The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

The tiny nation of Swansgaard is a lovely place with abundant natural resources, including the royal family, which has been blessed with twelve daughters and a son. As this boisterous baker's dozen approaches adulthood, the king and queen lovingly tell their daughters, "You must make your own fortune, for we cannot enrich you without impoverishing our people or leaving our lands defenseless, and that we will not do." Happily, the princesses of Swansgaard are eager to meet this challenge, for they yearn for adventures both near and far from home.

Clarice is an expert swordswoman and as the oldest is the first to depart. Disguising herself as Clarence, she signs on for a voyage to the New World. The captain is vile and blackhearted and the crew soon mutinies. Clarice becomes first mate - and finds her heart captured by the new captain, Dominick, who is, to his own surprise, increasingly attracted to Clarence.

I really liked this swashbuckling adventure!  It was equal parts exciting, coming of age and a little bit of growing attraction/romance.  I'm a little disappointed that this is the only book in the series as it appears Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory didn't write anymore but as a stand alone novel (there is a firm conclusion at the end of the book) it reads well.

If you like Pirates of the Caribbean I would recommend this book! 

The Dragon Lottery by Scott William Carter

Congrats on winning the lottery!  Your prize is to fight a black dragon to your death.  Most assuredly your death as no one has ever returned.  Fifty years this has been the case.  The cruel King Goodheart controls the dragon and controls the people.  And every summer a lottery is held and Lucky Greyblock - born in the 13 month on the 13 day and who is now 13 years old, has been VERY unlucky indeed.  Will he be able to discover his courage, turn everyone's luck around and at the same time change their fate?

Wow this was such a well written standalone book.  I cannot express how much I loved it.  The characters -  from Lucky himself to the evil king to the bully Lucky has to put up with were just perfectly developed.  It's a relatively quick read and just a really great escape.

Absolutely recommend!

Clanlands: Whiskey, Warefare and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other - by Sam Heughan, Graham McTavish and Charlotte Reather

 Two Men. One Country. And a lot of whisky. Stars of the Outlander series - Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish (Jamie Fraser and Dougal MacKenzie respectfully) take an epic road trip around their homeland discussing Scotlands history (complete with visits to famous sites like the location of the Battle of Culloden) and sharing stories of their past (they are a bit of an age difference) all while driving around in a tiny camper van.

I listen to this as an audiobook and I kid you not I don't know if I would recommend just reading the book by itself.  Sam & Graham narrate the book and it is FILLED to the brim with their sarcastic comments, witty banter back and forth and just full of so much of their personalities that you do them such a disservice if you didn't listen to it as a audiobook.

I cannot stress how much of a perfectly light hearted journey this book is.  Their friendship is FELT throughout with their jibes at each other and even though they discuss some heavy history you don't feel weighed down by it. Not saying they make light of it, it just the way their present it.  I appreciate that friends don't have to be within your own age grouping and even more love the Scots sense of humor.

You NEED to listen to the audiobook.  Now and if not now then purchase it for tomorrow.  I guarantee it will put a smile on your face within 2 mins.

Mistress Mackintosh & the Shaw Wretch by Rose Prendeville

In 1725, a secret convent has been established on the Aberdeenshire coast. Jory Mackintosh is more excited by healing herbs than husbands or holy prayers. She craves freedom—and a chance to sneak into medical school. Instead, on the eve of her escape, she becomes an unwilling pawn in her family’s schemes with a rival clan.

Finlay Shaw, the disgraced younger brother of the laird, has spent ten long years atoning for his past failures, but nothing can wash away the stain of fratricide. When the clans order him to escort Jory to her new life as a nun, thus securing an alliance with the freshly formed Black Watch, it’s his last chance for redemption. Too bad for Finn, Jory has no intention of following orders.

This was a quick sweet read with a little romance but not dirty smut.  I love me a highland damsel, saved by a scots and this didn't disappoint.  Would recommend as a light read

Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she's grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop. Add in a complication with an ex, a deal with the stores hunky, nerd and you've got a romantic teen comedy!

Wow this was the perfect novel to read after something deep and heavy.  If you geeky at all, want a little nostalgic throw back to your high school days and just love a plain ol' budding romance then this book I cannot recommend enough! 

Miss Amelia's List by Mercedes Lackey

The seventeenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series follows Amelia Stonehold and Serena Meleva as they navigate property acquisition, marriage proposals, and other ancient horrors in Regency England, but with the help of elemental magic

The year is 1815, and an American, Miss Amelia Stonehold, has arrived in the Devon town of Axminster, accompanied by her "cousin" Serena Meleva. She’s brought with her a list to tick off: find a property, investigate the neighbors, bargain for and purchase the property, staff the property and...possibly...find a husband.

But Amelia soon finds herself contending with some decidedly off-list trouble, including the Honorable Captain Harold Roughtower, whose eyes are fixed on her fortune. Little does Amelia know that his plans for her wealth extend far beyond refurbishing his own crumbing estate — they include the hidden Roman temple of Glykon, where something very old, very angry, and very dangerous still lurks. But Roughtower isn’t prepared to reckon with the fact that neither Amelia nor Serena are pushovers. And he certainly isn’t ready for the revelation that he has an Earth Master and a Fire Mage on his hands — or that one of them is a shapeshifter.

I am and always have been a HUGE fan of Mercedes Lackey's elemental masters series so upon release I immediately cracked it open.  This one felt different from her other novels in the series however.  It felt like a regency, Jane Austin type novel with the elemental twist of course.  I did enjoy and would recommend. 

The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi

Third book in the series follows Radha.  She is 32 and living in Paris with her husband and 2 daughters, working as a perfumiest.  She has long since pushed down the feelings of leaving the baby boy she gave birth to a lifetime ago but once a year on his birth day, she cannot.  Her work consumes her and she finds great joy in the gift of scent and creating them for clients and she is very good at it.  But her husband does not understand her need to work and her oldest daughter is the very spitting image of her temperament when Radha was younger too, which Radha doesn't understand as she has given her daughters a life so very different from her upbringing.  Tasked with her first major project, she travels to India for inspiration and to make her stand out as a perfumiest.  However when she is there something will happen that will change her life forever - her past will finally meet her straight in the eye.

Had to finish this trilogy.  And while I am glad I did and have gained the insight of Radha from a grown up perspective, I can't say that I was blown away with this last novel.  I might have enjoyed her second one more.  I don't regret reading this however as I enjoyed revisiting characters and watching them in the grown state.