Counting on Love by Carol Coventry (Review and GIVEAWAY)

 

Which fictional character would you love to have as a best friend?  I would love to be friends with Lady Georgiana Stewart in Counting on Love with Carol Coventry.

Lady Georgiana Stewart is a math prodigy, but she must hide her proficiency to fit into society and try to attract a suitor.  As the daughter of a Duke and a beauty, she received many marriage proposals in her first season. She refused them all as she wants to feel the spark and have the loving relationship that her parents have.  As she starts her second season, will she be able to find true love?

Reginald Taverston is the third son of an Earl. As the third son, he has been slated for the church, but he would rather translate a Greek manuscript and work on other intellectual pursuits.  He is not sure he is well suited for the church.  Should Reginald pursue the path his family wants for him, or should he strike out on his own path?

The Earl is on his deathbed so his eldest son, Jasper needs to find a wife.  He is sure that Lady Georgiana will make the perfect wife.   His wife invites Georgiana, her mother, and cousin to their country estate for a small house party so that the Earl can meet Georgiana and the romance between Jasper and Georgiana can proceed. Will all go as planned?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The novel is a the first in a new series “The Taverstons of Iversley.”  I can’t wait to read more in this series.

·       I love, love, loved that the heroine enjoyed mathematics and was a genius in that regard.  It was sad she had to hide it, but I loved her finding a man that valued her mind.

·       The entire Taverston family was fun.  They each had their own unique personalities.  They love each other but aren’t above pranking each other.

·       The romance was slow build and mostly clean (until the last chapter).

·       Most of the novel was set at a house party in the country. 

·       I liked the look into how keeping mistresses impacts people and their families.

·       The love triangle between Georgiana, Reginald, and Jasper is well done.  It can be awkward when the love story is a woman and two brothers. Georgiana and Reginald fall in love without it being “icky” or making Jasper a villain.  Jasper is a good guy, but not for Georgiana. 

·       I didn’t think that sparks could fly with just two pinkies touching, but they do.

Overall, Counting on Love by Carol Coventry is a lovely Regency Romance with great characters and a fun STEM storyline.

GIVEAWAY

Check out the giveaway on Instagram at:  https://www.instagram.com/laurasreviews_1/p/DDvzJzbuFrI/

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

 

Title:  Far From the Madding Crowd

Author:  Thomas Hardy

Narrated by:  Jamie Parker

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Length: Approximately 17 hours and 28 minutes

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

If you could live in any book world, which would it be?

Gabriel Oak is a successful tenant farmer that raises sheep.  He falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Bathsheba Everdeen, that has come to the area to visit.  He has proposed, but she refused him and left that area.  After a devastating accident, Gabriel loses his sheep and tenant farm.  He travels looking for work as a shepherd and gets a job at a farm in a different county.  He soon learns that the farm is owned by none other than Bathsheba Everdeen.  Bathsheba has inherited the farm and is learning how to run everything herself.  She also finds time for romance with two other men with faithful Gabriel looking on.  Will Bathsheba find her soulmate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Far From the Madding Crowd was the June read for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We had a good discussion and enjoyed the story . . . even if Hardy tended to get long winded in his descriptions.

·       Gabriel Oak had a tragedy early on with his 200 ewes when his young dog drove them over a cliff killing them all.  This caught my mind and my imagination.  There was insurance at the time for this type of catastrophe, but Gabriel had not purchased it.  This caused his to lose everything.

·       I liked how Hardy chose the names of his characters.  Gabriel Oak is a good man with a strong character.  Bathsheba Everdeen is fickle with her feelings and dealings with men.  She is young and doesn’t understand the consequences of how she treats others.  She grows up a lot in the novel.

·       I liked that Bathsheba was a woman with her own mind.  She was trying to run her farm herself and to learn how to do it on her own.  She was impetuous though and headstrong which caused her to make poor decisions at times.  She was a complicated character.

·       I liked the parallel story of a young servant girl who runs away with her suitor, but through an honest mistake, becomes a single pregnant woman.  Life was cruel to unwed mothers with no means to make a living.  She had to pay for her mistake.

·       The novel was beautifully written, and I enjoyed the descriptions and storyline.

