A Prince to be Feared by Mary Lancaster

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Read: May 1, 2013

Europe’s most fearsome prisoner, Vlad Dracula, gifted military commander and one time Prince of Wallachia, the notorious Lord Impaler himself, is about to be released after twelve long years, in order to hold back the tide of Ottoman aggression. The price of his new alliance with his Hungarian captors is the king’s cousin Ilona. Ilona does not wish to be married. In particular, she doesn’t wish to marry Vlad. Gentle, faded and impossibly vague, Ilona is hardly fit for court life, let alone for dealing with so difficult a husband. But Ilona’s wishes have nothing to do with Vlad’s reputation and everything to do with a lifelong love affair that finally broke her. Ilona’s family blame Vlad; Vlad vows to discover the truth and sets out by unconventional means to bring back the woman who once enchanted him. Among court intrigues, international manoeuvrings and political deceptions, Vlad reveals himself more victim than villain. But he’s still more than capable of reclaiming his lost rights to both Wallachia and Ilona; and Ilona, when it counts, has enough strength for them both.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

By Chatsam (GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0),
 via Wikimedia Commons

I loved what Lancaster did with A Prince to be Feared. Just the basic idea, the juxtaposition of taking Vlad Dracula, a character largely vilified and humanizing him, is truly captivating. Perhaps it is because I know so little about the history involved, but her work, despite being fiction, really makes you reconsider who this man might have been. Was he the tyrant of legend or a maligned hero?  

Another noteworthy aspect of the piece is Ilona. Lancaster counters her larger than life male lead with an equally impressive love interest, balancing his vivid energy against her subtle and steady strength. As a reader, it took me longer to appreciate Ilona, but in the end I think she is actually my favorite of the entire cast. 

Perhaps my only true complaint is that the book has no historic note. Granted I read an advanced reader's copy and can't speak to the final edition, but I personally like to reflect on what is fact and what is fiction and unfortunately could not do that without some sort of notation. 

Different yet memorable, A Prince to be Feared, offers a unique perspective on the three-time Voivode of Wallachia.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

She was biased, of course, because she loved him. But there had always been something about him, some brilliance that drew others and held them.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

check out all the stops on Mary Lancaster's A Prince to be feared VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR 

Monday, May 13
Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, May 14
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie
Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, May 15
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, May 16
Review at A Bookish Affair
Guest Post & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Friday, May 17
Feature & Giveaway at Broken Teepee
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

The Confidant by Hélène Grémillon

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: May 10, 2013

Paris, 1975. While sifting through condolence letters after her mother's death, Camille finds a long, handwritten missive that she assumes came by mistake. But every Tuesday brings another installment from a stranger named Louis, a man separated from his first love, Annie, in the years before World War II. In his tale, Annie falls victim to the merciless plot of a wealthy, barren couple just as German troops arrive in Paris. But also awaiting Camille's discovery is the other side of the story - one that calls into question Annie's innocence and reveals the devastating consequences of revenge. As Camille reads on, she realizes that her own life may be the next chapter in this tragic story.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Ugh. I had such high hopes for Helene Grémillon's The Confidant, but this book didn't work for me at all. From the first pages I struggled with this one, pushing myself to finish it for the sole purpose of being able to say it didn't kick my ass.

To be fair part the problem has to do with my reasons for picking up the book in the first place. I routinely browse the New Release shelves at my local library and got really excited when I discovered what appeared in part to be a WWII era story set in occupied France. I love the time period and couldn't resist bringing the book home with me. 

Unfortunately the aspects I'd looked forward to the most were largely trivialized. The story is so character driven that the conflict fades to the background. Where I'd hoped for hard hitting historic fiction I got a melodrama set in Paris during the 1930s and 40s. 

Once I realized my error, I tried to to judge the book on what it is rather than what I hoped it would be, but here too I had tremendous difficulty. Despite the provocative situational drama, the characters are extraordinarily thin. I couldn't relate to them which made it practically impossible to rouse much interest in their respective fates. 

The nail in the coffin, however, was the style in which The Confidant is written. I don't know if it suffers the same issues in the original French, but the English translation lacks any sort of transition between character point of view or time period. Honestly I spent half my reading struggling to determine who was talking and to what period of the story their narrative referred. 

