Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman
Paperback544 pages, Touchstone
ISBN-13 978-1451623499
Review copy from the publisher, thanks so much!
Burton Book Review Rating: Epic Fun

SPANNING THREE GENERATIONS AND HALF THE WORLD, WILDFLOWER HILL IS A SWEEPING, ROMANTIC, AND COMPELLING STORY OF TWO WOMEN WHO SHARE A LEGACY OF SECRETS, HEARTBREAK, COURAGE, AND LOVE.
Emma, a prima ballerina in London, is at a crossroads after an injured knee ruins her career. Forced to rest and take stock of her life, she finds that she’s mistaken fame and achievement for love and fulfillment. Returning home to Australia, she learns of her grandmother Beattie’s death and a strange inheritance: a sheep station in isolated rural Australia. Certain she has been saddled with an irritating burden, Emma prepares to leave for Wildflower Hill to sell the estate.

Beattie also found herself at a crossroads as a young woman, but she was pregnant and unwed. She eventually found success—but only after following an unconventional path that was often dangerous and heartbreaking. Beattie knew the lessons she learned in life would be important to Emma one day, and she wanted to make sure Emma’s heart remained open to love, no matter what life brought. She knew the magic of the Australian wilderness would show Emma the way.
Wildflower Hill is a compelling, atmospheric, and romantic novel about taking risks, starting again, and believing in yourself. It’s about finding out what you really want and discovering that the answer might be not at all what you’d expect.

This is one of those novels that you know from the beginning would be a page-turner, and then when you finish it you wish you hadn't ended your journey (and wish for truly waterproof mascara). Wildflower Hill is a multi-generational story that starts with Beattie as a young girl and ends with Emma, her granddaughter. The two women were seemingly worlds apart, but perhaps after Beattie's death there can be a sense of rebirth with Emma if she could only find the path that Beattie carved out for her.

Beattie's story is sad, sweet, hopeful and horrifying as she deals with ostracization due to having a daughter out of wedlock and for respecting colored people. She is thrown every obstacle society can give her and we get to read of Beattie's journey through her life in bits and pieces through Beattie's eyes, and then a bit more of her mystery through Emma's discoveries. The book transitions to the granddaughter Emma who loses her career as a ballerina after an injury and heads down to Australia to pick through the estate left to her by her grandmother. She uncovers mystery after mystery as she tries to deal with the direction of her own life which she was completely unprepared for after her boyfriend leaves her and her career is over.

There are alot of things going on within the story, from high end society versus the commoner, from neighbor against neighbor and mother versus stepmother. From Scotland, England to Tasmania, Australia..all of it ties together to make Wildflower Hill the epitome of saga material with all those facets of Gone With the Wind type of feel. Love, lust, greed, labor, prejudice, secrets, courage are all underlying themes, but through it all we are waiting for redemption. Aching for it, for both Beattie and Emma. The writing style was fluent and easy to absorb, and the characterizations were pure and simple, and easy to identify with. Beattie was a woman to admire, and maybe Emma wasn't just because she couldn't think outside the box. The development in the plot from point A to B was a thrilling, inspiring, and quite an entertaining journey for me. What more can I ask for? A sequel?

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken, post it to your blog, and link it up to Alyce's blog At Home With Books.

June 2011

June 2011

Time flies.. summer is almost gone.. taking with it fleeting memories of nature's freedom

Quick .. catch him while you can..

As we prepare for the autumnal changes and wait for the season's majestic hues.

The Map of Time: A Novel by Felix J. Palma
Hardcover: 611 pages
Publisher: Atria Books; Reprint edition (June 28, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1439167397
Review copy provided by Atria, with many, many thanks!
Burton Book Review Rating:Fabulous.

 
When I first heard about this book, I was so impressed with the website and its imagery, and I knew I had to have it for my four year old and nine year old. I was so excited to see it in real life because it is truly beautiful! We spent two nights reading it because it is not your average children's book, and it is 56 pages long. It is not written like a toddler's picture book, though it would be a very beautiful one if they scaled down the writing. As it is, The Man in the Moon is an enchanting story about a little boy in the moon we call MiM, and his gallant friend Nightlight who saves him from the evil darkness..
 




See evil darkness, Pitch, on the right? (click to enlarge)

 
My toddler loved the story of the Nightlight, and my eldest enjoyed hearing a new story about a man in the moon which she never could really say she knew anything about in the first place. There were Lunar moths, and the Moon Clipper ship, helpful moon mice, visions of Earth far away.. I can't wait to see the Dreamworks movie Rise of the Guardians in the fall of 2012, which are based on books and artwork of William Joyce. I especially want to see the return of Nightlight, who was my toddler's favorite. My daughter really wanted to know more about MiM and the balloons he collected from the children from the earth.
 
This is going to be quite a series, as it tries to widen its net of potential readers (and viewers) with six chapter books and seven picture books. Evil darkness Pitch is said to be included in more of the books as well, as the author tries to help young readers conquer fears of the dark. The next book will be the chapter book in October, Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, which features our favorite Santa Claus.
 
