Blog Tour-Helen Hollick-Sea Witch:Voyage One and Giveaway

I am so excited to be a part of Helen Hollick's 2011 Blog Tour. As many of you know Ms. Hollick is one of my favorite historical fiction writers. I have read and reviewed many of her novels, most recently, The Forever Queen and The Chosen King. When I was offered the opportunity to be included on of this Blog Tour introducing my readers to her Pirate Trilogy, (series will continue after the third voyage) I couldn't resist.  Read on to see how you can enter to win your choice of one of the three books in her series.

Today I will have a review for you on Sea Witch, The First Voyage of Captain Jesamiah Acorne. On July 22nd, Helen will join me as a guest to talk about England, her home.  Take a moment to glimpse at the trailer.  Perhaps you too will become bewitched by the allure of Ms. Hollick's special craft.  Prepare to be beguiled.

Review by Wisteria

SEA WITCH 
The First Voyage of Captain Jesamiah Acorne
 
Helen Hollick
Silverwood Books (June 20, 2011)
978-1906236601
$16.99, Paperback
316 pages

 




Of course we all know that pirates are not ordinarily as charismatic as the movies would lead us to believe. But what if they were?  Johnny Depp has certainly proved his box office value, irresistible heart tug and memorable character in his Pirates of the Caribbean Series. “Savvy”?  Now Helen Hollick introduces adult readers to Jesamiah Acorne an alluring revile for your affections, perhaps even more memorable than any fictionalized pirate in history so far.

Jesamiah Acorne grows up brutally bullied by his half brother Phillipe Moreno who, disgusted by their father’s past, seeks revenge through Jesamiah’s life.  Jesamiah finds freedom and the start of a new life as a bold buccaneer taking to the ocean and living on a ship.  One day, Jesamiah’s band of pirates fail in the quest to plunder a British vessel. As their plan backfires, Jesamiah peers through his telescope and his eyes rest on the stern of the ship. In the small circle view he spies a figure. He is surprised to see a young girl, a woman, but that can’t be.  He experiences an enchantment, unaware that he is bewitched by the white witch, Triola Oldstagh.  What he doesn’t realize is that they will meet again, but Triola is well aware of their destiny for she has “the craft.”  Triola is not the only woman to seek Jesamiah for herself. Tethys, lives in the ocean deep and is a supernatural spirit of seduction who wants to claim Jesamiah for herself with the passion of the Greek Sirens from mythology. Only Tethys does not want Jesamiah alive.

Helen Hollick takes the reader on a journey of high sea adventures, uniquely envisioned characters and romantic dazzlement. The predestination of the love match between Jesamiah and Triola is always just beyond reach, as Jesamiah is tugged back to the ocean forcing him to choose between his desire for freedom on his ship or his love for Triola.  The Sea Witch is a suspenseful romance with sudden surprises, twists and turns and exciting drama that will ride a tide to the end. Jesamiah has that magnetic charm that will raise a twinkle in your eye and captivate your heart with a bold spirit of adventure.

Sea Witch takes place around 1716 in the oceans between Africa and the Caribbean.
Could Triola and Jesamiah be a new love match to live on in historical fiction literature, or will the sultry waves of the wraith Tethys win the spoils?   Sea Witch contains a pirate’s treasure of pleasure, highly recommended.

Voyage Two: Pirate Code
Voyage Three: Bring it Close
Voyage Four: Ripples in the Sand (To be released 2011/2012)

http://www.helenhollick.net/

Please join me on July 22nd when Helen Hollick will be my guest as she talks about England, her home.

Contest Rules

• Leave a comment on today's post, or any of the next two tour posts, July 22nd and July 31st. Make sure you leave an encrypted email address if you are the winner. In your comment please let me know which book you would like to win if chosen. 
• If you comment on the three different posts you will have three chances.
• 6 additional chances: become a follower of my blog
• 10 additional chances: become a follower on my Facebook Network Blog
• This contest is open Internationally
• Contest ends on August 5th....so don't wait. 

Good Luck to Everyone....I hope you enjoy all the voyages!!!

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].

