LORD CAREW'S BRIDE by Mary Balogh

PUBLISHER: Signet, 6/1995

REISSUED: Bantam, 2/2010

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England

MY GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: Jennifer's cousin Samantha Newman is smarting after she too is toyed with by Lord Kersey. In the midst of her heartbreak, she seeks solace from her new friend, the disabled gardener Hartley Wade. If only she knew that Hartley is secretly Lord Carew, and that he hides more than extraordinary wealth: a passionate secret held deep in his heart that only her love can reveal.

MY THOUGHTS: This was very enjoyable right from the start. Hero and heroine meet just eight pages into the story, and it's less than 300 pages. The story takes place six years after Dark Angel, where we first met eighteen-year-old Samantha. She's twenty-four now and less than a year away from inheriting a fortune from her late parents. 

Samantha had her heart broke in the previous novel and that's turned her against falling in love and getting married. She meets Hartley by chance and they become fast friends. She's not attracted to him in a romantic way but he falls in love with her right away.  

Hartley seems slightly depressed. He's your typical nice guy without a bad bone in his body. He even cries a few times. He isn't happy about being single and is very sad when Samantha has to go back to London just a few days after meeting her, so he follows her there in hopes of catching a few glimpses of her without her knowing about it. She's genuinely happy to see him again and agrees to marry him though she's not in love with him. That part was a little too sudden to suit me. At this point she still doesn't know who he really is. She's actually horrified to know he's in love with her. She thinks that the relationship can only go downhill from there if you start out being in love with your spouse. 

Lionel, from Dark Angel, is back from abroad and he's here to stir up drama. A sad secret is revealed about him being involved with Hartley's childhood injury that caused him to become crippled. 

Sir Albert Boyle and Rosalie from Dark Angel are in here. They've been married for six years and have three children.

Jennifer and Gabriel from Dark Angel are in here and have three children.

There's nothing I disliked about this story. I like that Hartley has emotions and though I do prefer alpha males in fiction, I did enjoy reading about the opposite. He's very mild-mannered but we do see him get angry/jealous when he finds out about Samantha's past love interest.

DARK ANGEL by Mary Balogh

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION: Signet, 8/1994 

REISSUE: Bantam, 2/2010 

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England

MY GRADE: B

SYNOPSIS: Jennifer Winwood has been engaged for five years to a man she hardly knows but believes to be honorable and good: Lord Lionel Kersey. Suddenly, she becomes the quarry of London's most notorious womanizer, Gabriel Fisher, the Earl of Thornhill. Jennifer has no idea that she is just a pawn in the long-simmering feud between these two headstrong, irresistible men—or that she will become a prize more valuable than revenge.

MY THOUGHTS: This was better than anticipated but still lacking in the believable love department. Jennifer is your typical easygoing person who's just anxious to get married and start a new life. She's days away from marrying Lionel, whom she barely knows yet is "so very, very dearly" in love with. He's twenty-five and she's twenty. He's got some secrets that get revealed to her at the very end. He was forced by his father into doing the right thing so he makes some confessions. 

Gabriel is twenty-six, and "very dark and very tall." He's become an outcast since everyone in town thinks he's guilty of something that he's really innocent of. He also knows of Lionel's secrets and wants revenge against him so Jennifer is used as a pawn in his game. It backfires. Two people who aren't in love with each other are forced to marry and of course they fall in love with one another in the course of a few days. The span of the story is just a couple weeks. The novel is shorter in length, 300 pages, but there wasn't really a need to condense the timeline within the story. I don't know why Jennifer and Gabriel couldn't have known each other for a few months, at least. So I wasn't happy with that. Another thing that bothered me is that the majority of the story takes place at a couple different parties. 

Jennifer's eighteen-year-old cousin Samantha is in this story almost as much as Jennifer is and I don't like that. Samantha's the star of her own novel, Lord Carew's Bride, so some of her should have been saved for that book. I do like that she's fallen in love with someone she shouldn't have.

I don't understand the title of Dark Angel. I assume it's referring to Jennifer but she's not dark in personality or coloring. The year this takes place wasn't given either, so it's somewhere during the Regency period of 1811-1820.

There's an update on Gabriel and Jennifer in the sequel of sorts, Lord Carew's Bride.

