Woohoo!! On to a new month of books!!
Sir Percy Leads the Band by Emmuska Orczy – 4*
//published 1936//
I’m slowly working my way through all of the Scarlet Pimpernel books. Most of these are old enough that they’re out of copyright and I can get them as cheap reprinted paperbacks, or even little hardcovers. Not as fun as getting them as actual old books, but here we are. I definitely recommend reading the original book first, but after that most of the other books are similar in substance. This one involves a big rescue mission and a love triangle, jealous romantic rivals, and plenty of adventures.
Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer – 4*
//published 1935//
I really love Heyer. Her books are such a delight, with likable characters, sassy conversations, and plenty of little adventures. This one was a little more melodramatic than some of her others, and I didn’t feel like the relationship between the two main characters was really that well-developed, but it was still a fun romp.
The Rules for Breaking by Ashley Elston – 3*
//published 2014//
I read The Rules for Disappearing in October and really enjoyed it, so I found a copy of the sequel. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. The action in this one felt choppy and less cohesive, there were some character actions that didn’t really make sense to me, and Elston seemed to think just sort of killing off a bunch of inconvenient people in the end was a good way to wrap things up lol And while I still liked the two main (YA) characters together in this book, there were times where Ethan seemed weirdly possessive instead of protective. It was an okay read, but while I can see myself rereading Disappearing some time, I doubt I’ll pick this one up again.
Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey – 4*
//published 2022//
After coming close to giving up on contemporary romance, this one was an unexpected delight. I loved the characters and all the snark, banter, and inside jokes. I absolutely loved Sandy’s best-friendship with Honey. I really loved that there wasn’t a “bad guy” situation here – just regular people who made choices, some of which they regret. I loved that the overall theme of this book was about that balance between embracing and loving your life where you are, but still reaching for a dream. I really loved that Winfrey set this story in a small, rural Ohio town and actually populated it with regular human beings instead of a bunch of stupid hicks. I loved how Sandy and her friends love living in their small town and aren’t spending all of their time trying to escape it. I loved that Sandy had regular parents who love her and with whom she has a good relationship as an adult. I loved that the romance was closed-door and the swearing was minimal. I loved that a bunch of story revolved around the town’s festival/fair and how much of that felt realistic and familiar to me. I loved the puns. I loved the absurd Ohio-themed B&B.
Ironically, the actual love story was what felt a bit weak for me – I really like Hank and Sandy and actually totally ship them as a couple, but their drama went on a little too long for me, and I was also somewhat uncomfortable with this whole “you’re happiest when you’re together“ presented in a sort of “this person will save you“ kind of way, especially since the entire rest of the book does such an amazing job of showing people who have decided to embrace where they are with their lives.
Also, do pumpkins really get that big by August?
But on the whole this book was just so funny and with such likable characters – I thoroughly enjoyed it, and greatly appreciated some positive Ohio representation!
Dracula by Bram Stoker – 4*
//published 1897//
Last year, I signed up for the “Daily Dracula” posts. Dracula is comprised entirely of things with dates, like letters, telegrams, and journal entries, so some enterprising fellow thought it would be fun to read the whole thing by reading what went with each day ON that day. It started in the spring and didn’t end up November – there are some fairly large gaps between entries, especially towards the beginning. On the whole, I think I did this book a disservice by reading it that way for the first time. Because of the gaps in time, or times when I was busy and didn’t have the time to sit down and read a longer entry straight through, I tended to lose some of the threads of characters and action. I think the Daily Dracula would have been a really fun way to reread this book, but was maybe not the best way to read it for the first time.
Still, the story itself is great. It’s a bit ridiculous and melodramatic, and it totally works. There is definitely a lot of unnecessary filler in this book, and times where it gets a bit repetitive (instead of saying something like, “they caught him up on the details they had just discussed,” we literally get three pages of the same details we just read three pages earlier, etc), but I think it definitely deserves its slot as a classic.
The Aroma of Books 