22 year-old Grace Winters never dreamed her life would turn out so well. Newly married to the rich and handsome Henry Winters, she is now on a big beautiful ocean liner crossing the Atlantic on her way to meet his family and on her way to a new and better life.
When a mysterious explosion causes the ship to sink, Grace is placed in a lifeboat secured by her husband along with 39 other people. She can only believe that Henry certainly found a way off the boat as well and they will meet again once they are safely back on dry land, wherever that may be.
For three weeks they are adrift, and a lot can happen when you are in a small boat that long with no privacy. Slowly as every once of dignity is stripped away, the little food and water they have is gone, one must look for other ways to survive.
A little over two years after the Titanic, comes The Lifeboat.
Sound a little familiar? Perhaps. I will admit, on this the 100th anniversary since the Titanic sunk I was intrigued by a book that took on a similar story line, around the same time frame as Titanic. While Titanic was in 1912, this is 1914.
The story line starts after they are rescued. In the first opening lines you learn that Grace is now in New York, she has just survived this major trauma, and she is on trial for murder.
Interesting plot line? You bet!
I listened to this on audio, and enjoyed the retelling by Grace as she looked back over what had happened the weeks before, from the time she was placed into the lifeboat alongside an assortment of men and women of various backgrounds, status, and age, including one man, Mr. Hardie, who is the only member of the ship’s crew.
What ensues over the three weeks is what I can only describe as the slow breaking down of the human mind. Three weeks is a long time to be in any kind of boat let alone a life boat designed for 40 people and as time goes on everyone involved would agree… 40 people was way too many.
So what does happen in three weeks? That I can not tell you. I can tell you that Grace’s narration is sometimes vague, sometimes left me feeling that there were more holes in her story than in the ship… this could be credited to either poor character development, or the brilliance of an author who has decided that over developing characters in this situation would have come across as false.
I will let you be the judge of that.
Would I recommend The Lifeboat? Fans (ugh.. that seems like a harsh word) of Titanic like tales I believe will walk away with something positive out of this book, but don’t expect to be blown away. While a good story, I personally was looking for something more.
It’s the summer of 1950 and twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is tinkering away in her chemical lab inside the once great house of Buckshaw, in a sleepy English village. The lab is an inheritance from her passed on mother and eccentric uncle. And Flavia loves it, after all she has a gifted mind for mixing chemicals and the study of poisons.
One morning Flavia left the comforts of the lab for a stroll around the acreage she calls home and after finding a dead bird on the doorstep with a postage stamp stuck on its beak,, to her surprise (and delight) she discovers a body among the cucumber patch. While the police seem to be taking their own sweet time making error after error in trying to solve the crime, Flavia decided to solve the crime herself.
Welcome to Flavia de Luce’s world. For Flavia, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”
Flavia makes an appearance is three more books...
Finally I find myself exploring Alan Bradleys books. I knew nothing going in. I did not know that The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie was the first in a series of Flavia De Luce novels… see…. out of loop….
I went into this one on audio and my first initial thought was I thought it sounded a bit like the Bloody Jack audio books (stories of a wild and smart tom boyish young girl), and the narration of Jayne Entwistle gave it that feel, which excited me as the Bloody Jack audio are fantastic!
The story line of our young detective Flavia, is fun. She it witty. She is smart beyond her years. She has siblings that do not play strong enough parts (at least in this book) for me to even remember their names, but she being the youngest, and seemingly the smartest, has a bit of fun with them that makes their back seat roles in this read favorable and “smile worthy”.
While I found the writing rich, the narration with the strong accent delightful, I can not say I loved it. I think for starters I could not wrap my head around Flavia being twelve and working in a chemical lab and being as smart and as able to get around the way she did …
it just didn’t mesh for me – and yeah, I know I am in the minority on this one.
So my thoughts are if you enjoy well written (and well read) books that may be a bit far-fetched but certainly fun… you will want to give the Flavia de Luce mysteries a try. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first of the books. #2 – The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag,#3- A Red Herring Without Mustard and #4, I am Half-Sick of Shadows.
See some other reviews from bloggers that I trust:
Imagine… you are a single, attractive, woman in your early 30’s, you are a Realtor and you do ok for yourself. At this time in your life your biggest concerns are selling a house, practicing patience with your quirky mother, and being on time for dinner with your boyfriend.
You are spending a gorgeous Saturday afternoon stuck at an Open House showing that is extremely slow. As you are packing up your things and calling it a day a van pulls into the driveway. A well dressed man gets out of the vehicle and you can tell he is really interested in seeing the house. Maybe this day wont be such a loss after all. As you take him through the house and start into the back yard you feel something blunt and cold press against the middle of your back.