I wanted an novel I could get lost in, not one that made me fight for every inch, but that is exactly what I had to do with this book. Not one I enjoyed and one I would be exceedingly hard pressed to recommend. 

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

And what if my next breath proved to be my last? Terrified, I held my breath and turned to the statue of Saint Roch, imploring him; he had cured the lepers, so surely he could save me. 

════════════════════════════ ❧ ════════════════════════════

Armistice by Nick Stafford

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: May 6, 2013

Philomena Bligh's fiancé, Dan, has been shot. World War I claimed many lives, but Dan was shot in the minutes after the Armistice. She cannot understand how this could have happened, or why they were still fighting that morning anyway. So, in March 1919, over Dan's birthday, Philomena travels to London to meet the men who were with him when he died. What she discovers is more shocking than she'd ever imagined. Dan's best friend, Jonathan, tells her that Dan was shot by a British officer over a gambling debt. There is no proof and all records of Jonathan's accusation have been destroyed. Philomena decides she must take on the establishment. Worried that she may cause his own downfall and feeling guilty for his mysterious part in Dan's death, Jonathan accompanies her. Set against a backdrop of London in the aftermath of the Great War, a time of upheaval, grief, and wanton escapism, this is not just an inspirational book about what it means to be a hero, but also a breathtaking love story.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Colorized photograph depicting the signing Armistice of Compiègne

The prologue, six pages total, approximately seventeen hundred words. That was all it took for me to fall in love with Armistice by Nick Stafford. I was a goner. Hook, line and sinker. 

I don't know how accurate it is for Philomena to take up after Dan's ghost, traipsing the streets of London on her own in early 1919, but the idea of a woman ignoring propriety in her search of closure after the death of her partner, that is something I can understand. Stafford decision to build the entire foundation of his story on this concept is nothing short of genius. It creates an instant bond between the reader and his female lead and gives him a little bit of wiggle room in terms of historical exactitude. In short, this worked for me. 

Additionally, under the obvious question of Dan's death, Stafford explores post war society through the eyes of Philomena and Dan's friend Jonathan. Together these two represent all those left behind after the guns have been put down, their struggle to hang on to who they were before their lives were touched by violence and the people they became living in its shadow. Again, Stafford's use of emotion to augment the plot plays very well against the mystery Dan's murder. 

Not a particularly complicated whodunnit, but at the end of the day I don't think that is what Stafford was going for. This is a story about avarice, revenge, class distinction and desperation. Yes, it revolves around a suspicious death, but more than anything else this is a period piece about the human condition. A highly recommended read for those with a penchant for small scale historic fiction. 

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

'You want me to give you my oath that I'll never let on that you told me what you're about to?'
'I'm not going to tell you unless you give me your oath...'

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Cascade by Maryanne O'Hara

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Read: April 30, 2013

It’s 1935, and Desdemona Hart Spaulding has sacrificed her plans to work as an artist in New York to care for her bankrupt, ailing father in Cascade, Massachusetts. When he dies, Dez finds herself caught in a marriage of convenience, bound to the promise she made to save her father’s Shakespeare Theater, even as her town may be flooded to create a reservoir for Boston. When she falls for artist Jacob Solomon, she sees a chance to escape and realize her New York ambitions, but is it morally possible to set herself free?

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Quabbin Reservoir, inspiration for Cascade. 

Depression era lit is not my usual stomping ground, but the minute I read the description of Maryanne O'Hara's Cascade, I knew I'd have to read the book. I'd been raised on stories like this, anecdotes of my grandfather's ranch being flooded to promote economic growth in the Missouri River Valley, whole communities just slipping beneath the waves as if they'd never existed. I found the idea that such an instance had inspired O'Hara to write a book absolutely fascinating and couldn't wait to see how it played into Desdemona's story.  

At it's heart, this is a story of self-discovery, again, not my usual thing, but I loved how it played out against the creation of Rappahannock. There is a beautiful symmetry between Desdemona's personal tribulations and the fate of her beloved town, her deep seated ambition to leave a mark on the world against acceptance that change is unavoidable and permanence is an illusion of the mind. 

Historically I have to give O'Hara points for highlighting both the plight of women in the 1930s and the Federal Arts Project. Early in the book, O'Hara makes it clear that Dez wants something bigger than the life of a pharmacist's wife with a house full of children. She wants a career, to embrace her work and to be involved in the dramatic shift taking place in the art world as new ideas become reality under the New Deal Work Progress Administration. As stated, Depression era lit is not my cuppa tea, but O'Hara managed to put together something very special simply by choosing to express Dez's emotional journey through the context of her artwork. 

