When all else fails…Keep Calm & Read On!

Between the cold temps (it dropped to -42, it was colder here in Ohio than it was in Alaska) and my head cold, I’ve missed the last two Sunday Posts…so I thought I would share a few of my favorite bookish quotes.

 

 

 

 

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Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley

Title: Named of the Dragon

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Publisher: Allison & Busby (2013)

ISBN: 978-0-7490-4026-0

How I Read It: Trade Paperback purchased by me

Rating: 4 Cups

When one of her authors invites her to Wales for the Christmas holidays, literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw hopes to escape the nightmares that have plagued her since the death of her baby five years before.

But shortly after she arrives at her host’s house, Lyn meets Elen, an emotionally fragile young widow who’s afraid for her infant son’s safety, and seems to view Lyn as the child’s protector.

As Lyn’s dreams become even more disturbing, she forms an unlikely alliance with a reclusive playwright, and is pulled into an ancient world of haunting legends and dangerous prophecies...where she will finally uncover the secret of her dreams. (taken from the back cover)

My Thoughts:

When I pick up one of Susanna Kearsley’s novel’s I know I’ll be in for a literary treat and Named of the Dragon was no exception.

Literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw has been plagued with nightmare since the death of her baby five years ago. When Bridget, one her authors, invited her to spend Christmas in Angle—a village in Pembrokeshire, Wales—she jumps at the chance hoping to flee her nightmares.

Although when she arrives and meets Ellen, the eccentric neighbor who believes that dragons are after infant son and Lyn was sent to be his protector, her nightmares escalate and become entwined with a Celtic legend whose origins are rooted with the legend of King Arthur. Now she finds that she must unravel the legend with the help of brooding playwright, Gareth Gwyn Morgan.

I am a huge fan of Susanna Kearsley’s novels, so when I finally found Named of the Dragon in print, I had to buy it! One of her earlier works, the writing isn’t quite as strong as her later novels but I found it to be just as engaging.

Mixing all her signature elements—history, mystery, suspense, paranormal, and romance (although it was a bit light)—Named of the Dragon incorporates both Arthurian myth and Tudor history (which I cannot get enough of) into a tale that both intrigued and satisfied.

I loved the atmospheric setting and brilliant descriptions, both made me feel as though I was a part of the novel. While most of the characters were endearing, some come off a bit strong but that didn’t affect their likability. And the flow of the plot was smooth making this book to fly by.

One of the things that I loved about Susanna Kearsley’s novels is that even though the elements of each of her novels remain the same, each book is fresh and new and incorporates something different.

Overall, I loved this book. I wanted to give it 5 Cups, but I felt a few of the scenes were a little rushed and this book could have easily been a wee bit longer.

Character Alert—another fun feature of Susanna Kearsley’s books is that if you have read her novels you will often find that characters from her other books pop up, and Named of the Dragon does have a character cameo, but you’ll have to read the book to find out which one!

 

Read the first two chapters!

JANEITES REJOICE! .99 cent Austen Authors e-book sale!

Over the years feeding your Jane Austen addiction can get rather expensive, so when a .99 cent e-book sale comes along, I’m over the moon. Especially seeing how extensive this Austen Author sale is.

A few things to remember:

SALE RUNS FROM JANUARY 8 TO JANUARY 11

E-books only available via Amazon or Barnes & Noble

E-books make amazing gifts. Plus you can purchase them now and send them later

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Amazon only

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

This is only a small sampling of the books available in this brilliant sale. For the entire list, please click HERE

I know that I will be buying a few of these for myself as well as a few for gifts!

Lost in Me by Barbara J. Hancock

Title: Lost in Me

Author: Barbara J. Hancock

Publisher: Harlequin Books S.A. 2013

Only available on Harlequin website HERE and it’s free!

How I read it: Free On-line Read from Publisher

Rating: 5 Cups

Released from hospital into the care of the man whose eyes have haunted her for a year, a troubled artist returns to Belle Aimée. The antebellum New Orleans mansion is the site of a tragedy Chloe's mind will not disclose. It's also home to an unseen presence that traces her steps, visits her studio and lingers near her bedroom.

Waking and sleeping, Chloe grasps at scraps of memory that flutter about her, alighting eventually on her countless canvases. Only under the stormy eyes—and electrifying touch—of Jonathan La Croix does Chloe begin to remember what they once were to each other. What they could be again. Such a man cannot be forgotten forever…. (taken from Harlequin’s website)

 My Thoughts:

 Suffering from amnesia and unable to get the image of an unknown man out of her mind, Chloe’s days and nights are consumed with painting this mystery man, but she finds no matter how hard she tries she cannot get the eyes right and she has no idea why it’s so important to her.

When she’s released from the hospital and delivered to the gates of Belle Aimée, an antebellum mansion in New Orleans, she finds Jonathan La Croix, the man from her painting waiting to take of care of her. While she has found the owner of the mysterious eyes, she is still consumed by the painting that is slowly revealing the memories she lost and the undeniable attraction she feels for this mysterious man.


