3rd: Rules of Attraction
The next book that will be recommended to you comes from Christina Dodd. It`s again the third book of a miniseries but since the stories are not really dependant on each other, you don`t need to read the first two to be able to enjoy the last one.
What you`re bound to appreciate in this book is the sense of humor, for what can be more amusing to us more than other people getting into trouble or impossibly hilarious situations? The story is quite simple but what will really stick to your memory is the notion of karma, because you`ll see plenty of it.
Plot
What we`re dealing with is a governess – you guessed right, we`re still in the Victorian age, who sells out her business in order to take on a comfortable job that she considers will be her last. And the man who employed her is Lord Raeburn, rich and handsome at your disposal, but since it`s hard to find someone without fault, his only flaw is that he might have killed his previous wife, or so rumors say.
Now how did the invitation to the dragon`s lair sound? Quite common. He had a couple of old aunts that needed a young companion to look after them – sounds like a pretty harmless job at first. When you think at the plot, you`ll say there are two things that can happen: if it`s a teacher it will fall in love with one of the student, if it`s a nanny for the children, she will marry the father and live happily ever after.
However this book has much more to offer than the classical story that`s been recycled one too many times. But if you want to find out what hides behind the appearances, you should give the book a chance to prove its worth.
To Read or Not to Read?
This book is good for entertainment. The story is simple so you don`t need to be fully into the book in order to understand it. It`s full of the most absurd coincidences, but that`s the fun part of it. All in all it`s easy lecture and you won`t even feel how the time passes as you read it.
What you might not enjoy are the short episodes presenting the relationship between other characters that have nothing to do with our couple or the headstrong determination to keep the secrets secret, but please feel encouraged to bear with these parts that you feel no interest towards, because without parts like this, the main characters wouldn`t have as many problems and the story would`ve ended too soon for us to have something fun to read about.
2nd: When Passion Rules
Here`s a book that knows how to keep a girl dreaming. All girls wish to become princesses when they grow up, ever since they watched their first Disney movie. It might have something to do with being rich and famous, or just wearing a tiara for the rest of your life – regardless, it`s the dream of every girl.
Then you grow up and realize it`s not so easy, but the wish remains there into a tinny corner of your heart. And this is how it happens, that girls look for a boyfriend who will treat them as princesses. Math seems pretty simple now. If you can`t become a princess, you just have to find someone who will make you feel like one.
Why This Book?
So what you`re going to like about this book, given that you once wanted to be a princess yourself, is that the main character, Alana Farmer who used to have a pretty normal, boring life suddenly finds out she has a secret past no one told her about and that she`s the princess of a small kingdom.
Are your dreams coming alive yet? After finding out the truth, you can already guess that she will have to travel home and claim her birthrights but things don`t work out the way you want them just because you`ve become a princess overnight. I can`t say anymore without major spoilers, but you can imagine what would happen if someone suddenly appeared at the palace`s doorsteps claiming she was the long lost princess. This isn`t Tangled we`re talking about.
Pros and Cons
The one thing I can tell you for sure is that this book`s plot will make your head spin. It makes you think you guessed what`s going to happen and then it hits you below the belt with a plot twist that will make your jaw drop. It`s written in such a way that you`ll feel you`re watching a comedy movie.
There are lots of funny moments, a bit of irony a fast paced action. With such high expectations of the action you might find it a big hard to pass the first few pages where Johanna Lindsey, the author, presents Alana`s life before she found out the truth. But don`t let this discourage you she doesn`t like to drag a story on, so you`ll shortly find yourself in the middle of the whole royal drama.
Do you want to step into a princess` shoes even if just for a while and live a most dynamic love story? Then this book is the perfect starting point for your fantasy.
1st: The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae
Just one look at the title and you already know the context. We`re in the world of Victorian England. Now you might have the impression that women didn`t have much to say during that period of time. They just had to dress to impress and spend their days sleeping and their nights in God knows what boring gathering of even more boring people. The rules imposed on the society seem like the biggest absurdities to us now. But you know, as well as me, that rules are made to be broken.
Stephanie Laurens has written an entirely army of books revolving around this one family. Only trying to track down each member and how they`re related would give us a headache, but we`re not reconstructing their family tree here.
She wrote her book in a very enthusiastic way. You rush through the story along with the characters at what seems to be an impossible pace but this will only get you more involved into the action. This is the third book out of a miniseries but it`s by far the best of the lot.
Plot
You don`t need to be concerned with not having read the previous two parts of the story, since nothing as interesting develops. The book has a few short paragraphs where it reminds you of what happened in the previous “episodes”. What we have is a mysterious stranger that tries to kidnap one of the Cynster sisters – for reasons that only he knows, but despite his efforts, none of his plans work out. There`s always someone coming to their rescue. So you can say it all comes down to the last book.
The last of the sisters, Angelica Cynster, had had enough of all her family smothering her with their efforts to protect her from danger, so with the first opportunity she sneaks out of the ballroom in pursue of a man that caught her eye. This story is definitely not short in irony.
She thought she was going to meet the man of her dreams and instead, she falls straight into the arms of the mysterious kidnapper. Now it`s a race against time between the two groups. Will her family save her in time?
Thumbs Up or Down?
Definitely up, otherwise this book wouldn`t have made the frontlines. If you compare this book to others of the same type, you`ll definitely know what to appreciate. The female character is not a sour prude or the victim type, so you won`t have to read her complaining or acting annoying in trying to protect herself and her honor.
Angelica is headstrong, resourceful and determined to have everything she decides she wants to have – whether her kidnapped wants to comply to her wishes or not matters not to her. She`s an absolutely delight to follow. As far as story and character built are concerned, there`s nothing that you wouldn`t like – except maybe the fact that the villain takes too much to disappear from the picture so that we`ll have our happy ending.