Lady D's Ramblings

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really think I would have rated this book higher, but the writing was so dry. And, I'm not going to lie, I totally watched the TV series before the book, because I had to wait for the book from the library. So, Offred is a Handmaid. Handmaids are from a passage in the bible that basically let a woman use another woman to have a baby. And that is what's needed in the world of the Handmaid's Tale. The women of the world have almost completely become barren. Except for a handful called Handmaids. The story of this book is extremely interesting, and the show expands on it even more, bringing in some current events, and things that are very scary for women that are unfolding in the government. The idea of the story is extremely scary, in that, it wouldn't be hard to imagine something like this happening to women. Not in third worlds, or out of the way tiny towns, but country and worldwide. This book shou...

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is a very interesting glimpse into the world of domestic service during the beginning of the end of British nobility. The book begins with the beginnings of Ms. Powell's life, and go into her life into domestic service. She tells great anecdotes about her previous employers that really do allow you to glimpse into the private lives of the British nobility, and really allow you to see that even at their height, they were just like everyone else, just with a bit more money. You can definitely see where the writers of Downton Abbey took some inspiration from the book and it's stories, and it's interesting to see just where some of the craziness came from. If you're a fan of the show Downton Abbey, or want to learn a bit more about that time, and the people who lived "below," then t...

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona Carnarvon My rating: 4 of 5 stars Honestly, it took me a long time to finish this book. Not because it was boring, or hard to read, but because it was JUST dry enough that other books kept pulling me away from it. But I kept coming back to it. I'm a huge fan of the show Downton Abbey, and it was so awesome to me to see where the show's creators/writers pulled some of their inspiration for the show from. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey is the story of the triumph of one English family through some of the massive trials and tribulations of the late 18- early 1900's, including a world war, and an influenza epidemic. It is a very nice read, and history lovers of the time will be enchanted by the detail of the different problems that the people of the family faced. Fans of Downton Abbey, or British History fans, I would highly recommend this book to. ~♥~ Lady D

Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Vlad and Leila series keeps getting better and better! I started this book last night, and I literally couldn't put it down until I finished it. Jeaniene Frost really outdid herself with this one! Leila Dracul is married to the world's most famous... or should it be infamous, vampire, Vlad Dracul... whom you may know better as Dracula... but don't dare call him that to his face. While their marriage is less than normal, they love each other with the passion of fire and now they face the same threat that they've faced before... Vlad's long time dreaded enemy Mihaly Szilagy. Leila and Vlad will travel the world trying to uncover him, and even though they face bigger challenges than they've ever faced before, they have each other, and the fiery passion that consumes them. Will they be able to take down Szilagy once and for all? And if they do, will Vlad's enemies truly leave them be? As I said bef...

Divergent by Veronica Roth My rating: 5 of 5 stars Beatrice Prior is a member of Abnegation, one of the five factions in post-war Chicago. She is coming up on sixteen, and her choosing day. She knows that she's not fit for Abnegagtion, but she doesn't know where she fits. When her pre-choosing day test, the test that is supposed to show you where you fit faction-wise. But Beatrice's test shows that she could fit in one of three: Abnegation, Dauntless, or Erudite. She finds out she is Divergent. At the choosing day, Beatrice's brother chooses Erudite, to the astonishment of everyone in her faction. And then Beatrice chooses Dauntless. Her faction is stunned. In Dauntless, Beatrice, now Tris, faces things that she's never seen or done before, like jumping off a building. As she fights her way, sometimes literally, through initiation, strange things start to happen. And when they come to a head, Tris will face her greatest challenge of all. Tris meets new friends in...