 

DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas

PUBLISHER: Avon, 1994

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England

MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: In the shelter of her country cottage, Sara Fielding puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentlewoman out of her safe haven—and into Derek Craven's dangerous world. 

A handsome, tough and tenacious Cockney, he rose from, poverty to become lord of London's most exclusive gambling house—a struggle that has left Derek Craven fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow Sara Fielding into his world—with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper "mouse" can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress—and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion... and the promise of love. 

MY THOUGHTS: I don't have much to say about Sara. She's not your typical heroine because she's cavorting behind her boyfriend's back with Derek. She's a twenty-five-year-old author who writes under a pseudonym yet a little boy in her neighborhood asks her how her next book is coming along. Not sure how he knows who she is since the book uses a pen name.

I like Derek even though he has no scruples to speak of. He's around thirty but doesn't know his exact age, which is ridiculous. He was raised by prostitutes and they certainly would have know when or around the year he was born. He's written just like a character from the time this book was published, 1994, or one published earlier, and I do like that a lot. He's gruff. I like learning about his tough background and knowing about all the horrible things he had to do as a child to make money. I want to say I'm glad he got rich and did something with his life but some of the things he did to get said money makes me cringe. 

His ex-mistress Joyce is a villain. I liked her terrible actions but not how she went about them. If you're going to harm someone or try to get revenge like she did quite a few times, including setting someone up to get raped, aren't you going to try hard to keep people from finding out you're behind it? Most would but not her. There's a scene (chapter 8) where Derek does something to her that's quite disturbing. I don't like at all how she was dealt with at the end after a major incident.

There's one ridiculous thing that runs throughout the entire story. Somehow everyone at Craven's just happens to have read a book of Sara's or had it read to them, and they think the fictional character Mathilda is real despite being told by Sara that she's fake. Many people claim to have seen her around town. It was funny the first time someone said it, the poor thing didn't understand what fiction meant, apparently, but the repeated spotting of Mathilda went on for far too long. One other thing that bothers me is that right at the beginning, Sara shoots and kills someone in defense of someone else, and it's basically swept under the rug. In real life the shooter would have to deal with it emotionally but Sara didn't deal with it at all.

I don't know what year this takes place nor the timespan but it seems like maybe a couple months, then the epilogue is around close to a year later. The story was just alright with almost all of it taking place at Derek's establishment, a brothel and gaming house called Craven's. It should have ended right after Derek and Sara got married since it dragged a lot after that. Too much talk of domestic things and clothes. I cannot put my finger on why I feel this way but I just don't think Derek and Sara make a good match.

This is my sixth Kleypas book and the fifth to get no higher than a C-grade. I had to abandon reading Midnight Angel in 2019 at around page 125 because it was so boring. The only one I've liked is Where Passion Leads.

MIDSUMMER MAGIC by Catherine Coulter

PUBLISHER: Onyx, 12/1987
GENRE: Historical Romance
SETTING: Scotland, England, 1810

SERIES: Magic trilogy, #1
MY GRADE: D

SYNOPSIS: Clever, beautiful Frances Kilbracken disguised herself as a mousy Scottish lass to keep Hawk, the notoriously rakish and dashing Earl of Rothermere, from being forced to marry her. But she was chosen as his bride for that very reason. Wedded, bedded, and finally deserted, Frances quickly shed her dowdy facade to become glittering London's most ravishing and fashionable leading lady...only to find she had roused the ire--and ignited the passions--of her faithless husband. But even as Hawk claimed rights to her body, Frances swore never to allow him to enter her heart. How could she trust this man who made women his playthings? yet how could she resist the burning kisses and soft caresses that plundered her yielding flesh...until they reached the deep core of her love...

MY THOUGHTS: This was beyond boring and it was a long 412 pages. The title really doesn't fit the contents. There really wasn't much of a plotline. Frances, nineteen, didn't want to marry anyone, let alone move to England to marry Hawk, who's twenty-six. She's incredibly immature and not enjoyable to read about. I really came to dislike her. Some reviewers see her first time with Hawk (p. 138) as rape but I don't. She made it clear that she didn't want to have sex but gave in when he told her to "just lie there." The third time Hawk wanted to have sex with her she hid in another room. Give me a break. She's always throwing fits, telling Hawk she "hates" him and I got tired of it. She even punched him in the stomach once, told him she wished his "toe would rot off" and wanted him to suffer a head injury. Hawk's not likable either. He's a pretty calm person, doesn't yell but he's always threatening violence towards her and that behavior doesn't really fit with what we see of him. They get along great one minute, start bickering the next for absolutely no reason. They're just really poorly written characters.

