. "Put the sparkles in every time."
"One day the beautiful princess was wandering through the palace and she saw an old woman spinning …"
By the time Lili reached the point where Sleeping Beauty was awakened from a hundred-year sleep, Delphine's breathing was shallow, and her head was heavy on Lili's lap. "The prince noticed right away that her gown was hopelessly out of style," Lili continued. "Even his grandmother would not have been seen in public wearing it." If Delphine were awake, they would have added detail after ugly detail to the dress, but her breathing did not change. "So the wolf went to the grandmother's house and tricked the little girl into getting into bed with him. Then he ate her up, and they all lived happily ever after." Lili waited a few seconds before transferring Delphine's head to a pillow and snuggling in next to her.
She heard the voices of two departing guests and the sound of horses' hooves in the street just beyond the courtyard of HÔtel Bercy. What could they care enough to argue about week after week? Certainly not fairy stories, or anything she and Delphine were taught at the convent. Tintin snored softly next to her, and Delphine murmured something in her sleep. Lili yawned and put her arm around her, and let her thoughts drift off into nothing.
* * *
A SPRING THUNDERSTORM had drenched the city overnight. The next morning Corinne held up the backs of Lili's and Delphine's skirts to avoid muddying their hems in the few steps to the carriage, and sent them off before Maman was awake. The sky was clearing, but one gray cloud after another drifted in front of the sun, darkening the coach bearing the two girls down the Rue Saint-Antoine toward the center of Paris.
Wrapped in the gloom that always overcame them on these mornings, neither girl said a word as the carriage made its way between the narrow rows of shops and houses lining the Pont Notre-Dame, and then rattled across the Île de la CitÉ and the Petit Pont to the far side of the Seine. Though their private room at the Abbaye de PanthÉmont was furnished at Maman's expense with soft bedcovers and a thick rug on the floor, life at home was as cozy as the thick warm chocolat and fresh-baked brioche they had eaten for breakfast that morning. Being at HÔtel Bercy meant not having to get up for prayers and going to sleep only when Maman remembered to send Corinne. It meant being asked what they would like for supper, and having a dog that would beg and roll over for the tiniest scrap smuggled from the dining room.
Delphine sniffled. "I hate Sister ThÉrÈse." After a moment she added, "But not as much as I hate Sister Jeanne-Bertrand." Lili was silent, and Delphine went on. "I can't do anything well enough for them." She pinched her nostrils. "'Ladies don't get ink on their fingers when they write,'" she said in an imitation of Sister Jeanne-Bertrand so perfect that Lili giggled in spite of her dark mood.
In Rue Saint AndrÉ-des-Arts, the coach slowed to a stop. Obstructions in the streets were common enough that Delphine took no note. "'A lady's quality can be seen in the way she signs her name,'" she continued in the same nasal tone. "'Your handwriting is getting bigger. It must be all the same size, or you must start again.'"
Hearing the voices of a group of children in the narrow, unpaved street, Lili pulled back the curtain and peered out. Her eyes locked on a young man in a threadbare coat, but sporting a new hat in the latest style. He was swinging his walking stick at a group of ragged children, while one of them dangled just out of reach a book-size parcel tied with string.
"Give it back!" he shouted, as another boy with a dirty face and unkempt hair made a grab for the man's coat pocket. Two women in shabby dresses and soiled white caps watched the commotion from the doorway of a bakery, with no more interest than if they were watching birds peck for crumbs. Another passerby, older and slightly better dressed, grabbed one of the children and shoved him to the ground.
"Street scum!" he hissed, kicking the boy over and over again. "Get out of here before I knock your rotten little teeth out!" Neither woman made any move to intervene, but one of them shook a fist. "Leave him alone!" she said. "Can't you see he's got nothing in this world, and you so rich and all?"
The boy holding the parcel grinned and cocked his head as he danced backward down the street, and the others who had escaped the man's wrath followed slowly enough to convey they were not frightened in the least by anyone or anything. Lili's carriage started forward with a lurch, just as another coach passed in the other direction and sprayed thick, black mud onto the window where her face was pressed. Startled, Lili sat back, but she immediately leaned forward again to look out through the one spot that was not covered with slime. Splattered black from head to toe, including the new hat, the two men waved their fists in the air, cursing the world.
