The Highwayman of Tanglewood by Marcia Lynn McClure

Faris Shayhan knows fear. As a chambermaid in the Tremeshton home, she is constantly under the threat of Kade Tremeshton's unwanted attentions. She has, so far, avoided being used, but Kade the Heinous will not be put off much longer. When Lady Maranda Rockrimmon visits the Tremeshton home for dinner one evening, she guesses at the cause of the young chambermaid's fearful eyes and offers her placement in her own home. Faris wants to leave! That night she slips out and makes her way toward the Rockrimmon home. But, in the Tanglewood meadow she is come upon by the famous Highwayman of Tanglewood, a Robin Hood rogue, who rescues those in the clutches of evil wealthy men and punishes those same men with humiliation. The Highwayman intends to steal from Faris, and as he steals a kiss he, of course, steals her heart.

A lovely little clean romance, The Highwayman of Tanglewood, is not deep reading. It is designed for escape on a variety of levels. It is a fairy tale and a good one, at that. Faris is believable and her fears are real. As she struggles with love at first sight (ironic that he is masked at the time), she discovers a wealth of goodness in the Rockrimmon home: comfort, kindness, and honor. Yet, her love for the Highwayman becomes entangled in her confusion about who the Highwayman really is as she doubts herself and her own honor. I liked the accents, the playful banter, the almost kisses, and the genuine pursuit of goodness.

Classic in every sense of the old fashioned romances that were once written, I enjoyed my escape into Faris's life. I laughed. I worried. I couldn't believe how naive she could be, but in the end the author almost fooled me and that made the novel really worth reading.

Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs

Tempe Brennan, forensic anthropologist, is on her way to put a man in jail for murder with her testimony when she is diverted by a pizza parlor. Not, for pizza but to watch Sergeant Claudel shoot at rats in the basement. The plumber, working on a remodel, located three skeletal remains and quickly turned it over to the police. Nothing is left but the bones and Tempe is the expert on bones. The building has been around for centuries, who knows when the bodies were placed there, and Claudel is certain they are too old to be recent, especially when buttons turn up that were from the 19th century. Tempe's gut says otherwise and when carbon-14 dating places the deaths firmly in the 20th century, she pushes everyone on to discover the cruel killer still alive.

I've read Reichs' work before and really liked her style, but this time she spent so much time describing Montreal, it's streets, restaurants and monuments, that I was ready to shoot a few rats of my own. Finely, things started to move and when they did, watch out. Reich threw just enough foreshadowing in to keep me interested. And, I'm a sucker for a mystery that I can't solve, of course, this time there didn't seem to be many suspects, but I really liked how she pulled all the bits and pieces together. I also liked the twists at the end.

Reichs inspired the hit series Bones and is on the New York Times Bestseller list frequently with her forensic thrillers based on the character of Temperance Brennan. She is definitely an author for mature audiences who can stomach ugliness, evil and grief. Monday Mourning had some pretty strong material and if your not a fan of Bones, Criminal Minds, etc. because of the evil that is explored, you'd better avoid this novel. Me? I ended up fascinated with the science and Tempe's ability to make sense of it all.

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart

Every woman wants her very own Mr. Darcy, of course, every woman but Claire, who simply doesn't understand his appeal. He's arrogant, proud, and frequently rude. Yet, Claire finds herself, filling in for her sister, at a seminar in Oxford, England reading a paper about Pride and Prejudice and engaged in some serious flirtations with a tall, dark, handsome, and slightly arrogant modern day version of Darcy.

To complicate matters, a daft old woman shows Claire an original manuscript of the book and Claire discovers that Miss Elizabeth Bennet wasn't always destined for Mr. Darcy. Suddenly her usually negligent boyfriend, Neil, shows up and the "heat" of her emotions as well as her indecision force her to face who she really is.

I'm not sure why little English word like "delightful" always come to mind when I read stories set in England, but delightful fits this book perfectly. The plot is fairly predictable, but the characters are genuine, with deep and true conflicts over self and a touch of romance and mystery make for a lovely, quick read.

Simplify: A Guide to Caring for the Soul

Simplify is a self-help book in the classic "lean on God" genre providing readers with 8 key lessons based on each letter of the word SIMPLIFY. The method is overused, but effective, perhaps that is why its overused.

As with most self-help books, I started this one and got through about 3 chapters before I gave up. I always mean to try their suggestions, but ironically I never find the time. The author, Carolyn J. Rasmus actually encourages the reader to take a chapter at a time and work on it for awhile. Definitely not my strategy, hence the overwhelmed feeling the book produced.