A gun.
Suddenly you find yourself in a cabin, God only knows where. Your abductor, soon to be known as “The Freak” in your mind, certainly never said out loud, has thought of everything and you have no escape. You are put on a strict schedule of when you can eat, and when you can use the bathroom. Any changes to this resulted in being hit or having to drink out of the toilet. And honestly, this was not even the worst part. There were the scheduled baths…
Certainly someone will find you. Certainly it is only a matter of time. Yet days turn into weeks, and weeks into months. And survival is your only thought.
The book, Still Missing, is the story I described above. This is a thriller told about Annie O’Sullivan and her abduction, eventually her escape. Much of the book is Annie talking to her Therapist, reliving the past and sharing the present. Annie still lives in fear of sounds in the dark, strangers, and being alone. Of course, its hard to be with people when you have trust issues.
I have read books where the flash backs and present time chapters do not work. They are confusing. This is not one of those books. I listened to this on audio and the book flowed smoothly. I never felt lost in the story, instead I found myself right from the start thinking “this is good, this is really really good.”
I have become a little gun-shy of thrillers as I find they are either gory or over the top unbelievable. Again, author Chevy Stevens knocked that chip off my shoulder. Well told, very believable (maybe a little too believable!) and kept me listening. I wanted to know, HAD TO KNOW what was going to happen.
Extremely well done I give high marks to a very talented author who blew me away with the story line and kept me guessing all the way through.
I cant wait to read Chevy Stevens again! Make sure you do as well!
Need more convincing? Check out these great reviews:
Is it really possible to love your enemies? That is the question that surrounds this book and leads the authors into the hear of the Middle East in Summer 2008. This is a trip that began in Egypt, to Saudi Arabia, and Beirut, before ending at the cradle of the world’s three major religions: Jerusalem.
Ted Dekker tells his side of this amazing true story through the eyes of a first timer into this country. Carl Medearis tells it from the side of a repeat visitor who had even been arrested and held in jail in the country on previous entrances in this country.
From late night border crossings to hair-raising taxi rides, and back room meetings, follow the story of these two men as they seek permission to talk to – and are granted permission to such people as Hezbollah Leaders,sheikhs, muftis, and even Osama bin Laden’s brothers who tell you first hand, they don’t like their brother much.
Finding the answers come from heartfelt interviews, surprising revaluation, and at times, life threatening situations, all to work towards the heart of this relationship we have – or more accurately – lack their of… with the middle east.
Imagine, going into a country that in many ways does not approve of Americans, or at least that is what many of us think. The country is at war, it is not necessarily a safe journey – yet you feel called to do it.
Why?
Jesus says in Matthew 22:
36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a]38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? I think of my neighbors. Sure we wave at each other as we go by, or occasionally chat about gardening or weather, but love them as myself?
And really, if you take this text to what that means… doesn’t it mean to love all people as ourselves? That is a heavy request. And that is what Ted and Carl go to find out. What does that mean in the midst of war? Is that even possible?
Of course I made tea. What is it about tea that seems so inviting? It is such a universal tradition to share a cup with friends.
I was engrossed in this true story of the authors adventures into the middle east, and the interviews that revolved around this trip. This audio is told from the authors perspectives, however the interviews, are word for word as told by the interviewed, and that I have to say was down right fascinating.
The interviews were the best part of the audio.
Unfortunately the reading falls short of hitting an excellent or even very good mark from me. I would say it was definitely good, and interesting, but it felt as though a goal was set, even implied in the synopsis, and I didn’t find it to have been reached. There is a fiction story that weaves itself among the pages, entwined throughout the book and is working towards I believe, a common thread to tie this whole read together. In some ways it works, it is definitely interesting, but in other ways I find it sad that this particular thread was not actually found as truth through all the interviews and traveling done in the book. That may have reached me in a stronger way. My take away is mainly what I already knew and what I strive to do anyway, and it is love everyone as myself, do not judge other people, and try to always put love and grace before all else. I don’t always succeed… but for the most part, living this way gives me a great peace knowing that in most situations, I have done all that I can to show love and grace and at that point, any disagreements or differences are off me.
My aunts often refer to me when there is conflict in the family and someone wants to know my thoughts as “Oh Sheila? Sheila gets along with everyone!”
I like that. 🙂
I am not passive, I can clearly speak my opinion and then let it go. Life is too short to live angry.
