Audiobook Review: Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
Book 2 in the Outlander Series

Unabridged, 38 hr. 58 min.

Recorded Books

Davina Porter (Narrator)

October 26, 2006

★★★★ ½☆

Heat Rating:

Genre: Historical Fiction; Time-Slip; Romance

Source: Downloaded the audiobook from Audible

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his...

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising... and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves...

When I finished reading Outlander, I wanted to both immediately pick up Dragonfly in Amber as well as hold off for a while so that I could just absorb and enjoy my experience with it. In the end, I waited almost a year before having the chance to pick up book two, but not for a second had I forgotten the events of Outlander and felt totally ready to dive into what this next volume would bring. And then I was brought up short and taken aback. You see, Dragonfly in Amber does not pick back up where Outlander left off, it’s set back in modern time with Claire in her fifties and her daughter Brianna well grown. Wait, what? How did this happen? What did I miss? Where is Jamie? These questions and more streamed through my head as I panicked at the start of this novel. And for quite a bit of time we don’t have many answers. I struggled to push myself through these modern day chapters. While I was intrigued at how we got there, I didn’t enjoy them nearly enough for the amount of time that we are in the present with everyone just brooding and not telling each other the whole truth.

When we finally get back to Jamie and Claire, we are now in France, where they were absconding to at the end of Outlander. Here my interest picked up again because we were back in familiar territory and for the most part I enjoyed this part. In typical Gabaldon style, France came to life under her pen as she had previously treated Scotland. I enjoyed, as always, Murtaugh was a favorite comedic break and then there was the addition of a young boy, Fergus, whom Jamie takes under his wing who had some great moments too. Jamie and Claire love each other, betray each other, and hurt each other over and over, as seems to be their typical bent, but I longed for it over and over again.  Also typical Gabaldon style, the sex scenes are hot, hot, hot and plentiful.

Ultimately, the two very disparate parts seemed to come together and you are left with a cliffhanger into Voyager. Again, it left me wanting to pick it up right away, but choosing again to hold out for a bit. I did like this book very much, but not nearly as much as the first book overall.

★★★★★+

I've said it before, and I will say it again, Davina Porter does an excellent job narrating this book with its even wider array of accents, characters, and personalities. She is one of those narrators that I would enjoy listening to over and over again, which is excellent as she narrates much of the Outlander series. Her pacing was perfect and she puts real emotion behind her narration and truly contributed to the feel of this book and bringing the characters to vivid life. Seeing as she is narrating a nearly 40 hour long book it is beneficial that she is enjoyable to listen to.

You can listen to an audio sample below (play symbol) to get a taste of Porter's narration or read these two excerpts of the text for Gabaldon's style: Excerpt 1 | Excerpt 2.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Red Hot Books 
• The Hope Chest Reviews

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Diana Gabaldon:

Virgins (Book 0.5)

Outlander (Book 1)
[My Review]

Voyager (Book 3)

Drums of Autumn (Book 4)

The Fiery Cross (Book 5)

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Book 6)

An Echo in the Bone (Book 7)

The Space Between (Book 7.5)

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (Book 8)

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows (Book 8.5)

Diana Gabaldon has also written the Lord John Grey series which is a spinoff of the Outlander series and takes place during the events of Voyager.

Find Diana Gabaldon: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Find Davina Porter: AudioFile Magazine |

 

If you have read the book and are watching Season 2 of the Outlander TV series - how do you think they line up?  I've been hoarding my episodes so I can binge watch them.




Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Giveaway Winners!

Good evening everyone, hope you have all had a great weekend!  I'm going to make it even better for 2 people as I announce the winners of a couple giveaways that have been outstanding.  But first I want to thank everyone who entered these giveaways and helped spread the word; you are all much appreciated and I hope you are selected as a winner in a future giveaway, stay tuned for more to come!

The first winner I am going to announce is for the 2 Deborah Swift books: Spirit of the Highway and Shadow on the Highway... and that winner is ...

Maria!!!

The second winner I have to announce is for the James Dalessandro book, 1906... and that winner is...

