Margaret George

I want to talk about an author who has written some of my favorite keepers.
Margaret George.

I found her books when the television show The Tudors first came out on HBO and I was in the mood for fiction books from that era. I found "The Autobiography of King Henry VIII" I was a bit put off by the cover, afraid it was going to be a stuffy historical tome with little to offer in the way of entertainment. I was wrong. I LOVED the book. It spans his entire life, from birth to death. There were times in the book I'd run across something so outrageous I knew it had to be fiction so I'd google historical information on his life and always, these things were recorded as historical fact. How she ties real history with a fictionalized account of his life is very skillful and entertaining.
From what info I could find, The Autobiography of King Henry VIII was originally published in 1986















After I finished King Henry's book I knew I had found an author whose storytelling I liked,so I sought out her other books. The next of her books I read was Helen of Troy. This book is described on Margaret George's website as "A lush, seductive novel of the legendary beauty whose face "launched a thousand ships" Lush is the perfect descriptive word. It's told in Helen's voice and the book captivated my attention from the first page.
Helen of Troy was originally published in 2006


My absolute favorite of her books is the one I read next. "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" I've never traveled anywhere farther than a day long car trip till I'd read this book. I went to Egypt, Alexandria, Rome! It is so vivid and engrossing that I really felt carried away. It was a shock to raise my eyes from the book for a moment and be in my own house instead of the places Cleopatra was at. I really can't brag on this book enough. I adore it.
From the author's website: "Told in the first person -- from the young queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world--this is a mesmerizing saga of ambition and power."
The Memoirs of Cleopatra was first published in 1997













Mary Queen of Scots From the author's website " She became Queen of Scots when she was only six days old. Life among the warring factions in Scotland was dangerous for the infant Queen, however, and at age five Mary was sent to France to be raised alongside her betrothed, the Dauphin Francois. Surrounded by all the sensual comforts of the French court, Mary's youth was peaceful, charmed, and when she became Queen of France at the age of sixteen, she seemed to have all she could wish for. But by her eighteenth birthday, Mary was a widow who had lost one throne and had been named by the Pope for another. "

This was enjoyable after reading King Henry VIII's story. Also, it's worth reading because her current project is on the latter part of Elizabeth the First's reign.
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles was originally published in 1992








I started not to read Mary Called Magdalene . Simply because ancient biblical characters who are barely mentioned in the bible usually aren't portrayed very historically accurate or portrayed without some kind of religous agenda. I am glad I read it because again, it was an engrossing read, the author took me to biblical times, enriched what little knowledge I had of what commerce, industry, cities were like then.

From the author's website: "Hallmarked by bestselling author Margaret George's dazzling mix of history and creativity, Mary, Called Magdalene is George's most ambitious work yet. Brilliantly grounded in both biblical and secular historical research, it depicts Mary of Magdala in the first hundred years of the first millennium-even as it peels away layers of legend. Testaments, letters, and narrative convincingly capture Mary's immediate and moving voice as she becomes part of the circle of disciples and comes to grips with the divine. "
Mary Called Magdalene was originally published in 2002


If you haven't read Margaret George's books you really are missing out on some excellent stories.Next up like I mentioned above is a book on the latter part of Elizabeth the First's reign.

From the website : "I am currently working on a novel about Elizabeth I in the latter part of her reign. Recently historians have been calling it almost a second reign, very different from the first reign, a sort of film noir version of the earlier one, with a whole new cast of characters and a fin de siecle feeling to it. I am enjoying exploring this idea, which has barely been hinted at in other books and movies. Those tend to focus on the Essex episode, but only as a romance and not as a symptom of something deeper.

And, of course, much of what we think of as "The Elizabethan Age" really did not get underway until near the end of her reign: the theatre, the colonies in the New World, and the brilliant writers---Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, Spenser, and Jonson. It certainly is a time that deserves its own special treatment."

But what I am REALLY excited about and eagerly anticipating is this from her Wikipedia page. "After the publication of her Elizabeth novel, George plans on writing a novel about Boudicca, highlighting Boudicca's conflict with Rome and Nero."

That will be an INCREDIBLE story to read when it's written by someone with the skill Margaret George has. It isn't mentioned on her website anywhere that I could see but I hope the wikipedia page is accurate. I want that book !!!!

These are the kind of keepers that I'd LOVE autographed first editions that I'd never let anyone touch. They could touch my reader copies, but not those!