Keep your eyes open for these, folks! I am collecting all the books for my kiddos, as it will be something they will both enjoy for years to come. I love how there will be both picture books and chapter books to satisfy readers of all kids' ages. This has been an endeavour twenty years in the making for the author and artist, and it is nice to see how dreams can come true even for us older folks. Find out more information here: http://guardiansofchildhoodbooks.com/

Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen
Hardcover, 448 pages
Putnam Adult, August 4, 2011
ISBN-13: 9780399157097
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: 4 stars


Many historical fiction fans have been introduced to Juana of Castile by reading The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner (Ballantine, 2009) and now there is another novel of this often misunderstood queen. Sister to Catherine of Aragon and daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, Juana came from a famous royal family and some would assume "good stock." Yet, she is know as Juana the Mad. The traits of insanity have been linked to her, her brother, and Isabella's mother, but how much of this is true? We may never really know, but we'll have fun trying to find out!

Lynn Cullen delves into Juana's life with this piece of fiction that is testament to the consuming power of greed of those who surround Juana. Christopher Colon (aka Columbus) was one of them, her husband was another and even Juana's parents were. The titles that landed at Juana's doorstep were unwanted and unexpected, and they eventually made her a prisoner in her own lands.

The author offers Juana's story of most of her life, and embellishes a little here and there to make it different than that of C.W. Gortner's recent novel. The two are similar in that they are both told in first person, and as such both are sympathetic towards Juana. The players around her change a little, which created a different contexts between the books, therefore I was not having too strong of a sense of deja vu. I enjoyed Lynn Cullen's portrayal of Juana, and of the events that saw her imprisoned for reasons beyond her control. Juana's husband Philippe was the one you would love to hate, and I would've enjoyed a little bit more story into what life was like after Philippe died. Her father Fernando seemed to be the villain at the end but it seemed to end a bit abruptly.

Poor Juana was the phrase going through my head for much of this read, and I wish there were something triumphant and hopeful that we could have gotten out of the read. Yet, more to the point, Juana lived her later life ruling as queen by name only, and perhaps there really was nothing to be hopeful for. One thing that troubles me has nothing to do with the book, but the fact that Phillippe was supposedly so handsome he was known as Philip the Handsome. I just don't see it.

If you are interested in reading more of Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Colon, or Juana of Castile, this quick reading novel will not disappoint, although how much is true or not we would never know. As fiction, this novel was fast-paced and intrigued me enough to want to know more about Juana and her family. I was especially tickled to see Margaret of York, Dowager Duchess, featured as the evil grandmother of Philip and yet another power hungry player. Reign of Madness was a myriad of page-turning worry and suspense for Juana as this reader wished for Juana to fly out of her coop once and for all, and into the arms of the one who truly loved her...

Read an excerpt here.

The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer
Paperback, 368 pages
Sourcebooks Casablanca Reissue May/June 2011, originally published 1951
ISBN: 9781402238833
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: Fabulous Heyer Fun!

Returning to his family seat from Waterloo, Gervase Frant, seventh Earl of St Erth, could have expected more enthusiasm for his homecoming. His quiet cousin, stepmother, and young half-brother seem openly disappointed that he survived the wars. And when he begins to fall for his half-brother's sweetheart, his chilly reception goes from unfriendly to positively murderous.
One of Heyer's most suspenseful Regency romances, The Quiet Gentleman combines an ingenious mystery plot with her signature witty style and effervescently engaging characters.

Although most of Heyer's romances seem to follow a formula of witty heroine vs the world who doesn't realize the direct path to everlasting love, The Quiet Gentleman sets itself apart. Focusing on Gervase Frant, the Seventh Earl of St Erth, the novel strays from the female point of view and even adds a bit of gothic and mysterious tones. Our hero, Gervase, returns to his (estranged) deceased father's estate after serving in the army to claim his inheritance, much to the dismay of his half-brother and stepmother who didn't actually think he'd survive Waterloo. Gervase is of the character where he could shrug off their dislike of him, but things get dicey when strange happenings occur that put Gervase in harm's way. Could his half-brother Martin really detest him so much as to wish that Gervase were dead? Is the step-mother the epitome of the evil witch? Or, is the house really haunted?

The romance comes in when Gervase meets Martin's love interest, Marianne, who is a beautiful and cheerful young lady with many admirers. Martin is quite protective of his invisible tie to her, and Gervase is a bit more dashing than Martin and an immediate rivalry occurs. Luckily, Gervase's cousin Theo is on Gervase's side and acts as a bit of a buffer between the brothers and is a trusted confidante of Gervase. And when Gervase's friend Lord Ulverston comes to stay, Martin earns another foe. Thrown into the mix was Miss Drusilla Morville, neutral friend and loyal companion to all (who could always be counted on to do the Dowager's tedious tasks).

It has been my previous experience with Heyer that her novels take a bit to get used to its jargon of Regency speak and a myriad of characters who normally take a bit of time to comprehend. With The Quiet Gentleman, there was not an immediate onslaught of unfamiliar names and we are taken right to the action after the opening description of the magnificent homestead of Stanyon, which is somewhat of a medieval fortress turned castle turned grand estate, which in itself becomes a bit of a character in the story.

