Review: The Duke & I by Julia Quinn

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Genre: Historical Romance, Regency

Format: Paperback 

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Synopsis:

Can there be any greater challenge to London's Ambitious Mamas than an unmarried duke?
— Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1813

By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend's sister, the lovely—and almost-on-the-shelf—Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth—it's all an elaborate plan to keep Simon free from marriage-minded society mothers. And as for Daphne, surely she will attract some worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable.

But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, it's hard to remember that their courtship is a complete sham. Maybe it's his devilish smile, certainly it's the way his eyes seem to burn every time he looks at her... but somehow Daphne is falling for the dashing duke... for real! And now she must do the impossible and convince the handsome rogue that their clever little scheme deserves a slight alteration, and that nothing makes quite as much sense as falling in love...

Review:

Ah, Julia Quinn, one of the geniuses behind historical romances of our generation. For the last three years, I have been meaning to pick up a book by her but never got the chance until earlier this month and I am speechless. I fully understand why she's such a big hit all over the world.

'The Duke and I' is the first book of the Bridgerton Series. A series that each represents a member of the Bridgerton Family. In this case, 'The Duke and I' was all about Daphne, the eldest daughter of the family.

For Daphne the one thing she hated the most was when her mother introduces her to every amiable bachelor at every ball they went to. Don't get her wrong, Daphne wants to marry but every gentleman she likes turns out to only want her as friend and all the men who would even think about marrying her seemed to be the odd ones with weird habits and weird faces. Hence, she has her moments of self-doubt, unrequited love and so much more. In the end, she can't take anymore of suitors she can't see herself happy with and the indirect rejection with the bachelors she actually sees herself marrying.

But then one day, Simon, a friend of her eldest brother comes back into town and after running away from his share of single women. He confides in Daphne and comes up with the wonderful idea of faking their 'interest' for each other to keep the women and men at bay. And it worked!

I adored the plot! What kind of hopeless romantic woman wouldn't? It had all the characteristics of the best historical romances I have ever read. It had your unrequited love pains, the steamy moments, the snarky banters, the shy romantic scenes, and most of all, the conflict that brings the couple closer than ever. And honestly, I would love to see this romance in the big screens.

Julia Quinn built her characters around hardships that each and every one of them faced. In this book, we were made to hate Simon's father for disowning him because of his son's disability. Likewise, we were made to love every one of the Bridgerton children from the eldest to the youngest. Their bond and love for each other is as realistic as it gets. Imagine bickering in the sophisticated dialogue of the 1800's.

This book was page-turning and is one of those books that keeps you up all night with its sweet moments, and hilarious banter. And no matter how many historical romances I manage to read. I will always enjoy them. And this book was no different. If you're a romance junkie waiting for your next fix, why not try the historical kind? Julia Quinn might surprise you with her amazing Jane Austen writing. I'm definitely getting the rest of the series.

5/5 stars

Review: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

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Genre: Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, Regency, Fantasy
Format: Paperback
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Synopsis:

In this Jane Austen inspired comedy, love story, and exploration of identity and destiny, a modern LA girl wakes up as an Englishwoman in Austen's time.

After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman's life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her love of Jane Austen has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condomless seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who fills Courtney's borrowed brain with confusing memories that are clearly not her own.

Try as she might to control her mind and find a way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman and being this other woman is not without its advantages: Especially in a looking-glass Austen world. Especially with a suitor who may not turn out to be a familiar species of philanderer after all.

Review:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that it is human nature for our subconscious to wish for an escape when the going get's tough and Courtney Stone's subconscious didn't just "wish" for an escape. It conjured it. The hows and whys of the situation is still remains at loss for me even after I finished the book. 

Courtney Stone's life is in the gutter and at the end of the day she releases grief and takes refuge in all of Jane Austen's work. Somehow between the world of waking and dreaming, Courtney get's teleported 200 years back in time. She didn't land in the 1800's century as herself but as Jane Mansfield, a beautiful, slim, refined, and unmarried woman in her thirties. She doesn't know who Jane is except for the reflection she sees in the mirror and only gets glimpses and fragments of Jane's memory to help her blend in.

Courtney/Jane was first convinced that all she was experiencing was a dream caused by her obsessive readings of everything Jane Austen. But as days, weeks and months passed on, she just had to accept and take her Jane Austen training and put it to good use to please Mrs. Mansfield and shoo the Lords and Dukes, who are great big horn-dogs.

In this century, the author explains to us that there's more to the world Jane Austen has written. And that Austen only sugar coated the real happenings within a distinguished family, town balls, and overall, men of that time. Yes, mothers only think about their daughters marrying rich. Yes, they go to balls and dance way too much. Yes, there are rich handsome gentlemen who court and flirt. But Austen and many other authors of that age didn't tell us about the obsessive and urgency of the mothers, or that a lot of harassments occur during balls and most of these rich handsome gentlemen have nasty attitudes and only have one thing in mind. Courtney realizes this as she starts getting accustomed to the simple routine of an accomplished woman and starts traveling with her suitors sister to Bath and London.

