This Week's Bookcase

Earlier this week I came across a picture of a blogger's current reading material. The books seemed like "my kind of reading," so I jotted down the titles and visited my local library online.

I started with author Laura Frantz and checked out three, then started the first - The Mistress of Tall Acre.

The story takes place in Virginia at the end of the Revolutionary War. Neighboring plantations have seen much suffering while the men were at war.

Sophie Menzies' mother has died, and her father and brother returned to Scotland, loyal to the British throne. Sophie is left alone to oversee her deteriorating family home of Three Chimneys.

General Seamus Ogilvy has returned from war as a hero. He retrieves his little daughter from his in-laws' home in Williamsburg. They do not want to give up their granddaughter and start an ugly legal battle to keep little Lily Cate. 

Sophie is the obvious choice for Seamus to marry in order to make his legal chances better to fight the law suits of the Williamsburg family. The added bonus: Lily Cate adores Sophie.

Will it be a marriage of convenience ... or will they fall in love?

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Review of Laura's writing From Booklist: "Her characters pop to life on the page, and her vivid descriptions add realistic historical depth."

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I've started reading Love's Awakening. It's just as good as The Mistress. 

Mary