King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Ladies in Waiting, Book One)

author: Sandra Byrd

genre: historical fiction

published: ARC/ August 2011

pages: 332

source: Historical Fiction Book Tours

first line: There are many ways to arrive at the Tower of London, though there are a few ways out.

rated: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars









blurb:

Meg Wyatt has been Anne Boleyn's closest friend ever since they grew up together on neighboring manors in Kent. So when twenty-five-year-old Anne's star begins to ascend, of course she takes Meg along for the ride.


Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling...at first. Meg is made mistress of Anne's wardrobe, and she enjoys the spoils of this privileged orbit and uses her influence for good. She is young and beautiful and in favor; everyone at court assumes that being close to her is being close to Anne.


But favor is fickle and envy is often laced with venom. As Anne falls, so does Meg, and it becomes nearly impossible for her to discern ally from enemy. Suddenly life's unwelcome surprises rub against court's sheen to reveal the tarnished brass of false affections and the bona fide gold of those are true. Both Anne and Meg may lose everything. When your best friend is married to fearsome Henry VIII, you may soon find yourself not only friendless but headless as well.


A rich alchemy of fact and fiction, To Die For chronicles the glittering court life, the sweeping romance, and the heartbreaking fall from grace of a forsaken queen and Meg, her closest companion, who was forgotten by the ages but who is destined to live on in our hearts forever.

About:

Best friends Meg Wyatt and Anne Boleyn grew up together in Kent. When Anne is sent to live at King Henry VIII's Court, Meg follows soon after.




Meg herself lived a difficult life at home, her father having been a harsh man and often beating her. She falls in love with Will Ogilvy, but when he is sent off to become a priest, her heart is shattered.


Not before long, Meg's father arranges a marriage for her, to a man who is decades older and whom she could never possibly love.


Life at court is tantalizing as well as dangerous, and when Anne gets herself into trouble, Meg follows her best friend in her downward spiral.






My thoughts:


The Tudor period is my favorite era. What historical fiction I've read concerning the Tudors has been by Philippa Gregory. I am so glad to have had the chance to read Sandra Byrd. She is a fantastic storyteller and superb writer and I enjoyed reading To Die For from start to finish. I was instantly transported to England in the 1500's and could easily envision King Henry VIII's court, with its luxury, scandal and drama. We all know how the story of Anne Boleyn plays out, but here we get to see her best friend alongside Anne. Meg's story takes a life of its own and I was really interested in what would become of her.


Meg and Anne were very close, and I could imagine the two of them living life in the King's court.

The first young man trained his eyes on me and smiled flirtatiously. I was unused to courtly manners. Did he intend to pay me such intense attention? Or was this a part and parcel of the illusory world of the court, where nothing was as it seemed?

p.56, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

Meg is truly heartbroken over Will. You can feel her pain as you read. Her heart breaks when Will tells her his plans to join the priesthood.

"I loved him to the point of anguish."





I liked seeing some well known people in this story; George and Mary Boleyn, Jane Parker and King Henry himself.


I recommend this one to fans of historicals and Tudor fiction, or to anyone looking to get swept up in a great story with plenty of drama, glitz and heartache.
Actually, I think To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn is a must read for Tudor fans.





On a final note, I really like the cover on this book. It suits it perfectly.
To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Ladies in Waiting, Book One) will be on my top reads for 2011.











Special thanks to Historical Fiction Book Tours for making this possible.




Links of interest:


This has been a part of Historical Fiction Book Tours.





Click Here for the Tour schedule.

