It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

This week's post will be short as the book I was reading last week is still the book I'm reading today, Now Face to Face  by Karleen Koen. 

This is the sequel to Through a Glass Darkly and continues the story of Barbara, Lady Devane, as she comes to terms with the loss of her husband and his financial ruin due to the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720.

The first part of the book is set in colonial Virginia where Barbara has been sent by her grandmother, the matriarch of the family, who has a plantation there. The latter part of the book sees Barbara return to an England preparing to defend itself against the threat of another Jacobite Rising.
  
I'm enjoying this novel very much. Barbara's extended family are an interesting mix of characters, as are her friends and acquaintances.  Some are sympathetic to the Jacobite cause, some  are loyal to King George I and others seek only personal gain. I knew very little about this period in history except for the basics and I'm gaining a greater insight into the political machinations of the time. This book is a great family saga full of espionage, family intrigue and romance. 

Heart of the Country by Tricia Stringer has been set aside for the time being and I'm still eager to read The Orphan Gunner by Sara Knox

What I Read Last Week and What I'm Reading Today

Now Face to face by Karleen Koen

The beloved heroine from Koen's bestselling Through a Glass Darkly returns in a passionate, unforgettable, romantic tapestry. A widow at age 20, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances, Barbara Devane leaves colonial Virginia for London to confront her enemies and to pursue a deeply satisfying yet dangerous clandestine love.




What I Hope to Read Next

Heart of the Country by Tricia Stringer

1846. Newly arrived from England, Thomas Baker is young, penniless and alone. Eager to make his mark on this strange new place called South Australia, he accepts work as an overseer on a distant sheep property, believing this will be the opportunity he seeks. But when Thomas’s path crosses that of ex-convict, Septimus Wiltshire — a grasping con man hell bent on making a new life for himself and his family at any price — trouble is on the horizon.
But Thomas is made of stern stuff and his fortunes take a turn for the better when he meets spirited farmer’s daughter Lizzie Smith, and soon he envisages their future together.
But this land is like no other he has encountered: both harsh and lovely, it breaks all but the strongest. When his nemesis intervenes once more and drought comes, Thomas finds himself tested almost beyond endurance with the risk of losing everything he and Lizzie have worked for… even their lives.

The Orphan Gunner by Sara Knox

The Orphan Gunner is an unconventional romance set in bomber command in Lincolnshire during the Second World War. Evelyn and Olive grew up together in the Canabolas Valley near Orange. They are in England at the outbreak of war: Evelyn as a pilot in the Air Transport Auxiliary, Olive in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. They're joined by Evelyn's brother Duncan, a novice gunner in Lancaster L-Love, flying bombing raids over Germany. The raids take their toll on the crew, and the two women are drawn into a plot involving disguise and mistaken identity, to get the exhausted Duncan out of service. The Orphan Gunner explores the seductions of passing, the licence granted by risk, and the selflessness - and selfishness - of sacrifice. The relationship between the two women is portrayed with subtlety and warmth, and an extraordinary sense of historical detail which brings its wartime setting vividly to life.