Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon

                                                          

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fiction, SciFi, Historical, Fantasy

Other books I've read by this author: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in Bone

Synopsis: "1778: France declares war on Great Britain, the British army leaves Philadelphia, and George Washington’s troops leave Valley Forge in pursuit. At this moment, Jamie Fraser returns from a presumed watery grave to discover that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitimate son has discovered (to his horror) who his father really is, and his beloved nephew, Ian, wants to marry a Quaker. Meanwhile, Jamie’s wife, Claire Randall, and his sister, Jenny, are busy picking up the pieces.

 
The Frasers can only be thankful that their daughter Brianna and her family are safe in twentieth-century Scotland. Or not. In fact, Brianna is searching for her own son, who was kidnapped by a man determined to learn her family’s secrets. Her husband, Roger, has ventured into the past in search of the missing boy . . . never suspecting that the object of his quest has not left the present. Now, with Roger out of the way, the kidnapper can focus on his true target: Brianna herself." -Back Cover

My Thoughts

I have been a little remiss in my posting of these reviews recently. I have read two books since I last posted, so I am trying to catch up. You guys all know how much I love this series, it just keeps getting better. We continue to see the American Revolution from the perspective of those from both sides of the war, the Frasers (Continental Army) and the Greys (British Army). I continue to love getting to know William Ransom as portions of the novel follow him. He is now dealing with the knowledge that Jamie is his biological father and all the feels that come along with that. Lord John Grey is one of my favorite characters, so I am always excited when he is back in the Frasers' lives. 

I have read so these novels so quickly in the past year and a half that I have now only one currently written novel left to read, which is sadly still only in hardcover. Yep, it's that new. As of now, Gabaldon has promised this is a 10 book series, so I am excited and sad to be done with 8 of them. I am keeping my spirits up with the knowledge that there are still all the books the focus on John Grey that intersperse with the main novels, so I still have plenty of Outlander reading to do in the future. 

Can't wait to head back to Fraser's Ridge when the next book makes its paperback debut! 

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!




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To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

 

Tidelands by Philippa Gregory

                                                            

Title: Tidelands
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: "On Midsummer’s Eve, Alinor waits in the church graveyard, hoping to encounter the ghost of her missing husband and thus confirm his death. Until she can, she is neither maiden nor wife nor widow, living in a perilous limbo. Instead, she meets James, a young man on the run. She shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marshy landscape of the Tidelands, not knowing she is leading a spy and an enemy into her life.

England is in the grip of a bloody civil war that reaches into the most remote parts of the kingdom. Alinor’s suspicious neighbors are watching each other for any sign that someone might be disloyal to the new parliament, and Alinor’s ambition and determination mark her as a woman who doesn’t follow the rules. They have always whispered about the sinister power of Alinor’s beauty, but the secrets they don’t know about her and James are far more damning. This is the time of witch-mania, and if the villagers discover the truth, they could take matters into their own hands."

Other books I have read by this author: The Other Queen, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess, The Last Tudor, The Taming of the Queen, The Queen's Fool, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Kingmaker's Daughter, The White Princess, The Red Princess, The King's Curse, The Virgin's Lover, Three Sisters, Three Queens, Changeling, Stormbringer and Fool's Gold, Dark Tracks

My Thoughts

Disappointing. Yep, I said it. As you can see from that intense list of books I've read by this author I keep coming back for more awesome historical fiction from her. After being disappointed by the Order of Darkness series, I was a little tentative picking up Tidelands, but I hoped since it was not written as YA fiction that this novel would satisfy my high expectations of the writing I've come to expect from Gregory's Cousin's War novels. My hopes were sadly dashed. 

This novel is set during the English Civil War, which I was super excited about. Unfortunately, this story is the played-out 'women have no rights at this time and an unmarried woman is in a precarious situation, especially in a small town' storyline just set in English Tidelands. There was nothing fresh about this novel, it was entirely predictable. Now, I understand that in historical novels you may know the outcome of the historical event, but that doesn't mean that every aspect of the story had to be predictable on the way there. Honestly, I couldn't wait to finish this book and move on to another. I think Gregory works best in the parameters of filling in the blanks of the life of historical figures in biographical fiction than creating interesting characters of her own. I have no interest in reading the rest of this series in the least.

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above