Lili giggled for a moment, before pressing her gloved fingers to her mouth so Delphine wouldn't notice. She was sure to turn the men's misfortune into something to joke about, and what happened really wasn't funny. The carriage had barely moved before stopping again, and Lili craned her neck to keep watching. The boy had gotten up and was now walking in their direction, showing no signs at all that he had just been kicked repeatedly in the ribs. He had his hands in his pockets and under his muddy cap he was grinning and bobbing his head as if he might be humming a tune.
He stopped for a moment to make sure the older man wasn't watching and then pulled a gold watch from his pocket. As he brushed a spot of mud from its surface, he looked up and saw Lili watching him from the carriage. With a smirk, he swung it by the fob for a moment just to make sure she saw. Then he stuck out his tongue and ran down an alley before the man had a chance to notice his pocket had been picked.
ALONG THE RUE de Grenelle, the tight squeeze of buildings and narrow streets gave way to more stately buildings and patches of tidy gardens as the street left the city and became a country road connecting the farming village of Grenelle with Paris. Just before the grounds of Les Invalides, the coach pulled up at the Abbaye de PanthÉmont. A porter and a young novice emerged from the imposing stone building, and the girls and their belongings were whisked inside.
Despite the chill lingering in the walls, the fire was unlit, as it was May. Lili unwrapped the copy of Madame d'Aulnoy's fairy tales she had brought from home. She opened it to the place she had left off, marked by a ribbon between the pages. "I wish I could stay here and read," she said, looking at the engraving of the sad and ragged princess Finette Cendron.
Delphine sighed as she unlaced her boots. Shivering in the musty cold, they changed out of their traveling clothes and into the simple dresses that were the uniform of the convent, before going out into the hallway.
"Time to say hello to Mother-Ugly," Delphine whispered softly enough not to be overheard. At one point in her life, Abbess MarieCatherine had lost an eye, and though the embroidered black velvet patch she wore was tasteful, a one-eyed nun was enough to warrant horror, if not abject fear.
"Do you think she used to be a pirate?" Delphine had asked when they were eight and saw her for the first time.
"I'm quite sure not," Lili had said. "Maybe she was born that way. Maybe she had a tiny eye patch even then. A pretty white one to match her christening bonnet."
Delphine's eyes were huge. "Do you really think so?"
"Maybe a raven pecked her eye out," Lili went on. "You know, like the birds who ate Prometheus's liver."
"Over and over again," Delphine shuddered. She thought for a moment. "Do you think perhaps she was supposed to be born a Cyclops and some goddess had mercy on her and softened the curse?"
"Or maybe an evil wanderer in the streets of the Faubourg Saint-Germain scooped it out with a spoon."
Lili knew she had gone too far when she saw Delphine's face. "Things like that can't happen to us, can they?" Delphine had whimpered.
Lili rushed to reassure her that she just liked to make things up, and Delphine forced her to promise never to invent anything that involved people who might actually live in Paris.
A few minutes later, the two made the short visit required of returning girls, and before being turned away by a servant, they caught a glimpse of the abbess without her patch. Over the hollow cavity, her lids had been sewn together, and the scars formed what looked like stubby white eyelashes. The girls backed away in shock and ran to their room, where Delphine vomited into a washbasin and Lili retched in sympathetic dry heaves until her stomach was sore.
Still, Lili told Delphine later, when she had a chance to think about it some more, it wasn't fair to blame the abbess, because it was hard to imagine how losing an eye was her fault.
"I know," Delphine said, "but still, there should be something she can do not to bother people so much."
"Perhaps she could wear a hood that covered her whole face, with one hole for her good eye," Lili suggested. She meant it as a joke, but Delphine took all solutions seriously, including wearing shimmering veils like a harem girl, until Lili pointed out how unlikely that would be for a nun.
Finally Delphine dismissed the entire subject. "All I know is I would never let that happen to me," she said, touching each of her eyes tenderly. "I'd die first, wouldn't you?"
Wondering for a moment if losing an eye might give someone a secret, compensatory magic, Lili didn't respond. Maybe that's the real reason the abbess is so frightening, she thought. She has a power we don't even know about. "I think I'd have to wait and see," she finally replied. "It's probably a good idea to wait to see how desperate you really are."
THE AFTERNOON OF their return to the abbey, Lili and Delphine went with a few other girls to a wood-paneled study with large windows giving out onto a lawn bordered with tidy flowers and neatly clipped hedges. Sister ThÉrÈse, their catechism nun, was leafing through one of the leather-bound books in an ornately carved bookcase.
"Good afternoon, madame," each girl said before taking her place on one of the couches arranged around a fireplace.
