Category Archives: Book Reviews

Reviews of Books

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Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

 

Found this book at Booktrader of Hamilton and since I had read Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro #1), I thought I would give it a try.

I have to say that I  while I was able to suspend my disbelief for many things, I had issues with the ending of Good in Bed…most significantly, why the “pusher” was not arrested and why Cannie’s family didn’t seem concerned about that.  (If you read Good in Bed you will know what I mean.)  That leads me to another warning, if you didn’t read Good in Bed, most of this book won’t make much sense to you.

In the first book, I liked the character of Cannie and felt like I could really relate to her and that was basically what held the book together for me.  Unfortunately, in this second book I don’t find Cannie very likeable (or even very rational).  She obviously has still not dealt with her own issues and yet is quick to suggest therapy the minute her daughter, Joy,  acts like a teen, which Joy happens to be.  My biggest issue is that Cannie doesn’t seem to have learned anything from everything she went through in the first book.  So, there are no spoilers, let’s just say secrets and lies.

Finally, this is really not a happily ever after book, seriously NOT happy ending.  Stop reading around chapter 35, after that it is a big downer.

 

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Mysteries….and a Lone Romance

 

   
   

I have been going to bed early because I am still sick, but then waking in the middle of the night and reading because I can’t sleep.  These three mysteries and 1 romance/chick lit were on the top of my stack next to the bed.  Very briefly:

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, a cute cozy mystery with an slight magical slant.  The sleuth is a big city girl who has taken a job now in a small town library.  Kathleen, the sleuth was interesting and intelligent and the cats, Owen and Hercules are great as well.  The book dragged a little in the middle, it could have done with being a smidge shorter.  The ending did pick up.  The mystery and setting were both well done.

Death Al Dente, the sleuth returns home to take over or rescue the family business, a general/food/local produce and products store.  I didn’t get into this one as much as I had expected to.  I just didn’t really care about the characters and some of the  reactions/actions didn’t really ring true.  It might work for someone else.

The Body in the Vestibule, I picked this one up out of order.  I was somewhat hesitant due to the fact that the sleuth (and main character) was a minister’s wife. I was afraid that it would have heavy religious overtones, but it didn’t.  The mystery takes place in France, I loved the setting and it was very well done!  The mystery  was full of twists and turns and lots of characters.  Well written and the pace of the plot was steady.  The only criticism was that it was slightly dated (some political references to the European Union, etc) but other than that a nice, cozy mystery.

Goodbye, Jimmy Choo, not so sure what to classify this, romance definitely occurs but there is lots of family drama and shopping as well.  I guess it is a romance/chick lit.  Well developed characters and an interesting plot.  You will have to suspend your disbelief slightly on the business portion of the book, but it is quite a good upbeat (at the end) read.

 

 

 

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Sunday in Bed with… Ellery Adams Pies and Prejudice

d0728-sundaysinbedwithsmall A meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl found here.

I have had Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams on my cozy TBR list for quite a while.  I found a copy at my local independent book shop, Booktrader of Hamilton.

I really liked this book!  I read a lot of cozies and I will say many fall into the very light, fun read category.  This is fun and it is certainly cozy, no blood or gore here, but the writing has much more depth to it than the average cozy.  The use of metaphors and just the nature of the descriptive language goes far beyond the average cozy.  Excellent writing.  The main character, Ella Mae, is strong and independent as are the rest of her a family, a group of strong southern women.  The setting is well defined and enchanting. The mystery plot develops at a nice pace, not rushed but also it doesn’t drag.  The magical element is not overwhelming, just a touch a magic :), which is how I prefer it.

After reading this, I will definitely continue with this series and I will also read the other series by Ellery Adams, Books by the Bay.

 

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Leading an Elegant Death by Paula Carter

 

I had never heard of this series before, but I saw it in my local used bookshop and decided to give it a try.  The book’s theme revolves around one of the now myriad home styling/cooking/gardening/entertaining experts and TV personalities, a la Martha Stewart.

The TV personality, Hillary, is not the main sleuth. Her new executive assistant, Jane Ferguson, law school dropout, divorcee with a child, is the primary investigator.   Hillary’s character is kind of a silly flake, but it seems like it might be an act.  A persona she has adopted to go along with her TV identity because when push comes to shove she takes action and is decisive.  In the beginning of the book Jane came across like a victim, but by the end she seemed much more capable.

The mystery was well done with clues dotted across the landscape and Jane as a sleuth actually doing investigating, not just stumbling across them.  This was a light, quick cozy with a definite southern accent and I will read the others if I come across them. Fans of the Southern Sisters Mysteries might enjoy it.

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Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend.

Finished this tonight.  I was intrigued by the theme, fortune telling, as there are a couple fortune tellers who set up shop relatively near my home and I found the cover really pretty as well.   The mystery was fine.  An interesting intrigue involving  several red herrings.

My issue was that I absolutely could not relate to main character, Sunny.  She just seemed like a stereotypical spoiled rich girl and on top of that she acted very immaturely .  Put her together with a male lead, who didn’t act much more mature than her, and I just couldn’t connect.  The name calling and temper tantrums were just really unattractive.

Maybe I’m just too old to relate??

