Book review : Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson

Serpent in the Thorns
Crispin Guest Book 2
Medieval mystery by Jeri Westerson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 full stars well deserved, it has been an amazing read!
__ I LOVED IT ! __

__ A GRIPPING MYSTERY AND A LOT OF ACTION __ An engaging adventure from start to finish, which begins immediately with a murder.
A simple-minded tavern girl comes to Crispin Guest ( the main character and our hero ) saying there's a dead body in her room and she was the killer. The dead man was precisely shot by an arrow.
It is clear that it could not have been her, but things are serious, since the dead man is a French courier, who had to deliver an important religious relic to the English king from the king of France.
To protect the girl, Crispin ( a former knight fallen into disgrace and estranged from court) decides to keep some secrets to himself and not reveal them to the sheriff, which will further complicate things and lead to trouble after trouble.

Crispin's investigations begin immediately and continue at a good pace for the first 25% of the book, then while it seems that some knots are starting to untie, actually the pace becomes more and more pressing.
The suspense grows to then lead to a series of daring adventures, interspersed with sudden twists and turns, just 5 minutes to catch a breath (both Crispin and the reader) and then here comes the unexpected again, the action, the suspense, the desperation, the solutions, new shocking revelations ( so really shocking for Crispin and the reader too, especially if one has read book 1 too) and then again a fleeting relief and action again !!! It goes on this way until almost the end of the book, you won't have time to get bored!

In this second episode of Crispin Guest, there was no falling in love or romance, but I didn't miss it... I didn't have the time, because everything was so compelling that I couldn't tear myself away from the book, indeed it was so strong my desire to know the truth about everything, that I wanted know it as much as our protagonist.

_ OUR HERO EMOTIONAL GROWTH __
Despite being only 1 year away from the first book our has still followed a significant growth path, which develops throughout the book.
Crispin is already 30 years old, a man, but now his soul and his way of perceiving the world are also maturing and while before his noble birth made him feel superior to those who were not (and in a certain way he could seem arrogant), now he pauses to consider less fortunate people's feelings.
Now he begins to see the world of the noble and rich people with different eyes, now he manages to see the arrogance and meanness, that power and greed inspire in human beings.
---> More importantly, Crispin begins to consider how important it is for him to have people who love him around, he values their affection and realizes he reciprocates it, especially towards Jack, so much so that in the end, both us and our hero we can even draw a moral from the difficulties that happened to him.

_ YOU CAN READ EACH BOOK AS A STANDALONE, BUT EVERYTHING IS MORE ENJOYABLE STARTING FROM NUMBER #1 __ I have already said in the previous review that all books are readable as standalone, because the author always bends the Crispin Guest's background and things evolution.
Nonetheless I think it is much more satisfying to read this series starting from book 1, after all there are only 15 books and since in addition to the various adventures there is a common thread (the personal life of Crispin and of those related to him), which is equally interesting to follow and is probably what binds the reader to our hero, what really makes us passionate about this so well written series (in my humble opinion of course).

___ THE HISTORICAL PART __ in this book, in addition to the medieval background, the story of another holy historical relic is introduced: the famous crown of thorns that Jesus wore on the day of his crucifixion and the legends of his power to give invincibility to the pure of heart.
Even for those who are not religious, these are interesting notions to learn, notions that are not taught in schools.

In addition to this, in this 2nd installment we find the aforementioned (in book #1) the Duke of Lancaster, who plays an important role in a plot, which is obviously fiction created by the author.
--> However, the character really existed, he was a figure of great importance: uncle of King Richard II, he was the richest man in England after the king and the most influential at court and progenitor of the dynasty of kings of England in starting from Henry IV (his son, who deposed Richard II, the Duke's nephew).
John of Gaunt was also the progenitor of the English royal House of Lancaster, that starting from 1455 was at war with House of York until 1485, a war that we know as THE WAR OF THE 2 ROSES (red for the Lancasters and white for the Yorks).
You can find all that at the end of the book in the epilogue.

__IT'S NOT A COZY MYSTERY__ some harmless swear words, fight scenes, killings in self-defense, nothing exaggerated or that we don't usually see on TV, but obviously this doesn't make it belong to the cozy genre.

( NOTE : English is not my native language, so please be indulgent with my text :-) )

If you want to know more about BOOK#1 - BOOK#3 and BOOK#4, you can read my reviews here :

BOOK #1 "Veil of Lies" :

BOOK #3 "The Demon's Parchment" :

BOOK #4 "Troubled Bones" :



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LIBRO disponibile anche in EDIZIONE LINGUA ITALIANA, leggi la mia recensione !
Lo trovi sia in versione Kindle sia versione cartacea, clicca sull'immagine sotto.

Crispin Guest LIBRO 2 - Giallo Medievale di Jeri Westerson - IL MERCANTE DI RELIQUIE PERDUTE

Anche questo secondo libro della serie è stato bellissimo !

__ MISTERO COINVOLGENTE __ Un avventura coinvolgente dall'inizio alla fine, che parte immediatamente con un'omicidio,  ( TRAMA ) Una ragazza della taverna, con un chiaro ritardo mentale, va da Crispin Guest (il personaggio principale e il nostro eroe) dicendo che c'è un cadavere nella sua stanza e che lei è l'assassino.
Il morto è stato ucciso in maniera molto precisa da una freccia, è chiaro dunque che non possa essere stata lei, ma la cosa è grave, dal momento che il morto è un corriere francese, il quale doveva consegnare al re inglese un'importante reliquia religiosa da parte del sovrano di Francia.

Per proteggere la ragazza, Crispin, ex cavaliere caduto in disgrazia e allontanato da corte, decide di tenere per sé alcuni segreti e non rivelarli allo sheriffo,fatto che complicherà ulteriormente le cose portando guai su guai.

Le indagini di Crispin cominciano immediatamente e proseguono a buon ritmo per il primo 25% del libro, poi mentre sembra che qualche nodo cominci a sciogliersi, il realtà il ritmo diventa sempre più incalzante. La suspense cresce per sfociare poi in una serie di rocambolesche peripezie, intervallate da colpi di scena improvvisi, appena 5 minuti per riprendere fiato ( il protagonista e noi lettori) e poi ecco di nuovo: l'imprevisto, l'azione, la suspense, la disperazione, le soluzioni, nuove shockanti rivelazioni  ( per il protagonista e di nuovo anche per noi lettori, soprattutto per chi ha letto anche il primo libro ) e poi ancora un fuggente sollievo e di nuovo l'azione!
Va avanti con un bel ritmo fino quasi alla fine del libro e non avrai davvero tempo di annoiarti !

In questo secondo puntata di Crispin Guest, non c'è stato alcun innamoramento o romanticismo, ma non ne ho sentito la mancanza... non ho avuto il tempo, perchè tutto è stato così coinvolgente che non riuscivo a staccarmi dal libro, tanta era la voglia di sapere la verità su tutto. Lo desideravo tanto quanto il nostro protagonista, che pur essendo solo ad 1 anno di distanza dal primo libro ha comunque seguito un significativo percorso di crescita, il quale si sviluppa durante tutto il libro. 

__IL NOSTRO EROE CRESCE EMOTIVAMENTE __ Crispin ha già 30 anni ma sta maturando il suo modo di percepire il mondo. Mentre prima la sua nascita nobile lo faceva sentire superiore a chi non lo era ( e in un certo qual modo lo poteva far sembrare arrogante ), ora egli si ferma a considerare i sentimenti dei meno fortunati, ora egli comincia a vedere con occhi diversi le persone del mondo dei nobili e ricchi, ora riesce a vedere l'arroganza e la meschinità che il potere e l'ingordigia ispirano nell'essere umano.
Ancora più importante, Crispin comincia a prendere in considerazione quanto sia effettivamente importante per lui avere intorno persone che gli vogliono bene, ora egli da valore al loro affetto e si accorge di contraccambiarlo, soprattutto nei confronti di Jack, tanto che alla fine, sia noi che il nostro eroe, riusciamo persino a trovare della positività in quello che sembrava solo sfortuna.

_ PUOI LEGGERE OGNI LIBRO COME STANDALONE, MA è TUTTO PIù GODIBILE PARTENDO DAL NUMERO #1 __ Ho già detto nella precedente recensione che i libri sono leggibili come standalone, perchè l'autrice spiega sempre il background del protagonista e l'evolversi delle situazioni, ma penso che sia molto più appagante leggere questa serie partendo dal libro 1, in fondo sono solo 15 libri.
Poiché prima di approcciarmi alla serie ho letto diverse recensioni dei vari libri, ho potuto vedere che tutto si svolge nell'arco di 20 anni circa e che oltre alle varie avventure relative a omicidi e misteri, c'è un filo conduttore ( la vita personale di Crispin e dei suoi amici ) altrettanto interessante da seguire ed è probabilmente ciò che lega il lettore al nostro eroe, ciò che fa realmente appassionare a questa serie, davvero ben scritta ( in mia opinione ).

