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July 2014. What are you reading?

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Brenna
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Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Mon July 14th, 2014, 2:24 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]It's even worse, Grant wrote a few under another publisher using the name Tracy Grant, plus the MCs have different names in those editions and take place after what's she's writing now for Kensington. These are good, but I'll stick with the order as published by Kensington and then backtrack. :confused: :confused: :confused:

I ended up picking up Victoria Holt's Spring of the Tiger.[/quote]

[quote=""Ludmilla""]Earlier this year, I read all of the books Grant wrote for this couple--both as Charles and Melanie and Malcolm and Suzanne. I started with The Spanish Bride and read a few other Malcolm and Suzanne novels, then went back and read all of the Melanie/Charles books and finally caught up with the remaining Malcom/Suzanne books. I decided you have to think of Melanie and Charles as the original Star Trek and Malcolm and Suzanne as the newly rebooted Star Trek, where certain elements, including the timeline of some events, have been altered and updated for a brand new audience. This became very clear to me in her latest book, The Berkeley Square Affair, where a certain secret revealed in Daughter of the Game (aka Secrets of a Lady) is retconned in Berkeley and under a different set of circumstances. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Charles' family history has been tweaked as well in the Malcolm/Suzanne books.

For anyone interested, I jotted down the publishing order and chronological order of the books, which can get confusing if you're a new reader. I'm not sure what order to recommend for reading. Maybe the Mel/Charles books first, then Suzanne/Malcolm so you aren't so confused by the subtle changes that become noticeable as the rebooted series progresses.

Chronological:
--His Spanish Bride (enovella) – December 1812 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Vienna Waltz – November 1814 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Imperial Scandal – June 1815 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--The Paris Affair – July/August 1815 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--The Paris Plot (novella) - 1816 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Beneath a Silent Moon – June/July 1817 (Charles/Melanie)
--The Berkeley Square Affair - 1817 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Secrets of a Lady – November 1819 (Charles/Melanie)
--The Mask of Night – January 1820 (Charles/Melanie)
___

And this is the order in which the author wrote them:

As Tracy Grant (Charles & Melanie Fraser)
-- Daughter of the Game (2002) aka Secrets of a Lady
--Beneath a Silent Moon (2003)
--The Mask of Night (2011)
As Teresa Grant (Malcolm & Suzanne Rannoch)
-- Vienna Waltz (2011)
--Imperial Scandal (2012)
--His Spanish Bride (2012) – novella
--The Paris Affair (2013)
--The Paris Plot (2014) - novella
--The Berkeley Square Affair (2014)[/quote]

She has posted a reading order on her website if you are interested. https://tracygrant.wordpress.com/faq/

Finally getting around the Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot. Pretty good so far.
Brenna

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Misfit
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Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Mon July 14th, 2014, 2:47 pm

[quote=""Ludmilla""]Earlier this year, I read all of the books Grant wrote for this couple--both as Charles and Melanie and Malcolm and Suzanne. I started with The Spanish Bride and read a few other Malcolm and Suzanne novels, then went back and read all of the Melanie/Charles books and finally caught up with the remaining Malcom/Suzanne books. I decided you have to think of Melanie and Charles as the original Star Trek and Malcolm and Suzanne as the newly rebooted Star Trek, where certain elements, including the timeline of some events, have been altered and updated for a brand new audience. This became very clear to me in her latest book, The Berkeley Square Affair, where a certain secret revealed in Daughter of the Game (aka Secrets of a Lady) is retconned in Berkeley and under a different set of circumstances. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Charles' family history has been tweaked as well in the Malcolm/Suzanne books.

For anyone interested, I jotted down the publishing order and chronological order of the books, which can get confusing if you're a new reader. I'm not sure what order to recommend for reading. Maybe the Mel/Charles books first, then Suzanne/Malcolm so you aren't so confused by the subtle changes that become noticeable as the rebooted series progresses.