Christine Feehan "Hidden Currents" DNF

What to say about Hidden Currents of the Drake Sister series?
It is the final Drake Sister book. Elle's story.
I seriously have to wonder if Feehan wrote this herself or had some freakish true crime, rape fetish author write it.
I read 65 pages into it and it's full of non consensual bdsm control,rape and sexual torture scenes that are more graphic than anything I've ever read in any genre of books, fiction and non fiction.

The bondage and rape scenes are horrifying and if you've ever been raped has the potential to trigger some post traumatic symptoms easily.The oral rape/ murder scene is just too nasty graphic to be in a mass market "romance". The heroine "Elle" is so abused that I couldn't stomach reading the entire book to see if she saves herself or more likely her Feehan he-man saves her. Frankly, after that kind of rape and abuse and mind fuck, she'd need a few years of intense therapy just to be able to function at all let alone have a normal sexual relationship!


I was very disappointed that the Drake sister saga ends without me being able to stomach finishing the last book but it is. Between Burning Wild and Hidden Currents I think I know better than to purchase a Feehan novel ever again.
She used to write such good stories but now seems to just go into a dark gutter and pull out the nastiest trash she can type instead of developing a plot. If you read the first Drake Sister novel and then read the last, you'd never in a million years think they were written by the same author.

F Rating , Did NOT finish, repulsed and PTSD'd enough to want refund for every Feehan book I ever purchased!

Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert

Very VERY rarely will I pick up a memoir. In fact, I cannot think of any I've ever read before off the top of my head. I certainly think that Melissa Gilbert is too freaking young to be writing HERS. I picked this book up at Target just to glance thru it and started reading and couldn't put it down. So Thanks Melissa Gilbert, I shot my 25 dollar monthly book budget pretty much all on you. Since I read the book in one sitting, I enjoyed it enough to say I'm ok with that!


The memories of Melissa's life are like a fading snapshot of Hollywood history. Her parents and grandparents were part of Hollywood history and she mentions many Hollywood icons in her book that were part of her life in one way or another. It was a rare glimpse of mentions of people that are loved by many of us but who've passed on in the past 40 years or so. Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly, even Groucho Marx to name a few.

She of course speaks of her years on the Little House show, her co stars etc. I was struck both by how deep some of the relationships seem, how deeply she loved/loves some of the people she worked with but yet too, how easily they move on and away from each others lives. I don't think that negates the love, it's just a different way of life I guess.

She really does well in capturing the feel of the 70s and 80s. She also expresses well the simplicity of a sheltered childhood that morphs into complex confusing world of adulthood that many can identify with.

I had to laugh at how much she talks about her mom with affection but with some exasperation and criticism but yet in one passage I cringed for her son when she is speaking of part of her life with Rob Lowe and says " Now I'm a fourty-four-year-old woman with a nineteen-year-old son, and I don't know how any guy that age would say no. Boys that age are walking erections."
I can almost hear her kids " GEEZE MOM!!!" Hahaha

There are some beautiful photographs shared in the book. It's like a time machine looking at the photos, the hair styles, the actors that were in my home over the years on my television set. I really enjoyed those and more could have been included.

Overall,this was a very enjoyable read. Nothing earth shattering revealed, just a very well written journey of time passing thru Melissa Gilbert's life, a real sense of the warmth between her and her mom, her love for her siblings, the pain of having an estranged sibling and a too distant relationship with a son. Also a glimpse of the people who've helped her art evolve and her own determination to sort through everything to figure out what she wants, what her priorities are and how to slay her demons.

As I said earlier,as eventful as her life has been, she's too young to be writing a memoir and that is very apparent in the final chapters of the book. They lack the keener perception and clarity of her memories of her first 35 years. Like she's still wading thru the muck of the past 10 years and hasn't shaken all the dust off to see it as clearly as her earlier years.


I'd sum the book up as an excellent read. The suggested title list at the end of the book was a wonderful ending. She left me laughing out loud! My suggested title of course would be something along the lines of "I'm too fucking young for a memoir but I needed the money!"

Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

I have spent a few days reading Naamah's Kiss. I read voraciously and quickly but this book was meant to be savored. It's one of those big enjoyable long reads that you don't run across often enough.

