Bokelskere.no

Starting out, I found that this story had a bit of a Cinderella vibe to it. Abigail, Abby, has a step mother who hates her. Although her biological father is still alive, that doesn’t seem to help Abby much. Her mother still manages to physically and verbally abuse her, so Abby can’t wait to get away from the family. Her betrothed lives far to the north of the country, Abby’s family is set to travel abroad and can spare no footmen, so Abby has to travel unaccompanied by males across some regions controlled by highwaymen. She only gets to take Fanny, the maid her stepmother doesn’t want in her employ. This setup is bound for disaster, and soon Abby finds herself in a life threatening situation, from which she is saved by world-weary police Captain Samuel Thatcher. Abby realizes she needs protection and persuades the Captain to help her. He agrees to deliver her safely to her betrothed in return for a hefty sum of money he will use to fund his retirement.

There are plenty of dramatic events mixed up with humor, especially in the beginning of the story. Later the drama intensifies and takes over. The plot feels more like a somewhat predictable thriller with the occasional moment of closeness between Abby and Captain Thatcher. I enjoyed the sweet situations as the relationship develops between them, however brief and somewhat casual they felt.

Main Characters
Abigail, Abby, Gilbert has suffered the loss of her mother in her earlier years. Growing up she has suffered abuse by her stepmother without her father having interfered much. She has tried to be a good daughter to no avail, and carries around a lot of grief. Apart from trying to be tough and deal with whatever comes in life, I felt her character seemed a bit one-sided. I had hoped to find descriptions of a more complex personality and connect with her feelings more. However, I enjoyed that we got a glimpse into the real Abby when she suffered feverish nightmares.

Captain Samuel Thatcher seemed the most developed character in this story and he went through the most change and development throughout. To begin with he seemed to carry a lot of baggage having been through a lot in his life. As the story progresses he goes through a positive change, although he still remains this justice conscious police man trying to make the world a safer place. As he seems so closed off and cold, he seems to have his work cut out for him developing into a person who is able to connect to a woman at all.

The maid Fanny I found was a funny supporting character who focuses on eating and taking naps. She seems to not quite understand her role as a maid silently doing as she’s told. Instead Fanny talks back and generally makes a disruptive nuisance of herself. That’s why Abby’s stepmother prefers to get rid of her.

Overall Thoughts
This is book #3 in The Bow Street Runners Trilogy. Usually I try to read trilogies as they come, but decided to read this as a standalone. As expected there were characters from the previous installments that I didn’t know. There were brief explanations as to who they were, so on the whole I thought #3 worked out quite well as a standalone. The plot, I felt, became somewhat predictable and I would have enjoyed more complex and further developed characters. I enjoyed the mention of places they travel past and the mixing in of entertaining facts about them as well as the Historical Notes at the back of the story. Fans of Michelle Griep will enjoy this as the final installment in The Bow Street Runners Trilogy.

My rating: 3 stars / 5
(All opinions are my own)

Ja,stemmer det. Har lest alle tre...

En nydelig debutbok med et veldig godt språk. På overflaten kan det virke som en hvilken som helst ungdomsbok men så ligger denne sorger å lurer like under overflaten. Jeg forstår godt at denne vant Brageprisen.

Les gjerne hele omtalen her.

Ser jeg likte den hakket bedre enn deg, når det er sagt så tror jeg dette er en bok som blir fort glemt.

About This Book

A Courtship of Convenience

Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He's grim and silent. A man of little emotion--or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months of courtship, she's ready to put an end to things.

A Last Chance for Love

But severing ties with her taciturn suitor isn't as straightforward as Sophie envisioned. Her parents are outraged. And then there's Charles Darwin, Prince Albert, and that dratted gaslight. What's a girl to do except invite Mr. Sharpe to Appersett House for Christmas and give him one last chance to win her? Only this time there'll be no false formality. This time they'll get to know each other for who they really are.

Review

Sophia Appersett, daughter of a baronet in dire financial circumstance, has no real interest in getting married. She agrees to court Edward-Ned Sharpe, a wealthy businessman Sophia’s family approve of because he has money.

The courtship
I found it funny and entertaining that Sophia and Ned’s courtship gets messed up by his reading of the Gentlemen’s Book of Etiquette where he gets some very bad advice indeed. It does nothing but muddy the waters between them. Sophia doesn’t get to see Ned for who he really is at all, but somehow he gets to know her. I enjoyed following what goes on between them throughout the story. She is not exactly the delicate lady he initially thought her to be.
Being a believer in Darwin’s new ideas, she harbors some quite progressive views for a Victorian woman.

