Sunday, December 9, 2012
By Surprise
By Surprise
by Alyssa Turner
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
I found this book in a roundabout sort of way and decided to give it a try. It ended up being quite different than I expected. Not bad but definitely different than my norm. This story involves a gay male couple who might be interested in including a woman in their lives. One of the hero's childhood friends comes back into his life and they end up all three attracted to each other. It was a sweet book - everyone definitely cared about each other and all had issues to work through about whether or not to act on their attraction. I don't know that I'd specifically read another book like this, but the book was well done and people who enjoy this sort of story would definitely enjoy this book.
One Good Man
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
Andie doesn't believe she's been dumped even though her fiance "needs some space", but she's definitely attracted to her father's new neighbor. She's a librarian and has always played it safe but after a phone call to her fiance confirms that he's moved on, she decides to let her bad girl out and seduce the neighbor.
After one hot encounter, neither is sure where to take things but they work out their misunderstandings and have a really great weekend together. But after the weekend is over, they have some difficult patches to get through before earning their HEA.
I would have loved to see this book be a bit longer and develop some of the interactions with other characters more. In the end, we don't know what happens with Andie's dad, there was this mention of a sex manual that they were going to "work their way through" but then no addition mention of the book, Matthew's brother was mostly a jerk through the whole book but at the very end had one redeeming moment (which made me feel so-so about reading the brother's book). I also found some of the sex scenes to be a bit more like watching a porn movie than romantic in nature. Not a bad thing, but just different than most of the other romance/erotica books I read.
I liked this book but I'm not sure if I'll read the next one in the series.
by Nona Raines
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
Andie doesn't believe she's been dumped even though her fiance "needs some space", but she's definitely attracted to her father's new neighbor. She's a librarian and has always played it safe but after a phone call to her fiance confirms that he's moved on, she decides to let her bad girl out and seduce the neighbor.
After one hot encounter, neither is sure where to take things but they work out their misunderstandings and have a really great weekend together. But after the weekend is over, they have some difficult patches to get through before earning their HEA.
I would have loved to see this book be a bit longer and develop some of the interactions with other characters more. In the end, we don't know what happens with Andie's dad, there was this mention of a sex manual that they were going to "work their way through" but then no addition mention of the book, Matthew's brother was mostly a jerk through the whole book but at the very end had one redeeming moment (which made me feel so-so about reading the brother's book). I also found some of the sex scenes to be a bit more like watching a porn movie than romantic in nature. Not a bad thing, but just different than most of the other romance/erotica books I read.
I liked this book but I'm not sure if I'll read the next one in the series.
Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?
Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?
by Rhonda Janzen
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
I had such high hopes for this book. When I saw that Ms. Janzen was writing another book, I put it onto my wish list as soon as it was listed on Amazon. I really enjoyed Mennonite In A Little Black Dress. Even for the high Kindle book price, I decided to splurge on this book. I didn't realize when I bought it that it was Ms. Janzen's journey back to religion.
I started reading and from the first bit I got the impression the book was about her journey through cancer. There were lots of tangents, but as you get further through the book the story about cancer sort-of drops out and it's only about religion. Specifically, her experience meeting and marrying a Pentecostal and her conversion too.
It felt like there were so many loose ends in the book. I liked her writing style and stories but at the end of each story, she'd switch over to talk about something else and I was left wondering if there was a conclusion.
I don't know that I'd say the book was actually preachy, but there was a lot of Bible talk. It felt like lots of time was taken explaining the point of things like tithing or spiritual gifts but the language used was for someone who already agrees with the underlying narrative that God's Authority is right because it's God.
I was disturbed by how easily Ms. Janzen was able to push aside issues (that she says she feels very strongly about) such as lack of female leadership in churches. I also felt let down about her monologue on the joys of a "Christian Marriage". It really felt like she was saying marriages fall apart because the people in them are not Christian enough to "seek God in their marriage" - like it's just random chance if non-Christian people have a good marriage because the only truly great ones are Christian marriages.
Overall, I was left feeling rather down after reading this book. From her perspective, I'm sure this is a happy story but from my perspective it was a story of an independent woman who got a cancer diagnosis then turned into a woman who set aside everything she believed in to throw herself into her boyfriend/husband's church and all the beliefs it entailed.
Let me be clear that I'm not saying this impression is what her life is now, it's just what I was left feeling after reading this book. I'll keep an eye on this author because I do like her writing style and I enjoy her stories. I'll probably even read Mennonite In A Little Black Dress again sometime. But I don't think I'll pick up this book again.
by Rhonda Janzen
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
I had such high hopes for this book. When I saw that Ms. Janzen was writing another book, I put it onto my wish list as soon as it was listed on Amazon. I really enjoyed Mennonite In A Little Black Dress. Even for the high Kindle book price, I decided to splurge on this book. I didn't realize when I bought it that it was Ms. Janzen's journey back to religion.
I started reading and from the first bit I got the impression the book was about her journey through cancer. There were lots of tangents, but as you get further through the book the story about cancer sort-of drops out and it's only about religion. Specifically, her experience meeting and marrying a Pentecostal and her conversion too.
It felt like there were so many loose ends in the book. I liked her writing style and stories but at the end of each story, she'd switch over to talk about something else and I was left wondering if there was a conclusion.
I don't know that I'd say the book was actually preachy, but there was a lot of Bible talk. It felt like lots of time was taken explaining the point of things like tithing or spiritual gifts but the language used was for someone who already agrees with the underlying narrative that God's Authority is right because it's God.
I was disturbed by how easily Ms. Janzen was able to push aside issues (that she says she feels very strongly about) such as lack of female leadership in churches. I also felt let down about her monologue on the joys of a "Christian Marriage". It really felt like she was saying marriages fall apart because the people in them are not Christian enough to "seek God in their marriage" - like it's just random chance if non-Christian people have a good marriage because the only truly great ones are Christian marriages.
Overall, I was left feeling rather down after reading this book. From her perspective, I'm sure this is a happy story but from my perspective it was a story of an independent woman who got a cancer diagnosis then turned into a woman who set aside everything she believed in to throw herself into her boyfriend/husband's church and all the beliefs it entailed.
Let me be clear that I'm not saying this impression is what her life is now, it's just what I was left feeling after reading this book. I'll keep an eye on this author because I do like her writing style and I enjoy her stories. I'll probably even read Mennonite In A Little Black Dress again sometime. But I don't think I'll pick up this book again.
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