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Marylegs (44 KP) rated Dark Aemilia (UK Edition) in Books

Aug 14, 2019  
Dark Aemilia (UK Edition)
Dark Aemilia (UK Edition)
Sally O'Reilly | 2014
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So I received Dark Aemilia from a Goodreads give away. All I can say is how lucky I was to receive such a good book, that otherwise I likely would not have taken a second glance at. This is a beautifully written piece of historical fiction. Which at its core, is a love story, between Aemilia Bassano and William Shakespeare. How their love blossomed and through many external factors was pulled apart. The book is laid out in acts and scenes like a play and tells the story from Aemilia point of view. I enjoyed being submerged in the Tudor London at the end of Elizabeth I reign. This book completely grabbed me from the start and had I had more free time I am sure I would have read this book in a day or two.

Unfortunately as I haven’t ever read historical fiction before I don’t really have any point of reference for comparison. But what I will say is that I thoroughly enjoyed how realistic this book felt, but still was able to bring in completely fictitious elements of magic and witchcraft. Sam O’Reilly has managed to bring in these elements, which appealed to my love of fantasy, without being over the top. I particularly enjoyed the time when London was under the grips of the plague and thought it was just so well written and explained. At no point did I feel lost in descriptions, I was there, with Aemilia and that poor woman just couldn’t catch a break.

There is ‘mature content’ it is an adult story of love, so yes there is sex. I personally have no issue with this and believe it to be an integral addition to this story. It is done well and doesn’t feel forced or overdone. I am struggling to put into words how much I enjoyed this book, I will read it again and I would recommend it. I will now even consider reading other historical fiction that I had not thought I would enjoy.
  
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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Longest Holiday in Books

Jul 16, 2020  
The Longest Holiday
The Longest Holiday
Paige Toon | 2013 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Paige Toon is an author I am diligently working my way through. I think I'm about 80% done with her catalogue now, though she has got a new release out which I haven't got my hands on yet.

So this one starts with Laura flying off to Miami for two weeks with her friend Marty and one of Marty's close friends, Bridget, as she tries to escape her life in London after finding out her new husband, Matthew, got another woman pregnant on his stag night. The girls head down to Key West to enjoy the sunshine and beaches and sign up for a SCUBA diving course where Laura meets Leo, an attractive man she caught sight of a few days earlier. There's an instant attraction between them but when Leo finds out she's married he keeps her at arms length and since Laura is pretty determined her marriage is over, she finally gets him to give in. What follows is a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions as Laura stays in Key West for longer than the two weeks in what becomes the Longest Holiday.

I was really into this until near the end when we started to see things from Leo's POV. The end bit got a little hard to read when Leo goes to London to see Laura and I didn't think that bit was drawn out enough, though I was crying like a baby at times. It hit me in the feels big time.

And then we got the epilogue and we see Laura happy for the first time in months.

I grew to like a lot of the characters in this: Laura, Leo, Bridget, Jorge and even Mike. Pretty much everyone else seemed to be pro-Matthew which annoyed (me and) Laura, which I totally understood.

I'll be reading more of this author's books soon I'm sure.