Isaac's Army by Matthew Brzezinski

I am very glad I picked this book up at the library. I have read a lot of books about WWII but never one that focused solely on the Jewish resistance in Warsaw. The fact that all of the people were real and the events described well-documented and researched made this story haunting, horrifying, intense, but so riveting I had trouble putting it down. I loved the epilogue, the last paragraph brought the book full circle.  I especially appreciate the time Mr. Brzezinski spent on research to accurately portray the characters and dreadful situations they lived through. My only quibble would be that I wish there had been pictures. I found myself reading next to the computer so I could look up people for a face to put with the name.

I find myself now very interested in the formation of Israel and the conflict that developed between the British in Palestine and the Jews who were encouraged to leave Europe by the Communist governments of Eastern Europe.  I foresee another trip to the library for me!

I recommend this book to everyone. 

I wanted to add...in an earlier review I mentioned how brave the characters were.  I must state that those were made-up characters in a fantasy story.  The characters in this book were real and actually performed heroic acts on a daily basis for over 5 years while fighting the Nazis in Poland.  These are true heroes who had more bravery and confidence in their little fingers than I could even dream of having.  They will always be the gold-standard of bravery in my book.

The Plumed Bonnet by Mary Balogh

This is a classic Mary Balogh with a cynical , all-about-me lord and a naive, but spunky heroine who somehow are able to make it work. I liked the book, mostly, and the plot as it was described on the back. In the beginning, Alistair is all "You are a liar but I want you so I'll put up with it until you're so humiliated you will sleep with me".  This is a little much, but since he ultimately understands the word "NO" he gets away with it...at least with me.  He is paired with Stephanie, who is innocent and naive and VERY, VERY LUCKY! I cannot underscore this part enough.  In fact, I may have my teen aged daughters read this as an example of WHAT NOT TO DO!  Although, I do recognize she had very little choice by this point.  Anyhow, the fun ends when Stephanie is revealed to be exactly what she said she was and Alistair steps up to do the right thing and marry her.  This actually would have been an excellent ending to a short story because the first third of the book was the best.

It kind of fell apart in the middle when Stephanie was being prepped by Alistair's family. She didn't act the same (not sure why) and neither did Alistair (again, not sure why) so the story ground to a bore...bore...bore. In fact, I decided to take a nap but finished it when I woke up.  

Authors and Books - Hate Them/Love Them

I have been thinking a lot about authors and books and why I like them.  You see, I tend to stick to the same set of 30 or so authors (probably more, I am actually afraid to count :)).  I tend to get a little irritated when I auto-buy a book based solely on the author and it turns out to be not very good.  However, I am a forgiving soul, so I will usually make the same mistake several times before striking them to my library only list.  I understand that an author cannot appeal to all readers all the time.  They need to write what appeals and interests them, and obviously I am not them and they don't ask my opinion.  So here is a listing of some examples of authors that missed with me:

1. The Huxtable Quintet series from Mary Balogh. I love Mary's books, but this series just didn't do anything for me except the 3rd book At Last Comes Love but even that one was only a 3 out 5 star.
2. As I stated in a recent review of Celeste Bradley's When She Said I Do, the book may have failed but author didn't lose me yet!
3. Books 4 and 5 of Elizabeth Boyle's Bachelor Chronicles, Confessions of a Little Black Gown and Memoirs of a Scandalous Dress, were just not of the same caliber as the 5 star Love Letters from a Duke.  Sighhh...I need to reread that one!
4. Liz Carlyle's last series entitled Fraternitas Aureae Crucis definitely didn't come close to her earlier books.  I really hope she finds her way back soon because A Woman Scorned and A Woman of Virtue are in my top 20 books and I would love to read about some more awesome couples.
5. I had to give up on Gaelen Foley after the 5 Star worthy One Night of Sin.  Everything else has been unreadable.
6. I also gave up on Karen Hawkins.  The Maclean Curse series just wasn't good which is too bad because the Talisman Ring series was pretty original and well-written.
7. I keep giving Madeline Hunter more chances even after the mess that was the Rothwell Brothers series.  The Rarest Blooms were decent, but she has so much more potential.  She just needs to stay away from Jerks as Heroes.  I need to review one of her books soon.

