Friday, June 7, 2013
Along Came Trouble
Along Came Trouble
by Ruthie Knox
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
I came in to this book with my fingers crossed that I'd really like it because I really like Ruthie Knox's writing. But I do have a bit of a prejudice towards celebrity-type romances. I just end up not understanding why people don't leave or just deal with the notoriety somehow.
I mean, Ellen has a famous brother and lives next door to her brother's possibly girlfriend. She's been around paparazzi stuff before. I liked that she was proactively dealing with her life, whether it was her ex-husband or nosy photographers. Was she smart about it? Maybe not. But if someone (Caleb) comes in and just starts trying to put up a fence or something, I'd be pretty pissed off too. It's her home and her choice of what she wants to do. If she didn't feel like dealing with it, she really should have left the area for a while or decided on some other course of action.
Caleb was a big, brawny, take-action sort of guy. He was hot and I could appreciate where he was coming from, but I hated how he kept trying to steamroll over Ellen. It's her life, not his. So her choice what should happen. I don't know how it works in the celebrity world, but in my world I wouldn't be ok with someone else being hired without my consent to do whatever they feel like, even if it's under the guise of protecting me.
Ellen and Caleb are pretty much at odds from the beginning of the book. Ellen wants her freedom. Caleb wants to do whatever is necessary to protect her. They can't find much common ground for quite a while, but there's lust.
I was really stuck with the characters' emotions while I was reading, but in this case that meant I was sort-of pissy to my family until I finished this book because I was upset for Ellen losing control of her life. It felt like everyone was against her having her independence and I hated that she wasn't finding a choice to make that kept her autonomy.
I did really like Ellen and I loved how she stood up for Caleb to his family. I liked the interactions between Caleb and his dad. By the end of the book, I liked Caleb too. I wasn't hugely invested in the story because I was annoyed with Caleb (and with Ellen for giving in), but I enjoyed the writing and I'll keep buying this author's books.
The Art of Duke Hunting
The Art of Duke Hunting
by Sophia Nash
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
I had a really hard time getting into this book. Partly because it's the second in the series and I hadn't read the first book yet. But the story itself just felt rather sad. There was witty dialogue and I like Ms. Nash's writing style, but most of the time Roman and Esme didn't seem all that happy.
Roman's afraid of boats. Esme's afraid of people drinking. Neither of them are happy when they're forced to marry. There are injuries and panicking too. Both characters grew and were able to overcome their problems. Esme gained self-confidence and Roman conquered his fears.
But they spent the whole book in angst and were only able to let go at the very end. It was a nice relaxing breath at the end of the book. Everyone was finally able to breathe out and let go, but that means the rest of the book was filled with tension for me.
All of the titles and names were confusing to keep straight. I tend to recognize characters mostly by the first letter in their name and there were lots of characters that I kept getting mixed up - because sometimes they'd be called by their title, sometimes their name and sometimes their title location or whatever you call that.
On that note, it was hard to figure out the motivations of the characters because I'd read a little bit and then have to go back and re-check which name I was reading about. Once I got to the end, it was a nice ending, but it took effort for me and the characters to get there.
by Sophia Nash
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
I had a really hard time getting into this book. Partly because it's the second in the series and I hadn't read the first book yet. But the story itself just felt rather sad. There was witty dialogue and I like Ms. Nash's writing style, but most of the time Roman and Esme didn't seem all that happy.
Roman's afraid of boats. Esme's afraid of people drinking. Neither of them are happy when they're forced to marry. There are injuries and panicking too. Both characters grew and were able to overcome their problems. Esme gained self-confidence and Roman conquered his fears.
But they spent the whole book in angst and were only able to let go at the very end. It was a nice relaxing breath at the end of the book. Everyone was finally able to breathe out and let go, but that means the rest of the book was filled with tension for me.
All of the titles and names were confusing to keep straight. I tend to recognize characters mostly by the first letter in their name and there were lots of characters that I kept getting mixed up - because sometimes they'd be called by their title, sometimes their name and sometimes their title location or whatever you call that.
On that note, it was hard to figure out the motivations of the characters because I'd read a little bit and then have to go back and re-check which name I was reading about. Once I got to the end, it was a nice ending, but it took effort for me and the characters to get there.
Rub It In
Rub It In
by Kira Sinclair
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
Marcy and Simon rub each other the wrong way. Marcy runs Simon's resort, but is upset that Simon isn't involved enough. Marcy wants to get back to running a New York hotel after she had to leave her last job in New York over a questionable relationship.