Author Margaret Coel was here Monday for a guest post. Today, I'm reviewing the two books in her Catherine McLeod mystery series. (My apologies, these reviews are two days late.)







title: Blood Memory: A Catherine McLeod Mystery

author: Margaret Coel

published: 2008

genre: crime thriller/suspense

pages: 305

source: sent by publisher for review

first line: The August night was perfect.

rated: 3 out of 5 stars







About:

Blood Memory is the first in the Catherine McLeod mystery books by author Margaret Coel.
Catherine is an investigative reporter for a Denver newspaper called the Journal. On one of her nightly routine walks with her golden retriever Rex, Catherine notices she is being followed. Narrowly escaping a brush with death, Catherine becomes involved in a crime investigation and realizes she is being targeted by a hit man. Being an investigative reporter has gotten her plenty of enemies, but she cannot think of anyone who would want to kill her. The hit man himself sends her an email, but it is basically a threat. From page one, Catherine is caught in a cat and mouse chase.



Catherine's rich ex-husband, Lawrence, insists she stay at his secluded family ranch up in the Colorado mountains until they find the man who is after her. Catherine reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile Bustamante, the detective assigned to her case is on the search for her would be assassin.

Catherine realizes there is a connection between her attempted murder and a story involving the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians.





My thoughts:

Blood Memory is a suspenseful story that had me drawn in. I liked Catherine from the start. She's a strong woman with a mind of her own. The cast of characters is interesting and I was easily taken in by the storyline.



The Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians are involved within the plot and as the story unfolds you get to see how this is all connected to Catherine. This part of the story was a bit boring for me however, especially towards the end. I felt myself not interested in it as much as in the chase between Catherine and her would be assassin.



I liked police detective Nick Bustamante. He's your classic strong hero/good guy trying to save lives. I wanted to see if something would develop between he and Catherine.


I wanted Catherine to kick her ex-husband Lawrence in the 'you know whats'. He's your basic slimy guy who thinks he can get away with anything because he thinks he's entitled.


I also liked that Catherine's Golden Retriever Rex is involved the story, it gave it all a more realistic feel.




Author Margaret Coel wraps the ending up well and gives the story closure.







The Colorado setting was great, author Margaret Coel really makes it a part of the story. I could easily imagine the beautiful mountains and sky as the backdrop to the story.

There were scatterings of gray sagebrush and clusters of old cottonwood tress along the banks of dry creeks. The air smelled of dust and sage and outdoors. The great wall of mountains curved in the distance.
p. 43

Although the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indian aspect of the story dragged a bit for me, I found Blood Memory to be a good start to a suspenseful series.














title: The Perfect Suspect: A Catherine McLeod Mystery

author: Margaret Coel

published: 2011

genre: crime thriller/suspense

pages: 293

source: sent by publisher for review

first line: She never meant to kill him.

rated: 4 out of 5 stars







About:


David Mathews is a candidate running for Governor in Colorado. Journalist Catherine McLeod has been covering his campaign for some time. There are rumors of Mathews infidelities and shady business deals, but nothing has been proven. He and his wife seem to be the perfect couple.



One night Mathews is home alone and opens his front door to find his ex mistress Detective Ryan Beckman there. She insists on coming into his home and tries to convince Mathews the two can work things out.

When he asks her to leave, she shoots him dead. As Ryan leaves the crime scene, another one of Mathews mistresses sees her from outside the house. An eye witness.



Journalist Catherine McLeod is sent to the crime scene the next day to get the scoop. Ironically enough, Detective Ryan Beckman is assigned to the case along with her partner, Martinez.

At this point, Mathews wife is the prime suspect, the murder weapon is even found at her home, planted there by none other than Ryan.



Catherine receives an anonymous phone call from the eye witness/mistress, saying that she saw Detective Ryan Beckman flee the crime scene. She won't give her name or identity, being that she thinks she'll be ridiculed and possibly hauled in for questioning, since she is a private escort. Catherine has a gut feeling that this person is telling the truth and does all she can to prove who the real killer is.





My thoughts:


The Perfect Suspect grabbed me in from the first line and didn't let me go until the final page.
I read this book in one sitting and was really swept into the storyline.



I liked to see that Catherine and Nick (Blood Memory) are together and that she is moving on with her life after what happened in book 1.



