It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

Once again what I was reading was interrupted by what came in from the library. I'd read the first installment of Belgravia, Julian Fellowes' latest release, on line and while I enjoyed it I decided to wait for the release of the book which suited me better. So when it arrived I had to pick it up immediately. A good plot, lots of believable characters and an interesting portrayal of British society in early Victorian England made for a very entertaining read.

Island of the Swans was a long read for me due to the fact I kept setting it aside to read something else. It too was an interesting look at British society, but this time under George III, and the disenfranchised Scots nobility still dealing with the aftermath of Culloden and the failed Jacobite cause. Lots of romance, historical detail and politics in this book.

The Spirit Guide is still one of the novels I'm reading this week. It has a very powerful beginning, which I'm pleased to say sets the tone for the rest of the book. I've also started The House Between Tides and No Man's Land, another long book, is excellent.

I made a promise to myself this week that I would finish all the books I'm currently reading before starting a new one, so it may be a while before I get to The Revelations of Carey Ravine.

What I Read Last Week

Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

Belgravia is the story of a secret. A secret that unravels behind the porticoed doors of London's grandest postcode.
Set in the 1840s when the upper echelons of society began to rub shoulders with the emerging industrial nouveau riche, Belgravia is peopled by a rich cast of characters. But the story begins on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
At the Duchess of Richmond's new legendary ball, one family's life will change forever.



Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware

In this resplendent love story a dazzling era comes vividly to life as one woman's passionate struggle to follow her heart takes her from the opulent cotillions of Edinburgh to the London court of half-mad King George III . . . from a famed salon teeming with politicians and poets to a picturesque castle on the secluded, lush Island of the Swans. . . .
Best friends in childhood, Jane Maxwell and Thomas Fraser wreaked havoc on the cobbled streets of Edinburgh with their juvenile pranks. But years later, when Jane blossoms into a beautiful woman, her feelings for Thomas push beyond the borders of friendship, and he becomes the only man she wants. When Thomas is reportedly killed in the American colonies, the handsome, charismatic Alexander, Duke of Gordon, appeals to a devastated Jane. Believing Thomas is gone forever, Jane hesitantly responds to the Duke, whose passion ignites her blood, even as she rebels at his fierce desire to claim her.
But Thomas Fraser is not dead, and when he returns to find his beloved Jane betrothed to another, he refuses to accept the heartbreaking turn of events. Soon Jane's marriage is swept into a turbulent dance of tender wooing and clashing wills--as Alex seeks truly to make her his, and his alone. . . . 
 
What I'm Reading Today

The Spirit Guide by Elizabeth Davies

Seren has an unusual gift – she sees spirits, the shades of the dead.
Terrified of being accused of witchcraft, a very real possibility in twelfth century Britain, she keeps her secret close, not even confiding in her husband.

But when she gives her heart and soul to a man who guides spirits in the world beyond the living, she risks her secret and her life for their love.


No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien

From the slums of London to the riches of an Edwardian country house; from the hot, dark seams of a Yorkshire coalmine to the exposed terrors of the trenches, Adam Raine’s journey from boy to man is set against the backdrop of a society violently entering the modern world.
Adam Raine is a boy cursed by misfortune. His impoverished childhood in the slums of Islington is brought to an end by a tragedy that sends him north to Scarsdale, a hard-living coalmining town where his father finds work as a union organizer. But it isn’t long before the escalating tensions between the miners and their employer, Sir John Scarsdale, explode with terrible consequences.
In the aftermath, Adam meets Miriam, the Rector’s beautiful daughter, and moves into Scarsdale Hall, an opulent paradise compared with the life he has been used to before. But he makes an enemy of Sir John’s son, Brice, who subjects him to endless petty cruelties for daring to step above his station.
When love and an Oxford education beckon, Adam feels that his life is finally starting to come together – until the outbreak of war threatens to tear everything apart.

 The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine

A captivating story of a crumbling estate in the wilds of Scotland, its century-old secret and an enduring mystery.
Following the deaths of her last living relatives, Hetty Deveraux leaves her strained marriage behind in London and journeys to Scotland to inspect her inheritance: her ancestral home, now in ruins. As Hetty dives headfirst into the repairs, she discovers a shocking secret protected by the house for a hundred years.
With only whispered rumours circulating among the local villagers and a handful of leads to guide her, Hetty finds the power of the past is still affecting her present in startling ways.

