Very short synopsis:
Rich supposedly mad lord gets together with rich widow for affair, but a police detective throws a spanner in the works. He wants the madman convicted for murder.
I read it in: English
I liked it: No , because the police officer was such a terrible person, obnoxious, pushy and insufferable; he spoilt all the fun for me. The two main characters were ok, but somehow they didn’t hold my attention and I was not really interested in how they were going to get together for good and/or how they got the detective off their backs.
For people who like: historical romance, an unusual hero, a down to earth heroine
Product info and buy link :
| Title | The madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie |
| Author | Jennifer Ashley |
| Publisher | Berkley Publishing |
| ISBN | 9780425244463 |
| I got this book from | I bought it |
| Buy link | Buy The madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie |
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Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
Sweeping through exotic, turbulent seventh-century China, EMPRESS is the captivating epic of one extraordinary woman who would become the only female emperor in all of China’s history. The story of Wu Jao, set against the backdrop of medieval China, reveals not only an age of horrifying barbarism, daring treachery, and precarious power, but also an eternal culture of sophistication and enlightenment.
In a nutshell:
I read it in: German
I liked it: Yes up to half of the book
For people who like: Ancient China, historical fiction
My thoughts:
The cover
Now, before anyone cries out and complains about the cover: Yes, yes, I know. Thanks to the amazingly knowledgeable reviewers on amazon.com I have learned that the cover of this book is totally wrong, a shame, incredible negligence on the publisher’s part, how could they?! This is not an image of anyone in China during the 7th century , but it is (or is supposed to be) Ci Xi, the Empress Dowager who lived from 1835 until 1908. An unforgivable mistake that occupies everybody more than actually reading the book does. Or so it seems.
Obviously I am the only one who did not immediately realize this and who didn’t jump at the throat of Ballantine Books or Goldmann, the German publisher who made the same mistake. The Germans only used a photo of the older Ci Xi. I wonder whether just one particularly scholarly person on amazon said “Hey, this can’t be Wu Jao, her dress is not right, this is a dress from 1889, and therefore this must be Ci Xi. The publisher screwed the cover up.” and all the following reviewers didn’t want to lose face and chimed in or whether really every reviewer knew this anyway. God, people, chill out a bit!
Another DNF
This is another DNF for me, I am afraid. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book. All the intrigues and the machinations of the courtiers were exciting and entertaining to read. After Wu Jao became empress I lost interest. Somehow I found her character right after that turning point in her life rather strange, because it was not in accordance with her previous one. I didn’t like at all one particular incident and therefore I gave up on her and her story. I couldn’t face reading another 300 pages or so just for the sake of finishing it.
Sorry!
You like Judge Dee?
Oh, one more thing. If you are a fan of Judge Dee, this might be of interest to you. He was mentioned by Wu Jao early on as one of her childhood friends when she was still living at home. Since he later became chancellor I assume he will play a part in the second half of the book.
Location: China during the Tang Dynasty, 7th century
Movie tip
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Empress |
| Author | Evelyn McCune |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| ISBN | 978-0449907498 |
| I got this book from | some sort of bookcrossing |
| Buy link | Buy Empress |
| More info | More about Wu Jao on wikipedia |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
In the 1920′s, in post-WWI England, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple, newly married to Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher, is asked by her brother-in-law to discreetly investigate a series of poisoned pen letters that many of the local villagers have been receiving. When the pompous and unbearable brother of the local vicar is killed by a very large rock dropped on his head from a great height, it seems clear to all that this campaign of gossip has escalated to murder. With the help of her husband, who’d rather she not get involved in murder, Daisy undertakes to uncover the identity of the viper in the local nest is and who that person has driven to murder before the murderer strikes a second time.
In a nutshell:
I read it in: German (Miss Daisy und der tote Professor)
I liked it: Yes, sort of, but now I’ve had enough of Daisy for a long while
For people who like: village gossip, the English country life, the 20s, the English upper class, cosy mysteries
My thoughts:
This is the fourth Daisy Dalrymple book that I read and I liked this one best. I found the setting extremely appealing, a small village with all the gossip and underlying currents of tension. Daisy is staying with her sister and brother-in-law and at first only tries to find out who is the writer of the anonymous letters her brother-in-law is receiving. She goes about this in her usual way, which means she goes someplace and everybody tells her their innermost thoughts. I know I am complaining about this every time but how realistic is it if someone tells a woman he has never seen before about the anonymous letters he is receiving just because "it feels good to tell someone". If it wasn’t for Daisy’s inexplicable ability to make everybody confide in her there never would be much "sleuthing" going on.