The storyline in this one was great and the author does a wonderful job at getting the reader inside the minds of these characters. Detective Ryan Beckman is ironically assigned to a murder case for a crime of passion that she herself commited. She is hell bent on framing Mathews wife. She is also being very careful of what information she divulges, since she's been inside Mathews homes and knows her way around. She is very careful while interviewing suspects and friends of Mathews, even coming across one of his interns who saw the two together and knew of the affair.

Rumors swirled about the candidate-financial improprieties, shady business deals, extramarital affairs. She had never suceeded in running down any of them. They were like a dull throbbing in her head, elusive, maddening and persistent.

p.14

Catherine is on the prowl, trying to get as much information as she can, risking her life in the process.

There is plenty of suspense in this one, and I was really curious to see how it would all end. All in all, a great read and I do recommend this one to fans of this genre or for anyone looking to get swept up in a great thriller.






Overall, Blood Memory and The Perfect Suspect, are both suspenseful entertaining reads and I do recommend them. Although they are part of a series, they can be read as stand alone books.


Out of these two book, I enjoyed The Perfect Suspect more.







Special thanks to Kaitlyn over @ the Penguin Group for making this possible.

title: Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels for a New Life in France

author: Karen Wheeler

genre: memoir

published: August 2011

pages: 311

source: ARC from Sourcebooks



first line: Oh Dear God, what have I done?

rated: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

In her mid-thirties, fashion editor Karen has it all: a handsome boyfriend, a fab flat in west London, and an array of gorgeous shoes. But when her boyfriend, Eric, leaves she makes an unexpected decision: to hang up her Manolos and wave good-bye to her glamorous city lifestyle to go it alone in a run-down house in rural Poitou-Charentes, central western France.


Tout Sweet is the perfect read for anyone who dreams of chucking away their BlackBerry in favor of real blackberrying and downshifting to a romantic, alluring locale where new friendships–and new loves–are just some of the treasures to be found amongst life's simple pleasures.

About the book:

Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels for a New Life in France is a fun, light, and interesting memoir where Karen Wheeler shares her experiences after she leaves her hectic London life behind and moves to rural France.



After a bad breakup, the thirty five year old successful fashion editor decides she needs to leave it all behind her. Karen lived a glamorous lifestyle, complete with her nice London flat, invites to fancy cocktail parties, jet setting off to fashion shoots and a closet full of designer handbags and shoes.
When Karen takes time out to open her eyes and look around, she doesn't like what she sees.

She packs up and moves to France to start a new life for herself.






My thoughts:

This memoir reads smoothly, it's the type of book you don't want to put down. It's also one of those memoirs that reads almost like fiction, this one could be chick-lit if it wasn't a true story.

I enjoyed the descriptions of France and felt like I was there as she described the sights and sounds.

I looked out of the open window at a vivid yellow and blue landscape, at the fields bursting with sunflowers and blond haystacks against the vibrant turquoise evening sky. As I felt the warm evening breeze on my arm, resting on an open window, and watched the long-armed irrigators send arcs of water soaring over the fields, I felt a surge of excitement for the first time in ages.

p.21 Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels for a New Life in France

Karen takes us through her moving and renovating her new French home which she names 'Maison Coquelicot', which means 'house of the wild poppy'. She also describes her breakup with her boyfriend Eric, whom she thought was 'the one'. Even though she moves to France to start anew, Karen finds herself missing him often.



Her close friends and neighbors are also mentioned throughout and I found their antics entertaining. Karen had me laughing at times and cheering for her as I read. One scene in particular as Karen is giving a certain someone a ride home, and he professes his undying love to her, while at the same time offering her an 'open relationship', had me in stitches.


I liked Karen's voice and the way she told her story openly and honestly. I was hoping she would find her Mr. Right. What she does find in France is happiness and contentment.

I think it takes incredible bravery to pack up and start a new life in a foreign country no less. Go Karen!




