Suspicious Hearts

Suspicious Hearts by Julie Tetel Andresen is such a great romantic thriller. Richard Worth wants to re-enter society and approaches his friend the Duke to find a suitable woman for marriage who will help make his debut flow smoother. With a list in hand Richard strikes out to meet the women and see which one he feels will be best for him.

Caroline had come back to town after leaving three years ago in disgrace. Her father was a gambler and had lost the majority of their fortune and so they had retreated to the country. She returns at the invitation of her aunt and so she can settle the affairs of her father after he passed several months before.  After learning that her father had kept up his gambling ways and through the twists and turns of fate Caroline ends up accepting the proposal of Richard Worth.

The story sky rockets after that with fast paced conversation, murder, and double crossing! All set against a wonderful Victorian society background. I loved how this story just flowed together and how all the characters ended up where I wanted them to be! Such a good read I definitely recommend it to anyone!!

Also it's a great deal as a kindle version for only 4 bucks!!!

And Heaven Too

And Heaven Too is a great historical romance by Julie Tetel Andresen. I am so glad that I was introduced to her works because they kept me from going mad last weekend. Let us just say that it was a miserable weekend, the joys of flu or some other bug but thankfully for me I had this great book to help distract me! I pretty much finished this book and moved on to one of the others that I have from this same author and was able to keep sane! Well at least the majority of my sanity that I have any other day :)

Judith is such a great main character, she is bright and witty and trying so hard to be a good daughter to the uncle that adopted her. I think we have all struggled to live up to the expectations of those around us and I loved watching this character come into her own as she realized that sometimes to really live we have to do what's wrong to really be in the right of our own consciousness. 

Charles Lambert is the gentleman who shows Judith a whole new world that she hadn't even dreamed of. He is devious and filled with such theatrical drama. He had almost eloped with her cousin Diana years earlier and in attempting to capture someone who stole something from him accidentally captures Judith. 

The hi-jinks ensue from there as the  two try to figure out the importance of a painting, life and love in the renaissance era. All of this is set against the background of intrigue, an England that sways between it's two churches and of course the glory of art. 

Such a great and humorous read that you don't even realizing you are learning until you know it! It was so great and vividly written that I could see everything with my minds eye. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical romance or anyone looking for a good read!

Simon's Lady by Julie Tetel Andresen

What can I say about this wonderful author? So many good things! I really enjoyed this book. I love historical romance novels, they are a sad and guilty pleasure of mine. They have taught me what a fort night means, which isn't something that you hear everyday. But I digress, sorry about that. Mrs. Andresen combines humour, real history, and confusion into a real love story with some pretty hot scenes that made me flick through the pages pretty awkwardly as I read this on my lunch hours at work.

Simon of Beresford is told by the King's mistress that it will be an honour to marry the widow Gwyneth of Northumbria. Distinctly unsure of this "honour" there is nothing he can do and faces his bride to be. He is soon taken by the violet depths of her eyes even as his soul struggles with the mounting evidence proving her as a traitor. For Gwyneth, she went from one horrible marriage and knows that she can not deny another that is sure to be more of the same, especially as she meets her Lord Husband and realizes he has no manners. But his gentleness in the boudoir convinces her that there is more to this plain speaking brute who can not seem to see the webs that wrap themselves around him as she attempts to save him from one mishap after another.

I liked the fact that real historical events about King Stephen and the tumultuous time period that he ruled during as well as some of the intrigues that may have actually happened as the lords were torn in their loyalties between rulers. The love story is genuine and I really liked reading from his prospective as well as hers. Sex scenes are hot hot hot! There is also action and intrigue and even an almost murder or two to make things extra exciting!

Definitely something that I would recommend for a reader who enjoys historical romance or just romance novels in general! It was so good! And at only 4 bucks for the kindle version it's a great buy!!!

The Family That Stays Together by Deborah Plummer

The Family That Stays Together by Deborah Plummer is a mystery that slowly draws you in. Though it starts slowly it does end up drawing you into the mystery surrounding the main characters long time friend when her ex boyfriend is murdered. It's part of a series so you might be slightly confused at first and some of the backgrounds of the characters are missing. But the fact that one of the main characters is an ex nun is definitely interesting. Also I liked the authors take on religion and faith being balanced without over powering the novel, even when some of the characters have a crisis of faith.

Kathy and her sister Tina begin to look into the murder of their friend's ex when she becomes the target of the police investigation. Things are only made more complicated when Kathy is approached by an old friend from the nunnery who wants her to begin therapy with her sister and nephew. Kathy begins to learn new things about the case and struggles between helping a friend and her career. 

It's definitely an interesting read with some unexpected twists and turns so I give it three out 5 stars! I would definitely check this out, especially if you can find the first one!

He Belongs to Me by Theresa Rizzo

He Belongs to Me is a beautiful and moving novel about a mother's love and determination. This novel by Theresa Rizzo is moving and definitely makes me eager to find and read more of her work. I thought that she captured the crisis of losing a child very well as well as the heartache of struggling to retain the child that's left. 

