2015 Book #124 – The Restaurant Critic’s Wife by Elizabeth LaBan

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Bookish Bingo Holiday 2015, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Women's fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Restaurant Critic’s Wife
Author: Elizabeth LaBan
Date finished: 12/27/15
Genre: Women’s fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Pages in book: 313
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Lila Soto has a master’s degree that’s gathering dust, a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and lots of questions about how exactly she ended up here.
In their new city of Philadelphia, Lila’s husband, Sam, takes his job as a restaurant critic a little too seriously. To protect his professional credibility, he’s determined to remain anonymous. Soon his preoccupation with anonymity takes over their lives as he tries to limit the family’s contact with anyone who might have ties to the foodie world. Meanwhile, Lila craves adult conversation and some relief from the constraints of her homemaker role. With her patience wearing thin, she begins to question everything: her decision to get pregnant again, her break from her career, her marriage—even if leaving her ex-boyfriend was the right thing to do. As Sam becomes more and more fixated on keeping his identity secret, Lila begins to wonder if her own identity has completely disappeared—and what it will take to get it back.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book will count towards my “Holiday 2015 Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “Free Space” square. This book tells the story of Lila Soto, who recently moved with her husband and young daughter to Philadelphia where Lila’s husband, Sam, has a job as a restaurant critic of a local newspaper. Sam had been temporarily writing as the restaurant critic in New Orleans and was able to find a permanent position in Philadelphia. He is so paranoid about keeping his identity a secret though that he doesn’t want Lila to make any friends or have a job or pretty much be seen in public at all. And when he thinks the restaurant owners start recognizing him, he begins to wear disguises when he’s going out. And while Sam is dealing with all of his paranoia issues, Lila has a new baby boy and is struggling with how to care for two young children.
So this book follows Lila’s story over the course of just about a year. During that time she has many ups and downs. Lila had been a very career-driven and successful woman before her move to Philadelphia, after which she and Sam decided that she would stay home with the kids for a while so that Sam could focus on his job. Lila ends up having more trouble with this than she thought she would though, and misses being in the work force.
Overall I liked this book. To be honest I had a lot of issues with Sam’s character. He was so unbelievably frustrating because he was constantly telling Lila that she couldn’t have any friends that are in any way involved in the restaurant industry. And she can’t work. And she has to take care of two small children with basically no help because even the babysitter will figure out who he is. About halfway through the book I just wanted to scream because Lila says repeatedly that she wants to go back to work and Sam just kept saying that they would talk about when the right time might be for that to happen but it wasn’t now and she couldn’t be interviewed at all for any reason and she couldn’t do FREAKING ANYTHING!!!! What does he want her to do just hide in the house for the next 30 years? He didn’t even want her to make friends with her neighbors. I wanted to punch him in the face, he kept talking about how she was making it impossible for him to do his job but why is his job the only one that is important? Why is his job more important than hers? Anyways, other than that one sticking point for me this was a good book. I think that mothers especially will connect with Lila’s character as most will probably identify with the struggle LaBan describes in many scenes where Lila is alone taking care of her two small children. Good book and I would recommend giving it a try!

The bottom line: I would recommend this book, it was a good story and kept me interested. I had some trouble with the husband’s character but not everyone may have my same issues. I would recommend giving it a try!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

28Nov2015

2015 Book #119 – The Light of Hidden Flowers by Jennifer Handford

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, For the love of books, Women's fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Light of Hidden Flowers
Author: Jennifer Handford
Date finished: 11/27/15
Genre: Women’s fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: November 10, 2015
Pages in book: 369
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Book-smart Melissa Fletcher lives a predictable life in her hometown, working behind the scenes for her charismatic father in a financial career that makes perfect sense. But when her dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Missy is forced to step up and take over as his primary caregiver and the principal of the firm.
After her father’s death, Missy finds a letter from him in which he praises her for being a dutiful daughter but admonishes her for not taking any risks in life.
Devastated, Missy packs her suitcase and heads for Italy. There she meets a new friend who proposes a radical idea. Soon, Missy finds herself in impoverished India, signing away her inheritance and betting on a risky plan while rekindling a lost love.
The Light of Hidden Flowers is a deeply felt story of accepting who we are while pushing our boundaries to see how much more we can become. It’s a reminder that it’s never too late to pursue our dreams.