I enjoy Heyer's writing because of the way she writes with class, and I love knowing that I will be entertained just because of a silly situation or a witty remark. I am not expecting a thrill-ride or something so extraordinary to knock my socks off; I simply appreciate the story and the setting. Heyer had such a clever mind and writing style, and she did it very well.  Heyer is similar to Austen and I often feel that Heyer is overshadowed by Austen, even though Heyer was so much more prolific. I have read ten Heyer's and one full Austen now, and I have not been disappointed with Heyer's romances and mysteries yet. I think I enjoyed this one most of all because of its slightly different formula. It is put in her romance genre, yet I enjoyed the mystery of it most of all. And the fact that it didn't focus on a woman and instead followed the gentleman (and then the women in his life) was a nice change of pace for me. For real Heyer and Austen fans, this one should not disappoint in the least.

Read an excerpt here. In honor of Georgette Heyer's 109th birthday, Sourcebooks is temporarily offering ALL 46 of Heyer's titles in e-book format at $1.99 each:

Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer
Paperback, 368 pages
Sourcebooks Casablanca reissue June 2011, originally published 1955
ISBN: 9781402238796
Review copy provided by the publisher, with many thanks!
Burton Book Review Rating: 3.5 stars


Bath Tangle is another one of Georgette Heyer's witty romances, and this one really had me laughing towards the end. Lady Serena is a willful young woman, destined to be a spinster, who now lives with her younger mother-in-law who has no idea how to reign in Serena's wild ways. Lord Rotherham has been named as a guardian of her inheritance, which really should not be of a huge concern except that he must also approve of whom Serena chooses to marry. This could become tangled due to the fact that there is some prior history between Lady Serena and Lord Rotherham where Serena backed out of their marriage negotiations at the last moment.

Serena is a wonderful character to read of, and she was the exact opposite of the ladylike of her sweet-natured mother-in-law, Fanny. After Serena's father's death, we wondered what exactly would happen to Serena, and how the arrangement between her and Rotherham would wreak havoc. Lo and behold, Serena becomes reacquainted with a previous suitor and they contrive to hide their relationship until the proper mourning period has passed. All this seems simple and straightforward, yet as only Georgette Heyer can divulge, Regency hijinks galore follows Serena everywhere she goes. Rotherham is left to wonder at her, as he obligingly lets her live her wild life, but poor Fanny is all in a flutter and Serena' betrothed doesn't know whether to be besotted or scornful.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the reader knows that Lady Serena is making another mistake by betrothing herself to Major Hector Kirkby. And there are more love tangles in Bath as Rotherham is engaged to a young lass who has no idea what she is getting herself into besides the idea of a coronet. As always, Bath Tangle contains a lot of witty remarks and colorful Regency dialogue with a bit of action at the end, making for a typical Georgette Heyer romance that demonstrates her clever prose with ease. For readers who are new to Heyer, they may not appreciate the prose at first, especially as this one started off hard to follow with many characters. It turns out that the story ended up following along with just a few of these initial characters and thus became easier to follow after a few more chapters. Moreover, it was a bit slow to reach any feverish pitch, so Bath Tangle would be best suited  for those already with an admiration for Georgette Heyer. This was my eighth Heyer novel, and I am still ready for more of Heyer's classy writing and charming Regency situations. I have enjoyed both her romances and her mysteries, and if you have enjoyed Jane Austen, you really need to discover Georgette Heyer as well.

I am amassing a collection of Heyer novels, and I am tracking my reading progress with them at Burton Book Review. The green navigation button at the top of this page titled "Heyer" also leads to this page.
Read an excerpt of Bath Tangle here and one from later in the book can be found here.

No Rest for The Dead: A Novel by 26 Writers
Hardcover, 272 pages
Touchstone (July 5, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1451607376
Editor's proceeds to benefit Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: Four Stars

When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco’s McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death. In the years since the case was closed, he's discovered a web of deceit and betrayal surrounding the Thomases that could implicate any number of people in the crime. With the help of the dead woman's friend, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth, suspect by suspect. Solving this case may be Nunn’s last chance for redemption … but the shadowy forces behind Christopher’s death will stop at nothing to silence the past forever.

In this innovative storytelling approach, each of these twenty-five bestselling writers brings their distinctive voice to a chapter of the narrative, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only America’s very best authors could achieve.

Written by some of the mystery genre's most noted writers, No Rest for The Dead is a clever collaboration that is intriguing, engrossing and suspenseful. The concept of the many authors was the first thing that hooked me, but the storyline that followed was a feat in itself. I am rarely stumped during formulaic mystery novels, but this one kept me guessing.

The story begins as Rosemary is executed, and then we go back in time to see how we get to that point. We figure out early on that Rosemary was framed for murdering her husband, but with the large cast of characters we could never really figure out who was who. This presented a minor drawback, as the character pool was so large I started to get confused, but that also kept the suspect pool large and therefore my curiosity remained peaked.

With the many different authors we are also presented with many different angles, some first person and some third person, of several of the characters. There was the detective who became washed out has been because of Rosemary's case, and several of the museum employees where the victim, Christopher Thomas had worked. Family members and art aficionados complete the cast and we are in for a ride as we are presented with one plot twist after the other.

