What I Read Last Month [November]

Phew! Got this one up in the nick of time since in less than two days 'last month' will be 'this month,' which will also be 'last year' and that is just crazy! This will be short--sort of--because I only read five books in November. So here is my two cent, ten sentence commentary on each book.

Romance ..................... 3 [two historical, one contemporary]
Young Adult ............... 1
Children's Literature .... 1

1. The Bastard by Brenda Novak
The Bastard is a post-French Revolutionary historical romance written by Ms. Novak and currently only available in ebook format. I was literally swept away in this classically romantic tale of Jeannette Boucher, a young woman who masquerades as a boy in order to acquire passage on a ship from France to England in an urgent attempt to escape marriage to an old and powerful Lord who plans to compromise her in the cruelest of ways. On board The Tempest, Jeannette is discovered by Lieutenant Crawford Treynor who struggles with his illegitimacy and hence his difficulty climbing the ranks of the Royal Navy, is heroic in the truest sense of the word to his country, his shipmates and the lovely Jeannette with whom he falls in love. This vividly written novel is full of high seas adventure with a colorful cast of characters and a delightfully sweet romance--I loved it!
GRADE: A

2. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
I thoroughly adored this thought provoking and whimsical fairy tale. It would make a wonderful read out loud book for you and the child in your life. You can read my review HERE.
GRADE: A

3. The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
I had the inexplicable urge to re-read this book after having last read it in 2008 and was thrilled to discover the story is as exquisite the second time around as it was the first time I read it--if not more so! Annique Villiers is a elusive French spy who finds herself imprisoned with two British spies she later discovers--after she helps them escape with her--are the renowned British spymaster, Robert Grey and his badly wounded colleague, Adrian Hawkhurst. Grey's assignment is to capture Annique and her secrets, but there is a reason she is nicknamed 'Fox Cub' for she is intelligent, extremely sly and veryadept at slipping through her captor's fingers. That, and the fact that Grey is an honest sort of spy, if there is such a thing, and he barely forces her to do anything she doesn't want to do. Grey and Annique develop a mutual respect and admiration for each other through which a love also grows, although Annique is rather reluctant to admit is truly love. The Spymaster's Lady is an enthralling historical novel with the most tender of love stories that develops with an emotional and intelligent intensity that's simply splendid. Quite perfect.
GRADE: A+

4. My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent
This is the fourth full length novel in the young adult urban fantasy Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent. Ms. Vincent has a wonderful talent for capturing the true essence today's teenagers all the while weaving typical teenage drama with a believable, thrilling fantasy plot involving the handling and manipulating of human souls by banshees, reapers, maras and other Netherworld beings. In this book, Nash and Kaylee are struggling to make something out of their relationship after a serious betrayal in the last book tore them apart when Nash's ex-girlfriend, Sabine, shows up, determined to get Nash back at any cost. In the meantime, people in their school start dying and it's obviously connected to something Netherworldly. Of course, being the heroine she is, Kaylee is determined to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it. This book was an exciting, fast paced read and the relationship stuff sure made me want to pull out my hair, but that's teenagers for you, right? I really need to get my hands on the next book, If I Die.
GRADE: B

5. Dream A Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
This was my first EVER Susan Elizabeth Phillips book, but it certainly won't be my last. There something so satisfying about a well written contemporary romance and obviously SEP knows how to write 'em--funny, sexy and also very emotional . This story is about Rachel Stone, a widowed, single mom who is ostracized because of her marriage to the now deceased televangelist who stole millions from his followers. Now nearly destitute, Rachel is willing to take on any job just to have money to buy food for her young son and give him a safe place to sleep at night. Luckily, Rachel's car breaks down in front of a work-in-progress drive-in theater owned by Gabe Bonner, who allows her to work for him and get his theater up and running. Gabe has some serious problems of his own, struggling to get over his grief from losing his wife and son in an accident several years ago, but it turns out each is just what the other needs in order to find faith in love again and to dream a little dream that just might come true...
GRADE: B+


I usually ask you to share your favorite read from last month in these 'What I Read Last Month' posts, but November is such a blur by now, isn't it? Sheesh.

Instead I'll ask what book are you looking forward to in 2012? 

I'm looking forward to Lisa Kleypas' new contemporary romance trilogy starting with Rainshadow Road in February and also Angels' Flight, Tangle of Need and Archangel's Storm by Nalini Singh. What a prolific writer!