Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove: Book Four): Tessa Dare (UPDATED)

This is now the second iteration of my updated review of this book.  The organizer in me hated the fact that I wasn't getting "credit" for re-reading this book in my post tally because I'd originally just tacked on my updated review to the original post from 12/28/2013.  The updated review was added 02/10/2018, so I'm not going to get credit for it in my February posts, but at least I'll get credit for it in my 2018 posts.  The original review can be found HERE.  Below, you will find the updated review from my reading in February.  Enjoy!

I thought I'd continue with my Tessa Dare reading and re-read the very first book I'd read by her (especially because Griff and Pauline made an appearance in another short story I recently read.  I enjoyed this book just as much - if not more - this time around.  I still found the interactions between Griff and his mother to be excellent.  They're a fun and witty duo.  While moments are a bit silly and absurd, I think this is one of Dare's most poignant and moving stories.  Pauline has had a rough life, to say the least.  Griff certainly takes the cake for most-reformed rake and, I also feel, for one to he most moving and tragic backstories in all of Dare's books.  Dare has a knack for making you truly care about her characters, but I don't think there's been a story quite so gut wrenching.  Pauline is still a great female lead.  I really enjoy her spunk and tenacity.  While I found the blossoming romance between Griff and Pauline to be well-written, enthralling, and believable, I still found the overarching plot (i.e. Griff's mother's plotting and scheming) a bit far-fetched.  I suppose the premise of the entire series (Spindle Cove) is a little "out there," so maybe I'm not being fair or I'm a bit hypercritical.  Regardless, I continue to be enthralled by Dare's writing style, her amazing characters, creative and imaginative stories, and extremely passionate romance.  This book - as it also brought back some other memorable characters - has made me curious to re-read others in the series  I think this continuing desire to to re-read Dare's works truly speaks volumes about just what a spectacular author I believe her to be.  I never re-read books...though it would seem Dare is changing my ways.  In general, I think this book fit in very will with this series.  It's another great work by Dare and I certainly recommend it as a part of this lovely, whimsical series (just be sure to read the series in proper order!).  Happy reading!

The Children Act: Ian McEwan

"Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge who presides over cases in the family court.  She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude, and sensitivity.  Bur her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife.  There is the lingering regret of her childlessness, and now her marriage of thirty years is in crisis.

"At the same time, she is called on to try an urgent case:  Adam, a beautiful seventeen-year-old boy, is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents echo his wishes.  Time is running out.  Should the secular court overrule sincerely expressed faith?  In the course of reaching a decision, Fiona visits Adam in the hospital -- an encounter that stirs long-buried feelings in her and powerful new emotions in the boy.  Her judgement has momentous consequences for them both."

This is the second book I've read by Ian McEwan, Atonement being the first.  Though I read that book back in 2014, I still recall McEwan's lyrical, artistic style -- quintessential modern British literature (and Modern British Literature happened to be the course for which Atonement had been assigned); I knew the possibilities and depth into which I was about to dive with this book.  It's fairly short (there aren't even 250 pages in the hardcover printing), but the amount of emotion indecision McEwan was able to cram into a book of this length was astounding.  I expected to like it, but I didn't expect to find it so easy to read or so moving.

Fiona is a brilliant judge and some of the cases she hears are impossible.  I realize this is fiction, but I'm sure some of those situations do make appearances in real courts from time to time -- maybe even more often than we realize.  It's no wonder her marriage had become so strained.  If I was emotionally drained from reading about her life, I can only imagine what someone in her position would feel like, having lived it.  The strains upon her relationship and her husband's restlessness were written in a remarkably realistic fashion.  He wasn't crucified, but nor was Fiona.  I found myself wanting to hate him for what he did, but Fiona's vacillations muddied the waters brilliantly.