Christmas theme
Descriptions of the holiday gathering added a very nice Christmas vibe to the story, which I enjoyed a lot. I felt it was a shame really, that it was only 174 pages long. I flew through it in a couple of hours. Really enjoyable to read about the gathering of greenery when the host invited guests to go into the estate’s woods looking for Mistletoe and Holly branches to decorate the house with.

The Changing World
In this story there is a vibe similar to Downton Abbey where people were worried about the changes in society. The landed gentry’s members, like the Appersetts, really wanted things to stay the same but had to adapt to the changing world. Even though they really wanted to look down their noses at Ned and his family, they had to accept him as suitor for their daughter.

I enjoyed the references to historical facts of the time and to technical inventions like the sewing machine. Sophie spent years of her life trying to cover up the family’s difficult financial circumstances. Trying to find ways to make money stretch and have the appearance and lifestyle of a wealthy family. The way this was done, I found interesting and unusual in today’s perspective. Don’t think I have read about women of that era trying to be thrifty.

My Overall Thoughts
This is the first of Mimi Matthews’ works I have read, and I found it both entertaining and enjoyable. It had plenty of interesting elements of facts and references to what might have influenced the characters’ mindset at the time. I also found the Christmas theme well covered, adding to a great vibe throughout. All in all I would recommend A Holiday by Gaslight to fans of Mimi Matthews’ works and for readers of historical fiction in general.
(All opinions are my own)

En kanskje ukjent histories fra 2.verdenskrig. Littlest, handlingen til tider naiv. Anbefales likevel.

Bøker ikke lest for en leseutfordring. Klarte å få plass til 24 av 33 bøker på 'leser' hylla på en leseutfordring.

About The Book
When Sarah Gooding returned a valuable brooch to the elderly Dowager Countess of Densbury, she had no idea it would lead to a job as the lively woman's companion. Nor did she expect to admire the Dowager's youngest grandson so much, even though the difference in their stations means nothing will ever come of her daydreams.

Review
Grown-up foster child Sarah Gooding once did The Dowager Countess of Densbury a huge favor finding her most prized possession, a large amethyst brooch she had lost in the snow. This resulted in securing her a position as the countess’ companion. One of the tasks of this job is accompanying the countess to the weekly dinner with her family. During the event she sits behind the piano hidden from view playing music to entertain the family. Sarah dislikes them all, save for one, Randall Everard who is The Countess’ grandson. Hidden behind the piano she gets to listen in on quite the unsavory discussion when The Earl of Denbury is trying to direct wealth towards his oldest son and heir at the expense of his mother The Dowager Countess and later also his son, Randall.

We discover early on that the Dowager Countess has a good heart, and that her grandson is her favorite. She tries to encourage him to stop working for his father’s estate, which will never be his, and start working for something of his own. Whenever he spends time with his grandmother he tries to talk to her companion, but Sarah seems meek and shy so he doesn’t know quite what to make of her. The Dowager Countess, however, encourages them to spend time together even if Sarah is of a much lower standing than Randall and any serious connection between them seems out of the question.

This story can be read as part of the Christmas Heirloom collection or, like I did, as #1.5 in the Heaven Manor series. Either way you are in for a treat. It is a quick and sweet read that will easily get you into the Christmas mood. It is recommended for fans of Kristi Ann Hunter’s other works and for readers of historical fiction in general.
My rating: 4 stars /5
(all opinions are my own)

As a recent widower, Charles Latterly decides to take a vacation to Italy where he plans to spend 3 relaxing weeks walking and thinking. This is not exactly what happens. He is staying in a hotel at the volcanic island of Stromboli, where a group of other British people is also gathered. The innkeeper, Stefano, assures them all that the volcano will not erupt. He says it merely rumbles and sputters a bit from time to time. He is totally proved wrong.

The story focuses heavily on the relationships between the guests, although there is no explanation as to why they are visiting the island. If they are previously connected remains a mystery throughout only to be revealed at the very end.

Charles becomes friendly with the lively 14 year old girl, Candace Finbar. She stays at the hotel with her slightly old and ailing uncle, Roger Finbar. They just seem to “be there” without any explanation or view into their thoughts before taking the trip. Why Stromboli? Why this particular inn? This is also lacking for all the different guests, save for Charles himself. What seems strange is that Roger persuades Charles, a perfect stranger he has just met, to take care of Candace if something should happen to him. It’s like he expects to be dying soon and seems quite desperate to find someone to care for her. As he seems such a nice and caring man, it seems strange that he would put his nice in a vulnerable circumstance? The story doesn’t seem consider that she might not be safe.

