What We're Reading

Christina here with a roundup of what the Wenches have been reading this month. As usual, it’s a wonderful mixture and I hope you will find something to your taste.

We start with Patricia who recommends Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank:-

I love women’s fiction that veers off the standard path, and Frank always accomplishes that. Holly Jensen is a 30-year-old substitute teacher and beekeeper still living with her mama in coastal SC. She’s seriously in love with the little boys next door and thinks their widowed father is mighty fine as well, even if he is ten years older and a fancy college professor with a Harvard degree. But Holly really only talks to her bees. She does everything for everyone and thinks that ought to be enough, until it isn’t. Her married sister comes home to announce her wealthy husband is a transvestite who wants to star in Las Vegas reviews. The boys’ father develops a serious case of lust for someone else. Little by little, Holly’s passive little life falls apart and has to be put back together in a completely new picture with a fascinating set of family and friends who give her the confidence to finally speak her mind. And what a mind it is!

I’m not fond of Frank’s simple voice but the story is worth wading through the plain speaking and simple sentences.

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms. First, before reading this, you need to be really sympathetic to the clueless artist type because the protagonist is absolutely the picture-perfect example. She doesn’t know to change the oil in her car, trusts everyone implicitly, believes if she keeps painting all will be right in the world—until it isn’t. A cascade of events leaves her homeless, apparently friendless, and stupefyingly—still married to a dotcom billionaire who married her in a drunken night of lust in Vegas ten years before. She suddenly gets smart enough to figure out where he’s living, despite his having carefully erased his existence, and what does she do? She drives all the way to frozen Wisconsin with her last few dollars to hand him the divorce papers she forgot to mail ten years earlier.

And that’s when it gets really interesting. She’s befriended by the locals and gets her mojo back without depending on any man, although the billionaire does turn out to be more than a curmudgeonly hermit. Eventually, she must learn she can’t keep depending on others and she learns to depend on herself. It’s a fun ride with a cast of wonderful characters!

Andrea’s recommendations:

This month I’ve been busy glomming through the delightful Spark & Bainbridge mystery series by Allison Montclair. I mentioned the first book, The Right Sort of Man, last month, and enjoyed the second one, A Royal Affair, just as much! Gwen and Iris are getting their new marriage bureau – The Right Sort – up and running, dealing with both the challenges of starting a business as well as navigating their own personal problems. One morning they get an unexpected call from a social friend of Gwen (who is a war widow of a blue-blooded aristocrat) asking for the bureau to vet a potential spouse – a certain obscure Greek prince … Naturally it has to be done very discreetly, for the request is from Buckingham Palace. The powers-that-be are in a tizzy because they’ve received a blackmail threat claiming to possess some highly embarrassing old letters written by the prince's mother that might make a match with Princess Elizabeth impossible. Gwen and Iris are asked to handle trying to retrieve the letters. (Iris was a special intelligence operative during the war). They agree, only to be caught up in a very tangled web intrigue, which forces them to cobble together a very unusual group of allies to outwit not only the villain, but also the different factions within the government, who have their own agendas, not all of which care about Princess Elizabeth’s happiness. The characters are absolutely delightful, and as you learn more about the complicated background of Iris and Gwen, you can’t help rooting for them in every way!

My second read is also on British history, but non-fiction and a bit more formal. The Last King of America – The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts is a magisterial work on the life of King George III, which paints a very different portrait of him than the one that most of us picture. Roberts is a very sympathetic biographer, who through meticulous research into the government archives and letters of George III posits that in truth, he was not the dull-witted tyrant but rather, a thoughtful, well-educated man who embraced his role as a constitutional monarch, believing it was a good system of checks and balances. It’s a fascinating read – though not for the faint-hearted, as it’s quite long and very detailed. But I really enjoyed it. The section on the American Revolution and why war became inevitable is incredibly enlightening and explains how (in the author’s POV) it was a “perfect storm” of complex events, both within the British government and in America, where a number of different constituencies were flexing their muscle, that led to war. If you’re a history buff, I highly recommend it. You’ll come away with a new-found sympathy and respect for a much-misunderstood monarch.

Mary Jo: Shenanigans by Sarina Bowen

Sarina Bowen writes New Adult romances, which means stories that explore life, sex, personal growth, and did I mention sex?

But what I really like about her writing is her terrific characterizations, and the way she deals with serious real life issues while being very entertaining.  As a native of Vermont, it's not surprising that she loves ice hockey, which is a sport that figures in a number of her books. She does college hockey in The Ivy Years, and has a whole series about the fictional Brooklyn Bruisers professional hockey team.