Pox, An American History, by Michael Willrich-Blog Tour

POX, An American History
Michael Willrich
The Penguin Press, March 31, 2011
400pp. HC
978-159420286

Summary from The Penguin Press (Cover Jacket)

The untold story of how America's Progressive-era war on smallpox sparked one of the great civil liberties battles of the twentieth century. 

At the turn of the last century, a powerful smallpox epidemic swept the United States from coast to coast. The age-old disease spread swiftly through an increasingly interconnected American landscape: from southern tobacco plantations to the dense immigrant neighborhoods of northern cities to far-flung villages on the edges of the nascent American empire. In Pox, award-winning historian Michael Willrich offers a gripping chronicle of how the nation's continentwide fight against smallpox launched one of the most important civil liberties struggles of the twentieth century.

At the dawn of the activist Progressive era and during a moment of great optimism about modern medicine, the government responded to the deadly epidemic by calling for universal compulsory vaccination. To enforce the law, public health authorities relied on quarantines, pesthouses, and "virus squads"-corps of doctors and club-wielding police. Though these measures eventually contained the disease, they also sparked a wave of popular resistance among Americans who perceived them as a threat to their health and to their rights.

At the time, anti-vaccinationists were often dismissed as misguided cranks, but Willrich argues that they belonged to a wider legacy of American dissent that attended the rise of an increasingly powerful government. While a well-organized anti-vaccination movement sprang up during these years, many Americans resisted in subtler ways-by concealing sick family members or forging immunization certificates. Pox introduces us to memorable characters on both sides of the debate, from Henning Jacobson, a Swedish Lutheran minister whose battle against vaccination went all the way to the Supreme Court, to C. P. Wertenbaker, a federal surgeon who saw himself as a medical missionary combating a deadly-and preventable-disease.

As Willrich suggests, many of the questions first raised by the Progressive-era antivaccination movement are still with us: How far should the government go to protect us from peril? What happens when the interests of public health collide with religious beliefs and personal conscience? In Pox, Willrich delivers a riveting tale about the clash of modern medicine, civil liberties, and government power at the turn of the last century that resonates powerfully today.-The Penguin Press

My Review

Cover to cover, POX will command your attention with an unyielding grip.  Who would think a history about the smallpox scourge would be so engaging, fascinating in fact?

Yet with his extensive research and well crafted narrative Willrich has accomplished that and more. When you read his book, the smallpox epidemic at the turn of the twentieth century is the focus. However, his look back prior to 1900, and then forward in time provides an important timeline and perspective. It is always interesting as a historian, to view the past with twenty-first century eyes. Fortunately, Willrich provides objectivity when writing of the past while offering opportunities to reflect and make connections to current issues facing our global community.

During the Progressive Era, social reformers were crusaders of change.  Change is not always popular and Willrich points out those wishing to change current practice had their opposition. Vaccination proponents, favoring what was in their view necessary for the common good, argued with the opponents, the antivaccinationists who believed in a person’s individual rights.

POX provides a fluid chronicle of the smallpox virus and the development of the weapon that would ultimately obliterate it’s existence around the world.  The methods state governments implemented to enforce vaccination was not always equitable.  It is alarming to read, although it should not be a surprise that our country’s marginalized population suffered most. It was a common belief that this was a  African Americans, recent immigrants, and the poor were systematically singled out and physically forced to submit to vaccination and/or quarantined within their homes or taken to pesthouses for weeks. Race, income, religion and political difference created a clear line of injustice and inequity.

POX will encourage deep reflection and inspire the curious.  Michael Willrich has written a spectacular historical narrative, an outstanding read. POX has been added to my best picks for 2011.

  

Michael Willrich

"Michael Willrich is the author of City of Courts, which won the John H. Dunning Prize awarded by the American Historical Association for the best book on any aspect of U.S. history, and the William Nelson Cromwell Prize awarded by the American Society for Legal History. Currently an associate professor of history at Brandeis University, he worked for several years as a journalist in Washington, D.C., writing for The Washington Monthly, City Paper, The New Republic, and other magazines."  The Penguin Press, book jacket. 

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].