___ LA PARTE STORICA __ in questo libro oltre al background medievale, viene introdotto la storia di un'altra santa reliquia storica , la celebre corona di spine che Gesù portava nel giorno della sua crocifissione e delle leggende del suo potere di donare invincibilità ai puri di cuore. Anche per chi non è religioso sono nozioni interessanti da apprendere, nozioni che non vengono raccontate a scuole.
Oltre a questo, troviamo in questa puntata il già citato  (nel libro 1 ) Duca di Lancaster,  che ricopre un importante ruolo in un complotto, che ovviamente è finzione creata dall'autrice.
Il personaggio però è realmente esistito, è stata una figura di grande rilievo : zio del re Riccardo II, egli fu l'uomo più ricco d'Inghilterra dopo il re e il più influente a corte e capostipite della dinastia di re d'Inghilterra  a partire da Enrico IV ( suo figlio, il quale fece deporre Riccardo II nipote del Duca ).
John of Gaunt fu inoltre il capostipite del casato reale inglese di Lancaster a partire dal 1455 sarà in guerra con i York fino al 1485, guerra che noi conosciamo come LA GUERRA DELLE 2 ROSE ( rossa per i Lancaster e bianca per i York ).

NON è UN COZY MYSTERY : qualche parolaccia inoffensiva, scene di lotta, uccisioni in autodifesa , niente di esagerato o che non vediamo normalmente in tv, ma ovviamente questo non lo fa appartenere al genere cozy. 

Book review : Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson

Veil of Lies
Crispin Guest Book 1
A Medieval Noir by Jeri Westerson
My rating: 4.8 but IT COULD BE 5 of 5 stars

I give it 4.5 and indeed I don't round up as usual, but down, because there is one thing that really disappointed me and I can't forgive the author for that (I'll explain further below, next to the word SPOILER...you choose whether to read it or not).

I will start by saying that the protagonist has already become one of my favorite characters and that I will continue with this series until the 15th and final book (alternating with other readings, so that this pleasure will last longer) where I hope our tormented hero can finally find the happiness he deserves.

__THE PLOT __ Crispin Guest is in fact a former knight, deprived of his noble title and all his possessions and banished from King Richard II's court.
He was estranged from his girlfriend and friends because of a stupid, but for that time, serious mistake of youth, considered treason, dictated by passion and affection towards the lord who had made him his pupil, none other than the uncle of the king himself.
In 14th century London, Crispin has now lived for 8 years in the slums of the city, surrounded by people who he used to look at from the top of his horse and to whom he would throw a coin for charity.
Crispin makes his living finding missing things, which is why he is called the "Tracker" and now being casually involved in a murder, he will find himself investigating the case, partly by personal choice and partly under duress from the sheriff.

I appreciated this book from the first lines and I think it is really well written. We have:

1) an intricate mystery to solve.
2) a fascinating and credible protagonist + equally credible supporting characters.
3) the historical background, the meticulously described setting and the theme of actually existing historical relics + stories and legends developed around them.
4) an unexpected hint of a romantic plot that develops in parallel.

__THE MYSTERY TO SOLVE ___The mystery begins with a murder, and it may seem like "the usual crime in the locked room", a theme that has now been read and reread, but the truth behind the heinous act is much more complicated and it touches more aspects of the victim's life, of the people related to the victim and of the political life of the English kingdom.
The more the main character, Crispin Guest, investigates, the more the mystery expands in an intricate and engaging way.

The plot is tight and believable, never boring, never!
The dialogues are good and there is emotional intensity.
The feelings of each character are well described or can be well guessed when described only by the reactions of the characters themselves.
There are surprising twists and turns and the background of a dark and damp London, with its cobblestone streets and alleyways with strong smells comes to life as if we were actually on the scene.

___ MEDIEVAL NOIR___ The author defines her book (the entire series) as medieval noir, a "hard boiled set in the Middle Ages" and she clearly says (at the end of the book) that Crispin Guest is a bit like James Spade.
Personally I don't like hard boiled books or movies and after having read the Maltese Falcon (which I consider to be complete bullshit) I haven't read any others, but luckily I haven't found a hard boiled here and Crispin Guest is MUCH BETTER THAN James Spade .
The only thing that comes close to a "noir" is just the slightly dark setting (but it's also there in gothic) and ____ WARNING : SPOILER[ one of those endings that leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth like in ending of Casablanca, the famous movie with Bogart and Bergman ( and here's why I don't give 5 stars, I can't stand a bitter ending).] SPOILER END _____

___ OUR HERO __ Crispin Guest as you can guess is a tormented man, he is unable to accept his new life condition, so different and difficult, from what fate had initially offered him by birth.
It's easy to go from the worst to the best, but accepting the opposite it's not easy at all.

It is also difficult for him to change his way of seeing things and despite having become poor, he cannot conceive the concept of equality between men, he was born noble and still feels noble despite having been deprived of the title.
He lives among the people who work hard for a loaf of bread, he owns less than them, however he still feels "different...superior" because that is the education with which he was raised and it is hard to eradicate an ideology in which he believed himself all his life...

But Crispin is a good man, he has ideals of justice and without realizing it he takes the side of the weak and those who believe to be innocent, he falls in love with a former chambermaid and keeps with him a young boy, who he saved from prison and who is left alone in the world and to whom he tries (with many difficulties) to teach honesty.
Crispin is loyal, he even gets beaten up in order not to reveal secrets that would get into trouble a woman he doesn't even trust yet and makes decisions that don't suit him, just to do what he thinks is the right thing.
I almost fell in love with him and I can't wait to spend more time with him and his nice assistant Jack (the little boy he saved, alone in the world, smart and intelligent, who by his own choice acts as his servant in order to live with him).
I can't wait to experience their next adventures, between the cobblestones of London and its fog, the murmur of the Thames, the crowds of the taverns, Crispin Guest's clashes with the sheriff (who really existed) and his melancholy by thinking about the past.

__ A HINT of ROMANCE ___ In this first book, in addition to the investigation into the crime (more than one actually) a little love story develops in the background, which I didn't expect... it's just a hint, actually, but I liked it and it also made me a little emotional.
____WARNING : SPOILER[ ... Maybe that's where the noir lies: our hero can't be happy...or doesn't want to be happy... there is no happy ending in this romantic side of the novel.
Browsing through the back covers of all 15 books in the series and among the reviews, it is clear that in the distant future the paths of the protagonist and the woman he loves will cross again, but many years have passed and she will still be married.
...and I don't like that either.
The fact remains that Crispin conquered me and I want to be in his company with all the books until the end of the story! ] SPOILER END _____

___ HISTORICAL NOTIONS ___ As regards the historical part, the charm of this book is not only the suggestive description of the scene, but also the introduction of ancient relics and legends that surround them.
This first adventure talks about the Veil of Veronica, a cloth imprinted with a face believed to be that of Jesus.
In the book the author tells some versions of the story and explains even better all the historical and legendary details in the epilogue.
I find these historical introductions very interesting, in my opinion they give an added value.

__ IT'S NOT A COZY MYSTERY __
The writing is smooth and engaging and if you are a lover of historical thrillers I recommend it.
It's more or less suitable for all ages starting from 17/18, it doesn't have gruesome scenes, but I warn that there are some bad words here and there and a curse that the author wrote in Italian (because there they are Italians involved in the case ) and who probably, writing it in a single word, didn't realize that it's a curse against God... that is, a blasphemy and I didn't like it and it could have been avoided/replaced with another bad word .
There are a couple of kisses and a sex scene, but it's not described in detail, so nothing shocking or dirty.

A LITTLE NOTE ON MY REVIEW : English is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me for any errors you find there

If you want to know more about BOOK#2 - BOOK#3 and BOOK#4, you can read my reviews here :

BOOK #2 "Serpent in the Thorns" :

BOOK #3 "The Demon's Parchment" :

BOOK #4 "Troubled Bones" :



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LIBRO disponibile anche in EDIZIONE LINGUA ITALIANA, leggi la mia recensione !

La misteriosa morte del ladro di pergamene
Crispin Guest LIBRO #1 - Giallo Medievale di Jeri Westerson

(ATTENZIONE Premessa : probabilmente chi sceglie i titoli italiani, non legge i libri, perchè non c'è nessuna pergamena nel libro, bensì si parla di una reliquia sacra con il volto di Cristo )

Ho votato questo libro 4 stelle, in realtà sono 4.5 ma mentre solitamente arrotondo per eccesso questa volta devo arrotondare per difetto, non perchè non meriti le 5 stelle, QUESTO LIBRO AVREBBE POTUTO ESSERE UN 5 STELLE PIENO PER ME, PERCHè è STUPENDO, se non fosse per un piccolo, ma importante particolare che mi ha lasciato un po' d'amaro in bocca ( spiego più sotto, vicino alla parola SPOILER ...scegliete voi se leggerlo o no ) e quindi non ho potuto dare un 5 tondo.

