Monday, January 14, 2019

The Little Shop of Found Things: Paula Brackston


An antiques shop haunted by a ghost.  A silver treasure with an injustice in its story.  An adventure to the past she’ll never forget.

“Xanthe and her mother, Flora, leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antiques shop in the historic town of Marlborough.  Xanthe finds she has an affinity with some of the antiques she finds:  While she touches them she can sense something of their past and the stories they hold.  When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine she has to know more.

“It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century, the time of its origin.  She discovers there is an injustice in its history.  The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.  While Xanthe fights to save the girl amid the turbulent days of 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby.  He may be the person who can help her succeed.  He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to return to the present.

“In this first book in a new series, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch’s Daughter Paula Brackston returns to her trademark blend of magic and romance, which is guaranteed to enchant.”

I came across Paula Brackston’s books while scrolling through my Pinterest feed (this seems to be the way I’m discovering most of my new reading material).  I was intrigued by the cover and the synopsis seemed interesting, so I gave it a shot and put it on hold at my local library.

Xanthe and Flora uproot their London life to move to the country.  There, in an entirely new setting, they begin their new lives as owners of a small antique shop.  This is Flora’s passion and Xanthe’s joy – especially because she gets to do it alongside her mother.  However, Xanthe has a secret of her own.  Some of the antiques she touches retain echoes of their former owners.  She can sense their lives and their love, their histories and their stories.  This comes in handy when choosing special pieces for purchase or sale in their shop.  Nothing, however, prepares her for the visceral reaction she has to a silver chatelaine she encounters at a local auction.  Xanthe takes a great risk and spends most of their meager funds on purchasing the silver chatelaine.  Shortly thereafter, Xanthe realizes something very important and powerful drew her to this piece with a tragic history.  The ghost of a woman makes herself known to Xanthe and their encounter sends Xanthe back to the Seventeenth Century on a mission to save the ghost’s ill-fated daughter from a horrible end.  Along the way, Xanthe must figure out how to hide her modern-day mannerisms and speech, as well as her ignorance of the customs and activities in order to blend in and help prevent the girl’s death, for the ghost has threatened Flora’s life should Xanthe fail in her mission.  Xanthe is drawn to the dark, intelligent Samuel Appleby, who, despite the norms of the day, seems to appreciate her for her knowledge and finds her enchanting despite her quirks and unfamiliar behavior.  Xanthe’s mission is dangerous and, should she make one misstep, it could mean her own end in the tumultuous times of the early 1600s.  Will she be able to save Alice and, by extension, Flora?  Will she be able to return to her own time or will she be forced to remain in 1605 forever?

I love a good bit of modern British literature and this one fit the bill; not to mention it has romance and magic, which make for a fun and entertaining read (even if books with magical and time traveling themes are not usually my cup of tea).

Xanthe and Flor make for a good mother-daughter pair.  I found their dynamic to be very warm and realistic.  Their backstory seemed realistic as a catalyst to move them from London all the way to Marlborough to open a little antique shop of their own.  The details that go into their shop and the items within demonstrate the obvious love and care put into this book.  The variety of items and descriptions drew me in and, to me, showed just how much Brackston injected into this work; I don’t think the book would have been as successful without it.

There were some minor descriptions of Flora, Xanthe, and some of the more important supporting characters (like Liam and Samuel), but I don’t feel like I got an excellent sense of facial features or even age.  This is something I’ve noted in other book reviews and it’s something I look for in every book I read.  I don’t expect an author to give me extensive descriptions and an exact age, but I find I do need something like, “mid-twenties” and at least an eye color or some distinguishing feature other than hair and clothing to really make a character come to life in my mind’s eye.  I don’t think we’re given even a general idea of Xanthe’s age.  I first pictured her in her early thirties, but, having finished the book, I think she may have been much younger, maybe even her early twenties.  This nebulous sense of age (personally) makes it a bit difficult to form a good idea of the main character and I find it detracts a bit from my enjoyment.  I may be alone here, but I wanted to be sure to mention it because it was definitely something with which I came away having formed a strong impression.