There's a subplot involving horses and racing that nearly overtook the story. Something criminal is going on with the horses and that I did find interesting but you kind of know who's involved long before it's revealed at the very end but I didn't mind that. And I liked the revelation involving his deceased brother.

There was too much sex in here and the word "cream" (as lube) was mentioned 13 TIMES, three of which were on the same page. But I couldn't have cared less about it because the story was so boring and I didn't care about any of the characters.

LORD DEVERILL'S HEIR and THE HEIR by Catherine Coulter

PUBLISHER: Topaz, 10/1996

ORIGINAL PUB: 1980

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England, 1810

STEPBACK: link

RAPE? Yes

MY GRADE: B

SYNOPSIS: Justin Deverill is a military man strong, shrewd, stubborn, and very handsome who has just become the Earl of Strafford. He must wed his cousin Arabella, though, to reap the full legacy of his title. But faced with an order from her father s will to marry Justin, Arabella rebels. Since her father is dead, the only available target is Justin himself. Arabella has finally met her match and the pair sets off fireworks both in their anger and their passion.

The Heir is a reworked and expanded edition of the author's 1980 Signet Regency Romance novel Lord Deverill's Heir. The Heir is 156 pages longer than the original. The Signet Regency Romance series ran from 1979-2006. The novels are shorter in length, under 300 pages. 

MY THOUGHTS: Time span is short, maybe a month. Rape, incest, a villain, oh my!

I really like Arabella. She's eighteen. She's a very strong character. She hates Justin with a passion, is very angry and hostile towards him thinking he's out to get her inheritance. When she realizes he's not, her attitude changes completely, which I didn't like. It's like a switch was flipped and she became someone else. It should have taken some time for the change to happen.

Justin is nine years older than Isabella. He's a very distant cousin and they look very similar. I dislike that. They have the same black hair and gray eyes though she doesn't have a cleft in her chin like he does. He looks like he could be her brother. He thinks she's done him wrong before they wed so he rapes her on their wedding night (p. 72 in original, p. 133 in rewrite) but doesn't see it as rape because he "used cream." It's clearly rape, which he realizes at the end of the story and all is forgiven. 

I'm happy to say there's a villain in this, twenty-four-year-old Gervaise de Trecassis, cousin to Arabella's half sister, Elsbeth, who's twenty. He's out to get a certain something that's revealed near the end. Also revealed is a family secret involving him, which devastates him.

There are a few typos in this and two of these three sentences don't make sense, from page 141, "Arabella rather hoped that he would rot, in addition to hell. He deserved to rot. He deserved every bad thing that could happen to him did happen."

Some things I didn't like, I just didn't see the need for Arabella's mother, Ann, to be so involved, and her doctor beau, Paul Braynon. There was also another pointless character, Suzanne Talgarth. A paternity secret was discovered near the end too and how they figured out what was going on with that isn't really believable, just based on what was written in a note.

I don't like the stepback for this either because Arabella looks at least ten years older than she is and the larger photo of them looks nothing like the smaller background image of them. Justin has a cleft in his chin but not in the photo.
 

About the 1996 rewritten version- Every chapter is longer and some dialogue has been reworded or expanded. The rape and incest is still in it, incest is p. 97 of original version, p.178 in rewrite. One difference in the rape scene in the rewrite is that Justin uses lube ("cream".) In the original version the American author chose to use British spellings for certain words (color/colour, labor/labour, just two examples) but in the rewrite they're spelled the American way. In both versions Justin admits to raping Arabella (from original, page 208, "Yet, when I raped you, I felt loathing for myself.", from rewrite, page 358, "He saw Arabella on their wedding night, her face alight with anticipation until she had recognized his rage, until he had forced her, humiliated her."

IN YOUR ARMS by Rosemary Rogers

PUBLISHER: Avon, 12/1999

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England/USA, 1808-1814

MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: Orphaned by a tragic accident, sixteen-year-old Amalie Courtland set sail from America for a new life in England with her godmother. What she didn't expect to find was Lady Winford's handsome rogue of a grandson, Robert Holt Braxton, Earl of Deverell. Immediately smitten by Holt's careless good looks and smoldering blue eyes, Amalie's naive young heart fell in love. Little did she know Holt was trying to resist his own temptation --- by having his grandmother take Amalie away.

