What I've Read This Week

]What I've Read This Week

The Ideal Bride by Nonnie St. George -- Regency Romance
Handsome, wealthy Gabriel Carr dislikes a fuss. He has made a life plan (Corinthian until 25 - check, make fortune 25-30 - check, find a wife, set up a nursery by age 30 - not done!) and the only thing left to do is find a wife and set up a nursery. Gabe has three months to find the ideal bride and makes a list of the attributes he wants in a wife. At the top of the list is lady from merchant class. Gabe is used to being chased for his looks and fortune by the ladies of the ton and would prefer a wife who shares his interest in business. He also wants his wife to have a pleasing figure (i.e large bosom). Enter Lady Nola Grenvale, tall, red-haired, flat chested and the daughter of an Earl, most certainly NOT the ideal bride! At 25 and without a fortune, Nola has no intentions of marrying anyone, let alone Gabriel Carr. She is devoted to helping the poor helpless war widows and is determined to set them up in a bazaar where they can sell their handmade wares in a single location instead of running around the city to various merchants. Nola learns that Gabriel Carr is a noted real-estate genius. His latest plan is a sort of early department store/mall, which will leave an empty warehouse in Soho Square just right for the widows' bazaar. However, Gabriel does not see it that way, and wants nothing to do with Nola or her opinions. He's delighted to hear that Nola will be leaving London soon to live with her aunts in the country so he will never have to see her or hear about her widows' bazaar again, but Nola is determined he shall hear her out. Gabe tries to escape to the country but returns to find his mother has invited Nola, her maids, her aunts and her cook to stay at his home! When Gabe is injured and must stay in bed, it's Nola's deaf, old nurse who nurses him! Poor man is surrounded by scheming women determined to push Nola at him and Nola continues to only be interested in Gabe's warehouse, or so he thinks. Nola and Gabe learn to appreciate their mutual interest in business and soon, of course, find each other physically attractive as well, but Gabe stubbornly refuses to give up his list and admit that Nola is the ideal bride for him while his life spirals out of control as Nola and Gabe's relatives and servants meddle until the get the intended results. This is a hilarious romantic comedy. The crazy secondary characters provide a lot of laughs as does Gabe's stubbornness. The romantic plot becomes sensual as Gabe and Nola become more aware of each other. This story may not be for everyone because much of the humor is a bit bawdy and many of the jokes revolve around bosoms. Normally, I find such humor crude and unfunny but I found myself giggling madly through each chapter. The only real fault I found with this novel is that there isn't much depth to the characters. We know what they do and what they're thinking but not why they're so driven or what their pasts were like. This may be a good book to share with a teen who is just becoming interested in the genre due to the rather modern jokes. Does anyone have a copy of the follow-up Courting Trouble I could read?


The Luxe by Anna Godbersen Narrated by Nina Siemaszko -- YA Historical Fiction
It's 1899 and Elizabeth Holland is one of New York's elite society girls, or rather was, for Elizabeth is presumed drowned in the Hudson River a few days before her wedding to society's playboy Henry Schoonmaker! After the initial shocking beginning, the story goes back to the weeks prior to the funeral, when Elizabeth's seemingly perfect life comes to an end with the knowledge that her father died in debt, leaving the family destitute and it's up to Elizabeth to save the family by marrying Henry. Elizabeth has no choice but to agree to the wedding, after all, it will help her family and she is the perfect society girl, but underneath her perfect facade, Elizabeth is hiding secret feelings. Elizabeth is in love with Will the coachman and finds marriage to anyone else unappealing, yet she knows she has no choice. Younger sister Diana, reader of torrid romance novels, thinks being poor would be a grand adventure and doesn't let the news of misfortune dampen her high spirits or her budding feelings for her sister's fiance! Penelope Hays, Elizabeth's best friend, had been, until now, the amour of Henry Schoonmaker and doesn't want to give him up! Meanwhile, the maid, Lina Broud, is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with her position and learns how a little gossip can go a long way. This story plays out like a modern High School drama crossed with a Jane Austen novel with jealous catty girls, clandestine meetings, secret romances and family misfortune. Though it seems like the novel is full of fluff, the characters demonstrate complicated emotions and the difficulties of being a young woman in upper-class society in the 19th century. The historical details are excellent and seem well-researched. I especially enjoyed the interesting newspaper articles, etiquette tips and letters that open each chapter and serve as a teaser as to what the chapter will be about. Though Elizabeth is a passive heroine, never really letting her emotions show or taking steps to control her life, I felt sorry for her being stuck in a difficult situation. Diana is a more appealing character, of course, but she seems too immature to really understand what's happening. She's a typical selfish teen, not caring about anyone except herself. Penelope is the stereotypical "frenemy" but a delicious villain with witty lines and I found myself eager to know what she would do next. This book is a real page-turner and I can't wait to read the next two! The narrator sounds like a young woman and has a pleasing voice though sometimes it was hard to tell who was supposed to be speaking because the narrator doesn't create different voices. Overall though, this is a pretty good audio book and good for long trips.