What I found most successful was Brackston’s descriptions of 1605.  The details and settings were spectacular and well-researched.  The Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Centuries happen to be some of my favorite in British history, so it was a joy to discover that Brackston had done so much background work and integrated so many intricate details and crafted the story and its history in so loving a fashion.  Everything from the houses to the clothing, the political and religious strife to the art and architecture, it was all so well-crafted and pleasantly written that it felt natural rather than as if only a cursory review of the time period had been performed.  This is an aspect of Brackston’s writing that I greatly admire and for which I applaud her.

Xanthe was a very good female lead.  She was determined, tenacious, and remained shaped by her history in a believable fashion.  I enjoyed her ingenuity and imperfections.  She is sent on a mission and nothing short of success is acceptable – she simply will not allow harm to befall her beloved mother.  As a driving force behind her mission, I thought it was handled very well.  To have made this into a selfless rescue mission wouldn’t have been as believable (or as believable as magical time travel can be!).

Xanthe’s chemistry with Samuel (and Liam) was very realistic and felt organic.  I enjoyed watching their connection grow and develop into something much deeper – a companionship that would span the centuries.  The romance, while present, isn’t overt and does take a backseat to the main plot; however, I found this better than making this story all about the romance.  Though she may not realize it fully yet, I can tell that her chemistry with present-day Liam will create some difficulties for her down the road.  She and the almost Darcy-esque Samuel bond over a passion for architecture and the beauty of what she knows to be antiques and artifacts, but Samuel sees as modern-day creations and developments.  On the other hand, she doesn’t quite realize just how supportive and caring Liam is – how he cares for her and is willing to overlook her half-truths and quirks.  He suits her, but in a different way.  I think we may have a “Gail and Peeta” dilemma, a-la Hunger Games going on, and I am curious to see how this is going to play out.  Which man is more suitable?  Will she venture to the past or choose the man in her present?  I suppose we’ll have to see how the series plays out.

A minor plot hole I wanted to mention – you may want to skip if you want to be totally surprised by the plot:  The first time Xanthe is sent back to the past, she sees Alice already captured and in the carriage on the way to imprisonment.  The second time she goes, she watches Alice run away before they can put her into the carriage to be carted away.  Every other time she goes back, the periods are perfectly chronological.  She doesn’t bounce around in time.  I think this was done so she would be aware of her mission, but it doesn’t make all that much sense, especially given the exact passage of time between the past and the present.  They seem to occur almost parallel, with the past traveling at a slightly quicker pace than Xanthe’s present, but it never backtracks other than this very first instance.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  I found it fanciful and realistic, even for a book with magical time travel.  I can tell there was a lot of love in the story and I think this is part of what made it so successful.  The plethora of details and research made this a unique and special book.  The writing was fun (though those who are less familiar with British slang may need a bit of assistance) and well-paced while the plot was lively and entertaining.  I definitely look forward to seeing where this series will go.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke: Book Two): Tessa Dare

"HE'S BEEN A BAD, BAD RAKE--AND IT TAKES A GOVERNESS TO TEACH HIM A LESSON

"THE ACCIDENTAL GOVERNESS

"After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post:  transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies.  However, the girls don't need discipline.  They need a loving home.  Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud:  duke's heir in the streets and devil in the sheets.  The ladies of London have tried--and failed--to make him settle down.  Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart...without risking her own.

"THE INFAMOUS RAKE

"Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule:  no attachments.  When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education--in pleasure.  That should prove he can't be tamed.  But Alexandra is more than he bargained for:  clever, perceptive, passionate.  She refuses to see him as a lost cause.  Soon the walls around Chase's heart are crumbling...and he's in danger of falling hard."

What a pleasant way to start the new year:  reading a new book by one of my favorite authors.  And this latest installment in the Girl Meets Duke series took me only a single day to enjoy.  I very much enjoyed the first book in this series and really looked forward to reading the second.  Unfortunately, at that time, it hadn't been released yet.  So I had to wait...and it felt like forever (when it was really only a few months) and I was thrilled when I finally got my hands on a copy of "The Governess Game".  There is little I love more than an excellent series with recurring characters who were once secondary and now have books of their own -- especially when those characters are vivid, lively, unique, and have very strong personalities.