The murder happens only after half of the book and the solving of the crime, once more, is done in such a haphazard way that I could only wonder at the end how on Earth they got their killer. Daisy makes assumptions and comes up with theories that are so out of the blue, it is bordering on the ridiculous. In the end there was no definite proof, but Daisy, Alec and Inspector Flagg were all convinced they got the case solved. This was so, but how it happened I can’t say. The reasoning made no sense to me.
In the course of the investigation there were some statements being made that were simply false, like for example at one point a witness says something like "Do you think X found out who the letter writer is and was murdered because of that?". One page later Alec would say to Daisy "Do you remember how the witness said that X found out who the letter writer was?" Actually, no, I don’t because the witness never said that.
If you want a puzzling mystery and an ingenious detective or two solving the crime in an Agatha Christie way, then this is not the right choice. If you want nice atmosphere, country gossip, the usual characters (venomous old spinster, drunken pillar of the community, busybody pastor’s wife etc.) and a cozy atmosphere, then go for it!
Location: A village in Kent, England, UK
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Styx and Stones |
| Author | Carola Dunn |
| Publisher | Kensington |
| ISBN | 978-0758213952 |
| I got this book from | the library |
| Buy link | Buy Styx and Stones |
| More info | The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order |
| and more | Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
In July of 1923, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple travels to Henley-on-Thames to visit her aunt and uncle as well as to work on her latest writing assignment – to cover the Henley Royal Regatta for an American magazine. Daisy plans a simple trip researching her article, enjoying the races, and, come the weekend, having a pleasant time with her fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard. But the tensions between the Ambrose team’s coxswain, Horace Bott – a shopkeeper’s son and scholarship student at Oxford – and rower, Basil DeLancey – the younger son of an Earl and all-around bounder – are constantly threatening to erupt into violence. The team then proceeds to lose their next heat in the eight because Bott is ill from the previous night’s overindulgence, an action he was goaded into by DeLancey. DeLancey publicly humiliates Bott. Bott, in turn, publicly swears revenge. The following day, in the coxless four, DeLancey himself keels over and dies mid-race. Foul play is immediately suspected, with Bott the logical suspect. But nothing is obvious in this tangled web of jealousies and secrets, and while Inspector Fletcher investigates the murder, Daisy once again must ferret out the truth.
In a nutshell:
I read it in: German (Miss Daisy und der Tote auf dem Wasser)
I liked it: Yes, but slowly I am getting sick of Daisy
For people who like: Cosy mysteries, sports events, the 20s, the English upper class, rowing
My thoughts:
This is the third Daisy Dalrymple mystery that I have read and I know that soon I will need to take a break from her.
"Death on the water" has an interesting setting. A widely known regatta takes place and we learn about the rivalries between teams as well as the problems misfits (i.e. members of the lower classes) have to deal with when attending a college – especially, it seems, when they are smarter than the average nobleman’s son.
However, I would have preferred to learn about those problems in a less "ram them down your throat" way. Before we encounter even one situation where the low class boy is being harassed by his supposed superiors he already pours his little heart out to the ubiquitous Daisy, even though he has only seen her for the first time at the very moment. Again she wonders briefly why everybody wants to take her into their confidence, but then again, she is so curious, not to say nosy, that she takes to being the confidante like a fish takes to water. She really got on my nerves with her "I’ll stay to make sure s/he is alright" demeanour when, in reality, she just wants to stay in order to know everything that is being said and done. How her fiancée Alec puts up with that shit, I don’t know.
The sleuthing seemed to be somewhat slow and little goal oriented. If there hadn’t been a witness of sorts and a murderer ready to confess (either through words or actions) Alec would have been in the dark forever. On top of that the case is not quite as clear as it seemed, which only comes out almost as an afterthought. And once more – I feel like I am turning into a fighter for the plebs reading those books – I got the uncomfortable feeling that exceptions are being made for people simply because they belong to a class that seems to be untouchable.
