Voyager (Outlander, #3) by Diana Gabaldon

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publish Date: August 7, 2001
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3617.Diana_Gabaldon
ISBN: 9780385335997
List Price: $7.99
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite or forever doom her timeless love.

My Comments:
I love historical fiction and book #3 is another great book in this series. Claire must decide between her daughter's time and Jamie's time now that she has discovered he survived Culloden. Again, the writing in this series continues to draw the reader into a different time and place. You can see the castles, villages, and scenery that is being created in this book. It is always vivid enough that the reader can hear, smell and feel the world being created.

The characters continue to develop in this book along with Claire learning what has happened in the time she has been gone.

I don't know what decision I would make in having to choose to leave my child and have the chance to return to the love of my life. It seems Claire made the decision pretty easily, but I know I would have had a much harder time making that choice.

I am a history nut, so reading this series is just a huge adventure for my imagination in how things really were. I love the way that Claire uses her 20th century medical knowledge to help her in the past. It is always interesting to see how she brings future knowledge to help in the past.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6) by Diana Gabaldon

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publish Date: August 29, 2006
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3617.Diana_Gabaldon
ISBN: 9780385340397
List Price: $15.13
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldon’s New York Times bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over — and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence — with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

My Comments:
Another great addition to the series. This book keeps the Fraser family in Colonial America and the family events that occur are again like the previous books exciting, heart wrenching, and it continues to be a book I cannot put down. The adventure in this book shows that their time traveling can change historical events to a degree.

As the story continues, we see events unfolding that dramatically change the ability of the family to stay together and certain family members must move or travel for their own safety.

Warning: Tissues, tissues, tissues for the last part of the book.

I thought this book in the series was better than books 4 and 5. Here's to hoping that An Echo in the Bone (Book 7) is just as good!

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2) by Diana Gabaldon

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publish Date: August 7, 2001
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3617.Diana_Gabaldon
ISBN: 9780385335973
List Price: $7.99
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ... about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ... and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ... in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ... and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves...

My Comments:
I had no idea the book would go where it went. Wow! I am a fan of time traveling and the super-natural. Book #2 in the series did not disappoint. We learn so much about what Claire has done in 20 years and now her return to Scotland is more than interesting. We wonder what she is about to discover coming back from America after all this time with her college age daughter, Brianna. This is the time she decides she has to reveal the truth about her daughter's past and origins. We also learn a great deal more about Roger and his history, origins, and ties to the family.

When Claire discovers Jaime survives Culloden, what will she do? Will she return to his time and leave her daughter in her own time? What happens when Brianna reads the history of her family? Is the ability to time travel genetic?

I am blazing through these books because the story is just so vividly written and exciting. As the reader, you are completely placed in the character's time and time traveling with them. I love the way Diana Gabaldon writes. She gives her character such unique voices.

Now on to book #3!

Undead and Unwelcome (Undead #8) by MaryJanice Davidson

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Publish Date: June 2, 2009
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1429808.MaryJanice_Davidson
ISBN: 9780425227732
List Price: Varies depending on format
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
Betsy Taylor has problems that only a vampire queen/suburban wife could possibly understand...such as fifty thousand angry werewolves. That's what Betsy is facing when she takes her werewolf friend Antonia's body to Cape Cod, where the Pack resides at Wyndham Mansion. Because Antonia died in her service, Betsy is alive and well - and wracked with guilt. She has no idea if the Wyndham werewolves will welcome her with fangs or friendship. While Betsy and her husband Sinclair try to make nice, their legal ward BabyJon is freaking out every werewolf he comes in contact with. Meanwhile, Betsy's posse back at the St Paul mansion are not happy. Increasingly frantic emails alert Betsy to her half-sister's increasingly erratic behavior. Looks like the devil's daughter is coming into her own - and raising hell. All in the name of making Betsy's life easier, of course.

My Comments:
Another awesome continuation of the Queen Betsy series. Betsy is non-stop excitement with her crew of crazies, but she certainly keeps things in perspective when werewolves and other evil forces come into play. BabyJohn makes an interesting new character addition as he becomes something that we didn't expect. Good luck Betsy with that "baby". Of course Laura is influenced by her mother again unbeknownst to her and does some really, really bad things. Betsy has to visit the werewolves after Antonia dies and genuinely doesn't know what they are going to do to her... Of course Eric (Sinclair) is her constant support and defender... ah Love! Waiting for book #9 that comes out in July-2010...