One Good Earl Deserves A Lover by Sarah MacLean

This was not Ms. MacLean's best book, a solid 3 out of 5 stars, but it is the first one out of 5 that I have not enjoyed 100% so I would say she is still pretty good.  In the first book of the series, A Rogue By Any Other Name, Penelope was so great that she made more than made up for the fact that Bourne was just an ass for 90% of the book.  In this one, Pippa just wasn't as interesting and Cross not as big of a jerk.  I mean, Pippa is scary smart and a great character, but almost one dimensional in the way that she couldn't see a way out of her engagement.  Cross's problem was that he was convinced he couldn't be happy since his brother had died and it didn't matter that it made Pippa unhappy too.  Now this type of plot line gets old fast since martyrdom is never attractive or interesting.  I hope that this isn't going to be the recurrent theme for Temple and Chase's books as well.

The initial premise was pretty good, but it just couldn't keep going past page 200 before something broke.  The countdown of 14 days also started out as intriguing, but the insights into Pippa's thoughts at the beginning of each chapter just weren't that interesting.  Castleton turned out to be a complete saint and definitely had more depth to him than anyone would guess.  In fact, I would love to read about his whirlwind courtship of Ms. Knight because there would be real conflict between his mother and her father.  Maybe it would be a good novella since we already know that it ends with HEA.


Ms. Maclean's first series, the numbers one, hooked me by her inventiveness and humor.  I think that is what was missing in Cross's story...the humor.  Here are some examples:


“Nick spoke again. "Her legitimacy will be questioned."Gabriel thought for several moments. "If our mother married her father, it means that the marchioness must have converted to Catholicism upon arriving in Italy. The Catholic Church would never have acknowledged her marriage in the Church of England.""Ah, so it is we who are illegitimate." Nick's words were punctuated with a wry smile."To Italians, at least," Gabriel said. "Luckily, we are English.""Excellent. That works out well for us.” (Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake)

“I've loved him for a decade. And I had him for one day before I made a complete and utter mess of things. Or he did. I'm still not sure about that.” (Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake)

She also always has very strong heroines and very rakey rakes (Yeah, I just made that phrase up), but Pippa was almost too off in a different world and Cross had given up being a rake.  I did approve of him changing his name from Jasper to Cross though.  I mean, Jasper????? 

I very much look forward to Temple's story.  I just hope she stays away from martyrs.  

When She Said I Do by Celeste Bradley

I was really looking forward to this book.  I enjoyed Ms. Bradley's Royal Four and Liars Club books and two are even on my 5 Star All-Time Favorite List (To Wed a Scandalous Spy and Seducing the Spy, so I was very excited to read that poor Ren Porter was going to get a book of his own.  I was also looking forward to the whole Worthington family.  Ms. Bradley had explained on her website that she was trying to portray a family similar to the Weasley family from Harry Potter so what could go wrong?  Apparently A LOT...

Now, Ms. Bradley's books have always been a little hit or miss for me.  As I mentioned, two of the Royal Four books are absolutely wonderful, however one of them, Surrender to a Wicked Spy, is absolutely dreadful.  The Liar books are really well-plotted and interesting to read, but the Heiress Bride books are not that great.  So the fact that she has started out a series with a clunker isn't a deal breaker for me because I know that the next book, And Then Comes Marriage, could be another 5 star offering.  I will probably just get it from the library first.

So what was my problem with the story?  On the surface, the plot is a good one.  Callie is interesting, Ren is sufficiently tortured yet still hero material, the Worthingtons appear to be insane (more on that later) and there are lots of cameos by the Liars and Royal Four members.  Here are my main beefs:

• What the F??? are Callie's parents thinking leaving her with some guy in a hood they've known for less than 24 hours?  Sorry, not buying the whole explanation at the end that maybe her crazy mother was in cahoots with the dressmaker.
• The Worthingtons are truly NUTS!  The whole family except for apparently Callie and a couple of brothers.  Not only are they crazy, but the level of neglect the whole family has suffered is appalling and not even a little bit endearing.  I know there were a few explanations thrown around like the older brother having been thought killed in Spain, but really???
• Did I miss where we discovered the ages of anybody but the 12 year old homicidal sister?  
• And speaking of her - WTH was all THAT about?  I'm sorry but I have no interest in plot lines that include 12 year olds plotting to murder their brother-in-law.

The Mortal Instruments #1-3 by Cassandra Clare

My 15 year-old daughter, Maddy, has been insisting that I read this series for a long time.  This past week, I gave in and I am sooooooooooooooo glad that I did.  I did read the first 4, but I'm only going to tackle numbers 1 - 3 because they seem to go together.