·       Jamie Parker was a great audiobook narrator.  He had a lot of different voices for different characters and acted out the parts.

Overall, Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy was a beautifully written novel with great characters and an intriguing storyline.  It’s a good book to discuss as a book club selection.  It really made me want to visit Wessex!

COVER REVEAL - The Rushworth Family Plot by Claudia Gray (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

Do you like cozy historical mysteries, Jane Austen, and great characters? Then you may be interested in a new novel, The Rushworth Family Plot by Claudia Gray. I'm happy to share all that I know about this new novel and reveal the beautiful cover.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The fourth book in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery series, which finds the amateur sleuths caught up in the whirlwind of the London Season—and in a murderous scheme involving the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram

Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it's a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet's grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund's brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet's, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley's previously rebuffed plans to make herself—or her daughter—mistress of Pemberley.

But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund's sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn't marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce—and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim.

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.

AND THE BEAUTIFUL NEW COVER .....

What do you think? This fourth entry in the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mystery series. I have read and loved the first three books in the series. You can read this new novel as a standalone or as the latest in this great series.

So Big by Edna Ferber

 

Title:  So Big

Author:  Edna Ferber

Narrated by:  Laura Merlington

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 12 minutes

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

What classic book have you enjoyed rereading?  I enjoy rereading many classic novels, but I thought it was fun to reread a recent favorite, So Big by Edna Ferber for my Back to the Classics Book Club back in April.

So Big by Edna Ferber is the tale of Selina Peake.  She is orphaned at age 19 in the late 1880s in Chicago.  She takes a job as a schoolteacher in the Dutch farming community, High Prairie.  She finds beauty in life and marries a farmer, Pervus DeJong.  She dreams of their son, Dirk, finding both success and beauty in life.  She has affectionately nicknamed him “So Big” from telling him as a child, “how big is baby, so big.”  Will Selina and Dirk both fulfill their dreams?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Edna Ferber wrote beautifully.  It was an enjoyable audiobook listening to the beautiful descriptions and language read aloud.

·       I loved the basket auction and how it was beginning of the love story between Selina and Pervus DeJong.  It reminded me of the basket auction in Oklahoma!

·       The description of farming and life in that time was vivid.  It was an interesting description of the history of Chicago.

·       The novel referenced an “agricultural course” in Madison that Selina wants to take, not Dirk.  The City of Milwaukee was also referenced.  Living in Wisconsin, I thought this was interesting.  Author Edna Ferber grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin.

·       The theme of the book for me was that you can work hard and make a success of your own life, but your children, who had an easier time than you, and their distance from the hard work, may not be fully living their lives.

·       Should you live your life for art and beauty or for making the most money?  What is a successful life?

·       I liked how Dirt thought he would instantly start as a famous architect, and he didn’t like the mundane work of a beginning architect.

·       So Big won the Pulitzer Prize for 1925 and was also the bestselling book of the year.

·       So Big provided an interesting discussion for the Back to the Classics Book Club.

Overall, So Big by Edna Ferber is a lesser-known classic that deals with timeless issues.  It deserves to still be read and enjoyed today.  I highly recommend it.

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

 

Title: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

Author:  Alison Goodman

Narrated by:  Kristin Atherton

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Length: Approximately 15 hours and 33 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

What was your favorite audiobook of 2024?  One of my favorites was The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman.

Lady Augusta Colebrook is a spinster at 42 and the eldest child of an Earl.  Her father has passed away and her brother has taken over.  Jealous of Augusta, he has decided he will put her in her place.  Augusta, along with her twin sister, Julia, use their wits and place in society to help other women in peril.  When they meet a handsome highwayman on their way to rescue a lady, Lady August cannot stop thinking about him.  Has she finally met her match?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This was the JASNA Northwoods Book club selection for April, but I sadly missed the meeting and I’m also very behind on posting my review.

·       I LOVED this book.  I listened to it mostly on audiobook and it was very entertaining.  It kept me riveted during long drives for work.  The narrator, Kristin Atherton, was great and she brought the characters to life.

·       I liked how the plot does not have one moment of climax and adventure.  There are three distinct adventures in this book. 

