High Country Bride by Linda Lael Miller

Title: High Country Bride
Author: Linda Lael Miller
Genre: Western Romance
Crowns: 4/5

According to wikipedia the western literary genre are "devoted to telling stories set primarily in the later half of the 19th century in the American Old West." So for western week here on Royal Reviews I chose to review a western romance.
Synopsis (from amazon.com):

One ranch. Three sons. Only one will inherit...and on one condition.
Tired of waiting for his sons to settle down, Arizona-territory rancher Angus McKettrick announces a competition: the first son to marry and produce a grandchild will inherit Triple M ranch. Now, three distinctly different, equally determined cowboys are searching high and low for brides.
If Emmeline Harding knows one thing, it's that she can't hold her liquor. And though she's not sure how she came to wake up next to a stack of gold coins in a brothel, she fears the worst. Fleeing town as a mail-order bride, she wonders: how will she ever confess her past to her handsome new husband?
Freedom-loving Rafe McKettrick is a man of strong beliefs and stronger passions and he'll do anything to win the Triple M -- even marry a stranger. To his surprise, Emmeline's charms beguile him even as the secrets he senses she's hiding ignite jealousy and suspicion. But when a visitor from the past enters the high country, the newlyweds have no choice but to give up on a marriage in name only and seek a union that satisfies them body and soul.


Review:
The themes that pervade High Country Bride center around territorial disputes (Angus McKettrick's three sons fighting to inherit the ranch) and codes of honor (various characters having seemingly hidden agendas while in fact they are trying to preserve their honor).
The book opens in a brothel of all places. Emmeline lives with her aunt, the madam who runs the brothel, and for the most part she has led a very sheltered life. One night Emmeline decides that she is sick of the life she is leading. She puts on one of her aunt's dresses and invents a persona for herself while she mingles with "guests". The next morning she wakes up in a disturbing state of undress with a pile of money on the beside table. Disgraced, Emmeline signs on to become a mail order bride.
Rafe doesn't particularly care who takes the place at his side in the role of wife. He sees the whole business as a means to an end. Of course, with the romance novel aspect, he is surprised by his attraction to this stranger.
In Linda Lael Miller's brand of western the Arizona frontier comes complete with violence as in traditional westerns. However, the violence is of a softer variety (if that is even possible) because it always serves a purpose of protecting the family and other important characters.
I think that this book is an excellent read for people who crave a slice of the wild west while still sinking into an exhilarating love story.


Visit Liz @ The Book Nook of Liz

One Fine Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy

Howdy y’all!!! This week on Royal Review our reviewers will be featuring Western Themed Books. So why not join us as we lasso a few good reads.




Title- One Fine Cowboy
Author- Joanne Kennedy
Publisher- Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date- September 2010
ISBN- 978-1-4022-3670-9
$6.99
Genre- Contemporary Western Romance
How I read it- Mass Market ARC
Rating- 4.5 Crowns

HIS HEART WAS AS WILD AS THE HORSES HE TRAINED……………………..

Nate Shawcross is perfectly content to spend his days training wild horses. So when a beautiful greenhorn unexpectedly shows up for a seminar from the famous “Horse Whisper” of Wyoming, all Nate wants to do is send her packing…………….


THE LAST THING SHE EXPECTED WAS A LESSON IN ROMANCE……………………..

Graduate student Charlie Banks came to the ranch to learn about horse communication, but when she meets the ruggedly handsome cowboy, she starts to fantasize about another connection entirely……

Nate needs to stay focused if he’s going to save his ranch from foreclosure, but he can’t help being distracted by the brainy and breathtakingly sexy Charlie. Could it be that after all this time Nate has finally found the one woman who can tame his wild heart?
(From the back cover)

My Review-

Charlie Banks is determined to stay single and career oriented, nothing or no one will stand in the way of what her and her mother have mapped out for her life. A city girl from New Jersey, Charlie is dismayed when she learns that her boss, Sadie Tate, has signed her up for “horse whispering” lessons at Latigo Dude Ranch. Not only does this go against her views as an animal rights activist, it also goes against his opinion of cowboys. Charlie now finds that she is lost somewhere in Wyoming, with a broken axel, and no phone service, only to rescued by Nate Shawcross, the man who will be teaching the seminar.