"Bien," the middle-aged nun said, coming over to her chair without sitting down. "Shall we pray?" The girls all stood up and crossed themselves, and Lili heard Delphine suppress a burp from their just-completed midday meal. "in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen," they murmured before droning an Ave Maria and a Pater Noster. Sister ThÉrÈse gestured to them to sit down, and after she was settled in an armchair facing them, she opened her book.
"Today is the feast day of Saint Solange," she said, looking over the top of her spectacles at the girls. "Would anyone like to tell us who this blessed martyr was?"
Delphine straightened her back so quickly that Lili thought she might fly off the chair. "She was a shepherdess on the estate of the Comte of Poitiers, who had an evil son," Delphine blurted out, and though her feet were hidden under her skirt, she jiggled them so intensely that Lili felt the motion against her own thigh.
"Young ladies, wait to be called upon," the nun said. "And don't speak so quickly. It isn't becoming to sound so excited."
"Oui, Sister ThÉrÈse," Delphine said, looking down at her lap. "Saint Solange took a vow of chastity because she was so devoted to God and when the count's horrid son Bernard tried to—tried to—"
"Tried to force himself on her," the nun prompted.
"Oui, Sister ThÉrÈse. When he tried to do that, she resisted him with all her might, so he killed her."
Sister ThÉrÈse frowned. "Does someone else feel they can tell the story with the dignity it warrants?"
Lili felt Delphine sit back in surprise, and knew that back in their room she would be in tears. "What did I do wrong?" she would ask. "Didn't I know the story? Didn't I care enough about that stupid saint?"
"Mademoiselle de Praslin," the nun said, "would you be so kind as to say what happened, and do so with the proper demeanor for a lady?"
Delphine pushed her hand down in the space between her skirt and Lili's. Lili's hand followed, and squeezing their interlaced fingers, they stared at the floor while Anne-Mathilde de Praslin spoke. Anne-Mathilde was the daughter of the Duc de Praslin, one of the richest and most powerful men in France. At twelve, she was two years older than Lili and Delphine, and her body was beginning to take on the curves of a woman. Her hair was pale gold and her skin, a radiant ivory, was so lacking in flaws it seemed to be made of something other than flesh. "A perfect beauty," Lili had overheard one of the nuns remarking. "A bride worthy of a great noble of France." If Delphine hated Sister ThÉrÈse, she truly loathed Anne-Mathilde—a sentiment she could count on Lili to embellish in the darkness of their room.
"Bernard tried a number of times to grab Solange and force her to the ground," Anne-Mathilde said in a deliberately musical voice, casting a gloating look at Delphine that only Lili saw. "But Solange prayed to the Blessed Virgin, who gave her the strength to fight him off. He was angry, not just because he couldn't have her, but because she had embarrassed him in front of his friends."
Anne-Mathilde's best friend, JosÉphine de Maurepas, nodded. "If I may add a detail," she said in a voice so simpering, it was all Lili could do not to grab the girl's hair and twist it until she squealed. JosÉphine was also twelve, like Anne-Mathilde, but so scrawny it was hard to imagine she would ever look like anything but a little girl. The drab ash-brown of Josephine's hair and the way she scurried around in thrall of her best friend made Lili think of the little mice she'd watched the scullery maids shoo away with a broom at home.
"I'd like to remind everyone that Bernard fell off his horse once trying to reach down and pull Solange onto it," JosÉphine was saying. "To fall off a horse for a peasant girl …?" Her voice curled up, as if she were asking whether anyone in the room really needed her to explain the disgrace.
Sister ThÉrÈse gave them each a nod of approval. "And now, Stanislas-AdÉlaÏde," she said, her eyes narrowing, "will you finish the story for us?"
I should have known Sister ThÉrÈse would do this, Lili thought. Delphine had been ridiculed, and now Lili had to retell the part of the story Delphine relished most. Lili withdrew her hand and brushed her ear, the secret signal with which she and Delphine warned each other to keep a straight face regardless of what was said next.
"I can certainly do that, Sister ThÉrÈse," Lili said, copying Anne-Mathilde and JosÉphine's unctuous tone. "Because at home Mademoiselle de Bercy and I often discuss the important message about piety the story contains for girls our age." A lie is a small sin, she thought, especially for Delphine. "However, I find it particularly edifying to hear Delphine tell it, and I believe the others have not had that opportunity. May I ask if she might be permitted to finish the story herself?"