In Shenanigans, both hero and heroine are professional hockey players, though male hockey players earn a whole lot more money.  Plus, hero Neil comes from a family of billionaires while Charli had a very rough South Philly childhood where she was passed around among relatives who didn't want her. They know each other because their teams share the same training facility, but have at most a snippy friendship before they both attend a big Las Vegas hockey awards event.  Both end up getting wildly, improbably drunk, and they wake up the next morning married. Ooops!

This basic plot setup is far from original, but it's great fun as they contemplate a crazy expensive wedding ring so hideous that neither of them can imagine picking it out.  They both agree they need an annulment pronto, but the situation rapidly gets more complicated.  Neither of them wants to be married and Charli has hellacious trust issues from her childhood, but slowly they begin to know each other.

One of the things that makes the story interesting is that Neil is a Type 1 diabetic.  It's not hyped up for drama, but it's always there, as it is in real life. He has an insulin pump and has to constantly monitor his blood sugar, and Charli has to pay attention to that as well. Neil really has to watch what he eats and drinks--just like real life diabetics do. (Neil seldom drinks, which is one reason why overdoing the whisky in Las Vegas had such an effect.)

On her part, Charli has to deal with sleazy relatives and a poverty level income, and she has to realize that rich boys can be decent.  The result is a very entertaining story and a great romance.

Other Sarina Bowen books have been recommended here before, particularly her The Year We Fell Down, recommended by several wenches, in which the hero and heroine are in the disabled section of their dorm.  He's temporarily disabled, but it's permanent for her, and the result is realistic, compassionate, and entertaining.    

Another one I've recommended here is Boyfriend, where the hockey playing hero wants to avoid going home for Thanksgiving so he advertises to be someone's perfect, well behaved Thanksgiving date.  The heroine, who has had her eye on him for a while, gets to be the lucky one, and over the course of the book, they both sort out difficult family situations as well as falling in love. Again - entertaining!

Susan:-

I had read Ruth Ware's In a Dark, Dark Wood and really enjoyed it, so I recently picked up The Turn of the Key – and though I have a few chapters left to go, I'm an involved and very intrigued reader. Ware writes detailed, complex, well-crafted mysteries that delve deeply into the mysterious circumstances of a murder while revealing, layer by layer, the unknown quantities that the characters add to the mystery as it builds. In The Turn of the Key, Rowan Caine accepts a nanny position in a remote part of Scotland, tending three little girls for a wealthy family in a home that looks like a romantic Highland manor house, yet with the added punch of every technical gadget and smart-home feature one could imagine. The place seems idyllic, until the underlayers start to show – the highly technical house that seems convenient and then invasive; absent parents, and children, too, hiding secrets; the attractive gardener/handyman Rowan is growing fond of, who could know something as well; the poison garden where a child died long ago, and a new death that is strangely connected; and then the secrets that Rowan herself brings to a complex, fascinating puzzle. I have a feeling where this mystery is heading, and the tension Ware so successfully crafts is making me a bit apprehensive. But I just have to know so I'll be up late the next couple of nights to finish this! Then I plan to pick up another of Ruth Ware's novels. She is an absolute master.    

Christina:-

My favourite read this month was also Sarina Bowen’s Shenanigans. I’d been eagerly awaiting the release of this story and I wasn’t disappointed – it was fab! I won’t add anything to Mary Jo’s excellent review but really hope there will be more Brooklyn Bruisers stories soon! As an added bonus, there was a short novella released a few weeks before this, also set in this world, which I enjoyed as well – Must Love Hockey.

I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned on here before, but I recently read and enjoyed Lexi Ryan’s The Boys of Jackson Harbor series, starting with The Wrong Kind of Love. These stories feature five handsome brothers (the Jacksons), their sister and one of their close friends, and although they can be read as standalones, they’re better read in order. I fell in love with each of the brothers in turn (some more than others), as they struggle to win the women they want to spend the rest of their lives with. The stories are emotional and very sexy, and deal with some serious issues too. My favourite was actually the final one in the series, Not Without Your Love, which features Colton McKinley, a hero trying to claw his life back after he hit rock bottom. He’s been an addict and a petty criminal, and lost what he thought was the love of his life, but has turned things around completely. The woman he falls for has her own secrets and some serious trust issues, but the chemistry between them is undeniable. Loved it!