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews My rating: 5 of 5 stars Burn for Me is the newest series in Ilona Andrews' repertoire. Honestly, I LOVED it! I CANNOT wait for the second book! Nevada Baylor is the head of the Baylor Investigative Agency, which is remotely owned by a company owned by House Montgomery, one of the big magical houses in this world. You see, people in this world all have magic, and they're ranked. The oldest and strongest magical families are called houses. Now, House Montgomery has never called in anything on Baylor, since Nevada makes sure to pay her mortgage every month, and keeps her nose clean. But when a pyrokinetic mage from another house decides to start burning down Houston, MII decides to call in their ownership. Nevada has no choice, unless she wants to lose everything, literally. Even though it means suicide, she takes the job. Unbeknownst to Nevada, a cousin of one of the pyro's cohorts has decided to take an interest in this case as well. And Conno...

Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts My rating: 5 of 5 stars Dance Upon the Air is the story of Nell Channing. She comes to Three Sisters Island after a troubled past, and there she hopes she can maybe set down roots. But if she's found, she knows that the man whom she left behind would kill her. Three Sisters Island was made of magick, and has a curse upon it that must be broken when the three are once again on island. Nell, as she will find out, is one of those three. On Three Sisters she does find peace. Peace in friendship, peace in finding herself, and peace in magick. As she's finding herself, she meets Zachariah Todd, the local sheriff. He stirs passions she no longer knew she had, but with him being a member of the law, if he found out about her past, he wouldn't want her. Can Nell give herself over to those feelings that Zach has stirred? And can she face who she really is, and help to break the hundreds of years old curse? Nora Roberts does it once again in this ...

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts My rating: 3 of 5 stars Some of Ms. Roberts' series have what I call "bridge" books, and unfortunately, to me, that's what this book was. Avery MacTavish is the owner of Vesta pizzeria in Boonsboro, MD. Since their families were so close, she's always palled around with the Montgomery boys, and while she at one time had a crush on Owen, who played along and even "proposed" to her with a gumball machine ring when she was like 6, and as they've gotten older, they've realized that maybe there's something more there. Tensions are high on both sides as the inn is about to open, and they're looking deeper into what they're feeling for each other. Lizzy, the inn's resident ghost makes an appearance again, and is giving a helping hand in her thoughts on the romance. Will Avery and Owen be able to figure out what they really feel for each other, or will their childhood romance be nothing more than a fo...

1. Two for the Dough- Janet Evanovich 2. Dead Zone- Stephen King 3. Insomnia- Stephen King 4. Witch- Marie Brennan 5. Memoirs of Cleopatra- Margaret George 6. Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll 7. Go Ask Alice- Anonymous 8. Diary of Anne Frank- Anne Frank 9. Band of Brothers- Stephen E. Ambrose 10. Dragon Wytch- Yasmine Galenorn 11. Forbidden Magic- Cheyenne McCray 12. The Scot, The Witch, and the Wardrobe- Annette Blair 13. A Girl's Guide to Vampires- Katie MacAlister 14. Granuaile: Ireland's Pirate Queen- Anne Chambers 15. Boudicca: Warrior Queen- Alan Gold 16. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe- Fannie Flagg 17. The Freedom Writers Diary- Erin Gruwell 18. Valley of Silence- Nora Roberts 19. One Bite with a Stranger- Christine Warren 20. In Her Shoes- Jennifer Weiner 21. Deja Dead- Kathy Reichs 22. Grave Witch- Kalayna Price 23. Beautiful Creatures- Kami Garcia 24. Dawn on a Distant Shore- Sara Donati 25. Dark Witch- Nora Roberts 26. The Nex...

The Next Always by Nora Roberts My rating: 4 of 5 stars Clare Brewster moved back to Boonsboro after a middle Eastern sniper shattered her world. She was pregnant with her third son, and needed the comfort of home. Once there, she made a new home for herself, and really made herself by opening Turn the Page bookstore. Beckett Montgomery and his family own a contracting company, and right now, they're working on renovating the Inn Boonsboro, an Inn they hope to turn into a great boutique B&B/Inn on the square in Boonsboro. But the inn seems to already have a tenant, in the form of "Lizzy," a ghost who smells of honeysuckle. When Clare and Beckett start realizing that maybe what they've always thought of as an innocent crush might go very deep. But when someone else also starts noticing the attraction, he can't help but think of Clare as his. Will Beckett and Clare realize what they really are to each other? And will the other man be able to leave them alone?...

