Readin' and Dreamin'

I was halfway through this book and afraid of what my review was going to be, but the second half redeemed the story. There is only so much lovely dovey stuff I can take without upchucking my dinner, but eventually the action picked up. Admittingly, I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous two installments, especially A Poisoned Season.

I missed Lady Emily's whole gang of friends. None of the new characters particularly grabbed me. I was happy when Margaret showed up, she quirked things up a bit. I didn't enjoy Colin as much as I usually do. I'm afraid the book lost something with Colin and Emily being married. There's no more tension. I liked the tension.

I did figure out the murderer as soon as he/she entered the story. I'm not sure if that was a lucky guess or what.

The descriptions were wonderful. The setting was Constantinople and this book makes me want to fly over there and visit. And this novel was no doubt excessively researched. It shows.

Fans of the series will enjoy this, but it is a bit different than the previous three. I'm hoping the next installment will have all her friends back.

I won this book here at Goodreads, which was the first book I ever won anywhere! This didn't affect my review.