#TBT: My First Historical Romance

So very, very true.  This week's Throwback Thursday (#TBT) is a book that is very near and dear to my heart.  This book was given to me when I was sixteen, it was sent to me by my Aunt as a birthday gift.  At the time, I had no idea that it was the fourth book in the series, all I knew is that I'd fallen in love with the characters, the world, the history that enriched every page of this very large book - 1,070 pages.  

At the time, I'd never read anything in this particular genre.  Nor, had I read anything this large (aside from textbooks because I was in high school at the time).  The size of this book intimidated me, it made me nervous.  Could I actually read a book this large cover to cover?  Would I like it?  Why had my aunt sent me something so big? My fears were at the time well placed, and ultimately the reason she'd sent me the book was because she knew I loved reading and thought I'd like the book.  I did read it.  No, I devoured it - cover to cover.  All one thousand and seventy pages.  Did I like it? More than like, I loved it.  

What book am I talking about? Diana Gabaldon's Drums of Autumn book four in her Outlander series.  Jamie and Claire easily became my all time favorite couple, Black Jack Randall easily became my favorite villain.  I loved absolutely everything about this story, to the point that when I was attending college at Flagler in St. Augustine, FL, there was a second-hand bookstore close to campus and I bought the first three books in the series, as well as book number five.  I am still missing book number six in the series.  

When I heard that Outlander was going to become a television series, I think I seriously fangirled.  I absolutely love the fact that this world has been brought to the screen and everything about it is perfect, is wonderful, and I'm reminded of all the reasons I fell in love with this series in the first place. 

Bibliophile's Wish List 12.10.13

Welcome to the newest edition of Bibliophile's Wish List! The three books featured this week are out the tenth or later of the month. Enjoy!

This one, drew me because I like thrillers and the idea of the story being told is one that drew me and I have a feeling this one will suck me in entirely! So, hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on it sometime soon! This one releases 12.10.13 and is available in multiple formats.

Maeve Conlon's efforts to keep her forgetful father out of jail might finally reveal her deepest, darkest secret in this searing breakout novel from Maggie BarbieriMaeve Conlon's life is coming apart at the seams. Her bakery is barely making ends meet, and one of her daughters spends as much time grounded as the other does studying. Her ex-husband has a new wife, a new baby, and a look of pity for Maeve that's absolutely infuriating. Her father insists he's still independent, but he's slowly and obviously succumbing to Alzheimer's. And now, her cousin Sean Donovan has been found dead, sitting in his car in a public park, shot through the head.
There was never much love lost between Maeve and Sean and she's not exactly devastated by his death, but suddenly the police are poking around asking the family questions. It's just one more hassle Maeve doesn't have time for, until she realizes that her father, whose memory and judgment are unreliable at best, is a suspect in the murder. Maeve is determine to clear his name, but is she prepared to cope with the dark memories and long-hidden secrets that doing so might dredge up?
In a dramatic departure from her Murder 101 series, Maggie Barbieri will mesmerize readers with this gripping novel about family, justice, and the choices we make that define who we are.

Historical romance, one of my favorite genres (so long as it is done right and actually keeps well to what's in the time period).  This story, however, I think I will enjoy reading and sinking my teeth into.  Mainly because I LOVE the name of one of the daughter's Elspeth, is one of my favorite historical names. Also, this one is the first in a four book series, so we will see how things go!

On a bitter December day in 1785, Silas Ballantyne arrives at the door of master blacksmith Liege Lee in York, Pennsylvania. Just months from becoming a master blacksmith himself, Silas is determined to finish his apprenticeship and move west. But Liege soon discovers that Silas is a prodigious worker and craftsman and endeavors to keep him in Lancaster. Silas becomes interested in both of Liege's daughters, the gentle and faith-filled Eden and the clever and high-spirited Elspeth. When he chooses one, will the other's jealousy destroy their love?In this sweeping family saga set in western Pennsylvania, one man's choices in love and work, in friends and enemies, set the stage for generations to come. Love's Reckoning is the first entry in The Ballantyne Legacy, a rich, multi-layered historical quartet from talented writer Laura Frantz, beginning in the late 1700s and following the Ballantyne family through the end of the Civil War.

This one, the cover first caught my attention and then I read the blurb below, and it made want to try and get my hands on a copy of this book.  The look into America's criminal justice system seems interesting, and I'm curious to know what sort of skeletons are rattled in Penelope's family's closet.

This highly thought-provoking, sometimes amusing and always life-affirming novel illustrates one family's experiences with America's criminal justice system. As Penelope searches for the truth about her father, she rattles the skeletons in her family's closet and shakes up the complacency of her community, which has tried to sweep the past under the rug. With both perception and compassion, the author creates a colorful cast of characters while challenging the wisdom of imprisoning the mentally ill.On the cusp of adulthood, Penelope begins to understand that she has grown-up in a web of silence. The denial in her family and small Minnesota hometown is so thick that she does not know how to cut through it, that is, until she begins a seemingly innocuous pen-pal correspondence with someone in another town. Little by little, Penelope unravels the secrets meant to protect her from the truth. She proves herself to be stronger and wiser than anyone could have predicted and leads the way to healing.
In the lives and interactions of the major characters in this story explores the sprawling psychological geography of America's criminal justice system and its profound effect on everyone it touches, even its most ardent proponents. While dealing with a serious, challenging subject, this book is also filled with warmth and likeable characters. The odyssey of Penelope concludes on a faith-affirming note with a parade of surprising revelations.

