Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden

8 Stars

From the back cover: When Persephone Lancaster receives a marriage proposal from the ill-tempered Duke of Kielder, she refuses — and then reconsiders. The obscene sum of money he’s offering Persephone would save her family from ruin. With her characteristic optimism, she travels to the far reaches of Northumberland to wed a greatly feared stranger.

Lodged deep in a thick forest infested with wild dogs, the Duke’s castle is as cold and forbidding as the Duke himself, a man with terrible scars on his body and his soul. But the Duke’s steely determination to protect his heart at all costs is challenged by his growing attachment to his lovely and gentle bride. With caring persistence, Persephone attempts to pierce the Duke’s armor and reach the man beneath. Yet he cannot tolerate such exposure, and his repeated rejections take their toll. But when grave danger arises, the Duke realizes he must face the risk of revealing his true feelings or lose the woman he cannot live without.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Seeking Persephone, by Sarah M. Eden.  Ms. Eden is an LDS author and writes books set in Regency England.  This is the first book in a series based around the Lancaster family.  At only 280 pages it was a fairly quick read. Although it's set in Regency England, the descriptive language is not as difficult to read or understand.  It was sweet, clean, moved quickly and had interesting and witty characters.  I enjoyed the dialogue between characters, and insights into relationships.  I'm giving it 8 stars because it is definitely a chick book, and therefore won't appeal to all readers.  If you enjoy books from authors like Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, you'll probably enjoy this!

Life...It's As Good As You Make It by Ron Woods

8 stars

This book became so big (in Japan) that I couldn't even find an image of it. Picture this:

• Thin blue hardcover book with a blue dust cover
• In big red letters it says "Life..."
• Then in yellow not-as-big letters it says "It's As Good As You Make It"
• Below that is a shadow of a person holding a trophy in the air with victory aglow. No, really, the trophy is all blingy like the sun is behind it just poking through, ie: victory aglow.

Now you have a picture of the book.

The subtitle of this book (yes, it has a subtitle. It has two apparently) is "practical advice on dealing with the past, enjoying the present, and preparing for the future". That is all the description it needs.

I'm a sap for books like this so when I saw it at my parent's house I decided to pick it up.

8 stars may be a little high if we're judging on literary mastery. What I really like about it, though, is its simplicity and lack of literary mastery. I've read lots of "self-help" books where the author feels a need to prove they are right or where they seem to be guilting the reader. This book does give suggestions but it never comes off as overbearing or preachy. I really like that instead of explaining concepts he uses fictitious life experiences to demonstrate the concepts in action. Even better, he uses a lot of the stories to promote questions, not necessarily to give answers. There were a lot of thought-provoking "ah-ha" moments in it.

Ron Wood is LDS and the book is very much written to an LDS audience. The concepts apply to those who are not LDS but he uses LDS jargon throughout. The simplicity of the writing, the short life stories throughout, the moments that made me review my internal motivations and challenges, and the fact that it is short (110 pages of large font) make it a book I hope to read again in a few years to garner new perspective.