If you are interested in the middle east, the Biblical teaching of Love Your Neighbor’s As Yourself, or even what those interviewed had to say, I would say read this book or listen to the audio (which, yes, was narrated well by George Wilson.)
Why I listened to this book: I have read and enjoyed Dekker’s non fiction through the years. The last few years I have found his writing to become darker and I do not enjoy it as much as I once did. Besides the three reasons I listed above being true for me as reasons to read this book, I also wanted to know what Dekker would do with non fiction.
Here are a few other opinions by awesome bloggers:
What a great idea and what a great go along for a book about tea! I got a late start on making these, but I am giving you a recipe for the shortbread cookie in case you have any ideas… as I brainstormed I thought these could also by used for luggage tags , perhaps for a traveling get together, room keys, baby showers with its a girl r its a boy tags, and I even have an idea for my book club on Tuesday but you will have to wait until Wednesday when I put up our review to see what I came up with 🙂
Shortbread Cookies
2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour
For dipping:
I am using melted Ghiradhelli chocolate chips, but you can use semi sweet chocolate or whatever you prefer.
Preheat over to 350 degrees
Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add vanilla and stir. Add flour and mix well. Roll out onto a lightly floured counter top. I used a cut out using cardboard to get the tea bag shape and then poked a hole in the cookie shape using a toothpick but making it big enough so it does not bake closed. Mine are still in the process of being made so I do not have a finished product yet, but will show you once I do 🙂
Bake 10-12 minutes, watching closely at that 9 minute mark to make sure the cookies do not get too dark. Let cool, then run string through the hole and add your tags. Fun!
Be sure to connect with Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads to see what other people are cooking this weekend! 😀
It is the mid 1930’s in Shanghai and May and Pearl are beautiful, sophisticated, and well educated. When their father gambles away all the family owns, they are on the verge of losing everything. In order to save their home, May and Pearl’s father arranges for his daughters to be married to two brothers who live in Los Angeles and within a few days of making this decision the girls are shocked, horrified… and married. When the girls went on the boat to be delivered to their new home in the states, they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months along with many other women trying to get to the US. It is as thought the lives they once knew had crumbled right before their eyes. When May discovers she is pregnant the girls make a pact that no one can ever EVER know.
Once in the states they find that life is not as they had been told, their father in law is not the rich man that he portrayed himself to be in Shanghai. Instead he is close to poverty, relying on what his sons, and now his daughter in laws can provide him by working and giving him the money. Together May and Pearl learn to survive in a new world, in new ways.
My first experience with Lisa See was Snowflower and The Secret Fan. I devoured that book and knew I wanted to read more of her work. That time has come with Shanghai Girls which has turned out not only to be an incredible fiction experience.
What at first I thought was going to be mainly about their new lives and how they adjusted to this new life (much like A Buddha In The Attic), I was surprised to find that Lisa See winds a much deeper story within the story and when I caught on to what she was doing, I was really thrilled. As this book is about two sisters from Shanghai and their lives, it is really about the sisters Pearl and May. While Pearl narrates what she sees and how things are, you get a very strong feeling of who they are. Here in lies the beauty of Lisa See’s writing.
I also learned a few things I did not know before.
Like what?
Certificate of identity issued to Yee Wee Thing certifying that he is the son of a US citizen, issued Nov. 21, 1916. This was necessary for his immigration from China to the United States.
Have you ever heard of paper sons? It really is a fascinating (and sad) topic of how during the Chinese Exclusion Act (read more about that here on Wikepedia) immigration to the US was restricted. That being told, false papers were being drawn up where US citizens would claim children and even adults as their own and these papers could create access to the states for these people. The people would then live with the American families under their US family name to ensure they were not found out, forever giving up their true ancestors and name. Thus the term paper sons came to be as they were truly only sons on paper.
The experience the girls, May and Pearl have on the boat the states is heart wrenching. Not only as I listened to this on audio, but also as I suspect this is actually what happened when women traveled alone to get to the states on these boats. They were raped repeatedly. They were beaten and starved.
One moment that sticks out for me is later in the book May refers to some women she sees as FOB’s. I kept wondering if she was swearing at them, only soon to figure out that FOB meant “fresh off the boat”. LOL…. I am going to use that some day in a sentence…. 😀
Shanghai Girls is a look into two girls lives from their youth as beautiful girls to their experiences lives, marriages, and more in the United States. Lisa See does a wonderful job of making this book feel more fact than fiction.
Check out a few other reviews from awesome bloggers:
How does one describe The Buddha In The Attic? It is a narration of the collected voices of young women brought over from Japan to San Fransisco as brides nearly a century ago.
