Let's Pretend This Never Happened
by Jenny Lawson
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
When I saw this book on sale for Kindle, I got it right away. I
had it on my wish list for a while but couldn't justify the high
Kindle price. It took longer to read than I expected. It did have
some funny parts and I enjoyed her writing style. But for a book
that I expected to be super funny, it made me really sad for all the
stuff she's gone through. I almost had a hard time getting through
the book because I had been expecting to laugh through most of the
book but instead there was a lot of pain and sad things that kept
happening.
Monday, January 7, 2013
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.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Two Perfect
Two Perfect
by Samantha Hunter
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
This is a very short story. I think it took me an hour or two to read.
Eva got dumped in an awful way by her last boyfriend and he passed around all kinds of nasty details about the breakup to people she works with. Soon after she bought a quilt and started having erotic dreams, all starring the same guy.
She realizes that it's not healthy how much she wants to live in her head with her fantasy man so she goes out with her friends and brings home a pseudo-coworker (I think they work in the same building and work collaborate on certain projects but not working for the same company). Their fling includes her feeling her fantasy man at the same time and her fantasy man helps her overcome her inhibitions that she inherited from her ex-boyfriend.
It was a sweet story, I would have enjoyed reading it as a full length novel in order to get to know everyone better. It definitely pushed some boundaries but it wasn't all that explicit. I'm going to have to look up more novels by Samantha Hunter in the future.
by Samantha Hunter
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
This is a very short story. I think it took me an hour or two to read.
Eva got dumped in an awful way by her last boyfriend and he passed around all kinds of nasty details about the breakup to people she works with. Soon after she bought a quilt and started having erotic dreams, all starring the same guy.
She realizes that it's not healthy how much she wants to live in her head with her fantasy man so she goes out with her friends and brings home a pseudo-coworker (I think they work in the same building and work collaborate on certain projects but not working for the same company). Their fling includes her feeling her fantasy man at the same time and her fantasy man helps her overcome her inhibitions that she inherited from her ex-boyfriend.
It was a sweet story, I would have enjoyed reading it as a full length novel in order to get to know everyone better. It definitely pushed some boundaries but it wasn't all that explicit. I'm going to have to look up more novels by Samantha Hunter in the future.
Brazen
Brazen
by Carly Phillips
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
I tend to like Carly Phillips for a nice escape book so when I saw this one at the library book sale I had to pick it up. It was originally published in 1999.
I found the premise a little disturbing: Samantha is going to marry a wealthy older man to pay off her father's debts but first she's going to have a fling. Reading the back cover, I got the impression that she was a virgin and wanted to lose her virginity to her choice of partner before marrying this other guy, but the book does imply that she's had other sexual experience.
Mac is actually the owner of a large resort but he's helping out a friend by running a bar for a few days. Mac doesn't tell Samantha who he is because lots of women from the resort see him and want to cheat on their husbands with him. I guess I understood where both characters were coming from but intellectually I had a really hard time knowing that Samantha was doing exactly what Mac was afraid of.
I liked the characters as people but it was still rather shady of both of them. It ended nicely, they got their Happily Ever After and there was even some nice anger about how each had used the other. It was a nice conclusion but I don't think it'll be one I read a second time.
by Carly Phillips
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
I tend to like Carly Phillips for a nice escape book so when I saw this one at the library book sale I had to pick it up. It was originally published in 1999.
I found the premise a little disturbing: Samantha is going to marry a wealthy older man to pay off her father's debts but first she's going to have a fling. Reading the back cover, I got the impression that she was a virgin and wanted to lose her virginity to her choice of partner before marrying this other guy, but the book does imply that she's had other sexual experience.
Mac is actually the owner of a large resort but he's helping out a friend by running a bar for a few days. Mac doesn't tell Samantha who he is because lots of women from the resort see him and want to cheat on their husbands with him. I guess I understood where both characters were coming from but intellectually I had a really hard time knowing that Samantha was doing exactly what Mac was afraid of.
I liked the characters as people but it was still rather shady of both of them. It ended nicely, they got their Happily Ever After and there was even some nice anger about how each had used the other. It was a nice conclusion but I don't think it'll be one I read a second time.
Rescue My Heart
Rescue My Heart
by Jill Shalvis
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
I had to run out to Target on release day to get this book. Jill Shalvis is pretty much on my auto-buy list but I tend to buy her books at Target because her publisher is one of the few that does not discount books on Kindle. This is book three in the Animal Magnetism series.
This is the story of Adam and Holly. We get some snapshots of them throughout the first two books. Lots of details about Adam (because the other books are his brothers') but not too much detail on Holly besides the fact that Adam and Holly don't get along.
I enjoyed the characters in this book and it felt emotionally fulfilling, but it felt really short and I ended the book not feeling like I knew Holly very much. It felt like the only thing we see about her is her interaction with Adam. We hear what kind of work she does but we never see doing work or interacting with anyone in a work setting. It didn't feel like she had any friends or any interests besides Adam. Even the animals, which tended to be stars in the other books, were only on the sidelines of Holly's life. In the first two books, we see how much she dislikes that she has to care for two puppies and in this book the only time she has them near her is when it helps her get closer to Adam.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book and had some nice laugh out loud moments and some very touching moments too but I wish I got to see more of Holly and get to know her better.
by Jill Shalvis
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Review:
I had to run out to Target on release day to get this book. Jill Shalvis is pretty much on my auto-buy list but I tend to buy her books at Target because her publisher is one of the few that does not discount books on Kindle. This is book three in the Animal Magnetism series.
This is the story of Adam and Holly. We get some snapshots of them throughout the first two books. Lots of details about Adam (because the other books are his brothers') but not too much detail on Holly besides the fact that Adam and Holly don't get along.
I enjoyed the characters in this book and it felt emotionally fulfilling, but it felt really short and I ended the book not feeling like I knew Holly very much. It felt like the only thing we see about her is her interaction with Adam. We hear what kind of work she does but we never see doing work or interacting with anyone in a work setting. It didn't feel like she had any friends or any interests besides Adam. Even the animals, which tended to be stars in the other books, were only on the sidelines of Holly's life. In the first two books, we see how much she dislikes that she has to care for two puppies and in this book the only time she has them near her is when it helps her get closer to Adam.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book and had some nice laugh out loud moments and some very touching moments too but I wish I got to see more of Holly and get to know her better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)