Carole´s Monday: Dragonfly in amber

Author: Diana Gabaldon

Title: Dragonfly in Amber

Series: Outlander #2

Genre: Historical Romance, SciFi, Fantasy

Format: paperback

Pages: 947

Published: July 1, 1992

Where I got It: My shelf (Used book store that I am blanking on the name of)

Summary: 

From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....

Review:

I read book 1 ages ago, and I meant to go back, but just never did. I've been watching the show and loving it, so it was the push I needed to continue the series. 

We continue watching young Claire fight to try and stop the war, and "modern" Claire goes back to where it all began with her daughter in tow. 

I know this book was written in the 90s, and there is a show about it, but I don't want to spoil anything! 

The duo timeline was fun. We are mainly in the "flashback" following young Jamie and young Claire fleeing to France. There is still hope to change the future, but it seems like fate has other plans for them time and time again.

I enjoyed it. It was long and sometimes long-winded. But I gobbled up each page. There were some stretches of time I had to take a break. It is emotional, especially because you know what is coming. An impending doom for sure. Yes. I teared up a time or two with this one. 

The author does such a great job bringing the worlds and the characters to life! You just want all your beloved characters to live happily ever after. 

Can I say something...controversial? As much as I liked this book and the other one.........I think the show is better. There are some little changes they did that just worked better. Some character development that I really liked. Not saying this is bad, but the show is just a smidge better. I still want to read book 3 one day, though!

Honestly, I think I might do the audio of it. I want to try it!

But yes, this was good, but it is a heavy read. Length and emotions. You need to read book 1 first for sure or have at least watched season 1 of the show. 

All-in-all, it was lovely coming back to Claire and Jamie. It felt like old friends. I do so love them both. 

4 stars. 

Reading Challenges

-  Reading Romance Challenge #4 (series I meant to go back to)

Without fail by Lee Child

556 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 2002

Series: Jack Reacher (#6), Jack Reacher Chronological Order (#10)

Thriller/own

I tried my first Jack Reacher. Is it my genre? Maybe not. There was a LOT of dialogue, so that made it a fast read. People went from A to B and not really any descriptions in the middle.

Also why was Reacher even there. He did nothing before the end.

This is the kind of book that makes a good action movie, it felt like it was built for that.

But hey I tried it and yes fast read. Why did I not give up? Well see at bookclub we gift each other used books at xmas and this was mine. I suffered through.

Jack Reacher walks alone.

No job, no ID, no last known address. But he never turns down a plea for help. Now a woman tracks him down. A woman serving at the very heart of US power. A woman who needs Reacher's assistance in her new job.

Her job?

Protecting the Vice-President of the United States.

Her problem?

Someone wants the VP dead.

The eyes are the best part by Monika KIm

Format: 288 pages, Paperback

Published: June 26, 2025 by Brazen

Fiction/Horror/borrowed

I did not really know what to expect. It was like she was stuck in a creepy nightmare.

Ji-Won´s father leaves her mother. Her mother is really sad. Then later on she brings home a white boyfriend. He just turns out to be creepy. While Ji-won after having eaten a fish eye starts looking at his eyes and thinking yum. I told you it was surreal.

She goes to College. She wants her mum away from this guy. She makes two new friends. And she dreams about eating eyes. Yum yum yum.

And trust me, she will get those eyes. Anyone´s eyes.

I think I liked the end part the best cos the nightmare sort of ended, but there was also a twist.

Ji-won's life is in disarray. Her father's affair has ripped the family to shreds, leaving her to piece their crappy lives back together.

Then her mother's new white boyfriend enters the scene, bragging about his knowledge of Korean culture. As he swaggers around their claustrophobic apartment ogling her teenage sister, Ji-won's grip on reality begins to slip.

She finds herself growing obsessed with his brilliant blue eyeballs, resolving to do the one thing that will save her family - and curb her cravings...

Audio: The flirting game by Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Sean Masters, Brooke Bloomingdale

Series: Love and Hockey, Book 6

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Release date: 09-18-25

Publisher: Audible Originals

Contemporary romance

Oops, was this the last book in the series? Good thing that contemporary romance works anyway. But it did make me curious about the other stories.

Skylar notices that she has a hot neighbor. Then they meet while walking their dogs, she being all chaos, he being a bit stand offish.

Anyway one thing lead to another. Fake dating that is. But we all know that fake dating leads to feelings and these two gets the hots for each other.

It was funny, hot and a good listen. Free with an audible subscription. I am getting kind of hooked on that.

Two narrators and that worked well. Only good things

My new neighbor is a hot, grumpy hockey player who works out shirtless on his porch every morning. But it’s not technically spying if I just happen to be on my patio at the same time ... right?

Imagine my surprise when the sexy grouch turns out to be the client who just hired me to redecorate the house he’s giving his mom.

What’s a ray of sunshine like me to do? Pretend I’ve never noticed his abs while we pick out furniture—since I’d never date a client. And Ford Devon? He’s made it clear this is his final season, and he wants zero distractions. Which means I need to exercise some serious resistance ...

To his cool blue eyes that track my every move. To that deep voice that makes me shiver. And to the mouth that shuts me up one night in our shared backyard with a scorching kiss. Oops.

We agree it’s a one-time slip up. But when he insists on being my date to my cheating ex’s party ... we slip up again into a very fun sleepover. With our dogs watching!

One fake date at a charity gala turns into another at a hockey game, and somewhere between fabric swatches and porch picnics, I stop pretending.

But how do I convince Ford that with me, he can have both love and hockey?