Sold to a Laird by Karen Ranney

TITLE: Sold to a Laird
AUTHOR: Karen Ranney

PUBLISHER: Avon Books
GENRE: Historical Romance
On Sale Date: November 4, 2009


Lady Sarah Baines was devoted to her mother and her family home, Chavensworth. Douglas Eston was devoted to making a fortune and inventing. The two of them are married when Lady Sarah′s father proposes the match and threatens to send Lady Sarah′s ill mother to Scotland if she protests.

Douglas finds himself the victim of love at first sight, while Sarah thinks her husband is much too, well, earthy for her tastes. Marriage is simply something she had to do to ensure her mother′s well-being, and even when her mother dies in the next week, it′s not a sacrifice she regrets.

She cannot, however, simply write her mother′s relatives and inform them of her death. She convinces Douglas - an ex pat Scot - to return to Scotland with her, to a place called Kilmarin. At Kilmarin, she is given the Tulloch Sgàthán, the Tulloch mirror. Legend stated that a woman who looked into the mirror saw her true fate.

Douglas and Sarah begin to appreciate the other, and through passion, Douglas is able to express his true feelings for his wife. But once they return to England and Douglas disappears and is presumed dead, Sarah has to face her own feelings for the man she′s come to respect and admire.


REVIEW

Do you believe in love at first sight? Well, Douglas Eston, the hero of New York Times Bestselling author Karen Ranney’ “SOLD TO A LAIRD”, most certainly does.

Lady Sara Baines burst onto the scene as she briskly walked into her father’s study demanding he not move her severely ill mother to Scotland. One look of this rigidly beautiful woman and Douglas is done for. Her spirit and pride engage him into doing the unthinkable. He asks for Lady Sara’s hand in marriage. Originally, Douglas had visited to inquire Lord Baines into investing in his diamond distilling adventure, not that the man needs one. Douglas is as rich as Midas, but he wasn’t always. Orphaned and left on the streets of Perth, Scotland the young heathen did everything to survive until one day he was caught red handed trying to pick a pocket. Instead of finding himself in goal the man took pity and a liking to the young fourteen year old. Determined to become a gentleman in every sense of the word, Douglas traveled the world with his mentor collecting languages as if they where one of his brilliant perfected diamonds. No one knows his secret and he will keep it that way. For if Lady Sara were to discover his little note book of instructions on how to act like a gentleman his hopes and fears of winning her love would be ultimately destroyed.


Lady Sara has one purpose in life. That task is taking care of Chevensworth and its inhabitants. Brought up to be the impeccable and irreproachable Lady of the manner. Sara makes sure that not a hair is out of place, her back rigid at all times and that no one…absolutely no one sees the pain and heartache living inside of her. Now, Sara is thrown into a marriage that she does not want or need. Her father has sold her to a man she doesn’t know for what...an adventure of diamond making. To save her dieing mother from a trek to Scotland Sara desperately agrees to the match.


What Sara never realized and soon comes do discover is that all men are not created equal. This charismatic man that burst into her life is nothing like the cruel sadistic Lord who ruled her world for so long. No, Douglas is man passionate not only in his work but in his love. Slowly Sara is treated to the warm compassionate nature of her husband. Gently seduced by his caring nature, Sara begins to long to be a true wife to the most fascinating man. With a soft word and gentle touch this intriguing man has Sara wanting to engage her heart for the very first time? But tragedy soon strikes and Sara isn’t sure if she ever wants to feel again. Can a man truly love a woman enough to sacrifice his heart for her comfort and good?

Douglas is determined to prove to his lady that love is not a condemnation and she doesn’t have to sacrifice any part of her soul to finally release the passion of the woman she has hidden away for so long.


New York Times Best Selling author Karen Ranney’s classic “SOLD TO A LAIRD” is a true testament to love at first site. And that a true abiding love can sustain us through any and all tragedy.

The fact that Ms. Rainey chose to flip the stereotypical and have the hero and not the heroine fall in love at first glance added to this heart rending story. Ms. Ranney’s three dimensional characters have you holding on with bated breath for the crossed lovers to endure every pitfall that befalls them. With its strong emotional current Ms. Ranney has given historical romance readers a love affair that will endure through out time.