What I Hope To Read Next

The Relevations of Carey Ravine by Debra Dailey

London the 1770s is bursting with opportunity. It's a city fuelled by new ideas and new money, where everything is for sale - including entrée into the ruling class.
Making their way in this buccaneering society are Carey Ravine, a spirited young woman of enigmatic background, and her husband, the charming, endlessly enterprising Oliver Nash. Carey and Nash share a historic connection to India and a desperate ambition to better themselves. But as Nash's plans draw them into a restless association of gamblers and secret societies, Carey begins to question what's really hidden behind the seedy glamour of their lives. Her unease grows with the appearance of a mysterious man whose appearance unearths a troubling secret from the past. Carey finds herself forced to investigate the truth behind the stranger's claims­­ - and to confront her own illusions about herself.

Letters for A Spy by Alice Chetwynd Ley Book Review

Elizabeth Thorne has finally seized the opportunity to assert her independence….
When she set out from crowded London to visit Crowle Manor, the Sussex house bequeathed to her by her uncle, Elizabeth could not be more delighted by the prospect of a quiet spell in the country. But on her way, she soon discovers that Crowle Manor may not be the quiet destination she had in mind…
Waking to discover a strange letter addressed to the manor house has been slipped into her guide book, she cannot help but wonder who put it there…and why?
As her suspicions deepen, Elizabeth finds herself reacquainted with her former lover, Robert Farnham, a man that she had once refused to marry out of loyalty to her sister. How is he mixed up in this bizarre affair? And how is it he now seems to hardly recognise her?
As the mysteries surrounding her and Crowle Manor grow more and more intense, Elizabeth starts to realise her plans for a quiet country summer are unlikely to be fulfilled. But her hopes of being with the man she still loves may yet still come true…

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I love a good spy story, especially when it is coupled with a romance. Although there was very little of this until the latter part of the book, the mystery more than adequately compensated. The story moved along at a fast pace, helped along by lots of clever dialogue, and held my interest from the start to the action packed conclusion. The plot was believable, as were the characters and their actions. Elizabeth was a likeable no nonsense heroine and Robert made an excellent spy with the right amount of courage and reserve.

Letters for a Spy (also released as The Sentimental Spy) is the first Regency Romance I've read by Alice Chetwynd Ley. My favourite author in this genre will always be Georgette Heyer, but it is exciting to discover another author who writes light-hearted and entertaining romances in a similar style.

This novel was short but the ideal length for a lazy afternoon read and while there was little in the way of romance, it was still enjoyable. For those who prefer a more traditional regency romance or love a great adventure story involving smugglers and spies, this is a book for you.

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I received a free copy of this e-book from Endeavour Press via NetGalley.

Stacking the Shelves #4

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It is about sharing the books you are adding to your physical or virtual shelves. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! You can learn more about this meme by visiting the official launch page.

With minimal storage available for books, most of my reading material comes from the library or the purchase/free downloads of ebooks. Occasionally I purchase a print book for my very small bookshelf, but I tend to reserve space on this for "keepers". I have recently joined NetGalley.

Here is what came into my house over the past month:


Via NetGalley

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

I finally got to the end of All for Nothing, the book I'd been reading for a number of weeks. It was an interesting story with a sad ending, which left me feeling the same and in the mood for some lighter reads. Letters  for a Spy, a lighthearted, traditional regency romance was just the thing, followed by two books from C.S. Harris' regency mystery series. This series just gets better and better.

Hopefully, now  I'll be able to carry on with the book I'm half way through, Island of the Swans, and then start on the two books I'd like to read next.

What I Read Last Week

What Remains of Heaven by C.S. Harris

The latest request for help from Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin--from the Archbishop of Canterbury, no less--is undeniably intriguing: The bodies of two men have been found in an ancient crypt, their violent deaths separated by decades. One is the Bishop of London, the elderly Archbishop's favored but controversial successor. The identity of the other seems lost in time, although his faded velvet attire marks him as gentleman of the eighteenth century.
To Sebastian's consternation, the last person to see the Bishop alive was Miss Hero Jarvis, a woman whose already strained relationship with St. Cyr has been complicated by a brief, unexpectedly passionate encounter. It also soon becomes obvious that her powerful father has reasons of his own for wanting the Bishop out of the way. In an investigation that leads from the back alleys of Smithfield to the power corridors of Whitehall, Sebastian amasses a list of suspects that ranges from some of the Prince Regent's closest cronies to William Franklin, embittered son of famous American patriot Ben Franklin. Each step Sebastian takes toward the killer brings him closer to a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who--and what--he really is.

