strange and random happenstance

Babel by R.F. Kuang
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 23rd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Magic exists. It exists in the words etched into bars of silver and the latitude in the interpretation of a single word from one language to another. But you are always giving something up in the conversion and it's the bar that manifests what's lost in translation into being. At the Royal Institute of Translation in Oxford, commonly called Babel, they make magic with words and hoard the knowledge. The bars are used for anything from curing disease to holding up a bridge to making your carriage have a less bumpy ride. The newest most powerful bars rely on Chinese, Sanskrit, and Arabic. The romance languages have become overused and English, being such a magpie language, means that words from whole dialects soon lose their power. Therefore if you know an obscure language, you are a valuable commodity. Because the thirst for, the need for this knowledge of rare languages, is unending. Which makes the tower the epicenter of colonialism. It feeds the need for expansion because language is an infinite resource so long as you can find and control it. But silver is not. Which means that in order to keep your carriage comfy war is necessary. Because the Royal Institute of Translation doesn't help the poor, the downtrodden, those societies where they spirited their scholars from, they help the rich, the professors lining their pockets, and, above all, the Crown. Robin Swift is soon going to learn all this in his short life. Professor Lovell rescues Robin from a cholera outbreak in Canton and brings him to his home in England. There he trains Robin in all the rudiments necessary for entry into Babel. When Robin achieves this goal he thinks that his life will be perfect. When he arrives in Oxford and meets Ramy, a member of his cohort from Calcutta, the two of them spend a few blissful days until the other students arrive and they realize they are men at Oxford not Oxford men. Which makes them stick to the tower and their work and the other members of their cohort, Victoire, from Haiti, and Letty, a true Brit. They are united because of Babel and their precarious position that makes them simultaneously bold and terrified. Though the more they learn of the outside world, and the shadowy Hermes Society which Robin's brother Griffin is a part of after his ouster from Babel, life becomes about a moral compromise to survive. But translation itself is a betrayal, you are doing violence to the original by warping if for foreign ears. When what you do on a daily basis is a violent act, how long does it take until you make a real stand?

The Princess Bride. It's a classic. It's perfection. Which is why so many people try to lure you in by saying something is "like" it. It took thirty-seven years for me to agree with critics that something was worthy of that honor. The recipient is My Lady Jane which was cancelled prematurely. I'm still bitter. My love for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is close to if not equal to The Princess Bride which is why, again, when someone says "this" is a worthy successor, I look at them with confusion in my eyes, because they keep saying that word and I do not think it means what they think it means. Babel in particular should not be mentioned in the same breath as Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Just because it's set around the same time period in Regency England and there's magic doesn't make it a worthy successor. Yes, it can be in the conversation if that conversation is how to trick people into reading a book where each chapter felt longer than the whole book. And this isn't figurative, it's literal. My reading speed is about a book a week, Babel took me eighteen days to read. And it's not that it's badly written, it's just unedited spewing forth of irrelevancies. This book isn't what this book was billed as. It's not about magic and the marvels of the written language and how words grow and change and evolve and how languages have to be lived to be understood and Oxford is the opposite of real life, it's a book about colonialism and the stupidest stand in fictional history. Babel, or the Necessity of Violence is supposedly an "Arcane History" and it reads, to that extent, like a history book. A very boring history book about what you might call the translators' war. Because Robin goes nuclear and destroys Babel. Oops, sorry, spoilers, but I did warn you about the stupidest stand in fictional history and that's it. So we're supposed to be intrigued by these scholars that are able to move past the realm of ideas into the realm of action, something Oxford was wholly unprepared for? I'm sorry, but I literally did not care. Robin and his stand? Sure, it ground things to a halt for a few days and caused probably more harm than good but I just didn't care. I just couldn't get behind these characters plodding about and being too dumb to live. They literally didn't even know how to dispose of a body. Seriously!?! They were on a boat. But overall this book just left a bad taste in my mouth because it felt like it was preaching that violence is the answer and yet the violence answered nothing. Especially not why this book was written. Unless it was to show that higher education is a scam, because, yeah, it did show that.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Babel, Colonialism, DEATH, History, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Language, Magic, My Lady Jane, Oxford, R.F. Kuang, Regency England, Robin Swift, Summer School, The Princess Bride, The Royal Institute of Translation, Violence

Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce
Published by: Delacorte Romance
Publication Date: December 31st, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the nationally bestselling Dungeons and Drama comes another gaming romance that's sure to win you over!

Quinn Norton is starting over at a new high school and hopes that joining a D and D game will be the trick to making friends. The plan sounds even better when she's invited into a group that includes Logan Weber, the cute and charming guy she met on her first day of class. But this isn't your average D and D campaign - this group livestreams their games and enforces strict rules: no phones allowed, and no dating other group members.

Quinn is willing to accept the rules, even if it makes Logan off-limits. And she quickly learns that doing so won't be a problem, since Logan goes from charismatic to insufferable as soon as she agrees to join. As their bickering - and bantering - intensifies inside and outside the game, Quinn can't help wondering: Is Logan's infuriating behavior a smokescreen for hidden feelings? Quinn is risking it all, and the twenty-sided dice are rolling!"

Come on, risk it all on the roll of a twenty-sided die!

The Dilemma of a Dead Scholar by Patricia Rice
Published by: Book View Cafe Publishing Cooperative
Publication Date: December 31st, 2024
Format: Paperback, 246 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"At Wycliffe Manor, a legendary pirate treasure draws danger...

Bestselling author Patricia Rice brings you another haunting country house mystery in Regency England...

An heiress haunted by ghosts, Dotty Dorothea knows her family believes her mad. Fearing fortune hunters who would lock her and her awkward little brother in an asylum, she flees behind the ancient walls of Wycliffe Manor.

