The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin : Review

Book Review -
The Fortune Hunter
by Daisy Goodwin

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin 

Synopsis:  "In 1875, Sisi, the Empress of Austria is the woman that every man desires and every woman envies.

Beautiful, athletic and intelligent, Sisi has everything - except happiness. Bored with the stultifying etiquette of the Hapsburg Court and her dutiful but unexciting husband, Franz Josephs."

My Review: At the start of the book we are introduced to Charlotte, a young lady who will shortly become financial independent when she reaches age and inherits her mothers estate. We also meet Captain Bay Middleton, a young and handsome accomplished horseman with a dream of winning the Grand National. 

Charlotte has no plans to marry a Lord or an Earl like most young ladies her age. She is more interested in the new invention of photography and the opportunity of exhibiting her photographs, much to her aunt and her soon to be sister in law's annoyance. That is until she meets Captain Middleton, both drawn to each other, yet they are unable to act on there wish to marry until Charlotte reaches age. But with neither money or a title the dashing army captain in reality has little to offer young Charlotte, 

But then Captain Middleton one of the best horsemen in the country is asked to ride alongside the beautiful Sissi. Introduce her to the ways of an English Hunt,which she demonstrates great skill as a horse rider, Sissi clearly finds Captain Middleton's lack of  etiquette rather enticing.

The story then follows how these two women battle for the affection of the dashing Bay Middleton. As a reader this story had me alternating as to whether the character Bay deserved their affections, to sympathising for him and the situation he found himself in. For Bay to be even moving in Royal circles presented him with opportunities he would scarcely have imagined. By the end of the book I even empathised with the constraints faced by Sissi. It is easy to take for granted all the opportunities available to young ladies today, yet Charlotte faces caution and disapproval just for being in a room alone with an eligible man. Never mind her plan to travel and explore America being accepted by her half brother and aunt. 

I enjoyed this book it was well written and clearly well researched, I found it an easy read just under 500 pages, it took me about a week to read on and off during the evenings. If this book were a film (who knows maybe one day it will) it would be a Sunday afternoon film, perfect to settle down and enjoy along with your favourite tipple and box of chocolates.

I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 on Goodreads where it currently has an average of 3.41 stars.

To find out more about the book or the author visit the following links.
Goodreads ~  Amazon

Angela

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Indigo Instinct: Review

The second book in the Indigo trilogy, I couldn't wait to get stuck into it - the first book had drawn me in - I wanted to know more and the "Indigo Children" and what IIA was trying to accomplish with them.

The second book starts off only a couple weeks after the epilogue of the first ends.

Sarah is back in Roswell having given birth to a health son Tristan, living near Ian and still without her husband, confused about the feelings she seems to be developing for Ian and with her babies talents progressing so quickly she has a lot to get used to in her new life.

Toby and Tyler are now free from there foster parents, having joined a new school with just weeks to the summer - they are looking forward to spending time with each other as well as Lilana and Rebecka.

Lilana and Grace are spending the summer working with Aunt Mae and the diner, while Eddy is trying to get over his feelings for both Grace and Sarah.

But could things really be that easy, could they just steal information from IIA and with the threat of making it public be left to get on with their own lives in peace?

Of course not..

This book follows the relationships between the characters as they progress and grow, allowing us to find out more about them as they find out more about just what they have taken on the disk drive.

I would suggest reading Indigo Insight before staring on Indigo Instinct, although we do slightly look back in book two, I personally would feel like I was missing a lot of information had I have not caught up before beginning this read.

I found this a really easy book to follow, meaning it made for a perfect night time read - you could be drawn into the excitement and intrigue, become close the characters and then drift off wondering quite what might happen next. What are IIA up to - will they all be ok!

Well you best read the book to find those questions out yourself, me I'm going to look forward to book 3!

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Blurb

They thought they were safe.

Identical twins, Tyler and Toby, escaped the clutches of a covert government agency determined to exploit their extrasensory powers. Before they regained their freedom, they acquired proof of the agency's existence, proof that was guaranteed to secure immunity not only for themselves but for their friends as well.

They took more than they bargained for.

When the brothers learn that they have unfinished business with the agency, they find themselves reunited with Indigo Children, Liliana, Grace, Eddie, and Rebecka and once again on the run.

They must rely on their instincts.