What Remains of Heaven by C.S. Harris

Regency London: July 1812. How do you set about solving a murder no one can reveal has been committed?
That’s the challenge confronting C.S. Harris’s aristocratic soldier-turned-sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr when his friend, surgeon and “anatomist” Paul Gibson, illegally buys the cadaver of a young man from London’s infamous body snatchers. A rising star at the Foreign Office, Mr. Alexander Ross was reported to have died of a weak heart. But when Gibson discovers a stiletto wound at the base of Ross’s skull, he can turn only to Sebastian for help in catching the killer. Described by all who knew him as an amiable young man, Ross at first seems an unlikely candidate for murder. But as Sebastian’s search takes him from the Queen’s drawing rooms in St. James’s Palace to the embassies of Russia, the United States, and the Turkish Empire, he plunges into a dangerous shadow land of diplomatic maneuvering and international intrigue, where truth is an elusive commodity and nothing is as it seems.
Meanwhile, Sebastian must confront the turmoil of his personal life. Hero Jarvis, daughter of his powerful nemesis Lord Jarvis, finally agrees to become his wife. But as their wedding approaches, Sebastian can’t escape the growing realization that not only Lord Jarvis but Hero herself knows far more about the events surrounding Ross’s death than they would have him believe.
Then a second body is found, badly decomposed but bearing the same fatal stiletto wound. And Sebastian must race to unmask a ruthless killer who is now threatening the life of his reluctant bride and their unborn child.

Letters for a Spy by Alice Chetwynd Ley

Twenty-five and unmarried, Elizabeth Thorne decided to assert her independence. She would spend the summer visiting Crowle, the Sussex manor house bequeathed to her by an uncle. When Elizabeth set out from London by mail coach, she was delighted by the prospect of a quiet spell in the country.
But in Lewes, where she put up for the night, she was puzzled by the behaviour of Mrs Wood, a fellow traveller. Why was the woman so intrigued at the mention of Crowle? What was her connection with the sinister pedlar at the inn? And why had a letter addressed to Crowle Manor been mysteriously put into Elizabeth's guide book?
Robert Garnham, a former admirer, was also a guest at the inn and Elizabeth was pleased to see a friendly face. But for some reason he was suddenly very suspicious of Elizabeth. And it was then she began to realise that her plans for a peaceful country summer were unlikely to be fulfilled.

All For Nothing by Walter Kempowski

Winter, January 1945. It is cold and dark, and the German army is retreating from the Russian advance. Germans are fleeing the occupied territories in their thousands, in cars and carts and on foot. But in a rural East Prussian manor house, the wealthy von Globig family tries to seal itself off from the world. Peter von Globig is twelve, and feigns a cough to get out of his Hitler Youth duties, preferring to sledge behind the house and look at snowflakes through his microscope. His father Eberhard is stationed in Italy - a desk job safe from the front - and his bookish and musical mother Katharina has withdrawn into herself. Instead the house is run by a conservative, frugal aunt, helped by two Ukrainian maids and an energetic Pole. Protected by their privileged lifestyle from the deprivation and chaos around them, and caught in the grip of indecision, they make no preparations to leave, until Katharina's decision to harbour a stranger for the night begins their undoing. Superbly expressive and strikingly vivid, sympathetic yet painfully honest about the motivations of its characters, All for Nothing is a devastating portrait of the self-delusions, complicities and denials of the German people as the Third Reich comes to an end.

What I'm Still Reading

Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware

In this resplendent love story a dazzling era comes vividly to life as one woman's passionate struggle to follow her heart takes her from the opulent cotillions of Edinburgh to the London court of half-mad King George III . . . from a famed salon teeming with politicians and poets to a picturesque castle on the secluded, lush Island of the Swans. . . .
Best friends in childhood, Jane Maxwell and Thomas Fraser wreaked havoc on the cobbled streets of Edinburgh with their juvenile pranks. But years later, when Jane blossoms into a beautiful woman, her feelings for Thomas push beyond the borders of friendship, and he becomes the only man she wants. When Thomas is reportedly killed in the American colonies, the handsome, charismatic Alexander, Duke of Gordon, appeals to a devastated Jane. Believing Thomas is gone forever, Jane hesitantly responds to the Duke, whose passion ignites her blood, even as she rebels at his fierce desire to claim her.
But Thomas Fraser is not dead, and when he returns to find his beloved Jane betrothed to another, he refuses to accept the heartbreaking turn of events. Soon Jane's marriage is swept into a turbulent dance of tender wooing and clashing wills--as Alex seeks truly to make her his, and his alone. . . .
 