A French artist and émigré, his soul bearing scars from a French prison, Comte Arnaud Lavigne has lost everything to war. His only foreseeable future is restoring bad artwork in his cousin's decrepit manor. Mad heiresses aren't his concern, until the day a mathematical scholar is murdered. The deceased leaves a coded journal that might lead to Wycliffe Manor's lost treasure - inside the sealed tower the terrified heiress swears is haunted.

Ghosts don't exist as far as Arnaud is concerned, but killers and thieves are real, especially when stolen treasure is involved. How is he to work with the dotty heiress when neither of them trusts the other-or themselves? But the inhabitants of Wycliffe Manor, young and old, are in peril unless a heartless killer and thief is caught..."

A haunted manor house in Regency England with pirates!?! Oh my, yes.

The Losting Fountain by Lora Senf
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: December 31st, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ember, Miles, and Sam have been called home - only home is a place none of them have ever been before. The choices they make will not only determine their own futures but will also have vast and permanent consequences - they will either restore a cosmic balance or destroy the dams that separate two worlds, ending them both. Ember was called because she belonged, Miles because his mother belonged, and Sam...well, Sam arranged his own invitation.

The Fountain itself is beautiful and alluring - yet so is the light of an anglerfish. Hidden below the surface, the world of the Fountain is vast: unexplored and unmapped and full of wild things - leviathan and tiny, scuttling things and all manner of creature in between. There are other entities as well, entities that haunt and hunt in the Fountain, because it rewards nearly as often as it punishes, and it has been punishing the greedy and merciless and cruel for a very long time. For those, the Fountain becomes a prison.

The borders between our world and the world of the Fountain are already porous. If the balance between them is upset and control of the Fountain is lost, the consequences will be rapid, merciless, and world-ending. In every timeline that has been or will be, everywhere that water stands in our world will become a passageway for the violent damned to enter ours from the Fountain. For Ember, Miles, and Sam, all from different times, what starts as a journey to take control of their lives quickly becomes a quest to save - or destroy - both worlds, depending on whom you ask.

Rising star and Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Lora Senf has created a gorgeously written, pitch-black fantasy that will transport readers to a world that is as beautiful as it is horrifying and will keep readers on their toes as they devour it page by page."

I've always loved the idea of fountains as portals.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dating and Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons and Drama, Gravesyde Priory, Kristy Boyce, Lora Senf, Manor House, Patricia Rice, Pirates, Regency England, The Dilemma of a Dead Scholar, The Losting Fountain

Rowankind by Jacey Bedford
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: November 27th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 473 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When freed many of the rowankind took the Fae's offer to return to their homeland, Iaru. Yet there are those that stayed behind in Britain. They have made lives for themselves and have no desire to return to a homeland that they've never known. The humans though don't feel safe. They have treated the rowankind worse than slaves for hundreds of years and now those slaves have the power to fight back. And they are. In retaliation the humans are killing the rowankind. Reports of mass executions happening all over the country have reached the ears of the Fae and they want to take revenge. But Ross and Corwen beg the Fae council to let them attempt a diplomatic approach first before razing all of Britain. A major problem though is in educating the Fae that the world has changed. They have cloistered themselves in Iaru for so long they don't understand that being King isn't as powerful as it once was. The King has to answer to Parliament and they have to answer to the people. This will not be an easy fix and yet the Fae expect it to be. They expect Ross and Corwen to just walk up to the King and get him to make his subjects behave. In order to stop more bloodshed the couple are willing to attempt the impossible. And it really looks like it shall be impossible, George III isn't well, and the reason shocks Ross when she discovers it, the King has magic. Magic he isn't using. Much like Corwen's brother denying his wolf half, the King is denying his magic and it's making him very ill. Yet once contact is made Ross really hopes that they can reach some sort of agreement. But the Fae think they are taking too long and start demonstrating what they are capable of. If the populace was scared of a few rowankind with not much magic how are they going to feel about the Fae turning their beer into water and bringing about a blight to their crops? If everyone would just behave and trust each other for one minute perhaps everything will work out and Ross and Corwen can have their happy ending. Perhaps.

Rowankind doesn't really bring anything new to the table with regard to this trilogy but it does satisfactorily tie up all the loose ends. And there are many, from rescuing missing men to reinstating Gentleman Jim on his island. And there is also much politicking. Because the merging of two worlds, with magical citizens living in a nonmagical world, needs policies. There need to be laws to protect their rights and their bodies from harm. And it's a sad day when fictional Fae end up having more rights than many people do today. But that's just the world we live, and proves once again why I want to live in books and in particular this series. But while the politics do take center stage along with several notable politicians of the day, that's not all this book is about. We get one last piratical adventure, another shooting of London Bridge, a final Walsingham showdown, some more family drama, and lots of happily ever afters. Because this is fantasy and that means the good prevail, the bad fail, and everyone gets to sail off into the sunset. Plus there's just this wonderful message of the healing powers of love and that love is love. Ross is able to find love again even though she thought she never would after the death of her husband Will. Her brother David finds love with a rowankind servant Annie. Her brother-in-law is able to tame his beast due to the love of his partner Roland. Her Aunt Rosie reunites with her lost love Leo. Even the servants get in on the love with her maid Poppy marrying Yeardley. And, now that I think about it, this whole series is about finding your family, those who you love with your whole heart and soul. You don't have to be related by blood, I mean look what Ross had to do to her brother.... It's about finding your tribe. Be they pirates or pixies, when you find your people the world is so much better because they are there for you in good times and in bad and most importantly, they will fight for you and even help you burying the bodies. So here's a shout-out to all my family, I love you like I love books, and you know how much that is.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Britain, Corwen, Execution, Fae, Family, George III, HEA, Jacey Bedford, London Bridge, Love, Magic, Pirates, Politics, Regency England, Regency Magic, Ross Tremayne, Rowankind, Silverwolf, Trilogy, Winterwood

