The Secret Keeper of Jaipur - Alka Joshi

Second book from Alka Joshi.

Lakshmi is now married to Dr Jay Kumar and directs the Healing Garden in Shimla.  It's the spring of 1969 and Malik is a 20 year old young man, finished his schooling and sent to apprentice in the Pink City of his childhood as an apprentice to learn architecture with some old faces from the first book.  But he leaves behind a widow whom he has been stepping out with.  Political intrigue, money and old battles still roam the streets and Malik will have to navigate them all to sharpen his old skills.

I enjoyed this one, maybe not as much as the first one but enough that I could finish this one fairly quickly.  You do still read quite a bit of Lakshmi but the bulk of the story is from Malik and his love interests point of view. I will say I was very pleased that the author noted but did not go into great detail important points from the first book that related to this story.  They were short reminders to the reader on those points and if you haven't read the first book, then good little short points to bring you up to speed.

Recommend.  Can almost read as a stand alone.

Polgara the Sorceress - David Eddings

Daughter of Belgarath and Poledra, Polgara in her own right has lived for 3,000 years and has experience and gone through all that life has to offer. Here is the legendary life story of a woman of wit, passion, and complex emotions, a woman born of two majestic parents who could not have been more unlike one another. Ordained to make peace and make war, to gain love and lose love, Polgara lives out her family's rich prophecy in the ceaseless struggle between the Light and the Dark.

This book has been my penultimate pedestal I've held every fantasy book series too ever since I read it. I've revisited it repeatedly throughout different phases in my life and still find something enjoyable about it.  This book is in my top 3 if not the top spot and I will forever be in love with this character so a whole book from start to finish from her perspective...hell ya.

Recommend, recommend, recommend.  But I also would say to read the Belgariad & Mallorean series first.

Loathe to Love You - Ali Hazelwood

 STEMinist novella collection of 3 stories but all sort of interconnected as the women are all good friends. UNDER ONE ROOF is about environmental engineer Mara who after loosing a close friend/mentor was gifted a house.  Well half of a house.  The other half comes with a very tall, handsome and soul sucking lawyer who works for the worst company on the planet defending their oil refining ways. STUCK WITH YOU follows civil engineer Sadie who gets stuck in a elevator late on a Friday with brawny, blond Denmarkian Erik whose recently broke her heart. And BELOW ZERO follows NASA aerospace engineer Hannah who is injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station and the only person willing to make the rescue journey is her longtime rival Ian.  

All of these stories are relatively short - a snapshot - quick build or your already tuning in half way through.  The reviews for these are brutal.  People do not like them.  In some ways I can see what/why they don't like them (honestly it says a lot about the intelligence level of the world) but I also enjoy this kind of relationship - banter, witty, sarcastic and hot.  I read each one and my only complaint was that they were short stories - I wanted more flushed out, dragged on story with the characters. I think my favorite of the three was the first one. I am still a stalwart Ali Hazelwood fan and really enjoyed these.

Magician: Apprentice - Raymond E. Feist

On a forest shore of the Kingdom of Isles, an orphaned named Pug lives. His story begins with this book and spans his whole life, through strange worlds and vast empires.  Pug is taken as an apprentice by the magician Kulgan but cannot seem to master the most basic of magics however complex, unknown magic comes easy.  His life takes a turn when a rift opens between worlds and he is taken far from home.  He learns and is taken in by the world and it changes the course of not only his life but the world he comes from and the world he's adopted into

Pug's story is one of growth, discovery and the ultimate fight of good and evil and the grey area in between.  This character's life currently spans 31 novels and touches on various characters, all rich and well rounded.

It's a deep dive, and all encompassing series but a great escape and so different from any other series.  I appreciate Raymond D. Feist writing and have read quite a few of  books.  He has a new series out and while that's a review for another time, he's definitely an author I would recommend.

The Berlin Apartment - Bryn Turnbull

Berlin 1961: When Uli Neumann proposes to Lise Bauer, she has every reason to accept. He offers her love, respect, and a life beyond the strict bounds of the East German society in which she was raised — which she longs to leave more than anything. But only two short days after their engagement, Lise and Uli are torn violently apart when barbed wire is rolled across Berlin, splitting the city into two hostile halves: capitalist West Berlin, an island of western influence isolated far beyond the iron curtain; and the socialist East, a country determined to control its citizens by any means necessary. Soon, Uli and his friends in West Berlin hatch a plan to get Lise and her unborn child out of East Germany, but as distance and suspicion bleed into their lives and as weeks turn to months, how long can true love survive in the divided city?

This book was a roller coaster and a history lesson.  Now this will date me but I was a child when the wall came down and I live in Canada so living through it's tumult wasn't something I experienced.  History in school doesn't completely cover it, only touches on it and as a teenager lets face it, do any of us truly or fully comprehend or understand the effects something like this would have of people or nations?  Reading this book has prompted me to look further into it and read more about it.  Horrible and life altering aren't even the best words to describe it.  But this book does a very good job in capturing the helpless, trapped and stuck between a rock and a hard place decisions that some had to make in those years.  This book is heartbreaking and had me aghast at some of the decisions Lise made but finishing the book and reading up on the history, I am beginning to understand that East Berliners had no choices.  No freedom.  No chance to decide anything and had to live in conformity to where they ended up.  

Would 1000% recommend but it's an emotional roller coster so buckle up.

The Henna Artist - Alka Joshi

1950s, a 17 year old Lakshmi escapes an abusive marriage and makes her way to Jaipur.  Over time she becomes the most highly respected henna artist but not just that to the wealthy women of the upper class, a confidante and secret keeper. She dreams of nothing more than an independent life and a home of her own but her past comes back to haunt her in the form of not only her husband but also a sister who she never knew she had.  Suddenly everything in her carefully cultivated world is threatened, and she will have to tread carefully.

Beautifully written and rich characters.  So much confusion and misunderstand when communication isn't there and the author captures these intricate feelings and interactions very well.  I appreciated the rich beauty of Jaipur and the cultural conveyances that I never knew about. I felt that I was drawn in to this special woman's world and went through and felt everything Lakshmi experienced and at the same time could understand not only where she was coming from but also the other women.

Would absolutely recommend!

One Month Boyfriend - Roxie Noir

Faking dating my sworn enemy to make my ex so jealous he can't see right.  What could possibly go wrong what with social anxiety, new-in-town status and my sworn enemies golden boy status...

This was a short, lite read with the typical troupe enemies to lovers.  There was a little post war PTSD glimpse for the guy and a social anxiety glimpse for the girl.  Very modern, very typical.  Alright read, something I would say better for a beach read.