My Current List of Historical Romance Writers I Like

 Here are some Historical Romance writers that I like. The settings are in England unless otherwise noted.  They are in alphabetical order (of course, I am a librarian after all).  Disclaimer: For some of these I have only read one of their books, so they may have other books that are awful or inappropriate.  

Joanna Barker (19th Century)

Julie Daines (19th Century)

Kimberley Duff (the two I read were set in India)

Sarah Eden (Regency and Victorian)

Georgette Heyer (Regency)

Kristi Ann Hunter (Regency and Victorian)

Josi Kilpack (19th Century and contemporary)

Sarah Ladd (19th Century)

Kim Vogel Sawyer (US history)

Helen Simonson (WWI and contemporary)

Anneka Walker (both historical and contemporary)

Roseanna White (WWI and WWII)

Karen Witemeyer (Western American)

The Letter From Briarton Park by Sarah E. Ladd

Cassandra Hale grew up in a girl's boarding school not knowing who her parents were. Her head mistress and mentor, on her deathbed, gives Cassandra a letter from a Mr. Clark inviting her to visit him at his home in Briarton Park to learn more of her family.  When Cassandra arrives she is disappointed to find that Mr. Clark has died and the new owner, a widowed mill owner named James Warrington, knows very little about him.  Undaunted she starts asking around town and is befriended by the local vicar, the young, single, and charming Mr. North. Having lived her whole life in a girl's school, Cassandra is overwhelmed by the interest she soon receives by both of her new male acquaintances. Both seem willing and eager to help her in her search to find out more about her family, even when the search uncovers illegitimacy and open hostility from potential relations.  Are both men's motivations for helping her pure, or are there ulterior motives in their attentions?

Here is a new clean Regency romance writer I wanted to try out.  I am always on the lookout for a new one to add to my list.  Ms Ladd turned out to be pretty good.  The story and characters are predictable, but the writing is decent and interesting enough to hold my attention.  I sensed that Ms Ladd was giving a nod to North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.  This book has a similar setting to that with mill owners worrying about strikes because of new machinery replacing workers. I couldn't help but smile that Warrington's mill owner friend's name is Mr. Milton, the name of the mill town where North and South takes place. I enjoyed the book well enough that I did add Ms Ladd to my list and will probably eventually read the next in this series. (2022, 336 p.)

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

 Odie and his brother, Albert, are orphans.  They are not native Americans, but they have lived at an Indian school since they were 6 and 10.  It is 1932, and now Odie is 12 and Albert is 16.  Albert is obedient and diligent, but Odie makes all the trouble he can for the school's head mistress, Mrs Brickman, whom they call the Black Witch. The school is harsh. The kids are underfed, and overworked.  The only thing that makes it bearable for Odie is a couple of compassionate teachers who help shield him from the worst of Mrs Brickman's wrath.  Then one day tragedy strikes, and Odie is forced to flee the school.  Albert and their friends, Mose and Emmy flee with him.  They take a canoe and start down the river that will lead them to the Mississippi, St. Louis, and the only family Odie and Albert have left. Along the way the meet a wide array of people doing their best to survive at the height of the Great Depression,
and learn a lot about life, faith and love.

One of my co-workers who was an English major recommended this book to me because she loved the writing style.  It is an interesting mix of Huckleberry Finn, Grapes of Wrath, and Oliver Twist. The writing is very literary and the mood swings from melancholy to hopeful throughout the narrative. I didn't know if I was going to be able to handle a book like this this week because I was stressed by a big project at work,  but I ended up really enjoying it just because it was so well written. All the characters are complicated and fully drawn.  Odie is intelligent, but authentically only 12 years old. The others are also very believable characters, each with their demons to fight, and their battles to win.   Even though the characters are teens, the reader should beware that there are adult elements.  There is no description of sexual or physical abuse, but there are suggestions of it. Still, I could see this being really popular with book groups.  I could even see a high school student with an affection for the classics really liking it. (2020, 464 p)

Great Courses: Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor

 In this 24 part lecture series, Harl traces the history of Asia Minor from the period of the Hittites in about 2000 BCE to the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 13th century AD. He looks at how the different civilizations were manifested politically and culturally from the city of Troy, through the great empires of the Old Testament, Alexander the Great, the Roman empire, the Holy Roman Empire and finally the Ottoman Turks. Each lecture is about 1/2 hour long and Dr Harl is an informed and passionate advocate for increased appreciation for this part of the world. 

When people think of the leaders of Ancient Europe and Asia, they don't usual think about Asia Minor (the part of modern day Turkey between the Mediterranean and the Black Seas) but Dr Harl argues, convincingly, that they should. I was drawn to this series because I have been studying the New Testament this year, and the Apostle Paul, especially, talks a lot about cities in Asia Minor.  As I listened, however, I realized I was recognizing stories, places, and personalities I had studied in my Humanities classes in college.  It also gave me new perspective about the middle ages, especially the crusades and how Asia Minor switched from being the center of Christianity to being dominated by Muslim nations. When I told a co-worker I was listening to this series she commented that she thought it would be rather dry.  Maybe to many it would be, but I found it very interesting and it changed the way I saw the progress of history.  (2001, 24 lectures)

The Fire Keeper by J. C. Cervantes

 In this second book in the Storm Runner series, Zane, Brooke, and their friends and family are living on a is a tropical island, protected from the vengeful eyes of the Mayan gods. In some ways life has never been so good, but Zane is still worried about his divine father Hurakan who is imprisoned for fathering a demigod son. Zane is preparing to try to sneak off the island and go to free his father, when another demigod arrives on the island, Ren, who has read Zane's book about his first adventure and found the magic note in the end.  Zane soon discovers that by putting the hidden note in his book, he has exposed other godborn kids and that 10 have already been kidnapped by unknown magical forces.  Now Zane needs to save the godborns and his father and he is willing to do just about anything to do it.