For a slightly more serious read, and anyone who is into timeslip stories with a bit of a Gothic feel, I can recommend The Awakenings by Sarah Maine. This story had me spell-bound from start to finish. Set partly in Anglo-Saxon times and partly during the late Victorian era, I really enjoyed this tale of a love so strong it has survived across the centuries. The fates of the hero and heroine in the past had me on the edge of my seat, and at the same time I was rooting for the ones in Victorian times to find a way to prevail against their enemies. I desperately wanted Olwen, a young heiress who is virtually a prisoner of her scheming relatives, to find a way to break free. I loved the romance brewing between her and the local doctor, who tries to help her. And I was fascinated by the historical details from the past, beautifully brought to life by the author. The story kept me racing towards the finish to see what would happen and I couldn’t put it down.

Anne: How to Find Love in a Bookshop, by Veronica Henry

Begun by her father when Emilia was just a baby, Nightingale Books has become a beloved institution in this pretty Cotswold village. But now Emilia's father has died and she must decide whether to keep the financially struggling bookshop running or cut her losses and sell. This is one of those books that have stories within stories, and gradually we learn more about the various bookshop customers. And all the time, the question looms, can Emilia keep the promise she made to her father and save Nightingale Books?

As for other reads, Mary Jo and Christina beat me to recommending Shenanigans by Sarina Bowen. Sarina Bowen is an auto-buy for me, and I loved this book too. I have also read the Allison Montclair books recommended by Andrea last month, The Right Sort of Man, and A Royal Affair. I would have bought the third book in the series, but I balked at paying $18.62 for an e-book.

So how about you? Please send us your recommendations as well – our TBR piles can never be high enough!

Comments

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Dear Wenches: thanks so much for this month's "What We're Reading." It's a fascinating and tempting melange of several authors I haven't yet encountered and have a feeling may soon be found on my TBR list. As for me, I Just finished Wild Sign, Patricia Btiggs' latest Alpha and Omega werewolf urban fantasy. IMHO, it's her best in this part of her werewolf canon. I've already got her next Mercy Thompson book on my list to read. It's due out in August. My other recently read book was Anne Gracie's charming and delightful The Christmas Bride. Doubly enjoyable, since it's set in the world of the Chance Sisters, all of which I loved. And it takes place during Christmas. I can never resist a Christmas story.

[Christina Courtenay]

Thank you, Binnie, so glad you found some things you might like! And many thanks for your recommendations too.

The Christmas Bride is wonderful, isn't it!

[Quantum]

I tried my first Coleen Hoover book 'Heart Bones'. Two struggling people find joy through love. No explicit love scenes are needed and the prose is compelling. I'm adding this author to my favs list.

By contrast 'The Elusive Bride' by Stephanie Laurens, second in the Black Cobra series, is a love story set within an action packed adventure. Laurens does not hesitate to lead her lovers to bed where she creates heavenly bubbles of emotion. I think the action of love contrasts well with the more violent action of fighting off the black cobra's men. I'll have to continue this series now to see how it ends!

Finally I would mention a non-fiction book 'Energy Medicine' by Donna Eden. This book has become a classic in the field and describes the various subtle energy systems that Donna is able to observe. I'm not sure that I would like Physicist friends to see me reading this as the concept of vitalism went out of fashion in science a long time ago. However there is now a growing interest in understanding consciousness and a feeling that scientific materialism may not have all the answers!

Thanks for the interesting book suggestions as always.It may be worth noting that many Sarina Bowen audio books are free on Audible (to members) but not the 'bruisers' series alas.

[Mike]

The publishing industry's habit of renaming books for the American Market is often silly (cf the first Harry Potter book) and sometimes confusing/annoying. Andrea's second choice sounded very interesting - if a bit unusual for these postings - but I could not find it in the UK until I realised that it's title here is "George III: The Life and Reign of Britain's Most Misunderstood Monarch". In this case the American title is probably better and would have worked okay in the UK market but why can't these multinationals decide on one title (save in the very few cases where there is a real reason to differentiate)?

And continuing complaints about the industry: Patricia's choice of Kelly Harm's book attracted me but why put the ebook out in the USA and Canada and not elsewhere? I know that it can sometimes be a problem with rights but can't publishers do the right thing for the author occasionally?

These were not the only choices that attracted me but I already own "Shenanigans"...

[Christina Courtenay]

Thank you so much for your recommendations, Quantum, they sound intriguing! And many thanks for mentioning the free Audible books - hopefully they'll add the Bruisers series at some point.