Years later, Holt is shocked by the change in the one-provincial Amalie. The tawny-skinned enchantress with raven hair and lustrous green eyes has become a cool, composed beauty. Soon Amalie is lost in the arms of this experienced rake as they succumb to the tempestuous passion of their hearts and bodies. Then, when Holt learns of her brother's plot to destroy his business holdings, he suspects Amalie has betrayed him and he vows revenge. But not even he can deny the all-consuming storm of desire that threatens to drown them both ...

MY THOUGHTS:  Amalie is pretty passive and I don't like that in a heroine. She is able to stand up to the hero, Robert, aka "Holt", (his middle name.) She's aged 17-23 in here, not sixteen at the beginning like the synopsis says. She has dark hair and green eyes and is tall. Her brother Christian, aka "Kit" is two years older. SPOILER>>>He disappears for most of the story then reappears in the last part, but you can see that coming. He's taken to a life of crime as a pirate.

Holt is eleven years older than Amalie. He has dark hair, blue eyes, and dark skin. He's cold and angry towards her for no reason. He cares nothing at all for her throughout the whole book. He wants revenge on her because he assumes she's involved in something bad against him when there was no reason to think that. She hadn't done anything to him, ever, that would make him think she's that kind of person. Their love for each other came out of nowhere at the very end of the story and we're supposed to believe it. I don't. We saw no signs that they were falling for each other. We're just told that they're in love. He's also verbally abusive towards her, calling her a bitch and slut.

As I always say, I love a villain and there was one in here by the name of Alex. We didn't get to see the bad side of him until the last 100 pages. He's after revenge on Holt.

This story was pretty uneventful after Amalie sailed from Virginia to England, which happened early on, about page 53. Even after 200 pages not much went on. We didn't get to see her life in England at all. She's there one minute and the next, it's 3.5 years later and Holt reappears. The story is divided into four parts and each part jumps ahead 1-3 years. The last 109 pages was basically a history lesson about war and I didn't appreciate so much of that being in a romance book. I had trouble following along and I didn't know how much of it was factual. It took place in Louisiana.

Two things that I did like was Amalie's godmother (grandmamma) Lady Winford and the banter between her and Holt. I also liked the old school feel of this novel.

A DARING PASSION by Rosemary Rogers

PUBLISHER: HQN, 2007

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England/France

MY GRADE: B-

SYNOPSIS: Headstrong but sheltered, Raine Wimbourne longs for adventure--and when her ailing father reveals a closely guarded secret, she seizes her chance. Disguised as England's most notorious highwayman, Raine vows to uphold her father's legacy as champion of the poor. Then a midnight encounter with the powerful Philippe Gautier shows her the price of protecting her family's honor...

 Philippe Gautier has a mission of his own--and the beautiful impostor he's delivering to justice may hold the key to saving his brother's life. He will stop at nothing to keep Raine close. But as they travel from the town houses of London to the streets of France, can he convince his untamed captive to risk it all on the promise of passion? 

MY THOUGHTS: The years this took place weren't mentioned but Napoleon was so it's gotta be the early 1800's but he works for King George IV, doing dirty deed for, so I have no clue. I'm not sure of the timespan either. Early on it jumped ahead two months and later there was some traveling to France, so let's say at least three months. Then the last chapter jumps ahead one year to Portugal.

Philippe is on a mission to find out who framed his younger brother Jean-Pierre, who's been sent to Newgate prison, accused of treason. Raine's dragged along for the ride from early on. The "free Jean-Pierre" plot took over this entire story and I got a bit bored with it, hence the B-. It just never let up. So it's fair to say I was disappointed in this. Oddly enough we never even meet Jean-Pierre!

Raine is a typical headstrong Rosemary Rogers heroine. She's got amber hair and "dark" eyes. Her mother died when she was little and she was raised by her almost-forty-year-old father, who's a secret criminal. Raine's been unaware of that until recently. Her age isn't given but since her mother died sixteen years ago when Raine was little and she'd been in a convent for the past seven years, she's at least in her early twenties, I would think. We only got one incident of her being the highwayman, "The Knave of Knightsbridge", which was disappointing.