My Guest Today is Elizabeth Chadwick-To Defy a King Blog Tour

MARCH  BLOG TOUR -
SOURCEBOOKS LANDMARK
I always look forward to guest author posts who agree to visit my blog.  However, today, I can't wait to share a conversation with one of my favorite  writers, a diva in the historical fiction realm, Elizabeth Chadwick.  A while ago I read and reviewed For the King's Favor.  Ms. Chadwick continues her rousting story in her new release, To Defy a King.(review)

Elizabeth Chadwick Guest Post

Many thanks for inviting me to guest on your blog.  I thought I would talk a bit about the locations mentioned in To Defy A King that Mahelt Marshal would have known as a child.  Many of these have disappeared, or are ruins but they places where they stood are still there, even sometimes as only echoes.

Places mentioned in To Defy A King

The Manor of Caversham, Berkshire
The novel opens here.  Mahelt’s father, William Marshal had a fine manor and chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Caversham, close to the Thames and just across the river from Reading Abbey and within easy striking distance of London. In the 13th century, the manor was in Oxfordshire.  Mahelt would have spent time here on and off throughout her childhood as it was a place of which her father was very fond.   The manor is no longer there but there is a Victorian stately home and grounds, now called Caversham Park.

Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire.
This was a Marshal manor where Mahelt’s father would have spent many years of his boyhood and was still an important place to William the grown man.  It stood close to river Kennet but was not particularly strategic. Again, Mahelt would have visited this place with her family as a child.  There are some obscure mounds at Hamstead that may be the remains of motte and bailey fortifications, but are more likely to be much earlier than this, possibly Neolithic.

Chepstow Castle.
Also known as Striguil which derives from a Welsh word meaning ‘River Bend’ this is a castle on the Welsh Marches set on high cliffs above the River Wye.  It was originally built by the Norman warlord William FitzOsbern as part of a chain of castle to protect Gloucester from the Welsh and also to dominate the Welsh.  The castle doors still exist from William Marshal’s time and Mahelt would have looked upon them every day when she was staying there.  The castle was actually part of her mother’s inheritance from the de Clare family.
http://www.castlewales.com/chepstow.html



Framlingham Castle
Framlingham Castle in Suffolk was the caput or main castle of the Bigod family into which Mahelt married. It had been built by her husband Hugh’s great grandfather, then razed to the ground when the grandfather rebelled.  Hugh’s father, Roger, had worked all of his life to have the family restored to favour and had gained permission to rebuild the castle on a grand scale with thirteen great towers and fine new livng quarters for the family.  The old hall, which was one of the few parts of the castle to be left standing, was retained as further living quarters, and had a chapel attached.  Mahelt was to live at Framlingham for a great deal of her marriage to Hugh.
http://www.castlewales.com/chepstow.html" http://www.castlewales.com/chepstow.html


Thetford Priory
Thetford Priory was the burial place of the Bigod Earls of Norfolk.  They had a house here too and were occasionally in residence.  The priory consists of just a few ruins now, and the site of the Bigod house has made way for other housing, but in its heyday, the Priory of Our Lady of Thetford was a great Cluniac monastery.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/thetford-priory/

Settrington
Settrington, a beautiful village in  East Yorkshire was the main Manor of the Bigod family’s secondary holdings in the North of England.  Later in her life, a widowed Mahelt would give Settrington to her younger son Ralph.  At one time the family had a manor house here, but it has gone.  However, Settrington House stands beside the site of the old manor.  In the novel, Mahelt and Hugh spend their honeymoon here.  I don’t know if they did in real life, but it is thoroughly feasible that they did.  Hugh had been given Settrington by his father when he was 17 years old and it had that feeling of personal possession to him.
http://freespace.virgin.net/owston.tj/sett.htm

Ipswich
The Bigods had a strong, vested interest in the grain port of Ipswich.  They had their own quay in the town and it was with their help that Ipswich was granted a charter by King John in 1200.  http://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/ipswich1.html


Friday Street, London.
The Bigod family had a house and a jetty on Friday Street in the city of London.  This has long, long gone,  but Mahelt would probably have known the property and stayed there – as she does for several scenes in the novel.