[Christina Courtenay]

That's a very good point about the titles - I have often wondered the same thing! It's just confusing, especially to those of us who buy books from both the UK and US retailers. Regarding the ebooks, hopefully the ebook will appear here eventually. Sometimes it can be part of some marketing plan I think, but who knows? Many thanks for your comments!

[Misti]

I just finished the 3rd book in Jeannie Lin's Pingkang Li Mysteries series called "The Hidden Moon". The 4th book recently came out and I realized I was behind. I love historical mysteries and it's such a nice break to be in the Tang Dynasty as opposed to Regency or Victorian era (though I like those as well).
And I haven't started it yet but A.M. Stuart's "Evil in Emerald" arrived at my door yesterday and that is another historical mystery series that I'm really enjoying.

[Kareni]

Mary Jo, Christina, and Anne: I'm another who read Shenanigans this month. I enjoyed it but my favorite Sarina Bowen works remain The Year We Fell Down (which Mary Jo mentioned) and the novella Blonde Date.

I always enjoy this column. Thank you all, Word Wenches and guests, for sharing your reading!

[Kareni]

In March ~

— stayed up late reading Prisoner by Lia Silver; I enjoyed it, but it definitely ends on a cliffhanger. I’ve owned the book since 2014, so it was definitely time!
— then read Laura’s Wolf (Werewolf Marines Book 1) by Lia Silver which I also enjoyed. The characters deal with PTSD, and a note indicates that the author is a therapist who treats such patients in real life.
— very much enjoyed and would recommend The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence. (One caution is that the book deals with assisted suicide.)
— a reread of The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison; this is a favorite book! Note: It’s currently on sale for US Kindle readers for $2.99.

— enjoyed reading Crowbones (World of the Others Book 3) by Anne Bishop. It was fun to spend time with known characters; there were admittedly many new characters and the story was busy. (Shh, don’t tell my library that the book wasn’t supposed to be out for two more days.)
— London Calling Box Set (Lost in Time) by A.L. Lester. This is a compilation of three linked books, and I enjoyed the collection. They are historical (primarily male/male) romantic suspense with a time travel element.
— finished Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers Book 1) by Rachel Aaron; I’d been reading this urban fantasy off and on for two weeks. It was a pleasant read but not so compelling that I’ll read on in the series.
— stayed up late finishing Shadow Unit 1, Book 1 of 15 by Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette and Will Shetterly; the book contained works from various authors set in a common world. The works ranged from novellas to one page pieces. I was intrigued that one of the authors, Sarah Monette, is the author of The Goblin Emperor written as Katherine Addison. I enjoyed the collection though it was quite dark/eerie in places.

-- Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn for my local book group. This is definitely a book with many a surprise as well as some unlikable characters.
— Yesterday Is History by Kosoko Jackson; I quite enjoyed this young adult novel. I confess that I have a weakness for books featuring time travel.
— a duo of books by a favorite author and quite enjoyed them though they are in a different genre (fantasy) than her other works that I’ve read…Medair: The Complete Medair Duology in One Volume by Andrea K Höst.
— a new experience, I read a LitRPG book, The Land of the Undying Lord (The Infinite World Book 1) by J.T. Wright. LitRPG is short for literary role playing game; the book brought back memories of playing Dungeons and Dragons in high school. I enjoyed the book but don’t expect to continue with the series.
— enjoyed reading the serial story, Deltan Escape by Janet Edwards, which is a prequel to the Earth Girl series I recently read. The story is available for free on the author’s website. I also read all the other free stories there.

— learned that a new book had been published in a favorite series and promptly bought and read it...Murder in Immunity: A Doyle & Acton Mystery by Anne Cleeland. This is the fifteenth book in the series and it is not the place to begin. I enjoyed revisiting these favorite characters; I don’t even bother trying to solve the mystery.
— In talking to my husband about the above book, he decided to read the first book in the series as his spring break had just begun. Naturally, I had to reread it … plus the next four books: Murder In Thrall, Murder in Retribution, Murder in Hindsight, Murder in Containment, and Murder in All Honour.
— read A Most Unusual Duke: A Steamy Shapeshifter Regency Romance by Susanna Allen. As you can see from the subtitle, this is a regency romance that includes shapeshifters; it was a fun read.
— the contemporary romance Shenanigans by Sarina Bowen; I enjoyed it but it is not amongst my favorites by the author.

