No Life For A Lady is a fun historical mystery with a romantic sub-theme.
Violet Hamilton has spent ten years hoping that her missing mother would return. In the end, she turns to a detective to help her find out if her mother is still alive. Violet’s homelife is lonely, she doesn’t enjoy domesticity and would prefer to be out in the working world. Spurred on by the role of a detective she has ambitions to become a Lady Detective herself.
This story is set in Edwardian England, in and around the seaside town of Hastings. I liked Violet’s character and her chaotic life, especially her persistence with an early Remington typewriter. There are several other likeable ladies that added to the enjoyment of the story. The narrative was entertaining, not in a laugh-out-loud way, but it did leave me smiling when I had finished reading.
It’s remarkable how men react when women break the rules… but the people of Hastings are about to discover, women can be remarkable too…
1896. At 28, Violet’s father is beginning to fear she will never marry. But every suitor he puts forward, she finds an increasingly creative way of rebuffing.
Because Violet is a woman who knows her own mind – and her mind is on her mother, who went missing 10 years earlier, vanishing from Hastings Pier without a trace.
Looking for the missing is not a suitable pastime for a lady. But when Violet hires a seaside detective to help, she sets off an unexpected chain of events that will throw her life into chaos.
Can Violet solve the mystery of Lily Hamilton’s vanishing? Or will trying cost her more than she can afford to lose?
The Poppy Sisters is set during World War I and is the tale of two sisters. Phoebe is a VAD (volunteer nurse) in France and Celia is a trained nurse in Jersey.
The chapters swap back and forth following the tales of the sisters as they both fall in love with patients. Phoebe’s story incorporates a trip to stay with the sister of one of the doctors in a tiny Cornish village which was a nice location change during the tale.
Celia’s story feels darker with a slightly sinister touch. Celia is a nurse in a prisoner-of-war camp and I was always wondering how it would all end.
I read quite a lot of war stories, but less from the time of The Great War. This was an easy read which flowed well and although it was sad in places, generally it did not reflect the brutality of the time.
Divided by war. Reunited by courage. Two sisters, torn apart by war, face daily battles to save the lives of the wounded soldiers in their care… Older sister Phoebe is a VAD at a Base Hospital in Étaples, France, treating men who’ve served at the Front. Their courage and resilience inspires her, and though she’s meant to keep her distance, one of them, Captain Archie Bailey, soon captivates her heart. Younger sister Celia is a nurse at a POW camp on the island of Jersey. These men fight for the forces that bombed her brother and parents. How can she spend long hours trying to heal them? With every whispered conversation and forbidden glance the sisters risk so much, but with the Great War having already taken everything from them, how can they resist a chance at happiness?
The Warrior’s Reluctant Wife is the first book in the Warriors Of Wales series of historical romances.
The story is set in early medieval Wales and opens with an arranged marriage uniting two families in hopes of strengthening the Welsh nobles in their fight to remain independent from the English king.
Rhianon and Peredur both enter the marriage with different thoughts and fears, but they must find a common ground if they are to survive in a cold outpost castle where the reception feels hostile.
The coastal castle setting for this story was very intriguing with the eerie calls of the sea creatures. The romance story arc was in line with similar historical romances, but the era and Welsh setting made it memorable. There were quite a few Welsh character names to get the tongue around which were a bit tricky for me.
Recently widowed, Rhianon hopes never to find herself bound to a man again, after being raised by a violent father and married to an unpredictable husband. But to seal a strategic alliance she’s forced to marry Peredur ab Eilyr—a warrior lord with a formidable reputation! Rhianon might be a reluctant wife…but ruling with her new husband is revealing a passionate side to Peredur that Rhianon is anything but reluctant to explore…
Terry has been reading Sisters At The Edge Of The World by Ailish Sinclair
Sisters At The Edge Of The World by Ailish Sinclair
5 out of 5 stars
What a marvellous book this is. I read it quickly, trying not to whizz through it once I got to the last twenty percent! The title refers to the relationship between Morragh and her sister, Onnagh; they are not birth sisters. Morragh was treated in the most brutal way as a young child, and Onnagh saved her.
