Leslie Carrol Review: Royal Pains, Notorious Royal Marriages, and Royal Affairs

Ok, I know it's been awhile since I've updated, but I was finishing up three books. ROYAL AFFAIRS, NOTORIOUS ROYAL MARRIAGES, and ROYAL PAINS all by Leslie Carroll. I figured that since they were all by the same author, I might as well do a review of all of them together.

I finished all three books in a week, so I think that shows just how awesome they were! Carroll has a way of making non-fiction extremely entertaining! I learned so much about different members of royalty, without even realizing I was learning! Her books read like a scandalous magazine. I enjoyed ROYAL PAINS the most, because of the scandals that she wrote about that were absolutely nuts! It seems that all royals were either married to a cousin, insane, riddled with venereal disease, or murderers! I literally could not put the book down! The only complaint that I have is that ROYAL MARRIAGES and ROYAL AFFAIRS have several repeats on the royals. There were several stories in both books that were exactly the same, so I would just skip over them.

I definitely recommend any one of these books to those who are interested in historical fiction. There was so much information given, information that the royal families kept hidden for years. The royal families were always held above the "normal" person, but these books certainly bring them down to earth, and show how many faults they really had. It was fascinating to get an inside view of what really was going on within the royal family, even though it was at times completely shocking.

I got a KINDLE!

My 30th birthday was on Saturday...it feels kind of weird, but I'll get used to it. I keep saying that my 30's HAVE to be better than my 20's!
Anyways, my parents gave me the Kindle 3G. It's really great so far! I still have a ton of paperbacks to read, but I've downloaded a couple free books to the kindle, and bought one cheap book. It's so weird to read from anything but a book, but I can get used to it. It's easy to read, and it's a heck of a lot quicker to order a book to your kindle than it is to order it to your house! I'm sure I won't be able to give up paperbooks completely, but I will definitely be making the most of my kindle!
I recently read Royal Pains by Leslie Carroll, and I'll be reviewing it soon. I'm subbing today, so I can't really concentrate very well. Subbing in Home-Ec at that, kids never take Home-Ec seriously!

ENEMY WOMEN by Paulette Jiles: Review

This was the first book written about the Civil War period that I have read in a couple of years. I flew through the book,  because it was exciting and interesting, only to be disappointed for days by the way it ended, or as I thought, didn't end!

Adair Colley is a young woman living in the near Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Her family is left alone until near the end of the Civil War, because her father decides to stay neutral. Things change when the Union Militia comes to their house and takes her father, and also burns down their house. Adair and her two sisters head out to find out where their father was taken and why. Their brother, who has a crippled arm, joins the Confederate Militia in retaliation. Once Adair and her two sisters arrive at their destination, and go in to ask questions regarding their father, Adair ends up being arrested as a Confederate spy. She had rubbed a family the wrong way on their journey to find her father, and they had also watched her talking to her brother, who was in a confederate like uniform (butternut homespun by that time!) Anyways, this family told the Union officials that she was a spy, and they arrested her and took her to prison in St. Louis. During her time in prison she meets a Union Major, William Neuman. He hates his job, which is to interrogate women to find out if they are spies, and has requested a reassignation to a different unit. Before his change of orders goes through, he tries to convince Adair to admit to some form of spying, so that he can get things over with and set her free. She ends up writing stories about her family and town rather than admitting to any form of spying. He begins to fall in love with her, because of her strong personality and beautiful looks, and she reciprocates his feelings. About the time they realize their mutual feelings for each other, his orders for a change of duty go through, and he is to head South for more fighting. He promises to find her after the war, gives her money, and tells her how to escape. During all of her time in prison, Adair has developed consumption, so her health is not great, but she decides that it's time to make her escape and she does so. She travels South to her home, hoping that after the war her family will all end up back there. Major Neuman ends up in a battle in the South where he is wounded, and is supposed to have his arm amputated, but chooses not to, and instead makes his way to Adair's family home. After a long and hard journey for Adair, she makes her way home, only to find that her home and land has been sold and that her family is not there. She ends up hanging around her old home for awhile, trying to figure out her next move, and all of a sudden she sees Major Neuman nearing the house calling for her. She waits a minute and then gets up to walk toward him. Then it ENDS!

