Friday, December 26, 2014
review: the widow's daughter by nicholas edlin
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Penguin.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
review: auf wiedersehen by christa holder ocker
3/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, Stray Dog Media.
Monday, December 22, 2014
review: beyond limits by laura griffin
Beyond Limits brings together Elizabeth and Derek, who first met in Scorched, as they hunt for a terrorist who is plotting an attack in Texas. This latest edition of the Tracers series is light on the involvement of The Delphi Center with the techs there not really assisting in the case. It's a combination of Elizabeth's official work for the FBI and Derek's skills from his SEAL training that allows them to succeed. This shift away from The Delphi Center is a bit of a disappointment, especially since the plot is less suspenseful too. Others in the series had a very real threat to keep the reader on edge, but Beyond Limits doesn't reveal what the terrorist has planned until the final chapters making this installment heavier on the romance than the suspense. I didn't like Elizabeth when she was introduced in Scorched, but she is thankfully improved here. One part I really enjoyed was the depiction of Texas. Having lived in this state for six months (I've a native of the Pacific Northwest), I picked up on things like the Dairy Queen cup being used as a spittoon that I wouldn't have really noticed before. It makes me want to revisit the first three in the series (which are my favorites).
3/5
Review copy provided by the author.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
review: a murder at rosamund's gate by susanna calkins
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Minotaur Books.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
review: so tough to tame by victoria dahl
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
review: the haçienda by peter hook
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, It Books.
Monday, December 15, 2014
review: murder at the book group by maggie king
Given that it's a cozy, it's understandable that there's not much drama to Murder at the Book Group; however, the amount of time Hazel spends discussing Carlene and analyzing possible suspects grows to excruciating levels. King also inserts a number of strange asides about exercise and politics that didn't contribute to the development of the plot. Carlene's soap opera-esque bed-hopping did provide entertainment as well as create a grand number of suspects for her murder so that it is hard to guess just who suspicion should fall on.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
review: pieces of happily ever after by irene zutell
Pieces of Happily Ever After follows Alice as her world comes crashing in. Her husband is cheating with a celebrity and her mother's Alzheimer's is getting worse. Alice was likely intended to be a sympathetic character, but I often wondered why her husband hadn't left earlier given how overbearing and judgmental she was. And of course, in a like mother, like daughter, the young child was a brat too. What redeemed Pieces of Happily Ever After was that her husband's betrayal did cause a change in Alice. She actually made some friends and turned into a slightly better person. Irene Zutell also puts a humorous spin on some tough situations thus lightening the somewhat over-dramatic spin.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin.
Friday, December 12, 2014
review: chasing before by lenore appelhans
3/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
review: ghost trackers by jason hawes and grant wilson
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Books.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
review: ten things i've learnt about love by sarah butler
Alice returns to London just as her father is dying. It is clear that some secret is weighing on him, but Alice’s father dies before he reveals anything. In the alternating chapters, a homeless man is thinking about finally finding his daughter after 30 years. This man is, of course, Alice’s real father and that fact is apparent very early on. With no suspense as to how these two stories will come together, Ten Things I’ve Learnt about Love doesn’t have much going for it. Alice’s story of feeling like an outcast and roaming the planet is typical and boring while Daniel’s story detracted from Alice’s journey of finding out about her mother who died when she was young.
2/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
review: the crown by nancy bilyeau
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Touchstone.
Monday, December 1, 2014
review: black ice by becca fitzpatrick
They could’ve gone to Hawaii with friends for spring break, but instead Britt and Korbie are backpacking in the Grand Teton National Park where Korbie’s family owns a cabin. The two high school girls are traveling alone though they’ll meet up with Korbie’s boyfriend and her brother who happens to be Britt’s ex. At least that was the plan until the sunny day turns into a snow storm that forces the girls to stop on the road. Thinking that they’ll freeze when the Jeep runs out of gas, they decide to look for a cabin to wait out the storm. It’s a decision they will soon regret.
