Hot, steamy, and heck it was in Scotland. That said, you could hardly tell it was actually set in Scotland and not just Any Town, Anwheresville besides a tiny use of slang and city names (set in Edinburgh). A fine way to pass the day while too sick to read anything heavy.

Actual rating, 4.5 stars.

I'm an unabashed anglophile and royal watcher, and just hit all the right notes for me. I'm super behind on Internet culture, so I generally am not up on who is blogging, but you can bet your boots I'll be following the Fug Girls and their royal watch from now on.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to write a legit review for my work's blog, so I'll just keep this brief until I can gather my love thoughts in a coherent manner. Read this now!

I love kissing books, but despite the hot chemistry this one missed the mark for me. I couldn't quite believe that various adults would continuously cover-up the massive mess-ups of Beth's mom (drugs, domestic violence, etc) just to keep her out of jail.

I think older teens will still fall hook, line, and sinker for this and the newer titles in this series are excellent.

Ness is super driven, hyper focused, and on the verge of completing her Bio-Medical degree after just 2 1/2 years. She also hasn't done anything else but study, and she is starting to regret not experiencing some classic College "firsts." Matteo Torres is the football team's jokester. Always the center of attention, cracking wise, never serious. When these two meet, opposites attract in the best way as Matteo decides he will help Ness complete her College Experiences Checklist. Luckily hooking up with an athlete is at the top of list...

I wasn't quite sure of the premise, but this is Carmack at her best since [b:Faking It|16172634|Faking It (Losing It, #2)|Cora Carmack|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360560023s/16172634.jpg|22020637]. The chemistry between the two main characters is sizzling, the dialog is sweet and funny, and I never felt like the drama was completely too ridiculous. The relationship isn't threatened by lies (I loved how Matteo immediately told Ness about his concussion and that they fought not because he hid it, but because he kept insisting he play in the next football game). Super fun, and really steamy.

There was SO MUCH GOING ON in this romance novel! Holy crap. Prison ships, debauched dead fathers, illegitimate children, medical miracles, chess, gowns! Not to mention the steamiest chess playing scene I think I have ever read. The bright moments shone, but I think 1/3 of the material could have been left out. I'm still not sure why I needed to give a fuck about the secondary character Villiers bastard children. I was all sexy chess please. However, I had fun.

I was inspired to pick up an [a:Eloisa James|86778|Eloisa James|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1375996000p2/86778.jpg] novel after listening to her interview on my local NPR station, WUWM Milwaukee.
http://wuwm.com/post/shakespearean-scholar-pens-romances-you-it
She is a fascinating lady, and I liked her opinions on the romance genre. Shoot, she's a Shakespearean professor. And she can write. Despite the craziness of this novel, I'll try one of her more recent ones. This was the only one available for immediate checkout on OverDrive.

While I definitely binged on this book like a delicious doughnut (Happy National Doughnut Day), I didn't enjoy this story line as much as the previous title (Three Weeks with Lady X). There was a hell of a lot more "NO, don't do that and he does it anyway and of course she loves it" moments which I find irritating, and I got a bit sick of hearing the heroine complain about her massive breasts. Still, I was compelled to finish and the steamy parts were WOW.

Somehow I never read To Kill a Mockingbird. Blame my schooling, blame me, somehow this modern classic just never made it into my repertoire. With the upcoming release of [b:Go Set a Watchman|24817626|Go Set a Watchman (To Kill a Mockingbird, #2)|Harper Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428234289s/24817626.jpg|44458285], I thought I best get to correcting this. I'm so happy I did.

Thanks in large part to the lovely narration provided by Sissy Spacek, I fell in love with the Finch family. And what a great story, that slowly gave away its secrets, leading to a walloping ending. Lee did an amazing job of creating imagery, character, and setting. I could clearly picture the characters in my head, and I can't wait to watch the classic film! I need to see that darn ham costume!

I tried holding off as long as I could before reading this one, because I'm so scared to run out of story. However, returning to Fraser's Ridge and all my favorite people was just so damn enjoyable (even though the library copy I was reading vexed me the entire time due to the broken binding).

Basically, revolution is brewing in the colonies, and the Frasers, Mackenzies, and other denizens of Fraser's Ridge need to figure out when and how they will declare for the revolutionaries. Various horrible and dangerous things happen, and LOTS of medical procedures are performed. Claire finally distills some ether, which will play a huge role later in the book, and Brianna creates little gadgets and tries to get running water to her and Roger's homestead. We get more info on Ian and why he left the Mohawk, and Fergus and Marasali have another baby (and oh baby what a baby). There's kidnappings, more time travel talk, and one big huge snake living in their midst that turn Jamie and Claire's life upside down. And holy crap, that ending!

