Julie’s February Book Report

February has just flown by! I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day surrounded by good books! I only finished three books this month. I started a fourth, but I’m struggling to stay focused on it.

Say You Love Me by Kelsey Langton

You might remember last month I talked about finding out that a book you’ve just read is part of a series. It happened again with my first book Say You Love Me. It is number 5 in the Malory Family Series! Number 5! It read fine on its own though. It was actually a pretty good story although the main character, Kelsey Langton, is sold in an auction! WHAT?!? It takes place in the early 1900s. Kelsey and her younger sister live with their aunt and uncle as both of their parents have passed away. Kelsey finds her uncle crying in his scotch one night, and he confesses that he has lost his job, and they’re going to lose the house and everything if he doesn’t come up with some money. He has the brilliant idea that Kelsey could auction herself off as a mistress at a house of ill repute – and she agrees! She goes through with it because she loves her sister and doesn’t want anything to happen to her. I mean, I would do anything for my little sister, but I think I would have tried to come up with another plan. Of course, the most handsome Lord Derek Malory has the highest bid – a bid he places to protect her from falling into the hands of an evil creepy dude. Lord Mallory and Kelsey fall in love and live happily ever after. It was a good story – not an eye-rolling romance. I enjoyed it. My favorite part is when Kelsey’s aunt (who has plenty of money) figures out what her stupid husband did and kicks him to the curb and then finds Kelsey to bring her back home.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford

This book was next on my list. The humans for sale theme continues in this one. Ernest Young is a half-Chinese orphan who lives at a charity boarding school and is raffled off at the World’s Fair in Seattle. A madam of a high-class brothel has the winning raffle ticket, and she takes Ernest home to work for her as a houseboy – he’s 12. The book is about life growing up in the brothel and the friendship and relationships he develops with two girls (one is the daughter of the madam, one is a scullery maid in the brothel). The story unfolds as Ernest is telling it to his oldest daughter – she is a reporter and writing the story to be published. The way it started out, I thought it was going to be sad and depressing, but it really wasn’t. There were certainly some sad parts, but I think for the most part, Ernest is happy. It also has a happy surprise at the end.

Shotgun Wedding by Maggie Osborne

Nothing says love like a shotgun wedding, right? That was my next book – Shotgun Wedding by Maggie Osborne. This book is about Annie Mallow, who considers herself a “New Modern Woman” but finds herself unwed and pregnant…and the father is an outlaw. Scandalous! She becomes an outcast and takes her parents down with her. I think they are more furious about the fact that their status in society has changed than the fact that the girl is pregnant. It was a little ridiculous, especially compared to today. Annie doesn’t want to marry the father because of his line of work (bank robber). I guess it’s okay to sleep with a criminal – you just don’t want to marry one. Along comes the sheriff, who has had his eye on Annie for some time. He offers to marry Annie, she accepts, they fall in love and live happily every after. Of course, it wasn’t quite that easy, and it was a bit drawn out in parts, but there was some good stuff in between. It ended the way I hoped it would so I enjoyed it.

Paris by Edward Rutherford

I started reading this one. I know I’ve mentioned how much I love reading about Paris, but this book is 805 pages. I’m on page 105…only 700 pages to go! I wonder if that’s why I’m having trouble – the sheer size of the book is daunting. Each chapter is a different year – it starts in 1875 and goes to 1883, 1261, 1885, 1887 and now I’m in 1307. I’m struggling with that, too. It’s just difficult to focus. The author does share interesting historical information about Paris – it’s kind of a cross between fiction and textbook. I was hoping to finish it by the end of this month, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. We’ll see.

I hope you fell in love with some new books this month!

Happy reading!

Julie