Alice Holden

Katie and the Captain - Donna Davidson (74 pages) - ⭐
Katie Alden, granddaughter of the Duchess of Wakefield, has always been in love with her brother's BFF, Ryan Adams. One morning when she is 17 years old, she sneaks out to paint a glorious sunrise in oils, which she hopes to give to Ryan upon their imminent betrothal. Instead, he rejects her quite soundly, threatening instead to ruin her brothers' shipbuilding business if she doesn't grow up and become a proper, helpless London miss. Her grandmother the duchess takes up Ryan's cause, insisting that Katie accompany her to Town to gain London polish and make a bountiful match. Katie, heartbroken by Ryan's rejection, capitulates, burns all of her painting accoutrements, and moves with her grandmother to London the very same day.

For four years, she chips away at her sworn duty, slowly stifling the very life out of herself. She hopes that by becoming what Ryan demands of her, he will return and ask her to marry him. Her grandmother the Duchess, however, hopes that London polish will bring her only daughter's daughter up to snuff and marry her off to her advantage. She's always regretted letting her daughter run off with a sailor, and she's bound and determined not to let Katie walk that same garden path. She keeps her rein on Katie's behavior extra super tight.

Katie's artistic abilities are exposed at a house party; such is the delight of the fashionable crowd that even grandmother duchess breaks down and allows Katie to take watercolor lessons. Her painting instructor, a French master, sees Katie's innate talent and urges her to work in oils instead, which Katie at first refuses (as she still fears showing one shred of the personality that Captain Ryan rejected will mean the end of her family's livelihood), but she moves into it almost in spite of herself, as oils are her preferred method of creativity. She angsts about why she feels such a wild need to paint, and worries about what this will do to her brothers' business, should Ryan ever find out.

Meanwhile, Captain Ryan has realized that he doesn't want a perfect London miss as a wife, having been chased around his ship for the last four years by matchmaking mamas with their eyes on a prize. So he returns home early to clain his wild and wonderful Katie. He's appalled that she's done exactly what he commanded her to do, but once he kisses her and sees that she does, indeed, still have that old spark, he asks her to marry him. She refuses, as she realizes that she'll basically be leaving one prison (her grandmother) for another (his expectations of what a Captain's wife is). She continues to refuse him, even after he compromises her. Ryan goes off, upset that she's denying her feelings for him, has a heart-to-heart with the painting instructor, realizes that Katie does indeed love him, and faces her down at Almack's and basically forces her to accept him. He doesn't apologize for the awful way he's treated her, or his assholishness in general. Because he tells her that he likes her paintings, she melts into a puddle of goo and agrees to marry him.

This story was, quite frankly, awful. It includes some of my favorite tropes (like childhood friends to lovers), but GAH! This man had no redeeming qualities whatsoever, as a young man or as an adult. He does not grow or change one iota over the story, and still he gets what he wants. Combine this with the ridiculous names (Ryan Adams, seriously?!) and complete disregard for this time period and its restraints, and that's a big pile of No Thank You for me.

Scandalous - Teresa DesJardien (60 pages) - ⭐⭐⭐
Lawrence Roswell, Viscount Travers, has a longstanding engagement to Clara Northdon, daughter of a knight. This was all well and good, as Lawrence was a second son, and the two had been childhood friends and sweethearts. However, he unexpectedly inherits the title at 21, and suddenly everything is thrown off-kilter. Each feel the other is dragging their feet about setting a date for their wedding, but of course neither one of them actually directly brings it up (because of course they don't). Each are insanely jealous when they see the other engaging with society at large, believing each other to be madly in love with someone else and thus, reluctant to go through with their betrothal. They proceed to have a ridiculously stilted conversation at Almack's one evening, each believing the other has cried off from the engagement, and another woman makes a play for Lawrence, attempting to trap him into marriage by compromising him outside the assembly rooms, in full view of everyone. The only way out that anyone can see is Lawrence's sister suddenly piping up that he can't offer for this grasping "lady" because he is, in fact, already married - to Clara!

Lawrence and Clara are mortified at his sister's outburst and immediately leave. Lawrence's BFFs, the aptly nicknamed Trouble Tarkington and his sidekick Bertie Adams, hatch a plan to smooth over the scandal: Lawrence and Clara should immediately head for Gretna Green and marry, in the guise of a long honeymoon trip and a visit to his country estate in Salisbury. By the time they return, they figure, the gossip would've moved on to something other than the impromptu announcement of the "secret" wedding.

