Latest reads

I finished two books this week,one of which was The Bride's Bodyguard by Elizabeth Thornton. Set during the Napoleonic Wars in the early and mid nineteenth century, this book is about young ,wilful and headstrong orphan Tessa Lorimar, who runs away from her legal guardians in London to live with her grandfather, a Paris banker. Here she meets Ross Trevenan, one of the most attractive men that Tessa had ever met. But  from the first, the two are at loggerheads. She finds him infuriating and arrogant whilst Ross thinks she is too headstrong and unconventional. After losing his gentle young wife to a suspected murder, Ross cannot easily find love in the vibrant beauty but against his wishes he has been made Tessa's bodyguard to escort her out of wartorn France, back to England. He had sworn to her grandfather that he would guard her with his life and that he would do anything to keep her safe - even if it meant that he had to marry her! However finding herself a bride to the attractive bodyguard seems more dangerous than any other situation and unknown to Tessa she holds the key to a mystery that goes back to her school days - a girl who drowned in the lake at her school. Nightmares, young women who die in mysterious circumstances and secrets - these are some of the things that taunt Tessa and finally she finds herself in the grip of a vicious murderer who would  do anything to keep his secrets safe. Would Ross be able to guard her and still keep her love? 

This book has all the elements of a good novel - well-drawn characters, a plot that keeps you glued to the pages and plenty of romance. I'd give this book a 4 star rating - a book I found really interesting, with lots of spine-chilling action and yes, plenty of sexy scenes!


The second book I read last week was a Jane Austen spin-off - Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen.  The best thing about this book is that I got it at a mere RM8.00 at the book sale. This is not the ordinary boy meets girl romance though it does have romance in plenty. However I found the writer rather long-winded which made the book  a bit of a bore to finish. Although I've always loved anything to do with Jane Austen and Mr Darcy, this one is a bit slow going. The story is set in post war Britain - just after the second world war, about a young American woman who decides to escape the boredom of her hometown in Pennsylvania, US to look for Pemberley, or the house which was believed to be Pemberley. She did find the house which at one time belonged to the Laceys, (Darcy's).While there she meets an American pilot and begins a relationship with him but at the same time she finds out that the people who have been showing her and telling her about Pemberley and the Darcy family are actual descendants of that family, ie. the Laceys. Maggie (the American girl) is attracted to Michael, son of the family, yet she is also happy with her pilot. As she finds out more and more about Darcy and Elizabeth as well as the rest of the Bennet family, she is also falling in love with the last descendant of that family - Michael. But is it really love or is she only 'in love' with the whole idea of falling in love with Mr Darcy?

I didnt really like the writer's style which is very reminiscent of early 20th century writing.Maybe I'm used to the thrilling and fast paced writing style of more modern writers. The story in itself is interesting and the characters of Maggie and Michael are realistic. Maggie is a romantic yet down to earth type and a person one can believe in.

I'd give this book a 3 star rating. An okay book but nothing to shout about.