What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .

Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard -- Teen Regency Romance

On a school trip to England, Callie is miserable and humiliated and determined to impress the mean girls by buying a pair of real prada shoes. Unfortunately for Callie, the shoes are too big and she trips and hits her head. When she wakes up, she is disoriented and confused because the bustle of London is nowhere to be seen, only trees and grass everywhere! She makes her way to a grand mansion where she is welcomed by a young lady named Emily who believes Callie is her American cousin Rebecca. Confused and scared, Callie goes along with it and pretends to be Rebecca, but her very modern opinions earn the displeasure of Alex, the Duke of Harksbury whose home she is visiting and his mother Victoria. Callie is determined to help Emily escape an unwanted marriage and turns Regency Society on its' head. She also can't help but find Alex nice to look at, even if he is arrogant. The longer Callie stays, she learns there are good points to Regency society and that people may be more than they seem. She also can't ignore the way Alex is beginning to look at her with something other than disdain! Callie gains confidence in herself which will help her do the right thing even if it means alienating her new friends. This is a light, fun read, just perfect for summer. At first I had to keep reminding myself that Callie is just a kid and not a historian and has no idea of the rules of society. I can't say that I wouldn't be tempted to speak out and I admire Callie for having the courage to stick to her convictions. The ending is a tad silly but I enjoyed this book a lot.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen : a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich -- murder mystery

Stephanie Plum is back in this new adventure and this time Lula takes center stage when she witnesses a decapitation and becomes the target of the murderers. She and Grandma Mazur enter a barbecue contest sponsored by the decapitated celebrity chef. Meanwhile, Stephanie returns to Rangeman to help Ranger solve a series of break-ins at the homes of his highest profile clients in exchange for helping Stephanie catch her FTAs . . . and maybe more if Stephanie hadn't sworn off men. Lula and Grandma really shine in this story and their adventures in barbecuing had me laughing out loud. There are also the usual car chases, car explosions and misadventures in apprehension. This is one of the better Plum novels.

Miss Whitlow's Turn by Jenna Mindel -- Regency Romance

Harriet Whitlow has turned down every suitor her father has picked out for her in the last two seasons. Now she's on her last chance and her father wants her to marry the new Earl of Grafton, a most proper gentleman who wants a proper well-bred woman to bear his heirs. Harriet wants only to marry the rake George Clasby, whom she has had a crush on since her first season. She believes he needs her, with some help from God, to reform. George has grown bored with his flings with society matrons and has decided to look for a wife. Because of his reputation, many doors are closed to him so he decides to befriend Harriet who bears a lot of influence in society. Her father disapproves of George but is willing to allow George to call as a friend as long as he doesn't break Harriet's heart. Harriet doesn't want George as a friend and decides to take matters into her own hands to disgust Grantham and make George interested. This book is nowhere near as funny as it sounds. Harriet is dull and sanctimonious. She is very religious and makes her viewpoints known. She needs the assistance of alcohol to become bold enough to make the first move. . Harriet and George don't have any chemistry and I didn't care one way or another whether they got together or not. This is an all together boring novel with dull, unlikeable characters. I wouldn't recommend it for those who love romance and historical details.

The Marriage List by Dorothy McFalls -- Regency Romance

Feeling miserable and sorry for himself after a severe injury at the Battle of Salamanca, Radford, Viscount Evers decides it's time to listen to his mother and find a wife who will bear his heirs. Radford and his friend Lord Nathan Wynter make a list of all the qualities Radford requires in a wife. Feelings and emotions don't enter the list . . . at least not until he meets Miss May Sheffers who storms into his home with her friend Lady Iona Newbury. May and her elderly, infirm aunt are about to be evicted from their home which happens to be owned by Lord Evers. May is a follower of Mary Wollstonecraft and believes she can easily handle the situation without a man's help. She tries to explain how her parents are missing in South America and her uncle has ordered the courts to seize May's money, but Lord Evers doesn't want to listen and doesn't care. May storms out of his home in a rage, loathing Lord Evers but certain she can help herself and her aunt. To complicate matters, May's Uncle Sires wants to marry May off to a man old enough to be her grandfather and take Aunt Winnie home with him in order for her to have the best care. May considers the marriage if only for her aunt's sake but she would prefer to be an independent lady. Her future is further confused by subsequent meetings with and growing attraction to Lord Evers, who woos May with his roguish charm and tender kisses all while courting Iona's sister, the beautiful Lady Lilian Newbury! Radford and May try to remain friends but both feel trapped by the circumstances of their birth and Radford is determined to protect May at all costs. This is a rather complicated story and not a light, fun read. There is a lot of unhappiness before the characters can finally be happy. I'm not really sure I liked the book. The writing is good except for when the author tells us what the characters are feeling (a little more subtly would be nice) and the epilogue is also poorly written. I really admired May who was determined not to rely on any man. Lady Iona is also admirable and the gentlemen are charming. The plot was interesting and kept me reading until the end. I would recommend this to those who like more serious minded stories than comedy of manners.