Rowankind by Jacey Bedford
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: November 27th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 473 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When freed many of the rowankind took the Fae's offer to return to their homeland, Iaru. Yet there are those that stayed behind in Britain. They have made lives for themselves and have no desire to return to a homeland that they've never known. The humans though don't feel safe. They have treated the rowankind worse than slaves for hundreds of years and now those slaves have the power to fight back. And they are. In retaliation the humans are killing the rowankind. Reports of mass executions happening all over the country have reached the ears of the Fae and they want to take revenge. But Ross and Corwen beg the Fae council to let them attempt a diplomatic approach first before razing all of Britain. A major problem though is in educating the Fae that the world has changed. They have cloistered themselves in Iaru for so long they don't understand that being King isn't as powerful as it once was. The King has to answer to Parliament and they have to answer to the people. This will not be an easy fix and yet the Fae expect it to be. They expect Ross and Corwen to just walk up to the King and get him to make his subjects behave. In order to stop more bloodshed the couple are willing to attempt the impossible. And it really looks like it shall be impossible, George III isn't well, and the reason shocks Ross when she discovers it, the King has magic. Magic he isn't using. Much like Corwen's brother denying his wolf half, the King is denying his magic and it's making him very ill. Yet once contact is made Ross really hopes that they can reach some sort of agreement. But the Fae think they are taking too long and start demonstrating what they are capable of. If the populace was scared of a few rowankind with not much magic how are they going to feel about the Fae turning their beer into water and bringing about a blight to their crops? If everyone would just behave and trust each other for one minute perhaps everything will work out and Ross and Corwen can have their happy ending. Perhaps.

Rowankind doesn't really bring anything new to the table with regard to this trilogy but it does satisfactorily tie up all the loose ends. And there are many, from rescuing missing men to reinstating Gentleman Jim on his island. And there is also much politicking. Because the merging of two worlds, with magical citizens living in a nonmagical world, needs policies. There need to be laws to protect their rights and their bodies from harm. And it's a sad day when fictional Fae end up having more rights than many people do today. But that's just the world we live, and proves once again why I want to live in books and in particular this series. But while the politics do take center stage along with several notable politicians of the day, that's not all this book is about. We get one last piratical adventure, another shooting of London Bridge, a final Walsingham showdown, some more family drama, and lots of happily ever afters. Because this is fantasy and that means the good prevail, the bad fail, and everyone gets to sail off into the sunset. Plus there's just this wonderful message of the healing powers of love and that love is love. Ross is able to find love again even though she thought she never would after the death of her husband Will. Her brother David finds love with a rowankind servant Annie. Her brother-in-law is able to tame his beast due to the love of his partner Roland. Her Aunt Rosie reunites with her lost love Leo. Even the servants get in on the love with her maid Poppy marrying Yeardley. And, now that I think about it, this whole series is about finding your family, those who you love with your whole heart and soul. You don't have to be related by blood, I mean look what Ross had to do to her brother.... It's about finding your tribe. Be they pirates or pixies, when you find your people the world is so much better because they are there for you in good times and in bad and most importantly, they will fight for you and even help you burying the bodies. So here's a shout-out to all my family, I love you like I love books, and you know how much that is.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Britain, Corwen, Execution, Fae, Family, George III, HEA, Jacey Bedford, London Bridge, Love, Magic, Pirates, Politics, Regency England, Regency Magic, Ross Tremayne, Rowankind, Silverwolf, Trilogy, Winterwood

Last year I read a lot of Regency themed books for my Regency Romp. Which made me actually question whether doing Regency Magic might have been a tad too much too soon. Yes, it's been four years since I last did Regency Magic and this subgenre is such a favorite of mine that I am a little baffled I didn't squeeze it in somewhere. And yes, I do totally organize my blog around the "what do I feel like reading" versus "what is popular" which means I have a legitimate excuse to indulge in something Austenesque with a side of magic. But somehow I just didn't. And then the question of should I even be doing it now kept repeating in my head on a loop. But then two things happened, I started craving anything set in the Regency and I picked up C.C. Aune's The Ill-Kept Oath. The cravings were obviously caused by my withdrawal after reading so many Regency set books last year and The Ill-Kept Oath was one of those books you read and it's just sheer perfection. You want to inhale it all and yet you never want it to end and I felt myself falling in love with Regency Magic all over again. And then I picked up Jacey Bedford's Rowankind series and the same thing happened again! I wasn't just falling in love with a subgenre all over again I was falling in love with reading all over again! Therefore I am beyond delighted to spend the next two months with C.C. Aune and Jacey Bedford, as well as the much loved Stephanie Burgis, and the new to me H.G. Parry. I can't wait for you to read their books! Join me on this journey, read along with me, keep an eye out for an Instagram giveaway or two, and if we ever meet in person, excuse me for yelling at you to pick up The Ill-Kept Oath by describing it as Jane Austen with trolls. And yes, that did happen. More than once.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Austenesque, Blog, C.C. Aune, Giveaway, H.G. Parry, Instagram, Jacey Bedford, Jane Austen, Love, Regency, Regency England, Regency Magic, Regency Romp, Rowankind, Stephanie Burgis, Subgenre, The Ill-Kept Oath, Trolls

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stevie Bell solved the case of Truly Devious, and now she's taking her detecting skills abroad when she becomes embroiled in a mystery from 1990s England. Another pulse-pounding and laugh-out-loud stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn't going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain - questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone's lying about what happened in the woodshed. Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game."