Philippe has dark hair and green eyes and is thirty-one. He's from France but has lived mostly in Portugal. He's arrogant, self-centered, for the most part, arrogant, and possessive. Everything I could ask for in a fictional hero. He's an investor and does do good things for people, so he's got a good side to him as well. He kidnaps Raine and cares nothing for her feelings. They bicker a lot but get along alright when they're not.

Carlos is his good younger friend whom he grew up with in Portugal. They're like brothers but Carlos is not a good friend. He's let it be known to Philippe that he's interested in Raine. He's let Raine know several times that he wants her, has kissed her, and is having inappropriate thoughts about her, "He wanted to tug off that delicate ivory gown and reveal the slender beauty that was hidden beneath." 

Rosemary died in November 2019.

SAPPHIRE by Rosemary Rogers

PUBLISHER: Mira, 11/2005

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: British West Indies, England, USA, 1831

BODICE RIPPER? Yes, mild

STEPBACK: link

MY GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: Despite her privileged life in the sultry paradise of Martinique, the beautiful and daring Sapphire Fabergine will never be satisfied until she claims the honor and legitimacy that has been denied her. Sapphire sails to London to confront the aristocratic family who had disowned her before she was even born --- only to find that her biological father is dead and that his title has passed to Blake Thixton, an attractive yet loathsome distant American cousin.

Convinced Sapphire is determined to bring about his ruin, Blake kidnaps her and sails back to America, where he presents her with a choice: become his mistress or serve him as a maid in his waterfront mansion. Without means in this unfamiliar land, Sapphire is trapped. But she will not compromise her quest for honor so easily --- not even for the man she has come to desire.

MY THOUGHTS: I really liked this. It's a mild bodice ripper and if I didn't know better I'd have thought it was from thirty years ago, and that's meant as a compliment. The timespan is about a year, maybe a little more.

Sapphire is living with her father Armand, adopted sister Angelique (a true tramp who's one year older than Sapphire), and her dead mother's friend Lucia in the French West Indies. Sapphire is twenty, with auburn hair and one blue and one green eye. She learns of her true parentage, including her mother Sophie's shady past, so she sets sail for England with Angelique and Lucia to claim what's hers. 

Blake is a very successful merchant. He's ten or so years older than her (his age isn't given but Sapphire thinks he's 10-12 years older than herself) with dark hair. He's from Boston, USA, and went to Harvard. Blake had an abusive father and I wanted to know more about him. I don't think his mother was mentioned so I'd have liked more background on his childhood and parents. He has no desire to be in England and wants to settle his dead relative's estate as soon as possible. Enter Sapphire. He thinks she's lying about her parentage and wants nothing to do with her at first. He's arrogant and irritable and won't hear her out. He comes to her rescue in England then ruins it by kidnapping her. She won't give in to his request of her becoming his mistress yet sleeps with him anyway while forced to be his hired help. 

I like when Sapphire runs away, disguising herself as a boy, but don't like how she ends up making her living. It's farfetched and uninteresting. Her reunion with Blake during that time is too coincidental so I wish the author had put more thought into how to reunite them.

While not the fasting moving story, I enjoyed it. Like most books, this one is longer than it needed to be. The only thing this book lacked was a villain. There are two other new relationships in the story, Angelique and Henry, Lucia and Jessup, and that's two too many. 

The author died in California in November 2019.

 

JEWEL OF MY HEART by Rosemary Rogers

PUBLISHER: Mira, 12/2004

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England, Jamaica, India, 1888

STEPBACK: link

MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: Wild child Madison Westcott detests convention and has no desire to marry. Thumbing her nose at London society, she deliberately turns her coming-out ball into a spectacle by unveiling a scandalous self-portrait. To avoid further damage to her reputation, she is whisked away to the family's lush Jamaican plantation by her wealthy aunt and the dark, mysterious Jefford Harris, for whom Madison soon feels a powerful attraction she is desperate to deny.

But when the fires of revolt sweep across the island, Madison and Jefford flee to India, a shimmering land of jasmine and jewels. At the court of the Raja, Madison finally succumbs to Jefford's commanding touch. But not even the passion of their one forbidden night can protect them from an unexpected danger that threatens the unspoken love between them -- and their very lives...

