Sunday, June 30, 2024

The Queen’s Faithful Companion by Eliza Knight (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 


Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of The Queen’s Faithful Companion by Eliza Knight.

What is your favorite book featuring dogs?  I have so many favorites.  One favorite is The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford.

The Queen’s Faithful Companion by Eliza Knight is the story of the extraordinary relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and her faithful corgi, Susan.  Susan was a gift from her father, King George VI, on her 18th birthday.  Susan is with her through her service in WWII, courtship and marriage to Philip, the birth of her first child Charles, and her accension to the throne.  She couldn’t care for her dogs and be Queen without her loyal helpers.  Hanna Penwyck helps to care for Susan when she isn’t with the Queen and has her own ups and downs in life. 

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I really enjoyed the three different viewpoints of this novel – Queen Elizbeth, Susan, and Hanna Penwyck.  It was interesting to contrast and compare Elizabeth and Hanna’s lives.  They were in the same girl guide troop at Windsor as children, but now lead different, but interconnected lives.

·       I thought this was an interesting and unique way to tell the story of Queen Elizabeth’s younger years and Great Britain during that time period.

·       I love dogs and this made me think about whether a corgi would be right for me in the future.  Daisy Beagle says no.  I enjoyed that Susan the corgi had her own viewpoint.  It was also interesting thinking through what life would be like for a royal dog.

·       I was very stressed out with work and getting ready for my oldest son’s graduation party when I was reading this book.  I found this book to be stress-relieving and a pleasant diversion.  It is a great cozy read.

·       I enjoyed the romance between Philip and Elizabeth.

·       I always enjoy a good author’s note.  In this novel, it discusses the writing process in creating this work of historical fiction as well the real person that Hanna was based upon. 

·       It’s interesting to think that Susan was the matriarch of such a long line of royal corgis – 14 generations.

·       Favorite Quote, “Dogs truly are our soulmates, our protectors in things that might harm us from the outside as much as things that harmed us from within.”

Overall, The Queen’s Faithful Companion by Elizia Knight is a wonderful cozy historical fiction read perfect for dog lovers.

Saturday, June 29, 2024

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 


Are you a coffee or a tea drinker?  Do you have a favorite flavor of your favorite beverage?  I love black tea.  The tea I am drinking today is Prairie Passion by TeaSource out of Minneapolis.  I love their variety of flavored black teas.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s aunt and the matriarch of Rosings Park, is sure that someone is trying to murder her.  One incident can be explained as an accident, but three incidents that could have led to her death within a short time frame is too much of a coincidence.  She summons her nephew Jonathan Darcy as he has solved some other cases as well as his crime solving partner, Miss Juliet Tilney.  Will they be able to uncover who is trying to murder Lady Catherine de Bourgh and why?

My thoughts on the novel:

·       I LOVE this series.  This is the third novel in the “A Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mystery” and I love them.  Each novel has been a great historical mystery with great characters.

·       I enjoyed that the action takes place at Rosings Park and we get to see the characters of Lady Catherine, her daughter Anne, and Anne’s husband, Colonel Fitzwilliam.  Also present and living nearby are Mr. and Mrs. Collins and their two teenage children.  Author Claudia Gray wrote these Austen characters perfectly.  She has a modern sense to her writing, but it true to the characters the way that Austen wrote them.  Its interesting to see where these characters are after twenty years.

·       I loved the overall humor and wit throughout the novel.  It was especially fun that Mr. Collins named his son De Bourgh and daughter Catherine.  Ha!

·       While enjoying the classic Austen characters, I really enjoy Mr. Jonathan Darcy and Miss Juliet Tilney. Their relationship is great with this book as a will they or won’t they type of romance.  Jonathan is on the spectrum at a time when it was not well understood.  He is working on looking people in the eyes and being better at social occasions.  He believes that Juliet was in love with someone else, while Juliet thinks he doesn’t love her as he hasn’t spoken for her.  I love the two of them as characters and love this relationship.  It’s moving very slowly, but I have hopes for another novel and for Juliet to one day see Pemberly.  I think it would be very fun to have their relationship progress to engaged, and then married and still solving mysteries together.