Visit Christine @ Romantic Crush Junkies

Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin

Knots and Crosses
by Ian Rankin
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; Reprint edition
Publication date: September 16, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0312536923
Genre: Mystery
Appropriate for College Age and Adults
Rating 4.5 Crowns

I love a great mystery. Even saying "I love a great mystery" is not a strong enough statement. Oh, how I wish you could have been with me when I opened this book and read just the dedication page! I said to myself "Please, let it be half-way interesting, just enough so that I can get through it quickly!" Well with an opening like:


The girl screamed once, only the once. Even that,however, was a minor slip on his part.
That might have been the end of everything, almost before it had begun.


I was hooked! I read the book in one sitting! This is Ian Rankin's first novel about Detective Sergeant John Rebus. It was first published in 1987 (before cell phones were popular!). Mr. Rankin went on to publish 17 additional Rebus' stories over the next 20 years.

In Knots and Crosses we meet John Rebus as he is leaving his father's graveside to go visit his brother. John had followed in his father's footsteps by joining the SAS (Special Air Service), hoping it would place him in his father's favor. Once his father was out of the service he became a show hypnotist and trained John's brother Michael in the trade. Michael grew up to also perform as a hypnotist. The brothers were never close. Michael was always the favorite of his father. John could never do enough to get his father's attention, not even by joining the Army and the SAS.

Throughout the book we are given hints that something happened to John while he was in the SAS. We know he left the service and had a nervous breakdown immediately upon his departure; however, the government was able to get him the job on the police force. While he was recovering from his nervous breakdown, he married, had a child, tried to live the married life for awhile but was just too messed up and subsequently divorced. By the time the story opens his daughter is twelve, his wife is bitter and dating, and John is placed on a serial kidnapping and murder case that somehow he is linked to.

Oh the twists and turns and complications. And how Ian Rankin pulls additional literary characters and stories into the plot ~ oh wow! Crime and Punishment is a major part of the storyline! And Greek mythological creatures!


No sooner had he finished with a case than another two or three appeared in its place. What was the name of that creature?
The Hydra, was it?
That was what he was fighting. Every time he cut off a head, more popped into his in-tray.


John receives anonymous letters at his work, at his home, with cryptic messages that he cannot make sense of. At first he believes the messages may be coming from either his daughter or his ex-wife. He finally realizes that no, it is someone entirely different. Someone with an ulterior motive. A sinister motive.

If you've read any of the Detective Sergeant John Rebus books or any other of Ian Rankin's books, I'd love to hear your thoughts about his writing. He's won several awards including the British Book Award, GQ Writer of the Year in '05, Worldbooks Crime Thriller of the Year and a slew of other awards that you can look up on his site!

I have been a Stieg Larsson groupie since I discovered him last year, but I think now I'm going to have to become an Ian Rankin groupie too! This book gets a 4.5 crowns from me!

Visit Stacy @ A Novel Source

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett

Title- The Game of Kings

Author- Dorothy Dunnett

Publisher- Vintage Books

Genre- Historical Fiction

Publishing Date- April 29, 1997

Rating 3.5 Crowns

The Game of Kings, the first in the six book Lymond Chronicles, takes us back to Scotland in 1547 and introduces us to the roguish and swashbuckling Francis Crawford of Lymond. The country is in the throes of a battle with England who wishes to conquer Scotland politically via a marriage between five year old Mary Queen of Scots and nine year old Edward VI of England . Francis Crawford (or Lymond as he is referred to most often), once thought to be firmly on his country’s side is now accused of treason for spying for the English. He returns to Scotland and forms a band of mercenaries who spend their time harassing their fellow Scotsman and avoiding capture. Lymond insists that he did not betray the Scottish government and makes it his mission to track down the man who can prove his innocence and restore his name. Further complicating matters is Lymond’s older brother Robert who has a list of grievous wrongs done to him by his brother and is determined to find him and bring him to justice. With his band of ruffians including a gypsy king and a fellow nobleman’s son, Lymond scours Scotland and northern England to find the man he seeks, makes many enemies, and has several adventures and narrow escapes along the way.



