A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore

by Carol2 Comments
A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore I love everything about Christmas, the carols, the decorations, the traditions, so I am thrilled that seasonal books are starting to show up on the shelved. of course I've been singing Joy to the World since like June, and I never put away a couple of my Christmassy things, but that's beside the point. The story begins Nov 3, 1827 and ends with a Christmas wedding, which just makes me smile. It's a fairly predictable romance, which I say in a positive way. I like standard romances. Becky's a widow whose first husband was horrible man. She's looking for an affair, no strings attached. Jack's something of an adventurer but is more interested in a marriage than a fling. He needs her money to pay off a blackmailer. Of course, the two fall in love, she finds out he lied, but eventually he is able to redeem himself. In the middle you have a scandal, a...
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Cambric Tea by Marjorie Bowen

by Carol2 Comments
"Cambric Tea" by Marjorie Bowen A young physician, Bevis Holroyd is called down from London to the bedside of a new patient on Christmas Eve. The man makes the astounding accusation that his wife is poisoning him, lacing his cambric tea with arsenic. Cambric tea as described in the story sounds disgusting by the way, a drink made up of half milk and half warm water. Anyway, the doctor is familiar with this type of case, having just solved assisted in solving a murder mystery involving the same style of poisoning. It's not quite as clear cut a case as it seems at first, however. We slowly learn that the wife and the doctor knew each other previously, had actually been in love at one time. This short tale is full of treachery, jealously, distrust, all the essentials of a good mystery boiled down into just a few pages. It had me engrossed, wondering who was telling the truth, what was actually going...
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Werewolves or Vampires?

by Carol11 Comments
"Werewolves also have an agenda to keep to. You do realize that?" "And you bloodsuckers, of course, are all sweetness and light with only my best interests at hear," Alexia shot back, brushing Battenberg crumbs casually off her lap. (pg. 96, Soulless by Gail Carriger) I actually haven't gotten this far in the book yet, so I'm not sure how "involved" Alexia is with the werewolves, but I do have a question for you. Werewolves or vampires, if you had to trust one which would it be? I personally tend to prefer werewolves, at least they're alive. Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I won my copy and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate....
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The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

by Carol13 Comments
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett I love the Queen. In this delightful novella, the Queen of England discovers a love of reading. It begins when her corgis lead her to the mobile library. Once she enters to apologize for the barking, she can't leave without borrowing a book, and there the joy in reading begins. Reading takes over every spare second of the Queen's life. She would rather read than attend opening, reads in her carriage, in her gardens, everywhere she can. Unfortunately her advisers, from her personal secretary to the Prime Minister, are not pleased, but the Queen does not let that deter her. What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do. I actually listened the audio version of this, narrated by the author. Somehow looking back, it seems odd to have listened to a book that...
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The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

by Carol11 Comments
The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse This was my first meeting with Jeeves, and I must admit that I enjoyed the audiobook immensely. The book is a series of very loosely linked stories. In most of them, young, wealthy Wooster or his pal Bingo Little get in some sticky situation often involving a woman or gambling, and it is up to Wooster's genius butler Jeeves to solve the problem. Sometimes Wooster asks Jeeves for help and sometimes Jeeves takes care of the situation before Wooster even realizes there is cause for concern. I have to say that some of the situations Wooster found himself were just hilarious. My personal favorite, though, is when he goes to the country and bets on the which of the local parsons will deliver the longest sermon. The narrator's accent and the British slang were a treat for me and just added to the fun. I will definitely be reading more of the Jeeves books. First published in 1923 6...
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