Cover Crush - Leila Meacham

We can all say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but I guarantee that we all have done so at least once! Cover Crush is designed to feature some of those covers that have caught the eye as a standout on the bookshelf.

I have always LOVED Leila Meacham’s book covers (check out her prior titles toward the end of this post). Her covers always feature flowers and the cover of Titans is a bit of a departure from the others in that it is more than just flowers. Titans features a beautiful atmospheric plantation home set amongst some field flowers. Knowing Meacham’s storytelling style from reading all her prior novels, I have a feeling this is a good representation of her setting.

What do you think about this cover?


Check out the covers that my blogger friends at Flashlight Commentary, 2 Kids and Tired Books, and A Bookaholic Swede are crushing on today!

  


Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Somerset by Leila Meacham

Somerset by Leila Meacham
ARC, e-Book, 625 pages
Grand Central Publishing
February 4, 2014
★★★★★

Genre: Historical Fiction, Family Saga

Source: Received for review via Netgalley request

“One hundred fifty years of Roses' Tolivers, Warwicks, and DuMonts! We begin in the antebellum South on Plantation Alley in South Carolina, where Silas Toliver, deprived of his inheritance, joins up with his best friend Jeremy Warwick to plan a wagon train expedition to the "black waxy" promise of a new territory called Texas. Slavery, westward expansion, abolition, the Civil War, love, marriage, friendship, tragedy and triumph-all the ingredients (and much more) that made so many love Roses so much-are here in abundance.”

I LOVED Roses and was supremely excited when I heard that Somerset, the prequel to Roses, was coming out in 2014. The story of the Warwicks, Tolivers, and DuMonts was just calling for more to the story. I was thrilled when my request for the book was accepted by the publisher, and then…it sat in my Kindle bookshelf and aged. I was so excited to read it, but I think I also held back because I didn’t want it to ruin how I had felt about Roses. When trying to select the book I would read while on my honeymoon, I knew it had to be Somerset – it was the right time.

I LOVED Somerset just as much as Roses, but in a different way. The characters and writing were the same level of awesome, but while Roses was more of a romance story, Somerset was a story of westward expansion and the foundation of 3 Texas dynasties. Of course there were romantic elements, but the story had a different feel for sure. The novel just oozes southern cultural history – of both the plantation owners as well as the slaves/emancipated servants who worked on the plantations. There is a clear passion for the cotton industry which is palpable on every page.

The real heft of the plot is the “curse” on the Tolivers. We are introduced to it in Roses, however we get to the origin of the curse in Somerset. The pages flew by due to the author’s writing style and the fact that the dialogue always feels natural. The novel ends just after the birth of Mary, the main character in Roses, and I felt that it was the perfect breaking point. I highly recommend reading Roses first – not because it would be confusing to read Somerset first – but because I think that the revelations in Somerset are more rewarding if you already know what happened in Roses.

And isn’t the cover just divine!

Author Leila Meacham also has written Roses and Tumbleweeds.

My reviews of other books by this author:

• Roses

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Country Girls Read

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

New Book Alert: Somerset by Leila Meacham

Somerset
by Leila Meacham
Hardcover, 624 pages
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN-13: 9781455547388
November 5, 2013

Book Blurb:

One hundred fifty years of Roses' Tolivers, Warwicks, and DuMonts! We begin in the antebellum South on Plantation Alley in South Carolina, where Silas Toliver, deprived of his inheritance, joins up with his best friend Jeremy Warwick to plan a wagon train expedition to the "black waxy" promise of a new territory called Texas. Slavery, westward expansion, abolition, the Civil War, love, marriage, friendship, tragedy and triumph-all the ingredients (and much more) that made so many love Roses so much-are here in abundance.

If you enjoyed reading Roses by Leila Meacham, I’m sure you will be excited to hear that she has a book coming out this November that will bring us back to their stories…sort of.  In Somerset, Meacham takes us on the journey with the original family founders of the Tolivers, Warwicks, and DuMonts en route to Howbutker, Texas.  So we will get more of the backstory that was hinted at in Roses!