Throwback Thursday: My First Historical Romance

Welcome to another edition of Throwback Thursday.  I realize I missed a couple of weeks, but I think you'll forgive me, at least I hope you'll forgive me.  Today is a very special throwback, to the first historical romance that I was given at the age of sixteen.  It was my introduction to the world crafted by Diana Gabaldon in her Outlander series, of which I have now become obsessed with, and am currently only missing like 3 books in to have them all.

When I turned sixteen, I'd gotten a package from my aunt, and it was thick.  I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but I had at least the idea that it was a book.  Little did I know, that the novel she'd sent me would suck me in whole-heartedly and have me addicted to this wonderful romance between Claire Randall and James Fraser and the rich history of Scotland.

It took me a day or two to actually gather the courage to read the book, because it was thicker than most of the books that I'd read up until that point.  Also, I'd not been an avid reader until I'd finally sat down and read this book - which took me all of two and a half days to read.  880 pages was intimidating despite the fact that I was sixteen and should have been reading more than what was required of me in high school.  Do I regret not reading a whole lot when I was in high school - most definitely, however, I have since made up for it now that I am older.

Gabaldon's descriptions are phenomenal and you can't help but get sucked in by the story she has weaved of Brianna's own step into the past to find her mother and the father she's never met.  To be the daughter of an eighteenth-century Scotsman and a twentieth-century woman, has got to be something that makes growing up interesting especially when you discover who your father actually was.

This series is one that I will always have with me, and eventually I will complete it.  This is one that I ultimately prefer to have in physical copy.

What's On My Kindle? - Episode 3

Welcome to the third installment of What's On My Kindle?

What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Saturday or Sunday (depending on what the evil thing known as RL does to me).  Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle.  Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.

All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).

All of today's books are box sets that I'd purchased for nothing or at most .99 when they were on sale earlier this year on Amazon.

Royal Princes of Ruthenia Box Set - This has two books in it, and it is one of my indulgences of reading Romance, not that I venture out of my YA Box often, but I do, and the box set was .99 cents...so yeah. It has two books in it, Royal Seduction and Royal Passion.  I have to be in a mood for romance, but I will get to it.

The Witches of Santa Anna- This was another .99 cent box set find that I couldn't turn down.  Really, I couldn't.  Seven books for .99? Really now? Yes please.  Considering that the next box set is priced at 9.99 and each of the subsequent books are priced @ 2.99, I will jump on this one for now.  The first seven books of this series are: Claimed, Tricked, Rumored, Hushed, Pursued, Enticed and Ruined.

The Grimm Diaries Prequels Vol 1-6 - Again, six books for .99.  I will eventually be buying the next two volumes of prequels which are both currently listing on Amazon for $2.99.  What if everything you knew about fairy tales was wrong? The book included in this are Snow White Blood Red narrated by The Snow White Queen, Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder narrated by Alice Grimm, Beauty Never Dies narrated by Peter Pan, Ladle Rotten Rat Hut narrated by Little Red Riding Hood, Mary Mary Quite Contrary narrated by the Devil, and Blood Apples narrated by Prince Charming.

Historical Romance Boxed Set - Two books in this one, and I paid .99 for it, and it's now listing for $5.99 on Amazon.  One of the books in here I read as an ARC and loved it.  The books included in this box set are: Of Noble Birth and Honor Bound (which is the one I read as an ARC copy).

The Betrayed Series: Ultimate Omnibus - This Carolyn McCray series is a highly praised and highly controversial technothriller, and I am looking forward to reading it and exploring what she's created.  This set not only includes all three full length novels in the Betrayed Series, but the prequel to the series, two bridge short stories (which are HIGHLY controversial) and a short story that takes place after the third book.  The books/stories in this series are: Ambush, 30 Pieces of Silver, Targeted, Havoc, Covert, Shiva, Mayhem.

Apocalypse Babes: The Complete Series - I managed to have .99 cents when this book series went on sale, and I grabbed it.  I'd read the first one, and wanted to read more in the series, right now it is listed at $4.99 on Amazon.  I love the tag line for these novels: No mad skillz, no sacred destiny, just a pink tracksuit that will take her places she never wanted to go... The books in this series are: The Z Word, The X Factor, iRobotronic, Kumbaya Much, Bite Me, and Apocalypse For Realz.

Mimi's Mix - A Book From Each Series! - This box set will probably mess with my book OCD because they jump around in different series and it isn't always the first book in the series.  But, oh well. The books in this one are; Partners, His Devious Angel, and He's Her.