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The Widow’s Tale is a genuine romance and a debut novel. Set in the era of the English Civil War (17th century) in the Yorkshire Dales (a favorite part of the world for me!), it recounts the life of 17 year old Charlotte Hart, married by arrangement to a local gentry man, Captain Oliver Grimwell. Even his last name made me hate him. Grimwell had the misfortune to die before he and Charlotte consummated their marriage and Charlotte wants her dower, a small farm, returned to her. Although this is her right under British law, Grimwell’s grasping family, including his nasty brother Phillip, refuse to let the land go. Charlotte is mighty headstrong, as they might say here in the South, and is determined to recover her farm, by hook or crook. On one of her usual wild rides on the moor, she runs into some of Oliver Cromwell’s Army, the Roundheads, and meets the ruggedly handsome Nate Weatherall, a Cavalry officer. She gets away from him, but he later leads a group of Roundheads who garrison her family’s homestead. This creates problems for the family because her brother, a Loyalist, is hidden in a cave beneath the house. Charlotte and Nate could not be more different. Charlotte is an impetuous, emotional, and stubborn young woman who continually makes bad choices, so many that I wanted to shake her and yell “Stop it!” Nate is a Puritan who believes women should be subservient to men. Despite their differences, they are attracted to each other and begin a relationship that will never run smooth but definitely runs hot, with some sex scenes that will satisfy most romance aficionados. There is a mild element of SM running through their relationship, since Nate takes pleasure in smacking her bottom when displeased with her behavior. She smarts from the beating but doesn’t turn away. Charlotte’s schemes create tensions with her family, particularly with her outspoken older sister Cat, start a battle with the Grimwells, and lead to constant bickering with Nate. When her brother-in-law tries to rape her, Charlotte clocks him and leaves him for dead, necessitating a trip through the landscape of war-torn England, in and out of enemy lines, to find Nate. I did have a few problems with the story. The language and banter between Charlotte and Nate is very modern and the author uses words inappropriate for the time, like snarky. I also found Charlotte a little over the top, not entirely believable for a woman of that time in history. Perhaps if she had been older? Finally, there is way too much eye-rolling and blushing – enough that I was acutely aware of it. That being said, first novels are always hard. The author clearly knows and loves this period, as evidenced the details and the way they are woven into the story. The landscape and scenes are descriptive, but not overly so, and the secondary characters are clearly limned and very enjoyable. The fact some speak in a Yorkshire accent adds to the authenticity. I think romance readers who try this book will not be disappointed, and I suspect the next volume in this series will be even better. Paula Moss was born in Liverpool, a child of Irish Catholic descent, but now lives in the England not far from Jane Austen country. Her great passion is social history and she writes that she is “particularly enthralled by the experiences of ordinary people through extraordinary times.” Her current writing goal is a series of Historical Romance Sagas under the banner of ‘Swords, Saints & Sinners.’ These stories will focus on a group of characters from all parts of the divide during the English Civil War era. She is also working on a project set in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War. The Widow’s Tale can be found on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Widows-Tale-Swords-Sinners-ebook/dp/B00W59U3OM Ms. Moss can also be found at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7901912.Paula_C_Moss and on her blog: http://paulacmoss.blogspot.com   0 0

One thing did result from the Great Chicago fire: it created a clean slate for the growth of a modern city with steel beamed buildings. The 1893 “White City” of the World Columbian Exposition is claimed by some to have led to a revival of Neo-Classical architecture in Chicago and the entire United States, and the 1909 “ Plan for Chicago” was the first comprehensive city plan in the U.S, and was in a Neo-Classical style. However, Chicago architects used many design styles and belonged to a variety of architectural schools, including the early Chicago style, Neoclassic, Craftsman Style, Prairie Style, Edwardian, Modern, Post-Modern – you can find whatever you are looking for. The architects include such famous men as Daniel Burnham, Mies Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. We started out walking along Michigan Avenue, admiring the Wrigley Building with its decorative elements. The building was designed using the shape of the tower of Seville’s Cathedral combined with French Renaissance details. Then we looked at the neo-Gothic Chicago Tribune building , which has blocks of stone from various famous places (the Pyramids, the Alamo, the Great Wall of China, the Parthenon) embedded in the walls and flying buttresses at the top. We took a 90 minute architecture tour by boat on the Chicago River, which is definitely the way to see the city and the docents are very knowledgeable. Here are some pictures we took along the way to give you a smattering of the variety and grandeur of the buildings.  Not to ignore the newest building: Trump Tower! 0 0

