500 Page Challenge/ Dragonfly In Amber

We're going into June and I wanted to wrap up May's reading with a review and then what my June challenge choice will be : )


Dragonfly in Amber
Diana Gabaldon
Pgs. 752
Randopm House






First off, I love Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser.  Their characters are wonderful and full of life.  Jamie is such a spitfire with such wit, I just love the things he says to Claire, "yer ken yer killin me sassenach.",you can just hear his Scottish accent!  I like Claire too.  She is smart and quick on her feet.  Sometimes I wish her toughness would have come out in certain parts where I felt it was needed, and not so much in others.  She does hold her ground though, and I admire that.

Dragonfly In Amber is not as quick paced as Outlander.  It took me a bit more to get through this one.  It was mired in a lot of war detail as far as Bonnie Prince Charlie, King James, King Louis, and so on.  Their time living in France while Jamie ran his cousins shipping import business and uprising and all the minutia of war really made it lag a bit for me at times.  There are big chunks in the book where you just aren't at the edge of your seat so that can be rough.  Though, you do have funny history tidbits like when Mother Hildegarde, a nun at the hospital Claire volunteers at, speaks of Bach and the musical piece he sent her.  Obviously there is no clue to the fame he will acquire.

I adore how much Jamie loves Claire.  Some of the things he tells here just tug at my heart. You forget he's only 24 years old!  Here are just a few of the things he says that get me -

"Oh Claire, ye do break my heart wi lovin you."
"Claire, ye do kill me, knife or no."  he whispered face buried in my hair.
He touched my face briefly with a rueful smile. "Aye, mo duinne, but you're my sassenach."

Jamie's love for Claire is so pure and rich it just touches the soul.  Of course my heart broke in this book as well.  It can't be helped it is a timeless love and you want to follow it all the way through so I will read on to the next and the next. 

There was one scene where the Red Coats are outside an abandoned church with a thatch roof and Claire, Jamie, Dougal and all the men are trapped in the church.  The English threaten to light it up if they don't come out and Claire yells "No! Bloody bastards!  This is a church!  Have you never heard of sanctuary?"  They're shocked to hear her English accent and think the Scott's are holding her so Dougal says lets use her as a bargaining chip, and she says yes it's the only way.  Jamie agrees begrudgingly and he carries her out so it looks like she has swooned.  He holds her so tight to his body she can feel his heart pounding beneath her ear and feel the trembling of his arms as he holds her, and he lets one word out- God, under his breath as he carries his heart to the enemy.

You learn a bit about her daughter, not much about Frank in this one.  I'd like to know just what happened when she came back and what his reaction was, I guess that'll be broached in later stories.  Do read these books it is truly a wonderful tale that you can smile and cry at.
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Now for June's 500 page challenge : )




Covet JR Ward
 Pgs. 496
 Signet




I know I know, it's 4 pgs shy of 500, but I've had it on my bookshelf since October and I need to read it already!  Maybe I'll tackle 2 400 pagers and we'll call it even ; )

So, what are you all going to read for the challenge?  Come back share and link us to it so we can all follow!