Wealthy Isla Bailey is there with her husband Walker-Bailey. Theirs is a difficult marriage. He is unkind, insensitive and cruel to her. She is frustrated and angry about his heavy handedness, but finds some support in Colonel Bretherton, who admires her. That just makes Walker-Bailey even more angry and cruel. He is generally negative to the other guests who dislike him and spends his time walking in the area on his own.

Percival Quinn is a writer with some success. He has written a bestseller but suffers writer’s block as he is trying to write book number two. Walker-Bailey seems to be intensely jealous of him and Quinn doesn’t like Walker-Bailey much either.

Main character, Charles Latterly, takes on a bit of an observer role in this story. After the volcano has erupted and a body is found, he takes charge of leading the group to safety a few hours walk down to the coast.

The famous, rumbling volcano seems to be a character in itself contributing to the sense of danger. It represents the backdrop which drives the plot, and maybe it also adds a distraction to avoid finding out what really happens. They are too focused on staying safe to consider what happened to the victim. The story seems to be focusing on the main characters. The supporting characters of the group seem less developed.

I felt there was little explanation as to what had happened to the victim, just some brief facts.
The person suspected of the murder was sprung out on me towards the end of the story. I had not noticed a buildup of clues along the way, so it surprised me. I suspected some fishiness about the murderer, but had not foreseen exactly how it all panned out. I had not picked up on this person having a motive. It was explained briefly towards the end but the whole thing felt a bit unfulfilled.

There were very little of the Christmas theme in this story, only a few lines at the end. I have read quite a few of Anne Perry’s Christmas novels before, and she usually manages to create Victorian Christmas cheer mixed up with the crime element. Not so much this time. I realize it would be difficult to add a Christmas vibe to this plot, but I can’t help feeling a bit disappointed.

Overall the story felt a tad rushed, but I realize there are only 150 pages to do elaborations. I’m sure there would have been strict priorities as to what to emphasize and what to leave out.. Fans of Anne Perry’s work would find this an ok read.
My rating 3 stars /5
(all opinions are my own)

Setting of the story
This story is set in Victorian London, even though the year is not specified in this one. It is about Claudine Burroughs, a wealthy woman volunteering in Hester Monk’s charity run Clinique for sick or injured prostitutes. As she has no children of her own, she is trying to find something meaningful to do with her time. She lives in a desperately unhappy marriage, so the work becomes a means to get away from her husband who tries to make her stop volunteering.
Claudine and her husband take part in a ball as usual, only this time there is a serious incident taking place in the garden of the manor house. 4 drunken men and a prostitute are involved. She has been attacked, is unconscious and bleeding badly. Claudine sets out to help her and to discover what really happened. The prostitute suffered a serious blow to parts of her head and face, but there are no witnesses as to who actually struck her. When Claudine arrives to help, poet Dai Tregarron is bending over her trying to revive her, and is subsequently blamed for the sinister deed. However, he denies having attacked her. Claudine believes him and tries to carve out information about what really happened. Who did actually strike the victim Winnie Briggs?
The endless work Claudine has done for years keeping in contact with members of society has resulted in her having a substantial social capital which becomes crucial as this story progresses. She uses her connections for all they are worth to carve out information. Backdrop to the story is the extensive Christmas celebrations, and the fun and games which are on everyone’s mind. All members of society feel it important that nothing gets in the way of all the partying planned for the Christmas season.

The Characters
Claudine has a difficult, unhappy, arranged marriage to her husband. The volunteer work at Hester Monk’s Clinique for sick and injured prostitutes gives her a sense of accomplishment and positive input she certainly does not get at home, or when going to charity committees like her husband wants her to.
Husband Wallace doesn’t love his wife. He is consumed with the craving for more and more wealth, power and standing in society and treats his wife as a tool to help him achieve this. He tries to prevent Claudine from doing charity work, having relationships with people he doesn’t know and generally having a life and a mind of her own. I really found him an appalling person. I could notice no positive traits whatsoever, save for the fact that he did not drink or gamble. Maybe Perry made him a bit one-dimensional, but he was probably perfect for the husband role in this story.

My Overall Thoughts
I have read quite a few of Anne Perry’s Christmas stories and find them enjoyable and interesting each in their own unique way. This one I felt kept quite a bit of focus on the importance of nothing interfering with the fun and games of Christmas celebrations. Not even a murder. Society are trying their best to cover up the attack on the prostitute as she is not wealthy, important or connected and therefore in their heads it would be best to forget about her and let fun and games of the Christmas season have priority. It all becomes a curious and shallow mix of Christmas cheer and murder investigation. Short as it is, only 154 pages, this story manages to unsettle me. I feel sad and angry about the total disregard for the victim, but pleased to see that there seems to become a sense of urgency to do the right thing and tell the truth towards the end.
I enjoyed reference to the quite new custom emerging which was the sending of Christmas cards. This would probably set this story around 1843 when the first Christmas card was sent. A Christmas Hope - Christmas Story #11 is recommended for fans of Anne Perry’s previous extensive number of works and for readers of crime fiction in general.
My rating: 4 stars / 5
(All opinions are my own)

