Sunday 30 August 2009

Pride by Rachel Vincent

SYNOPSIS
The werecat council has three cardinal laws and headstrong Faythe stands accused of breaking two of them: infecting a human with her supernatural skills and killing him to cover her tracks. With the death penalty hanging over her head, Faythe has no escape route left. Until a shapeshifter informs the pride of a rash of rogue strays terrorising his land. Yet this threat is nothing like any they ve seen before. Only Faythe has the knowledge to save the pride, but can she prove her worth? Or will the council s verdict condemn them all?

MY VIEW

CONTAINS SPOILERS
This is the third book in this series preceeded by Stray and Rogue, both of which were fantastic books. Faythe is on trial for turning her ex-boyfriend into a Werecat and then killing him. This book starts some two months after the end of the last one.

Faythe's price to pay is the death penalty so she is on trial and has to prove she can partial shift. The trials of Werecats assume the defendant is guilty unless proven otherwise. Not only does Faythe have to deal with the trial but, also there is some problem with some local strays.

As I said the first 2 books were brilliant and Faythe did seem a bit whingy in those but, she seems to have grown up a lot in this one, I guess being on trial for murder would make anyone grow up a bit! Never a dull moment lots of action what with the trial and having to deal with the strays attacking hikers in the area.

Loved this even more than the first two, the next book is Prey not sure if thats the last one in the series or if there will be more, but hope it will be the latter ....

Sunday 23 August 2009

The Princess & The Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

SYNOPSIS
He is a prince, heir to a kingdom threatened on all sides, possessor of the animal magic, which is forbidden by death in the land he'll rule.

She is a princess from a rival kingdom, the daughter her father never wanted, isolated from true human friendship but inseparable from her hound.

Though they think they have little in common, each possesses a secret that must be hidden at all costs. Proud, stubborn, bound to marry for the good of their kingdoms, this prince and princess will steal your heart, but will they fall in love?

MY VIEW
The main character here is George, which was surprising from the cover and the title you would think the Princess was thae main character but, hey ho ...

George is aprince and an heir to the throne and has magical animal powers. Anyone found to have these powers will be put to death. He is to marry beatrice a Princess from another kingdom and this should unite the kingdoms however, when he visits Beatrice she always appears to be with her hound and when they switch bodies (beatrice & the hound) and only George can put them back to their right bodies.

It all starts off quite well and leads you into the story, the middle part I found was quite laborious and tedious.

It is supposedly a re-telling of Beauty & The Beast, for me it does fall short whilst its an OK storyline I found the ending the best bit which says it all really ...

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

SYNOPSIS
How far will a woman travel to find a father - a lover - a destiny? Across seas - across time - across the grave itself. It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. Claire Randall was swept through time into the arms of James Fraser whose love for her became legend - a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Two decades later, Claire travelled back again to reunite with Jamie, this time in frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in her own time - their daughter Brianna. Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she risks her own future to try to change history - and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past - or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong...

MY VIEW
This has been a brilliant series so far, I want to stretch this out as far as possible and after this there are only 2 more books. This book was for me the best of the series so far.

This book focusses slightly more on Brianna than Claire, as the other books have. Brianna and her boyfriend, Roger discover a news clipping saying that Brianna's parents Claire & Jamie have died a premature death in a house fire. Brianna decides to try and save her parents so she & Roger find themselves at the stone circle to travel back in time.

I did find Claire's character seemed more laidback at times it seemed she wasn't even the same character but, I guess she's getting older and maybe more relaxed.

As usual the decriptions of life way back when are so vivd and realistic its so easy to picture how life was back then, I enjoyed the parts with the character of Lord John and I know there are a couple of other books based upon him which I don't have so will check those out to see if they are worth a read.

This series just gets better.

Saturday 15 August 2009

The Merry Monarchs Wife by Jean Plaidy

SYNOPSIS
Charles II is restored to the English throne, and his court is lively and even scandalous. The country is eager for succession to be clear and certain: The next king will be the son of Charles II and his queen, Catherine of Braganza. Yet Catherine, daughter of the king of Portugal and a Catholic, has never been popular with the English people. She is also having great difficulty conceiving an heir, even as many of Charles’s well-known mistresses are bearing his children with ease. Catherine is aware that courtiers close to Charles are asking him to divorce her and take another wife—yet she is determined to hold her title in the face of all odds.

The ninth novel in the beloved Queens of England series, The Merry Monarch’s Wife brings Catherine of Braganza to life and plunges readers into the tumultuous world of Restoration England.

MY VIEW
I really liked this, I didn't think I would like it so much but, it was good! I liked how it started with Catherine as a child and this is a Queen I know quite little about only from the fiction and non books I have read about Charles II & Nell Gwyn.

Although I adore Nell I really sympathised with Catherine and all that she went through I thought that her story was quite similar to Henry VIII's Katherine of Aragon albeit Katherine had a daughter but, there were similarities IMO. This is told in the first person and I do love books like that rather than told in the third.

Good overall, maybe not one of JP's best books but, definitely worth a read.