The notes at the back of the book tell of the historical facts and theories on which Ms Sinclair has based this story. It takes place in a time before Christianity, when the ancient Scottish Taezali tribe believed in pagain spiritual presences. Morragh, in whose voice the tale is told, is mute – until the events of one spring and summer change her life and that of her community; the men from Rome have travelled north to conquer their villages and challenge every aspect of their existence.
Morragh is blessed with second sight and acute intuition; she is also able to see what might take place in the future. I love this aspect of the book – I am not usually a fan of the fantastical or supernatural, but her gift felt oddly real. Possible.
It’s a fabulous story, a real page-turner and so well written. It made me think about the passage and circle of time, of the constancy of the land on which we live and the transient nature of human life. Loved it.
Book description
When Morragh speaks to another person for the very first time, she has no idea that he is an invader in her land.
What she does next constitutes a huge betrayal of her people, threatening her closest relationships and even her way of life itself.
As the conflict between the Caledonian tribes and the Roman Sons of Mars intensifies, can she use her high status in the community to lessen the coming death toll or even prevent outright war?
Set in 1st century Northern Scotland, SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD is a story of chosen sisters, fierce warriors, divided loyalties and, ultimately, love.
The Earl She Should Never Desire is a Regency romance set in London. Lily Walsh is a widow living in Birmingham; her younger sister begs her to travel to London to spend a few summer weeks with her. Anne is engaged to be married and Lily is delighted for her, but she wonders if Anne is truly happy.
Lord Sherbourne is pleased to meet Anne’s sister after hearing much about her, but she isn’t the person he had imagined. It troubles him that he feels more drawn to Lily than Anne, but he’s a man of honour and he can’t back out of the wedding now.
I enjoyed getting to know Lily and finding that she had a passionate side under her practical dresses. The author has done a fine job of creating the sisters as opposites. Outwardly Anne is the pretty one who has been groomed to be a society wife. Lily is the black sheep, the one her mother finds a disappointment. I wasn’t sure how the story would work out at the half-way mark, but I was very keen to keep turning the pages to find out. Lily has a troubled past that she must work through and she needs a friend who she can trust to be there for her at all times. The little fears which kept popping up were understandable and I particularly liked the final setting; it felt very appropriate. A great story and a wonderful set of characters.
Lara Temple offers you a taste of the forbidden in this sexy Regency romance.
This very handsome earl…Is the one man she cannot fall for…
War widow Lily Walsh has left her aristocratic family behind, but she can’t deny her younger sister’s request to come to London to meet her fiancé. Though not a love match, Lord Sherbourne is kind, amusing and ideal for her sister on paper. But as Lily gets to know him, she’s finding him alarmingly attractive! And the forbidden look in the earl’s eye shows the feeling is mutual…
Barb has been reading Fireflies and Chocolate by Ailish Sinclair
5 stars out of 5
Some time after moving to Scotland, I happened to meet with a group whose Jewish families had settled in the north of Scotland generations ago. I asked how that happened, and one lady said her family had been migrating to America, after investing almost everything they owned to book passage. When their ship had a stop in Scotland, they were told they’d arrived, as evidenced by people speaking English there. Of course, they discovered the deception, but by then that ship had literally sailed, leaving them near-destitute in Scotland. With no other choice, they made the best of things, settling in small villages and building new lives. I laughed at what I thought was an amusing, if improbable, tale. Until I heard it again. And again. In fact, it seems to be the main origin story for many, if not most, of the Jewish families in the north of Scotland.
Apparently, this kind of deception wasn’t new. A century earlier, over six hundred children and young people were kidnapped from the streets of Aberdeen and sold into indentured servitude in the American colonies, while city officials pocketed the proceeds and congratulated themselves on their novel solution to the homeless problem.
