A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In the past few months, I have become a fanatic of the BBC version of Sherlock Holmes that is shown on Masterpiece Mystery (PBS).  I was able to pick up the Blu-ray of series 1 for less than $20 and watched it with my husband.  This modern-day version is incredibly clever and a real joy to watch.  After watching a few of the episodes, my husband asked me how accurate they were portraying some of the characters.  Not really having any idea, I decided to do a little research and read the first installment of the Sherlock Holmes series, A Study in Scarlet.

I picked this one up from gutenberg.org and had to look up how to read it on my Kindle.  Once I had that figured out, there weren't really any issues reading the book, and this way it was free.

The book is written from the viewpoint of Dr. Watson.  He's a sickly man, back from war and looking for a roommate.  Once he meets Sherlock, he feels that they would get on well together.  Sherlock has an interesting job, but seems to know numerous things about unimportant matters, while neglecting common knowledge.

A murder has occurred in a vacant house and Holmes is called in on the case.  He examines the body, the surroundings and is able to draw conclusions that leave the other people in the room scratching their heads.  Eventually, the culprit is caught.

I was unused to the format that the author used for this book.  Once Sherlock has hold of the murderer, the book goes to Part II, which seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the story.  I was a little bummed, thinking that it was a separate story.  I had no knowledge of why the murder was committed or how Holmes had figured it out.  As I read on, however, I realized that this was the back story of what caused the murderer to do what he did.  Part III is the confession and conclusion to the story.

I don't like to reveal too much when it comes to mystery stories, so I won't say much about the story itself, but to inform the reader that there is a lot said about Mormons, and it isn't written in a positive light.  I felt more empathy with the murderer once I was about halfway through Part II and was both saddened and satisfied at the end.

With regards to the BBC version that I have been watching.  The first episode (of 3) of series 1 is called A Study in Pink and is very loosely connected to this story.  I enjoyed seeing the connections, my favorite being the conversation that Holmes and Watson have regarding the earth revolving around the sun.  I do recommend this TV series, but I would rate it as a mature PG.  It really is a clever adaptation.

The book itself is a unique story that is well worth the read.  It didn't take me long at all, and the entire plot is something that I've never read before.  I'm not normally a fan of straight mysteries, but as time goes on, I think that I could read through the whole Sherlock series.  Good Book!

Ride of Her Life (Lake Manawa Summers #3) - Lorna Seilstad

After reading Making Waves and A Great Catch, I was excited to end the series with Ride of Her Life.  It popped up for less than $5 and I snatched it up.

This summer, we are following Lilly, who used to be a servant in Marguerite's home.  Marguerite had always considered Lilly to be more of a friend, but not everyone feels that you can rise above your station in life.

Lilly's husband, Ben, died a few years ago and left her with her small son, Levi.  Ben's parents feel that Lilly isn't really taking advantage of their generous offer to send Levi away to boarding school, so Lilly leaves their home and takes a job as a cook down at the Lake Manawa resort.  It's here that she meets Nick, the handsome designer and builder of the resort's new roller coaster.  Feeling like she is betraying Ben, Lilly tries to keep her and her son from becoming too attached to the man who will probably leave at the end of the summer never to be seen again.

Nick has had a rough life and is finally doing something that he's proud of.  This is his first coaster that he has designed himself, and he is determined to make sure that it gets put up safely and that people will enjoy it.  He falls for Lilly pretty fast, but she is very slow to convince.  Every time he thinks that she's starting to let him in, she builds the walls back up, making Nick become somewhat frustrated.

I did end up enjoying this book.  I didn't like that some of the characters were up to no good, including Marguerite's own brother!  The only other complaint I have about the book is that the end didn't have any type of epilogue to tell me what happened.  One of the main issues between Nick and Lilly was the fact that she didn't want to move around, which is something that Nick would have to do to create roller coasters, but Nick was willing to give it all up.  In the end, Lilly was willing to give up her control as well, but I wish I would have known one way or the other.  The addition of a deceased spouse didn't bother me as much as it usually does, which is saying something.

The series itself was fun and reading about an old-time amusement/resort in Iowa was interesting as well.  It makes me wish that the resort were still there, but according to the author's note, there is a park there now.  The historical research was very well done and inserted seamlessly into the story.  I highly recommend this series for a light, fun read.  Good book!

Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist

I have read a few of this author's books, most of them in DTB form with the exception of Beguiled.  I've enjoyed her historical books for the most part, with maybe one or two exceptions.  Once one of my favorite authors, I am now a smidge wary when I pick up one of her books.  I took a chance and picked this one up for $2.99.