Lili heard the rustling of Anne-Mathilde's and JosÉphine's dresses and knew without looking that their faces were shining with anticipation of something new to disparage. Sister ThÉrÈse stared at Lili for a moment before she spoke. "If Mademoiselle feels she can control her urge to tell it so breathlessly?" Her eyebrows arched as she turned to Delphine.
"Bernard beheaded her," Delphine said. "But even with her head on the ground, she was able to invoke the name of God three times." Though Delphine may have sounded demure and ladylike, Lili recognized the discouragement in her tone. At home, away from the nuns' disapproval, Delphine would have stood up and tapped her shoulders and neck with her hands, as if surprised to realize that her head was no longer there. "Mon Dieu," she would have said in a loud voice, before repeating it more plaintively as she crumpled to the floor. "Mon Dieu," she would have whispered a third time, tapping the floor like a blind person until she found her head and picked it up.
"Then Solange walked into the town," Lili heard Delphine say. "It wasn't until she reached the church that she fell to the ground and died."
"May God's holy name be praised," Sister ThÉrÈse murmured, and everyone made the sign of the cross.
"Did I do better?" Delphine asked, her voice rising in hope of at least faint praise.
"It was an improvement," the nun said. "But it isn't seemly for a young lady to beg for approval." Anne-Mathilde and JosÉphine stifled a giggle behind their hands.
"I understand," Delphine said. Lili could hear the tremor in Delphine's voice. "I want nothing more than to improve myself," Delphine added. Lili looked to see if she was touching her ear, but she wasn't.
"And with God's grace, you will succeed, my child," Sister ThÉrÈse said. "With God's grace, and with faith, anything is possible." She crossed herself. "After all, look at our blessed Saint Solange."
"Oui, Sister ThÉrÈse." Out of the corner of her eye, Lili saw Delphine cross herself. She rushed to do the same, but so quickly that she did it again, just to make sure it counted.
DELPHINE'S TEARS GAVE way to exhausted sniffles and then to light snoring in their room that night. The candle was still lit, and Lili picked up her book of fairy tales to read until her mind was quiet enough for sleep.
"Once upon a time there was a king and queen who ruled so badly they lost their kingdom, and they and their three daughters were reduced to day labor." The story of Finette Cendron was one of Lili's favorites, but tonight none of the stories in the book was likely to amuse her.
She went to the desk and took out a sheet of paper already nearly full of penmanship exercises. I could try writing a story myself, she thought. She touched the tip of a quill in the inkwell on the desk. Then, squinting to focus in the dim light, she began.
"Once upon a time …"
Once upon a time what? She thought for a moment, and suddenly it came to her.
"Once upon a time, there was a girl living in a dreary village who wanted nothing more than to travel to the stars. Her name was …"
Lili thought for a moment. She could call her Delphine and put some dresses in the story, but she didn't want to do that. She scratched out the last three words and dipped her quill again.
"Meadowlark had a laugh like a songbird, so everybody called her Meadowlark. Every night Meadowlark would sneak outside and hope with all her might that her wish could come true. And then, to her surprise, one night a horse made of starlight appeared in front of her. 'Are you the girl named Meadowlark?' the horse asked. When she said yes, the horse snorted and reared up. 'My name is ComÈte,' it said. 'Climb on my back.' Before she knew it, ComÈte had galloped off with her into the night sky, leaving behind a trail of stars wherever its hooves touched."
Lili's eyes ached in the flickering candlelight. She would have to stop. Dipping her pen one more time, she wrote in big letters at the top of the page, "Meadowlark, by S.-A. du ChÂtelet."
© 2011 Laurel corona
My review:
I thought this book was great! It was really well written and I got so involved in the story. I loved the characters and every aspect of this book it was such a breath of fresh air. This book also made me want to try to find out more about Emilie as well! The cover of this book was great! I would very highly recomend this novel!
I would like to thank the people from Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
The Guardian
The Guardian
by Margaret Mallory
This was a nice and enjoyable historical romance novel. I liked the characters and thought it was well written. The covers cool too! This is not the first book I have read by Margaret Malloy and it wont be my last either! I would highly recomend this book!
I would like to thank Anna from Hachette for letting me read and review this book!
by Margaret Mallory
This was a nice and enjoyable historical romance novel. I liked the characters and thought it was well written. The covers cool too! This is not the first book I have read by Margaret Malloy and it wont be my last either! I would highly recomend this book!
I would like to thank Anna from Hachette for letting me read and review this book!