The Game of Kings is full of lively characters, political intrigue, and many complex plots and subplots. Lymond is the kind of “hero” I love to meet-fundamentally good when you get right down to it but with a streak of bad that makes him just plain fun. Throughout the book he appears to be of questionable morals but his reasons for his actions when finally revealed prove otherwise. The book is an interesting look at this period of time in Scotland . This is by no means an easy read however. The language is a bit complex as are the plots. There is a lot going on at any given time and I found myself getting lost and having to reread passages if I wasn’t fully concentrating. Also, Dunnett likes to throw in bits of French, Latin, and Spanish throughout the book with no indication of what is being said. I did realize about halfway through the book that I could still follow the story fairly well without knowing the translation. The story starts off rather slow and took me a bit to get into but I am glad I stuck with it. Francis Crawford is one of the liveliest characters I have encountered in awhile. I found myself enormously entertained as we follow him from Edinburgh to Dumbarton, and through the moors and borderlands of Scotland . I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a rich, complex and involved read-quite a commitment but well worth it in the end.



Visit Holly @ Bippity Boppity Book

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

Title- The Sunday Philosophy Club

Author- Alexander McCall Smith

Publisher- Anchor

Genre- Mystery

Publishing Date- 2004

Rating- 3 Crowns

Synopsis: Isabel is fond of problems, and sometimes she becomes interested in problems that are, quite frankly, none of her business. This may be the case when Isabel sees a young man plunge to his death from the upper circle of a concert hall in Edinburgh.
Despite the advice of her housekeeper, Grace, who has been raised in the values of traditional Edinburgh, and her niece, Cat, who, if you ask Isabel, is dating the wrong man, Isabel is determined to find the truth - if indeed there is one - behind the man's death. The resulting moral labyrinth might have stymied even Kant.

And then there is the unsatisfactory turn of events in Cat's love life that must be attended to...

My Review: I had high hopes for this book, I love a mystery, but I found it starting off much more slowly than I thought it would. Although the mysterious death occurs in the very first paragraph, it takes quite a bit of time for the investigation to start, and I hate to admit that I'm a little impatient for that!

Throughout the book, people are telling Isabel that she is getting involved in things that aren't her business, and I completely agreed. But there is a huge part of me that completely understands her impulse to investigate these mysteries...which is probably why I don't watch the local news!

I couldn't help but find myself comparing Isabel to Lady Julia Grey, of the Silent in the Grave series. I have always felt that Julia was a very lovable detective, whereas Isabel quite irritated me for much of the book. There were numerous times when Isabel would have an internal dialog and conclude that she was right. I found this terribly frustrating, because I prefer characters who acknowledge their flaws versus arriving at the conclusion that they are correct.

My irritation with Isabel aside, I liked the book and the story, and I may find that Isabel herself might grow on me in the future. Even though she is a frustrating leading character, her nose for finding the truth is admirable and I do wish that more people in real life were that way. It's a pretty short book, so it makes for a fast read, and would be something fabulous to read on vacation this summer.




Visit Crystal @ I Totally Paused

Death of a Valentine by M. C. Beaton

Category: FICTION, SUSPENSE & THRILLERS
Format: HARDCOVER BOOK
Publish Date: 1/12/2010
Price: $23.99/$28.99
ISBN: 9780446547383
Pages: 256
Rating: 4.5 Crowns


Amazing news has spread across the Scottish countryside. The most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, will be married at last. Everyone in the village of Lochdubh adores Josie McSween, Macbeth's newest constable and blushing bride-to-be.

While locals think Josie is quite a catch, Hamish has a case of prenuptial jitters. After all, if it weren't for the recent murder of a beautiful woman in a neighbouring village, there wouldn't be a wedding at all. For it was a mysterious Valentine's Day package--delivered to the victim before her death--that initially drew Hamish and Josie together on the investigation. As they work side by side, Hamish and Josie soon discover that the woman's list of admirers was endless, confirming Hamish's suspicion that love can be blind, deaf . . . and deadly.


My Review:

The book opens with Hamish Macbeth standing at the alter waiting to marry Josie McSween, although instead of looking for a happily ever after, Hamish seems to be looking for a way out. From there we are transported to a year earlier. The lovable Scottish police sergeant has just discovered that he will receive a new constable, a new woman constable. Both of which he feels he does not need. Not only does his new constable, Josie, seem to be incompetent, she seems to be clingy, making Hamish wish that she will be transfer back to Strathbane.

Josie McSween has only one thing on her mind, Hamish Macbeth. He was the only reason she had ask to be transferred to the hole-in-the-wall town of Lochdubh. One look at the redheaded Highlander and thoughts of marriage flooded her mind. The only problem is that Hamish is determined to avoid her at all cost. Receiving her relationship advice romance books, Josie will stop at nothing to capture the man she wants.

