Dear Jane Austen - Patrice Hannon

The full title of this book is Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love.

I first decided to buy it because I've been in a Jane Austen mood lately - movies of her books, her books, books about her, anything goes... - and I thought this one might be interesting.

The book contains a series of letters from contemporary women to Jane Austen about their love problems. And Jane Austen answers using examples from her heroine's lives and making smart comments about today's habits regarding love, courting and marriage.

I found the author's voice funny and very much in accordance to what I imagine Jane Austen's view of the world to be. Nothing really new in the love advice department but it's all reported in such an interesting voice that one can't help smiling while reading it.

Grade: B

Dexter

I was a bit worried when I first heard of this series. It's not everyday you have a serial killer as a hero and I wasn't too sure I wanted to watch it. But A. and A. recommended it and I decided to give it a try as soon as I got my greedy hands on it.

I was pleasantly surprised and, of course, I was soon hooked. Yes it is a bit weird at first but at the end of season 1 I can safely say that in a different way Dexter does have a code of honour and does seem human, more human than he himself thinks he is.

In episode 1 Dexter starts to explain how he is empty, without feelings and he has this urge to kill people. Recognising that, his foster father, a cop, decided to teach him to protect himself and to only kill the ones who deserve it. Now that he is an adult Dexter only kills other killers who have escaped justice. His actions are always analysed in monologues he has with himself in which he thinks about what he does, how that makes him feel (or not feel) and his relationship with his foster sister and his girlfriend. Also in the first episode a body is found cut to pieces and with no blood. This mystery of who that killer is will last till the end of season 1 and the game that starts between Dexter and that killer will bring him memories of the past and will allow him to know himself better.

Girls, I am now a convert! I'm ready for season 2!

Muffin's Weekend

I don't usually like to cook but A. shared a recipe for muffins with me and it seemed yummy so I spent the weekend baking Muffins. Lemon Muffins to be more precise! They tasted great and I think I'll bake them again in the near future. Since it is seldom I venture into the kitchen for these culinary adventures I thought these deserved to be recorded for posterity:

New Additions to the TBR pile

After my complaints last week I did get a few books in the mail:

Jane Austen - Persuasion
Jane Austen - Pride & Prejudice
Elizabeth Gaskell - North and South
Kathy Reichs - Death du Jour
Jayne Ann Krentz, ed - Dangerous Men and Adventurous Woman

I'm already reading Persuasion although yesterday was devoted mostly to films and cooking. Photos and movies reviews to come soon...

Cry For The Moon - Anne Stuart

Another winner!!!

Cry for the Moon, has widowed Marielle Brandt moving into an apartment house with her small child. Her husband was into big debt for his death and this is the only piece of property left to her. She arrived to find the place like something out of the Adam's Family, nearly falling down and the only thing that is keeping it running is Simon Zebriskie, who has taken on protecting the oddball inhabitants of the ancient building. It is haunted, has the weird crew of misfits, yet Marielle finds Simon and the Adam's Family mansion, her new home and is strangely charmed by it all. As great tribute to the Old Dark House!!

Cry For the Moon has some gothic elements - haunted old house, weird residents - but somehow the atmosphere is much lighter. Both Marielle and Simon are interesting characters on their own and it's fun to read their thoughts to themselves regarding each other. Simon fights his attraction to Marielle and fgoes to the point of trying to set her up on a date with someone else.

All the residents in the building are some sort of social misfits and they make a nice set of secondary characters along with Marielle's two kids. The mystery was also well done, I at least had no ideia who was behind the problems, but what took center stage for me was the relationships that developed between all of them. All described in a quite funny, feel good way and I was charmed by it all.

Grade: B

The Marriage Bargain - Diane Perkins

For this months AOM at HistoricalRomanceChat Group I read Diane Perkins's The Marriage Bargain.