·       There was a bit of romance, with just enough to make me want to see where this relationship could end up.

·       There were great characters in this story.  I adored Lady Augusta.

·       The story had a feminist spin.  They rescued women who had no one else to help them as they had no rights in Regency England.  They could be locked away at home or in an insane asylum by their husbands for any reason.  The novel was graphic on the fates of mistreated women and girls.

·       I wanted to know at the end who falsely framed Lord Evans.  Luckily this will be a series with a new book out in 2025.

·       In the author’s note, it stated that this was submitted for Alison Goodman’s PhD.  Wow!

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman was an engaging novel with great characters and a feminist spin on Regency tales.  I highly recommend it.

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

 

Do you like to curl up to the fire with a cozy mystery, romance, or other type of genre? 

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie is a collection of stories that was recently published in 2020 and contains a variety of stories that were originally published from the 1920s to the 1970s.  The stories have a holiday or winter theme. 

My thoughts on this collection of stories:

·       This was the November Pick for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We all enjoyed it!  I’m also using it for a pick for #ReadChristie2024.  The challenge this year was exploring Christie’s works through the decades, which you can do with this collection as well!

·       My book club all liked the introduction which contained Christie’s memories of Christmas from her youth.  In the bibliography at the end, it looks like it was taken from her autobiography.

·       I enjoyed all the stories, but especially the first, “Three Blind Mice.”  It was longer like a novella and seemed to have more plot and character buildup.  Apparently, this later became Agatha Christie’s longest running play, The Mousetrap.  I still haven’t seen this play yet!

·       All the stories were different, interesting, and fun.

·       This was the first time I had read any stories involving Mr. Harley Quin.  We all thought he was interesting.  He only appears in Christie’s short stories but was apparently one of Christie’s favorite characters.  Two stories in this collection had Quin as a character.

·       While I was reading “The Plymouth Express,” it seemed very familiar to me.  It was later made into the full-length book, The Blue Train, which I had read earlier this year.

·       Tommy and Tuppence had a cute story in this collection and my fellow book club members enjoyed them as characters.  I highly recommend their full-length novels.

Overall, Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie was a great collection with stories that were unique, interesting, and fun.  It was a good Christmas read for my Back to the Classics Book Club.

The French Winemaker’s Daughter by Loretta Ellsworth (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harperperennial for the review copy of the French Winemaker’s Daughter by Loretta Ellsworth.

Do you like wine?  If so, what is your favorite type of wine?  I enjoy many, but one of my favorites is Riesling.  Another favorite is Pinot Noir which is featured heavily in this book.

The book starts off with a bang.  In France in 1942, seven-year-old Martine is handed a bottle of wine by her father and is told that it is her legacy, and she is hidden in a cupboard.  Her father is then taken away by the Nazis and they only barely miss taking Martine.  She has a note pinned on her to send her to her Aunt in Paris.  After a perilous journey to Paris, she arrives only to find that her Aunt is gone.  Saved by Sister Ada, Marine starts a new life hiding in a convent.

In 1990, Charlotte is a female airplane pilot in a man’s world.  Her boyfriend, Henri, invites her to attend a wine auction with him and gifts her a bottle of wine that is deemed to be not valuable.  Charlotte takes off the label and discovers beneath it another label.  It starts her on a journey of discovery to determine what happened to this Jewish family and their winery during WWII.  Will Charlotte find the answers she seeks?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This was a quick read and a riveting story.

·       I enjoyed both the 1940s and 1990s storylines equally.  Often, I enjoy one storyline more than the other, so I am always happy to find one where I enjoy each of the storylines.

·       This book really made me think again of all that the Nazis confiscated from the Jewish people and others that they deemed enemies.  Your family winery and all its stock would be gone in an instant.  You yourself could be gone.  They made entire families disappear from the world.  It’s horrifying.

·       I liked that Charlotte’s quest was also a journey of self-discovery for herself.  What did she want out of life and love? 

·       I loved that Marine even as a young girl had a knack with the grapes and vineyard.  Her story made me realize the sacrifices that many made to help others during the war.

