Intrigued By Love by Sienna Snow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For every teardrop that threatens to fall, there is a smile waiting to light up your heart. Intrigued by Love takes emotions out of their comfort zone. Kai and Jax are beautiful chaos. Captivating, heartbreaking temptation. From an unfinished past to an uncertain future, Snow brings the passion and douses it with more than a little heart. Once you start, it's hard to walk away.

King Charles I has been condemned to die in the winter of 1649.  John Hutchinson is one of the 59 men to sign his death warrant, encouraged by his wife Luce.  With the death of King Charles, the St. John family is now thoroughly separated by political beliefs while Oliver Cromwell wreaks havoc over the land.  While Luce and John try to create a new government in England, their siblings, Allen and Frances seek refuge with what remains of King Charles court in Paris with the Villiers side of the family and Nan uses her position of Countess of Rochester to play both sides.  While the family is divided politically, their hearts are still tied together.

Written in Their Stars is the third book of the Lydiard Chronicles that recounts the story of the St. John family.  I would highly recommend reading the first two books of the Lydiard Chronicles first, not only because they are wonderfully written, but they also detail the families relationships and loyalties.  Like the previous two books, Elizabeth St. John uses the upmost care and detail to continue the story of her amazing ancestors.  This time, the journals of Luce Hutchinson were the primary source for the material and the author was able to transform Luce's words into an unforgettable family saga that incorporates the tumultuous history of England in the mid 1600's.   I didn't know much about this part of England's history, so I enjoyed learning of the details from both the Royalist and Roundhead sides.  Most of all however, I loved continuing the story of the St. John family and their amazing accomplishments during the time.  I was blown away by Nan's determination in the spy ring, Frances and Allen's fight for survival and betterment of their family and Luce and John's steadfastness.  Above all, their tie to family is what brings everyone through.  Overall, a story of bravery, family and treachery in 17th century England.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.​

I once was lucky enough to spend a lot of time travelling before kids and a mortgage. On one of my trips I travelled to a place called Varanasi in India. Deaths and marriages hold much significance for that holy city with outdoor funeral pyres burning constantly and mass weddings by The Ganges. I remember seeing a group of young girls in traditional red wedding dresses with stunning jewellery on arms, nose and ears.  These girls were beautiful ... but young, too young , 11-12 years old surely, small children. Their eyes were what shocked me they looked so incredibly sad, this wasnt a day of joy for them, but a life sentence to I imagined an old man that they had only just met. Being a westerner I do not understand arranged marriages. I know that these marriages can result in love eventually but the fact that the choice is taken away from woman doesnt sit well with me. 

This book is set in Pakistan but it brought back memories of what I saw in India. An easy fast read that I didnt think was particularly well written but the story is one that I imagine is happening all over the world. 

I had a lot of fun with this book, a plot-driven historical fantasy novel whose fantastical elements are based on Chinese conceptions of the afterlife. Admittedly, I found part one (of four) a little tedious: this segment is more historical fiction than fantasy, and doesn’t play as much to Choo’s strengths – which are plot and imagination – than the remainder of the book. Once it gets going though, it’s a great adventure, and I really enjoyed reading a fantasy based on non-European mythology. Readers should be aware that, as with most historical fantasy, it shouldn’t be taken literally as a guide to anyone’s belief system: Choo explains in the afterword that she meshed together various strains of thought and invented elements of her own. But it was still a lot of fun to see certain cultural practices, like burning paper objects for the dead, made real and carried to their logical conclusions. And meanwhile it’s a lively and accessible adventure that should appeal to a lot of western readers who might be intimidated by books from other cultures.

That said, it can come across as a little too explanatory sometimes – while set in 1890s Malaysia (and its associated afterworld), it’s clearly pitched at a western audience. The characters are not particularly complex or unique, and the writing style is perfectly functional but not notable for its own sake. But as a lighthearted, fun historical fantasy, it’s great, and I’d definitely be interested in reading more from this author.

Look I tried. I could not get into this. Life is too short for books you are not enjoying.

I ended up DNFing "Written in Red" the first book in the Others series at 10 percent because nothing I was reading was holding my interest. We have a prologue setting up the setting of the book and now we are just following a young girl on the run named Meg. We find out that Meg is trying to garner help from "The Others." dun dun dun. The Others are supernatural and dominate the world that Bishop has set up with humans at the bottom of society. 

Meg is on the run and I didn't care. That was enough to kill my interest. If you are going to center a book on her and this plot I need to care. Not just because the plot says I should. 

The biggest thing that killed my interest is that the world building just isn't there. I love fantasy novels, but if you can't set up things that make sense logically I just check out. And I am going to echo what some other reviewers said. This could be interesting following a world in which humans are not dominant. However, the history/tech is the same except for a few choice places which makes zero freaking sense. It reminded me when I watched "White Man's Burden" and they just changed things up so that white people were treated the same as black people are and that black men and women were the upper classes in America. I jut rolled my eyes because that movie didn't set things apart at all or even really get into how things were different and play with that. 

Goodbye "The Others" you have very nice book covers.