A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder
5.0
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In this exciting historical mystery debut set in Victorian England, a wealthy young widow encounters...
A Woman Scorned (Hartford Manor #5)
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1886 North Devon, England Lady Lilliana Grantley has been seriously ill with typhoid, a disease...
Historical Fiction Family Saga Victorian Historical Romance
Debbiereadsbook (1702 KP) rated Humbug: Scrooge Before the Ghosts in Books
Nov 30, 2024
Ok, 2 things: First I've read of this author, and first I've listened to of this narrator. These two things are intertwined.
I really enjoyed this reworking of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It takes us on a more indepth and more deliciously different path that follows Scrooge from the very beginning. I'm not going to go into the storyline too much, but for spoilers, but suffices to say, I really enjoyed the path this took.
The way Whelan builds the world around Scrooge, and gets over the descriptions of the places and the peoples he comes across, is astounding and I could see myself sitting there with Scrooge. Loved the descriptions of everything.
Charles Robert Fox narrates.
Now, for the most part, narrators have American accents, and there is nothing wrong with that but I am so very glad that this narrator was used for this book. His accent is very VERY English and fits in the Victorian England setting so beautifully! He uses a much OLDER voice for Scrooge, when talkignt ot he ghosts, than he does when he is telling his story, and I love that the voice ages as the story goes on.
It goes without saying, that my enjoyment of this book would be very different had I read it, or had a different narrator been used.
I'd like to read more of this author and listen to more of this narrator's work.
4 stars for the book
4 stars for the narration
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
The British Constitution
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Alfred the Great: Pocket Giants
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Mrs Engels
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Erika (17789 KP) rated Carnival Row - Season 1 in TV
Sep 8, 2019
Anyway, the world was interesting, and it was a Steampunky-Victorian mash up. It was also very predictable, I had everything figured out completely by the 6th episode. The script wasn't that great, and good god, Cara Delevigne cannot act her way out of a wet paperbag. The main draw, for me, was Orly. He seemed to be the best actor out of all of them. There was one story line that I'm not sure was strictly necessary, involving the Spurnrose family, and that obnoxious actress that played Catherine Howard in the Tudors. There was also another strange plot line that seemed a little off, because it wasn't introduced with enough detail. There was also unnecessary T&A that I think just slowed down the show in general. I don't like T&A scenes in general, because they're hardily every relevant to the overall story. I just feel like the streaming platforms are trying to be like HBO. This show would have benefited from not having it, because it could have brought in a younger demographic as well as the adults.
I'm glad this was already renewed for a second season, because they left it as a cliffhanger. I wanted more about these different magical races and their country of origin.
Merissa (13919 KP) rated The Crimson and the Black (Hidden Empire #2) in Books
Mar 25, 2022 (Updated Jun 30, 2023)
Still set in the same timeline, this time we find out more at Henry's Maker, Fyodora. She has a long and, sometimes tragic, backstory that we learn as we go along. Nearing one thousand years old, she finds herself getting bored easily so readily agrees to help with a nasty kidnapping and sex slave/wife ring. On the hunt for his lost cousin, Callum is one of the few dragon shifters left. When they meet, sparks fly with an instant attraction that is not acted upon due to circumstances. Delayed gratification, anyone?
As always, this was a brilliant story that held my attention from beginning to end. I loved how Fee and Callum worked together. They were honest and communicated well - even going so far as to apologise when they were in the wrong! *gasps with shock!*
Whilst hot in places, this is more about the connection between the two of them, and the lost selkies. There are a multitude of characters I want to know more about, so I'm hoping for many more books in this series.
A fantastic addition to the series that I have no hesitation in recommending. Just one question though - why was Callum black, not red?!
Read it!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 23, 2022
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