Circle of Spies by Roseanna M White

In this third installment of the Culper Ring Series, Marietta Hughes is a young widow who can't wait to get out of mourning so she can marry her diseased husband's brother.  She is a mistress of society, and an accomplished flirt. The Civil War is nearing it's end, and even though she married a southerner, her parents and grandparents are part of a spy ring that is trying to protect President Lincoln. When rumors fly that a secret Confederate society is plotting his assassination, and that Marietta's brother in-law/fiance is behind the plot, Marietta starts seeing a new side to both her beloved, and herself. Slade Osborne is a Pinkerton who has been tasked with doing a deep infiltration of the organization that is plotting against the President.  As he becomes a confidente of Marietta's soon-to-be-fiancé, he is tasked with being Marietta's body guard.  As they are thrown together, both Marietta and Slade discover that each is more than they seem, and that together they are both better and stronger than they were alone.

I guess I have been reading a lot of Roseanna M. White lately.  This series has been interesting and fun, but suffers a little from the same things I complained about in her fantasy series.  She spends too much time with her main characters just talking, kissing, and telling each other how wonderful they are.  Of course the books need romantic scenes, (they are romances after all) but I think Ms White could get by with about half the number of tete-a-tete scenes than she writes.  I think it is partially due to her editor.  Ms. White has become successful enough that her editor doesn't feel like she should be strict with her.  But she should.  Even the best writers need a strong editor! This book was enjoyable enough, but it could have gone from a B to a B+ with the right editor. (368 p. 2014)

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

At the beginning of the book, Sybil Van Antwerp is a 72 year old retired law clerk. She is divorced, lives alone, and write letters as a way of organizing her life and relationships. The book is a collection of the letters written to and from a wide variety of people, from her children and friends, to famous authors and statesmen. The letters unfold her life and through them the reader begins to see that even though Ms Van Antwerp seems strong and put together on the outside, inside her soul is plagued by  wounds so deep she feels incapable of facing them. Over the course of the next six years, people come into her life, friends speak the hard truth to her, she is able to help someone she once harmed, and finally claims the full life that had ever before been denied to her. 

I can't remember who recommended this book to me, but I want to thank them.  There is a reason that this book has sold over 2 million copies in one year and is on almost everyone's award list.  It is lovely and sweet. It makes the reader want to go out and reconcile with an estranged friend, or write a letter to a family member.  It is especially appropriate for older readers, and gives hope that even in the later years, wrongs can be righted, and there is hope for a fuller life.  I expected the author to be older, but she is only 40.  I don't know how she had such insight into the emotional journey of aging. Anyway, if I ever meet her, I will shake her hand. (304 p. 2025)

Fathomed: Awakened Mer Novellas by Roseanne M White

 This is a collection of three novellas set in Ms White's Awakened Mer world. Each tells the love story of characters mentioned in the longer novels. 

In Captivated, we learn the story of King Seidon's parents. Brenn is being pressured to take over the kingdom of Daryatla but feel insecure about her new roll.  She goes to visit her cousin who rules the Mer People.  When she arrives she discovers that the kingdom under the sea is in the middle of a coup.  She must escape with the help of an old love interest, Atlas. Can their flame reignite in the midst of war?

Celebrated is a Christmas novella where Electra has been ruling in the undersea kingdom for decades. Over that time she struck up a deep friendship with Arden and Seidon's High Gardian, Ryder Mallow.  They have gotten into the habit of escaping the holiday celebrations early to talk and enjoy the view of the ocean depths together.  But as their friendship turns to love, they can't see how they can be together.  Ryder can't leave the Daryatlians, and Electra needs to rule the mer people. Only a holiday miracle could tear down the walls that keep them apart. 

Consecrated is the longest of the novellas, almost long enough to be a stand-alone novel.  In it we are introduced to the desert kingdom of Soltierra which is a matriarchy, and its brother kingdom of the Calm Water Mermen. Lucianna is the crown princess of Soltierra, but struggles to perform her magical responsibilities of directing underground water to the surface to water their oasis in the desert.  Koa is the leader of the Calm Water Mer that we met in an earlier story.  He despairs of ever meeting someone who is his equal to help him rule is tenuous kingdom.  When Lucianna comes in her mother's place to an annual ceremony with the Calm Water Mer, sparks fly between the two leaders, but can Lucianna ever leave her kingdom to be with the man she has grown to love under the sea. 

All three stories have the same basic plot.  There is a lonely monarch, an unlikely match, and a happy ending.  It was mildly satisfying to see the backstory of some of the characters in the full length novels.  All are very religious like the series as a whole but the holiday one was particularly cheesy. It is literary candy but I enjoyed them. I checked them out for a vacation read, and it was just right for the airplane and hotel room. (312 p. 2026)

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

 In this 5th installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Percy has finally turned 16 and his time has come for the final battle between the Titans and the Olympians.  As the Olympians battle Typhon as he advances across the country laying waste to all in his path, Percy and Annabeth fear that his tirade is only a distraction.  It is up to the half bloods to defend Olympus in New York City.  Meanwhile the great prophecy hangs over Percy's head. One decision will decide the outcome of the battle, but which decision?  Can the future of the known world really lie in his adolescent hands?