Handsome soldier Spencer Keenan and timid country girl Emma Chambers agree to a wedding in name only, rescuing Emma from his uncle’s unwanted suit and providing her the home she desperately desires. After Spence leaves for war, however, Emma’s idyllic life is soon transformed into worry and toil, caring for his crumbling estate. Emma’s youthful romantic fantasy that Spence will return to make their marriage real is quickly dispelled. Now Spence has returned, but in a coffin, struck down in a duel. Needing to look upon his face one last time, Emma narrowly saves him from being buried alive. In return she seeks a new marriage bargain – Spence must give her a child. While Spence battles haunting memories and unknown treachery, the one thing he doesn't bargain for is falling deeply in love with his now valiant and captivating wife.

It is a really nice story, the hero and heroine married a few years before the story starts but he went off to war and left her at his estate. For several years now his money transfers have been reduced and she is almost penniless when suddenly his two closest friends come back with his coffin and the announcement of his death. By a strange event the hero wasn't dead and it's the heroine who rescues him. From then on not only he has to recover from his wounds but he also has to gain her trust (she believes he stopped sending money because he gambles) and they will have to solve the mystery of the missing money.

As you can see there's nothing really new regarding the plot but Perkins manages to build some really nice characters that we end up caring about and that really made it work for me. I would still prefer her Gaston books because they are more original but I would grade this one a solid B. Even if the bad guy was a bit predictable...

I was curious about his uncle, after all Spence did marry Emma to save her from him but here he only looked like a sad figure and not particularly threatening. Spence's two friends who are build up to future hero material will probably never get their own stories because the author is not writing under her Perkins name anymore.

Grade: B

My New Shelves

I recently received a new piece of furniture from my parents, they really know what a girld needs because they gave me some new shelves. Of course there's also the other version in which they really wanted me to drag the rest of my books out of their own shelves! But I'm sure that was just a rumour!!


And of course I did brought the books over, I was really missing all those old Agatha Christie books and my history books and a lot more. Predictably the new shelves are full already. Now all I need is to organise the rest of my books and I'll feel quite proud of myself. But something tells me that keeping those shelves in order will be a work in progress!!

A. and A. I tried to photograph the books inside but the flash reflects badly and they look blurry...

Cinderman - Anne Stuart

I never cease to be amazed at what Stuart can come up with...

HE'D BEEN SO ELUSIVE

Suzanna Molloy was trailing top-secret Dr. Daniel Crompton-a man reputed to be as hot as his experiments with chemical fusion. But even Suzanna didn't expect their meeting to be so explosive!

HE WAS SO DANGEROUS

A suspect lab accident gave Daniel fantastical powers-and threw Suzanna right into his arms. Now she was on the run with a man whose fiery gaze could reduce objects--and her resistance--to cinders.

HE'D BECOME MORE THAN A MAN…

With his newfound power of invisibility, Daniel kept catching--and kissing--Suzanna unawares. She'd found her fantasy man, but the only way to keep him was to keep him alive!

In this story her hero not only becomes invisible due to an explosion on his lab but he also manages to reduce cars to ashes just by looking at them. Anyone would think this to be a highly unbelievable story but the truth is that Stuart writes it so well I never thought about that.

Both the main characters are interesting people with several layers to them, Daniel looked just like your ordinary scientist but when Suzanna reaches his house she discovers that there is more to him than that (any male fictional character who has a huge library that includes Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer is a man worth knowing IMO). Suzanna was just trying to make some investigation journalism when she is caught up in the lab's explosion and soon they discover it was no accident but an attempt on Daniel's life, independent and determined it will take her some time to believe in Daniel. But soon they have to join forces and go on the run from the baddies at the same time as trying to discover what isreally happening in the lab.

The book is read in one sitting, it has a great sense of adventure and fun with Suzanna and Daniel sparring all the way while trying to discover the conspiracy behind the attempts on their lives. Somehow I could even imagine this has one of those old movies with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy on the lead roles.

Grade: A-

Summers at Castle Auburn - Sharon Shinn

It took me a while to get into this book. I wasn't too sure I really wanted to read it and my prejudice against fantasy almost made me quit. But I persevered and I have to say that the more I read it the more I loved it and wanted to know more. Now that I've finished I can safely say it found a place among my favourites.

So what did I like so much about it? Well she creates a world with medieval reflections that is a sort of fairy-tale land, and then this is a coming of age story and I just love those.

