June reads

A few days late

Lets start with the library books – all by Georgette Heyer.

Frederica – the story of Frederica a distant connection of Lord Alverstoke who asks him to help her introduce her sister into Society. Just perhaps invite them to a party at his house, one he was asked to have for his nieces anyway. But soon she & her siblings end up involving him in all sorts of mishaps. Very funny & entertaining. Both hero & heroine and assorted secondary characters are very likeable people. No flogging potential at all. Recommended

Cotillion- I really enjoyed this one & I can’t tell you why without spoiling it.  Kitty’s guardian decides to leave his large fortune to whichever of his nephews she decides to marry. She persuades one to take her to London so she can pursue another while two others Disapprove. Once there she gets involved in a number of scrapes & needs rescuing.  This was laugh out loud funny & no flogging was needed.

Sprig Muslin- Sir Gareth Ludlow needs to wed & resolves to propose to a friend of his long deceased fiancée. One his way to propose to Lady Hester he encounters a young miss named Amanda who is running away from home to meet up with the officer she is in love with. There are mishaps, misunderstandings & an encounter with a dangerous highwayman! Wonderfully written! Very amusing. No flogging but Amanda could have done with a shake or two.

Arabella – The daugher of a well bred but impoverished clergyman, with many brothers & sisters, Arabella goes to London to marry money. While travelling she has a carriage accident &  meets Richard Beaumaris. She overhears him assuming she has manufactured the meeting because she is after his money so she lies about being a very well off heiress. This lie follows her to London & problems ensue. It’s a sweet story & entertaining.

The Convenient Marriage – No flogging potential, but perhaps a couple sharp slaps might be in order.  Miss Horatia Winwood offers too marry her sister’s unwanted suitor, the Earl of Rule, so her sister can marry the man she loves. Rule’s enemy decides to cause trouble for Rule by seducing Horatia & leading her into debt.  Rule is a nice guy. He has his issues but he is a decent enough fellow & it takes Horatia quite a bit longer than I think necessary to appreciate it, hence the need for a couple sharp slaps.  This one is set in Georgian times rather than Regency.

The Reluctant Widow – Very far fetched plot & considering the sorts of things I read, that is saying something. Elinor is working as a governness & gets into the wrong carriage.  She thinks she has been picked up by her new employer but is actually picked up by Lord Carlyon’s carriage, mistaken for a woman who has been hired to marry his cousin. The cousin is a troublemaking drunkard, destined to die an early death & Carlyon wants him married off so he, Carlyon won’t inherit the cousin’s property & any money. No adequate reason is given IMO for this desire not to inherit. Elinor is against the idea but eventually goes along with it as the cousin lays dying of a bullet wound. Then things get weird for her. yeah. Not my favorite of the bunch but still a good read.

Next we have some Kindle books

The Grand Sophie by Georgette Heyer – My favorite of the bunch. Sophie arrives for a visit on her Aunt’s doorstep with a menagerie in tow & promptly turns the household upside down, include cousin Charles. Apart from being personally against the idea of first cousins marrying, I liked the book a great deal. It was very witty & laugh out loud funny in places.

Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase – humorous stories of air travel. Eh.

The Affair of the Bloodstained Tea Cozy – Amusing 1930’s country house murder a la Agatha Christie. Complete with poor friends, visiting Americans, the Lord of the Manor, spies, diplomats and a mysterious foreign countess. I didn’t figure out whodunnit & that is rare.

Smoking Seventeen – Very early on I decided that if the dancing bear ended up in Stephanie’s apartment I would metaphorically throw the book across the room & stomp on it. Fortunately that didn’t happen. But unfortunately I did wonder, what with her past history, how she failed – repeatedly – to spot the murderer. I figured out who it was practically the moment his name came up. That didn’t detract from the rest of it. I like Stephanie & her interactions with Morelli & Ranger.  Morelli’s grandmother puts a curse on Stephanie early on &watching it manifest was no end amusing. The plot is that bodies keep turning up in the spot where Vinnie’s bail bonds office is being rebuilt, plus one in Stephanie’s car. The bonds office is working out of various places in the meantime including Mooner’s RV, Starbucks & Stephanie’s apartment. Plus her mom has given up on getting Morelli as a son in law & is back to fixing Stephanie up, this time with the former high school football star.

No dead tree books were purchased this month.

Not a bad month for new books over all.