Lord Of Illusions by Rita Boucher

Read For:

1000 Regency Challenge

Pick Your Poison Challenge

Reading My Shelves Project

Buck Stops Here Challenge

Synopsis:

Hiding behind the countenance of a governess for an English lord, a highborn witch secretly spies on her employer, reading his mind, and sending secrets to the French. But England's head sorcerer, a secret agent in Wellington's army has been sent to investigate and unmask the traitor within the lord's ranks. Disguised as a traveling magician, the agent finds himself attracted to the governess and together they discover the enchanting power of love. A Regency romance original.

My Review:

Another good Traditional Regency/Paranormal Romance from Rita Boucher. I enjoyed how the author tied a semi secret society of aristocratic witches with a spy tale. Great Romany secondary characters too.

4 stars.

The Would-Be Witch by Rita Boucher

Read For:
1000 Regency Challenge
Pick Your Poison Challenge
Reading My Shelves Project
Buck Stops Here Challenge


Synopsis:
A Bewitching Young Lady

Miranda Wilton had everything a young lady needed to shine in society - birth, beauty, and breeding. But though she cast her spell on a swarm of suitors, both her proud mother and powerful brother demanded the final say in choosing the man who took her hand. 

Certainly Lord Adam Brand did not meet their strict standards or Miranda's own notion of the kind of mate she sought. Handsome and brilliant Lord Brand might be. But his arrogance filled Miranda with anger, and his mockery of Miranda's family tree made her want to make this unbending gentleman bow to the strength of her sweet sorcery. It was only when his lips came down on hers, that Miranda began to wonder who indeed had the power of magic.


My Review:
Very good traditional Regency with a Paranormal twist. Heroine is from a long line of witches but born without powers. Hero is a naysayer who lives to expose the spiritualist charlatans of the time who preyed on the rich and gullible aristocracy. 


I liked this book so much that I'm reading Miranda's brother Damien's story, The Lord Of Illusion next.
4 stars.

A Countess By Christmas by Annie Burrows

Synopsis:

The Earl of Bridgemere is happy to encourage his reputation as a curmudgeonly recluse if it repels the grasping females who usually attend his lavish Christmas parties.

Helen Forrest is like a breath of fresh air, uninterested in his wealth and not cowed by his temper.

Bridgemere's seasonal duty suddenly becomes a pleasure as he sets about making Helen his countess—by Christmas!

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book! 4.5 stars

A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas

Synopsis:
The Wallflowers are four young ladies in London who banded together in their wild and wickedly wonderful searches for true love. Now happily married, they join together once again to help one of the world’s most notorious rogues realize that happiness might be right under the mistletoe.… It’s Christmastime in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the very proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady in waiting and, if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.  A Wallflower Christmas takes a trip to Victorian London, under the mistletoe, and on a journey of the heart. With her trademark charm, sensuality, and unforgettable characters, there’s no one like Lisa Kleypas to make you believe in the magic of Christmas.


my review-
It was good, but not great. The story was way too short to deal with the heroine/hero's story properly. It was good to catch up with the Wallflowers though:)
3 stars.

The Ruby Ghost by June Calvin

Read For:

Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

2011 Reading From My Shelves Project

What's In A Name 4

1000 Regency Challenge

ROR Winter Challenge

Buck Stops Here Challenge ($1 on ebay)

Synopsis:
Dreams Are Made of This

Penelope Jones is a young woman of reduced means, eager to give her family one less mouth to feed. Seeking a position as governess for the Silverthorne family, she is put off by James Betterton--Lord Silverthorne's notoriously rakish cousin--around whom her unsullied reputation will certainly be at risk. Then she is startled to see a painting of Silverthorne Castle--the exact image that has haunted her dreams since childhood. Still, Penny cannot let some handsome, well-fed roisterer--or some eerily coincidental dream--place her future at risk....

Penny decides to accept the position, hoping to help Lady Silverthorne, who is being haunted by ghosts identical to those in Penelope's dreams. Though she doesn't believe in such things, Penny has to agree that something out of the ordinary is happening at the castle. There are ghosts indeed, and they seem to want to bestow on her a great treasure that a dangerous man intends to steal. James Betterton wants to protect Penny. But first he must convince her to forget her fears about his past reputation...and to accept his love.


My Review:
This is the first June Calvin traditional Regency I've read. This book came out in 2006-pretty much the end of the production of traditional Regency romances. What I didn't realize was that this was also Miss Calvin's last book. How do I know that? Because surprisingly, she announces that this is her last book in the front of the book.


Ok...I found that a bit odd, to say the least. Most of the time we find out a book is an author's last book from the simple matter of their not getting any more published. This "announcement" kind of struck me as more an "I quit" than anything else. 


Why do I bring this up, you might add? Because this book just seemed like a rushed, half finished, unloved book, that's why. The characters are one dimensional, there is almost no thread on continuity to the story, in fact a whole new storyline is sort of "plopped" into the book almost three fourths in! And it made no sense!


The heroine couldn't make up her mind from being Miss Forthright one minute, to completely lying to all her new friends in order to supposedly "protect" a family member the next. But overall, she was just stupid. 


