Summer Reads 22: The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt

 The Before:

Another Victoria Holt novel; let's see if it holds up as well as the last one.

The Feels:
It did! Yay! Another good basic gothic novel. Love the countryside aspect of it. Feels a little like Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I think the perfect analogy is Jane Austen : Georgette Here :: Daphne Du Maurier : Victoria Holt.

The Concerns:



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

Summer Reads 21: The Shadow of the Lynx by Victoria Holt

The Before:

From reading the back, this sounds like The Count of Monte Christo meets The Castle of Otranto! 😍

The Feels:
I was not disappointed! I would also like to add in a little dash of The Witch of Blackbird Pond to that mix. This is a well written book and heavy with emotion. Holt has a knack for the sublime and I'm here for it!

The Concerns:



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

Summer Reads 20: A Proper Companion by Candice Hearn

The Before:

The Feels:
OOOOOO!! Love this conflict in the plot! The main characters are an elderly lady, her companion and the elderly lady's son. The son is engaged (pretty darn quickly) to a woman the elderly lady doesn't like. She so spends the rest of the book basically trying to set her son up.

The Concerns:
Normally, I don't like books that involve cheating of any sort. However, I don't feel like our two leads are really at fault here. The mom made them do it. Don't get me wrong, cheating is still bad. I just don't think this is exactly it. I've been cheated on and it sucks! I think I would feel differently if the he's mom set him up because she hated me. If she hated me that much, I would not want to be any part of that family!


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

Summer Reads 19: The Dashing Miss Fairchild by Emily Henrickson

The Before:

The Feels:


The Concerns:
DULLLLLLLLLL

Says that 23 is an old maid. It isn't and wasn't at that time! Also refers to the main character as the Honorable Miss Clare Fairchild... You only use the title "Honorable" if the person is not from the UK...💩💩💩

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

Summer Reads 18: The Vengeful Viscount by Leigh Haskell

The Before:

The Feels:
I love how observant Felicity, our main character, is. It shows us how self-aware she can be. We start the novel off at a funeral and just see with Felicity sees. She watches the reactions of her different friends and family members at the funeral. We not only see how/what she sees, but it allows for the reader to make snap judgments about the different characters. 

This method also draws us into the story, painting a picture of the world we are entering. Haskell starts the story by describing the town and townsfolk watching the funeral. We get a few random details about how the upper class is perceived before we even get to our main characters. 

The Concerns:



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

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