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost So, I am a huge Jeaniene Frost fan, as you all have probably noticed. But, honestly, I could not get into this book. The characters and the subject matter was sooo different from her Night Huntress series that it was like reading a completely different author. The subject of the book is something to do with angels, and demons, and bible related stuff mixed with paranormal romance. Since I am not a religious person, the biblical references not only flew over my head, but were kind of boring. The paranormal stuff was pretty cool, but the book reminded me of reading a twisted version of a Supernatural episode. I was unable to finish this book, and I will not continue this series. I will however still try to read anything Ms. Frost puts out, because she is a good author. ~♥~ Lady D

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer My rating: 3 of 5 stars Ok, so, everyone who's anyone has heard of Twilight at this point, and for the most part, we've all formed our own opinions of it, be they really bad, or really good. I fall in the in between category. I first read these books back in 2009, but I realized I'd never done a review on any of them, so, I decided to re-read them to do a review. If you base your sole opinion of the Twilight Saga on the movies, then yes, your opinion is bound to be bad, because, I'm sorry, but the movies are not very good. But as for the books, I think you should give them a second look. Now, I'm not saying they're amazing, and honestly, the writing style is a bit juvenile, but hey, it's a YA romance, so, it fits. But honestly, the books aren't that bad. Twilight is the story of Bella Swan, who moves to Forks, WA to live with her dad when her mom marries a minor league baseball player. She kind of becomes the instant star i...

Irradiance: The Dream Guild Chronicles - Book One by David Bruns This book was provided by the author for an honest review. I tried so hard to like this book. It was right up my alley, had everything in it that I normally like: sci-fi, fantasy, a strange world compared to the one we're in. An interesting storyline... until I realized all of a sudden that I didn't know what the storyline was. This book I got halfway through before I realized that I had no idea what the storyline really was. In these type of books, there are three scenarios as to how the book is going to be: Too much world-building too quick, too little world-building throughout, or just an amazing book. This book unfortunately takes you and drops you in the middle of a world and doesn't build it up at all. The writing is awesome. The characters have depth, and are interesting, but there is no world-building. So you feel like you're lost in the middle of a city that you know nothing about, and have no ...

Dark Skye by Kresley Cole My rating: 5 of 5 stars I've been waiting for Lanthe and Thronos' story since we first heard about them in Sabine and Rydstrom's. I have to say, it was WELL worth the wait. Melanthe of the Deie Sorcerei Family, or Lanthe, is the Queen of Persuasion... when she can get her powers to manifest that is. She also has the ability to cast portals, but again, her powers are a little "off" sometimes. And who can blame her? She's all but spent her life draining her power of persuasion to make her sister heal from the life-threatening injuries their mortal enemies the Vrekners have dealt her. But what few know is that Lanthe is the fated mate of Thronos Talos, one of the Vrekner Princes. They were once in love as children, but when Thronos betrayed Lanthe's trust, or so she thinks, she used her powers to make him jump from a tall cliff... and not use his wings. Now with the help of The Order's power-nullifying collar, Thronos has Lant...

Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the best book of the series to date, and honestly, probably the best book I'll read all year. Kate Daniels has finally settled into her life as Consort to Curran, her lover, and the Beast Lord of Atlanta. They are the ruling Alpha couple of The Pack, which is the ruling body of shapeshifters for Atlanta. But Kate holds a secret about her family, and if it were to ever come out, everyone and everything that she knows and loves will pay the price of it. When Hugh D'Ambray shows up just as Curran heads out of town with several of the big members of the pack, Kate knows something is up. Hugh is her father's pet warlord, and someone she and Curran thought that they had killed several months before. When Hugh tries to start a war between the People, the ruling vampire faction in Atlanta, and the Pack, and threatens to expose Kate's secret, she realizes that she'll do anything to protect those she loves, even...

