The Murder of Mary Russell ★★★½ by Laurie R. King

Mrs. Hudson returns from her shopping excursion to find no Mary and pools of blood on the floor.  Sending and emergency message to Holmes and Billy, she then contacts the police and Inspector Lestrade comes to help the local constable who destroy valuable clues before Holmes can arrive.

What's behind what's happened?  We are given he details of Mrs. Hudson's early life and how she came to be in the employ of Sherlock Holmes.

As much as I love this series, and I was happy to get some of details about Mrs.. Hudson, I thought that the parts about her early life dragged on but once we got into the current timeline and figuring out what really happened, I loved it.

Series/ Progress: 14/14
DATE READ: March 20 - March 31
NO. OF PAGES: 355
Type of Book ARD
SOURCE: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

For Your Love by Beverly Jenkins

I love this series!  No matter what nasty things happen to the residents of Henry Adams, KS they are still loving and supportive to each other, helping when others have hard times and the head do-gooder is Ms. Bernadine Brown.  But don't think that Ms. Brown is a push over, no siree.

Bernadine Brown may have millions and has worked tirelessly to help the residents in the town she bought but she makes them earn every blessing by working together.

This time we see a young couple who are friends of Bernadine's adopted daughter who because of a disadvantaged upbringing are battling to stay afloat with their young offspring.  They come to town at the invitation of the friend and find not only a well-paying job but a home to live in and a truck to get them around.

In the meantime, Mayor Trent July is informed that his birth mother has come to see him.  Ms. Brown has to deal with the mayor of Franklin, the next town over, who is jealous of the success and revitalization of Henry Adams and whose mean spirit has the HA residents welcoming refugees.

I look forward to the next visit to Henry Adams, Kansas.

★★★★

GENRE: Fiction
CHARACTERS:
Series/ Progress: Blessings 6/6
DATE READ: September 14 - September 14
NO. OF PAGES: 295
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI , 
SOURCE: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King

For those that follow the characters of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in this series, the time frame of the story falls after Pirate King and Garment Shadows when they are cruising to Japan before returning home.

On the cruise Mary meets Sato Haruki, a current day ninja, while at the same time Holmes spies Lord Darley who he recognizes as a blackmailer.  The story carries Holmes and Russell with Sato through Japan and into the presence of Prince Regent Hirohito.  They are petitioned to aid in the recovery of a unique artifact.

Just as the reader thinks that the issues in the story have been resolved, Mary is back in Oxford and comes face to face with Haruki again asking for assistance for the same problem.

The actual resolution is exciting and totally unexpected.

★★★★

GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes, Haruki Sato, Hirohito
Series/ Progress: Mary Russell/#13
DATE READ: December 30 - January 5
NO. OF PAGES: 330
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: LTER, NetGalley

The Queen of Four Kingdoms by HRH Princess Michael of Kent

Yolande d'Aragon, after waiting 9 years for her betrothed, wed Louis II d'Anjou and supposedly ended the conflict over the succession to the kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem.  Their marriage, which turned into a love match, produced 5 children but more importantly, help to maintain the French monarchy at the time of the Hundred Years War with England.

Yolande (Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Maine, Countess of Provence and Forcalquier,  Countess of Piedmont, and Titular Queen Consort of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem) utilized diplomacy and cunning in support of the French helping to unite the French factions of Burgundy and Armagnacs so that together they could defeat the English.  Yolande as regent in Anjou, lent their army of support Jeanne d'Arc and  edventually see the Dauphin crowned.

I have always had a fascination with royalty but usually I tend toward British. This is my first look into the French side and I found it completely captivating.

★★★★

GENRE: Historical Fiction
SUBJECT: Yolande d'Aragon
Setting: France, Anjou, Provence
CHARACTERS: Yolande d'Aragon, Louis II d'Anjou, Charles VII of France, Jeanne d'Arc
DATE READ: October 26 - November 12
NO. OF PAGES: 443
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: LT ER

Love Letters by Debbie Macomber

The story lines are great, I can't say it any different.

 The Rose Harbor Inn is the gather spot for two different romances - the Porters who are trying to keep their marriage together and Ellie Reynolds who is finally spreading her wings and meeting her Internet boyfriend.  Both are full of surprises!

