Anne here. Yes, I know it’s already October, but since we now only blog on Mondays and Thursdays, and since Andrea has a brand new book out and was blogging about it on Monday, we thought you wouldn’t mind a September blog in October.
We have a lovely range of book recommendations for you this month.
We start with Nicola. This month I’m recommending a book that’s a real treat for Regency fans! The Gentleman’s Dilemma by Jane Dunn is a classic Regency romance that reminds me how wonderful it is to read the Real Thing. Jane’s deep knowledge and love of the Regency period is evident in every well-chosen phrase and description and her characters are emotionally layered and so appealing.
Ferdinand Shilton, handsome, rich and kind, is looking for a wife who will fit neatly into the rational way in which he runs his life and will not trouble him too much. He has already found a suitable candidate. And yet he still feels oddly lonely and dissatisfied, and a meeting with Madeleine Rose, a poor relation, only seems to discompose him further.
Madeleine is living on the charity of her not-particularly-pleasant aunt and her family, and escapes her real-life situation by secretly writing a romantic novel. When her life and Ferdy’s become entangled, she is drawn to his heroic qualities whilst he is disturbed to find that Madeleine seems to prompt all sorts of strong and unwelcome emotions in him, upsetting the balance of his life.
I do love a kind hero, and Ferdy is such a sweetheart, whilst at the same time being pretty stalwart – it’s a difficult balance to pull off but Jane Dunn does it perfectly. Ferdy really needs to find himself and understand what he really wants before he and Madeleine can build a future together.
Meanwhile Madeleine is such an open and warm character, despite the challenges of her family. It’s lovely to see how her good opinion brings out the best in Ferdy and how she blossoms with his attention. This is not an explicit Regency but it is very tender and romantic. Highly recommended! (Anne adds, in the US this won’t be released until October 16th)
And now for Pat:
It took me a while to get into CHAPTER AND CURSE; The Cambridge Bookshop Series, by Elizabeth Penney, but if you can buy into a cozy village street of shops in Cambridge, right down from the college, and you love stories about books and bookshops, this one’s a treat. The protagonist is a thirty-year-old librarian whose mother once lived in Cambridge. When her aunt asks for help with her bookshop, they just trot right over and move in.
All the shop owners are friendly, there are a few flies in the ointment, a busybody gets killed, and we’re off to the races. Cozy to the ultimate with a dollop of books and a sweet romance as a treat.
Mary Jo here. I’m still having fun with Helen Harper’s Coldstream urban fantasy series. My most recent read was Night Maze, fourth in her Cat Lady Chronicles. Kit McCafferty is a retired assassin now living a quiet life in Coldstream, a magical city on the border between England and Scotland. She lives peaceably with her five cats (also called “moggies” in Britain.) Kit is a cat sith, meaning that she can actually transform herself into a cat when circumstances require it.
This is the fourth book in the Cat Lady Chronicles, and over the earlier books she’s acquired a nice red headed werewolf companion. (Except at the full moon, werewolves are very human.) In Night Maze, Kit has the opportunity to do an investigation in the Understream, where the vampires live. Some of the giant worms that are used by the vampires have gone missing, and Kit is too curious (like a cat!) to pass up this chance. I find her stories to be fun reading, and there are more on the way!
I’ve also also done some rereading, including Running Hot, an older Jayne Ann Krentz book, the fifth in her Arcane Society series. Her main characters have unusual paranormal abilities, and they’re good at falling in love. <G> For extra fun, Running Hot is mostly set in Hawaii. Her books are always a good, polished read.
Andrea says: All of my reading this past month has been nonfiction history for research on a new project that I am mulling over, so it’s not our usual type of recommendations. Nonetheless, as history often teaches us elemental lessons for the present, I’ll add them here, for I think they are fascinating accounts of a time that faced many of the same challenges and conflicts as we do today.
The Proud Tower, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman, and The Vertigo Years, by Philipp Blom, both give an overview of Europe and the United States from 1900-1914. Airplanes, automobiles, electricity, atomic theory, monstrous new weapons, new methods of communication—the world was changing with frightening speed. Both books show how all of that affected the people, many of whom felt alienated and afraid.
They’re very well-written and engaging. And what with the vivid descriptions of the rising sense of nationalism, the egos of the world leaders and the petty conflicts that slowly drew the world into the chaos of WWI, they present some chilling parallels to our own fraught times
And now for Christina.
