Review: My Dearest Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan

Once again, Happy New Year! It has been a really lovely holiday this year, but it's about time to head back to reality land for me. As much as I love my time off, I recognize that sitting around all day has to come to an end at some point. Besides, I do love my crazy job...and it does make me crazy!

One of my great reads this holiday break was Sharon Lathan's third book in her Pride and Prejudice sequel. As I mentioned previously, I've really loved her previous two books, and was eager to read her third. Because I know what a high "escape-read" factor these books have, I waited to read them until I left for Christmas and could revel in the romance of it all. These books are sweet, and although for a more mature reader, tap back into a more "hopeful" romantic side of myself. Let me say thank you to Sourcebooks for sending me this sweet book, as it was a great escape read over the holidays, and to Sharon for writing such beautiful sequels!

Synopsis: (Some spoilers to follow.) In this third novel, we pick back up with Darcy and Elizabeth waiting for their first baby. Much of the novel surrounds the journey that Elizabeth now takes as a much loved wife of Fitzwilliam Darcy, with her place at Permberley and at Darcy's side. The couple enjoy as much love and passion as in the previous two novels, yet in a deeper, more endearing way. While sensual, their bond is one of abiding love that finds them vacationing along the beautiful eastern coast, reveling in sea and sand together. While there, they encounter a woman who determines she must have Darcy for herself. It's not a huge storyline, but one that I found quite fun, in that Darcy was repulsed, and Elizabeth was beyond protective. It just turned into a great scene, spelling out their style as a couple.

While most of the book is filled with leisurely days and enjoyable scenes of a loving couple and "nesting," as they wait for their first child, the crux of the novel surrounded the birth of their first baby. As a reader you feel certain that Elizabeth will fare well, but there is an underlying anxiety in waiting for the moment. Will all be well, and will mother and child both come out healthy and happy in the end?

Review: I happen to be a real fan of Sharon Lathan's novels and writing style. Honestly, I feel very comfortable with her writing, and trust in the sentence structure to carry me through a beautiful story. It is interesting to me how her personal voice adds that second level to the romantic story, making it even sweeter. The experiences that Darcy and Elizabeth share are fun to witness, and although the birth of the baby seems to take an agonizingly long time to get to, there is a "real time" feeling about the story. There really isn't a complication to be resolved, outside of the birth of the baby, so much of our reading time is spent in high anticipation for the big moment. We get to trip along with the Darcys, viewing their loving relationship like a great voyeur, reveling in their breathless love and happiness. After all, who doesn't want a relationship filled with such depths of love and devotion? Yes, it touched off my romantic side. Sigh. Once again, the novel does have scenes of a sensual nature, but not as graphic as in many romance novels today.

As always, I loved reading Lathan's third novel. The joy in this read is in the ramblings down seaside coasts and forest trails; the joy comes in the love and the pain. In some very simple ways, lovers of Pride and Prejudice have already imagined such sweet and loving scenes as painted for us in the pages of these novels, but here we get to sit back and enjoy their story as it unfolds. I really felt that this novel started to feel more like they were starting to slip into their settled roles, yet still filled with love. I enjoyed watching them relax into their marriage, and continue down the path towards becoming a great family. This was a great third installment, and I can already hardly wait for the fourth! For more information on this book released on the 1st of this month see, My Dearest Mr. Darcy: An amazing journey into love everlasting. Now...let's see if I can use the laws of the universe to attract my own Mr. Darcy! 2010 is a new year, right? Ha, ha!

*Review ARC provided by Sourcebooks. Thanks Danielle!*

For more information on her previous novels, you can see my reviews at the links below:

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One

Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley

Happy New Year--2010

These videos took me forever to download from my iPhone, but I had to share New Year's Eve Day and Eve. Below is the middle of the day. We headed to the beach around 1pm to enjoy the balmy, beautiful Hawaiian day. It's hard to believe it was December 31st!

Now for the night show! Since this is my third New Year's in Hawaii, I can tell you that you have to be here to believe the kinds of fireworks and shows they put on. These aren't those shows put on by a city, but by people in the neighborhoods. Streets were blocked off, there were tents and music playing, and people walking around (if they dared). Take a look at the video. You'll note that strings of fireworks had just been lit, dangling from these poles in the background. A bunch of guys in the front have what appeared to be a 20ft. string of tied up firecrackers over their shoulders...swinging them around in excitement. There are fireworks going off in the street to the right, and in the background are about ten to twelve fire dancers spinning away! The scream you hear at the end is when one of the fireworks being shot into the air fell over and aimed right at us. Yes, that was ME screaming before the video cut out as we all started running the other way.