Black Ice is intense. From the moment the snow starts falling, Becca Fitzpatrick builds an increasingly perilous situation for the wholly unprepared girls. Britt proves to be tenacious though a bit impulsive which causes additional problems. Although some of the twists were easy to guess, with Black Ice being more about how Britt would survive the life-or-death situation she’s in, knowing the killer’s identity doesn’t detract from the drama.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
review: too hot to handle by victoria dahl
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Friday, November 28, 2014
review: saving grace by jane green
Saving Grace starts off slowly with a lot of background on how Ted and Grace got to where they are now. Ted is a temperamental, well-known author while Grace has turned to cooking (Jane Green includes a number of recipes in this novel) now that their daughter is grown. It seems like a fairly light read, but then turns dark when a new assistant comes into their lives. While I never really connected with Grace, who comes across as weak (did her childhood really damage her so much that she couldn't see what was happening?), Green does create an interesting premise albeit one that takes a little too long to get going.
3/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
review: s.e.c.r.e.t. shared by l. marie adeline
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
review: it's the great pumpkin: the making of a television classic by lee mendelson
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Dey Street Books.
Monday, November 24, 2014
review: playing with matches by suri rosen
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, ECW Press.
Friday, November 14, 2014
review: now that you're here by amy k. nichols
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
review: every contact leaves a trace by elanor dymott
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, W.W. Norton and Company.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
review: boomerang by noelle august
2/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Monday, November 3, 2014
review: tabloid city by pete hamill
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Back Bay Books.
review: when we fall by emily liebert
Both women were realistically presented as flawed though sometimes Allison was too naïve while Charlotte jumped to too many conclusions. Another downside was that Charlotte’s friends too often seemed like caricatures. Given how character-driven When We Fall is, the story would’ve been better with stronger character development; however, the plot was engaging and moved with a quickness that really draws in the reader.
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
review: christopher's diary: secrets of foxworth by v.c. andrews
Cathy told her side of the story in Flowers in the Attic, now Christopher has his chance in Christopher’s Diary: Secrets of Foxworth. On a visit to the burned out Foxworth mansion, distant relative Kristin and her construction worker father come across Christopher’s diary which miraculously survived two fires and many passing decades. Kristin soon becomes consumed by the diary which recounts the story well known to readers, but which has been distorted over the years for Kristin and the other residents of the town. Christopher reveals nothing new in his diary though the relationship between him and his mother gets a bit creepier. There’s more of Kristin than Christopher here, but Kristin’s reactions ally with those who read Flowers in the Attic so that she seems like a good friend you’re sharing the story with. This novel sets up the next in the Christopher’s Diary series, Echoes of Dollanganger, which will hopefully include more from the diary of what went on in the attic (disappointingly, Secrets of Foxworth doesn’t include aspects that would be great to hear from Christopher’s perspective such as what he saw when he explored the mansion alone) as well as delve deeper into Kristin’s budding relationship with Kane (the two K names have to mean something!).
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Books.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
review: the missing place by sophie littlefield
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
review: the life list by lori nelson spielman
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Bantam Books.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
review: the barter by siobhan adcock
3/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
review: cold calls by charles benoit
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
review: cinderland by amy jo burns
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
review: 29 by adena halpern
29 was a primarily fun read with Ellie reflecting on her past giving some humorous advice (remember to moisturize!) though the parts with Frida and Barbara became annoying after a while. It was also in those Frida/Barbara parts where things didn’t always add up. Frida locks herself out of her apartment and waits for Barbara in the lobby, but it then becomes clear the doorman has a key. That detail becomes even more important a bit later, but Adena Halpern continues to overlook that fact so that Frida and Barbara can have even more trouble.
About the audiobook: Adena Halpern’s 29 is read by Lorna Raver. Raver’s reading was spot-on with Barbara having a particularly grating tone while Ellie, Frida, and Lucy sounded their respective ages. 29 was published by Blackstone Audio in 2014 and runs 9 hours.
4/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
review: above the east china sea by sarah bird
In two stories that eventually intermingle, two teenage girls live in Okinawa—one in present time on an Air Force Base and another during World War II—in Sarah Bird's Above the East China Sea. Both are stories of family, disappointment, and struggle. The novel was a bit uneven with the storyline split as the present day plot was much stronger and more emotional. Although Bird brings the two stories together, the World War II parts often felt like they were there as a history lesson. Fortunately the present day story makes up for those more tedious plot points.