During this series, Riordan has spun out so many plot threads, that he spends the entire book reeling them in.  To his credit, he does an admirable job of it while still making the plot engaging, the action scenes exciting, and occasionally injecting some major doses of humor. He really is a great writer, and I remember, back when this series was first coming out, when the circulation of the Percy Jackson books outstripped the Harry Potter Books.  I wonder why there has only been the two Netflix series based on the books.  Now that the kids that grew up with the series are in their 30s, maybe some movie company will pick them up and do a major series of movies on them. (2009, 400 p)

Aflame by Roseanna M. White

 Princess Valkyrja is considered merely ornamental.  She does not have the control over her blessed gift that her brother, the heir, and her sister, her greatest critic, have. Her father, the king of Fjordlandi depends on his two oldest children to maintain the order in the kingdom that makes the Fjordlandians the ruling class, and the Thanes, the peasant class. He also oppresses a hidden element of the community, the Daemons, whom he enslaves to control the geothermal forces below his kingdom. The king's carefully constructed hierarchy is literally blown apart by a terrorist bomb, and Valkyria finds herself as the new heir. In the aftermath of the explosion, she becomes acquainted with a Thane, Nick, who is a believer in The One. He begins to teach Valkyrja the faith that has been forbidden by her father, and she comes to see that her father, whose approval she always sought and never attained, was really a tyrant. Can she, the weakest of the royals, find the strength to undo all the wrongs her family had committed for centuries?  Not without her new friends, and her new faith.

This is the second in the series that began with the Awakened.  It occurs in the same world as the first book, but 150 years later.  None of the characters from the first book play an active role in this one, though the characters refer to them at times. This book had some of the same problems that I complained about in the first book.  The alpha-couple spend an inordinate amount of time encouraging each other. The religious elements are really heavy handed. And yet, by the end, I have to admit I was into the story.  The final action sequence was intense, and the final resolution satisfying. White also included hints for what the next in the series will be.  I will probably read it. (338 p. 2026)

Great Courses: Effective Editing by Molly McCowan

 An essential part of becoming a good writer is embracing the process of editing what you write.  In this 13-lesson course, Ms McCowan walks the listener through the different kinds of editing, and discusses each in detail. She emphasizes the importance of doing the editing process in the correct order, from big picture to granular, and gives helpful instructions and examples of each stage. She ends the series with a class on "what's next" which explains what to do with your manuscript after you have done all the editing you can do.

I am currently writing a short children's novel for my grandchildren, and decided to listen to this course to give me suggestions about my editing process. It was super helpful and it made me want to go back and edit some of the similar novella that I have written for them in the past.  I think a lot of her advise is conventional wisdom and would be familiar to anyone who was serious about writing, but for me, who  has never had a creative writing class, it was really good information given in an accessible format. I am planning on listening through it again next time I am about to start an writing project. (5 hrs. 2021)

The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh

 Kelsey Worthington, an aspiring editor living in New York, wakes up one day in the hospital.  She had been hit by a car while on the sidewalk, and had a concussion. While in the hospital she meets another patient, Georgia Tate, a cosmetics mogul. Ms Tate is facing kidney failure.  Ms Tate is brusque and abrasive, but when Kelsey leaves the hospital and returns to her hum-drum job, she keeps feeling that she needs a vacation and that she is fated to take Ms Tate with her. That begins the summer of "Yes." Kelsey is determined that she and Ms Tate are supposed to really live life by saying "yes" to all the things they were too afraid to try before.  As they spend time together, Kelsey comes to realize that much of Ms Tate's off-putting behavior is due to regrets related to her family, a family that includes a very handsome and very nice estranged son, who is just Kelsey's age. Perhaps,  along with saying yes to sea food, and road trips, she will also be brave enough to say yes to love.

One of my co-workers recommended this book when she found out that I enjoy clean romance.  This totally fits into that category, but it also has a strong message about the importance of overcoming fear to live life to its fullness. The relationship between Kelsey and Ms Tate reminds me a lot of the relationship in "The Devil Wears Prada," so much so that I can't believe it wasn't one of the author's inspirations. The book suffers a little because Ms Tate's son, the love interest, is just too perfect.  He isn't as bad as the Richard Paul Evans male protagonists, but close. He is incredibly handsome, creative, successful, and volunteers teaching classes to children at the local community center. Authors need to learn that a man doesn't have to be perfect to be loveable. Still, if you are looking for a clean, feel-good read, this isn't a bad choice. (2024, 504 p.)