Lover of Ebooks

Jane Slayre. Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 396 pages.

There was no possibility of continuing my walk that night. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour after dark, but since Mrs. Reed had picked up a scent (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, hunted early), I was sent home so the others could stalk their prey. I was glad of it. I never liked long walks, especially on chilly evenings. Dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw midnight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the death of the poor thing they’d dined on, raw, right in the middle of the wood. Not that I frequently watched as they took their meal. I avoided accompanying them on the hunt as often as I could.

Jane Slayre has every reason to dislike her home with the Reeds. For one, they’re vampyres. And while Mrs. Reed, Georgiana, and Eliza don’t thirst for her blood–too common–’Master’ John Reed does. It is his attack which prompts her trip to the red room. She’s not sent there to recuperate, to heal. No, she’s sent there as punishment for tempting John to bite her and drink her blood. While there she encounters her uncle’s ghost who tells her she must fulfill her family’s legacy–to slay the monsters of the world. That is how her parents were killed–in the line of duty. Jane does “escape” Gateshead Hall when she is enrolled in Lowood. But Lowood has dangers of its own. There is a reason–a good reason–the children aren’t allowed meat. (She becomes suspicious when some of the children don’t eat anything! She also notices that they’re a bit too obedient!) But Lowood does introduced her to two of the people she’ll come to love best. Her classmate Helen. Her teacher Miss Temple. (Miss Temple definitely has great influence on the young Jane Slayre. For it is from this beloved teacher that she receives her first training.) Jane remains six years as a student at Lowood–after the first year, things are less monstrous and more routine–and two years as a teacher. But then Jane Slayre seeks employment as a governess. She meets Mrs. Fairfax, Adele, Grace Poole, and, of course, Mr. Edward Rochester. And her life will never be the same.

Jane Slayre is a paranormal retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. I don’t always love like paranormal fiction. Vampires, zombies, and werewolves don’t typically thrill me. But. I really enjoyed Jane Slayre. I thought it was clever. I thought it worked well. It’s not that I think the original needed improving. But the changes seem more natural than I ever would have thought possible. I liked Sherri Browning Erwin’s Jane. She was strong and fearless. (She saw her slaying as a gift.) Yet she was tender too. She fell in love with a man with a past. And she had a few tough decisions to make. I definitely recommend this one!

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

See the original post:
Jane Slayre

Jane Eyre The Graphic Novel: Original Text. Charlotte Bronte. 2009. Classical Comics. 144 pages.

I am not always a graphic novel fan. But. I just LOVED this one. I did. It’s Jane Eyre, so the potential to be great was there of course. I chose to read the version that uses the original text of the novel in its narration/dialogue. (There is a QuickText edition as well.)

I thought they did a GREAT job illustrating this one. I thought they did a wonderful job with Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester–capturing the romance between these two! I also liked seeing the artistic interpretation of the novel’s themes. I had forgotten how religion/faith is a central part of this one. (Primarily we see this through Helen–Jane’s childhood friend–and Jane’s missionary cousin.)

For my thoughts on the novel–on the story itself, see my review of the novel.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Continue reading here:
Jane Eyre The Graphic Novel: Original Text

The Vigilante’s Bride. Yvonne Harris. 2010. Bethany House. 304 pages.

“Marry him? I most certainly will not. Why, I’ve never laid eyes on the man!”

Luke Sullivan didn’t exactly know what the consequences would be when he decided to rob the stagecoach. He’s not exactly a criminal. Just a hero with a momentary weakness–he’d just learned some surprising news about his past, his father, something that attributes blame to the rancher, Bartholomew Axel. Sullivan feels that Axel owes him a bit of money, and, that is his justification.

But what Sullivan didn’t know was that the stagecoach was carrying a beautiful young woman to her would-be-husband. She’s been purchased by a rancher. Three guesses as to who…yes, Sullivan’s enemy, Bartholomew Axel. Sullivan can’t in good conscience leave this woman to her fate. She has to be made to see the truth. That Axel is old, ugly, cruel, mean, and a bully. He’s not fit to be any woman’s husband. Since Emily McCarthy has never met him, and isn’t exactly thrilled with the arrangement to begin with, it’s not that big a struggle. Not that she’s happy to be ‘kidnapped.’ But she doesn’t consider it a crime for long. Especially after meeting Axel a few days later! No, Emily soon thinks that Luke may be the hero of her dreams.

Will Emily find her place in Montana? Will Luke Sullivan find a wife?