I have one more Daisy Dalrymple book from the library, "Styx and Stones", which I will read and then I will call it a day for now. There is only so much lenience towards the upper class I can take.
Location: Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Dead in the water |
| Author | Carola Dunn |
| Publisher | Kensington |
| ISBN | 978-0758227294 |
| I got this book from | the library |
| Buy link | Buy Dead in the Water  |
| More info | The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order |
| and more | Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories |
| and even more | Henley Royal Regatta |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
It’s the early 1920s in England – the country is still recovering from the Great War and undergoing rapid social changes that many are not quite ready to accept. During this heady and tumultuous time, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple, the daughter of a Viscount, makes a decision shocking to her class: rather than be supported by her relations, she will earn her own living as a writer.
Landing an assignment for Town & Country magazine for a series of articles on country manor houses she travels to Wentwater Court in early January 1923 to begin research on her first piece. But all is not well there when she arrives.
Lord Wentwater’s young wife has become the center of a storm of jealousy, animosity, and, possibly, some not-unwanted amorous attention, which has disrupted the peace of the bucolic country household. Still, this is as nothing compared to the trouble that ensues when one of the holiday guests drowns in a tragic early-morning skating accident. Especially when Daisy discovers that his death was no accident …
In a nutshell:
I read it in: German (“Miss Daisy und der Tote auf dem Eis”)
I liked it: x Yes, with some reservations about the ending
For people who like: cosy mysteries, mystery with no violence (except, of course, for the murder), easy reading, the atmosphere of the 20s
My thoughts:
“Death at Wentwater Court” is the first book in the Daisy Dalrymple series. I read it after reading the fourth instalment “Murder on the Flying Scotsman” which I liked quite a bit.
In this first book Daisy meets Alec Fletcher, the smart detective for the first time and the foundation stone for their future relationship is being laid. We also find out why Alec is always investigating the crimes taking place in “High Society”, I had already wondered about that. Daisy is a very nice, down-to-earth girl. However, her overall likeable-ness started to get on my nerves when everybody, really everybody, wanted her to stay/go with them when they had to confess to the police or talk about a difficult topic. Those people only knew her slightly, if at all, and still she became their confidante almost immediately. Even Alec himself, who is a police officer, talked about the current case as if she was a co-worker instead of a , let’s face it, nosy female who just happened to be at the right place at the right time. His readiness to tell her confidential information was odd, to say the least.
Spoiler below!
The discovery of the culprit was based on another confession made in Daisy’s presence which was a bit of a disappointment.
What followed after was downright shocking. I know this is supposed to be a harmless cosy mystery, but somehow the end rubbed me the totally wrong way. Daisy played judge, jury and executioner (or rather the opposite) in one go and decided to let the culprit go free by coming up with a cunning plan to get him out of the grasp of the police. As justified as this may seem, it was highly irregular. The motivation behind this was basically to protect the noble family involved from being dragged through the press and prevent further pain. All very nice, indeed, however, if the same incident had happened in a working class environment, I am sure, the outcome would have been different. The subsequent outburst of Alec was understandable. How quickly he was placated and the laissez faire attitude of his superior – a friend of the family involved–, made me feel slightly uneasy.
It might very well be that the situation during those times was exactly like that – hang the rabble, spare the upper classes – but really, in a mystery novel one expects to see justice done. If a jury had found the accused not guilty, which would have been not unlikely, then all would have been good. As it was it leaves an uncomfortable feeling with me.
Location: Hampshire, England, UK
All images from wikipedia
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Death at Wentwater Court |
| Author | Carola Dunn |
| Publisher | Robinson |
| ISBN | 978-1845298654 |
| I got this book from | the library |
| Buy link | Buy Death at Wentwater Court |
| More info | The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order |
| and more | Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
Former Emperor’s consort Ling Suyin is renowned for her beauty; the ultimate seductress. Now she lives quietly alone—until the most ruthless warlord in the region comes and steals her away….