My rating: 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Melissa Fletcher, who had bigger dreams when she was younger but is perfectly content at 35 years old to work as a partner in her father’s finance firm and not do much traveling. Her fear of flying has pretty much cancelled out most of the places she’d like to visit at this point, and while someday she’d like to overcome her fears, there is no reason that day needs to be TO-day. After finding out her father has Alzheimer’s though leads Missy’s life into somewhat of a downward spiral. Though she loves caring for her father and being close to him, her father’s illness has changed who he was and the energetic, carefree, optimistic father she once knew has a tendency to be a little to harsh and lashes out at her due to his lack of independence (not her fault but sometimes you lash out at the ones closest to you simply because they’re readily available.
After Missy’s father passes, she finally ends up going on a journey. And after a couple twists of fate she ends up in India and becomes one of the founding organizers of a school for under privileged girls. And so leads the uphill path that Melissa travels on to find out who she is as a person. Along the way she helps a young girl find herself as well, a girl that Melissa relates to extremely well since she is currently going through the hell that Melissa went through in middle school. I have to be honest in that my favorite part of this book was seeing Melissa’s character grow as a person. Melissa starts out in the book not having any idea who she is as a person standing on her own. The only things she feels define her are her involvement in her father’s firm and her certificates and degrees. But through the book we find out there is so much more to Melissa as a person and it was truly fantastic to see her grow in confidence and in self-love/assurance over the course of the story.
Overall I really liked this book. The topic matter was interesting and I was kept engaged throughout the story. The story was well-paced and the characters were interesting and came alive for me. This book really gripped my emotional heart strings and tugged, hard. I got so wrapped up in the characters and the story and just the overwhelming joy of not only finding out who you are as a person and also loving yourself that the story just came alive for me. I think this is a great book and everyone should definitely consider reading it!

The bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book, it was an emotionally gripping and uplifting read. I absolutely loved it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

23Oct2015

2015 Book #110 – Smoke by Catherine McKenzie

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: Smoke
Author: Catherine McKenzie
Date finished: 10/22/15
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: October 20, 2015
Pages in book: 351
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

From the internationally bestselling author Catherine McKenzie comes an evocative tale of two women navigating the secrets and lies at the heart of a wildfire threatening their town.
After a decade-long career combating wildfires, Elizabeth has traded in her former life for a quieter one with her husband. Now she works as the local arson investigator in a beautiful, quaint town in the Rockies. But that tranquil life vanishes when she and her husband agree to divorce and a fire in nearby Cooper Basin begins to spread rapidly. For Elizabeth, containing a raging wildfire is easier than accepting that her marriage has failed.
For Elizabeth’s ex-friend Mindy, who feels disconnected from her husband and teenage children, the fire represents a chance to find a new purpose: helping a man who has lost his home to the blaze. But her faith is shattered by a shocking accusation.
As the encroaching inferno threatens the town’s residents, Elizabeth and Mindy must discover what will be lost in the fire, and what will be saved.