I enjoy reading memoirs that aren't depressing and found Tout Sweet to be a fun summer read.





About the author:





Karen Wheeler is a former fashion editor for the Mail on Sunday and currently writes for the Financial Times How to Spend It magazine and London’s Daily Mail. Her work has appeared in the Evening Standard and You magazines, Sunday Times Style, and numerous international publications. A three-time winner of the prestigious Jasmine Literary Award for writing about perfume, she specializes in fashion, beauty and luxury goods trends. Karen also has a great blog at www.toutsweet.net and Twitters @mimipompom1.

title: Dael and the Painted People (Book 3 in the Zan-Gah Series)

author: Allan Richard Shickman

genre: young adult fiction

published: 2011

pages: 155

first line: To dream of a head dripping with blood and look into its glazed and lifeless eyes might, even in sleep, leave the dreamer changed and chastened.


source: ARC copy sent by publisher for review


rated: 3 out of 5 stars

A prehistoric adventure, this is the third of the Zan-Gah young adult books. When Dael, guilty and tormented, came to live with the tribe of the painted people, he longed for peace and restoration; but without knowing it, he made a powerful enemy. Luckily, Dael had friends-including a troop of crows-and his own mystical powers. The disturbed and violent hero learns from the Children of the Earth, and from his submissive wife, a new way of life that is peaceful and generous. Dael and the Painted People is a story of conflict, healing, hate, and love by the winner of the Eric Hoffer Award, a finalist for the ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Award, and the Mom's Choice Gold Seal for Excellence in a family-friendly book series.

About:

Dael and the Painted People is the third installment in author Allan Richard Shickman's Zan-Gah books.


I read the first two books in the series, Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure and Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, with my daughter last year and we enjoyed them.




The series, set in prehistoric times, revolves around the lives of two young brothers, Zan-Gah and Dael.

In this third installment, a now young adult Dael sets off in search of the Painted People, a rival tribe Dael feels he must join.
Alongside Dael is the shy, mute girl Sparrow. When Dael and Sparrow find the Painted People, the tribe welcomes them as their own.



The Painted People are a peaceful tribe, governed by the females in the group.
Dael being traumatized when he was younger and held captive for years, has a tendency towards aggressive behavior. Although Dael misses his brother Zan and his clan, living with the Painted People and Sparrow has calmed his spirit. He is well liked in the group. However, Dael has made one enemy, the elder shaman named Shnur.
Shnur sees Dael as his rival, a newcomer who wants to take his spot as the tribe's healer and shaman.

Shnur's hatred of Dael stems from jealousy.




My thoughts:



Dael and the Painted People picks up where Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country left off.

I was curious to see what would happen to these characters. This third book centers mostly around Dael and Sparrow.

I enjoyed reading about the Painted People and their customs. I found it a nice twist that although Sparrow is mute, she can speak the Painted People's language easily, since it consists of clicking noises.
We get to meet a few new characters in this third installment as well.




Author Allan Richard Shickman creates a prehistoric world and weaves a coming of age story within it. The characters and story lines are well written and entertaining. There's action and adventure in these books, and the prehistoric setting makes the perfect backdrop. The Zan-Gah books are fun reads for all ages. My daughter and I are enjoying this series.

There is a healing power in kindness, and Dael began to mend.
p.35

About the author:

Artist, teacher, author, and historian Allan Richard Shickman was an art history professor at the University of Northern Iowa for three decades. His first novel, Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, won an Eric Hoffer Notable Book Award, and was a finalist for the ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Award. The series, including Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, received the Mom's Choice Gold Seal for Excellence in family-friendly literature. Dael and the Painted People is the third of the Zan-Gah book series. He has also published articles in English Literary Renaissance, Studies in English Literature, Notes and Queries, Colby Quarterly, Art Bulletin, and Art History.

title: Pretty

author: Jillian Lauren

genre: fiction

published: August 2011

source: ARC from LibraryThing


first line: How I got here the longer version is a longer story than I want to tell.


rated: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars








About:

Pretty is an edgy novel about a teenage girl named Bebe who leaves home with a musician named Aaron and ends up becoming a stripper and an addict. Aaron and Bebe's partying habits are out of control, they both drink too much and use drugs. One night, after a big fight between the two, Aaron is killed while driving under the influence. Bebe survives the car accident, but finds herself in a rehab facility trying to get her life together.