In Zanesville
In Zanesville
by Jo Ann Beard
I did not enjoy reading this book. I got bored reading it and I could not connect with the characters. I also thought this books cover also was very boring just very gray and blah. I didnt like this book and would not recomend it. It just wasnt for me.
by Jo Ann Beard
I did not enjoy reading this book. I got bored reading it and I could not connect with the characters. I also thought this books cover also was very boring just very gray and blah. I didnt like this book and would not recomend it. It just wasnt for me.
How Music Works
How Music Works: The science and psychology of beautiful sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and beyond
by John Powell
This non fiction book I thought was very interesting. I learned alot from it. I really appriciated how the book was written so that everybody could understand it. I would highly recomend this book!
by John Powell
This non fiction book I thought was very interesting. I learned alot from it. I really appriciated how the book was written so that everybody could understand it. I would highly recomend this book!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Mr. Funnypants
Mr. Funnypants by Michael Showalter
I had so much hope for this book but was extremely disapointed in it. I have heard some of this comedians act before and thought it was ok, so went I got the chance I thought I would review this book. This book was so all over the place it was hard to read at times and some of the jokes in it I did not find funny. Im also not sure what the point of this book was. I would not recomend this book.
I would like to thank Anna form Hachette for letting me read and review this book!
I had so much hope for this book but was extremely disapointed in it. I have heard some of this comedians act before and thought it was ok, so went I got the chance I thought I would review this book. This book was so all over the place it was hard to read at times and some of the jokes in it I did not find funny. Im also not sure what the point of this book was. I would not recomend this book.
I would like to thank Anna form Hachette for letting me read and review this book!
On Hummingbird Wing's
On Hummingbird Wings
by Lauraine Snelling
This book was ok. I didnt really enjoy it that much but the plot was ok. I couldnt really connect/relate to these characters and I think that was one of the reasons I did not enjoy this novel. I liked the cover though it was very pretty. I dont think I would reccomend this book.
by Lauraine Snelling
This book was ok. I didnt really enjoy it that much but the plot was ok. I couldnt really connect/relate to these characters and I think that was one of the reasons I did not enjoy this novel. I liked the cover though it was very pretty. I dont think I would reccomend this book.
13 Rue Therese
13 Rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro
This book was great, I loved it! The story was beatiful, heart warming and it could also make you laugh, cry, or smile. I really liked how the pictures/items were incorporated in with the text! I liked how it is also called a puzzle novel. I like the books style too! It looks very antiqued and the covers nice. I would highly recomend this book!
I would like to thank Brad Parsons from Hachette for letting me read and review this novel!
This book was great, I loved it! The story was beatiful, heart warming and it could also make you laugh, cry, or smile. I really liked how the pictures/items were incorporated in with the text! I liked how it is also called a puzzle novel. I like the books style too! It looks very antiqued and the covers nice. I would highly recomend this book!
I would like to thank Brad Parsons from Hachette for letting me read and review this novel!
Moon Dogs
Moondogs by Alexander Yates
I thought this book was an ok mystery but I really wasnt wowed by it or anything. I liked the font this book used it made for very easy reading and I thought the book looked very collorful and interesting as well by its appearance. I guess I would recomend this book since it was ok.
I would like to thank Lisa from Doubleday for letting me read and review this novel!
I thought this book was an ok mystery but I really wasnt wowed by it or anything. I liked the font this book used it made for very easy reading and I thought the book looked very collorful and interesting as well by its appearance. I guess I would recomend this book since it was ok.
I would like to thank Lisa from Doubleday for letting me read and review this novel!
The Sweetest Thing
Today I am participating in a blog tour for the book The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis.
Book Info: (from Hachette)
Two Men Are One Too Many . . .
Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.
But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.
Author Info: (from Hachette)
USA Today bestselling author JILL SHALVIS lives in a small town in the Sierras also run by quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books are, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website at JillShalvis.com for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountain adventures
My review:
I thought this book was good. It was a nice enjoyable romance novel. The cover is appealing and I think the book is just about the right length to tell the plot properly. I would recomend this book.
I would like to thank Brianne Biers from Hachette for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from Hachette)
Two Men Are One Too Many . . .
Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.
But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.
Author Info: (from Hachette)
USA Today bestselling author JILL SHALVIS lives in a small town in the Sierras also run by quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books are, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website at JillShalvis.com for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountain adventures
My review:
I thought this book was good. It was a nice enjoyable romance novel. The cover is appealing and I think the book is just about the right length to tell the plot properly. I would recomend this book.