Rhonda!!!

Congrats to both of you!! I have sent emails to the winners, and if I do not receive responses within 5 days I will select a new winner(s).





Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Weekend Cooking: My Trip to Medieval Times

Last month, my husband had a conference for work in Orlando, Florida and I took the opportunity to join him for a short 4 day vacation following its end. We did a lot of eating while there and two of the places I will be sharing in Weekend Cooking posts (although I did none of the cooking in either case). In the case of today, it fits into the historical nature of my food posts.

Medieval Times entrance
Photo Credit: My Husband

My husband was excited to visit Medieval Times for dinner one night because he remembered attending when he was a child with his parents. I mean, his memory of this was excellent as he even remembered which knight was the champion of his section and which knight won the battle when he attended. I remembered going to something similar in Florida when I was young, Arabian Nights, which has since closed and the only thing I remembered was not liking to eat with my hands (my husband reminded me that I would be doing the same again, but as an adult that didn’t bother me!).

Selfie!

For those of you who haven’t visited an entertainment like this let me give a short summary. We were welcomed to the king’s castle and after some time milling around the great hall you are seated in a stadium style hall around a center dirt ring. While eating we watched our knights joust, fight in hand-to-hand combat, and watch some horses do some beautiful movements. We were seated in the Santiago section (each of the knights represented a different section of Spain) and we were represented by the Black and White Knight. He was wonderfully entertaining, but was the first causality of the battle, which was sad. I thought all of the exertions by the knights were very well done.

The Knights!
Photo Credit: My Husband

The food was fairly good and was actually better than I expected given the size of the crowd they were feeding all at the same time. The meal started off with a bowl of tomato bisque (which you had to pour into your mouth straight from the bowl). The main serving was roasted chicken, with a half of a baked potato, and corn on the cob. The dessert course was an apple turnover. The chicken was probably the best part, juicy and plump. The potato was a little overcooked in parts and the corn a little over steamed but edible. The soup and turnover were likely pre-packaged, but still good. I’m thinking that the only item of our dinner that was probably historically accurate was the chicken and maybe the turnover (or something fairly similar). Potatoes and tomatoes would come from the New World much later than the medieval time being represented here.

Our Meal
Photo Credit: Me

Regardless, the experience at Medieval Times was fun and we would do it again. It is fun for families and couples. You are paying mostly for the show than for the food and it is worth time money.

 
 
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Any post remotely related to cooking can participate.




Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: Beneath Montana's Sky by Debra Holland

Beneath Montana’s Sky by Debra Holland
Book .5 (Prologue) of Wild Montana Sky Series

Unabridged, 4 hr. 40 min.

Debra Holland

Lara Asmudson (Narrator)

April 14, 2015

★★★★☆

Heat Rating:

 

Genre: Historical Romance, Western

Source: Received Free Download from Author via Audible for Review

BEFORE THE MAIL-ORDER BRIDES OF THE WEST SERIES, BEFORE WILD MONTANA SKY, COMES THE PREQUEL TO THE MONTANA SKY SERIES, sweet historical western romance by NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author Debra Holland set in 1882.

Plain and timid, debutante Pamela Burke-Smythe is a wallflower at the high society Boston balls she attends, overlooked by possible suitors. One-by-one, her friends become engaged, and Pamela resigns herself as to life as a spinster.

When rancher John Carter becomes guardian to his orphaned godson, Nick, nothing he does seems to help the grieving, angry boy. At his wit’s end, he believes that a wife might help draw Nick out, and lonely himself, John’s been thinking along the matrimonial lines for a while anyway. But small Sweetwater Springs, Montana, has no suitable candidates. He decides to visit his great-aunt Hester in Boston and bring back a wife who is kind and compassionate, can be a mother figure to Nick, and who can adapt to the hard life on the ranch.

Hester plays matchmaker for John, introducing him to Pamela. John responds to Pamela’s kind heart and believes he’s found the ideal woman. But Pamela never thought to marry a stranger and leave Boston, and her family and friends are against the idea. She musters all her meager courage to defy her loved ones and seize her only chance at marriage.