Her Perfect Earl by Bethany Brooks -- Regency Romance

Miss Esmerelda Fortune (yes, that's her unfortunate name) is an impoverished gentlewoman and a scholar who dreams of opening a school for young ladies to study the classics. She hopes to complete a study of ancient Greek women and win a scholarship prize from Oxford, but first she needs to locate a manuscript in the Earl of Ashford's private library. Esmie takes a position as governess for the Earl's five unruly children in order to search for the manuscript. She quickly realizes the children desperately want their father's love and attention and Esmie is determined to make him love the children. (Sound of Music anyone?) The perfectly imperfect Esmie runs afoul of the perfect Earl when he catches her snooping around his private library, a place where he can go to be alone and forget about the demands of being an Earl. Esmie manages to steal the manuscript while the Earl is busy courting his second wife, the daughter of a wealthy cit. When the manuscript goes missing, Esmie is determined to find it and return it and once again runs into the Earl during her late night wanderings. The pair soon share intimate moments and secrets in the dark. In the daylight, they are determined to get the other out of their heads and focus on their tasks but find it difficult to hide their growing attraction for one another. The children are determined to keep their Miss Esmie and prevent their father from providing them with a wicked step-mother. This story seems like it would be a comedy of manners in the Pride and Prejudice tradition but it's more complicated and serious. I greatly admired Esmie for the most part though she makes a monumental decision that could have changed her life forever and I felt it was out of character and didn't care for two particular scenes. The writing is very good for the most part. There is a bonus epilogue on the author's website which doesn't really add anything to the story but if you want to know what happens to the children, then it's worth a read. I wouldn't recommend this to fans if light Regency or traditional Regency where the hero and heroine share a kiss at the end. This one falls under the category of "sweet sensuality" on the All About Romance scale.

The Heroines: A Novel by Eileen Favorite -- Adult Fiction
Thirteen-year-old Penny Entwhistle's mother runs an inn near Prairie Bluff, Illinois. The inn guests come from all over - including works of literary fiction! Some notable guests have included Scarlett O'Hara, Hester Prynne and Madame Bovary. In 1974, the summer Penny is 13 is marked with change. Penny is in the throes of adolescent angst and jealous of the attention her mother gives the literary guests and angry at her mother for not doing anything to change the stories. When a dashing, determined man on horseback comes riding across the prairie looking for the latest inn guest, Penny finds herself becoming a heroine when the villain abducts her and she ends up in a mental institution for trying to tell outsiders about the heroines. I thought this story would be about the heroines but it's really about Penny and and her current situation with flashbacks to her interactions with literary guests and revelations about Penny's father. I didn't like the first-person past-tense narration because it was difficult to follow what was happening in 1974 and what was in Penny's past and future. I was also not familiar with all of the heroines and their stories so found it difficult to keep up with Penny's thoughts about them. I didn't really care for this book very much. Modern fiction isn't really my area of interest.

The Good Land by Loula Grace Erdman -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction
It has been more than ten years since the Pierce family of The Wind Blows Free settled in the Texas panhandle. Life has been good for the Pierces except for the youngest, Carolyn, who feels that her problems are important yet no one seems to care. Carolyn frets because her family treat her like a baby and feels left out of the family adventures; she's afraid to start high school in Amarillo in the fall and only she knows why her older sister Katie feels so blue after returning home from finishing school. Carolyn makes new friends, helps her sister and learns what it means to be truly grown up in this charming third book in the Texas Panhandle series. Carolyn is an appealing heroine and any adolescent girl can relate to her. These books should truly be classics, like the Little House series and I hope that now they're back in print, they will continue to be read by a new generation of girls.