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Elizabeth Martin, an ex-firefighter who as the story opens we learn is planning to get a divorce from her husband, Ben. Elizabeth used to be friends with Mindy Mitchell but they had a falling out about a year ago. Anyways, there is a fire within the town of Nelson, where they both live, and its spreading through the forest area in/surrounding the town I believe. Elizabeth used to be an arson investigator and she now works for the local police department so she is called in to investigate the fire. Since she has been fighting fires for 10 years as well, she knows a lot of the people called in to help control the situation. Unfortunately there is no rain on the horizon and the fires are spreading like… well like wildfire. Elizabeth ends up having to figure out what is important to her while she is drawn back into the fire-fighting world.
On the other end of the spectrum, Mindy is trying to figure out what’s been up with her oldest son lately. He’s been acting weird and she thinks he might be sneaking out at night but can’t seem to find a way to prove it. Mindy feels awful for the man who lost his house in the fire and wants to do something to help, so she has the upcoming fundraiser divert their funds from the high school hockey team to this man who lost his home and everything else in the fire. Then Elizabeth discovers the fire started in this man’s fire pit outside his house, and the twists and turns start coming as we journey through the days following the start of the fire while staff try to contain it and put it out and Elizabeth tries to figure out who is behind all of this.
Overall I am not 100% sure how I felt about this book (which doesn’t usually happen for me). There were some parts of it that I really liked and that made me not want to put the book down but I had some trouble getting into the book until I was about halfway through. Also, one of my biggest book peeves is when we get a hint of something that seems like its going to be an issue and then that item is never followed up on, maybe in the interest of time or the author just forgot about it, I don’t know. That whole thing with the teacher named Elizabeth and how Ben never mentioned her and what not, I felt like that was leading somewhere. At the very least I felt like that should have been a discussion item, seeing as how Ben was all bent out of shape that Elizabeth was friends with Andy but Ben is friends with this Stephanie girl and never even mentions her? Weird. Also Elizabeth makes some vague mentions of something that happened between Kate and her husband but we never find out what and that is annoying. Also Tucker (while not technically the “villain” we are looking for) is a freaking psychopath shithead and I really wanted somebody to punch him. I was kind of upset he didn’t get in any trouble really. And my final issue was with the divorce in the first place. Obviously if you’re miserable and you can’t do it anymore and you’ve tried all you can, no one can expect you to stay miserable fort he rest of your life, we all deserve to be happy. But yanking this guy around telling him you want a divorce and then you don’t, that just bothered me. Obviously he is going to be confused and hurt and distrustful, honestly what do you expect?
So as you can see I had some overall issues with this book but that’s more of a personal thing. The story line was interesting and some parts of the book kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what was going to happen next.

The bottom line: This was an ok book for me. I’m glad I read it but I’m on the fence about recommending it.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

4Oct2015

2015 Book #104 – Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: Maybe in Another Life
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Date finished: 10/4/15
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publication Date: July 7, 2015
Pages in book: 333
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

From the acclaimed author of Forever, Interrupted and After I Do comes a breathtaking new novel about a young woman whose fate hinges on the choice she makes after bumping into an old flame; in alternating chapters, we see two possible scenarios unfold—with stunningly different results.
At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby’s guestroom. Shortly after getting back to town, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.
Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?
In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her. As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps, most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?
Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I felt like I saw this book on every list of “hot books to read this summer.” It probably wasn’t every list but it felt like it! The premise of this book was especially interesting to me (parallel universes and how the story would play out in each) so when I saw it available at my library I definitely had to borrow it. This book is about Hannah Martin, who is returning home to LA to try and get her mess of a life into some kind of order and try to find more direction with what she wants to do with her life. Until she gets her own place, she is living with her best friend Gabby and her husband Mark. Hannah’s family situation is complicated but Gabby and her parents have always been like family to Hannah, and Gabby knows her inside and out like no one else ever has. Gabby and Mark take Hannah out on the town her first night back to celebrate her return, and Hannah ends up seeing her high school boyfriend at the bar. When Gabby and Mark are getting ready to leave Hannah has to make a decision, should she stay at the bar with Ethan or go home with Gabby.
The book then breaks off into alternating chapters switching between the two story lines, between what would have happened if Hannah stayed at the bar with Ethan or if she went home with Gabby. Her life turns out extremely different in the two stories but there are some parallels between the two worlds. I loved seeing the story from two different possible paths it could have taken and also how each path affected not only Hannah’s life but her friends and family around her. Its amazing to me how differently your life can turn out based on one decision. And if you really think of the thousand of decisions you make each and every day, if there really are two parallel universes for each decision that is made, imagine how many different lives you could be living all at once right now.
Anyways, that was getting a little off track. As you can tell, this book is especially thought provoking and just a really interesting topic that I’ve never really though that much about before. I really enjoyed it and also that there were a good amount of twists and turns included in the story. I didn’t lose interest at all and I honestly just couldn’t put the book down once I got into the concurrent story lines. This was a great book and I will definitely be reading this author’s other novels as well as anything that comes out in the future!

