Tag Archives: Meg Cabot

Educating Caroline by Patricia Cabot

Choice number two of the Summer Reading Challenge hosted by Little Miss Drama Queen, a book that had been sitting on your shelf for over a year, was one of the more difficult choices for me since it described most of the books on my bookshelf. I narrowed the choice down by choosing a Meg Cabot novel and then narrowed those down by choosing one of Cabot’s old regency romance novels written under her pen name, Patricia Cabot. TheEducating Caroline result was Educating Caroline.

Taking place in 1870 London, Lady Caroline Linford is engaged to Hurst Devenmore Slater, the Marquis of Winchilsea. She’s pretty happy about it until she catches him cheating on her with another aristocrat, Lady Jacquelyn Seldon. Not wanting to disgrace her family by calling off the wedding Caroline decides to instead engage the services of notorious lady’s man Braden Granville to teach her how to entice her betrothed away from the slutty Lady Jacquelyn. It sounds pretty silly doesn’t it? Not to mention scandalous. But Caroline’s own mother plants the seed for the idea when she says that in order to hold on to a man Caroline should use her body…

“…which, if I do say so myself, is the spitting image of the one I had at your age, and which I used to excellent advantage…”

Braden Granville is not only a womanizer with a horrible reputation, he is not even titled (gasp!) and has made his fortune on his new fangled gun company. His appearance is secondary, possessing the self-made confidence and logic we all love in Cabot’s leading men. (In fact, based on his dominant traits I would not be surprised if he is an ancestor if Michael Moscovitz.) Caroline shocks him with her unusual request for lessons but seeing as it is a romance novel, passionate sparks fly throughout.  (Code for: there’s a lot of sex.)

In addition to the love triangle Caroline finds herself in, there is also a mystery involving the Marquis and Caroline’s brother which is quite intriguing.

While I did enjoy Educating Caroline, I did have a hard time getting into it mostly because I’m getting a little bored with the regency romance genre. That said, the novel is still quite delightful especially given Cabot’s humor which is the basis for this story. She even throws in a few references to the always pregnant Lady Rawlings who hardcore and keen eyed Meg Cabot fans know is in fact Pegeen MacDougal who married Lord Edward Rawlings in her first published book, Where Roses Grow Wild.

If you are looking for an old school regency romance with humor and a fun storyline I highly recommend Educating Caroline. I give it a Classic Mrs. B.

Mrs. B rating classic

Royal Wedding Giveaway–The Big Winner!

clip_image002

And the winner of my extra copy of Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot is….Peggy!

It was a tough choice as you can see by the overwhelming response I received in the comments section.

Peggy is not a Meg Cabot fan…yet. I think Royal Wedding is a good place for new readers to start. While it is technically volume 11 of the Princess Diaries series, the story itself is completely new and requires no previous knowledge from the earlier books.

Happy reading Peggy! I look forward to getting your thoughts on the book.

Royal Wedding GIVEAWAY!

Royal Wedding

It’s here! Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot released yesterday!

If you’ve never read the Princess Diaries books (the movie was completely different) by Meg Cabot Royal Wedding is a great place to start. It’s the story of a modern day princess who has a variety of sometimes funny, sometimes tender, family drama issues to work through as she prepares for her big royal wedding to her hot hunky fiancé, Michael Moscovitz. If you are a long time fan of the series you’re going to love catching up with Princess Mia and her royally funny family and friends!

Meg-A Readers 2015 Banner!

To celebrate the release of the book and in honor of the Meg-A-Readers blog hop hosted by Mandy at the Romance Bookie and Diana at Little Miss Drama Queen I’m doing something unprecedented in the history of the Lady Jessop. I have an extra copy of the book which I am giving away! If you would like a chance to win it, leave a comment below and to make it fun tell us the name of your favorite book character. Comments close on Wednesday, June 10, 2015. I’ll pick the name of the winner from a hat, a highly scientific process and announce the results on Thursday, June 11, 2015.

Good luck and my all your royal wishes come true!

Ten Things I Loved about Royal Wedding

Meg-A Readers 2015 Banner!As a Meg Cabot fan I have the privilege of participating in the 4th annual Meg-A Readers Blog Hop hosted by Mandy at the Romance Bookie and Diana at Little Miss Drama Queen. As an official “Meg-A Reader” can I tell you how thrilled I was to get an advanced reader copy of Royal Wedding? I know ARCs are common place for “real” book bloggers but not me! So when I actually got one from Meg Cabot’s publisher I let out a SQUEEEEE so loud I think the neighbors heard. I then had to put my Princess Diaries binge read into race gear so I could get my “Meg Cabotyness” on and enjoy Royal Wedding in full sequence.