This month I’m recommending THE COTTAGE AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS by Jane Lovering. I think Anne might have already mentioned this one as I know she’s also a fan of Ms Lovering’s work but it’s worth mentioning again. There is no other author that I know of who has such an amazing way with words – her descriptions and metaphors are truly unique and always unexpected.
Just look at the very first sentence: “The cottage looked as though it had been constructed from scraps of Halloween and leftover ghost stories …” Brilliantly evocative! Her stories are funny and poignant at the same time, and always with some serious issue underlying the seemingly light-hearted narrative. In this case the heroine Libby – single mother to 2-year-old Tilly – is on the run from an abusive ex and desperately trying to keep herself safe while taking care of her daughter. During her attempts at making a living she comes into contact with Ross, a neurotic architect who might carry even more baggage than herself, and Isobel, a reclusive old woman who is mute but seems able to communicate with birds. The three of them form unexpected bonds and might just be each others’ salvation … I won’t say more about the story except that if you’re looking for a truly offbeat and unusual read then this one is for you!
And finally it’s Anne again.
I’ve had a better reading month this September. I read and enjoyed Liz Fielding‘s latest cosy crime novel, MURDER IN THE VINEYARD. (The e-book is currently on sale for around a dollar.)
I read Patricia Briggs BLIND DATE WITH A WEREWOLF, which was more or less several linked short stories, as Asil the oldest werewolf, was set up with a series of blind dates on a bet — each of which turned into a challenge to defeat an enemy. But there was a romantic ending to the last “date” and I did quite enjoy the book.
I read Sarah Morgan’s THE SUMMER SWAP, and enjoyed it very much. It’s both women’s fiction and romance and brings three generations of women together at a turning point in their lives, bringing them all together in a gorgeous seaside location. Secrets are revealed, fears confronted, and new lives are begun. Lovely writing and an uplifting ending.
I found two new stories by Lois McMaster Bujold — DARKSIDE DARE and TESTIMONY OF MUTE THINGS. Both are “Penric and Desdemona” stories, but TESTIMONY OF MUTE THINGS was set in a time when Penric was young and unmarried. DARKSIDE DARE took us back to the “current” time in Penric’s life, where his children are growing up and planning their futures. Both were good reads. I really enjoy Lois McMaster Bujold’s world of Penric and his demon, Desdemona, and it was great to dive back into the series.
My most recent read was a cosy fantasy — THE SPELLSHOP by Sarah Beth Durst. Kiela is a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, shy, and introverted — her only friend is a sentient spider plant called Caz. When rebellion rises in Alyssium, she and Caz think only of saving the precious and irreplacable volumes of spellbooks, to which only official sorcerers are allowed access. When the Emperor is defenestrated, the sorcerers go into hiding and the library is set on fire, Kiela and Caz escape in a boat with as many spellbooks as they could take. They make for the obscure outer island where she was born. But all is not well there. . .
I won’t tell you any more, but suffice it to say I thoroughly enjoyed THE SPELLSHOP and highly recommend it.
And now, over to you, wenchly readers. What books have you read and enjoyed in the last month?
Ooh, some enticing choices above plus a book in common by Patricia Briggs.
Since last time ~
— very much enjoyed a reread of Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop. If you like her books about The Others, I suspect you’d like this, too. It has a fairly sizeable cast but a major character is a detective who has joined a team which specializes in crimes that might involve the Wyrd. This is set in a world that is ours but not as there are cellphones and references to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who. (Violence and gore)
— for my book group, I read West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. This story is based upon the historically true facts that a pair of young giraffes survived the hurricane of 1938 while at sea, arrived in New York Harbor, spent some time in quarantine, and then were driven cross country to their new home at the San Diego zoo. A zoo employee accompanied them and his occasional telegrams are included in the book; the young man (a teen) who drove the truck, Woodrow Wilson Nickel, is a fictional character. He is the one, at age 105, who is recounting his memories of the trip. I enjoyed this book.
— very much enjoyed rereading Season’s Change by Cait Nary, a contemporary romance featuring two hockey players. The story showed the leads moving from strangers to friends before the relationship moved to a romance.
— quite enjoyed the contemporary hockey romance Scoring Position by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. It featured one lead who is traded to a failing team with the (not so hidden) intent that he will befriend/turn around a talented player, also gay, who is in a slump.