As for the writing, you always felt the transition between the authors as each writer flowed to the next, and some chapters were better than others. There were some that I didn't like the feel of the writing, but I knew soon enough that I would be rewarded with a new chapter and a new writer. For mystery lovers, this is a win-win: twenty-six authors all packed into one entertaining novel. Plus, the editorial team is donating their portion of the proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which is another win-win.

Authors include Sandra Brown, Jeffrey Deaver, Diana Gabaldon, Michael Palmer, R.L. Stine and Alexander McCall Smith. Watch the video embedded above for a fun look at them.

The Burton Book Review Rating System
1 star = Not recommended
2 stars = Interesting premise, someone else might like it
3 stars = Good but could be better, didn't totally rock my boat
3.5=I enjoyed it; Had some minor quirks
4 stars = Very Good, Recommend!
4.5 stars = Almost perfect! Enjoyed immensely!
5 stars = EXCELLENT! NEW FAVE!

Click to See my Top Ten Best Reads of 2009 at The Burton Review
Click to See my Favorite (top 8) Reads of 2010 at The Burton Review

The dates will show the year that I read and reviewed it, and my rating:
(Of the year 2009 published Qty. #64)
(Of the year 2010, published Qty. #61)
(Of the year 2011, published to date: Qty. #30)

General Fiction
13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro (2011, 4 stars)
22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson (2011,4 stars)
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (2009, 4.5 stars)
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex (2010, 4.5 stars)
Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff (2010, 4.5 stars)
Follow Me by Joanna Scott (2009, 3.75)
Girl in Translation (2010, 4.5 stars)
Mothers and Daughters by Rae Meadows (2011, 4 stars)
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan (2009, 4.5 stars)
Sunset Park by Paul Auster (2010, 2 stars)
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott (2011, 3.5 stars)
The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano (2009, 3.5 stars)
The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa (2009, 5 stars)
The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly (2011, 3.5 stars)
The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney (2011, 4 stars)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (2009, 4 stars)
The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi (2009, 1 star, did not finish)
This Must Be The Place by Kate Racculia (2010, 5 stars)
Valeria's Last Stand by Marc Fitten (2009, 4 stars)

More Chick-Lit/Women's Fiction than not:
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton (2009, 3 stars)
The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton (2009, 3.5 stars)

Crime/Mystery/Thriller
31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan (2010, 5 stars)
No Rest for the Dead by 21 authors (2011)
The Osiris Alliance by Jack Ford (2009, 3 stars)
Crowner Royal by Bernard Knight (2009, 3 stars)
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders by Gyles Brandeth (2011, 4 stars)
Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo (2010, 3.5 stars)

Georgette Heyer
Arabella (2009, 5 stars)
My Lord John (2009, 2 stars)
The Convenient Marriage (2009, 4 stars)
The Devil's Cub (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Masqueraders (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Nonesuch (2009, 4 stars)
The Unfinished Clue (2009, 3.5 stars)

Regency
A Darcy Christmas: A Holiday Tribute to Jane Austen (2010, 4 stars)
Bellfield Hall, or the Observations of Miss Dido Kent by Anna Dean (2010, 3 stars)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (2009, 5 stars)
Darcy and Anne by Judith Brocklehurst (2009, 3.5 stars)
Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester (2010, 3.5 stars)
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in The World by Abigail Reynolds (2010, 3 stars)
Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Darcy Cousins by Monica Fairview (2010, 4.5 stars)
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview (2009, 4 stars)
Wickham's Diary by Amanda Grange (2011, 4 stars)

Victorian
Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series by Deanna Raybourn:
Silent in the Grave (Book One) (2010, 4.5 stars)
Silent in the Sanctuary (Book Two) (2010, 4.5 stars)
Dark Road to Darjeeling (Book Four) (2010, 4 stars)


Biblical Fiction
Delilah by India Edghill (2009, 4 stars)
Girl Mary by Petru Popescu (2009, 3 stars)
The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy (2010, 4.5 stars)

Young Adult Historical Fiction
The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry (2010, 4 stars)Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughter

Historical Fiction
A Cottage By The Sea by Ciji Ware (2010, 5 stars) *
By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan (2010, 4 stars)
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (2011, 4.5 stars)
Castile for Isabella (part 1 of Ferdinand & Isabella trilogy) by Jean Plaidy (2009, 3.5 stars)
Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell (2010, 4.5 stars)
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran (2009, 4.5 stars )
Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien (2009, 4.5 stars)
Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham (2010, 4 stars)
Incognito by Gregory Murphy (2011, 4 stars)
Indiscretions of The Queen by Jean Plaidy (Georgian Saga) (2009, 4 stars)
Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware (2010, 5 stars)
My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira (2010, 4.5 stars)
O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell (2010, 5 stars)
Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean (2009, 3 stars)
Partners by Dave McGowan (2009, 3.5 stars)
Penelope's Daughter by Laurel Corona (2010, 4 stars)
Receive Me Falling by Erika Robuck (2010, 4 stars)
Roses by Leila Meacham (2010, 4.5 stars)
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (2011, 4.5 stars)
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell (2011, 4 stars)
The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (2010, 4.5 stars)
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (2010, 5 stars)**
The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner (2009, 5 stars)
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott (2010, 5 Stars)**
The Murder in The Tower by Jean Plaidy (2009, 4 stars)
The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin (2010, 3 stars)