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
review: the good girl by mary kubica
Throughout The Good Girl the woman who the book centers on doesn’t tell her story until the very end. It was a bit puzzling (before the ending), but it worked well to have everything told from the perspective of Mia’s mother, Mia’s kidnapper, and the detective investigating the case. The shifting perspectives as well as the nonlinear fashion in which Kubica relayed created more tension and mystery than likely would have occurred otherwise.
About the audiobook: The Good Girl is read by Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller, Tom Taylorson, and Andi Arndt. As the novel changes perspective with each chapter, the different readers made it much easier to follow. Johnny Heller and Tom Taylorson were most enjoyable as they changed tone to distinguish between the dialogue of the other characters. The Good Girl was published in 2014 by Blackstone Audio and runs 10 hours and 38 minutes.
4/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
review: dark tide by elizabeth haynes
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Harper.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
review: a blind spot for boys by justina chen
A Blind Spot for Boys is beautifully written with great descriptions and plenty of highly emotional moments, but it's also predictable. Too frequently Justina Chen falls back on clichéd responses--Shana's dad isolates himself from the family, a minor character who is a wealthy jerk saves only himself, and Quattro runs hot and cold with Shana. But Chen also excels at creating family and friend dynamics, so that even the clichés seem reasonable.
4/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
review: mating for life marissa stapley
2/5
Review copy provided by BookSparksPR.
Monday, September 22, 2014
review: little girl gone by drusilla campbell
While the plot has all the right elements to make an interesting and dramatic story, Little Girl Gone is a little lackluster. It’s all pretty predictable with an ending that falls flat and felt tacked on. There are some compelling moments, but they weren’t enough to push this one out of mediocrity.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Grand Central Publishing.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
review: one hundred names by cecelia ahern
3/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
review: keep the change by steve dublanica
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Ecco Press.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
review: going vintage by lindsey leavitt
The lists that began each chapter were cute, but Mallory's sister was more than a bit annoying. I'm not sure how Mallory didn't smack Ginnie when she would get all know-it-all-y about being "authentic." Although Ginnie unfortunately didn't show any growth, Mallory made an excellent evolution from being a bit selfish and impulsive to having a larger understanding of her life.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Bloomsbury.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
review: september girls by bennett madison
September Girls has a lot going on, but none of it is particularly plotted out. After Sam’s mother takes off after making new friends on Facebook, Sam’s father decides to take Sam and his older brother on a summer vacation to the beach. Sam’s brother declares it’s time for 17-year-old Sam to lose his virginity which should be easy enough to do given the abundance of attractive, flirtatious girls living in this beach town. But these are not ordinary girls. As Sam will eventually find out, the girls were cursed by their father and have only a short time here to defeat the curse. It’s a big mess of an almost nonsensical plot.
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, HarperTeen.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
review: breakfast served anytime by sarah combs
Breakfast Served Anytime is set at what Gloria calls “Geek Camp.” It’s there that, separated from her best friend, Gloria makes new friends and learns how little she knows about the world. She befriends people she never would’ve been friends with if they attended her high school and is challenged by the class she’s taking at camp. Sarah Combs’s debut is splendid. Gloria starts off as a bit of a judgmental brat, but her evolution is so beautifully written that it’s easy root for her.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Candlewick Press.
Monday, September 1, 2014
review: nowhere but home by liza palmer
So what’s the book about and why did I love it so much (besides the setting)? Well, a woman named Queen Elizabeth Wake (yeah, she goes by Queenie) has been a bit of a wanderer ever since leaving her hometown—a place where she was always an outcast simply because she was a Wake. After being fired from yet another job, she decides to go home for a bit. Her sister still lives there and Queenie hasn’t seen her nephew, now a high school freshman and great football player, since he was a baby. Although she intended to make it a short visit, Queenie ends up staying far longer for a multitude of reasons.
Nowhere but Home has a fantastic family and small town dynamic to it. The growth that Queenie experiences, especially when working in the prison kitchen, over the course of the novel is quite the ride, but it’s a good one. Queenie learns a lot about herself and the life she fled. Palmer excellently inserts humor into what is, at times, a very emotional story so that it all comes together marvelously.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, William Morrow.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
review: wild within by melissa hart
2/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
review: tuesday's gone by nicci french
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Penguin.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
review: dead float by warren c. easley
With a few chapters of set-up, Warren C. Easley establishes the story for those who haven’t read the first book in the series then gets right to the discovery of the body. From there the drama dies down a bit, but ramps back up for a big ending. Although Dead Float is not action-packed, it’s still a gripping mystery with excellent descriptions (particularly of the Deschutes River and surrounding area). Cal’s attachment to his dog and daughter (who has quite the tale as well in a subplot that throws off the pacing) makes the intelligent lawyer quickly relatable while his dalliance with a married woman becomes forgivable.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, MM Book Publicity.