The bottom line: I thought the concept behind this book was especially interesting. I’ve never read anything like this before, I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

15Sep2015

2015 Book #98 – The Mirror by John A. Heldt

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Mirror
Author: John A. Heldt
Date finished: 9/14/15
Genre: Fiction, Time travel
Publisher: John A. Heldt (Self-published)
Publication Date: March 1, 2014
Pages in book: 387
Stand alone or series: #5 in the Northwest Passage series
Where I got the book from: Author/publisher NOTE: I received this book for free from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

On September 11, 2020, Ginny and Katie Smith celebrate their nineteenth birthday at a country fair near Seattle. Ignoring the warnings of a fortune-teller, they enter a house of mirrors and exit in May 1964. Armed with the knowledge they need to return to their time, they try to make the most of what they believe will be a four-month vacation. But their sixties adventure becomes complicated when they meet a revered great-grandmother and fall in love with local boys. In THE MIRROR, the sequel to THE MINE and THE SHOW, the sisters find happiness and heartbreak as they confront unexpected challenges and gut-wrenching choices in the age of civil rights, the Beatles, and Vietnam.

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Ginny and Katie Smith, twin daughters of Joel and Grace Smith. Joel was the main character in the first book in this series, The Mine, and Grace was the main character of the third book in the series and The Mine’s sequel The Show. Katie and Ginny Smith have just turned 19 and they are celebrating their birthday at a local fair. They are looking forward to starting college within the next couple weeks and are excited about the upcoming changes in their lives. Unfortunately, fate has other ideas in store for the two pretty twin sisters and after looking at a Mirror exhibit at the fair they somehow end up in the year 1964.
They realize that their best bet of returning home to their family is to go the same Mirror exhibit at the fair in this new year they’ve been deposited into. Since the fair doesn’t open for a few months though, Ginny and Katie have to figure out what to do with themselves in the meantime. They obtain jobs and make friends and somehow meet up with ancestral family. And as much as they don’t want to interfere with the time stream, neither of them can seem to help falling in love.
Overall I liked this book a lot more than The Show but just a tiny bit less than The Mine. I just felt like there wasn’t as much wrap up with the story as there was with The Mine. I really enjoyed the plot line of this book though, especially Ginny and Katie’s characters, they were a hoot.

The bottom line: I enjoyed this book a lot, almost as much as I enjoyed the first book, The Mirror. The plot line was interesting and I liked hearing more about the characters from first two books. Good series overall I think!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

15Sep2015

2015 Book #97 – The Show by John A. Heldt

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Show
Author: John A. Heldt
Date finished: 9/13/15
Genre: Fiction, Time travel
Publisher: John A. Heldt (Self-published)
Publication Date: February 17, 2013
Pages in book: 293
Stand alone or series: #3 in the Northwest Passage series
Where I got the book from: Author/publisher NOTE: I received this book for free from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Seattle, 1941. Grace Vandenberg, 21, is having a bad day. Minutes after Pearl Harbor is attacked, she learns that her boyfriend is a time traveler from 2000 who has abandoned her for a future he insists they cannot share. Determined to save their love, she follows him into the new century. But just when happiness is within her grasp, she accidentally enters a second time portal and exits in 1918. Distraught and heartbroken, Grace starts a new life in the age of Woodrow Wilson, silent movies, and the Spanish flu. She meets her parents as young, single adults and befriends a handsome, wounded Army captain just back from the war. In THE SHOW, the sequel to THE MINE, Grace finds love and friendship in the ashes of tragedy as she endures the trial of her life.

