A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Summary

He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love.

Filled with unforgettable characters, and shimmering with color and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is an enthralling tale of love and madness, of longing and murder.


My thoughts

I had a like/hate relationship with this book. The story pulled me in from the beginning. I thought the writing itself was beautiful. The story was good. And then I realized that the main character, Ralph Truitt was obsessed with sex. There was way too much sex in this book for my taste which ruined the rest of the book for me. I did finish it as I wanted to know how it would all turn out in the end but I had to do much skimming to get through it. If sex in a book doesn't bother you, you may like this story. I just couldn't get past it. It was the first book I purchased on my Nook. I am loving the Nook, this book not so much.

2010 Reading Challenges

This is a short recap of how horribly I did on last years reading challenges. This year I am signing up and hoping to do better. There are two that ware still ongoing and I hope to complete them also. Even though I failed miserably I do have fun participating.

ARC Reading Challenge 2010-I read 34 Arcs, made the gold level when I was only going for Bronze...not shabby. I will do this one again!


Reading From My Shelves Project I only have posted 11 out of 30 books read, I think I did better but just forgot to keep track, I will most likely do this one again also as I need to clear some books out.


Historical Reading Challenge read 5 out of 12 books

Okra Picks Challenge this one is ongoing until the end of March I have read 0 books for this, hey there is still hope! I only signed up for the Goober level and I hope to read two books.

Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge I have only read 2 books for this challenge but this challenge doesn't end until April 1 , 2011.

I'll be making decisions today about which challenges to sign up for this next year. All the challenges have been fun and I would like to thank each and every host of all of the challenges. Even when I have done poorly I have had fun!

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Synopsis

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WW II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.

My Thoughts

This was my first read by Kate Morton. I had no idea what to expect except from all the wonderful reviews I have read from other bloggers on her books. I received an advance readers copy which was a whopping 672 pages long! Quite a chunkster for me! However, I was looking forward to reading it. I dug in with gusto. The story is very detailed and the characters are very complex. The story comes together rather slowly but it does a great job building suspense, at least it did for me. I'm not sure that if the story moved faster you would get the same effect. It is a very layered story.

I was very curious about Milderhurst and the sister's who lived in the castle. I was very curious about the letter that caused such a reaction for Edith's mother and how everything tied into the castle and the sisters. There are so many questions I had when reading the book. As more of the mystery is revealed, I found myself wondering how in the world it was all going to resolve itself. Ironically, I found the ending when the whole story finally comes together a bit rushed and I ended up reading it three times. I think at that point the suspense was killing me and I was reading it much too fast. Take your time with the ending. It is a very good one and you don't want to miss one bit of it's goodness. I will be reading Kate's other books as I think she is a wonderful storyteller. She is quite descriptive which left me with both beautiful and dark images of Milderhurst. This is a story of family, lost love, mystery and intrigue. I found myself wanting to both hurry through the story to find out the ending and wanting to savor every morsel of the story. I have never had a book do that before. I highly recommend this book.

The Wake of Forgiveness

The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart

Synopsis from Barnes and Noble

On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of “the only woman he’s ever been fond of” when his wife dies during childbirth with the couple’s fourth boy, Karel. From an early age Karel proves so talented on horseback that his father enlists him to ride in acreage-staked horseraces against his neighbors. But Karel is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew, by the bloodshot blame in his father’s eyes, and permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields. Confident only in the saddle, Karel is certain that the horse “wants the whip the same way he wants his pop’s strap . . . the closest he ever gets to his father’s touch.” In the winter of 1910, Karel rides in the ultimate high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters. Hanging in the balance are his father’s fortune, his brother’s futures, and his own fate. Fourteen years later, with the stake of the race still driven hard between him and his brothers, Karel is finally forced to dress the wounds of his past and to salvage the tattered fabric of his family.

My Thoughts

I really wanted to like this book much more than I did. The writing is beautifully descriptive. However, I found the storyline to be dark and depressing. The time line goes back and forth and I found myself having to go back and figure out what time period I was now in. The flow was confusing to me. There were some rather descriptive moments of child abuse and animal abuse that were just too much for me. All in all I would say the writing is beautiful in spots. The author has a wonderful way with words but this just wasn't the book for me. I really wanted to like it more.

I received this book for my honest opinion from the publisher through Barnes and Noble's First Look Book Club.

Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See


Shanghai Girls tells the story of Pearl and May, two sisters who live a quite comfortable life in Shanghai in 1937. Both are beautiful girls and pose for paintings to be used in ads. Their father gambles away their fortune and arranges for Pearl and May to be married to repay his debt. Before the girls can leave to join their husbands in America, China is invaded by Japan and the girls must flee their beloved Shanghai. The two go through many difficult times together. This is a wonderful story of the love and loyalty between the two sisters. I found myself many times thinking of my own sisters and how we would go to the ends of the earth for each other as these two sisters do. I learned a bit about how the Chinese immigrants were treated in this country. That is something I knew very little about. Lisa See does an excellent job researching information to include in her stories. I learn something new every time I read one of her books. I give this book 4 stars.

