Teaser Tuesdays: In the Eye of the Beholder

Last week, I started reading I See You by Holly Lisle. I still am reading that book, and loving it. The entire story so far has been written at least competently, and in some instances, Holly has excelled. I totally get her characters, even when they don’t make normal sense, because she shows me who they are.

That’s my paper book. But I’ve also picked up an ebook by Sharon Cathcart (who will be visiting with us on this very blog on Thursday), her short novel (about 50K words) In the Eye of the Beholder. My first impressions: If 90% of everything is crap, then this definitely falls within the remaining 10%. I’m about ¼ through, and I’m very much enjoying it. Unfortunately, time flies when you’re having fun, and so do books; I’ll probably have finished both of these books in a blink of an eye, and then I’ll be looking for something else that I love reading.

In the Eye of the Beholder stars Erik, the Phantom of the Opera, and is set some time following the events of the famous story by Gaston Leroux. (According to this storyline, prior reports of Erik’s death have clearly been exaggerated.) But the real story of In the Eye of the Beholder revolves around the heroine, Claire, an educated but simple woman, who had lost her fiancé, the only man she loved, in a disaster just before they were to be married. Even though she is intelligent and capable, because of the way the law is written, her cousin has been given complete control over her estate, unless and until she marries, leaving her with no possessions and little spending money. She gently tends and performs with the horses at the opera house, a job that embodies her passion… until someone tries to murder her and make it look like an accident.

Here’s today’s teaser, from p. 48 of the Smashwords PDF edition:

I looked out the window but could only see a man, in profile, holding a lantern.

“Mademoiselle Claire,” the man called, “are you inside?”

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just follow the directions at the “Teaser Tuesdays” post.

-TimK

P.S. I’m gearing up to launch a new eBook Reviews blog. There are no posts up yet, but you can subscribe to the ebook reviews, in order to receive posts when they begin. The idea is that when I read a novel or memoir—in ebook form, or a book that has an electronic edition available—I’ll post a short review over there. To start with, I’m going through my backlog of book reviews, of books I’ve already read, and finding those that have electronic editions, as well as ebooks I’ve recently read. By the way, I’m particularly fond of low-priced ebooks, and I’ve found some that are definitely worthy of recommending.