I recently received a complimentary copy of Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering. I'd never read any of her books before, but I love murder mysteries! This was in no way disappointing. The story line was very interesting and the characters were pretty well developed. As for the "who" in the "who-done-it", I kinda thought that's where she was heading, but you weren't really sure til the very end.
This book is about Drew Farthering, a well-off young bachelor living in England with his mother and step-father. His life is completely changed one night after 2 people are found murdered on his family's estate. His love of mystery and curious nature lead him on a trail to figure out who is responsible for these deaths. He along with his friend, Nick, and newly met flame, Madeline, set off on an adventure to find the guilty party and discover more dead bodies along the way.
Looks like it's Julianna's intentions to continue writing this series, and I will be looking forward to reading more books about these characters.
I recently received a complimentary copy of Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. To be completely honest, this is NOT my typical kind of book genre. I chose this book, because I thought that my husband would probably enjoy it after I got done with it. As soon as I read the prologue, I was sucked in. The entire time I was reading this book, I could see it in my mind, just as clearly as watching a movie. (PS - This book would make a great movie.) Dragonwitch is full of rich characters with hard to pronounce names, but even more intriguing personalities. Stengl incorporates background to help you understand the storyline better at the beginning of each chapter. At first, I admit, I was a little thrown off by this, but then as I got deeper into the storyline, I understood more and more.
This story follows characters that think they understand their purpose in life, but when an unexpected event occurs, it causes them all to look deeper into the real purpose for their lives. Stengl includes a David and Goliath theme in this book. The expected character is not the one that ends up to be the most powerful in the kingdom. We see that the weakest vessels is the one that is chosen to lead the people. The underlying tones in this book are that God uses the weak that surrender to Him to do whatever He calls them to do, even if it means giving up everything.
The epilogue of this book makes me think that there will be another book in this series, and I will be waiting for it, not for my husband this time. This time it will be for me.
