The Fortune Hunter - Daisy Goodwin

Date Started: 1/21/15
Date Finished: 1/23/15

This was a fun read. I'd seen that this book had received some publicity - maybe I saw it in People magazine (?) - and when I saw it at the library I thought why not.

Here's the book info (spoilers after the jump:

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, is the Princess Diana of nineteenth-century Europe. Famously beautiful, as captured in a portrait with diamond stars in her hair, she is unfulfilled in her marriage to the older Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi has spent years evading the stifling formality of royal life on her private train or yacht or, whenever she can, on the back of a horse.

Captain Bay Middleton is dashing, young, and the finest horseman in England. He is also impoverished, with no hope of buying the horse needed to win the Grand National—until he meets Charlotte Baird. A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte falls in love with Bay, the first man to really notice her, for his vulnerability as well as his glamour. When Sisi joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Astonish Me - Maggie Shipstead

Date Started: 1/16/15
Date Finished: 1/18/15

As a youngish pre-teen I took some ballet - as part of my gymnastics training. Supposed to make us more flexible and graceful. In any case, I think because of this training I have a particular interest in books that deal with ballet. This one in particular sounded interesting...a ballet professional who has a son who becomes an even bigger ballet star. Here we go - spoilers ahead!

The Last Passenger - Manel Loureiro

Date Started: 1/12/15
Date Finished: 1/15/15

Interesting premise this one...a Nazi ghost ship found in 1939 is empty...except for an infant. Bad things happen to those who enter the ships in the years after the war, even when it was in dry dock. Then it's purchased by an eccentric millionaire, who spares no expense to make the ship sea-worthy - and ready to travel on the exact itinerary as it's first journey. What could go wrong?

'Twas the Night After Christmas - Sabrina Jeffries

Date Started: 1/10/15
Date Finished: 1/11/15

We do a lot of prank gifts at our house during the holidays. This book was one such prank gift. All you really have to do is look at the cover to see why...picture here. Anywho, I wanted something light and frothy after the last book and figured why not read the prank book?

Surprise, it was a fun read!

The Scent of Death - Andrew Taylor

Date Started: 1/6/15
Date Finished: 1/9/15

This was a library pick. A quick library pick - as I was being hurried by my husband. I thought it sounded intriguing and liked that it was sent during the Revolutionary War, so why not.

Reader beware:

This is a very slow book. That's not a knock against it, just something to know as you get into the plot. You are going to wait quite a while for things to really pick up, and even then, it's not until the concluding chapters of the book that you really get anywhere. Oh, you can guess about what's going on and sure, there are spies involved, but you won't really be able to "solve" the mystery because there isn't enough information to allow you to do so. Again, that's not necessarily a disappointment, just something to be aware of.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Hook's Revenge - Heidi Schulz

Date Started: 12/30/14
Date Finished: 1/4/15

This is a truly inventive story, wherein we find out that Captain James Hook had a child (Jocelyn) who is in the midst of an identity crisis of sorts when her inheritance, to avenge her father's death, is discovered.