I loved the book, until the end. When the book ended I wanted to throw it against a wall. I was so angry at the NON ending of the book! I'm horrible. I sped through the book, barely putting it down because I wanted so badly for Adair and William to be reunited at the end and for their to be some type of closure. Well, Adair dying of consumption and William most likely dying of a gangrenous arm, was NOT the ending I wanted! I suppose I should be happy that they were reunited at all, even if they were both headed towards death. But, the romantic in me wanted to know what was going to happen with them! Were they going to get married? Were they going to move to Texas and make a home like they planned? Or, were they going to die in each other's arms? I just hate when novels end like that. I want a novel to END, not just kinda end. I hate when I'm really into a novel, and really become attached to the characters, only to be left hanging by not knowing what happened! Even if Jiles had Adair and William embrace at the end, or speak to each other at the end I would have been happy.

It WAS a great book, don't get me wrong. I really had trouble putting it down. I just felt so let down and lost by the way it ended. I have this problem with a lot of books though. When it ends, and I've become attached to the characters, I really want to know how their future turns out. Maybe that's why I stick to historical fiction. In stories about Kings and Queen's, I know how the story ends, so I'm not disappointed when my favorite character gets beheaded or something?

I definitely do recommend the book, because the whole way to the end was full of excitement and adventure. I read it every chance I had, and learned a lot about what was going on in South East Missouri during the Civil War. It also reacquainted me with Civil War fiction, so I can definitely see myself reading more in the near future.

(Excuse any misspellings or typos, I wrote this while substituting! I'll proofread it later!)

TO BE QUEEN by Christy English: REVIEW

This is the second novel that I have read by Christy English, and I can honestly say I was even more into this one than I was THE QUEEN'S PAWN. It took me around four days to finish, and if I hadn't been working at Applebee's so much, I would have finished in two! I loved it!

I was completely drawn into the book by the end of the first chapter. As a reader you are able to glimpse into Eleanor's childhood, and learn where her inner strength came from. She was left without her father or mother, and was still able to bargain for a marriage to the future King of France, Louis VII. She moves on to the Parisian Court, and when her father-in-law dies she becomes Queen of France along with Louis. Their marriage starts out with great hope, but Eleanor soon begins to see that Louis is much too pious for their marriage to ever be a love match. She is disappointed, but she is also strong. I actually felt sad for Louis at points in the novel, because he loves Eleanor so much, but he sees that great love as a sin, so he is unable to consummate their marriage on a regular basis, which after eight  years of marriage leads only to one daughter. Eleanor is faithful to Louis for years, even though there is barely any physical relationship between them. They go on a crusade shortly after their daughter is born, and Louis wants to make it to Jeruselum to pray for a son. During this crusade King Louis' troops are slaughtered when they are taken from behind by the Emperor Manuel of Constantinople's men. Eleanor had gone ahead with her men, so she escaped the attack as did her people. Of course the blame of the slaughter falls on Eleanor's shoulders, because the Parisians despised her already. While the battle was raging Eleanor gets her first taste of true physical pleasure in a very hot, but tasteful love scene between her and her countryman, Baron Rancon. Now that Eleanor has tasted true pleasure, she knows her marriage to Louis is over, and it is just a matter of paying the Pope enough to get the annullment or divorce. The crusade goes on, but they are no longer looking for a war, they are basically on a pilgrimage. They end up at her Uncle Raymond's Kingdom of Antioch, and there is an immediate connection between the two of the, and they eventually consummate their relationship, and she knows the feeling of 'true love.' Of course, they are both married, so there is nothing to do but move on, and he stays in her heart, until later in the novel when she learns of his death and is devestated. By this time they are settled back in the Parisian Court, and she has her first meeting with Henry of Anjou, the future King Henry II, and her future husband. There is an immediate attraction, and Eleanor succombs to his love, and believes he is the perfect match for her because he is the opposite of King Louis. Henry and Eleanor make many promises, and when he leaves to go to win the Kingdom of England back from the usurper, the reader is left with so much hope for their love.

Of course, we all know how Henry and Eleanor end up, but it's nice to believe for a minute that their love lasts a lifetime, and that there is no Rosamund, and that Henry is a fair father, and doesn't hold all power from his sons, but it's not to be.

I was completely drawn to Eleanor. I loved the tone of the novel and Eleanor's voice. Christy English was able to bring Eleanor of Aquitaine to life for me, and it was fascinating to get lost in her world for awhile. As a reader you can truly see how strong Eleanor was mentally and emotionally. She needs only to raise her hand to command the people around her, and she may have had many enemies, but they knew better than to go against her openly, because not only was she powerful, but she also had the love of the King of France.

