Someone Else’s Love Story

Title: Someone Else’s Love Story
Author: Joshilyn Jackson
Source: from publisher for SheReads book club
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: This book was so good I practically forgot to take notes, with spectacularly unique and believable characters driving a fascinating plot.

Single mother Shandi is deeply, lovingly devoted to her brilliant three year old son, so when the handsome William steps between her son and an armed robber, she immediately loves him too. Unfortunately for Shandi, William is still barely recovering from a devastating tragedy in his life and he has some secrets of his own. Their interaction will help both of them find out what they want and what they need as their lives shift around them.

Queen of the Air

Title: Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus
Author: Dean Jensen
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Fun Fact: The circus could perform for as many as 2.5 million people in a year, meaning famous circus performers were probably the most seen celebrities in the US pre-television.
Review Summary: The era is fascinating, but the drama that made most of the story wasn’t very moving because of the unsympathetic main characters.

Although she began life as the daughter of a poor circus family, Leitzel’s skill as a trapeze artist catapulted her to world-wide fame. This allowed her to become something like circus royalty, making extreme demands of her managers and carrying on illicit affairs that would be grounds for dismissal in others. Her passionate affair with another exceptional trapeze artists, Alfredo Codona was one of the most dramatic events of her drama-filled life.

How The French Invented Love

Title: How the French Invented Love: Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance
Author: Marilyn Yalom
Source: from publisher for a TLC Book Tour
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: A fascinating read, with unbelievable anecdotes and captivating stories. Lacking a cohesive theme, but still interesting, elegant, and insightful.

How the French Invented Love is a history of love in French society, particularly French literature, from around 1100AD to today. The author summarizes classic stories to give you a feel for the era, but leaves out just enough that you desperately want to read the complete work. These glimpses into each era’s literature are spiced up by the addition of true anecdotes from the author’s personal experience in France. Some of these stories are not for the faint of heart, as they include adultery and other even more unusual romantic situations, but there are very few explicit sex scenes included. I would rate this one PG-13.

Bookends About The Dark Queen

Title: The Dark Queen
Author: Susan Carroll
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary:  I wasn’t sure I liked this book at first – as a historical romance, with more sex and a more serious plot than the “chick flick” style romances I occasionally I read, it was a little outside my comfort zone.  But I ended up loving it and the other four books in the series enough that I would definitely read more books like them, partly for the great plot and partly because I’m a sucker for a happy ending 🙂

During the late 16th century in Renaissance France, Ariane Cheney, a daughter of the earth and lady of the faire isle, is duty bound to prevent the misuse of power by other daughters of the earth.  Although the true witches are those she defends against, she also faces the superstitious minds of the time, some of whom would brand her a witch as well.  When a stranger arrives seeking Ariane’s help against the dark queen, Catherine di Medici, even the strong Ariane needs some help.  She has no one to ask but the Comte de Renard, although she hesitates to do so because of both their mutual attraction and her uncertainty his intentions are as straightforward as he would have her believe.