READING RECOMMENDATIONS

This is quite a long post! If you would prefer a shorter version, why not join the Readers' Club and receive the Friday Review. The next edition contains a much shorter version and gives you access to free short fiction, including The Secret Prologue, a prologue written for The 16th Earl's Only Love but not planned to be included in the book which is now on pre-order, release date 1 September. My reading for the last four weeks has proved to be as varied as usual but slightly less than normal in quantity following domestic problems coming at me in droves which made it all the more important to read despite limited time. Three books, three genres, and three very different experiences. The first book was Marked by Time. A debut by English writer, Philip Robertson. I found Philip on Threads, and the setting of his novel: London, 1892, caught my attention at once. It overlaps perfectly with the world of The Earl’s Daughter, though his genre is historical fantasy while mine is romance/family saga.

Marked by Time has neat historic detail, atmospheric fog, dockside danger, a believable hero despite his extraordinary backstory, and a heroine with real grit, which believe me when I say that it took a lot of spirit as a woman to display any sort of grit in Victorian times. I don’t usually read fantasy, but this one is a page-turner. My only quibble was the occasional slip out of period language, but the story carried me through regardless. Next came, Wolfe Lake by Andy Maslen. The seventeenth book in this series and you will know I am a serious fan of these action thrillers when I tell you I have read all seventeen now. I had received an ARC through Netgalley, and I'd also pre-ordered a copy as well, so keen was I to read the next instalment in Gabriel Wolfe's adventures. I created reviews through Netgalley and intended to add the Amazon review when the book was released, so that the review carried the extra weight of being from a 'verified purchaser'. But that's when things got tricky. For some reason best known to Amazon my reviews were temporarily blocked (now fixed). So, I was finally able to post my appreciation of another gripping instalment in the Wolfe series, with Gabriel and his sister making a formidable duo. Fast-paced, atmospheric, and thoroughly satisfying.

Last in this varied reading sequence and a complete change of tone was The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher, a book I thought I’d read years ago. I couldn't find the copy either on my bookshelves or in my Kindle library, so I had to concede I was mistaken, and bought a copy. I am so glad I did. The Shell Seekers is beautifully written, rich in character depth, and full of emotional resonance. It does time hop, something I normally detest, but in this story it really didn't matter and every decade plus shift was so deftly performed it seemed as natural as breathing instead of an author's contrived device. Some personalities are deeply unlikeable, but that’s part of the book's strength, providing balance and contrast between flawed and sympathetic characters. I cried, I laughed and I wished terrible retribution upon some individuals, but in the end I had to concede that those unloveable creatures would get the lives they deserved in the end, if not within the book covers and I finished reading this wonderful book with a slightly tearful sense of hope and a restored faith in the good to be found in some people.

Some readers have likened my writing to Rosamunde Pilcher’s, though I disagree that The Earl’s Daughter is a direct comparison. Quite apart from the different time frame, Pilcher leans more heavily on visual description and has a sharper edge to some of her characters, creating at least one who verges on monstrous for her sheer blind selfishness.

One thing I feel bound to reitterate is that each book received a review from me, even when Amazon did its best to stop me. The reason I persevered was reviews really matter. They help other readers find books they’ll love. They're part of the reading life and the writing life too. They help writers to grow, and they are a way of celebrating the craft of writing. I read widely, and I review when a book deserves it. I rarely post negative reviews because I think poor sales speak louder than criticism, and why should I hit a writer when they are down? But I do remember once correcting an American contemporary romance writer who placed mountains in southern England. A geography lesson was required and a note to self... always fact check your own work especially if you write outside your own experience whether it is time period or location. Never assume you know the facts.

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