Undead and Uneasy (Undead #6) by MaryJanice Davidson

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Publish Date: June 5, 21007
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1429808.MaryJanice_Davidson
ISBN: 9780425213766
List Price: $7.99
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
Weddings are never easy. But when you're Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor, they can become downright deadly...

In the days leading up to The Big Day, Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor seems to have a full house - and the wedding guests have yet to arrive. Along with her human buddies, there's a ghost, a werewolf, and a Fiend crashing at her place. And though her fiancé, Vampire King Eric Sinclair, conveniently disappears when the conversation turns to seating charts and flower arrangements, he does manage to make his oh-so-sexy presence known at other moments.

Betsy knows the next few weeks won't be smooth sailing - but she never expects just what's in store for her. Cold feet are no surprise, especially with an undead groom. But when Sinclair truly goes missing - and not just to avoid wedding preparations - along with most of her friends and loved ones, Betsy is frantic. Alone and afraid for the fate of everyone she loves, Betsy can't trust anyone as she tries to find them and whoever is behind all the disappearances. And what happens next will shake the foundation of the vampire world forever.

My Comments:
I picked this book up because it was on a bargain stand at the book store, not knowing it was part of a series...by the second page I was hooked and laughing my butt off! I immediately went looking for books 1-5. I found this book hilarious and I can't wait to begin reading from the beginning. Betsy is such a character. She is strong, but naive and so matter-of-fact. If you want a hilarious, mildly sexual vampire series you have got to pick this series up!

Undead and Unpopular (Undead #5) by MaryJanice Davidson

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Publish Date: May 1, 2007
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1429808.MaryJanice_Davidson
ISBN: 9780425215999
List Price: $7.99
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
With her birthday coming up, Betsy isn't in the best frame of mind to face the powerful European vampires who have finally come to pay their respects. Playing politics is not her strong suit, especially when she finds out her best friend Jessica may have a life-threatening illness. Sure Betsy can save her life by taking it-isn't that what friends are for?-but the choice isn't in her hands.

With her fiancé Eric dodging all the wedding plans, Betsy's plate is full-and not with birthday cake. But who has time to pout? Not even a reluctant vampire queen, who is taking it one high-heeled step at a time in MaryJanice Davidson's creative, sophisticated, sexy, and wonderfully witty series.

My Comments: 
I completely love this series. Betsy is the most entertaining character and her band of misfits is hilarious. How can the following situation not be funny? She lives with her Vampire King, her best human friend, a human doctor, a werewolf, a Fiend, a Ghost who won't leave, and a Zombie has come to visit or attack her... too funny. If you love vampire stories, you have to pick up this series...

Undead and Unreturnable (Undead #4) by MaryJanice Davidson

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Publish Date: May 30, 2006
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1429808.MaryJanice_Davidson
ISBN: 9780425210819
List Price: $7.99
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis: 
As if she needed yet another reason to shop, Queen of the Vampires Betsy Taylor is in the middle of planning the perfect wedding to drop-dead gorgeous vamp Eric Sinclair. And she’s not about to let little things like death and blood-drinking get in her way.

But all is not bouquets and bridal showers—Betsy is plagued by ghosts who demand her help in rectifying their past mistakes, and a serial killer is on the loose. With his victims all being tall, blond women, Betsy fits the profile exactly…

My Comments:
I love Betsy! She is one of the most down-to-earth, hilarious characters you will ever find as the Queen of the Vampires. She has not yet fully accepted her queenly presence so she still goes about her normal life like when she was alive, but her brood at home is slowly growing to not only include her best alive-human friend, her vampire king/consort, his vampire body guard Tina, her half sister who is the daughter of the devil, a retired vampire slayer, a vampire fiend, and now a ghost... what next zombies... oh yes, zombies! Betsy helps you find the humor in any situation... I love her take on life or death...which ever way you look at it.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publish Date: 6/28/1992
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3617.Diana_Gabaldon?from_search=true
ISBN: 9780440212560
List Price: $7.35
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis:
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

My Comments:
I was excited to read this book after starting the Starz series. I've had the book forever and forgot that I had it. The book has not disappointed at all. I have finished the 800 page book in less than a week because I was just that excited to keep reading. I could not put this book down. The writing is wonderful and so descriptive it creates the world and life of 1743 easily for the reader. I could picture myself in every scene from the landscape, the people, and the action occurring in the scene.