Nate Shawcross maybe known throughout Wyoming for his amazing skills with horses, but as great as though skills maybe he lacks people skills. With the arrival of Charlie he finds that his estranged girlfriend has set him up to teach a “Horse Whispering” clinic. As the two of them begin to work together on the ranch, they each discover secrets that draw them closer together, although the same secrets that unite them may end up tearing them apart.

My thoughts-

As a city girl myself, I have to say that I immediate understood and like Charlie. She was down to earth, yet she had a part of herself closed off to the world, which enhances her character. Nate was also a very likable character, who although seemed ruff and silent, had many facets to him, which again added a depth to the story. The two characters were like chalk and cheese, and it seemed that the two were wrote to clash, yet they also have a way of bringing the trueness out of each other, so I have to say the author, Joanne Kennedy, knows how to make the plot very intriguing. Through out the books I was constantly wanting to know more thus I ended up reading the book in two readings. Although the book was a romance book I felt that the romance scenes were tastefully done, and they balanced out the story rather than over riding it.


Overall I have to say that I enjoyed this book, even though I am not one for Western themes. The plot was well mapped out as were the characters, also there were a few surprises that I did not see coming. You should defiantly give this book a chance.


This arc was provided by Sourcebooks.


Visit the Queen of the Quill @ Renee’s Reads

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs Reading Group Selection

Hello Royal Readers,

Royal Reviews is hosting its first ever Reading Club. The first book we will be discussing is HERE BURNS MY CANDLE by Liz Curtis Higgs. I know that we are cutting it a little short but the date of the discussion will be September 1st at 7:00 pm eastern standard time. If you are unable to make the live discussion I will have the page up that morning so please feel free to stop by and leave your thoughts, comments, or questions.




About HERE BURNS MY CANDLE


“No moon in sight,” Donald observed, resting his forehead lightly on the glass. “No Highlanders either.”
“They’ll arrive soon enough.” Marjory extinguished the candle by her bed, shrouding the room in darkness. “Sleep while you can, Donald. And keep that bonny wife of yours close at hand.”
“Aye.” The smile in his voice was unmistakable. “So I shall.”
September 1745

Edinburgh is a bustling city of fifty thousand inhabitants, the narrow closes and wynds crowded with rich and poor alike. Tongues are wagging over the impending arrival of Charles Edward Stuart—the young pretender to the throne—and his Highland army. Scotland, though bound by English law, is thick with Jacobites, who support the restoration of James and the overthrow of King George II.

Safely ensconced in their well appointed rooms overlooking the High Street are the Kerrs of Selkirk. Landed gentry from the Scottish Borders, the Kerrs have called Edinburgh home for a decade, all but abandoning their quiet country estate in favor of Edinburgh’s heady mix of culture, commerce, and political intrigue.

A spiritual famine has inflicted this family, a waning devotion to God. The Kerrs don’t belong in the city, and instinctively they know it. Edinburgh is foreign, unfamiliar, and even dangerous. Yet, they remain.

Lady Elisabeth Kerr is a keeper of secrets. A Highlander by birth and a Lowlander by marriage, she honors the auld ways, even as doubts and fears stir deep within her.

Lord Donald Kerr has secrets of his own, well hidden from the household, yet whispered among the town gossips.

Dowager Lady Marjory Kerr hides gold beneath her floor and guilt inside her heart. Though her two abiding passions are maintaining her place in society and coddling her grown sons, Marjory’s many regrets, buried in Greyfriars Churchyard, continue to plague her.

Bound by marriage, then torn asunder by cruel circumstance, the Kerr women will be forced to depend upon one another. And that's when things will get verra interesting...
A mother who cannot face her future.
A daughter who cannot escape her past.
A timeless saga of love and betrayal,
flickering against the vivid backdrop
of eighteenth-century Edinburgh.

The Queen Of the Quill

The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan

Hello Royal Readers,

This week on Royal Reviews is Poets, Playwrights, and Authors week. Our Royal Reviewers will be featuring books pertaining to Poets, Playwrights, and Authors as well as their work.

-The Queen of the Quill




Title: The Taste of Sorrow
Author: Jude Morgan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Headline, 2009
373p
Rating: 4.5 Crowns


One of the best books I've read this year !

