What I’m Reading

All of the television series I’ve been glued to (The Americans, Turn, Game of Thrones, and Outlander) have gone on hiatus. That fact and the long holiday weekend gave me a chance to catch up on some reading. And since I only had time this weekend for reading and celebrating our American Independence Day (i.e., grilling burgers and drinking Belgian beer), my post today is about some of those Good Reads I’ve been dipping into.

A Freebie

I’m not keen on the Victorian era (hypocritical morality and too many petticoats) but I enjoyed Scandalous Wager by Christy Carlyle which takes place around the time when Jack the Ripper was active. Here’s the logline:

Set against the backdrop of London’s dangerous East End in 1888, Victorian propriety and passions collide when a spinster strikes a scandalous bargain with a detective caught up in the investigation of the Ripper mystery.

This is a short, sensuous novella in Christy Carlyle’s Whitechapel Wagers Series, and the  Kindle version is available FREE on Amazon.

Romance with Magic

I have a fair number of books sitting unread in my Kindle, and I finally opened Magic in the Stars, by Patricia Rice.

Honestly, I have so many authors to catch up on! Rice is a New York Times bestselling author and past Rita Award nominee and I’d never read one of her books until this one. Here’s the logline:

He’s a scientist who studies the stars. She’s an astrologer who predicts the future. Can a lonely witch save a handsome unbeliever from his own doom?

Lord Theophilus Ives is just my kind of hero: focused, determined, and smart-mouthed. Book 2 in this series is now on my To Be Read list.

Some Mystery

One of the Word Wenches recommended Secrets of a Lady the debut novel in the Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch Historical Mysteries series by Tracy Grant. Here’s the blurb:

In the glittering world of Regency London, where gossip is exchanged—and reputations ruined—with the tilt of a fan, Mélanie Fraser is the perfect wife. Devoted to her husband, Charles, the grandson of a duke, she is acknowledged as society’s most charming hostess. But just as the elegant façade of Regency London hides a dark side, Mélanie is not what she seems. She has a secret: one that could destroy her perfect jewel-box life forever . . . and the cost to keep it is an exquisite heirloom ring surrounded by legend and power. The search for it will pull Mélanie and Charles into a gritty underworld of gin-soaked brothels, elegant gaming hells, and debtors’ prisons. In this maze of intrigue, deception is second nature and betrayal can come far too easily . . .

Set in November 1819, I’m loving the historical detail in this book because the series I’m polishing up starts out in 1819.

A History

In last week’s post I talked about my research on midwives. As part of my research I picked up this book, The King’s Midwife, A History and Mystery of Madame du Coudray, by Nina Rattner Gelbart. Madame du Coudray was obviously French, not English, so I can’t say that I’ll learn much of use in my stories about Regency England, but you never know. I’ve just dipped a tiny bit into this fascinating biography, and I’m getting the impression that in the training and certification of midwives, the French were more advanced than their English counterparts. If I’m wrong, speak up please!

Here’s a bit about this book:

In 1759, in an effort to end infant mortality, Louis XV commissioned Madame Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray to travel throughout France teaching the art of childbirth to illiterate peasant women. For the next thirty years, this royal emissary taught in nearly forty cities and reached an estimated ten thousand students. She wrote a textbook and invented a life-sized obstetrical mannequin for her demonstrations. She contributed significantly to France’s demographic upswing after 1760.

And One More

Kisses on a Paper Airplane is a fun, chick-litty YA, a debut by one of my fellow Southern California romance authors, the lovely Sarah Vance-Tompkins. Here’s the blurb:

Drama student Hannah Evans isn’t kissing any frogs on her path to find Prince Charming. She’s determined to share the perfect first kiss — with the perfect boy — in the perfect place — or she’s not kissing at all. When Hannah meets a cute ginger-haired boy in first class lounge in the London airport, she knows he’s ‘The One.’

Pop star Theo Callahan is on the road to get as far away as possible from his back-stabbing best friend, and his supermodel girlfriend who broke his heart. Until one shy smile from Hannah has him rethinking all of his travel plans.

Theo is smitten, but he’s worried she’s just a groupie in search of the ultimate selfie. Can Theo learn to trust Hannah in time to share one perfect first kiss, or will Hannah be forced to kiss a frog?

In real life Sarah is a hoot, and that voice comes through. This is a very fun read.

What are you reading and what do you recommend?

 

Images: All book covers are from Amazon