Can't Wait for My Plain Jane

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, # 2)

By: Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton, & Cynthia Hand

Expected Publication: June 26th 2018 by HarperTeen

464 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Retellings

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Bronte, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Top Ten Fall 2017 TBR List

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Fall 2017 TBR List.

1. The Sound of Light by Claire Wallis
2. Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad, # 1) by Scott Reintgen
3. Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy, # 1) by Jodi Meadows
4. Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, # 6) by Sarah J Maas
5. Cage of Darkness (Reign of Secrets, # 2) by Jennifer Anne Davis
6. Into the Bright Unknown (The Gold Seer Trilogy, # 3) by Rae Carson
7. The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles, # 3) by Mary E Pearson
8. The Last Star (The 5th Wave, # 3) by Rick Yancey
9. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter, # 8) by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
10. Everything Everything by Nicole Yoon

Some of these are review books that I'm behind on. Some of these I've had and just haven't picked up yet. And at least one is an upcoming release. Which books are on your fall TBR list? Let me know!

Top Ten Series I've Been Meaning to Start

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Series I've Been Meaning to Start.

1. Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad, # 1) by Scott Reintgen - I have this one for review but just haven't gotten around to it yet.
2. Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy, # 1) by Jodi Meadows - This is another one that I have to review.
3. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, # 1) by Alwyn Hamilton - The original cover release had me ignoring this one, but the redesigned covers had me checking out the description which sounds awesome.
4. Riders (Riders, # 1) by Veronica Rossi - I really enjoyed her Under the Never Sky series, but I just never got my hands on Riders.
5. Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, # 1) by Morgan Rhodes - I remember when this book released. I was interested, but I wasn't ready to take a chance on it because the author was unknown to me. As each book releases in the series I regret not checking out book 1 when I had the chance.
6. Half Bad (Half Bad Trilogy, # 1) by Sally Green - I actually own this one, but it just hasn't been a priority for me right now.
7. Paper Princess (The Royals, # 1) by Erin Watt - Holly recommended this series to me a while back, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
8. The Passage (The Passage, # 1) by Justin Cronin - I've seen great ratings for this series, but the length of each book has me putting them off.
9. Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, # 1) by Laini Taylor - I really enjoyed her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, but this is one that I haven't gotten my hands on yet so I keep putting it off.
10. Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark, # 1) by Veronica Roth - This is another one that I just haven't had an opportunity to read because I don't own it. It just hasn't been a priority.

You guys this is just the TIP of the iceberg on the series that I want to start but haven't for various reasons. Have you read any of these? Any that I need to move up on my priority list? Which series have you been meaning to start? Let me know!

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors of 2016

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten New-to-Me Authors of 2016.

When I went to look at my read list for 2016, I was surprised to find that most of my reads were written by authors that I've read before. Almost every single new-to-me author I read this year made my top ten list for the simple fact that I read so few new authors.

1. Cinda Williams Chima - Flamecaster (Shattered Realms, # 1)
2. Marie Rutkoski - The Winner's Trilogy
3. Michelle Griep - The Captive Heart
4. Sarah J Maas - Throne of Glass series
5. Tim Tebow - Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life's Storms
6. Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows- My Lady Jane (with Cynthia Hand)
7. Michelle Zink - A Walk in the Sun
8. Natalie Blitt - The Distance from A to Z
9. Shannon A Thompson - November Rain (Bad Bloods, # 1)
10. Lucy Keating - Dreamology

My Lady Jane - Review

My Lady Jane

By: Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, & Brodi Ashton

Published: June 7th 2016 by HarperTeen

512 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Retelling

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--For fans of The Princess Bride comes the comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey.

Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.

Is there anyone not completely intrigued by the Tudors? Specifically Henry VIII, his wives, and children? I'm sure those people are out there somewhere, but I'm not one of them. Now don't get me wrong, I don't read everything I can get my hands on about the family, but I am intrigued. It definitely wasn't the "fans of The Princess Bride" part of the description that drew me in.

My Lady Jane is a different kind of book. It's authored by three popular authors. Considering the book is written from three different perspectives (Edward, Jane, and Gifford) I'm going to assume each author probably took a character. However, since I've not actually read any of these authors before (except Cynthia Hand several years back), I couldn't begin to guess who authored each character. The authors take a very active approach to the narration. They interject commentary and such throughout the book. Sometimes I found the commentary humorous and sometimes I was slightly annoyed with it (but not overly so). I did actually laugh out loud--once--while reading My Lady Jane and that is a feat so kudos for that.

I won't say I was blown away by the story of My Lady Jane or the changes that the authors made to the real story, but I will say that I read this one much faster than I've been reading other books lately (especially considering it was over 500 pages) because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

So Jane Grey is the cousin to King Edward (son of Henry VIII). Edward has been diagnosed with an illness that will likely take his life. Because My Lady Jane has a magical aspect--shapeshifting--politics are a wee bit different than the real life events. Mary, Henry VIII's firstborn, is openly and adamantly against Edians. And I can't really remember why Edward thought Bess (Elizabeth) wouldn't make a good ruler, but it doesn't really matter. Edward, with the encouragement of Lord Dudley, decides that his cousin and best friend, Jane, will be the next in line for the crown should he succumb to his illness. Conveniently enough, Lord Dudley talks Edward into marrying Jane off to his youngest son, Gifford. Jane follows through for Edward's sake.

The relationship between Jane and Gifford quickly became my favorite part of My Lady Jane. It was easy to see that they each had the wrong idea about the other and if only they could end up getting on the same page then they would easily find each other much more agreeable. I liked how despite their rocky start, both Jane and Gifford honored their marriage by sticking beside the other even though there was no real bond there yet.

I hesitate to mention this now as I think I might want to do a discussion post about it in the future. But I find it somewhat annoying when cultural and historical events are thrown out for the sake of modern day. While it might not be accepted in today's culture, two people from an arranged marriage in the time period which this novel supposedly took place would have consummated their marriage if for no other reason than that's what's expected of them. Yet this rarely happens in arranged marriages no matter the time or culture in books written today. As I said, thoughts for a discussion post in the future.

Favorite quotes:

-It was a sad day when he yearned for a nice, tidy beheading.

-"I'm dead, Sire,"...

I'm sure there's much more to mention. I feel like I'm leaving much out of my review. There was humor and modern day references that didn't annoy me. There was romance. There was forbidden romance. Castles and kings. With a bit of magic that might turn off readers who don't enjoy fantasy but just made perfect sense for the changes in history that the authors made to the story. Overall, I think My Lady Jane gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read My Lady Jane? What did you think? Let me know!