Since retiring, my husband and I have been eating more lightly. Traveling with my daughter and son-in-law reminded us of what it was like when we were young and could eat without the subsequent explosion on our scale. Chicago has so many good restaurants, a visitor could eat at a different one – a good one – every day for ten years! We began our gustatory adventure our first night, at my favorite pizza place in the whole world, Giordano’s. The fact it was about 5 min from our hotel meant I thought about returning before we left. Their stuffed pizza is sheer heaven, and I had my usual stuffed super veggie choice — mushrooms, green peppers, onions, broccoli, black olives, artichokes and spinach. We got a large and did half and half, with the guys getting the meat and more meat stuffing. The next morning we hit Wildberry Pancakes and Café for breakfast. I had my favorite egg white, spinach and feta omelet, light as a cloud and too big to finish. The guys had eggs and hash and biscuits and gravy, Cameron had Belgian waffles, and we ordered a Signiture Berry Bliss Pancake to share. It was too good not to try, with vanilla anglais, blackberry coulis, berry mascarpone and fresh berries. After a morning exploring Navy Pier, we indulged in margaritas at Magaritaville on the pier, then headed to Portillo’s for hot dogs for lunch. The first Portillo’s hot dog stand, known as “The Dog House,” opened in 1963 on North Avenue in Villa Park. Owner and founder Dick Portillo invested $1,100 into a 6′ x 12′ trailer without a bathroom or running water. To get the water he needed, he ran 250 feet of garden hose from a nearby building into the trailer. Today Portillo’s and its branches is a billion dollar business and offers hamburgers, brats, Italian sausage and lately, pasta, braised beef and custard ice cream. I had a hot dog and it was every bit as good as I remembered. The kids returned there for more hot dogs after we left on Monday. We had dinner at the Greek Isles Restaurant that night, the best Greek restaurant in Chicago in many surveys. Ouzo, retsina, sagananiki, moussaka, spanakopita – the food kept coming. I had to eat small! So ended our biggest day of eating. BURP! Saturday Cameron and Nathan left for a wedding in Michigan, so Gene and I skipped eating any meal except for dinner on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building – salmon for me, lamb for him, and a sea food terrine to open the meal. This terrine is one I plan to try making myself – delicious with slaw with a mayo and wasabi dressing. The view of course is spectacular and we got a seat by a window, with a promise to the hostess we would finish in two hours. Sunday, Gene and I had a flatbread egg sandwich from Dunkin’ Donuts (it’s under 200 calories), and I skipped lunch except for a bite of a forgettable Reuben at an equally forgettable Irish pub – but the Irish coffee was good! That night, the kids wanted to try another pizza place, so we went to our other favorite place, Gino’s, which specializes in deep dish. It takes 45 minutes to cook the pizza, so you order it before everything else. Gene’s did his residency practically across the street at Northwestern Hospitals, so Gino’s pizza was a constant part of his menu. Again, I managed to restrain myself but it wasn’t easy. I am a pizza monster and have been known to eat cold pizza for breakfast. The following day, after we had left, Cameron and Nathan tried one more pizza place, Lou Malnati’s, another deep dish specializer. Cameron said she liked the cheese crust there the best. So there you have it – three plus days of eating our way across Chicago. Next time, we’re going Indian and Czech and Greek and Korean, although there’s always the pizza… 1 0