I liked this one. It is historical romance–Montana 1880s–with plenty of adventure and drama. I don’t think it’s the best Christian romance I’ve read this year. But I’ve certainly read worse.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Link:
Vigilante’s Bride

Random Ramblings Top Ten Picks topic this week is fictional places. The list can be a mix of places we’d love to visit and places we wouldn’t ever really want to visit.

Prince Edward Island. The Anne series by L.M. Montgomery.

Barchester. Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope.

The Shire. Tolkien’s novels.

Regency England. Various romance novels of Georgette Heyer, Julia Quinn, etc.

Narnia. Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Gracehope. First Light. Rebecca Stead.

Archipelago of Dreams. The Chronicles of The Imaginarium Geographica. James. A. Owen.

Ingary. Howl’s Moving Castle. Diana Wynne Jones.

Hundred Acre Woods. The World of Pooh by A.A. Milne.

Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Read the original post:
Top Ten Picks: Fictional Places

Civil Contract. Georgette Heyer. 1961/2009. Harlequin. 432 pages.

“The library at Fontley Priory, like most of the principal apartments in the sprawling building, looked to the south-east, commanding a prospect of informal gardens and a plantation of poplars, which acted as a wind-break and screened from view the monotony of the fen beyond.”

Okay, so that first sentence doesn’t even hint at what the story is about. And it offers little incentive to the reader. Fortunately, most readers need only hear Georgette Heyer’s name to know that this may be a gem of a book. For those that aren’t the “most” in the readers listed above, I’d like to think I’m doing my part. A Civil Contract is a satisfying read in a very gentle and subtle manner. I enjoyed it. Enjoyed the characters and the subtle complexities of its non-plot. This is a very human novel.

You’re probably wondering, but what is it about??? Adam Deveril is a soldier whose father has just died. He’s inherited a title–he’s now Viscount Lynton–but he’s also inherited an overwhelming debt. A debt that is due to negligence, gambling, and mismanagement. He’s got a mother (Dowager is how she’s referred to in the text), and two sisters Charlotte and Lydia. Charlotte is engaged to be married, so she’s not one of his primary concerns. However, his mother and sister are. He’s been advised that he should marry for money. He finds the idea repugnant. Especially at first. But even Lydia, his younger sister, knows that sacrifices are called for in this occasion. It is her discussions of how she needs to be marry an older man for his money to “rescue” the family, that has Adam pondering how much he’s willing to do for his family.

The family home, Fontley, is at risk. All their property is at risk–most of their holdings are mortgaged already. And only their townhouse and Fontley remain. Adam feels that the honorable thing to do would be to sell everything they can and hope to break even. That is hope they have enough money to settle their debts. Whatever small amount may be left would be settled upon his sister for her dowry. He’s not worried so much for himself, for his comfort. He knows that he can go soldiering again and live on his pay if need be.

Of course, this newly-discovered money problem does mean that he cannot marry his first love, his supposed one and only love Julia Oversley. They met when he was injured. She became enamored with a vision of a dashing, heroic soldier. He became enamored of her beauty and charm. The parents consented at the time, though Lord Oversley did feel they weren’t well suited for one another. But now that he’s poor and soon to be without a home, he knows the only honorable thing is to break the engagement. Oversley does agree with him. Julia’s brokenhearted. Adam is melancholy but resolved that he’s doing the right thing, the responsible thing.

Enter Jonathan Chawleigh. A very wealthy man, but not “genteel” or gentle bred. Oversley introduces the impoverished Adam to Chawleigh with the hopes that they can solve each other problems. Chawleigh has high hopes for his daughter, his only child, Jenny. He wants to see her marry a proper gentleman, a man with a title, a man with dignity and distinction. A man that is part of the ton. Adam is shocked at first, but the more he considers the idea, the more he comes to feel it would be doing the better thing for his family–his mother and sister. The couple does meet first. And Chawleigh was right, Jenny doesn’t overwhelm men with her beauty and charm and grace. She’s the opposite of Julia in a way. Shy. Intelligent. Meek. Forgiving. Generous. Unassuming. And practical. Above all else practical. For those that are familiar with it, think Proverbs 31. Jenny is the essence of a Proverbs 31 woman. So after meeting her, while not overwhelmed by her beauty, he sees that they could live together amicably. They’d “suit” each other. Neither is dishonest. She knows that her husband is in love with another woman. He knows that she knows he’s in love with another woman. Yet this awkward situation somehow doesn’t stay awkward. Not for long. She doesn’t demand love. Her only hope–in the beginning–is for respect and dignity.