 ★★★★

GENRE: Romance
SUBJECT: Internet relationships, widowhood
Setting: Cedar Cove, WA
CHARACTERS: Jo Marie Rose, Mark Taylor, Ellie Reynolds, Maggie Porter, Roy Porter
DATE READ: October 7 - October 12
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: LT ER

Island Girls by Nancy Thayer

Rory Randall decides to add a bit of manipulation to his final will and testament by making it a condition of their inheritance that his 3 daughters (by different mothers) spend the summer at the Nantucket house together.  What results are basic family issues revealed and nothing really special.

 ★★★

GENRE: Fiction
SUBJECT: Dysfunctional families
Setting: Nantucket
CHARACTERS: Arden Randall, Meg, Randall, Jenny Randall
DATE READ: October 3 - October 5
NO. OF PAGES: 302
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: LT ER

Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer

Normally I find Nancy Thayer's books entertaining, however, this one seem too cliché. Poor girl and rich girl are friends - rich girl loves poor girl's brother but different circumstances keep them apart.  Poor girl falls for rich boy, gets pregnant but rich girl marries rich boy and poor girl stays silent.  There was no depth to the story.


★★¾

GENRE: Fiction
SUBJECT: friendship, acceptance
Setting: Nantucket
CHARACTERS: Maggie McIntyre, Emily Porter, Ben McIntyre, Cameron Chadwick
DATE READ: August 18 - August 27
NO. OF PAGES: 352
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, ROOT
SOURCE: LibraryThing ER

Christmas Hope by Anne Perry

 ★★★ 

GENRE: Historical mystery
SUBJECT: class separatation
Setting: London, England
CHARACTERS: Claudine Burroughs, Wallace Burroughs, Squeaky Robinson, Dai Tregarron
DATE READ: February 5 - February 8
NO. OF PAGES: 197
Challenges: TIOLI, CATEGORY, ALPHACAT
SOURCE: LT ER

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.00
STYLE:..................................................................3.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.00
Threshold Quality.................................................3.00
Average..............................................................................................3.00  

As in Anne Perry's Christmas series, this book takes a minor character from her William Monk series and creates a story with Claudine Burroughs as the central character where she is working to find the truth surrounding the death of a prostitute that is being laid at the feet of Welsh poet. 

Claudine works through numerous lies and hidden agendas to save an innocent man.

The Arrangement by Mary Balogh

 ★★★★

GENRE: Romance
SUBJECT: handicap adjustments
Setting: England 
CHARACTERS: Vincent Hunt, Sophia Fry, Lord Trentham, Lady Trentham, Martin Fisk
DATE READ: September 11 - September 13
NO. OF PAGES: 366
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   yes, LT ER

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................4.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................4.00
STYLE:..................................................................4.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................4.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................4.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................4.00
Threshold Quality.................................................4.50
Average..............................................................................................4.00

Having a title and being wealthy overcomes even his blindness for Vincent Hunt , Lord Darleigh.  Eager mamas work at manipulating it so that Vincent is forced to choose one of their daughters but when a wallflower saves him from a compromising position, Vincent feels obligated to rescue Sophia Fry when she is thrown out on the streets.  Needing a wife to get an heir, and liking Sophia, Vincent decides that Sophia will fill the bill. 

This book had an unusual story with a positive outlook at life.  I kept waiting for the expected miracle cure, but the book showed that love was the miracle.

The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History by Patrick Phillips-Schrock

 ★★★
 
GENRE: Non-Fiction
SUBJECT: The White House 
Setting: Washington DC
CHARACTERS: Benjamin Latrobe, Charles, McKim, James Hoban
DATE READ: May 31 - June 4
NO. OF PAGES: 226
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   Yes, LT ER

PLOT:...........................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:..............3.00
TOPICS:.......................................4.00
STYLE:.........................................2.00
ORIGINALITY:..............................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:.....................3.00
OWNERSHIP:.............................4.00
THRESHOLD QUALITY:............3.00
Average..............................................................3.13

The book is full of diagrams of the current White House as well as the showing pre-renovation versions.  It also documents the floor plans and changes that have been made over the years.