Corrie, our heroine, is the daughter of a nobleman and a village girld who seduce him. As a result she spends most of the time in the village but every year she goes to live in the castle for 3 months. There she stays with her half - sister Elisandra, her uncle Jaxon and meets Prince Bryan, Elisandra's intended and the future ruler. As the years go by and she keeps returning to the castle her vision of the people and situations will change.

Among the secondary characters are the Aliora, some sort of elfs that Corrie's uncle chases and captures to sell as slaves. Her vision of the Aliora will also change in time and they become more real to her and she more concerned with their plight. I found myself wishing Shinn had developed the Aliora world a bit more.

Not only Corrie will be faced with difficult choices as she grows up but also Elisandra will have to choose between duty and happiness. As both sisters ultimately make their choices the story resembles even more of a fairy tale by reaching it's happy ending. But a good one! Shinn portrays vivid characters, with believable feeling and I really enjoyed the world building. I might just have to reconsider how much I might enjoy fantasy after this one.

Grade: A

Dark Need - Lynn Viehl

Another book I've read during my vacation was Dark Need. I've been enjoying Viehl's Darkyn world and this book 3 in the series was no exception.

Homicide detective Samantha Brown is a tough, highly decorated cop. But twelve lonely years after she nearly died of a gunshot wound, she aches with a deep inner longing. In pursuit of a deranged killer, her only clue is a medieval cross inscribed "Lucan"-the name of the owner of a new nightclub near the murder scene. Drawn into a seamy underworld, Samantha falls for Lucan-who believes he's a vampire and Samantha is his reincarnated first love. Now, she must save this mysterious, seductive man who seems beyond redemption if he is to fulfill her deepest, darkest desires.

I liked it because I liked Lucan. He is extremely bad as a character, he is a killer after all. But he shows internal conflit about what he is, about how he can't touch people. Samantha, the cop, has quite a few problems, she has been harassed in the past by a fellow police officer and almost killed because of it. Now that cop is back to torment her.

I really enjoyed Lucan and Samantha's rocky relationship. Lucan is sure he can persuade her to come to him, thanks to his Darkyn power, and Samantha fights him all the way through till the papers change and he wants to send her away when she is decided to stay.

I think the main problem with Viehl's books is that there are always so many characters and subplots around that sometimes one feels a bit lost. Of course that's always a way of keeping us on edge about what's going on. Cyprien and Alex show up yet again but that is always a good thing, I really like Alex and how she keeps Michael, and everyone else on their toes. Cyprien and Lucan are involved in a fight for power that leads to Lucan threatening Alex. However he is not as bad as he would have us believe and Samantha and Alex, with the help of Samantha's neighbour - a goth girl I quite enjoyed, end up saving the day. Regarding the Darkyn's society I have yet to fully understand Richard and his motivations and since the book ends with a big cliffhanger I'll be looking forward to the next one.

Grade: B

New Additions to the TBR pile

Well... ever since I started to post here my additions to the TBR pile this is the first week in which I have received nothing... I'm so sad I thought I should post about it too... I know my TBR pile really doesn't need more books but... it's so nice to receive them...

On the bright side I now have more bookshelves and I am starting to organise my books. Hopefully it will be all done soon and I'll have pictures to show!!

Simpsonize Yourself

I shamelessly stole this from Alex's blog and couldn't resist to simpsonize myself. here's the result:



Go here to do the same!

Dedication - Janet Mullany

I first heard of this story with great interest because it has an older couple as the h/h. Older than we usually see in historicals I mean. They even had a less than happy past together and I usually like those stories so I had great expectations.

I was however puzzled by how Mullany decides to reintroduce them to one another. The hero holds some knowledge from the heroine and that should have created an unbearable tension between them. That was what I was expecting but not what I felt. Maybe it's the secondary characters and stories that distract from the main relationship but it seemed to me they spent more time worrying about their relative's problems than thinking of their feelings for each other. Then when the truth is revealed they start discussing about how he gave her pleasure or not 20 years ago (??) and then he tells her he changed his will so she will receive half his fortune if she will assist his daughter if needed (??), wouldn't it be better to ask his son for that?

