Month: October 2023

Book of the Week, books, romance

Book of the Week: To Swoon and to Spar

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It was a long list last week, and there were a couple of options for this post, but I settled on To Swoon and to Spar because it’s really fun and it’s been a while since I picked a historical romance!

Viscount Penvale has spent his adult life trying to buy back his family’s home in Cornwall. When his uncle finally agrees to sell it to him, there is one condition: Penvale must marry his ward Jane. The two meet and although first impressions aren’t the best, both agree to a marriage of convenience. What Penvale doesn’t know is that Jane has been spending months persuading his uncle that Trethwick is haunted so that he would move out, and she’s going to use the same tactics to try and rid herself of her new husband. What could possibly go wrong?

This is the fourth book in Waters’ Regency Vows series, and Penvale was a side character in the other book in the series that I’ve read and given how close he seems to his friends I assume also the two that I haven’t, so I suspect I’ve read the series you’ll have some feelings about him already. And of course the faux haunting made it a good book to read in the run up to Halloween. It rattles along nicely and the plot has enough turns to keep you wondering what will happen next. I had a few minor niggles with some of the language choices – at one point Jane is surprised Penvale is still hungry as he’s eaten “an entire rasher of bacon” at breakfast – and I’m not sure Jane really would be surprised that Penvale hadn’t read a novel, but I enjoyed it enough that I let it off. Although I suppose as I’m mentioning it here, I haven’t really have I?! Anyway, there is a fifth book in the series coming next year and I’ll keep an eye out for that, and if any of the two I haven’t read come my way I wouldn’t say no to reading them.

My copy of To Swoon and to Spar came from that trip to The Works, so it hasn’t even been on the pile for very long which is unusual for me, and means you should be able to get hold of the paperback fairly easily I think. And it’s also available in Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 23 – October 29

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A really busy week in reading. Lots of books read – and lots of different genres. The audiobook re-listen is now deep into Albert Campion, which is fun. And we’re nearly at the end of October which means all the usual things for the blog this week.

Read:

Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman*

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

Mystery in Provence by Vivian Conroy

A Christmas to Remember by Beverly Jenkins

Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa*

The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham

Death on the Down Beat by Sebastian Farr

A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin

To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Walters

Started:

Somebody at the Door by Raymond W Postgate

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

One pre-order arrived but that was it.

Bonus photo: this is the curtain call (they said we could film and photograph it) at the Coliseum on Wednesday for the final night of the ENO’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe. My first Gilbert and Sullivan and it was really good and much funnier than I expected – not least because someone from my favourite comedy theatre company was in it!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

not a book, streaming

Not a Book: Colleen Rooney – The Real Wagatha Story

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It feels like I’m doing a documentary recommendation every other week at the moment (ED: you are) and this one is another football-related one after Beckham the other weekend, but hey the Wagatha Christie scandal transcended football (and wasn’t really about football in the first place) so I’m going with it!

In case you missed the original scandal, back in 2019 Colleen Rooney (the wife of former England captain Wayne) posted to her Instagram that she had been investigating the leak of stories from her private Instagram account to The Sune and had come to the conclusion that the culprit was “………Rebekah Vardy’s account”. Rebakah Vardy, wife of Leicester City striker Jamie, sued Rooney for defamation and the whole thing culminated in a High Court trial in the summer of 2022 and the whole case has spawned a string of podcasts, documentaries, dramas and even a West End show. This latest documentary, from Disney + tells Colleen’s side of the story across three parts.

There are elements here that have parallels to the Beckham’s story – Wayne has also been the subject of tabloid exposes and Colleen has been the focus of tabloid attention since she was still at school. But aside from that, this is quite a different beast. Colleen talks the viewer through her life with Wayne, the stories that started appearing in the Sun, the sting that she set up to try and prove who the source of the stories was and then the aftermath of her post. WHile the court case is estimated to have cost around £3m, it’s not life or death stuff and that makes it really good escapist viewing. I’ve already listened to a podcast about the case (the BBC’s It’s… Wagatha Christie) and the Channel 4 drama – as well as following the court case as it went on and I still found a few bits here that I didn’t already know. But even though I did already know most of it, it’s well packaged and it’s the first time we’ve really heard directly from Colleen and Wayne as well as their lawyers. I’m not saying go out and get a Disney + subscription just for this, but if you already have one, it’s a worth looking this up – or adding it to your list for the next time you do have access to Disney +.

Have a good Sunday everyone.

books, bookshelfies

Bookshelfie: New bookcase!

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For today’s treat, I offer you the new attic staircase bookshelf. I said a few months ago that I was looking for one, and now I have it! This is a second hand oak bookcase, probably 1950s-ish and came from the vintage warehouse place. At the moment it’s a mix of Trisha Ashley, Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey, British Library Crime Classics and cozy crime. But the aim is to have stuff on there that people sleeping in the spare room might want to read so that may yet change. And it means that I now have space downstairs to do a bit of rearranging. So watch this space…

books, new releases, Series I love

Series I love again: Blessings

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I know. I’ve already written about Beverly Jenkins Blessings series more than once, but the latest book in the series came out here this week – after a gap of three and a half years so how could I not!