I found it interesting to see the changes that have been made over the years as well as differences to the exterior that I had never seen before.  However, IMO the book was a bit jumpy because of the layout of text versus diagrams/pictures and felt it would have been better served to have all the text together and then reference the diagrams.  Often I lost my place in the text because of the placement of the diagrams/pictures on the pages.

His Majesty's Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

  ★★★¾

GENRE: Mystery
SUBJECT: espionage, mass murder
Setting: London, Berlin
CHARACTERS: Maggie Hope, Hugh Thompson, Elise Hess, Clara Hess, Father Licht
DATE READ: May 22 - May 27
NO. OF PAGES: 354
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   Yes, LT ER for review

PLOT:......................................4.50
CHARACTERIZATION:.........4.00
TOPICS:..................................4.00
STYLE:....................................4.00
ORIGINALITY:.........................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS: ................4.00
OWNERSHIP:.........................3.50
THRESHOLD QUALITY:........3.25
Average..............................................................3.78


This third installment of the adventures of Maggie Hope really do get to be adventures.  Maggie not only parachutes into enemy territory, attends a party where she meets several of the Nazi upper brass, but she finds that she has a half sister that is unaware of her existence.

This reader was on the edge of her seat throughout!

Manifest Injustice by Barry Siegel

 ★★★¾

GENRE: Non-Fiction
SUBJECT: miscarriage of justice, USA legal system errors
Setting: Arizona
CHARACTERS: Bill Macomber, Larry Hammond, Bob Bartels, Jackie Kelley
DATE READ: May 13 - May 22
NO. OF PAGES: 260
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   Yes, LT ER for review

PLOT:................................................4.50
CHARACTERIZATION:...................4.00
TOPICS:............................................4.00
STYLE:..............................................4.00
ORIGINALITY:...................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:...........................4.00
OWNERSHIP:...................................3.50
THRESHOLD QUALITY:..................3.25
Average...................................................................3.78

How would you react if you had spent 38 years of your life in prison for a crime you hadn't committed losing contact with your growing children as a result?

In 1974 Bill Macomber was convicted of the murders of two teenagers in 1962 on evidence that apparently was planted by his estranged wife who worked in the Sheriff's office at the time of his conviction. 
This book tells the story of the efforts of Project Justice to free Mr. Macomber who throughout his incarceration, was a model inmate inspiring others by his spirit and appreciation of those who fought for him.

I'm so glad that I got to read this book, but wonder how our system could continue to lock up this man when so many believed him innocent and the suspect evidence had "disappeared".  Many questions arose from this book as to whether justice can truly be found.

I believe that Mr. Macomber's story should be mandatory reading for all law students so that they will understand that there are innocent people that do get convicted and that all efforts should be made to prevent this from happening in the future.  

The politics involved in his release truly astounded me.

Dream Eyes by Jayne Ann Krentz

Challenge Book #45

  ★★★½

GENRE: Paranormal Fiction
SUBJECT: psychic powers
Setting: Wilby OR
CHARACTERS: Judson Coppersmith, Gwen Frazier, Evelyn Ballinger, Harold Oxley
DATE READ: May 10 - May 13
NO. OF PAGES: 325
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   Yes, ER

PLOT:.........................................3.50
CHARACTERIZATION:............3.50
TOPICS:.....................................3.50
STYLE:.......................................4.00
ORIGINALITY:............................3.50
ADDICTIVENESS:....................3.50
OWNERSHIP:............................3.00
THRESHOLD QUALITY:..........3.50
Average......................................................3.50

Not normally being a "paranormal reader, I was reluctant to pick up this book and read it, but since I had received it from the LT ER program, my obligation took control and I put it on the reading for May.  I was extremely pleasantly surprised and well entertained my this book which told the story of two characters that both have special psychic abilities and the journey to find the murderer of a friend when there was only psychic evidence.  Glad I read it.

The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society by Darian Gee

  ★★★¾

GENRE: fiction
SUBJECT: memories
SETTING: Avalon, IL
CHARACTERS: Bettie Shelton, Yvonne Tate, Isabel Kidd
DATE READ: December 20 - December 26
NO. OF PAGES: 405
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   Yes,ER
CATEGORY: Lunch

PLOT:.......................................3.5
CHARACTERIZATION:................3
TOPICS:....................................2.5
STYLE:......................................3
ORIGINALITY:............................2.5
ADDICTIVENESS:......................3
OWNERSHIP:............................3
THRESHOLD QUALITY:...............2.5
Average.......................................................2.88

Bettie Shelton, president of the Avalon Scrapbooking Society, takes an interest in everyone's life in Avalon IL.  She will order people who are not interested in participating in scrapbooking to come to meetings, host meetings, pick up supplies.

