The Everlasting

Finished May 21

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

This fantasy book tells an interesting story. In the country of Dominion, Sir Una Everlasting is the greatest historical hero, a young woman who took revenge on those who killed her own father after drawing a sword from the trunk of a tree. She was then recruited by a queen for whom she fought many battles, overcoming other threatening nations, and killing all the remaining dragons in the world. 

Owen Mallory is a boy who grew up in Dominion, playing in the woods and reading. He joined the military inspired by Sir Una Everlasting and came home a hero, but changed. He became an historian and when a fabled book about her last quest came into his hands he finds himself transported to her time and a motivating factor in the quest. 

Owen falls in love with Una, not the hero of tales, but the actual woman. She is a physically dominant woman and he is a scholarly man, and the gender roles blur here. Every time their story seems to end, Owen finds himself brought back to the same place in Una's life for a redo, asked to make the story better, the ending more climactic, the legend more legendary. 

But the woman behind this is one without empathy, without thought for the people. The people of Dominion, the people of the other nations Dominion wars with, the ordinary people whose lives are changed for the worse. Una and Owen begin to have memories of their stories and find themselves wanting to own their own stories and not be merely actors in the drama. 

This story speaks to the mindset of colonialism, the lack of empathy for others, and other dramas playing out in our world as well. A thoughtful story that caused me as a reader to pause and consider. 

Can't Help Faking in Love

Finished May 18

Can't Help Faking in Love by Swati Hegde

This contemporary romance novel takes us to India. Harsha Godbole is the child of wealthy parents and niece to a major Bollywood producer, but she never felt close emotionally with her parents. After getting her degree in the United States, Harsha decided to settle in Bangalore rather than her parents' city of Mumbai, and make a living as a photographer. She also decided to leave her trust account untouched and only live off what she made. She goes to Sunstag Café every day for a special drink and to do some work. Her apartment is small and not a place she wants to spend more time in than necessary. She did have a boyfriend from a similar wealthy background, but he has recently dumped her to marry someone his parents chose. There are a couple of family events coming up that she will attend: her aunt and uncle's 25th anniversary party and her cousin Nela's wedding. When she meets Nela and her fiancé by chance one night, she spontaneously introduces Veer Kannan as her boyfriend. Veer is actually a barista as Sunstag who she has a friendly relationship with.

Veer has helped support his family all his life after his father walked out when he was a child. He did go to acting school and worked in Mumbai for a while, even getting a job on a pilot show, but it wasn't picked up. Now he is working to help his mom and his younger brother Arjun. Arjun was accepted into a good business school, but they have cancelled his scholarship without warning and Veer is trying to figure out a way to come up with the tuition money in just a few days. 

So when Harsha asks him to pose as her boyfriend through the next few weeks, offering to pay him, the amount he asks for matches the tuition need. Harsha must use her trust money to pay him, but thinks it is worth it. They agree on a plan of payments and begins spending time together to get to know each other and feel comfortable interacting with each other.

As they grow closer and get to know each other, they also begin to learn more about each other's lives and feelings and the chemistry between them has time to work on them. They learn each other's vulnerabilities and find themselves becoming champions for each other in ways that feel real.

I liked the way the culture was shown without being focused on in a purposeful way. We learn about food, about social worlds, and about their family dynamics. 

Seeing Red

Finished May 14

Seeing Red by Dana Dratch

This is the second book in the A Red Herring Mystery series set around journalist Alex Vlodnachek in New York City. Alex works freelance and she has a new contract covering the leave for one of the city's most read advice columnists. Her new neighbour Ian Sterling who runs a B&B seems to be interested in her on a personal level, and her brother Nick, currently living with her is getting his new bakery business on its feet. When Nick's bakery business is shut down because the kitchen in the house they share doesn't meet commercial standards, she encourages him to approach Ian about using the kitchen at the B&B, and Ian is more than accommodating. 

But then Ian's father goes missing, and Alex wakes up one morning to find a baby in a carseat on her kitchen table. She and Nick don't know who would have broken into their home to do this, but decide to wait and see before involving the authorities. They shop for baby needs and try to keep up with his care, and even come up with a temporary name for him, JB (short for James Bond). But their other responsibilities are still there, and so Nick gets Baba, their grandmother, to come and help with JB. With the advice columnist now camped out on Alex's couch, they have a houseful, and Lucy the dog is involved with all of it. 

As Alex tries to help Ian find out what is happening with his missing father, other people go missing and bodies start appearing in Ian's basement chest freezer. 

I love the crazy antics, the humour, and the moxie of Alex. This was just as good as the first book, and I'm glad I found this fun mystery series. 

Rest and Be Thankful

Finished May 14

Rest and Be Thankful by Helen McInnes

I read many of this author's romantic suspense novels when I was a young woman and enjoyed them, so picked this title up when I saw it fit one of my reading challenges. It is a very different book from the others of hers I've read. First published in 1949, it follows two women, close friend. Their friendship was forged by their experiences during World War II and earlier when Margaret Peel, the older of the two, guided Sarah (Sally) Bly through a very difficult period of her life. 

They are driving across the continental United States, with their driver a middle-aged Hungarian man who goes by the name of Jackson. In Wyoming, the end up in the middle of a cattle drive, and go to the lodge at the ranch the cattle are from. The ranch is owned by Jim Brent, a veteran of the war, as are some of the cowboys who work there. 

They love the atmosphere of the mountains and the lodge itself, built as a family home, but now housing only Jim. Jim is fighting for the ranch's future and when the women ask about buying the lodge to use as an occasional writers' retreat, he agrees.

