I am Finished!

Nine rolls.

Eight prompts filled.

Five books off my physical reading shelf read.

No ladders, yet also no snakes. 

Previous Rolls

1. Space 1: Author is a Woman

A Distant Melody (Wings of Glory #1) by Sarah Sundin, 355 pages (worth 2 rolls) - Finished 4/9/2020

2 You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-10 00:43:11 UTC

Space 11

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-10 00:44:57 UTC

Space 19: Set in UK

The Scandalous Suffragette by Eliza Redgold, 234 pages, set in London, Manchester, and the Kent countryside (worth 2 rolls). Read April 9th-14th. 

3. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-15 13:56:05 UTC

Space 24

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-15 13:57:14 UTC

Space 28: Written between 1900 and 1999

The Final Days: The Classic, Behind-the-Scenes Account of Richard Nixon's Dramatic Last Days in the White House by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, originally published in 1976 (456 pages without the index). Worth 2 rolls when completed. Read 4/16-4/22.

 4. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-23 00:31:33 UTC

Space 32

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-23 00:32:04 UTC

Space 41 - Characters involved in politics

Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis - Suez and the Brink of War by David A. Nichols (286 pages without notes or index). Worth 2 rolls when completed. Read 4/17-May 11.

 5. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-12 21:04:28 UTC

Space 48

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-12 21:04:48 UTC

Space 59 - Book published more than 10 years ago

I am using a book that I read during the game. The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby (285 pages without notes and index). Read 4/25-4/27. Worth two rolls.

6. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-15 01:35:41 UTC

Space 70

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-15 01:36:02 UTC

Space 73 - Categorized as YA

Another book I read during the game is Beauty Queens by Libby Bray (396 pages; I listened to the unabridged audiobook). Read 4/25-26th. Worth 2 rolls.

7. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-16 14:56:03 UTC

Space 78

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-16 14:56:24 UTC

Space 82 - Urban Fantasy

The Dead & the Gone - 309 pages.  Read 5/15-16. Worth one roll.

8. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-19 00:27:52 UTC

Space 94 - Nonfiction

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh. Read 5/13-14. Worth 2 Rolls.

9. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-19 00:41:19 UTC

Space 100 - Right on the nose, how 'bout that?

1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal (234 pages of reading material).

Title: The Scandalous Suffragette

Author: Eliza Redgold

Publish Date: March 1, 2019

Publisher: Harlequin Historical

Format: Ebook

Page Count: 288 pages

Source: NOOK store

Date Read: April 9-14, 2020

Review

Look, this book was on my radar because it involved a suffragette. It's hard enough to find Harlequin Historical (HH) with an Edwardian-era story, but one involving a suffragette to boot? Yeah, it was on my NOOK the first time it went on sale. With that said, this was a standard HH that was elevated by great writing. The pulse beats that are so familiar with category romance readers are there, but there is a definite shift away from the male characters being alpha-holes and over the top "protective."

Violet Coombes, heiress to the Coombes chocolate fortune, is an isolated suffragette. She wants not only the right to vote, but she also has eyes on labor and living reforms. Yet, as a heiress to a VERY large fortune, she has to keep her suffragette activities on the down-low. As the story opens, Violet is trying to tie a "Votes for Women!" banner to the second floor balcony of what she thinks is the gentlemen's club. Turns out, it is the private home of one Adam Beaufort, who catches her in the act and then catches her when she slips and falls from the edge of the balcony. They meet again at a ball at his home, where they had a magical dance and then she escapes to tie another set of banners where everyone in high society can see when they leave the ball. This is the scandal in the book - "Votes for Women!" banners at a ball. Sure....I guess that is a scandal on a slow news day maybe.

Anyway, everyone at the ball is scandalized by seeing the purple, white, and green banners and it causes bad feelings towards the Coombes, who are noveau rich (ugh, scandalous and aren't even from here (London) - they are from....Manchester! *Gasp* So Violet is like "guess my chances of marrying well is screwed for this season" emoji shrug, but her parents are very upset and that makes her feel guilty. Adam knew who put those banners up and decided to make Violet a marriage of convenience; he will provide her his good name and marriage to cover her, she will give him money enough to pay his deceased dad's debts and pay for upkeep and fixes for his family's manor house/lands in Kent. They have a long discussion and come to an agreement to marry. It was this conversation, more so than the physical attraction detailed in their meet cute, that made me really believe in their eventual HEA. They treated each other like adults, and ones that respected each other and the situations they found themselves in. It was the beginning of a real partnership, which is not found in these type of books.

