Those who know me are aware that I love reading romance books and that Lisa Kleypas is an auto-buy author for me. I devoured her books, be it historical (Devil in Winter and Dreaming of You) or contemporary (Sugar Daddy and Blue-Eyed Devil). I enjoy reading her series and The Hathaways is no exceptions. I've read both Mine Till Midnight and Seduce Me at Sunrise and Tempt Me at Twilight, the third book in the series, is just on my bedside table, waiting to be read. I love this series that's why I'm so excited when Lisa Kleypas announced that the final two books in the will come out this summer.
Title: Married by Morning
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Series: The Hathaway Series (Book #4)
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 25 May 2010
Paperback: 352 pages
Fantastic Fiction Summary:
For two years, Catherine Marks has been a paid companion to the Hathaway sisters—a pleasant position, with one caveat. Her charges’ older brother, Leo Hathaway, is thoroughly exasperating. Cat can hardly believe that their constant arguing could mask a mutual attraction. But when one quarrel ends in a sudden kiss, Cat is shocked at her powerful response—and even more so when Leo proposes a dangerous liaison.
Leo must marry and produce an heir within a year to save his family home. Catherine’s respectable demeanor hides a secret that would utterly destroy her. But to Leo, Cat is intriguing and infernally tempting, even to a man resolved never to love again. The danger Cat tried to outrun is about to separate them forever—unless two wary lovers can find a way to banish the shadows and give in to their desires….
Title: Love in the Afternoon
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Series: The Hathaway Series (Book #5)
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 29 June 2010
Paperback: 352 pages
Fantastic Fiction Summary:
As a lover of animals and nature, Beatrix Hathaway has always been more comfortable outdoors than in the ballroom. Even though she participated in the London season in the past, the classic beauty and free-spirited Beatrix has never been swept away or seriously courted.and she has resigned herself to the fate of never finding love. Has the time come for the most unconventional of the Hathaway sisters to settle for an ordinary man - just to avoid spinsterhood?
Captain Christopher Phelan is a handsome, daring soldier who plans to marry Beatrix's friend, the vivacious flirt Prudence Mercer, when he returns from fighting abroad. But, as he explains in his letters to Pru, life on the battlefield has darkened his soul - and it's becoming clear that Christopher won't come back as the same man. When Beatrix learns of Pru's disappointment, she decides to help by concocting Pru's letters to Christopher for her. Soon the correspondence between Beatrix and Christopher develops into something fulfilling and deep.and when Christopher comes home, he's determined to claim the woman he loves. What began as Beatrix's innocent deception has resulted in the agony of unfulfilled love - and a passion that can't be denied.
I haven't read any novels written by Kristin Hannah but I've heard many good reviews about her books. I have True Colors on my shelf and I'm planning to get Firefly Lane next. I truly enjoy reading stories about women, their friendship and their journey.
Title: Firefly Lane
Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: 05 Feb 2008
Paperback: 528 pages
Fantastic Fiction Summary:
"Not since Iris Dart's Beaches...has there been a story of friendship that endures everything, from girlhood dramas to bitter betrayal, to be the touchstone in two women's lives. In Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah creates the most poignant of reunions and an unforgettable story of loyalty and love." - Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
To the people around them they were known as Kate and Tully or the Firefly Lane Girls. A single, inseparable unit. On the surface they were as opposite as two people could be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret home life that is destroying her. Yet they are best friends who swear they'll be there for each other, and for thirty years that promise holds strong - until events and choices in their lives make that promise impossible.
Firefly Lane is a novel for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba. It's a novel for anyone who ever had someone who knew you better than you know yourself. It's more than a coming-of-age novel - it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you - and knows what has the power to hurt and heal you.
I promised myself to make 2010 a year of reading more historicals and one of the books in my list is The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick. I haven't read any of her books before but this one might be a good start.
Title: The Greatest Knight: The Unsung Story of the Queen's Champion
Author: Elizabeth Chadwick
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: 03 Nov 2005
Paperback: 560 pages
Fantastic Fiction Summary:
Based on fact, this is the story of William Marshal, the greatest knight of the Middle Ages, unsurpassed in the tourneys, adeptly manoeuvring through the colourful, dangerous world of Angevin politics to become one of the most powerful magnates of the realm and eventually regent of England. From minor beginnings and a narrow escape from death in childhood, William Marshal steadily rises through the ranks to become tutor in arms to the son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. A champion on the tourney field, William must face the danger and petty jealousy targeting a royal favourite. Dogged by scandal, banished from court, his services are nevertheless sought throughout Europe and when William's honour is vindicated, he returns to court and wins greater acclaim and power than before. A crusader and the only knight ever to unhorse the legendary Richard Coeur de Lion, William's courage and steadfastness are rewarded by the hand in marriage of Anglo-Irish heiress Isobel de Clare, 19 years old, the grandaughter of kings and his equal in every way.