Royal by Danielle Steel – a Review

Royal by Danielle Steel – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Book Depository

 

Description:
As the war rages on in the summer of 1943, causing massive destruction and widespread fear, the King and Queen choose to quietly send their youngest daughter, Princess Charlotte, to live with a trusted noble family in the country. Despite her fiery, headstrong nature, the princess’s fragile health poses far too great a risk for her to remain in war-torn London.

Third in line for the throne, seventeen year-old Charlotte reluctantly uses an alias upon her arrival in Yorkshire, her two guardians the only keepers of her true identity. In time, she settles comfortably into a life out of the spotlight, befriending a young evacuee and training with her cherished horse. But no one predicts that in the coming months she will fall deeply in love with her protectors’ son.

She longs for a normal life. Far from her parents, a tragic turn of events leaves an infant orphaned. Alone in the world, that child will be raised in the most humble circumstances by a modest stable manager and his wife. No one, not even she, knows of her lineage. But when a stack of hidden letters comes to light, a secret kept for nearly two decades finally surfaces, and a long lost princess emerges.

 

 

Review:

Royal by Danielle Steel is another one off her wonderful standalone romance novels. The story begins around 1943 in war torn England, and the King and Queen decide to send their 17-year-old daughter, Charlotte, who suffers from asthma, to a safer place in the country.  Charlotte is the youngest sister of three, and though very headstrong, she is weak and vulnerable.  Charlotte is not happy going to Yorkshire, but the family promises to keep her identity a secret, and she slowly accepts the time she is spending there.  She befriends the son, who works with the horses, which is her passion.  In a short time, they fall in love and when she becomes pregnant, they get married before he is sent overseas. Tragically, her husband is killed, and they keep the secret from her real family.  When Charlotte gives birth, her weakened state, causes her to hemorrhage and she dies. The Yorkshire family tells the royal family about her tragic death, but only says it was due to her asthma, no mention of her being married or her pregnancy.  

Lucy, who was also a member of the household in Yorkshire, but who was also jealous of Charlotte, begins to take care and love baby Annie. Within a short time, the couple both will die months apart, forcing Lucy to find another job, which she will take Annie as her own.  The story now follows Lucy, and young Annie, who loves horses, bringing her close to the stable manager.  Eventually Lucy and Jonathan will marry and bring Annie up together.  They were a happy family, as the years pass, until Lucy knows she is dying, and she tells Jonathan about the papers she hidden, revealing the true nature of Annie, who is rightfully a Royal Princess.

The last half of the story really perks up and I loved watching a happy Annie, and her closeness to her step father, but most of all I loved how everything changed for her.  We get to see the royal family, after a full investigation open their arms to the daughter of Charlotte, which was painful for them.  Alexandra is now the queen, with Victoria, the second sister still having fun playing the field.  Annie is happy to meet all her relatives, and is thrilled to get the chance to work for the Queen’s stables to train horses.   Annie dream is the be a jockey, but it is not allowed for females.  In a few years, she will have the opportunity to do this, and she proves how she excels in handling the horses. It was so much fun to watch the family, especially Annie as she becomes a household name in her endeavors to ride the horses.  

Annie will fall in love with Anthony, her boss’s son, and they were really great together.  Something will separate them, as Annie wants to continue her chance riding in the high stake’s races. I loved Annie the best of all the characters that Steel has given us, though I was not a fan of Lucy early on.

Royal was a wonderful and beautiful love story that spans over 30 years.  I do feel that the beginning was a bit slow, but not for long, as I could not put the book down, since I was enjoying it so much.  The early tragedy, leads to a remarkable enjoyable and fun story, surrounded by the wonderful characters created by Steel.  I wholly suggest you read Royal, so very well written by Danielle Steel.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

Share

Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers – a Review

Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Book Depository

Description:
Welcome to Pecan Valley, where the town may be small but the townspeople will always lend a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Where good times, good humor, and good people will always lead to happily ever after.