It's murderous Peter's Friends and you need to read it.

The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Paige Crutcher's The Lost Witch, a witch discovers that finding your way home is sometimes the most perilous journey of all.

1922. Brigid Heron is a powerful witch and healer in the seemingly lost, but charming small town of Evermore on a forgotten isle in Ireland. However, there is one thing that she longs for above all else: a child of her own. She is even willing to be seduced by the mysterious Luc Knightly, head of the Knightly coven, whose pull is potent and impossible to resist. When their child is born and falls ill, Brigid will risk anything to save her daughter - even tap into the forbidden magic of the Lough of Brionglóid. But when the wild magic takes her daughter from her, Brigid is swept away as well.

2022. Evermore is under siege. The witches of Knight have been using their chaos magic to widen the rift between the island and the Otherworld. Creatures from folklore prey on the villagers, consuming their very humanity.

Brigid awakens in this world with no memory of how she traveled into the future, but she learns that she helped unleash this curse on Evermore. To seal the lough and stop the witches of Knight, she must work with her magical descendants, Ophelia and Finola. But the knowledge she seeks lies with Luc Knightly himself - mysterious, handsome, and powerful. To save Evermore, Brigid may have to lose everything once again."

Magical families coming together yes!

The Marriage List by Ella Quinn
Published by: Zebra
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"By popular demand, USA Today bestselling author Ella Quinn returns Regency England's beloved extended family, The Worthingtons, for the first in a sparkling new spin-off series! Determined to tame the marriage market on their own terms and make advantageous love matches, three confident sisters draw up a list of qualities they expect their new beaus to meet. But as they are about to discover, people are hardly ever perfect and the road to love is far more thrilling and interesting than they could ever have imagined...

As part of a large, rambunctious family, Lady Eleanor Carpenter has gained some knowledge of what makes a successful marriage. She's even compiled a list of essential qualifications in a potential husband. John, the Marquis of Montagu, seems of good character (check), with money enough to support a family (check). But what of the many other requirements on her list?

Montagu, meanwhile, believes the key to a comfortable life lies in marrying someone quiet and docile. Yet the one lady who captivates him could hardly be more different to what he envisioned. Lady Eleanor is as opinionated as she is lovely, determined to improve working conditions for coal miners, even at risk to her own safety.

From evenings at Almack's to carriage rides in Hyde Park, this Season will contain many pleasures - and a few surprises that compel both John and Eleanor to rethink their expectations. For one thing is certain: love will not be defined by any list..."

This last Tuesday Tomorrow for the year kind of sums up my reading for the year, something witchy, a lot of Regency romance and Truly Devious.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ella Quinn, England, Mauren Johnson, Murder, Nine Liars, Paige Crutcher, Peter's Friends, Regency England, Regency Romp, The Lost Witch, The Marriage List, Truly Devious, Tuesday Tomorrow

Recipe for Treason by Andrea Penrose
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: December 4th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Renard, that most elusive of spies, is up to something incendiary. Which is why Arianna, her husband Sandro, and their medically inclined friend and comrade Baz are headed north to Scotland on winter blasted roads at the behest of Lord Grentham. Behest might be too kind of a word. Grentham has threatened Baz's nephew who is currently in prison in Scotland for his "radical" tendencies and if they venture north then they can free said nephew as well as investigate on Grentham's behalf. The only problem is that they are attacked on their way north, their lead turns up dead, Baz's nephew turns up dead, and a bad character, Lord Stoughton, who is the colonel in command of the region, shoots Baz. After the failure that is their trip to Scotland the only thing they know for sure is that Renard appears to have developed a method of delivering death from the sky with a new flying machine and an explosive incendiary device. Something that must not end up in Napoleon's hands. Which leads them to think that perhaps they can find answers back in London at the Royal Institution. While it is nice to go home the problem is Baz is too ill to travel and they need someone who can understand the scientific nature of their investigation and open doors that would otherwise be closed. Enter Sophia Kirtland. Arianna had learned of Miss Kirtland and her husband's weekly visits to her during their previous investigation when Lord Grentham was trying to pull Arianna to heel. She knew her marriage to Sandro wasn't a love match, even if he says he loves her now, so she assumed that Miss Kirtland is his mistress. She couldn't be more wrong. Miss Kirtland is a delightful female scientist who lives outside the conventions of society. She's a genius and a recluse, and as soon as Arianna meets her she decides that she will not only use this woman to help in their investigation but she will help Sophia become more daring, more like Arianna herself. Thankfully Sandro doesn't realize this plan because one Arianna running around England is terrifying enough. But as the two women cut a swath through the ton and make all the right scientific connections Renard isn't keeping his head in the sand. The noose is tightening but whose neck will be in it is anyone's guess.

Recipe for Treason has a lot of absurdity going on in it's pages. There's more of Arianna doing improbable disguises and cross-dressing and getting involved in chases with hot air balloons, which at times could veer towards the slapstick if it wasn't so well grounded in reality even if Arianna's feet aren't anywhere near the ground. Because science and it's discoveries were, as Andrea Penrose points out in her Author's Note, discussed by all and the men who made the discoveries were rock stars. So if you're thinking "but that couldn't possibly be happening in 1814," you're wrong. As I previously learned years ago when reading Lauren Willig's The Garden Intrigue, there were proto-submarines in the Regency so why not proto-airplanes? I mean, if you think about it Leonardo da Vinci was drawing planes in his lifetime, which ended THREE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE this book takes place. But the science itself wasn't what I loved about this book but the scientists, and one in particular, Miss Sophia Kirtland. While Arianna is an interesting heroine, she's at times very off-putting. She's too confident, especially in her ability to disguise herself, and while it might be overcompensation to hide her insecurities, it doesn't endear me to her. I can't relate to who she is and the life she's led and every once in awhile that pulls me out of the story. She's like that friend you have that you're not quite sure you like because while she has all these interesting adventures it's too much about them and the facade they want no one to see behind. Whereas Sophia Kirtland is someone I can totally relate to. She had something bad happen to her and while she removed herself from society she didn't give up. She poured herself into her studies and experiments. She improved her mind, which is formidable, and when needed by Arianna and Sandro, she rose to the occasion more than I think she even thought herself capable of. I can't wait for her to be more involved in Arianna and Sandro's adventures because she is my cup of cocoa.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Airplanes, Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Da Vinci, Lauren Willig, Napoleon, Recipe for Treason, Regency England, Regency Romp, Science, Scientists, Scotland, Sophia Kirtland, Spies, Submarines, The Garden Intrigue