The story of the Brontes , subject of so many books, both fiction and non-fiction, has had new life breathed into it by the wonderful and compelling writing of Jude Morgan. Without being influenced by the varying myths about the family that have grown over the years he takes the facts and weaves a tale that is both realistic and magical.

It's astounding that from a childhood spent in a small country parsonage high on the Yorkshire moors came, not one, but three young women whose imagination and suppressed emotions produced literary works that are now considered genius. Brilliant Charlotte, the intensely shy and mystical Emily, and gentle Anne .......and their tragic and self-destructive brother, Branwell. This is their story and it's as intense and pssionate as any novel they wrote.

Beginning with the death of the childrens mother , Maria Bronte, and ending with the marriage of Charlotte, much of what lies between will be familiar to many readers. The terrible years at the Cowan school, the time spent in Belgium, the governessing positions have all been immortalised in the Bronte books.
What made it worthwhile reading about again was the beautiful quality of Jude Morgan's prose and his rich development of all the characters. I loved the way the three girls stepped out from under the mantle of 'the sisters' and each began to shine in her own individuality. I loved how the lesser characters, from Tabby in the kitchen to the stern Aunt Branwell were also given their full share of attention and emerged as real personalities.

Jude Morgan's wonderful use of adjectives, similes and metaphors adds so much to the richness of his prose........."But Anne was also observant, highly sensitive, sharply honest. Hence the expected things, the dreaded things, that she could not shrug off or keep at a decorous distance. They rubbed like a nutmeg grater at the quick of her self."

What a pity they changed the title for the US publication --Charlotte and Emily - not only is it dull and unoriginal but the omission of Anne is shameful.
The original title comes from the book - from the Reverend Bronte's memory of his father in Ireland who before going out into the hayfields would place a sucking-pebble in his mouth to stop his mouth going dry.
"That is the taste of sorrows: the hard necessary pebble in your mouth."
It's the perfect title for a story that has more than its share of tragedy and sorrow .

Fortunately no one can change what is inside the covers - masterly storytelling, superb historical fiction, a joy to read!



Visit Cat @ Tell Me A Story

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Title: My Sister's Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: February 1st 2005 by Washington Square Press
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 423
Rating: 4 Crowns

Synopsis: Can a parent love too much? Or is too much never enough?
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now.

Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

A provocative novel that raises some important ethical issues, My Sister's Keeper is the story of one family's struggle for survival at all human costs and a stunning moral parable for all time.

My Review: I found this to be a difficult novel to read, both because of Kate's illness and the situation that Anna finds herself in. I've seen the movie, so I kind of knew the story already, and it was still a very sad book. I found myself asking, over and over, what would I do in this situation?

What made it a little more difficult for me was that to an extent, I didn't really like Anna anyway. I found her to be annoying and it was frustrating to see how she just couldn't seem to make up her mind. Then again, I would probably waiver were I in her position, so I don't feel like I can be too critical of her. And I haven't been a thirteen year old for a really long time, so maybe I'm just too disconnected to really identify with much of her life.

The novel raises a very big ethical question - how far should you go to save the life of one child, and at what cost to another? Anna's parents never intended to let things go as far as they did, yet it seems a lot of the time that Kate is the only concern. As a reader, you see the story of the entire Fitzgerald family, and I found myself wondering which of them genuinely suffered the most: Is it Kate with her illness? Anna having to be the perpetual donor? Jesse as the neglected eldest child? Or the parents, having to live this life and make decisions for all three of their children?

The perspective trades off from one character to another at each chapter break, which provided an interesting way to hear the story. The only one missing is Kate - you hear her story through everyone else's. I definitely felt sympathy for Anna throughout the novel, but I couldn't help feeling bad for Kate. Not simply because she has leukemia, but also because she has no real choice about what happens to her either. And the sad thing is that you know there is no real happy ending to a story like this.

For those who have seen the movie and not read the book, I highly recommend you make the time to read it and make your own comparisons. Although there is an epilogue, I would be interested in seeing a sequel at some point, because I was left wanting more. This was also my first Jodi Picoult novel, and I will absolutely read more of her work after this.




Visit Crystal @ I Totally Paused

Her Mother's Daughter by Julianne Lee

This week on Royal Reviews is anything goes week. Each of our Royal Reviewers will be featuring a book of their choice. Who knows what you will discover this week.