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Having found out that Jamie did indeed survive the battle of Culloden, Claire decides to head back to Scotland to find the only man she's ever truly loved. When she gets to Scotland, she fears that he's started a new life without her, and that maybe he won't want her... but what she finds is quite the opposite. While his life has moved on, it has definitely not moved on without her. Jamie and Claire spend the first part of this book relearning each other, and the second part of the book on a grand voyage. For when Ian, Jamie's nephew, is kidnapped by pirates, it's discovered that they're bound for the West Indies (Caribbean Islands). Will Jamie's stomach be able to handle the sea voyage ahead of them? And will they be able to recover young Ian before it's too late? Diana Gabaldon once again hits home with a great continuation of the Outlander series. My heart soared at Jamie and Claire's reunion, a...

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 5 of 5 stars After saving Jamie from the clutches of Black Jack Randall, Claire is faced with a tough battle... while she may have saved him bodily from harm, there is now the issue of that body healing the damage, as well as the mental scars that Claire cannot see. She and Jamie head to France, where they find themselves embroiled in the political schemes of Charles Stuart, and Claire reveals to Jamie what is to come, and the battle that all Scots will face at Culloden... and they decide to try and change history, and stop Charles from trying to retake his throne from the English. Claire and Jamie relentlessly pursue this mission, and as they go along, they learn a lot about each other, and themselves that they had not known before. While they will have their own demons to face, they have each other, and will hopefully come out stronger for having faced them together. But the question remains, will Claire and Jamie be able to save the...

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon My rating: 5 of 5 stars In 1945, Claire Randall and her husband Frank take a second honeymoon to the highlands of Scotland in order to get reacquainted after several long years apart due to WWII. However, shortly after the start of their journey, Claire "falls through" some cairn stones, and finds herself in 1743 Scotland... right around the time the Bonny Prince Charlie was making his name infamous. She is abducted by a group of Scots almost immediately, and taken to a castle far from the stones she came through. She, being a nurse, finds a way to ingratiate herself in that she is able to help heal a young man, Jamie MacTavish (Fraser). Claire finds herself in a world of turmoil trying to blend with the time while making her way back to the stones. SPOILER ALERT! In a twist of fate, Claire is wedded to James Fraser, and finds her new husband a bit of a bear as she tries to get away from him, while still trying to help him. But will Claire be ab...

Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wanderlust is the second book in the Sirantha Jax series by Ann Aguirre. After the Corp is exposed for the horrible things they did on Matins IV, and then tried to blame Sirantha for, Ms. Jax is asked to become a New Terran ambassador to Ithiss-Tor, the world where Vel the bounty hunter hails from. Vel agrees to go along as the person who will help make things go more smoothly. But when Jax and March realize that something is seriously going wrong with Jax's health, they decide to head back to Lachion to meet with Doc and see if there's anything he can do to help, or at least help them figure out what's wrong. But before they even get to Lachion, they get waylaid by an emergency on a distant outpost, and all of a sudden, they're thrown into a war that they know nothing about. Add to that, the Syndicate (Mafia of Space) wants nothing more than for Sirantha to fail her mission to Ithiss-Tor. As things get worse for Jax...

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones My rating: 5 of 5 stars Darynda Jones strikes again in book three of the Charley Davidson series. Since Charley, at the end of the last book, bound Reyes to his corporeal body, she's unable to sleep due to the fact that the second she does, he shows up in her dreams to give her earth shattering orgasms. But Charley's life takes a turn when a "distraught" husband shows up in her office, wanting to hire her to find his missing wife. Charley takes the case, but immediately suspects the husband. While she's investigating the husband, she gets taken captive by Reyes, who has escaped from prison to tell her/hire her to find his father, the man that he went to prison for killing. Apparently, the man is still alive. And then, while Charley is trying to sneak into the abandoned insane asylum to speak to her ghost friend Rocket, the biker gang that lives there catches her, and wants to hire her to find out who's been poisoning ...