A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 31st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this series debut from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, a modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland - in an unfamiliar body - with a killer on the loose.

May 20, 2019: Homicide detective Mallory is in Edinburgh to be with her dying grandmother. While out on a jog one evening, Mallory hears a woman in distress. She’s drawn to an alley, where she is attacked and loses consciousness.

May 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Mitchell had been enjoying a half-day off, only to be discovered that night in a lane, where she’d been strangled and left for dead...exactly one-hundred-and-fifty years before Mallory was strangled in the same spot.

When Mallory wakes up in Catriona's body in 1869, she must put aside her shock and adjust quickly to the reality: life as a housemaid to an undertaker in Victorian Scotland. She soon discovers that her boss, Dr. Gray, also moonlights as a medical examiner and has just taken on an intriguing case, the strangulation of a young man, similar to the attack on herself. Her only hope is that catching the murderer can lead her back to her modern life...before it's too late.

Outlander meets The Alienist in Kelley Armstrong's A Rip Through Time, the first book in this utterly compelling series, mixing romance, mystery, and fantasy with thrilling results."

Time-Slip crime solving? YES PLEASE! Also, can I do this myself because it's kind of a dream of mine to solve the greatest unsolved mysteries of the past...

Miss Morton and the English House Party by Catherine Lloyd
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: May 31st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Compelled by circumstance to accept the post of lady’s companion to a wealthy widow, Lady Caroline Morton soon finds her duties entail investigating a murder in the first installment of a brand new Regency-set series by Catherine Lloyd, author of the critically acclaimed Kurland St. Mary Mysteries.

The options for the penniless daughter of a deceased earl are few indeed in Regency England. So, following the suspicious death of her father, the Earl of Morton, and the discovery that she and her much younger sister have been left without income or home, Lady Caroline takes a post as a lady’s companion to the wealthy widow Frogerton.

Just as Caroline is getting accustomed to her new position, her aunt, Lady Eleanor Greenwood, invites her and her employer to a house party in the countryside to celebrate her youngest daughter’s birthday. Mrs. Matilda (Matty) Frogerton sees this as an opportunity to introduce her own rather wild daughter, Dorothy, to the ton, and Caroline is eager to see her sister, who as a child lives with their aunt.

But all is not well at the Greenwood estate. For one thing, Lady Caroline’s former fiancé, Lord Francis Chatham, is a guest and refuses to speak to her. Far worse, after a series of troubling harassments of the staff, an elderly family member is found stabbed by a knitting needle.

As Caroline and an unexpected ally - Mrs. Frogerton - attempt to solve the chilling crime, they discover the culprit may be leaving bizarre clues as to who will be next in the nursery. But they must make haste, for this heartless killer is engaged in anything but child’s play..."

I love mysteries and I am ALL about the Regency right now, so this is a must read!

Murder for the Modern Girl by Kendall Kulper
Published by: Holiday House
Publication Date: May 31st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
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The official patter:
"Gatsby-era glamour, a swoon-worthy love story, and an indomitable heroine dazzle in this romp that captures the extravagance of the Roaring Twenties and the dangers of vigilante justice.

A ravishing young mind reader stalks the streets at night in kitten heels, prowling for men to murder.

A soft-spoken genius toils away in the city morgue, desperate to unearth the science behind his gift for shapeshifting.

It’s a match made in 1928 Chicago, where gangsters run City Hall, jazz fills the air, and every good girl’s purse conceals a flask.

Until now, eighteen-year-old Ruby’s penchant for poison has been a secret. No one knows that she uses her mind-reading abilities to target men who prey on vulnerable women, men who escape the clutches of Chicago "justice." When she meets a brilliant boy working at the morgue, his knack for forensic detail threatens to uncover her dark hobby. Even more unfortunately: sharp, independent Ruby has fallen in love with him.

Waltzing between a supernaturally enhanced romance, the battle to take down a gentleman’s club, and loyal friendships worth their weight in diamonds, Ruby brings defiant charm to every page of Murder for the Modern Girl - not to mention killer fashion. An irresistible caper perfect for fans of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, in an exquisite hardcover package with rose-gold foil."

Why do I love Twenties Chicago? Could it be because that was where my grandmother always hung out? Add in dash of the supernatural and I'm sold!

The French for Murder by Verity Bright
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: May 31st, 2022
Format: Kindle, 287 Pages
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The official patter:
"A grand villa, croissants for breakfast and a dead body in the wine cellar...Lady Swift can’t seem to take a vacation from murder!

Summer 1923. Lady Eleanor Swift is finally persuaded by her butler, Clifford, to take a villa in the south of France for the season. She plans to do what a glamorous lady abroad should: long lunches on the balcony followed by lazy afternoons lounging by the pool. Even Gladstone the bulldog is looking forward to a daily paddle in the ocean.

