5 STARS This is such a sweet story. Devan’s character was particularly memorable for both his dedication to maintaining his own purity until marriage, as well as his deep empathy for the pain anyone else was experiencing. Avalon was a strong woman who had been hurt and responded by building walls around her heart while committing herself to helping other women, plagued by feelings of guilt whenever someone else suffered and she felt she should have prevented it (even when it was clear there was nothing she could have done differently and she was not the source of the pain). I loved the interactions between Avalon and Devan and the omniscient POV that revealed how they really felt for one another long before they confessed their feelings to one another. The fact that Avalon had been married to a horrible man and widowed did not diminish the undeniable assertion that this was the first time for both of them on their wedding night. Descriptions of their love-making were such that it enhanced their undeniable love for one another. There was nothing gratuitous about it, each detail necessary to telling their love story. It could have been written without it, but the story would have suffered the loss because it was these interactions that most reflected their deep connection and commitment to one another. Janna MacGregor has an easy-going storytelling style, making this a book a pleasure to read. I was reluctant to put it down at any point. There was also some understated humor, like this, which made me chuckle: “She stretched her hands over her head, then swung her feet to the ground, stubbing her toes against a mound of bricks. The bricks turned out to be her husband, who slept beside her on the floor.” In my opinion, this is the type of book that will stay with the reader long after the final words have been read. I know that I will not soon forget the story of Devan and Avalon. March 21, 2020
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3 STARS Here’s the tl;dr version of my reviews for each individual book within this collection. If it’s written by Summer Cooper, it’s worth reading. If it’s written by Scarlet Wilder, don’t waste your time. Some of the dates listed for Summer Cooper’s books are from years ago because that’s when I originally read them. That doesn’t affect their readability. 07-13-2018 - A Chance to Love - Summer Cooper, 5 stars I was about halfway into this book when I started to get a really bad feeling. Things were going too well and I was beginning to worry about what horrible thing was going to happen. When the horrible thing did happen, it wasn't a total surprise, since I'd already worked out what it was most likely to be. That said, the horrible, stupid thing that Dana did afterward really made me angry. Thankfully, she had a daughter who was a lot wiser than she was. I related to Dana in a lot of ways, so maybe that's why this book brought me to tears. Still, I think most readers would find it easy to empathize with these characters because they are so very real. I received an ARC through Booksprout and I highly recommend this book. I loved it! 11-03-2018 - Somebody to Love - Summer Cooper, 5 stars This book includes characters from Mr. Principal, told from the POV of Piper. Unlucky in love, she's willing to give up even trying but her friends won't let her. I thought I knew where the plot was going, since there clearly needed to be some kind of conflict between Piper and Ty, but the first potential misunderstanding was quickly overcome, leaving a second that became more significant — though, personally, I didn't think it needed to be. I felt like the conflict could have been resolved more quickly and without so much anguish, but I understand why Piper needed to experience those feelings in order to grow. I had some trouble warming up to her in the beginning because it was pretty clear that her thoughtless actions and lack of self-control were the driving factors behind her inability to find someone worthy of her love. Then again, I'm old enough to have experienced the things that now make it so easy for me to recognize what may need to be changed. A particular quote from Ty summed things up pretty well: “...When you do something over and over, it’s not a mistake, it’s a hobby...” As a whole, I enjoyed the book. I think Summer Cooper creates some great characters who are realistic and relatable, with plots that are perfectly believable. 3-13-2020 - Not Mine to Love - Summer Cooper, 4 stars It's a fun story with interesting characters. Becca was in A Chance to Love and Somebody to Love so I enjoyed the connection between the characters. Julius, of course, was new, but turned out to be a great addition to the group. There were some funny bits, like when Becca was busy feeling sorry for herself and Julius showed up. She heard him talking to her dad and realized she'd have to face him. She looked down and noticed an orange stain on her shirt "as if (she) had been eating chips….(She) had been eating chips." She couldn't change because all of her clothes were dirty. She tried to wipe it off and only made it worse. Then, she had an epiphany: "Sighing, I realized that I really didn't know when to quit. My life was like the huge stain on my shirt." Later, in a mirroring scene, Becca went to see Julius and discovered he was a disheveled mess. "He had a tortilla chip stuck to his stomach. (She) flicked it off. 