Reading Thru the Year

  We are still in the Archer Family series with Fencing for Ladies. This time we follow Lady Olivia who is the sister of Harnet the Earl of Wraysbury with whom we spent the last book. Olivia is in the style of the other ladies but slightly different. She is 28 years old and unmarried but not a spinster, Olivia is betrothed to family friend Lord Saunders. She does not love Saunders but he is a good man, will treat her well and both families desire the union. She has not married him before now for vague reasons of timing. But even if she must marry Olivia intends on opening a school, a fencing academy for ladies. Olivia has loved the sport since she was 18 and practicing with her brothers and their dashing instructor.  The opening of her school causes a minor scandal but she enrolls a few ladies of her acquaintance and most feel the school is unusual but respectable enough. Until on the opening day of the school, a murdered man is found on the floor of the new school. Not only a...

  A Stolen Rose by Amy Corwin in the Archer Family Series was the second book I read this year. I really enjoyed this series and as it was included in my Audible Plus catalog and in the middle of a pandemic my entertainment options are limited, but obtaining audiobooks can be done in the comfort of my own home at any hour and with ease of pressing a couple of buttons on my phone. This is the dream of 15-year-old Martha come true. Almost any book at any time can be mine, to a girl that went to midnight sales at bookstores or looked for a favorite book only to find it sold out, not carried in the store inventory, or out of print were always risks. I think we should all take a moment to appreciate this world of marvels that we live in.  I forgot to mention in my previous review that this series is very chaste and tame. This is an audiobook that can be listened to in the car with kids and you only risk their boredom and complaints, not awkward questions about throbbing and thrusti...

 I began the year in the middle of a series The Archer Family Series. This is a Regency Era romance mystery series. I like most other lovers of Period Drama was obsessed with Bridgerton on Netflix. I stumbled on the Archer Family by Amy Cowin on Audible Plus and it was in their streaming catalog included with membership. As it was cold and at no additional cost I gave the first book An Unwanted Heiress a try and was hooked on this delightful series. The series follows the loosely connected Archer Family as they find love and solve mysteries usually, but not always murder. I love the light-hearted happily ever after and dashing members of the Aristocracy and the high-spirited women who capture their hearts.  In this case, we follow Hugh Castle The Earl of Monnow. Hugh had been ready to announce his engagement to a suitable lady at a ball in his home when before the announcement she runs off with a lover. While he was not in love with his intended his pride is wounded. To clear ...

 For those who do not know me my name is Martha Hinckley. The basics are that I am a 39-year-old married mother of two girls who happen to be Autistic. The deeper part of me is a deeply passionate bookworm who enjoys a wide variety of books and genres. I love historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary fiction. I feel that books are windows into our souls and show the universal humanity of our experience. I take comfort that we are not unique and our feelings are echoed across time and distance. I once read that science fiction is not the story of science, Space, or the future rather the story of human beings in different settings. I believe that is true for all genres.  While I am a passionate reader I am also a parent of Autistic children and that comes with its own challenges, for example, my older daughter enjoys ripping my books page by page. Reading in paper or electronic form also excludes other activities. When you sit down to read you aren't cooking...