·       Mr. Darcy meeting Henry Tilney is the Austen mash-up I never knew that I needed.  I laughed out loud at how they really did not get along.  Mr. Darcy’s seriousness with Henry Tilney’s humor did not mesh well.  I love Henry Tilney as a character in Northanger Abbey and I was so happy to get more of him in this novel.  I did wish that their relationship would have grown better throughout the novel, but it didn’t really.  Hopefully it will in future novels.

·       I also enjoyed getting to know more about Anne Fitzwilliam and Colonel Fitzwilliam and their relationship.  Anne truly loved Colonel Fitzwilliam, but fears he only married her to make the family happy.  They loved their son Peter, but after Lady Catherine sends Peter away to school at only age eight, their little family is adrift.  Anne wonders about the Colonel’s love and also why he keeps disappearing.

·       The mystery was interesting, and I went along with the red herrings and did not guess the murderer until the end.

Overall, The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray is an intriguing mystery with a fantastic cast of characters and a great setting.  Gray perfectly captures the Regency world of Jane Austen and her characters.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The third book in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery series, which finds the amateur sleuths facing their most daunting challenge yet: preventing the murder of the imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Someone is trying to kill Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Esteemed aunt of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, generous patroness of Mr. William Collins, a woman of rank who rules over the estate of Rosings Park with an unimpeachable sense of propriety—who would dare? Lady Catherine summons her grand-nephew, Mr. Jonathan Darcy, and his investigative companion, Miss Juliet Tilney, to find out.

After a year apart, Jonathan and Juliet are thrilled to be reunited, even if the circumstances—finding whoever has thus far sabotaged Lady Catherine's carriage, shot at her, and nearly pushed her down the stairs—are less than ideal. Also less than ideal: their respective fathers, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mr. Henry Tilney, have accompanied the young detectives to Rosings, and the two men do not interact with the same felicity enjoyed by their children.

With attempts against Lady Catherine escalating, and no one among the list of prime suspects seemingly capable of committing all of the attacks, the pressure on Jonathan and Juliet mounts—even as more gentle feelings between the two of them begin to bloom. The race is now on to provoke two confessions: one from the attempted murderer before it is too late—and one, perhaps, of love.

AUTHOR BIO

Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of Amy Vincent. She is the author of the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mysteries, which began with The Murder of Mr. Wickham. She is also the writer of multiple young adult novels, including the Evernight series, the Firebird trilogy, and the Constellation trilogy; in addition, she’s written several Star Wars novels, such as Lost Stars and Bloodline, and is one of the story architects of the High Republic series. She makes her home in New Orleans with her husband Paul and assorted small dogs.


Thursday, June 27, 2024

One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 


Do you have a favorite fairy tale?

One of my favorite fairy tales is Beauty and the Beast.  I was excited to see that One Cursed Rose was a dark romance rewrite of the Beauty and the Beast Fairy Tale.

Alana Beaumont is a young twenty something social media influencer.  She is the heir to Aquarius Social, which is one of the four major social medial companies.  The four families that own the four main social medial companies have been rivals for centuries.  They gain power from different gems or crystals that are specific to a family, and they use this power to run their social media networks.  Thron Beathach is the owner of the current number one company, Mafia Media.  He is obsessed with Alana and he saves/kidnaps her during an assassination attempt.  Why is someone trying to murder to Alana and is it related to her brother’s mysterious death?  Who is working against Thorne and freezing his gems?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved that this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling and that is what first caught my attention.

·       One Cursed Rose was an engaging and very readable story.

·       This is a dark mafia romantic suspense fantasy novel.

·       I really enjoyed the mysteries and the suspense in this novel and that is what kept me reading and unable to put the book down.

·       I enjoyed that this was a dual narrative novel with Alana and Thorne telling the story in alternate chapters.

·       One Cursed Rose is the first in a new series.