·       This novel had both great memorable characters as well as an interesting plot line.  I did guess the ending of this one, but it was a great journey to that ending.

·       I also liked the side theme of struggle between family obligations (i.e. keeping your family winery running) versus pursuing your own dreams.

·       There was a great author’s note at the end of the novel on the winemakers in France, how their wine was stolen, and the secret resistance they had with trying to hide their wines behind false walls and false labels.

·       This was my time reading a book by author Loretta Ellsworth, but I will be looking for more of her novels in the future.

Overall, The French Winemaker’s Daughter is a riveting WWII story with great characters.  I learned a lot about wineries in France during and after WWII.

Squanto: A Native Odyssey by Andrew Lipman

 

Title: Squanto:  A Native Odyssey

Author:  Andrew Lipman

Narrated by:  David Colacci

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 59 minutes

Source: Review Copy from NetGalley.  Thank you!

What historical personage would you like to learn more about?  With Thanksgiving coming up, I decided to listen to an audiobook about Squanto, as I did not know much about the true historical figure.

Historian Andrew Lipman researched and describes Squanto’s childhood, kidnapping, career, downfall, and death using historical records.  Squanto had much more of a fascinating life than what is depicted in children’s books about Thanksgiving.

My thoughts on this book:

·       Squanto is known as both Squanto and Tisquantum in historical record.  He was part of the Patuxet Tribe of the Wampanoags. 

·       Squanto’s childhood was told in general of how his tribe was known to live at the time.

·       The book also discussed the meaning of the Manitou and how the name is passed down in place names such as the down the road town from me, Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

·       He was kidnapped by explorer, Captain Thomas Hunt, and sold in Spain.  By the time he made it back to his tribe, they were gone.  They had all died from a disease brought over by the European explorers.  Hunt had been exploring the Northeast with Captain John Smith.  They parted ways when Hunt decided he was going to make money by tricking Native Americans to board his ship to trade and sailing away with them to sell them as slaves.  Afterwards, explorers were instantly attacked when they appeared.

·       The Pilgrims of history are so different from what I learned in school.  As Squanto’s tribe had all died, the Pilgrims just showed up and settled on the tribes cleared land and stole other tribes’ corn to survive.  The Pilgrims had a hard time surviving, but it would have been even harder if they would have had to clear their own land and were not able to eat the Natives’ corn.

·       The last part of the book was about how the history of Squanto was passed down and how the story was “reimagined” and retold through modern day.  It is interesting when the real history doesn’t match the simplified tales that are told.  I’ve noticed that people will say this is “rewriting” history, when it is just going back to the historic record rather than inaccuracies that were passed down.

·       I thought it was interesting that there were native pirates.  They taught themselves how to sail ships that they overtook and surprised European explorers.

·       I didn’t realize that Squanto died so young and so soon after the historical Thanksgiving.

·       David Colacci, the audiobook narrator, had a newsperson type of voice and made the audiobook interesting.

Overall, Squanto:  A Native Odyssey by Andrew Lipman is an informative book and interesting audiobook experience which tells the fascinating history behind the myth of Squanto.  I highly recommend it.

 

Persuasion: A BabyLit® Colors Primer by Jennifer Adams, Art by Alison Oliver (Austenprose PR Book Tour and Giveaway)

Do you like classics that are reformatted for children?  I was a great fan of Children’s Illustrated Classics growing up.  They gave me a taste for the stories that I later read in entirety as a teen and as an adult.

When my daughter was younger, we read and enjoyed Little Miss Austen Emma: An Emotions Primer and Little Miss Austen Pride & Prejudice:  A Counting Primer both by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Alison Oliver.  I would give her a review of the general story and how it related to the book.  She really enjoyed it. My daughter is older now, but I thought it would be fun to review Persuasion: A BabyLit® Colors Primer by Jennifer Adams, Art by Alison Oliver

Persuasion: A BabyLit® Colors Primer has beautiful illustrations and is formatted as a board book.  The illustrations and colors focus on characters and objects from the original story.  The colors are more sophisticated as compared to other children’s books about color with sage, navy, ivory, mauve, chestnut, umber, gray, scarlet, and periwinkle as the colors in this board book.  I myself learned what color umber is with this book. If I was reading this one to my child, I would definitely be telling the story of Persuasion along with the pictures and colors.

