The Other Daughter - #BookBeginnings on Friday and The #Friday56

     What if your past was a lie? How far would you go to confront the father who you believe had died but, in reality, had abandoned you and your mother? In The Other Daughter, the main character takes on a new identity and insinuates herself into London society with a goal of exposing her father. But as in so many good stories, things aren't always as they seem.
     I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, enjoyed a glimpse into the lifestyle of the rich, and adored the descriptions of their clothes. The plot kept me engaged, too. I'll look for more books by this author.
     This is another book I came across at the library.

Genre: Historical Romance
Book Length: 310 Pages (trade paperback)
Amazon Link: The Other Daughter
Author Website: Lauren Willig

Book Beginning:
     "Can we go look, can we go look, can we go look?" Eight-year-old Amelie tugged at Rachel's hand, pulling her toward the stairs.
     "I don't see what the point is of looking at a party you can't go to," said thirteen-year-old Albertine crossly.
     "English, please," said Rachel automatically.
     The girls were meant to speak English when they were with her; the countess had been very clear about that. If it was a rule Rachel enforced somewhat selectively, that, she decided was a matter for her own conscience.

Friday 56 (from page 156 in trade paperback):
It had only been leased, not owned. As, apparently, had her father, and her name, and everything else she had believed to be hers. A feeling of raw panic subsumed her.

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage... and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three months before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter--his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past--even her very name--is a lie.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his--and her half-sister's--charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple as it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé...

           

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Beyond the Ashes - The #Friday56 and #BookBeginnings on Friday

     In Beyond the Ashes, Karen Barnett takes her readers to San Francisco after the great earthquake of 1906. The city is rebuilding, and young widow Ruby Marshall decides to leave her home in Sacramento to join her brother in his medical work in San Francisco. She finds more challenges than she expected!
     What I enjoyed most about this novel was the way the author immersed me in the era. Her descriptions of the social expectations, clothing, medical practices, and day-to-day life of that time brought the book to life. She created a vivid, believable character in Ruby Marshall.
     FYI: I met Karen Barnett at the Pierce County (WA) Sumner library during its Write in The Valley event. Karen was one of the authors on the panel. I enjoyed her presentation and her candid answers to the audience's questions. Lucky me, I received a hardback copy of this book as a prize for correctly answering a question. Beyond the Ashes is Book Two in The Golden Gate Chronicles, but it stands alone.

Book Beginning:
Sacramento, California
July 6, 1906
     "I refuse to attend another wedding. I'm through." Ruby King Marshall juggled two glasses of punch in her gloved hand as she shepherded her blind cousin through the overcrowded ballroom. Each doting couple waltzing around the polished floor reminded Ruby of her loss, like a needle thrust into her heart. Widows and weddings - shouldn't it be bad luck?

Friday 56 (from Page 56 in my hardback copy):
"Why must men drive so recklessly? You think you are invincible and nothing can happen. You're all alike."

Genre: Historical Christian Romance
Book Length: 320 Pages (hardback edition)
Amazon Link: Beyond the Ashes
Author Website: Karen Barnett Books

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Where better to rebuild and face one's fears than in 1906 San Francisco, a city rising from the ashes? Ruby Marshall, a young widow, is certain she'll discover new purpose assisting her brother Robert with his cancer research, but she doesn't anticipate finding new love. Dr. Gerald Larkspur dreams of filling his empty home with family, but he'd always hoped it would be a wife and children. In the aftermath of the great earthquake, the rooms are overflowing with extended family and friends left homeless by the disaster. When Robert's widowed sister arrives, the close quarters seem close indeed. Ruby and Gerald's fledgling romance is put at risk when Gerald develops symptoms of the very disease they're striving to cure. Together they must ask--is it worth a second chance at love when time might be short?

                

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Round the Bend (Oregon Historicals Book 1) - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

     Rain Trueax is a terrific storyteller. In Round the Bend she takes her readers on a journey from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's Willamette Valley via the Oregon Trail. Along the way the wagon train experiences runaway horses, treacherous river crossings, and violent storms, and as well as human adversaries and conflicts. 
     The author's attention to detail adds realism and depth to the story. She vividly portrays the challenges for women in caring for their families while crossing the plains, the dangers to children, the camaraderie and conflicts among the pioneers, the wagon master's absolute authority over his charges, and so much more. We get to know the book's characters well and come to understand their motivations and fears. Rain Trueax's research must have been extensive. 
     Round the Bend is the first of four books in the Oregon Historical series, and it stands alone. I'm looking forward to reading them all.
FYI: I've featured excerpts from Rose's Gift (here), by this same author, on my blog earlier.

