Summer Reads 17: Lady Angel by Roberta Eckert

The Before:

I've been having some mixed luck with these summer reads. Let's see how this one goes.

The Feels:
This book might be trauma informed? I don't know if Eckert realized it or not, but these family dynamics appear to be trauma informed! Evelyn, our main character's mother, appears to be struggling with the passing of her own mother and a father, struggling with the trauma coinciding with the passing of his wife, that is emotionally distant. Evelyn's strategy for coping with this trauma is by acting out in extravagant ways. She strives for the attention she cannot get from her parents. Her sister, on the other hand, appears to cope with her trauma by being perfect. She probably feels abandoned by her parents and sees the negative attention her sister receives. Her way of actin out is by over achieving and striving for perfection as dictated by her social circumstance.  I think our main character, Angel, also falls inline with this idea. The passing of her grandmother has led to a multigenerational trauma. 

My big takeaway from this book is to be more trauma informed in my writings. It develops the characters in such a raw way. It makes them feel more like real, relatable people.

The Concerns
Angel is insulted when her grandfather states that not only does she have beauty and a good personality, but she also has a large dowery for when she marries, so it should be easy for her. Angel says there is more to her than so "prize" to be "bought". I mean... yeah... her grandpa just gave her two other complements. She has money, so what? It wasn't as though he said she was butt ugly and had a shit personality and the only way a man would marry her is for her money.


Plot: 4/10
Writing Style: 4/10
Meaningfullness: 7/10

Summer Reads 16: Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer

The Before:

I.LOVE.GEORGETTE.HEYER

The Feels:
She has not failed me! This is a wonderful book! Wonderfull messy drama with well rounded character. Main character works at her aunt's gaming house, which is frowned upon by the upper echelons of society. Love interest is perfectly broody and looks out for his young cousin. He was unlikeable with out being a total asshat or abusive, and that is always nice. (SOOO tired of abusive men in romance novels. It's harmful, toxic, and sooo unnecessary.) Def an "I hate you, I love you, I hate you, let's get married" sort of romance! 😍 My fave!

Also, upped the age of the main character. I really need to do this in my book. Allows for more self awareness.

The Concerns:
Couldn't put it down so I'm a little behind on housework...


Plot: 10/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Meaningfullness: 10/10

Summer Reads 15: The Runaway Bride by Judy Hedlund

The Before:

Audiobook! Switching things up.

The Feels:
I've made a terrible mistake.

The Concerns:
Just about fell asleep with this one! Weird historical comments that have very little context. Feels a bit all over the place when it comes to the time period. I can't tell you when it takes place. In Canada sometime between 1600 and 1900...


Plot: 1/10
Writing Style: 1/10 
Meaningfullness: 1/10

Summer Reads 14: Death is a Red Rose by Dorothy Eden

The Before:

I think this one is gothic and I've had it for a while

The Feels:
Decidedly gothic!! Love the touch of mystery. I think my novel should have the main plot by a mystery and use romance as a subplot. More people will be drawn to it.

Eden also uses an older main character in this; she's 76 at the start of the book and I'm here for it

The Concerns:



Plot: 7/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Meaningfullness: 9/10

Summer Reads 13: The Marriage Masquerade by Teresa DesJardien

The Before:

I wanna quit my Summer Reads so baadddd😭. This is worse than trying to read all of those Linda Castillo books in a week.

The Feels:
This book is... GOOD? Dare I say it?!?

Love the idea of having characters fall in love after the get married. Something different. She also plays with the female lead's age a bit by making her a little older. Such refreshing ideas!!

The Concerns:
Only major concern is having a real historical figure, Queen Charlotte, as a main character. I just didn't work for me, so I pretended she wasn't a real person. Having her in the book triggers the historian in me and I start to ask too many questions of the book/author as I read.

Not my favorite book I've ever read, but SOOO much better than what I have been reading. 


Plot: 5/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Meaningfullness: 6/10

Summer Reads 12: Susan Carroll x2

The Before:

The Wooing of Miss Masters and The Bishop's Daughter. Not sure if they are in any way related to each other.

The Feels:
BAD BAD BAD DULL BAD

The Concerns:



Plot: 1/10
Writing Style: 1/10
Meaningfullness: 1/10

Summer Reads 11: Miss Prentiss and the Yankee by Susan Carroll

The Before:

I'm regretting doing this whole Summer Reads nonsense.

The Feels:
...

The Concerns:
...

There is a reference to a group of "Creek Indians"... no such thing. There are people that belong to the Cree tribe?

Just googled... There is a tribe called the Creek (aka the Muscogee). Google says they are one of the "Five Civilized Tribes"... That's worse. Gross. 

Plot: 1/10 
Writing Style: 4/10
Meaningfullness: 1/10