Monday, August 25, 2014
review: follow me by joanna scott
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Back Bay Books.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
review: the curse of van gogh by paul hoppe
1/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
review: my last kiss by bethany neal
Although Cassidy seems to be in ghost form so she can solve the mystery of her own death, she doesn’t seem terribly concerned about actually doing that. Cassidy comes across as vapid as her main concerns are about boys and her friends rather than figuring out who she was on the bridge with and why. When she discovers that her boyfriend can hear her, they first discuss her being a ghost before she bothers to ask about the night she died. It’s a conversation that lasts six short sentences before the subject goes back to Cassidy haunting Ethan. Cassidy does so little to figure out how she died that My Last Kiss is less of a mystery than a trite story about underage drinking and bad freinds.
2/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
review: all fall down by jennifer weiner
Allison is incredibly selfish and wholly unlikable. Throughout All Fall Down I found myself wanting to strangle her. She became even worse in rehab. It's possible no other fictional character has ever been so haughty and self-righteous. The plot also feels unrealistic as Jennifer Weiner herself seems to acknowledge when Allison shares her addiction timeline and story in rehab. She went from hardly ever even drinking to full-blown pill addict (albeit one who suffered no consequences other than having her daughter’s teacher stop her from driving until she drank some coffee) after being prescribed a painkiller for back pain. And then after spending so much time with Allison lamenting her life and refusing to believe she’s an addict, Weiner tacks on a pat ending where nothing has been dealt with.
About the audiobook: Since I started reviewing audiobooks, I've discovered that nothing makes me hate a book more than a whiny child character narrated in a grating whine throughout. Although I hated Allison, I sometimes felt sympathy for her when Ellie would screech. Jennifer Weiner’s All Fall Down is narrated by Tracee Chimo (who plays Neri Feldman on Orange is the New Black). It runs 12 hours 45 minutes and was published by Simon & Schuster Audio in 2014.
2/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.
Friday, August 15, 2014
review: elly in love by colleen oakes
Elly in Love finds florist Elly being tapped to do a celebrity wedding that will be part of a reality show. Of course the celebrity wants things like navy blue flowers and is always partying when Elly needs to discuss wedding plans. Further complicating matters, a young man Elly’s never met shows up resulting in much upheaval. Then to top things off, her boyfriend is keeping secrets.
While Elly in Love had its moments, the second book in the series mostly grated. Elly’s assistant always being referred to as “Snarky Teenager” was amusing at first, but quickly wore thin especially since she wasn’t really snarky. Elly’s underlying insecurity regarding her size made appearances occasionally, but seemed to have inserted simply to make her more relatable. The best moments were the few scenes when Elly worked on the celebrity client’s wedding and gave her some great advice about friends that aren’t really friends.
2/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
review: the rules by stacey kade
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Hyperion.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
review: serenade by emily kiebel
3/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Friday, August 8, 2014
review: gravel on the side of the road by kris radish
1/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
review: letters from skye by jessica brockmole
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Ballantine Books.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
review: molly's game by molly bloom
After attending college in Colorado and having to leave the US ski team due to injury, Molly Bloom headed to Los Angeles without a plan and only $2000. She crashed on the couch of a former teammate, but he made it clear it needed to be a temporary situation. So Molly headed to Beverly Hills to look for a waitressing job. Although her first waitressing job didn’t go well, the next led to the exhilarating world of high stakes poker games frequented by the very wealthy, including movie stars. In Molly’s Game, Bloom documents how she went from waitressing to running underground poker games that would eventually get her arrested. Her journey is an incredible one, but the story starts off a bit slow with a lot of background about her early life. Once Bloom gets into the poker scene, she reveals herself to be naïve, but good-hearted through her engaging, quick-paced writing.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, It Books.