Life for Felicity, and her teen children, is finally back on track. After her divorce, she wasn’t sure if her sweet family would ever be the same. But things are good––right up until her ex’s spirited toddler lands on Felicity’s doorstep. If the universe is going to throw lemons at her, thank God she has her best friend, Graham, to help her make lemonade out of them. How did she never notice how kind and sexy he is?

Graham is still recovering from his wife’s death years ago and trying to help his teen daughter get her life together. Who is he kidding? His daughter hates him. Forget lemons––he’s got the entire lemon tree. So when Felicity suggests they join forces and help each other, he’s all in. And suddenly he can’t stop thinking about her as more than just a friend. Too bad their timing couldn’t be worse…

Because life rarely goes as planned. Luckily there are many different kinds of family to hold you together and lift you up…plus maybe even a little love between friends.

 

Review:

Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers is a good solid read.  It has a little of everything in it; drama, romance, ups and downs of life, teen issues, humour, and even death.  I think it’s safe to say this one runs you through the gauntlet of life but in the end love does triumph over all.  Miss Summers writes her story as if she is actually walking down the streets of Pecan Valley and knows each character personally.  As I got more and more into this one, that’s exactly how I felt, as if I were a part of Pecan Valley and I was watching the events of friends and family unfold before my very eyes. It’s the type of story you get invested in for not only the main characters, but the secondary characters as well, and you want everyone to wind up in a good place by books end. 

Both Graham and Felicity are very real characters with real lives, and real life issues.  Felicity and Graham are both struggling with putting their lives back together after they each find themselves single for different reasons; Felicity her husband left her and their children for another women, Graham his wife passed away from cancer leaving him to raise their teen daughter.  Neither have had it easy, but they were always there for each other, but never thought they’d find love again, yet alone finding love with each other.  Their journey to their HEA isn’t easy as it meets with restraints in the form of Felicity’s son Nick, where as Graham’s daughter Dianna  sees right away that they have feelings for each other and thinks they’d be great together and she’d love to be a part of Felicity’s family.  Thanks to Felicity’s son their romance falls off the tracks for a bit but thanks to his aunt Charity, his sister and Dianna, he finally sees what they all see and realizes he needs to help fix the situation and does so in the end with everyone’s help.  Along the way Nick also comes to terms with his new baby brother and winds up loving him even more then he thought.  Yes I know the main focus of this story is about Felicity and Graham, but seeing Nick go through his transformation from hating is dad for everything he did and caused to his family brought a raw and realness to the story that once again made you connect to another character in the story on a different level.  There were also a few other mini stories going on beyond Nick’s.  You had Honour and Owen’s young love story, Felicity’s sister Charity coming back home single and pregnant and reconnecting with her old flame Officer Martinez, just what was up with them in the past and where could their story go??  One can only guess until their story is hopefully written.

As I said at the beginning of my review, Accidentally Family is a good solid read from beginning to end.  It’s the kind of story that gets you invested in not only the main couple but everyone else involved.  Yes there we some very raw and serious moments in this one, but Miss Summers balanced everything out with some humourous and fun scenes as well. 

Until next time, happy reading everyone!!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

Share

The Magnolia Sisters by Michelle Major – Review, Excerpt & Q&A

The Magnolia Sisters by Michelle Major – Review, Excerpt & Q&A

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / Book Despository / Google Play / Apple

 

Description:
An inheritance brought her to Magnolia, but love just might keep her there…

Avery Keller arrives in Magnolia, North Carolina, with one aim: collect her inheritance and quickly put the quirky town in her rearview mirror. But the father who didn’t acknowledge her when he was alive has left Avery a mess to sort through—along with two half sisters she’s never met and a gorgeous single dad living next door. Soon her plan to keep this colorful, close-knit community at a distance gets complicated….

Grayson Atwell has rescued plenty of people in his firefighting career. His work and his little girl, Violet, are his entire world and there’s no time for anything—or anyone—else. But the vulnerability beneath Avery’s prickly facade brings out a fiercely protective side of him. Despite her protests, Gray can see that Avery’s falling under Magnolia’s spell—just like he’s falling for her. Now the only question is: How can he convince her to give them both a chance at forever?