·       I liked the secondary characters.  Alana’s friends, Thorne’s brother, etc. were all great.  I wanted to know all their background stories and I’m hoping that they will get their stories as the series progresses.

·       Alana came off as a spoiled rich kid at first, but she is smart and has depth.  I liked her.  Thorn is morally gray.  He is sexy, knows his own mind, and does like to help people.  But he also kills people and stalks Alana.  There is great banter between the two.

·       I would have liked more description of how exactly the crystals worked.

·       This was the first dark romance that I’ve read, and I am not sure about the “dark” elements.  Are all dark romances all like this novel and very spicy and violent?  Or is this extreme kink?  I didn’t like that the heroine was an inexperienced virgin with the families talking about her virginity and her getting tested before an arranged marriage to ensure her purity.  This did not seem like something that would be happening in 2024. The sexually experienced hero basically rapes her, beats her, threatens her, and does whatever he wants.  But it’s okay because she eventually enjoys it?  SPOILER ALERT:  Thorne puts a knife in Alana’s vagina and also beats her with a belt on her clitoris while she cries and begs him to stop.  This was too far for me and quite frankly, horrifying. SPOILER END. It reminded me of the 1970s and 1980s romances with this type of thing.  I was not a fan of the very graphic and long descriptions in the violent sex scenes as the novel went on. I ended up skimming these chapters. 

Overall, The Cursed Rose was a very engaging story, but I had to skim through the graphic sex scenes.

Rocky Mountain Journey by Misty M. Beller (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 



Title:  Rocky Mountain Journey

Author:  Misty M. Beller

Narrated by:  Pilar Witherspoon

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Audiobook purchased from Amazon.com.  Thank you to Bethany House Fiction for the physical copy of the novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.

Where are you at with your summer reading goals?  I am finding myself slightly behind and I estimated I would get a lot more reading completed in June than I did due to my oldest son’s graduation open house.  Hopefully I will get my summer themed books next month!

In 1839, Faith Collins journeys through the Rocky Mountains in search of Steps Right, a Piegan Blackfoot woman who once saved her father’s life in order to fulfill her father’s dying wish.  She disguises herself as a man in order to travel with a group of trappers.  Grant Allen, a man working with the band of trappers as he looks for his long-lost brother, quickly realizes that Faith is a woman.  Together they help each other fulfill their quests.  Will they both find who they are looking for?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I always love books that involve a journey.  I loved Faith and Grants journey into the Rocky Mountains in search of missing loved ones.

·       This book also had adventure that includes a kidnapping and rescue.

·       This novel included a good side plot on how Grant had lost his faith and how he works to get his faith back throughout the novel. 

·       The romance between Grant and Faith was sweet and clean.

·       I love the cover of this book; it looks so beautiful and makes me want to visit the Rocky Mountains as soon as possible. The story had great description of the area as well.

·       I will admit that I was hoping for more story on trapping in the wild, but Faith and Grant leave the trappers early in the novel.

·       I liked that Grant figured out early on that Faith was a woman disguised as a man.  I always find it strange when a love story has the female disguised for way too long and it makes it hard for me to see them together as a couple.

·       This is the third novel in the Sisters of the Rockies series.  It worked fine as a stand alone novel, but I think I would have gotten more out of it if I would have had the back story of the first two novels.  In particular, I would have understood the background characters of Faith’s family much better.  I definitely need to go back to read them.

·       Once again, with life being so busy, I have found that listening to the audiobook is the best way for me to read this novel.  It was a good audiobook and I enjoyed Pilar Witherspoon as the narrator. 

·       An excerpt was included at the end for a new novel, A Warrior’s Heart, which is the start of a new series.  It pulled me in and looks like a great new series.

Overall, Rocky Mountain Journey was a good historical romance and journey through adventure, love, and faith.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Masquerading as a man, Faith Collins embarks on a perilous journey through the untamed wilderness of the Rocky Mountains in search of the Peigan Blackfoot woman who once saved her father's life. She joins a group of trappers who may be able to lead her to the place the woman is hiding, but keeping Faith's identity a secret proves more difficult than she imagined.