After a whirlwind courtship, the couple marries and travels west. Pamela discovers a run-down ranch house, a bunch of unruly cowboys, a sullen boy, and a different way of life. Can their new marriage survive the challenge?

This novella sets the stage for Debra Holland’s entire Wild Montana Sky and Mail Order Brides of the West series; it is chronologically the earliest. This however wasn’t my first introduction to the Sweetwater Springs world (that was with Grace: Bride of Montana).

The novella starts out in two different settings that occur simultaneously: Montana, on the ranch that John Carter owns, and Boston, where Pamela lives. We are introduced to John and he is a solid, upstanding rancher who has just taken in his godson and really has no idea how to raise a teenage boy dealing with the grief of losing his family. He knows that a wife would make his life easier and possibly bring Nick out of his grief, but he has to look far afield for one as there are not many in the wilds of Montana. John’s whole approach is in looking at it in not quite the strictly business arrangement manner, but he’s not looking for a love-at-first-sight match either. I found him earnest and interested in doing what he can for everyone. Pamela lives in a world that is very, very different from John; she lives in the urban environment of Boston complete with all the amenities that a city life brings. She has settled on being an old maid for the rest of her life, so she makes a huge mess of things in ultimately getting to the altar with John. Her reaction to essentially being swept up in a pseudo-arranged/quick marriage is very much like my own would be: cautious, but optimistic. He is a hard worker who tries to improve life for herself and those around her on the new ranch she will call home. I think I most enjoyed watching her put these men in line (there is one scene where all I can envision is Snow White sending the dwarves out to bathe!). There were quite a few chuckles to be had here.

The romance in this novel is slow building, which I found believable and appropriate for the time period and nature of the relationship. They agree to marry without really knowing too much about each other and over time grow to trust one another. Most women who moved west had to be industrious and figure out creative ways to solve the myriad of problems they would encounter, and Pamela does just that, even though she is from a more posh background. She is able to blend herself into John’s life and build a family from those that welcome her into their world.

I found this novella to be sweet and intriguing as I came to know more about these characters and this setting of Sweetwater Springs. It was a quick read and I look forward to reading more in this series.

★★★★☆

The issue that I had with the last audiobook narrated by Lara Asmudson (Grace, Bride of Montana) I also encountered here. Overall, her narration was very good, however there seems to always be one character whose voice bothers me tremendously and can pull me out of the story; this time it was Pamela’s Boston friend Elizabeth Hamilton. Her British accent did nothing for me, and every time she called her “dear Pam” the sound of it pulled me right out of the story. The good thing here is that Elizabeth is not one of the main characters, she is just present in the Boston section of the story, which isn’t long), so it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment to a great extent. The narrator’s pacing of the reading is well done while still moving the story along.

You can listen to a sample of the book to get a taste for both the story and narration:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• I Am a Reader

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Audible

**At the time of this review – the book is free on all these platforms!!**


Also by Debra Holland:

Wild Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #1)

Starry Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #2)

Stormy Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #3)

Montana Sky Christmas (Wild Montana Sky #3.1)

A Valentine's Choice (Wild Montana Sky #3.2)

Painted Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #3.5)

Glorious Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #4)

Sweetwater Springs Scrooge (Wild Montana Sky #4.1)

Sweetwater Springs Christmas (Wild Montana Sky #4.2)

Healing Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #5)

Mystic Montana Sky (Wild Montana Sky #6)

Trudy (Mail-Order Brides of the West #1)

Lina (Mail-Order Brides of the West #4)

Darcy (Mail-Order Brides of the West #5)



Find Debra Holland: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Find Lara Asmundson: Website



Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Cover Crush: The Last Road Home

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.

What I loved about this cover is that it is subtle and simple - just a table set for tea looking out at the barn and fields.  It's peaceful and beautiful.  There are no hard edges, everything is bathed in a soft light.  Even though this is just barely historical fiction (1950s and 1960s), I would seriously consider this one just from the cover alone!

What do you think about this cover?