Stirringly poignant, Cascade is an elegant story of one woman's struggle to find herself amid divided loyalties and passionate desire. 

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

“Life is full of tough choices between less-than-perfect alternatives.”

 ════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Check out all the stops on Maryanne O'Hara's HISTORICAL FICTION VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR 

Monday, April 29
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, April 30
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, May 1
Review & Giveaway at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Thursday, May 2
Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Friday, May 3
Review at Tiny Library

Monday, May 6
Review at Psychotic State Book Reviews

Tuesday, May 7
Interview & Giveaway at Psychotic State Book Reviews

Wednesday, May 8
Review & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Thursday, May 9
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review & Giveaway at The Relentless Reader

Friday, May 10
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Monday, May 13
Review at Write Meg

Tuesday, May 14
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook
Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book

Wednesday, May 15
Review at Raging Bibliomania

Thursday, May 16
Review & Giveaway at Ageless Pages Reviews

Friday, May 17
Review & Giveaway at The Blue Stocking Society

Monday, May 20
Review at Amused By Books
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, May 21
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, May 22
Review & Giveaway at The Worm Hole

Thursday, May 23
Review at A Book Geek

Friday, May 24
Review & Giveaway at The Picky Girl

Monday, May 27
Review & Giveaway at The Novel Life

Tuesday, May 28
Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book
Review, Guest Post & Giveaway at The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, May 29
Review at Turning the Pages

Thursday, May 30
Guest Post at The Novel Life

Friday, May 31
Interview & Giveaway at Cheryl’s Book Nook

Monday, June 3
Review at Words and Peace

Tuesday, June 4
Review at Historical Tapestry & Adventures of an Intrepid Reader
Giveaway at Words and Peace

Wednesday, June 5
Review & Giveaway at A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, June 6
Review at The Little Reader Library

Friday, June 7
Review at A Novel Review

Guest Post: A Discussion with Amanda Scott

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Each of these three series (Dangerous, Border, Highland) takes place in a different location. Can you talk about how it's different to write about each place? Does the location in which your book is set change the way you do research or form your stories?

The Dangerous series: Dangerous Illusions, Dangerous Games, Dangerous Angels, and Dangerous Lady, takes place in England and, rather unexpectedly for the author, takes place from Waterloo (1815) into the first years of Victoria's reign (1837), so that was a bit of a stretch for me. Regency England was quite familiar by then (my son said it was much more familiar to me than any part of the twentieth century, and I suspect he was right about that). I have also studied the Victorians, but for the last book in the series Dangerous Lady, I had to focus on the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign, when she was only nineteen. That required some new and detailed research into the Queen and her ladies, because I decided to make my heroine a maid of honor to the Queen. Since the heroine, Lady Letitia "Letty" Deverill, had an established background as the daughter of the Marquess of Jervaulx, she was a good candidate for the post, but I still needed a hero and a plot.

The primary problem in deciding to use Letty as my heroine in that fourth book was that she had been about nine in the third one, which meant I had to leap forward about ten years, into Victoria's reign. I looked further into the primary subjects I had used for the first three books, laws pertaining specifically to women – marriage, divorce, child custody - and how some of the wealthiest families got around the most restrictive ones. I also researched property and inheritance laws, and as always, I spent a great deal of time getting the details of the settings (primarily Waterloo, Cornwall, and London) as accurate as possible.

I knew that it was a common practice for Regency and Victoria women to keep exotic pets, so I gave Letty a pet monkey. Then I had her unexpectedly, and for reasons unknown, inherit a house in London with two eccentric tenants, supposedly impecunious old ladies, already living in it and utterly unevictable. So, when Letty learns exactly how they are using her house, all sorts of complications arise.

Their grandnephew, Viscount Raventhorpe, happens to be a lord-in-waiting to the Queen, and is a most intriguing…and interfering… gentleman.

To make matter worse (or better, from an author's point of view), the Queen surrounds herself with loyal Whigs, of whom Raventhorpe is one; while Letty is a devout Tory.