Comincerò col dire che il protagonista è già diventato uno dei miei personaggi preferiti e che proseguirò con questa serie fino al 15 e ultimo libro ( ovviamente alternando con altre letture)  dove spero che il nostro eroe tormentato trovi finalmente la felicità che si merita.

Crispin Guest è infatti un ex cavaliere, privato del suo titolo nobiliare e di tutti i suoi averi e bandito dalla corte di Re Riccardo II , allontanato dalla fidanzata e dagli amici a causa di uno stupido, ma per i tempi di allora grave errore di gioventù, dettato dalla passione e dall'affetto verso il signore che ne aveva fatto il suo pupillo, nienetemeno che lo zio del re stesso.
Nella Londra del XIV secolo, ora Crispin vive da 8 anni nei bassifondi della città, circondato da persone che lui prima guardava dall'alto del suo cavallo e alle quali gettava una moneta per carità. Crispin si guadagna da vivere trovando cose scomparse, per questo è chiamato il "Tracker " e trovandosi ora coinvolto casualmente in un omicidio, si troverà ad indagare sul caso, in parte per scelta personale e in parte sotto costrizione dello sceriffo.

Ho apprezzato il libro sin dalle prime righe e penso che sia davvero scritto bene:
1) un Mistero intricato da risolvere
2) Un Protagonista affascinante e credibile + Personaggi di contorno altrettanto credibili
3) il Background storico, l'ambientazione minuziosamente descritta e il tema di reliquie storiche realmente esistenti + storie e leggende sviluppate attorno ad esse
4) Un accenno di trama romantica che si sviluppa in parallelo 

___ IL MISTERO DA RISOLVERE ___ Il mistero comincia con un omicidio, e può sembrare "il solito delitto nellastanza chiusa", tema ormai letto e riletto, ma la verità che sta dietro l'efferato atto è molto più complicata e tocca più aspetti della vita della vittima, delle persone ad essa correlate e dello stesso regno inglese, Più il protagonista indaga, più il mistero si espande in maniera intricata e coivolgente.

La è trama serrata e credibile ; i sono dialoghi nitidi e c'è intensità emotiva.
I sentimenti di ciascun personaggio ben descritti o ben intuibili quando descritti solo dalle reazioni dei personaggi stessi.
Ci sono colpi di scena sorprendenti e lo sfondo di una Londra scura e umida, con le sue strade e i suoi vicoli dagli odori forti prende vita come se fossimo realmente sulla scena.

___ "NOIR" MEDIEVALE ( ? ) __ L'autrice definisce il suo libro ( tutta la serie ) noir medievali, un "hard boiled ambientato nel medioevo" e dice chiaramente ( a fine libro ) che Crispin Guest è un po' cme James Spade.  Personalmente non mi piacciono gli hardboiled e dopo aver letto il Falcon Maltese ( che giudico un'emerita stronzata ) non ne ho letti altri, ma per fortuna io non ho trovato un hardboiled qui e Crispin Guest è MOLTO MEGLIO DI James Spade, di noir vedo solo l'ambientazione un po' cupa e  __ATTENZIONE : SPOILER__ uno di quei finali che ti lascia un po' di amaro in bocca come nel finale di Casablanca ( ecco il motivo per cui non do 5 stelle ) __FINE SPOILER __

____IL NOSTRO EROE ___ Crispin Guest come potrete intuire è un uomo tormentato, non riesce ad accettare la sua condizione di vita, così diversa e difficile, da ciò che per nascita il destino gli aveva inizialmente offerto. E' facile passare dal peggio al meglio, ma accettare il contrario non lo è per niente.
Per lui è difficile anche cambiare modo di vedere le cose e nonostante sia diventato povero, non riesce a concepire il concetto di uguaglianza tra gli uomini, è nato nobile e si sente ancora nobile nonostante sia stato privato del titolo.
Egli ora vive tra i la gente che lavora sodo per un tozzo di pane, possiede meno di loro, tuttavia si sente ancora "diverso...superiore" perchè quella è l'educazione con cui è stato cresciuto ed è dura sradicare un'ideologia nella quale si è creduto tutta la vita...
Ma Crispin è un brav' uomo, ha degli ideali di giustizia e senza rendersene conto prende le difese dei deboli e di chi crede innocente, s'innamora di una cameriera e tiene con sé un bambinetto che ha salvato dalla prigione e che è rimasto solo al mondo e al quale tenta ( con non poche difficoltà ) di insegnare l'onestà. Crispin è leale, si fa persino pestare pur di non rivelare segreti che metterebbero nei guai una donna della quale ancora non si fida neanche e prende decisioni che non gli convengono, pur di fare quella che lui ritiene la cosa giusta.
Mi sono quasi innamorata di lui e non vedo l'ora di passare altro tempo insieme a lui al suo simpatico assistente Jack ( il ragazzino che ha salvato, solo al mondo, sveglio ed intelligente, che per propria scelta gli fa da servitore per poter vivere insieme a lui).
Non vedo l'ora di vivere le loro prossime avventure, tra i ciottoli di Londra e la sua nebbia, il mormorio del Tamigi, la folla delle taverne, i suoi scontri con lo sceriffo ( realmente esistito) e la sua malinconia con i ricordi del passato.

__ UN PIZZICO DI ROMANTICISMO ___ In questo primo libro, oltre all'investigazione sul delitto ( più di uno in realtà) si sviluppa, in secondo piano, anche una piccola storia d'amore che non mi aspettavo... è solo un accenno in realtà, ma mi è piaciuta e mi ha fatto anche un poco emozionare.
___ATTENZIONE : SPOILER __ ...Forse è qui che sta il noir: il nostro eroe non può essere felice ...o non vuole essere felice...non c'è il lieto fine in questa parte romantica e dal momento che non mi piacciono i finali non felici , ho tolto al libro mezza stella, per forza di cose poi ho dovuto arrotondare a meno 1 stella.
E' una cosa che detesto sia nelle serie tv che nei libri, quando lo scrittore delude i lettori mettendo un finale amaro. La scrittrice scrive in modo da imputar la colpa a Crispin, in realtà i fatti che l'autrice ha messo, rendono "sciocchi"entrambi i protagonisti, che rovinano una storia che poteva renderli felici: lui non fa la proposta come lei avrebbe voluto..ma lei poteva aspettare almeno un poco di tempo, prima sposare immediatamente un altro perchè ricco e l'autrice avrebbe potuto far proseguire la storia, magari con alti e bassi per mantenere la suspense nei prossimi libri , darci un matrimonio a metà serie e continuare con avventure, fino ad un figlio nell'ultimo libro. 
Curiosando tra le quarte di copertina di tutti i 15 libri della serie e tra le recensioni, si evince  che in un lontano futuro le strade del protagonista e della donna che ama si incroceranno nuovamente, ma saranno passati molti anni e lei sarà comunque ancora sposata.
So anche che nel quindicesimo libro forse potrò perdonare l'autrice, ma saranno passati 20 anni ...troooopppo tempo ! ...e anche questo non mi piace.
Resta il fatto che Crispin mi ha conquistata e voglio stare in sua compagnia per tutti i libri fino alla fine della storia ! ___FINE SPOILER __

 ___ LA PARTE STORICA ___ Per quanto riguarda la parte storica il fascino di questo libro non è solo la suggestiva descrizione delle scena, ma anche l'introduzione nel mistero di antiche reliquie e leggende che le circondano.
In questa prima avventura si parla del Velo della Veronica, un panno nel quale è impresso un volto che si ritiene sia quello di Gesù.
Nel libro l'autrice racconta alcune versioni della storia e spiega ancora meglio tutti i particolari storici e leggendari nell'epilogo.Trovo queste introduzioni storiche molto interessante, secondo me danno un valore aggiunto.

E' un libro che si legge in maniera scorrevole e se siete amanti dei gialli storici ve lo consiglio.
Più o meno è adatto a tutte le età a partire dai 17/18 anni, non ha scene raccapriccianti, però avverto che c'è in qua e in là qualche parolaccia e un'imprecazione che l'autrice ha scritto in italiano ( perchè ci sono degli italiani coinvolti nel caso ) e che probabilmente, scrivendola in un unica parola non si è resa conto che è un'imprecazione contro Dio... non mi è piaciuta e poteva essere evitata/sostituita con un'altra parolaccia... Io ho letto il libro nelal versione originale inglese, onestamente non saprei dire se l'edizione italiana abbia eliminato quest'imprecazione oppure no, a mio avviso non avtrebbe dovuto esserci per niente, neanche nell'edizione inglese.
Ci sono un paio di baci e una scena di sesso, ma non è descritta nei particolari, quindi niente di scioccante o di poco pulito.

