Six Degrees of Separation Meme for January. From Beach Read to a series about Queen Victoria.

 I love reading blog posts based on this meme hosted by  Kate. As you can see, January's book is Beach Read by Emily Henry. I am a bit late, unfortunately. Unfortunately, I found much of this book annoying, although I really liked another one by Emily Henry set on the Orient Express. This one was too self-consciously cute, and I didn't like Gus, one of the main characters, very much, because he attempted to help victims of trauma by writing novels, and I thought that it would have been better for him to be a journalist.. Also, there was a lot of swearing in it. I will be giving it away!

Although January is a pretty name, I think, it is an unusual one, so I looked for other books featuring a January as the heroine. I don't like fantasy much, but The Ten Thousand Doors of January looks rather good, with its story of a strictly-brought up girl finding a secret chest leading to adventure. This is by Alis A. Harrow. Some of my ancestors went to Harrow, I think, an elite boy's school in England. Lord Byron, the famous poet who was 'mad, bad and dangerous', also went there, so my second link is to my review of Byron's Women.

My third link is to one of Byron's women. One of Byron's lovers was the beautiful and talented Lady Caroline Lamb who wrote the novel Glenarvon. Lady Caroline developed an obsession with Byron, who was nasty and cruel to her, and this didn't help her depression, and her marriage, which was troubled even before this. Lady Caroline was married to Lord Melbourne. Lord Melbourne was Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister.

The handsome Rufus Sewell (who would be excellent as Lord Byron) was enchanting as Lord Melbourne in the excellent series "Victoria", based on Queen Victoria's early life and marriage. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we are going to get a fourth series. This series is one of my favourites, and I watch it often.

Beach Read is a very American romance, so it's surprising that I ended up with a series about Queen Victoria!