Since I am the lucky mother of a son who does very little sleeping and LOTS of crying, I get lots of middle of the night reading done. Once I get him back to sleep and cozy in his bed, I am wide awake and full of energy...and exhausted. It is a NOT fun predicament to get yourself into and I HIGHLY do no recommend it. Just sayin...
BUT over Christmas break I was able to do quite a bit of late night reading and here are the books I managed to sneak in.
Do you ever choose books based on the cover???? Well I do and this one was CALLING my name. The dress, the hat, the pearls...how could I resist??? Unfortunately in my haste to bring this beauty home, I did read between the lines and see that this was NUMBER 2 in a series---The Daughters of Fortune. I jumped right in anyways and it didn’t seem to matter....although I bet the first book was good. This book was about two girls—rich ones—who were trying to find their way in life. They wanted to choose their futures and husbands....something not really done in those days. They trying being flappers, running away, and even wing walking (walking on flying airplanes). I am looking forward to continuing this series with DUCHESS...I bet the cover is beautiful as well:)
Since I liked her book so well, I stuck with the same author and read NIGHTINGALE by Susan May Warren. This was an interesting book, but a little TOOO preachy. The main character had a one night stand with a soldier heading off to war and ends up pregnant. She moves in with his HORRIBLE parents to raise the child and becomes a nurse. She is not in love with the child’s father, but feels it necessary to wait for him to return from war. She begins writing to another soldier and then learns he is actually a German in an American POW camp...NOT GOOD. I liked this book a lot, but disliked being hit over the head with the BIBLE over and over.
I stuck with her again and read another Warren book...BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE. This book was about an old divorced librarian whose only son died during WWII. She has not gotten over it and lives alone and miserable in a big old house. During a terrible storm, her and a few people get snowbound in her home. They try to celebrate Christmas and get along during 4 days stuck together in a cold house. This was a cute story, but a little too (you guessed it) predictable. I like to a good happy ending, but I just don’t want to know what it is going to be from the start..wink wink.
I finally decided to try a NEW author and read TROUBLESOME CREEK by Jan Watson. I REALLY liked this book. I have recently learned that there are LOTS of books that come AFTER this book...I will be finding them soon. Troublesome Creek takes place in the backwoods of Kentucky where Copper is raised by her father and step mother (aunt) on the banks of the creek. I was very interested in the lives of the people living out in the mountains....not a fun life to live for sure!!
Next, I read LILY by Diane Ashley. You guessed it...cute cover!! Lily and her sisters are orphans who live with their grandmother and horribly annoying aunt. They are wealthy and forced to live the rule driven lives of southern debutantes. Lily takes her inheritance and buys a riverboat to get away from an arranged marriage, but ends up with only HALF ownership. The other half is owned by a gambler who wants to turn the boat into a floating casino. This book was fun, but had a few moments of all out preaching. I like a good message, but enough is enough already. There are OTHER books in the Songs of the River series...I MAY give it another chance. I may not be able to resist a good steam boat or wild gambler...it is all very Rhett Butler-ish!!
Next I read BEES in the BUTTERFLY GARDEN by Maureen Lang. In this book the rich heiress lives at a boarding school and never gets to see her father (her mom is dead). He just pays the bills and expects her to learn how to be a good wife. Then he dies and she finds out that her father was actually a thief. She decides to take up where he left off and help his gang to rob her rich friends. Interesting premise, but not the greatest writing. I was ready for a WELL WRITTEN book with some substance.
Lucky for me Marcie showed up and gave me AMERICAN HEIRESS by Daisy Goodwin. This was a REALLY well written book. It was like Downton Abbey in writing. Cora Cash is the RICHEST heiress in America and lives a life of luxury that most people cannot imagine. Her mother however wants more for her and takes her over to Europe to get the ONE THING they do not have...a title. She manages to marry a Duke who needs her money to rebuild his crumbling estate, but she has to learn the RULES that go along with being TITLED. She flounders through all of the social oddities that go along with British aristocracy and their LOVE of history. I had a hard time LIKING any of the characters because they were all SOOO concerned with social hierarchy and titles. They are all mean and cheating on each other and stabbing each other in the backs. Although this is an interesting look into old British society, it is not a happy go lucky kind of book. You kind of want to throw it at the wall every once in a while...just so you know. Even with the wall throwing and anger, I found this to be one of the BEST books I read this year!! Thanks Marcie!!!
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