Salisbury
The Salisbury that Mahelt would have known is now called Old Sarum and stands two miles north of the new town of Salisbury which was founded in 1219 by the then bishop, Richard Poore after several disputes with the secular rulers of  the existing town.
However, in Mahelt Marshal’s day, the original Salisbury was still a busy place with a cathedral and a royal palace.  It was the home of her brother in law William Longespée, earl of Salisbury, and his wife Ela who was related to her. It had also been the childhood home of her grandmother, Sybilla FitzWalter.  In addition, Old Sarum had also housed Eleanor of Aquitaine during her long years of imprisonment.  It’s a ruin now, but open to visitors, courtesy of English Heritage.  The cathedral at the new Salisbury to the south, holds the tomb of William Longespée.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sarum

Bradenstoke Priory
Bradenstoke Priory housed the tombs of Mahelt’s paternal grandparents, John FitzGilbert Marshal and Sybilla, daughter of Walter of Salisbury.  Mahelt would probably have visited the priory to pay her respects to the tombs of her ancestors.  Today there are a few scant remains lying on private property close to an RAF base.  Parts of Bradenstoke were boxed up and shipped to the United States by William Randolph Hearst and have since been lost, although it is rumoured that Bradenstoke’s great tithe barn is still around somewhere in the USA, all crated up.    http://www.burtonbradstock.org.uk/History/Bradenstoke%20Priory_files/Bradenstoke%20Priory.htm


Other places Mahelt Marshal would have known that do not feature in To Defy A King.

In Normandy the castles of Longueville and Orbec.

In Wales  the castles of Goodrich, Usk, and Pembroke.
 http://www.castlewales.com/goodrich.html
 http://www.castlewales.com/usk.html
http://www.castlewales.com/pembroke.html


Tintern Abbey, Mahelt’s eventual resting place.
 http://www.castlewales.com/tintern.html

In Ireland, the fortress of Kilkenny, home of her grandmother, the Princess Aoife of Leinster.
http://www.kilkennycastle.ie/en/TouroftheCastle/

In her second marriage, the main castles she would have known were:
Castle Acre
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/castle-acre-castle-and-bailey-gate/

Conisborough Castle
http://www.conisbroughcastle.org.uk/Downloads/EH%20information%20for%20teachers.pdf


Thank you again Elizabeth for this fabulous post with the history of the castles and the website links. I'm sure the readers will be delighted.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2010].

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].

Helen Hollick Guest Post-I Am the Chosen King

 

This is really a part two post to a review I recently posted on Helen Hollick's spectacular historical fiction novel I Am the Chosen King.  (review post) I was so absorbed in the lives of many characters who are brought to life in this book, I had a few questions to ask Helen. Here is my rather random question and her fascinating response. 

Wisteria asks:

I read in your author notes that there was little factual information to go on when writing this trilogy. How do you develop the characters of Harold and Edith and Edith? I loved Harold, yet he had to balance the love of two women. How did you present Harold so that the reader has empathy and love for this character?  On the flip side, William adored one wife, Matilda, yet he was despicable and I loathed him.
All these characters can be identified by their personalities through your written word. Can you discuss this?

Helen Hollick

Phew, this is a one to think about!

I suppose there was more factual information for I Am The Chosen King (called Harold the King in the UK) then any of my other books, as the Battle of Hastings which occurred in 1066 – and the events that led to it – was fairly well recorded because it was such an important occurrence; one that changed history for good.
Having said that, most of what was recorded was written by the Victors, the Normans, so much of it was biased (at best) and plain untruthful (at worst)

For instance, Duke William of Normandy had no right to the English throne whatsoever – but you won’t find that written in any Norman account!
I stripped the “facts” of Norman propaganda, which meant doing a lot of reading between the lines, guessing, and using logic and common sense.
I will take one example: we know Harold went to Normandy around 1064/5. It’s depicted in the famous Bayeux Tapestry. We see him going to pray in the Church first, then going aboard a ship, then landing in Normandy and being wrongfully arrested. Why he went, why he was arrested, and why Duke William secured his release and was angry about the arrest, we don’t know. It is more than likely that Harold was intending to visit William, got blown of course and landed in the wrong place. Harold went on to be an honoured and welcomed guest at Duke William’s court – until everything went wrong. (I won’t say what!)