When the town beauty is murdered by a Valentine, Josie has finally found her opportunity to get closer to Hamish. While investigating the murder of Annie Fleming, Hamish discovers more twists and turns than he could ever imagine both in his case and his own life.


My Thoughts:

From what I read in the prologue I do not expect the events that went before. I expected it be a bit different, but I have to say that I am glad it unfolded the way it did. While I enjoyed the character of Hamish, (think of a combination of Kevin McKidd, Colin Farrell and Gerard Butler) with him you have the perfectly formed Highlander, I found that Josie McSween could at time grate on your nerves. She seemed a bit too clingy for even the type she was wrote out to be. Also the background characters enhanced the story without taking focus off the main storyline, which I founded added a bit something extra.


I knew about the Hamish Macbeth series itself on BBC, but I was unaware that the television series was actually based on novels. So I decided to give it a go, and let me say that I was not disappointed. It sort of reminded me of an Agatha Christie novel with a more modern Scottish feel. I have to say that Death of a Valentine has to be my favorite mystery book, and normally I am not a mystery type of person. The author M.C. Beaton has a way of making her character’s believable, flaws and all, which I believe enhances the story. Not to mention she uses the Scottish Highlands as a character itself instead of just a backdrop. The fact it combines the perfect amount of Scottish culture without the feel of a text book was a plus in my book. Although some readers may have a bit of trouble with the Highland brogue that M.C. Beaton has incorporated into her book, but believe me it is well worth the reading.

Overall I would say that Death of a Valentine was a light mystery perfect for a weekend or a rainy day read, especially if you like a good Scottish mystery. For me the 246 pages flew by, and while this is part of a series I felt that even though the book contained a few references to previous books, everything was well explained, and it does stand well as a single title.




Visit Angela Renee @ Renee's Reads

Highland Fling Week

It’s “Highland Fling” week here at Royal Reviews, and each day one of our Royal Reviewers will feature a different book set in Scotland.





Scotland’s legendary bard Robert Burns was so enamored with the Scottish Highland’s he penned an ode entitled “My Heart’s in the Highland’s”.

My Heart’s in the Highlands , my heart is not here,
My hearts in the Highlands a-chasing the deer,
A-chasing the deer and following the roe-
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the north,
The birthplace of valor, the county of worth!
Wherever I wander wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love

Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below,
Farewell to the forest and wild hanging woods,
Farewell the torrents and loud-pouring floods!

My heart’s in the Highland’s, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands a-cashing the deer,
A-chasing the deer and following the wild roe-
My heart’s in the Highlands where I go.

Although Burns was considered a Lowland poet we see that the Highland Hills captured his heart. So boil a pot of heather tea, break out the shortbread and join us as we travel along the misty moors and the moonlit lochs of Bonny Scotland.

Please feel free to leave a question or comment for any of our Royal Reviewers.




Visit Angela Renee @ Renee's Reads

New Reviewers Wanted

Thanks for being patient while Royal Reviews is going through this time of transition. Hopefully things will be back up and running normal again within the next week. I would to like to say thank you to the wonderful ladies that put this amazing site together, I know how hard they worked on this blog. I hope that they will find success and happiness wherever life leads them.

During this transition some of the Royal Reviews have decided to part ways with the blog thus leaving us looking for new Royal Reviewers. I have 5 permanent positions to fill as well as 8 Ladies in Waiting (guest) positions to fill.

Permanent Reviewer:
If you'd like to be a permanent reviewer you would be required to contribute four reviews every three months. Each review is to be done the week before it is due (if you don't think you can keep up with this commitment then please don't apply). A choice of genres and weeks is sent out well in advance and then you nominate which weeks you'd like to participate in. The reviews are spread out over different weeks and we will be specifically looking for reviewers who love historical fiction. You are also expected to respond to our lovely readers comments (especially when your reviews go up).


Guest Reviewer (Lady in Waiting):
Guest reviewers are required to do one review every three months. I also often call on Guest Reviewers to help out if I am short on reviews or someone is sick. Guest reviews are required to be completed and emailed to me the week before they are due.

Please email newroyalreviews at yahoo dot com with details about which position you'd like to apply for and other relevant information including which genres you read the most and a link to your blog.


Once again please bear with us as we go through this transition.



