Lil

Lord Deverell's new wife has the house in thrall to her theatrical glamour. His womanising son, Sir Charles, has his eye on anything female that moves while his beautiful daughter, Mary, is feeling more than a little restless. And why does his younger son, Sir Thomas, spend so much time in the company of the second footman? Into this simmering tension comes new parlour maid, Edie, with a secret of her own – a secret that could blow the Deverell family dynamic to smithereens. If you think of this book as Downton Abbey with added spice you won't be far wrong. The story is told from the perspective of Edie, the new parlour maid with suspiciously little skill and hands that have clearly never seen a day's work - so why is she there? Deverell Hall is a house full of secrets, both above and below stairs, and the story is full of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Edie is a likeable heroine, she is naive yet brave and determined. And as for Sir Charles.. safe to say th...

The best laid plans... Halli Sanders spent two years planning the trip of a lifetime to Italy. Her itinerary did not include being stranded by her siblings, kidnapped by a sexy American movie star, dodging bullets, or fleeing criminals in a car chase around Lake Como. And that's just in the first three hours. ...often go awry. Trent Tomlin put his movie career on hold to investigate his brother's murder-ruled-suicide at his Italian villa. He's closing in on the suspects when an American tourist unwittingly films the murder of the retired cop helping him. The killers will stop at nothing to get the evidence-including holding Halli's family as collateral. Life's a little different unscripted. Thrust into the role of real-life hero, Trent finds himself falling for the Plain Jane whose beauty blossoms with every challenge they face. But how can he keep the evidence from falling into the wrong hands and get justice for his brother and friend without betraying Halli and h...

Last year I took part in the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge , and it's time to do it all over again! I'm a little late to the party this time around, but I've plenty of books that I'm determined to get through before the challenge ends. Click on the picture to find out more and take on the challenge with me! I'm not setting myself any goals - mainly because I always seem to fall short - but my first review is coming soon!

So I came across this idea on tumblr , and thought it might be fun to do it over here. The rules are simple: take the personality test here , then find out which characters share the same personality traits as you here . List the characters that you find relevant and tag a bunch of bloggers to do the same! So, according to the test, my personality is INFP: "You are one of the Diplomats - an empathic and idealistic individual who enjoys exploring interesting ideas and prizes morality. You are known for your poetic nature, intuitive skills and pure, childlike enthusiasm. " These are just a few of the characters listed that matched my personality type: Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia Frances "Baby" Houseman from Dirty Dancing Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon Marius from Les Misérables Christian from Moulin Rouge! Jane Bennet from Pride and Prejudice Romeo from Romeo and Juliet Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sen...

So a few weeks back the lovely Girl with her Head in a Book  nominated me for the Book Reading Habits Tag. I'm not brave enough to booktube - that and it's difficult to get a quiet moment here with family lurking around - so for now written answers will have to suffice! #1 - Do you have a certain place for reading at home? Most of my reading is done in bed, although when I have a particularly gripping book on the go I have been known to carry it with me around the house and read it anywhere I get the chance to! #2 - Do you use a bookmark or a random piece of paper? I have loads of bookmarks but they always seem to just disappear when I need them! I use tickets, old lists, basically anything that I have to hand when I need one. If I manage to actually find a bookmark even better. #3 - Can you just stop reading or does it need to be at the end of a chapter or a certain number of pages? The end of a chapter, always. Unless of course I fall asleep mid sentence, which I very often d...

Lady Guinevere wants to marry for love, and intends to fight for this right as the kings of the neighbouring realms fight literally over her - for her hand in marriage brings with it land and riches. King Melwas arrives to take her hand by force, and it falls to King Arthur to save the day, although it is a certain Sir Lancelot that captures Guinevere's attention. Lancelot is unsurprisingly dark, handsome and brooding - the perfect hero - whilst Arthur with his 'halo' of blonde hair is the epitome of flattery and charm, with more than just a touch of arrogance. However it seems that Arthur's intentions are honourable, and Guinevere has an important decision to make, one that will affect not only her life but the lives of her people... I have always loved anything to do with the King Arthur legend, so was very excited to spot this book for free on the kindle store! With a gorgeous cover and an interesting spin on the age old love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere and La...

After a humiliating first season as a debutante, Dianna Trowl is back and determined to bag herself a husband- even if she has to break social convention to do so. Lord Southridge longs for nothing more than a woman who stands out from the crowd, one who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Determined to find himself a wife this season it seems as if all his prayers have been answered the minute that Dianna walks into the ballroom... This is a short and sweet historical romance, and as an introduction to Vayden's work it worked a treat. Southridge is just perfect - tall, blue-eyed and charismatic- whilst Dianna is a quirky heroine. I liked how even in such a short story we got narrative from both of their perspectives, it made it seem all the more romantic. 4/5 stars: a wonderful little read that I would recommend to any historical romance fan. This book is available for FREE on Amazon UK and was read as part of the Clean Out Your e-Reader Challenge 2014.

Clara Carter loves poetry, and dreams of going to Vassar college to further her education. However her interfering aunt has other ideas. Franklin De Vries, the city's most eligible bachelor is back in town and it is her intention for Clara to marry him. Forced to debut a year early, Clara along with her best friend Lizzie, are primped and preened and squeezed into corsets. Clara's lessons change overnight from maths, science and languages into dancing, social etiquette and small talk, and she dreads the impending season. Her training pays off and Clara is soon the talk of the society-pages, but all that she wants is to be free to make her own choices in life and love, particularly as Franklin isn't exactly Prince Charming. Set in New York's Gilded Age, She Walks in Beauty is as much a coming of age story as a romance, as Clara faces an internal battle between following the rules and forging her own path. It was the title of this novel that first drew me to it; in my mi...

Kaliyah Simon is a book blogger who owns seven hundred and seventy seven books. Sound familiar? After a very public break up with her boyfriend she is home from college for the summer with every intention of spending it without male company. That is until her arch-nemesis Isaiah Winters bumps into her at the airport and suddenly seems to want to be friends. Reunited with her old friends, Kaliyah's life reverts to that of her school years, complete with high-school crushes and gossip galore. Sun, sand and pool parties combine to make this summer one that Kaliyah will never forget. This is a take on the age old tale of girl thinks she hates boy, girl actually loves boy, yet it is told with enough sincerity to avoid it being cheesy. Kaliyah as a character was entirely relatable, and the story is told with refreshing honesty from her point of view. It's pretty clear from the outset how this novella is going to end, but that's not a bad thing. 4/5 stars: A short and sweet, if a ...

I've only been blogging for a few months, but have always been an avid reader. My kindle app is full of downloads from amazon's free bestsellers list to the point where I've had to ban myself from looking! (I used to check the list at least once a day to make sure I didn't miss any exciting new additions, I think I was genuinely addicted!) Then I discovered NetGalley and the problem started all over again. I wasn't expecting to be accepted to review as many books as I have been, and my feedback to approval ratio is only 5.9%.  The Clean out your e-Reader Challenge gives you the chance to read the books that have been sitting around for months waiting to be read. Click on the picture above to sign up and take on the challenge with me :) Goal: Spring Clean - 5 to 9 eBooks I've looked through my lists, and here are some of the books that I'm hoping to get through:  Deceptive (On the Run #3)  - Sara Rosett (NetGalley) "A picture may be worth a thousand wor...