So I had to interpret those scenes, make sense of the bare facts and weave them into a believable, convincing story.

The framework of my characters’ characters was fairly easy to unravel. Harold I have always liked, he gave the impression of being a fair-minded, just man who saw honour and loyalty as his prime importance– be it to King, Country or family. Edith, his sister, I saw as a bit of a spoilt madam. She wanted things her own way, but I also felt very sorry for her. She got her wish and became Queen, but the wish turned out to be a disappointing one. Like her predecessor, though, (Queen Emma – from Forever Queen) Edith was determined to keep her crown, so would do anything, anything at all, to keep it.

Edyth Swanneck, Harold’s common law handfast wife I saw as a gentle, patient, motherly type of woman – who would give her life for Harold and her children if she had to. So their characters seemed natural and obvious to me, and the more I wrote the more “real” these people were to me.

I had a hard time writing about Duke William – I loathe the man, but I wanted to make him a realistic character, not an utter monster (even if he was *laugh*) so giving him an alternative background to his battle-hardened warrior image seemed logical. We know, as fact, that he was loyal to his wife and did not have mistresses or lovers because it was remarked upon and recorded (sorry I can’t remember exactly where) as unusual in a man of his status. I am not convinced he “loved” Matilda, but he was a man of principle, and I think possessive, maybe controlling. Sex, beyond producing children was not a major need for him. His “interest” was in the battle campaign, the manly world of the battlefield.
Just a pity he couldn’t keep his interests firmly in Normandy!

I want to thank Sourcebooks for the opportunity to be a part of this Blog Tour along with the review copy of her book that I received.  It is always fun to get a chance to talk to an author after you have read her/his book. I fell in love with Helen Hollick's writing when I read The Forever Queen, so I was eager to read I Am the Chosen King.  If you have not read any of her books, I highly recommend you take a peek. You might not even need a bookmark.


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].

Blog Tour-I Am the Chosen King, by Helen Hollick

I AM THE CHOSEN KING

The Lost Kingdom 1066
by Helen Hollick
Sourcebooks Landmark
March 2011
$16.99, 592 pages
978-1-4022-4066-9

Synopsis from Sourcebooks

England, 1044. Harold Godwineson, a young, respected Earl, falls in love with an ordinary but beautiful woman. He marries Edyth despite her lack of pedigree, pitting him against his turbulent family and his selfish King, Edward. In France, William, the bastard son of a duke, falls in love with power. Brutal and dangerously smart, William sets his sights on England, finding ambition a difficult lust to conquer.

In 1066, with the old King Edward dying, England falls vulnerable to the winds of fate—and the stubborn will of these two powerful men. In this beautifully crafted tale, Helen Hollick sets aside the propaganda of the Norman Conquest and brings to life the English version of the story of the last Saxon King, revealing his tender love, determination, and proud loyalty, all shattered by the unforgiving needs of a Kingdom. Forced to give up his wife and risk his life for England, the chosen King led his army into the great Battle of Hastings in October 1066 with all the honor and dignity that history remembers of its fallen heroes. ~Sourcebooks

My Review

I am honored to be a part of Helen Hollick’s 2011 Blog Tour. Last year I was introduced to this author’s writing when I read The Forever Queen. I was so impressed with the quality and enchantment of her writing. When I was given the opportunity to preview I Am the Chosen King, and participate in this promotion of her second book in her trilogy about the Battle of Hastings, I couldn’t resist. Helen Hollick has captured my attention with much enthusiasm once again.

Harold Godwinesson, the chosen king, is a romantically compelling character, in fact, a woman’s dream: charming, loving, handsome, supportive and brave. At times his character is almost too good to be real. Where is this man, the loving father who is deeply in love with his first love, Edith, a woman who can never be queen, nor accepted as anything but his concubine, yet they will have many children?  It has the elements of a star-crossed relationship, with a prescient and foreboding future. However, he deeply loves and adores her. They share this unique and rare heart match. He is determined to have a life with her.

When King Edward dies without an heir, Harold is selected by the council to become England’s King. At this time he is compelled to chose a woman to be his Queen, solidifying an alliance for the future of England, his kingdom. However, this also means he must face severing his relationship with Edith.