As mentioned in a post last week, I spent four days in Chicago with my daughter and son-in-law. Have you ever wondered why it is that Chicago has so many nicknames? The Windy City, The City of the Big Shoulders (from a Carl Sandburg poem), Second City, Chitown, That Toddlin’ Town, My Kind of Town, just to name a few. Perhaps it’s because it is THE major city of the Midwest and has played such a role in the history of this country? We’ve been back a couple of times since moving from Evanston in 1981, but this was our longest visit. What impressed us the most is the cleanliness and neatness of the downtown area, the amazing architecture (old, new and under construction), the ease of getting around, and the incredible number of things to see and do. Hard to squash everything into 3 ½ days. We ate our way across the city, but more of that later. I’d like to talk a little about the architecture, which is a favorite subject of mine and which I hope has come through in my books via the interests of The Brewster. Much of the amazing architectural history began with Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, which knocked over a lantern and supposedly caused a fire that leveled the city. The fire started at about 11:30 P.M, October 8 1871,but according to the Chicago Republican reporter who wrote the O’Leary account, he had made it up as colorful copy. The official report could not find the exact cause but there has been speculation suggesting the fire was caused by a person, instead of a cow. The fire’s spread was aided by the city’s use of wood as the predominant building material, the highly flammable tar or shingle roofs, sidewalks and roads made of wood, strong southwest winds that carried flying embers toward the heart of the city, and last but not least, the fact that Chicago had only received an inch of rain from July 4 to October 9. In 1871, the Chicago Fire Department had 185 firefighters with just 17 horse-drawn steam engines to protect the entire city. The initial response was quick, but the firefighters were sent to the wrong place, allowing the fire to grow unchecked. The fire destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles, including much of the city’s business district, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. Damages were estimated at $200 million. Reconstruction efforts began quickly and spurred great economic development and population growth, so literally from the ashes of old Chicago grew the city we now know. Today, the Chicago Fire Department training academy is located on the site of the O’Leary property where the Great Chicago Fire started. In 1997, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution exonerating Catherine O’Leary, an Irish immigrant who died in 1895, and her cow. In my next post on Chicago, I’ll have pictures of some of the old and new architecture that makes Chicago so amazing. 0 0

Here’s is the address for Grayson (Dave) Queen’s wife, Rara: Radhika Jaini WF0124 CIW LA 249 LOW 16756 Chino-Corona Road Corona, CA 92880 0 0

Just a quick note – I’m in Chicago, meeting my daughter and her husband who are here for a wedding. It’s hard to see them often because they live in LA. Anyway, I have limited time to check out everyone’s posts, and didn’t want you to think I wasn’t interested or had deserted the blogosphere. I’ll be back with photos next week! 0 0

I was intrigued by the title of this book and discovered I had selected a true British cozy, a murder mystery with an alluring setting: an old inn on the west coast of England’s largest lake, Lake Windermere, in Cumbria, England. Cumbria is the Lake District National Park, and the author describes its beauty well in the pages of this book. Nora Tierney, an American writer, has agreed to help Simon Ramsey, co-owner of Ramsey Lodge (the inn), run the inn while his sister, the other owner, is away in France on her honeymoon. Simon is the illustrator of Nora’s children’s books and was once in love with Nora. When Nora did not reciprocate, his affection found a new object: Maeve Adams, who is the manager of Ramsey Lodge. On this weekend a troupe of actors will encamp in the Lodge to stage Noel Coward’s play “Blithe Spirit,” and Simon needs help managing his peripatetic guests and all their needs. Nora’s love is Detective Inspector Declan Barnes, who works for the Oxford police. He is taking a much needed vacation at Ramsey Lodge, ostensibly to hike but really to spend time with Nora. Complicating their relationship is the fact that Nora has a six month old son, Sean, whose father is dead; his parents, whom Nora met at his funeral and dislikes, don’t know they have a grandson. The actors recruited for the play are wonderful characters in themselves: Grayson Lange, the head of the troup and an aging, narcissistic playboy, accompanied by Fiona Church, whom he recently broke off with and the voluptuous blonde Gemma Harwell, the new object of his attentions. Poppy Braeburn doubles and the troupe’s costume designer and has designs on Grayson. Rupert Denton and Lydia Brown are aging actors with a grudge against Grayson: their daughter committed suicide shortly after Grayson ended their relationship. The most amusing troupe member is Helen Mochrie. She plays Madame Arcati in the play and is in character practically the whole time. Spoiler alert: she is also Grayson’s mother. The reader is drawn into the difficult, interwoven relationships of the troupe from the moment they arrive at the Lodge, and I found myself wondering why they were there and what were they up to? A series of pranks sets the action in motion – a dead rabbit on a pillow, a trip wire on the stair – nasty deeds which escalate to a murder. A massive storm traps the troupe and the staff at the Lodge, and Nora who has become increasingly worried for the safety of her child, is determined to stick her nose into the mystery and help Declan unmask the killer. She agrees to take on the role of the person murdered in the play to get closer to the principle actors, but is under more pressure because a lawyer representing Sean’s grandparents is scheduled to meet her after the weekend. In true British mystery form, there are a number of ancillary characters, any one of which could be the killer: the cook, the part-time staff person, and the Lodge’s handy man, who lost his wife some months before in a hit and run and who was hired as the stage manager. Who might have done the crime? To augment the format of a British mystery, there is a cast of characters and a map of the Lodge at the beginning, along with chapter epigrams which are all lines from the play and which give the hint that the play’s plot is subtly influencing the action. If I had any criticism of the book, it would be its rather slow start – but isn’t that typical of a British mystery? – and the fact that the baby Sean is practically perfect in every way. Would that my son had been that good at six months! This is the third in the Nora Tierney mysteries, and I recommend it to anyone who loves this type of mystery – and many who might like to try one. I think a read of the previous two is definitely in order, but this one can be read as a stand alone. About the author: Marni Graff is the author of The Nora Tierney Mysteries, published by Bridle Path Press (http://www.bridlepathpress.com). She writes the weekly crime review blog Auntie M Writes (http://auntiemwrites.com) and is a member of Sisters in Crime. A former registered nurse who wrote “on the side,” Graff has published articles, interviews, poetry and creative nonfiction. She wrote for seven years for “Mystery Review” magazine and is also the Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press. The Nora Tierney mystery series is set in the United Kingdom and centers around Oxford, a setting inspired by Graff’s literature studies at Exeter College. Her first book in the series won first prize as Best British Cozy from Chanticleer Media in 2013. Graff leads a full life, teaching creative writing, running the Writers Read program in Bellhaven NC, and participating in writing. She lives in rural coastal NC on a river and shares her home with her husband. The Scarlett Wench can be found on Amazon: And Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22320225-the-scarlet-wench   0 0