Now that all the reading is done (sniff!) I wanted to share with you Royal Weddingthe ten things I loved about the book:

1. Limos – No Meg Cabot novel is complete without them and Royal Wedding is no different. Mia actually gets driven around in a Hybrid Electric Livery Vehicle now that she’s an environmentally conscious adult but Grandmère still uses a traditional limo and in this book we get details about what it’s like inside.

2. Food – I love the descriptions of food in fiction novels, especially the delicious meals the royals eat in the Princess Diaries novels. In Royal Wedding we get a delicious list of all the food Marie Rose, chef for the Consulate General of Genovia, leaves in Mia’s fridge. Yum!

3. Romantic Island Vacation – If you’ve read the synopsis of the book you already know that Michael proposes to Mia during a romantic Caribbean getaway. Just wait until you hear about this place! I’ve already gone back and read that section of the book twice in an effort to take a little fantasy vacation myself.

4. Olivia Grace – This is the name of Mia’s long lost half sister who gets introduced in this book. I loved her and you will too. In fact, if you want to get to know her better you can read the middle grade novel with Olivia Grace’s version of the story in From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess. It is of course not the whole story, but is delightful just the same.

5. Rocky – We actually don’t get to see much of him in Royal Wedding but we hear a lot about him. He’s not a baby anymore. He’s an adolescent boy and he’s obsessed with farts. I have a feeling that we may see more of Rocky in the Middle School Princess series. I hope so anyway!

6. Storyline hinted at in the previous books is finally resolved – I’m not going to tell you what storyline I’m talking about but if you think about it enough you’ll know which one I mean. It was just what I wanted to have happen.

7. Lilly – I was never really a fan of Lilly, even after she and Mia patched things up in book 10, Princess Mia. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that she finally shows Mia a little respect and compassion in Royal Wedding. It also made up for my disappointment about Tina Hakim Baba whose storyline and lackluster personality at age 25 made me go “m’eh.”

8. Genovian drinking song – Yes there is such a thing. The lyrics are basically “Forgive me Mother for I am drunk again!” I won’t tell you who sings it though.

9. Grandmerè – She’s back and she’s better than ever!

10. And speaking of Grandmerè, she is, of course, the inspiration for my favorite quote: “In Grandmerè’s day, people didn’t take antidepressants or go see therapists when they were distressed about something. They had some sense slapped into them, or they had a drink ‘like a normal person.’” (I am clearly living my life as if it were in Grandmerè’s day.)

What were your favorite things from Royal Wedding?

From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot

If you’re keeping track, the big Royal Wedding is still 38 days away. I know. It’s a longMiddle School Princess time to wait to catch up with Mia and Michael and Grandmère. There’s also supposed to be a bunch of fun storylines including  the discovery of Mia’s long lost half sister. But guess what? Next month you can meet said sister, Olivia Grace, in Meg Cabot’s newest middle grade novel, From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess.

By some strange and wonderful miracle Meg Cabot’s publisher, Feiwel and Friends sent me an advanced reader’s copy of the book so I’m thrilled to give you my review early! (Which by the way, is my own opinion and is no way influenced by the fact that I got the book for free.)

In a lot of ways I was more excited about Middle School Princess than Royal Wedding. I have a special affection for middle grade fiction and I was also fascinated with the teased storyline of Mia’s long lost sister and was anxious to meet her. A part of me was expecting a rehash of the original books and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case.

Like Mia, Olivia also keeps a diary which is how the story is told. Otherwise, the two sisters are not very much alike. The biggest difference is that Olivia is nowhere near as neurotic as Mia. She takes everything in stride and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Unlike Mia, Olivia does not have a complete meltdown when she finds out she’s a princess. In fact, she is more concerned about meeting her father for the first time. While there are plenty of new characters we also get to see some of our old friends including Mia, Grandmère and Mia’s (and Olivia’s) dad, Prince Phillipe. I enjoyed this aspect of the book very much, especially that they were from a different perspective, Olivia’s point of view.

