review: memoirs of a widowed mistress by megan van eyck

Memoirs of a Widowed Mistress is compelling and stunningly honest, but the title is a bit misleading as Megan van Eyck’s story is more than just the story of losing her lover; she delves into how she became a woman who would accept a loveless marriage and agree to what was initially said to be “sex and only sex” with another man. As it turns out (and is exactly what I expected), van Eyck has abandonment issues from a childhood filled with neglect. Furthermore, she self-diagnoses bipolar disorder (it was unclear if a doctor confirmed this though there is mention of medication); at the very least, van Eyck was incredibly depressed after the birth of her second son. Her depression caused her to lose all interest in sex, so she definitely wasn’t looking to start anything when she met Carlos at the airport. But an affair did eventually begin despite them both being married and a significant age difference (Carlos has a daughter who is a year older than van Eyck). The graphically described affair lasted over five years and ended only because Carlos died of a rare blood disorder. Although van Eyck doesn’t get political with this memoir, her experience in being shut out of Carlos’s final moments does reveal how non-family members are often left out.
4/5
Review copy provided by the author.

review: fatal february by barbara levenson

Fatal February finds Mary Katz representing wealthy Lillian Yarmouth who stands accused of murdering her philandering husband. Mary has a bit of a messy personal life too now that she’s cheated on her fiancé. Because she works for his firm, not only is the wedding off, but Mary’s out of a job. Fortunately, Lillian still wants Mary to represent her, so Mary has her first client for her independent practice.

There are really two plots within Fatal February. One is good while the other borders on ridiculous. First, the good one, which involves the Yarmouth family and the murder trial. There’s a great twist here that I absolutely did not expect. Barbara Levenson’s background as an attorney certainly aided this interesting plot. Mary’s personal life, on the other hand, made me want to put the book down. While it’s completely believable her ex would be vindictive on a professional level (firing her, filing ethics charges, etc.), the violence seemed over the top. Perhaps it would seem in character if he’d been more developed, but he was just a one-dimensional bad guy. Then there’s Mary’s new love Carlos, who was just too good to be true. I kept waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. The character development was weak all around.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, MM Book Publicity.

review: bumped by megan mccafferty

In a world where teens are expected to get pregnant before a potential virus renders them infertile, attractive twins named Melody and Harmony are very desirable breeders. Or at least Melody is. The twins were adopted by different families (almost all children are adopted in this dystopian universe) and have only just now found each other at sixteen. Harmony ended up with The Church meaning she’s expected to marry young and attempt to have biological children with her husband. Melody, on the other hand, goes to a regular high school, will likely go to college (the money she gets for her baby will more than cover tuition), and will decide when and if she eventually marries.

With Bumped, Megan McCafferty immediately plunges the reader into this new world. There’s no explanation of the rules and only a little background is given in the first few pages. I was confused at times (for example, why hadn’t Melody “bumped” yet?), but things became much clearer by the second section which is when I really started getting into Bumped. It is a world much like our own, but technology has advanced and everyone uses MiNet to contact each other and track people’s whereabouts (it's not overt, but this is an interesting commentary on people's current obsession with broadcasting minute details of their lives). McCafferty did an excellent job creating a plausible future where babies and the teens who birth them are hot commodities. It is an incredibly enjoyable story, though it is disturbing to think people could come to this. (And by this I mean the fact that the desirable teens are expected to sleep together for the sole purpose of creating a baby as genetically perfect as possible and that the baby is essentially sold to the highest bidder.)

Here’s the thing though: I really wish Bumped had ended one chapter before it did. I don’t need every loose end wrapped up by the end of a book (especially when there’s going to be a sequel as there will be with Bumped), but the last chapter reopened questions I thought had been answered. It left me expecting another chapter whereas the second to last chapter provided a satisfying conclusion.
4/5
ARC Review
Review copy provided by the publisher, Balzer + Bray.

giveaway winners: the sweetest thing

Congratulations winnie and drey! They're the winners of The Sweetest Thing.

review: my infamous life by albert "prodigy" johnson

This post contains affiliate links.

Mobb Deep’s Prodigy (with Laura Checkoway) shares his story of coming up in the music industry and what led to his time in prison in My Infamous Life. The timeline jumps around a bit (for example, he writes of dropping out of high school, then references going to school a few pages later) which leads to a disjointed feel, but Prodigy’s incredible story still comes across.

Prodigy starts with his early life and gives background on his parents and grandparents. They, too, were involved in music and entertainment; his grandmother even had her own dance studio. So it only makes sense that he would also find that music is his passion. Despite his grandparents’ wealth, Prodigy didn’t grow up with much; furthermore, his father was a drug addict and that created family strife. I found this and later sections where he discussed his personal life with the woman he had two children with and eventually married to be the most interesting. This is where you see the man rather than the celebrity. Too often Prodigy recounts his successes with far-fetched brags about being the first, the best, etc. to accomplish something.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Touchstone.

review: the secret life of damian spinelli by carolyn hennesy

If you’re a fan of General Hospital, you’ll definitely want to read the new tie-in book by Carolyn Hennesy. With The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli, Hennesy completely nails Spinelli’s voice. It is filled with his hubris and outrageous imagination. I loved the parts when Diane Miller (Hennesy’s character on the show) calls him out. Here’s part of one scene:

“Stop it!” I said, flinging my pen down for the tenth time. “Stop it. You have never been on the Nevskiy Prospekt or in St. Petersburg, for that matter!”

“Your doubt of my veracity causes me no end of sadness, Brusque Barrister,” Spinelli said, doing a terrific basset hound impression. “But I can attest, most assuredly, that I was a prize student of the comical arts. Perhaps you’ll recall the Port Charles carnival of some months ago and how my ‘clune’ skills dazzled and delighted all who saw them?”

But those great scenes between Diane and Spinelli didn’t make up the bulk of the book, which is primarily Spinelli’s cockamamie stories, and thus, I got annoyed by his ridiculousness a few more times than I would’ve liked. Just like when I watch the show, I wanted to smack Spinelli. Now that is making a book come alive.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Hyperion.

review: emily and einstein by linda francis lee

A seemingly perfect life is almost destroyed when Emily’s husband Sandy is hit and killed by a car. Sandy, who was quite the jerk even if Emily didn’t know it, is then given the chance to make things right when he’s given new life as a stray dog named Einstein. Considering how much of a jerk Sandy is after he’s turned into a dog, I can only imagine how atrocious his behavior must have been as a man; it made me wonder how Emily could’ve loved and trusted him as much as she did.

Once Emily’s sister as well as a new love interest (the oh so sexy Max) arrived on scene, my interest in Emily and Einstein heightened. Not only does Emily really start living again, but the way two sisters, who couldn’t have been more different, interacted was really well done. Emily is the level-headed one while Jordan has always been flighty. Their dynamic was perfect and the part of the story that I enjoyed the most.
4/5
Review copy provided by BookDivas.