And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

The one duty required of Emily as a Victorian woman is to marry and marry well. She want nothing to do with marriage.  Then, she meets Philip, the Viscount Ashton, a single-minded hunter, who proposes marriage and Emily sees that she can escape her nagging, controlling mother.  Right after their wedding and honeymoon, Philip leaves for Africa where he dies of a fever.  Now, Emily is an independent woman, and as a widow can do things she never could as a single young woman.  When she discovers Philip's journals nearly two years later, she discovers a very different man than whom she thought Philip was --a scholar, a collector of antiquities and a man who loved his wife passionately.  As Emily delves deeper into the mystery of her husband, she uncovers danger wherever she goes and juggling the attentions of two powerful suitors, one of whom may be the source of  great trouble just complicates everything.

Always fascinated with history, I love reading historical mysteries, what I usually hate about them is that the heroine is always a modern 20th century woman dropped into an historical setting.  Alexander's protagonist, Emily, is a real turn of the century character.  She matures in emotion, academics, individualism and strength, from a woman whose life has been dictated by her mother, societal norms and briefly her husband to emerge a stronger, albeit flawed, Victorian woman. 

Girl in the Arena

Lyn has grown up in the limelight, mostly because of her mother and fathers. Yes, plural. Seven Gladiators have been father and stepfather to Lyn, but now they are all gone. The last, like the others, was killed in the ring. It was unbelievable! Everything she has wanted to escape, the gladiator life, her mother, and marriage come crashing down one her at once. Suddenly, she is now required to marry her father's killer. Everything in her cries out, but there is another option; she can enter the ring, herself, and fight her father's killer.

I'm not that fond of books that I can't place in a definite time period. Girl in the Arena seems to be set in a parallel world or alternate world. It's in the future in some ways, but also feels very contemporary. This bothered me, but I eventually adapted, mostly because Lyn is a fascinating character, as are her circumstances. She faces life bravely, with a huge, caring heart and mind of a teenager forced to be the grown-up. At the same time, she is a genuine teenager with a stubborness and determination that ties her to her prinicpals and pull her through as she faces and unjust and cruel system.

Obviously, violence is an integral part of the story, but it is certainly not venerated. While the novel has something of a dystopian feel that teens will be drawn to, it's strongest appeal lies in the coming of age story that Lyn transitions through.

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Just like I fell in love with classic films about cunning cat burglar's like Oceans Eleven , and "Entrapment", I fell in love with Kat and her crew in Heist Society the first novel in Ally Carter's con-man and thief family, the Bishops. I attacked Uncommon Criminals anxious for more clever ruses, slick plans, and danger at every turn.

Definitely NOT disappointed. This time Kat, who has begun working on her own, leaving her crew behind to right the wrongs created by the Nazi thieves, faces the forbidden. She has been asked to steal the Cleopatra Emerald. Uncle Eddie has dictated that no one in the family EVER go after the Cleopatra, and no one has until Kat and her crew set off to get it from an unscrupulous art dealer to return it to it's rightful owner. Kat's plan works flawlessly and that is when the real trouble begins.

Carter's characters are flawed, young, talented and very, very real in spite of their unique circumstances. I love them and can't wait to meet up with them again in the next book.

Brutal by Michael Harmon

Poe Holly's mother is off on another humanitarian rescue thing, that in Poe's mind makes her mother feel better and look better because the rest of the time she is such a jerk. Poe isn't going to miss her, she isn't around anyway. Problem is: Poe's mother is insisting that she leave her home, her band and everything that does mean something to her to go live in small town California with the father she has never known.

I thought here we go again, poor misunderstood big city kid has to move to narrow minded small town and show them how they should really behave. Poe was thinking the same thing, nothing surprising there, but as Poe tackles the evil high school system that protects the privileged students who torment and bully the not-so-fortunate students, she discovers a little of the bully within her.

What really struck me was the way Poe powerfully articulates the way that teachers and students collude to allow a bullying system to thrive in this high school. She just ZINGS! her logic at the adults around her, and I thought, "You go girl!"

Summer Reads

I've been reading all summer, but only three books seemed worth blogging about. Wish I'd found more interesting story lines and characters.  They all seem repetative lately.

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry

Cotton Malone, a supposedly retired U.S. Justice Department agent, deals in rare books, until he nearly dies in a particularly nasty fire in a local museum. Now, he and his friend, Cassiopia Vitt, are chasing the villains across Europe trying to connect the dots among Irina Zovastina, president of the Central Asian Federation, President Daniels of the United States, and Enrico Vencenti of the Venetian League. The treasure appears to be Alexander the Great's tomb. Really, the truth involves biological weapons, billions of dollars in pharmaceuticals, and a medallion with the microscopic inscription for "life" in ancient Greek. Like most spy thrillers, Venetian Betrayal throws characters at the reader at an intense pace, and then bounces from location to location and action to action scene. Initially, I was annoyed that the plot just didn't move forward efficiently in a more connected style. But, as the pace increased and the enemy encounters intensified to reach the ultimate conflict, I found myself envisioning the action on the big screen, and it was amazing. Malone is a bit of a sap when it comes to Cassiopia, but one brilliant and capable spy when it comes to solving the intricate puzzle that Berry created. Worth every word read, I enjoyed chasing Malone and Vitt across Europe and Central Asia. Of course, the historic connection to ancient Greece caught my historian's interest. The action, while plentiful and violent, really intensified a sense of reality that the story needed. Overall a solid addition to the spy thriller with overtones of ancient treasure hunting genre.

Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson

A CIA operative, Janessa Roger specializes in linguistics, who sometimes finds a little excitement. While at a Brazillian state reception, she is suddenly requested to act as additional security detail for the royal family of Meridia, namely, Prince Garrett Fortier. He finds it quite humorous that a tiny woman like Janessa is his "body gaurd". But, Janessa and Garrett make a connection that neither expects, and when Janessa is sent home because of her religious beliefs, she is suddenly available to act as Garrett's fiance and lead the CIA's security detail to protect the royal family from what appears to be terrorist attacks associated with the possibility of the U.S. building a naval base in Meridia. Cute describes this fairly predictable book. The characters have just enough spice and chemistry to make them likable. Abramson throws believable distractions and complications (within the context of a spy novel) into the romance to keep the reader in suspense about who is targeting the royals and whether Janessa and Garrett will truly make a love match. An LDS suspense romance with a palpable religious conflict, Royal Target, is an escape piece that was just fun to relax and read. Nothing deep or thought provoking, but the book doesn't pretend to be those things, it is just a wonderfully, complicated and cute love story. Yeah!