Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen and Bahija Lovejoy

8-9 Stars

Since I don't really have time to write my own synopsis of this book I'm posting a copied one from Amazon:

"In an ancient Arab nation, one woman dares to be different.Buran cannot -- Buran will not-sit quietly at home and wait to be married to the man her father chooses. Determined to use her skills and earn a fortune, she instead disguises herself as a boy and travels by camel caravan to a distant city. There, she maintains her masculine disguise and establishes a successful business. The city's crown prince comes often to her shop, and soon Buran finds herself falling in love. But if she reveals to Mahmud that she is a woman, she will lose everything she has worked for."

I loved this book...Admittedly the first reason I picked it up was because of Trina Schart Hyman's beautiful Cover illustration (I can honestly say that I've read every book I've come across that has had the cover art done by T.S.H. She is a GENIUS! Any author lucky enough to have her art on their book should be singing her praises...GENIUS!)

The story is told in parts from the perspective of different characters. I love the insight into the lives and culture of Arab and Muslim women (and men) of the day. The characters are easy to identify with and feel empathy for. The plot is interesting and inventive.

I have reread this book at least two times since first reading it...it is a fairly quick read, and always leaves me feeling satisfied.

Towers of Brierly by Anita Stansfield

4 stars

Summary: Haunted by secrets and questions about his birth, Gavin leaves Brierley, returning years later to confront the past. To Anya Ross, Brierley is likely the fairy-tale castle of her dreams. But when her great-uncle is murdered, and the remnants of the MacBrier family torment her every turn, her dream turns into a nightmare. Anya and Gavin are drawn together by the bond of a mottled past they share. But this bond becomes a wedge that threatens to drive them apart as sinister forces confront them at every turn. Only Gavin holds the key to undoing a evil he doesn't even understand--the key that can free Anya and himself from the chains of fear and hatred (taken from the back cover)

Review: Love, death, romance, murder, love, romance, and more romance. If you haven't noticed, this was a romance novel. A woman in a book club Manda and I attend chose this book for the month of August. I enjoyed it well enough but not enough to give it anything higher than a 4 star rating. As my first romance novel, I don't think it was too over the top but it was very predictable. I didn't think that the characters were quite believable enough as they were a bit one sided. There were times when I was so frustrated because of the sappy-ness or the silliness of Anya and Gavin. That being said, it was an uplifting story that focuses on personal triumph and the ability to make due with what we have. It also made me crave bannocks and short bread.