Once Eleanor's annullment goes through, there is so  much hope for her future. She plans to rule Aquitaine in her own right, and to live her life as a free Duchess. The passionate love she feels for Henry of Anjou during their brief encounter completely changes the path she thought her life would take.

I would recommend both TO BE QUEEN and THE QUEEN'S PAWN to any lover of historical fiction or any lover of reading in general. Eleanor is such a fascinating figure in history to read about, and Christy English knows her facts, and is able to turn historical facts about this time period, into a beautiful and exciting story about Eleanor of Aquitaine's early life.

Of course I suggest you read her first novel (THE QUEEN'S PAWN) as well, because you can't just read about half of her life, as her entire life is full of excitement, intrigue, and of course, scandal. Both books will most definitely become a part of my permanent library collection!

FIRST Giveaway WINNER!

Ok, so I know this is a day late, but I was busy all day yesterday. Anyways, the winner is.... ~enamored soul~ !
Congratulations on winning THE LAST WIFE OF HENRY VIII!!
I was pleasantly surprised at how many people actually entered the giveaway, so I will definitely be doing more in the future!
Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway, and good luck in my future giveaways!!

Finished on Friday & Starting Fresh

I just finished the novel TO BE QUEEN by Christy English. I'm subbing for 7th and 8th grade English right now, so I can't do my review at the moment, plus I want to get the notes I took throughout the novel together before I put my thoughts down in here. I will say though, that it is one of the best novel's I've read in a long time. I really liked Alison Weir's CAPTIVE QUEEN, but TO BE QUEEN eclipses it by far. I honestly felt like I was inside Eleanor of Aquitaine's mind during her early reign with Louis of France. Her enemies became my enemies, her loves mine, and her sorrows my sorrows. It was intense. At times I teared up for her pain, or for Louis' inability to get past his religious fervor to love Eleanor both body and soul. There were also times I found myself laughing out loud at Eleanor's witicisms. Of course this was all due to the  imagination and flowing writing style of Christy English, but to me, it could have been an account of exactly what was going through her head during the time she was alive.

Anyways, as I said I will do a full review this weekend.

I started a new novel today. I'm switching it up a little bit. I've read a lot of historical fiction which takes place during the Tudor's time or before, so I've chosen a novel that takes place during the Civil War to read. I just started ENEMY WOMEN by Paulette Jiles. I was once a huge Civil War buff, and read and watched everything I could get my hands on about the Civil War. Then came the Tudors, followed by Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Borgias. So, I feel it's time to give my old favorite historical fiction era a little of my time! Hopefully it will be completely engrossing, so that I can get through it at a decent rate. THE SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA slowed me down, because I had a little trouble getting through it, but I think I made up time with TO BE QUEEN, because I flew through it due to the amazing writing skill of Christy English.

Oh, and I will be choosing a winner for my FIRST book giveaway later on today, so you still have a little time to enter if you have yet to do so!



ONE more day to enter my FIRST BOOK GIVEAWAY!

That's right! One more day before I choose the winner (via random.org) for my first book giveaway, THE LAST WIFE OF HENRY VIII. So, tell your blogger friends or your real life friends, lol, and make sure to sign up! I will announce the winner on my blog tomorrow, and I will also email the winner in order to get their snail mail address.
In other book news, I have about 50 pages left in TO BE QUEEN by Christy English. When I say I can't put the book down, I'm not lying. The only reason I haven't finished yet is because I worked doubles between substitute teaching and serving at applebees all last week. I have a good feeling I'll finish it by tomorrow and get my review up asap. Reading the book honestly takes me back to the time Eleanor of Aquitaine was alive, and put me right inside her head. While reading the book I get completely lost in Eleanor's thoughts and plans. I get anxious when she's anxious, and feel her excitement at times. It's easy to become completely immersed in this novel, so much so that the world around you ceases to exist...and THAT is the type of book I like! So, as soon as I finish it, the review will be up!

OHHH...and P.S. I asked for a KINDLE 4G for my birthday (April 16th I'll be 30!) And as a first time Kindle user, I hope I can figure it all out. I also hope I'm not disappointed with it, and miss my paperback books, but it's the "new" thing, and moving back an forth across the country means losing books along the way and that I cannot do!