— also quite enjoyed Unrivaled by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James which had a pair of hockey players with a history of fighting on ice who meet off ice through an app. The sister of one of the leads signed him up for what was supposed to be a dating app but is actually an app for hooking up. Initially their connection is physical but then feelings develop.
— enjoyed Remember That Day by Mary Balogh which is a regency era romance. It features a military colonel who is strongly considering marrying the daughter of his commanding officer and a young woman, a pacifist, who is hoping that a gentleman with whom she shares friendship and many interests might propose to her. Her friend is the colonel’s brother. Both couples end up at a house party. (This is a very chaste romance.)
— enjoyed Confetti Hearts by Lily Morton, a contemporary romance. This story begins with one of the leads, a wedding planner, asking the other, a businessman, to sign divorce papers. We see the beginning of their relationship in flashback; in the present, the businessman is a guest at the remote venue where a wedding is being held. The wedding party is snowed in.
— enjoyed Face Off by Riley Bauer which features two players who had a previous negative encounter in a handshake line; in the present day, they are teammates on a newly formed team. They each adopt a kitten from the team cat; as the kittens are a bonded pair, they are forced to spend time together.
— Before the Fire by Riley Bauer was a very enjoyable prequel introducing a number of hockey players who are forming a new team and beginning to bond.
— enjoyed Before the Trade by Riley Bauer, a novella about two players who have a significant fight when they are opponents but who now become teammates and roommates.
— enjoyed The Distant Hills and Other Stories, a compilation of mostly short romance works by author Kaje Harper.
— Between the Pipes by Quinn Ward was a pleasant contemporary romance featuring a bar owner, who is also a mostly retired hockey goalie and zamboni driver, and a bartender, who is also a carpenter.
— For my book group, I read Playground by Richard Powers. This focused on four people and how their lives intertwined. The ocean and the growth of artificial intelligence also played a big role.
– read Rescue Me by K.M.Neuhold. This contemporary romance features a firefighter, off duty when the book begins, and a tattoo artist who meet at a gay bar. Shortly after they begin conversing, a mass shooting event takes place resulting in a number of deaths and serious injuries. The first of the leads carries out the second who has three gunshot wounds. He accompanies him to the hospital and ultimately offers his guest room while he convalesces.
— quite enjoyed Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper. The story begins when the female lead emails the male lead, the creator of a children’s music CD that her young daughter loves, to ask if he will perform in a program at her local library. Through a good part of the book, the female lead is grieving the death of her husband; the male lead is carrying a lot of baggage from his days in an ultra successful metal band. I plan to read more by the author.
— enjoyed a new contemporary romance Checking Out the Librarian by Anna Richland which features … surprise! … a librarian and also an elementary school teacher who meet after connecting on an app. This author wrote a favorite novella that I reread recently, His Road Home. That is still my favorite of her works, but I will likely reread this, too.
— enjoyed rereading Astounding! by Kim Fielding. This contemporary romance features the owner/editor of a pulp science fiction magazine which is close to death and the individual who persistently sends him awful stories asking that they be published. After the former drunkenly sends an incredibly rude rejection letter, he goes to the latter’s home to apologize. The latter claims to be an extraterrestrial. This story involves a road trip with friends of the editor.
— enjoyed Two for Charging by S.B. Barnes which is a contemporary romance featuring two hockey players with very different personalities. One is extremely outgoing (though he misses a lot of social cues); the other, who is quickly drawn to the former, is reserved. Feelings develop.
Wow, Kareni — as always an impressive list. Thank you for kicking off the discussion.
Christina’s recommendation last month of Kylie Scott’s Runaway Rockstar sent me down a Kylie Scott rabbit hole, so in addition to Rockstar, which was terrific, I also enjoyed 2 others from different Scott series:
– Fake is the story of an actor whose bad behavior results in major damage to his career and the woman who agrees to live with him and pretend to be his fiancée for 6 months. We all know where it’s going, but the trip is a lot of fun – and the secondary characters are as strong as the leads.
– Pause features the relationship between a woman who was badly injured in a car accident and the man who was also injured when her car careened into his motorcycle after being hit. He saved her life and read to her in the hospital during her 7-month coma. Anna seeks him out to thank him when she’s trying to rebuild her life. Leif is one of my favorite romance heroes in recent memory!