My one quibble as usual with Gabaldon's writing style is that it takes 500 pages for her to 'set the scene' and then holy shit let the crazy times roll. And the ending felt very rushed to me. Basically from the Bonnet stuff-the resolution, I couldn't believe all of THAT took up so little page count.

And of course, with that flippin' ending, I want to read the 7th book so very badly...but I'll wait :)

Spoilers ahead of the jump.

-Jamie and Claire, despite being "old" (mid-fifties) are still super hot, super sexy, and so happy being together. I love their relationship and their firm strength in the others regard. Even with naked native lassies keeping you warm or flippin' Malva Christie.
-Ian. So glad Ian is back. I felt sorry for his situation, but was a little surprised to hear his wife is still alive. I wonder if she will ever return to the narrative. I hope we find a different lady for him, and soon.
-speaking of Ian, that scene where he catapults Fergus into the air so Fergus can use his hook to tear open a feather mattress made me spit my drink out of my mouth. Awesome.
-Rollo is the best dog ever.
-Brianna is still my least favorite character. She just slightly bothers me for some reason. She just always seems a bit awkward and not happy. Although, when she shot Bonnet in the head (FINALLY) that was pretty amazing.
-Lizzie and her damn Beardsley twins. Who knew. I can't get over how well that seems to be working for her, even if her father won't talk to her. So much crazy sex stuff going on in Fraser's Ridge.
-That Malva Christie story ARC kept me reading all hours of the night. I hated her so much for accusing Jamie and betraying Claire, but then when you found out WHY, gross.
-Ether blew up the house! Poor Jamie and Claire have nothing.
-That ending. They are going BACK to Scotland. They aren't dead. The newspaper was WRONG! Thank god. I did cry when Brianna and Roger took the babies back to the future. So sad.
And I just deleted half of what I typed so I'll come back to this later.

Madeline is a bubble girl. She hasn't left her house since she was a baby because she has a disease that makes her allergic to the world. She lives a peaceful life full of Skype classes, reading, and hanging out with her only friends, her nurse and her mother. That is, until Olly moves in next door. Is staying safe and healthy worth missing out on life? Can love kill you?

I really enjoyed this book, it was sweet, smart, and sad. As an adult reader who over thinks everything, I questioned some of the big plot twists that I thought were a bit too unlikely in reality

Spoiler

the twist involving Madeline's disease in particular irked me, and then the author rushed through the ending and the HUGE ramifications it meant for Madeline and her mom

and also thought the ending was really rushed. I also thought Olly was a bit too perfect, especially for a teen boy. However, teen readers are going to eat this up.

Spoiler

...

Rook is a swashbuckling adventure story set in a distant future UK and Paris where all technology is considered "mythical" and the terror of guillotine (now called a razor) is back in full force.

A young girl named Sophia, supported by her family and friends, secretes out prisoners of the repressive Parisian regime under the guise of a man called "The Rook." When she isn't masquerading as the Rook, she is hoping that her arranged marriage to a wealthy Parisian named Rene Hasard will help rescue her family's estate (and continue her secret work).

When Sophia and Rene finally meet, they find themselves both helplessly attracted to one another, yet not able to trust their feelings or each others motives. Neither Sophie or Renee are what they seem, and as they begin a dangerous and exciting dance towards each other this may mean certain death under the Razor's blade, especially when Sophia's brother is arrested as the Rook and they plan to rescue him.

Sort of a blend between The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Tale of Two Cities, and classic YA Dystopia, Rook impressed the hell out of me. Sophia is an excellent female character. She is strong, resourceful, witty, and able to take care of business. Rene is her foil - charming, suave, yet with his own secrets. Their banter and sexual tension is A-MAZ-ING, and I love how the ending played out (no typical YA fare there).

Rook is completely self contained in this one novel, bravo to Cameron who could easily have turned this into a trilogy. Since it is one book, I did find the world building a bit on the light side (I was a little confused about the pseudo religion that came a bit out of nowhere for me), but with everything else being so excellent, I didn't even care while reading. There is a nice author note at the end explaining Cameron's thought and logic on this world and was really appreciated.

Also, this is who I kept picturing as Rene (although a bit less refined):


Highly recommend.