The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma

The New York Times bestselling author of The Map of Time returns with a mesmerizing novel casting H.G. Wells in a leading role, as the extraterrestrial invasion featured in The War of the Worlds is turned into a bizarre reality.

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer:

No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk.

Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again.

Four brothers. Four straws. One bride. Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she determines to stand by his side against the enemy that threatens them both. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her merely as a short-straw bride?

I just started Short-Straw Bride, and it is a good story with a likable heroine. I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out between Meredith and sexy Travis, and if they can ward off the bad guys.

I am also participating in the read along of Wolf Hall, and I am about halfway through reading it. But my mind has been in another world lately so I haven't really been reading at all this past week. Wolf Hall is an interesting look at Cromwell and Wolsey, with really smirky analogies and remarks about the famous Tudor era. I find it quite intriguing that this book, a highly acclaimed award winning one, is allowed to delve into the rumors such as affairs that in reality were NOT occurring, that Anne Boleyn was a witch with a sixth finger etc are all ACCEPTABLE in this work but if ANY other author *Philippa Gregory cough cough* gets SLAMMED if she mentions anything like that....

 

The Shadow on The Quilt by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Christian Fiction/Historical Romance

Last week, I reviewed the Wallis Simpson book that piqued every one's interest last week.

I also posted a review of Words Spoken True, by Ann Gabhart which has a really fun storyline about a young woman working in her father's newspaper business, and I really enjoyed this one. It had a great mix of romance and some scary moments all bundled up in an intriguing historical setting. 

I have just finishing the reading of Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck (holy moly emotive ending of goodness!!)...

and next up SHOULD be 

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer:

No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk.

Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again.

Four brothers. Four straws. One bride. Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she determines to stand by his side against the enemy that threatens them both. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her merely as a short-straw bride?

HOWEVER.. I felt like crap & wasn't in the mood for happy-joy-joy-love stuff (even if it's got burning houses in the synopsis) so I decided to jump into the brand new read along of Wolf Hall, which I've had the hardcover on my shelf soon after it came out in 2009. I wanted the new Philippa Gregory book to read as I am really in the mood for some Wars of the Roses material, but it looks like it's not going to land in my mailbox, so Wolf Hall will have to suffice (which, is probably good, as I'd probably rip a Philippa Gregory novel to shreds considering my mood)..

You can  join in now, it just started and you only need to read through part one this week. Here's the schedule.

And in case you haven't heard all about Wolf Hall from six different ways to Sunday, here's the blurb for this Man Booker Prize Winner:

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.


Surprise of all surprises, the 2012 sequel, Bring Up The Bodies, is in the running for the Man Booker Prize yet again.

So.. what are you reading?

Two lovers. Two very different lives. One future together that will change history.

When debutante Wallis Simpson is growing up, she devotes her teenage daydreams to one man, the future King of England, Prince Edward. But it's Pamela Holtby, Wallis's aristocratic best friend, who mixes within the palace circle. Wallis's first marriage to a dashing young naval pilot is not what she dreamt of; he turns out to be a dominating bully of a man, who punishes her relentlessly. But her fated marriage does open a suprising door, to the world of Navy couriers – where navy wives are being used to transport messages around the world. This interesting turn of fate takes Wallis from the exuberant social scene in Washington to a China that is just emerging from civil war. Edward in the meantime is busy fulfilling his royal duties – and some extra-curricular ones involving married women. Until the day, just before he ascends the throne as Edward VIII, he is introduced to a very special married woman, Wallis Simpson.

Was Wallis Simpson really the monster the royal family perported her to be? Or was she an extraordinary woman who led an unimaginable life? A dramatic novel, that crosses continents and provides a unique insight into one of history’s most charismatic and multi-faceted women.