Mystery Monday!

The Strange and Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber kept me up until 12:30 this morning on a night when I had sworn that I would finally begin my responsible regim of "early to bed". Not so! This is a story of romantic, gothic London during the threat of the infamous Jack the Ripper. A group of fringe young people are "chosen" to protect London from evil paranormal energy. I was looking for eerie and spooky without vampires, something with some substance. This hit the spot and was so fun! I was mesmerized by the romance in this book. It's daring, it's addictive, it's forbidden and sends tingles down your back. Alexi is a Mr. Thornton from North and South meets Alan Rickman as Professor Snape in Harry Potter. So attractively forbidding and intense -- Heathcliff but with a sense of duty and a soul. He has lived his life as the leader of the chosen group, able to cause gas lamps to inflame by his very presence. He has forced himself to live a stoic, repressed life but when he meets a strange and ghostly girl who sees dark visions he is undone. And so is the reader! I was up all night, gave my students busy work so I could clandestinely read at my desk. When it was over, I sighed and felt a little empty, wondering where my Alexi was. I can't wait for the next one and I hope that the next one is even more steeped in Victorian London.