When the yearly shut-down/vacation happens, Simon traps Marcy on the island resort so she'll have to handle the renovations happening instead of going to her job interview. She's mad, he's mad, they snipe at each other a bunch and she refuses to work. But when problems sneak up, they both team up to take care of the resort and they fall into bed together. She agrees to stay for the shut down but plans to leave afterwards.
They fall in love, but have some misunderstandings. She leaves, he grovels, happily ever after. It's a sweet story. The way Simon makes it up to her is very touching.
If you're looking for a good, quick category read, this would be a good choice, but if you get annoyed with some of the same overused phrases, be prepared that they pop up every now and then (my personal annoyance is "she met him thrust for thrust" or something similar).
by Kira Sinclair
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
Marcy and Simon rub each other the wrong way. Marcy runs Simon's resort, but is upset that Simon isn't involved enough. Marcy wants to get back to running a New York hotel after she had to leave her last job in New York over a questionable relationship.
When the yearly shut-down/vacation happens, Simon traps Marcy on the island resort so she'll have to handle the renovations happening instead of going to her job interview. She's mad, he's mad, they snipe at each other a bunch and she refuses to work. But when problems sneak up, they both team up to take care of the resort and they fall into bed together. She agrees to stay for the shut down but plans to leave afterwards.
They fall in love, but have some misunderstandings. She leaves, he grovels, happily ever after. It's a sweet story. The way Simon makes it up to her is very touching.
If you're looking for a good, quick category read, this would be a good choice, but if you get annoyed with some of the same overused phrases, be prepared that they pop up every now and then (my personal annoyance is "she met him thrust for thrust" or something similar).
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Stink And The Freaky Frog Freakout
Stink and the Freaky Frog Freakout
by Megan McDonald
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
My Review:
My kids loved this book. There weren't a whole lot of pictures in this book, so I'd say for independent readers it's probably more for late second/early third grade. It was slightly more content than my seven year old wanted to read on his own, but both boys (7 and 4) sat for the whole story and talked about it for ages.
My kids don't have the fantasy/realism figured out yet, so they do really believe that Stink was turning into a frog. Actually, I take that back. They're convinced that Stink really did get the characteristics of a frog (just like Spiderman). This book convinced my older son that he should get better at swimming. And my younger son took away that if Stink can learn to dunk his head, then so can he.
I love that in each book Stink is able to overcome some issue or resolve some problem. Each one has convinced my kids that they can tackle something that has previously been scary. I'm sure this one will be read multiple times as each of my boys become more independent readers.
by Megan McDonald
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
My Review:
My kids loved this book. There weren't a whole lot of pictures in this book, so I'd say for independent readers it's probably more for late second/early third grade. It was slightly more content than my seven year old wanted to read on his own, but both boys (7 and 4) sat for the whole story and talked about it for ages.
My kids don't have the fantasy/realism figured out yet, so they do really believe that Stink was turning into a frog. Actually, I take that back. They're convinced that Stink really did get the characteristics of a frog (just like Spiderman). This book convinced my older son that he should get better at swimming. And my younger son took away that if Stink can learn to dunk his head, then so can he.
I love that in each book Stink is able to overcome some issue or resolve some problem. Each one has convinced my kids that they can tackle something that has previously been scary. I'm sure this one will be read multiple times as each of my boys become more independent readers.
A Week To Be Wicked
A Week to be Wicked
by Tessa Dare
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
Somehow this book just didn't keep my attention as well as most other Tessa Dare books. It took me a while to get around to reading it. This is book two in the series and I read books one and three ages ago, but I just never felt this one calling to me. With another book in the series being released, I figured it was time to plow through this one first.
Colin is an amusing hero with his own set of emotional angst to deal with. Minerva was a great, independent woman who goes after what she wants academically, but has a bunch of growing to do to develop her confidence.
I was a bit turned off by the start of the book with Colin having another woman in his bed. It left a bad taste in my mind for most of the book, but we are given decent reasons for why he is like that.
I think part of why the charm was missing from this book is that I've liked the town of Spindle Cove so much, but this book was very separate from the town. There was almost no interaction between the townspeople and the H/h because they were traveling for the whole book. It felt like even though it was the next story in line, it actually had almost nothing to do with the rest of the series.
I did really like seeing the lead up for Thorne and Kate's book. I think I'll have to go back and read that one again now that I've seen the beginning of them interacting. Overall, I'm glad I patched up the missing spot in the series and I love Ms. Dare's writing style but I probably won't read this book again.
by Tessa Dare
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
Somehow this book just didn't keep my attention as well as most other Tessa Dare books. It took me a while to get around to reading it. This is book two in the series and I read books one and three ages ago, but I just never felt this one calling to me. With another book in the series being released, I figured it was time to plow through this one first.