Monday, August 4, 2014
review: rooms by lauren oliver
Lauren Oliver’s Rooms constantly shifts narrators—some are dead and some are alive—while taking place almost entirely in the home of the recently departed Richard Walker. As Richard’s ex-wife, two children, and granddaughter arrive, the ghosts of the house observe them and share their own stories in the narration. It makes for an incredibly disjointed and somewhat confusing story. The characters lacked depth and were wholly unlikable as a result.
2/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
review: the perfect stranger by wendy corsi staub
The Perfect Stranger poses a question that more people probably should ask—how much information exists about you online? Meredith posted plenty of identifying information on her blog and while Landry tries hard not to, it’s easy for anyone who knows her name to learn quite a bit. A few of Wendy Corsi Staub’s choices detract from the mystery to make it far less engaging. The use of present tense generally felt forced. The Perfect Stranger also had far too many “main” characters for any connection to be made. During the final tense scenes, I didn’t care which characters lived or who the killer was.
3/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
review: the revealed by jessica hickam
Lily lives in fear of The Revealed, a group said to kidnap people during their 18th year. Because of that, parents typically keep their kids confined to their homes during that year. Lily’s parents do just that, but they have even bigger reasons than most parents—Lily’s father is running for president of the North American Sector which was formed after a devastating war. He’s running against a man he used to be friends with. That man is also the father of one of Lily’s former classmates—a boy Lily has come to hate after once being close.
Jessica Hickam spends little time on world-building which works both for and against The Revealed. The novel doesn’t get bogged down with lots of background information, but it also leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The Revealed ends with so many unanswered questions that it seems Hickam was intentionally setting up a sequel. The characters and story are interesting enough to sustain a follow-up, but tighter writing could have wrapped up the story in one book.
4/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Monday, July 28, 2014
review: this beautiful life by helen schulman
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Harper Perennial.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
review: what strange creatures by emily arsenault
The dynamic between the siblings was excellent and the portrayal of the relationship became all the better once Theresa and Jeff’s parents arrived on scene. The murder mystery and political scandal elements kept up the intrigue, but What Strange Creatures dragged a bit when Theresa would wax on about her dissertation. Having an English degree, I’m somewhat familiar with Margery Kempe, who Theresa was writing about, but all the extra details were not very interesting though Emily Arsenault did well to draw parallels between Theresa and Margery.
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
review: the walk-in closet by abdi nazemian
4/5
Review copy provided by BookSparksPR.
Monday, July 21, 2014
review: the heiresses by sara shepard
Despite the constant spotlight and rumors of a family curse, the Saybrook heiresses do pretty well for themselves. But when Poppy plunges to her death from the company’s headquarters, the gossip intensifies with someone devoting a website to all the bad. The cousins must work together to figure out who’s out to get them, but that’s hard to do when they’re all self-absorbed and keeping secrets.
The lesson here seems to be not to keep secrets from your family. If all of the Saybrooks had just been honest with each other, Poppy’s killer wouldn’t have had any power and possibly any motivation. The Heiresses is soap opera-esque with plenty of scandal, tragedy, and misdeeds mixing in with the mystery of who killed Poppy. Sara Shepard makes sure to include a lot of misdirection so that the reader is never quite sure who is seeking revenge on the Saybrooks. The Heiresses is a suspenseful, guilty pleasure ride.
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
review: sisterhood everlasting by ann brashares
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
review: the keeper of secrets by julie thomas
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, William Morrow.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
review: eyes on you by kate white
Eyes on You immediately appealed because of Robin’s job in television, which was accurately portrayed. Beyond that, Kate White created a compelling character who is both vulnerable and strong and capable but fallible. Even as doubts about Robin’s sanity crept in, she remained a rootable protagonist. The plot moves quickly with plenty of intrigue and enough misdirection to keep the reader guessing.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Monday, July 14, 2014
review: panic by lauren oliver
Lauren Oliver’s latest young adult novel provides a peek at the desperation that is sometimes felt by teens lacking control of their lives. Panic takes place in a poverty-stricken small town—the sort of town the kids all want to escape. But it usually takes money to escape, which is why the graduating seniors are so willing to take place in the high stakes game of Panic. No one’s quite sure how the game got started, but Panic has life and death consequences. One of those consequences is why Dodge is participating this year even though he’s an outsider. As for Heather, she’s seeking a better life as her mom and stepdad spiral in addiction. Heather and Dodge were well drawn as were the supporting characters so that their small town angst was completely understandable. And Panic seemed exactly like the sort of game these kids would play even as the cops tried to stop it. The town and its atmosphere really becomes a character too in Panic with Oliver’s descriptions of the diner, trailer park, and Meth Row. The challenges set by the Panic judges are nicely intertwined with the everyday lives of the characters.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Friday, July 11, 2014
review: after i do by taylor jenkins reid
Lauren and Ryan have been together since meeting in college, but now things aren't going well after a decade as a couple (six married years). They fight all the time and feel they no longer love each other. So just before Lauren's 30th birthday, they agree to separate for a year.