Other characters in this novel, are somewhat one dimensional or placed in the scenario for a specific purpose.  The Tea shop which hosts several events has an owner and manager that also kowtow to Bettie's demands while at the same time as they are handling their own emotional issues.  But Bettie is the central character who supposedly ties everyone together but the connection often falls short.

When I started this book I saw many similarities between this book and Laura Childs Tea Shoppe mysteries and Scrapbooking mysteries.  However, the comparison is not favorable to ALSS.  There is no flow that takes the reader from one character's tale and back again even though Bettie is the link.  The relationships appear very disjointed and contrived.

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

★★★
GENRE: Mystery
SUBJECT: Art theft, reproductions, painting style
SETTING: Boston, MA
CHARACTERS: Claire Roth, Aiden Markel
DATE READ: October 5 - October 9
NO. OF PAGES: 355
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   yes, LT ER
CATEGORY: LUNCH

PLOT: 3
CHARACTERIZATION: 2
TOPICS: 2
STYLE: 4
ORIGINALITY: 3
ADDICTIVENESS: 2
OWNERSHIP: 3
THRESHOLD QUALITY: 3

This book tells the story of a young female artist who is persuaded to copy a painting by Degas that was stolen in a highly publicized theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990.  I found the chronicle of Claire Roth's efforts to not only reproduce this painting but also to find and return the lost art slow and uninspiring until very late in the book.  The tangled threads of three different time periods and viewpoints did not make this a book that drew me further into the intrigue but made me question why I was spending the time reading it.  The characters were unlikeable and stereotypical (starving artist, snooty museum curators/gallery owners), the plot too convoluted. Maybe an art student would enjoy it because of all the details conveyed relating to the process of painting but for the ordinary reader, not something I would recommend.

Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

★★★★

Genre: Mystery
Subject: espionage, decoding
Setting: Germany, England
Main Characters: Maggie Hope, Princess Elizabeth, Churchill, Mark Fraine, Hugh Thompson
Series: #2 Maggie Hope Mysteries
Dates Read: October 14 - October 16
Number of pages: 345
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:  yes, ER my shelves
Category for 12 in 12 challenge: English Lit

Maggie Hope, transferred from #10 Downing St and the position of Mr. Churchill's Secretary (book #1) to MI-5 and training for undercover missions, finds her shortcomings are not acceptable and flunks out of the "spy" school not because of her brain but that she has no brawn.  She is given the domestic assignment of protecting Princess Elizabeth from a  possible kidnapping plot.  She shows up at Windsor Castle as the new Maths tutor and after a few minor issues develops a rapport with the future queen and her younger sister.

As a "servant" she is privy to numerous issues that lead to danger and intrigue as well revelations that she may have preferred not to know.  The writing is crisp and exciting and draws the reader further and further into the plot, until you are afraid to read more and yet you can't stop.  A great sequel to the introductory book, only making the reader want MORE!

The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber

★★★★

Genre: Fiction with romance

Subject: emotional healing, acceptance, forgiveness

Setting: Cedar Cove, WA

Main Characters: Jo Marie Rose, Abby Kincaid, Josh Weaver, Richard Lambert, Michelle Nelson

Series: yes, # 1 Rose Harbor Inn

Dates Read: August 29 - September 1

Number of pages: 330

Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: yes, LT ER

Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Homework

Jo Marie Rose's husband of less than a year is killed in Afghanistan. Devastated, she decides that she needs a major change in her life and buys a B&B in Cedar Cove, WA. Renaming the property the Rose Harbor Inn to honor her husband, her first guests are two individuals with troubles of their own.

Abby Kincaid has been carrying around the guilt of being the driver when her best friend was killed in an auto accident. Josh Weaver was kicked out of the home that he grew up in by a stepfather who always felt that Josh didn't belong. Now dying, the stepfather has no one and Josh is called back.

