What's in a Name 2015 Challenge Wrap-Up Post

One of the many challenges I did year ws the "What's in a Name" challenge, hosted over on The Worm Hole. There weren't all that many categories, and since I was doing so many others, I was pretty sure I was going to be able to do it with overlap in other challenges. I completed this challenge on the 14th of May, and these are the categories I had to fill and the books I read.

A word including "ing" in it - Verbs may be the easiest, but other words are allowed too
The Importance of Being Wicked - Miranda Neville

A colour
Vision in Silver - Anne Bishop

A familial relation
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares

A Body of water
The River of No Return - Bee Ridgway

A City
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
They Came to Baghdad - Agatha Christie

An Animal Dragon Bound - Thea Harrison

#CBR7 Book 59: "The River of No Return" by Bee Ridgway

Page count: 464 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

When Lord Nicholas Falcott, the Marquess of Something-or-other (I finished this book more than a month ago and can't be bothered to go looking up piddling details like that) is about to be killed on the battlefield in Spain in 1812, he suddenly finds himself transported forward in time about 200 years. After being nearly run over by a car, he wakes up in a modern hospital, in the company of a stranger who tells him that jumping through time is less unusual than one might think. There is a secret organisation called the Guild, with very strict rules, the two most important being "There is no return", either in time or place. Once time travellers are trained for a year by the Guild, to get used to their new century and life, they will be relocated to a country other than their homeland, and they may never return. To aid them in their new lives in a strange and wonderful future, keeping the secrets of the past, the Guild pays their members a staggering amount of money each year, allowing them to live in all the luxury they could want. Nicholas is told that as he is believed to have died on the battlefield in Spain, his title died with him. He must now get used to a new name and identity - Nick Davenant.

Some of the time travellers in the Guild training facility are a bit more reluctant to swallow all the corporate cool-aid they are served, and start asking questions. Soon they have gone missing, and Nick is unsure if they left of their own free will, to search out truths elsewhere or whether the Guild had them assassinated. He decides to play it safe, and settles in to a life of comfortable indolence in New York and Vermont. After about ten years as Nick Davenant, he receives a summons from the Guild Alderwoman (head honcho) to meet her in London. So the rules of the Guild are clearly more like guidelines, if the right people want them to be. He discovers that quite a few of the Guild members can travel backwards and forwards in time, and that their rival organisation, the Ofan, can do the same. They just don't want the untrained to try it willy-nilly. Now they need Nick to become Lord Nicholas again, and go back to 1815, resuming his old life as the Marquess, because something is seriously messing up the fabric of time, and the people responsible for it, are possibly connected to the social circles that Nick used to frequent.

By going back to Regency England, Nick has to try to re-learn his role as a nobleman, seemingly unaware of the huge social and political changes taking place in the two centuries since he was born. The Industrial Revolution, the Labour Movement, Women's Suffrage, all of it must be unknown to Lord Nicholas Falcott. He also has to convince his grieving family where he's been for the past three years, since his supposed death in Spain. And in 1815, Nick may finally reunite with the beguiling Miss Julia Percy, whose lovely eyes have haunted and comforted Nick in the decade since he jumped forward in time. What Nick (and his companions) don't know is that Julia is much more closely connected to the mystery they are going back in time to solve, and that she has abilities neither the Guild nor the Ofan have ever experienced before.

I am not of the opinion that just because there is time travel in a story, it's automatically science fiction. There is no time machine anywhere in this novel. This is more of a paranormal fantasy, with a number of individuals with unusual powers, able to travel backwards and forwards in time (or manipulate time in other ways) because of inborn abilities. They're not transporting themselves through time with the aid of technology, which I feel is the requirement for it to be sci-fi (which means that yes, I disagree that Outlander be classified the same way). If forced to classify this book in only one strict genre, I would say that it's a historical romance, Regency, to be specific. The majority of the plot takes place in 1815, with a chunk of the introduction being in our present time. Taking a 19th Century Marquess out of his own, extremely privileged time and plonking him into the 21st Century means he has to go through quite a lot of attitude adjustments. Nick Davenant is an enlightened guy who certainly likes the more sexually liberated women of the future.