First Paragraph:
Independence, Missouri - Spring 1851
     "You don't seem at all excited that finally we're on our way!"
     "You think that, do you?"
     "Matt, don't you feel it? Like we're geese and heading north or the first who came to this land. Finally it's us heading for adventure and excitement." Amy tugged on the rough cotton of his rolled up sleeve, demanding his attention, which seemed to be wandering to a robin calling from a nearby oak.

Teaser (from 39% on my Kindle):
First had been the darkening sky, then lightning striking on all sides of the column, forcing women and children to ride in the wagons. Canvas covers were no protection as the bolts slashed down - multiple prongs slamming into the earth and leaving behind burnt sage or blackened earth - visible reminders of nature's arbitrary and deadly force.

Genre: Historical Romance
Book Length: 308 Pages
Amazon Link: Round the Bend
More Info: Rain Trueax's Blog

Rather than post a synopsis, here's Rain Trueax talking about Round the Bend:




    This is the first of four books, which follow the Stevens family through four romances as it tells some of the story of the founding of Oregon. Each of the romances stands alone, no cliff hangers. Heat level, with 1 least and 5 highest, is ♥♥♥♥. Some strong language and mild profanity.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

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In His Arms (Blemished Brides Book 3) - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter/First Paragraph

I'm fascinated by stories that involve the Orphan Trains, and that's what attracted me to In His Arms. In case you didn't know, the Children's Aid Society and other organizations transported orphaned children from New York City to rural areas for adoption, beginning around 1854 and continuing until 1929. Though some children were taken into loving homes, many were treated as hired hands or slaves. In His Arms is a novel about a young disabled women from an orphan train who was mistreated by the people who adopted her, eventually escaped, and went on a search for her sister. 
FYI: Although this is Book 3 in the Blemished Bride series, it stands alone.


Genre: Historical Romance
Amazon link: In His Arms
Length: 169 pages
Author Blog: Peggy L. Henderson 

First Paragraph / First Chapter:
Elk Lodge, Montana Territory 1888
     The mule brayed and balked, its incessant calls mixing with the sounds of harnesses jingling and horses trotting down the busy main street of Elk Lodge. Levi Colter tugged on the lead rope and cursed the ornery critter he'd dragged behind him for the last ten miles since coming out of the mountains.

Teaser (from 47% on my Kindle):
Cold fury had raced through him, fueled by what he'd learned about Grace, and what had happened to her. The system that was supposed to provide for children without families, and find a better life for them, had failed her miserably. How many more orphans were out there who might be worse off than before?

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     A woman unable to trust. A man consumed by guilt. Can two lonely souls find a common ground and pave a path to love? 
     Grace Jennings knows how to survive, but she’s learned long ago not to trust anyone, least of all a man. Sent west on an orphan train with her sister, Grace finds herself adopted into an unimaginable situation. She will stop at nothing to find and reunite with her sibling, and keep her safe from the man who is out to exploit homeless young girls. 
     Levi Colter is a loner by choice. Haunted by the guilt of his sister’s death, he escapes into the mountains with his grief. Living an isolated life protects him from the heartache of losing those closest to him. When a stubborn young woman and a couple of runaways seek shelter at his cabin, Levi's solitary existence is turned upside down. 
     Thrown together unexpectedly, Grace and Levi are forced to put old hurts aside and confront their deepest demons. Can two people with troubled pasts let go of their guilt and mistrust, and learn what it means to open their hearts? 

*Content Warning: This book contains mild language, mild violence, and physical intimacy, and is intended for mature readers. 
Heat Level: 2-3 (on a scale of 1-5), PG/PG13

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Beneath Montana's Sky - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

     Boston debutante meets Montana rancher in this historical romance. But Pamela Burke-Smythe isn't a spoiled city girl. Instead, she's a woman who takes on the challenge of moving to Montana and not only getting the ranch house back in shape and winning the respect of the ranch hands, but also easing the sorrow that plagues her new husband and his nephew.
     Beneath Montana's Sky  is a prequel that takes place in 1882-83 - four years before The Mail-Order Brides of the West series and eleven years before Wild Montana Sky. I haven't read those books yet, but after enjoying Beneath Montana's Sky, I'm sure I'll be reading them soon.



Book Beginnings on Friday:
Sweetwater Springs, Montana Territory
October, 1882
     John Carter stood in the cemetery in front of the three graves holding the caskets of the Sanders' family--his foreman and best friend, Andrew, his wife Dora, and their young daughter Marcy. Beside John, thirteen-year-old Nick Sanders only stared at the ground.
     With his face ghost white, so the freckles on his nose stood out, and his blue-green eyes blank--the boy seemed almost too shocked and grief-stricken to comprehend what had happened two days earlier.

The Friday 56:
     "I'm not a woman who's discontented by nature. I can make the best of things. And we can make improvements, can we not?"