Li Tao lives life by the sword, and is trapped in the treacherous, lethal world of politics. The alluring Ling Suyin is at the center of the web. He must uncover her mystery without falling under her spell—yet her innocence calls out to him. How cruel if she, of all women, can entrance the man behind the legend…
In a nutshell:
I read it in: English
I liked it: Yes x No The book was a DNF for me.
For people who like: typical romance, ancient China
My thoughts:
It seems I am having to deal with more DNFs than usual at the moment. Not sure why this is, the books that I did not finish were not at all comparable. Anyway, this one was yet another DNF for me.
I got “The Dragon and the Pearl” because I found the cover adorable. Not a very good reason to get a book (some people might disagree, I know), and it did turn out to be the wrong one here.
The story starts medias in res with Li Tao coming for Suyin and takes her with him to his own mansion deep in the forest. The perfect setting for a blossoming romance, isn’t it. And here we go! From the first moment Suyin was drawn to Li Tao and her heart started beating faster whenever he came near. It is very much possible that Li Tao felt the same way, as he always got this gleam in his eyes when he set them on her. Needless to say he was muscled, hard as a rock, pure masculine power. I was only waiting for the term “predator” to crop up and I was not disappointed. It was in chapter three and appeared in the form of a “predatory glint” in his eyes. Two lines before that he “prowled” closer, which had me wondering once more why a man who “prowls” seems so desirable to some women (and romance authors).
Very soon after I decided to stop reading. I am sure had I gotten to the love scenes I would have encountered “molten lava” in abundance – or something similar, I am not sure whether Christine Feehan has the monopoly on molten lava or not.
Romance lovers will devour this book I am sure, especially since the setting is interesting and unusual. Maybe I was just disappointed because I expected the story to be different (why, I can’t say) and instead I only got the ordinary romance formula.
Location: Ancient China, capital Chang’an (now: Xi’an)
Images from wikipedia
Product info and buy link :
| Title | The Dragon and the Pearl |
| Author | Jeannie Lin |
| Publisher | Harlequin |
| ISBN | 9780373296620 |
| I got this book from | Netgalley, because I found the cover very appealing |
| Buy link | Buy The Dragon and the Pearl |
| More info | Jeannie Lin’s website |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
It is the spring of 1923 and the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple is on her way to a stately home in Scotland to research her next article for Town and Country. On board the Flying Scotsman, the famous London-to-Edinburgh train, Daisy meets an old schoolfellow, Anne Breton. Anne, along with all of her relatives, is en route to visit the deathbed of the family scion and notorious miser, Alistair McGowan. As it currently stands, Alistair’s will leaves the entire family fortune to his brother Albert, and the rest of the family is rushing to his side, each hoping to convince him to change his will in their favor. Daisy, meanwhile, has her hands full taking care of Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher’s young daughter Belinda, who ran away from home and stowed away aboard the train. She barely has time to take notice of the intricate family feud taking place all around her – that is, until Albert McGowan is found murdered on the train and Daisy is surrounded by an entire family of suspects.
In a nutshell:
I liked it: x Yes No
For people who like: cosy mysteries, mystery with no violence (except, of course, for the murder), easy reading, the atmosphere of the 20s
My thoughts: 
If you are a reader who can’t remember who is who in a story with five characters, then don’t touch this book! We are dealing with a four generation family tree here and except for a few deceased ones, everyone in that family of over twenty people is involved in the case. I had to go back to the family tree frequently in order to know what a person’s relationship with another was. I just couldn’t remember all those family and first names and put them to the right “face”.
The fact that this book is the fourth in a series of so far twenty didn’t matter. The two main characters and their blossoming relationship were easy to figure out.
I like mysteries where the murder occurs in a closed environment, like, for example “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Murder on the Flying Scotsman” resembles the former very much. The murder occurs on the train, there are tons of suspects, the “detective” – Daisy Dalrymple, the amateur sleuth and journalist – on board, then everyone is taken to a hotel in Berwick where they can be interrogated by the Chief Inspector, it is all very nice and cosy indeed.
Not much suspense, no frayed nerves over who did it, I wasn’t sitting at the edge of my seat and my heart wasn’t beating faster, but I was rather lounging on the couch with a hot chocolate (next time it will be a Hot Toddy) and enjoying the gentle ride.
