A Lady's Secret by Jo Beverley...

[fajrdrako]

Jo Beverley is a writer and a friend and a fellow Dorothy Dunnett fan. I recently received the happy news that her latest romance novel, A Lady's Secret is on the New York Times top-twenty bestseller list. I was thrilled for her.

And then I received in the mail a package from Jo, with an autographed copy of the book - which I had been intending to buy as soon as I could go to a bookstore again. She'd heard about The Foot and sent it as a convalescent present. I was thrilled.

I read it today. And though I've loved many of Jo's books, I think this might just be my favourite - well, top three or four, anyway. It's in the Malloren series, but that fact is nicely hidden till about halfway through the book. And the climax has some delightful surprises that I never anticipated. Usually Jo's setting is England the protagonists are English; this time, the female lead is Italian, which is fun; and half the action takes place in France.

It's a spoiler but I really must add that Lord Rothgar is in the book, and better than ever.

Comments

[saffronrose.livejournal.com]

I envy you the signed book! I thought it very enjoyable, myself. I always like being in her worlds.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Jo Beverley has a lovely talent for characterization and humour. Her books have a lot of charm - though I sometimes find them uneven in quality. (Which is merely to say I like some better than others.)

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Now, I don't know who Lord Rothgar is in this universe, but I do enjoy the similarity to Lord Hrothgar.

And it's a shame that the recent Beowulf movie was so... meh.

Fun to talk with you today after you-- no, it was still in the middle of reading the book, yes? I guess you did end up finishing it before the inevitable nap moved in! And I'm also waiting to hear how the foray into the kitchen for yogurt and peanut butter went [g].

Hey, Sean Astin was on campus at my university on Monday (for an entire hour, gee whiz) to speak in support of Senator Hillary Clinton, and today he's on the front of the student newspaper. Do you know anyone who would enjoy having a copy of it? I can certainly grab many of them.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't know who Lord Rothgar is in this universe, but I do enjoy the similarity to Lord Hrothgar.

The joke in the novels is that each of the family was given an old Anglo-Saxon name - perhaps because of the title. So Rothgar's Christian name is Beowulf, though his siblings call him Bey.

it's a shame that the recent Beowulf movie was so... meh.

Yes. Needed more work, less gore.

No, I don't know anyone locally who is particularly a Sean Astin fan. My friends tend to be ... not so impressed with him. The weak intellect in a formidable crowd.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

"Bey"? Snicker. I like it.

Well, I was thinking of sending copies of the university newspaper through with the next Apaplexy. Maybe I won't. Maybe instead I'll get copies of the sample ballots (Pennsylvania's primary election is April 22) and send them through instead. Although, last time I did that, I mentioned that I was sending everyone sample ballots which the voting populace is given before voting so that we can read the full ballot and finalize our choices, and the ballots themselves say "Sample Ballot" across the top, yet still, some people grilled me in the next mailing about how I'd managed to sneak ballots out of the polling place -- isn't that illegal??!! Ai.

I'll do it again anyway. Call me a troublemaker! hee

Agreed about Sean Astin, btw. And I didn't make any particular effort to be there to hear him, either.

Here's the really fun part of living in a town whose daily paper is an evening edition (the Indiana Evening Gazette, to be exact): today, April 16, bill Clinton spoke on campus from 11 AM to about 3:30 PM; the paper was delivered to my landlords' roadside box at about noon, and Bill Clinton was on the cover, along wtih a story of the event! A photo of the beginning of his talk, and very, very brief report of... the size of the crowd and the beginning of his talk. Well, I was impressed. You have to admit, it's a fun concept.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

ome people grilled me in the next mailing about how I'd managed to sneak ballots out of the polling place -- isn't that illegal??!! Ai.

Illegal? Is it? It's all a mystery to me! Your system just looks so incredibly complicated.

Your daily paper is impressive! Ours wouldn't even try.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

It's illegal to have possession of paper ballots, yes. Only the election officials can have them. You go, you get identified, you vote, and you put your ballot into the locked box while tearing off the numbered tab on the end -- that's all done right. No one can take home an official numbered ballot. The specimen ballots are just... well, when my mother was on the local election board, she'd bring the leftover specimen ballots home for me to use as typing paper, as the backs are usually blank.

Our system's complicated? Gee, really? [g]

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Our system's complicated? Gee, really? [g]

Whatever happened to throwing black and white balls into a pot?

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

1. Some American butted in uninvited and decided that it was too politically incorrect;

2. No easy way to cheat!

3. Doesn't take into account those plaid third-party candidates (most of whom are Scots);

4. "It's so old-fashioned!" meaning: "Let's high-tech it and really mess it up! At least then it'll be impressive, and we can justify our budget."

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Hee - good answers!

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I think you are the one who turned me onto Jo Beverley, lo these many years ago. I enjoyed her most recent, and didn't see the Malloran connection until much later than I should have.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

And wasn't the Malloren connection a treat to discover when it cropped up? I thought Rothgar made a delightful father, though.

I wonder where the next book will connect - perhaps with Robin's friends Thorn and Captain Rose? Or his siblings?