Seven Minutes in Heaven

Seriously, you can't miss Seven Minutes in Heaven by Eloisa James. There's so much to love about this story, from our hero who is an unconventional as our heroine, but for some reason, the two characters in this story have stolen my heart. They were precautious, smart and utterly adorable.

As for the heroine, Eugenia, I was very impressed with her strength and wit. As Regency heroines go, she was one of the best I've read in a long time. I loved the fact that her feelings for her dead husband were complex even though he's been dead for seven years. I literally had tears in my eyes as she finally lets go of Andrew.

And then there was Ward. This man was such an intriguing and interesting character. He had inner strength and exuded confidence from the moment he showed up on the page. I fell in love with him immediately! The love he had for his brother and sister was palpable. Yes, he had some faults. But he wasn't stubborn and that was the key, because as soon as he figured out his mistakes, he was ready to admit to them and ask for forgiveness. *JK*

Something Wicked This Way Comes

In the 1970s backwater of Coden, Alabama, a teenage orphan called Annie mysteriously arrives and quickly drives a wedge in an apparently perfect family.  Full of creepy supernatural elements and family secrets reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw and The Amityville Horror, The Darkling by R. B. Chesterton (aka Carolyn Haines) is a quick and easy read, which is sometimes exactly what you want on a sunny, beautiful afternoon.  HM

A coming of age story.

In The Flight of Gemma Hardy, Margot Livesey is inspired by Jane Eyre to write this tale of a orphan. Taken in by her uncle, Gemma Hardy is again left alone when he dies and his unfeeling wife sends her to a boarding school. At school she is little more than unpaid labor, but allowed to go to class. Our heroine is plucky though and finds people who care about her. When she is too old for the school she takes a governess position and falls in love with the owner of the estate. Sooo Jane Eyre! He of course has a secret but all things are made right in the end. A well written and satisfying read! ML