First off, I loved all of them, but #3 was absolutely the best.  The City of Bones does a great job setting the story and introducing the characters.  I was unable to put down The City of Ashes because of everything that was happening and The City of Glass is even better than the 7th Harry Potter book because it stays on course with very few detours.  I really fell in love with Simon right off the bat, but it took me longer to appreciate Clary or Jace.  This is almost one of those series where the secondary characters really make the story fly.  The similarities to the Harry Potter books is strong, except the intensity is there right off the bat instead of waiting for book 5.  I'm sure the fact that the kids are 16ish make this possible.  

Secondly, Ms. Clare can write dialogue like no one else I've read in a while.  Holy Cow, I found myself stopping and reading quotes aloud to my amused girls and long-suffering husband several time during each book.  Here are some of my favorites:

“I don't want to be a man," said Jace. "I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead."
"Well," said Luke, "you're doing a fantastic job.” 

“I am a man" he told her, "and men do not consume pink beverages. Get thee gone woman, and bring me something brown.” 

Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath

I have really enjoyed the Scoundrels in this Lorraine Heath series - especially Frannie! Even though I didn't like this one as much, it is still a solid 3 star book.

Jim is a strong, large, loner hero is has made it his mission in life to be a fare investigator for Scotland Yard. Eleanor is a previously meek and mild girl who comes to London for revenge. There are A LOT of twists in the plot, some you can see coming but others are complete surprises. This makes the book move along and not get stuck. There are also lots of interactions between Jim and the other scoundrels which also helped keep my interest. So all in all, good book.

So what's my problem? My problem is that I think Ms. Heath put the wrong Scoundrel with the Heroine. I don't usually try to second-guess for the author, but I really think Eleanor was deep down too mild for Jim. Bill (the doctor), who we never see much of, would have been a much better fit. Jim's whole persona is that he has this need to take care of people. Wouldn't it had been nice for him to find someone who was capable of taking care of herself? I understand she came to London for revenge and all, but it was really amateurishly done and if it hadn't been for Jim, she would have been in trouble.  I'm thinking like a Maddy character in The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Ann Long.  I love that book...I need to re-read it and write a review of it....But I digress!

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath

There were a lot of good things about this book which made it an enjoyable read.  The Hero, Jack, was your better than average-looking scoundrel with a tortured past.  He also had a posse of scoundrel friends about which we will learn more about in the other books in the series.  (We had already met one in In Bed With the Devil)  Olivia is a new widow who has found herself forced to accept Jack as the guardian of her five-year old son.  The plot basically revolves around Jack trying to figure out why he was named the guardian while trying desperately to hook up with Olivia.

The first part of the plot is interesting and while it drags on a bit, there are enough tidbits spread about that it keeps the book moving.  It is the second part that moved the book from a solid 4 star to a 3 star book.  I just didn't see how a previously pious, Victorian Duchess would suddenly in the space of about 2-3 weeks succumb to Jack.  In fact, I think the story would have been better if it had stretched over a year at least.  I believe in lust and love at first sight.  I do have a tough time believing in sorrow to dismay to disgust to lust to no longer mourning to love within a week.  


The son fit in perfectly and I loved how he was integral at the end of the book.  Personally, I love it when there are kids in books as long as they act like kids.  I think this little family will definitely be happy together.


The other books in the series are good as well - especially Fannie's.

Practically Wicked by Alissa Johnson

I am so glad I read this book. It is my first Alissa Johnson and it really met all my expectations. This book has been garnering some really good reviews and it deserves them. Anna Reese is completely believable as her role as a sheltered, hidden child of an aging courtesan who just wants to escape. She is naive, but extremely well-educated thanks to her governess/companion. It was a shock to me when her actual age is revealed at the end of the book. 

Max is the perfect foil for her. He is initially perceived as your typical, not a care in the world lord. Nice, but forgettable. When the story jumps ahead four years, his true character makes itself known and I loved him! He may be the only hero I have ever read who not only quickly realized he was wrong, but also had enough strength of character to seek out Anna and apologize. He had me at I'm sorry.

Now the story has some flaws, which is why I didn't give it five stars. The biggest problem I had was the premise that the daughter of a courtesan would be allowed to wander about her mother's London house for over 25 years and never pressured to marry or worse. I also was a tad skeptical that the family of a Marquess would happily accept their father's illegitimate daughter into their home to live forever. That is until I read the summary of the book about this family that was first in this series. Apparently the current Marquess and his brother have experience in finding and embracing wards of their father who have been neglected. He was a real peach and his second-wife a holy terror. Also, the whole plot-line of her mother wanting her back just seemed crazy.