As soon as they were insulting each other they were also falling in each other's arms. It felt weird! They both moved on from their youthful romance to marry other people and seemingly to have a happy life but the truth is that it never felt to me that they had really moved on, especially Fabienne. This becomes even more obvious after another incident from the past is revealed wich brings them both some pain. And when the truth comes out still Fabienne takes too much time to accept her feelings for Adam.

In the end I was left dissatisfied with the story, I've read online how this book was originally bigger and later cut to fit the Signet line. Not sure if that would have solved all my problems but maybe I wouldn't have felt there were too many things in it.

Grade: C+

Lover Awakened - JR Ward

I think I finally realised what my problem is with JR Ward. I really liked the story she wants to tell. In this one for instance Zsadist has been physically and sexually abused, treated like a slave and Bella tries to heal him with her love.

A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.
Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…

My problem was that I wanted to read this story but with a bigger analysis of his feelings, of his doubts, of how he deals with his shame and how that is going to change. More emphasis on the feelings and less on the action. I really don't want to know how many lessers Z. has to kill to feel he avenged Bella, I want to know about that moment when he looked at Bella and felt there might be salvation and a future for him.

I did however enjoyed reading it in the sense that I was entertained, but I really can't stop feeling it might have been something indeed memorable if treated differently. I liked how Bella decided she wanted to be with Z. and went against everyone to do it. How he had to overcome all his fears and beliefs but how eventually he was the one to come to Bella when she needed him. I liked their relationship even if in the beginning it seemed more explosive and violent than ever.

I supposed I liked what I had but I wanted more, more for me to really believe in them and their suffering and final salvation. I needed a different approach. Or maybe it's just me and my thing with paranormals, other people don't seem to have had any problems believing them.

Grade: B even if it is cartoonish and over the top and I'm rating the idea behind the book more than the actual writing.

No Reservations

It's seldom we have been to the movies these past few months. The other day we had a shopping expedition to FNAC and since the movies were in the same shopping center I managed to convince L. that he really wanted to go and see No Reservations.

A top notch female chef's life is turned upside-down when she must care of her niece after her sister is killed. She now has to adapt to a different lifestyle and uses food as a means to express her roller-coaster life.

I was expecting a nice and cosy story and I wasn't disappointed, I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if we could have understood why Catherine Zeta-Jones's character seemed to have so much of an excentric nature but in the end I felt it was a really nice sunday afternoon movie!

Here's the trailer!

Just One of Those Flings - Candice Hern

This is book 2 in the Benevolent Widows series. I started it with some expectations because I did read the first one and didn't find it entirely bad even if it had some problems.

Beatrice, Lady Somerfield, is too busy acting as chaperone for her headstrong niece to take her friends' advice to find a lover. Maybe next year, she thinks. Until one night at a masquerade ball when a dark stranger makes her realize what she's been missing.
When she finally discovers his identity as the Marquess of Thayne, the very man she has practically been pushing into her niece's arms as the Catch of the Season, Beatrice is horrified. But Thayne is thoroughly captivated by Beatrice, and finds himself increasingly drawn to the beautiful, sensual, more mature and sophisticated Lady Somerfield, and soon discovers he wants more than a love affair. Beatrice, however, has vowed never to marry again. But when their private fling leads to public scandal, more than one life is turned upside down.

This one has the merit of an original start. It's so often we hear how widows and married ladies engaged themselves in illicit affairs but then we are always stuck with a virginal heroine who no matter how TSTL always ends up compromised by a noble gentleman who does his duty. It was rather refreshing to start this story with one of those ballroom dalliances just for the sake of the moment, no questions asked. Even if soon that's not only what it is...

I didn't much care for that plot device that had him pursuing her niece before he knew who she was , it seemed the kind of thing that usually brings about big misunderstandings. It was however nice to have Thayne and Beatrice as lovers, just enjoying themselves and sharing things about each other's life. And I was quite happy with the action going in that direction - spending time together, falling in love and marrying. So I was extremely annoyed with Beatrice for refusing Thayne, he had been a pleasant fellow and her fears of marriage seemed a bit artificial to me. I guess Hern felt she needed a conflit to stir up the action but to me those last chapters seemed a bit unnecessary unless you count it as a setup for the next book. Anyway this last part made me lower the grade a bit.