What a rush! Aloha, wherever you might be. On Saturday night we fly back to reality. While I love Hawaii, I feel a deep sense of appreciation for my mother. I know she lives in a great place to visit, but honestly, I'd visit her in the middle of the Arctic, if that's where she lived. In this New Year's, I am just thankful for all the family and friends (which includes many of my students!) I have that love and support me. Thank you to everyone, and Happy 2010!

2009 In Review

What a strange year this has been. Last school year I was asked to pick up the AP Literature classes at our school, which was a lot of work, but so exciting and satisfying. My favorite for the year was definitely Tess of the D'Urbervilles. We had such a fantastic time reading it, laughing together at scenes such as the milkmaids being carried across the washed out road, and crying over all the unfortunate events in Tess's life. It really was a great experience, and my favorite novel to teach so far...ever. Therefore, this deserves my first big "2009 in Review" mention:


Although I discovered her first book, Good Things, in 2008, I ravenously picked up and read Mia King's novels Sweet Life, and then Table Manners. If you haven't yet read Mia King, and you enjoy fiction about women, often including food and recipes, then you should really try out her novels!


One of my favorite reads in quite awhile came up in February of this year, and I've given it away TWICE because I wanted to pass the happiness along. That book was A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans, who has also written several other books (that I still need to read).


Another great discovery this year was Sharon Lathan's Pride and Prejudice novels, Two Shall Become One and Loving Mr. Darcy. I developed a fun friendship with Lathan that extended to some predictions about me sharing her novel from the beaches of Hawaii. :) While a more sensual approach to the Darcy story, I really loved the language of the story, as well as the escape factor. What can I say? I'm still very much a sucker for the idea of a hopelessly romantic love! (By the way, book three, My Dearest Mr. Darcy comes out on the 1st! My review is coming soon...)


Besides the novels that helped me escape this year, I read some really great literature, including: The Reader (still haunts me), A Small Place, The Inheritance of Loss, and Fasting, Feasting.


To wrap up my year, I'll post some of the pics for novels I enjoyed below.


My stats for 2009:

• 95 novels read for the year.
• Three Challenges completed--Rejuvenate & Renew, Everything Austen, & Period Drama Challenge.
• Challenge Fails--None yet, but I might w/ the e-reader challenge.

For me, this was a good reading year, even though I think I felt pretty pressured to get through many different books. My goal for this coming year is to focus on what I love, reading. The fact is, I teach, therefore I simply can't read and review as much as I'd like. I love the community of readers I've met, so my focus will be on reading and relaxing! No more pressure here. I really don't know if or how many challenges I might join, and I will be limiting the number of ARCs I accept. The goal of this year is maintain my love of reading, not to stress it out!

Having shared my favorites, can you list your favorite read of the year? I know it's hard, but is there one book that stood out to you?

Until next time, Mahalo! Enjoy your New Year's celebrations, and I'll see you on the other side.

Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is a book review long in coming (if you don't believe me...ask Tasha over at Heidenkind's Hideaway...she kept waiting for me to finish)! Thanks to an especially strange schedule right after Thanksgiving, and some good old fashioned fatigue, left me with only a snippet of reading time here or there for around three weeks. Yes, it took me way too long to read what I know was a good book; however, I read it when I could, and am happy to finally have the chance to review it!

Synopsis: I'm honestly not sure how to summarize the novel, as much of it is comprised of a mystery surrounding a boy named Patch who has shown up in Nora Grey's Health class. There is something about Patch that Nora finds both repellent and vile, along with alluring and enticing. She can't quite figure him out, but as creepy things begin to happen around her, Nora starts to think that Patch might be behind these bad events. In order to protect herself and those she loves from mysterious happenings around her, Nora feels she must figure out who Patch is, where he came from, and why he seems to come and go so easily. Is Patch who he appears to be, or is there something other-world about him?

Review: Hush, Hush is one of those YA novels that you start, and want to finish not long after you pick it up. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't have that luxury, so it drove me crazy to keep jumping in and out of the action of the story, because there were so many things going on. While there is a very paranormal, teen romance bent to the novel, it's not easy to pick up on what the rules of this paranormal world might be. You see, when there is a vampire, werewolf, bird, angel, etc. in a novel, there are also are a set of rules and explanation that the main character must be filled in on. In this case, these rules are part of the mystery of the novel. The chemistry and tension between Patch and Nora propels the story and leads you to somehow want Patch to be some secret good guy.

Overall, I would say that the novel is a really interesting premise. Yes, it feels a bit familiar because of other paranormal stories out there, but if you're interested in another book in that genre, I would recommend this one. For more information see, Hush, Hush.

*Review based on library copy.