But when Clifford examines the wine cellar, he discovers there are no decent reds but there is a very dead body. The victim is famous American movie star Rex Armstrong. Poor Rex seems to have been stabbed with a sword from the film set. So how did he end up in Eleanor’s villa?

Before Eleanor even has time to change out of her travelling suit, her beloved butler is arrested for the crime. At sea without her right-hand man, Eleanor must gather her wits if she’s to outsmart a murderer and save Clifford.

Attending a glitzy party at the luxurious Hotel Azure with the film’s cast and crew so she can question her main suspects, Eleanor overhears the director having a most unsettling telephone call that throws all her theories out of the water. Can Eleanor unmask the true killer before her time abroad is cut murderously short?

A gripping historical murder mystery full of charm and intrigue, set in the beautiful French Riviera. Fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and Lee Strauss will adore The French for Murder."

The newest adventure of Lady Eleanor Swift is always a time for celebration, especially if we can celebrate in France!

On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: May 31st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
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The official patter:
"After her fiancé whisks her off to the glistening shores of Southampton in June of 1957, one young socialite begins to realize that her glamorous summer is giving her everything - except what she really wants - in this new novel from the author of Summer Darlings.

Everleigh "Lee" Farrows thinks she finally has life all figured out: a handsome fiancé named Roland, a trust in her name, and a house in Bronxville waiting for her to fill it with three adorable children. That is, until Roland brings her out to the Hamptons for a summer that will change everything.

Most women could only dream of the engagement present Roland unexpectedly bestows on Lee - a beachside hotel on the prized Gin Lane - but Lee’s delight is clouded by unpleasant memories of another hotel, the Plaza, where she grew up in the shadow of her mother’s mental illness. Shaking off flashbacks, Lee resolves to dive into an unforgettable summer with poolside Bellinis, daily tennis matches, luncheons with her Manhattan circle, and her beloved camera in tow. But when tragedy strikes on the hotel’s opening weekend, the cracks in Lee’s picture-perfect future slowly begin to reveal themselves, and Lee must look deep within herself to determine if the life she’s always wanted will ever truly be enough.

From the regal inns to the farmland, the well-heeled New Yorkers to the Bohemian artists, the East End of Long Island is a hodge-podge of the changing American landscape in the late 1950s - and the perfect place for Lee to discover who she really is."

Come revel in 1950s America!

Deep Water by Emma Bamford
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: May 31st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
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The official patter:
"The dark side of paradise is exposed when a terrified couple reveals their daunting experience on a remote island to their rescuers - only to realize they’re still in the grips of the island's secrets - in this intense and startling debut in the tradition of Into the Jungle and The Ruins.

When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, "It’s all my fault. I killed them."

Trembling with fear, she reveals their shocking story to Danial. Months earlier, the couple had spent all their savings on a yacht, full of excitement for exploring the high seas and exotic lands together. They start at the busy harbors of Malaysia and, through word of mouth, Jake and Virginie learn about a tiny, isolated island full of unspoiled beaches. When they arrive, they discover they are not the only visitors and quickly become entangled with a motley crew of expat sailors. Soon, Jake and Virginie’s adventurous dream turns into a terrifying nightmare.

Now, it’s up to Danial to determine just how much truth there is in Virginie’s alarming tale. But when his crew make a shocking discovery, he realizes that if he doesn’t act soon, they could all fall under the dark spell of the island."

I am always drawn to stories about people who have boats and set off on adventure only to have all things bad descend on them.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 1920s, 1950s, A Rip Through Time, Brooke Lea Foster, Catherine Lloyd, Chicago, Emma Bamford, Kelley Armstrong, Kendall Kulper, Lady Eleanor Swift, Murder, Mystery, Regency England, Verity Bright, Victorian, Yacht

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: December 5th, 2000
Format: Kindle, 1053 Pages
Rating: ★
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Sophie Beckett's life was never going to be a fairy tale. She was born illegitimate and unwanted. Yes, her father touted her as his "ward" in order to give her a semblance of respectability, but when he married, his new wife did everything in her power to grind Sophie down. After his death Sophie became nothing more than a servant to those who should have loved and cared for her. Her only joy in life is reading Whistledown and dreaming of the world right outside her door. The parties in ballrooms throughout London where it seems anything could happen. A life she will never be a part of, until the other servants concoct a scheme for Sophie to attend Lady Bridgerton's masked ball. In spangles and silver she enchants all those who see her. But she instantly captures the heart of Benedict Bridgerton, as he does hers. At midnight she flees, never to see that ballroom or Benedict again, or so she thinks. Her life will have to be bearable with the memory of this one perfect night. But then her stepmother discovers her deceit and throws her out onto the street. With nowhere to go she flees to the country and eventually ends up working as a maid in a country house. It's not ideal. She sells her hair for money and loses too much weight, she's unrecognizable to even herself, but she is making do until her master's son and his friends attempt to assault her and she flees right into the arms of Benedict. Benedict has been looking for the mysterious lady from the ball for years. She is the only one he wants to marry and yet she is elusive. The girl he rescues from some louts at a house party is sweet, but not the woman of his dreams. Or is she? As Sophie nurses Benedict back to health after he takes ill after a long ride in the rain, he starts to wonder if perhaps a real flesh and blood girl is better than a figment of his imagination that he has been embellishing for years. The only problem is her station in life. Can they overcome society and a scheming stepmama to get a chance at a happy ending?