Adam felt alive.  I should have guessed the illness was leukemia from the cover art on the book, but I didn't.  Leukemia has touched my family in a very personal way.  I was not around to experience it first-hand, I found McEwan's descriptions revealing a side of the disease of which I was unaware.  It made me nauseous, but only for its powerful reality; his ability to describe the illness and the side effects of the treatments in a way that was (oddly) both clinical and moving at the same time.  Adam lives in an impossible world.  On the cusp of manhood, he clings to the life he has always known, but he really is still just a boy -- a talented, brilliant, remarkable, boy.  Leukemia turns his world on its ear and calls into question his core beliefs and that of his family.  Any decision Fiona makes will alter his life forever.  The eloquence and rationality with which Adam and his family explain and support their religious beliefs really makes this book readable.  I was worried that there would be screaming matches and religious soapboxes, but I can appreciate their points (even if I do not necessarily agree with them).  This was probably one of the greatest achievements in this book.

The ending of the book felt very true to what I know of McEwan's storytelling.  He gives rays of hope, but mixes them with healthy doses of poignant sadness.

Overall, I found the book to be a moving story very relevant to today's climate (I won't get into debates here, but a quick Google search should assuage your curiosity).  There were moments where I wasn't sure of some of the procedures and/or terminology (the law is different on this side of the pond), but I managed to figure them out.  The pacing was excellent and it flowed extremely well.  This was a very quick read that packed a powerful punch.

Winter's Tale: Mark Helprin

“Mark Helprin’s masterpiece will transport you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows.  One winter night, Peter Lake – master mechanic and second-story man – attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.  Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins an affair between a middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young girl dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter Lake, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead.  His great struggle is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.”

I wanted to start off with a quote which really stuck out to me – I’ll come back at the end and explain why I feel like this was important:

“ ‘I think it would be vain to imagine that we could be favored without effort.  As I understand it, miracles come to those who risk defeat in seeking them.  They come to those who have exhausted themselves completely in a struggle to accomplish the impossible.

“ ‘I held back when my father died.  He said it was my duty, and that I was right.  His last wish was that I save myself for a battle I would not understand. Do you know what he said?  He said, ‘The greatest fight is when you are fighting in smoke and cannot see with your eyes’ ” (Helprin 615).

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while now and I finally got around to it.  I saw the movie version a few years ago shortly after it came out and I liked it well enough.  I did break my general rule of thumb and watched the film before reading the book; now I remember why I made that rule in the first place.  Books are so much grander and more spectacular than can ever be put into a movie.  (In my opinion, the only thing that comes close is the Harry Potterseries.)  Authors don’t typically write novels with the intention that they be transformed into a movie, and this certainly wasn’t the case with Winter’s Tale.  The person who thought everything would translate or that they could possibly do it justice was sorely mistaken.  That being said, this does not actually mean I loved the book.

I probably started off this book on the wrong foot.  I ended up really ill about a month-and-a-half ago (and this tells you how long it’s taken me to read it) and had picked it up from the library beforehand.  I decided to read it while I was recuperating, but that was a bad idea.  This is not an easy book (and this coming from someone with a Master’s Degree in English – with an emphasis on British Literature).  I’m no pansy and I like a good challenge.  This went well above and beyond my expectations.  It was vaguely deconstructionist and highly modernist in its styling.  I expected a piece of fiction, but what I found was something more abstract and complex than I ever anticipated.  Because of this (and likely because of my poor timing in choosing to try to tackle such a work), it took me a long time to get into it.  Even when I did, it was for relatively brief moments – little islands of clarity in an otherwise tumultuous world.  Since I was expecting a piece that was (mostly) realistic fiction – I knew there would be some magical and ethereal aspects because I’d seen the movie – I was really thrown by just how abstract some of the characters, settings, and situations were.  Some people lived for hundreds of years, characters and animals were capable of things that should not have been possible, and some of the situations were downright unrealistic or way over the top.  I am open to giving leeway for drama, but half the time I couldn’t tell if I was reading something that was actually happening, or a delirious dream or fantasy of one of the many characters.  As such, this piece of literature was very far out of my normal reading habits.  I was about to put it down for good when I decided to bring it to work and try reading it on my lunch breaks (I typically give a book three chapters to grab me and I’d given this one quite a bit longer, but I’d reached a point where I wasn’t really sure what I was even reading anymore).  The owner of the law firm at which I work saw this book on my desk and proceeded to gush about how it was his absolute favorite book.  There was no putting it down now.  I had to power through.  I have to admit that I’m glad I did – if only for the tremendous sense of accomplishment.

