My January reads
Feb. 7th, 2016 11:57 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderOnly two books this/last month, as I spend most of my time finishing my PhD thesis. Almost done now!
Julie Klassen - The girl in the gatehouse 4/5
Mariah Aubrey has been banished from her parent's house after a scandal and is sent to live on the estate of her aunt. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant by writing books in secret. When her aunt dies, the estate is rented to Captain Matthew Bryant, who made his fortune in the navy. He is determined to fit into high society and show the girl who once rejected him what a mistake she made. But when he meets Mariah, Matthew can't help but be intrigued by her.
This book has sealed the deal for me, I really do like Julie Klassen's earlier works better than her more recent ones. This one is definitely among my Top 3 of Klassen's works. The setting was great, the main characters were interesting and the romance was sweet. What more can you want from a Regency novel? I liked how Mariah's history slowly unfolded itself during the story. I also really liked the secondary romance between Mariah's servants. The book could have done without a few of the side-stories, it was all a bit too crowded, but all in all, a really nice read!
Katherine Reay - Dear Mr. Knightley 4/5
Samantha Moore has grown up in foster care and has learned to survive by hiding herself in her favourite books. She receives the opportunity to go to grad school thanks to the anonymous benefactor Mr Knightley. The only condition is that she writes regular letters to Mr Knightley. Slowly, through opening her heart in her letters, Samanta begins to change and begins to let people into her life, including novelist Alex Powell.
I heard so many great things about this book from my blogging friends that I had really high expectations. That's always a dangerous thing right? Because I did end up really liking this book, but not loving it... I liked the story, I loved Alex and all the referencing of British classic novels. But I wasn't sold on Samantha and just had a hard time suspending my disbelief that she would write such open letters to someone she didn't know, even writing about things like her first kiss. I guess it's always a bit dangerous with letter-based novels and Dear Mr. Knightley didn't manage to avoid that pitfall. Still, it was good enough that I have already bought Katherine Reay's next novel and look forward to reading it!
Books in January: 2
Books in 2016: 2
Julie Klassen - The girl in the gatehouse 4/5
Mariah Aubrey has been banished from her parent's house after a scandal and is sent to live on the estate of her aunt. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant by writing books in secret. When her aunt dies, the estate is rented to Captain Matthew Bryant, who made his fortune in the navy. He is determined to fit into high society and show the girl who once rejected him what a mistake she made. But when he meets Mariah, Matthew can't help but be intrigued by her.
This book has sealed the deal for me, I really do like Julie Klassen's earlier works better than her more recent ones. This one is definitely among my Top 3 of Klassen's works. The setting was great, the main characters were interesting and the romance was sweet. What more can you want from a Regency novel? I liked how Mariah's history slowly unfolded itself during the story. I also really liked the secondary romance between Mariah's servants. The book could have done without a few of the side-stories, it was all a bit too crowded, but all in all, a really nice read!
Katherine Reay - Dear Mr. Knightley 4/5
Samantha Moore has grown up in foster care and has learned to survive by hiding herself in her favourite books. She receives the opportunity to go to grad school thanks to the anonymous benefactor Mr Knightley. The only condition is that she writes regular letters to Mr Knightley. Slowly, through opening her heart in her letters, Samanta begins to change and begins to let people into her life, including novelist Alex Powell.
I heard so many great things about this book from my blogging friends that I had really high expectations. That's always a dangerous thing right? Because I did end up really liking this book, but not loving it... I liked the story, I loved Alex and all the referencing of British classic novels. But I wasn't sold on Samantha and just had a hard time suspending my disbelief that she would write such open letters to someone she didn't know, even writing about things like her first kiss. I guess it's always a bit dangerous with letter-based novels and Dear Mr. Knightley didn't manage to avoid that pitfall. Still, it was good enough that I have already bought Katherine Reay's next novel and look forward to reading it!
Books in January: 2
Books in 2016: 2
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