[Margaret Webb]

I love reading these posts it gives me ideas of books to add to my TBR list. During March I have read HAMNET by Maggie O’Farrell, THE SILK HOUSE by Kayte Nunn and I have just finished reading THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING by Renita D’Silva. I’ve enjoyed them all but I really enjoyed The Girl in the Painting.

[Christina Courtenay]

Those sound great, Misti, thank you! And yes it's lovely with a bit of variety, isn't it!

[Christina Courtenay]

Many thanks and so glad you enjoyed it too, Kareni, and thank you for mentioning Blonde Date. Don't think I've read that one!

[Christina Courtenay]

Wow, Kareni, that's quite a list! Thank you so much for all those recommendations! I am particularly intrigued by the Regency shapeshifter story - will go and check that out, as well as some of the others you mention.

[Christina Courtenay]

Thank you, Margaret! I think we all end up adding to our TBR piles reading all these lovely recommendations, but it can never be too high, can it?

[Annette N]

I always love these lists of what has been read lately. Between the Word Wenches themselves and the readers, I generally find new books and new authors.
Since I am a book addict and have more books on my kindle than most libraries have, I really should stop reading this monthly column. But, I reckon I would have a heart attack when I realized what I was missing.
Thank you all very much.

Hope everyone is happy.

[Karin]

I love reading WWR every month! This month I delved into my shopping bag of old Signet Regency paperbacks, that I kept meaning to read, because I found someone at Paperbackswap who is interested in them. The one I just read, and will now pass along, was Andrea Pickens "A Lady of Letters". The book held up well, and it's so interesting that 20 years ago Andrea was working on the same themes that get developed in her Wrexford & Sloan mysteries. Except in this book, the heroine writes essays about political reform instead of drawing political caricatures under a nom de plume.
I also read "The Girl is Not For Christmas" by Emma Leech. Both the hero and the heroine are broke, which is keeping them apart, but the way their financial problems are resolved is very funny and original.
Some time ago, I read "Vienna Waltz" by Mary Lancaster, but I never finished the other 2 in the trilogy. So I reread VW, followed by "Vienna Woods" and "Vienna Dawn". It's wonderful romance intertwined with political shenanigans, mystery and comic relief, during the Congress of Vienna.
I am now in the middle of two books. "Hunt the Stars" which is sci-fi, by Jessie Mihalik. So far I've enjoyed everything she's written. And the other is "Portrait of a Scotsman" by Evie Dunmore. This is the 3rd in her late Victorian series centered around a group of suffragists. At this point it's safe to say her first two books were not flukes, and she is a brilliant writer. You can see that so much real historical background went into these books, yet the character development and romance never takes a back seat.

[Constance]

It’s been a mostly mystery month for me:
- Give Unto Others, the latest Guido Brunetti mystery by Donna Leon, whose writing just gets better and better. Once again, it is less the mystery than the study of human nature, as well as the Venetian setting, that draws one in and doesn’t let go. I don’t usually mark up books, paper or e-, but there are always sentences that I copy out from this series. (This is one of the first books I’ve read set in the sort-of-post-pandemic world in which we live, although that does not play a major part.)
- Jane and the Year Without a Summer, Stephanie Barron’s 14th mystery “narrated” by Jane Austen. The voice is spot on, the story quite compelling, and the future unclear as this takes place in 1816, so we know, dear readers, that Jane will die soon. It is set in the year when the eruption of a South Pacific volcano covered most of the globe in ash-filled clouds, an atmosphere quite fitting the story.
- A Sunlit Weapon, the 17th Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. We are now in WWII, and Maisie continues to fascinate me, and I liked this entry in the series better than the last couple. This one focuses on the young women ferrying Spitfires from the factory to the airfields, journeys that could be as fraught with danger as flying across the Channel in 1942.
- Finally, not a mystery, but well worth the late hours I kept to read it in one sitting, is Eloisa James’s How to Be a Wallflower, the first in a new series called Would-Be Wallflowers. Our heroine doesn’t want to marry, so plans a wardrobe that will repel suitors, and seeks to purchase them from a costume company owned by an American with a demanding sweetheart back home. We all know what will happen, but as always with James, it’s a heck of a good ride to the HEA!

[Christina Courtenay]

I think everyone here agrees we can never have too many books Annette! So glad you’re enjoying the recommendations.

[Christina Courtenay]

Lots of great reads there, Karin - thank you! I have lots of old Signet Regencies I haven’t read yet. I really should dip into them!