Giveaway : Free Printable September 2023 Calendar

Monthly freebie for you: printable September 2023 calendar

Hello my friends ! :-D

Summer is almost over and September has arrived bringing with it some fresh air and many beautiful autumn colours.

As for last months I created a coloful monthly planning that you can download, by simply clicking on the image preview and save as computer desktop or print it and then use it as a bookmark

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
September 2023 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

Just click on the image to get the bigger one and then download it.

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Book review : You Belong to Me by Johanna Lindsey

You Belong to Me - Historical romance by Johanna Lindsey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I simply loved it !! I loved it from the very first word to the last one ! It's 5 full stars well deserved :-)
I was looking for light entertainment, fun and romance and I had it !

I'm not used to reading romance novels, yet every now and then I too feel the need to read about courtship and some ardent kisses (which I can't find in cozy mysteries and classic mysteries, my usual kind of reading) and if there are love scenes (but not vulgar or exaggeratedly explicit), I'm even happier.

The story, set in Russia in the early decades of the 1800s , is very funny and full of adventure during a journey that will last for almost the entire book.

As often happens in brilliant comedies, the two protagonists can't stand each other, especially because they suddenly discover, despite being two complete strangers, to be betrothed by a contract stipulated by their fathers about 15 years earlier.

Actually this is just the plot of a desperate father who tries to find a husband for his tomboyish, rebellious and reckless daughter who use to reject every suitor.
The betrothed, cousin and personal guard of Cardinia's King, for his part is a consummate libertine who feels great in the role of a single man and who has never experienced the effect of a rejection from a woman.

Both he and she are bound to the contract by family honor, so he have to collect his bride in Russia and take her with him to Cardinia, but both of them are hoping that by pretending to be an unbearable person, the other one will decide to break the contract.

What emerges is a set of small mutual teasing, provocative jokes in which each of the two will try to win over the other, embarrassing and funny situations, witty and lively dialogues, a couple of kisses that make you dream and the moment in which they make love in a passionate overwhelming way (but there are no vulgar or too explicit descriptions).

Personally I hate libertines, but what I liked about the male character is that in fact, after having made love with her, he never touched another woman again despite claiming that he didn't want that marriage.
In the story, the female protagonist threatens several times all women who throw themselves at her betrothed's feet, but it is true that if he really wanted to sleep with another woman he could have found more than one way.
Another thing I really liked about him is that he falls in love with her by accepting her even with what seem to be her flaws (actually a fiction, but this is important to me).

I really liked her because unlike many women she was able to show so much determination and fortitude, never once did she cry or use her tears to convince someone of her will, the only time she shows tears is in a touching moment with her father.

The pride of each was of course the main obstacle to their love, but in this reverse courtship their quarrels have nevertheless led them to share experiences together and to get to know each other, even if only partially glimpsing the best part of their way of being.

I also loved all side characters.
Both our hero and heroine are accompanied on the journey by an entourage of friends or people in their employ, to whom they are bound by deep affection and who assist with heartfelt participation in the two betrothed skirmish.

If in addition to dreaming of a love story with a happy ending, you are also looking for a good mood, I assure you that with this book you'll get it.

I really like the setting of this romance, however I must warn you that in this novel you will not find historical research by the author, you only need to know where and when the story is set to mind the costumes of the characters, scenes backgrounds and of course the habits and customs of that time and way to think of that era.

Maybe the only little thing I wished was different ___ WARNING : SPOILER [ it is the fact that they will get married knowing that they are now in love with the other, but without having openly declared it to the partner, thus both thinking that they will not be reciprocated.
Only on their wedding night will they say "I love you" and I would have liked them to say it when he finds her after having chased her across half of Europe. ]__ SPOILER END

---> FINAL NOTE ABOUT THE BOOK : This is the second book in a series of 2, but you can read it as a stand alone.
Although in the second book there are some of the same characters of the first one, they are 2 independent stories (the protagonists of the first book are the future King of Cardinia and his future bride, who in this second book are only marginal characters.)

If you read this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and if you found any errors in my review, please forgive me, I'm Italian and therefore English is not my language
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____DISPONIBILE ANCHE IN ITALIANO ( anche se detesto le copertine pacchiane con i due amanti, come spesso hanno i romanzi rosa, preferisco copertine più sobrie)

Titolo: MI APPARTIENI. recensione in italiano:

Mi è piaciuto molto !

L'ho semplicemente adorato!! Mi è piaciuto dalla prima all'ultima parola!
5 stelle piene :-)
Stavo cercando intrattenimento leggero, divertimento e romanticismo e l'ho avuto!

Non sono abituata a leggere romanzi rosa, eppure ogni tanto sento anch'io il bisogno di leggere di corteggiamento e di qualche bacio ardente (che non riesco a trovare nei cozy mysteries e nei gialli classici, il mio genere di letture abituali) e se ci sono scene d'amore (purché non volgari e troppo esplicite), sono ancora più felice.

La storia, ambientata nella Russia dei primi decenni del 1800, è molto divertente e ricca di avventure durante un viaggio che durerà per quasi tutto il libro.

Come spesso accade nelle commedie brillanti, i due protagonisti non si sopportano, soprattutto perché scoprono all'improvviso, pur essendo due perfetti sconosciuti, di essere fidanzati secondo un contratto stipulato dai loro padri circa 15 anni prima.

In realtà questo è il complotto di un padre disperato che cerca di trovare un marito per la figlia maschiaccio, ribelle e spericolata che rifiuta ogni corteggiatore.
Il promesso sposo, cugino e guardia personale del re di Cardinia, dal canto suo è un consumato libertino che si trova benissimo nel ruolo di un uomo scapolo e che non ha mai sperimentato l'effetto di un rifiuto da parte di una donna.

Sia lui che lei sono legati al contratto dall'onore familiare, quindi il promesso sposo deve andare a prendere la sua sposa in Russia e portarla con sé a Cardinia, ma entrambi sperano che, fingendosi una persona insopportabile, l'altro decida per rompere il contratto.

Ciò che ne emerge è una schermaglia di prese in giro reciproche, battute provocatorie in cui ciascuno dei due cercherà di dare il peggio di sé e vincere sull'altro, situazioni imbarazzanti e divertenti, dialoghi spiritosi e vivaci, un paio di baci che fanno sognare e il momento cedono l'uno all'altra in modo travolgente e appassionato (ma è una lettura pulita, non ci sono descrizioni volgari o troppo esplicite).

Personalmente odio i libertini, ma quello che mi è piaciuto del personaggio maschile è che infatti, dopo aver fatto l'amore con lei, non ha mai più toccato un'altra donna nonostante affermasse di non volere quel matrimonio. Lui ha una tentazione, ma più che altro per di mostrare a se stesso che ha ancora pieno potere decisionale sulla sua vita.

Nella storia, la protagonista femminile minaccia più volte tutte le donne che si gettano ai piedi del suo promesso sposo ed esse scappano spaventate, ma è vero che se lui avesse davvero voluto andare a letto con un'altra donna avrebbe potuto trovare più di un modo e qualsiasi altra donna che non avesse ricevuto minacce.
Un'altra cosa che mi è piaciuta molto di lui è che si innamora di lei accettandola anche con quelli che sembrano essere i suoi difetti, quindi prima ancora di scoprire che i modi poco signorili di lei in realtà erano una finzione, anche se era criticata e non accettata dalla madre di lui e dalla società del "bon ton", il che è importante.

Anche la protagonista femminile mi è piaciuta molto perché a differenza di molte donne era capace di mostrare tanta determinazione, forza d'animo e capacità di reazione ad ogni imprevisto o difficoltà.
Mai una volta questa ragazza ha pianto o usato le lacrime per persuadere qualcuno alla sua volontà come soesso fanno le altre ( come detesto le donne frignone ), l'unica volta che mostra le lacrime è in un momento toccante, di riconciliazione con suo padre.

L'orgoglio di ciascuno è stato ovviamente l'ostacolo principale al loro amore, ma in questo corteggiamento al contrario i loro litigi li hanno comunque portati a condividere insieme esperienze e a conoscersi, anche se intravedendo solo in parte il lato migliore del loro modo di essere.

Ho amato anche tutti i personaggi secondari.
Sia il nostro eroe che la nostra eroina sono accompagnati nel viaggio da un seguito di amici o persone alle loro dipendenze, ai quali sono legati da profondo affetto e che assistono con sentita partecipazione allo scontro tra i due promessi sposi.