Grade: B-

PS. I love the cover

The Bride Finder - Susan Carroll

Anatole St Leger has to marry soon. According to his family history for him to be happy his bride must be chosen by the Bride Finder.

Madeline Breton falls in love with the portrait the Bride Finder shows her and accepts the marriage of convenience.

Chosen by the Bride Finder, a man blessed with amazing insight, Madeline Breton has come to Cornwall to meet her new husband, Anatole St. Leger---a man whose midnight eyes conceal strange, paranormal powers. As Madeline embarks on an odyssey both otherworldly and undeniably real, she and her mysterious husband fall hopelessly in love---until she sees a haunting vision of murder and a terrifying enemy emerges to threaten both their lives.

At first Madeline is not at all what Anatole wants. But having faith in the Bride Finder he starts to accept her even if he doesn't tell gher about his strange family history and his special powers. Unaware of how important some of the traditions are Madelien and Anatole seem to find it difficult to trust and love each other.

I think Carroll bigger virtue was to make us care about Anatole. And to suffer with him when he finds himself ready to love Madeline and sees how she denies what he believes it's true - the true love between the St. Leger and their brides. As in his youth he believes himself to be unloved and unwanted. And it's painful to see how he plans to give some daisies to his wife only to find out his cousin has given her a dozen roses.

What I really enjoyed was the tension between those two. Provoked by how Anatole wanted to give her his heart but was afraid of being rejected due to his powers and how Madeline was a bit too rational (too rational for the period I mean) but finally was forced to confront something irrational.

Finally, I really think the mystery solved in the last chapters was not needed. I was more interested in the couple's feelings than the outside plot.

Grade: B+ and looking forward to another one.

New Additions to the TBR pile

Two more books this week:

Maggie Shayne - Colder Than Ice
Annie Solomon - Dead Ringer

The Library Thing Meme

These are the top 106 books most often marked as 'unread' by LibraryThing's users. The rules: bold what you have read, italicize what you started but couldn't finish, strike through what you couldn't stand and underline those you have no intention of reading.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (149)
Anna Karenina (132)
Crime and Punishment (121)
Catch-22 (117)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (115)
Wuthering Heights (110)
The Silmarillion (104)
Life of Pi: a Novel (94)
The Name of the Rose (91)
Don Quixote (91)
Moby Dick (86)
Ulysses (84)
Madame Bovary (83)
The Odyssey (83)
Pride and Prejudice (83)
Jane Eyre (80)
A Tale of Two Cities (80)
The Brothers Karamazov (80)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (79)
War and Peace (78)
Vanity Fair (74)
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Iliad (73)
Emma (73)
The Blind Assassin (73)
The Kite Runner (71)
Mrs. Dalloway (70)
Great Expectations (70)
American Gods (68)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (67)
Atlas Shrugged (67)
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a Memoir in Books (66)
Memoirs of a Geisha (66)
Middlesex (66)
Quicksilver (66)
Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (65)
The Canterbury Tales (64)
The Historian: a Novel (63)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (63)
Love in the Time of Cholera (62)
Brave New World (61)
The Fountainhead (61)
Foucault's Pendulum (61)
Middlemarch (61)
Frankenstein (59)
The Count of Monte Cristo (59)
Dracula (59)
A Clockwork Orange (59)
Anansi Boys (58)
The Once and Future King (57)
The Grapes of Wrath (57)
The Poisonwood Bible: a Novel (57)*
1984 (57)
Angels & Demons (56)
The Inferno (56)
The Satanic Verses (55)
Sense and sensibility (55)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (55)
Mansfield Park (55)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (54)
To the Lighthouse (54)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (54)
Oliver Twist (54)
Gulliver's Travels (53)
Les Misérables (53)
The Corrections (53)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (52)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (52)
Dune (51)
The Prince (51)
The Sound and the Fury (51)
Angela's Ashes: a Memoir (51)
The God of Small Things (51)
A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present (51)
Cryptonomicon (50)
Neverwhere (50)
A Confederacy of Dunces (50)
A Short History of Nearly Everything (50)
Dubliners (50)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (49)
Beloved (49)
Slaughterhouse-Five (49)
The Scarlet Letter (48)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (48
The Mists of Avalon (47)
Oryx and Crake: a Novel (47)
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (47)
Cloud Atlas (47)
The Confusion (46)
Lolita (4
Persuasion (46)
Northanger Abbey (46)6)
The Catcher in the Rye (46)
On the Road (46)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (45)
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (45)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an Inquiry into Values (45)
The Aeneid (45)
Watership Down (44)
Gravity's Rainbow (44)
The Hobbit (44)
In Cold Blood: a True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences (44)
White Teeth (44)
Treasure Island (44)
David Copperfield (44)
The Three Musketeers (44)

