voraciousreader4u's Reviews (8)

Heart of Stone

Evie Mitchell

4.25

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Movie Tie-In): Neighborly Words of Wisdom from Mister Rogers

Fred Rogers

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Super light read! Read many quotes of Mr. Roger’s wisdom said from the years he has reached and entertained the American public. Made me nostalgic for those time I watched PBS as a child. Since the only thing that stuck out for me was the model town sequences followed by his intro and ending which is why I tuned in as much. Now as an adult I wish more of those episodes or even more content to show up in the media. The main reason for picking up the book was the famed article by Tom Junod that inspired the movie with Tom Hanks playing Mr. Roger’s. If you ever have that stack of books you know will come in handy later in life add this to your pile.

Morbidly Yours

Ivy Fairbanks

4.5

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

The Duke Gets Desperate

Diana Quincy

4.75

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love this story!
Raya Darwish comes to England to meet her cousin Deena and, through strange circumstances, finally meets her at her funeral. Heartbroken that she never gets to meet Deena, she is astonished to find she left something HUGE in her will. Much to his aggravation, Anthony Carey, Duke of Strickland, is not happy about that, including the servants of the house. Raya sees a great opportunity to build a business, the property and its tenants are in need of money.
Raya has business experience from dealing with her family’s business and knows she can make Castle Tremayne profitable again. Everyone sees her as a prickly shrew, but that's because they can't see that she has the vision and confidence of a well-capable woman beyond her time. It doesn't help that she is also an Arab American from New York and doesn't give a flying fig about English customs. Raya fights many battles throughout the story including her inner fears. She fears heights and through unfortunate dealings with her brother, she was kicked out of the family business, which led her to be wary of men. So, owning a business is essential.
Anthony finds Raya a bother at the beginning, because of her ownership of the castle which is his by right, and fights to keep his vision of Castle Tremayne intact. Ultimately, he sees her work and character make the tenants productive, and Tremayne grand again. Much so that he admits that he has no head for business as that is not a ducal profession and that he rather focus on his studies of Saxon antiquities. Halfway into the story, he recognizes his admiration and deep feelings for Raya and works to gain her trust and love, which leads to some pretty hot scenes. I can tell you a duke never had a more dirty mind than him.
Of course, the plot thickens more as Raya hires an artist, Alfred who makes her question how Deena died. Plus, Anthony’s puzzlement as to where his family's heirlooms have gotten, thinking that it was Deena selling them to pay for her lifestyle is now having to question how trustworthy are those around him.
It was a well-thought-out story with deeply set characters that made the story stand out. Including, learning how to read Arab words thanks to the audiobook I’m not butchering the language. Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this and I can't wait for the new Siren in Silk!