I found this book extremely tender and….oh gosh I’m embarrassed to admit…I even cried at one point. It was this quote:

I’d wave to my mom in heaven out the window, but I don’t want anyone to see me and ask who I’m waving to and then think I’m being weird, waving to the angel of my mom.

I believe there will be more book in this series and I absolutely can’t wait for them! I give this a Relaxed Mrs. B.

Mrs. B rating relaxed

Princess in Waiting by Meg Cabot

I’ll admit, the first time I read Princess in Waiting, volume 4 of the Princess Diaries seriesPrincess in Waiting by Meg Cabot, I wasn’t that excited. Don’t get me wrong, I think the series as a whole is great! But there’s something about book 4 that makes it different from the rest of the books. I thought about what that might be during this current read and I think it’s the fact that book 4 is missing controversy and build up to some big event.

In Princess in Waiting the big event is Mia and Michael’s first date and the only controversy is Mia’s insecurities about how much Michael likes her. The first time I read this book I was kind of disappointed with the lack of excitement but this time around I kind of liked that quality. With all the drama and surprises of the first three books I was glad to relax a little in book 4 where Mia settles in for her second semester of high school and finds out what it’s like to be Michael Moscovitz’s girlfriend.

The other big difference about Princess in Waiting is the first half which takes place in Genovia, not New York City. Mia is, of course, bored to tears spending her Winter Break in Genovia, not to mention wild to see Michael. I, of course, loved reading about all the princessy deliciousness of the royal palace and all the activities Grandmère has lined up for Mia.

Mia’s neuroses, especially where her relationship with Michael is concerned, did get a tad on my nerves in this book. However, her constant advice seeking about romance did make for an amusing quote:

Somewhere between the two of them – Grandmère and Lilly – must lie the truth to maintaining a successful relationship with a man.

Hesitation notwithstanding , I still give this book a Shrimp Coma Mrs. B.

Mrs. B rating shrimp coma

Princess in Love by Meg Cabot

Have you read Princess in the Spotlight yet? If not, you better go do that before you readPrincess in Love this review because I’m going to break it wide open with all sorts of SPOILERS with my review of book three in the Princess Diaries series, Princess in Love. OK, you’ve been warned. Here we go….

If you already read Princess in the Spotlight you know that Mia’s mom and Mr. G got married and Mia is going to be a big sister. (wow, felt good finally letting that all out) You also know that Mia’s secret admirer is….drum roll please….Kenny! Oh.

Yep, Mia has a boyfriend and he’s her lab partner Kenny. That must be why the book is called Princess in Love, because Mia is in love with Kenny. Or is she? We all know that Mia has had a crush on someone else for some time now. While she spends a lot of time thinking about this other guy, she also has plenty of other things to worry about in this book. Really important things like finals and Christmas shopping and her trip to Genovia where she will be officially presented to the Genovian people as Her Royal Highness Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Oh, and let’s not forget about French kissing.

Yes, even though Mia finally has a boyfriend, she still hasn’t entered the territory of French kissing and she’s quite concerned about it. She not only has no expertise in this area (thus the need for a well written how-to guide from the fabulous Tina Hakim Baba) but Mia is not even sure she wants to share her tongue with Kenny. She eventually does get to experience kissing of the French variety but you will have to read for yourself to find out who the lucky garcon is. I will tell you what Mia learns about the art of French kissing though:

“It isn’t gross if you’re in love with the guy.” *

Want to know what my rating is? Like you even have to ask! I give Princess in Love a Shrimp Coma Mrs. B all the way!

Mrs. B rating shrimp coma

*or as I discovered in 1984, you’ve had a California Cooler or two.

Princess in the Spotlight by Meg Cabot

Volume 2 of the Princess Diaries series, Princess in the Spotlight, starts up with some Princess in the Spotlightreally big news, another huge life event that Mia has to get used to. I won’t tell you what it is but I’ll tell you this much: Mia takes the news a lot better than she did when she first found out she was a princess.

On the royal side, Mia is getting ready for her first big interview with Beverly Bellerieve on the prime time news show, “Twenty Four/Seven.” Unfortunately the interview doesn’t go very well. Mia ends up blurting out all sorts of information that makes life rather difficult for her.