What I Hope to Read Next

No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien

From the slums of London to the riches of an Edwardian country house; from the hot, dark seams of a Yorkshire coalmine to the exposed terrors of the trenches, Adam Raine’s journey from boy to man is set against the backdrop of a society violently entering the modern world.
Adam Raine is a boy cursed by misfortune. His impoverished childhood in the slums of Islington is brought to an end by a tragedy that sends him north to Scarsdale, a hard-living coalmining town where his father finds work as a union organizer. But it isn’t long before the escalating tensions between the miners and their employer, Sir John Scarsdale, explode with terrible consequences.
In the aftermath, Adam meets Miriam, the Rector’s beautiful daughter, and moves into Scarsdale Hall, an opulent paradise compared with the life he has been used to before. But he makes an enemy of Sir John’s son, Brice, who subjects him to endless petty cruelties for daring to step above his station.
When love and an Oxford education beckon, Adam feels that his life is finally starting to come together – until the outbreak of war threatens to tear everything apart.

The Spirit Guide by Elizabeth Davies

Seren has an unusual gift – she sees spirits, the shades of the dead.
Terrified of being accused of witchcraft, a very real possibility in twelfth century Britain, she keeps her secret close, not even confiding in her husband.

But when she gives her heart and soul to a man who guides spirits in the world beyond the living, she risks her secret and her life for their love.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

A very quiet week for me reading wise. Only one book finished, but what a great read it was. So pleased that Tracy Rees followed up her very successful debut novel, Amy Snow, with the equally enthralling Florence Grace. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

As you can gather, I abandoned what I was currently reading in favour of Florence Grace,  but I'm heading back to those books this week and hopefully will stick to my plan to read  No Man's Land and The Spirit Guide next.

What I Read Last Week

Florence Grace by Tracy Rees

Florrie Buckley is an orphan, living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It's a hard existence but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone.
But when Florrie is fourteen, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family, the Graces. Overnight, Florrie's life changes and she moves from country to city, from poverty to wealth.
Cut off from everyone she has ever known, Florrie struggles to learn the rules of this strange new world. And then she must try to fathom her destructive pull towards the enigmatic and troubled Turlington Grace, a man with many dark secrets of his own.

What I'm Still Reading

All For Nothing by Walter Kempowski

Winter, January 1945. It is cold and dark, and the German army is retreating from the Russian advance. Germans are fleeing the occupied territories in their thousands, in cars and carts and on foot. But in a rural East Prussian manor house, the wealthy von Globig family tries to seal itself off from the world. Peter von Globig is twelve, and feigns a cough to get out of his Hitler Youth duties, preferring to sledge behind the house and look at snowflakes through his microscope. His father Eberhard is stationed in Italy - a desk job safe from the front - and his bookish and musical mother Katharina has withdrawn into herself. Instead the house is run by a conservative, frugal aunt, helped by two Ukrainian maids and an energetic Pole. Protected by their privileged lifestyle from the deprivation and chaos around them, and caught in the grip of indecision, they make no preparations to leave, until Katharina's decision to harbour a stranger for the night begins their undoing. Superbly expressive and strikingly vivid, sympathetic yet painfully honest about the motivations of its characters, All for Nothing is a devastating portrait of the self-delusions, complicities and denials of the German people as the Third Reich comes to an end.

Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware

In this resplendent love story a dazzling era comes vividly to life as one woman's passionate struggle to follow her heart takes her from the opulent cotillions of Edinburgh to the London court of half-mad King George III . . . from a famed salon teeming with politicians and poets to a picturesque castle on the secluded, lush Island of the Swans. . . .
Best friends in childhood, Jane Maxwell and Thomas Fraser wreaked havoc on the cobbled streets of Edinburgh with their juvenile pranks. But years later, when Jane blossoms into a beautiful woman, her feelings for Thomas push beyond the borders of friendship, and he becomes the only man she wants. When Thomas is reportedly killed in the American colonies, the handsome, charismatic Alexander, Duke of Gordon, appeals to a devastated Jane. Believing Thomas is gone forever, Jane hesitantly responds to the Duke, whose passion ignites her blood, even as she rebels at his fierce desire to claim her.
But Thomas Fraser is not dead, and when he returns to find his beloved Jane betrothed to another, he refuses to accept the heartbreaking turn of events. Soon Jane's marriage is swept into a turbulent dance of tender wooing and clashing wills--as Alex seeks truly to make her his, and his alone. . . .
 
