Quick word about the religious aspect: it is pretty superficial, so about a 1 on a scale of 1-5.

This book turned out surprisingly well once I hit the halfway mark (pg. 140). That is when the lies unravel and the truth gets some page space. There are a number of liars in this book:

1. The heroine (Marguerite Westing) - lies so much in this book, it is pathological. Seriously, little fibs, big whoopers, almost any answer to a question is answered in a lie. She sees lying as a way to circumvent society's ideals about womanhood (the story takes place in 1895 and she is upper middle class/high enough in the social standings of the town) and get her fun. Doesn't matter who she hurts (such as the hero or even herself). Until she discovers the truth about the lies others told her, then lying is a big deal to her. In the end, she is tired of the lies all around and decides to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and ends up saving her family from poverty and blackmail.

2. Captain Andrews (father of the hero) - lied to his son about something so important, then tells the truth after the Captain suffers a second heart attack and almost dies. Seriously, his reasoning is a bit selfish, but also not too selfish - I get why he lied, but I don't condone the lying in the first place and definitely not keeping the lie going for as long as he did. The truth seemed to ease the son's feelings and make way for him to forgive heroine for the hundredth lie she told. Son doesn't hold a grudge against the dad, so that relationship is saved/renewed by the truth.

3. Edwin & Camille Westing - and now we know where the heroine gets her lying gene from. Once everything is discovered, their lies pretty much make the heroine a sacrificial lamb to atone for their mistakes. It isn't until Marguerite stands up for herself against the blackmailer that these two decide to confront the lies they told and work to restore their own honesty.

4. Roger Gordon & Clyde Stone - the villains in this story. You kind of expect it from them; however, by the time the reader gets to their lies, it is over kill.

Seriously, the only people in this story that didn't lie at all was Mark Westing (younger brother of heroine and not just a plot moppet - he actually had a point in the story), Trip Andrews (the hero - and in every sense of the word! great character), and Trips' friends/co-workers (Harry, Lloyd, Mel, & Max). So why the good rating?

Those last 50ish pages....exciting, so much truthiness you expect Stephen Colbert to make an appearance, and a believable HEA that was worth the work to get there. I loved that the heroine saved herself and her family, rather than the hero coming to the rescue. This ending helps me feel better about starting book two in the series tomorrow. 3.5 stars.

5.0 stars

Unclaimed (Turner series #2) by Courtney Milan 

4.5 stars

 Unveiled (Turner series #1) by Courtney Milan

4.0 stars

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

Call The Midwife: Volume 2/Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer worth

Sheikh's Desert Duty (THE CHATSFIELD) by Maisey Yates

3.5 stars

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

2.5 stars

 Unraveled (Turner series #4) by Courtney Milan

2.0 stars

Dads are the original Hipsters by Brad Getty

1.5 stars

Once Upon A Summer (Seasons of the Heart #1) by Janette Oke

Seriously, I can't believe June is already over and 2015 is halfway done - where did time go! June was a busy month for me, as British summers invited me to get outside the house. The kids and I spent a (soaking wet) day out with Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (Colne Valley Railroad), saw the Minions movie in theaters (the kids' first time seeing a movie in a theater - mommy's opinion is to wait until the movie comes out on DVD, as it was cute, but not worth movie theater prices), Dragon Fest at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, a fun Color Me Krazy 5k (the kids' first 5k), the kick off to the DoD's annual Summer Reading Program, and the normal playdates and running errands.

Best of all, the end of the month brought us one month closer to having my husband/their daddy home (we are now past the half-way mark on this deployment!!!). Reading wise, it was a very extreme month; I read some really great stuff and some not so great stuff, nothing too average. 10 books a month is still a good amount, but I need to up my reading game if I am to get my TBR down to a more manageable level before autumn comes and the big books release for the holiday season.

July is going to be even crazier and busier, but I hope to get in plenty of reading, as my reading reality is not keeping up with my planned reading (as you can see from my growing list of currently reading books). 

I don't normally go for Harlequin Presents, as I find the imprint a little too much rags & riches fantasy for my taste. I would not have read this particular book if it wasn't for Maisey Yates, who wrote another sheikh story that I loved last year. She had bookish capital with me and continues to do so. So my rating of 4 stars comes with some caveats and biases:

1. It's a HP category, so there is a definite formula in play here. You have the powerful, rich hero and disadvantaged heroine.

2. It is part of THE CHATSFIELDS series, which I loathe after only reading the prequel (from hell). However, neither character is in relation with the hotel or the family, so the story doesn't have anything to do with the series. There is only slight relationship lines tied to the family, which are dealt with in other books.

3. I don't normally read sheikh books, but Maisey Yates has a way of writing them that make these characters addictive. YMMV considerably. Seriously, there is no tokenism, no neon DIVERSITY characters shoe-horned into her stories. Her characters are diverse, but not stereotypical. And those sex scenes are HOT but also highly emotional.

4. Even for a category, this book is awfully short for what is considered a full length book (clocks in 144 NOOK pages, with an additional 24 NOOK pages at the end promoting other works).

So although I really liked the book and gave it four stars, I would not recommend it unless you like to read HP or Ms. Yates.

This short story follows the events of Lady Julia Grey's marriage to Nicholas Brisbane. This is the first Lady Julia story I have read and the first by Deanna Raybourn, but I plan on reading a lot more from both in the future.

I like that Julia's family is dysfunctional and quirky without going overboard. I like that Brisbane is non-titled middle class of Roma background. I like pretty much everything there was to read in this fast paced story. The pagan rituals of country folk surrounding Midsummer was icing on the cake. 4 stars.

Joshua Jones is 13 years old and living in the mid-West Plains area of the US in what I am guessing is the turn of the century or early 20th century. Sounds vague? Yeah, I am still not sure where and when the story takes place as the author doesn't seem to want to nail down those pesky details. The Jones family is a rag tag bunch - Gramps (Josh's great-grandfather), Grandpa (Josh's grandfather), Uncle Charlie (brother to Grandpa, son to Gramps), and Auntie Lou (who is just 5 years older and is the daughter of Grandpa).  Most of the Jones family is dead and Josh has some issues with losing any more loved ones.

The title is misleading - this book begins in late summer, stretches into fall, and finally with the first snow of winter. All we get our vingettes and scenes of a 13 year old boy living on a farm in the mid-West. Josh wasn't all that bratty, but he had his moments where a good stfu was in order.

I had more of a problem with Grandpa's and Uncle Charlie's search for their ideal suitor for Auntie Lou. That was rife with patriarchial nonsense and superficial list of things potential suitors should have for the approval of courting Lou. In the end, Auntie Lou picked her own husband, the new preacher; however, Grandpa and Uncle Charlie only approved because the preacher helped them save their farm and the town from a wildfire. Grandpa was more than happy to believe town rumors about the preacher's family before the fire. Yeah, could see that coming a mile away, especially after she refused to get to know one of the neighboring farmers because he or his family didn't go to church. Auntie Lou had her superficial moments too.

The religious aspects of the book was a 12 on a 1-10 preachy scale, which is weird considering this family only had a superficial relationship with God (going to church once a week and all being around other Christians). 1.5 stars because the dog and Gramps were great.