Hey Y'all!
I feel like it's a big list this month, so yay!
First a reminder of last months books:
This month:
I finished the Bridgerton prequel books (3 & 4). Book four touches on Violet, Edmund and their two little boys, Anthony and Benedict, who's around 5 at the time of book four. (This is the family from the Bridgerton series.) All four books were enjoyable and, as I stated last month, these more follow the Rokesby family and there's too is an interesting family.
1) Quinn skips back a generation in her best-selling Bridgerton family series, establishing the relationships and connections of the family during the late 18th century. Billie Bridgerton is a reckless tomboy who grew up playing with her neighbors Andrew and Edward Rokesby. She's dismayed to wind up trapped on a farmhouse roof with their disapproving older brother, George. Billie and George have never been friends, but they keep being thrown together in awkward situations, such as a house party to celebrate Andrew's leave from the navy. Soon they join up on purpose to locate Edward, who's missing from his regiment in the American colonies, and they realize that their time together has changed the nature of their relationship. George and Billie are clear preludes to their descendants, and their love hinges on both their self-discoveries and their interactions.
2) While you were sleeping...
With her brother Thomas injured on the battlefront in the Colonies, orphaned Cecilia Harcourt has two unbearable choices: move in with a maiden aunt or marry a scheming cousin. Instead, she chooses option three and travels across the Atlantic, determined to nurse her brother back to health. But after a week of searching, she finds not her brother but his best friend, the handsome officer Edward Rokesby. He’s unconscious and in desperate need of her care, and Cecilia vows that she will save this soldier’s life, even if staying by his side means telling one little lie...
I told everyone I was your wife...
When Edward comes to, he’s more than a little confused. The blow to his head knocked out three months of his memory, but surely he would recall getting married. He knows who Cecilia Harcourt is—even if he does not recall her face—and with everyone calling her his wife, he decides it must be true, even though he’d always assumed he’d marry his neighbor back in England.
If only it were true...
Cecilia risks her entire future by giving herself—completely—to the man she loves. But when the truth comes out, Edward may have a few surprises of his own for the new Mrs. Rokesby.
3) She was in the wrong place...
Fiercely independent and adventurous, Poppy Bridgerton will only wed a suitor whose keen intellect and interests match her own. Sadly, none of the fools from her London season qualify. While visiting a friend on the Dorset coast, Poppy is pleasantly surprised to discover a smugglers’ hideaway tucked inside a cave. But her delight turns to dismay when two pirates kidnap her and take her aboard a ship, leaving her bound and gagged on the captain’s bed…
He found her at the wrong time...
Known to society as a rascal and reckless privateer, Captain Andrew James Rokesby actually transports essential goods and documents for the British government. Setting sail on a time-sensitive voyage to Portugal, he’s stunned to find a woman waiting for him in his cabin. Surely, his imagination is getting the better of him. But no, she is very real—and his duty to the Crown means he's stuck with her.
Can two wrongs make the most perfect right?
When Andrew learns that she is a Bridgerton, he knows he will likely have to wed her to avert a scandal—though Poppy has no idea that he is the son of an earl and neighbor to her aristocratic cousins in Kent. On the high seas, their war of words soon gives way to an intoxicating passion. But when Andrew’s secret is revealed, will his declaration of love be enough to capture her heart…?
4) She was given two choices...
Georgiana Bridgerton isn’t against the idea of marriage. She’d just thought she’d have some say in the matter. But with her reputation hanging by a thread after she’s abducted for her dowry, Georgie is given two options: live out her life as a spinster or marry the rogue who has ruined her life.
Enter Option #3
As the fourth son of an earl, Nicholas Rokesby is prepared to chart his own course. He has a life in Edinburgh, where he’s close to completing his medical studies, and he has no time—or interest—to find a wife. But when he discovers that Georgie Bridgerton—his literal girl-next-door—is facing ruin, he knows what he must do.
A Marriage of Convenience
It might not have been the most romantic of proposals, but Nicholas never thought she’d say no. Georgie doesn’t want to be anyone’s sacrifice, and besides, they could never think of each other as anything more than childhood friends... or could they?
But as they embark upon their unorthodox courtship they discover a new twist to the age-old rhyme. First comes scandal, then comes marriage. But after that comes love...
I really enjoyed that series, but was ready for some one and done books.
But we were at the library one rainy day charging our phones, and browsing So, next I read:
The Thickety: A Path Begins, J.A. White
This is a YA book, and it just wasn't my cup of tea. The story had good bones, but I just never got that into it. Will not be seeking out the others in this series.
This review sums it up well:
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2017
A spellbinding tale about a girl, the Thickety, and the power of magic. Fans of Neil Gaiman will love this thrilling world.
A dark, forbidden forest. Vicious beasts. Deadly plants. An evil spellbook. Secrets. Mysteries. Witches, both good and bad . . . Welcome to the world of the Thickety.
Full of action, set in an intriguing and dangerous world, and illustrated with gorgeous and haunting line art, The Thickety: A Path Begins is a truly stunning book.
A Path Begins is the thrilling start of a middle grade fantasy series about a girl, a mysterious forest, and a book of untold magical powers. Kara and her brother, Taff, are shunned by their village because their mother was a witch. The villagers believe nothing is more evil than magic, except for what lurks in the nearby Thickety.
But when Kara enters the forbidden forest, she discovers a strange book, a grimoire that might have belonged to her mother. The events she then sets in motion are both awe-inspiring and terrifying.
