Tag Archive | Net Galley

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar

Apr10

Reminiscent Of Jane Austen

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner & Sharmini Kumar is a light-hearted historical novel that entertained me from the start.

Fans of Jane Austen will immediately recognize Miss Caroline Bingley from Pride & Prejudice. She is Mr Bingley’s sister. On page one of Pride & Prejudice we read a very famous word sentence, which opens this book, though slightly altered. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single lady in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a husband.” Straight away the reader realizes that we are in for a real treat. As with the original novel, this book is also witty and also pokes fun at the conventions of the day.

The novel is set at the beginning of the nineteenth century, just two years after Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy married Jane and Elizabeth Bennett.

Miss Caroline Bingley is very reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennett. She is intelligent & knows her own mind. She is also brave and with a social conscience. As a female she has to work within the constraints of the day as she sets about her amateur super sleuthing.

The reader travels from snowy Derbyshire to snowy London. It is here that Miss Caroline Bingley begins her search for Georgiana Darcy’s maid who has gone missing. Her maid is Asian and the reader sees the evils and prejudices of the day as the characters are a part of the evils of slavery. This is highlighted as the reader is introduced to the East India Company.

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Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping (On A Dead Man) by Jesse Q Sutanto

Apr10

Unique & Entertaining

Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping (On A Dead Man) by Jesse Sutanto is a unique contemporary offering that entertained me from the start. It is the second book in the Vera Wong series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Vera Wong is a vey likable lead character – a sixty-one-year-old Chinese lady living in San Francisco, with a compulsion to cook for everyone she meets. She has her fingers in many pies too. “She knows that ‘putting a stop’ to anything Vera is doing is probably going to be an exercise in futility.” Vera’s heart has a huge capacity, her meddling comes from her desire to care.

The novel is very light-hearted in tone which counter balances the serious themes of human trafficking and associated crimes.

There is also much humor, specially created by Vera Wong. “I am Chinese mother, all I do is create conflict. You think the C.I.A. know anything about destabilizing? They know nothing compare to me!” Sometimes the humor comes from malapropisms and observations. At other times it is from Vera Wong speaking her mind.

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All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean

Mar25

The Greatest Love

All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianna MacLean is the most beautiful novel that I read in just one sitting.

The novel spans a lifetime as it is set in 1946, the following few years; and then into 1995.

The main setting is a wild and rugged small island off the mainland of Canada. The landscape is at one with nature – but nature can be dangerous.

The book is about the greatest love. It is a love that will never die, despite attempts by others to thwart it. People come and go; the years move on; relationships and people die – but this is a love that lasts. Like a diamond refined by fire. This is a love that only gets stronger.

All the characters were well drawn, likable and believable. I found myself cheering on the leading pair, willing their love to last.

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Playing For Keeps In Starr’s Fall by Kate Hewitt

Mar23

Very Charming

Playing For Keeps In Starr’s Fall by Kate Hewitt is a very charming contemporary novel. It is the second book in the Starr’s Fall series but can be read as a stand-alone.

All the characters are well drawn, believable and easy to empathise with. We see that Starrs Fall is a warm and welcoming community, where everyone knows your name – and your business! The residents help each other as they journey through life.

Starrs Fall offers a place to heal from life’s hurts. Various residents all have different stories – from the original resident of the town to the teenage boy recovering from bullying, and all those in between.

Life deals us blows. Life squashes the life out of some people – but lives can be redeemed and restored.

We learn of lives being controlled by others. “She’s let herself be changed.” Sometimes others are coercive in ways that are not recognized at the time. “Her life behind the glowing, golden bars of what had felt… like a gilded prison.” Riches do not make one happy, love and care do.

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