The research for the whole series was expansive, though, including a call to the Smithsonian Institutes. I researched politics, gaming, and tales of outrageous gambling, court intrigues, and many other subjects. I also traveled to England so that I could see the Cornish countryside for myself. My husband went with me, and drove, so I could watch the landscape and take pictures as we went. We traveled all over Cornwall, to Land's End and back. The high point, though, was that we had afternoon tea with Alison Adburgham, the author of Silver Fork Society and Shops and Shopping, 1800-1914, two of my favorite source books for the Regency period. I had been corresponding with her for some time, and when I told her that we would be visiting Cornwall, she invited us to take tea with her at her home.

The Bawdy Bride, a stand-alone title, also takes place in Regency England but in Derbyshire, an entirely different area of the country. It also includes hot-air ballooning and takes place almost entirely in a stately country house, which sent me scurrying for books on housekeeping, servants, kitchen "appliances", the training of servants and exact duties of the many people employed on a country estate.

For the Border books, Border Bride, Border Fire, and Border Storm – I read Border Ballads and many, many books on the area and its clans. Clan Scott is a Border clan, and so is Clan Douglas, and both have solid presence in my family tree. (I tell people I have horse thieves – reivers – hanging from every branch). I also relied on stories that my grandfather had told me and did further research of my own. I also traveled to Scotland and visited all of the places I was describing, to see them for myself.

At Hermitage Castle, we had a private tour because the custodian had kept the castle open after its official closing date and was delighted to meet a Scott. She was wonderful and extremely informative. It was October, so the best I had hoped for was to see the castle at a distance. Instead, she took us all around and chatted about its history for an hour or more.

With respect to the Highland books, I have visited and explored the Scottish Highlands a number of times over the years. In fact, I took my first trip there with my graduate-school roommate before I began writing seriously. We spent a month in Scotland, and I collected so many guidebooks, and other books, that I had to ask a storekeeper in Aberfoyle to box them and ship them home for me (along with half the other things I'd bought, fortunately many of them from him).

I still collect guidebooks and maps from all over Scotland. The first time my husband went with me, he said it was silly to ship things home – too expensive. Plus, we had a car, so we really didn't need to ship anything. It took no more than that first trip together to teach him how wrong he was, though. Fortunately, since the x-ray machines at the airports couldn't see through 78 pounds of "paper products," we only had to get them to the Heathrow check-in line. They were thus "delayed en route," so they didn't get to San Francisco when we did, and the airline very kindly sent them the rest of the way, right to the house, so we never had to lug them.

I'm not sure that the research or writing process is different with different settings, but I do my best to keep true to the ways people lived in the various places, so from that standpoint, the research can certainly impact a storyline. And setting definitely impacts the dialogue for any book. I have numerous books on regional slang and slang dictionaries to give me dates of usage and so forth.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

About the Author: A fourth-generation Californian of Scottish descent, Amanda Scott is the author of more than fifty romantic novels, many of which appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Her Scottish heritage and love of history (she received undergraduate and graduate degrees in history at Mills College and California State University, San Jose, respectively) inspired her to write historical fiction. Credited by Library Journal with starting the Scottish romance subgenre, Scott has also won acclaim for her sparkling Regency romances. She is the recipient of the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award (for Lord Abberley’s Nemesis, 1986) and the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award. She lives in central California with her husband. For more information on Amanda Scott’s novels, please visit the website. 

About the Book ~ Highland Fling: Forbidden passion has never been more dangerous—or more irresistible—in the first novel of bestselling author Amanda Scott’s spellbinding Highland series. Scotland, 1750. In the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion, Maggie MacDrumin vows to keep fighting to liberate her people. But the intrepid Scotswoman is risking her life for a dangerous cause. When her latest mission lands her in a London courtroom on a trumped-up larceny charge, she has only one hope of survival. Enlisting the aid of Edward Carsley, the powerful fourth Earl of Rothwell, is a two-edged sword. The seductive aristocrat who awakens treacherous desire is her clan’s mortal enemy—a man she can never trust. Edward will do whatever it takes to quell another bloody uprising. But how can he fight his passion for the rebellious Highland beauty in his safekeeping? As their lives come under siege, Maggie lays claim to the one thing Edward vowed never to 