Chronological:
--His Spanish Bride (enovella) – December 1812 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Vienna Waltz – November 1814 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Imperial Scandal – June 1815 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--The Paris Affair – July/August 1815 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--The Paris Plot (novella) - 1816 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Beneath a Silent Moon – June/July 1817 (Charles/Melanie)
--The Berkeley Square Affair - 1817 (Malcolm/Suzanne)
--Secrets of a Lady – November 1819 (Charles/Melanie)
--The Mask of Night – January 1820 (Charles/Melanie)
___

And this is the order in which the author wrote them:

As Tracy Grant (Charles & Melanie Fraser)
-- Daughter of the Game (2002) aka Secrets of a Lady
--Beneath a Silent Moon (2003)
--The Mask of Night (2011)
As Teresa Grant (Malcolm & Suzanne Rannoch)
-- Vienna Waltz (2011)
--Imperial Scandal (2012)
--His Spanish Bride (2012) – novella
--The Paris Affair (2013)
--The Paris Plot (2014) - novella
--The Berkeley Square Affair (2014)[/quote]

Thanks for that. The series was listed at GR in publishing order, but not chronological.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Lisa
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Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Preferred HF: Any time period/location. Timeslip, usually prefer female POV. Also love Gothic melodrama.
Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Tue July 15th, 2014, 8:09 am

I'm about 60% through A Game of Thrones, but I think I need something else to read that isn't all doom and gloom for a bit, so I've started Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart.

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Madeleine
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Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Tue July 15th, 2014, 8:30 am

[quote=""LadyB""]I'm about 60% through A Game of Thrones, but I think I need something else to read that isn't all doom and gloom for a bit, so I've started Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart.[/quote]

Yeah they're brilliant but I always feel as I've been run over by a steamroller after reading a GoT book (just wait til you get to Book 3.....:eek :)
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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princess garnet
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Location: Maryland

Post by princess garnet » Tue July 15th, 2014, 4:24 pm

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
It's marketed as a teen title but it arrived cataloged for adults at my library.

Finished:
Pride, Prejudice, and Cheese Grits
Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs
Both by Mary Jane Hathaway
These are the 1st 2 novels in her "Jane Austen Takes the South" series. The next novel Persuasion, Captain Wentworth, and Cracklin' Cornbread is coming later this year. I was alerted to this series while at a publisher's book preview at ALA Annual in Las Vegas.
For those who live or have lived in the American South, the culture and food there will be familiar. The author's name is a pseudonym and these novels are listed in Christian/inspirational fiction. I liked the DC "shout outs" in both novels! :D
The book cover designs are lovely!
Last edited by princess garnet on Tue July 15th, 2014, 4:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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fljustice
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Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Post by fljustice » Tue July 15th, 2014, 6:27 pm

Finished Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen by Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin. Excellent research book and accessible writing for casual Boudica buffs.

Started Sex Lives of the Roman Emperorsby Nigel Cawthorne--utter trash. I read the first chapter which basically said all Romans spent 24 hours a day in kinky sex (in graphic detail). Sampled the chapter on Nero where he got so many facts wrong, it wasn't funny. This has all the hallmarks of writing for quick cash. I hope whoever gave it to me picked it up second hand or from the bargain bin. It is so bad, I didn't want it in the same paragraph with Hingley and Unwin's excellent book.
Faith L. Justice, Author Website
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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Tue July 15th, 2014, 11:23 pm

I'm reading Harem by Colin Falconer. Enjoying it so far.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Wed July 16th, 2014, 9:40 pm

Making slow progress on Spring of the Tiger by Victoria Holt. 100+ pages of boring set up that should have met an editor's red pencil. Just downloaded The Boleyn Reckoning from the library and working on that as well.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Susan
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Post by Susan » Wed July 16th, 2014, 11:46 pm

Last book in the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, The Book of Life
~Susan~
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Brenna
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Post by Brenna » Thu July 17th, 2014, 2:32 pm

[quote=""Susan""]Last book in the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, The Book of Life[/quote]

I want!!!!!
Brenna

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