One day baby , We’ll be Old

My gym instructor looks very young for her age (she is exactly 10 years older than me, but looks almost younger than me). She was saying how her aunt (who is very very old) told her that even though she (my instructor) had the body of a teenager , her face betrays her age. When she told me that, I responded by saying, I love being old and looking old. Those small wrinkles near your eyes, the lines in the forehead. I like them. She looked at me as if I have lost my mind and said that I am probably the only woman she has ever heard saying that. But then she doesn’t know that I have always looked older than my age since my early teens (people thought that I had a kid way back then… not that they don’t do now..but now, at least I am of that age to actually have a kid )

With all the talk about being old, looking old, I was surprised to find this quote in Twitter 

Don’t know why, but this quote and my gym instructor’s aunt reminded me of Lady Danbury of Bridgerton Series (Author: Julia Quinn). (If you are a fan of romance novels, then you should read this series, for sure. Do not miss it.) Lady D is one of my ever favorite characters in all the series that I have read. Want to see one of her dialogues ? 

With her cane and her loud thumps and even louder statements , she is a character to reckon. After watching Downton Abbey, I am convinced that Maggie Smith will be very very apt for that character. While doing some search, found this link ‘The Family Bridgertons‘ where you can actually suggest actors to the characters for a series and some one had suggested Maggie Smith / Meryl Streep for Lady D. Meryl is one of my very favorite actresses. But I guess in this case, I would definitely go with Maggie.

What do you think about being old, looking old or Lady D (if you have read the series) ?

PS: The title is from the song  ‘One day‘ by Asif Avidan

One-Liner Wednesday

“Love’s about finding the one person who makes your heart complete. Who makes you a better person than you ever dreamed you could be.”― Julia Quinn, The Viscount Who Loved Me

Part of Linda’s One Liner Wednesday prompt

Portable Magic – Romance, Historically

It wasn’t until last year that I picked up my first Historical Romance written in the current times (that is to say ‘other than all the Jane Austen novels’). I had moved to a new city and had been assigned a new project which took all my holidays and weekends and I desperately need a break from it every day. And what better to pick up a light romance in those times which has an happy ending. And guess what, I picked one, and then next from the same author in the same series and before I knew it, I completed all the books from the same author. It was one of my earlier blogs. Project Lisa Kleypas: That is my post on all the books from that author, even though it did have a few contemporary romance also in the list. I sort of liked that era (won’t be so keen to travel back in time to live there…all that tight fitting clothes and too much elegance, the pressure to behave very lady like…nah!!! not my cup of tea). It was fun to read all the hierarchy, Counts, Viscount, Lords, Barons and their relative feminine versions. Of course I can’t tell you exactly who came after who in the power hierarchy if you ask me. But for a new comer on historical romances, it sure was very interesting. Because we don’t have all those kind of clothing here. Might actually suffocate us in this heat here. We did get a few passed on when we were ruled, but again if they don’t support this weather it cannot survive.  

After some time again I picked up the series by another author Julia Quinn. It wasn’t planned, but again I sort of completed her books too. The post is : Julia Quinn Series But the best of the lot till now is the Bridgerton Series. Boy, I just love that series. It was hilarious. I really laugh out loud when I feel like it. So sitting in the single room in my Guest house, reading these novels and laughing out loud in many places, I know I would have come across as a manic person to the rest of them in the flat. No wonder people stood a good foot away from me every time I went to get my food down. What would you do , if you are in the middle of a romantic situation and you feel all that love flowing around and suddenly you read something like this. 

“And, she was able to tell herself with some satisfaction, the man in question – one Colin Bridgerton – felt precisely the same way….
….His earth shook, his heart leaped, and Penelope knew without a doubt that his breath was taken away as well. For a good ten seconds.
Falling off a horse tended to do that to a man.”

or

“I’m not certain you’d know the right sort of man for you if he arrived on our doorstep riding an elephant.”
“I would think the elephant would be a fairly good indication that I ought to look elsewhere.”

I know it is cheeky and many may consider it really a stupid dialogue, but I love these kind of lines. Takes the pressure away from that incredibly intense romantic situation. And I love to laugh at very unexpected situations, trust me, I have some very very embarrassing moments to my account. That series (Bridgerton Series) is by far the best one I have read so far. I especially love Mrs D in that. That old lady with the witty tongue and a cane makes me want to hug her as much as I would be afraid of her, if she were real. And since it is all about siblings and family it was a bonus for me.  And even though I have read a lot of other historical romances whenever I felt the need for them, but these three in the list remain my ever favorite. 

The Sum of All Kisses – Quick , Pleasant read

Adding to my list of the Julia Quinn collection reads , ‘The Sum of All Kisses‘ is the latest in the Smythe-Smith series. Its interesting how a series of books of an author whom I read almost 10 months earlier still stays with me, because when I started with this book, I quickly recalled the story of the other two Smith’s especially that of Daniel, because this story revolves around the person who drove him to Italy in hiding and how one of the Smythe-Smith girls Sarah falls for him.

No need to point it out, but still , spoiler alert.

It was like reconnecting with a long lost family friend :). That was the feeling I got when I completed it today. It was a quick read anyways. And as usual you have the Julia Quinn’s humor through out, even though some are dry. But most of them are so necessary especially to diffuse any tense situations. Being a person who tends to blurt out inappropriate stuff at very inappropriate times all I could do was chuckle on the various things Sarah does and says at times. Hugh, who is crippled, oops, sorry , who is lame (Sarah doesn’t like any one calling him crippled) and who is very reserved and withdrawn especially with his injured leg warms up to Sarah. How in the end she comes to save him when it matters and how they make the best of their situations is what the story is all about. And yes , we do have the happy ending.

And yeah the (in)famous Lady D does makes a guest appearance. I really love that old lady. I wish I had someone like her in real life. It would be so much fun 😉

Typical Julia Quinn novel with full on historical romance and happy ever after.