But if official history has ignored their story, how can you make sure it doesn’t disappear? Like the Banana Massacre by the United Fruit Company, which could only be told in a fictionalized version such as Gabriel García Márquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude, or like Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon’s 400-plus character “intro” to modern times, Ailish Sinclair uses fiction to deliver historical fact.
When we meet sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Manteith, she’s a lonely young girl living in the north of Scotland. Although her father is the lord of their castle, their family fell apart when her young brother died. Her mother retreated into a world of mental illness while her father buried himself in the political machinations of the Jacobites seeking to return Charles Stuart, “Bonnie Prince Charlie” to the thrones of England and Scotland.
But Elizabeth doesn’t care about politics. Effectively abandoned by both parents, she dreams of the exotic drink—chocolate—she once had on a trip to London, of the magical bugs called fireflies that lived in far off lands, or even of meeting her true love. All that is about to change.
As a birthday treat, Elizabeth is going to Aberdeen to choose a new horse. But when she’s assaulted, kidnapped, and forced onto a ship heading for the American colonies, she realizes her old life is over. Thanks to the physical isolation of the Manteith estate, the emotional isolation of her dysfunctional family, and to her rank as a member of the gentry, Elizabeth’s life has been sheltered and lonely but safe. Now she’s confronted with almost every type of evil, deprivation, and cruelty, along with natural disaster and danger.
Saved from despair by friendship with fellow prisoner Peter, she finds the strength to make it to the new world, where they are to be sold at Philadelphia’s slave markets. The story follows Elizabeth over the next four years, as she encounters racism, misogyny, greed, and despair, but also finds friendship and even a family.
Author Ailish Sinclair weaves many strands into this history. There are actual historical characters from Peter to Ben Franklin. Racial prejudice is a foreign concept to the young girl who has met few people in her life, and none from other races, so Elizabeth forms her new family from all those she encounters—slaves, fugitives, idealists, wealthy planters, and scholars.
I’m in awe of the research that went into building Elizabeth’s worlds, from Scotland to America. There’s just enough dialect in character’s speech to give a flavor of their accents, and I loved hearing words from my life in Scotland, as well as from Highland history. But most of all I loved watching as Elizabeth claims her emerging character as a strong woman and staunch friend, but also as a girl whose romantic dreams meet the reality of romantic love.
I absolutely have to comment on the writing itself. Not only is it lyrical and descriptive, but Ailish Sinclair has a gift for showing us a world instead of telling us about it. She weaves symbolic strands through Elizabeth’s story, like the fireflies and the chocolate she dreams of in Scotland, experiences in America, and realizes what they can—and cannot—accomplish in her life. Or like the onion the young Elizabeth uses to make her last dinner in Scotland, her first dinner in America, and her final decision between the two.
As an American now living in Scotland, I found Fireflies and Chocolate offers a rare look at the sometimes uncomfortable history we never learned in school. Author Ailish Sinclair takes the stories of real life characters and believably intertwines them in Elizabeth’s experience, while never losing sight of her main goal: telling a roaring good story with all the romance, danger, and dawning strength of character you could ask. But Elizabeth’s story also puts the ‘story’ back in ‘history’ with an unforgettable coming of age tale for both a young girl and the new world she claims as her own.
If you’re looking for a beautifully plotted story which draws you in and has you racing for the finish—while googling for more information about all the new views of history—then Fireflies and Chocolate is for you.
Elizabeth craves adventure… excitement… love…
For now though, she has to settle for a trip from her family’s castle, to the port in Aberdeen, where her father has promised she’ll be permitted to buy a horse… all of her own.
Little does she suspect this simple journey will change her life, forever. And as she dreams of riding her new mount through the forests and glens of the Manteith estate, she can have no idea that she might never see them again.
For what lies ahead is danger, unimagined… and the fearful realities of kidnap and slavery.