When back in Regency England, he has to remember that being alone with an unmarried woman is deeply scandalous. While he is initially quite happy with the progressive ideas his spinster sister had for the distribution of his family lands (believing her brother several years dead), but then is forced to reconsider his reactions, as Lord Nicholas knows nothing of socialism, workers' collectives or women's liberation. Naturally, the quest to find the magical MacGuffin that can save all of time and space is a lot more complicated and time consuming than Nick and his cohorts expected, fraught with unexpected challenges and dangers.

I knew very little about this book when I picked it up, and assumed it was a completely stand-alone story. Had I known what I know now, that the book ends in an extremely open-ended way, with most of the important story threads dangling in the air, and the potential sequel for the book to be released at a currently unknown point in the future, I know that I would have approached it differently, and probably not been as disappointed with the last third of the book. I therefore warn you, dear reader - this is NOT a complete story. There is a prequel (which I haven't read), but as of this moment in time, no sequel, because the author is still working on it. Because I thought it was a self-contained story, I was most upset when the plot was hurtling towards its end, with no clear indication of anything at all being resolved.

As well as the complex time travel rules, with two opposite and rival organisations wanting to control who and how people travel through time, there are all manner of soap-operaesque plot twists. There's romance, evil relatives, grieving parents, an age-old feud spanning through time. It's a very entertaining book, as long as you're fully aware that you're not going to get much of anything resolved, and what is sorted by the end of the book mainly opens up new questions that will presumably be answered in the at some point to be published sequel. I really liked Julia as a character, and Nick grew on me, even though I still think he has a lot of potential for improvement in the sequel. If I'd known this was part one of a story, I suspect I would have rated it higher. I also wouldn't have read it until the sequel (or sequels) were out, if I could help it. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 52: "They Came to Baghdad" by Agatha Christie - Cannonball, people!

Page count: 364 pages
Rating: 5 stars

In this book, we meet the adventurous Victoria Jones, a young woman with a knack for lying frequently and convincingly, who shortly after being fired from her most recent position as a mediocre shorthand typist, meets a handsome and charming young man in the park. They strike up a conversation, he confides that he is about to go to Baghdad and asks to take a couple of photographs of her as a memento. Victoria is smitten, and as the young man she's fallen head over heels for is going to be in Baghdad, she needs to go there to. A few days later, her contact at the employment agency calls to confess an American woman needs a companion to accompany her on her journey to the self-same city and Victoria can't believe her luck.

Unbeknownst to Victoria, who just wants to reunite with Edward, the young man in the park, there is a secret international diplomatic summit planned in Baghdad and there are sinister forces who are trying to sabotage it. A heavily disguised agent named Carmichael is dodging assassins all over the Iraqi countryside trying to get proof to his superiors about the conspiracy. An efficient and mysterious young woman named Anna Scheele surprises her American employer by asking for time off to go to England to visit her ailing sister. Richard Baker is an officious archaeologist on his way back to the archaeology dig of the illustrious Dr. Pauncefoot-Jones. Mr. Dakin is the official trying to ensure that the summit goes off without a hitch. He knows that there are a number of security risks and is hoping for the safe return of his agent Carmichael.

 Once in Baghdad, Victoria's brain is working overtime to figure out how she's going to manage for money when her job as companion for Mrs. Clipp is ended. On  one of her first nights in Baghdad, a wounded man staggers into hotel room and dies in her bed after whispering a few seemingly unconnected words. This man turns out to be none other than Carmichael, and  his death in her room puts Victoria in the centre of a dangerous conspiracy. When she uses her wits and what little information he gave her to track down her beloved Edward, she starts to suspect that he may not have been entirely truthful when he claimed during their brief meeting that he'd love for her to come and see him, and that there are a number of young women in the organisation he works for who don't look kindly on their new rival for Edward's affection.

Soon Victoria finds herself abducted and abandoned in a house in the Iraqi countryside. Ever resourceful, Victoria gets out of the house where she's been locked, but is stuck wandering far from civilisation.  Her little white lie that she's Dr. Pauncefoot-Jones' niece, in Baghdad to join him on his expedition come back to haunt her when she's rescued by none other than his assistant, Richard Baker, en route to the expedition in question. Will Victoria's gift for lying get her out of another sticky situation? Will she be able to figure out what the dying words of Mr. Carmichael meant, and help Mr. Dakin stop the shadowy conspiracy threatening the peace summit?