I saw this on several blogs and thought it was fun so no one really tagged me. You're all invited to do it too :-)

An Arranged Marriage - Jo Beverley

I'm particularly fond of marriage of convenience stories and so I've been looking forward to this one for a long time now. Especially because I've read almost all the others in the Company of Rogues series.

Eleanor Chivenham didn't put much past her vile brother, but even she had not anticipated his greedy scheme to dupe a rich earl into mistaking her for a lightskirt! With her reputation in shreds and her future ruined, a defeated Eleanor was forced to agree to a hasty wedding. But marriage to the mysterious Nicholas Delaney, with his casual elegance and knowing smile, was more than she'd bargained for. He doubtless thought the worst of her, but when society gossip soon told her all about his beautiful French mistress, Eleanor tried to act with the cool dignity required in a marriage of convenience. But how long could she hold out against his undeniable charm-or the secret desires of her heart?

For the sake of family honor, Nicholas Delaney agreed to wed a wronged lady. In truth, such chivalry ran counter to his carefully wrought image of a carousing, dissolute rogue-the guise so vital to his secret political mission. He hoped to keep his new wife in the background until a spy was trapped, but Eleanor's beauty and fighting wit were impossible to ignore. In fact, she presented quite a challenge to his prowess with women-and a test of his formidable will!

I was a bit afraid when I saw the initial misunderstanding but fortunately Beverley solved that rather quickly.

I did feel Nicholas was a bit too good to be true, marrying on his brother's request, immediately caring for his bride... I think they too brotherly love a bit too far, no matter how Nicholas was used to solving his brothers problems...
Nicholas is involved with the secret services and that collides with his marriage as he has to seduce a spy to uncover a plot to free Napoleon Bonaparte. This ended in another misunderstanding but once again I didn't feel it was too much. Beverley handles these beautifully, her characters show intelligence and rationality in face of adversity and I cared wether they would manage to find a happy ending or not. I really liked how Nicholas treated Eleanor, despite his peculiar bahaviour he was always repectful and caring and even bringing his friends to suppoert her when he couldn't.

It did puzzle me a bit that Eleanor never confronts her true ravisher about the why. We know what went on in his head but Eleanor and Nicholas never mentioned it to him. I did like it however that Eleanor confronted her husband about his dealings with the other woman and how he disappeared for so long. It was also refreshing that she didn't punish him forever and ever, she just needed time to deal with everything and when she did she accepted him.

Grade: B-

Zambujeira do Mar

Another place we visited during our vacation was Zambujeira do Mar, better known for it's rock concert during the summer. We found it an interesting village, not as well preserved in what concerns traditional arquitecture, one can tell that during July and August it must be invaded by tourists. But it was the best beach and fortunately in September not so crowded.


the church tower/bell


the church


the beach


the beach and the church up there


On our way back to Milfontes we stopped at this lighthouse in Cabo Sardão (it looks slightly at an odd angle but that's the photographer's fault, me!!)


Yep I like to photograph the names



this is starting to look like a blog about beaches :-)


The stork's nests on our way back...