– Also read Happier Here With You by Amy Gail Hansen, who’s a food historian as is the heroine. A widow with a small daughter and too much to do, Maggie accepts an invitation from a great-aunt she’s never met to spend time on her farm. There, she and her daughter thrive, Maggie finds love, and Maggie and Aunt Alice learn the story of the ancestor for which Rosehill Farm is named. My sister recommended this, warning that it is “very bookclubby” – I found it charming.
– Big Stick Energy is the second in a new hockey series by Sarina Bowen, and as much fun as her books always are! NY Legends’ PR staffer Darcy mistakenly DMs team captain Eric her fantasies about him, then discovers they’re both committed to attending a wedding each would rather avoid. Great banter and some unexpected trials on the way to HEA!
Thanks Constance. Yes, Christina and I are both fans of Kylie Scott. They’re also books that are good for a reread, I find. I’m also a Serena Bowen fan — as is Christina as well.
The Amy Gail Hansen recommendation is new to me, so I’m off to investigate. Not sure what your sister means by “bookclubby” so am curious.
I’m not sure either, Anne – it’s certainly more “women’s fiction” than romance and it does have questions for discussion at the end. Given your interest in cooking and food, I think you’d find it as enjoyable as I did.
I bought it, Constance, and am looking forward to reading it. Thanks.
The Jane Dunn book sounds great, and it’s going on my TBR list.
Thank you to whoever recommended the “Slightly Foxed” podcast last month! I have already enjoyed the episode about the golden age of British detective fiction, and now I am listening to the one about Muriel Spark. The funny thing is, I originally thought the title meant “foxed” as in inebriated. Then I realized the other meaning of “foxed” refers to books have spots or discoloration on the pages due to aging. I guess I know too much Regency slang!
So, in September I read The Finest Print by Erin Langston, a Victorian era book with a heroine who is an author and a hero who owns a deeply in debt print shop. Together they decide the only way for him to keep from losing his shop is to publish a lurid “penny dreadful”. It was a lovely story and I was very pleased to find this new author.
I read two books in a row that had a hero who was unfaithful to his marriage vows. They were Marguerite by Joan Wolf and An Infamous Marriage by Susanna Fraser. I know that’s an instant dealbreaker for a lot of people, but both authors were good enough to keep me reading to the end. However, the Fraser book was the only one that had sufficient groveling. She writes a lot of military heroes, and the plot also involved the Battle of Waterloo. I love Joan Wolf, but she really didn’t make her hero suffer for his misdeeds, he gets off too easy.
I read an old Mary Balogh book, Daring Masquerade, and it certainly was different from her later work. It kicks off with the heroine getting kidnapped by a highwayman, and the plot gets wilder from there!
Then I read a trilogy of books by Kate Bateman. She writes fun, action-packed romances with independent heroines. In this case, they’re are 3 close friends who open a private investigative agency together. The titles are Second Duke’s the Charm, How to Fall for a Scoundrel, and Road Trip with a Rogue. Bateman is British, and she knows her historical details, but some of the actions and attitudes of the characters were modern enough to stretch credulity. But the books are thoroughly enjoyable, so I really didn’t care.
Finally I read a short book called The Cherry Trees of Rosings: A Pride and Prejudice Variation. It starts off at the point in P&P when Elizabeth is visiting her friend Charlotte and Mr. Collins after they are married, but then takes a paranormal turn! A bit spooky but very amusing.
Karin, I second your recommendation of Kate Bateman. I have enjoyed the audio version of the ‘Her Majesties Rebels’ trilogy that you mention and also the first three of the ’Ruthless Rivals’ series which is very similar. I also like the look of Erin Langston’s books and have added her two audios to my wish list …. thanks!
I recommended that Karen and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I’m still loving it and catching up.
Thanks Karin and Teresa — I have now bookmarked that podcast and will have a listen.
Thanks for these recommendations, Karin. I will investigate the Kate Bateman books. I don’t recall that Mary Balogh so I’ll have to dig around in my kindle or maybe my bookshelves to see if I have it. It sounds like fun.
Anne-I always look forward to the end of the month reading roundup. I hadn’t read Amanda Quick in awhile and have just finished her The River Knows. The River in question is The Thames and (female) bodies keep turning up in it. Having left Victorian England, I am now well into Jo Goodman’s (contemporary) A Place Called Home. I’m trying to figure out the heroine. And I suspect my next read will be Jane Dunn’s The Gentleman’s Dilemma, which I just bought. Thanks, Nicola. Happy reading, y’all.