 Barbara J. Hancock kicks off a new Harlequin imprint, HarlequinE Shivers, and she does it with amazing style and flare. It’s been a while since I’ve read a true gothic tale that intrigued and sent chills down my spine, but Lost in Me did just that. I was hooked from the start with the alluring writing and mystery that was unfolding.


Told from Chloe’s point of view, Hancock’s attention to detail was so lush and vivid I could almost feel the paint on my fingers as Chloe painted. She truly brought the characters to life. I could feel Chloe’s overwhelming urge to paint as well as her struggle to find her lost memories. And Jonathan had that laid-back New Orleans persona that amplified the gothic tone of the story.


What thoroughly surprised me was the way the author flawlessly blended strong sensuality and gothic mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed Lost in Me and purchased HarlequinE Shivers January bundle just to read more from this talented author and this new gothic line.

 

2014 Full House Reading challenge hosted by Book Date

 

Challenge: 2014 Full House Reading challenge

Time Frame: January 1st to December 31st 2014

Host: Book Date

The Challenge:

*Complete the card below. You can do it in any order you wish. You are allowed "one free exchange", if there is something on the square you really dislike you may change it to something of your choice. Once you have played this free card that is it. Mention the exchange in the final summary post.

*If you complete a full house and would like to complete another, that is fine too, and would mean two entries at the end of the year.

Full House Reading Challenge Card

My Goal: Complete a Full House.
If I have time, perhaps I’ll do another Full House

Reading List:
1) From the local library
2) Best Read so far in 2014
3) From your wish list
4) Set in a different country
5) Published in 2014
6) Theme/issue you think is important
7) Setting you’d like to visit
8) Suspense or crime
9) Contemporary
10) More than 400 pages
11) Reread
12) Review persuaded you to read it
13) Free Choice
14) Published before 2013
15) Book with an animal in it
16) Won or borrowed
17) Historical fiction
18) Less than 200 pages
19) Non-fiction
20) Author new to you
21) Book from a series
22) Free of bought very cheaply
23) Published in 2013
24) Paranormal or SF or Dystopian
25) You love the cover

Mailbox Monday-2014

 Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

For Review:

 

Books:

 

 

DVD:

 

 

Purchased:

 

Those Amazon gift cards that I received for Christmas were put to good use. Here are a few books that I ordered that arrived.

 

Books:

 

 

I just received Named Of The Dragon by Susanna Kearsley and have read all but the last few chapters. Review to come soon.

DVDs:

I found an amazing deal on Amazon. I purchased both seasons for $15.00 each and once again, I used my gift cards to pay for them.

 

What little lovelies did you receive in your mailboxes?

The Big Freeze—The Sunday Salon

Hello Lovelies, I hope that everyone is well and warm with a stack of books to keep them entertained.

Here in Ohio, we are getting ready for what The Weather Channel is calling a ‘Deep Freeze’ with temps expected to drop -40, which means not only will we be freezing our booties off, the stores will be a madhouse with those out gathering last-minute supplies. We’ve already had a healthy dose of snow and they say that more is on it’s way. While I’m not looking forward to the arctic temps headed my head, I am looking forward to doing a bit—okay a lot—of reading and consuming numerous pots of tea. What I’m currently reading: Books:
 Fiction:

 

Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley—I’m a huge fan of Susanna Kearsley’s novels—a pleasing mixture of contemporary, historical, gothic, mystery, and romance, they keep me glued to their pages for hours and thus far, Named of the Dragon is one of my favorites. With fingerless gloves in place, I intend to finish reading this one today.

 

Non-fiction

 

The King’s Grave by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones –hopefully I will be starting this one today or tomorrow.

Magazines

 

I am *finally* going to get around to reading Ireland and Britain.

I hope those of you in the path of this winter storm will stay safe and warm with a stack of good books.

I will leave you with a picture of my favorite reading spot in my back garden. (I don’t think I’ll be visiting it anytime soon).

 

 

Postal Challenge 2014-Indextrious Reader

Challenge: Postal Challenge 2014

Time Frame: January 1st to December 31st 2014

Host: The Indextrious Reader

The Challenge: The key is to read and review books with a postal theme. These can be non-fiction on the subject of letter writing, collections of real letters, or epistolary fiction of any era.

Why I’m doing this challenge: It combines two things that I love reading old letters and writing letters.

Levels:

Postcard Level:   Read and review 4 books with a postal theme.
Snail Mail Level:   Read and review 8 books with a postal theme.
Parcel Post Level: Read and review 12 books with a postal theme.
Air Mail Express Level:   Read and review 12 books with a postal theme AND commit to sending more old fashioned letters this year. At least 12 pieces of mail (or more!), and you can share numbers or even images of your mail art in the quarterly roundups.

Level I’m doing: Air Mail Express Level

Reading List

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12 Pieces of Snail Mail

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