'Hey,' he said, looking upset, 'I was eating that.'" Both scenes made me chuckle. Scenes like the above added a certain je ne sais quoi to the story, making me like the characters better and relate to them, but the sex scenes were just meh and really didn't add anything. I'd have preferred they were not included, but my personal preference doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the rest. In fact, I really liked the story a lot. 3-14-2020 - First Love - Scarlet Wilder, 1 star I'm a glutton for punishment. On so many occasions, I was sorely tempted to stop reading this story. It was loaded with trite phrases and inconsistencies, and frankly, it was a slog. For example, Liam and Elle first become interested in one another a week before graduating from high school, but Elle's parents are worried about her going out on a Sunday night because her grades might be affected. What senior has homework as they're about to graduate? Liam hooks up with his personal trainer and then never sees her again? Was she a bad trainer, because he'd just gotten that referral to her? Then he checks to see if he hooked up with her none months earlier to confirm the baby could be his and determines he did. Well, a pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, which is 10 months! I thought there was too much jumping around in time between chapters, with unclear transitions. Something would happen to Liam, then the next chapter would switch to Elle and it would be a day earlier. It was very confusing. At one point, the narrator says weeks have passed, but it was clearly only a matter of days because the baby hadn't aged! To be clear, it was told in first-person POV, switching between Liam and Elle, and I suppose it was intended to sound conversational, but when Elle says "trust me" to the reader, it's very jarring. Not long after, she says, "Nothing could come close to describing the utter joy…" I don't know. You're the author so maybe you should try to find the words. Not once did Liam and Elle use a condom. If that was his normal behavior, and I have no indication it was not, it's a wonder he didn't have more babies floating around out there! The baby was a nice touch for bringing them together and was featured prominently, but Liam kept the crib in his room so when they had sex and Elle "screamed," it would have woken her up. There are many other problems, like Elle not giving notice to her employer and having a cat who is magically fed while both she and Colin are away, but it's the last chapter that is truly jaw-dropping. It is called "Edward, Exclusive Chapter," which, I guess was meant to excuse the introduction of a new POV at the end. Edward (the butler) talks about how happy Liam and Elle are with each other and Lizzie and how pleased he is. This line, in particular, had me shaking my head in disgust and disbelief: "Then I walked past the master bedroom, and a quick glance inside tells me that we're not welcome here right now, dear reader. We must close the door and walk away, leaving the young couple to their privacy." Wtf is Edward glancing into their bedroom? That's it. There's no coming back from that. 3-17-2020 - Eternal Love - Scarlet Wilder, 2 stars This was better than the last one, but it still wasn't great. I'm not sure why, similar to First Love, the author jumped ahead 10 years after introducing the characters. I understood it in First Love, but in this one, it seemed silly. I think the author could have imparted the necessary history of these characters, Rachel and Alex, by allowing them to remember their shared past and it would have helped with the continuity of the story. Overall, the story is pretty good but the writing is amateurish. 03-18-2020 - Accidental Love - Scarlet Wilder, 3 stars As far as books by this author are concerned, this one was pretty good. I liked the concept of the story and the characters. The setting was gorgeous, though not strictly necessary to further the plot. I had a little trouble believing that a successful author, even one who'd sold movie rights, would be so wealthy he'd be spending money without a care. Particularly if he'd grown up without it, but I wouldn't know. Unfortunately, I felt like the author didn't know either. In every one of her stories, people drink champagne in the way that Trump gold-ifies everything to prove his worth. Wealthy characters in these stories are caricatures of actual wealthy people, much like Trump is a caricature of a wealthy person. Despite a decent plot, I think I've reached my threshold for stories from this author. March 18, 2020 3 STARS Normally, I love Bianca Blythe's books, but this one was not as good as others I have read. What this story lacks in plot is compensated by outstanding writing. The language Ms. Blythe uses in her prose is better than that used by most authors. It feels authentic and intelligent, with the proper amount of decorum and gravitas. I read an ARC so I'm hopeful that typos were fixed prior to publication. However, there was one error that I fear may not have been caught because it has more to do with continuity. In chapter 1, Margaret is at the last ball of the season, which would indicate mid summer. In chapter 6, Margaret goes along with her mother and observes "this was a surprisingly sunny day in January." In chapter 7, Jasper observed, "This was summer after all." Some readers might not be disturbed by this kind of inconsistency, but to me it indicates sloppiness. It happened so early in the story, I fear it may have influenced my rating. Overall, I enjoyed the book and I'm glad to have read it. March 12, 2020 3 STARS I've enjoyed this series (although I must admit Devon is my favorite), but I'm not sure if this is the end or not. Sure the bad guys were stopped, but the students still have at least another year to go at the school. This book was good, but it wasn't exceptional. There were a few occasions when I felt the author could have done more showing and less telling. The action wasn't as exciting as some of her other books. Overall, it was a decent book and there's nothing specific I would criticize. I just didn't love it. March 10, 2020 5 STARS You might expect to cry because an innocent 14 