General Medieval Historical Fiction:
Brothers of Gwynedd: Book One by Edith Pargeter (2010, did not finish)
Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick (2011, 5 stars)*
To Defy A King by Elizabeth Chadwick (2011, 4.5 stars)
Within the Hollow Crown by Margaret Campbell-Barnes (2010, 4 stars)

Eleanor of Aquitaine Related Novels:
Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine (2010, 4 stars)
Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman (2009, 3 stars)
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick (2010, 4 stars)
The Queen's Pawn by Christy English (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick (2010, 4.5 stars)
The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas (2011, 4 stars)
The Secret Eleanor by Cecelia Holland (2010, 3.5 stars)
To Be Queen by Christy English (2011, 4.5 stars)
Queen Defiant: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Anne O'Brien (2011, 4stars)

France/French Revolution Novels:
Before Versailles by Karleen Koen (2011, 5 stars)*
Désirée: The Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko (2010, 4.5 stars)*
Finding Emilie by Laurel Corona (2011, 5 stars)*
For The King by Catherine Delors (2010, 4 stars)
Madame Bovary's Daughter by Linda Urbach (2011, 4.5 stars)
Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran (2011, 4.5 stars)
The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent (2010, 4 stars)
Twilight of A Queen (Book#5) by Susan Carroll (2009, 3.5 stars)

Wars of the Roses Related Novels:
Queen by Right (about Cecily Neville) by Anne Easter Smith (2011, 3 stars)
The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth (2009, 3.5 stars)
The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham (2010, 3.5-4 stars)
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (2009, 4 stars)

Tudor Genre:
All the Queen's Players by Jane Feather (2010, 3 stars)
Elizabeth I: A Novel by Margaret George (2011, 5 stars)*
Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Mary Tudor by Julianne Lee (2009, 4 stars)
His Last Letter: A Novel of Elizabeth I and The Earl of Leicester by Jeane Westin (2010, 3 stars)
Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth (2011, 4 stars)
Rivals in the Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan (2011, 4 stars)
Secrets of The Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan (2010, 4.5 stars)*
Secrets of The Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson (2009, 5 stars)
Secrets of The Tudor Court: Between Two Queens by Kate Emerson (2009, 4 stars)
Secrets of The Tudor Court: By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson (2010, 4.5 stars)
St. Thomas's Eve aka The King's Confidante by Jean Plaidy (2009, 4 stars)
The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry (2011, 4 stars)
The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy (2009, 2.5 stars)
The Captive Queen of Scots by Jean Plaidy (2009, 5 stars)
The Dark Rose (Book 2 in Morland Dynasty) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (2010 reissue, 3 stars)
The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory (2009 0 stars)
The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham (2011, 5 stars)*
The Queen's Mistake: A Novel by Catherine Howard by Diane Haeger (2009, 3 stars)
The Queen's Rival by Diane Haeger (2011, 4 stars)
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (2010, 4 stars)
The Royal Road to Fotheringay by Jean Plaidy (2009, 5 stars)
The Tudor Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York by Margaret Campbell Barnes (2009, 3.5 stars)
The Tudor Secret: Book 1 Elizabeth I Spymaster by C.W. Gortner (2011, 5 stars)
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory (2010)
Young Bess by Margaret Irwin (2010, 4 stars)

Tudor Non-Fiction
After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland by Leanda De Lisle (2009, 3.5 stars)
Arbella by Sarah Gristwood (2009, not a typical review, but 4 stars)
Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder by Mary S. Lovell (2008, 5 stars)
Elizabeth's Women:The Hidden Story of The Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman (2009, 4 stars)
Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love by Elizabeth Norton (2010, 3 stars)
Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna Whitelock (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Six Wives of Henry VIII by David Loades (2010, 4 stars)

Other Historical Non-Fiction
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman who Helped Hide the Frank Family by Miep Gies (2009, 4.5 stars)

Historical Fantasy/Arthurian
Dark Moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott (2010, 4 stars)
The Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott(2009, 4.75 stars)
Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley (2010, 3 stars)

Historical Romance
Highland Rebel by Judith James (2009, 3 stars)
My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy (2009, 3 stars)
The Treasures of Venice by Loucinda McGary (2009, 4 stars)
The Wildest Heart by Rosemary Rogers (2009, 3.5 stars)

Romance - Contemporary Fiction
Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle (2009, 3.75 stars)
Too Hot To Handle by Robin Kaye (2009, 4 stars)
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown (2009, 3 stars)

Inspirational Non-Fiction
The Noticer by Andy Andrews (2009, 5 stars)
The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson (2009, 4 stars)

