Kathryn's Inbox

The sixth novel in the Bridgerton series turns its focus to Francesca, the sixth Bridgerton child and the third daughter. Until now, Francesca has been a very minor part of the series and something of an enigma. We know that she is about a year younger than Eloise and that at some point that she married an Earl and moved to Scotland. When He Was Wicked Tells her story, which is a little different to that of her siblings. Although Francesca's marriage is a happy one, it ends in tragedy when her beloved husband, John, passes away suddenly. A few weeks later, Francesca miscarries. Meanwhile, John's much-loved cousin, the wicked and rakish Michael, has inherited the title. Fortunately, he and Francesca get along well, and she considers him a good friend and confident. What she doesn't realise is that Michael has been in love with her since they first met--thirty-six hours before her wedding to John. The difficulty with this one was that it had an interesting premise, and a lot...

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  “Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

Vikings and alien fire come together in this rollicking adventure featuring the eleventh doctor. Penned by prolific British author Jenny T Colgan, this one starts slow, but gains momentum about halfway through and proves itself to be a Doctor Who adventure well worth sticking with. On a lonely northern island, the locals have little to worry about, except for a viking attack. That is, until a viking ship that is carrying a princess who is on her way to a very much unwanted wedding, catches fire just off the coast of the island and the vikings and princess Freydis find themselves at the mercy of the locals. Fortunately for them, the Eleventh Doctor arrives just in time to broker peace between the two groups, especially as it is clear that they have a mutual and far greater enemy--alien fire. This one travels down a typical Doctor Who path, combining history with an alien force who want only to find a new place to live, and a chance to exist, but that desire has a human cost. Added in ...

  There is a Fabuland minifigure named Wally Walrus. 

All Your Perfects starts off with a strong premise. Quinn and Graham are a couple who meet, in the hallway of the apartment that belongs to Quinn's fiancé. It's not quite love at first sight, but the attraction is strong. And that's all rather complicated, because Quinn's fiancé Ethan is inside his apartment, enjoying a well, romantic moment with Sasha, who is Graham's girlfriend. Quinn and Graham plan to bust the cheaters big time. The shared moment eventually leads them to falling in love, and then ... What would have made an excellent premise for a short story or a novella is stretched out into a domestic melodrama that runs across two parallel timelines. Timeline one shows how Quinn and Graham met, fell in love and the blissful, happy relationship that came out of what could have been the worst night of their lives. Timeline two tells the story of how their marriage falls apart, and the challenges the pair face--although they desperately want children, this hasn...

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is back in a brand new adventure as she tries to bring in the brilliant and very dangerous computer hacker Oswald Wednesday. Also searching for Oswald is the hunky Diesel whom she hasn't seen in more than two years, and who thinks nothing of taking up residence in Plum's apartment. Oh, and there is a bunch of amateur computer hackers who are calling themselves the Baked Potatoes who are getting killed off one by one, shortly after hacking in to Oswald's network, and now Plum needs to keep them safe.  I have to confess, it's been a very long time since I read a Stephanie Plum novel. I think the last one I read was Hot Six and even that was some time before I started keeping this blog. In any case, when I received a copy of this book in the post, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the series was still around and that Janet Evanovich had written and enjoyed so much success. And even though there had been a few plot developments, the st...

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  “ So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.”  ~ Roald Dahl, Matilda

Shannon Hale's third autobiography Friends Forever opens with young Shannon starting eighth grade. It is her second and final year at middle school. She's managed to break away from 'the group.' While she has a group of close friends, she's learned a valuable lesson about getting along with everyone and trying to include others as much as possible. That said, being in eighth grade comes with complications. Although she is a very talented writer, she wants to excel at other things, like drama, debating and even running for class president (against Jen, no less,) but she rarely succeeds at these things for reasons that are not always her fault. Meanwhile, her friends all have issues and insecurities of their own, and can be rather insensitive. This makes things very hard for Shannon, especially when her own issues with mental health come to the forefront. Written with a great deal of sensitivity, this one tackles just how hard life can be in middle school. Shannon is ...

Aeroplanes regularly fly over the Bermuda Triangle without incident.