I would like to thank Brianne Biers from Hachette for letting me participate in this blog tour!
The Baby Planer
Today Im participating in a blog tour for the Baby Planner by Josie Brown.
Book Info: (from the Publisher Simon & Schuster)
The Nanny Diaries meets The Wedding Planner in this smart, dishy novel from the author of Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives—featuring a woman who runs San Francisco's premier baby planning company and the mommies-to-be who seek out her services.
Katie Johnson may make her living consulting with new moms on the latest greatest baby gadgets no parent should be without, or which mommy meet-ups are the most socially desirable, or whether melon truly is the new black, but the success of her marriage to her husband, Alex, depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood.
He's adamant that they stay childless. Sure, Katie understands that he's upset over the fact that his out-of-town ex-wife rarely lets him see their ten-year-old son, Peter. But living vicariously through her anxious clients and her twin sisters' precocious children only makes Katie resent his stance more deeply.
While helping a new client—Seth Harris, a high tech entrepreneur who must raise Sadie, his newborn daughter, as a single parent after the tragic death of his wife in childbirth—maneuver the bittersweet journey from mourning husband and reticent father to loving dad, Katie's own ideals about love, marriage, and motherhood are put to the test as she learns ones very important lesson about family: How we nurture is the true nature of love.
Author Info: (from the Publisher Simon & Schuster)
Josie Brown's celebrity interviews and relationship articles have been featured in Redbook and Complete Woman magazines, as well as AOL, Yahoo, AskMen.com, Divorce360.com, and SingleMindedWomen.com. She lives in Marin County, California with her husband and two children.
My review:
I thought this book was a cute fun and enjoyable read! The characters were great. I thought the cover was cute also. This is the second Josie Brown book I read and I have to say it did not disapoint. I would recomend this book!
I would like to thank the people from Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from the Publisher Simon & Schuster)
The Nanny Diaries meets The Wedding Planner in this smart, dishy novel from the author of Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives—featuring a woman who runs San Francisco's premier baby planning company and the mommies-to-be who seek out her services.
Katie Johnson may make her living consulting with new moms on the latest greatest baby gadgets no parent should be without, or which mommy meet-ups are the most socially desirable, or whether melon truly is the new black, but the success of her marriage to her husband, Alex, depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood.
He's adamant that they stay childless. Sure, Katie understands that he's upset over the fact that his out-of-town ex-wife rarely lets him see their ten-year-old son, Peter. But living vicariously through her anxious clients and her twin sisters' precocious children only makes Katie resent his stance more deeply.
While helping a new client—Seth Harris, a high tech entrepreneur who must raise Sadie, his newborn daughter, as a single parent after the tragic death of his wife in childbirth—maneuver the bittersweet journey from mourning husband and reticent father to loving dad, Katie's own ideals about love, marriage, and motherhood are put to the test as she learns ones very important lesson about family: How we nurture is the true nature of love.
Author Info: (from the Publisher Simon & Schuster)
Josie Brown's celebrity interviews and relationship articles have been featured in Redbook and Complete Woman magazines, as well as AOL, Yahoo, AskMen.com, Divorce360.com, and SingleMindedWomen.com. She lives in Marin County, California with her husband and two children.
My review:
I thought this book was a cute fun and enjoyable read! The characters were great. I thought the cover was cute also. This is the second Josie Brown book I read and I have to say it did not disapoint. I would recomend this book!
I would like to thank the people from Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
An Atlas of Impossible longing
Today im participating in a blog tour for An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy.
Book Info: (from simon & schuster)
On the outskirts of a small town in Bengal, a family lives in solitude in their vast new house. Here, lives intertwine and unravel. A widower struggles with his love for an unmarried cousin. Bakul, a motherless daughter, runs wild with Mukunda, an orphan of unknown caste adopted by the family. Confined in a room at the top of the house, a matriarch goes slowly mad; her husband searches for its cause as he shapes and reshapes his garden.
As Mukunda and Bakul grow, their intense closeness matures into something else, and Mukunda is banished to Calcutta. He prospers in the turbulent years after Partition, but his thoughts stay with his home, with Bakul, with all that he has lost—and he knows that he must return.
My Review:
I thought this book was ok. I wasnt impressed with it but it wasnt bad. I enjoyed that it was a different read for me. I liked the cover of the book alot as well. I would recomend this book.