Double Review: The Christmas List & The Christmas Bus

I know what you're thinking, "Wait, Christmas has come and gone. Why is she reviewing a couple of Christmas books now?" The fact is, that with Christmas on a Friday, probably more of us had to work right up to the big day than would have liked. That meant that all those fun Christmas books I had waiting to be read didn't get touched until I flew out last Wednesday. Honestly, I enjoyed reading these books the days surrounding and just after Christmas, and now want to pass them along in a quick double review! The two books I read this year were, The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans and The Christmas Bus by Melody Carlson.

Synopsis & Review: Richard Paul Evans is famous for his The Christmas Box series. I was one of those kids who received his books for many Christmases along the way, and have almost everything he's ever written. The funny thing is, all of them were gifts, and I might not have picked them up had someone not given them to me. Why? I can't really say, but I somehow thought these were too short to really have a story I could sink my teeth into. I'm happy to say, I was wrong.

In The Christmas List, we find a "what if" story that asks what you would do if you woke one morning and found that you were reported dead, and your obituary was posted in the newspaper. For real estate, businessman, James Kier, this is his reality. In the process of divorcing his wife, who is dying of cancer, and putting people out of their homes and properties around Christmas, nothing seems too low for Kier. The depths of his selfishness and greed can make your blood run cold, until Kier reads his own obituary and reads the comments posted in the online comments following it and realizes what he's become.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. The story felt developed enough that I genuinely cared about the various characters we were introduced to. I liked the redemption built into the story, and the way Evans showed how one man tried to turn a disastrous life around. This was a great, subtle Christmas "spirit" novel. (For more information, see The Christmas List.)

Synopsis & Review: I understand that Melody Carlson, author of The Christmas Bus, has actually written many Christmas themed novels. This was my first, however, and it was cute. While this second novel played a bit more obviously on Christmas story themes, such as the Mary & Joseph story with a young expecting couple that have rolled into town in an old rickety bus, it was still a fun read. In Christmas Valley, the little town there plays on every bit of Christmas that they can to draw tourism. For the owners of The Shepherd's Inn, this would be an interesting holiday, as their own children would be unable to come for Christmas. In exchange, they have opened up their inn for any wayward travelers who needed a place to stay for the holidays.

In a faintly obvious mixing of tales, The Christmas Bus is a story about sharing Christmas with everyone, including those who might not be quite so lovable or even likable! There are the lonely, the homeless, the expecting, and the scrooges in this story, all interacting with one another to make one memorable Christmas. I did enjoy this short little novel, even with its faint predictability. As a quick Christmas read, it was fun to revel in the spirit a little longer. (For more information see, The Christmas Bus.)

Well, there you have my double review for the holiday season! If you're interested in a short Christmas book for the coming year, you might give either of these a try.

I read both of these books on my Kindle and count for the e-book Reader Challenge!

To: You From: Me

We arrived here in Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon, and enjoyed a day and a half of sunshine before the rain came in today. It was a beautiful day though, and we had a leisurely day eating breakfast, then putting in the Christmas turkey, followed by a late morning of opening gifts. Although I carted eleven books, yes...eleven, in my suitcase and carry on, I then received seven more today. I also received two great cookbooks. Thanks for all my wonderful books Santa! What could be better than getting books? Now I have to think about how to get them back to the mainland...

Below is a cute picture of this year's tree from this morning before the carnage began. My mother has been collecting Christmas ornaments here on the island and has quite a collection going.


Wherever you are, and whether you're enjoying a white Christmas or not, let me wish you a very wonderful holiday season.

Let the Holidays Begin...on Wednesday...

Happy holidays to all! I took a bit of an unplanned break from blogging thanks to some work stress that spilled over into my real life. Let's just say that stress took its toll on my health and left me sleeping every moment that I wasn't working, and feeling pretty run down. I'm not exactly feeling chipper, but I'm SO looking forward to flying out to Hawaii on Wednesday to see my mother and soak up some sun! I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll be sleeping on that flight over, and I'm actually looking forward to it.

Well, I'm so happy for the Christmas cheer that seems to be all around! In fact, just this last week I received a wonderful gift from Tina, from Bookshipper for the Christmas Bookswap. I have to say that it definitely brightened my day...after a tough one at that! Thank you so much Tina for your lovely book and gifts pictured below. I'm excited to read this play, and thank you for the lovely book accessories as well. Thanks Tina!


Regardless of where you're at in your holiday celebration, already free from school or work or travel...or not, I hope you have a great one. I'm so excited to read and relax over the break. I have no idea yet what I'll be packing along with me on my trip, but I know I have plenty to choose from. Now the question...do I take books from the library or just my own? Sigh.