You can pre-order the book in various places, here are some links: Amazon, B&N, and R.J. Julia (my favorite indie bookstore). 

If you use Netgalley, they have it there too!  I already put in my request for it this morning. 

Are you looking forward to this book?  Isn’t the cover GORGEOUS?!

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Roses by Leila Meacham

Roses by Leila Meacham
Unabridged, 18 hr. 1 min.
Random House Audio
Coleen Marlo (Narrator)
December 18, 2009
★★★★★

Genre: Historical Fiction, Family Saga

Source: Downloaded audio from my local library

“Spanning the 20th century, the story of Roses takes place in a small East Texas town against the backdrop of the powerful timber and cotton industries, industries controlled by the scions of the town's founding families. Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married but unwisely did not, and now must deal with the deceit, secrets, and tragedies of their choice and the loss of what might have been--not just for themselves but for their children, and children's children. With expert, unabashed, big-canvas storytelling, Roses covers a hundred years, three generations of Texans and the explosive combination of passion for work and longing for love..”

I had put off reading this book for a long time, despite all the glowing reviews I had seen from friends and the personal recommendations made to me. This was purely because of the length of the book – which is over 600 pages – and it sat on my shelf for probably a good year or so. When I found that my library had it on audio book, I decided that was the way to go and set off on this grand adventure. Let me tell you now – I loved every minute of it – even when I had tears in my eyes!

This is one of those multi-generational family saga novels – so there are a bunch of characters and a lot of time to cover. This novel runs from the very early days of the 1900’s – I want to say 1907? – up through the 1980’s. A lot happens during that time, both externally and internally within the family. While the story focuses primarily on what happens to these families – Warwicks, Tolivers, and DuMonts – we also see the bigger picture movements of the USA in terms of how it affects the families (Prohibition, WWI, WWI, Korean War etc). I can comfortably say that A LOT happens in these pages – and there are so many twists and turns!

This was an emotional read for me in so many ways. I am not typically an emotional reader, but you almost cannot avoid it in this book – something will hit you. There were times I was brought to tears (several in fact), times when I was so mad at what one of the character’s did, and other times (less so) where I was very happy. Because of the emotionality of this book, I put it down several times. Mary and Percy’s relationship really got to me. When there was something good that happened to them, I would put the book down for a day or two in order to savor the happy times, because I knew something would happen to them to tear it down (I mean, the back cover blurb tells right off that they don’t end up married). When something tragic happened (and a lot was tragic), I would again put the book down because it was just too much. It took me over a month to listen to 18 hours of this book because of all the times I put it down.

The characters were so well written and each was very distinct and different. I was in love with Percy Warwick throughout the entire novel. Even though he made mistakes like the rest of the cast (and like everyone else in life) he was a very good man – and handsome to boot! Mary at times frustrated me – often – but I can understand the desire to remain connected to your familial roots when they run as deep as the Tolivers.

Most of the first half of the novel is told through flashbacks primarily through the eyes of Mary and Percy, but you occasionally get treated to another viewpoint. The latter half of the book focuses on how the decisions made in the past (seen through the flashbacks) will affect the later generations – particularly Mary’s grand-niece, Rachel, and Percy’s grandson, Matthew. It was so atmospheric and there was some great dialogue. I also loved how the use of roses was tied through the story and was important to the history of these families. While the use of the roses might appear a little ridiculous, I thought that it was cool and would love it if my family used roses this way – although I would then have to stop liking pink roses!

The cover is GORGOUS (as are the other covers of her books).

★★★★★

The audio production was fantastic. The narrator had a great southern style manner of speaking and it really helped placing you square in the middle of plantation life. She brought the characters to life and gave each a distinct voice.

Author Leila Meacham also has written Tumbleweeds and the to-be-released prequel to Roses titled Somerset.

My other reviews of books by this author:

• Somerset 

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Burton Book Review
• A Novel Menagerie

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court