Se oltre a sognare una storia d'amore a lieto fine, cerchi anche il buon umore, ti assicuro che con questo libro lo otterrai, è una storia davvero divertente!

L'ambientazione di questo romance mi piace molto, però devo avvisarvi che in questo romanzo non troverete ricerche storiche dell'autore, vi basterà sapere dove e quando è ambientata la storia, per immaginare i costumi dei personaggi, gli sfondi delle scene e ovviamente gli usi e costumi di quel tempo e il modo di pensare di quell'epoca.

Forse l'unica piccola cosa che desideravo fosse diversa:
___ ATTENZIONE SPOILER : [ è il fatto che si sposino sapendo che ormai sono innamorati dell'altro, ma senza averlo dichiarato apertamente al partner, pensando quindi entrambi che non saranno ricambiati. Solo la prima notte di nozze diranno "ti amo" e mi sarebbe piaciuto che lo dicessero quando la ritrova dopo averla inseguita per mezza Europa. ] ___FINE SPOILER

NOTA FINALE SUL LIBRO: questo è il secondo libro di una serie di 2, ma puoi leggerlo come stand alone ( non serve leggere il primo per godersi la storia ).
Anche se nel secondo libro sono presenti alcuni degli stessi personaggi del primo, si tratta di 2 storie indipendenti (i protagonisti del primo libro sono il futuro re di Cardinia e la sua futura sposa, che in questo secondo libro sono solo personaggi marginali. )

Se leggete questo libro, spero che vi piaccia tanto quanto è piaciuto a me, ma ovviamente ogni gusto è soggettivo e ricordate che non è un "romanzo storico", ma una storia romantica e divertente di puro intrattenimento.

Book review : Vienna Waltz by Teresa Grant

Vienna Waltz
Malcom and Suzanne Rannoch Historical Mysteries
BOOK 2 by Teresa Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The start of this book was a bit boring to me, but then finally after a while I got into the story and I really liked it.

THE REASONS I WAS BORED IN THE BEGINNING:
1) The prologue was definitely too long and full of unnecessary details that didn't serve the mystery... after the previous reading had been fantastic, reading a boring prologue made me ill disposed towards the book and after the first chapter I already thought I didn't like it and that I would have abandoned the series.

2) Even the first two chapters failed to capture my interest: the murder of a despicable woman I didn't care that it was solved, in the book everyone was attracted to her, but the truth is that from the very beginning a selfish personality devoted to power is evident, she was a dirty blackmailer even towards those who loved her.

3) The two protagonists are married, but apart from the fact that they have a son and get along well in bed, they seem like perfect strangers and there is always an air of embarrassment between them.

... I couldn't find a reason to appreciate this book, but perhaps I was still under the spell of the previous book (which I loved) and therefore I decided to continue reading, all in all, the plot on the back cover sounded interesting:

__THE PLOT__ November 1814, Congress of Vienna. The elite of Europe ( sovereigns, ambassadors, princes and even the tsar) are negotiating the fate of the Continent after Bonaparte's exile on the island of Elba.
Suddenly one night Princess Tatiana, the most beautiful and talked about woman in Vienna, is found murdered during an ill-timed rendezvous with three of her most powerful conquests.
Suzanne Rannoch has tried to ignore rumors that her new husband, Malcolm, is also one of Tatiana's lovers and since both she and her husband are among those summoned to the appointment and find he was the one who found the body, they decide to investigate...

WHY I CHANGED MY MIND and APPRECIATED THE BOOK
...of course, by reading the book, the reader uncovers that there are many other hidden reasons to investigate on the murder, reasons that husband and wife keep hidden to each others.

1) Investigating together, facing dangers, saving each other's lives, the two characters begin to open up to each other and we discover that actually they are deeply in love with each other but they dare not admit it openly because of their past and their fears.
The 2 main characters finally exude warmth, the reader's heart warms up, the secrets are revealed little by little, giving rise to new trust in the partner and the hope of being truly loved by the other one.

2) The characters that revolve around Malcolm and Susanne are several, many of whom really existed in history and who played decisive roles in the society of the time.
At the beginning of the book we find the whole list of characters and those who really existed are marked with an asterisk and this was very useful to me, since as I met the characters in the book, I enjoyed reading their life summary on Wikipedia, it gave me a way to have a broader view of that historical moment and that historical event and of course of those impressive people.

3) Although for a good part of the book I wasn't interested in finding out who killed the libertine princess (I was more interested in discovering the secrets of all the characters, in fact throughout the story EVERY CHARACTER has secrets to hide), in the end the killer wasn't obvious at all !!!
In the last chapters I thought I knew who the killer was, but actually it was all EVEN MORE COMPLICATED, the AUTHOR WAS REALLY INGENIOUS and THE ENDING REALLY SURPRISED ME!

I was going to give this book 3 stars, I liked it, but I wouldn't read it again and I thought maybe I wouldn't continue in the series, but then the complicated web of lies and secrets surprised me a lot, more I got fond to Susanne and Malcolm and I really wish to spend more time with them by reading book #2 in the series (although not right away), so I've rated the novel 3.8 stars and rounding up to 4.

Well, I hope I was able to express my feelings about the book in a right way, since English is not my mother tongue, if not please forgive me.

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Giveaway : Enchanting Autumn Desktop Wallpaper

A freebie for you : a cute desktop wallpaper suitable for next Autumn

Hello dear friends ! :-D

Since I started today creating graphic design to print on demand, I want to share here with you, for free, my first creation, named Enchanting Autumn.

I created this design to be printed on breakfast placemats, but in a smaller size (1920 x 1344) I also find it nice to use as a desktop wallpaper on your computer.

If you prefer, you could print it on postcard format to use it between the pages of your books as a bookmark!

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
Enchanting Autumn Desktop Wallpaper
Size 1920 x 1344

Now you may see the blurry image, but if you click on it, the clear image will open.

Of course the image I made for the placemats is much bigger (otherwise the print wouldn't look good), but here I couldn't upload it with those measurements, but it's good enough to print a postcard or to use it on your computer screen.

I hope you will enjoy it. :-)

Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day !


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Book review : A Splendid Defiance by Stella Riley

A Splendid Defiance
by Stella Riley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 stars well deserved, I really loved it, it's an amazing historical adventure romance !!!

I finished the book this morning and I already miss it... I miss the characters, I desperately want to keep being with them!
Definitely the best book I've read in recent years (according to my parameters of course).
This book totally involved me from the very first page to the last one, I'm not exaggerating saying that, indeed there wasn't a single moment that made me feel bored, I couldn't put it down and I neglected many other hobbies of mine because I was so engaged by this book!

I will begin by saying that it is a historical novel, with 2 invented main characters and many side characters who really existed during the civil war in England (1642-1651).

It's a story that talks about war and love, but contrary to what one might think it's not exactly a romance novel, where everything revolves around love and you read hot sex scenes, which really doesn't fit into my genre reading ( like Diana Gabaldon or similar ).

The love story begins slowly and develops very slowly against the backdrop of battles, sieges, heroic and petty deeds, political compromises, the limits of the bigoted world of those times and the courage to assert one's ideas.

There are likable characters, with a good sense of humor who cheer us up in several scenes and there are narrow-minded evil characters who really make your skin crawl.

The hero and heroine are Justine and Abbie, they belong to 2 different sides of this war: he is a Royalist officer holding Banbury castle under siege, while Abbie is the sister of a local shopkeeper, a puritan, a fanatic and despot who makes life impossible to her.

WARNING TO THOSE LOOKING ONLY FOR ROMANCE : Our 2 characters meet only a few times in the first half of the book and this could be disappointing for those purely looking for a romance novel.
We actually see war events unfold, which I promise are never boring, but described in such an interesting and enthralling way that I also passionate about those moments ( you can believe me, battles usually bore me to death, but not in this book ! )
In the first half of the book we can see the 2 main characters lives, learning to get fond of them, savoring every little moment in which they meet and in which they gradually begin to get to know each other and develop a strong feeling of affection.

Justine is a fascinating young man, not only aesthetically, but also in his winking ways, in his smile, in his raised eyebrow looks, in his ironic and joking jokes with the other officers who are also his good friends and with Abigail, in his sarcastic jokes with despicable people.
Justin is brave and despite being young is used to fend for himself from the age of 16, we don't know his past until 3 quarters of the book, but we sense that he has wounds that are hard to heal.
Justin is brilliant and successful with women, but he is not a profiteering libertine, he is a man of honor, who respects others and honors his promises and for this reason he is respected and well liked by many.

Abigail is only 18 at the beginning of the book, she lives with her family, subjugated by her brother-master, she knows nothing of the world and she is not allowed any joy, not even a small one.