When I read the first book, I mentioned that this was the most Riordan-esque of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.  That is doubly true for this book.  I don't know if Cervantes is just good at imitating Riordan's style, or if Riordan did major text editing and plot help in its production.  Either way, this book is better than the first and I think Riordan fans will like it. Zane is smarter and the plot tighter. The character of Ren is good and it is fun seeing Zane team up with previous enemies. Cervantes is on a roll and I probably won't wait another two years to read the next in the series. (2019, 432 p)

Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds

 Miles has his mother's last name, because his father had at one time been a notorious gangster. His dad has gone straight, and worked hard in able to put Miles in a top private school. As a mixed racial kid it is hard for him to fit in at his school, and 2018having to attend history class with a seriously racist teacher makes it even harder. He knows that his teacher will expel him with the least provocation, so he tries hard to be the perfect student his parents want and need him to be.  It is hard when he has a secret that he has to hide from everyone but his best friend and his dad, that he was bitten by a radioactive spider when he was 13 years old, and now he has spider super powers! His spider sense keeps telling him there is something wrong in his history class.  Dare he investigate his terrible teacher and risk being expelled despite all his parents' sacrifices for him?

I chose this because it was written by Jason Reynolds and I would probably read about anything written by him. That being said, I don't know if Mr Reynolds was cut out to write superhero lit. This book is mostly about Miles' struggles in a white-dominated institution and his internal conflict about whether to stand up to unfair treatment and risk losing his place at the school. That part of the story was really well written.  As always, Reynolds creates sympathetic characters that behave in authentic ways and puts them in realistic social conflict situations. The last couple of chapters, however, when Miles actually uses his superpowers, was pretty silly and didn't make much sense. I wonder if Reynolds came up with that part of the plot, or whether is was adapted from a historic DC comic book plot.  Either way, it wasn't Mr. Reynold's best work. I still enjoyed the part that was more like his other works enough that I don't regret reading the book. (2018, 272p)

Roses of Feldstone by Esther Hatch

Rose and William were childhood friends, but when William unexpectedly became heir to their family estate, he started avoiding Rose who was without fortune or title. After two fruitless London seasons, Rose returns to Feldstone manner not knowing what to expect from William.  William knows that after his older brother's shameful marriage to a lowborn foreigner, it is up to him to uphold the family status. He has tried to push down his feelings for Rose, but without much success. Yet he fears if he were to follow his heart, it would be the death of his mother who has been declining since his brother's scandal. There seems to be insurmountable obstacles between the two old friends, not the least of which is their reluctance to share their true feelings with each other. Will William's promise to his mother to marry a suitable bride within six months mean the end to their hopes of happiness?

When I read the collection of Christmas romances last month, I realized that I wasn't familiar with one of the authors, Esther Hatch. I decided to try one of her novels hoping to find a new name for my "preferred clean romance writers" list. By the end of the book I was still ambivalent about whether to add her to my list.  In some ways this novel was very much like those of other authors I have enjoyed.  Rose has a spunky personality and there is snappy repartee between characters.  There are some funny moments and there is nothing really wrong with the setting.  Yet somehow, I had a hard time getting through the book. I kept wanting to turn off the recording rather than continue listening.  I am trying to put my finger on the reason why. It may have been just because I wasn't in the right mood this week but I think it was because I got really frustrated in their miscommunication with each other.  One or two scenes where miscommunication is an important plot point is fine and even to be expected in one of these novels, but this whole book was just one long case of miscommunication. I felt like shouting at them, "just talk to each other already!"  I am not sure if I will try this author again or not. (2018, 225 p)

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

 In this NYT bestseller nonfiction, Yuval traces the development of the human species from prehistoric time when it competed with other hominids, to the present, and even into the future.  He posits that human history was marked with several world/changing revolutions: the cognitive revolution, the agricultural revolution, the rise of empire, the industrial revolution, and the future biotechnical revolution. In each of these revolutions, humans gained certain things and lost certain things.  The world as a whole mostly suffered because of the rise of homo sapiens as the dominant species and he believes that humans were probably happier in simpler hunter/gatherer times. He also predicts that humans, as we know them with evolve into a new kind of being that is augmented by technology and bioengineering. 

Harari has a lot of astute observations in his view of the history of the world, and I thought a lot about what he wrote about and his view of modern humans as I read the book. The writing is accessible and engaging. He comes across as well informed and educated but doesn't drift into language that is difficult to understand or jargon that is unfamiliar. As I made my way through the lengthy book, I began to see that his view of life was not at all unbiased.  There were ideas that were clearly important to him, and his world view was slanted to support his beliefs. He is gay, vegetarian, atheist, and practices Buddhist style meditation. These ideas are portrayed as the ideal in his book.  He doesn't dwell on homosexuality that much, but clearly states that there is no reason it isn't as natural as any other sexual behavior, as it shows up among non-human species.  He spends more time deriding the meat production and processing industries as deplorably inhumane, and the belief in God as not only intellectual immature, but also ridiculous and insidious. By the end I felt like the whole book was written to justify his own life choices. Still, I don't regret reading the book and will probably recommend it to others who like philosophical works. (2015, 464 p)