by misscz on April 13, 2009
in 1 Star,2 Stars,3 Stars,4 Stars,5 Stars,Christine Feehan,Christine Merrill,Eve Kenin,Georgette Heyer,Housekeeping,Jessica Andersen,Kelly Hunter,Lori Devoti,Nalini Singh,Penny McCall,Sharon Ashwood
Being behind on reviews has had an unexpected plus side.
By having that gap between finishing the book and when I actually sit down to put my thoughts on paper, I have a better take on which books stay with me. Since I have to refresh my memory on some points, I usually have to do a little re-reading. If I really love the book, I tend to keep reading after I found whatever it was that prompted me to refer to the book. That’s a bit annoying, since I should be writing, not reading. The harder it is for me to put aside the book, the more likely the book is going to be a 5-star book, flaws and all.
With that in mind, I’m going to go ahead and give ratings to the books I’ve already posted. I’ll eventually update the individual review posts. Reminder: anything I give a 3-Star or above is a guarantee that I will try other books from the author.
Five Stars: LOVED!
- Dawnkeepers (Jessica Andersen)
- Bedded for Diamonds (a.k.a. Priceless) (Kelly Hunter)
- Ravenous (Sharon Ashwood)
- Dark Crusade (Lori Devoti)
Four Stars: Liked a lot!
- Driven (Eve Kenin)
- An Unladylike Offer (Christine Merrill)
- Ace is Wild (Penny McCall)
Three Stars: Enjoyable Read
- Slave to Sensation (Nalini Singh)
- Cousin Kate (Georgette Heyer)
- Shadow Game (Christine Feehan)
Cousin Kate
Author: Georgette Heyer
Copyright: 1968 (original)’ 2000 (Harlequin); 396 pgs.
ISBN: 0-373-83446-2
Series: NA
Sensuality: Kisses
Who: Kate Melvern and Philip Broome
Where & When: England, 1817/1818
As author Teresa Medeiros states in the Forward, this book is a departure — more Gothic suspense than high comedy — yet it is not as dark as other Gothics, because it still contains Heyer’s trademark secondary characters and humor.
The lovely orphaned and penniless Kate Melvern is at the end of her rope, so to speak. Released from her governess position for being too young, too pretty, and not accomplished enough, Kate has returned to her own nurse, Sarah Nidd and is seriously considering hiring herself out as a lady’s maid or seamstress. Sarah won’t hear of it and she writes to Lady Broome, half-sister of Kate’s father. Estranged, Kate has never met her Aunt Minerva and only knows what her father has told her of her ambitious relative. Kate has serious doubts that Lady Broome will help to her, so she is doubly shocked when her aunt comes in person to invite her to Staplewood.
Staplewood is the ancestral home of the Broome’s. The current baronet, Sir Timothy, is many years older than Aunt Minerva — who is his second wife — and his health is in decline. Their only child, Torquil, is a bit of an oddity. He has never been sent away to school and he has no friends. Prone to mood swings and severe headaches, his health is considered delicate and the young man is hardly ever out of the sight of his doctor or some member of the household.
Though Lady Broome is very kind and generous, Kate begins to feel crushed by such generosity and wonders how she will be able to ever repay her aunt. Though Kate has begged her aunt to allow her to be useful, Lady Broome has reassured her that Kate spending time with Torquil is ample repayment. Kate is bored with the idle lifestyle. There are no balls or other house parties — except the one dinner party attended by only Sir Timothy’s friends — to break up the monotony, and Torquil’s behavior makes him a poor companion.
The arrival of Mr. Philip Broome, Sir Timothy’s beloved nephew, adds some excitement and change to the household. Philip and Lady Broome do not like each other. She resents the influence Philip has with Sir Timothy and the high regard Sir Timothy has for Philip. Torquil is alternately happy to see him and convinced that Philip is out to get him. For his part, Philip is leery of Kate and believes her to be a fortune hunter with an eye on Torquil. After a couple of uninterrupted conversations with her, he soon realizes that he’s mistaken in regards to her character, and that she is unaware of the real situation at Staplewood.
I really enjoyed this book. Kate is one of the more level-headed, practical, Heyer heroines. Philip is strong, but not unduly arrogant and can admit that he may be wrong about what’s going on at Staplewood. Of course, they are perfectly suited for each other and the scene in which Philip proposes to Kate is the highlight of the book.
And one final note: Torquil? Seriously??
Started: 25 January 2009
Finished: 2 February 2009
Rating:
TBA
I don’t normally look at my stats. WordPress makes it easy for me to do so — and occasionally I glance at what search terms my blog popped up for, or which site most of my visitors were referred from — but for the most part I ignore them. Just for giggles though, I’ve been looking at them a little more closely lately and had noticed a few trends, especially in regards to the searches. Out of curiosity, I dug a little deeper.
The all-time top search term my blog popped up in is not “babbling” as one would think. It’s “Mr. & Mrs. Darcy”. I suppose I should stop procrastinating and finish the rest of the series, considering how often some variation of the search term pops up in my stats.
You’d think, based on the above stats, that the review for “Pride and Prescience” would be the most viewed post or page on my blog. It’s not. It’s the 6th most viewed book review post (this excludes “About Me” and the various challenge pages/posts that had higher view counts).
The top most view book review?
“These Old Shades”. Georgette Heyer, and search terms referring to her books or characters, appear more frequently than almost any other subject. The other most frequent topic is Star Wars. There are three book in the top 10 most viewed reviews:
01. These Old Shades (G. Heyer)
02. Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil (J. Luceno)
03. Nicola and the Viscount (M. Cabot)
04. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (M. Stover)
05. Lady in Waiting (A. Herries)
06. Pride and Prescience (C. Bebris)
07. Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (D. Karpyshyn)
08. Maid of Honor (P. Marshall)
09. Magic Burns (I. Andrews)
10. Murder in the North End (P. Ryan)
This wealth of data tells me I should ditch the reading challenges that can’t accommodate Heyer, Star Wars, and the Darcy’s mystery series. Regency England and A Galaxy Far, Far Away. Wow.
Those were the all-time stats. Lately, I’ve been noticing that my blog pops up in searches for anything related to the Kate Daniels series or its author. Inquiring minds want to know if the main character hooks up with a certain Beast Lord in book three. Me, I think she’s in denial. 
And people seemed to be anxious to learn the title of the third book in the White House Chef mystery series. No idea. Sorry.
And where do most of my visitors come from?
Brie’s blog, Musing of a Bibliophile. I bet she voted for “Slave to Sensation” in my poll and will be stopping by to see what I think of it. And I’m sure she’ll be by to see what I think of “Silent on the Moor“. So, I owe Brie and her readers a big “THANK YOU” for their many visits.
That’s all the fun I could handle for one day.
guidelines
