What: “What’s In a Name?” Reading Challenge
When: 1 January – 31 December 2008
Who: Annie (words by Annie)
Rules: Read six books, one from each of the categories, with a certain type of word in the title.
I really liked this challenge. Had I not joined the seasonal challenges this fall, I would have completed it. Can’t complain, though. I liked those challenges, too.
I’ve already signed up of the 2009 Challenge.
My list (Books in RED are on more than one list/alternate list):
1. Color in the title: Black Ice by Anne Stuart (1st in the Ice series) {13 Feb 08} (REVIEW)
4. A weather event in the title: Ill Wind by Rachel Caine (1st in the Weather Wardens) {4 May 08} (REVIEW)
5. A place name in the title: Death at Rottingdean by Robin Paige {17 May 08} (REVIEW)
The unread:
2. Animal in the title: Murder with Puffins by Donna Andrews
3. A first name in the title: Victoria and the Rogue by Meg Cabot
6. A plant name in the title: The Orchid Hunter by Sandra K. Moore
Alternates:
Animal: Bride of the Rat-God by Barbara Hambly
First Name: Anne’s Perfect Husband by Gayle Wilson
Plant: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
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Death at Rottingdean
Author: Robin Paige
Copyright: 1999 (Berkley); 290 pgs.
Series: 5th in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
Sensuality: N/A
Where & When: Rottingdean, Fall 1897
Summary: For Kathryn Ardleigh and her newly Lorded husband, Charles, a seaside holiday in Rottingdean is a much-needed respite. Known as Smuggler’s Village, the cozy hamlet sits upon a labyrinth of hundred-year-old tunnels through which contraband goods were once smuggled in and out of England. But when the body of a coast guard is found on the beach, the couple suspect the town is still plying the illicit trades of its past. And with the help of an imaginative young writer named Rudyard Kipling, they’re about to discover that something’s rotten in the town of Rottingdean…
Comments: A year has passed since the events of the previous book. Charles’s older brother has fininally passed away and he is now the 5th Baron Somersworth. This new role has taken him to London to fulfill his obligations in Parliament. Kate, believing it to be her duty, has moved from Bishop’s Keep to be with him. Not long after coming to London, Kate became very ill. The trip to Rottingdean is supposed to be a chance for them to relax and recuperate. The Sheridan’s are barely there a day before they find themselves drawn into the investigation of a dead coast guard.
An eleven-year-old boy, Patrick, may know more than his is willing to tell. He confides in Rudyard Kipling, who is visiting his favorite aunt. When the less-than helpful local constable shows no signs of investigating the death as a murder, Kipling asks for Charles’s help. Charles is reluctant — after all, he came to Rottingdean to spend time with Kate. But a second death is revealed to him while in the presence of the Prince of Wales and Charles’s involvement becomes official by royal decree.
Kate, or I should say, Beryl wasn’t very prominent in this one. It made the book feel as if it lacked something. I felt that Kate was side-lined and I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the others.
Started: 11 May 2008
Finished: 17 May 2008
Enjoyed it!
Rating:
Ill Wind
Author: Rachel Caine
Copyright: 2003 (ROC); pgs. 337
Series: Weather Warden #1
Sensuality:
Warm
Back: Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now Joanne is trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life. Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful Warden. Unfortunately, he’s also on the run from the World Council. It seems he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn — making him the most wanted man on earth. And without Lewis, Joanne’s chances of surviving are as good as a snowball in — well, a place she may be headed. So she and her classic Mustang are racing hard to find him because there’s some bad weather closing in fast.
Comments: Joanne is a lot more powerful than she believes herself to be. She’s good at what she does and just does it. She accepts an offer from one of her bosses to help him with a special project of his. Unfortunately, it’s not what she was expecting and now she’s on the run, accused of murder and infected with a demon. Lewis — or any Djinn — is Joanne’s only chance of survival: The demon cannot overpower a Djinn. Joanne believes that all Lewis would have to do is order one of his Djinn to remove the demon, and one of her problems would be solved.
If it were only that simple.
The underlining theme of the book is the choices people, and Djinn (free ones anyway), make and the consequences of those choices. When she realize that foisting a demon on a Djinn is just as wrong as infesting another human, Joanne refuses to take the easy way out. To Wardens, Djinn are tools. When bound together, Djinn and Warden powers are enhanced and they can control the most powerful storms, earthquakes, and fires. But bound Djinn have no choice when ordered to do something they find ethically wrong. It takes an encounter with an unbound Djinn for Joanne to realize that they are living creatures with feelings and concepts of right and wrong.
This book is almost non-stop action, as Joanne tries to out-run storms and the Wardens. Since I read the blurb for Heat Stroke before I finished the book, I knew how this book would end. But that didn’t distract me from the story. I really loved the concepts of the Wardens and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Started: 26 April 2008
Finished: 4 May 2008
LOVED IT !!
Rating:
Black Ice
Author: Anne Stuart
Copyright: 2005 (Mira); pgs. 377
Series: 1st in the “Ice” series
Sensuality: Hot
Who: Chloe Underwood and Bastien Toussaint
From the back: Living paycheck to paycheck in Paris, American book translator Chloe Underwood would give anything for some excitement and passion — even a little danger. So when she’s offered a lucrative weekend gig translating at a business conference in a remote château, she jumps at the chance to shake things up.
Comments: I found this book hard to put down. I could have easily finished it in two days — one, if I had started reading it earlier in the day — but I forced myself to put it aside so I wouldn’t be two reviews behind.
Wow. Yes, Bastien isn’t your typical romance hero, and that’s what makes him interesting. A ruthless agent tired of the “at any cost” mandate of the agency he works for, Bastien is beyond burnout. This makes him vulnerable to his sub-conscience, which propels him to find out what’s become of Chloe in the château. Caring about anyone is a death sentence to someone in his line of work. As he sees it, if he’s going to die anyway, at least let it be for doing the right thing.
Though Bastien would have Chloe think otherwise, he is a good guy. The Committee is, regardless of their tactics, supposed to be working for the greater good. The fact that Bastien never considers turning traitor indicates he still have a few idealistic loyalties. However, he doesn’t hesitate to tell Chloe that he isn’t a nice man, that she shouldn’t make him out to be something he isn’t, and that she should forget about him and get on with her life. Once he realizes he’s in love with her, it’s more important to him that he keeps her safe by staying out of her life.
I liked Chloe. She is surprisingly strong — manages to withstand being tortured longer than one would have expected, bounces back from more than one brush with death, and faces down the same adversary twice. Though she has good reason to, she can’t seem to bring herself to hate Bastien for very long. She doesn’t realize the effect she has on him, that the small acts of kindness are the results of her influence on him: sparing the dogs, going back for his coat because she asks for it, etc. She has unknowingly wormed her way into his heart. She easily could have been annoying and whiny. I glad that she wasn’t. I don’t think a weak, clingy heroine could have lasted long with Bastien.
Looking forward to reading the other books in this series.
Started: 10 February 2008
Finished: 13 February 2008
LOVED IT !!
Rating:
