Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

Atonement - Ian McEwan

Yours Faithfully - Sheila O'Flanagan

The Accidental Wife - Rowan Coleman

Easy reading is called for at the moment :)

Pandora - Jilly Cooper

Disapointing... when you take a Jilly Cooper on hols, you expect lots of sex, period!

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

To follow

Broken - Martina Cole

To follow

Twighlight - Stephenie Meyer

The Black Robe - Wilkie Collins

I've read a few Wilkie Collins novels now and I like to think that I know his style as a novelist. I don't think there will even be anything that will replace the Woman in White as my favourite though and this is no exception.

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The Black Robe isn't a bad story and I think if you're already a Wilkie fan then you won't be disappointed as you'll probably already be familar with the formla (lost love, misunderstandings and a bought of will-writing). However, if it's the first of his novels you've picked to read then I don't think you've picked the best one to start with :)

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The plot is very involved as always with lots of things happening to influence the characters in many ways. You get the strong impression from this story that Collins was not a fan of of the Catholic church. I think Father Benwell is one of the most manipulative and despicable characters I've ever come across and I had hoped that he might get his comeupance at the end of the story - but alas, Collins leaves him to continue his exploiuts in the name of redemtion and for the good of the catholic church (you can probably tell I've not got much time for religion either!). Only good kind-hearted Penrose manages to fly the flag for good religious values. He is one of the lvliest characters I've come across in a long time.

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When the story opens Romayne is involved in a duel which results in the death of his opponent. Unfortunatley the duellists younger brother looks on as his sibling is shot dead and subsequently goes mad from the shock - something Romayne can never forgive himself for. So on his return to England he moves back home to Vange Abbey where he is haunted by cries of distress from the younger brother. Then he meets Stella, they marry and he feels that he will finally be able to temper his demons. Quite possibly he would have managed this had it not been for Father Benwell and his quest to return Vange Abbey to the Catholic church. He drives a wedge between husband and wife and in the end manages to convert Romayne and whisk him off to Rome to become a priest -leaving his pregnant wife behind (although to be fair, he is not aware that Stella is pregnant). Romayne strikes me as a very complicated charaacter. At times he is strong-willed and defiant, at others he is weak-willed and easily led astray.

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Will write more later :)

Still Water - John Harvey

Wasted Years - John Harvey