Part of the book is set in the world created in the previous two trilogies Terre D'Ange and Alba but 100 years later than the last of Imriel's books "Kushiel's Mercy". The story features Moirin, a descendant Princess Alais, a descendant of Amarante, Princess Sidonie's companion and a descendant of the Maghuin Dhonn an old magical tribe of Alba.

Moirin has grown up in the wilds of Alba with her mother and the author really captures the isolation and the societal curiosities and ignorance it would cause a young girl to experience.

I could feel the author reining herself in so as to keep Moirin from becoming as epic a character as Phedre from the first trilogy. Phedre was a weapon of the Gods and a legend. Moirin is very much a descendant of legend, a simple girl with magical gifts she doesn't fully understand. The Gods use her but not so much as a weapon, more as a tool. Her guidance from her Gods are clearer than Phedre's ever were and even though Moirin doesn't understand why, she does understand when she's directed to one path or another. Her joy in discovering and using her gifts is sweetly written. Her spiritual growth is such a great read that it makes you wish it were that simple. If you take out the very graphic, HOT love scenes, this would have been an awesome young adult novel. It's full of magic and has a fairy tale feel to it. But, I'm not a young adult so I totally enjoyed the hot love scenes. This isn't a romance, Moiran is part D'Angeline, whose precept is to "love as thou wilt" and this wild child "wilt's" a LOT!

The author retained her skill in how she creates characters that are not wholly evil or good. This is a very good writing skill, it's too easy for authors to portray bad guys as totally bad and good guys as totally good. The bad guys in this book have reasons and justifications for their actions and the good guys make mistakes and sometimes make wrong choices for the wrong reasons too.

As I said earlier this book is set 100 years after the last trilogy and about the time I noticed the lack of any kind of advancements in technology/ industry the author introduced various things that were believable improvements in things such as travel and in warfare. The decision to keep growth or destroy it is conflicting. It raises many questions as to the ethics of the decisions made in the story. I didn't agree with all of them but it's the first book of a trilogy, some of these questions and scenarios are going to feature in the next two books I'm sure.

The story has a great geographical scope, from Alba to Terre D'Ange to Ch'in. A beautifully described Asian nation based on China. If you like Asian fables the last 1/4 of this book is especially wonderful to get lost in. I loved it. The beauty of the people, their lore and most especially the landscape and scope of the country were awesome.


The character Bao was great, once he accepted Moiran for who and what she was, his joy in being part of her life was palpable. How to describe Bao? Well, if the characters Josselin and Hyacinthe from the former books were to have a child it would be Bao. He is a streetwise boyish snot, a warrior and a romantic hero all wrapped up in a lovable sexy package.

I am conflicted about the Celestial Dragon that Moirin is supposed to help free. He is a complex character. Celestial and mighty but physically a prisoner of his own instincts, a sexual creature and also described as childish or a puppy. He is however a vividly described creature who really brings myth to life.


I kept wanting to read about previous characters and they ARE mentioned some in the book but as legend or history. I kept wanting to read how they lived, what other adventures did they have, how did they die, did they even HAVE to die, can't they be written as still alive???? Oh well, this wouldn't be Moirin's book if all that were included would it?
You can read Naamah's Kiss as a stand alone book if you haven't read the previous two trilogies but why wouldn't you have read the previous two? They are great reads!

Jacqueline Carey's website can be found here . An excerpt of Naamah's Kiss is here. And the book's official release is June 24th but I got my copy from Barnes and Noble's already. So it's available and totally worth the hard back price!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

I am L O V I N G Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey.
Will be posting a long long review/comment soon which will probably include spoilers. This is a GOOD book folks.

The Proviso, By Moriah Jovan

Mariah Jovan noticed me whining about being out of books and was so nice to send me a box of books and after some urging, agreed to send me "The Proviso" too. (Insert happy dance here.)



The Proviso:





Maybe you remember when you learned the truth about Santa Claus? There are a few religions that sometime in your life you're going to learn the truth about and the only thing I can liken it to is Santa. The day you realize that the things you thought were reality your whole lifetime, you suddenly see are fiction to some degree or another. You live for years thinking there is real evidence that this is TRUTH but eventually, like Santa, you realize that evidence may be here because men put it here not by any God. You live with the "if this isn't real then what else isn't?" kind of panic. Or you could simply find you've grown but the religion hasn't grown for centuries and somehow you have to be the kind of person that will let the religion's ideals and agenda become your own or you try to move on without the religion and try to live with the residual guilt, fears and family fallout.