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Murder on the Flying Scotsman |
| Author | Carola Dunn |
| Publisher | Kensington |
| ISBN | 978-1575667539 |
| I got this book | at a library sale |
| Buy link | Buy Murder on the Flying Scotsman |
| More info | More info on the Flying Scotsman |
| and more | The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order |
| and some free stuff | Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?
Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.
Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen.
In a nutshell:
I liked it: x Yes No
For people who like: young archduchesses that need to be moulded into shape, royalty, 1st person’s POV
My thoughts:
This is the first book in a trilogy and covers only a few years in Maria Antonia’s life. It is very detailed and talks about lots of little things in the everyday life of the family of Habsburg at the time. Since I am neither an expert on the Habsburger in general nor on Marie Antoinette specifically, I have no idea how accurate the story is, but it certainly is very entertaining.
It is told from Maria Antonia’s point of view and gives a lot of insight into what was going on in the girl’s head when she heard that she is to marry the dauphin of France, a boy she has never seen (and will not see until after their wedding has already taken place) and during the following years.
I was shocked to learn that the French would not allow her to bring even one trusted maid, they allowed almost no personal belongings and not even her pet into France. She was only 14 when she married Louis Auguste. She was alone in a foreign country, all of a sudden the dauphine at a court of bootlickers and schemers, with nobody to talk to in her native German, nobody she knew, only speaking mediocre French! Wow!
The title of the book is more than fitting. Maria Antonia really had to *become” Marie Antoinette before she was considered suitable to marry her later husband. Not pretty enough, not smart enough, not educated enough, the teeth not straight enough….what else? She had to undergo considerable tutoring (mentally and physically) in order to please. And all according to the will of her mother Maria Theresia who, herself, refused to marry any other man than the one she loved! Double standards, anyone?
Throughout the story we read private letters between Maria Theresia and her ambassador in Versailles. This lets us peek into the mind of the woman behind the “marriage contract” and gives us an idea on how treacherous a path Marie Antoinette is walking. Not everything at the court of Versailles is what it seems to be – in fact, it is rather the opposite.
Now, for some necessary nitpicking (if you don’t speak German and have never heard of the Habsburger before you probably won’t care about those two little details):
- Antonia’s family is the family of Habsburg. In the book they are referred to as the family of Hapsburg. I have never seen the name spelled like that before so I looked around and found an entry on wikipedia that the name sometimes is spelled that way. Don’t ask me why! “P” instead of “b” makes no difference in terms of ease of pronunciation. Then I asked Birgit from The Book Garden, who is an Austrian, whether she has EVER seen the Habsburger as the Hapsburger. She hasn’t either. I wonder why Juliet Grey has chosen the uncommon version of the name. Seeing the name Hapsburg rubs every German speaking person the wrong way. If there are different versions of a name, shouldn’t one use the most common (and, in this case, original) one? Every time I saw the name Hapsburg in the story I flinched.
- There are German words interspersed in conversations of people. That is ok, even though more often than not authors who are no native speakers sometimes make mistakes that spoil the reading fun.
At one point Antonia is supposed to say “The butterfly is dead” in French. However, she is not very good at French, therefore mixes French and German up and ends up saying “Le papillon mort ist”. Sorry, but that makes no sense at all. In German, just as in French and English, the sentence structure would be subject – predicate – object, that means the correct (mixed up German-French) sentence would be “Le papillon ist mort”. No German speaker would ever put “ist” at the end of that specific sentence.
I assume that somehow the generalisation that in German the verb always comes at the end has been taken too literally here. There were a couple of more errors that just didn’t fit with the rest of the well researched story. I wish the author would have let a native speaker check the German because it was the only little flaw in the book. But little flaws like that annoy me.
That being said, I loved the way the story flowed, there was not one moment of boredom or scenes I thought I could have done without. It was very enjoyable. The book ends at a point that makes perfect sense, still I was totally surprised that it came so quickly. I was reading and then all of a sudden I turned the page and – the end! For a moment I was shocked. Especially since a very important aspect in the private life of Marie Antoinette and her husband was still hanging in mid-air, and I was eager to find out how it would be resolved.