Georgie works for the telephone company back when they were using the switchboards and party lines.  She is obsessed with her songbirds and that is her life.  That changes when the new troubleman comes into her life and upsets her by taking over some of her duties.  He also has the nasty habit of enjoying hunting, birds included.

Luke is an undercover Texas Ranger that is trying to find an outlaw that has eluded him more times than he should have.  He isn't really pleased at having to put up with the fiery phone operator.  After a time, he comes to realize that he is falling in love with her.  She falls for him too, but she doesn't know who he really is.

The truth of who he is is hard to take for Georgie.  Things need to be explained to her and then it's hard for her to take at first, since some of the sacrifices he has had to make involve her.  Luke eventually needs to rely on Georgie for help since no one else is willing.  When Luke finally captures his prey, will he get the closure that he's looking for?

I enjoyed this book.  After reading the semi-epic series, this was a shorter, but still enjoyable break.  The characters were interesting, but there was a little too much of the bird calls in there.  While I like songbirds, I'm really not into them to the point where I want to read about their song habits.  Other than that, I was just a little disappointed that there was a lot of kissing in the book, but not as much God as I thought there would be.  I don't expect to be overwhelmed and preached at, but it seemed almost an afterthought.

Overall, as usual, I am a fan of the historical fiction.  I thought that the telephone subject was original and I enjoyed learning some things about it that I hadn't known before.  The setting was pretty neat as I have actually been to Cut 'N Shoot, Texas.  It was also different that the epilogue was many more years later than I was used to.  Not bad, just different.  This was a good choice and I enjoyed reading it.  Good Book!

Yukon Quest series: Treasures of the North, Ashes and Ice, Rivers of Gold - Tracie Peterson

I made the decision to review these three books together due to the fact that it's one story.  This is one of those trilogies that you really can't read out of order or only read one book if you actually want to know what happens.  I'm usually not a fan of these types of series, but all three came up on a price drop at the same time, so I went ahead and picked them up, knowing ahead of time that I would be reading all three in a row.

I've read a few of Tracie Peterson's books and I know that she can write a good tale with no real issues.  I've read her Alaskan Quest in the past, which actually involves some of these characters, but later on in life.  I didn't realize it until I was reading these.

The first book, Treasures of the North, is about Grace.  She is a young woman who was raised in a wealthy family and is now struggling to understand why her family is trying to force her to marry a real monster.  He even shows his true side and hits her, but her father isn't budging.  There's more to the story than he's telling and eventually Grace's mother comes to her side and decides to help her escape north with her companion, Karen.  Karen is in search of her father, whom she has not heard from in a long time.  Along the way, Peter takes them to Skagway and falls in love with Grace.

The second installment, Ashes and Ice, is more focused on Karen.  She's all alone caring for two children that have been left in her care while their father is off hunting for gold.  Now that Grace is gone, she has issues trying to deal with Jacob, the teenage boy.  He's bound and determined that he needs to go north and try to join his father.  Eventually he runs away and Karen decides that she needs to set out after him.  Grace is having marital problems and the man that wants to marry her is bothering her and having a detrimental effect on her husband's family.  As a result, she decides to join the party north, along with her sister-in-law, Miranda.  Adrik has always been a man that Karen can count on, but he's now becoming more indispensable.

The end of the series, Rivers of Gold, focuses more on Miranda.  Being thought dead after falling off the boat, she has been recovering in the cabin of an English botanist, Teddy.  The stronger she gets, the more she fights with him to help her find her friends.  To him, it's only rational to wait until the weather is better, but it's also a matter of heart for him to keep Miranda near to him.  His work is most important, but in time, he discovers that Miranda is more important.  Meanwhile, word has (wrongly) reached Peter that his wife, not sister, has died and comes north to fetch Miranda while he mourns his wife.  The rest of the party has settled onto a claim with an old friend of Adrik's and is finding out that working for gold isn't really what they thought it would be.

The descriptions in this series are wonderful.  I hate being cold, but the author has a way of describing things that makes you think that you are right there.  She's also obviously done some major research about the gold rush to the Yukon and it shows.  Sometimes I wish that there was a little less description, these books are pretty long compared to what I'm usually reading and then I have to multiply it by three.

Overall, I liked the series.  Knowing ahead of time that I had to read all three saved me some frustration at the end of book 1.  The length of them has to be my biggest complaint.  I made it through half of Rivers of Gold before I had to take a break to rest my eyes.  The characters were interesting and easy to care about.  All three books talk about all the characters, but I put my summaries down regarding the romance aspect of the stories.  Once the group gets split up, the way that these people just barely miss each other is pretty frustrating, but it all comes down to God's timing being perfect.  The characters, as well as myself, usually think that they know better and try to push things forward faster.

