Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favorite Books From Ten Favorite Book Series

 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl features favorite books from favorite book series. I love, love, love to read series books! I despair that I will never be able to read them all so I try to be picky about which ones I carry on with. But I'm a sucker for them. So this was a fun topic for me this week.  I noted my favorite book of the series in parentheses. I'm short on time (first day of school tomorrow!) so no links but at least I was able to share my list with you! What series books are your favorites?

1. William Monk by Anne Perry (The Face of a Stranger)

2. Charlotte and Thomas Pitt by Anne Perry (Buckingham Palace Gardens)

3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Voyager)

4. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)

5. The Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes (The Rebels)

6. Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters (One Corpse Too Many)

7. Lady Eleanor Swift by Verity Bright (Mystery By the Sea)

8. Plantation Trilogy by Gwen Bristow (Deep Summer)

9. Inspector De Silva Mysteries by Harriet Steel (Trouble in Nuala)

10. The Medieval Saga Series by David Field (The Conscience of a King)

A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (A Royal Spyness Mystery: Book Two)

Publication Date:

July 1, 2008

Length:

320 Pages

Summary:

I read the first book in the series awhile ago but for some reason didn't write a review. I decided to start with book two and have requested the latest book from Net Galley to review. While I'd enjoy the whole series I just don't have time to read them all right now but this book gave me some refresher on the main characters in case I get approved to read the new one. 

Lady Georgiana is a hot mess. She is living in sparse conditions in her family's London townhouse with a secret job as a maid of sorts for the aristocracy. While her job is easy and gives her a little money and flexibility it doesn't erase the fact that she is distantly related to royalty and must keep up personal appearances. In her struggles she is aided often by her flighty, independently wealthy friend, Belinda. 

When the queen summons Georgie to help her with her wayward son, David (the current Prince of Wales) and his scandalous interaction with the infamous Wallis Simpson, she can hardly refuse. During the course of the visits to the queen, Georgie is forced to take on Princess Hannelore of Bavaria and her entourage as guests so that the Prince can hopefully be persuaded to fall in love and forget his mistress. 

Princess Hannelore is naive, young, and innocent and although has watched her fair share of American gangster movies (through which she has acquired a way of speaking with inappropriate slang) is not equipped to handle the bustle of London society with ease. She proves to be a difficult charge to keep out of trouble and when two murders occur involving people with ties to political tensions of the day, Georgie must try to keep her wits about her all while protecting the Princess, pleasing the queen, her clients, and convincing her family all is well. This while trying herself to solve the murders along with her love interest, Darcy.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. I liked it better than the first one. The characters were more established and interesting and I thought it was hilarious. The first book was too but it just wasn't as exciting and the plot seemed to drag a bit. I felt it was more of an introduction to things. I almost didn't read book two because of that but I'm glad I did and will carry on with the series as I can. I sometimes realize when I'm blogging a review that I tend to read books that aren't new but hopefully someone like me hasn't read these yet and the above information will be helpful!

This mystery was well thought out. It had lots of twists and there were some things I suspected about the murderer that turned out to be true but it didn't spoil the fun of the story. Georgie's mother is a great addition to the cast and is the polar opposite of her more introverted, modest daughter. It reminds me of the dynamic with Hannah Swenson of the Murder She Baked series of Hallmark and her mother. While Georgie is a one man woman and only has eyes for Darcy, her mother is on multiple husbands and looking for another. She means well but is flighty and self indulgent. It makes a good storyline between them.

Princess Hannelore, the queen, and even Mrs. Simpson are all portrayed just as you'd expect and although the Princess is not a real person you feel as though she is with her development throughout the story. She wants to party and be out and about and you feel for Georgie as she is constantly trying to stay one step ahead of her. 

There weren't a lot of cons to this story. Just a funny, cozy mystery with a good plot and murder to solve. I enjoyed it!

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, The Rose Arbor, by Rhys Bowen. I have read books from her Molly Murphy and Royal Spyness series but not a stand alone novel. It looks like this is a mystery with a serious side to it and so it is likely a good read. Hope you found something you can't wait to read this week!

August 6, 2024

Historical Fiction

Description courtesy of Amazon

An investigation into a girl’s disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.

London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?

Top Ten Tuesday: Debut Novels I Enjoyed

 

This was a fun topic for Top Ten Tuesday! It was honestly hard to choose and some of these I had forgotten about as I thought through which ones to pick. Some are classics, others current series, and some are Christian authors I read years ago as a teen. I think writing is brave and ambitious and something I don't know if I'd have the patience for. So hats off to these authors for taking a leap of faith and putting out a first book. 

1. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

4. Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke

5. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

6. The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry

7. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

9. A Very English Murder by Verity Bright

10. The Heather Hills of Stonewycke by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella

Stacking the Shelves #32

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Enjoy your reading this week!

This book is part of a series called Mamur Zapt Mysteries. I plan to read book one soon but this one was on sale this week. The author, Michael Pearce was born in Egypt in 1933 and he uses Cairo as the setting for this series. I found the premise so interesting when I researched it. The Mamur Zapt was the name for the special investigator of the British government in pre-World War Egypt. The protagonist of the novels is a Welshman who investigates the political more than the procedural and so the books focus on both aspects. This series looks very original and I hope to learn a lot too reading some of these mysteries! Not sure if they qualify as cozy though.