My rating: 2.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Grace Vandenberg. This book picks up a little before where The Mine left off since we here about Grace’s decision to travel to the year 2000 to be with Joel. After that everything goes smoothly for awhile, Grace and Joel marry and start a family. Unfortunately on their second wedding anniversary Grace is somehow transported from the year 2002 to 1918. Luckily she’s still in Seattle so she looks up her Uncle Alistair Green who takes her in but still Grace is lost in another time with no idea how to get back to her two young children and her husband.
Grace’s uncle takes her home to live with her and try to help her start over in this new world. Along the way Grace meets the Green’s neighbor John Walker, an injured war veteran who also has the look of loss about him. Grace finds herself drawn to John as she mourns the loss of her husband and her two daughters. And then when Grace’s mother Lucy comes to America as an 18-year old girl to begin her college education, Grace is presented with an opportunity that she never even thought to hope for.
**SPOILER ALERT** There were a few issues that I had with this book. Grace ends up bringing her mother and father back to the future with her at the end so that they don’t end up dying in 1939, but she brings them to the future before they’re ever married. So how does she even still exist? At the end of this book her parents never actually had her so how is it possible that she exists?! I mean I know there are some complications involved in time travel and its consequences but its just too confusing. And honestly my big issue with this book was Grace. I understand that at some point she would have to stop mourning the loss of her husband and move on but after 4 months she’s already engaged to someone else? That seems just a little too quick for me. I mean I understand that continuing to hope that she would make it back to her own time would probably make her miserable and being miserable is no way to live but I can’t imagine giving up that easily over seeing my daughters again. For those reasons I just had a lot of trouble connecting to the story and I could not enjoy the plot line much at all. The story was interesting as was the first book but I enjoyed the first book a lot more than I enjoyed this one.

The bottom line: I did not end up liking this book as much as I liked The Mine. I am hoping that I like the third book (The Mirror) better but this book just was not one that I could get into.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

15Sep2015

2015 Book #96 – The Mine by John A. Heldt

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Mine
Author: John A. Heldt
Date finished: 9/9/15
Genre: Fiction, Time travel
Publisher: John A. Heldt (Self-published)
Publication Date: February 13, 2012
Pages in book: 291
Stand alone or series: #1 in the Northwest Passage series
Where I got the book from: Author/publisher NOTE: I received this book for free from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can’t use, money he can’t spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Joel Smith, a young man who is interested in geology and can’t pass up a chance to look at an abandoned mine. When he walks out of the mine though he finds himself not in the year 2000 as it was when he walked into the mine but instead it is suddenly the year 1941. And with no cash in his wallet and only credit cards that don’t work yet, he’s stranded in the year 1941 with no way to even buy food for himself. Joel decides to head back to Seattle as that is where he had been going to school in 2000. It is there that he begins to build a new life for himself. Six months later though he realizes that he has a chance to go back to his own time, and he has to make the agonizing decision to leave behind all the people he’s grown to care for in 1941.
Overall I really ended up liking this book. The plot line was just so interesting and I can’t remember reading anything like it before. I thought it was a little sad that Joel built this whole new life that he really enjoyed and then had to decide to leave it behind but I can understand he wanted to get back to his family. The dialogue between the characters was decent and the tension between Joel and Grace was basically palpable. It ended pretty much how I wanted it to, though I felt like there could’ve been a little more closure. There were a lot of questions I still had at the end of the book that I didn’t really think were addressed (How did Grace find Katie in 2000? Why didn’t she meet up with Joel in 2000 sooner?) but I know that Book #3 in the Northwest Passage series is about Grace’s story so I’m hoping that book will answer a few of my questions. I’m also hoping this next book (The Show) will tell us a little more about Grace once she gets to the future, does she assimilate ok? I hope they talk about that in the book. Also I can’t believe that Joel’s grandmother was able to keep this secret from everyone for all these years. I feel like she would’ve spilled the beans at some point during Joel’s first 17 years. Good book though, and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

The bottom line: I ended up really liking this book a lot. The main character wasn’t an easy one to get tapped into but I loved the plot! Would recommend to those who like time travel books!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

20Jul2015

2015 Book #75 – Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: Skipping Christmas
Author: John Grisham
Date finished: 7/20/15
Genre: Fiction, Holiday
Publisher: DoubleDay
Publication Date: November 6, 2001
Pages in book: 177
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty, they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash, they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences—and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined.
A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.