About the Book ~ Border Bride: Set in treacherous sixteenth-century Scotland, the first volume of Amanda Scott’s Border Trilogy tells the unforgettable story of a woman sworn to defy the knight she is forced to wed—only to discover a love she’ll do anything to claim.  As Mary, Queen of Scots, languishes in the Tower of London as a prisoner of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, war tears Scotland apart. To save her beloved homeland, a proud Highland beauty named Mary Kate MacPherson must wage her own battle when she’s forced into wedlock with a knight, Sir Adam Douglas, from the barbaric borderland of Tornary. Even as she succumbs to her seductive husband’s sensual demands, Mary Kate vows never to give him her heart. She will belong to no man. But Adam burns with something deeper than desire. Sworn to carry out a long-awaited revenge, he won’t rest until he has vanquished his enemies. Accused of treason, the last thing he expects is to lose his heart to the woman he’s determined to tame but never to love: his own wife.

About the Book ~ Dangerous Illusions: The first book in Amanda Scott’s acclaimed Dangerous series journeys from the battlefields of Waterloo to the ballrooms and boudoirs of London, where a deadly deception unfolds . . . Engaged by proxy to a man she’s never met, Lady Daintry Tarrant is dismayed when the war hero returns, introducing himself as her fiancé, Lord Penthorpe. She cherishes her independence and has turned away many suitors, but this one she must marry. Penthorpe is completely captivated by Lady Daintry—but he’s not who he claims to be. Penthorpe and Lord Gideon Deverill fought together at the battle of Waterloo, and when Penthorpe fell, Gideon assumed his identity in order to see the beautiful Lady Daintry. Gideon knows there’s bad blood between Lady Daintry’s family and his own, but he’s smitten with Daintry and determined to reunite the bitterly feuding clans. When a ghost from Gideon’s past appears, he could lose everything—including Daintry’s love.

════════════════════════════ ❧  ════════════════════════════

Check out all the stops on the historical fiction VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR of Amanda Scott's Highland Fling, Dangerous illusions and Border Bride

Wednesday, April 3
Review at The Picky Girl Blog (Highland Fling)
Review at Books Like Breathing (Dangerous Illusions)

Thursday, April 4
Interview at A Bookish Libraria

Friday, April 5
Guest Post & Giveaway at In the Hammock Blog

Monday, April 8
Guest Post & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, April 9
Review at Just One More Chapter (Border Bride)
Review at Overflowing Bookshelves (Highland Fling)
Interview at Tribute Books

Wednesday, April 10
Feature & Giveaway at A Writer’s Life: Working with the Muse

Thursday, April 11
Review at Overflowing Bookshelves (Border Bride)
Review at Flashlight Commentary (Dangerous Illusions)

Friday, April 12
Feature & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Monday, April 15
Review at Romantic Historical Lovers (Dangerous Illusions)
Guest Post & Giveaway at History Undressed

Tuesday, April 16
Review at Ramblings from a Chaotic Mind (Highland Fling)

Wednesday, April 17
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book! (Border Bride)
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie (Dangerous Illusions)

Thursday, April 18
Review at Books Like Breathing (Highland Fling)
Review at Overflowing Bookshelves (Dangerous Illusions)

Friday, April 19
Review at A Chick Who Reads (Dangerous Illusions)
Review at Peeking Between the Pages (Border Bride)

Monday, April 22
Review at Peeking Between the Pages (Highland Fling)
Guest Post & Giveaway at Ramblings from a Chaotic Mind

Tuesday, April 23
Review at Flashlight Commentary (Border Bride)

Wednesday, April 24
Review & Giveaway at The Bookworm (Highland Fling)

Thursday, April 25
Review at Romantic Historical Lovers (Highland Fling)
Review at From the TBR Pile (Border Bride)

Friday, April 26
Guest Post at Flashlight Commentary
Interview at From the TBR Pile

Monday, April 29
Review at Books Like Breathing (Border Bride)
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book! (Dangerous Illusions)

Tuesday, April 30
Review at Romantic Historical Lovers (Border Bride)

Wednesday, May 1
Review at WTF Are you Reading (Highland Fling)
Interview at Bibliophilic Book Blog

Thursday, May 2
Review at WTF Are you Reading (Border Bride)
Interview & Giveaway at Ramblings of a Chaotic Mind

Friday, May 3
Review at Starting Fresh (Highland Fling)
Review at WTF Are you Reading (Dangerous Illusions)