Mariel Grey's Blog, page 5

Review of When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries

When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries is the second book of a series and is a story about lovers reunited. The story was easy enough to follow even though I had not read the first book. Though I purchased the book for the romance, I ended up enjoying it for several reasons not related [...]

The beauty in unplugging your head instead of the toaster

I’ve been in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii for the last few days and completely out of touch with everything. I can’t remember the last time I was this out of the loop. When I peeked at my inbox, though, it was kind of depressing to see everything piling up in there. Really, I have to wonder [...]

Review of The Countess Confessions by Jillian Hunter

This is the first book I’ve read by Jillian Hunter. Though the story is part of her Bocastle series, it reads easily as a stand alone title. Tidbits about the family are scarce and really don’t even come into play until later in the book. To be honest, the story was a little busy for [...]

Blood Gospel by James Rollins & Rebecca Cantrell is a page turner

James Rollins, in collaboration with Rebecca Cantrell, has put forth a fun, page turner of a book with a little something for everyone. The story is a departure from the typical James Rollins action adventure story in that it adds strong supernatural elements and religious mysteries (think Da Vinci code ala Indiana Jones). You have [...]

A story to make your heart feel warm in the midst of this cold winter- Carly’s Rule by Vickie King

There are two words to describe this story: sweet and heartwarming. CARLY’S RULE is about love lost and rekindled. We begin the story with two childhood sweethearts meeting for the first time in more than a decade. As with everyone, the intervening years of their lives have been shaped by outside forces, some of which [...]

It’s all about me. Especially when it’s “me” and “I”. Word choice and depression.

German researcher discovered that people who use a lot of personal pronouns like “I,” “me,” “mine” and the like tend to be more depressed and have more problems dealing with others than people who use words like “we” and “us.” Kind of stands to reason (remember “It’s all about me”), but this was an empirical [...]

Twas the Season when men were wearing a bull’s eye

When you read novels set in England during the 1600′s through about World War One, you often read about the London Season. What exactly was the London Season? In reality, it was a social ritual which evolved around the sitting of Parliament. Sometime after Christmas, Parliament would convene and gentlemen of the aristocracy left the [...]

It’s Good to Be the King, unless you’re a Lord. Governance in the Regency

You often read about the London Season in romance books like my Surrender of Trust set during the Regency period of England. The ritual of “Season” revolved around when Parliament was in and out of session, so I wanted to talk a little about governance during that time period. I’ll be posting another blog about [...]

When morning didn’t mean morning. Calling in the Regency period. What’s real in Surrender of Trust Blog series #12

When you read romance novels set in the Regency period in England, it’s highly likely you’ll encounter scenes where one person is calling on another. Ah, the idle rich. Little social butterflies flitting from one drawing room to the next. Truly, it was a well established custom and huge past time activity when in London [...]

You’ve heard of brain drain. Ever felt a happiness drain? Check your cell phone.

My husband resisted having a cell phone for years (though he insisted I carry one). Finally his work forced him into it and he joined the legions of us who already had them. I sometimes feel bad for people who have to have them for work. Now it seems that everyone expects you on call [...]