Colin is an amusing hero with his own set of emotional angst to deal with. Minerva was a great, independent woman who goes after what she wants academically, but has a bunch of growing to do to develop her confidence.
I was a bit turned off by the start of the book with Colin having another woman in his bed. It left a bad taste in my mind for most of the book, but we are given decent reasons for why he is like that.
I think part of why the charm was missing from this book is that I've liked the town of Spindle Cove so much, but this book was very separate from the town. There was almost no interaction between the townspeople and the H/h because they were traveling for the whole book. It felt like even though it was the next story in line, it actually had almost nothing to do with the rest of the series.
I did really like seeing the lead up for Thorne and Kate's book. I think I'll have to go back and read that one again now that I've seen the beginning of them interacting. Overall, I'm glad I patched up the missing spot in the series and I love Ms. Dare's writing style but I probably won't read this book again.
Age Of Consent
Age of Consent
by Victoria Gordon
Rating: 2 of 5 stars
My Review:
Another 80's Harlequin for me. This one wasn't quite as much of a soap opera. Some of the time, I wasn't sure what the point was. I couldn't really figure out where the tension was coming from. I mean, they probably could have had one conversation and decided it was fine for them to be together, end of story. Instead, the hero is very silent. Says nothing. Sometimes it seems like the only time he comes out of his office is to kiss the heroine, say that shouldn't have happened, and then disappear again. I was glad the heroine was working out stuff in her own life - taking charge of herself and figuring out what she wants. But I just didn't see much attraction between the two.
by Victoria Gordon
Rating: 2 of 5 stars
My Review:
Another 80's Harlequin for me. This one wasn't quite as much of a soap opera. Some of the time, I wasn't sure what the point was. I couldn't really figure out where the tension was coming from. I mean, they probably could have had one conversation and decided it was fine for them to be together, end of story. Instead, the hero is very silent. Says nothing. Sometimes it seems like the only time he comes out of his office is to kiss the heroine, say that shouldn't have happened, and then disappear again. I was glad the heroine was working out stuff in her own life - taking charge of herself and figuring out what she wants. But I just didn't see much attraction between the two.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Remember, In Jamaica
Remember, in Jamaica
by Katherine Arthur
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
If you're looking for typical 80's Harlequin novels, this one's a pretty good one. It's got all of the nostalgic magic: The very intense emotions, lots of characters yelling and shouting about everything. The fashion - heroine is nearly swooning over hero's sexy sweater. And there's bathrobes throughout. Even silk ones. There's the rather innocent heroine and the much more experienced, older man. I had a fun time reading this one.
The story is told third person, but only getting into the heroine's head. I forget sometimes how little the novels in this time period tell about the heroes. By the end of the book, we know very little about him and even less about his motivations.
I liked Claire. She was an independent woman who stood up for herself and made a name for herself. I was a little disappointed at the end that there wasn't more groveling by the hero (he was gone for almost a year for pete's sake!) and that the heroine "obviously" decided to quit her job to be a wife and mother when the hero returns. It didn't feel true to the character that she'd just let everything go for this guy. He was gone for a year and within an hour of him being back, she's done being any kind of independent person.
The book was a fun trip down the rabbit hole of 80's romance, but I don't think it'll go on my keeper shelf. So far, I'll have to stick with 80's Diana Palmer books for that.
by Katherine Arthur
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
If you're looking for typical 80's Harlequin novels, this one's a pretty good one. It's got all of the nostalgic magic: The very intense emotions, lots of characters yelling and shouting about everything. The fashion - heroine is nearly swooning over hero's sexy sweater. And there's bathrobes throughout. Even silk ones. There's the rather innocent heroine and the much more experienced, older man. I had a fun time reading this one.
The story is told third person, but only getting into the heroine's head. I forget sometimes how little the novels in this time period tell about the heroes. By the end of the book, we know very little about him and even less about his motivations.
I liked Claire. She was an independent woman who stood up for herself and made a name for herself. I was a little disappointed at the end that there wasn't more groveling by the hero (he was gone for almost a year for pete's sake!) and that the heroine "obviously" decided to quit her job to be a wife and mother when the hero returns. It didn't feel true to the character that she'd just let everything go for this guy. He was gone for a year and within an hour of him being back, she's done being any kind of independent person.
The book was a fun trip down the rabbit hole of 80's romance, but I don't think it'll go on my keeper shelf. So far, I'll have to stick with 80's Diana Palmer books for that.
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