So, this is a nice story about two normal, lonely people who are perfect for each other. Read it, you won't be sorry.

Definite 4 1/2 Stars !!!!

The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville

Ok...I have read a books by Ms. Neville before.  I don't remember them at all and only have 1 on my bookshelf.  I keep telling myself that I need to reread it, but can't seem to.  Anyhow, I bought this book based on the incredibly good reviews it received on several websites.  It also had one of my favorite types of plots - Good, Normal Hero who falls for Bad, Notorious Heroine.  (This is not to be confused with my all-time favorite plot of Bad, Notorious Hero who falls for Good, Normal Heroine).

Ms. Neville does a very good job setting the plot, describing the characters and moving the story along.  My problem is what happens after Thomas and Caro get married.  They both go from being sensible to stupid, each making decisions without the other's involvement.  I also never got the sense that this marriage would last.  They are both so different and I'm not sure they like the other's main character.  This doesn't stop them from being very attracted to eachother, which is fun to watch.  But I think that if they were plunked down in the modern world, they would date for about a year then move on.

So I would give this 3 stars out of 5, but I kind of wish I had borrowed it from the library instead of paying $7.99 for it.

The Seduction of Elliot McBride by Jennifer Ashley

I really like Jennifer Ashley's books. She always has the most imaginative plots and the backstories of her characters are interesting and unique. This story of Elliot McBride and his obvious struggle with PTSD is well-done and kept my attention throughout. I would rate this as 4 stars based on the story alone, but there are some issues that keep this from being as amazing as The Madness of Lord Ian:
1. The Heroine. I never understood why she was still unmarried at 30. She seemed very nice and organized, but was really a little dull.
2. The Villians. I say villians in plural form because Ms. Ashley kept giving us reasons to not like someone, then attempted to rehabilitate them (the step-mother, the other Scotsman from India, the blackmailers). Anyhow, at the end it just seemed like she added the whole controversy just for the Hero to have something to do besides trying to keep sane.

There are some great aspects that will most likely make me re-read it soon to see if I missed anything:

1. The Indian servants. They are awesome. I especially like the mother-in-law.
2. The descriptions of rural Scotland and how people lived. Wonderful. Makes me want to go there to live. Also, the house they move to. I want the house, after it is restored, of course.
3. The Hero. I wish he was a real person, except for the whole strangling people thing while in a trance. I truly hope that some day he is recovered enough to not do that anymore.
4. The Mackenzies. They are a interesting family and I always enjoy them. 
5. The sneek preview of Daniel's story which is out next. Sounds like another winner.

You do not need to have read any of the other books in the series to enjoy this book. I would suggest it, though, just because they are good books.

Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand by Carla Kelly

I usually really like Carla Kelly books, especially her older stories, but this one wasn't as good. I think it may have been just too long. I would say the first two-thirds were perfect, but the last third, whew! In fact, it may have been almost a 5 star if Ms. Kelly hadn't decided to throw everything and the kitchen sink at this couple. The heroine goes from being brave and smart to brave and stupid. The hero went from being involved and caring to just absent. And the brother-in-law villian was suddenly trusted again and welcomed into the family. The kids were cute and wise beyond their years, which is okay...usually.

That said, it did keep me up last night til it was finished, Ms. Kelly's writing is always superb, and there was no doubt that there is a happily ever after for everyone involved.   The characters are well-drawn and there is just as much attention paid to the  supporting cast as the main ones.  

I will probably re-read it someday, but not soon.

Welcome!

Hello,

     I am CJ and I am an avid reader. I will pretty much read anything, but always return to my ultimate escape…Historical Romance. I know that most of you think of 80′s bodice rippers with Fabio covers whenever romance novels are mentioned, but there are actually a lot of good stories, phenomenal writing and smart dialogue that has me enthralled for days following finishing a book. That said, there is also a fair amount of overdone plotlines, stupid heroines and unlikable heroes that are sold daily to unsuspecting readers who really just want a book that will take them away for a few minutes while waiting to pick up their children from band practice.

So, after spending the last week going through my bookshelf and adding my 500+ books to GoodReads, I have decided that I may be able to help a few prospective book buyers with a review or two before they plunk down $7 for a book that may end up, at best, going out the door to Goodwill or, at worst, in the trash.

Since I do often read other things than romance, I wouldn’t call this a romance-review only blog. And I don’t intend to review all my books. I do have a life after all. Anyhow…Welcome to my Bookshelf!