Grant Allen is searching for his younger brother, who was separated from him when their parents died many years ago. After receiving word that his brother went west to the Rockies, he unites with a group of trappers, hoping they can lead him to his brother's location. Soon Grant realizes there's a woman hiding among the men, and he's determined to find out who she is, what she's hiding, and how he can keep her safe in this country of wild animals and even wilder men.

In this rousing conclusion to her Sisters of the Rockies series, Misty M. Beller embarks on an adventurous journey where loyalty, love, and sacrifice intertwine amid the unforgiving frontier.

AUTHOR BIO

USA Today bestselling author Misty M. Beller (MistyMBeller.com) writes romantic mountain stories set on the 1800s frontier and woven through with the truth of God's love. Her Southern roots run deep, and she lives in South Carolina with her husband and children. 

Monday, June 17, 2024

Hope to Die by Cara Hunter (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)


 Title:  Hope to Die

Author:  Cara Hunter

Narrated by:  Emma Cunniffe, Lee Ingleby, Roy McMillan

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 21 minutes

Source: Audiobook purchased from Amazon.com.  Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the physical copy of the novel.

Do you have any favorite fictional detectives?  I love the classic detectives – Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple, but I always love to find new and fascinating detectives to read about.

Detective Inspector (DI) Fawley and his team are called into a gruesome and puzzling murder scene in Oxford, England.  At a remote home, an elderly man has killed an intruder.  At first it seems like a burglary gone wrong, but as the team investigates further, they discover there is much more to the story.  I loved all the twists and turns, so I am not going to go any further with the summary.

My thoughts on the novel:

·       Hope to Die is the sixth novel in the DI Adam Fawley series.  This was the first book I’ve read in this series, and it worked well as a standalone novel.  I definitely want to go back and read the other books in the series.

·       There is a great list of characters at the start of the book with detailed descriptions of them.  This really helped when you are starting this series six books in.  I could see this helping to refresh one too even if you had read other novels in the series, but it has been a while.

·       This mystery was very twisty and turny.  I kept thinking I knew what was going on, but then the story would take another left turn.

·       There was a fun reference to Thomas Hardy books in this novel which was fun as I am currently reading Far From the Madding Crowd for my Back to the Classics Book Club.

·       Hope to Die was very well written and intriguing to listen to in an audiobook.   I always enjoy the use of different narrators for different viewpoints.

·       Hope to Die was written in a unique format.  Mixed media is used such as case files, interviews, letters, news stories, excerpts from a Netflix special, etc.  There are no chapters, but sections are broken up for readability.

·       The Acknowledgements section has interesting information about a real-life case that inspired this story.  The real-life story has a documentary on Prime Video discussing the case.  I just added it to my “to watch” list.

·       This is a very popular crime procedural series and I’m glad I’ve found it. 

Overall, Hope to Die by Cara Hunter was an intriguing suspense mystery with a complex case and great ending.  I highly recommend this novel.

This book was published on June 11, 2024.

Friday, June 7, 2024

The Hudson Collection by Jocelyn Green (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 



Do you like birds?  Do you enjoy watching them at a bird feeder or do you like them as subjects of art or science?

Elsa Reisner is an ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  She puts together displays of birds including skeletons and taxidermy of birds.  An older lady who has just passed away has left her collection of taxidermy rare birds to the museum. Elsie is sent by her boss to inventory the collection at the estate.  Elsa makes new friends at the estate and together they start a treasure hunt for a missing rare, illuminated manuscript from the middle ages that can help secure the servants’ futures when the estate is sold.  Will they find the manuscript?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel is set in 1926.  I loved the descriptions of New York City during this time frame and what a night out on the town for young people would be like.

·       Elsa has a handicapped leg from having polio as a child.  She must work through illness and issues with her handicap.  I thought it added an interesting dimension to the story.

·       I also found Elsa’s job fascinating at the museum.  I learned a lot about being an ornithologist and about birds in general.  It made me really want to visit the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

·       Luke is a World War I veteran and an architectural salvage dealer.  He is working at the estate at the same time as Elsa.  He is still dealing with his own internal issues from the war.