She has a one year younger brother who is also her good friend and accomplice, who will also be involved in the events of the war albeit in a different way from that of a soldier.
Given her background, it is obvious that initially Abigail is an insecure and fearful girl, but still with a great desire to live and to know more about life and Justin will open the doors to a new world for her where she can sing and dance without feeling blasphemous, where having beautiful hair or admiring a dress is not a sin, where there are also kind gestures and not just blows and prayers for forgiveness.
But from the caterpillar a butterfly will be born, with an ever strong character and more aware of what it wants and ready to fight, until the end, to get it.

A great love will blossom from mutual esteem and affection, not without difficulties and anguish ___ WARNING: SPOILER[ and I admit that every now and then I was afraid that there was no happy ending... but even when I realized it was going to end well, I had a beautiful final surprise and I really wasn't expecting it. ]____SPOILER END _____
Despite the difficulties and the tragic nature of the war, the atmosphere of the book is pleasant, as I have already said, there are dialogues in which the humor will make you smile several times.

The characters, even all those around the 2 protagonists, are all so well described, we manage to guess their way of being, we can imagine their faces while they talk from the tone of the dialogues.
The author is really very good both in describing historical part, both in making the reader immerse himself in the story, in the same rooms as those people.
I was able to see everything like in a film, I was able to feel myself inside that film, as if I were living there with all of them.

The slowness with which the love story develops doesn't take away anything beautiful from the book, on the contrary, it makes everything more sensual and when at the end we have a couple of sex scenes, everything is described in an intuitive, but delicate way, not at all a vulgar one.

***
This is one of those times I wish I was good at writing and conveying my feelings, it's a great book, but words just can't put it right.
-----> English is not my native language and that certainly makes my review even worse... Sorry

***
I hope I haven't said too much to take away the pleasure of reading, but it was also right to warn those who prefer more explicit romance novels, where the 2 characters would like to jump on each other from the beginning to the end of the book and where the historical context is only mentioned. Not so here.

Being Italian I don't know English history, I only knew that there was a civil war and a short republic between Charles I and Charles II, however I never found myself confused or lost in these facts, indeed it was nice to learn historical facts for unknown to me and then expand them with some web research.

Every now and then I find a book that I really like, which I'm sure I will reread and which I give 5 stars...
but no one has enraptured me like this one and if my favorites so far have had 5 stars I virtually give this one 10 stars.

It was my first Stella Riley book... I'll probably try others, but not right away, because the magic hardly repeats itself twice. :-)

The only problem is that now, any forthcoming reads won't hold a candle to it.

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BOOK AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH EDITION ONLY

Book review : Secrets on the Cote d'Azur by Neil Richards

Secrets on the Cote d'Azur by Neil Richards
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

A nice cozy mystery for those looking for pure entertainment.

The authors are an American and an Englishman, both are used to writing for cinema and TV and we see it here, in fact, both the plot and the dialogues, and the scenes are typical of brilliant detective comedies, where action, humor and great feeling between 2 partners mix in a well balanced way.

Harry and Kat, spouses very much in love and with a past as spies during the First World War, are traveling on the Train Blue that will take them on a mission-holiday on the French Riviera, the renowned Côte d'Azur.
Once they arrive, Harry's aunt asks them to help an old friend of her who is involved in a nasty and indecorous case of blackmail.

We are in the 30s and of course, as in the best Hollywood couple films of those years, here too we have a husband and wife who are handsome, rich highly intelligent, and smarter than any other villain or operative agent. Of course they are madly in love and practically perfect as a couple.

The compliment of a partner in love and the funny joke (classics of the infallible protagonists) are served with regular cadence without being too many and too few.

So if you have ever seen The Thin Man movies ( starring William Powell and Myrna Loy ) and you were a fan ( and the movies were far better than the books ), you'll be not disappointed by this series ( Mydworth Mysteries).
If you are younger and have never seen the old black and white movies, perhaps you might have seen the '80s TV series " Hart to Hart " where the protagonists are equally 2 handsome, rich and very much in love spouses, naturally smart and intelligent ... this is to give you an idea of the protagonists of this book.

The book is not as long as a novel, but not as short as novellas usually are, therefore it is readable in a short time, but it is more enjoyable than a short story.

The writing is smooth, the atmosphere light and fully describes the sparkling air that reigns in the luxurious vacation spots of the 1930s.

If everything is so perfect, then why have I only gave 3.5 ( necessarily rounded to 4 )?

1)__ Because it's "everything too perfect" and if I liked this as a young girl, now in adulthood this bothers me.
I've probably lost my ability to dream of perfection, which clearly doesn't exist.

2)__ Also the book picks up on the usual clichés and while the first 'obvious suspect' was found to be only half guilty, the second 'obvious suspect' was the real villain behind the blackmail.

---> Recommended for fans of cozy mysteries and for those seeking leisure, light reading with pure entertainment, without strong emotions or important historical references.

( Warning : English is not my mother tongue, I hope you have managed to understand the meaning of what I wanted to express, sorry for form or grammatical errors.)

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Book review : The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley

The Splendour Falls
by Susanna Kearsley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book could have been a really beautiful novel but it failed me from the 2nd chapter on and I really don't know how I managed not to abandon it.

--- (WARNING before reading: English is not my native language, so please forgive me any form or/and grammar errors)---

At first glance I was captured by the cover, then reading the plot:
a castle, a story dating back to Queen Isabella and John Lackland (Richard the Lionheart's brother), another tragic story back to World War II, a kidnapping, a contemporary love story and a group of friends investigating...
Wow! It looked like an amazing plot, something really engaging.
So I didn't rest until I found this 1992 book with the old cover (that of the new editions is gloomy and horrible), after a month of searching I finally found it and I was very happy.

The very long prologue tells of characters from a past time, Isabella locked up in the tower at Chinon and her hope of being saved by her husband King John of England.
This suggests that this story will have a huge influence on the plot of the book and that we will discover other things about it ... but it is not so and chapter by chapter other data of other historical episodes and legends are mentioned and the multiple characters all look like this unrelated to each other and no one is really put in the foreground, not even the protagonist!

The problem is that the author had so many ideas in her head that she was unable to find something to focus on and develop in a passionate way, she started at least 10 plots (or almost 10) with too many characters, some of them really insignificant and from one theme she passed to another and then another one and then another one again...
Eventually Kearsley, the author, looks for a way to tie the characters together, but it all feels like a stretch and there's no passion in the characters, they're flat.
Too bad, because if she had eliminated at least 4 characters (even better 5) and had developed the others in a better way, making them more vivid and profound, the book could have given strong emotions.

Until half way through the book nothing important happens and even later, some characters on which the author had focused at the beginning, are all ignored...it's as if while writing the book, the writer had changed her mind a thousand times about what she wanted to write and therefore continuously changed the path of the plot.
I wonder how an editor could have published a book that looks like a closet full of objects that belong to the same person but have nothing to do with the other objects.

---> I would not recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a mystery, nor to anyone who is looking for a romantic story, no romance at all, except few lines in the end.
Dialogues were flat ( especially in the first half of the book where we only read silly chatter, they were better in the second half of the book ).

As for the characters...I can't even give a definition, they were not well developed, some only hinted at (yet one of them is the one she falls in love with) others really stupid (the cousin she is looking for, who is also totally absent in the whole book except the first chapter and at the end) and insignificant and could be omitted).

The only two interesting characters:
---SPOILER ---[one is killed and the other turns out to be the killer. ] ---SPOILER END ---

The protagonist is practically dominated by the situations and chatter of others...an apathetic young woman.
I'm sure the author wanted to describe her as a very sensitive person with internal suffering...but what emerges is only the picture of an uninteresting woman.

----> I would nor recommend it to anyone who loves history and legends, too many notions included in the book and none in depth in a fascinating way.
The setting is very interesting and charming, but the writer is so willing to insert all the historical and descriptive details of the place into the novel that she mentions and tries to describe many, too many things, but actually she fails to make the reader enjoy any of them.
Maybe the writer should have written a travel guide on Chinon, then she could have told all the attractions of the place without making it into a disjointed cauldron.

---> But I really would like another author to rewrite this book, with the author's basic idea, but developing it more emotionally and making the characters more interesting and making them interact in a more sensible and homogeneous way !

The only thing that transpires from the book is how the writer liked this place... perhaps she should have written a tourist guide on this place, or a saga made up of several novels so that in each novel she could develop a theme and a mystery.

I'm sorry to have to give 2.5 stars rounded to 3 (only because I gave 3 stars to worse books and all in all there was potential here) but the writer did a really bad job, she had a nice starting idea for a novel, but then she wanted to put a little bit of everything in it and the novel turned into a tasteless soup!
The ending was meant to be sensational, but that too was really ill-conceived.