What I Hope to Read Next

No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien

From the slums of London to the riches of an Edwardian country house; from the hot, dark seams of a Yorkshire coalmine to the exposed terrors of the trenches, Adam Raine’s journey from boy to man is set against the backdrop of a society violently entering the modern world.
Adam Raine is a boy cursed by misfortune. His impoverished childhood in the slums of Islington is brought to an end by a tragedy that sends him north to Scarsdale, a hard-living coalmining town where his father finds work as a union organizer. But it isn’t long before the escalating tensions between the miners and their employer, Sir John Scarsdale, explode with terrible consequences.
In the aftermath, Adam meets Miriam, the Rector’s beautiful daughter, and moves into Scarsdale Hall, an opulent paradise compared with the life he has been used to before. But he makes an enemy of Sir John’s son, Brice, who subjects him to endless petty cruelties for daring to step above his station.
When love and an Oxford education beckon, Adam feels that his life is finally starting to come together – until the outbreak of war threatens to tear everything apart.

The Spirit Guide by Elizabeth Davies

Seren has an unusual gift – she sees spirits, the shades of the dead.
Terrified of being accused of witchcraft, a very real possibility in twelfth century Britain, she keeps her secret close, not even confiding in her husband.

But when she gives her heart and soul to a man who guides spirits in the world beyond the living, she risks her secret and her life for their love.

Book Review: The King's Shadow by Cheryl Sawyer

The King's Shadow is the final book of Cheryl Sawyer's English Civil War trilogy. I've not read the previous two novels (The Winter Prince and Farewell, Cavaliers) and was hoping this wasn't an oversight on my part when I accepted an ARC from the author.  My concerns were unfounded for The King's Shadow is a great read on its own.

On New Year's Day 1660, an army sets out from Coldstream in the Scottish Borders for London under the command of General Monck. His intentions are unclear, causing unrest amongst the various factions on both sides.

The Parliamentary army is no longer a unified force and many of its high ranking officers are disillusioned at what the army has become. Colonel Mark Denton is assigned by Monck to seek out and ascertain the feelings of these men and determine if they pose a threat to Monck's plan to march south. Denton, too, is uncertain about Monck's intentions, but vows to be there when the General enters London, whether it is to support the return of the King or plunge the country into another civil war.

Lucinda Selby, from a dispossessed Royalist family, has every reason to detest Colonel Denton. Not only is he a Parliamentarian and opposes everything she stands for, he also holds her family's estate. Her one hope for the future is the elusive King's Shadow to whom she owes a debt of gratitude for saving her brother's life. Committed to the Royalist cause, she embarks on a dangerous mission on behalf of the King.

Cheryl Sawyer's excellent research skills, combined with her interpretation of the political situation of the day and her ability to write a good story, brings to life a very interesting period in history. Simply told, it is informative as well as entertaining. Her easy to read style moves the plot along at a smart pace. The dialogue flows naturally and the characters, whether historical or fictional, are well developed.

I liked Colonel Mark Denton from the start though his reputation as a passionate Parliamentarian, estranged from his family because of it, and despised and feared by the Royalists, conjured up visions of a hard hearted individual. At first he seemed reticent and taciturn, but as the story unfolds his true nature is revealed and I liked him even more. He is disturbed by the antipathy Lucinda feels for him and is resigned to the fact that she will never look upon him favourably, which makes everything he does on her behalf all the more sweeter. While Lucinda Selby has all the attributes of a thoroughly believable and lovable heroine, it is Colonel Mark Denton that stands out above the crowd and makes this story a memorable read.

The mysterious King's Shadow adds further excitement to the story. It was easy to figure out his identity from the clues dropped along the way. While this may be construed as a disappointment I found it had the opposite effect. Knowing a detail that the characters are yet to discover creates a sense of anticipation and it is amusing how they finally make the connection, but apt given the expertise of the character who interprets the final clue.

A nice bonus is the author's historical note at the end and shows how well Cheryl Sawyer knows her readers. To avoid spoilers, resist the temptation to take a peek. Read the story first before indulging in this little tidbit.

I thoroughly enjoyed The King's Shadow and recommend it to those who have an interest in this period in history, love a great  adventure story and are not adverse to a heart warming romance.

I Scored a Hat-Trick!

No, I haven't given up reading and taken up cricket (that's where the term "hat-trick" originated back in the 19th century and means taking three wickets with three consecutive balls by the same bowler). My "hat-trick" was of a different kind.