FREE on Amazon
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Length: 125 Pages
Amazon Link: Beneath Montana's Sky
Author Website: Debra Holland

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
     Plain and timid, debutante Pamela Burke-Smythe is a wallflower at the high society Boston balls she attends, overlooked by possible suitors. One-by-one, her friends become engaged, and Pamela resigns herself to life as a spinster. 
     When rancher John Carter becomes guardian to his orphaned godson, Nick, nothing he does seems to help the grieving, angry boy. At his wit’s end, he believes that a wife might help draw Nick out, and lonely himself, John’s been thinking along the matrimonial lines for a while anyway. But small Sweetwater Springs, Montana, has no suitable candidates. He decides to visit his great-aunt Hester in Boston and bring back a wife who is kind and compassionate, can be a mother figure to Nick, and who can adapt to the hard life on the ranch. 
     Hester, who’s also Pamela’s godmother, plays matchmaker for the two. John responds to Pamela’s kind heart and believes he’s found the ideal woman. But Pamela never thought to marry a stranger and leave Boston, and her family and friends are against the idea. She musters all her meager courage to defy her loved ones and seize her only chance at marriage. 
     After a whirlwind courtship, the couple marries and travels west. Pamela discovers a run-down ranch house, a bunch of unruly cowboys, a sullen boy, and a different way of life. Can their new marriage survive the challenge? 
     Set in 1883, Beneath Montana's Sky, is a prequel to New York Times Bestselling author Debra Holland's Mail-Order Brides of the West Series and Montana Sky Series. 

                 

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Taming Jenna - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

Jenna Leigh-Whittington can track, shoot, and ride as well as any man, skills which have earned her a job as a Pinkerton agent assigned to track down ruthless killer Black Jack Mendoza. Once she earns the reward money for his capture, she'll use it to find her deadbeat father - a man who abandoned her and her mother and ruined their lives. Hired gunman Branch Macauley is tracking Mendoza too, determined to make him pay for killing his brother. What happens when Branch and Jenna meet? And could Mendoza be an innocent man? 

Taming Jenna is set in 1879 in Utah's mining country. The confrontations between these two strong characters result in a story filled with action, mystery, and romance. Author Charlene Raddon's vivid descriptions took me into forests of quaking aspen, into rough-and-rowdy mining towns, and in a particularly scary scene, even down into a mine. I enjoyed this action-filled romance, and I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Book Beginning:
     A man's naked chest was one thing, Jenna Leigh-Whittington told herself as she crept through the brush. After all, this was 1879, not the dark ages, and she'd seen men without shirts before. Back home in Illinois, farmhands often went shirtless, toiling under a broiling sun.
     Besides, Jenna had decided fifteen years ago - at the ripe age of seven - never to make the same mistake her mother had in giving her heart to a man.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
   Miguel's eyebrows rose. "You were held prisoner in a whorehouse? Dios, this is every man's dream, my friend."

Genre: Historical Western Romance
Length: 416 Pages
Amazon Link: Taming Jenna
Author Website: Charlene Raddon

Synopsis:
Rather than include a synopsis, here's a trailer.

            

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Willow Vale - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

     In Willow Vale, Alethea Williams tells a fascinating story of two people whose lives have been torn apart by The Great War. Francesca Sittoni's first husband dies, and she is forced into marriage to an abusive man who takes her and her daughter away from their small Tyrolean town to the United States. After her second husband's death in a mining accident, Francesca answers a newspaper ad to work as a housekeeper for Wyoming rancher Kent Reed.
     The war has damaged Kent Reed, both physically and emotionally. Through beautiful description and with believable character development, this book tells the story of how both Francesca and Kent overcome their hardships. It is obvious that the author has done her homework in her portrayal of life in rural Wyoming during this era. She has created a book that I enjoyed from beginning to end.
     By the way, I have previously featured another excellent book by this author: Walls for the Wind

Beginning:
Faces wet with tears, Francesca Sittoni and her mother clung to each other one final time. Her mother's bones felt as thin and fragile as those of a bird. With little enough to eat for any of them, Francesca knew her mother had been giving much of her own meager portion to her daughter and to her granddaughter, Elena, to build them up for the trip.

Friday 56:
The more Francesca thought about it, the more she pitied Kent Reed--and herself. She could see no happy ending for the two of them, and it made her sad to chop down the seedling of hope Agnes had planted before it had a chance to take root. But it was better so, that she destroy false hope, for her own sake and Elena's too.

Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance
Length: 162 Pages
Amazon Link:  Willow Vale
Author Website/Blog: Actually Alethea

Synopsis:
In this inspiring novel of hope, from opposite sides of an ocean two people wounded by the Great War are fated to meet and try to rebuild their lives. Francesca Sittoni was brought against her will to America by the husband she never loved. Now she finds herself alone-widowed, pregnant, and with a small daughter to support. Terrified of being deported back to the Tyrol valley of her birth in the Dolomite Alps of Italy, Francesca answers an ad placed by Wyoming rancher and former dough boy Kent Reed. As their contracted year together passes, Francesca begins to ask if she is cook and housekeeper to Kent...or a secretly sought mail-order bride as the meddling neighbors insist? Only Kent Reed, burned by mustard gas and his spoiled former wife's desertion, knows his heart's true desire when it comes to the beautiful Tyrolean woman now living in the uncomfortably close quarters of his small ranch house.
Sharon Wildwind of Story Circle Book reviews says, "This book is not only a fine read in itself, but it also could be a springboard to read with older teen-agers as an introduction to discussing what real love and real maturity mean. A lovely, hopeful story."

                         

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The Husband List - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

When I hear "Janet Evanovich," I don't think of historical romance. But she has teamed up with Dorien Kelly to write two books in this genre. I'm about halfway through The Husband List, and it's moving slowly. However, since I don't read a lot of historical romance, maybe I'm not a good judge of the genre. The story has its entertaining moments, but I'm feeling like the first 150 pages could have been written in fifty. It's not bad; it's just not grabbing me. This is the second book in a series and, of course, I haven't read the first one! 


Beginning:
Close your eyes and think of chocolate cake, Caroline Maxwell told herself. It was the only way she could get through this tedious dress fitting. Even in the advanced year of 1894, an American heiress had certain rules to follow, and allowing herself to be a pincushion for the House of Worth seemed to be one of them. What Caroline really wanted was adventure, independence and to see the world. But she doubted her parents would ever come to their senses enough to set her free.

Friday 56 (page 56 in my hardback copy - found on Barnes & Nobles' bargain table):
With the butler ushering the way, Caroline and her sisters followed Mama and her little dog like silk-and-lace-garbed ducklings into the salon, in which someone--likely not Mrs. Longhorne--had shown an admirable restraint in the placement of decorations so that the view of the ocean was the room's focus.

Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 309 Pages
Amazon Link: The Husband List

Synopsis from Amazon:

    Based on the family from the bestselling Love In A Nutshell, the story of an heiress longing to marry for love or not at all

     From The New York Times bestselling writing duo Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly, comes the story of a young woman’s search for true love. Caroline Maxwell would like nothing more than to join her brother, Eddie, and his friend, Jack Culhane, on their adventures. While Jack and Eddie are off seeing the world, buying up businesses and building wildly successful careers, Caroline's stuck at home frightening off the men her mother hopes will ask for her hand in marriage.  When her mother sets her sights on the questionable Lord Bremerton as a possible suitor, Caroline struggles with her instincts and the true nature of her heart.  She longs for adventure, passion, love, and most of all . . . Jack Culhane, an unconventional Irish-American bachelor with new money and no title. A completely unacceptable suitor in the eyes of Caroline's mother. But Caroline's dark hair, brilliant eyes and quick wit have Jack understanding just why it is people fall in love and get married.

    Set in New York City in 1894, The Husband List is an American gilded age romantic mystery. It evokes memories of the lavish lifestyles and social expectations of the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers—a time when new money from the Americas married Old World social prestige and privilege. Dresses by Worth, transcontinental ocean voyages, lavish parties, a little intrigue, and a lot of romance await in, The Husband List.

                            

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Vidal's Honor - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

If you like historical romance (Regency), you'll definitely enjoy VIDAL'S HONOR. But this novel by Sherry Gloag is more than a simple love story. It's also filled with mystery, adventure, and intrigue with a strong female character. I had fun reading this engrossing, beautifully written tale.

Book Beginning:
Salamanca - 22 July 1812
      "We've endured some bad storms, have we not Dev, but I misremember one as severe as this."
      Lady Beaumont snuggled up to her lord, her head on his shoulder. They'd celebrate three blissful, if unusual, years of marriage in a month's time. Hopefully this time they'd be back in England and she'd throw a party like none before.

The Friday 56 (from Pg 56):
      Looking back at the woods they'd left behind, Honor tried to marshal her thoughts. Was it her imagination, or were they being followed? She'd seen and heard nothing, and yet, somewhere deep inside her, a place that Dev told her to listen to churned with unease.

Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 233 Pages
Amazon Link: Vidal's Honor
Other Books by This Author: Sherry Gloag Website

Synopsis:
      When plunged into a world of spies, agents and espionage during the Peninsula wars, Honor, Lady Beaumont, flees for her life when the French capture her husband at Salamanca, and relies on his batman to arrange her safe passage back to England. 
      Viscount Charles Vidal is ordered by Robert Dumas, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to travel to Spain and escort the only woman he’s ever loved, Lord Devlin Beaumont’s widow back home before the French discover her whereabouts. 
      Their journey is fraught by danger, least of all knowing whether they are surrounded by friends or foe. Will they survive long enough to explore the possibility of a future together or will whispers of treason be enough to see Honor dispatched to Tyburn first?

                            

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