Benedict Bridgerton is the apotheosis of white male privilege. He is toxic masculinity hiding behind a veneer of savior complex. Oh, look, he has a rock from the day his dad died, boo hoo, does that humanize him as he tries to defile a woman of a lower station? NO! I just couldn't with Benedict. He is not a romantic hero, he is an ass who is totally incapable of empathy. He can not see that by forcing Sophie to take him as her lover he is destroying her heart and soul. She is incapable of saying no because she is deluded enough to think that she loves him. A delusion born of a time when he thought her his equal and therefore treated her as such. Now that she is "below" him he thinks nothing of taking her to bed despite the very real consequences that could happen. He doesn't get how having a child out of wedlock would destroy her. He just doesn't get it because he is a white man and everything has always gone his way. Consequences are for other people, not him. Oh, how I hated him. I wanted to claw out his eyes. Every interaction he had with Sophie made my skin crawl. And she just takes it. She puts up with his bullshit because, sadly, his bullshit is less horrific than the other bullshit she had to deal with in this very inadequate reimaging of Cinderella. Here's the thing, I think everyone out there, if they know one fairy tale, they know Cinderella. It's like genetically coded into humankind of something. Therefore when it is reinterpreted it really has to get it right because every single one of us has expectations born of genetic knowledge. In my mind there are literally only two that work, the film Ever After, and the book Cinder by Marissa Meyer. That is it. There are no others. The Viscount Who Loved Me doesn't even chart. There is no depth, no truths brought forward by seeing the story in another light, there is just an asshole "prince" who forces himself on his "true love" and I guess they have a happily ever after. Personally if I had to be in a room with Benedict for more than a minute I would not be a happy camper. Lucky for Benedict that Sophie isn't that picky.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An Offer From a Gentleman, Benedict Bridgerton, Bridgerton, Cinder, Cinderella, Ever After, Fairy Tale Retelling, Julia Quinn, Lady Whistledown, Marissa Meyer, Regency England, Regency Romp, Toxic Masculinity

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: March 30th, 2010
Format: Paperback, 397 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Lady Calpurnia Hartwell was bound for spinster seating from her very first season. Sure she had the dowry. But that only attracted a certain type of gentlemen. And besides saddling her with an absurdly Shakespearean name her parents also made her believe in love matches. Oh, to be loved. Like her sister is. It's been a decade since Callie's first season an her sister has made a love match before the season is even underway. Callie should be happy. Instead she is sad and soon to be drunk. She's been on the shelf for so long even her brother is encouraging her to not be such a stickler for the rules of society. Therefore Callie does what comes naturally to her, she makes a list. Lists are sensible. Lists are good. Lists are what women on the shelf make when they've reached the end of their rope. She lists nine things that would shock polite society. Sure, some of them might easily ruin her, but isn't it time to live a little? Isn't it time to shoot a gun, attend a duel, dance every dance, and be passionately kissed. She decides that she will tackle the kiss first. Only her inebriated mind could make her believe this is a good idea. At a ball during her first season she fell irrevocably in love with the Marquess of Ralston, Gabriel St. John. He spent a few minutes talking to her before moving on to an assignation in a hedge maze. Those few minutes were enough for her to fall in love with a man who was already making a name for himself as a rake. Seeing him and his paramour for the first time in life Callie was jealous of another person. Therefore if she's to experience her first kiss she wants it to be him. It doesn't matter if it will ruin her for all others because she is sure there will never be any others. She is rather scandalized when she is taken to his bedroom. But she has come this far, she will not turn back. When Ralston realizes that it is not his current mistress but Lady Calpurnia Hartwell who has entered his room he decides to take the upper hand. He will give her the kiss she desires but she in turn must help his sister, an illegitimate Italian, come out in society. Callie's approval will give Juliana legitimacy. Callie agrees. But that kiss changes everything. For both of them.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake is based on the clever conceit that Callie has written a list of nine things that she wishes to do were propriety not an issue. The conceit is clever because the list acts as an outline. Callie's HEA cannot happen until everything is completed, including a duel. So it's a nice way to pace out the narrative. Plus they don't happen in a specific order so it's a little like roulette, which rule will she break next? Though the problem with Callie's list is that literally every time she draws a line through an item she's drugged by Ralston's kisses. I mean, this is a romance so you expect the sexy time, but does the sexy time have to be so repetitive? Each item means that the sexy time has arrived, and each time it's basically the same with them going a little further until Callie is well and thoroughly compromised. The drugging kisses, the laving of some part of her anatomy with word usage that reminds me more of a cat, the nipple play, all of which seems meant to prove that Ralston is really into satisfying his partner, which means he can't be entirely a reprobate right? I'm just saying that they needed a little variety in their sex life... At least they were both very enthusiastic I guess. But the sexy time for me isn't what this book is about, it's about Callie coming into her own. Like Callie I feel like I have spent so much of my life being "their" version of me that I sometimes don't know who I really am. And by "their" I mean the whole world at large, for Callie it's the ton, for me it's largely family. And don't get me started on when people talk to you with "why are you so..." Maybe I wasn't that way until you thrust your expectations onto me? Maybe I should make a list? What also hit unexpectedly hard was Callie talking about being put on the shelf. How she was so high up there and so alone. It wasn't just the fact lack of coupledom that made this hit the mark but Covid. We have all collectively been on the shelf for two years. We aren't going to public houses or fencing clubs of heaths for duels, we're home on a high shelf hiding out from the rest of the world. I think when this pandemic is over we all need to take a leaf out of Callie's book and make ourselves a list and find out who we really are. Rake an added bonus.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Compromised, Covid, Duel, Expectations, HEA, Lady Calpurnia Hartwell, Love By Numbers, Marquess of Ralston, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, Regency England, Regency Romance, Sarah MacLean, Sex, Ton