Each of these central characters came to Cedar Cove with issues - Abby felt people would still blame her, Josh was still angry for the treatment he had received as a teenager, and Jo Marie wasn't sure how to go on without her husband.

The heartwarming acceptance and forgiveness that is threaded throughout this book brought through by the magnificent writing of Debbie Macomber will definitely make this one of my top reads of the year.

Thank you LT for sending this book to me. Funny I don't remember requesting it, but I'm sure glad I got it. I've never read a Debbie Macomber book before, but I definitely will again.

Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer

★★★

Genre: Fiction

Subject: stages of a love relationships, friendships

Setting: Dragonfly Lake

Main Characters: Bella Barnaby, Natalie Reynolds, Morgan O'Keefe, Aaron Waterhouse, Ben Barnaby, Josh O'Keefe, Slade Reynolds

Series: no

Dates Read: August 13 - August 18

Number of pages: 368

Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: yes, received from LT for review

Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Homework

This book is the typical summer beach read - young women looking for love, young men with other things on their mind. The interesting concept for me was that the relationships showcased were in different stages and yet they managed to overlap.

Morgan is married to Josh who has just taken a new job with a very prestigious firm and he wants his wife and young son to have a big house right on the lake where they meet Bella. Bella is in a relationship with Aaron who is interviewing for a job in San Francisco and if they stay together, would necessitate Bella leaving Dragonfly Lake and her new business. Natalie, an artist, is housesitting for her aunt and is living next door to Morgan. The 3 woman become fast friends. Trouble arrives in the figure of Slade, Natalie's brother, who takes a shine not only to Bella but Morgan as well.

Relationships get even more jumbled when Morgan is unhappy because Josh is working too many hours, Natalie gets involved with Bella's brother, Ben, and Slade is trying to influence Bella into a relationship as well as business dealings.

The story was okay, but I think that there were just too many relationships, too many twists. Two relationships in the story would have been sufficient and made more room for emotional expansion. Overall an okay for the beach.

A Queen's Vow by C.W. Gortner

★★★¾

Genre: Historical Fiction

Subject: Isabel of Castile

Setting: Castille, Spain

Main Characters: Isabel of Castille, Fernando of Aragón

Series: no

Dates Read: August 4 - August 12

Number of pages: 374

Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: no, LibraryThing ER book May

Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Foreign Languages

I believe that we have all heard of Isabella of Castille, the Spanish queen who sponsored Christopher Columbus' voyages to the New World, but do you know anything else about her? I admit that the only other fact that I knew about her was that she was the mother of Henry VIII's first wife, Katherine of Aragon. So I started this book with a great deal of interest trying to learn more about her. Granted, this is historical fiction, but the research credits in the book were impressive so I believed that I would at least learn a few historical facts along the way.

I will admit that I was blown away by the story. I started it thinking that it would be somewhat heavy, but the tale, as it was woven, told of the early life of Isabella who was never expected to inherit the throne of Castille and how she was drawn into civil war between her brother Alfonso and her half-brother Enrique.

Once she was crowned Queen and she married Fernando of Aragón, the story shifts to the issues of her reign and the decisions that she had to make. The anguish that she went through may not have been historically true, but helps to take the reader through the problems (something not necessarily always perceived) of a reigning monarch. The decisions may not be what she personally wanted but what was best for her country and its people at the time.

What I was not aware of and learned from this book, was how and why the Spanish Inquisition started and some of the feelings of the Christians toward the Jews and the Moors and how they affected policies of the day.

A highly enjoyable read.

The Girl Below by Bianca Zander

★★

Genre: Fiction

Subject: child of divorce

Setting: New Zealand, England

Main Characters: Suki Piper,

Series: no

Dates Read: July 14 - July 22

Number of pages: 274

Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: yes, audio stockpile

Category for 12 in 12 challenge: English Lit Class

I'm not sure I know what I was expecting when I started this book, and I'm not sure I know what I got. This book was apparently supposed to be the tale of a child that has grown, and yet returns to moments in her past to correct an error she made as a child.

That's the best that I can surmise from this book. It was very jumpy, going back and forth in different times, seemed to meander with no direction and often was very predictable. The characters were too 2 dimensional and the main character was constantly whining about how the world seemed to be treating her badly!

I tried, but this book was just not for me.