Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer ISBN: 0-451-17345-7 Mass Market Paperback: 284 pages Publisher: Signet Regency Romance Released: 1972, 1992

Source: Bought through Half.com.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Independent and spirited, Miss Annis Wychwood gives little thought to finding herself a suitable husband, thus dashing the dreams of many hopeful suitors. When she becomes embroiled in the affairs of the runaway heiress Lucilla, though, she encounters the beautiful fugitive's guardian - as uncivil a rogue she has ever met. Although chafing a bit at the restrictions of Regency society in Bath, Annis does have to admit that Oliver Carleton, at least, is never boring.


My Review:
Lady of Quality is a Regency romance. The author used her excellent understanding of human nature to craft realistic characters and a fun story. The different personality types rubbing up against each other created the humor and relationship tensions in this story. There was a nice level of historical detail woven into the story.

There was no sex. There was some explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this humorous romance.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Fixing to Die by Elaine Viets

Fixing to Die by Elaine Viets ISBN-13: 9780451240989 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: November 5, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Mystery shopper Josie Marcus has been happily married to veterinarian Ted Scottsmeyer for months, and they’re ready for the next step: buying a house. Ted’s business partner, Christine, has one she’s willing to sell, but it needs a lot of love.

When they tear down a rickety gazebo in the backyard, they find the body of Christine’s sister, a free spirit who supposedly took off six months before. The police arrest Christine for murder, leaving Ted to work overtime at the office to cover for his partner. Josie will have to find the real killer quickly, before both her house and marriage are beyond repair....


My Review:
Fixing to Die is a cozy mystery. It's the ninth in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunits of the previous mysteries.

The characters were interesting and acted realistically. The story rotated between house shopping and renovation, mystery shopping, and the mysteries. One "mystery" followed how Joise's daughter proved that some rich kids were cyber-bullying her.

The main mystery was Joise questioning the obvious suspects and placing herself in potentially dangerous situations. Though the detective was very rude, at least the detective worked from the forensic clues found in the grave. Josie worked from "who was the most violent who also had a motive?" In the end, it was never explained how whodunit left the forensic "grave clues" or how they were even connected to whodunit. We had the motive, but the author skipped explaining how. Since I like logic-puzzle mysteries, this "just trust me that whodunit did it" approach didn't leave me feeling satisfied.

There was no sex. There was some explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this novel to those who don't care if the how-done-it of a mystery is clear.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Gratitude Giveaways Hop

As a part of the Gratitude Giveaways Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


Trapped by Irene Hannon is a Christian romantic suspense novel. You can read my review.

When librarian Laura Griffin's sixteen-year-old sister disappears on a frigid February day, leaving only a brief note behind, Laura resolves to do whatever it takes to track down the runaway teen. That includes recruiting ATF agent turned PI James "Dev" Devlin to help. But the deeper he digs, the more he begins to suspect that something sinister is at work in the girl's disappearance. And the closer he gets to uncovering the truth, the clearer it becomes that the situation isn't just dangerous--it's deadly.


Death in the Vines by M.L. Longworth is a mystery novel. You can read my review. (Note: This novel did contain some bad language.)

Olivier Bonnard, the owner of Domaine Beauclaire winery, is devastated when he discovers the theft of a priceless cache of rare vintages. Soon after, Monsieur Gilles d’Arras reports that his wife, Pauline, has vanished from their lavish apartment. As Judge Antoine Verlaque and Commissioner Paulik tackle the cases (with a little help from Marine Bonnet), they receive an urgent call: Bonnard has just found Madame d’Arras--dead in his vineyard.


This contest is for USA residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered and naming which book you'd like to win. (I have comment moderation on to prevent spam comments, so don't worry if your entry comment doesn't appear immediately. It will soon.) Please also leave some way for me to contact you--or follow this blog so you can see the winner announcement.


This giveaway ends on November 30, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on December 1, 2013 on this blog.

If you entered using twitter, I'll send you a @ or DM telling you of your win and asking where to send the book. If you entered using the blog comments, you'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your mailing address. If the winner hasn't responded with a mailing address within four days, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

I hope everyone has fun with this!


The blogs participating in the Gratitude Giveaways Hop:

Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay

Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay ISBN-13: 9780425260722 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: November 5, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
When the Briar Creek Community Theater mounts their newest production of Shakespeare, library director Lindsey Norris has no intention of leaving the stacks for the stage.

Former Broadway actress Violet La Rue is holding auditions for A Midsummer Night’s Dream—and everyone from the sour spinster librarian Ms. Cole to Lindsey’s youthful library pages are trying out for parts. Brought in to play the mischievous Puck is the flirtatious professional actor Robbie Vine, who seems to have eyes for Lindsey. Before her blush has faded, the Bard’s dream turns into a nightmare—when one of the cast is poisoned. Now Lindsey must unmask the culprit before the final curtain call.


My Review:
Read It and Weep is a cozy mystery. It's the fourth in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunits of the previous mysteries.

The mystery was interesting, but Lindsey was slow to pick up on certain clues. Whodunit made a rather obvious slip, yet it took pages for her to even consider whodunit as a possibility. I'd considered and settled on whodunit long before Lindsey, but it wasn't obvious until near the end. There's a twist at the end, though, where it turned out that the case would have been solved even if Lindsey didn't exist. She was unnecessary to the mystery part of the book, which I always find disappointing.

Lindsey also came across to me as a bit hard on her admirers. She had specific problems with how her admirers were behaving (like Robbie flirting with her while having a wife and a girlfriend). Yet she outwardly seemed to be playing hard-to-get rather than plainly stating what underlying problems she needed fixed to go forward in a relationship. Still, I've known women like her and understood why she was acting that way, so I found the characters complex and realistic.

There was no sex. There was some explicit bad language. Overall, it was an enjoyable novel if you like romantic triangles, intrigue, and Shakespeare plays.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer ISBN: 0-373-83624-4 Mass Market Paperback: 408 pages Publisher: Harlequin First Released: 1956

Source: Bought through Half.com.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
En route to propose to his sensible acquaintance Lady Hester, Sir Gareth Ludlow finds young, pretty Amanda unattended and headed for trouble. He knows it is his duty to bring her back to her family, but this turns out to be a challenge as Amanda refuses to tell him who she is and escapes his protect at every opportunity. He takes her to Lady Hester to ask for her help as well as her hand in marriage.

Lady Hester stuns both him and her family when she refuses to marry him. At her age, no one would expect her to turn down such an eligible suitor. But Lady Hester has met the indomitable Amanda. How can the quiet, intelligent Hester hope to compete with such a lively young lady...especially since she reminds Gareth of his lost love from his younger years?


My Review:
Sprig Muslin is a Regency romance, but the first half is more an adventure filled with funny mishaps which is followed by the romance coming into bloom. The book starts out like a few other Heyer stories with the older hero running into a young lady who has run away while he is on his way to propose to a woman he doesn't love. I was glad that this was a new variation, not new names on an old storyline.

The characters were all likable and the situations were very funny. Heyer even managed to make me wonder for a while which characters would end up together. I really enjoyed the novel even if it didn't rate as one of my favorites.

There were no sex scenes. There was some explicit bad language (mostly swearing using "God"). Overall, I'd recommend this hilarious romp.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.