General and Biographical Non-Fiction
Betsy Ross and The Making of America by Marla R. Miller (2010, 3 stars)
Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Theft, Murder and Detection by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (2009, 4 stars)
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose (2009, 3.5 stars)
Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter by Antonia Fraser (2010, 3.5 stars)

I have been quoted at Sourcebooks May 2009 Review round up:
What Would Jane Austen Do~This is full of romance, a hunky guy, and even some Jane Austen to boot, which I think Regency romance fans would enjoy. The Burton Review

Too Hot To Handle~If you like Janet Evanovich as I do, you will enjoy Robin Kaye. This book is an easy victory for Robin Kaye and I look forward to more of her accomplishments. The Burton Review

Incognito by Gregory Murphy
Paperback, 320 pages
Berkley Trade July 5, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0425241035
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: 4 stars

When I first saw this novel's blurb I was immediately intrigued by "Gilded Age" and "Long Island". Long Island is where I spent twenty years of my former self, and it would be exciting to be able to capture a bit of those memories and glitter it with the Gilded Age. Incognito is a quick summer read, with a bit of suspense, mystery and love all tangled up into a historical fiction novel. The dapper William Dysart finds himself in a horribly unromantic marriage but he seemingly has everything else while working as an attorney for a successful firm. In reality, he is still struggling to decipher his family's past and the death of his mother from years ago. His father offers no answers and his wife offers no love. William becomes involved in a court battle between a high society matron and a small town girl of Long Island, and William finds himself drawn to the simplicity of this country life and the young woman, Sybil Curtis.

Along with William's own secrets, there are quite a few to unravel to get to the heart of the issue between Sybil and the powerful Lydia Billings. Sybil has her own family mystery and is hiding a torturous secret while for some reason Lydia is willing to stop at nothing to destroy Sybil. William crosses the boundaries of professional versus personal as he becomes more and more attracted to Sybil, despite the fact that he is married to Arabella, the most beautiful woman in the city. It is quite obvious Arabella's beauty is only skin deep, and prefers fashion, frivolity and balls as opposed to her husband.

Best quote from the book that sums up William's thoughts on society:
"An impressive stage, he thought, on which to act out yet another of life's foolish pageants sanctified by tradition and contrived to give meaning to the meaningless."
While we immediately dislike Arabella, we are that much more impressed with William. Stumbling through the shadows of the past, William forces himself into the middle of the battle of property which turns into something so much more than he can handle. With threats of scandal and destroyed reputations, the novel pulled me into its clever web of deceit and treachery and I didn't stop until I reached the last page. With a mix of elegance and evil our beloved New Yorkers were portrayed along with power, prestige and the contradictions of supposed blessings of the rich. I loved the exquisite blend of themes, with the many New York attitudes and the magnificent backdrop of Long Island, the city and all the quirks of high society as it were, once upon a time. Incognito is perfect for those looking for an absorbing novel that has much to offer within its small package, and is a fantastic debut for Gregory Murphy, who I can happily report is working on his second novel.

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
Reagan Arthur Books, Little, Brown
July 7, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0316097796
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: 3.5 stars


The End of Everything is one of those quick reads that you just can't put down. Even though the subject matter is creepy-crawly with themes of bad deeds of evil doers.. it certainly held my attention. This is the story of two tween girls who have been best friends and neighbors for as long as they can remember, and were always like two peas in a pod. Lizzie and Evie shared their clothes, their lives, their thoughts with each other until that one untangible thing came along that Lizzie knew that Evie was hiding from her.

And then the unthinkable happens: Evie disappears pretty much into thin air and Lizzie is the last person to see her alive. Lizzie is bombarded with all the emotions at once, and still she knows that somehow Evie is out there, alive. Told in first person, we go through all of Lizzie's thoughts and suspicions as we follow Lizzie's life during those horrific weeks that Evie is gone. She spends time with Evie's grief stricken father, and even while Evie is gone she feels something a bit more for this Mr. Verver, which is creepy in itself. And then Evie's older sister Dusty is there, watching on the outside, making Lizzie and us readers feel that Dusty knows something, and we can't quite put our finger on it.

Lizzie at first helps the police, but then fabricates stories to the police as an effort to steer people in the direction of insurance agent Mr. Shaw, based on her hunch. Mr. Shaw's family is then turned inside out, as the police take any leads they can get. But as a reader we begin to question, is it really Mr. Shaw? Is all this for nothing? Did Evie jump in the lake? Did someone else take her? All these questions along with that gut-wrenching fear grip you as you read this book, and given its horrific subject matter of a young girl gone missing and what could happen to her as she is abducted, this is a story that is well-told. It was full of suspense and with its own weird twists that kept me guessing - making me think I should look up the author Megan Abbott's previous works.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Viking Adult, July 26 2011
ISBN13: 978-0670022694
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: Four Na Yorkah stars

A sophisticated and entertaining debut novel about an irresistible young woman with an uncommon sense of purpose.


Set in New York City in 1938, Rules of Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year- old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.