I loved Jenny. I did. I loved her father Jonathan. The scenes with him are just satisfyingly good. I loved Adam’s aunt Lady Nassington. I loved Adam’s sister Lydia. So many of the characters were just so wonderfully human, so thoroughly developed. I loved this quiet and gentle but always intelligent novel about marriage and love and family.

I wouldn’t say that I liked A Civil Contract better than A Convenient Marriage. But it was so much better than April Lady!

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Read more:
Civil Contract

Masquerade by Nancy Moser. 2010. Bethany House. 368 pages.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Read more:
Masquerade

The Foundling. Georgette Heyer. 1948/2009. Sourcebooks. 439 pages.

When the young gentlemen strolling through the park with his gun on his shoulder and an elderly spaniel at his heels came within sight of the house it occurred to him that the hour must be farther advanced than he had supposed, for the sun had sunk below the great stone pile, and an autumnal mist was already creeping over the ground.

The Duke of Sale (Gilly) is twenty-four. But. He’s never lived his own life, or made his own decisions. He’s had an entourage for as long as he can remember. An entourage that is determined to keep him safe, healthy, and comfortable. An entourage that Gilly feels discourages his independence, his individuality. He’s never known a day of freedom.

Until. His cousin Matthew shares his troubles–he is being blackmailed. And the Duke determines to “solve” this family problem all on his own. He’ll do it by being nobody. Without “being” the Duke, without being the head of the family. No. He wants to see if he’s capable of being a man. Of thinking and acting like a man.

Does he succeed? At over four-hundred pages, you can imagine he does. But this new freedom doesn’t come without risks and challenges and mishaps. He’ll pick up not one but two strangers along the way. One young man, Tom, who is foolish and prank-loving. And one young woman, Belinda, a foundling, he “rescues” from an “uncle” who doesn’t have the best of intentions. Belinda will BELIEVE any man who offers her a purple dress, you see. Or a ring. She’s as silly as silly can be. But Belinda is NOT the love interest of Gilly. (I was quite relieved!)

The Foundling is not my favorite Georgette Heyer. It is a bit too long. There were so many potential ending places in the last hundred pages. Places where one more paragraph could have nicely done the job. But. For whatever reason, this ending would not be rushed. I liked it, but didn’t love it.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

See the original post:
The Foundling

April Lady. Georgette Heyer. 1957/2005. Harlequin. 270 pages.

There was silence in the book-room, not the silence of intimacy but a silence fraught with tension.

April Lady is an enjoyable albeit predictable read. Our hero, Cardross, and our heroine, Nell, have been married over a year when the novel opens.

The book begins with an argument over money. The wife is being scolded by her husband for going over her quarterly allowance. It’s not that he’s not fabulously wealthy. He is. He just wants his wife to be able to account for the money he’s given her, for the unpaid bills that arrive at the house.

After the scolding, Nell is horrified to learn that she missed one bill. It is for a Chantilly lace dress. She can’t possibly tell her husband the truth–the bill got buried in a drawer, forgotten. She can’t possibly expect her husband to understand this circumstance. Perhaps her brother can help her…

Nell is keeping other secrets from her husband. She is lying about giving money to her brother, Dysart, to cover his gambling debts. She knows she is disobeying her husband by “supporting” her brother like this. But she can’t understand why her husband blames Dysart for being an addict. He should know that Dysart just can’t control himself when it comes to gambling and racing. Being unsure of her husband’s love (and respect), Nell spends much of her time afraid of her husband. She’s afraid to be honest with him, which is all that he is asking of her.

Both husband and wife are deceived. She is certain that he doesn’t love her, that their marriage is one of convenience not love. And he is certain that she doesn’t love him, that she married him for his money. (Her family is always in need of money since her father and brother are gambling addicts.) The reader is the only one who knows the truth: these two do love each other, and have loved each other from the beginning.

Is Nell as silly as she seems? Is Cardross as tyrannical and unforgiving? Will these two ever be completely honest with one another?

While I didn’t love the plot of this one–at least as much as other Heyer novels I’ve read in the past–I did enjoy the characters. Particularly the “minor” characters. Nell has a sister-in-law, Letty, whose troubled love life steals the show, in a way. She’s in love with a man, Jeremy Allandale, deemed “unsuitable” by her older brother. (Letty gets one of her many scoldings in the second chapter.) This love affair is “aided” by Letty’s cousin, Selina Thorne, a young lady who has read too many novels. This romance provides my favorite scene of the novel!