And that is just the beginning of the story—there are three more adventures in the Thickety to explore after this first book in the series.
Then I really did read some singular books (all of which were purchased at a library book sale in Madison Co. KY, and then left in the leave a book take a book at the campground we stayed at), starting with:
Girl Out Of Water, Laura Silverman
I really liked this one, and the story was very YA believable. Anise is your typical teen who's homesick and dealing with all the emotions that come with that, while caring for her cousins. My only issue with the book is it creates this drama when she's headed home, and then *Spolier-ish* No mom drama, everyone of her friends forgives her in a single page, and bam the book ends.
Ocean breeze in her hair and sand between her toes, Anise can't wait to spend the summer before her senior year surfing and hanging out on the beach with friends. Santa Cruz is more than her home―it's her heart. But when her aunt, a single mother, is in a serious car accident, Anise must say goodbye to California to help care for her three young cousins.
Landlocked Nebraska is the last place Anise wants to be. Sure, she loves her family, but living in her mother's childhood home―the same mother who disappeared out of her life when she was born―brings up memories and feelings she would rather forget. And with every photo and text, her friends back home feel further away.
Then she meets Lincoln, a charismatic, one-armed skater who dares her to swap her surfboard for a skateboard. Anise isn't one to shy away from a challenge. Her days with Lincoln are the most fun she's had all summer and skating together makes her feel more alive and free than she ever has.
Because sometimes the only way to find your footing is to let go.
Next up were two Debbie Macomber books:
While I enjoyed the read, the book was okay at best. It felt like every character was given so many issues, for no reason other than to weave this band of people together. Annie at the beginning is a bit unlikable, but it gets better. I find it hard to believe a character like Seth Keaton would be the outcast/bullied in a beach town... tall, built, tan, friendly... Not Debbie Macomber's best work.
Annie Marlow has been through the worst. Rocked by tragedy, she heads to the one place that makes her happy: Oceanside in the Pacific Northwest, the destination of many family vacations when Annie was a teenager.
Once there, Annie begins to restore her broken spirit, thanks in part to the folks she meets: a local painter, Keaton, whose large frame is equal to his big heart—and who helps Annie fix up her rental cottage by the sea; Mellie, the reclusive, prickly landlord Annie is determined to befriend; and Britt, a teenager with a terrible secret. But it is Keaton to whom Annie feels most drawn. His quiet, peaceful nature offers her both comfort and reprieve from her grief, and the two begin to grow closer.
Then events threaten to undo the idyll Annie has come to enjoy. And when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in her lap, she is torn between the excitement of a new journey toward success and the safe and secure arms of the haven—and the man—she’s come to call home.
In this heartwarming tale, Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within is to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.
(Didn't realize this was a series until I'd finished the book, and looked it up for the blog.) While I liked this book fine, Linette's story is completed so I'm not actively seeking out the other books. I actually think the secondary story, about another member of Deliverance Co and his physical therapist was much more interesting, and think they deserved their own book. Linette is likable enough, and you really feel for her plight, however her inability to say no is annoying. Cain is arrogant, and seems to only like Linette because she's "soft". I did grow to like the couple when things were uncertain, and rooted for them to make it.
Cain McClellan had chosen his lifestyle. He thrived on the challenge, the rush that came with putting his life in incredible danger. No woman, he told himself, could make him feel the way he did after a successful mission—no matter how beautiful she was.
So why was he standing on a cold pier like a lovelorn teenager, hoping for a glimpse of Linette Collins?
But then he saw her, and the sight of her took his breath away. The wind whipped her lustrous dark hair about her face, and she lifted a finger to wrap a thick strand behind her ear.
The smart thing to do was turn around and walk away as fast as his feet would carry him. He'd gotten what he wanted. One last look at her. His curiosity should be satisfied. But even as his mind formulated the thought, Cain knew that just seeing Linette again could never be enough.
After that, I read a bit more of the Dorothy series on my kindle, then this Civil War fiction:
Where The Jessamine Grows, Donna Everhart
I really felt for Joetta, and her family. The hardships they face by attempting to stay neutral are plentiful, and realistic. Mr. McBride (her father in law, whom the description gives a first name, but he is only ever called Mr. McBride in the book) is a well written old confederate man, as are her impressionable sons.
This review sums it up beautifully:
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2024
From the beginning to the end, the story is rich with the beauty of the land, and the people who dwell on it. As they till the soil, their lives are fraught with troubles they must endure to survive.
Read this touching tale, you won’t be able to put it down!
Her opinion is not favored by many in their community, including Joetta’s own father-in-law, Rudean. A staunch Confederate supporter, he fills his grandsons’ heads with stories about the glory of battle and the Southern cause until one night Henry runs off to join the war. At Joetta’s frantic insistence, Ennis leaves to find their son and bring him home.
But soon weeks pass with no word from father or son and Joetta is battered by the strain of running a farm with so little help. As the country becomes further entangled in the ramifications of war, Joetta finds herself increasingly at odds with those around her – until one act of kindness brings her family to the edge of even greater disaster.
Though shunned and struggling to survive, Joetta remains committed to her principles, and to her belief that her family will survive. But the greatest tests are still to come – for a fractured nation, for Joetta, and for those she loves . . .
Beyond those books, and I may have forgotten one, I read local pamphlets, and visitors guides. I did manage to find books one and two of the Bridgerton series (at Unclaimed Baggage) and have just started book one. (So far it's very similar to the Netflix series, outside of Simon's looks.
What should I read next? Let me know in the comments below!
Have a great day,
Craftin' Wife
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