This book is much less of a murder mystery than it is a suspenseful adventure novel. Unlike the many more traditional Agatha Christie novels, where Miss. Marple or Hercule Poirot gather a number of assorted suspects in the drawing room of a country house (or train carriage, or fancy ship or whatever exotic location Christie decided to place them in for variety), this book mainly follows the brazen Victoria as she lies her way from a boring typist's job in London to being an essential, if somewhat unwitting part in an international conspiracy. While some might find her quite an unlikable heroine, I found her delightful. She's not so much a compulsive liar as a very good actress who thinks swiftly on her feet and improvises skillfully. She also doesn't really seem to lie to directly swindle people, just to take advantage of things she might not have otherwise, such as impeccable references or pedigree. She's a bit too impulsive than is healthy, but she discovers that herself when she reunites with Edward in Baghdad and starts suspecting that he may not be as smitten with her as she was with him.

When she ends up at the dig of Dr. Pauncefoot-Jones, she is lucky that the old archaeologist is extremely absent-minded and scatter-brained, wholly focused on his dig, so he can barely remember whether he has a niece at all, mistaking Victoria for an anthropologist scheduled to arrive at the dig some weeks later. Richard Baker, on the other hand, knows something is up with the strange woman he found wandering in the countryside. He just can't figure out why she would pretend to be his boss' relative, wildly fabricating her knowledge of archaeological artifacts.

Most of my favourite Agatha Christies are the stand-alone ones, often featuring a romantic subplot while there's murder mysteries and adventure. Books like Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (the first Christie mystery I ever read), The Man in the Brown Suit and this. I hadn't read this book for nearly a decade, when I decided to re-read it so it could be my 52nd book of the year. While the book started more slowly than I remembered, introducing the various minor players in the bigger game, to a reader who has no idea how they all connect, it gets moving plenty fast enough once we get introduced to Victoria. I only half remembered the ending, so watching all the pieces coming together towards the end of the story was almost as enjoyable as reading the book for the first time. I'm glad it still holds up. So with that - Cannonball!

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 29: "Vision in Silver" by Anne Bishop

Page count: 416 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is book three in The Others series, which is one of my absolute favourite paranormal fantasy series at the moment. While you are given enough information to start with this one, you'll get the most enjoyment if you start at the beginning, with the excellent Written in Red. There will also be minor spoilers for the earlier books in the series here, so if you don't like that sort of thing, skip the review until you're caught up.

In a world where humans are in a minority, and frequently considered legitimate prey by the supernatural races who control the land, tensions are mounting. Many of the cassandra sangue, the female blood prophets who see visions when their skin is cut, have been rescued and the Others have placed "the sweet blood" as they call them, under their protection. Most of the women and girls have lived their entire lives in monitored captivity, however, and a lot of them can't handle their new-found freedom, causing mental breakdowns or even suicides.  It falls to Meg Corbyn, the woman who first managed to escape and has been making a life for herself with the Others of the Lakeside Courtyard to provide guidance. Aided by her human friends, she attempts to write down what she's learned is important for her to feel safe and comfortable.

The Humans First and Last movement is growing, and it's becoming clear that a lot of the humans who are on friendly terms with the shapeshifters and other creatures in Lakeside are experiencing discrimination and prejudice. "Wolf lovers" might find themselves losing their jobs or even homes.  Simon Wolfgard and the other prominent Others in the Courtyard have to consider what to do to aid these humans who have so important to their Meg and shown themselves to be useful and friendly, not just prey. The news reports speak of food shortages all over Thaisia (think North America), which none of the Others can understand, and the strained relationship between humans and Others is getting worse in many places on the continent. Possible insight into the cause of the food shortages comes with the arrival of Officer Montgomery's daughter, alone on a train, with a blood-stained teddy bear, containing a small fortune in gem stones. Her mother, Montgomery's ex, was dating one of the most outspoken HFL spokesmen, and it's clear something has triggered her sending their daughter unaccompanied across the country to her father.