This morning searching my library's new items catalogue I made three exciting discoveries:  three books by three Australian authors I follow, to be released in three consecutive months.

Worth Fighting For by Mary-Anne O'Connor

From Darwin to Pearl Harbour, Sydney to Papua New Guinea, a compelling story of courage, honour and a great love set against the epic backdrop of the Second World War.

Eighteen-year-old Junie Wallace is a smart girl and, with her two brothers away at war and her third brother just killed in action, she knows there is only one way to save the family farm for her grieving parents. Unfortunately, that solution involves marrying the unscrupulous Ernest, and breaking the heart of the young drover she loves, Michael.
But the war is looming ever closer, and when Pearl Harbour brings the threat of Japanese aggression to Australian shores, the fates of many becomes inextricably interwoven.

From the explosive battles of the Pacific campaign to the desperate fighting in the Papuan New Guinea rainforest; the dancehall gaiety of Sydney’s Trocadero to the terror of the Darwin bombings, this epic family saga brings home the importance of mateship and of fighting for what you believe in, even when impossible odds seem stacked against you, even when all seems lost…

Worth Fighting For is a resounding testament to the enduring force of love: a reminder of what can be achieved if you draw on your reserves of courage and listen to the truth in your heart.

From Mira/Harlequin Australia, due out October 2016.

Mary-Anne O'Connor is the author of Gallipoli Street.

Beyond the Orchard by Anna Romer

Lucy Briar has arrived home in turmoil after years overseas. She’s met her fiancé in London and has her life mapped out, but something is holding her back.

Hoping to ground herself and find answers, Lucy settles into once familiar routines. But old tortured feelings swarm Lucy’s existence when her beloved father, Ron, is hospitalised and Morgan – the man who drove her away all those years ago – seeks her out.

Worse, Ron implores Lucy to go to Bitterwood Estate, the crumbling historic family guesthouse now left to him. He needs Lucy to find something– an old photograph album, the very thing that drove Ron and his father apart.

Lucy has her own painful memories of Bitterwood, darkness that has plagued her dreams since she was young, and she’s hesitant to return. But as Lucy searches for the album, the house begins to give up its ghosts and she is driven to put them to rest.

And there, held tightly between the house, the orchard and the soaring cliffs, Lucy uncovers a long-hidden secret that shattered a family’s bond and kept a frightened young girl in its thrall ... and Lucy discovers just how fierce the lonely heart can be.

From Simon & Schuster Australia, due out November 2016.

Anna Romer is the author of Thornwood House and Lyrebird Hill.

Mackenzie Crossing by Kaye Dobbie

A passion for photography draws two stories together across time to Mackenzie Crossing.

Neville ‘Pom’ Darling, is on the hunt for the perfect photograph.

Skye Stewart, is searching for her long lost grandfather.

It’s 1939, and Neville, escaping an unhappy marriage and his memories of the Great War, finds himself in Mackenzie Crossing on the day of the terrible Black Friday bushfires. He meets the beautiful Georgie Mackenzie and in an instant knows that she is the subject he has been looking for. As the heat intensifies, Georgie and Pom begin to wonder if they have a future together; but first, they must survive the blaze.

Almost sixty years later, Sky Stewart returns to the area in search of her grandfather. Did he survive the Black Friday bushfires? Who is the exotic woman in the photograph she found? But when she arrives in Elysian, the closest town to where Mackenzie Crossing used to be, she finds more of her hidden past than she bargained for. A more recent past which she would prefer stayed forgotten…

From Mira/Harlequin Australia, due out December 2016.

Kaye Dobbie is the author of Sweet Wattle Creek, Colours of Gold and more.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

Last week I finished the remaining chapters of The Moon in the Water and now I'm looking for the sequel, The Chains of Fate. Unfortunately this book is out of print and my library doesn't even have a copy in the stacks, so it may be a while before I find out what happens to Thomazine and Francis.

Another book finished was Barbara Erskine's latest release, Sleeper's Castle. Like all Barbara Erskine's books I found it a quick read and while I enjoyed it, I didn't feel it was as good as some of her earlier books. My favourites are still The Darkest Hour and Child of the Phoenix

I'm still reading All For Nothing. This is a strange novel and at the moment I can't think of any words that would adequately describe it. I'm not even sure I like this book. It's not a page turner; I can only read a couple of chapters before setting it aside and picking up another book, yet I'm drawn to it.

I'm also reading The Island of Swans this week.

As to what's up next - I'm collecting Florence Grace, the new novel from Tracy Rees, from the library tomorrow and I just know I'm going to get into it straight away.