 

 

Review:

The Magnolia Sisters by Michelle Major is a wonderful small-town romance that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I expect this will be a series.   Avery Keller, our heroine, arrives in Magnolia to claim an inheritance from a father she never knew.  Avery is coming off of an emotional breakup with a boyfriend who she didn’t know was married, and upon arrival comes across as embittered and snarky.  All she wants is her money and to leave and start a new life elsewhere.

Grayson (Gray) Atwell, our hero and a firefighter, meets Avery at the local coffee shop and finds her a bit nasty.  Gray does find Avery attractive, despite her attitude, but he has no plans to become involved, as he has a young daughter, Violet, who is his number one priority.

Avery meets the other two women, who also share the inheritance, and who are her half- sisters (Carrie & Meredith) that neither of them knew anything about; but they all have one thing in common…their despair over the deceased father, who kept all those secrets.   They both grew up in Magnolia, though never really friends.  When Avery talks about selling, both of the girls do not want to sell, and will work on Avery to think about changing and fixing things in Magnola, as well as convince her to stay. I loved how in a short time, Avery began to become close to Carrie and Meredith, opening up her battered heart to having a family for the first time in her life.  But convincing her to stay is a difficult proposition, especially when she finds herself falling hard for Gray, and in time his daughter. 

What follows is a wonderful heartwarming story with both Carrie and Meredith becoming very close to Avery, and making such a great team.  They also play a big part in helping Avery face the fact that she has fallen in love with Gray, which also included Violet.  I loved how they all bonded to make sure that Avery knew her life belonged in Magnolia with all of them. 

The Magnolia Sisters was written so very well by Michelle Major, with so many wonderful characters; Avery, Carrie, Meredith, Gray, Violet and many of the townsfolks.  I look forward to the next book in this series, which I expect to be about Carrie.  Cannot wait, as I loved everyone in Magnolia. I suggest you start with series by reading The Magnolia Sisters.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 


