The Enchanted Land by Jude Deveraux Review

Last Summer I stumbled across a box of old Jude Deveraux books at a yardsale. I ended up paying a few bucks for the whole box and I’ve been slowly working my way through them. I love old historical romance novels, especially Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey (but you already know this). Deveraux is another favorite, but sometimes Deveraux can take extreme directions with the storyline, which I do not appreciate.

One of the ones I read this was The Enchanted Land, which I thought had a great premise. Morgan must marry and live in New Mexico for one year or she will never receive her inheritance. She meets the rugged Seth Colter at a local dance and proposes a business arrangement: one year of marriage for $25,000. Seth accepts, but not because of the money – he can’t help be fascinated with the tiny woman.

The story starts out wonderfully. Seth and Morgan are full of chemistry as their friendship and love grows. There is humor in their banter and I couldn’t wait for their marriage to start working. If you haven’t read The Enchanted Land then I suggest you stop reading because I’m about to reveal some major spoilers.

As Morgan and Seth head to New Mexico they encounter a lot of misfortunes – mainly Morgan getting kidnapped. Add in Seth’s raging jealousy and you have the works of a classic old school romance. As Morgan and Seth finally reach their New Mexico home (about 30% through the book) I realize that Deveraux is probably going to start throwing curveballs into the story. Boy, was I right. Add in another kidnapping and when Morgan is sold into white slavery by a devious and dastardly neighbor I give up…seriously. I put the book down and decided to move on. Why? At the point the Morgan is sold into white slavery, the story is 50% done. That leaves 200 or so pages for Deveraux to throw any random kink into the story. Who knows…maybe a sharknado!

I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but I started out falling madly in love with Morgan and Seth. Their friendship flowed easily and they seemed to be really developing genuine feelings for each other. This is how I like my romances. I’m not a big fan of “every single thing that goes wrong does “ storylines. So I gave up….for an hour.

I wanted to see how Deveraux wrapped it all up. The separation of Morgan and Seth lasts for 3 years with one meeting that results in their son Adam. When Seth finally realized that Morgan never betrayed him and that she wasn’t willing working as a prostitute (he was mistaken about that as well), he is determined to seek her forgiveness. But first he must conceal his identity and get a job on her ranch. Sigh.

I’m glad I finished this novel because I wanted to see how Deveraux wrapped up the story. If you are determined to read The Enchanted Land I suggest you read the first hundred pages and then the last hundred pages…trust me and skip everything in the middle. I think you will find yourself just as aggravated at all the crap that is thrown into this story.

Project Read All The Books: July Recap

It’s that time again!

July was a busy reading month with me knocking out 30 books (3 were pictures books, plus 2 novellas).

From the 30 books I read in July, 7 came from my To-Be-Read (TBR) Bookcase. Remember the whole goal of this project is to cut down on the number of books that I own, but haven’t read. I have an entire bookcase dedicated to these books! And with the number of books I keep acquiring, I really need to free up this bookcase for other books.

As of June 2014, I had 124 books on my TBR bookcase.

My goal for July was 8 books.

Even though I read 30, only 7 were from the TBR bookcase. I started the 8th one last night, Magic Slays, but fell asleep. I would have finished it (and finally hit my monthly goal), but BF found an early showing of The Guardians of the Galaxy, so we rushed to see that.

Here are the 7 books for July:

Castles by Julie Garwood
Seduction of a Highland Lass by Maya Banks
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean
A Knight in Shining Amour by Jude Deveraux
Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Mistress by Tiffany Reisz
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Current Count: 117

Goal for August: 5 Books

What did you read in July?

Beach Bound Reading

Summer Reading is over at my library and I am celebrating by  packing my bag full of books and heading straight to the beach. I haven’t packed my clothes yet, but I have been plotting what I’m going to read all week. I always take more than I can actually get through, because I never know what mood I’ll be in. Here is what I have for this short weekend getaway…

• Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost (audio for the drive down and back)
• Nice Girls Don’t have Fangs by Molly Harper
• The Enchanted Land by Jude Deveraux
• The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz (currently reading) from the TBR shelf
• Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
• Fool me Twice by Meredith Duran
• Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews from the TBR shelf
• A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux (currently reading) from the TBR shelf

What do you like to read on your vacations? Any recommendations?

Project Read All The Books: June Recap

Hello July…goodbye June! Summer Reading is almost over folks! We only do a 6 week program at my library, so we will wrap everything up on July 16^th. Only 2 more weeks…I can make it!