My rating: 2.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group discussion for this month (July). I went to my first book club discussion with this group last month (June) and I really enjoyed last month’s book and the discussion, I think it is a great group for me to participate in so I wanted to keep going. I have to say I am really looking forward to next month’s book (I Shall Be Near You) which has already been on my TBR list for awhile. Anyway so this month’s book was Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and I actually had already read this book when I was in Middle School and my Mom and I read it for a Mother-Daughter book discussion that we were part of at the time. In 2004 this book was actually made into a holiday film, Christmas with the Kranks, starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.
This book is amazingly frustrating to me. I felt that way the first time I read it and again when I saw the movie, and then again when I read it this time. I just get so mad about some of the blow back that the Kranks get as a consequence of telling people that they’re skipping Christmas. And really, what is so wrong with that? All they have for actual family is a daughter who they thought would be in Peru until the next Christmas. Really, what’s so wrong with treating themselves for one year and taking a cruise. And to be honest, how is it anyone else’s damn business what they decide to do with their holiday?? It really just gets me so fired up. I mean, yes it all turns out well in the end and the neighborhood assholes (excuse my French) band around the Kranks to make a nice homecoming for (surprise!) Blair and her fiance who call about 7 hours before they arrive (also ridiculously rude). But really I was still mad at everyone in that neighborhood in the end. If someone gave me that much hassle about putting a damn lighted snowman on my roof, I would’ve snapped way before then. If I don’t want a damn Frosty on my roof then I’m damn well not going to put one up there, I don’t care what any of my neighbors say. I pay the mortgage and I pay the taxes so you can get off my damn lawn. Also it kind of bothered me how much Luther talked about all these other women that he though were “hot” or “cute.” I don’t think I noticed that as much when I was younger but it is pretty creepy. Also why did they care whether Blair’s fiance was light skinned or dark skinned? What was up with that?
So as you can probably tell, I don’t especially like this book. I think people should have been up in the Krank’s business a bit less and not been so intrusive. Also I think Nora and even Luther are annoying main characters. Nora should’ve been a little nicer to Luther in the end, yes the whole cruise thing was his idea but she was all about it just the day before. And Luther should’ve been ogling young women in stringy bikinis a little less, or like not at all.

The bottom line: I know this is a pretty popular book (and movie) but I just find it so ridiculously frustrating. I would say people should try it but as you can tell, this is not my favorite book at all.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

19Jul2015

2015 Book #74 – Atlantis Rising by Gloria Craw

Posted in Book reviews, Young Adult by rebeccabook17

Title: Atlantis Rising
Author: Gloria Craw
Date finished: 7/19/15 (12:20am)
Genre: Young adult
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Pages in book: 295
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from Amazon:

I am different. I have always been different, but no one can know or my life will be in danger. So I hide in plain sight, wearing drab clothes and thick glasses and trying to be invisible. I’m so good at hiding, no one has ever noticed me. Until Ian…the mysterious and oh-so-cute boy I know I need to avoid.
Now I have been seen. And more terrifying still, I am wanted–by those who would protect me and those who would destroy everything and everyone I love. But if they’re all terrified about who I am, wait until they see what I can do…

