Viva Jacquelina!: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky… (edition 2012)

Slower than previous books (the bulk of this one takes place in Goya's art studio, not really a hotbed of adventure) but entertaining enough. Really, I'm following through on this series because Katherine Kellgren is still doing an amazing job with the audios, and they're just such fun listening. Even if the books themselves are... um... less than great now. ( )

Another Bloody Jack adventure. While Jamie is in Rangoon, recovering from his misadventures in the previous volume, Jackie is sent by the British as a spy to Spain to get information on the French plans. Finding a position as a model in the studio of the famous artist Goya, she makes new friends and adds to her amazing list of adventures. ( )

Oh Jacky! Again men just can’t help being drawn to her! I think my favorite part is when she eats the mushrooms and has a whole conversation with Brother Frog and of course since our Jacky is always thinking and after she comes down from her high she saves some of these mushrooms to use at a later time. And when she does it is hilarious!!! She ends up being the inventor of Purple haze!

Our Jacky also finds herself in her own version of the Girl with the Pearl Earring and running with the bulls. Oh and gets herself caught up in the inquisition too! I think Jacky found her long lost family in the gypsies too she fit in so well with them!

As usual Jacky finds herself caught in bad situations and meets famous people, but there was something different about this book, Jacky seemed a bit more mature and although she does want to get to Jamie it isn’t all encompassing as it has been in past books, and Jamie was a bit more secondary in this one. She meets a lot of new people, yes she still runs into people she knows but not as many as in past books and she didn’t have Higgins with her which I missed. And the ending was very abrupt but it sounds like everyone is headed to Boston so I guess we will see if Jacky & Jamie ever do get together. I love this series but I think I do see the end in sight which is sad but I’d hate to see this series run into the ground by having too many books, this is a series that you can read over and over again so it’s not like I can’t go back and visit Jacky anytime I want to.

Katy Kellgren makes these books even better with her perfect narration and singing, yes, lots & lots of singing and in many different languages & styles and she pulls it off with seeming ease. It's a rollicking good time and as always Katherine Kellgren's narration is perfection!

Loved it as usual but I want the next one NOW!

4 ½ Stars ( )

Viva Jacquelina! is the tenth book in the Bloody Jack series. This review contains some mild spoilers, so if you are a fan of the series and have not yet read the book, you may want to read it before reading this review.

To tell the truth, this is the first Bloody Jack book that I have been less than satisfied with. Part of the problem may have been that Jacky spends most of the story on land (she's always at her best when she's at sea) and separated, not just from Jaimy (par for the course), but also from Higgins and all of her other friends. Naturally, she meets a few more notable historical figures of the time period -- I'm not going to quibble at that; sure, it's over-the-top, but the tall-tale feel is a stylistic decision on the part of the author, and is consistent with the rest of the series.

My other problem with this book was that I didn't feel any heat between Jacky and Jaimy. This problem actually started in the previous book, with Jaimy's temporary insanity and Jacky spending a whole lot of time with the charming Lord Richard Allen -- I got the feeling that Jacky was only rescuing Jaimy from himself out of a sense of duty (it was, after all, her supposed death that drove him mad), and that if she had her choice at that point, she would have taken Lord Richard. In this book, Jacky spends a lot of time leading on a boy several years younger than herself -- I felt badly for him, since it seemed to me that Jacky never made a point of telling him, as she was so fond of doing with other boys in previous books, that she was Promised To Another. (I cynically wonder if she chose this boy to toy with because he was not much of a threat to her virtue, or what remains of it.) Jaimy, meanwhile, is off successfully resisting Seedra's charms in Rangoon, and planning on getting back to Jacky, but in achieving a state of Zen he loses some of his typical ardor. In real life, I would expect Jacky and Jaimy to grow apart, especially since they never get to see each other or spend much time together, but so much of the dramatic tension of the series rides on Jacky and Jaimy's romance that it seems a little anticlimactic for them to drift apart as they seem to be doing.

There were certainly things that I enjoyed in this book -- it's not lacking in the old Jacky Faber charm -- and I'll certainly continue to read the series. I'm just starting to wonder if it might be time for the series to start drawing to a close. . . . ( )

Once again, my favorite heroine Jacky Faber has another book out. Jacky is now in Spain spying for the British, flirting with every available male and studying with the famous artist Goya. This wonderful series that started 10 books ago with Bloody Jack is just as funny and clever as the first book. L.A. Meyer has created a character that can charm her way out of prison, a girl's finishing school, being captured by Chinese pirates, Napoleon and bandits on the Mississippi all while just missing her true love Jaimy in her world travels. The books all include actual historical characters and events mixed in with a dose of craziness. You will cheer on Jacky in Viva Jacquelina! up to the last page ! ( )