Dysart, Nell’s brother, and Mr. Hethersett, Cardross’ cousin who has a way of being in the right place at the right time to aid Nell out of her messes, also add to the novel’s charm.

One of the weaknesses of this novel, however, is Cardross. It’s hard for the reader to fall in love with Cardross when he’s only in a handful of scenes. (He spends most of the novel out of town on a trip.) Especially when most of those scenes show him scolding the women in his life. Are Letty and Nell silly? Yes. But still, that doesn’t mean it’s fun to read Cardross’ condescending scoldings. (Or Dysart’s scoldings for that matter!)

Also, I felt the romance between Cardross and Nell to be a little lacking. We’re told that it was love at first sight. Yet we rarely see these two in the same room. And when they are in the same room, he’s either scolding her or she’s awkwardly avoiding him in conversation. These two are uncomfortable in their scenes together. Neither wants to be vulnerable. Neither wants to show too much.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Continue reading here:
April Lady

Beauvallet. Georgette Heyer. 1929/2010. Sourcebooks. 301 pages.

The deck was in shambles.

Dona Dominica, the daughter of the former governor of Santiago, Don Manuel de Rada y Sylva, is on her way back to Spain–along with her dying father, when their ship the Santa Maria is boarded by English adventurers (pirates) led by the fearless El Beauvallet (Nicholas Beauvallet). The two are taken captive by Beauvallet and brought aboard his ship, Venture. But he promises–and it’s not a promise without risk–to return these two safely to Spain. If anyone can land an English ship safely into a Spanish port during these hostile times it would have to be Beauvallet.

At first Dominica hates her captor. She refuses to admit to herself that he is a little charming, a little handsome. She flirts with the other men to drive him crazy. But. Soon she has to admit that there is an attraction between them. And she’s shocked to hear him boast recklessly of his honorable intentions to make her an English woman before the year is out. Since she is his captive, you might think this would be easy. Just set sail for England instead of Spain. The lady seems willing enough. But Beauvallet wants the challenge. So he keeps his promise–his first promise–both father and daughter arrive safely in Spain. Beauvallet returns to England, to his family, to his Queen.

But Dominica has not been forgotten. And a few months later, Beauvallet is ready to pursue his lady. To woo her in Spain. With England and Spain so very, very close to war–how can an Englishman, a pirate, a dreaded pirate, safely enter Spain? He has boasted that he will find a way…

Meanwhile, Dominica’s father dies and she is taken into her aunt’s family. Her aunt!!! Oh what a character Dona Beatrice is! She’s a strong, strong woman with a mind of her own. She has a way of bullying all the men in her life including her son, Don Diego. She has determined that he must marry Dominica.

Beauvallet is an exciting and dramatic historical romance set in the Elizabethan era. Beauvallet is a bold adventurer who will risk it all to win his lady love. With his faithful companion, Joshua Dimmock, by his side, Beauvallet is ready for any challenge. The book had action, adventure, drama, and romance. I enjoyed Beauvallet very much!

The opening chapters of Beauvallet definitely reminded me of The Sea Hawk, a 1940 film starring Errol Flynn.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

See more here:
Beauvallet

Shiver. Maggie Stiefvater. 2009. Scholastic. 400 pages.

I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves. They were licking me, biting me, worrying at my body, pressing in. Their huddled bodies blocked what little heat the sun offered.

Our heroine, Grace, survived a wolf attack as a child. You might think that would make her fearful of wolves. But just the opposite is true. Grace borders on the obsessive. With one wolf in particular. Each winter she watches and waits. She seeks him out from the pack. Little does she know that he is always watching and waiting for her. His name is Sam. And he is a werewolf.

After a local tragedy, the community decides to do something about the wolf problem. Grace is angry–and determined. She wants to save the wolves. She wants to save “her” wolf. He is shot but not fatally. When he’s shot–or perhaps soon after he’s shot–he shifts to human form. And Grace has a chance to connect–really connect–with “her” wolf.

Grace isn’t the only one in the community to learn the secret–that werewolves are real. Does Grace’s romance stand a chance against the bitter cold of winter?

I didn’t love Shiver. I’m not even sure I liked Shiver. It was okay. But I certainly didn’t find it romantic or giddy-making.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Read this article:
Shiver (YA)