·       I also thought it was interesting that a young girl in the novel, Danielle, displays symptoms of what now would be called autism, but it was not well understood in that time period. 

·       I enjoyed the sweet and clean romance between Elsa and Luke.  The romance was slow burn which is one of my favorite tropes.

·       This novel had an overall theme of forgiveness.

·       There was an interesting discussion of eugenics in the novel.  It was a hot topic during that time period.  The characters all had imperfections, but they were made in the image of God.  I thought this was a powerful theme of the book.

·       I enjoyed the very informative author’s note at the end of the novel.  A lot of the story was based in fact and some of the characters were real people from history.

Overall, The Hudson Collection was a powerful story of forgiveness and acceptance.  I enjoyed the characters, time period, setting, and romance.  It was a unique story, and I would love to read more by this author.

Book Source:  Review copy from Bethany House Books as part of the AustenprosePR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


 BOOK DESCRIPTION

Step into the beguiling world of 1926 New York and discover the power of resilience, friendship, and love from award-winning author Jocelyn Green.

Elsa Reisner's lifelong dream of working as an ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History is fading as the job begins to drain her passion. But fate takes an unexpected turn when she is assigned to catalog the bequest of a recently deceased patron whose Gothic country mansion holds secrets and treasures waiting to be discovered.

As Elsa delves into her task, she forms an unlikely bond with the estate's delightful gardener and her daughter, as well as an architectural salvage dealer who still bears scars from the Great War. Together, they embark on a thrilling treasure hunt for a missing relic intended to safeguard the servants' futures before the estate is sold. At the same time, Elsa's body seems to betray her with new symptoms from a childhood disease that isn't through with her yet.

With the brooding veteran and her handsome colleague joining the search, Elsa must navigate the tangled web of secrets and hidden motives along with the changing state of her health. As her deadline looms ever closer, will she be able to secure a new life for her friends before the estate slips from their grasp?


AUTHOR BIO

Jocelyn Green (JocelynGreen.com) inspires faith and courage as the bestselling author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books, including the Christy Award-winning The Mark of the King and Drawn by the Current and her On Central Park series.

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Sunrise by Susan May Warren

 

Title:  Sunrise

Author:  Susan May Warren

Narrated by:  Cynthia Farrell

Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 45 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Sunrise or sunset?  I think both are beautiful, but living in Wisconsin on Lake Michigan, the sun rising over Lake Michigan is extraordinary.

I read Sunrise in May for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  I unfortunately missed the book discussion due to work obligations.  Dodge left his hometown of Copper Mountain, Alaska after a huge family fight.  He returned a decade later after his father has an accident.  His old high school girlfriend and center of the family feud, Echo is still in town working as a dogsledder and research guide for the Department of Natural Resources. When one of Echo’s friends and fellow researchers goes missing, will Echo and Dodge be able to find her?

My thoughts on this book:

·       I did enjoy listening to this audiobook during some long drives for work.  The exciting adventure kept me entertained. 

·       Sunrise is part one of the Sky King Ranch novels. 

·       I loved the Alaskan setting.  I always enjoy books set in Alaska and this had the bonus of dogsledding, homesteading, snowmobiles, and grizzly bears.  These are all topics I enjoy reading about.

·       There was a strong element of faith and forgiveness in this novel.

·       I loved the sweet and clean romance between Echo and Dodge.

·       Both Echo and Dodge were strong characters.  I really enjoyed Echo as a tough lady dogsledder. Dodge was a military pilot in his past and now a rescue pilot in Alaska.  It was exciting to read about his flights and near misses. 

·       I would classify this novel as romantic adventure or romantic suspense.

·       It did take me awhile to get into this story.  Once the story got moving, it was a great adventure.

·       Cynthia Farrell was a great narrator.

·       I have put the next book, Sunburst, on my TBR list.  Dodge is a triplet, and the adventure continues in the series with his brothers.