While Grace and Eddie discover that love isn't always easy, Sarah's life is thrown into turmoil, and her guilty conscience leads to fear and distrust of her own heart.

Intuition doesn't lie.

There are new players in the game and it isn't easy to know who to trust.

Sometimes the right path isn't always the easiest.

Is there a way to give the agency what they want and still retain their freedom? Find out in Indigo Instinct, Book Two of The Indigo Trilogy.

WWIV - In The Beginning by E.A. Lake: Review

I have to admit I love a good dystopia set novel - of course many include far flung settings, where odd creatures roam and the landscape is barely recognizable from what we know around us today, but they ones that get me are the ones where nothing much has changed, the ones where you could almost see it happening at any moment to you and that is the section of dystopia novels WWIV fits into.

WWIV In The Beginning follows an ordinary man; Bill Carlson - who could be anyone, your next door neighbour, your teacher, even your father, through the first 30 days of this change; a change that sees all the electronics fail and with it the community start to fall apart.

Bill has been separated from his family, his wife and two children who had gone away to stay with their grandparents, his wife should have been out on the road on the way home when everything ceased working, but the children they should be safe at least. 

He is a positive guy by nature and spends the first days waiting for everything to be sorted, for things to come back on, but quickly society begins to break down, the town hall and police office are shut, only a taped message gives an idea that someone has been around since it all happened, the local shop has hiked its prices and those are just the first signs - it's not long before violence spills onto the streets and Bill knows it is time to leave - time to find his family. 

The first part of the book, sees Bill being a very homely man, he is the strength of his community, he keeps the positive thoughts running through everyone, when even inside he perhaps doesn't feel it so much himself, while the second half sees him out on the road, struggling to get to his family. 

Personally I love the journey part of this book, I loved the fact that even though he was being subjected to how quickly humans have changed and let themselves do things they would never have done in a more civilized society, he is strong willed and willing to help anyone who may need it, no matter how it may set him back on his own way. 

Unlike some debut novels I have come across, this book quickly drew me in and made me feel like I cared about the characters involved - I wanted them to be ok; to survive through the desolate landscape that had thrust upon them.  

I completely recommend this book and I cannot wait to get stuck into the next one in the series and find out what it happening to other people, surviving through WWIV.

 ABOUT THE BOOK

What will we do when suddenly our power, our phones, and our cars don't work? What will we do when we realize our government is missing and we have no protection; no police, no national guard? What will we do when our food runs out or spoils, and fresh water becomes scarce? What will we do when we realize we are completely and undeniably on our own? What could possibly happen next? 

What happens when IT happens? 

Follow an ordinary man, Bill Carlson, through the first 30 days of the ensuing uncertainty. From his once quiet, now violent, St. Paul suburb; to the empty, and yet deadly, county roads of west central Wisconsin. 

With limited knowledge of prepping, Bill must rely on neighbors for help. Why did he never pay attention to his “crazy doomsday” neighbor Scott? Now that the world, at least his world, is dark, Bill has so many questions. How can he possibly survive in this dark dystopian world? 

Bill goes in search of his family, and finds so much more. Friendly people in small towns, other villages that allow no strangers, people searching for help, and people looking to take anything you might have – via any means. 

Will Bill find his family, some 300 miles away? Will the power come back on after mysteriously going out? Will he be able to help others in times of need, much less himself? 

WWIV has begun, and we’re only In The Beginning. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EA's Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

I write dystopian. It's dark, yet fun to play with. WWIV - In The Beginning is my debut novel. Trying to get this junk in my head, down on pages. Those pages become chapters. The chapters become a manuscript. The manuscript becomes a novel. Sounds easy enough.

I am an author and my pen name is e a lake. The e and the a mean nothing. So please just call me lake.

Not everything in dystopian writing has to be dark and dreary. I try to create post -apocalyptic situations that will challenge the reader to really believe that the events in my novels could happen.

The best part of my genre? Who needs antagonists when the landscape surrounding my protagonist is so bad. You just have to love this stuff.

My favorites are the usual list of suspects. Orwell, Bradbury, Stephen King, Vince Flynn, and James Patterson.

I'm not all that scary. Father to three, grandfather to two (three in April 2014). Just a regular guy.

