478. On Thin Ice (Cherry Adair)

Robert Sorlie and Iditarod team

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
For veterinarian Lily Munroe, running in the grueling 10-day, 1,110-mile Iditarod was challenging enough without having to compete against tall, dark, and annoying playboy-rancher Derek Wright. But flirtatious Derek is determined to prove that he is the only man for Lily. Of course, once Derek wins Lily over, he has to tell her about his other career as a secret agent for T-FLAC, a privately funded black ops antiterrorist group. When Lily becomes the victim of several mysterious, potentially deadly mishaps during the race, Derek must find a way to keep the adorably stubborn woman he loves safe -- and convince her that they belong together.

My rating: 3 stars

477. Fool for Love (Eloisa James)

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
No one could accuse the lace-loving Simon Darby of being an alpha male cliche. His penchant for modish clothing and fine filigree has led Londoners to label him an "exquisite," but his dashing good looks don't impress Lady Henrietta Maclellan ... much. A beauty with a slight limp and a refreshingly forthright manner, Henrietta longs for marriage and children, but believes her weak hip precludes her from both. When she meets Simon and the two youngsters under his care, however, Henrietta vows to seize what she wants even if it means stirring up a scandal. Her partner in crime is the lovably flawed Esme Rawlings, who appears in James's previous book, Duchess in Love. Together, the two trap Simon into marrying Henrietta, but once they're wed, they must deal with the tricky problem of consummating their union without conceiving a child -- no easy feat considering the times. Meanwhile, Esme deals with guilt over her husband's death and the arrival of an old flame.

My rating: 3 stars

476. The Lover (Robin Schone)

Synopsis:
Thirty-six-year-old Anne Aimes is a spinster whose only attraction is her wealth. But her plain looks mask a passionate woman who yearns to know a man's intimate caresses. Michel des Anges -- Michael of the Angels -- is renowned for his ability to bring women to pleasure. All it will cost her is ten thousand pounds .... Driven by vengeance, Michael seeks to lose himself in a woman who will demand only physical pleasure. A woman who won't suspect his own aching needs -- or his true motive for accepting her terms. Unable to resist the lure of Anne's guileless desire, he plunges her into a deadly web of deception and revenge where the price of carnal ecstasy is life itself ....

My rating: 3 stars

475. The Body in the Library (Agatha Christie)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
Her old friend Mrs. Bantry has called Miss Marple in again. It seems that the body of a dead blonde lies on the library floor, much to the chagrin of the servants. Miss Marple is only too happy to help, as there's nothing she likes better than nosing around in other people's business.

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1942
• Collins Crime Club in London
  
• Orange/red cloth with black lettering
  
• Dust wrapper priced at 7/6

474. The Temporary Wife (Mary Balogh)

Synopsis from author:
The Marquess of Staunton cold-bloodedly advertises for a governess for his non-existent children, chooses the plainest and dullest applicant, and offers her marriage. His only motive is to anger his estranged father, who has chosen a different bride for him. After he has presented her to his family, he plans to establish her somewhere with a great deal of money and never see her again. Charity Duncan agrees to the strange bargain because she is desperate for money to help support her brothers and sisters. But when she meets his family and recognizes the pain behind the estrangement, her warm heart cannot remain aloof. And when Staunton realizes that his temporary wife is in fact neither plain nor dull, his cold heart stirs to new life.

My rating: 5 stars

473. The Pickwick Papers (Charles Dickens)

Original cover of the serial

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
Charles Dickens’s satirical masterpiece, The Pickwick Papers, catapulted the young writer into literary fame when it was first serialized in 1836–37. It recounts the rollicking adventures of the members of the Pickwick Club as they travel about England getting into all sorts of mischief. Laugh-out-loud funny and endlessly entertaining, the book also reveals Dickens’s burgeoning interest in the parliamentary system, lawyers, the Poor Laws, and the ills of debtors’ prisons.

My rating: 5 stars

472. Sex Appeal (Lori Foster)

Synopsis from The Best Reviews:
Shadow Callahan was simply trying to corral ten to-die-for men when she propositioned Brent Bramwell. All the speciality shops in the mall agreed that hosting a "sexiest man" contest would bring in female shoppers. Of course, she couldn't blame Brent for getting the wrong idea, since her shop, Sex Appeal, featured interesting ... toys and such. Brent had always been an in-control kind of guy, with no time for playing games. But after meeting Shadow, he realized he was missing out on things. Fun things. Things he only wanted to do with her ....

My rating: 3 stars

471. Fugitive Wife (Miranda Lee)

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble:
Leah was young and innocent when she married Gerard Woodward. The perfect candidate to be seduced by his charm and ambition. Until one night she learned the truth about her husband. Leah fled, fearing that Gerard would do everything to find her and still she would fall back into her arms.Six months later, Leah's worst fear is realised, when she meets her handsome husband again. Only he says he's not Gerard, but Gareth Woodward, Gerard's identical twin brother!

My rating: 3 stars

470. Reckless (Amanda Quick)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Lady Phoebe Layton's "quest" is to track down the person who killed her suitor, Neil Baxter, and to "bring the villain to justice." Neil was making his fortune in the South Seas, where he reportedly was killed by a pirate who stole an old and valuable book she gave him; rumor says the book is back in England. Ignoring the fact that real questers don't delegate, Phoebe persuades fellow book collector Gabriel Banner, Earl of Wylde, to find the rare tome and the murderer. Phoebe's growing attachment to Gabriel prompts him to consider using her to seek revenge on her father, who, eight years earlier, ruined Gabriel and drove him out of England -- to the South Seas.