After she finishes rehab, Bebe goes to live at a halfway house. The house offers free training at a beauty school in order to help its inhabitants better themselves and become functioning members of society.

Throughout the story you get a glimpse of Bebe's life while she finishes up cosmetology school. She starts to date a fellow rehab patient, a paranoid schizophrenic named Jake. Except for her friends, Bebe is alone in the world, her mother being an addict herself and no help to her.



My thoughts:

I found Pretty to start off really interestingly enough. Here is this young woman who has been through alot, nearly dying in a car accident, then going to rehab and trying to get clean.
Then I found the story to fizzle a bit in the middle. I was tired of hearing about Bebe's cosmetology school and the different beauty techniques she was learning.
Her fellow classmates and halfway house inhabitants did interest me as I read. These were characters who had lost their way but banded together to help each other out.


Bebe's new boyfriend Jake was disturbing to read about, especially when he would go on his rants about religion. He is a paranoid schizophrenic who thinks he is Jesus. I found it surprising that Bebe didn't recognize his symptoms as out of control and dangerous while she was dating him.



There are flashbacks throughout the book, but I didn't find them to be confusing, they blended in well with the storyline and gave more of a backdrop as to where Bebe was coming from.



"Pretty" is a main theme as you read. Bebe herself is tall and beautiful, yet is now covered in scars after the car accident.

So now I am a pretty much ex-everything. Ex-Christian, ex-stripper, ex-drug addict, ex-pretty girl. Or rather I am half a pretty girl. I am mostly not so bad from the waist up, but my hands and my legs are a bird's nest of smooth, pink keloid scars.

A bucket of worms is what my legs look like. I keep them covered and try not to think about them, not so much because of vanity as because they remind me of all that's irreparable.

p. 27

I thought this novel was young adult fiction, but after reading it, I'd say it's best for ages seventeen and up. There is graphic language throughout as well as a descriptive stripping scene in one of Bebe's flashbacks.






The story picked up toward the last part of the book, when a few twists are added and I was curious as to how it would all end.

For the most part, a well written plot and interesting characters made Pretty a worthwhile read. This was my first time reading Jillian Lauren and hopefully not my last.




I'll close my review with my favorite passage in the book.

Regret perches like an umbrella over all of my days. All I do is look up and see its spiny inside. An invisible hand grips my heart just a little too tight and squeezes every time a memory washes over me.
p.170

About the author:




Author and performer Jillian Lauren grew up in suburban New Jersey and fled across the water to New York City. She attended New York University for three minutes before dropping out to work in downtown theater, where she performed with Richard Foreman’s Ontological Hysteric Theater, among others.


Her New York Times bestselling memoir, SOME GIRLS: My Life in a Harem, was published by Plume in April 2010. It has since been translated into fourteen different languages.


Her novel, PRETTY, will be released on August 30, 2011.

title: Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV

author: Karleen Koen

genre: historical fiction

published: 2011

pages: 460

first line: Intelligent, virile, handsome, a man who made himself master of all he surveyed, Louis XIV was the foremost figure of his age.


source: TLC Book Tours


rated: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Louis XIV is one of the best-known monarchs ever to grace the French throne. But what was he like as a young man—the man before Versailles?


After the death of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s still a young man, but one who, as king, willfully takes everything he can get—including his brother’s wife. As the love affair between Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. Every woman wants him. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love.

