Author: remaininhislove

About

Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.

Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch’s daughter. Though he’s initially wary of Julia Midwinter’s reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul–and hidden sorrows of her own.

Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master–a man her mother would never approve of–but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec’s help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village…and to her mother’s tattered heart?

Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen hoping to make a “good match” in Regency England.

Review

I will admit that when I read what this book was about, I was very skeptical. The hero is a dancing master? Where is the pride in that exactly? But, I love Julie Klassen so I knew I had to read it anyway. This book exceeded my expectations. To be sure, it took me a minute to get invested, but once I was, I didn’t want to put the book down. 

Alec is not your typical hero. He is a Beta in every sense of the word. He’s more interested in fashion, he loves to dance (obviously), you won’t see him getting his hands dirty, and he works in a kind of service profession. But, he’s still a man. He’s still doing everything he can to take care of his family and put food on the table. And I promise, that it won’t take long before you’re rooting for his complete success.

Julia is almost Alec’s exact opposite. She is impulsive, flirtatious, quick-tempered and demanding. She’s a bruising horse-rider (Alec can barely sit a horse). She tries to make things happen (Alec’s definitely more passive). She loves confrontation (Alec not so much). When I first met Julia, I almost threw my hands up in the air. She is everything I usually cannot stand in a heroine. And yet, I was so much in her corner. Somehow Klassen wrote Julia in such a way that I liked her, and well before the book ended (and so I’ve learned, a great author can take any personality and make you like them!)

This novel also had a great little mystery that slowly unraveled one layer at a time. Everything was not as I thought it was, and I thought it all came together nicely.

Romantically, I enjoyed watching Julia and Alec together. There was that nice tension and yet, class differences that only regency novels can aptly portray. It was the best kind of romance. The one where the couple must learn what it is to be friends first. 

Spiritually, we learn a lot about grace and forgiveness which I think is portrayed well. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Let me say, if you’re a new reader, you may find this novel to be slower than most, but as a Jane Austen/Georgette Heyer fan, that slowness is exactly what makes the novel great.

Romantic Scale: 8.7

**I received this novel from Bethany House. My opinion was not affected in any way.**

I noticed recently, that generally if I don’t like a book, I blame the girl. Not the boy. I like my heroes anyway you present them: Alphas, Betas, introverts, extroverts, nice guys, bad boys (in need of redemption!), younger than their love interest, older than their love interest, fathers, widows, never been married, no children, laid back, great sense of humor, devastatingly handsome, ordinary, Godly, in need of a walk with God, etc. In fact, I’ve noticed that the more different they are from the typical hero, the more I usually love them. 

But, I realized that I don’t give such deference to heroines. In fact, there is a whole list of attributes that usually make me groan, when the heroine has them (though they are not indicative of whether or not I will like the book): flighty, not serious about God, too old, too many children, meddlesome, worrisome, dramatic, impulsive, too needy, too tough, etc. 

And then…I realized that I was describing women who are the opposite of me (or even the opposite of what I would like to be). So do we as female readers try to impose our personalities on the heroine and that is why she usually gets the short end of the stick?

Thoughts anyone?

About

Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, much is changed on their return. In the wake of the king’s death, Duke Weir is ruling the country–and his intentions are to marry Adora to bring an heir.

With Errol and the others imprisoned and the identity of the rightful heir to the throne still hidden in secrecy, Illustra is on the verge of civil war–and at growing risk from the armies of Merakh and Morgol.

A dangerous mission to free Errol succeeds, but the dangers facing the kingdom are mounting with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw near. Will the revelation of Illustra’s next true king come in time or will all be lost?

Review

I cannot express just how thrilled I was when I received this book. Errol is probably one of my favorite characters of all times. Now onto the review:

If you have read the first two novels then you know that the first book is all Errol’s viewpoint, the second is Errol and Martin’s viewpoint, and this last one is Errol, Martin and Adora’s viewpoint. While some may prefer having Errol be the only voice (and to a certain degree I missed that), I still very much enjoyed Martin and Adora’s point of view. I will say that I always felt like Adora was not that important, but getting to know her as a character really brought strength and likeability. Before I wasn’t sure why she was so attached to Errol. Now I know, and I became really invested in their relationship. I would argue that book three is the most romantic of the series. 

