#susanna kearsley

[calischarm]

The Rose Garden- Susanna Kearsley

A perfect blend of Historical fiction and time travel story that is beautifully written, about a woman whose grief drives her back to her home in England. But her old English home brings more than just memories.

She is taken back centuries past where she meets a man who makes her question if she was born in the right time.

[diaryoftruequotes]

It's too easy, you see, to get trapped in the past. The past is very seductive. People always talk about the mists of time, you know, but really it's the present that's in a mist, uncertain. The past is quite clear, and warm, and comforting. That's why people often get stuck there. Susanna Kearsley, Mariana

[con-alas-de-angeles]

Susanna Kearsley, The Rose Garden

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Winter Sea | Author: Susanna Kearsley | Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (2010)

[pmg227]

Favorite Reads of April '24

“Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories.” Hilary Mantel in Wolf Hall Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography: Later Years Ellen Vaughn. Though I’ve known that Elisabeth Elliot was the wife of Jim Elliot (a missionary killed in Ecuador in 1956), that’s pretty much all I knew about her. A shame since she was living and writing during my younger…

[ce-archerhelke]

Season of Storms: A Susanna Kearsley Reissue

My first Susanna Kearsley was The Shadowy Horses, and I fell and fell hard: for those shadowy horses, and for the characters in that novel, and for the lush, almost mythic prose with which Kearsley brings worlds to our fingertips. Season of Storms, much to my surprise, is slightly later than The Shadowy Horses, but at least in this reading, my first, it felt much more like an early novel than…

[flyinghome-againstthewind]

Tell me about the rose garden one. 👀🌹

So this idea comes from The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley, which is a gorgeous book that has some parallels to Outlander (21st century woman travels back in time and falls in love with Jacobite from the first rising) and I’m essentially taking the mechanics of time travel in that book and slapping it onto Jamie and Claire’s story. Which boils down to: when Claire travels backwards through time, she isn’t able to control when it happens and she always returns to right when she left, so no time passes while she’s gone. Time does move forward for Jamie until her next arrival though, and I just think it would add a devastating layer of their time together never being promised and never knowing when Claire would get yanked through time again.

Send me an ask about my current wips!

[ryebecca]

for the sleepover!! maybe not recs per se, but what are your favorite films, books, shows, clothing stores!?

Thanks, Jordan! ☺️

Favorite films: there are many, but - Clue, The Shawshank Redemption, and the Star Wars OT!

Favorite books: THE HARDEST QUESTION!!! So I'll list out a few, but there are WAY more 😂. Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, anything by Susanna Kearsley and Natasha Lester, the Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas, Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage, etc etc etc etc.

Favorite shows: Once again there are many, but right now I'm into Law & Order (the OG and SVU), anything true crime, and Masters of the Air!

Favorite clothing stores: Madewell, Old Navy, and J. Crew are some of my go-to's!

sleepover weekend

[thebookwormslair]

If you enjoyed the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, here are some book recommendations that you might enjoy:

"The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger: This novel tells the story of a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel and his wife who must navigate their complicated relationship. Like Outlander, it features a time-traveling love story that spans multiple eras.

"The Bronze Horseman" by Paullina Simons: This historical romance is set in World War II-era Russia and tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with a soldier. Like Outlander, it features a passionate romance set against the backdrop of war.

"Dragonfly in Amber" by Diana Gabaldon: This is the second book in the Outlander series and continues the story of Claire and Jamie. If you enjoyed the first book, you will likely enjoy this one as well.

"The Winter Sea" by Susanna Kearsley: This novel tells the story of a woman who is writing a novel set in 18th-century Scotland and discovers that the events in her book may have actually happened. Like Outlander, it features a romance that transcends time and historical elements.

"The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" by Lauren Willig: This historical romance is set in Napoleonic-era England and France and tells the story of a young woman who is researching the identity of the Pink Carnation, a spy who helped bring down Napoleon. Like Outlander, it features a strong female lead and a historical backdrop.

These are just a few suggestions, but they all share a similar theme of romance, time travel, and historical elements!

[saltirebookreviews]

Book: THE VANISHED DAYS

By Susanna Kearsley

Series: Scottish

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Overall Rating : Five Stars but deserves 1000!

Overall Blog Rating: Five Saltire Flags

This book takes place in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It is a time when there is so much upheaval in Scotland. Between politics, religion and a Union most don’t agree to! King James Stuart being dethroned and fleeing to France. The Jacobite movement started, and as Jacobite is the Latin name for James. Also many Scots were not happy about joining the English parliament with “The Treaty of Union by Acts of Union!” Plus so much bigotry and religious issues with Catholicism, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and it was a total disaster! On top of that there was the unsuccessful Darien scheme backed by Scotland to gain wealth and influence for a new colony Caledonia. This novel centers around the life of Lilias (Lily) Aitcheson-Graeme narrated by Adam Williamson.