This was a book I purchased myself.

Fireworks Over Toccoa

Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Fireworks Over Toccoa is the quick, light, romantic story of Lily, a girl who has been raised to know her place in society who falls in love with Jake, an Italian pyrotechnician who has recently come home from World War II. The story is told through a flashback Lily has when a war artifact is displayed in the historical museum and she seems to be the only one who can tell the story of what the artifact is and how it came to be. Lily was married at 17 and shortly after her husband left for war. He is due to come home after 3 years away when Lily meets Jake. Lily must choose between the two. I felt as torn as Lily must have felt! I loved the setting of Toccoa and I could feel the close knit small town as though I were there. I enjoyed the escape to a much simpler time. It is a passionate story and really tugged at my heartstrings! It is a wonderful story. Once I started it, I read it straight through. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good love story. It's a great story for a Sunday afternoon! This is Jeffrey Stepakoff's debut novel and I think he does a fine job capturing the essence of love and it's conflicts. I hope he writes more novels as enjoyable as this one.

I received this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press for review. A special thank you to them!

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees

Louisa May Alcott and her family have interested me for quite awhile. One of my very first favorite books was Little Women. When The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott was offered to me for review you can believe I was over the moon! I enjoy reading anything about Louisa. I find her very intriguing.

In The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, we are introduced to a 22 year old Louisa, who is moving to Walpole, New Hampshire with her family due to financial difficulties. While there Louisa struggles with the desire to be a writer and duty to her family. Love and marriage are not options she is willing to consider. She would like nothing more than to go to Boston, live alone and be a writer. Then she meets Joseph Singer. Louisa finds herself smitten and confused. Is there room for love, family and writing?

Kelly O'Connor McNees captures the essence of the Alcott family beautifully. I felt that the way the family was depicted was in line with things I have read or seen about the Alcott family. Louisa was just a I had imagined her to be and reminded me of Jo in Little Women. I enjoyed this book immensely! I can't recommend it enough. Just like when I read Little Women as a young girl, I didn't want this story to end! I'm looking forward to seeing what Kelly O'Connor McNees writes next.

I also saw this link to a book trailer for The Lost Summer of louisa May Alcott which I found to be hilarious! Check it out!
book trailer

I received this book courtesy of Lydia at Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam Books. I can't thank you enough Lydia for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Kitchen House

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Synopsis from the back of the book:

Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

My thoughts:

This story starts out with the prologue narrated by Lavinia. It depicts a horrible scene of a hanging. We know something bad has happened but we don't know why or to whom. The story then begins with Lavinia and Belle narrating alternating chapters. Lavinia is the young Irish girl who is orphaned on her family's journey to America and is taken in as an indentured servant by the ship's captain. Belle is a slave on the captain's plantation who also happens to be the daughter of the captain. Lavinia is sent to the kitchen house to be taken care of until the time that she can be of service. Lavinia becomes part of the family of Mama Mae, Papa George, Beattie, Fanny and Belle. The captain's family is pretty dysfunctional and plays a huge role in the lives of Lavinia and Belle. Lavinia eventually finds herself torn between two families and places in society. I like how the chapters alternate between Lavinia and Belle. The story flows beautifully between the two narrators. There is a lot going on in this book and I don't want to give the story line away. I think it is a story you have to experience and be surprised by. Trust me! It is a great story! There are times the story gets uncomfortable which makes it much more realistic feel than other books about the antebellum period. I could actually feel the fear of the characters at times. Once you get involved in the story of Lavinia and Belle you will not want to put this book down. I enjoyed this book very much and I highly recommend it. Don't read it too fast. You don't want to miss one morsel of this book. Kathleen Grissom does a fantastic job telling the story of The Kitchen House. I can't wait to read what she comes up with next!

I received this book courtesy of Kathleen Grissom. Thank you Kathleen! I enjoyed it so much!

Historical Fiction Challenge

With the New Year coming up I have decided it's time to get some of my books read. I am hoping that signing up for challenges will help keep me on track. I love historical fiction so I am signing up for The Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by The Royal Reviews.

Challenge Guidelines:
1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.
--Non-Bloggers: Include your information in the comment section.

2. There are four levels:

-- Curious – Read 3 Historical Fiction novels.

-- Fascinated – Read 6 Historical Fiction novels.

-- Addicted – Read 12 Historical Fiction novels.

-- Obsessed – Read 20 Historical Fiction novels.

3. Any book format counts.

4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010.

I am going for the addicted level in hopes to clear some of my historical fiction books out. I will post them and review them as I finish them.

1. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
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