Thanks, Binnie Syril.
I think we all enjoy this end of month round-up. I know for me, it always results in a book-buying spurt.
Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentxz is always worth reading, isn’t she?
I am actually in London England while writing this on a family vacation! We have a lot to see & do. I read Mr. Moonlight by Philip Norman about the Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Yes, we will be going to Liverpool while here. I also read Alyssa Maxwell’s new Gilded Newport Mystery: Murder at Rosecliff. I love this series.
How very exciting, Jeanne! Enjoy the travels with your family.
How lovely Jeanne. Have a lovely time. Apart from all the fabulous historical sites and museums, London has some wonderful bookshops. The Beatles book sounds interesting. Have you read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid? It’s fiction, but I found it utterly gripping, about the rise and fall of a rock band, of the Beatles era. And thanks for the mystery recommendation.
I finished the audios of MJP’s ‘Lackland Abbey’ series. I’m not normally a fan of time travel as it jars my scientific background, but these tales are gripping and the way that Napoleon’s invasion of Britain is foiled made me wish that similar events could be achieved in reality. Great listens!
The Lackland Abbey series sounds intriguing, Quantum. My local library has it on audio so i going to give it a go! Thanjs fir tge heads uo!
I have been meaning to read the Lackland Abbey books, thank you for the reminder.
Karin, I hope you enjoy the Lackland Abbey books! I enjoyed watching the characters grow and interact, plus their travels though time really make a difference! The first book, Dark Mirror, takes my kids to Dunkirk.
Quantum. I another who is not a fan of time travel, yet that is the only way the series would work. Mysterious are the ways of a writer’s brain! I wrote one other time travel book: A DISTANT MAGIC, in which the protagonists move through time to protect key events in the development of the abolition movement. If that’s what makes a story work….
Thanks, Quantum. It’s a good series isn’t it? I do enjoy time travel stories — grew up on Dr Who and find the possible alternative histories raised fascinating. Have never forgotten MJP’s suggestion that Australia became French — it’s quite close to the truth.
Anne, the Brits and French were often at loggerheads (still are !). In Empire history at school, I recall the Botany Bay episode and the role of the East India company. Exploring possible alternative histories in fiction can be interesting but the physical act of time travel to alter history jars for me. Though for a good yarn I can cope! Which of MJP’s stories are you thinking of?
Sorry, Quantum — I don’t recall the title of the MJP story — more our private email exchange about it. But there was a LOT of French activity in what became Australia in the early colonial days and in times of war between France and England. If you look at the map of Tasmania you’ll see a lot of French names given by French explorers, some of whom I believe were interned at various times.
This month, I read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. I can’t remember if it has been mentioned here already but it is rather a fascinating epistolatory novel on the power of writing letters vs actually talking. There are benefits to both.
I went down a Jennifer Bernard rabbit hole, which is a similar experience to reading and enjoying Kylie Scott and Sabrina Bowen. But I have read a huge variety of stuff in 55 years and sometimes Life just means I need pure escapism :-).
Mary Kingswood has a new book out The Duke’s Gardener. She writes so skilfully about circumstances that the reader can clearly see how the characters are tied into the time and world they are living in and if they manage to subvert it a bit, it does not jar
I haven’t read Jennifer Bernard, Alice – but I’m going to try her now! And I did not know Mary Kingswood had a new one, so that’s coming, too! I feel as if I’ve been reading her all my life.
Thanks for those recommendations, Alice.
And I hear you on this: “sometimes Life just means I need pure escapism”
I find myself diving into a book more and more. And rereading older books, at that, books that whisk me into some other world or time or place.
I just git Andrea’s new Wrexford and Sloan mystery and am eager to get started, but am trying nit to gulp it down too fast as i want to make ut last awhile so i don’t gave to wait too long for the next one……but that rarely works….sigh…..
Reread several Heyers which were such fun! Sprig Muslin, the Foundling, The Corinthian and These Old Shades. What a delight they were!
Not too many others appealed to me, maybe after i read Andrea’s book others will surface… i do want to try Mary Jo’s Lackland Abby series….
Thanks so much Jane. I hope you enjoy it!
Mary Jo’,s Lackland Abby series is wonderful. Do give it a try,
Thanks Jane. Heyer is always good for a reread, I find. And Andrea’s Wrexford and Sloan series is addictive. And I agree, waiting is hard — but that usually prompts me to a reread of the series.