I don't know how many books Anne Bishop is planning in this series, but she's fleshing out the world building and the tense political situation with every book. Meg and Simon also grow closer with each book, while neither is able to acknowledge to themselves or the other what most of those around them already know, that they're essential to each other's well being. Three books in, and when these two finally give in to their feelings, I'll probably explode. Of course, there are major obstacles in their path, most prominent the fact that blood prophets feel compelled to cut themselves to get their visions out, and at maximum, a cassandra sangue has a thousand cuts before she dies. There are already hundreds of cuts on Meg's body, and in this book she experiences just how distressed she can make those around her when she's driven to cut thoughtlessly. Meg, just as the other in her found family of humans and paranormal creatures, has a lot of adapting and growing to do.

We meet a few new characters in this book. There's a young blood prophet sheltering with some wolves, who slowly, thanks to Meg's advice, learns to be comfortable in her new home, and seems to be able to show her visions through drawings, without having to cut herself. As she settles in and starts to get used to her new life, she eventually also chooses a new name for herself. There's Montgomery's daughter, Lizzy, who gives the various animal-shifters in the Lakeside Courtyard more experience with "human pups".

This book felt like a more quiet book than the second, Murder of Crows, because so much of what is happening is simmering off screen. Because so many of the humans living in the bigger cities of Thaisia are unaware of the terrifying forces lurking out in the forests and mountains, not realising that the vampires and shapeshifters living in the Courtyards are the most progressive and open-minded, actually willing to interact with humans. The growing discontent, fermented by the HFL movement is putting the humans in very real danger, and this book, it's made clear that there are some very formidable elementals out there, controlling each of the great lakes and even the ocean itself. Train and ship travel is only safe for humans as long as their iron-clad agreements with the Others are kept. Once they start bending and breaking the rules set down, there are dire consequences, and it's clear that there are older, more powerful beings in the wild of the country who wouldn't hesitate to wipe all the humans off the continent if they prove to be an inconvenience. So shit is about to hit the fan, and it's going to be very interesting to see where Bishop takes the series next.

I love this fantasy world, I love the characters. It makes me happy to spend time with them while I'm immersed in the book. I love that the book examines what humanity actually is and should be - and whether the shifters and vampires who will frequently eat humans may not be the most monstrous of the individuals in Thaisia. More is revealed about how the blood prophets were exploited, and it seems entirely just and fair to me that the perpetrators of such abuse are hunted down and eaten. I've said this in my reviews of the previous two books, but if you like paranormal fantasy, you really should do yourself a favour and read these. They're such great books. Sadly, I will have to wait a year for the next one.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 25: "Dragon Bound" by Thea Harrison

Page count: 323 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars

Dragos Cuelebre is probably the oldest Wyr-kind (shape-shifter) in existence. He's certainly the only dragon. Around since the dawn of time, he is now one of the richest and mot powerful individuals on the planet. He's also very bored, having just gone through the motions for decades. All that changes when someone has the audacity to steal something from his believed to be impossible to locate hoard, again supposed to be protected by impenetrable wards. He becomes obsessed with the idea of tracking down and catching the thief and discovering how the theft was possible in the first place.

Pia Giovanni, half wyr, half human, is blackmailed by her weaselly ex-boyfriend to steal an item from Dragos' hoard. The only reason her ex has anything to blackmail her with, is because while they were still together, Pia foolishly trusted him with some secrets about herself and her abilities that her mother had made her promise always to keep quiet about. She knows that stealing from Cuelebre is tantamount to suicide, but she also realises that if the people making her scum of an ex blackmail her don't get what they want, she's likely to end up dead even faster. She forces her ex to agree to a magical binding, so that he can never speak about her to anyone again, before handing over the item she stole. Then she tries to flee as far as possible, before the dragon gets her. Because her mother was extremely protective and very paranoid, she has stashes of fake identities and ready cash all over the city, however, when the creature that hunts you has both powerful magic and unlimited resources at his command, it's limited how far you can run.

