It's Mailbox Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.

Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is temporarily being hosted at Kathy's at http://bermudaonion.net/ during the month of November.

In the Mail....

YAY! Some new reads to report this week, as last week there were none. So, I ordered some books that I just had to have. One of them is very special, the Sharon Kay Penman, because when I was reading the library's copy four years ago this November, my father had suddenly passed away. So, I KNOW.. even though I LOVED this book, and LOVED this edition with the fantastic cover.. I KNOW I didn't get to appreciate it as much as I would have. So it's time for a permanent home in my personal collection; I knew the time would come someday, but I had to give myself some time to buy it. Who wants to look at a Penman book and burst into tears every time she sees it? So hopefully, when I get around to re-reading it, I can handle the emotional upheaval it will be sure to cause as I am bound to remember certain parts as related to the events surrounding that horrific time of my life.

So.
Cheer up everybody!! Here's my gorgeous Sweetie modeling the first batch of books of the week:

First and foremost, the absolutely stunning hardcover edition of Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept (April 1995): The first volume of a trilogy that follows the lives and fortunes of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine presenting the story of Maude, imperious daughter of Henry I and England's uncrowned queen, and her trusted, tormented cousin Stephen. See the cover here.

And behind that is something that caught my eye last week.. Thorn in My Heart (Lowlands of Scotland Series #1) by Liz Curtis Higgs(Mar 18, 2003). I had seen on a blog where they salivated over the hero.. and after loving my last 'Scottish' read.. I had to get this!

"Two brothers fight to claim one father’s blessing. Two sisters long to claim one man’s heart. In the autumn of 1788, amid the moors and glens of the Scottish Lowlands, two brothers and two sisters each embark on a painful journey of discovery. Jamie and Evan McKie both want their father Alec’s flocks and lands, yet only one brother will inherit Glentrool. Leana and Rose McBride both yearn to catch the eye of the same handsome lad, yet only one sister will be his bride. A thorny love triangle emerges, plagued by lies and deception, jealousy and desire, hidden secrets and broken promises. Brimming with passion and drama, Thorn in My Heart brings the past to vibrant life, revealing spiritual truths that transcend time and penetrate the deepest places of the heart."

To the right of the photo is A Promise to Love by Serena B. Miller, which just came out. Somehow I missed this one if it was up for grabs for review, so after reading other blogger's reviews, I was sold!
I really enjoyed the last novel by the author, so I knew I had to get this one too:

"Ingrid Larsen, a young Swedish immigrant, arrives in Michigan in 1871 to search for her brother who has disappeared into the woods to work the dangerous lumber camps. Destitute and barely hanging on to hope, she encounters a newly-widowed farmer who is struggling to raise five children on his own. Marriage would solve both of their problems, and so Ingrid proposes to a man she barely knows. She will fight to protect her new family--but the hardest battle of all will be winning the heart of her new husband. Readers who loved The Measure of Katie Calloway will be pleased to find more of Miller's emotive and descriptive writing here--and to discover that love is more than words."


The two review books that came this week are shown here with my precious Sweetie again..

Flight of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes..(I enjoyed the last Eakes book I read) This is a book two in the Daughters of Bainbridge House series, so I am contemplating squeezing in book one before this one..

"Cassandra Bainbridge has twice set aside her scholarly pursuits--once for the London Season and once for her wedding preparations. Love seems a wonderful alternative to study, until disaster strikes. When an accident brings an end to her betrothal, she heads for the country to recover from both her injuries and her broken heart. There she pursues her love for ballooning and envisions a future for herself as a daring aeronaut. But when her former fiance slips back into her life, what course will she choose?
Filled with the mystique of London society and the charming beauty of the English countryside, "A Flight of Fancy" explores what it means to find the true source of happiness and love amid the distractions of life. Readers will love the next installment in this rousing Regency series from accomplished author Laurie Alice Eakes."

At Every Turn by Anne Mateer.. loved Mateer's previous Wings of A Dream, so I jumped at the chance to review this one.

"She's off to the races!

Caught up in a whirlwind of religious enthusiasm, Alyce Benson impetuously pledges three thousand dollars to mission work in Africa. Now she just has to find a way to get the money.

Alyce harbors a secret passion for speed and automobiles, and she's spent many an afternoon driving around the rustic track in the field behind her home. When she discovers that her father's company has sponsored a racing car that will compete in several upcoming events--races in which the driver will be paid and could win as much as five thousand dollars in prize money--she conspires with her father's mechanic, Webster, to train and compete.

But when her friends cast aspersions on Webster's past, she realizes she may have trusted the wrong person with her secret. Will Alyce come up with the money in time, or will she have to choose between her hasty promise and the man who holds a piece of her heart?"


This week I have not gotten very far with reading.. I was reading a review book from Sunday to Wednesday that I was detesting. Finally was able to work out sending it back to them so I could move forward in my reading, but that took a big chunk out of my life. I am a member of the Christian Fiction Bloggers who are reading the Bible in 180 days, so I have just started reading that, and was working on that review book tediously, and once I got rid of it I picked up Wolf Hall which I have been trying to read forEVER.. (snoooze.. I am really hating the Tudor era) ...I think it's time to get to these new review books! Things have been insane in real life, I hope they calm down a bit so I can relax with my books again!!

If you missed some of my reviews, the past week I posted a few reviews:
An Heiress at Heart by Jennifer Delamere
To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander
Both were novels that I could recommend to those who like some romance in their reads!

I also offered up some more swap books.. let me know if you see any you would like to trade for! I plan on doing a new list of swap books after I scourge my shelves, but that's only going to happen when I have nothing else to do... I am also going to do some Email Subscriber Exclusive giveaways, an example of one will post on 11/15/12.. so be sure you subscribe to my emails.