When season one of Bridgerton dropped on Christmas I was in the middle of specially curated holiday viewing, mainly classic episodes of The Vicar of Dibley and Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. And with how viewing has become very much about the binge because I wasn't in on that initial weekend I felt like I'd missed the Bridgerton boat. This of course gave me time to read the books, which had been my plan all along, though not necessarily six months after the show had first aired. This also means that I was slightly more pedantic about the adaptation than I might otherwise have been. Because this isn't how we've seen Regency England before. This is Austenland meets the technicolor fantasia of Mary Poppins on crack. Bridgerton is very colorful and fantastic and leans heavily into the fairy tale aspect of it all, you will literally be wondering if there was a single fake flower left in all of England once production commenced. Yet there are still very real issues being dealt with, and thankfully in a natural, not ham-fisted way. I can't help by still cringe how the 2017 adaptation of Howards End tried to shoehorn in diversity. Here it is natural. People of every race and color exist because that was how it was! And yes, Queen Charlotte, while slaying every scene she is in, is historically believed to be biracial. So yes, they got so many things right, and so much of the casting is spot on, that when it's off, well, it stands out all the more, hello thirty-one year old Eloise. Yeah, I'm not buying you're seventeen and neither is anyone else. Especially with a voice that sounds like you smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Eloise, I will only buy her character if we actually do the eleven year time jump. Most of my other problems are very nitpicky. I don't like how they plotted the ending of the story of Daphne and Simon. Here's the thing. It worked in the book. It really really worked. Authors spend so much time figuring it out it has to be annoying when an adaption comes along and they're like, oh, we have a better idea. Because it is so rarely better. Here the lack of communication between the newlyweds strained credulity. So I'm pretending it happened like it did in the book. And as for how they handled Whistledown... firstly, I don't think she would be so easily tricked into a trap, but more importantly, I don't think Julie Andrews worked. Yes, hiring Mary Poppins herself was a coup, but Whistledown is Regency Gossip Girl, and you need to have more punch and authority. Oh, and don't get me started on the music, which often drowned out the narration! Stupid "modern" music.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Austenland, Bridgerton, Christmas, Eloise Bridgerton, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, Gossip Girl, Julie Andrews, Lady Whistledon, Mary Poppins, Regency England, The Vicar of Dibley

I don't think it's just me, but I feel like there has been a plethora of book adaptations over the last year. Not only have I not gotten around to watching them all, but of the ones I've seen I feel like I'm barely touching the tip of the iceberg! I want to binge them all! Bridgerton, The Stand, Clarice, Resident Alien, All Creatures Great and Small, and on and on. Because if there's one thing Covid has done it's to let us fully embrace the binge on a level heretofore never seen! What's Bridgerton or The Queen's Gambit in a day? That's nothing compared to not leaving your couch for months on end! In fact it gives you something to do while on your couch! But what I'm amazed at is that we're constantly getting new shows, how is it that the film industry has kind of wobbled but television and streaming have continued on so robustly? Oh, does it really matter? Not when so many beloved books were finally adapted this year. Terry Pratchett? Yes please! Alan Tudyk is a what? I'm overjoyed! Regency England is cool again? What, is this 1996 again? Because at this moment I think I'd be OK with that. So here's to all the shows I've watched, I'm watching, and I plan to watch, all emanating from my favorite medium, books! Because I want to make it abundantly clear, an adaptation doesn't legitimize a book, a book is a perfect finished product in it's own right. An adaptation just gives me joy at seeing what I envisioned on screen. And even if they get it horribly wrong... well, they tried right? Plus, I do kind of like complaining when things go wrong...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Alan Tudyk, All Creatures Great and Small, And the Emmy Goes To, Bingeing, Book, Bridgerton, Clarice, Covid, Regency England, Resident Alien, Streaming, Terry Pratchett, The Queen's Gambit, The Stand

I am delighted that this gem of a show is available on DVD, albeit as an extra on the DVD release of the far inferior The Queen's Sister, which ironically aired on a rival station to PBS, BBC America. This production in just an hour gives an insightful and oftentimes hilarious look into the marriage of George IV, AKA Prinny, and Caroline of Brunswick. To say theirs was not a love match would be understating it. But what is amazing about this little glimpse into royal life during the Regency Era is that all the vitriol spewed back and forth showing them as nothing more than children was taken from what they actually said. They seriously said this!?! I'm horrified to think of what Prinny on Twitter would be like. Note to self, I want to see the Prince Regent on Twitter as a parody account. Seriously, why isn't this a thing!?! All I had remembered of A Royal Scandal was the interesting framing device of a narrator and the brilliance of Richard E. Grant as Prinny and Susan Lynch as Caroline evilly glaring at each other while on a very nice black and white tiled floor. Obviously hinting at the combative chess-like nature of their marriage. So for your edification and mine I rewatched it. I was blown away by who they got as the supporting cast! And I didn't even remember there was a supporting cast! Michael Kitchen, Frances Barber, Denis Lawson, Oliver Ford Davies, and Ian Freakin' Richardson as the pitch perfect narrator! This cast was more than one could hope for, how did I forget them!?! The subtlety of Michael Kitchen facing the opprobrium of Prinny's rage and just replying that he was sent to set up a marriage not weigh in on the suitability of the match. Perfection! Oh, and my favorite scene by far is when Caroline arrives in England and is greeted by her husband's mistress, Lady Jersey! There's a real repressed British cat fight about Caroline's dress and in particular her hat. Caroline wins on the point of her hat! She LOVES that hat! It has been said of Lady Jersey that she possessed "a heady mix of charm, beauty, and sarcasm" and I really can't think of a better way to describe this little glimpse at royal life, come for the charming sarcasm!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Royal Scandal, BBC America, Caroline of Brunswick, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, Frances Barber, Lady Jersey, Marriage, Michael Kitchen, Regency England, Richard E. Grant, The Prince Regent, The Queen's Sister