This tour was hosted by Worldwind Virtual Book Tours

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Summoned by Rainy Kaye:Review

Amazon / Goodreads

Summoned is a new take on genie folk law; it focus on a paranormal bond between master and genie, a bond that is passed along from one generation to the next, passing from father to eldest son, only being given to a daughter when she is the only one inline.

Dimitri is 21 years old, he is the genie of multimillionaire Karl Walker and he has to do anything that is wished of him, from stealing, to kidnap even murder. He doesn't know how his family became tied to the Walkers, he just knows it's all he can do to fulfil Karl's every wish or he is tormented by a never ending noise inside his head. 

The book opens with Dimitri kidnapping a child and admitting that murder is so much easier, of course being a genie means he had rules to live by, such as, never telling anyone he was a genie; it was after all forbidden and he has never allowed himself to form relationships; as he never knew when he might be summoned, but then - that night after the kidnapping, he meets Syd and perhaps Syd won't let him let her go and perhaps Dimitri doesn't want her to either. 

Karl only used to call Dimitri once every few months, but things have changed - he has started to summon him every few days and Dimitri is sure something is going on, in fact he is so sure he even asks Sylvia, Kyles completely messed up only child, who just can't wait to get her hands (in more way than one) on Dimitri to help him try and get to the bottom of it all.  

In between all the callings, the murder, theft and arson, Dimitri is slowly falling for Syd, something he knows he shouldn't be doing, he can't tell her who he is nor can he risk her finding out, as it would only end badly - but he can't keep away from the feisty Syd and she is someone who doesn't like secrets, in fact she she looking to find out just what he is hiding.   

I loved the idea of this book so much I missed one part; the fact it contained explicit content, which I have to admit I'm not a fan of, in fact by the time I reached chapter three I was almost ready to throw my hands up in defeat, due to the amount of page skipping I had done. Thankfully though I carried on, as in between those pages, was the great story I had expected from the description and as for the ending - well I have to admit I didn't see that twist coming in quite that way. 

Summoned is apparently the first release in The Summoned line and I have to say I shall definitely be picking up the next, however I wouldn't mind if perhaps they did two versions one with the explicit content for those who like it and one for me.

*I recieved a copy of this book in return for an honest review
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Bittersweet Hope by Ryann Jansen: Review

 Bittersweet Hope - Ryann Jansen / Goodreads

Audrey is 17 and spends most of her time either at work or school and trying to keep a roof above her and her sister's heads. You see their mother is a prostitute and when she's not with one of her 'men' she is off spending the proceeds on drugs to try and forget it all. But the landlord has given them an ultimatum, get the owed rent of over $1,000 by Friday, or they are out.

Audrey doesn't think things can get any worse but then her Mother is found murdered and her sisters and her and taken away into foster care, each being sent off to live with a different family.

Audrey is left struggling with her emotions she wants her sister with her, but she enjoys the feeling of being a normal teenager, having a bed to herself and clothes in her wardrobe; even the shampoo and conditioner that make her hair feel soft is a real treat and then there's her foster "brother" Caleb, he makes her head spin and heartbeat.

But there's one problem her youngest sister seems to be following in their mother's footsteps spurred on by the other foster child in the family she was sent to and more than anything this scares Audrey. Can she find a way to save her sister, will she really get a happy ending or is she doomed to live in sadness.

Bittersweet Hope is the first offering from Ryann Jansen and I have to admit I was completely drawn into the pages - I wanted Audrey to be ok and happy; her sister's safe and living the life every teenager should be allowed to without fear and in a safe and secure environment. I would have loved it, to have gone a bit more in depth, delve into this dark issues more, but as a YA book, perhaps it does just enough for the younger end of the audience.

I look forward to hopefully reading more from Ryann Jensen and seeing how she progresses an author - I think perhaps she might just become one of my favourites.

*I recieved a copy of this book in return for an honest review
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No Angel by Penny Vincenzi

No Angel, by Penny Vincenzi, tells the story of the Lytton family from the early 20th century up to the 1920s. At the centre of the story is Celia, wife of Oliver, who works hard to get what she wants. She wants to marry Oliver, so she gets pregnant to force her parents' hands; she wants to work with her husband at the family publishing firm, and she eventually proves herself to be an valuable asset.