The story opens on New Year's Eve in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, where Katey and her boardinghouse roommate Eve happen to meet Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a ready smile. This chance encounter and its startling consequences cast Katey off her current course, but end up providing her unexpected access to the rarified offices of Conde Nast and a glittering new social circle. Befriended in turn by a shy, principled multimillionaire, an Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, and a single-minded widow who is ahead of her times, Katey has the chance to experience first hand the poise secured by wealth and station, but also the aspirations, envy, disloyalty, and desires that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her orbit, she will learn how individual choices become the means by which life crystallizes loss.

Elegant and captivating, Rules of Civility turns a Jamesian eye on how spur of the moment decisions define life for decades to come. A love letter to a great American city at the end of the Depression, readers will quickly fall under its spell of crisp writing, sparkling atmosphere and breathtaking revelations, as Towles evokes the ghosts of Fitzgerald, Capote, and McCarthy.

Every now and then you read a book that grabs you from page one and you can't set it down. For this one, the first few pages were a bit iffy with me attempting to get settled into the upcoming story because the dialogue was just weird and couldn't pinpoint who was what or who and why I was there. An evil fleeting thought even passed through urging me to set it down and move on. That cover was just mesmerizing enough to pull me in.

And like a little Energizer bunny I kept going and going and going and going and going... I felt like I had become a New Yorker all over again within these pages.. I neglected to cook dinner for the kids and opted to read instead.. I managed to take a shower.. and then I kept going and going. I finished the book at midnight fully knowing that I had to wake up for work in six hours. At 352 easy pages, I was completely immersed in the characters, and the story. Why was it so tantalizing? I can't really put my finger on it. It was atmospheric with characters that were over the top, being lovable and hate-able all at once.

These characters were a mixture of stereotypical New Yorkers, but it was set back in the quaint year of 1938. It was a humdinger of a year for the main character, Katey, as she and her best friend Evie meet up with the dashing Theodore "Tinker" Grey and toast the town. A grand time was had by the trio until the unthinkable happens one rainy night. Everything changes for the new friends and it wasn't all good.

The storyline focuses on Katey, Evie, and Tinker but includes a host of circles of friends who flit in and out of Katey's life. Most of all, there was New York. I couldn't help but to imagine my great-grandfather and the extended family living out the lives that the book exhibited in that long ago era. The narrative was descriptive in a methodically engrossing sort of way and I simply couldn't tear myself away from it. There were several levels of the social classes at work in the story, but predominantly it was a bit more of a slice of life of the well-to-do at high society clubs like 21, Bentley autos and fancy shmancy hotel rooms. And there was Katey, watching it all, invited in, but not exactly a part of that world as she is a straight-laced hard working girl who keeps perfect time. She is in love with Tinker although we don't really know for sure if she knows it, and she dates others and we wonder if she'll ever see the light. But then we wonder who really is this Tinker fellow anyway.

I would be remiss if I did not mention a major pet peeve, though. The form of the novel is a bit odd, with the prologue and epilogue thing in a novel and zero quotation marks. Zero. Major complete total annoyance about the lack of the tried and true proper written format. Which is why this is not a 5 star for me. Please use proper punctuation in a book. I get it that you're totally cool and innovative in your non-conformist ways as a debut author, but get over it. So, with the title of the book mentioning "rules" (*I used quotation marks purposely), I wonder if there is a hidden meaning here. Whatever it was I missed it. Otherwise, Tinker used George Washington's little handbook of Rules of Civility to help fit in with high society, yet with all these polite mannerisms he lacked the sincerity of it all as it didn't run core deep.

Despite the lack of quotation marks, Rules of Civility is purely fantastic stuff. Loved this story and if you are/were a New Yorker, or even maybe want to be, this novel really shines just for that 1930's New Yorker feel it embraces. Think F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, etc. And it was kind of a shame I didn't make this one drag out a smidgen longer so that I could tote that quaint cover around a bit longer.

Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders by Gyles Brandreth
Touchstone, May 2011
Trade Paperback, 400 pages
ISBN-13: 9781439153680
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: Great fun! Four stars!

Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders opens in 1890, at a glamorous party hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Albemarle. All of London's high society -- including the Prince of Wales -- are in attendance at what promises to be the event of the season. Yet Oscar Wilde is more interested in another party guest, Rex LaSalle, a young actor who claims to be a vampire.
But the entertaining evening ends in tragedy when the duchess is found murdered -- with two tiny puncture marks on her throat. Desperate to avoid scandal and panic, the Prince asks Oscar and his friend Arthur Conan Doyle to investigate the crime. What they discover threatens to destroy the very heart of the royal family. Told through diary entries, newspaper clippings, telegrams, and letters, Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders is a richly atmospheric mystery that is sure to captivate and entertain.

I love me some history with mystery and vice versa. Vampires, no, not so much. But last year I read Dracula in Love by Karen Essex and really loved it. The theme of medical experimentation is in both of these books, horrific as the thought is. I knew this Oscar Wilde series by Gyles Brandreth already had accumulated a following due to the prior mysteries, so I wanted to give this fourth one a try. Oscar Wilde was truly an amazing man, and I enjoyed how his character was so efficiently infused in this mystery. The absolute main draw of this mystery was the wittiness of Oscar and his never ending amount of one liners.

