Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A good trilogy ender.

Enlightened (Enlightenment, #3) by Joanna Chambers

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I was hoping for a real firecracker with this one, just a really undeniably great closer to this lovely trilogy, but what I got was more what I actually should have expected, which was more like the slow burn of a hearth fire. This has been entirely a trilogy about quiet, inner emotions and inner growth, and not melodramatic, shout to the sky emotions. The more I reflect on how this series ended, the more I liked it. David has been recuperating for the last […]

An excellent middle book in this historical romance trilogy.

Beguiled (Enlightenment, #2) by Joanna Chambers

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This series continues to be the perfect blend of historical fiction and romance. Most historical romance authors use the historical setting as a backdrop and creator of atmosphere, or convert it into a sort of fantasy realm to explore other things, which can be really fun! But as I said in my review of the first book in this series, there’s just something so pleasurable about stone cold history being actually explored in this format. In the first book, it was the fallout from a […]

The first book in a historical romance series set during the Scottish Enlightenment.

Provoked (Enlightenment, #1) by Joanna Chambers

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I should have read this so much sooner! I’ve owned a Kindle version for years now. I guess I was thinking this was more like your standard “historical” romance, with the focus mostly on the romance, and where history often takes a backseat, or gets a bit imaginary (cough Tessa Dare cough). And don’t get me wrong, I enjoy those types of books often when done well. They are a fluffy good time. But there’s something about the style this book is written in, which […]

this is a terrible idea, but I’m going to let it happen anyway

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This is a short novel following a bit player from the Enlightenment series Iain Sinclair. Iain and James are childhood friends, though Iain is a few years older, that have a falling out. This book goes back and forth, showing bits from their relationship out of order as well as showing the present when they are no longer on good terms. As the story unfolds it is revealed just how much Iain has failed James over the years and how much they meant to each […]

Enlightenment Series

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I decided to review the whole series on this one (because what is the point of reading a great first novel if the second book sucks?). This series takes place in 1820 and 1822 Edinburgh and London. David is the son of a tenant farmer that has moved to the big city to be a solicitor.  After watching the execution of two of his clients, he meets a wealthy man and has a quick but beautiful encounter in a back alley.  This begins a bittersweet […]



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