My rating: 3 stars

469. The Whispering Land (Gerald Durrell)

Patagonia, Argentina

Synopsis from Amazon:
The sequel to A Zoo in My Luggage, this is the story of how Durrell and his wife’s zoo-building efforts at England’s Jersey Zoo led them and a team of helpers on an eight- month safari in Argentina to look for South American specimens.

My rating: 4 stars

468. What to Do About Annie? (Millie Criswell)

Baltimore's harbor

Synopsis from Amazon:
Having grown up in Baltimore's Little Italy with a Jewish father and an Italian mother, Annie Goldman feels caught between two worlds and is determined to flaunt her individuality. She dyes her hair a different color daily and drives Father "what-a-hunk" Joe Russo crazy with her curve-hugging clothes. Annie once dreamed that she would have a future with Joe, but her hopes were dashed when he left her to join the priesthood. Now, 15 years later, Joe has decided to hang up his rosary beads and give love another try, but Annie isn't sure if she can trust him again. While the two attempt to rekindle their romance, Annie becomes a part owner of her father's outdated clothing store and an unwilling host to her cousin Donna. Joe has his own problems to contend with as well namely, his domineering mother and her matchmaking machinations.

My rating: 3 stars

467. The Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon:
We owe 1902's The Hound of the Baskervilles to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson -- left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel -- save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1902
• George Newnes in London
• 243 pp
  

466. Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)

Photo from a production of the play in Washington, D.C.

Synopsis from Amazon:
Arthur Miller's 1949 Death of a Salesman has sold 11 million copies, and Willy Loman didn't make all those sales on a smile and a shoeshine. This play is the genuine article -- it's got the goods on the human condition, all packed into a day in the life of one self-deluded, self-promoting, self-defeating soul. It's a sturdy bridge between kitchen-sink realism and spectral abstraction, the facts of particular hard times and universal themes.

My rating: 4 stars

465. Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy)

Original title page

Synopsis from Amazon:
Jude Fawley, a poor stone carver with aspirations toward an academic career, is thwarted at every turn and is finally forced to give up his dreams of a university education. He is tricked into an unwise marriage, and when his wife deserts him, he begins a relationship with a free-spirited cousin. With this begins the descent into bleak tragedy as the couple alternately defy and succumb to the pressures of a deeply disapproving society. Hardy's characters have a fascinating ambiguity: they are victimized by a stern moral code, but they are also selfish and weak-willed creatures who bring on much of their own difficulties through their own vacillations and submissions to impulse.

My rating: 4 stars

464. The English Assassin (Daniel Silva)

Zurich

Synopsis from Amazon:
The English Assassin brings back Gabriel Allon, the appealingly melancholy art restorer with a double life as an Israeli secret agent, first introduced in 2000's The Kill Artist. Gabriel is sent to Zurich under a pseudonym to restore a Raphael belonging to a prominent Swiss banker and art collector, Augustus Rolfe, but upon arriving he finds Rolfe lying in a pool of blood. When Gabriel tries to leave Zurich, the Swiss police capture him immediately -- and moreover, they know his real identity. He's released through some diplomatic string-pulling, but he soon discovers that Rolfe had requested a meeting with Israeli intelligence, for reasons unknown, just before his death. Rolfe's daughter, Anna, is a world-class violinist attempting to rebuild her career after an accident that nearly destroyed one of her hands. But her physical scars are nothing compared to those on her psyche, left by her mother's suicide when Anna was a teenager. Temperamental and mistrustful, she nevertheless believes Gabriel's story, and reveals that Rolfe owned a secret collection of priceless French Impressionist paintings, apparently stolen by his murderers. As Gabriel begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle, he faces two adversaries: a powerful group of men who would do anything to bury the past forever, and a hired killer who's planning a spectacular murder.

My rating: 4 stars

463. The Mystery of the Blue Train (Agatha Christie)

The French Riviera

Synopsis from Amazon:
Katherine Grey's life changes dramatically after she inherits a large sum of money. A trip to the Riviera on the Blue Train is her first adventure. When she meets Hercule Poirot, she's thrown into the investigation of a wealthy American's murder.

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1928
• Collins in London
  
• Blue cloth with red lettering
  
• Dust wrapper priced at 7/6

462. Slightly Sinful (Mary Balogh)

Synopsis from Amazon:
In the author's previous Bedwyn family installment, Slightly Tempted, diplomat Alleyne Bedwyn disappeared during the Battle of Waterloo and was presumed dead. As readers soon learn, however, he's merely injured. Alleyne owes his life to Rachel York, a well-bred young woman who's down on her luck-so down that she's taken refuge in a Belgian brothel run by four lively Englishwomen. To make matters worse, Rachel and the women have been cheated out of all their money by a fake clergyman. Alleyne wakes in the brothel where Rachel has been nursing him with no idea who he is, but he nevertheless devises a madcap scheme to help the women regain their fortune: he'll pose as Rachel's husband so that she can claim her inheritance, which is due to her upon her marriage. As the two engage in their merry charade, they fall in love, but they also come to terms with what's important in their lives.

My rating: 5 stars

My review: The best of the Bedwyn series.

461. Personal Assets (Emma Holly)

Synopsis from Amazon:
The owner of an infamous Parisian boutique opens a new one in Manhattan, giving her and her best friend the chance to branch out both professionally and sexually -- bringing their wildest fantasies to life.

My rating: 5 stars