MY THOUGHTS: Another dragged out story that should have been 100 pages shorter, and this was almost 500 pages. Time span is about a year, then the epilogue takes place three years later. I've had this for 12.5 years and it's not one I'd have bought now, as the synopsis doesn't appeal to me, since it takes place in multiple foreign lands. Boring is the word that describes this best.

Madison is feisty and I like her. She's twenty-one, blonde, with blue-green eyes. She's an artist, though her work's never been for sale, so I guess you could say she paints for fun. It's says once in the book that Madison's middle name is Ann (p. 20), another time it's Elizabeth (p. 60), a third time it's Anne (p. 145). I think once her blue-green eyes are 'blue.' As the synopsis says, she purposely reveals a scandalous (nude) portrait of herself then acts like that's normal and doesn't understand why people are shocked. What I really wish had happened with that is someone in her household, such as a jealous female servant, switched one portrait for another to humiliate her in front of a crowd of guests. That would have been much more believable than what happened. She travels to Jamaica, then India, with her wealthy aunt Kendra, who's her deceased father's half-sister, and her son, Jefford. 

Jefford is thirty-five, with dark hair and dark brown eyes. He and Madison don't like each other from the start for really no reason and I never felt their attraction for one another. Turns out he's half Indian and meets his father for the first time and later, his father and Kendra rekindle their love. I really like Kendra but her silly expressions got on my nerves. One thing she did involving drugging someone just was implausible and it shouldn't have ever been done because she's have never actually done that to that specific person.

I like the bad character in this, Englishman Carlton Thomblin because he's interesting. He's blond and in his mid-30s. He owns a plantation in Jamaica, is deep in debt, and is into human trafficking, murder, and rape. One thing in particular that he did shocked me (on page 274.) Something bad happens to a secondary character in here that Carlton's involved with and instead of that person being rescued liked you're fully expecting to happen, she isn't, and I'm pleasantly surprised by that. The other thing I liked about this book is the old school feel it has (age gap between hero and heroine and multiple locations) but it was just so boring, except for the parts involving Carlton.

A ROSE IN WINTER by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

PUBLISHER: Avon, 12/1982

GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance

SETTING: England, 1792

MY GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: Erienne's father had given her hand to the richest suitor. She was now Lady Saxton, mistress of a great manor all but ruined by fire, wife to a man whose mysteriously shrouded form aroused fear and pity. Yet even as she fell in love with her adoring husband, Erienne despaired of freeing her heart from the dashingly handsome Yankee who couldn't forget her. The beautiful Erienne, once filled with young dreams of romance, was now a wife and woman...torn between the two men she loved.

MY THOUGHTS: This was very good but slow until the last 100 pages (of a 564 page book) or so, then it really picked up. Time span is just a few months. 

Erienne is twenty with black hair, violet eyes, and is very spirited. I really like her. She's a very strong character who knows how to stand up to people. She's got an eighteen-year-old brother, Farrell. Her mother died years before. She lives with her horrible father, Avery, who treats her like garbage and reveals secrets to Erienne. He's sheriff but that's just a cover for the bad things he's doing. I found him to be very annoying because he spoke like a country bumpkin and it got on my nerves.

Christopher Seton is cousin to the man she marries, Lord Stuart Sexton. Christopher has russet-brown hair, gray-green eyes and is thirty-three. He's madly in love with Erienne from the start and pursues her, even after she's married. He's been living in American for awhile and most call him 'Yankee.' He's very likable and I absolutely love the way he antagonizes Erienne at every turn. He loves to ruffle her feathers and she falls for it every time. She hates him for wounding her brother and wants nothing to do with him.

Stuart has returned to the semi-burned home, Saxton Hall, after being presumed dead for a few years. He wears a black hood to cover his burned face and gloves to hide his burned hands. Everyone's disturbed by his appearance, most especially Erienne, who's reluctant to consummate their marriage. After marrying him she thought "he looked like he crawled from the pits of hell."

Claudia Talbot's a minor character for most of the story. She's a nasty young woman who resembles Erienne. She has the makings of a good villain and I wish more had been done to make her one.

There's a great twist in the last 150 pages involving Stuart and Christopher that I didn't see coming. Erienne thought she's figured it out (out of nowhere, of course) but it turned out to be something even crazier. I prefer her original thought though I'm happy with the actual twist. There's someone known as a night rider who's out killing people but turns out that person, who I didn't suspect, isn't really the one doing the killings, so that was a bit confusing.