Overall, the Persuasion: A BabyLit® Colors Primer is a fun book to learn about more unique colors for your future Austen loving child.  It is also a fun book for an Austen loving adult to read as well.

Book Source:  Review copy from @babylitjen @alisonoliverdesign @babylitbooks @austenprose as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The million-copy selling Classic BabyLit® series now has a new title to add to your toddler’s bookshelf.

BabyLit ® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Allison Oliver, these books are a must for every savvy parent’s nursery library.

Persuasion: A Colors Primer exposes little ones to the world of Jane Austen through words and artwork that offer an awareness of the Regency era and the preferred color palette of the time period: beige, olive, navy, ivory, chestnut, lavender, umber, grey, scarlet, and periwinkle.

AUTHOR BIO

Jennifer Adams is the author of more than 60 books for children. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Parents magazine. Jennifer has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Salt Lake City, where she works weekends as a bookseller at The King's English Bookshop. Visit her website at jennifer-adams.com.

ILLUSTRATOR BIO

Alison Oliver is the author-illustrator of Moon and Sun, and the illustrator of 32 BabyLit board books. Alison lives in New York City, where she runs a creative studio called Sugar that focuses on design and illustration.

GIVEAWAY 

In celebration of the release of Persuasion: A BabyLit® Colors Primer, author Jennifer Adams, illustrator Alison Oliver, and their publisher BabyLit are generously offering a giveaway contest open to US residents.

Grand Prize Winner – 4 board books in the BabyLit series including Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, and Emma to one lucky winner.

To enter the giveaway, go to my Instagram Post at:

https://www.instagram.com/laurasreviews_1/p/DDPbNdQJ5lI/

James by Percival Everett

 

Title:  James

Author:  Percival Everett

Narrated by:  Dominic Hoffman

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 49 minutes

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

What side character in a classic novel do you think deserves to have their own story told?  James is the story of the runaway slave, Jim, from Huckleberry Finn.

When James (Jim) hears that he is going to be sold south and separated from his wife and daughter, he decides to hide on Jackson Island and come up with his own plan. Huckleberry Finn has faked his own death and stumbles onto Jim.  The two set off on an adventure on a raft down the Mississippi River.  Will James be able to save his wife and daughter?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       It’s been a long time since I’ve read Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  I did remember many of the happenings that end up in James now told from his point of view.  James is also separated from Huck at times.  You don’t need to reread Huckleberry Finn before you read James, but it may make you want to reread it by the time you have finished the book.

·       Huck and James have a good relationship.  It was interesting to see their adventures through James point of view.

·       Many adventures in the novel seemed surreal. At one point, James wears black face to pretend to be a white man wearing black face to imitate a black man in a minstrel show. 

·       James finally has his own voice to tell his own story in this novel. He knows how to read and has taught other slaves to read as well.  He must play dumb and talk down to hide his intellect (codeswitching) to keep himself safe.  It’s interesting on the audiobook to hear how James switches his way of talking depending on who he is around.  It makes it an excellent audiobook.

·       Poor James is humiliated and in fear for his life in parts of their journey south.

·       James feels paternal about a young slave, Sammy, that reminds him of his daughter.  She is running away as she has been beaten and is constantly raped.  I felt so sorry for her.

·       This novel had a powerful ending, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it last month.

·       James just won the National Book Award and was a Goodreads Nominee for Best Historical Fiction and audiobook.

Favorite Quotes:

“Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ’em.”

“If you're not making mistakes, you're not learning.”

“I felt tired of the failures of men. They were always failing in the most basic ways, like looking down or away at the moment when they should be gutsy enough to meet your eye.”

“I considered the northern white stance against slavery. How much of the desire to end the institution was fueled by a need to quell and subdue white guilt and pain? Was it just too much to watch? Did it offend Christian sensibilities to live in a society that allowed that practice? I knew that whatever the cause of their war, freeing slaves was an incidental premise and would be an incidental result.”

Overall, James by Percival Everett is one of the best books I’ve read this year.  It’s a great tale that makes you think.