We first met Alexandra and (very briefly) Chase in Emma and Ash's story, "The Duchess Deal".  Alexandra is presented as rather quiet, extremely intelligent, and devoted to her work.  The glimpse of Chase we are given hints that he's in charge of small girls -- though why, we do not know -- and that he's a devilishly handsome flirt.  This book stayed true to that information, though Alex really seemed to find her voice.  I'm glad because a shrinking flower rarely makes a fantastic female lead.  Alex turned out to be determined and interesting, with a very unique and captivating backstory.  I really enjoyed how she handled her accidental position as governess and her reaction made it much more realistic.  I appreciated her methodical thought processes and her determinedness to give Daisy and Rosamund what they so desperately lacked.  Her unconventional tactics were charming and lent an air of fun and fantasy to the story.

Chase was, for the most part, a very good male lead.  I thoroughly enjoyed his personality and his very quick wit.  I believe I said something very similar about Ash; I think Dare has really perfected the art of the charming, intelligent, humorous male lead without making him seem too goofy or macho.  This is one of the things that can really make or break a story in this genre.  So many think it's easy to write good romance (even my husband -- who rarely takes note of my reading materials -- has mentioned that he thinks books of this genre are far too common), but these critics have no idea what it takes to write really captivating male leads.  It takes another level of author entirely to write excellent romance.  They key is to make the readers fall in love with the characters.  To be able to write unique characters (and not simply spout out very slightly different versions over and over again because the formula works) is an art.  I know I can hear some scoffs out there, but I assure you that I've read enough books -- both romance and other genres -- to say that it is not as easy as one might believe to craft characters with whom the readers can truly connect on numerous levels.  Chase is a good example of this.  He has a good backstory and a complicated life.  While there was a good portion of the book from his point of view, I felt like a vast majority of it was dedicated to his feelings about Alex or his past/present/future as it might relate to or impact her.  I can understand the rationale behind his decisions, but he bordered ever so slightly on a dramatic martyr.  This is, perhaps, one of my only critiques.  I just wanted a touch more about his personal life or experiences -- not necessarily solely as they related to Alex.  What were some of his hobbies -- other than perfecting the libertine arts?  I found his personality charming (as charming as the rake was intended to be) and his humor was fun to experience.  By far the quick banter between Chase and Alex had to be one of my favorite aspects of this book.  He was a man after my own heart with his subtle caring ways and his willingness to play along with Daisy's penchant for holding funerals for her beloved doll after gruesome "illnesses."

Daisy and Rosamund were, quite obviously, the most prominent secondary characters.  And I found them spectacular.  They were quick little girls who were bruised by their past and reluctant to open their hearts.  Some might feel them a bit over the top (I'm referring to the repeated doll funerals), but I had cousins just about their ages exactly and I can tell you that these were some rather perfect characters.  Their precociousness and knack for trouble made them fun, but their unique personalities and fascination with "unwomanly" things made them special.  They suited the plot and the other characters quite well.  I was charmed by their determined little spirits and their delightful torture of their guardian and governess(es) -- yes, that was intentionally plural.

We also see Nicola, Penny, Emma, and Ash once more.  Emma and Ash seem to have settled quite nicely into their marriage (yay!  I do so love happy endings); Penny is her usual, animal-loving self; and Nicola is baking away and tinkering -- ever protective of her friends.  I've some reason to believe Penny's will be the next in the series and, with her trusting and open-hearted nature, that could make for a very interesting story, indeed

I absolutely recommend this book; was there ever a question that I wouldn't?  As much as I've always loved Dare's writing, I think it's only continuing to get better.  Her characters are becoming even more alive and their stories are fun and unique.  Her writing has a way of drawing you in and you never want to put the book down.  My only regret is that I finished reading this book so darn quickly.