Dragos is intrigued by Pia, especially because even when she's terrified of him eating her, she stands her ground and argues with him. So used to blind loyalty and/or fear, he finds her amusing (also attractive, natch, this IS a paranormal romance). He's also very curious as to what her wyr-form might be, as her scent doesn't match up with any he can remember encountering in his extremely long life. He quickly realises that Pia was being used by his arch-enemy, King Urien of the Dark Fey, and resolves to keep her under his protection so Urien isn't able to use her again. Lots of action and drama takes place before the two figure out that they're each other's perfect mate.

This book was brought to my attention by fellow Cannonballer Katie's enthusiastic review. Long time readers of my reviews will know that I enjoy the occasional, bat-shit crazy-plotted paranormal romance, like the ones written by Kresley Cole. Unfortunately, in her recent books, Ms. Cole appears to have gone completely off the reservation, and the books aren't really fun anymore, just dumb. So I most definitely had an opening in my reading list for something similarly amusing, and based on the first book of Thea Harrison's Elder Races, these will fit the bill nicely.

As I think the unofficial rule book for paranormal romance writers specifies, all the dude in this book are large, muscular and very hot. Dragos is obviously the alphaest of all the alpha males, nearly seven feet tall, golden-eyed, gorgeous, wealthy and powerful. He's the boss of all the other wyr-kind dudes who are clearly going to be heroes of their own books down the line. All of the dudes who work for Dragos seem to like Pia more or less instantly, especially after she proves that even if she's tiny compared to them, she's not afraid to speak her mind and she can wipe the floor with them thanks in part to her unique wyr-abilities and a lifetime of martial arts training. I think what I love most about this book is that Thea Harrison is clearly aware of how ridiculous some of the stuff she's writing is, she's in on the joke, and that's what makes it all work. Dragos also has a harpy working for him, she seems to inexplicably hate Pia, possibly because his PR-rep, a tiny fairy who's the only surviving heir to Urien's throne decides she's going to be BFF with Pia the second after they first meet. Heavens forfend Pia make more than one female friend.

As well as a rollercoaster ride of a plot, there's a fair amount of rather epic sex. While not quite in the realm of the Thunder Sex (tm) that can be found in several of Ms. Cole's books, there is still quite a lot of bow chica-wow-wow going on here. Dragos and Pia seem to think that the best place to initiate their more intimate relationship is while fleeing from hostile goblins, which I can't see is the most arousing of settings, but what do I know? I am neither a millennia-old dragon or Pia's own unique brand of wyr-kind.

I really liked Pia as a character. She knows she's doing something monumentally stupid by stealing from Dragos, but doesn't really have a choice. She tries to protect herself as best she can afterwards, and refuses to be cowed or intimidated, even when facing down a literal dragon. If she's going to die, she may as well give him a piece of her mind first. The reason she ended up blackmailed is because she let her guard down in a brief moment of foolish vulnerability. Pia has clearly had a fairly lonely life, especially after her mother died. Always taught to hide her true identity, to never make lasting connections, never make friends or reveal anything about herself. She wants love and a place to belong and she also feels deeply inadequate about the wyr-side of her identity, having never been able to shift when she was younger. I honestly don't know if it was supposed to be difficult to figure out what animal Pia's wyr-self was - I think I may just have read too many paranormals and myths, because to me it was pretty blatantly obvious from early on.

There appears to be seven books out in the Elder Races series so far, as well as several novellas. Goodreads tells me book 8 is out in May. As I'm liking the world-building and the various supernatural creatures (shapeshifters, sorry, Wyrkind. Faeries both dark and light, witches, vampires and the like), I suspect I will have lots of fun catching up throughout the year.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 18: "Rivers of London" by Ben Aaronovitch

Page count: 400 pages
Audio book length: 9 hrs 56 mins
Rating: 4 stars

Peter Grant is a probationary officer with the London Metropolitan Police when he, one night takes a witness statement from an individual who just happens to be a ghost. Unusual as this is, it saves Peter from a life of tedium in the Case Progression Unit (basically doing other cops' paperwork for them) and to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, who just happens to be a wizard. Peter becomes the first wizard's apprentice in England for more than 50 years, but Harry Potter this is not.