I enjoyed coming to terms with the reality of how the 1800's is really like and how suffocating it is to be seen with a male underclassmen unchaperoned. And at the end of the book, I came with the conclusion that I didn't really know if Courtney's life in the 21st century was real or where the real Jane Mansfield is. It was a good end but an end that still made you ask what really happened to Jane and Courtney.

Rating: 4/5

Excerpt : Water’s Blood by Elaine Calloway

Water’s Blood
The Elemental Clan Series
Book One
Elaine Calloway

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Fantasy
Publisher: The Writers Canvas, LLC
Date of Publication: February 1, 2013
ISBN: 9781301515226
ASIN: B00B7NQLIE
Number of pages: 511
Word Count: 95572
Cover Artist: Taryn Knight, Leafbreeze Creations

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Book Description:

Nature’s Elementals—Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water—have lived for countless millennia. Disguised as humans, they are charged with one mission: protect the innocent from fallen angel clans, who reap human souls and force them to do their bidding.

Brooke, a Water Elemental stationed in New Orleans, broke the rules once—she mated with a human. For her indiscretion, she is forbidden to share a life with her loved ones: NOPD officer Alex and their half-breed daughter, Ella.

Now Ella is about to turn sixteen, and the local clan of fallen angels is determined to snare her soul by Halloween. 

Brooke broke the rules once by allowing love to interfere with her mission. Now she and Alex must put consequences aside to break the rules again—if they wish to save their daughter’s soul.
Short Excerpt

“Hell is empty; all the devils are here.”
― William Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

Brooke gripped the bar’s wooden edge until her knuckles turned white. Nausea and trepidation washed through her human form. Not now. Please. Not when her New Orleans pub, Armand’s, was filled with Friday night locals. She couldn’t keep walking away from her cover job. And she definitely couldn’t tell her customers the truth.

Her mission was critical: protect innocent humans from the Minare, a local clan of Fallen Angels. Who knew dealing with a teenager would be the more difficult job?

The nausea grew stronger, churning in the depths of her stomach. For one hopeful moment, she wondered if the Shrimp Creole she’d eaten for lunch could be the culprit. A sense of uneasiness snaked through her veins. No such luck. All signs pointed to the distress call.

Images in her line of vision began to spin. Gold, purple, and green Fleur de Lis emblems on the bar walls blurred into a kaleidoscope haze. Oh, yes. She recognized this feeling—the ole Tilt-O-Whirl-from-Hell. She shut her eyes, wanting her equilibrium to stabilize, but the famed Mardi Gras colors danced behind her eyelids.

Breathe. She inhaled deep. Beer, tobacco smoke, and lemon polish overpowered her nostrils.
The impending doom intensified. Your daughter is in danger. You have to go.
Panic churned inside her like a tornado. She’d been afraid this would happen.
What was she supposed to do? Family and her mission were mutually exclusive in her world. She couldn’t kick her customers out. Her only option was to leave someone in charge. Someone trustworthy.

Quinn, one of her favorite regulars and a self-professed hippie, approached and plunked his shot glass down. “Refill when you get a chance. Life treating you okay?”

Perfect. Quinn and his wife had helped her rebuild the pub after Hurricane Katrina. They were good folks, the kind of humans Brooke could trust her customers with.

She tilted the amber whiskey bottle and poured. “I’ll make you a deal. Watch the place for thirty minutes, and you can have all the refills you want.”

“Works for me. What happened to John?”

Brooke grabbed her keys and jacket. She didn’t have time to get into the particulars. “Quit on me yesterday, said he’s moving back home to care for his parents. I haven’t had the chance to place a want-ad for someone new.”

“I’ll hold down the fort. Go do what you need to do.” Quinn strolled behind the bar, his body moving in tune to the Zydeco music coming from the speakers. On any other day, she liked the New Orleans locals and their leisurely way of life. Just not now. She needed to go.

She sprinted for the back exit. “Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”

“Is everything okay?” he called after her.

Not really. She didn’t turn around, only said, “I won’t be gone long, thanks,” and ducked out the back door to avoid further questions.

Brooke ran down the crooked sidewalk. Live oaks draped with Spanish moss lined the narrow street filled with shotgun houses. Fortunately, Alex only lived two blocks away. The short walk made it easy to keep watch over him and Ella.

Darkness covered the sage-colored home with black shutters, but the full moon’s beams slanted through a rear side window. Brooke crept alongside the long narrow house, which extended back for almost a city block. These old Mid-City homes had more rooms than she could keep up with. Over the years, she’d learned which ones she could easily peer through.

Peeking inside, Brooke saw Ella tiptoeing across the study, headed straight for the cabinet.
Brooke’s neck went tight. Holy hell, this was no false alarm. Ella was a mere twenty steps away from the cabinet. Or rather, from disaster.



Elaine Calloway is originally from New Orleans and can still do a decent Cajun accent upon request. She is currently writing the Elemental Clan Series, a series of paranormal tales set in iconic cities such as New Orleans. Book One, WATER’S BLOOD, is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
Book Two, RAGING FIRE, will be released summer 2013.

For more information or to connect with Elaine online, visit her web site at www.elainecalloway.com

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