Scotland 1683-1707

Adam will never forget the first time he met Lily, it was shortly after “The Treaty of Union by Acts of Union” was passed between Scotland and England parliaments in 1707. This was to form The Great Britain Parliament. Adam was staying at his friend’s home with his pregnant wife Helen, where he had been taken ill. His friend Turnbull was away, so in his friend’s place with another man Lily was being interrogated-to be able to get the proof her marriage was genuine. As her husband Jamie Graeme was a dead sailor, Lily was trying to prove she was his heir and attempting to get his back wages too. This was all due to her as Jamie Graeme’s widow, however the problem was all her witnesses were dead and they never married in a Kirk. It was an Episcopalian ceremony, where this religion seemed to have many prejudices against it and the marriage took place outside a Kirk.

Lily and Jamie’s relationship which began as children, where he was always so kind and protective, but from a noble family. Lily was also warned by her Grandmother that they were of two different classes, where Jamie would always be the Lord and she the servant. In other words, she would never be good enough for the happy go lucky boy Jaime Graeme, who was also her very best friend.

This also details Lily’s relationships with a few different families even though she was an orphan. One was her fathers second wife, another was a family she worked for and third was a woman named Barbara who found her. This is how Lily met her foundling sons where she eventually fell in love with the eldest son named Matthew, though he was a bit of restless spirit and couldn’t stay in one place for long.

This novel also has several different timelines one is current day 1707 and the other timelines start in 1683 to 1699 when Lily was eight years old until she was about twenty-three. It shows her hardships and tragedies that she has struggled through, yet still be true to herself and the ones she loves. It also shows how Adam is immediately smitten with her right from the beginning, even through his research and when he gets to understand her and her true dilemma.

This book weaves true history with a fictional story that is absolutely brilliant. It shows how the Jacobites are supporters of James II and his descendants in their claim to the British throne after the Revolution of 1688. Drawing most of their support from Catholic clans of the Scottish Highlands. It shows how he is dethroned no matter how hard he tries to get his throne back. Yet this book did sweep me and my Jacobite heart away! It shows how politics, religion and union are a big part of this tale too and how the author did such detailed research which will give readers a history lesson too.

This is a prequel, crossover and a type of companion book for Kearsley’s 2017 novel, “The Winter Sea.” It includes so many familiar families that are in the book, The Graeme’s, Moray’s, plus other familiar characters from the book. So for fans of that book this is like a dream come true, which made this reader ecstatically happy! The author did a phenomenal amount of detailed research with true history which is absolutely brilliant. Plus the clever way it is connected and crosses over to “The Winter Sea” novel is absolutely magnificent!

This novel is an absolute masterpiece, probably my favorite read of the 2021. Susanna Kearsley is the master of this genre and definitely my go-to-author, as she has been a favorite of mine for a very long time. I have read every book she has written and “The Vanished Days” is now one of my favorite books she has written, as is the previous book “The Winter Sea.” She has this incredible talent of sweeping the reader off her feet and smack in the center of her story very quickly. As she has written another choice story filled with history and compassion with special understanding of human motivation and love! A book that will definitely stay with you long after you have read it and you will want to read again and again!

It is a book I absolutely love and can't recommend enough obviously. Also I think it is a novel that can be read as a stand alone book. For readers who haven’t read The Winter Sea, I think this book sets readers up perfectly to read The Winter Sea next. I myself am going to re-read it, as it made me miss the characters from that book too!

I received this book from Sourcebooks Landmark for a fair and honest review. I voluntarily agreed to read, review, blog and promote through netgalley. All words, ideas and thoughts are my own.

[asecondglassofcinnamonwine]

March Books

Read Count: 14 books Average Page Count: 413 pages/book Goodreads Unread Count: 438 Owned Unread Count: 7

Books: Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation - edited by Ken Liu Ruin of Kings - Jenn Lyons Blood of Dragons - Robin Hobb The Man in the High Castle - Phillip K Dick Her Smoke Rose Up Forever - James Tiptree Jr Mariana - Susanna Kearsley Fledgling - Octavia E Butler The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands - edited by Huw Lewis-Jones The Good House - Tananarive Due * Fool’s Assassin - Robin Hobb The Bird’s Nest - Shirley Jackson The Elric Saga Part I - Michael Moorcock Funny You Should Ask - Elissa Sussman

Finishing Series: 3 *Starred Reads: 1 Nonfiction: 1 Deep-Dive Authors: 3

Genres: Scifi: 5 Fantasy: 4 Horror: 2 Contemporary: 1 Coffee table book: 1 Romance: 1

Goals Not Accomplished:

Library Books: Emperor’s Edge (abandoned at like five pages) Course of Dragons #2 (will not be reading further) Emperor’s Edge #2 (ditto)

[calischarm]

Mariana-Susanna Kearsley

This is a beautifully written historical time travel story about Julia who moves into an old farmhouse and finds her self transported back to old time England. Into Mariana’s life.

Each time she travels back, she becomes more and more fascinated with this time and Mariana’s life. Will she end up in this time or will she make it back to her own time?

I really enjoyed this book and had a terrible book hangover when I was finished with it!