I read No Angel because I'm currently in the middle of an A-Z challenge, and I needed to read a V author. I have never read any of Vincenzi's books before, but I could tell I would enjoy this as soon as I picked it up. No Angel is the first in a trilogy called The Spoils of Time, and I've always loved sprawling family sagas, particularly when they take in the two world wars. 

This is a long book, full of lots of characters, and at times it took me a minute or two to remember who some of the minor characters were! Celia is obviously at the centre of the plot; we get to hear the thoughts of other characters from time to time, but this is really Celia's story. She battles to marry the man she considers (at the age of 18) to be the love her life. At a time when women were expected to marry, stay at home and bring up children, Celia decides that she would much rather have a career, and manages to secure a senior position at her husband family publishing firm. 

I liked the character of Celia a lot; even when she makes some questionable decisions, it is easy to see why she is making them. Her life, along with everyone else who lived through the atrocities, is irrevocably changed by World War I. 

My one major criticism of the novel is that I feel sometimes it over relies on the in-the-nick-of-time plot device. At various points throughout the book, just when something is about to happen that will cause a huge disaster, something else happens to avert the danger. Of course, it is an effective way to build tension, but after the third or fourth time of it happening in one book, you begin to slightly tire of it. 

I'd also say that I think the book is probably slightly too long, at over 700 pages. In the final third, I felt as though everything was being dragged out to ensure a last minute, tension-filled denouement, and I think the book suffered as a result. 

Having said that, I did enjoy reading it, and I know I'll be looking out for the other two instalments to read. No Angel is soap opera style entertainment, with love affairs, death, betrayal and celebration throughout. If you enjoy that sort of thing and can stomach 700+ pages, you'll definitely enjoy it! 

* This review also appears on Goodreads.

Chaplin and Company by Mave Fellowes

Chaplin and Company tells the story of Odeline, an eccentric young woman  from the suburbs who is obsessed with becoming a successful mime artist. After her mother dies, she moves to London to live on a canal barge called Chaplin and Company, and sets about building her career and searching for the father she has never met.

Odeline is a very interesting central character. The novel starts out by giving us some background on her mother, a slightly eccentric woman who lives alone and sticks rigidly to a routine. A huge fan of slapstick films, she takes herself off to the circus where she becomes enamoured with a clown. Odeline is the result of this brief liaison, and this short introduction to her mother allows us to understand how Odeline has turned out the way she has.

I thought it might be difficult to like Odeline; she’s extremely awkward in social situations, and she puts a high premium on honing her skills as a mime artist, to the exclusion of all else. But as I read, I realised that I did like her (quirks and all) and that I, the reader, was joining her on her journey to discover that having friends in life is a good thing.

And it’s this that really added to my enjoyment of Chaplin and Company. The fact that all the way through, the author invites you to come along, points out things that you should be looking at. At various points you are told to “come down closer” or to “join Odeline” as she embarks on an activity. I love this technique. It doesn’t detract from our getting to know Odeline, we still get to know what she is thinking and feeling, but it really allows us to feel as though we are being swept along for the ride with her.

Along the way, we meet the secondary characters who begin to encroach on Odeline’s life. There’s John Kettle, the alcoholic canal warden with a sad past; Ridley, the ponytailed, tattooed man from the boat next door who keeps disappearing on Odeline, only to pop up again. And then there’s Vera, the foreign lady at the barge cafe who has a mysterious past but who takes Odeline under her wing. All outsiders, just like Odeline; they soon start to realise that they could be ousiders together.

Threaded throughout the book, we get snippets of the history of Chaplin and Company, and come to realise how the boat ended up in Odeline’s hands. The story of the boat twists and turns, overlapping with Odeline’s own story.

I really enjoyed Chaplin and Company; I think it’s a fresh and unusual novel about a young woman finding herself, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes modern fiction but wants to try something a little different to the usual chick lit.

Chaplin and Company is pubished by Jonathan Cape and is released on 16th May 2013.

*I received an eBook preview copy of Chaplin and Company for the purposes of review. This review has also appeared on Goodreads.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Although I have heard nothing but good things about the film, I decided that I wanted to read the book Silver Linings Playbook was based on first. I think most readers are of a similar opinion; it’s nice to read the book first because then you have your own ideas about it, rather than a film-maker's.

The Silver Linings Playbook opens with Pat Peoples leaving a mental institution where he has been receiving treatment following the breakdown of his marriage. Throughout the book, which is narrated by Pat, we learn that whilst he thinks he has only been in the hospital for a couple of months, a few years have actually passed.

