MY BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN

This is Book Six. Click here for the Bradt Cousins' review of Book One.

Stephanie Bradt: I honestly don’t remember much about MY BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN either. Not quite the same old rant I had for the last few books, though. For starters, I believe this book was more focused and organized than others. Not surprisingly, this book also seems to be shorter than most of the others in the series. I do not know this for a fact, but to me this means that at the very least the story had more of a point. Basically, Jacky is sort of forced into a deal with the British Crown to go spy for them against Napoleon. Her escort is a young man, a French Royalist by the name of Jean-Paul de Valdon. As Jacky would say, “Hmmmmmm.”

That being said, I do not quite remember what that aforementioned point was. I remember bits and pieces like:

-The title refers to the line of a song Meyer already referenced in one of the previous books.

-They talk about the death of Marat. I remember the painting “The Death of Marat” from an Art History class I took. According to the story, a new character, Jean-Paul de Valdon (I had to look up his name), explains to Jacky how his cousin or something like that was the one who killed Marat. This is kind of cheesy, but I liked how a) I remembered something from Art History class and how b) Meyer again weaves historical fact with fiction and I like it.

-Speaking of fact and fiction, Jacky hangs out with Napoleon, visits his wife, and falls asleep on his lap. Of course she does.

-Jacky makes out with the mustachioed Jean-Paul de Valdon in a tent. Of course she does.

-Jacky’s old shipmate, Joseph Jared, comes back in this one. His arrogant but loyal personality is growing on me. Jacky still finds him very attractive. Of course she does.

This book's featured side in Jacky’s love dodecagon: Jean-Paul de Valdon. He annoyed me (what a surprise).
My favorite new character: Dr. Sebastian, a doctor/scientist. Jacky illustrates for his books. I’m not sure if this was the exact book in which the doc was first introduced, but I like him better than Jean-Paul. So there you go.



Jordan Bradt: Time for another installment of the Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer. This time, we shall explore book six, MY BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN. I read it back in 2008, so I don’t remember too much, other than that this is one of my favorites in the series. My ultimate favorite is still the first book, though.

In this book…well, I can’t really give you a direct summary because, like the other books, this is all over the place and involves many different plots. So, I shall make another list! This time, I’ll mention the themes of the novel:

1) Marriage – Jacky is still waiting for Jaimy to sweep her off her feet. STILL WAITING.
2) New and old characters – It’s enjoyable to read about familiar faces, but at the same time, some appear in very random moments.
3) Ships – Yup, it’s another nautical adventure.
4) Food poisoning – fun time for a crew when they eat rotten fish.
5) France – Yay, a new country! I love it when books take you to different historical locations.
6) Ballet – Jacky is good at everything else, so why not throw in some sophisticated dancing as well?
7) Spy – Jacky becomes a spy. May I repeat that Jacky is good at everything.
8) Love interests – yes, new guys adore her. She leads them on and at the last minute “remembers” Jaimy.
9) Napoleon – I love stories with historical figures.
10) Prison – Jacky goes to prison. Fun times.