I would like to thank the people from Free Press for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from simon & schuster)
On the outskirts of a small town in Bengal, a family lives in solitude in their vast new house. Here, lives intertwine and unravel. A widower struggles with his love for an unmarried cousin. Bakul, a motherless daughter, runs wild with Mukunda, an orphan of unknown caste adopted by the family. Confined in a room at the top of the house, a matriarch goes slowly mad; her husband searches for its cause as he shapes and reshapes his garden.
As Mukunda and Bakul grow, their intense closeness matures into something else, and Mukunda is banished to Calcutta. He prospers in the turbulent years after Partition, but his thoughts stay with his home, with Bakul, with all that he has lost—and he knows that he must return.
My Review:
I thought this book was ok. I wasnt impressed with it but it wasnt bad. I enjoyed that it was a different read for me. I liked the cover of the book alot as well. I would recomend this book.
I would like to thank the people from Free Press for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Welcome to Last Chance
Welcome to Last Chance
by Hope Ramsay
This book was good. It was a nice quaint little contepary romance novel and I enjoyed reading it. The characters were good and relatable and I liked them expecially Ruby Rhodes. The cover was very nice and inviting on this book as well. It was also a very pretty cover I thought. I would recomend this book highly its a good read!
I would like to thank Anna from Hachette for letting me read and review this novel!
by Hope Ramsay
This book was good. It was a nice quaint little contepary romance novel and I enjoyed reading it. The characters were good and relatable and I liked them expecially Ruby Rhodes. The cover was very nice and inviting on this book as well. It was also a very pretty cover I thought. I would recomend this book highly its a good read!
I would like to thank Anna from Hachette for letting me read and review this novel!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Remarkable Creatures
Remarkable Creatures
by Tracy Cavallier
I was so looking forward to reading this book but I was deeply disappointed in it. I could not connect to the characters and got very bored too. I also didnt enjoy this authors writing style. I dont think I would recomend this book it wasnt for me and I did not enjoy reading it, but just because it was not for me doesnt mean it wouldnt be for somebody else.
I would like to thank Julie Harabedian for FSB for letting me read and review this novel!
by Tracy Cavallier
I was so looking forward to reading this book but I was deeply disappointed in it. I could not connect to the characters and got very bored too. I also didnt enjoy this authors writing style. I dont think I would recomend this book it wasnt for me and I did not enjoy reading it, but just because it was not for me doesnt mean it wouldnt be for somebody else.
I would like to thank Julie Harabedian for FSB for letting me read and review this novel!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Surender the Dark
Today Im participating in a blog tour for the book Surrender the Dark by L.A. Banks.
Book Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
National bestselling author L.A. Banks's electrifying new paranormal series is set in a sizzling world where Dark and Light are trapped in an eternal struggle for the fate of mankind.
Celeste Jackson has fought all her life against a fog of hallucination and substance abuse, but it's not until she meets her protector, Azrael, an angel who has left the safety of the Light, that she learns of the evil forces that have been trying to ruin her, and why. A fierce battle for control of the mortal realm is brewing, and only Celeste—with the help of the Remnant, her half-human, half-angel brethren—can stand in the way. Together, Celeste and Azrael must gather an army of sensitives to defeat the dark powers that have ruled humanity for centuries, but time is running out. If Azrael surrenders to his growing desire for Celeste, he risks being trapped among humanity forever. But the longer he stays, the harder she is to resist. To save the world, Celeste must draw on her own dark experiences with addiction to help Azrael overcome the one temptation that could possibly make him an eternal prisoner—his obsession with her.
Author Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
New York Times best-selling author L.A. Banks has penned over 35 novels and 12 novellas in a wide range of genres. She was the recipient of the 2008 Essence Magazine Storyteller of the Year Award, as well as the 2008 Best 50 Women in Business Award for the State of Pennsylvania. Recently she was featured as a speaker on the HBO Special on Vampire Literature and Legends as a prelude to the True Blood premiere. She is most famous for her Vampire Huntress series, published by St. Martin's Press. She lives in Philadelphia.
My review:
I thought this book was very good and I enjoyed reading it! I liked the characters alot and I could not put this book down at times! I cant wait to read more from this author! I would highly recomend this book its an interesting and intreging read!
I would like to thank the people at Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
National bestselling author L.A. Banks's electrifying new paranormal series is set in a sizzling world where Dark and Light are trapped in an eternal struggle for the fate of mankind.