New World, New Blog

Do you like history? Do you have to get that new historical novel everyone's been talking about? Do you get all excited when your favourite book is being turned into a movie or mini series? Do you stop what you're doing to watch TV whenever someone in period costume shows up on screen? Then you're like us! So come visit our new corner of the world: Lights, Camera... History! Alex, Ana O and Ana T.

The Ungrateful Governess - Mary Balogh

Another one of Balogh's traditional regencies. No matter how much I enjoy her european historicals I approach these little books with an even greater expectation. This one was no different.

When the Earl of Rutherford tries to seduce Jessica Moore in her employer's library one night, she is blamed and loses her job. Rutherford offers her a position as his mistress, but instead Jessica enlists the aid of his own grandmother and sets out to teach him a lesson.

Jessica Moore, a young ladies governess, is dismissed after having been caught, barefoot and in her nightgown, with the Earl of Rutherford in the library, even if she has just refused his advances.

When he meets her on the road feels partially responsible for her predicament but at the same time sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to become his lover. Although at first she agrees Jess finds she cannot go through with it and Rutherford ends up sending her to his grandmother so she can find her a new position.

It is with evident surprise that he sees how his grandmother introduces her to society as a dear friend's granddaughter. At first he believes it to be a lie and still wants her to be his mistress and after knowing better to be his wife.

What I liked in this one was that it had a real feel. For instance Jessice first accepts to be Rutherford's mistress because she knows the situation she will face in London will be even darker. And when she cannot go through with it there's still some basic goodness in him to send her to his grandmother instead of just abandoning her. This is another story where a compromised young lady refuses to marry because there's no love involved, however and on the contrary of many other stories that does work here (no one else knows...). Jessica feels Rutherford would only use her and so they are constantly at odds. Their love is never expressed because they are always too busy fighting. The tension between the two grows and as the book reaches it's climax without them ever having confessed their feelings to each other there's material for a big misunderstanding to occur, fortunately it's not overly done.
What leads to this is that Rutherford changes his atitude throughout the book but never mentions it and Jessica is a bit too inflexible not allowing such confidences and that was what stopped me from grading it higher.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters. The grandmother was indeed a great lady and Hope and Godfrey were nicely done. I'm glad they had their happy ending even if Hope seemed a bit too naive.

Grade: 4.5/5

Porto Covo

A few years back Porto Covo was immortalized by a famous portuguese singer in one of his most famous songs. From a small fishermen village it became a huge tourist place which is invaded by crowds from July to September.



It was my first visit and loved it...




the local church



general view of the village



on our way to the beach



the beach



Pessegueiro Island with it's old fort destroyed in the 1755 earthquake



and the fort on the coast opposite the island, they were supposed to protect the coast from pirate attacks...

More pictures

New Additions to the TBR pile

Here's what arrived in the past 2 weeks:

Anthology - The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes
Alexandra Potter - Me and Mr Darcy
Dan Brown - Deception Point

Just 3 books but hopefully more will arrive during the next few weeks. Not that I really need them mind you! The TBR pile is big enough already but... it's an addiction!

I'm back!!

After a few days of rest and relaxation by the pool or at the beach I'm ready to start working again and to get back to my regular posting!

I've read quite a few books and those reviews I'll post soon but I also devoted some of my time to new projects, to visit some really nice places and taste some really good food!

Our "headquarters" during this week was in Vila Nova de Milfontes were we stayed at Duna Parque. It was nice and cozy and they have enough extras to keep you occupied if you want to stay in the facilities (I was partial to the indoor swimming pool).

Luckily the weather was very good and we not only enjoyed the beach in Milfontes but also in Porto Covo and Zambujeira do Mar.

I took quite a few pictures and I'm trying to organise them with Picasa, since it's my first attempt you'll have to bear with me if they don't show up.


Sitting by the pool


I'm in love with the typical houses of Alentejo


The river Mira


Milfontes as seen from the other side of the river



Our favorite restaurant was the small and traditional Tasca do Celso, here's the original menu


and I ate Açorda de Marisco, it consists basically of bread and schrimps and it's really good!

I'll be posting pictures of Porto Covo and Zambujeira do Mar in the next few days... those were the best beaches around...