There's a lot more to these books than what I've been able to include here.  If you've got the time and the dedication, this is a great series.  Just keep in mind you really do need to read all three.  Good Books!

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall - Julie Klassen

After reading The Silent Governess, The Apothecary's Daughter and The Girl in the Gatehouse, I felt pretty confident that I would enjoy another book by this author.  The price dropped to $2.99 on this one and I picked it up.

Margaret is being pressured to marry her stepfather's nephew.  After overhearing a conversation that proves they are willing to go to any lengths to force her to marry him, she determines that fleeing is her only option.  She has caused her maid to be fired and desperately asks to come with her for escape.

They end up at the house of the man that Margaret was willing to ask for help at a party, that is until he saw her paying attention to someone else.  Also living in the house is his brother, who has asked for her hand in marriage, but was turned down.

Nathaniel is the poor soul who paid his attentions to Margaret and was so very sure of her feelings until his brother appeared on the scene and stole her heart.  He is bitter but still has feelings for her.  He just won't admit it to anyone.  When he discovers that she is working in his house as a maid, he holds off exposing her to try and find out what has caused this once selfish girl to be reduced to the task of cleaning out chamber pots.

I enjoyed this book.  It was a great read for vacation.  I wasn't fond of the bratty Margaret at first, but once she learned the error of her thinking, I liked her a little more.  Nathaniel was a character that I liked from the beginning.  I was rooting for the underdog.  Nathaniel's brother was a doofus and I never understood what Margaret had seen in him in the first place.

Anyway, I recommend this book.  The only other book that I see that I haven't read is Lady of Milkweed Manor.  I'm tracking it and hope that the price drops on it.  Good Book!

Fatal Judgment (Guardians of Justice #1) - Irene Hannon

This one popped up for free and I picked it up.  In the past, I have read Against the Odds from her Heroes of Quantico series.  This isn't my usual type of book that I enjoy reading, but every once in a while, I like to shake things up a bit.

At the beginning, we're dealing with a shooting.  Liz's sister has been shot and the husband that she has just left is the main suspect.  When he is cleared, it starts to look like Liz was the main target.  Being a federal judge, she is put under the protection of the U.S. Marshals, specifically, Jake.

Jake doesn't enjoy the prospect of watching over his best friend's wife.  His friend died a few years ago, and he thinks that Liz was not a supportive wife at all.  As they come to know each other a little better, it starts to become clear that he may have been misled.

Once they notice that they are beginning to have feelings for each other, they both come to the conclusion that the murderer needs to be caught before they can explore their feelings further.  Jake is under a lot of pressure to get the case solved and Liz wants to get back to her life.

This was a good book.  I was a little peeved at the fact that both Liz and Jake had a previous spouse that had died.  For some reason, it bothers me that it becomes a convenient way to give people a background and make them available at the same time.  I'm just a hopeless romantic and I don't necessarily like the whole idea of killing off spouses.  Personal preference.

There are two more books in this series: Deadly Pursuit and Lethal Legacy.  The latter is available August 1, 2012.  If more of this author's books pop up for free, I'll pick them up, but I don't plan on tracking them.  Good Book!

Summer of Promise (Westward Winds #1) - Amanda Cabot

This was a book that I picked up for free back in May.  Last year, I had the opportunity to read Paper Roses and have kept my eye out for another one.  I was glad when this one popped up for free.  This is a new series for the author that came out in January.

Abigail lives in Vermont and has a very structured life.  She knows exactly what she wants to do with her life, who she wants to spend it with and what will happen in the future.  As usual, things don't really fall in line with what she plans.

Abigail feels that something is wrong with her sister.  She doesn't have anything concrete to go on, but there's just something that isn't right about her letters.  So, Abigail has decided to travel out to Wyoming to find out what's going on.  The trip is eventful with the stagecoach being held up.  The savior of the moment is Ethan, a lieutenant at nearby Fort Laramie.

Ethan has to deal with many things at the Fort, the most interesting now being Abigail.  He is friends with the husband of Abigail's sister and has been asked by him, as a favor, to attend dinners and try to keep Abigail out of his way.

Stage coach robberies, deserters, rambunctious puppies, high-risk pregnancies, rattlesnakes and hog houses abound in this book that is full of adventure and romance.  These two are incredibly slow to realize their love for each other, but circumstances prevent them from being open to understanding their feelings.

I really enjoyed this book.  It wasn't too long and it was enough to keep me interested through the entire thing.  Book 2 is due out in January, Waiting for Spring.  Understandably, right now this book doesn't have an ASIN number to track, but I'll do my best to remember to keep an eye on it and get it on my watch list.  Good Book!