Some malevolent supernatural force is possessing individuals all over London, causing riots, unrest and death. The victims of the possession end up dead with their faces collapsed. There appears to be no clear connection between the crimes and the victims, but Peter and his fellow Detective Constable Leslie May investigate as best they can. Peter is also learning what it means to be a wizard - mainly a lot of tedious Latin study, reading history of magic text books and hours and hours of repetitive practise to do the most basic of spells. He does get to live in some very swanky digs with all his meals cooked by the silent and mysterious Molly and once he gets broadband and cable TV installed in parts of the house, things are looking pretty promising. Occasionally he even gets to drive Nightingale's flashy Jaguar.

As well as learning the basics of magic and trying to solve the strange and violent murders, Peter needs to help Nightingale negotiate a truce between Old Father Themes and Mama Themes, who are in disagreement as to who has control of the river and the city of London. The conflict needs to be resolved before their children come to blows.

I got my Audible account when I was advised that Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books were a lot more enjoyable when narrated by James Marsters. Last year, I finally got caught up, and suddenly no longer had a monthly book to spend a credit on. As Audible only allows you to hoard six measly credits, I keep having to find new audio books to spend my credits on. This is not helped by the fact that I have discovered myself to be very picky when it comes to who narrates the books. If I don't like the narrator's voice, the quality of the book doesn't matter. I won't enjoy the book. Happily, Audible allows me to sample the books before I buy. But I've been looking for a new series to spend my credits on, and I think I may have found it. My previous experience with Ben Aaronovitch is as a script writer on classic Doctor Who. While I'm not a huge fan of Sylvester McCoy's Doctor (the Doctor of my husband's childhood), I am rather fond of both Remembrance of the Daleks (the Special Weapon's Dalek!) and Battlefield (I'm a sucker for Ancelyn and Bambera's burgeoning romance).

Having listened to the sample on Audible, I really liked the narration from Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. IMDB tells me he's got 31 acting credits to his name, but I've never seen him in anything, nor had I heard of him before. He has a wonderful voice, though, and narrates the various characters in the book brilliantly, mastering the various regional accents and tones without any difficulty. He really made all the characters come alive and while I don't doubt I would have liked the book fine if I read it myself, the audio book experience was great. I will absolutely be picking up more of these books on Audible and can recommend them to anyone else who wants entertaining paranormal/urban fantasy, differing a bit from a lot of the books out there simply by being set in London, not somewhere in the US.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 4: "The Importance of Being Wicked" by Miranda Neville

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

Thomas Fitzcharles, the Duke of Castleton, is everything that is proper and dignified. The Dukes of Castleton tend to marry wealthy ladies of impeccable pedigree to enhance their holdings and fortune with each new generation. Thomas' father was an exception, marrying for love, and it's clear to Thomas that their marriage was not a success. As such, he is determined to win the hand of the eminently proper and extremely wealthy Miss Anne Brotherton, who thanks to being her grandfather, the Earl of Camber's sole heir, is the best catch of the season. He's surprised when he discovers that the demure Miss Brotherton is currently residing with her cousin, Mrs. Caroline "Caro" Townsend, possibly the least proper woman Castleton has ever met.

Having been raised nearly in isolation on her grandfather's estate, and until recently meant to marry a cousin who died, Miss Brotherton delights in being able to trick her fusty old guardians and escape to her cousin Caro's house in London. Caro, who fell madly in love with the reckless Robert Townsend at 17 and eloped with him, was disowned by the family as a result. Her marriage to Townsend was tumultuous and before he died, her husband had gambled away not only his fortune, but left his young widow in considerable debt. It doesn't mean that Caro has stopped supporting local artists, throwing lavish parties and generally trying to shock and scandalise the members of the Ton. Anne loves spending time with the colourful and different people she meets at Caro's, even though none of them seem to understand her passion for archaeology and ancient history. When Castleton arrives on their doorstep, to press his suit, Anne accepts that he will probably be exactly the sort of person her guardians want her to marry, but he doesn't really seem to have eyes for her whenever Caro is near. Could it be that "Lord Stuffy" (a nickname given to Castleton by Caro) is more driven by his emotions than he previously thought?