But in all honesty, we could perhaps overlook a TSTL heroine if there was a fabulous hero, right? Well, sadly, he's just not it. He's a reformed rake-but the reader gets the impression that he had to reform cause he's just not smart enough to carry off rakedom anymore :(.


Not even getting into a secondary character, a "dependent Aunt" who constantly publicly insults the heroine in her guests home, and yet they never do or say anything to the Aunt to stop her behavior? That makes no sense in this time period.


Ok-that's enough time wasted on this book. Since I actually went to the trouble of finishing it, I'll give it 2.5 stars, but that's being generous.

Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist

Read For:

ROR Winter Challenge

Buck Stops Here Challenge (paid 20 Cents at Goodwill sale)

Reading My Shelves Project
Pick Your Poison Challenge
My Bucket List Challenge

I love the cover!

Synopsis:
Tired of Waiting for a Match-Made-in-Heaven, She'll Settle for One Made in Texas Whether it's riding bikes, catching snakes, or sliding down banisters, Essie Spreckelmeyer just can't quite make herself into the ideal woman her hometown--and her mother--expect her to be. It's going to take an extraordinary man to appreciate her joy and spontaneity--or so says her doting oil-man father. Unfortunately such a man doesn't appear to reside in Corsicana, Texas. It's 1894, the year of Essie's thirtieth birthday, and she decides the Lord has more important things to do than provide her a husband. If she wants one, she needs to catch him herself. So, she writes down the names of all the eligible bachelors in her small Texas town, makes a list of their attributes and drawbacks, closes her eyes, twirls her finger, and ... picks one. But convincing the lucky "husband-to-be" is going to a bit more of a problem. Join Deeanne Gist for another unforgettable tale and find out whether Essie's plan to catch a husband succeeds or if she's just Courting Trouble.




My Review:
This is the first "Christian romance" I've ever finished (only tried one other and it was not good).

This book was a delightful, enjoyable story that was written so that anyone, avid Christian, or just someone looking for a good story, will enjoy it. I loved the message of this story, that you need to love yourself, and not change yourself just to find a love that will only "accept" you if you mold yourself into THEIR idea of perfection. 


Dare I say it, this Christian book has some very forward thinking ideas on Woman's Rights as well as naysaying the idea that a unmarried woman who had "relations" being "soiled goods"!  Good for Miss Gist! I find it amusing that some of the other, more Christian readers reviews on Shelfari, had issue with Essie's one "fall from grace" and the "love scenes" (which were TAME in comparison to traditional romances!). Isn't the whole thing about being a Christian is forgiveness?


As to the Christian aspects-they were tastefully done, not "preachy" and did not have the character getting trod upon in the name of Christianity (which is what happened in the other book I tried). I liked that the message that you can do many "good works"-like some of the "church ladies and gents" in the book-but if you are still a judgmental and gossipy fart that spreads vicious rumors about others, you are not as "Christian" as you might think :).


 I loved the lead character and the townsfolk and I'll be seeking out the next book, Deep In The Heart of Trouble, to read about Essie's next adventures. 

Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

This one sounds like a lot of fun so  I'm going to give it a go. I'm picking "Nightshade" level-4 books in each category.  My four sub genres are:


1-Sci Fi or Fantasy books set in one of the past time periods-maybe Steampunk, but maybe set in another time period.


2-Traditional Regency Romances with Supernatural/ Paranormal element to it.
    1-DONE-The Ruby Ghost by June Calvin-2.5 stars
    2-DONE-The Would-be Witch by Rita Boucher-4.0 stars
    3-DONE-Lord Of Illusions by Rita Boucher-4.0 stars


3-Books with "headless" cover art-either all or part of the head is cut off the cover.
  1-DONE-Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist-4 stars
  2-DONE-A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas-3 stars
  3-DONE-A Countess by Christmas by Annie Burrows-4.5 stars


4-Romance books where either the hero or heroine is a scientist

Sign up HERE:

This challenge was created with the encouragement of TheCoolMom and Guitarzan, to create my own when I couldn't find a reading challenge for some of my kookier sub-genre. So here is to you steampunk loving readers, the cat mystery readers or the supernatural warfare novel enthusiasts. In this you get to create your own challenge by deciding if you want to read books only about Dragons or if you want to read those obscure fantasy books you were looking at. Mix and match to make your perfect combo. You can have Steampunk and obscure fantasy or even Serial Killer mysteries, Historical Romance, the point is you get to choose.

There are four levels of Pick Your Poison:

Hemlock- You read 1 book of each of your categories

Nightshade- 4 books of each of your categories 

Foxglove- 6 books of each of your categories

Monkshood- 12+ books in each of your categories

Challenge begins January 1, 2011 and lasts until December 31, 2011. You can join at anytime you want.  When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post about the Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge. Include the URL so that other participants can join in. You can list your books in advance and if you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. Sorry that I didn't have a button or anything for you to post as a picture, I may be able to get one up later.

 If you do not have a blog, comment with what level and what your category is. 

Have fun readers!!!