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.

Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Then Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce with England by marrying the English king's beloved, illegitimate daughter, Joanna. Reluctant to wed her father's bitter enemy, Joanna slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband who dreams of uniting Wales. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales--and Llewelyn--Joanna must decide to which of these powerful men she owes her loyalty and love.
A sweeping novel of power and passion, loyalty and lives, this is the book that began the trilogy that includes FALLS THE SHADOW and THE RECKONING

http://plantagenetdynasty.blogspot.com/2008/01/mothers-lament-alienor-of-aquitaine.html

Above is the link to another blog post by someone far more educated than I. But the post itself is a transcript from Eleanor of Aquitaine's Letter to Pope Celestine III in 1193.

This is in relation to the book "Devil's Brood" of which I have begun to read and reviewed earlier.
I am about 3/4 through, and I am not overly enthusiastic with it, as can be expected when reading two wonderful books it is hard to continue the same rhythm sometimes. But I do still recommend it of course. There are a lot more names/titles of liege men in the book which begin to become a blur, and unfortunately though the tragedy of the uproars the sons pertook are indeed troublesome, it does seem to go on and on with one brother against the other. However, the knowledge that this is History propels me forward, needing to know the outcome from one battle to the next. Henry II is not as formidable as one would think, and Richard of Aquitaine is simply portrayed as a bloodthirsty maniac. Henry/Hal, the young king, is portrayed as dimwit at times who is only interested in popularity or sports. We enjoy more of a look at an illegitimate son of Henry II, Geoff, though do no confuse him with the younger son of Henry and Eleanor, Geoffrey.

It is amazing sometimes to trail along the Family Tree's of any of the English Families. First off, there are always marriages between cousins, and secondly, there are always a pattern of the same names. Historians must get turned around in circles when trying to decipher who was who, especially when one writer or scribe spells a name one way, and another spells the same name a completely different way. And of course there was the inevitable death of their babies, so that an immediate family would have the same names in order to honor the lost baby. Eleanor of Aquitaine was lucky enough to have had lost only one.. is that lucky?? But in those times, it does seem she was spared that grief more than others as she did give birth ten times. Yet, then it came back to haunt her as her brood eventually turned on each other and her sons fought each other and caused Eleanor's imprisonment and estrangement from her husband.

I have finished Arbella's story, and could have cried at what her life turned out to be for her. Hers is not overly romantic or overly exciting, but just a life that was supposed to mean much more. In the end, years later, Arbella's name is linked to words such as 'freedom', liberty and democracy.. a ship was named for her sailing to the 'New World'..

I feel Arbella was cheated out of a life by Elizabeth I, then by her cousin the next ruler, James I of England aka James VI of Scotland.. I feel that Arbella should have been named as successor by Elizabeth. But obviously that did not happen. Then James continued Elizabeth's horrible control over Arbella's fate by also neglecting to at least allow Arbella to marry. He also wanted to use her as a pawn.. a bargaining piece. Ironically, when Arbella finally did marry as she had always wished, that was the end of Arbella's freedom. The biggest mistake of that was marrying a Seymour.. who also had a line towards the throne. A wonderful story it all is, but tragic that it had to be true and I am just not going to give it all away. You really must read the book.

I have since started Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman. This author is AWESOME and is one of my newer favorites. Devil's Brood is part three in a trilogy ending Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine. "When Christ and His Saints Slept" (1994) is the first one of novels of the Middle Ages in this Trilogy, next was "Time and Chance". Many of her fans had to wait a long long time for The Devil's Brood to come out and I am glad I had just read the other two last year and I didn't need to wait long for the release here. The first novel begins in 1120 and details the war between Empress Maud and King Stephen who usurped the throne after the untimely death of the one legitimate successor in the White Ship. Henry I names his daughter, Maude, at successor, but once he's gone Stephen of Blois claimed the throne and thus, the battle began.

"Time and Chance" is about Henry II and Eleanor and how they met and had children and thus the complicated relationship they shared.. also Thomas Becket.. and then a fictional character is more at play here as well. Battles on two borders, Henry cheats while Eleanor is busy having his many children, founding a dynasty that lasts for 300 years...

And now it is time For "Devil's Brood". Halfway through it, it is still as enjoyable as t he last two were, and less of the previously mentioned fictional character is at play. Which I like because I enjoy reading more closely matching to the real history. The phrase Devil's Brood refers to Henry and Eleanor's children, the young King Hal, Richard the LionHeart, Geoffrey, a few daughters.. There are rebellions of the young King Hal against his father Henry II and poor Eleanor gets caught in the middle and is never forgiven by her husband. She is now a prisoner and very little hope for escape. I must keep reading.. ;)