Title- Her Mother’s Daughter, A Novel of Queen Mary Tudor
Author- Julianne Lee
Publisher- Penguin
Pages-323
Rating-4.5 Crowns

Her name was Mary Tudor. First of the Tudor queens, she has gone down in history as Bloody Mary. But does she deserve her vicious reputation?

She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and half-sister to Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Mary Tudor's life began as the sweetly innocent, pampered princess of Wales - until the age of eleven when the father she adored cast aside the mother she worshipped and declared Mary a bastard. Only after years of exile did Mary finally rise to the throne alongside the man who, aside from her father, was her greatest love - and her greatest betrayer.

Told by Mary herself and the people around her, this grand-scale novel takes us back to the glittering court of sixteenth-century England, and tells the tragic story of a fascinating, largely misunderstood woman who withstood the treachery and passion around her only to become one of England's most vilified queens.
(from the back cover)


My Review

Mary Tudor, has for been vilified for centuries, now thanks to a group of young girls curious about the folklore of Bloody Mary, her true story is revealed. The only daughter of King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, Mary was once loved and adored by not only her parents but by the whole realm, she was the pearl of her fathers world, although fate is a fickle mistress. Soon Mary finds that her father is seeking to divorce her mother, and now the Princess is stripped of everything she is has ever known, no longer is her fathers pride and joy, she is outcast torn away from her mother, never to see her again. Years later she is to serve as a lady-in-waiting in to the Princess Elizabeth, although in Mary’s eyes she is no Princess and Anne is no Queen, they are usurpers in her and her mothers life. Failing not to recognized the legitimacy of her fathers marriage to Anne as well as her father being Supreme Head of the Church of England, Mary is now fearful for her life, and forced to endure things that are below the station in-which she was born. Finally after Anne’s death, Mary slowly regains a bit of favour in the eyes of her father, although throughout the remainder of Henrys life Mary is used as a Political pawn, betrothed to numerous men who at the moment had something to offer her father. After Henry’s death, her fate has changed little although her she fears her life is in more danger than ever before, failing to reason with those who control her brother, Mary once again finds that she has been stripped of the privileges she was granted by her father. With the death of her brother, Mary rallies to regain the throne, finally she is England’s rightful Queen. Mary begins her reign on a shaky foundation, one that has been through a war of religions, and now she is determined to set right the Catholic faith. Marrying the handsome Spaniard Philip, she not only pushes the Catholic faith forward, she reunites England with Spain, which would have delighted her mother. Although as mush as I would love to say that Mary and Phillip had a joyous life together, I cannot, while the two seemed genuinely happy in the fist few months of their marriage, the honeymoon period ended. Philip soon grew tired of the older and apparently barren Mary, and retuned to Spain, only returning to England for brief period of time before Mary’s death. Mary was deeply heartbroken and never truly recovered.



My Thoughts

Mary’s life was very turbulent, she was once the most radiant jewel in the court of Henry VIII, and his actions left irrevocable damages upon Mary. Author, Julianne Lee, makes Mary’s story come alive, and for once we see who she might have truly been. Each page is an emotional outpouring that opens up your mind to the cruelty she must have endured during her lifetime. I also enjoyed the way the Julianne opens the story with the legend of Bloody Mary, it makes for an intriguing beginning, so much in fact that I picked up the book to have a quick glance at then I found that I could not put it down.

I have read many biographies on Mary, and I believe that she is often vilified by those who seek to glorify Elizabeth, I felt that as though she was discarded as though she was a piece of furniture throughout her life. Once she became queen, she finally was able to find a husband of her own choosing, I am sure that she believed that with all her heart Philip would be true and faithful, and once he proved false, she crumbled and was unable to regain her direction. When I think of her marriage to Philip and the disaster that followed, I think of the similarity between their marriage and that of Henry and Katherine, I guess its true what they say, history does repeat itself.



Visit Angela @ Renee's Reads

The Court of the Midnight King by Freda Warrington

Title-The Court of the Midnight King by Freda Warrington

Historical Fiction/Fantasy

Rating 3.5/5

I was really excited to finally get my hands on this book! It came in the mail from a friend over at Goodreads and I dove into immediately. It wasn't exactly what I had expected; it could almost be called historical fantasy because of the magical aspect involved. This is another version of Richard III's story and I really enjoyed it ... until the last 2 or 3 chapters. Then the author kind of lost me and I was left sitting there scratching my head. That is why, even though I liked the story, I only gave it 3.5 roses. Please be aware that in my review there could be some spoilers!!