The scheme is completely ridiculous, but just improbable enough to work. The two have thought it completely through, enough to convince Clara's father to give his consent - only for Clara to refuse, as she believes that Lawrence has cried off from their engagement, and she can't stand the idea of being married to - and loving - someone who can never return her feelings. Lawrence isn't exactly jumping for joy either, but because he *does* love Clara (because of course he does, even though he doesn't bother to show OR tell her), he's willing to go through with it. Trouble & Bertie tell him that they will literally have to kidnap Clara to get her to go along with it, which they do, with her father's consent.

On the way to Scotland, Lawrence and Clara finally talk to each other, realize they'd both been making Olympic-level jumps of conclusion based on normal societal behaviors, and decide to anticipate their wedding vows at the first inn that they stop at.

This story was a light-hearted romp, and the comedy relief duo of Trouble Tarkington & Bertie Adams do most of the heavy lifting to make this story work. Lawrence and Clara and dour and immature and weigh their scenes down quite heavily, and I more or less enjoyed this story in spite of them.

Lady of Intrigue - Alice Holden (70 pages) ⭐⭐⭐
James Ware, a former covert agent for the Bow Street Runners, agrees to take on a private investigation at the behest of his former mentor, Sir Henry. He's to be paired up with Sir Henry's young daughter, Mrs. Rachel Kendall, as they discreetly investigate Lady Granville, suspected by her much-older husband of stealing and selling off the family jewels. James basically takes one look at Rachel and falls head over heels in love, pushing the investigation to the side in his determination to woo her into marrying him. He's over 30 and more than ready to settle down in his newly inherited townhouse and country estate, and he thinks Rachel is the perfect woman to be his wife.

Rachel takes some convincing. At 24, she's been a widow for more than 6 years. She fell in love with a wastrel soldier at a young age, one who married her for money and treated her horribly. She wasn't sad to learn of his demise in the War of 1812, and has since hardened her heart to any and all suitors. Her father brings her into his private investigation business as a secretary of sorts to distract her from her unhappines; her mother, as all good ton mamas do, wants her to concentrate on snagging another husband. Rachel, for her part, is more than happy to bask in the independence that widowhood has given her, and takes her role in her father's business quite seriously. She is unbalanced by James's gorgeous good looks, his tender smiles, and the hunger she sees in his eyes when he looks at her.

She wants to solve the mystery of Lady Granville's missing jewels, which James thinks is a hopeless cause. He's more interested in spending their four week contract getting to know her better and convincing her to marry him, and once he turns on the charm, Rachel is pretty much helpless to resist. She angsts over him when he's around and when he's not, and after one kiss, decides that she loves him. She fears for his safety, however, especially when Lady Granville pulls her missing-jewels act at Almack's, and James has to chase down her partner-in-crime during the chaos.

I think this story would've worked much better as a full-blown novel, because the romance is unbelievable in the truncated timeline of a novella. I liked the fact that these two were older and wiser than the main characters in any of the other stories, and I could believe in their working partnership blossoming into something more if they had been given proper time and space for their emotions to grow and their feelings to deepen. As it is, it's pretty off-putting that James has decided unilaterally that Rachel will be his wife and she has little say in the matter, and that the two of them act like full-blown lovers in the final scenes as they chase their prey. Enjoyable, but with a sense that it all could've been so much better in a longer format.

A Last Waltz - Isobel Linton (60 pages) - ⭐⭐
Philippa Sommerville is a fresh-faced debutante in London. The daughter of a humble vicar from Shropshire, she has found herself unexpectedly thrust into Society's eye as an Incomparable. She is on a mission to marry well so that the rest of her siblings will be well-placed to make connections and move in Society. Her lack of dowry doesn't discourage her coterie of suitors, and she turns down four proposals, including one from a Duke, which of course just makes her even more irresistible in the eyes of the ton.

She finds herself at Almack's one evening, abandoned by her flighty chaperone, and the Earl of Dalton starts making a total scene right in the middle of the assembly rooms. Lady Jersey takes pity on the girl and sends her good friend Sir Guy Trent to rescue her from Dalton's unwanted attentions. Sir Guy is quite famous in his own right, handsome and well-bred and a notoriously settled bachelor with little time for the machinations of the Marriage Mart.

Also watching with disgust at Dalton's over-the-top antics is the woman who is his betrothed in all but name, Lady Cynthia Prothrow, the sister of the Duke of Harwich. Harwich is broke and needs Cynthia to win over Lord Dalton so that he will take on their family debts and save them from genteel poverty. Cynthia's not able to let Philippa sweep in and grab what she believes is rightfully hers.