You can find my first post about the people of Henry Adams here, but the basic plot is that when she divorces her rich but cheating husband, Bernadine Brown uses part of her divorce settlement to buy a historically black town in Kansas on eBay. Over the course of the series you can see Henry Adams come back to life and flourish. There’s a regular cast of characters who cover multiple generations, there’s always a romantic element – although it’s not always the main focus – as well as whatever is happening in the town. It’s strongly influenced by faith – after her divorce Bernadine wants God to tell her what her purpose should be after being so fortunate as to get so much money – and buying the town is what she feels that he wants her to do. And the latest in the series is mostly focusing on Reverend Paula and the new guy in town.

I realise I’ve got this far without really talking about the narrative structure – which is that it moves around from character to character looking at the different strands of the story. Its a bit like Tales of the City – although Blessings isn’t written to be read in episodes and the overarching plot is more connected together than TotC tends to be.

Anyway, A Christmas to Remember came out this week, I had it pre-ordered and had finished it within two days despite all my efforts at moderation (and it would have been less except that I had to work and also had theatre tickets). Last week I mentioned Sweet Mercies and if you’ve read that or Small Miracles, the first book about the Sisters of St Philomena, this has lots of similar vibes – although those have less romance than these do and maybe a bit more God. Or at least a different way of dealing with God. And the narrative moves around in a similar way.

Ms Bev writes brilliant historical romances as well – I’ve written about a couple of them – so there’s plenty to go at in her back catalogue if you read one of these and like it.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Book previews, books

Out this week: Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date

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I just wanted to mention that the third in Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series of F/f romances has come out this week. I read the first two back to back earlier this year and have been waiting for this one to finish off the set. Iris has been a secondary character in the other two and I’m really looking forward to seeing what her happy ending looks like. This is very much a trilogy (or at least I think it is) so do try and read the others first for maximum effect. And I promise I will report back when I’ve read it.

books, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: Romances set on reality TV shows

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This week’s Recommendsay is another in my occasional series of recommendations based on romance tropes. Well sort of. I’m not sure that reality shows are actually a full on trope, but I’ve read a bunch of them now so I’m claiming it. What most of them have in common is that the hero or heroine is falling in love with someone that they shouldn’t – in the ones on dating shows they’re usually falling for a producer rather than one of the contestants. But I’m not sure what that counts as as a trope – falling for the wrong person maybe? Or forbidden love? Anyway, to the books

I’m starting with the book that sparked the idea for this post – The Love Rematch by Kay Marie*, which came out last week and is currently in Kindle Unlimited. Emily finds herself as the lead on a TV dating show (think the Bachelorette) after her mum goes on breakfast TV begging America to find her daughter a boyfriend. It’s not until she gets to the show that she finds out that one of the producers is Jake, the boy who broke her heart when he left her without a word just as they had finished high school. She’s determined to get revenge on him by showing him how happy she can be without him (and launching her jewellery brand by wearing it on the show) and he’s trying to get a promotion. But it’s a romance novel so of course they’re not as over each other as they think they are. I really enjoyed this – although it took a bit of a surprising turn at the end, which I think needed more time to work out, and the epilogue wasn’t really an epilogue – more of a final chapter just set a year later. But I read it in a couple of days once I really got into it and it was fun. And obviously made me want to write this post!

In One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London, Bea also finds herself as the lead in a dating show, this time not because her mum volunteered her, but because she wrote a blog complaining about the lack of body diversity in dating shows. When i wrote about this three years (!) ago, I said not to go into it expecting at traditional romance, because it’s more complicated than that – for all that it has a happily ever after. But I’m still including it here becuase I think if you read it you would like the Kay Marie, and vice versa.

Not set on a dating show, but on a show that’s basically Bake Off lightly disguised, Rosaline Palmer takes the Cake by Alexis Hall (yes I know, I wrote about Hall’s new book last week, but sue me, this fits!) has a single mum breaking away from parental expectations to compete on a TV cooking contest and finding herself in a love triangle (sort of) with two of the other contestants. This isn’t as straight forward a romance as some of Hall’s other contemporary romances, but you do get a happily ever after even if you’re left guessing who it’s going to be with for a while.

It’s only a few months since The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren was BotW so I can’t really justify writing about it in massive detail again here, but trust me when I say that it also fits this prompt – and is probably the closest to The Love Rematch and also more successful in execution than that is. And an honourable mention to Battle Royal by Lucy Parker, which isn’t actually set on a reality show, but that is where the hero an heroine first crossed swords.

Happy Reading!