This is my first Miranda Neville novel. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the cover, but let's face it, it's actually the exception rather than the rule if I actually like a historical romance cover these days. There was a lot to like about her writing. I enjoyed that Caro was a widow, who despite the fact that her husband eventually descended into drunkenness and gambling addiction, still fairly happily recalled her marriage and mourned for her husband. I liked that Caro literally gave no fucks about the opinions of her relatives or most of polite society, but kept entertaining her friends because they were the ones who'd been nice to her when she was cast out in the first place, I also thought she did a pretty good job as a chaperone for her cousin, who was in no way compromised while in her care, while also making sure that young Anne didn't die of boredom. Having the heroine be a widow, and not of the "we never consummated the relationship" variety that seemed far too common in some Old School romances, and one who's experienced real passion, but also real heartache (she lost her child) was refreshing. Sure, Caro's financial practises aren't exactly the most sensible, she should totally stop feeding every starving artist who falls across her doorstep and make sure she can pay her debts, but she's also refuses to prostitute herself by becoming some man's mistress just to get enough money to pay said debts either. She has morals and principles, even if they're not exactly what a lot of the people judging her would like.

Castleton was a bit of a bore, it's true, but the fact that he's so aware of that himself makes it less of a flaw and more something to pity him for. His father was clearly extremely strict and refused to let young Thomas have many friends or any fun. Castleton has been bred for duty first and foremost and even when he starts falling for Caro, his main worry is that if he doesn't marry the stupendously wealthy Anne Brotherton or some other heiress, he won't be able to provide suitable dowries for his younger twin sisters. It's nice to read a romance that acknowledges that Dukes too could be in need of money, not just because of their reckless youths of promiscuity and gambling (which seems to be a common past time for aristocratic heroes). He doesn't feel a twinge of attraction towards Anne, and her passionate interest in archaeology bores him silly, but he's still determined to do his duty towards his family and his estates. He gradually lightens up the more time he spends with Caro, and has the tremendous grace to apologise when he realises that he's in the wrong. He tries to fight his attraction to her as long as possible, seeing as he's officially courting her cousin, but once he gives in, he does his best to convince her that he loves her just the way she is, scandal and all, and apart from becoming a bit more sensible with money, doesn't want her to change.

The main thing that detracted from my full enjoyment of this book was a subplot involving an expensive painting that Caro had in her possession. Several of her husband's old friends, all involved in art collecting in some way, are extremely interested in getting their hands on it, by hook or by crook. Caro refuses to sell it, because it's the last thing she has left to properly remember her dead husband by. There was a lot of silly plotting by people, first to figure out if Caro actually had the stupid painting, and then to try to gain possession of it. I didn't care for it, one bit. As this is the first book in a series of four, The Wild Quartet being Robert Townsend and his notorious school friends, several supporting characters in this book go on to become main characters later in the series. It was due to extremely glowing reviews of the last two books in the series that I decided to start at the beginning, and I found it a very promising start.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

Reading Challenges 2015: What's in a Name?

Because I do quite as many challenges as I do (so many more this year, I may have gone off the deep end a bit), I like to discover ones that aren't all that big, which gives me the tremendous satisfaction of taking part in a challenge as well as the gratification of finishing it without it being a gruelling trial all year long.

When searching and discovering new challenges, the What's in a Name challenge, hosted by The Worm Hole, looked like a lot of fun. The challenge requires one or more books read from each of the various categories.

A word including "ing" in it (The Time of Singing, Dancing to the Flute, Lex Trent Fighting with Fire) - Verbs may be the easiest, but other words are allowed too

A colour (The Red Queen, White Truffles in Winter, On Gold Mountain)

A familial relation (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Dombey and Son, My Cousin Rachel) By all means include in-laws, step and halves.

A Body of water (The River of No Return, Black Lake, Beside the Sea)

A City (Barcelona Shadows, Shanghai Girls, Under the Tripoli Sky)

An Animal (Black Swan Rising, The Leopard Unleashed, The Horse and His Boy)

• Books can be any format (print, e-book, audio)
• It's preferred that books don't overlap with other challenges, but not a requirement at all
• Books cannot overlap categories (for instance, Black Swan Rising could be used for the category of "colour" OR "an animal", but not both
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it's encouraged!
• You don't have to make your list beforehand, you can choose them as you go.
• You don't have to read your chosen books in any particular order.