Ms. Hollick presents her version of this famous day in history and the events that lead up to October 14, 1066. With precise clarity she gives the reader what is necessary to imagine the setting and characters who lived during this time. Her keen eye has puzzled the threads from 11th century tapestries she uncovered in her research to evoke the ambiance that is presented in I Am the Chosen King. The battles are vividly brutal, the gore inescapable. The serious scenes of this nobel fight for power turn quickly from the bright glitter of sharpened metal and anticipation, to the dull red bloodbath of defeat known as The Battle of Hastings.

Helen Hollick has unwoven the dusty threads of the past to assemble a unique visionary interpretation of the history that surrounded two men Harold, King of England and William, “The Bastard” Duke of Normandy and their lust for one crown in this powerful historical fiction novel.





Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. This review is my honest unbiased opinion. 


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011]. 

Blog Tour-Review-The Raven Queen, by Jules Watson

THE RAVEN QUEEN
Jules Watson
Spectra Trade Paperback(Random House)
February 22, 2011
$15.00, 544pp.
978-0553384659

Synopsis from Random House

ABOUT THIS BOOK (From Random House)

In this dazzling retelling of one of Ireland’s most stirring legends, acclaimed author Jules Watson brings to life the story of Maeve, the raven queen, who is as fierce as she is captivating.
 
She was born to be a pawn, used to secure her father’s royal hold on his land. She was forced to advance his will through marriage—her own desires always thwarted. But free-spirited Maeve will no longer endure the schemes of her latest husband, Conor, the cunning ruler of Ulster. And when her father’s death puts her homeland at the mercy of its greedy lords and Conor’s forces, Maeve knows she must at last come into her own power to save it. 

With secret skill and daring, Maeve proves herself the equal of any warrior on the battlefield. With intelligence and stealth, she learns the strategies—and sacrifices—of ruling a kingdom through treacherous alliances. And to draw on the dangerous magic of her country’s oldest gods, Maeve seeks out the wandering druid Ruan, whose unexpected passion and strange connection to the worlds of spirit imperil everything Maeve thought true about herself—and put her at war with both her duty and her fate.

 My Review

Jules Watson offers an energetic epic centered around Irish mythology and the legend of Maeve, the raven queen.  I must confess, this is the first I have heard of this story but druids and Celtic lore will seize me every time.  Watson is a skillful storyteller and I was lured into the land of Erin right away.  There is a huge cast of characters and fortunately the author includes a pronunciation guide and key to who’s who.  I always find it difficult to move through a story when their are names I can’t pronounce or need a reminder of their relationships and associations. This did cause a labored beginning to the story, somewhat like I feel when reading books by Terri Brooks.  Without faulting the author, this just is what it is and makes for difficult reading at first.
Once you get over the initial stumbling over ancient unfamiliar names, this story takes off.
Maeve is fearless and fiery, bold and beautiful all at the same time. A woman all men love, yet fear at the same time. The power and strength of Maeve as she tries prove her worth in a world surrounded by men is universally recognizable and all women can relate to this character at some point. Watson forms her image of Maeve from legends of record, that describe her as a callous, sexually intoxicating warrior and queen with a bit of goddess too.  In The Raven Queen, Maeve has obvious flaws and makes mistakes that keep her real and identifiable but understandable as she is so often objectified. Ruan, the blind druid is the only male with the sensitivity and sight to reach her true soul.  It is this part of the story I find so mystically appealing.  I felt the middle of the story was somewhat tiresome heavy with battle images especially the one on one battle challenges with Cuchulainn, the King of the Ulaid’s protector.  Although  the ultimate challenge between best friends Ferdia and Cuchulainn was woeful and provided a pitifully sobbing repose, an outstanding scene.  I had a hard time identifying with the sacrifice in the name of honor that this fight profiled, even though it is a common theme in Celtic myth and history in general.
If you are a fan of Celtic Mythology you will want to read The Raven Queen.

About the author: Jules Watson

Author website

Disclosure: The copy of this book was sent to me from the publisher. This review is my honest opinion given without bias.


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].