I liked Peter Lake quite a bit.  He was so much more complicated than a traditional “thief” archetype.  Beverly was very captivating as well, with her feverish behavior and very unique (short) life.  We’re introduced to a plethora of other characters and points of view as the story moves on.  One of the things I struggled with the most is that I had no freaking clue as to why I was reading about them or what they had to do with the overarching plot. What did I care about the Coherries people or Hardesty?  How did all of the little windows into these people’s lives and experiences impact the story?  I admit that it doesall come together in the end.  It doesn’t seem like it, but I promiseyou that it does.  Helprin has a grand plan (“grand” being an understatement).  The intricacies and invisible threads connecting the different stories on numerous levels were astounding.  Now that I’m out of the maze, I can step back and appreciate it in its entirety, for the complexity of the whole rather than individual parts.  This, I believe, is the beauty of this book; why it’s received so much acclaim.  I cannot fathom the amount of planning and work that went into all of it.  This is also why I think the person (or people) who believed they could well and truly capture of the soul of this book in a film was sorely mistaken.  There was no way on earth that it was going to translate well or do it justice.  I’m sorry, but it was an impossibility.  I’m going to have to go back and watch the movie again since it’s been several years since my one and only experience with it, but I have a feeling I’m going to find it much more lacking than my first go around.  This is a love story, but not in the traditional sense.  There are much higher, much darker powers at work in this story.  The impossible will be accomplished and the incredible will happen.  The story is ambitious and so very, very unique and otherworldly.

This was part of the reason it took me so long to finish; I had to figure out how to attack it from another angle.  I’m not oppose to fantasy, but I don’t believe I have everexperienced anything quite like this combination of fantasy, fiction, and realism (with strong, if well-disguised, religious undertones).  As I mentioned before, I initially began reading this with the anticipation and expectation that I would be reading a work of realistic fiction with fantastical aspects.  When I encountered so much more than I expected, I wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. I had to take a step back, breathe, and try something else.  My mind resisted this book; that’s the only way I can describe my personal experience. I had to release all of my preconceived notions and “detach” myself from reality in order to fully comprehend what I was witnessing in my mind’s eye.  (I realize this sounds like a terribly dramatic way for me to describe reading a book, but it’s the truth.  If describing my technique can help just one other reader tackle this oft-intimidating piece of literature, then I will count it well worth it.)  One excellent example of this was the cloud wall. We know this doesn’t exist in reality. What was it?  Was it a metaphor; if so, for what?  Could only some people see it?  Was this reality or fantasy?  I learned to take it for what it was and just think:  Well, this is a relatively realistic New York and there’s a cloud wall that moves on the outskirts like some sort of blob, taking with it whatever it touches.  Okay.  I may not like it, but I can do my best to accept it as fact, like some of the characters.  The oddities in this book just are.  You have to accept them as the characters do or this book is going to fight you every step of the way.

If you’re as determined to read this book as I was, don’t get discouraged by the seemingly-unrelated stories and characters, the complexities and nuances of the plot. Take a deep breath and dive deep, because that’s the only way you’re going to get through this.  I promise it makes more sense in the end and it’ll be worth the work.

This book was a challenge and, I’m not going to lie to you or sugarcoat it, there were times when I struggled.  A lot. I'm not proud of it, nor is it something I’m used to – I’ve easily tackled works that are typically considered daunting by most literary standards.  But I will say that the struggle ended up worthy of the spoils.  The book was powerful; it made me think.  It was complex and intricate.  Helprin is a unique and extremely talented author.