The house was one of the oldest in Magnolia, with ten-foot ceilings even on the second floor. That fact gave the room an open feel, despite how crowded it was. But it wasn’t going to make it any easier to get Avery unstuck.
“Gray’s here,” Carrie called, and Gray saw the legs go tense.
“I’m fine.” Avery’s tone was exasperated but he could hear the thread of pain in it. “I don’t need help.”
“Where’s the attic?” he asked Carrie.
She backed out of the bedroom and pointed to an open doorway across from the main staircase. “I warned her not to go up there.”
“This isn’t the time for ‘I told you so,’” Avery shouted.
Carrie gave him a look and lowered her voice. “Get her out, Gray. She’s irritating as hell, but I can’t have her hurt in this mess of a house.”
“She’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “I’m going to try to make this work from above instead of below. I’ll need reinforcements if we’re going to move the furni¬ture. That’ll take too long.”
He climbed the steps, waving a hand in front of his face until the dust that filled the air cleared.
“You sure know how to make your mark on a place,” he said casually as he surveyed the scene.
“I don’t need your help,” she snapped. “Doesn’t Car¬rie have a helpful neighbor she could call?”
“She called me,” he answered simply. He kind of liked Avery Keller’s attitude and admired her calm in the situation, but right now he was all business. “Can you tell if the floor joists around you will hold my weight or are they too damaged?”
“The ones in front of me will give,” she answered. “I’m wedged in here tight and when I try to shift my weight to lift myself up, everything feels like it’s sag¬ging.”
“Then don’t move.”
“Thanks for the tip,” she muttered. “In case you care, I also have a piece of splintered wood lodged in my left arm. So I can only use the right one at the moment.”
His gut tightened at the thought of her in pain. “Do you think anything’s broken?” He stepped gingerly to¬ward her, making sure to test each section of floorboard before he moved. He couldn’t very well help her if he ended up in the same predicament.
“Bruised,” she admitted, “but not broken. Do you think Clark Griswold knew how lucky he was to land on that bunk bed?”
“That’s the Hollywood version of this scenario. This is real life.”
“Does that mean I’m not going to get a happy end¬ing?”
“You’re going to be fine,” he told her, placing his tool bag on the floor and pulling out a small saw.
“You must practice that commanding tone at the fire¬house.” She laughed softly. “It’s weirdly reassuring.”
“My job is rescuing people. I’m good at it.”
“Great.” For the first time since he’d encountered her at the convenience store, Avery sounded defeated.
It bothered him more than he cared to admit.
He began talking her through his plan, mostly mak¬ing it up as he went along. The floor joists behind her seemed to be structurally sound, but he wasn’t going to risk putting the weight of his entire two hundred pounds on them.
“Can you get her out?” Carrie called from below them. “I climbed over the mess in here and I’ve got pil¬lows to cushion a fall just in case.”
“I’m glad I didn’t wear a skirt today,” Avery said through clenched teeth.
“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” he reassured her, earning a snort.
She shifted to look over her shoulder at him, and the floor around her heaved.
He heard Avery’s gasp, along with Carrie’s worried cry from the bedroom.
“Stay still,” he commanded, then called to Carrie, “Don’t stand directly underneath her.”
“I don’t want to fall,” Avery said, more to herself than to him.
He answered anyway. “You’re not going to fall.”
She drew in a ragged breath. “I might be starting to panic. I don’t usually panic.”
“No reason to.” He bent to his knees, then crawled forward, stretching out to reach her. The ideal way to handle this would be clearing out the spare bedroom and having some of his crew supporting her from below. But there was no guarantee that more of the floor wouldn’t give way while they waited for backup to arrive. Plus she was in pain, and he wanted her safe on solid ground as soon as he could manage it.
“I’m right behind you,” he said as he got closer. “I’m going to cut the piece of wood that’s got you wedged in here.”
“I feel like a chicken skewer.”
One side of his mouth curved, and he inched forward. Narrating his movements for her, he managed to saw through the splintering section of wood.
Avery let out a sigh when it fell away from her arm. She had a deep cut, but it wasn’t bleeding badly at the moment.
“Now I’m going to lift you back toward me. Use your elbows to brace on the joists on either side of you.”
“I can do three pull-ups in my CrossFit class,” she announced. “Who knew all my upper body strength would come in so handy?”
“Exactly,” he agreed, knowing it was fear driving her seemingly casual chatter. “Do you upend tires, too?”
“Sometimes. Mostly it’s a lot of burpees and suicides.”
“I hate burpees.” He positioned his hands under her arms. “You’re strong, Avery. You’ve done a great job holding steady. Just a few more seconds and…” He half lifted, half dragged her up out of the hole, quickly moving both of them away from the water-damaged section of the attic.
“You did it,” Carrie shouted from the bedroom below.
“You did it,” Avery echoed in a hoarse whisper.
“We did it,” he corrected. He had the crazy urge to wrap his arms around her and pull her close, holding her to him until the tremors he felt rippling through her body subsided. The notion was odd and out of character. He’d rescued plenty of people in his years as a firefighter.
Hell, just last week, he’d come to the aid of Kenneth Masminster when he’d locked himself in his tool shed. But a seventy-five-year-old gardener who smelled like menthol and mothballs hadn’t elicited near the emo¬tional reaction that Avery did. Avery, with her shiny hair and manicured nails, and the scent of expensive perfume on her skin that was at odds with the hot, dusty attic. A scent that should put him off. As appealing as it was, what the scent conveyed about the woman who wore it made her all wrong for him.
“Thank you,” she said into the front of his uniform shirt. She seemed as unwilling to let go as he was.


 

 


Michelle Major is the Publishers Weekly best-selling, RITA award winning author of over thirty sexy and sweet contemporary romances. She loves second-chances love stories, smart heroines and strong heroes. A Midwesterner at heart, she’s made the Rocky Mountains her home for nearly half her life and is thrilled to share her books with readers. Connect with her at www.michellemajor.com.

 

 

 

TRC: Hi, Michelle.  Welcome to The Reading Café

Michelle: Thank you for having me. I’m so glad to be here.

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Michelle: I grew up in Ohio but have lived in Colorado for over twenty-five years. No matter how long I’m here, I’ll always consider myself a Midwestern girl at heart. I write sweet and sexy contemporary romance and have published over thirty books. I’m so excited about the release of The Magnolia Sisters, which kicks off my first single title series with Harlequin.

