Book Review: How to Catch a Prince By Rachel Hauck Published by Zondervan

How to Catch a Prince

Rachel Hauck

Book Description

Prince Stephen came to America to escape responsibility. But what he found complicates his life more than ever.

Corina Del Rey is happy with her life in Melbourne, Florida. She spends her days engrossed in her career as a journalist and has her sights set on climbing the corporate ladder-if for no other reason, to distract herself from her dissolving family. But when she is confronted with the past she fought so hard to put behind her, she struggles to make sense of her future.

Book Review: For the Love of the Duke by Christi Caldwell

Woodsworth and Byron in the Heart of a Duke

Overall

Performance

Story

For the Love of the Duke is a historical fiction novel set sometime in the 17th to 19th century when the Thames River of London would freeze over. During this time winters where significantly colder in London than they are now. This time was known as the Little Ice Age. To celebrate Christmastide, what the book and that period fondly referred to as the winter or Christmas season, merry goers would brave the chill air with a little cup of alcohol to enjoy the Frost Fairs. At the time the River Thames would freeze over and they would walk an elephant across to prove it was solid. Then peddlers would set up tents of trinkets and goodies to sell, this would have seemed a lot like any other festival combined with a farmers market.

The first recorded frost fair was in 1608. The most celebrated frost fair occurred in the winter of 1683–84 and was described by John Evelyn: 

Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other stairs too and fro, as in the streets; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cooks, tipling and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water.

BOOK REVIEW: Listening Is an Act of Love by Dave Isay

"Fantastic makes me want to be involved"

Overall

Performance

Story

Would you listen to Listening Is an Act of Love again? Why?

This is touching. I loved hearing other people's life stories. You laugh and could cry with this book. It's short and I just want to hear more. It's fantastic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The in love couple where great but there was an old man from a war that was touching also. How fabulous if our parents or great great grandparents had left us audio. It would leave you wanting more.

BOOK REVIEW: An Unlikely Duchess by Nadine Millard Narrated By Beverley A. Crick

"Irish Scoundrel Vs. Handsome British Duke"

Overall

Performance

Story

This historical romance starts off with a twist when two best friends make plans to wed their future children. Little did the two men know what twists and turns fate would make for their future children. In a lot of ways this story plays by the typical historical love story template, but luckily it has a deeper plot than most of these types of books.

An Unlikely Duchess has a few antagonists plotting against the happiness of the main characters. Overall this is a happy story with light hearted characters who are at the whimsy of their hearts and notions. The story makes 18th century London society sound like child's play. It's an enjoyable book to pass the time with very little reference to day-to-day life.

BOOK REVIEW: Lady of Willowgrove Hall by Sarah E. Ladd #books (Sponsored Review from BookLook Bloggers)

Book Title: Lady of Willow Grove Hall

Sarah E. Ladd

Book 3 of the Series Whispers On The Moors

Book Review Summary

"Secretive Historical Fiction"

Overall

Performance

Story

The story of A Lady at Willowgrove Hall (Whispers On The Moors Book 3) is enchanting, and a story of loss. Oddly enough, the losses are not overwhelmingly sad, perhaps because you rush through them so quickly to get to the real meat of the story. Perhaps the story doesn't feel so sad because the reason the main character, Cecily Faire,  looses the life she once had are her own fault, and they overshadow her future, but her future feels brighter than her torrid past (not so torrid by today's standards).

It takes a few chapters to figure out how Willow Grove Hall comes into play, but I got there in less than a couple hours. Barely wanted to sleep or put this book down. Ms. Ladd, the author, paints a vivid picture of a beautiful young woman who is a twin. The main character is born into a middle class life style with an over-protective seemingly uncaring drunk for a father. Due to some poorly laid decisions, she loses everything she once knew and is thrown into another world. A slightly higher class lifestyle that offers her a chance at something more. Something she'd originally wanted but gave up on, but not in the way you might initially have thought.

"Is it always a sin to tell a lie?" --Cecily Faire, Sara E. Ladd

BOOK REVIEW: Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

Fifty Shades of Grey

Original Review: 8/16/12
Edited: 02/14/2015
"Love listening to Becca Battoe Wish Narrated More Books"

Overall

Performance

Story

What did you love best about Fifty Shades of Grey?

The story was good. Moves very quickly. Christian starts off as a bit of an asshole, but if you hold out it gets better. Enjoyed the books. Saw the movie yesterday. It's very graphic and awkward for a first date movie. They leave nothing to the imagination. The movie does not have even a quarter of the detail the book has.

I loved the character build up, the inner dialog, how the characters traverse their inner struggles aloud and build off the emotion of the moment. The book is extremely sexual in content and not at all appropriate for children, teens, or people of sensitive sensibilities. 

BOOK REVIEW: Read the book or don't talk about it like you know the story. This goes for all books.

My original review of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Overall

Performance

Story

Someone hating the book for being abusive. The comments to follow include hundreds of women who have never read the story and are ranting on principal. They even say that he was raised poorly because, of course, they are super women who are perfect parents who would never raise a son "like that" or a daughter who would date him.

The book is about a man who was raped as a child and a teen overcoming a lot of his background. Throughout the book they, as a couple, work towards growing up and setting aside a lot of what many people openly find distasteful. Heck the protagonist and her best friend probably have a lot of the same feelings towards being tied up as you do. Yes it has a lot of sex scenes, and I didn't really know what I was getting into when I started the book, but the reason it's so popular is because it has a deeper story about hardship, overcoming obstacles, growing up, and falling in love.

BOOK REVIEW: The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III

I've *NEVER* read this book. I'm a member of a lot of book clubs, so I get random recommendations a lot. Recommendations from authors I follow online, publishers, and even Facebook. This book was a Facebook recommendation that I still can't bring myself to read, but the description itself is too hilarious not to read once. I get very invested in books and the description makes me laugh/cringe simultaneously.

GEEK RIDDLE CONTEST: #geekriddle

Vin Du Rhône lips, 

Beauty like Dita Von Tease, 

Skin of a china doll, 

Hair darker than charcoal, 

And a heart of gold,

Who am I? ‪#‎geekriddle‬