 

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Breathless by Louise Marley & A Canterbury Crime by Brian Kavanagh

Couldn’t sleep last night and decided to pull a few more books off of my Kindle.  The first was Breathless by Louise Marley.  There was a lot to like about this, a strong, interesting lead character, well built back story and setting. The plot involving Greg, Will, Zac and Drew ticks along at a nice pace.  I found a couple of the characters actions and reactions off putting or odd.  On the whole, a fun, quick romance with a dash of mystery thrown in to the mix.

 This book is 4th in a series and I did not read 1 through 3, so I hesitate to review because perhaps my thoughts are influenced by that fact.

I found the murder mystery plot interesting, especially the connections to the past and the archaeology aspects that were involved.  Other than that, I really didn’t connect to the characters and found some of parts a little heavy handed.  Perhaps I would have gotten more out of it, if I read the series in order.

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All That Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft

 

Very light romantic read.  Interesting characters and a nice happily ever after ending.  The plot “twist” was very obvious to me early on and that took away from some of the enjoyment of the book.  I simply couldn’t understand how seemingly intelligent characters couldn’t see what was happening.

Overall, well written with enjoyable characters.

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Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman

 

A novella that I heard about on a blog and downloaded quite cheaply from Amazon.

A delightful read, touching and heartfelt Christmas story. It was laugh out loud funny in places.   I am only sorry that it was such a short story. Very mood elevating and definitely in aid of getting into the Christmas spirit.

In one scene Carol receives a massage as a gift/bribe from her sister and she is definitely not the type of person who gets massages.  She had just laid face down on the table and the masseur whipped down her panties…

Is this a back massage or is it not a back massage?  Because she’s kneading my cheeks like they’re bread dough.  I’ve watched Mum make loaves since I was a child.  I know what happens next.  They double in size.

If you need a pick me up or are just in the mood for a Christmas romance, this book would be a good fit for you.

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The Loyal Servant: A Very British Political Thriller by Eva Hudson

 I read this for my English Kindle Mystery book club on Goodreads and I downloaded it for free from Amazon.    I must admit that Political Thrillers are not a genre that I read normally, so I almost hesitate to say too much about it other than some broad generalizations since some of the things I noted might be the norm within the genre.

This was a very fast paced book, which I assume was part of the thriller aspect, which was fine and kept me turning the pages, however, I found some of the transitions at that pace to be rather abrupt.  At one point, I had to reread to figure out what happened during a transition from one chapter to the next.  The characters were well developed and in my mind (as a former civil servant) very realistic.  In fact, I found the whole scenario realistic in the portrayal of corruption and the ensuing cover up.  Caroline’s family situation was a little bizarre, but  after reading the news for as long as I have been, I don’t find it terribly unrealistic.

Although I am not a big fan of political thrillers (or politics in general), I have to say that this book was very well done and I will probably read the next in the series.

 

 

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The One You Really Want by Jill Mansell

 

I finally received this in the mail from worldofbooks, one of Amazon’s vendors.  I read a lot of British women writers and they can be hard to get here in the US.   I subscribe to the UK version of Good Housekeeping magazine and Woman and Home and always scan the book reviews first and add many of them to my TBR list, then I am disappointed when I can’t get the books here easily :(.  Ordering them from the UK, costs a fortune in postage…or so I thought.  When I tweeted about this, Jill Mansell responded and told me about Book Depository UK, so I am definitely going to try them!

I finished The One You Really Want….could be closer than you think last night and loved it! There were several characters, but the main female protagonists  were Nancy, Carmen and Rose.  The women were each well developed with their own personalities and their own concerns throughout the book.  I really enjoyed the multiple story lines throughout the book especially because they were all written to seem important and I cared about each of them.  Sometimes when I read book with multiple characters with their own story lines, there are one that takes precedence or the others just have that feel of not being as well done as the main one (then if it is segregated by chapter I end up just skimming certain chapters).  Definitely not the case here, I connected with all of them.  This was probably because the characters had that quality of seeming like real people, people you might actually meet in your community.

The book is well written and ties together the multiple story lines in the end.  Not to give anything away, but there is a happy ending, which after the week I had at work I really needed!

Recommended read for readers of ….hmmm, now what do we call it.  I just attended the Romance Writer’s Symposium in Princeton last week and this was the issue discussed.  Kay Mussell spoke and discussed the importance of referring to Romances, as Romantic Novels as a matter of gaining some respect for the writers of  romantic fiction.  All the genre fiction related to women’s writing was really put on the table.  Discussions included how marketing drives  this categorizing of books.  Romance and chick lit are seen as pejorative categories, but then other arguments were raised that women’s fiction was for “literary fiction” and then there was a debate about that.  Jennifer Crusie spoke, as did Eloisa James.  Both spoke with a great deal of candor about the publishing industry and the business of writing and selling books.  It has really made me think about how I classify books.

Maybe I’m dating myself but when I grew up there were not that many categories.  You had non-fiction and fiction.  Then, fiction had mystery, romance, adventure and THE CLASSICS, always referred to with that tone of awe.  So, as a school kid basically the first three were the things you wanted to read and the other one was the stuff you had to read.  As was said in the symposium, and I can’t remember who said it  (must take better notes next time), romance is the category that supports financially all the other categories.  Romance books sales allow people like Jonathon Franzen to first get published.

I highly recommend Jill Mansell’s The One You Really Want for readers of good books.