The Proviso deals with several people who are in different stages or different levels of disillusionment with the Mormon faith. This isn't the main plot of the story but it is a very well written sub plot that makes Giselle, Sebastian, Knox and Bryce some of the most vivid characters I've read in a long time. It's also to the author's credit that specific LDS bashing doesn't occur in the book.


To touch on just 2 characters in the book:

Bryce had believed it all, he thought if he did everything "right" he'd live a blessed life. After he loses more than anyone should ever lose, he's understandably bitter and moves on from organized religion. He has a powerfully symbolic scene where he burns his Temple recommend slip that if you've ever moved on from something like a religion or a lifetime of some kind of belief will really be a moving scene to you. He has a sexually dominant personality that is very well written considering how easily someone who has been raised in a male dominated religion can take that personality and become abusive with it.

Giselle has lived life as a Mormon in her own way. She's technically a virgin that is kissing 40 years old. She's a complicated woman who has a submissive sexual personality but that's pretty much the only thing submissive about her. Her character kicks ass. Giselle and Bryce are very very good together!

The other main characters are Knox and Sebastian but Bryce and Giselle are my favorites!


The book is a long one at 700 pages, and does suffer at times with what I thought was too many characters to keep up with. But once the underlying plot started taking place of Uncle Fen's attempts to keep control of the family business and how the rest of the characters fit, it all started coming together for me. When I reached the final chapters of the book I realized how necessary all the characters were for the climax of the story.

The tension of the love scenes is H O T. If you've ever read erotica that deals with the sexual dominance/submission lifestyle and were disappointed because it was all "spank my ass and call me Sir" without any of the deeper mindsets that make up a real Dom/Sub relationship, I think you'll find these relationships more satisfying. How does someone with sexual tendancies outside the norm handle it within the confines of religous restrictions? How do they marry morality with normal human sex drives? How do they even begin to deal with sexual urges outside the norm ? All these things are addressed well in the book in multiple ways, because one of the first things you learn when you get disillusioned from a "THIS WAY IS THE ONLY WAY" kind of religion is that variations in thinking, different beliefs, different likes,dislikes and different life paths exsist and when you realize that those different paths are open to you then there are a lot of issues to overcome internally and a lot of fun to have externally!

This is definitely not light reading but if you like complex characters,detailed relationship building romance, very strong sexual tension,thought provoking family dynasty stories then this is a good long satisfying read.

I commented mostly on the Mormon aspect of the book but it really isn't a Mormon book, it's just the part of the book that affected me most. The offical synopsis is:

Knox Hilliard's uncle killed his father to marry his mother and gain control of the family's Fortune 100 company. Knox is set to inherit the company on his 40th birthday, provided he has a wife and an heir, but he never really wanted it in the first place. Now, after his bride is murdered on their wedding day and his backup bride poses such a threat to their uncle that he's tried to kill her--twice--Knox refuses to fulfill The Proviso at all. Then he meets a woman he may not be able to resist long enough to keep her safe. His cousin, notorious and eccentric financier Sebastian Taight, would have raided the company long ago simply to destroy his despised uncle. For Knox's sake, he did nothing--until their cousin Giselle barely escaped assassination. The gloves come off, but Sebastian may have jumped in too deep, as the SEC steps in, then Congress threatens to get involved. Giselle Cox struggles under the weight of having exposed the affair that set her uncle s plot in motion--twenty years ago. As Knox's childhood sweetheart, she's also the most convenient way for Knox to inherit. Their uncle has twice tried to eliminate her, leaving her bankrupt and hoping to get through Knox's 40th birthday alive. None of them want the company, but two people have been murdered for it and Giselle is under constant threat because of it. What they want now is justice, but as embroiled as they are in their war, the last thing they expect to find on the battlefield is love.

Moriah Jovan's website is HERE. The Proviso can be purchased HERE thru the publisher HERE or at Amazon.com.

This is the first in a series of books. The next is "STAY" due out later this year.
The author can be followed on Twitter .

Working on new blog

This blog address is http://luvfreebooks.blogspot.com and titled "Rebyj's Reading" I am working on http://rebyjsreading.blogspot.com/ I'm going to shut this one down and move over there once I get it to what I want it to be. May take a few days but eventually I'll get it done. I wish I knew more about layouts and stuff, the blogspot ones bore me.