Now, going back to the quote I provided at the very beginning of this review.  These words are spoken by Hardesty in the last few hundred pages of the story.  Without giving too much away, the major conflict is finally coming to a head and most of the characters’ stories have now converged.  I found this poignant because I think, so often, people believe miracles just happen – they’re gifts to those who some higher power believes are worthy.  I believe miracles come to those who have well and truly exhausted all of their own efforts.  They have to really experience the darkness of failure in order to truly appreciate the miracle for what it is.  Even if something seems impossible, to not even attempt to try to accomplish the impossible is to sabotage the miracle.  You may not see who or what you’re fighting, but you must continue to do so.  I found all of this powerful and one of the biggest messages in this book.  There are things in this world that we cannot prevent, things over which we have no control (and, especially in this day and age of technology and instant gratification, this can be disheartening and defeating).  There are things that we cannot fathom within our finite world and time.  All of this is the amalgamation of living.  Live like Beverly, love like Peter Lake, believe like Hardesty, persevere like Virginia, know the importance of knowledge and the power of words like Mrs. Gamely, imagine like Abby and Martin, believe in the power of change like Praeger de Pinto.  All or some of this may feel impossible at times, but do your damndest to accomplish it regardless.  Sometimes it might feel like the entire world is conspiring against you at every turn, but seek out every avenue and possibility in your search to achieve your greatest aims.  Perhaps you’ll even find your own miracle.

As I’ve mentioned, this book was a struggle; in the end, however, I felt it was worth it.  This is by no means a book for a casual reader or someone faint of heart.  This book will take work.  It will confuse you, it will push you, but it’s a powerful story eloquently and elaborately told.  The style and plot can present a number of challenges, but I can say that I appreciate it all the more having seen it all come together.

Shadows and Lace (Brides of Legend: Book One): Teresa Medeiros (UPDATED)

Here's yet another updated review!  My very brief original review of this book can be found HERE.  I read this years and years ago on my very first Teresa Medeiros kick and I clearly enjoyed it very much.  I hadn't read anything of hers in a long time, so I thought I'd give this one another go -- especially because it's one of her earliest published works (it seemed like a good place to start).  The first thing I wanted to mention is that I didn't realize that this was part of a two book series, Brides of Legend.  Even though I've read both books in the series, I don't think I ever realized they were intended as a pairing.  This is why the original posts for these books don't list them as part of the Brides of Legend series.

The first thing I want to mention is this book spends a great deal more time focusing on Rowena's point of view than Gareth's.  Now, this could be because the author wanted to keep an air of mystery about this dark, dangerous, possibly murderous male lead, but I got the sense that it was more so because it was more comfortable or familiar to write from Rowena's perspective.  I can appreciate the mystery and intrigue this left swirling around Gareth, but it did make me sympathize less with him than, perhaps, I should have.  Part of the charm of this genre is that readers get to fall in love with the male leads; part of this is to show is what's in his heart and his mind.  We get glimpses of it in this book, but substantial chunks of it don't appear until much further in the book than I think they should have.  This presented some challenges for me because I didn't care about Gareth or his feelings until quite a ways into the story.  Rowena also presented a bit of a challenge for me.  I don't know if it was the way I read this or if it was intentionally very vague, but we don't get a good sense of her age until almost the last few chapters.  At first, I assumed she was in her early twenties or late teens.  Then, she's treated so much like and child (and even behaves like one) and described in almost childlike terms (she's described as a "girl" rather than a woman on numerous occasions) that I got the sense that she was likely closer to fifteen-years-old, or thereabouts.  Knowing Gareth was in his thirties, this rubbed me the wrong way.  The only thing that made my mind accept this was my knowledge of history -- it wouldn't have been that odd were their ages really that far apart.  Not until the very late chapters do we realize that Rowena is, indeed, in her early twenties.  The number is, after all, just a number.  My comment has more to do with the fact that she was more nebulous a character than I am used to (or, than I prefer).  She was also, at times, a bit hollow.  I began reading this book thinking she'd be a little hellcat, full of spunk and spitfire.  She was, in a way, but she also went about certain things with very little resistance or personality.  That's the right word -- her personality wasn't very unique.  She allowed herself to be pushed around quite a bit.  Those times she really did show off her spunk were great.  (One comment I feel I must make is that Rowena likes to fall asleep...on horseback...a lot...  If it happens once, okay.  But I'm pretty sure it happened at least three times in this story; it started to feel a little bit silly).  I found a lot of the exchanges between Rowena and Gareth to be very entertaining.  They did have a lot of chemistry and tension.  Since the story takes place over the period of a year, it's a great deal longer than the normal timespan for a book of this genre.  This means there's plenty of time for delicious tension and for emotions to grow and blossom at a more believable rate.  I will admit that there were moments where the story seemed to drag a bit (and I will mention that there was a remarkably consistent pattern of Rowena running away and then Gareth riding out to go and find her), though this didn't wreck the story for me.