Apparently different from the previous forms of the series, this installment utilizes many different narrators as told via notes, letters and diaries. The main characters are all distinguished gentlemen who behaved in similar fashions, so I had to sometimes go back and look at the heading of the particular note or letter to see who was speaking presently. The narrations were short and swiftly changing, hence the minor confusion at times. This would be the only negative about this book, as the story was full of these British guys partying like 1890's rock stars and doing their little investigations of the murders along the way. There was indeed one of those guys who swore he was a vampire, and the murdered victims were adorned with vampire-like wounds, but that was pretty much the extent of the vampiristic tendencies except of course for the men discussing the habits of vampires. The first victim was a beautiful duchess named Helen, whom Oscar liked to quip "She is Helen, late of Troy, now of Grosvenor Square." The sleuths had to decipher whether there was a big cover-up going on because "the prince detests scandal" or was the prince never really involved at all.

Along with Oscar Wilde, other famous notables we have would be his close friend, Bram Stoker, aspiring vampire author, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the slowly becoming famous author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Among the suspect pool we have doctors, Princes, and of course, the vampire friend Rex LaSalle whom Oscar was infatuated with. And then of course there was the magnificent character of Victorian England herself, where the author did a magnificent job of setting the scene and reimagining the cobbled streets of the era. I especially enjoyed the High Tea scenes, where it boasted a feast that excluded only tea. One of the suspects, the Prince of Wales, is the same prince who became Edward VII in 1901, and it was his order that none of this vampire murder business be published while he was alive, which is why we have this splendid story at our disposal now (wink, wink).

And as far as the mystery goes, I had a feeling regarding the whodunit part, but the why part was intriguing as well. The novel was definitely the "rattling good yarn" the author wanted to give us, and I will definitely keep an eye out for his other Oscar Wilde history mysteries since I enjoyed this one so much.

Some witty Oscar Wilde lines in the novel:
"The man who thinks about his past has no future."
"It is, of course, the the second editions of my books that are the true rarities."
"The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it."

Madame Bovary's Daughter by Linda Urbach
Bantam Paperback, 512 pages
ISBN 13: 978-0385343879
Review copy provided by the author, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: 4.5 stars!

Picking up after the shattering end of Gustave Flaubert’s classic, Madame Bovary, this beguiling novel imagines an answer to the question Whatever happened to Emma Bovary’s orphaned daughter?

One year after her mother’s suicide and just one day after her father’s brokenhearted demise, twelve-year-old Berthe Bovary is sent to live on her grandmother’s impoverished farm. Amid the beauty of the French countryside, Berthe models for the painter Jean-François Millet, but fate has more in store for her than a quiet life of simple pleasures. Berthe’s determination to rise above her mother’s scandalous past will take her from the dangerous cotton mills of Lille to a convent in Rouen to the wealth and glamour of nineteenth-century Paris. There, as an apprentice to famed fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth, Berthe is ushered into the high society of which she once only dreamed. But even as the praise for her couture gowns steadily rises, she still yearns for the one thing her mother never had: the love of someone she loves in return.


Brilliantly integrating one of classic literature’s fictional creations with real historical figures, Madame Bovary’s Daughter is an uncommon coming-of-age tale, a splendid excursion through the rags and the riches of French fashion, and a sweeping novel of poverty and wealth, passion and revenge.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert caused quite a stir over a hundred years ago in Paris, as it gave us the uninhibited housewife's struggle to always want more than what she was given. Madame Bovary caused a scandal with her adultery, and died a young woman. Shortly after, her doting husband followed her to the grand mausoleum. This left their daughter, Berthe, a penniless orphan. And this is where author Linda Urbach picks up the story as she brings us the tale of Berthe's life in Madame Bovary's Daughter.
With great attention to period detail, the author recreated Berthe's world in France as she struggled to find her place in the world. Berthe is young, but intelligent, and yet the author had the young girl making decisions as a young girl would, even though I wished Berthe would wise up at times. Those times were very hard for her, and she just wanted a normal, decent life for herself. That was not in the cards, though, as her grandmother reduced her to a slave and later Berthe toiled in a textile mill.
Berthe's only female friend was a thief, but Berthe managed to maintain a friendly relationship with a painter. He introduced to the world of art, and this opened up her creativity. She later found herself suggesting fabrics and designs to friends of her employer, and managed to work her way up slowly in society. How she got there was a struggle that was at times difficult to bear, as she underwent much hardship since her story began. But throughout her story, we witness Berthe becoming a young woman, never quite losing her girlish impetuousness, but finally managing to make wise decisions.

Madame Bovary's Daughter is not a quick light-hearted read, as it can be depressing and disheartening And even though my psyche railed against the poor decisions of Berthe, I always wanted to keep reading and see how she would get out of her current predicament. As a pretty young girl, Berthe attracted the attentions of many (female and male), thus there were several sexual situations and they could get graphic. These scenes add to the authenticity of the plight of Berthe as she attempts to make her life better than her own mother's was. At 500 pages, this novel took me 3 days to read, which means I found it very hard to put down. A very intriguing story, and Gustave Flaubert would be proud to have Berthe's voice finally on paper, as well as an additional understanding of Gustave's original characters.