All the Reviews Linked Here

The Burton Review Rating System
1 star = Not recommended
2 stars = A good try
3 stars = Good but could be better
3.5=I enjoyed it; Had some minor quirks
4 stars = Very Good, Recommend!
4.5 stars = Almost perfect! Enjoyed immensely!
5 stars = EXCELLENT! NEW FAVE!


See my Top Ten Best Reads of 2009 at The Burton Review

The dates will show the year that I read and reviewed it, and my rating:
(Of the year 2009 published here to date: Qty. #64)
(Of the year 2010, published to date: Qty. #48)

General Fiction
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (2009, 4.5 stars)
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex (2010, 4.5 stars)
Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff (2010, 4.5 stars)
Follow Me by Joanna Scott (2009, 3.75)
Girl in Translation (2010, 4.5 stars)
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano (2009, 3.5 stars)
The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa (2009, 5 stars)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (2009, 4 stars)
The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi (2009, 1 star, did not finish)
This Must Be The Place by Kate Racculia (2010, 5 stars)
Valeria's Last Stand by Marc Fitten (2009, 4 stars)

More Chick-Lit than not:
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton (2009, 3 stars)
The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton (2009, 3.5 stars)

Crime/Mystery/Thriller
31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan (2010, 5 stars)
The Osiris Alliance by Jack Ford (2009, 3 stars)
Crowner Royal by Bernard Knight (2009, 3 stars)
Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo (2010, 3.5 stars)

Georgette Heyer
Arabella (2009, 5 stars)
My Lord John (2009, 2 stars)
The Convenient Marriage (2009, 4 stars)
The Devil's Cub (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Masqueraders (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Nonesuch (2009, 4 stars)
The Unfinished Clue (2009, 3.5 stars)

Regency
Bellfield Hall, or the Observations of Miss Dido Kent by Anna Dean (2010, 3 stars)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (2009, 5 stars)
Darcy and Anne by Judith Brocklehurst (2009, 3.5 stars)
Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester (2010, 3.5 stars)
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in The World by Abigail Reynolds (2010, 3 stars)
The Darcy Cousins by Monica Fairview (2010, 4.5 stars)
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview (2009, 4 stars)

Biblical Fiction
Delilah by India Edghill (2009, 4 stars)
Girl Mary by Petru Popescu (2009, 3 stars)
The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy (2010, 4.5 stars)

Young Adult Historical Fiction
The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry (2010, 4 stars)

Historical Fiction
A Cottage By The Sea by Ciji Ware (2010, 5 stars) *
Brothers of Gwynedd: Book One by Edith Pargeter (2010, did not finish)
By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan (2010, 4 stars)
Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine (2010, 4 stars)
Castile for Isabella (part 1 of Ferdinand & Isabella trilogy) by Jean Plaidy (2009, 3.5 stars)
Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell (2010, 4.5 stars)
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran (2009, 4.5 stars )
Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman (2009, 3 stars)
For The King by Catherine Delors (2010, 4 stars)
Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien (2009, 4.5 stars)
Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham (2010, 4 stars)
Indiscretions of The Queen by Jean Plaidy (Georgian Saga) (2009, 4 stars)
Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware (2010, 5 stars)
My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira (2010, 4.5 stars)
O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell (2010, 5 stars)
Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean (2009, 3 stars)
Partners by Dave McGowan (2009, 3.5 stars)
Receive Me Falling by Erika Robuck (2010, 4 stars)
Roses by Leila Meacham (2010, 4.5 stars)
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick (2010, 4 stars)
The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (2010, 4.5 stars)
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (2010, 5 stars)**
The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner (2009, 5 stars)
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott (2010, 5 Stars)**
The Murder in The Tower by Jean Plaidy (2009, 4 stars)
The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent (2010, 4 stars)
The Queen's Pawn by Christy English (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth (2009, 3.5 stars)
The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick (2010, 4.5 stars)
The Secret Eleanor by Cecelia Holland (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin (2010, 3 stars)
The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham (2010, 3.5-4 stars)
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (2009, 4 stars)
Twilight of A Queen (Book#5) by Susan Carroll (2009, 3.5 stars)
Within the Hollow Crown by Margaret Campbell-Barnes (2010, 4 stars)

Tudor Genre:
All the Queen's Players by Jane Feather (2010, 3 stars)
Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Mary Tudor by Julianne Lee (2009, 4 stars)
His Last Letter: A Novel of Elizabeth I and The Earl of Leicester by Jeane Westin (2010, 3 stars)
Secrets of The Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan (2010, 4.5 stars)*
Secrets of The Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson (2009, 5 stars)
Secrets of The Tudor Court: Between Two Queens by Kate Emerson (2009, 4 stars)
St. Thomas's Eve aka The King's Confidante by Jean Plaidy (2009, 4 stars)
The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy (2009, 2.5 stars)
The Captive Queen of Scots by Jean Plaidy (2009, 5 stars)
The Dark Rose (Book 2 in Morland Dynasty) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (2010 reissue, 3 stars)
The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory (2009 0 stars)
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (2010, 4 stars)
The Royal Road to Fotheringay by Jean Plaidy (2009, 5 stars)
The Tudor Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York by Margaret Campbell Barnes (2009, 3.5 stars)
The Queen's Mistake: A Novel by Catherine Howard by Diane Haeger (2009, 3 stars)
Young Bess by Margaret Irwin (2010, 4 stars)

Tudor Etc. Non-Fiction
After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland by Leanda De Lisle (2009, 3.5 stars)
Arbella by Sarah Gristwood (2009, not a typical review, but 4 stars)
Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder by Mary S. Lovell (2008, 5 stars)
Elizabeth's Women:The Hidden Story of The Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman (2009, 4 stars)
Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love by Elizabeth Norton (2010, 3 stars)
Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna Whitelock (2010, 3.5 stars)
The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir (2009, 4.5 stars)
The Six Wives of Henry VIII by David Loades (2010, 4 stars)

Historical Non-Fiction
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman who Helped Hide the Frank Family by Miep Gies (2009, 4.5 stars)

Historical Fantasy/Arthurian
Dark Moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott
The Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott(2009, 4.75 stars)


Historical Romance
Highland Rebel by Judith James (2009, 3 stars)
My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy (2009, 3 stars)
The Treasures of Venice by Loucinda McGary (2009, 4 stars)
The Wildest Heart by Rosemary Rogers (2009, 3.5 stars)

Paranormal Romance
Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle (2009, 3.75 stars)

Romance - Contemporary
Too Hot To Handle by Robin Kaye (2009, 4 stars)
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown (2009, 3 stars)

Inspirational
The Noticer by Andy Andrews (2009, 5 stars)
The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson (2009, 4 stars)

General Non-Fiction
Betsy Ross and The Making of America by Marla R. Miller (2010, 3 stars)
Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Theft, Murder and Detection by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (2009, 4 stars)
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose (2009, 3.5 stars)

I have been quoted at Sourcebooks May 2009 Review round up:
What Would Jane Austen Do~This is full of romance, a hunky guy, and even some Jane Austen to boot, which I think Regency romance fans would enjoy. The Burton Review

Too Hot To Handle~If you like Janet Evanovich as I do, you will enjoy Robin Kaye. This book is an easy victory for Robin Kaye and I look forward to more of her accomplishments. The Burton Review