The secondary characters (Blaine and Marlys) really made this book special.  I'm a sucker for great supporting characters and Medeiros did a great job in this book.  I am a firm believer that secondary characters such as these can really make a book and breathe life into the main characters.  They show readers other sides to their personalities that they may not immediately show to the other lead.  Blain was a great golden lighthearted foil to Gareth's dark and brooding nature.  Marlys was a truly wild, untamed little hellion and, boy!, does she know how to create chaos!  The dynamics between Blaine, Marlys, and Gareth really made it feel like there was extensive backstory, as if there really had been years of complex happenings before the first page of this book was written.  This, I found, rather impressive.  All of it was clearly well thought out and planned.

For the most part, I found the writing captivating and well-paced.  I particularly like the vivid descriptions of the settings and seasons; they felt real and alive.  There were some awkward parts regarding basic physics (for example:  How can Rowena back up and strike her shin on something?  The shin is the front of one's leg.  When backing up, wouldn't she have hit her calf on something instead?) and I found those a bit jarring.  I had to stop a couple of times and wonder how those things happened, but I let them be.  The language -- especially from Rowena -- sometimes felt very stilted and overly formal, whereas Gareth's was remarkably smooth and well-crafted.  I realize that Rowena was sometimes mocking Gareth when she spoke thusly, but certainly not all of the time.  Rowena had spent so much of her childhood in an informal setting, yet she seemed to be way too well-spoken at times.

As far as the "romance" goes, I enjoyed the tension between Rowena and Gareth.  They seemed to be a good match.  I was frustrated with how much conflict their relationship had and how many times they seemed to stumble into an irreparable situation (though, I suppose some would find this a good thing in a book of this genre).  It was a bit tamer than some of the other authors I normally read, which, I suppose, isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's less explicit and relies more on your imagination.  This is good for those readers who prefer things a little bit more toned down.  This is, of course, not to say that there isn't some explicit language and situations -- this is still very much an adult book.

I did enjoy this book, though probably not as much as I did the first time around.  The tension is by far the best selling point of this story.  Medeiros crafted it well and wrote a memorable character in Gareth.  Now I'm going to have to get the second book in the series!  (Side note:  I really like the newer cover much better than the original one.  It's definitely much more how I pictured Rowena and Gareth (even if I don't quite feel as if the new "Rowena's" costume is less authentic.  The original cover is extremely 90's with "Rowena's" overdone makeup.  The third cover shown above is another version I found (the one where you only see "Gareth's" arm).  I thought it was another decent version of the book, though I'm unsure if it really conveyed "Rowena" well, as she is written -- personally, I don't see her this confident and in charge.  I realize these are all personal preference and all the artwork is very much just a sign of the times in which they were published; I just thought I would share.)