year old girl is murdered, but that's not the part that gets you. Told from the POV of Susie Salmon, the victim, this story is poignant, ephemeral, heartbreaking, and magical. She watches over her family and friends for 8+ years after her death and this book chronicles the struggles of everyone tied to her murder to get over her death. It is their trials that will bring you to tears. Her mother, in her attempts to protect herself from the pain, cuts herself off from her family, but even alone..."She would feel it then, creeping up the side of her calves and into her gut, the onslaught, the grief coming, the tears like a small relentless army approaching the front lines of her eyes, and she would breathe in, taking a large gulp of air to try to stop herself from crying in a public place." This book is filled with poetic phrases and profound metaphors of love and hope and death and devotion. It is a work of art, an oasis of optimism in a world of despair. It's one of those books you'll read more than once. In fact, I read it first many years ago, and remembering how much I had enjoyed it, I decided to read it again. My feelings have not changed. This is an incredible book, deserving of well over five stars! March 8, 2020 3 STARS Since I got an ARC from Netgalley, I felt compelled to finish this, but I didn't especially enjoy it. I was annoyed when it ended as a cliffhanger, but not so frustrated as I might have been if I had cared about what happened next. Fale, the heroine of the story, was immature, emotional, and irritating. She kept doing stupid things, not considering her actions in advance, jumping to conclusions, and attributing motives that were inaccurate. Keron, her boyfriend/protector, is more mature, though perhaps a bit misguided. Conversations are stilted and inauthentic. The plot, though interesting, had some holes. For example, Fale injured her hand and had it bandaged. Lucien sliced the knife into her left palm, then used her right thumb to press into the blood to make a thumbprint. But her right hand, wrapped in a bandage would mean this would be difficult and likely to get blood all over the bandage. Also, I must point out that the past tense of “drag” is “dragged,” not “drug.” The past tense of “spring” is “sprang,” not “sprung,” although “had sprung” would have been okay. February 23, 2020 3 STARS I chose Casimir, which was no surprise to me. I've read all of Blair's books, and I'm looking forward to reading Maxence's story. This is a fun way to determine where you might like to start, but the truth is, all of Blair's books are awesome. For me, this was a diversion. I'd rather just read the full stories. February 24, 2020 5 STARS In this installment of the series, Morrigan Drummond finds love. We've seen here before, but now we learn more about her past and how it has influenced her. She's a true fighter, in every sense of the word, and I was pleased that when confronted with a challenge that might have given a weaker character an excuse to flee and be rescued, she chose to stand her ground and fight. Aiden Grant, introduced under less-than-ideal circumstances, proves to be her soulmate. He never imagined he would fall in love, especially with someone like her. She never imagined allowing herself to fall in love. One of the things I appreciate about these authors is that they don't take the simple path of plot development. When presented with an obvious choice that could lead to misunderstandings and stress, characters choose to communicate instead. I love this! I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for its fictional adherence to historical events. February 25, 2020 5 STARS When I saw this book listed on Netgalley, I was immediately drawn to it because I imagined it would be an easy-to-understand guide for writing a book. It is that, and it’s much more. I love the writing excerpts taken from Jennifer Jenkins personal life. I was particularly fascinated by her experiences growing up with a father in the military. Of course, these excerpts served to demonstrate the various aspects of writing: story ideas, characterization, world-building, plotting framework, tension, dialogue, description, editing, and getting published. I hadn’t realized this book was designed to be used by high school writing teachers and I think it would make a great addition to any writing curriculum. One of the things I loved was her emphasis on being creative and not getting hung up on the accolades of others. Publishing is great, but it should never be your only goal because it is one you cannot control. Of course, if you’re willing to be author, editor, designer, marketer, and accountant then you can always self-publish. In the end, the book was not only clear and informative, but it was also encouraging and inspirational. February 27, 2020 5 STARS This is a tense, page-turning, twisted story of someone(s) kidnapping girls, forcing them to have babies, and killing them. It starts with a bang, and had me questioning whether I really wanted to read this, but it was so compelling, I had little choice. At times, it reminded me of a Denis Lehane novel. Characters were multidimensional and fascinating, their motivations not always easily apparent. Faith and Mitchell made a good team, though neither intended to do so. The narrator, though omnipotent, slowly reveals the mystery without ever becoming duplicitous. New characters kept appearing, the connections between them truly astounding. And though a happy ending was expected, the route to get there was circuitous and unpredictable. I couldn't stop reading this book, each word drawing me deeper and deeper into the story. I highly recommend this book. February 27, 2020 |
Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
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