But even when everything seems lost, most especially the chance of ever getting home again, Elizabeth finds friendship, comfort… and that much prized love, just where she least expected it.
Set in the mid eighteenth century, Fireflies and Chocolate is a story of strength, courage and tolerance, in a time filled with far too many prejudices.
The Heir And The Enchantress is an historical romance. It is book five of the Enchantress series but could easily be read as a stand alone especially as it can be seen as a prequel to the series.
This is the story of Hazel and Harold, two young people whose fathers drew up a friendly marriage agreement for them when they were children. Now with Harold aged twenty and Hazel seventeen, they haven’t seen each other for years.
Rather than taking a meandering route towards getting wed, they find themselves thrown into an abruptly arranged marriage to save Hazel’s reputation. Almost strangers, they must get to know each other. However, lingering in the background is a dark cloud of deceit which has the potential to ruin any happiness they might find together.
I have read all of the books in this series and it was a pleasure to finally read Hazel’s story. She plays a part in the other books and has always been a strong likeable character, so I was pleased to read her early years.
This was an easy read and a good way to spend a few hours of escapism.
Hazel Trethow is infatuated with a notorious rake despite her father’s plans to betroth her to the heir of a wealthy barony. Her scheming to find a love match for her dearest friend and herself turns into a scandal that could ruin them both.
Harold Hobbs returns home from business in India with a plan to save his family from ruin. He does not anticipate his father’s plot to wed him to Miss Trethow. When he meets his intended, sparks fly.
This is the love story of Hazel and Harold as they find love in the most unlikely of places.
This historical romance, by the Scottish author of The Mermaid and the Bear, continues following the Monteith family. Sinclair’s second novel is set in the 1740s during the fateful years leading up to Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite rebellion and its aftermath. Beginning in the castle near Aberdeen, the action quickly shifts away from Scotland however, with most of the story taking place on a tobacco plantation in Pennsylvania. The Scottish heroine, Lady Elizabeth Monteith from “the castle” is kidnapped from her native Scotland and views its tragedy from the far-off American colonies. She is sold as an indentured servant, cook to an enlightened, mysterious “master”, Michael.
The novel is written in the first person with Beth relating the events in chronological order. Elizabeth, or “Beth” as she becomes, is a warm, likeable and very determined character. Her humanity and sense of humour rarely desert her. It is only in the aftermath of Culloden when she hears of the Jacobite defeat that her resilience flags and she succumbs to depression. Wisely, Sinclair chooses not to second guess the events of Culloden. Although most readers will already know the outcome of the Jacobite rising, Beth does not and a suitable period of time rolls by until the news crosses the ocean from Scotland.
The story follows Beth’s transformation from scared teenage captive to a capable and confident, practical young woman as she adapts to her new situation, ultimately leading to a decision between the old life and the new. It is set against the background of slavery, the social inequalities between free whites, indentured servants, native Americans and black slaves. Beth has a disarming acceptance of all races which today might be dismissed as “colour blindness” but in the context of an 18th century character is refreshing. Relations between the different racial and social groups are handed sensitively, even if it is sometimes a little difficult to believe in Beth’s naïve and childlike views.
There is an interesting range of characters from the evil (historical) Alexander Young, first mate on the ship which transports Beth to her new life, to the central figures of Sarah, the unpleasant Mrs Sauer, the elderly man Comfort and the two men in Beth’s life. Peter, her young companion in captivity, a fellow Scot, disappears from the story for much of the book, while Michael, the manager of the estates, emerges from the shadows in a series of revelations and surprising twists.
The sense of time and place is well drawn; and the modest sprinkling of Scottish dialect words adds to the authentic voice of the narrator. Despite the central themes of slavery and racial intolerance, the occasional savagery of a scene (the pregnant Nivvie being whipped by the foreman) and the references to the brutal traitors’ deaths of the captured Jacobites, this is a gentle, hopeful and entertaining book. The plot keeps the reader guessing its outcome until the very last page.