What I Read Last Week

The Moon in the Water by Pamela Belle

Orphaned at ten, Thomasina Heron is sent to her new guardian, Sir Simon of "Goldhayes" in Suffolk. There Thomasina will spend a happy young girlhood with her cousins: the Heron heir Simon; kind solid Edward; young James; friendly Lucy; and Francis-- who is imaginative, daring, apt to be cynical, who talks about unicorns and usually gets into trouble. The cousins are faced with many challenges as they grow up, and conflict between King Charles I and Parliament leads to civil war.


Sleeper's Castle by Barbara Erskine

Hay-On-Wye, 1400 – War is brewing in the Welsh borders, Catrin is on the brink of womanhood and falling in love for the first time. Her father is a soothsayer, playing a dangerous game playing on the mixed loyalties and furious rivalries between welsh princes and English lords. For two hundred years, the Welsh people have lain under the English yoke, dreaming of independence. And finally it looks as though the charismatic Owain Glyndwr may be the man legend talks of. In the walls of Sleeper’s Castle, Catrin finds herself caught in the middle of a doomed war as she is called upon to foretell Wales’s destiny… And what she sees, is blood and war coming closer…
Hay, 2015. Miranda has moved to Sleeper’s Castle to escape and grieve. Slowly she feels herself coming to life in the solitude of the mountains. But every time she closes her eyes her dreams become more vivid. And she makes a connection with a young girl, who’s screaming, who’s reaching out… who only Miranda can help. Is she losing herself to time?

What I'm Reading Today

All For Nothing by Walter Kempowski

Winter, January 1945. It is cold and dark, and the German army is retreating from the Russian advance. Germans are fleeing the occupied territories in their thousands, in cars and carts and on foot. But in a rural East Prussian manor house, the wealthy von Globig family tries to seal itself off from the world. Peter von Globig is twelve, and feigns a cough to get out of his Hitler Youth duties, preferring to sledge behind the house and look at snowflakes through his microscope. His father Eberhard is stationed in Italy - a desk job safe from the front - and his bookish and musical mother Katharina has withdrawn into herself. Instead the house is run by a conservative, frugal aunt, helped by two Ukrainian maids and an energetic Pole. Protected by their privileged lifestyle from the deprivation and chaos around them, and caught in the grip of indecision, they make no preparations to leave, until Katharina's decision to harbour a stranger for the night begins their undoing. Superbly expressive and strikingly vivid, sympathetic yet painfully honest about the motivations of its characters, All for Nothing is a devastating portrait of the self-delusions, complicities and denials of the German people as the Third Reich comes to an end.

Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware

In this resplendent love story a dazzling era comes vividly to life as one woman's passionate struggle to follow her heart takes her from the opulent cotillions of Edinburgh to the London court of half-mad King George III . . . from a famed salon teeming with politicians and poets to a picturesque castle on the secluded, lush Island of the Swans. . . .
Best friends in childhood, Jane Maxwell and Thomas Fraser wreaked havoc on the cobbled streets of Edinburgh with their juvenile pranks. But years later, when Jane blossoms into a beautiful woman, her feelings for Thomas push beyond the borders of friendship, and he becomes the only man she wants. When Thomas is reportedly killed in the American colonies, the handsome, charismatic Alexander, Duke of Gordon, appeals to a devastated Jane. Believing Thomas is gone forever, Jane hesitantly responds to the Duke, whose passion ignites her blood, even as she rebels at his fierce desire to claim her.
But Thomas Fraser is not dead, and when he returns to find his beloved Jane betrothed to another, he refuses to accept the heartbreaking turn of events. Soon Jane's marriage is swept into a turbulent dance of tender wooing and clashing wills--as Alex seeks truly to make her his, and his alone. . . .
 
What I Hope to Read Next

Florence Grace by Tracy Rees

Florrie Buckley is an orphan, living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It's a hard existence but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone.
But when Florrie is fourteen, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family, the Graces. Overnight, Florrie's life changes and she moves from country to city, from poverty to wealth.
Cut off from everyone she has ever known, Florrie struggles to learn the rules of this strange new world. And then she must try to fathom her destructive pull towards the enigmatic and troubled Turlington Grace, a man with many dark secrets of his own.

