House Rules

by Jodi Piccoult.

This book is about a family, a single Mother Ella who has two sons Jacob and Theo. Jacob has Aspergers and is obsessed with crime scene investigation. When his social skills tutor ends up dead and missing and eventually found he gets tried for her murder.

Like all of her books this one is difficult to read, it's hard to read the truth when you don't want it to be that way. You also know a twist might be coming so you can't settle and relax, there are not always happy endings in real life. I can't read a lot of her books in order but once in a while I give them a try and then go back to my lighter reading.

This one didn't meet expectation, I learned a lot about Autism, specifically Aspergers but the mystery was disappointing and the ending even more so (and not for the reason I was thinking). I won't give more than that away because I'm glad I read it but don't think you'll feel totally contented in the end.

Secrets of Surrender (Easterbrook book 3)

by Madeline Hunter.

This book follows Rose who was the cousin to Alexia from book 1. She knows the truth about her brother finally but still can't take handouts from Hayden whom she's insulted. She gets herself in trouble and Kyle helps out - one of the people that her brother hurt financially. He proposes marriage to help her out of scandal and they try to build a life together even though he was not highly born. A lot of hurdles for that relationship.

Lessons of Desire (Easterbrook book 2)

by Madeline Hunter.

This book follows Easterbrook's younger brother Elliot as he tries to help the family escape from scandal. He ends up falling for Phaedra while touring with her through the continent (they even marry to escape trouble thinking it won't last). Phaedra is against marriage on principal and it looks troublesome for the two for a while.

It was nice to see some of the continent instead of just England and Phaedra's views are very odd for Victorian times but very comforting for current times.

Rules of Seduction (Easterbrook book 1)

by Madeline Hunter.

This book follows one of the brothers of Easterbrook - Hayden as he strives to help the family of a friend of his, then he falls for the cousin of that family. Unfortunately the family thinks he destroyed them when in reality he was helping to keep the brother from being brought up on charges. Eventually the truth comes out a little bit and he's happy in a new marriage.

Back to the Victorian age - what a great past time.

Medieval Series by Madeline Hunter

I read this whole series this summer - unfortunately i read them in published order instead of chronologically but I still was able to make the connections between the characters and politics of the time.

The books in chronological order are:
By Possession (year 1326 - Addis is main character)
By Design (year 1328 - Rys is main character)
Stealing Heaven (year 1341 - Marcus is main character)
By Arrangement (year 1346 - David is main character)
The Protector (year 1348-49 - Morvan is main character and covers plague a bit)
Lord of a Thousand Nights (year 1350 - Ian is main character)

This series was very interesting from a political/historical point of view, I learned a lot about this time period. Unfortunately during this time period woman had very few rights and it made the relationships hard to relate to. I still enjoyed them quite a bit however and I loved how they all intertwined.

Spoiler Alert!!!!
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Addis marries his serf Moira but before they marry she befriends Rys. Rys then marries a noble woman Joan who's young brother Marcus is friends with David. Addis takes Marcus under his wing to teach him how to be the lord he was born to be. Marcus then falls for Nesta who has no other ties in the series.
David is favored by the king with a noble wife Christiana who's brother Morvan then falls for Anna in Breton. Anna in England has a tiny trist with Ian who is a knight working for Morvan in the last book and finally falls for Lady Reyna.

Very interleaved!

Anne's House of Dreams (Anne book 5)

by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

This book follows Anne as she and Gilbert move so he can set up a practice. Her life as a wife and eventually starting on the life of a mother. More new friends, and a darker side of life are exposed to Anne.

I missed Windy Poplars which covers the 3 years when Anne is just engaged - they didn't have it in Audiobook form so I'll have to read it on my kindle some time.

Anne of the Island (Anne book 3)

by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

This book follows Anne's life through college, making new friends, falling in love and eventually really falling in love. It was one of my favorite of these books.

Love in the Afternoon (Hathaways book 5)

by Lisa Kleypas.

This may have been my favorite of the books. I loved the characters all around. It was a while ago since I read it though so I don't have details.