Visit Renee @ Renee's Reads

Another Royal Reviews Announcement

Royal Reviews received an offer by Angela from Renee's Reads to take over the blog. This was a very generous offer that we gladly accepted so that the blog may continue. I'm sure you will all love Angela!

All the challenges that are currently on Royal will be moved to Queen of Happy Endings so please be patient with us will transition everything over the next week and we will keep you up-to-date as we progress through this process.

Regards
Alaine

Royal Reviews Announcement

Hi everyone

It is with sadness that I announce Royal Reviews is officially closing down this week.  This was a very tough decision for Alaine, Sheree and I to make however it is one that is ultimately best for our personal and family commitments.  While we have loved running Royal Reviews, the time commitment has simply become a little too much for each of us.

The challenges will remain on Royal Reviews until the end of 2010.  Feel free to keep posting the links to your reviews and interacting on these pages.  In 2011, the challenges will be moved to our own personal blogs.

On behalf of all the reviewers we would like to thank you all for being so friendly and welcoming in blog land.  Thank you for stopping by, commenting, joining the challenges and the competitions!  We will all still see you around on our personal blogs.

Alaine, Sheree and I would like to thank ALL of the lovely women who have blogged for Royal Reviews during the past year.  You have written some amazing reviews and continually added to our TBR piles.  In alphabetical order, these women are:

Goddess of Nobility @ Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog

Princess of Pop Culture @ Totally Paused

Countess of Hearts @ J. Kaye's Book Blog

Maharani of Mayhem and Mysteries @ Liyanaland

Diabolical Dauphine @ Miss Picky Column

Marquise of Mischief @ Passages to the Past

Duchess of the Dark @ Poisoned Rationality

Queen of Happy Endings @ Queen of Happy Endings

Princess of the Past @ Reading, Writing & Ranting

Lady of Literature @ Review from Here

Queen of Second Chances @ Romantic Crush Junkies

Queen of Mischief @ Slip Carefully

Contessa of History @ Tanzanite's Shelf & Stuff

Princess of the Wild Wild West @ Texas Red

Countess of Shadows @ The Bibliophilic Book Blog

The Moody Countess @ The Book Resort

Empress of Good & Evil @ The Eclectic Reader

Medieval Queen @ The Lady Gwyn's Kingdom

There have also been many many guest reviewers and bloggers over the past year - thank you sincerely for your contribution.  A big thank you also to all the authors and publishers who guest blogged and offered books for giveaways. 

Once again, thank you most of all to you wonderful readers for your support and we'll see you out there in blogland!

Love Annie

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gillbert

Genre: Memoir/Non-Fiction

Copyright:  2006

Pages:  340

Rating: 5 Crowns

Synopsis:  Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls "Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister") is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

Review:  I wasn't expecting to love this book - I'd heard a LOT of hype and being the skeptic that I am I had prepared myself for some mediocre results.  But by God I was wrong.  To those of you who have read it, I'm interested in hearing what your thoughts are but in the review that follows, I'm really going to try hard to convey the depth of what this book has meant to me.

I've always believed that certain books will find you at times in your life when you really need them most - like we have our own little book guardian angels who whisper in our ears when we're perusing the shelves and say 'Here, read THIS one.'  Eat, Pray, Love surprisingly turned out to be one of these books and has firmly cemented itself on the dusty little bookcase of my most secret heart.  Am I making too much of a little book?  I don't know.  But I'm a passionate believer that a book has the power to impart on you the wisdom and lessons of another person's life experience and each time that truly happens to me, I am left feeling absolutely amazed.

This memoir is about divorce, yet mostly it is about the kind of grief that shakes you to the bones and leaves you questioning everything you thought you were.  I have never experienced a sorrow of the magnitude that author did but somehow, I identified with the journey.  You can't not.  Liz Gilbert is a mistress of the written word and she draws you into her story with her clever metaphors and her constant self-talk.  You really will believe you've stepped out of your own mind and right into hers, so easily will you merge with her psyche. The reason though, that she has this talent, this bewitching way with words is that she is so beautifully honest about her experience.  She hides nothing from her reader, inviting you to navigate the entire landscape of her mind with her.

Liz Gilbert  finds herself but along the way she finds pizza, frank-talking Richard from Texas (undoubtedly one of my favourite people from the book) and a Balinese medicine-man.  Her descriptions are so intense that they instantly made me want to book a flight to Italy just to eat pizza in Rome...oh how I want to go to Rome now.  I'm putting it on my Bucket List!