Before Versailles centers around the first four months of Louis XIV's reign. You get to read about the women in the king's life and his decision making, as well as palace life in general. The story of a young Louis XIV was an interesting one.


The mystery, the romance and the going's on at the French court all kept me entertained.
Within the first pages there's a boy in an iron mask and a musketeer, my attention was captured instantly.


This is my first time reading about King Louis and I enjoyed author Karleen Koen's captivating storytelling. I felt like I was right there at the King's court. One thing I love about historical fiction is getting to learn a bit as you read. I now want to visit the Gardens of Versailles!

There was a certain listlessness to the evenings with Madame still absent. On this particular one, ladies were spread out near the queen on rugs and cushions, and the queen was content to sit in the suspended garden while her dwarves irritated courtiers by stealing fans or other trifles and dropping them into the water of the carp pond. Louis and his friends were on the water racing gondolas again.

p. 215

Special thanks to Lisa over @ TLC Book Tours.
Click here to see the rest of the tour stops.



About Karleen Koen:




Karleen Koen is the author of Now Face to Face andThrough a Glass Darkly, which was a New York Timesbestseller and featured a much older Alice Verney (known in that novel as the Duchess of Tamworth). The author lives in Houston, Texas.


Connect with Karleen at her website, karleenkoen.net, and on Facebook.

title: Netsuke

author: Rikki Ducornet


genre: fiction

published: 2011

pages: 127

source: ARC from librarything

first line: Although it is still very early, the wealth of the day is upon him.



rated: 5 out of 5 stars









Netsuke is the story about a married psychiatrist who sleeps with his patients. The narrative is lyrical and at times blunt and this novella was an unexpected gem.


Author Rikki Ducornet does an excellent job at getting inside
the doctor's mind and at expressing his thoughts. This psychiatrist is unwilling to stop cheating on his wife and has been living this secret life for many years.



He seems to want his wife to find out about his infidelities, he drops clues often, but she turns a blind eye.
The wife, Akiko, is a successful artist, often away due to her work. This is the doctor's third marriage and the couple live well off because of their professions.
The doctors lovers all have issues and he seems to enjoy playing with fire this way. One of his partners is a young woman who cuts herself, another is a cross-dresser. He has no shame in his sexual encounters, whether they occur in his office or in his home. He even schedules his affairs into his week on a regular basis, i.e. Fridays afternoons are kept open for sex with patients.



The doctor himself is despicable, not only is he unfaithful, but he is taking advantage of his patients. I couldn't help but be sucked into this story and was curious as to whether he would get caught. He was unstable and impulsive, and
his actions kept shocking me until the final page. When he wants to impress a patient, he goes out and buys new clothes, bringing his wife along for her opinion.

I felt he both loved and hated his wife. He resents her for his own unfaithful ways, blaming her for his behavior. His complex character is what made the story. I found it ironic that the doctor was the one that needed the therapy.




This is the type of book that you read slowly. Some of the passages were poetic, and I found myself re-reading them. Due to the subject matter, I found this to be very impressive. I also found it impressive that for being just 127 pages long, this was heavy reading. This is not the type of book you read in a single sitting.

But always the clock strikes. The knife falls. In love I am only blind. There is no knowledge there. No purifying fire. A moment's bliss and then: the mule brays.

p.37

I should mention that there is graphic language used in this story, I know some readers would veer away from that. Sex is a main theme in this book. I didn't mind the explicit language, I felt that it added to the straightforwardness and darkness of the story.


Rikki Ducornet is an interesting writer and a poet, and I would definitely read her work again.




The word Netsuke actually means 'miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function'. Check out the wiki page for photos and info on Netsuke. In this story, the doctor collects these sculptures and displays them in his office.



About the author:

Rikki Ducornet is the author of two short-story collections, five books of poetry, and seven novels, including The Fan-Maker’s Inquisition and The Jade Cabinet. She is also a painter whose work has been exhibited widely.