Check out the covers my other blog friends are crushing on: Flashlight Commentary, A Bookaholic Swede, 2 Kids and Tired Books,

Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: In Sunlight, In A Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor

In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor

Unabridged, 10 hr. 27 min.

Brilliance Audio

James Daniels (Narrator)

October 24, 2008

★★★½☆☆

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Downloaded from Audible (personal purchase)

An Elegantly Crafted Love Story Set in Post-Civil War America. In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden tells of a bittersweet romance set against the backdrop of the greatest industrial disaster in American history: the construction and subsequent collapse in 1889 of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, dam. It was a tragedy that cost 2,200 lives, implicated some of the most illustrious financiers of the day - Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon - whose carelessness contributed to the disaster, and irreparably changed the lives of those who survived it. This is the story of these men and of the families who lived in the shadow of the dam: the daughter of the lawyer who filed the charter for an exclusive club on the shore of the artificially created lake; the Quaker steel mill owner who tried to stop the dam's construction; a librarian, escaping to a bustling mountain city from a loveless life in Boston; a young man determined to expose and undermine the greed and carelessness that shaped the last years of the nineteenth century. A cautionary tale for our new century, In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden is a story of youthful promise and devastating loss, of power and its misuse, and of greed and the philanthropy that is too often a guilty by-product.

 
Before I properly start this review, I wanted to point out that I am posting this today because it is the day after the 127th anniversary of the Johnstown Flood - May 31, 1889 - and I wanted to share something relevant.  I also previously reviewed, The Johnstown Flood, by David McCullough which is a very good non-fiction account of the Flood, which you can read if you are interested in a factual accounting of the disaster itself.  One of these days I will get around to visiting the national memorial and museum.  Now back to the review!

 
This novel was a little bit different from what I expected of it; instead of being acutely focused on the events that transpired during and after the Johnstown Flood, it is a character driven novel based primarily on the lead up to the flood (although the aftermath is considered in lesser detail). While reading the book, I remember thinking that it didn’t feel like a book about a disaster at all, and I have read my fair share; the events of the flood itself come just a few pages prior to the end of the book. Primarily, it’s a story of life in rural/suburban Pennsylvania during a time when real wealth was being complied by the oil, steel, and railroad tycoons, which the everyman toiled, and went on strike, and lived day to day. This is very clearly evoked by the prose of this novel. There is also a thread about growing up and young summer love that twists throughout the plot.

As a reader, you become committed to these characters whose lives are destroyed following the flood, which inevitably occurs in the late pages of the book. These characters represent two essentially distinct groups: those of privilege who enjoy the country club that the South Fork Dam was built to please during the summer months, and the common man living their everyday life in the town below the Dam. The author doesn’t make the wealthy a clear cut bad guy, but she does depict them as careless (which they were) for not being worried about the reports about the safety of the Dam, because it didn’t affect them. I found the storyline relating to those from the town, particularly Frank Fallon and his family, to be more interesting than the laconic life above the Dam because there appeared to be more happening in their lives.

I would have liked more of a resolution to the novel. As the flood occurs so late in the novel, I was looking for more of the aftermath, but what I got was more of a dropped thread. Being that these characters were the focus of the story, rather than the event, I would have liked to have more about the effect on those who did live through it. You don’t need all the grisly details in an emotionally evocative book like this, but I needed a little more than I got. While this book might not have been what I expected going in to it, I did enjoy the experience of reading it.

Also, as a side note, I’m still confused by the title.

★★★★☆

James Daniels does a very good job with the narration here. He enunciates very clearly with a comfortable pause between sentences. It doesn’t feel rushed, but his pacing does help to speed up the flow of the narrative that could sometimes feel a little bogged down otherwise. Beyond that, there isn’t much to say about the narration. It wasn’t a particularly memorable performance, but not bad either.

You can listen to a sample of the audiobook below (press the play button):

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Story Circle Book Reviews

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

 
Also by Kathleen Cambor:

The Book of Mercy

Find Kathleen Cambor: Agency Website

 
 


Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court