My Darlin' Clementine by Kristiana Gregory -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction
Based on the popular ballad, Kristiana Gregory provides the story behind the song. The book opens in 1867 just after Clementine Kidd "fell into the foamy brine," with Clementine's younger sister Josie sharing the details of Clementine's disappearance with her father and with the reader. Flash back to 1866 and sixteen year-old Clementine takes up the tale of her life with her parents and younger sister in the mining town of Nugget in Idaho Territory. Life is rough in the small mining town with saloons, opium dens, abandoned mine shafts and vigilante justice. Clementine's Papa is unable to mine due to rheumatism and spends his time drinking, gambling and losing the family's hard-earned money. Clementine's sweet mother does her best to provide for the family and keep them safe but she hints there may be a time when Clementine and Josie have to look after themselves. Also watching out for them is Tall Sing, a Chinese doctor who works for Clementine's family and is devoted to them. Clementine worries about her father and her wild younger sister growing up in a rough environment and longs for a better life. Clementine takes an interest in medicine, helping Tall Sing with his doctoring, and harbors secret dreams of attending a ladies' medical college in Pennsylvania. Clementine's ambitions are tested when Boone Reno, the judge's son begins to court her. Boone is kind and gentle and her family all love him, but Clementine doesn't wish to be rushed into marriage. When the rough and violent ways of their western mining town begin to intrude on Clementine's life, she's forced to choose between her dreams and the welfare of her family. The story is concluded from Josie's point-of-view two years after Clementine is "lost and gone forever" and the reader finally learns what happened to Clementine and what happens next. Gregory has long since been one of my favorite historical fiction writers and I was anxious to read her latest. She does not disappoint with this unusual story. The imagery is so vivid that I can easily picture the wild west and follow Clementine around in my mind. Though the violence of life in a mining town is distasteful, Gregory doesn't shy away from depicting the realities. Clementine is a sympathetic character but I found her almost too easy going. I preferred young Josie, the spunky tomboy as a narrator. Even so, I liked reading Gregory's imaginative take on an old ballad. I would love a sequel!

Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild -- Children's classic
Rachel Lennox is happy living in the English countryside with her mother and adopted sister Hilary. The family is poor but Hilary is a superb dancer and expected to attend the Royal Ballet School and become a star. Rachel's mother dies after a terrible accident, leaving Rachel and Hilary to the care of Rachel's uncle and his wife, Aunt Cora, who runs a dancing school for Mrs. Wintle's Little Wonders. Mrs. Wintle is eager to add Hilary to her troupe but does not expect the girl to upstage her own darling daughter. Rachel is dismayed to learn that the Little Wonders focus more on tap and acrobatics than ballet and pushes Hilary to train ballet so she can fulfill Rachel's mother's dream of Hilary becoming a ballerina with the Royal Ballet. Hilary is lazy and prefers acrobatics to ballet and dreams of becoming a Little Wonder. Rachel hates to dance and feels life as a Little Wonder would be unbearable. Rachel bonds with her teacher, Mrs. Storm, who gives Rachel elocution lessons and sees in the girl promise of something special that Mrs. Wintle can not see. Rachel and Hilary also have to deal with their spoiled cousin Dulcie, who is on her way to stardom. As they grow older, Rachel becomes more despondent and Hilary happier. Finally, they each discover their true places in the theater world and learn to accept each other's decisions. The plot is very similar to Theatre Shoes but not as well done. I felt sorry for Rachel but didn't find her very interesting. Hilary wasn't very likeable either because she was silly and lazy. Dulcie is the typical spoiled girl with a stage mother and the story was pretty predictable. This is not my favorite installment of the series.