[Christina Courtenay]

Many thanks Constance! Sounds like some great mystery stories there. And the wallflower story too!

[Anne Gracie]

Thank you, Binnie Syril for that lovely endorsement of my Christmas novella. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. I also love a Christmas story and don't care what season I'm in when I read one.
I'm off now to check whether I have the latest Patricia Briggs book — I'm terribly forgetful with titles, so I always have to check. I enjoy her books so much.

[Anne Gracie]

Mike I agree with you. I find the changing of titles irritating, and never know whether I should search for the UK or US title — not that I always know what the alternative title is. And the geographical limitation of e-books drives me bonkers. So many books I want to buy, but can't. And as an author, I want my books to go to whoever wants to read them.

[Anne Gracie]

Misti, I'm going to be interviewing A.M.Stuart shortly. Stay tuned. . .

[Janice]

I haven't read much of interest to this group this month, just some more old Signets, Harlequins (The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor), Fawcetts and Zebras. It's fun to read a book when I don't have to work up a review of it.

My current audiobook is Heyer's Lady of Quality, which I find is well suited to audio; the reader Eve Matheson does Maria Farlow, the poor relation companion, to perfection - she evokes a perfect mix of irritation and sympathy. I understand why Carleton wanted to strangle her (but would never do it).

I did read Jane Ashford's Earl on the Run (No. 2 in The Duke's Estates), about an American Earl who really would rather not have been stuck with that position, and a girl whose cit stepfather would force her into a marriage with a nob - any nob - and a bunch of Travelers. Lovely springtime yellow cover.

I also read the first two books in the Stephanie Barron series of Jane Austen mysteries that Constance mentioned. I had had them on my mental list for years and am now just getting around to them. I guess I put them off because I thought the author wouldn't catch the rhythm of Austen's writing nor the attitudes, but she seems to do a marvelous job. The footnotes are fun too and I have found that one or two of them pointed out something I had mislearned in the past. God bless the swap club; I can find them all :)

Right now I'm reading the new Simone St. James, The Book of Cold Cases; she's my favorite spooky thriller author. After that it will be the new Jacqueline Winspear that Constance also mentioned.

[Vicki L]

Not too many standouts again this month. I read All the Queen's Men by SJ Bennett. (one of the British/US title changes). 2nd in the Series and it was just as good as the first one. QE II and her assistant Roxy solve under mystery and "direct" the police and senior staff in the unmasking of the killers and plot. Very enjoyable.

Britain's Royal Family in the Twentieth Centery by Donald Edgar (Published in 1979 for QEII's Silver Jubilee). It was interesting reading as I knew what had happened to all those children over the next 43 years. It was basically biographical sketches of all the monarchs since Victoria died. Howe their monarchial parent usually denied them any role so they were completely unprepared when it was their turn.

One thing I really enjoyed was how it included lots of historical snippets and how each event impacted the monarchy (and England) and how the role of King/Queen has changed over the years since Victoria died.

Did a lot of rereading - my biggest reread was Mary Jo's Dark Mirror trilogy. Always enjoy it and always see something new in it when I do a reread.

Found a new D.E. Stevenson to read - Five Windows. Got it through interlibrary loan. It was a lovely gentle sweet read.

The Kew Garden Girls by Posy Lovell. I'm not sure if I heard about this book here or not but it was very enjoyable. Such a varied and contrasting cast of characters. Set during WWi after men had already started leaving Kew gardens to become soldiers. They needed gardeners so began hiring women to fill the empty slots. Topics covered - women's rights, suffragettes and the white feather campaign, conscientious objectors, out of wedlock pregnancy,

Ivy - 16, helps support her family, active suffragette, inner city upbringing basically
Louisa - 36, ran away from her abusive husband, active suffragette, Farm family
Bernie (man) 28, a former teacher who had a mental breakdown and is a practicing Quaker and conscientious objecter.
Win - mid 50's, aristocracy, wife of an admiral, becomes a suffragette

They were all very likeable people even when they were wrong headed. They all grew and became real friends in spite of their obvious surface difference. The ever shifting changes in society and working together certainly caused a great deal of alteration in their attitudes.. I would this read this book again.

[Christina Courtenay]

Thank you, Janice, lots to choose from there! I really must re-read some Heyer books soon, it's been too long.

[Christina Courtenay]

Thank you very much, Vicki, that sounds fascinating! And thanks for the other recommendations too!