Celeste Jackson has fought all her life against a fog of hallucination and substance abuse, but it's not until she meets her protector, Azrael, an angel who has left the safety of the Light, that she learns of the evil forces that have been trying to ruin her, and why. A fierce battle for control of the mortal realm is brewing, and only Celeste—with the help of the Remnant, her half-human, half-angel brethren—can stand in the way. Together, Celeste and Azrael must gather an army of sensitives to defeat the dark powers that have ruled humanity for centuries, but time is running out. If Azrael surrenders to his growing desire for Celeste, he risks being trapped among humanity forever. But the longer he stays, the harder she is to resist. To save the world, Celeste must draw on her own dark experiences with addiction to help Azrael overcome the one temptation that could possibly make him an eternal prisoner—his obsession with her.
Author Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
New York Times best-selling author L.A. Banks has penned over 35 novels and 12 novellas in a wide range of genres. She was the recipient of the 2008 Essence Magazine Storyteller of the Year Award, as well as the 2008 Best 50 Women in Business Award for the State of Pennsylvania. Recently she was featured as a speaker on the HBO Special on Vampire Literature and Legends as a prelude to the True Blood premiere. She is most famous for her Vampire Huntress series, published by St. Martin's Press. She lives in Philadelphia.
My review:
I thought this book was very good and I enjoyed reading it! I liked the characters alot and I could not put this book down at times! I cant wait to read more from this author! I would highly recomend this book its an interesting and intreging read!
I would like to thank the people at Gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Murder Takes the Cake
Today im participating in a blog tour for the book Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent.
Book Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
A routine cake delivery becomes a culinary nightmare when a small-town baker discovers her first client's dead body in this irresistible new mystery series.
It'll take more than a little sugar to convince folks Daphne Martin's freshly baked spice cake was not to blame for the mysterious death of town gossip Yodel Watson. Getting her new cake decorating business, Daphne's Delectable Cakes, off the ground is hard enough now that Daphne's moved back to her southern Virginia hometown, but orders have been even slower since she found Yodel's body. She soon realizes, however, that just about everybody in town had a reason to poison the cantankerous busybody, from the philandering pet shop owner, to Yodel's church potluck nemesis, to the Save-A-Buck's cranky produce manager-turned-bagger. Now, to help prove she's no confectionary killer, Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs, editor of the local newspaper, and quickly stirs up a long-hidden family scandal that just might hold the secret ingredient she needs to solve the case. All she's got to do is roll up her sleeves and get her hands a little dirty before the real culprit decides that taking sweet revenge on Daphne will be icing on the cake.
Author info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)Gayle Trent lives in Southwest Virginia with her husband and two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. She's a full-time writer/editor/mom/wife and chief cook and bottle washer, and she love every minute of it. Okay, not the bottle washing so much, but the rest of it is great.
My review:
I thought this was a good well written mystery. It was cute and enjoyable to read. I wouldnt call the book great but I wouldnt call it horrible either. I also really liked the cover of it. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a cute cozy mystery.
I would like to thank the people from gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Book Info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)
A routine cake delivery becomes a culinary nightmare when a small-town baker discovers her first client's dead body in this irresistible new mystery series.
It'll take more than a little sugar to convince folks Daphne Martin's freshly baked spice cake was not to blame for the mysterious death of town gossip Yodel Watson. Getting her new cake decorating business, Daphne's Delectable Cakes, off the ground is hard enough now that Daphne's moved back to her southern Virginia hometown, but orders have been even slower since she found Yodel's body. She soon realizes, however, that just about everybody in town had a reason to poison the cantankerous busybody, from the philandering pet shop owner, to Yodel's church potluck nemesis, to the Save-A-Buck's cranky produce manager-turned-bagger. Now, to help prove she's no confectionary killer, Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs, editor of the local newspaper, and quickly stirs up a long-hidden family scandal that just might hold the secret ingredient she needs to solve the case. All she's got to do is roll up her sleeves and get her hands a little dirty before the real culprit decides that taking sweet revenge on Daphne will be icing on the cake.
Author info: (from the publisher Simon & Schuster)Gayle Trent lives in Southwest Virginia with her husband and two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. She's a full-time writer/editor/mom/wife and chief cook and bottle washer, and she love every minute of it. Okay, not the bottle washing so much, but the rest of it is great.
My review:
I thought this was a good well written mystery. It was cute and enjoyable to read. I wouldnt call the book great but I wouldnt call it horrible either. I also really liked the cover of it. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a cute cozy mystery.
I would like to thank the people from gallery for letting me participate in this blog tour!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)