Catherine begins the tale at her graduation ceremony. She is filled with pride after completing her degree and joy that now Drew can come and live with her. Drew is her young son who has been living with her parents while she finished school at Stanford. Drew spends some time with his mother and her roommate in California but when she goes to talk to her parents about him living with her full time is when she learns the horrible truth. In a moment of weakness and manipulation from her father what she thought was guardianship for a short time was really signing the rights of her son over to her parents. 

Horrified and betrayed Catherine feels like she has no one to turn to in this hour of need. With the support of her friends in California she reaches out to her estranged husband, Thomas. They had once been madly in love until one of their twins dies in his sleep and Catherine's family accuses him of murder. Torn asunder by the horror of the situation and Catherine's manipulative father, they haven't spoken in years. Until Catherine shows up on his doorstop with a strange proposal. Can they act like man and wife in an attempt to get Drew and then if Thomas wants he can walk away.

This story's over arcing story is beautiful, the two love each other so much and life just keeps forcing them apart. In the end they realize that their love can triumph over any darkness. It is so moving and beautiful how they find love again after years as they struggle with love and children and the court case. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys a touching love story!

Chaperones by Megan Karasch

Chaperones is an entertaining novel about Andrea Lieberman and her journey to overcome her fears and England. The author uses great detail when describing the sights and sounds of different tourist places in England. I have been to a few of them and her descriptions brought back all the wonderful things that I too had experienced so I loved that. Megan Karasch's writing is good, her moods are evocative and the imagery is beautiful and real. Conversations flow easily and seem life like which is always a bonus!

Andrea Lieberman is the main character of this quirky novel. She was raised by parents who, though well meaning, coddled her to the point where everything causes her anxiety. At 26 years old she realizes that she has missed out on so much of life because she's just too afraid. So when offered a wonderful opportunity for a 6 month job in England she takes it. Unfortunately that's the day her boyfriend chooses to propose in a wonderfully romantic way! She regretfully says no because she knows that she has to do this on her to learn that she can stand on her own and be a real equal in a relationship.

At first she is a mess being by herself but after the boys, Harry and Rob, join her everything seems to begin to move smoother, even if at first she won't enter the church. Andrea learns that she can do things on her own as she begins to take charge of the photo shoots. Even when Robin hood falls out of the tree onto the maiden Andrea is still able to take photos and try to turn it into a success. Andrea struggles between feelings elated at her success and torn between everything that goes wrong while all her fears eat at her self confidence.

Chaperones is hilarious! It's a great story about how it's never too late to find yourself or to find what you love! It looks at all of life's little ups and downs and definitely makes you realize it's what you do when the sh*t hits the fan that really counts. Andrea is such a great character that you just want to root for her the whole time. I definitely recommend this as a great read!

Amity and Sorrow by Peggy Riley

Amity & Sorrow is a really interesting story about two children raised in a cult, their mother and their flight for freedom. It begins with Amaranth who is fleeing into the dark away from her husband, her 50 sister wives, and the horrors that lingered behind her. 4 days and nights Amaranth drove until she crashed the car and was rescued by a beaten down farmer. 

Amity and Sorrow are children who have lived their whole lives in the cult, surrounded by prayer and sister wives. Suddenly thrust into a world that confuses them, they are burdened with rules and laws that don't work in the every day world. But as they find space on the farmer's porch Amity begins to find her freedom. She begins small by breaking the rules to speak with Dust, the farmer's adopted son. Sorrow, on the other hand, can not seem to find her place in this new world where she is just like everyone else. In the cult she was the prophet's first daughter, born from his first wife, and was also the oracle. She would stand beside her father and look into the bowl of water and call out prophecies. Now in a world with no prayer, no wives, and only a broken piece of the bowl, she longs for her father and the world she knew and she will do whatever it takes to go home. 

Amaranth looks at her children and wonders were she went wrong. In the beginning they had such ideals. The religion was created with the idea that all women deserved a place where they could be safe and loved. She had been his first wife and he had been the first person to make her feel fully loved. But now years later she feels like the meaning of what they had tried to do has been lost and now, now there are hints that Sorrow might be his newest wife and that she can't allow. And so she had fled from everything familiar in the hopes of protecting her daughter who didn't want to be protected. But in getting lost Amaranth found herself.  After the farmer lets her and the girls stay on his porch she begins to find herself drawn to the this enigmatic man who continues to struggle against the dirt of Oklahoma. 

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it gave a really interesting insight as to what could start a cult and then how it can change as the people mature and change and seek things that they had never longed for before. It was entertaining to see how the girls interacted with things that we see everyday like candy and soda pop. And it even made me think much more kindly about Grapes of Wrath which is one of the few novels that I genuinely don't enjoy. 

I definitely recommend grabbing this book and reading it if you are looking for something deep and introspective!