TRC:  What inspired you to become a writer?

Michelle: For over a decade I worked in Human Resources and traveled for my job. I had a crazy fear of flying and randomly picked up a romance novel in an airport bookstore (it was a Johanna Lindsey). I loved it so much and realized that the stories I told myself in my head were romance novel plots. That’s when I began to write. It took a lot of years (and getting my two kids through the toddler years) before I got published. It was worth the wait!

TRC: Can you please give us a brief description of The Magnolia Sisters?

Michelle: The Magnolia Sisters is a series that focuses on three women who discover they share the same father after he dies and how they manage to forge a bond in the small town of Magnolia, North Carolina. In the first book we meet Avery, a big city transplant who is starting over and definitely not looking for love (spoiler alert: she finds it with a sexy firefighter). I loved (as always) writing an emotionally charged romance but also having the opportunity to explore the relationship between the three sisters.

TRC: Based on the ending, I am hoping this is a series.  How many books do you plan on writing for this series?

Michelle: Well, I’m so glad you feel that way and, yes, The Magnolia Sisters is currently planned as a three-book series. The second book will be Carrie’s story and the baby sister, Meredith, will be featured in book three. I’m mid-way through Meredith’s book now and still love writing in this world, so fingers crossed readers love it too. You might be seeing even more Magnolia books in the future.

TRC:  What is your writing process?  Do you like to write at specific times, in a special place?  Do you plan your books in advance or let them develop as you write?

Michelle: I’m definitely of the Nora Roberts’ school of puking out the first draft—I plot the major points of the story and take lots of notes as I write the first draft. My normal production for a first draft is 10-15k words a week. Then I do a deep dive edit. When I’m drafting, I love editing. When I’m editing, I love the drafting process. I have an office connected to the house (it’s also the rec room area) but I always write on my laptop and I take it everywhere.

If you saw the layer of dust on my furniture or the sweeping piles of dog hair blowing down the hall, you’d know why I have time to write. I have learned to be fairly disciplined with my schedule, especially with multiple deadlines. Giving the time to my craft is most important to me. Practically, I set word count goals each week and I put my butt in the chair until I meet them.

TRC: Walk us through a day in the life of Michelle Major.

Michelle: Most of my days follow the same schedule (at least Monday – Friday). My husband leaves for work early (normally before 5:30) so I wake up then. I usually write in my journal or do a bit of stretching and plan the day. My high schoolers are then up and I like to be with them while they have breakfast and make lunches. They leave by 7:00 and the rest of the day (until 2) is spent writing, working on the business of being an author, procrastinating by doing laundry or other housework (no lie!). I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks, so I keep myself entertained that way. I normally make time for a dog walk as well and feel so blessed to live in Colorado near the mountains. Once my  kids get home, I continue to work but it’s stop and start as they take priority in the afternoon and evening. Unless I’m on deadline, and then the deadline takes all the priorities. I’m a creature of habit so I usually have the same thing for breakfast and lunch most days. When the kids don’t have activities, we always eat as a family. That’s important to both my hubby and me.

TRC:  Can you tell us about what’s coming up next for 2020 & 2021.

Michelle: I’m so excited about The Magnolia Sisters series. In addition to The Magnolia Sisters, the second book in the series, The Merriest Magnolia, will release in October. I also have three books in a new series, Welcome To Starlight, with Harlequin Special Edition so it’s an exciting year for me! 2021 will continue both series and hopefully even more books to come.

TRC: What are hobbies or interests do you have?

Michelle: I love doing anything outside—lots of hiking with my dogs. My kids are teenagers so much of my free time is spent on the sidelines of their activities. And we also foster kittens for a local animal rescue. Pretty much anything with fur, I’m in!

TRC:  Would you like to add anything else?

Michelle: If you’re at all interested in writing, my best advice is “baby steps.” Even now—over 30 books written—sometimes I start the day setting my timer for 15 minutes. Just to start. I feel like I can do anything in small chunks. You can too! ☺

 

 

Share