-- Book not available in Italian language --

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Giveaway : Free Printable August 2023 Calendar

A freebie for you : August 2023 calendar to download and print

Hello everybody ! :-D

As for last month I have prepared my planning to print for next month: August.

@TizianaFragnerGraphic
August 2023 Calendar
Size 1634 x 1264

I usually print them on sheets of paper to keep on my desk to mark my most important commitments or dates to remember and sometimes I like to print them on cardboard in a smaller format, to use as a postcard-bookmark.

If you like it, you can freely download it and print it in color. Just click on the image to get the bigger one and then download it.

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Book review : The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

The Winter Queen
Book 1 Erast Fandorin mystery series
by Boris Akunin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked it very much !

I chose this book for its setting.
Most of the mysteries I read are set in England or America, the old Europe of the ancient empires exerts a disruptive fascination on me and when I manage to find a mystery that brings me back to that suggestive atmosphere, I can't resist.

___ THE PLOT___ Moscow, 1876: in a crowded park, a young man shoots himself in front of the eyes of a girl, a stranger to him, to whom he had just asked for a kiss.
An inexplicable suicide that leads to other equally inexplicable deaths.
Is there perhaps an international intrigue hatched outside of mother Russia behind those absurd gestures?
Investigating the case is Erast Fandorin, a novice investigator, but full of enthusiasm and keen intelligence.
Although he is only a rookie, from the beginning he decides to investigate further on his own and the clues will lead him to a series of daring adventures through a journey to the capitals of Europe up to England and then back to St. Petersburg.
The truth that will emerge will be shocking and full of always unpredictable events and characters.

The mystery is well thought out and both the protagonist and the characters that revolve around him are captivating, described so well in their ways that I could imagine the scenes as in a movie.

I didn't expect a "cozy mystery" from a Russian author, I approached this reading thinking about a dramatic crime, instead the whole plot and the dialogues are expertly enriched with irony and lightness, without ever being out of place.
The reading was really smooth, I read the book in its English edition and at each chapter I reread it in its Italian edition, to better understand if the feelings given to me by the 2 translations were different or the same (the original book is in Russian and sometimes the translations change the perception of the reader).

Despite the tangled mystery, some villains ( yep ! "some" not "all" ) are known from the beginning, however, each chapter reserves the reader an unexpected surprise and the action and twists follow one another without respite keeping the reader's curiosity alive.

Maybe I was expecting something more in the setting, I would have liked more descriptions of Russian scenarios in the tsarist period, descriptions of the city, palaces and ballrooms, snow and horse-drawn carriages and bells... all that part that makes you dream.
This actually didn't exist and it's for this reason that I don't recommend the book to that part of the female audience that instead seeks dances, palaces and passionate loves.
There is no background romance as is often found in cozy mysteries written by women.
I liked it a lot anyway, because adventure and fast pace are that extra something I look for in an investigative story.

There's only point I hated in the book : ___WARNING SPOILER[the twists really follow one another up to the last page and I would have much preferred that the author would spare me the last unexpected event ...
the book could have ended really well and given the lightness of the mystery, it was what I expected. The author instead preferred to play a dirty trick on both the protagonist and the reader and this disturbed me a lot! ]_SPOILER END__

As I always write in my reviews: please be understanding of my bad English, it's not my native language.

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** ------------- **
____________ LIBRO DISPONIBILE ANCHE IN ITALIANO !

Titolo: LA REGINA D'INVERNO. recensione in italiano:

La regina d'inverno
I misteri di Erast Fandorin Libro 1
di Boris Akunin

Mi è piaciuto davvero molto !

Ho scelto questo libro per la sua ambientazione.
La maggior parte dei mystery che leggo sono ambientati in Inghilterra o in America, la vecchia Europa degli antichi imperi esercita su di me un fascino dirompente e quando riesco a trovare un mystery che mi riporta a quell'atmosfera così suggestiva, non posso resistere.

___ LA TRAMA ___ Mosca, 1876: in un parco affollato, un giovane si spara davanti agli occhi di una ragazza, a lui estranea, alla quale poco prima aveva chiesto un bacio.
Un suicidio inspiegabile che porta ad altre morti altrettanto inspiegabili.
Dietro quei gesti tanto assurdi si nasconde forse un intrigo internazionale, ordito al di fuori della madre Russia?
A indagare sul caso è Erast Fandorin, un investigatore alle prime armi, ma pieno di entusiasmo e acuta intelligenza.
Sebbene sia solo un novellino, sin dall'inizio decide di investigare più a fondo da solo e gli indizi lo porteranno ad una serie di avventure rocambolesche attraverso un viaggio nelle capitali d'Europa fino in Inghilterra e poi nuovamente a San Pietroburgo.
La verità che soprirà sarà sconvolgente e ricca di avvenimenti e personaggi sempre imprevedibili.

Il mistero è ben congeniato e sia il protagonista che i personaggi che si avvicendano attorno a lui sono accattivanti, descritti così bene nei loro modi di essere ceh riuscivo ad immaginare le scene come in un film.
Non mi sarei aspettata un "cozy mystery" da un autore russo, mi sono approcciata a questa lettura pensando ad in crime drammatico, invece tutta la trama e i dialoghi sono sapientemente arricchiti di ironia e leggerezza, senza mai risultare fuori luogo.
La lettura è stata davvero scorrevole, ho letto il libro nella sua edizione inglese e ad ogni capitolo lo rileggevo in italiano, per capire se le sensazioni date dalle 2 traduzioni erano diverse o le stesse ( il libro originale è in russo e talvolta le traduzioni cambiano la percezione del lettore ).
Mi sono piaciute entrambe le traduzioni, anche se ho trovato quella italiano con un linguaggio più obsoleto, ma forse è dovuto al fatto che è una vecchia edizione, mentre di quella inglese ne avevo una più recente.

Nonostante il mistero intricato, alcuni cattivi li conosciamo già dall'inizio, tuttavia, ogni capitolo riserva al lettore una sorpresa inaspettata e l'azione e i colpi di scena si susseguono senza tregua tenendo viva la curiosità di chi legge.

Forse mi aspettavo qualcosa di più nell'ambientazione, avrei voluto maggiori descrizioni degli scenari russi nel periodo zarista, descrizioni della città, palazzi e sale da balli, neve e carrozze trainate da cavalli e campanellini... tutta quella parte che fa sognare.
Questo a dire il vero non c'è stato ed è per questo motivo che non consiglio il libro a quella parte di pubblico femminile che invece cerca balli , palazzi e amori appassionati.
Non esiste una storia d'amore di sottofondo come spesso si trova nei cozy mystery scritti da donne.

A me è piaciuto molto ugualmente, perchè avventura e ritmo veloce son quel quid in più che io cerco in una storia investigativa.

Unico punto che ho detestato nel libro ___ ATTENZIONE SPOILER
i colpi di scena si susseguono davvero fino all'ultima pagina e avrei tanto preferito che l'autore mi risparmiasse l'ultimo evento inatteso ...
il libro avrebbe potuto terminare davvero bene e data la leggerezza del mystery, era ciò che mi aspettavo. L'autore invece ha preferito giocare un tiro mancino sia al protagonista che al lettore e questo mi ha disturbato tantissimo !
FINE SPOILER

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Book review : Kurt Seyt and Shura by Nermin Bezmen

Kurt Seyt 'n' Shura
by Nermin Bezmen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, but I have to give it 2!

I read also, at the same time, the 3rd sequel SHURA (the third book completes the scenes of the first, while I avoided reading the 2nd book because it is about Seyit and his life with his wife Murvet and I want to avoid it ) , so I'll write the same review in the 2 books, indeed it'all concerning the same story and characters.

I start by saying that I fell in love with this love story and its protagonists by watching the 2014 TV series, which I have seen several times in the original language with English subtitles and which I am currently watching with Italian dubbing.

(view spoiler)[ The ending isn't at all a happy ending and I won't deny that I was hurt in the past and that I suffer even now for how it ended badly, (hide spoiler)] but while the writers presented a truly romantic, passionate and sincere love story, staged by actors very good, as well as beautiful, the book, from which I expected something even bigger and more profound, completely ruined my pleasure from the TV series.

They say that books are better than movies or TV series, but I have learned never to read books whose characters I love from the series, because everything is different and they have often disappointed me .
This only applies if you first read the book and love it, if instead you first watch stories on the screen and love what you see, the book in 70% of cases will disappoint you because of the many differences about characters and scenes.