There is also a number of questions that must be answered in this book and even a new one that is created in the beginning. The solution? Well, I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure it out. This book has adventure, adventure, action, and adventure. At the end of the book, I did guess correctly an answer or two, but there was still at least two or three things that had me completely surprised. I must say, that the whole time I was reading the book, I kept thinking (and I’m sure you will to), now how are they going to make this work. 

Was it completely satisfying in the end? Yes and no. Yes it answered all my questions and ended all tightly wrapped up. No because Errol, I don’t want you to be done. I don’t want the adventure to be over. In fact, when I closed this book, I immediately picked up book one again. Errol is just that awesome. 

Spiritually, the novel deals with death and what death in Christ (Aurae) looks like and how trusting God means that you can’t trust yourself and the old ways of doing things. The novel really comes full circle with this one and you get the message that I think Mr. Carr has been trying to get across since book one.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Just sad that the series is over!

Romantic scale: 7.5

**I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. My opinion was not affected in any way.**

There are a lot of awesome books coming out in 2014 and I’m so excited to read them! However, there are a couple of books that I will be counting down the months for. Here is my list:

1. Becky Wade’s Meant to Be Mine.

2. Karen Witemeyer’s Full Steam Ahead.

3. Dani Pettrey’s Silenced.

4. Deeanne Gist’s Fair Play.

5. Julie Lessman’s Dare to Love Again

6. Elizabeth Camden’s With Every Breath.

7. Jody Hedlund’s Captured By Love

8. Ronie Kendig’s Raptor 6

9. Lisa T. Bergren’s Remnants

10. Jill Williamson’s Outcasts

What books are you looking forward to?

About

In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can’t keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straits with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she’s also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?

A Cowboy Unmatched
Neill isn’t sure who hired him to repair Clara’s roof–he only knows Clara desperately needs his help. Can he convince this stubborn widow to let down her guard and take another chance on love?

An Unforeseen Match
Hoping to earn an honest wage on his way to the land rush, Clayton ends up on Grace’s doorstep, lured by a classified ad. He may have signed on for more than he expected though–and he may have found the one woman who can keep him from moving on.

No Match for Love
Andrew can’t fathom how refined Lucy ended up as the caretaker to his dotty aunt, and somehow her arrival has prompted even more bizarre occurrences around the ranch. When they join forces to unearth the truth, will the attraction between Andrew and Lucy develop into more?

Meeting Her Match
When the tables are turned and a tenderhearted meddler becomes the beneficiary of a matchmaking scheme, her world is turned upside down. As her entire life changes, will she finally be able to tell the banker’s son how much she cares for him?

Review

Novellas are not my favorite, usually because I want more. And while I still wanted more, I really did enjoy the short stories in this collection. Some were better than others, but some also made me take a second look at authors who I hadn’t read in a while. First off, I really liked the overarching theme of a mysterious matchmaker. Because they are novellas written by different authors, it’s a bit difficult to try to guess who the matchmaker is, but I still enjoyed the big reveal in the end.

With Karen Witemeyer’s, it was great to see Neill Archer and then later, the rest of the Archer clan. If you’ve read her last two novels, you will not want to miss out on this one!

With Regina Jennings novel, the story presented a heroine with a unique problem that I’ve only read about once before. I loved her take on it.

Carol Cox issues her trademark mystery that is creative and will have you thinking.

Mary Conneally’s novella has her usual humor and rounds up the collection in a lovely way.

Spiritually, all the women and men learn to trust God with their future when their past hasn’t gone the way they expected.

Again, the only thing I didn’t like was that I wanted more!

Romantic Scale (it was a bit hard with these, so I asked myself, which story makes the most sense in regards to falling in love fast):

Witemeyer: 8

Jennings: 8.5

Cox: 7

Conneally: 9

**I received this novel from Netgalley. My opinion was not affected in anyway.**