Besides the interview there’s plenty of other fun things going on in the book. There’s sleepovers and weddings AND Mia starts getting notes from a secret admirer! He’s someone who professes to like Mia well before she became a princess. I know who you’re thinking…I thought it was that same person as well when I read the book the first time. I won’t spoil it for you now, but you better hurry up and read it because I’m going to break open this whole thing when I talk about book 3, Princess in Love.

It was during this second read of Princess in the Spotlight that I remembered why I love Grandmere so much. During the wedding scene (I won’t tell you who’s, you’ll have to read to find out) Mia gets a chance to show Grandmere how much she’s learned about being a princess in such a short time with this beautiful quote:

‘’”…a princess, no matter what kind of adversity she is facing, has to put on a brave face and not hide behind her wealth and privilege.”

There’s no question about the rating, of course. It get’s a Shrimp Coma Mrs. B all the way. 

Mrs. B rating shrimp coma

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Like many of her devoted fans, my first introduction to Meg Cabot was The PrincessThe Princess Diaries Diaries. I read the series several years ago and oh my what a joy! I’ve been looking forward to reading the series again and the anticipation of book 11, Royal Wedding which releases on June 2, 2015 seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Just like the first time, my second read of The Princess Diaries did not disappoint. Written in the first person, the book is the diary of high school freshman Mia Thermopolis. Starting on September 23 we find that it is the first few weeks into the school year of New York City’s Albert Einstein High School and Mia has a big problem: Algebra. She is not only flunking the class but she has just learned that her mother is dating the teacher, Mr. Gianni.

As if the Algebra problem isn’t enough, Mia then finds out that her father has been keeping a very important secret from her: he is the Prince of a small European country, Genovia and as his sole heir Mia is a Princess who is one day expected to take over the reign.

Finding out that you are a princess sounds like every girl’s dream, but Mia is smart enough to see past the glamour and money. Being the ruler of an entire country sounds like a horribly stressful proposition!

Despite the seriousness of the matter, the tale of Mia’s first month of royalty is delightful and funny. As she struggles with this new identity Mia finds out who her true friends are and also meets a few new ones.

While Meg Cabot wrote several great books before this, The Princess Diaries which was published in 2000 is truly her best work. In all of Meg Cabot’s books you can tell there is a little piece of herself in the main characters but Mia and her friends have a little something else that makes them very special. I’m not sure what it is but maybe in this next read I’ll find out.

If you are looking for a fun teen read, or want to find out what I find so special about Meg Cabot, please do read The Princess Diaries. I’m sure it’s no secret that I give this one a full fledged Shrimp Coma Mrs. B.

Mrs. B rating shrimp coma

Awaken by Meg Cabot

Good news! I finally finished the Abandon series by Meg Cabot. Even better news? The Awakenbooks get progressively better, so much so that I can honestly say I really enjoyed the final book, Awaken. The best part is I finally got the key story elements I love so much from Meg Cabot: spunky heroine and a good support network.

Awaken starts up right where Underworld leaves off. It is a few hours later and Pierce, having finally embodied the spunky Meg Caboty heroine we all love, is helping out on the docks of the underworld greeting the newly dead. She is already an asset to the place being polite and helpful (unlike John and his cronies) to the confused new arrivals. She even hands out glasses of water.

We quickly learn that Alex and Kayla have been brought to the underground as well and like Pierce we’re not sure how long they are going to stay or what they are going to do next. Unfortunately we don’t get to find out because a couple of fury possessed ships show up ready to reek havoc on the place. Hot hunky John, ruler of the underground and Pierce’s boyfriend, jumps aboard one of the boats to prevent the impending disaster and disappears along with the fates. Now it’s up to Pierce and her friends to bring the fates (and hopefully John) back to where they belong.

A lot happens in this book. Pierce desperately wants to find John but discovers that she is also tasked with having to restore balance to the underworld and save the world above from destruction by the evil furies! Along the way storylines that began in the previous books are resolved. We get the full scoop on Seth Rector, Alex’s dad and Pierce’s parents. We also get a really cool quote:

We do need storms sometimes, because they clear away the bracken so that the sun can shine on flowers that might never otherwise have had a chance to bloom.

I love this quote, which is the theme of the book, because it’s a good message about life as well. Sometimes you have to suffer through hard times in order to get to better times. This is kind of like how I felt at the beginning of this series actually. While I wasn’t a fan of the first book I stuck it out and was finally rewarded with this final one which was pretty delightful! I give it a good solid, classic Mrs. B!

Mrs. B rating classic