Moving back to his parents’ house in Philadelphia, Pat sets about changing his life. He spends a lot of time working out, and working on a way to make himself a better person so that ‘apart time’ from his wife, Nikki, can end, and they can reconcile. Pat also meets Tiffany, a woman who has suffered from her own mental illness, and the two of them strike up an uncomfortable friendship.

I read this book in one day, and I’m never sure if this is such a good thing! It obviously means that it was so entertaining and enjoyable that I didn’t want to stop reading, but it also makes me wonder at the quality of the writing. If I take a long time to read something, it’s not necessarily because I’m not enjoying it, it’s more likely to be because the prose is a bit more challenging, and takes longer to appreciate.

However, this book gets a big thumbs up from me. The first person perspective really allows you to understand what Pat is going through as he attempts to rebuild his life, but at the same time he is observant enough that the reader is able to pick up on the things that he is struggling to understand, such as why his mum no longer has his wedding photos displayed in the house. 

If you have read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you will spot some similarities here, mainly due to the fact that both books deal with mental illness, and both are epistolary (Wallflower is written in the form of letters and Playbook mainly in the form of a journal). However The Silver Linings Playbook is a very adult book, dealing with a man in his thirties who is trying to adapt to life in a brand new way; rebuilding relationships with his parents and brother, and re-entering a world that has changed since he went away.

Now that I’ve read the book, I’m eager to see the film. Knowing that Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence played the lead roles meant that reading the book their faces did creep in, but everything else was my own imagination. I know that the film has changed a few details, but I don’t have any problem with this; there are various reasons for this happening, and if I’ve read and enjoyed the book, I’m more than happy for a film-maker to use artistic licence as they see fit. 

Mrs Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir – Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin

I've been interested in the US presidency for some years, and I've been fascinated by the Kennedy family for even longer. So this book, written by Jackie Kennedy’s Secret Service agent (along with Lisa McCubbin) about the three years that he spent in her company, was something I wanted to read as soon as I found out about its existence.

Even though you probably don’t know it, you have probably seen Clint Hill before. If you have ever seen the shocking footage of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Hill is the agent on the back of the car, reaching across to Jackie Kennedy as she scrambles across the boot. That should give you some idea of the proximity of this man to the First Family, and therefore how qualified he is to write a book about them.

The story of the Kennedys is so familiar, and it has been told in a myriad of ways. Even if you don’t take an interest in them as I do, you will probably have heard about JFK’s health problems, his affairs, and the family’s dubious connections. Hill’s memoir doesn’t touch on those things, choosing instead to concentrate on what he saw and experienced alongside the First Lady.

Hill talks about his disappointment at being assigned to the detail to protect Jackie Kennedy, rather than the president. He had worked on the President Eisenhower’s detail in the previous administration, and he saw that as the exciting, privileged job. At first he resented being stuck with the First Lady, imagining that it would be all tea parties and fashion shows.

It didn't take him long to realise how wrong he was. His life alongside the First Lady was exciting and cosmopolitan and allowed him to travel to places he would never have dreamt of. The way he writes about Mrs Kennedy makes you realise how fond he became of her. I found myself feeling quite sorry for his rarely-mentioned wife; he spent long periods of time away her, as the First Lady went all over the country, and all over the world, reluctant as she was to spend much time at all in the White House. Imagine being married to a man who not only spends the majority of his time with a beautiful, cultured woman, but who also obviously idolises her.

And that sets the tone of this book. It is almost reverential; as I mentioned, Clint Hill obviously became very fond of Jackie Kennedy. His job dictated that he would lay down his life for her, but it becomes clear that he would have done whatever it took to make her life easier, because of the esteem in which he held her.

Almost any book about JFK builds to a crescendo with the events of 22nd November 1963. Throughout the book, you know that it is coming, and as it approached, my heart began to beat a little faster. It never becomes any less shocking that a man had his head blown apart as he rode in a car next to his wife. Reading about it, and the aftermath, from a man who was so close to the action is heartbreaking, but definitely worth reading.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in the Kennedys; Clint Hill is able to write from a very personal perspective. Even if you are not particularly enthralled by the family, you may still find that you enjoy it, because it provides a unique insight into a very specific set of circumstances.