Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
(Bantam / Recorded Books, 2014)
Format: Audible download (narrated by Davina Porter)

From Goodreads: "WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD is the eighth novel in the world-famous OUTLANDER series. In June of 1778, the world turns upside-down. The British army withdraws from Philadelphia, George Washington prepares to move from Valley Forge in pursuit, and Jamie Fraser comes back from the dead to discover that his best friend has married Jamie’s wife. The ninth Earl of Ellesmere discovers to his horror that he is in fact the illegitimate son of the newly-resurrected Jamie Fraser (a rebel _and_ a Scottish criminal!) and Jamie’s nephew Ian Murray discovers that his new-found cousin has an eye for Ian’s Quaker betrothed.

Meanwhile, Claire Fraser deals with an asthmatic duke, Benedict Arnold, and the fear that one of her husbands may have murdered the other. And in the 20th century, Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna is thinking that things are probably easier in the 18th century: her son has been kidnapped, her husband has disappeared into the past, and she’s facing a vicious criminal with nothing but a stapler in her hand. Fortunately, her daughter has a miniature cricket bat and her mother’s pragmatism."

The American Revolution and Jaimie and Claire and John and William and Young Ian and Rollo - oh, Rollo! 

What can I say? I listened to the audio - I always choose audio for Diana Gabaldon books because of Davina Porter's amazing narration - and looking at a 45 hour audio can seem daunting, unless you know it's going to be as absorbing as an Outlander book. I found myself feeling grumpy when I saw there were "only" 9 hours left (for those who aren't audio readers - 9 hours is an entire novel in a lot of cases). And then as I tearfully listened to the final moments that I thought weren't quite final moments, and was dropped unceremoniously into a 15 minute author's note on research, I was so upset to be deprived of the moments I'd thought I had.


This is the 8th very long book in the series (if you don't know it in text form, perhaps you've seen the beautiful Starz adaptation? As if I weren't already a bit Jamie-mad.) It's full of characters I've come to love over the course of their lives (okay, maybe they're not alive-alive, but to me they are), and it was a real pleasure to hang out with them again. 

I'm confident it's not a tome a newbie could pick up, although it has so many fun elements of adventure and heartbreak and laughter and kick-ass strong women striding across the centuries. You'd want to meet young Ian in his toddler days, the better to feel for his journey as a young man. But if you like the series, you'll like this volume. The Jamie-Claire-Lord John stuff is a lot of fun, I can't get past my delight in Roger Mac, and did I mention Rollo? Rollo!

Porter keeps me on the edge of my emotional seat from the opening paragraphs - I think she, too, loves these characters, after so long reading them. If she doesn't, she never lets on. I think she's one of the best audio narrators out there. 

Armchair Audies Time!

As in the past couple of years, I am participating this spring in the Armchair Audies project. (The first 7 words in that sentence link to the 7 categories I judged for 2014 & 2013. Have I mentioned I love audiobooks?)

What's the Armchair Audies? It's a delightful gig where a group of bloggers pick categories from the year's Audies nominees and listen to each title in their category, review it, and pick who they think should win.

I am listening to the 2015 Fiction nominees, and having a blast. Although I'll be going a tad far out of my comfort zone when I get to the Stephen King title - I am not much for horror! But every other title has had rewards either large or small, so I'll be taking a deep breath and plunging in.

Meanwhile, look for some reviews of great titles from me, because this is a fine crop of audio nominees. Happy listening!

Kindle-riffic Historical Romances

Mom gave me a Kindle for my birthday last month. (Thanks, Mom!) I've had great fun with the Kindle books available from my library (long may that last.) (I suppose most of you are not as invested in the whole publishers / e-books / digital rights brouhaha of late as I am.) Here are a few I've liked a lot, all historical romances.

The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon is the latest in her Lord John series. Lord John Grey is a secondary character in Gabaldon's popular Outlander series. He's a frequent foil to my beloved Jamie Fraser, but even in the main series, I always liked Lord John quite a lot. The Lord John books are more detective than romance, though John does generally find time to hook up with a guy or two (while thinking wistfully of Jamie - no wonder I find him so sympathetic.) In this story, he reluctantly drags Jamie along with him to Ireland so they can sort out a traitorous English army officer. This means we get a lot of Jamie POV as well as John POV, and a nice between-Outlander-books look at Jamie's life when he is imprisoned in England. In addition to a nicely twisty plot with adventure and characters I already love, the highlight of this book was just how often it made me laugh out loud. Lord John has a perfectly quick and wry sense of humor, which emerges most strongly when he's under fire (a fairly constant state with him, between the action and the need to hide his sexuality.) I'm always going to be impatient for more Outlander from Gabaldon, but I'll happily take a Lord John tale to tide me over while I wait.

Cecilia Grant is going straight to my 'be impatient for more by her' list after her debut, A Lady Awakened. Smooth writing, unusual characters, and avoidance of cliches combined to impress and entertain me. Martha is newly widowed and, without an heir, her brother-in-law will kick her to the curb. That's not so bad - she has siblings who will take her in - but stories from the neighbors and servants about the brother-in-law build him into a picture of evil and imminent danger to those she cares about and feels responsible for. Luckily, a handsome stranger has just moved into the neighborhood (okay, so there are some cliches) and he's a rake! A rake without money! So Martha buys a month of stud service from him, in hopes of conceiving a son she can pass off as her dead husband's. Meanwhile, Theo has to curtail his wastrel ways to impress his father and earn his allowance. And he's very intrigued by Martha. However, just when you'd expect her to Discover Untold Joys between the sheets, and him to reform thanks to the Love of a Good Woman, Grant throws the brakes. Martha and Theo instead embark on a far more believable and engrossing journey. Yes, of course, in the end they are happily ever. It is all the more satisfying, though, because in finding happiness with each other they each first find a way to happiness with themselves.

Beverly Jenkins's Captured is the first I've read by her, and I was intrigued by the new worlds she explores. Specifically, the New World - America, and not just Boston and New York. Her main character, Clare, is a slave, and is captured by the pirate Dominic, who takes her to his Caribbean island of freedmen, and hopes to keep her there. However, Clare's children are still enslaved up in Georgia. So despite her growing love for Dom - and his for her - she refuses to stay in paradise with him. Dominic is another rake who has to mend his ways to become a one-woman man, and there's some guff with his white half-brother and a slaver who is out to get him, but Clare is enchanting and worth all the trouble he and his loyal men must take to rescue the kids and ensure her happiness. Now, the writing in this was very clunky at the start, and never entirely effortless, but Jenkins still created a believable and intriguing world and characters worth cheering for. And as I said, the change of venue from London ballrooms was a lot of fun for fans of historical romance.