Chocolate House Treason by David Fairer

1708 England was an interesting time. Queen Anne's reign was anything but routine and scandal was rife. There were spies everywhere. The celebrations for the Queen's birthday are all being planned and with a big fireworks display as well.


In Covent Garden we have a coffee house newly opened and Mary Trotter at the helm hoping that this house will lead the way for intellectuals to gather to have discourse and conversations on a higher level. She did not expect to face the problems she did.


Full of historical detail of a period not very often found, it was an interesting account of the times. The characterization was very good with three people trying to help out a publisher falsely accused. Not easy in these times.


I am only sorry that it took me so long to get to this book. Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Matador

The Earl Not Taken by A S Fenichel

Though I do like a tense thriller or mystery murder, I think this kind of read was just what my mind needed in the midst of all the drama going on in all our lives.


This was a short romance with a twist. Four young ladies sent off to finishing school in Switzerland because they are rebels at home and their parents hope to drum some "sense and most importantly decorum" into them. Plainly to accept marriage as their main goal in life and preferably to someone in the aristocracy, the higher the better. When one of them accepts and marries someone who turns out to be a bounder and a abuser which of course remains hidden until his thank god death in a hunting accident, the others are determined to vet thoroughly any future suitors for any of their hands.


This is the story of the intricacies of vetting someone whose past is determinedly hidden. He does not want it to be found for very valid reasons which the girls cannot fathom. At the same time love and attraction finds its way to the heart of one of the girls who is determined not to marry at all. How all these balance out is told in this delightful period romance.


Not soppy, yet very good reading.


Sent for an honest review by Netgalley, courtesy of Kensington Books.

Country Doctor by Michael Sparrow

This memoir is a collection of stories of a country GP and though most of them seem slightly unbelievable they are true!


From the ridiculous stories which one finds hard to believe true, to the self derision where the doctor wonders what he is doing in this profession, the book is a bit disjointed and rambling and though at most times funny it was not a book which actually held my interest.


I was disappointed that for the most part it seemed as if medical students missed classes or were too hungover to follow these classes. Dented my appreciation of doctors found in this story though right now my appreciation of all medical professionals are at its very height.


Sent by Netgalley for an honest review, courtesy of Duckworth Books

Where the Sun will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi

1905 and Indians are chafing under the British yoke of colonialism. Even in Chandrapur in Bengal, (always a hotbed of revolutionaries) change is coming. There is a strong awakening not just in politics but in empowerment of women and Leela and Maya who are fortunate in having a rather benevolent father are in the forefront of education for women.


The story plays out for both these women wanting and yearning for love and marriage - one within the boundaries of caste and religion and one distinctly outside. It is not an easy time and the story shows the differences even within one country - where religion and caste can cause so much differences even whilst they try to unite for a common goal.


For readers who like history and a story woven into actual history, this is a wonderful read.


The biography of this writer alone deserves another story as it is fascinating.


Sent by Netgalley for an honest review, courtesy of Galaxy Galloper Press.

Mrs Hudson and the Samarkand Conspiracy (series) Martin Davies

Mrs Hudson and her sidekick Flotsam aka Flottie are unique women. Mrs. Hudson a woman of few words, vast range of friends and acquaintances, an even vaster knowledge of the vagaries of London society and the ins and outs of the aristocracy she is a legend.


Enter Holmes and Watson the famous duo - who solve all crimes big and small. Even tiny ones like a vicar constantly having his spectacles nicked.


The story is long and convoluted and covers spies, foreign and bumbling British diplomats, a treaty that will endanger the whole of Europe if not signed etc but it is the workings of Mrs. Hudson and Flotsam that take the cake.


Loved the writing.


Sent by Netgalley for an honest review, courtesy of Canelo.

Dovetail by Karen McQuestion

Told in two story lines the one is of Pearl both as a young woman and now someone who lives in a retirement home, sick with cancer and just months to live. That story formed the bulwark of the book - as it was the reason why her grandson appeared in the next story line in the novel.


Pearl was estranged from her only son - the grandson whom she befriended and brought to her home. She meant to make amends of some kind and reparation for what she had done as a youngster but was muddled about it. She had directly and indirectly caused the death of a sister years ago, and then in the same manner caused her husband to commit suicide. The two deaths I think weighed on her conscience. Estranged from her only son is one thing, but she was one of several siblings and I could not understand why she did not reach out to any of the others who were still living.


Women's fiction and romance on the one hand is part of the genre but there is an element of the supernatural as the other and this was a fine line which the writer had to deal with - not making it totally unbelievable and at the same time making it something that could probably be believed however hard it was for this particular reader. It was done well here.


Sent by Netgalley for an honest review, and thanks to Lake Union Publishing.

One Way To Venice by Jane Aiken Hodge

Five years ago Julia was in love and expecting a child. Living in an overpoweringly gothic kind of house with a full family of her husband's relations was not what she had expected. However, he refused to budge saying that it was his responsibility to take care of it all. When she was almost hounded and killed Julia decides to run away and make a life for herself.


Julia was now in a state of almost being at peace. In very turbulent circumstances, a bad decision of giving away her infant son for adoption has derailed her life since. She has come to terms almost with this bad decision until she starts receiving mail and a photograph of her son along with instructions to come to Venice.


The story becomes quite complicated with her arrival in Venice. Despite being instructed to be cautious with strangers Julia seemed overly naïve and open especially in a cloak and dagger situation. It became farcical with the number of coincidences that happened to Julia one after another but she kept doggedly on in her search.


The fact that it ended well despite the danger and histrionics of a mad family hell bent on money added to this mystery.


Sent by Netgalley for an honest review, courtesy of Agora Books.