Ikke den beste jeg har lest av Atwood, men kanskje den mest krevende? Uansett, språket er så godt og romanen ga absolutt noe å tygge på, i ettertid. Selv om noen partier var litt engasjerende, var det også partier som var spennende og interessante.. Verdt å lese. Mer i min blogg her

All Hearts Come Home for Christmas
I have read all the books in the Lancaster Family series and feel I know the universe of characters well, but I found it helpful that this story begins with a map of family names and spouses. It made the transition into her universe of characters from previous books quick and easy. I appreciated that.

This story is about family coming together for Christmas, some in need of ironing out their strained relationships, others to just enjoy each other’s company. I found it a sweet Christmas story building on the Lancaster Family characters. As I have enjoyed Sarah M. Eden’s works so much, I had quite high expectations starting this read, but I felt it delivered and might even have been a little longer. It made a very nice start to this Christmas themed novella. It managed to put me in a pre-Christmas-mood.

Leading up to Christmas, Harriet, dowager Duchess of Kielder doesn’t know where to spend the holidays. Even if she doesn’t exactly feel welcome as the mother of Adam, Duke of Kielder, she decides to go to Falstone Castle. She is determined to work on her relationship with Adam and the family and get to know her grandson Oliver. She feels nervous but wants to get back with the family more than anything. Together with the local vicar, she makes a plan she hopes will show Adam that she seriously wants to make amends and that she wishes the Christmas celebrations to be happy for everyone.

The Heart of Christmas
I had not read anything from this author before, so I was curious starting this read. It included all the ingredients I expect to find in a Christmas story. We get to follow Adelaide Moore who has fallen on hard times following her father’s death. She is working for room and board while dreaming of a better life when local banker Theodore Hardwick shows up in the dressmaker’s shop having lost a button in his coat. This proves to be the answers to Addie’s prayers as he offers her a job running his house and caring for his daughter Becky and ailing Aunt Marla.

The house is in a state of neglect. No tidying up or cleaning has been going on there in a long time, but little by little Addie manages to bring it in order and settle into a routine in the family. She gets to know Aunt Marla and they both enjoy each other’s company having meals together during the day. As days go by it becomes clear to Addie that there are serious underlying issues in this family that need attention, but they have to be handled delicately if she is to discover exactly what they are and how to deal with them. She takes on this challenge with the help of the daughter Becky. I really enjoyed this story and will be checking out other releases by this author very soon.

’Tis the Season to Be Daring
Elizabeth Davenport finds it humiliating to be paraded around ballrooms of the London Season, while her mother tries to attract husband for her. –Preferably one with a title. She plans to chock her and Society just enough that she will be able to avoid the rest of the balls of the season without destroying her reputation entirely. For that she teams up with Lord Charles Hawthorne. He is known as the worst rule breaker who doesn’t care a toss what other people think of him and is the perfect ally for this plan. He makes sure to do whatever he wants. Rumor has it he is not interested in marriage at all. They play their tricks in public in the hopes that Elizabeth will become unsuitable as marriage material for titled men of that The Ton and her mother will give her a break from Society until next Season. Elizabeth and Charles spend quite a bit of time together to achieve this goal, but their plan starts to pan out differently than they expected….

Esther Hatch is another author of whom I have not read any previous releases, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was light and sweet with quite a few funny situations throughout. -Just my cup of tea. It managed to get me into the warm and fuzzy feeling of Christmas too. I will definitely check out other works from Esther Hatch in future.

The Christmas Dress
Nell Addington is works for demanding dress shop owner Mrs Shaw. She has received a commission for a dress to Rachel Hammond so Nell is on her way to the dress fitting at Oakhurst Park when she meets her childhood friend Jacob Hammond, now the owner of the estate. Nell spends quite some time fitting Rachel’s dress in time for Christmas. They have a lovely time together and Nell gets to rekindle her relationship with Jacob, only now in a new way.

This is a sweet Christmas story with an unexpected snowstorm thrown into the mix. I quite enjoyed it. Entertaining read leading up to Christmas.

(All opinions are my own)

Velskrevet kriminalroman fra Island basert på faktiske hendelser fra 1802.

Les gjerne hele omtalen min her.

Koste meg - fra perm til perm! Spennende refleksjoner og svart humor (som jeg er helt knesvak for).

Lettlest og spennende, overraskende slutt.