·       Susan May Warren is a popular author at our library, but this is the first book I’ve read by her.  Have you read any of her books?  What do you think?

Overall, if you are looking for a nice, clean and Christian romantic adventure, I recommend Sunrise by Susan May Warren.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by Frank Figliuzzi (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 


Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @marinerbooks for the review copy of Long Haul by Frank Figliuzzi.

Are you a fan of true crime?  I am and I love to listen to true crime podcasts.  Long Haul is a true crime story by former assistant FBI director Frank Figliuzzi.  The FBI put together the Highway Serial Killer Initiative to hunt for those responsible for 850 homicides across the country that are linked to long haul trucking.

My thoughts on this non-fiction book:

·       There is a great map at the beginning of the book that shows the victim locations.  It visually shows what a real problem this is across the United States.

·       The author interviews long haul truckers and does a ride along to get a sense of the road.  I thought this was very interesting to learn more about long haul trucking in general.

·       The book includes details on trafficking victims and survivors.

·       The book also features how the FBI profiles serial killers.

·       It also specifies the mentality of the victims as well as the predators.

·       I learned that long haul trucking is the most likely occupation for serial killers, which I had never heard of before.

·       The book focused mostly on the overall culture of long-haul trucking and trafficking with short summaries of true crimes that had occurred.

·       Overall, there was a look at truck stop culture, the history of long hauling and how it included the sex trade.  It even detailed very aggressive prostitutes and pimps trying to meet quota by banging on truck windows trying to engage truckers that were sleeping.  Drugs are highly involved in this culture.  It makes it an environment ripe for serial killers.

·       Times have changed and trafficking and the sex trade has gotten higher tech and has moved away from truck stops to meet ups with truckers elsewhere.

·       I learned a lot and I will never look at a truck stop the same way again.

·       This was a short and easy read.

If you are looking for a true crime book to learn about long haul trucking and how it has been used by serial killers in the past and present, Long Haul is an interesting and unique read.

Monday, June 3, 2024

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

 


Title: The Ministry of Time

Author:  Kaliane Bradley

Narrated by:  George Weightman and Katie Leung

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 22 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you!

Do you like movies, books, or shows that feature time travel?  I love them!  The Ministry of Time is a brand-new time travel novel.

An unnamed civil servant works for the new Ministry of Time in London.  She is tasked with helping Graham Gore, an artic explorer from 1847, acclimate to modern times.  The ministry plucked five individuals that were going to die from different time periods and brought them back to London in modern times.  The time travelers form unlikely friendships with each other as well as their handlers.  As the shadowy “general” starts to stalk the time travelers, will they be able to survive in this new time?

My thoughts on the novel:

·       The Ministry of Time is a unique blend of sci-fi, historical fiction, mystery, and romance.

·       Graham Gore is an actual historic figure that was a part of the ill-fated Franklin expedition.  He has a parallel story in the novel narrated by him where he details what happened to him on the expedition.  This matches what is known about the real-life expedition.  A great note at the end discusses Gore.

·       I thought it was interesting that the main character was never named in the novel.  She has mixed heritage with an English father and Cambodian mother.  This brought some depth to her character.  I wanted to learn even more about her.

·       I enjoy that time travel makes one think through many moral and ethical quandaries.  What gives people the right to “save” people from the past from their certain deaths?  Is it really saving them?  What is the correct timeline if time travel keeps changing what happened?  Should you travel back into your own timeline?

·       It was also interesting that the narrator had basically fallen in love with a historical figure that she had researched in the past and then had the chance to meet him and get to know him.  Graham calls her out on it later in the book.

·       Graham and the narrator have a torrid romance towards the end of the novel.  It was slightly awkward to listen to it on audiobook, but luckily, I could skip ahead.

·        It was interesting that the future has different ways it could end.  It’s really a loop from the future to the past that those from the future are trying to alter.

·       I enjoyed the friendship between the time travelers.

Overall, I enjoyed The Ministry of Time.  It was a unique novel with a great story, characters, romance, and mystery.  I felt myself caring for both Graham and the narrator and wishing there was a book two.