I finally returned to the book after I suggested it to a book club that I'm hosting tomorrow night, and I had to sit down to read it this time. Not really wanting to like this gimmicky book, the author had a hard sell. She succeeded. The section of each chapter called "Getting Started" saved the book for me. Because specific steps were presented, the book goes beyond the "Sunday School" answers.

An LDS read, this book is great for those people feeling overwhelmed by the pace of 21st Century life. The power lies in the focus on priorities, but most importantly on feeding the soul so you can stay focused on the important things in life.

Suite Scarlett

The Martins own a small, historic hotel, The Hopewell, in New York City. Wealthy, the Martins are not, in fact, they've let all of the help go and are relying on their teenage children to keep it all going. Spence, nineteen, is a classic clown-comedic actor who is out of work. Lola, eighteen, is the beautiful perfect older sister, always pleasing others instead of herself. Scarlett is the central figure of the story. She inherits the Empire Suite of the hotel and its permanent guest, Mrs. Amberson, on her fifteenth birthday. Suddenly, Scarlett's life becomes a whirlwind of activity.

Author Maureen Johnson is so hit and miss for me. This novel is odd. The characters are endearing if not quite believable. It takes most of the book to escape their stereotypes, but thankfully they do. I did like Scarlett, she seems the most real, but the parents were so out of it that I really had a hard time buying them as real. Fun and fantastical, the setting perhaps is real for those who have wandered the streets of New York, but felt odd. There's that word again. I can't decide if I like this book or not, but it intrigued me enough that I'm going to read the sequel.

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood remembers a time when her rural Yemen village was idyllic.
Early childhood was blessed as she played with her sisters, food was plentiful, and her parents were loving. Of course, she was a proper girl and always did what her father and brothers told her.

Life changed suddenly when for reasons no one explained the family packed up and moved to a large city to live in the slums where her father became addicted to the euphoria produced by chewing khat and the whole family suffered. As life grew more desperate, Nujood's older siblings disappear. Nearly alone, Nujood discovers that her father is planning to marry her off at the age of 10 to a man three times her age. Terrified, she appeals to her mother, her uncles, her bothers to no avail. She is married.

Hauled back to that idyllic village, that is to be her living hell, she is beaten by her mother-in-law by day and raped by her husband every night in spite of his promise to leave her alone until she comes of age. After months of torture, Nujood escapes and declares that she will no longer obey the men in her life.

Nujood had nothing in her life or childhood that would have taught her to stand up for herself, and yet she does. She is unsure and scared, as any child would be, but she is also determined.

Written relatively quickly following her release, the novel sounds childlike which seems odd and perfect for this horrible story of child abuse. Nujood is so very genuine. It is the adults who are drawn in the extremes of a child's black and white world; evil is dark while good is unbelievably divine. Still, the adults are not stereotyped, just portrayed through a child's eyes as she searches for understanding.

To say that I enjoyed this story seems wrong, but it touched my soul as I sorrowed for those girls around the world who are used by men and society, and I am grateful that, for now, I can still protect my little ones.

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood, remembers a time when her rural Yemen village was idyllic. Early childhood was blessed as she played with her sisters, food was plentiful, and her parents were loving. Of course, she was a proper girl and always did what her father and brothers told her.
Life changed suddenly when for reasons no one explained the family packed up and moved to a large city to live in the slums where her father became addicted to the euphoria produced by chewing khat and the whole family suffered. As life grew more desperate, Nujood's older siblings disappeared. Nearly alone, Nujood's father announces her marriage at the age of 10 to a man three times her age.
Terrified, she appeals to her mother, her uncles, her bothers to no avail. She is married and her terror becomes real. Hauled back to that idyllic village, that is to be her hell, she is beaten by her mother-in-law by day and abused by her husband every night in spite of his promise to leave her alone until she comes of age.
After months of torture, Nujood escapes and declares that she will no longer obey the men in her life.
Nujood had nothing in her life or childhood that would have taught her to stand up for herself, and yet she does. She is unsure and scared, as any child would be, but she is determined.
Written relatively quickly following her release, the novel sounds childlike which seems odd and perfect for this horrible story of child abuse. Nujood is so very real. It is the adults who are drawn in the extremes of a child's black and white world; evil is dark while good is unbelievably divine. Still, the adults are not stereotyped, just portrayed though a child's eyes.
To say that I enjoyed this story seems wrong, but it touched my soul as I sorrow for those girls around the world who are used by men and by society, and I am grateful that for now I can still protect my little ones.