In terms of spirituality, this book is distinctly non-denominational and the journey the author takes with God can easily mould itself to the religious views of the reader without offense.  Rather than shove her own views down your throat, it allows you to take a step back and quietly examine your own beliefs and ways with connecting with God.  It's not at all preachy but spirituality is a very large focus of this book.

Eat, Pray, Love surpassed all my expectations and I can definitely see why so many of my friends have tried to get me to read it for years.  It touched a chord in me and I hope that if you pick it up, you'll find the same beauty within its pages.  Our journey as women are so different but this book for me illustrates the common thread that runs through the core of us all. 

A note on the Audio version - As with many memoirs, the author herself reads this version of her work and she does a fantastic job.  She's compelling and warm and I don't think a voice artist could have done a better job - a thoroughly good audiobook.

Here's the trailer for the soon to be released movie-version of this book starring Julia Roberts in the title role:

Visit Annie @ Princess of the Past

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Copyright: 2007

Pages: 496 or 11 hour audio book

Series: Georgina Kincaid #1

Rating: 4.5 Crowns

Synopsis: Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men. Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

Review: I started to read this a while ago when I got the book from the library but ran out of time and had to take it back. Then I got it on audio to listen to and I loved listening to the Vampire Academy series so I thought this might be a good one to listen to as well. I've been wanting to read a Succubus book for a long time, because I just couldn't quite grasp the concept and was curious about them.

It's easy to feel empathy for Georgina, she'd been in love once and felt what it was like to love someone without sucking the life out of them. For those of you who don't know what a Succubus is, they are like Vampires, however, Vampires need blood to survive but Succubus need the life force of men and this can only be sought by having sex with them. Hence the reason it's such a lonely life, they don't age, can't have a meaningful relationship because that would kill their mate. I really like the Georgina's character, she is kick-arse but yet also has this soft side that would love to be in 'love'. The also reads her favourite authors novel 5 pages a night so that she can drag out the pleasure for as long as possible (I loved that about her).

This is an excellent first book in the series that I thoroughly enjoyed and think I will go straight on to the next book. It's not like anything I've ever read before and I do like the fantasy and romance combination, although it's not anything like a traditional romance. Of course every good urban fantasy has a kick-arse heroine and Georgina Kincaid is certainly that.




Visit Alaine at her blog The Queen of Happy Endings

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Genre: General Fiction

Copyright: 2010

Length: 10 hrs, 4 mins

Rating: 4.5 Crowns

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.

In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.

Review:
I found this book just delightful, like being wrapped in a warm blanket or relaxing in a garden swing on a warm spring day with the fragrance of jasmine or honeysuckle in the air. Beautifully narrated, the vivid imagery is a balm to the senses, it's a warm, tender, funny story that tugged at my heartstrings.

"A cool breeze lifted the hem of my nightgown. The birds began to chirp and sing and the first sparks of sunlight brought the dew drops to life.... When my fingers touched the back door, something inside me shifted - I could actually feel it. I knew Mrs. Odell was right. I felt the flutter of a page turn deep within me as a chapter in my Life Book came to a close."

As CeeCee comes to terms with her traumatic past and the death of her mother, the reader accompanies her as she heals and discovers her sense of self, enveloped by the love of some colourful southern women. The charm of this book is not just in the cast of quirky characters, but the ambience created by the southern setting, the beautiful descriptions of gardens, homes, mouth-watering food, the strong female friendships, pearls of wisdom and giggle worthy moments. I fell in love with many of the characters, Aunt Tootie, Oletta, Mrs Odell and Oletta's hilarious Aunt Sapphire. The "black boomerang of karma" and slug saga cracked me up as did many of the antics of the eccentric Ms Goodpepper and horrid Ms Hobb.

Despite the sad beginning this isn't a sad story, it's an uplifting story infused with humour, a story of love and friendship and new beginnings. It evoked such a myriad of feelings in me, I cried and laughed and cringed and cheered. What more can I say, I was completely captivated by this wonderful debut novel, I highly recommend it in audio format and I look forward to more from Beth Hoffman.

Visit Beth Hoffman's website to find out more about the author and her work. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is available from audible.com or  Amazon or The Book Depository (free international postage)

Visit Teddyree at her blog The Eclectic Reader