I find it so interesting how Claire has to adapt her 1945 medical knowledge to what's available to her in 1743. Her innate need to help the injured drives her into danger and suspicion. The superstitions of the day are so dangerous and leave Claire, who uses knowledge and objective judgement, to be in constant fear of harm even when trying to help those around her. The writer's character development is great. It's almost as if you know these people at every page turn. My only irritation with the book is how Claire, for once, cannot listen to the advice Jamie gives her to be safe and stay put, especially once he leaves for the "hunt." I could have just strangled her myself in that scene and the turn of events.

The story's twists and turns leave you needing to read more and more to see if and when Claire will make it back to the traveling stones to possibly return to 1945. Her choices seem obvious to the reader, but you just do not know what Claire will choose until the last moment. The sacrifices that Jamie makes are almost heart wrenching. The trials and predicaments that are presented throughout the book are all together intriguing and draw the reader to another place and time experiencing the vivid adventures.

The TV series is doing a good job of translating the book to the TV screen. I hope that they stay true to the story as much as possible and not take too many liberties.

I am waiting for Dragonfly in Amber to arrive! Outlander Fan for life!

The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic by Hazel Gaynor

Author: Hazel Gaynor
Publish Date: March 1, 2012
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5774172.Hazel_Gaynor
ISBN: 9780062316868
List Price: $9.48
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis:
A voyage across the ocean becomes the odyssey of a lifetime for a young Irish woman. . . .

Ireland, 1912 . . .

Fourteen members of a small village set sail on RMS Titanic, hoping to find a better life in America. For seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet. Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland with Séamus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is one of the few passengers in steerage to survive. Waking up alone in a New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that fateful night again.

Chicago, 1982 . . .

Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide what comes next. When her great-grandmother Maggie shares the painful secret about Titanic that she's harbored for almost a lifetime, the revelation gives Grace new direction—and leads both her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those they thought lost long ago.

Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Came Home poignantly blends fact and fiction to explore the Titanic tragedy's impact and its lasting repercussions on survivors and their descendants.

My Comments:
I thought this was a great read. I am a huge fan of historical fiction and I really enjoyed the way the author intertwined current day with the 1912 memories of the characters. In this story, the author takes true stories from the Titanic and real people who sailed, changes their names, and adds historical fiction to really engage the reader. This was a book I couldn't put down and I loved every bit of the story. Titanic has always interested in and to put it with historical fiction only makes it that more exciting. The story is so engaging you do not really know up until the end of the book who survives and what they leave behind... to share with their family and the readers...

I loved the author's writing style. Even though you are flipping from 1982 to the 1912, the author lays the chapters out logically and the changes in time are easily made so that you are able to take yourself from one time period to another. She also writes this story so vividly you can imagine yourself in 1912 with all the splendor that Titanic was and even as Maggie and her party of traveling across Ireland to meet the amazing ship for their voyage to America... you can feel yourself riding in the traps, walking alongside Titanic in wonder, and amazed at all there is in the third class... even a sink in your cabin!

I look forward to more books from this author!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Author: Gayle Forman
Publish Date: April 2, 2009
Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/295178.Gayle_Forman
ISBN: 0525421033
List Price: $9.99
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Jacket Synopsis:
Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

My Comments:
This is a cute, quick read. A range of emotions is experienced in her whole 24 hour period to decide to live or die in her purgatory type state. I really liked the story and the idea that we have a choice under certain circumstances to choose life or death from a third party view, contemplating, evaluating and checking the pros and cons of our choice. It was exciting and a book I couldn't put down ... but ... the end was a let down ... not in the inevitable decision Mia makes but in that it was so uneventful and abruptly ends without any emotion (happy or sad)... it just ends. It just seemed to be so much build... memories, decisions, visitors opinions, etc. and then done. I am not interested in picking up the second book to this one. I read the first chapter and "boring"... on to a new book and author.

I liked the writing style of Gayle Forman, but I just wish the ending was more fulfilling ... some kind of closure rather than it seeming that you "have" to go to book two to get that closure... Nope, not doing it.

I am interested in seeing the movie being made about the story to see which way Hardwicke takes it in (same director as Twilight). She always has an interesting interpretations of the book.