Richard's story is seen through the eyes of two people, Katherine, a priestess/sorceress of the "old ways," and Raphael, a young boy who Richard saves and ends up serving him faithfully. The story spans from the death of Richard's father through Edward's reign up to the Battle of Bosworth and switches between their two points of view. Katherine and Richard run into each other by accident when Richard somehow wanders into "the hidden world" and they end up doing what lots of young people do when they find themselves alone. However afterward, Richard believes she is a witch and runs off. Kate ends up pregnant but manages to have the child in secret. She then serves Isabelle, Warwick's daughter, through their exile, return, Warwick's death, and finally Isabelle's own death. At that point, after fearing for her life at the hands of George, Duke of Clarance, she is sent to serve Isabelle's sister, Anne, now Richard's wife. There she tries to convince herself she is NOT in love with Richard and begins a relationship with Raphael. The rest of the story is about their relationship, her trying to avoid Richard (and ignore her feelings for him), Raphael's "visions" about what will happen to Richard and his reputation, and the battle that changes the history of England.

I had hoped that a story about Richard would be full of a lot more about him but instead we see a lot of Katherine's life. Since the story is from the point of view of two people who loved him, though with conflicting emotions sometimes, we do get to see him from two very different perspectives. These two fictional characters are interesting and I didn't mind reading about their lives. Richard himself is portrayed very realistically. He comes across as very human in his struggle between dark and light. The author shows Richard as innocent of ordering the murders of his nephews yet feeling guilty and to blame because he possibly "wished it" in his heart. I found this portrayal of Richard very touching; I really got a sense of how he suffered with this guilt he carried around. I could really sympathize with him and feel his suffering as he tried to do what was right and save his kingdom and his life.

His relationship with the two fictional characters is quite different: Raphael becomes a trusted friend who is beside him until the end and he is secretly in love with Katherine, turning to her for her honest opinion many times. Raphael never wavers in his devotion to Richard, despite the horrible visions he has about what will happen to Richard's reputation. This devotion does become an issue between him and Kate as she tries throughout the story to convince herself that she hates Richard. As to Richard and Kate - have you ever read a story where you wished the two characters would just "do it?" Well, that is how I felt about Kate and Richard at several points in the story. They both struggle with their feelings for each other even though they constantly turn to one another for comfort and/or opinions. We see other historical people throughout the story but none of them play a pivotal role in the author's narrative; they're there because they were really there in fact. We also see the "author's" life in a few snatches as she researches and becomes immersed in Richard and Raphael's stories. I didn't really like the inclusion of these parts though I understand why they were included.

The book is full of very descriptive writing - you can really see, hear, feel, taste what is being described. You really get a sense of place and time in the writing. The author does a great job with all the details and I never felt bogged down by them. I could almost close my eyes and see what she was talking about. The fantasy aspect to this story did not set too well with me. Some would have been okay but it was a bit over the top at some points for my taste. There is kind of an idealized point of view on the conflict between the Church and the old pagan ways but it is possible to believe that some of those old ways were still around at this time. The whole story really moved along at a fast pace until the end and then it was weird. The last few chapters had Kate and Raphael somehow interacting with the "author" and there was talk of parallel universes and things of that nature. That is where I began scratching my head in confusion. I am not going to mention here what happens with the Battle of Bosworth or the few days afterward but it was not what I was expecting at the end of this book. While I don't mind the author's take on this, it seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the story. Her "could have been" just seemed far fetched to me, even though it fit with the struggle between the "hidden and outer worlds" that had been a constant throughout the rest of the story.

This is a good book, don't get me wrong, and I'm sure I will read it again because I did enjoy it, even if I was a bit confused at the end. Warrington seems to have done her homework where Richard is concerned and she is a great storyteller. I would recommend this to anyone interested in reading about Richard. Die hard Ricardians will be pleased that he isn't portrayed as a villain and those that really know nothing about him will be swept into the story.


Visit Robin @ The Lady Gwyn's Kingdom