At the end of the book you will find an extensive list of books Juliet Grey used for her research, as well as some notes on writing “Becoming Marie Antoinette" and a glimpse into the beginning of the next book in the trilogy. “Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow” will be released in summer 2012. I can’t wait!
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Becoming Marie Antoinette |
| Author | Juliet Grey |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| ISBN | 978-0345523860 |
| I got this book from | Netgalley because I loved the cover and I know next to nothing about Marie Antoinette except for “Let them eat cake” and even that might not even have been her. |
| Buy link | Buy Becoming Marie Antoinette |
| More info | Interview with Juliet Grey about the book |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Want to know what others thought of this book? Have a look at:
TLC Blog tour of “Becoming Marie Antoinette”
Today’s book beginning is from “Ovid” by David Wishart. It is the first instalment in a historical detective novel series, set in ancient Rome at the time of Tiberius’ rule. The very contemporary speech of the hero is one of the trademarks of those books, by the way.
I’d been at a party on the Caelian the night before. My tongue tasted like a gladiator’s jockstrap, my head was pounding like Vulcan’s smithy, and if you’d held up a hand, and asked me how many fingers you’d got i’d’ve been hard put to give a definite answer without using an abacus. My usual morning condition, in other words, and hardly the best state for a first meeting with a tough cookie like the Lady Rufia Perilla.
Blurb:
Texas Frontier, 1826
Kit Barclay followed her husband into the wilds of Texas only to be widowed. Stranded with her mother- and sister-in-law to care for, with no hope of rescue before winter sets in, Kit has only one goal: survival. So when a lone horseman appears on the horizon, and then falls from his mount in fever, Kit must weigh the safety of her family against offering aid and shelter to the handsome stranger.
Trace Watson has lost everything that ever mattered to him. Trying to forget, he heads to the frontier colony of San Felipe, not caring if he lives or dies. But when he wakes to discover he’s being nursed back to health by a brave young widow, he vows to repay her kindness by guiding the three women back to civilization, no matter what the cost.
Soon, Kit and Trace are fighting the elements, Indian attacks and outlaws-as well as feelings they both thought were long buried…
My thoughts:
This is another story that I am not quite sure about. There were several points that I was not happy about.
I liked Kit’s character. She was down-to-earth, in control and hard working. Trace came over as just the right kind of man for her. Their situation was tricky and by working together they managed to get to safety. That was all good.
If there hadn’t been, for example
- Kit’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Those two got on my nerves. They might have been used to better living conditions, but so was Kit. So I don’t really see any reason why they let her do all the work and give her a hard time on top of it. When they prepare to leave the fort and plan what to take with them her mother-in-law wants to take her French china, for crying out loud! What’s wrong with the woman? Talk about priorities.
- John, Kit’s deceased husband. He takes his wife and his two female family members with him to Texas, even though they are used to living in New Orleans. Then he leaves them alone again back at the fort and dies when out on some mission. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to leave his family at home for the time being?
- Then the commanding officer of the fort who leaves them alone with two soldiers and a cow. No wonder, Trace ends up in jail for attacking him.
- Kit’s and Trace’s sudden problem talking to each other once they got to the settlement. All the time before they were perfectly good together and talked about everything.
- The author’s obvious feeling that a separation was in order and what better way to achieve it than by resurrecting the supposed dead husband? I didn’t feel very charitable towards him, but at least it was good to see that the poor chap did not desert his wife on purpose but couldn’t help it. But now that he was back the next problem arises. How would Kit and Trace reunite? Easy! Husband obligingly dies after a couple of months. This time for good.
- Kit’s and Trace’s communication problems once more. What’s wrong with the man? He is not the first person who has to deal with loss and he won’t be the last. Why does he want to suppress his feelings like that? I wanted to throttle him.
So once more I’m very ambivalent about the story. For fans of Western historical romance this is definitely worth a read. If you don’t like meddlesome relatives and sudden misunderstanding out of the blue, you might want to give this a miss.
| Title | Sunrise over Texas |
| Author | M. J. Fredrick |
| Publisher | Carina Press |
| ISBN | 9781426890543 |
| Buy link | Buy Sunrise over Texas |