PC Peter Grant has just served his two years probation as a constable on the beat in London, and is looking to advance his career in the police force. A surprise turning of events--a murder, the discovery of a ghost and a chance encounter with an Inspector who works in the area of paranormal crime, lead to Grant becoming a DC and a trainee Wizard in the Metropolitan Police Force. And then he finds himself on a adventure that takes him through the history of London in the most surprising of ways and leaves him desperately trying to plead his innocence while trying to save his dearest friend and possible love interest who is now in grave danger ... I was initially quite keen on this one. After all, what's not to love about a paranormal mystery, written by one of the scriptwriters from Doctor Who and with a little bit of police procedural added into the mix? A lot, unfortunately. While this one started strong, it was soon let down by the over-sexualisation of female characters that se...

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  “There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.” ~ P.G. Wodehouse

  Sweet Valley High #29 Bitter Rivals Bitter Rivals was released shortly after the Sweet Valley Twins series debuted. It's main purpose is to create a link between the two series. In Sweet Valley High, Elizabeth's bestie is Enid Rollins a quiet nerdy kid with a dark past. Or dark for the saccharine world of Sweet Valley anyway, where things like recreational drug use always have fire and brimstone consequences. Anyway, Enid's life before moving to Sweet Valley was a little bit like that of the narrator in Go Ask Alice, but a tragic event that cost an innocent kid their life caused Enid to reform. At Sweet Valley High she meets Elizabeth in a creative writing class and the pair become firm friends, which annoys Jessica, who thinks her sister could do better socially. She's probably not wrong, given that Enid spent most of her junior year being the most boring character in the entire series, and then in every later series she jilts Elizabeth at every given opportunity. P...

  Apple Pie was not invented in North America. 

Beautifully illustrated and based on a true story, Welcome to the New World tells the story of a Syrian family who leave their old life behind to start anew in the United States. Life has not been easy for Naji or his family. War has devastated his home, and his father has spent time in jail. And now they are moving to a strange new land, where the people speak a different language and have different customs, but where they will be free to work and to get an education. Life in the United States comes with many challenges. There are rules that the family must follow if they want to stay, some of them petty and unfair. The family has also arrived on the eve of the 2016 election and the political landscape has just shifted considerably. In addition to that, starting school and getting along with their neighbours, in a country where--it turns out--families like theirs are not always wanted or welcome isn't easy. But there are some lighthearted moments too, and moments of real joy. Ini...

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  “Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.” ~ Terry Pratchett

  The first person to be caught speeding in a motor vehicle was travelling at eight miles per hour.

By 2012, Rebekah Campbell had an enviable life. Not only was she the founder of a successful internet startup, but she was the author of a very popular blog and she was giving inspirational talks for female entrepreneurs. But that didn't mean that she was happy--or comfortable--with every aspect of her life. Although outwardly, she was confident and successful, she was terrified for the future. She wanted a family, but she had not been on a date for ten years. What to do? Why, apply her business knowledge to dating, of course. 138 Dates tells the story of her personal journey through online dating in three different countries to find a lasting relationship. I enjoyed the light hearted feel to this one, though to be brutally honest, I found Campbell's meditations on business to be far more interesting than some of her dating adventures. That said, Campbell's predicament is a familiar one for many women in their thirties who are trying to balance out successful careers with ...

What happens when Death takes an apprentice? Utter mayhem, that's what. The forth novel in Sir Terry Pratchett's beloved Discworld series tells the story of Mort, a young man who isn't terribly well suited to the family business. A turn of events leads to Mort being taken on by Death--a character who is essentially the Discworld's Grim Reaper. And though his job might be morbid, it turns out that Death is a lovely, quirky character who has a genuine kindness about him. It's just a pity that Mort cannot get along with Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter. And that Mort has just foiled an assassination attempt on a princess, and now there are a number of consequences that the young apprentice was not expecting ... Filled with clever dialogue and Pratchett's insight into human nature Mort is a cracking, humorous adventure about Death's young apprentice. I'm pretty sure that Death is now my favourite character. (Particularly now that I have learned just ho...

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