I initially didn't think I was going to like After I Do (I did have high expectations after loving Forever, Interrupted) because Lauren and Ryan seemed so awful as to only deserve each other. But it turns out they did deserve each other--not because they were awful, but for far better reasons. I loved that through the character evolution and the use of unsent emails Taylor Jenkins Reid made Lauren and Ryan rootable.
4/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Monday, June 16, 2014
review: dancing on broken glass by ka hancock
Lucy and Mickey agreed to never have children because of their genetics—her mother and grandmother died from cancer and Lucy survived it while Mickey is bipolar. Despite a tubal ligation, Lucy finds out she’s pregnant during one of her checkups. Although the timing is less than ideal with Mickey only just being released from the hospital, Lucy can’t see not having the baby regardless of their agreement. There’s so much hope between the couple, but then Dancing on Broken Glass becomes devastating. Be prepared with a box of Kleenex as these characters will break your heart.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.
Monday, June 9, 2014
review: sight reading by daphne kalotay
Sight Reading follows two women, Hazel and Remy, along with the man they each married. When the story begins, Hazel and Nicholas are married and have a young daughter. As Sight Reading continues, Nicholas has an affair with Remy, who he later marries. With Nicholas and Remy being musicians, the musical themes of Sight Reading mostly work, but did seem a bit of a stretch at times. The book gets bogged down in the musical references. And perhaps because of the music theme, the story felt unbalanced whenever the focus turned to Hazel.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Harper Perennial.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
review: forever faithful by karen kingsbury
In one large volume, the works that make up Karen Kingsbury’s Forever Faithful trilogy are brought together. Waiting for Morning centers around a woman who loses her husband and one daughter in a car accident that injured her other daughter. A Moment of Weakness deals with childhood friends reuniting as adults just as the cheating husband of one launches a custody battle. Halfway to Forever brings the characters of the first two together with the couples facing great strife. All three stories had great potential, but there was far too much heavy-handed moralizing. In the world Kingsbury creates here, there are clear lines between the good and the bad; and the good are always the Christians while the bad are always the nonbelievers. It’s just not that simple in real life. In the end, the plots were highly predictable and one-dimensional.
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Multnomah.
Friday, June 6, 2014
review: learning to stay by erin celello
Getting along while her husband was fighting in Iraq was hard, but Elise never expected it would be even harder when he returned with a brain injury. Elise struggles to care for her husband who doesn’t want her help, maintain their fixer-upper house, and work on an important case at the law firm where she needs to prove herself.
Learning to Stay was a difficult book. It was heart-wrenching to read how changed Brad was when he returned. Elise had to make some very difficult choices on her own and they weren’t always the best choices, but they are entirely understandable. The descriptions were eloquent and brought the dramatic scenes to life. After all the tears it was nice that Learning to Stay ended on an uplifting note, but it didn’t seem very realistic.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, NAL Accent.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
review: the witch of belladonna bay by suzanne palmieri
3/5
Review copy provided by BookSparks PR.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
feature: friends and lovers by vristen pierce
I gave Hank my brightest smile. “I think I’d like a Screaming Orgasm.” Justin definitely brought out my mischievous side and I had to admit I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the way Hank’s eyes narrowed at my audacity.
Justin wrapped an arm around my waist. “And I think I just may give you one or two before the night’s over.”
I laughed just as Hank grunted and ambled off to get the drinks.
Justin chuckled near my ear. “Did you have to order that?”
“Yes.” I turned around and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “You make me naughty.”
He gave me a sexy smirk. “Oh, do I?”
I nodded.
“Care to prove it?”