Sir Guy sends Dalton on his way and tells him to leave Philippa alone. She is so thankful that she starts blabbing all about her family and what a wretched time she's having in London trying to find a husband she can stand to be around for more than five minutes. Sir Guy is much amused by Philippa, and basically tells her to keep her chin up. He ends up escorting the drunken Earl of Dalton home before Cynthia makes her move.

Cynthia convinces her younger brother the Duke to ask Philippa for a waltz, knowing that Philippa hasn't been given permission for the dance by the Patronesses, and if she accepts his invitation, she will be completely ruined in their eyes and thus, the eyes of Society. Harwith asks Philippa accordingly, and Philippa, not knowing any better, happily accepts his invite and dances the titular Last Waltz with him.

This of course creates a major scandal in Society, leading her to become persona non grata and receiving the cut direct from every acquaintance she's ever had. Her chaperone comes out of her daze long enough to explain what happened, and Philippa is bereft of ever finding a husband now!

Sir Guy returns from a sojourn at his estate in Kent and learns of Philippa's faux pas. Having fallen in love with the girl, he takes it upon himself to rescue her once again. He takes her for a ride through Hyde Park, correctly guessing that no one would dare give him the cut direct, and thus, would be forced to acknowledge Philippa. This strategy works with marvellous results, and soon enough Philippa is the bell of the ton once more.

Lady Cynthia has secured her engagement to Dalton (who of course dropped Philippa the minute the waltz scandal happened), but she's afraid that Dalton will start pursuing her rival again now that she's popular once more. She catches Philippa alone one night at Almack's and tells her that the only reason Sir Guy is being so nice to her is because he pities her, and he's taken on lots of "charity cases" such as herself, as he finds it amusing the rehabilitate young deb's reputations. Philippa takes her words to heart, of course, and flees London that very evening to return to her father's vicarage in Shropshire. Sir Guy is Not Happy that he has to traipse all the way out there to propose to her, and is even more Not Happy when she tells him what Cynthia told her and he has to convince her that he loves her the only way he knows how - by kissing her. Of course all is immediately forgiven, they are married by daddy dearest, and wrap up every single loose thread with a neat little bow.

This is a truly old-fashioned Regency romance, in that the customs of the time are strictly adhered to, and the scandal is something that could only happen in this world. While I enjoyed that aspect of it, at no point did I ever believe these two fell in love with each other, and I found it hard to understand what sophisticated Sir Guy saw in silly, woeful Philippa. He's also much older than her, which I' m not a fan of because of the power imbalance, and everything was tied up a little too neatly for my taste. All in all, it's a very fluffy bit of cotton candy with not substance behind the inherent sickly sweetness.… (plus d'informations)

Do Grow: Start with 10 simple vegetables by Alice Holden is a quick and easy guide for a beginner gardener. It includes the basics on how to get started in gardening (particularly with vegetables as the title implies).

This quick how-to book gives concise pointers and suggestions on how to start your garden and growing vegetables. It's a nice handbook for quick reference. For the 10 vegetables that she suggests are good to start with, they each have a short sub chapter dedicated to them. Tips and pointers on how to solve simple problems you may be having with your plants are given for each. I liked that it also recommends with what foods and seasonings each vegetable is best paired with. A whole chapter is dedicated to recipes.

The author writes from her personal experience and how she got into gardening. She explains what she's learned along the way. This book seemed like a foray into living a self-sustaining life and part memoir.

This book doesn't go into much depth. It's a very light overview of gardening. And as others mentioned, this book is best intended for a UK audience. I would have a liked a bit more depth into the 10 vegetables. However, the author intended for this to just be a brief overview of gardening and the essentials to get you started on your own garden journey.

I loved the overall simple design of the book. The pictures and drawings were a nice touch.

Overall, it was a nice introductory gardening book for beginners with some helpful advice on the essentials needed to get started. I enjoyed the helpful tips on what you may be doing wrong/not doing and how to correct it to make your garden thrive.… (plus d'informations)

A handy little book that offers basic information on growing 10 types of food. As I've just moved to a house with a yard (and plants already in place) I'm getting a crash course in basic gardening. I've also just been given two tomato plants, so I was able to quickly put the tomato chapter to use!

I would second another reviewer's caution that since this is a UK title, some of the info isn't particularly helpful to me in North America.

Overall though, I'm glad I've read this book and now have a copy to refer back to each season. Next year I want to start a whole container garden beyond tomatoes, and it's all thanks to the inspiration I got reading this book!… (plus d'informations)