Everything works in this story - the characters, the plot points (including a discussion of militant suffragette versus the more polite suffragist), and the HEA. I wanted a little more story fleshed out when Violet returns to Manchester, but then the story wouldn't be a category. I also wanted to see how a secondary character's change that became a plot device to bring Adam and Violet back together happened. I was very happy to see Violet continue her suffragette activity even when she had her HEA. 

Holiday weekend, but what does that mean anymore? The kids have Monday off from school due to a scheduled teacher in-service work day....so no Zoom meetings or assignments until Tuesday. We are expecting some light snow on Monday, so I am going to extend the weekend until Tuesday as well and just stay in my pjs, drink tea, and read. I've got the candy for an egg hunt and a few non-food treats for the kids for Sunday, plus we will dye eggs as is our usual tradition. 

On the reading front, I started The Scandalous Suffragette for Snakes and Ladders last night. So I will try to finish that one this weekend, along with another chapter in Pox. I hope by Monday I am done with Suffragette so I can devote the time to my IRL (but meeting virtually) book club pick Beauty Queens. 

Happy Reading!

Book: Skip

Task #1: Dreidel

I went with having all biographies or memoirs. My choices were:

Nun - Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revoluntionary by Anita Anand

Shin - Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper

Hei - Living and Dying in Brick City by Dr. Sampson Davis

Gimel - This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jenkins

On December 15, you spun the Dreidel and got a....

Gimel!

I will be reading This Will Be My Undoing come January 1st!

Task #2: Recipe for Latkes - uh we just fry up a Rosti latke packet, with applesauce on the side. 

Task #3: Skip

Task #4: As a family, we have donated 10 cans to the school food drive in November and four more cans and four toys to the local food bank via the town's Tree Lighting ceremony on December 12th.

I have to say that this re-read was really enjoyable. I really did like reading about Free and Edward again.

I honestly don't have much to add from my original review except to say that the book starring Violet pales in comparison to this one.

Original review below:

The character of Free was introduced to readers in her brother's book (The Heiress Effect #2) and I was instantly enamored with her. When she tells her brother Oliver that the world had better look out for her I was won over. To have a woman in the time and place fight for the right to be taught, to be allowed to vote, was wonderful. Free is a champion of women's rights and England in this time and place was still very much a male society. Running her own newspaper that reports on things that many in society would rather have ignored has Free on the top of many people's hit list.

The character of Edward has his own demons to deal with. Left to die in a war torn country by his father and brother. Edward only returns to England to help out a life long friend's brother. Coming across Free we can see why Edward is attracted to her. When Edward is enlisted to ruin Free, he decides to see what he can do in order to stop the conspiracy to ruin her.

I thought the romance in this book was very well done. I believed in the attraction between Free and Edward. And I 100 percent got some residual heat from them both when reading about their times together. What I liked the most is that we get a slow burn romance story here. Edward finds out more about what Free does, the suffrage movement, and you can see him becoming a believer in Free.

What really swung this up to four stars with me though is that a secondary character that is introduced to us in The Heiress Effect (Brothers Sinister #2) makes a reappearance
in this one, and we get to read about their romance as well. I don't want to spoil for other readers, but I was surprised by it and happy with the way that Milan told that story as well. I would have killed for a novella of these two characters.

We do get brief appearances from other characters from the series, but not enough for me. I really would have loved to see a bigger scene than the one that we got.

As usual, the writing was great and the flow was so improved in this book. I really loved the interactions between Free and Edward. Edward's interactions with others was wonderful too. I definitely got alpha vibes from Edward, but he for the most part pulled it in until it came time to do something in order to protect Free. What I did like was that the central problem between Free and Edward was well done and I liked that they discussed it like rational adults. I wish that the reveal had come sooner though.

I really did like the ending and as I already said, I wish that we had got a larger bigger scene with all of the characters who have appeared in this series to wrap it up.