Book of the Week, books

Book of the Week: Duke Actually

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Bit of a marginal choice this week, but I thought I’d do something different and throw in a rare Royal Romance read that’s also a Christmassy one – even if we’re not past Halloween yet!

Dani Martinez is a professor hoping for tenure. She’s also hoping her ex-husband will sign the divorce papers and has sworn off love completely. Trouble is, she’s about to be an attendant at a royal wedding and this involves some contact with the playboy duke the bride dumped for Dani’s friend. Max has issues of his own: his parents are awful, he’s finished his studies and doesn’t have a job, and now his engagement has been broken off, his parents are trying to find a replacement fiancée for him, stat. Dani and Max become unlikely friends, but it can never turn into anything more – can it?

This was absolutely delightful until about the 80 percent mark at which point it just didn’t quite stick the landing. I’m not quite sure what went wrong – whether it was too much to do in not enough time, if I just didn’t like the way Jenny Holiday decided to resolve the conflict/tension in the relationship or if it was a combination of the two but after an absolutely cracking unlikely friends, vanquishing the evil ex, rebuilding sibling relationships ride, it just didn’t quite end as well as I wanted it too. But it’s still pretty good – and better than a lot of the other romances I’ve tried lately, many of which haven’t even made it on to the list because I didn’t get further than 50 pages before I gave them up in a rage. And not always in a Sunday afternoon funk either!

This one is on offer on Kindle and Kobo at the moment, and it’s the second book in a trilogy of related romances which are also on offer. Enjoy!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 16 – October 22

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I don’t know what happens to me on a Sunday at the moment where I lose the ability to pick a new book and stick to it. It’s a real puzzle to me, but it seems to happen every week at the moment. Still identifying a pattern of behaviour is the first step to breaking it right? Still I had a good week – with a lovely trip to Old Friends and then two nights in Essex. This week has a few nights in London and I might go and see another show. So we’ll see what that does to the list next Monday!

Read:

Shot with Crimson by Nicola Upson*

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham

The Love Rematch by Kay Marie*

Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday

The Magpie Lord by K J Charles

Sweet Mercies by Anne Booth

Started:

Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman*

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa*

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

One ebook bought. Restrained

Bonus photo: Christmas is coming – the fancy advent calendars are starting to appear! This was in the window of Liberty on Tuesday – it’s their famous (well depending on whether you follow makeup/skincare bloggers a few years back or not) beauty one. Every year I think about treating myself and then remember the amount of lotions and potions I have kicking around that I need to clear out and give myself a stern shake.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

theatre

Not a Book: Old Friends

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This was my Tuesday evening entertainment this week and of course I was going to write about it, given that I bought the tickets the day that they went on sale and have been looking forward to it for months.

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends is the West End run of the tribute show that Cameron Mackintosh put on with some of the best known and most loved songs from his long producing relationship with the late musical genius. It’s on a limited run in the West End with headline stars Bernadette Peters (her first ever West End show!!) and Lea Salonga (Princess Jasmine herself) along with support from West End powerhouses like Janie Dee and Joanna Riding.

And I was in musical theatre heaven – I’ve seen Company, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, Follies (three times!), Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along so there were a lot of songs that were familiar to me. I have the Sondheim 80th birthday prom on the Tivo and have watched it more times than I can count, and I’ve watched the various documentaries about his life that have popped up in the last few years. So it was wonderful to get what is essentially a greatest hits concert – and to try and guess who was going to sing what – the programme has a song list but not who is doing which bits. And there are plenty of options for each one – as more than one of the cast have played each role. I was mostly right, but there are a few gender-swapped suprises. And it definitely brought home for me how wonderfully Sondheim wrote songs for older women. It’s not just Send in the Clowns, it’s Losing My Mind, and Everything’s Coming Up Roses, I’m Still Here, The Boy from and Ladies Who Lunch AND MORE. Just wonderful. I’ve been humming the songs for days.

How it will work for you if you don’t know your Sondheim, I’m not sure, so I had a bit of a hunt around to find the trailer for it with the most singing in it (see above!) but I think there are enough songs here that you would know – there’s West Side Story here too and A Little Night Music that you would probably enjoy it – and at least come away wanting to see the full version of some of the shows. I loved it so much I would go back again. And who knows, I might well go back and see it again.

It would be remiss of me to end this post without mentioning the amazingly talented Haydn Gwynne, who died this week and who should have been in this show. She had to withdraw days before previews started for “sudden personal reasons” – which sadly turned out to be a cancer diagnosis. And now, just weeks later she’s gone. I saw her in Women on the Verge of A Nervous Breakdown and The Audience – and I know she would have been fabulous in this – because she was in the original tribute show last year. So leave you with part of her performance of Ladies Who Lunch from that show, which if you’re in the UK you can find on iPlayer to watch again – which we did on Friday night.

See you tomorrow everyone.