To Name Those Lost by Rohan Wilson

Summer 1874, and Launceston teeters on the brink of anarchy. After abandoning his wife and child many years ago, the Black War veteran Thomas Toosey must return to the city to search for William, his now motherless twelve-year-old son. He travels through the island's northern districts during a time of impossible hardship - hardship that has left its mark on him too. Arriving in Launceston, however, Toosey discovers a town in chaos. He is desperate to find his son amid the looting and destruction, but at every turn he is confronted by the Irish transportee Fitheal Flynn and his companion, the hooded man, to whom Toosey owes a debt that he must repay.
To Name Those Lost is the story of a father's journey. Wilson has an eye for the dirt, the hardness, the sheer dog-eat-doggedness of the lives of the poor. Human nature is revealed in all its horror and beauty as Thomas Toosey struggles with the good and the vile in himself and learns what he holds important.

No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien

From the slums of London to the riches of an Edwardian country house; from the hot, dark seams of a Yorkshire coalmine to the exposed terrors of the trenches, Adam Raine’s journey from boy to man is set against the backdrop of a society violently entering the modern world.
Adam Raine is a boy cursed by misfortune. His impoverished childhood in the slums of Islington is brought to an end by a tragedy that sends him north to Scarsdale, a hard-living coalmining town where his father finds work as a union organizer. But it isn’t long before the escalating tensions between the miners and their employer, Sir John Scarsdale, explode with terrible consequences.
In the aftermath, Adam meets Miriam, the Rector’s beautiful daughter, and moves into Scarsdale Hall, an opulent paradise compared with the life he has been used to before. But he makes an enemy of Sir John’s son, Brice, who subjects him to endless petty cruelties for daring to step above his station.
When love and an Oxford education beckon, Adam feels that his life is finally starting to come together – until the outbreak of war threatens to tear everything apart.

The Spirit Guide by Elizabeth Davies

Seren has an unusual gift – she sees spirits, the shades of the dead.
Terrified of being accused of witchcraft, a very real possibility in twelfth century Britain, she keeps her secret close, not even confiding in her husband.

But when she gives her heart and soul to a man who guides spirits in the world beyond the living, she risks her secret and her life for their love.

Six in Six (2016)

Six in Six is a meme where every July the aim is to share six books in six categories from the first six months of the year.

This meme is  hosted by Jo @ The Book Jotter, but I didn't know it existed until I read a recent post by Helen @ She Reads Novels and decided it might be fun to also look back on my reading for the first half of the year.

The idea is to choose six categories either from the list that  Jo has prepared or your own, then list six books under each category heading. All the details are here if you wish to participate.

I've only read 42 books so far this year which I thought would make it difficult to find six suitable categories.  By taking some from Jo's list and adding a couple of my own it wasn't as difficult or as time consuming as I expected. In fact it was a pleasant way to spend an hour. This is my result:

Six Books Read on My Kindle
To Love, Honour and Obey by Valerie Holmes
The Code of Love by Cheryl Sawyer
Endless Love by James MacManus
Past Encounters by Davina Blake
Shadow on the Highway by Deborah Swift
The Virgin of the Wind Rose by Glen Craney

Six Books Set in Australia
Sweet Wattle Creek by Kaye Dobbie
Lyrebird Hill by Anna Romer
A Tattooed Heart by Deborah Challinor
Thornwood House by Anna Romer
Heart of the Country by Tricia Stringer
No Beat of Drum by Hester Burton

Six Books By Authors New to Me
The Amber Shadows by Lucy Ribchester
All That I Am by Anna Funder
The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans
Oliver Twist Investigates by G.M. Best
In The Silence of the Snow by Jessica Blair
The Mind's Own place by Ian Reid

Six Books From Authors I've Read Before
The Lake House by Kate Morton
Foxing the Geese by Janet Woods
Highwayman Ironside by Michael Arnold
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St.James
Blake's Reach by Catherine Gaskin

Six Books With Over 500 Pages Added to My TBR Pile
Sleeper's Castle by Barbara Erskine (544 pages)
No Man's Land by Simon Tolkein (566 pages)
Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware (584 pages)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1008 pages)
Daughter of the House by Rose Thomas (512 pages)
Sumerford's Autumn by Barbara Gaskell Denvil (502 pages)

Six Books From A Series
Shadow of the Hangman by Edward Marston (Bow Street Rivals Series)
Now Face to Face by Karleen Koen (Tamworth Saga)
Shadow on the Highway by Deborah Swift (The Highway Trilogy)
Where Serpents Sleep by C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series)
Fletcher's Fortune by John Drake (Fletcher 18th Century Naval Series)
A Tattooed Heart by Deborah Challinor (Convict Girls Series)