Yet this time I was so obsessed with this romance that I longed for more, to know more.
I wanted to have even more descriptions of this beautiful and pure love.... SPOILER:
This is where the disappointment comes in!
(view spoiler)[ I loved the characters on the screen and suffered with them for their misunderstandings (due to characters plotting against them) and their consequent mistakes, but in the book I find myself a very selfish Seyit, the grandfather of the writer from whom she inspired the book), taken by physical attraction to Shura and sex. A boy dedicated to women before Shura, but also during the story with Shura (any occasion is good) and after Shura (even during his marriage to Murvet, grandmother of the author), who expects to be able to betray but that his woman don't look at anyone else, who has never even vaguely thought of marrying Shura and not because his father wanted a Turkish bride, but because he really didn't think about marriage!!

Throughout the book the scenes between Shura and Seyit are great physical attraction and hunger for each other in terms of sex, which is never vulgarly described, but there is nothing else.

If there is devotion, this is from Shura, who truly believed in this love, but was disappointed across the board.
After the discovery of the betrayal, Shura's mistake is to do the same, after which the story that is remembered in the book on Shura is made up of clandestine meetings between the 2 protagonists and continuous betrayals to each other. (hide spoiler)]
It really disgusted me. This is not love.

I'd like to make a more complete review, I've tried, but there's too much to write, and I can't... but I want to say 2 things:
1) I didn't have a book in English or in my own language, I did a Google translation, from Turkish to Italian, but it's neither this nor the author that disappointed me, it was the characters as they are behave meanly in reality.
I have not seen a strong big love, but only physical passion without anything else from Seyit and the first crush and first experience of Shura that turn into dedication, hope and love for a man who will always disappoint her and which then lead to other wrong relationships.

2) I desperately wanted to believe that it had really been a great and true love despite everything and Seyit's letter to Shura (view spoiler)[before committing suicide (never sent but left to a third person_ you'll find the letter in Shura's book ) (hide spoiler)], for an instant made me believe that deep down he too had always regretted her and regretted having sent her away... but after reading so many interviews with the author and finding many contradictions... I wonder if this letter is not just a mere invention.

Forgive my English, I'm Italian and besides the difficulty in writing in a foreign language, I'm too negatively shocked by what I've read... so I probably wrote worse than usual.

Book review : Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J.Farmer

Death of a Bookseller:
The 100th British Library Crime Classic
by Bernard J. Farmer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It wasn't bad, I liked it enough to get to the end, but I wouldn't suggest it to a friend and for certain it will not be among the books I will read a second time.

Sergeant Wigan, escorts a drunk man home one night to keep him out of trouble and the man introduces himself as Michael Fisk and explains that he deals in rare books. He has been out celebrating his last discovery : a John Keats’ personal inscribed copy of Endymion.

The two become friends and the book collector teaches Wigan all the tricks to discovering and collecting rare editions.
But one day Mike Fisk, the collector, is found dead and despite the arrest of a person, Sergeant Wigan wants to find out who, according to him, is the real killer.

The first half of the book flowed well, but it wasn't totally engaging for me, I didn't feel the unbridled desire to resume reading every time I had to interrupt.

In the second half of the book the mystery thickens and becomes more engaging, however I must admit that there are some rather absurd contradictions :
________ WARNING : SPOILER ! __
1) a good and nice man who however wants to summon the devil... well, for me it is a contradiction that is not acceptable.
2) a psychopathic person who often tries to kill his brother and who hides sadomasochistic books, but then in the end after having hosted an old lady, she burns all those horrendous books.. has she suddenly become normal and sane? Come on !
3) a villain who confesses to a murder because if he doesn't confess the devil will be summoned and the devil will turn his mother into a rat ... hey come on ! The book is set in the 50's and not in the middle ages, who can believe such threats?
4) a collaborator of the detective, suddenly disappears and Wigan doesn't care too much about what might have happened to him ... not seeing him, he thinks he will wait a few more days to look for him, even though he knows that the situation could be dangerous ... and then in reality he doesn't even look for the man!
Wigan learns of the collaborator's death only when in the end the killer confesses to the second crime (which he does spontaneously, in fact Wigan only investigates the first murder), inconceivable!
________ END OF THE SPOILER __

Also, though it is nice that the detective in question finds external collaborators...well, there are some chapters where the protagonist does nothing or almost nothing and it is the others who carry out the real detective work.
Even in the finale, the most decisive work is done by another character.

In any case, the reading is smooth and the book can be read in two or three days.

I gave 3 stars because Wigan is a pleasant main role character and the mystery, overall, is interesting since there are several suspicious characters and until the end you can't guess who really could be the murderer.

I apologize for my English, it's not my native language :-)

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____________ LIBRO ORA DISPONIBILE ANCHE IN ITALIANO !

Ecco la mia opinione:
Non è stato male, mi è piaciuto abbastanza per arrivare alla fine, ma NON lo consiglierei ad un amico e di certo non sarà tra i libri che rileggerò una seconda volta.

Il sergente Wigan, una notte accompagna a casa un uomo ubriaco per tenerlo fuori dai guai e l'uomo si presenta come Michael Fisk e spiega che si occupa di libri rari. È uscito per celebrare la sua ultima scoperta: una copia personale di John Keats del suo Endymion ( poema del 1817) con tanto di iscrizione dell'autore.

I due diventano amici e il collezionista di libri insegna a Wigan tutti i trucchi per scoprire e collezionare edizioni rare. Ma un giorno Mike Fisk, l'esattore, viene trovato morto e nonostante l'arresto di una persona, il sergente Wigan vuole scoprire chi, secondo lui, sia il vero assassino.

La prima metà del libro scorre bene, ma per me non è stato molto coinvolgente, non sentivo la voglia sfrenata di riprendere la lettura del libro ogni volta che dovevo interrompere...mentre quando un libro ti prende, non vedi l'ora di rituffarti nella lettura.

Nella seconda metà del libro il mistero si infittisce e si fa più avvincente, tuttavia devo ammettere che ci sono delle CONTRADDIZIONI piuttosto ASSURDE:
________ ATTENZIONE : SPOILER ! __
1) la vittima viene descritta come un uomo buono e simpatico, che però vuole evocare il diavolo... beh, scusate, ma per me è una contraddizione INACCETTABILE. Ma quale persona buona d'animo vorrebbe evocare il diavolo?
Se come il protagonista, facessi amicizia con una persona che "sembra" buona, ma che mi dice che adora i libri dell'occulto e di magia nera e sta cercando di evocare il diavolo, quella persona non mi vedrebbe più.
2) uno dei personaggi è una psicopatica, che spesso cerca di uccidere il fratello e che nasconde libri sado-masochisti, ma poi alla fine dopo aver ospitato un'anziana brava signora, brucia finalmente tutti quei libri orrendi.. è improvvisamente diventata normale e sana di mente? Ma dai !
3) il cattivo che confessa un omicidio perché sotto minaccia...si ma la minaccia è :se non confessa verrà convocato il diavolo e il diavolo trasformerà sua madre in un topo... ehi andiamo! Il libro è ambientato negli anni '50 e non nel Medioevo, quale assassino avrebbe confessato sotto tali minacce?
4) un collaboratore del detective, improvvisamente scompare e a Wigan non importa molto di quello che gli può essere successo... non vedendolo, pensa che aspetterà ancora qualche giorno per cercarlo, anche se sa benissimo che la situazione è pericolosa per chi sta indagando... e poi in realtà non cerca nemmeno l'uomo!
Wigan viene a sapere della morte del collaboratore solo quando alla fine l'assassino confessa il secondo delitto (cosa che fa spontaneamente, Wigan infatti indaga solo sul primo omicidio e della scomparsa del suo collaboratore non gliene importa poi tanto, nessuna preoccupazione in proposito) e dopo aver saputo della morte del collaboratore, il Sergente Wigan non fa una piega... inconcepibile!

________ FINE DELLO SPOILER __

Inoltre, per quanto sia piacevole che il l'investigazione sia svolta non da un solo personaggio, il detective in questione, ma altri personaggi da lui coinvolti nelal caccia al vero assasino... beh, ci sono dei capitoli in cui il protagonista, che fa parte delal polizia, non fa assolutamente nulla o quasi nulla e sono gli altri personaggi a svolgere il vero lavoro investigativo.

Anche nel finale, il lavoro decisivo ( scoprire e far confessare il colpevole ) viene svolto da un altro personaggio...ma che senso ha ? In ogni caso la lettura è scorrevole e il libro si legge in due o tre giorni.

Ho dato 3 stelle perché Wigan, tutto sommato, è un personaggio principale piacevole e il mistero, nel complesso, è interessante poiché ci sono diversi personaggi sospetti e fino alla fine non puoi davvero indovinare chi potrebbe essere davvero l'assassino.

Per quanto mi riguarda , comunque, Bernard J. Farmer è un autore che non leggerò più.