Elizabeth craves adventure… excitement… love…
For now though, she has to settle for a trip from her family’s castle, to the port in Aberdeen, where her father has promised she’ll be permitted to buy a horse… all of her own.
Little does she suspect this simple journey will change her life, forever. And as she dreams of riding her new mount through the forests and glens of the Manteith estate, she can have no idea that she might never see them again.
For what lies ahead is danger, unimagined… and the fearful realities of kidnap and slavery.
But even when everything seems lost, most especially the chance of ever getting home again, Elizabeth finds friendship, comfort… and that much prized love, just where she least expected it.
Set in the mid eighteenth century, Fireflies and Chocolate is a story of strength, courage and tolerance, in a time filled with far too many prejudices.
A Match For The Rebellious Earl is book two of the Return Of The Rogues series of historical romances. It can easily be read as a stand-alone story.
Kit Carrington reluctantly returns from his time at sea to complete his duties as the new Lord Westford. Although he returned to England specifically to attend the wedding of his step-sister, he knows that he must face the challenges of his inheritance.
Genevieve (Genny) Maitland is on a mission to help her widowed sister find a new husband so that she can get away from harridan Lady Westford, Kit’s grandmother. Lady Westford’s one purpose is to make sure that one of her grandsons produces an heir; so far she has been disappointed.
An ambitious plan to fix all of their problems is agreed between Genny and Kit, but its execution means plenty of twists and bumps in the road—will they be successful?
This story opens with the introduction of quite a few characters and it took me a couple of chapters to get them all straight in my head. After a while they became more three dimensional, and I began to enjoy the story. I was intrigued by Kit’s life as a sailor and the many treasures that he had collected. I was also interested in Genny’s younger years when she lived with her Grandfather in Spain. Genny is a strong leader and her organisational skills and negotiation aptitudes were superb.
Overall, a good story and I enjoyed it once the story and characters became fixed in my mind.
Whispers of Captain Kit Carrington—now Lord Westford—have long scandalised the ton…so his arrival at the season’s most-anticipated ball sends society’s gossips into a frenzy!
Miss Genevieve Maitland needs his help to find an eligible match for her sister but assumes he’ll be reluctant to help the family that rejected him. Yet after one spine tingling waltz with Kit, sensible Genny finds he’s not her opponent—but a very tempting ally…!
A Forbidden Liaison With Miss Grant is an historical romance set in Edinburgh. Constance Grant once lived in the Highlands and worked as a school teacher, but the Scottish Clearances caused the village she lived in to be destroyed in favour of sheep farming. A friend offered her a place to stay in the city; here she wrote outspoken articles against The Clearances.
Grayson Maddox, a shipbuilding Glaswegian, was visiting Edinburgh when he met Constance. Their time together was a romantic bubble in which both of their normal lives ceased to exist, but it was short lived.
Grayson returned to Edinburgh a second time with his family for King George IV’s royal visit. Both he and Constance had been miserable in the weeks since they’d been apart, but becoming anything more than friends seemed impossible to both of them. Could they possibly find a way for them to be together?
Although the will-they, won’t-they relationship between Grayson and Constance was frustrating at times, I quite enjoyed the subtle history lessons which were slipped in between their dilemmas. The Clearances of the Highlands and the royal visit were both events which I knew nothing about. Kaye also painted a colourful picture of Edinburgh in the 1820s, especially the festivities and pomp organised for the king’s visit, which was very realistic. I enjoyed seeing it through the eyes of her heroine’s nom de plume, journalist Flora MacDonald. This was another good story from this author.
Self-made gentleman and widower Grayson Maddox has devoted himself to his children and business, leaving no time for pleasure. Until he has an impulsive, thrillingly sensual encounter with lady’s companion Miss Constance Grant! Their passion gives Grayson hope of a happiness he never thought he’d feel again. But there’s still much in both their pasts to confront before they can turn their forbidden liaison into a new beginning…
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
No Life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby
Rosie Amber 