Review: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

The Infernal Devices are without pity.

The Infernal Devices are without regret.

The Infernal Devices are without number

The Infernal Devices will never stop coming.

Tessa Grey is preparing for what should be the most joyous day of her life…..her wedding to Jem. Tessa loves Jem without question but there is still part of her that loves Will.

Though she tries to shut out her feelings for Will, it is hard to section off a part of your soul that only one other person can touch but somehow Tessa does it.

All the Shadowhunters at the London Institute are preparing for the wedding to take place when Gabriel Lightwood shows up begging to see his brother Gideon. Their father has turned into a giant man eating worm and he needs their help to stop him.

The London Institute agrees to help Gabriel and they all descend on the Lightwood home but soon discover something more disturbing than a giant worm….a warning scribbled on the walls of what was once Benedict Lightwoods study:  

Continue reading “Review: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare”

Review: And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily #1) by Tasha Alexander

Lady Emily Ashford is not in love with her new husband, the Viscount Philip Ashford. In fact she hardly knows him. So when she receives word that her husband died on safari in Africa, she can hardly morn a man she barely knows.

Emily married Philip to escape the constraints of her family and hoped that marriage would provide that. Now that she is a widow, she finds she has even more freedom than she did as a wife.

All of London society can’t stop singing the praises of Lord Ashford to Emily which makes her uncomfortable, but in an effort to at least try and morn the stranger she married, Emily listens to their stories.

She soon discovers that Philip was in fact wildly interesting and very much in love with her. Not only did Philip love to hunt on the “Dark Continent”, he was a romantic at heart with a love for Emily she has no idea existed; he also was a lover and collector of ancient antiquities and Greek literature.

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Review: A Wreath of Snow: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Liz Curtis Higgs

It’s Christmas Eve and snow has started falling on the small Scotland town of Stirling. Margaret Campbell has just had a row with her family and wants nothing more than to catch the first train out of Stirling back to Edinburgh.

Gordon Shaw has just completed his interview for the newspaper he works for and he too is eager to leave Stirling but for an entirely different reason. Stirling was his home long ago until the shame of a tragic accident forced him to move away.

The snow is coming down harder when the train finally departs from Stirling with Margaret and Gordon on board when it collides with a large snow drift (also known as a wreath in Scotland). It looks like Margaret and Gordon will be forced to stay the night in Stirling after all.

As they begin the long, cold walk back to town they start up a conversation and when Gordon reveals who he is, Margaret is angry but after he explains his past and the guilt he has been harboring for so many years, she can’t help but see him as a changed man.

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Review: Cashelmara by Susan Howatch

In the wild, untamed Irish wilderness lies a stark and cold Georgian era estate known as Cashelmara. Lord Edward de Salis is the master of Cashelmara, but as an Englishman he resides primarily in London but deep down he always considers Cashelmara home.

When his wife dies, Lord de Salis travels to America hoping to ease his grief. What he doesn’t expect to find is love. Marguerite is young enough to be Edward’s daughter but there is something about her that makes Edward feel at ease and happy once again. After they marry he takes Marguerite back to Ireland and Cashelmara where tragic events begin unfolding.

Cashelmara chronicles three generations of the de Salis family: Edward and Marguerite, Patrick and Sarah, Maxwell, and finally young Ned. This is a novel full of gothic romance, tragedy, murder, passion, and drama…..this is a family saga to rival even modern day soap operas.

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Review: A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russell #2) by Laurie R. King

A game’s a foot and Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are on the case!

In Sussex, Mary Russell is about to turn 21 and come into her sizable inheritance. On a whim one night, Mary sneaks away to London in search of her long time friend and mentor, Sherlock Holmes.

When she meets up with Holmes on that dark London night, she nearly puts her foot in her mouth, but before she can cause herself too much embarrassment, Holmes cuts her off. But in doing so, he mistakenly insults her and she storms off into the night, anxious to be out of an uncomfortable situation.

Come morning, Mary finds her way into a tea shop where she runs into an old Oxford acquaintance, Veronica Beaconsfield.

Veronica has been working for the New Temple of God, a group whose mission is helping the poor and unfortunate women of London. Veronica convinces Mary to come to some of the Temple’s meetings and since she is in want of something to distract her mind, she agrees. Continue reading “Review: A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russell #2) by Laurie R. King”