If you went to Vegas for ALA Annual Conference…I hate you. No…well just a little. While everyone was out in Las Vegas living it up, I went to Washington DC for a short visit. It was my first trip to the Library of Congress, which was beautiful. I have always been a huge fan of Thomas Jefferson so I felt extremely privileged to see his collection and the mark he left on America through books.

Library of Congress - Washington DC

Now on to the books for June. According to my Goodreads I read 18 books in June. Only 7 of them were from the TBR bookcase though.

Count as of May: 120 TBR books

Read: 7

Added: 11

Current Total: 124

Here are the 7 books I read from my TBR bookcase: 

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz

Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks

The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Delicious by Shayla Black

Rogue Stallion by Diana Palmer

Twin of Ice by Jude Deveraux

Circle of Deception by Carla Swafford

I really need to do better. If you are wondering where the 11 books came from I can explain that. I went to another local Romance Writers of American Chapter Luncheon – where ELOISA JAMES was speaking! She did an amazing job and I had a wonderful time. I ended up with 10 books from there. Also, my sister gave me an autographed copy of Hillary Clinton’s new memoir, Hard Choices.

Goal for July: 8 TBR books

Review: Wishes by Jude Deveraux

     Wishes was recommended to me over the summer by a new friend, who reads nothing but romances. She works in processing at BN and trust me, she knows her romances. I had a hard time tracking down a copy, but I was lucky enough to find a tattered edition at a yard sale for only 25 cents. Don't worry about reading the rest of the Montgomery series before Wishes (it is #12), each title can stand alone. 

     Wishes starts off with Berni, who is a vain and fashionable woman and also recently deceased. Berni is from the modern day era and instead of going to Heaven, she is sent to the Kitchen. The Kitchen is reserved for women who don’t deserve Heaven or Hell. Here, Berni is meant to play fairy godmother to Nellie.

     Nellie is from the late 1890s in Colorado. She is sweet, devoted to her father and sister, and also fat. Now enter in the handsome Jace, who instantly falls madly in love with Nellie. This astounds everyone, including Nellie. Jace’s mother is a famous opera singer, so he has always been around voluptuous women. The story surrounds the fact that Nellie’s family treats her no better than a slave and goes to extraordinary lengths to keep Nellie and Jace apart. Berni is suppose to help the couple, but she is a terrible godmother. 

    This is a beautiful love story that will tug at your heart the whole way through. You can't help but root for Nellie and Jace. It was so nice to see a male character that wasn't fooled by vanity and what society considers beautiful. Also, Deveraux did a great job of creating the character of Terel, who is absolutely despicable. 

     If you have the time and can find a copy, you won't be disappointed by Wishes. This book was so good that it has earned a coveted spot in my personal collection. 

Read All The Books: Week 3

As of the last count…

Number of books TBR (that I own): 89

I really need to stay out of the thrift store…but it is less than a mile from my house and I have an addiction to teapots, so I need to go there! And while I’m there I usually look at the books. I’m sorry, but I can find brand new, great quality books for as low as .39 cents. How could I pass them up? How could YOU pass them up?

Anyways, while I was browsing for books I found 3 books that I wanted to purchase. I found 2 reprinted Diana Palmer books, Diamond Girl and Rogue Stallion. I’m a huge Diana Palmer addict, though her work is always hit or miss with me. The 3^rd book I found was Smile by Raina Telgemeier, a middle grade graphic novel. I have seen this floating around and I really enjoyed Drama, so I thought for less than a dollar it would be a good buy.

That brings the total back to 92. This isn’t good.

I did a crazy amount of reading this week though. Over the weekend I finished up 6 books just by Sunday morning. Here is what I read this week:

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Wishes by Jude Deveraux

The Billionaire’s Captive Bride by Emma Darcy

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson #5) by Patricia Briggs

Be with Me by Maya Banks

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

Days of Our Lives Better Living by Greg Meng

Stranger in my Arms by Lisa Kleypas

A Lady of the West by Linda Howard (currently reading)

I’m very happy with what I read this week because I read a lot of great books(and only one terrible one - Days of Our Lives Better Living)!

3 of the books came from my TBR bookcase (Smile, Wishes, and A Lady of the West). That brings the total down to 89, which brings me right to where I was last week. *Sigh*

Current Total: 89

Oh, look at the teapot I found at the thrift store this week!