Erienne should have felt some angst because of having to deal with being strongly attracted to Christopher while being married to Stuart but there wasn't any.

I'm so happy with this plot but the book shouldn't have been so long, almost 600 pages. The twist seems unique to me and I liked it a lot. I've read four of her books and this is the only one I've liked. The original cover of this, which I've used in this post, is beautiful. I wish I hadn't waited 12.5 years to get around to reading it.

Other Woodiwiss books I've reviewed:

The Flame and the Flower

The Elusive Flame, sequel to The Flame and the Flower

"HALLOWEEN" FILM NOVELIZATIONS REVIEWS

See my reviews for them by clicking on each book image.

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS by Lewis Carroll

PUBLISHER: Canterbury Classics, 9/2017

GENRE: Children's Fantasy

SETTING: England

MY GRADE: B

SYNOPSIS: Follow the White Rabbit through this classic tale in the magical world of Wonderland. Take tea with the Mad Hatter and March Hare, follow a game of croquet between Alice and the Queen of Hearts, and enjoy an adventure of logic that will entertain mature minds as much as the color illustrations will entertain young ones.

MY THOUGHTS: This review is for the 2017 Canterbury Classics edition, ISBN 9781684120369, and contains both stories. This hot pink hardcover book is cloth, except for the image on it, and is 8" x 6" x .75". The edges are trimmed in dark blue or green, I can't tell which, and beautifully illustrated in full color inside. See images below.

I like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's a cute, imaginative story and I understand why the book has never gone out of print and is liked by both children and adults. I didn't care too much for the sequel because it just wasn't as interesting as the first and it seems like the author was just copying his previous work. The sequel didn't have the spark that the first one did.

I like Alice's personality but she seemed a whole lot older than seven years old, more like a young teen. I loved the humor too.

 

WHO STOLE HALLOWEEN? by Martha Freeman

PUBLISHER: Scholastic, 2005

GENRE: Fiction/Children's Mystery

SETTING: Pennsylvania

MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: Alex and Yasmeen are back in action, this time on the trail of a serial cat-napper. Halloween is the first cat to go missing, stolen right from her bed on the front porch in the middle of the night. One by one more cats from the neighborhood disappear. It's rumored that the Harvey House Ghost is back and seeking vengeance. Will he strike again? It's up to Alex and Yasmeen to find out before Halloween is gone forever!

MY THOUGHTS: This wasn't good at all. No part was believable, especially the mystery surrounding the stolen cats. Both main characters are ten years old yet talk like teens or adults, especially Yasmeen. If you didn't know their ages and the main characters weren't on the cover, you'd have never guessed their correct ages. And I have no idea which cat that is on the cover. The cat named Halloween belongs to an older kid named Kyle and is an all black female, and main character Alex's cat is orange. We're told three times that Kyle is "pale", like that's a bad thing.

There's a second mystery in this involving a possible ghost and a murder from the late 19th century and it was so unnecessary to put two mysteries into one short book. The kids solved both mysteries on Halloween night. The catnapper mystery is solved Halloween night and the other mystery is solved the next day. There's repeated talk of a bloody crime scene with both main characters trying to figure out who murdered the person over 100 years ago. In actuality children that age wouldn't be involved with subject matter so dark, period, and those parts of the book aren't appropriate for the kids this middle grade book is marketed towards, ages 8-12. The only part I liked is something they did to Alex's cat Luau to help them catch the serial catnapper.

THE COMPLETE BRAMBLY HEDGE by Jill Barklem

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins, 2011
GENRE: Children's Fiction
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: A+

SYNOPSIS: The mice of Brambly Hedge made their first appearance in 1980 when the four seasonal stories were published. Ever since, readers have loved exploring the miniature world of the hedgerow and meeting the families that live there.

In this collection the mice have many adventures, but they always have time for fun and relaxation too. Whatever the season, and whether they are by the sea, in the hills, or simply at home by the fire, there is always someone ready to lend a helping hand.

Contains all eight stories: Spring Story, Summer Story, Autumn Story, Winter Story, The Secret Staircase, The High Hills, Sea Story, Poppy’s Babies.

I'm going to summarize all eight stories below.