[somethingboutafic]

Soulmates/Truemates

When You Know, You Know by mission2feelike (M) word count: 27,687 Louis and Harry have been friends for years, their friendship maturing easily from pups to teenagers to adults. By now, Louis is used to what he feels around Harry, the way warmth always spreads through his tummy when his best friend is near, the need to protect him, and the way he's more attuned to Harry than anyone else. He's also used to pushing his inner alpha down and denying the feelings he has for Harry because they don't make sense. But what if acting on instinct and finally listening to his inner alpha is the key that opens the door to the happiness that he never thought was possible?

every universe but ours by 28finelines (E) word count: 49,843 louis and harry have been friends with benefits for going on nine years, until a woman claiming to be louis’ fairy godmother decides to send him into a variety of alternate universes to help him find his soulmate.

waiting for the tides to meet by nauticalleeds (E) word count: 59,877 Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

A Distant Hazy Light by green_feelings (M) word count: 76,814 Life’s pretty ordinary for Harry. He lives with his best friend, got into university just like he’s planned, and manages to support himself just fine for an unbonded omega. If he sustains that lifestyle by getting paid to help alphas through their rut every now and then, that’s nothing to be hung up on. Until he’s hired by an alpha that turns everything upside down. Or, Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down, until he builds his own up.

I'm missing half of me when we're apart by hlftanna (E) word count: 83,867 AU in which OT5 are all in their 30's and a list from 10 years ago dares Harry and Louis to lose their virginity to each other. What happens when two best friends who are not only completely unlike each other but also the complete opposite of their assigned secondary genders find themselves in the position of fulfilling that goal despite Louis hating alphas and everything they represent and Harry being irrevocably and unconditionally in love with his best friend? Will they find to each other or will a stupid piece of paper from their Uni days ruin their friendship?

we are ghosts amongst these hills by orphan_account (M) word count: 84,172 Harry spontaneously buys a house in Yorkshire because the universe, or fate, keeps leading him to it. What he didn’t know, is that his new house comes with a past that seems to be mysteriously tied to his own life. Before he knows it he finds himself travelling back in time, stuck in the middle of a century old love story. Featuring Louis as a farmer with a passion for gardening, Zayn as the heir to the local manor, Niall as a pub owner with a secret, and a truly underappreciated Liam. Based on Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

Pretty Please (With Sugar On Top) by angelichl (E) word count: 113,663 Harry is a sugar baby omega who cons rich alphas for a living. Louis is a rich alpha with too much self-control.

Angels Fly by LilyBlue28 (NR) word count: 203,082 Harry is a lonely omega in the North Western White River Pack who is uncharacteristically drawn to nature and his now outdated primal instincts. He fills his days with going through the motions and clinging to the one actual friendship he has in the omega Zayn, and when he gets a chance he sneaks away to the edge of their territory to sit with the trees and the wildlife and sketch his favorite part of the river. But what happens when one day he spots the pack alpha, Louis, having an intimate moment with something, or someone, unexpected? Suddenly his quiet, nearly invisible existence gets upended, and secrets he never wanted to know quite literally won't leave him alone, and even when he tries to stay away, he keeps being pulled back into Louis' turbulent orbit. A magical love story featuring a generations long grudge, a menacing curse, and secrets that keep pulling them apart. Will they be able to find a way back to one another through the dark?

Hiding Place by orphan_account (E) word count: 365,058 The canon compliant Harry and Louis love story from the very beginning, where the only difference is that the love between them is literally written on their skin, and there’s only so much they can hide.

The Afterlife Fic (The Best I Ever Had in My Entire Life... Or Death) by LovingCup (E) word count: 491,253 AU- After dying in an accident, Louis Tomlinson arrives in the Afterlife. Not Heaven and not Hell, Louis finds himself in Judgment City UK: a pristine city where the food and entertainment are divine and the newly departed must undergo a Review of their life on Earth to determine if they have lived a life worthy of advancement in the universe, or if they must be returned to Earth to be born again in a new body. On his first full day in the Afterlife, Louis meets Harry Styles, and the two have an instant connection. Over the course of their Reviews, they fall in love and begin to find that even though they didn't know each other on Earth, they are nonetheless linked to one another in perfect ways. Both are hoping to move ahead in the universe together, but they are challenged with the threat of separation if one or both of them is sent back to Earth to be born again. Loosely based on the Albert Brooks' film "Defending Your Life" starring Brooks and Meryl Streep. One scene in particular is drawn from the movie, but other than that scene and the general concept, this story veers far away from the film. There were no blowies in the 1991 movie, I swear!

[con-alas-de-angeles]

Susanna Kearsley, The Rose Garden

[coffeeinkblog]

#AShapeontheAir #JuliaIbbotson #HFVBT

A Shape on the Air by Julia Ibbotson Publication Date: October 9, 2021 Genre: Historical MysterySeries: Dr. DuLac, Book 1 For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay Can echoes of the past threaten the present? They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day.…

[therealimintobooks]

Book Tour Featuring *A Shape on the Air* by Julia Ibbotson @JuliaIbbotson @hfvbt   #giveaway

A Shape on the Air by Julia Ibbotson Publication Date: October 9, 2021 Genre: Historical Mystery Series: Dr. DuLac, Book 1 For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay Can echoes of the past threaten the present? They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day. The…