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I really tend to enjoy books with supernatural elements but I haven’t really read anything before about the children of Atlantis. So when I saw this book recently, I definitely wanted to read it. So this book is about Alison McKye, a senior at Fillmore High School. She’s adopted and when she was fourteen, someone at a playground noticed she was using her “thoughtmaking” abilities on her brother. This random stranger told her that she is one of the children of Atlantis and that her ability is both very powerful and very sought after and that if she wanted to protect her human family, she must do everything in her power to go through the rest of her life unnoticed.
Cut forward to her senior year of high school and she’s done what she thinks is a decent job of remaining invisible. One of the helpful points is that even though she is dewing (the name for the children of Atlantis) since she was raised by humans she doesn’t give off the same vibrations as other dewing I guess so its easier for her to stay incognito. A lot of people are trying to find her though (for various reasons) and since she hasn’t actually done a great job of hiding in plain sight, she’s going to be found out. Luckily, she makes some friends who are going to help her.
I really liked this book. I thought Alison was great and the tension between her and her love interest (not spoiling it for you!!) is palpable and felt real. I thought the plot line was good but the climactic action scenes felt a bit short. Also I’m curious what happened to Nikki? Is there going to be a sequel? Usually when something ends kind of abruptly like that I at least like to know that yes the author realizes there are unanswered questions and is writing a sequel as we speak. But I couldn’t find anything online so I guess fingers crossed. Good book overall though and not a topic that I see a lot so it was different, which I liked.

The bottom line: I thought this was a good book, I would recommend it! Definitely interesting and unusual, the story line was great.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

23Jun2015

2015 Book #63 – The Marriage Season by Linda Lael Miller

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Brides of Bliss County, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

Title: The Marriage Season
Author: Linda Lael Miller
Date finished: 6/22/15
Genre: Romance
Publisher: HQN Books
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Pages in book: 254
Stand alone or series: Brides of Bliss County book #3
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

Since Hadleigh, Melody and Bex—the best of best friends—entered into a marriage pact, two of them have found (and married) the men of their hearts. But Bex doesn’t think she’ll be as fortunate as the others. Her own first love died years ago in a faraway war, and Bex has lost hope for a happy marriage of her own. She concentrates on her business, a successful chain of fitness clubs, instead.
Then, when single father Tate Calder comes to Mustang Creek with his two sons in tow, who befriend Bex’s eight-year-old nephew, she and the handsome, aloof newcomer are constantly thrown together. But is the marriage season over? Or can a man with doubts about love be the right husband for a woman who wants it all?

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I have been a fan of Linda Lael Miller’s books in the past (there’s just something about those cowboys) so I was excited when the Brides of Bliss County series came out. I had already read the first two in the series and honestly the second one left me a little frustrated so I was eager to get to the third book to try and get some things straightened out. This third book in what I think is a trilogy tells the story of Tate Calder, friend of the guys from the first two books who just moved to Mustang Creek, and Bex Stuart (which I thnk is cool, my nickname is college was Bex) best friend of the girls from the first two books. Now I just have to say that this premise alone is just so highly unrealistic to me. Has there ever really been in real life a set of three guy friends who all within a year decided they loved this set of three girl friends? And two of the sets had known each other like their whole lives. It just always feels far-fetched to me.
Anyways so they’re the last single ones in this six-pack so they fall in love. That’s pretty much the story. Tate has two boys and he’s really sweet with them and Bex has a nephew that she has to take care of for a lot of the book that’s the same age as one of Tate’s boys.
So overall I guess I just had a few issues with this story. The conversations felt stilted and a little rushed, leaving the characters flat and hard to connect with. And the reactions of the characters are just so far from what I would react as. Like they just kind of take everything in stride, nothing is ever really an “issue,” Like when Tara all of a sudden just goes to Denver, Bex is just like oh ok I’m glad she is out of this bad situation then. If that were me I would have been like WHAT ABOUT YOUR SON GROW THE HELL UP YOU ARE A GROWN ASS WOMAN. So some differences in thought processes there I guess. Don’t get me wrong, the book wasn’t bad and it was actually exactly what I needed at this moment in my reading journey. It was a light and somewhat easy read and it was overall pleasant i would say. My complaints here I think tend to be more general, the book was still a good book.

The bottom line: I would recommend this book to anyone who 1) likes books by LLM, 2) has read the other 2 books in the series, or 3) is looking for a nice, light beach read. Otherwise I would say you can probably skip.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page