The women plan for a month-long retreat for that summer when Atherton Jones, a man they know, has his venue fall through. He sends them the information on the writers he planned for and while they have a different idea of how the retreat will work, they do give in to some of his ideas. The group of writers is mixed consisting of both men and women, older and younger people, and people of different political views. 

The life of a ranch and its work is depicted well, as is the landscape of Wyoming. Many of the characters are working their way through their own issues, whether they realize it or not, and we growth in almost all of them. MacInnes' insight into human behaviour shows here, and while in some ways the novel is very much of its time, it also has themes that are more timeless. An enjoyable and thoughtful read.

The Nature of Fragile Things

Finished May 11

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

In 1905 Sophie Whalen is a young immigrant from Ireland sharing a tenement room in New York City with other young women. She answers an advertisement from a San Francisco man, Martin Hocking, who is looking for a wife and a mother to his young daughter Kat. He sends the money for her to take the train west and marries her the day she arrives, but he doesn't push her to have a physical relationship until she's comfortable. Martin works for an insurance company and travels a lot for his job, sometimes being away multiple days at a time.

There are things that cause Sophie to have questions, but she is also happy to be living in the circumstances she is in now. Martin is very handsome and well off enough to live in a nice neighbourhood and well-equipped home. Why would he have to advertise for a wife? Why is Kat so quiet? Is it just the loss of her mother or are there more reasons? Why doesn't Martin introduce her to any of his work colleagues since that was part of the reason he said he needed a wife? What is going on with the second business line that he is suddenly working with? 

More than a year after she arrived in the city, Belinda Bigelow, a young pregnant woman, appears on her doorstep looking for Martin, hoping he has some information on Belinda's husband, but the women soon learn that the connections are closer than expected. As the two women piece together their stories and Kat's history, and make plans to leave, a massive earthquake takes place. They flee the house together with Kat, first to a temporary hospital, then to a city park filled with other refugees from the quake and subsequent fires. Eventually they make their way to Belinda's home south of the city, but soon learn that Martin has been there since she left. Sophie must return to the city to see if Martin is there, and if not, to file a missing persons report. That and the ongoing police interest in the case cause Sophie to worry about her own secrets that she hoped to leave behind. 

A story of relationships, those that mistreat others in a variety of ways, and what women might do to ensure their own safety and the safety of those they care about.

The Summer of You and Me

Finished May 7

The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter

This romance novel also has an element of mystery to it. It's been five years since Maggie's husband Ethan died in an IED explosion. She still mourns him, but is ready to move forward along with her young daughter Zoey. She and Ethan lived a couple hours away from the town they grew up in, and with Ethan's parents on a European vacation, she and Zoey plan to spend the summer at their home. Maggie was friends with Ethan's sister before she and Ethan became involved and his younger brother Josh, now captain and owner of a tour boat, has been extremely supportive. Josh has always had feelings for Maggie and he is hoping that this might be the time to reveal them and see if she also has feelings. But on her first evening in town she spots a man who looks like Ethan's double and soon she and Josh and trying all avenues of investigation to see who he might be. 

The situation might be awkward, but the feelings seem real, and Maggie has grown up in a dysfunctional home that she is still trying to overcome. She wants Zoey's life to be happier than her own childhood, and being with Ethan's family is a big part of the ongoing relationship. 

A romance novel with a few unexpected plotlines gives this novel more depth. The main characters had enough complexity to feel real, particularly Josh. 

The Book Witch

Finished May 2

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

This novel started slow with me, but then became hard to put down. The main character here is Rainy March, who is one of many book witches. Her mother and grandmother were/are as well. Rainy showed early aptitude and has been active since she was fifteen. She is now twenty-five. She lives with her grandfather and their housekeeper, Mrs. Turner, in an old house called Pilcrow House in Fort Meriwether, Oregon. Rainy's mother disappeared for around a year just before she was born, but died shortly after her birth without revealing anything about her father. The only memento she has is an old copy of the first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock. 

This novel has an interesting structure. It is split into seven sections: romance, mystery, fantasy, nonfiction, young adult and horror, thriller, and science fiction. These names are suited to the actions in that section. I liked this sentence from the job description of a book witch "Ideal candidate should be willing to jump into and out of books, short stories, and the occasional epic poem." She travels into and out of books using an umbrella, using the phrase "Our revels are now ended" to exit the book, and is accompanied by her familiar, a Russian Blue cat named Koshka. The leader of her cover is Dr. Regina Fanshawe, who is described as a taller, angrier Judy Dench, and she is very critical of Rainy, often holding up Rainy's mother as an ideal to strive for. 

Like many readers of his books, Rainy has a crush on a book character known as the Duke of Chicago, whose noir mystery stories are set between the World Wars in Chicago. He is an actual English Duke, who came to his title after the death of all three of his brothers in World War One, and he fled his home to deal with his trauma and now works as a private detective. The fans call themselves Duckys. When a situation arises in one of Duke's books requiring a witch to enter the book and resolve it, Rainy insists on going. 

There are eight Black and Whites or rules that witches are expected to follow. These rules include include no eating, drinking, or sleeping within the books they enter as these activities can cause them to forget their own identity and purpose. 

As Rainy breaks one of the rules and becomes romantically attached to the Duke, she is discovered and becomes restricted until her grandfather becomes absent for an extended period and she is determined to find him. Her adventures take her into many other books from Through the Looking Glass, to The Great Gatsby, and to closed theme parks, book burnings, and many more interesting situations. 

There is so much fun and quirkiness in this book that it is definitely one of my favourite reads. Other things I love, such as: Plan C in a situation means crying. 

Other quotes I loved: "Pencils down" and "All stories are love stories if you love stories".