SPRING STORY- This story is about a surprise birthday picnic for Wilfred Toadflax. He lives with his family in a hornbeam tree. He's hanging out with Mr. Apple, who's warden of Store Stump, where all the food for the residents of Brambly Hedge is stored. Mr. Apple knows it's Wilfred's birthday so when he visits his daughter Daisy at her mansion, Old Oak Palace, that's inside a carved out oak tree, they decide to throw him a surprise picnic. The residents help out, they feast of layered hazelnut cake, and a good time is had by all.

You can see images from that story here.
You can watch an animated special here. Some changes were made the the story, like where the picnic was held.


SUMMER STORY- It's very hot so most days the mice hang out by the stream. Poppy and Dusty Dogwood, the miller, get engaged. She sits outside in the shade of tall kingcups embroidering her wedding dress. The wedding and reception is held on a raft.

See images from that story here.
You can watch an animated episode here.


AUTUMN STORY- Primrose is helping everyone gather up nuts and berries. No one can find her. Turns out she fell asleep near the cornfield. When she wakes up she goes exploring and finds a round tree high up. She climbs up and is caught peeking in the window. Two elderly harvest mice invite her in for tea and cake. She leaves, gets lost and while standing under a mushroom, sees a five-mice search party looking for her. She goes home and has acorn coffee.

You can see some images from the story here.
You can watch an animated special here.


WINTER STORY- Everyone rushes home because they can smell snow in the air. It snows, they all dig tunnels to the Store Stump. Mr. Apple declares a Snow Ball will be held in the Ice Hall.

You can see images from the story here.
Watch an animated story here.


THE SECRET STAIRCASE- Primrose and Wilfred are at Old Oak Palace. There's to be a midwinter celebration that night complete with entertainment by all of them so Primrose and Wilfred go to the attic to find costumes to wear. Behind green curtains they find a secret door. It leads into an entryway and a very long and winding staircase with many rooms on both sides of it. Everyone has fun at the celebration and Primrose and Wilfred keep the staircase a secret and plan to go through the door again in the future.

You can see a few images from the story here.
Watch an animated episode here, and part 2 here.


THE HIGH HILLS- It's the end of autumn. Weavers Lily and Flax are making blankets for some vole in the area. Wilfred's reading a book and it says there's gold to be found in the High Hills so he wants to go with them and Mr. Apple. They all go and have a soup dinner with the voles. Lily and Flax head home while Mr. Apple and Wilfred explore the area. They get lost, have to camp out in the cold, get trapped somehow, and Wilfred makes a raft and they travel home in it. He didn't find gold but learns that he's brought back rare lichen.

You can see images from the story here.
Watch part one of an animated episode here, and part 2 here.


SEA STORY- It's summertime. Primrose, Dusty, Poppy, and Wilfred go out on Dusty's boat, Periwinkle. They dock somewhere and see a mouse family sitting outside on the sand, which just happens to be the family of a mouse, Purlane, that Dusty was looking for. They live in a dune and their families have for generations. Dusty tells them they're out of salt at Brambly Hedge so they're given some. They give the mouse family some treats that they brought along. They have dinner with them and hang out at the beach for three days.

You can see images from the story here.
Watch parts 1 and 2 of an animated episode.


POPPY'S BABIES- It's the start of summer. Poppy's babies are Rose, Buttercup, Pipkin. Mr. Apple, with help from a lot of the mice, clean up an unused, large cottage called Mayblossom, as a gift for Poppy and family so they'll have more room.

You can seem images from the story here.
Watch parts 1 and 2 of an episode.

MY THOUGHTS: This hardcover book is fully illustrated in full color. The images from the dust jacket are printed directly onto the book, which is always nice. It contains all of the author's published stories. Almost every single page has illustrations. Each story is 30 pages and some of those pages contain full-page illustrations, some pages contain mostly text and some contain minimal text. The illustrations are beautiful but drab in color and mostly earth tones. You can see a video of someone showing the book here.

The stories are sweet and innocent and are good, clean fun. There aren't any villains in them and everyone gets along. Most are about the Brambly Hedge residents coming together to help one another out when they're needed. I do wish some other animals were involved, like birds and rabbits.

Beginning in 1996 the BBC produced stop-motion animated episodes for each of the eight books.

As of 2015, Jill had been living in an assisted living facility for a year and died in November 2017 of an undisclosed long-term illness(es).