I got a brief message today on my blog from someone whom I don’t know.  This person wanted to tell me that Grayson Queen, a blogger whom I follow, had died. His last two posts told us he had to leave work because he was bleeding from his ears and nose, apparently from an infection. He was given antibiotics and sent home. As an anatomist, I know that any infection in the middle ear and nasal sinuses has a good chance of spreading to the brain. I wasn’t told how he died, but I suspect it might have been that. Grayson was young, 35, and a remarkable young man. Here is how he describes himself from his blog, Posting Tuesdays: “Grayson Queen is a full-time novelist and painter located out of Orange County, California. His artistic passions range from deeply philosophical to unusual science fiction and fantasy. In his free time, Grayson dabbles with music, sculpture, and various explorations of geek culture. He is happily married to a dinosaur, and is happily owned by two amazing cats.” Grayson’s  wife, Rara, about whom I wrote last year, is also a  blogger, an exceptional writer,and is currently doing time in a California prison for a white collar crime. She has been told of his death. I cannot imagine how awful this is for her. You can visit her blog, Rarasaur, at http://rarasaur.wordpress.com/. Grayson would post pieces sent from her on her blog. Rara will be released this coming November. I am deeply affected by Grayson’s death. He had struggled hard in the past two years with the arrest and incarceration of his wife, a low-paying job that meant he had to live in an unsafe place, and an inability to continue writing. His blog stories were amazing. I don’t know whom to contact to find out more, to send my regrets and sympathy, but felt I needed to mark his passing. Our world is poorer for his passing.   0 0

The Young Jaguar by Zoe Saadia is the first book in a pre-Aztec trilogy, and introduces us to Atolli, a teenager in the Tepenic Empire of Central America, whose father is Tecpatl, the Chief Warlord. Prior to the rise of the Aztec Empire, this Empire was strong and growing. Tecpatl’s position is very high within the social structure and he is very content, having returned from a series of successful wars, and he loves his family. His wife, Sakuna, followed Tecpatl home when he warred in her native land of the Anasazis, and theirs is a deep and respectful love that has withstood the criticism of the Tepenic elite. Atolli is a hot-headed daredevil, who climbs the walls of the palace with the skill and cunning of a jaguar, just for fun. The story begins when Atolli, his best friend Mecatl and some other adventurous boys from the warrior school that Atolli attends, roam the palace walls at night, drinking octli, a potent drink reserved for the warriors of the tribe. This is a serious transgression, but an adventure they have taken before. This time, they are discovered and chased and Atolli and Mecatl fall over the wall into one of the palace gardens. There they meet Chictli, the beautiful daughter of the second son of the Emperor, and Atolli is smitten. His position as Tecpatl’s son saves him from serious punishment, but he has to vow to support Chictli’s father in the future as one of his warriors. At the same time, the Emperor dies, making Tecpatl vow to support his first son as the new Emperor, thus putting him at odds not only with his son, but much of the Tepenic elite. Tecpatl is thus forced to choose between his duty to the new Emperor and his family, which ultimately puts them all in danger. Sakuna uses her skill with herbs and healing to deal with the crisis. I become completely immersed in Zoe Saadia’s historical novels. The characters come alive; because of her detailed research on everything involved in tribal life – customs, food, clothing , jewelry – the reader feels like they are there, amidst the action. Family dynamics, especially in this book, are very recognizable, even though the tribal dynamics are complex. Zoe makes it clear that people haven’t changed much over the centuries: they are greedy, power-hungry, loving, driven, devious, envious, bored and frustrated. These emotions fuel this story. I highly recommend this book to any lover of historical fiction but more widely to any reader who likes a barn burner of a story with great characters and lots of action. What’s even better is that you can follow Atolli on his journey to adulthood through the next book in the series, The Jaguar Warrior. Zoe Saadia is the author of two trilogies and one series (11 full-length novels), all covering the turbulent history of Mesoamerica when the Aztecs were busy coming to power. All are based on more than a decade of research of pre-contact cultures. She is convinced this history of the Americas has been completely overlooked, and she brings it to life through her writing. She has also written The Peacemaker Series of four books, stories surrounding the creation of the famous Iroquois Confederacy, one of the oldest democracies on earth. I reviewed Two Rivers, one of these books, in a previous post. When I can fit them into my copious free time, I intend to read all of these! You can find Zoe Saadia at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5056466.Zoe_Saadia http://www.zoesaadia.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Zoe.Saadia   0 0

On a 1,000 mile round trip trek to Columbus, Georgia a couple of weekends ago, we passed the Gaffney Peach or the Peachoid, it’s real name, by the side of I 85 in South Carolina. We’ve seen the Peach many times as we travelled up and down I 85 on various trips. This time we noticed that it’s been repainted. It now looks more like a lemon. I rather liked it when it was “peachy.” I decided to do a little research on the structure. The Peachoid is a 135 foot tall water tower, which holds one million gallons of water. It’s certainly a unique example of novelty architecture. If any of my readers are watching the series House of Cards, you’ll recall that the Peachoid was a focal plot point in Chapter 3, where it was joked that the structure resembles large buttocks, complete with gluteal crease (butt crack). Maybe that’s why it is also called the Moon Over Gaffney? The Peachoid recently got a lift from Kim Kardashian, a celebrity famous for her backside. Timothy Griffin posted the picture on his Facebook page with the caption, “Kim Kardashian spotted in South Carolina!!!” In 1981, the Peachoid was commissioned to be built by the Gaffney Board of Public Works, and the shape of the peach was selected for the town’s needed elevated water storage because the Gaffney economy was then dependent upon peach orchards, The people of the town wanted to make clear that South Carolina, and at one time, Cherokee County alone (where Gaffney is located) produced more peaches per year than the entire state of Georgia (known as the “Peach State”). The Peachoid was built by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, of steel and concrete. An overlay stem and leaf were laid across the structure, an enormous “cleft” was created with steel paneling. Peter Freudenberg, an artist who worked with macro-art, painted the structure to realistically pass for a peach. Repeated cycles of freezing and warming caused the Peachoid’s paint to peel in 6-foot swaths, mostly in its cleft, leaving patches of dull yellow that Gaffney boosters saw as a blemish on the reputation of this former mill town. So in 2013, the Peachoid is underwent its first complete overhaul—$120,000 worth of sandblasting the old lead-based paint down to the steel and starting over with high-tech but finicky primer and paints that could only be applied to a dry, empty tank. Maybe that’s why it now looks more like a lemon? Anyway, folks, the next time you’re traveling south on I 85, look for the Peach!   0 0