The Buddha In The Attic traces their lives as they travel by boat (I wonder what it will be like to live in the states?), meet their husbands (he is not rich as I was believed he would be!), face uncertain futures (what will become of us?), becoming new wives (what does he expect of me?), working the fields (other men will not leave us alone), mastering a new language (do I pretend still not to understand?), child birth (what if my child is born under the wrong sign?) and eventually to war.
The year is 1920: 20,000 Japanese brides came to San Fransisco on boats to meet a man they only had a picture of to call their husband. In some cases, the picture they had and the man who sent for them were completely different. This, is their story.
It really is hard to explain The Buddha In The Attic, which is really why prior to listening to this on audio… I still did not fully get what it was about even by the synopsis. What I did know:
1. The title made me want to know more
2. The cover led me to think of things hiding, secrets of the unknown…
So here I am after listening to this short audio book (4 cd’s) and now kind of basking in the experience.
The Buddha in the Attic as narrated by Samantha Quan and Carrington MacDuffie is told as a collective “we” and never an “I”. There is no sole character. In 8 chapters a different aspect of Japanese immigrant life is unfolded for us to view in the raw:
“Home was a bed of straw in John Lyman’s barn alongside his prize horses and cows. Home was a corner of the washhouse at Stockton’s Cannery Ranch. Home was a bunk in a rusty boxcar in Lompoc. Home was an old chicken coop in Willows that the Chinese had lived in before us. Home was a flea-ridden mattress in a corner of a packing shed in Dixon. Home was a bed of hay atop three apple crates beneath an apple tree.”
and so on… each chapter reading out like that, a description of their life in this new world and then told in 20 or more different ways. Yes, at first it was a little hard to follow, my bookish mind kept waiting for the story, but the sharing of information, IS the story. And as this went on, from having children, to losing children, to what they did with the children, and so on….
I found a rhythm.
It is safe to say this is poetry.
It is raw. It is real. At times it is painful. At times it will make you mad. In the end… I find that I am better for having listened to it and I an appreciate the collective whole.
No I would not seek out this style of writing, but a sampling of it like I just had is good. I am glad I listened to it over reading it. The narration is beautiful, the words, and the undertones, I thought were brilliantly read.
Side note: It is interesting that I am also listening to Shanghai Girls at this time and the stories and time frames are similar.
The Andreas sisters were raised on books – their family motto might as well be, ‘There’s no problem a library card can’t solve.’ (this line alone made me want to read this one!)
Their father, a renowned, eccentric professor of Shakespearean studies, named them after three of the Bard’s most famous characters: Rose (Rosalind – As You Like It), Bean (Bianca – The Taming of the Shrew), and Cordy (Cordelia – King Lear), but they have inherited those characters’ failures along with their strengths.
Now the three sisters have returned home to the small college town in Barnwell Ohio where they grew up – under the guise on their mothers battle with cancer… but also because their lives are a mess that even Shakespeare would be stumped over. .
Rose, a staid mathematics professor, has the chance to break away from her quiet life and join her devoted fiance in England, if she could only summon up the courage to do more than she’s thought she could. Bean left home as soon as she could, running to the glamour of New York City, only to come back ashamed of the person she has become. And Cordy, who has been wandering the country for years, has been brought back to earth with a resounding thud, realizing it’s finally time for her to grow up.
The sisters never thought they would find the answers to their problems in each other, but over the course of one long summer, they find that everything they’ve been running from – each other, their histories, and their small hometown – might offer more than they ever expected.
Weird Sisters. I love the title. It makes me think of witches or women with magical powers. I have no idea why.
I had seen a lot about this book in past months, gloriously showing up on blog after blog making me curious about it. When it showed up on audible.com for 4.95 I pulled the trigger (or the credit card) and bought the book.
Hmmmm….
You get the gist of the story in the synopsis. Yet for some reason I connected with none of the characters. It basically went on and on about the sisters, their lives, the mom (who is ill) and the dad who oddly quotes Shakespeare at random times in the book and me, not knowing much Shakespeare (ok… knowing ANY Shakespeare at all) is left scratching my head and thinking, “wha…?”
I could not put my finger on what I was not finding appealing about the book until the very end. Seriously I was starting to think I was ruined for books forever as I recently had a similar experience with Carry The One (which is also about family living through tragedy… or something…). Neither book (IMO) have a strong plot.
What do you mean Sheila? Of course there is a plot!
Yes, both books do have a plot…. but it is one that the cards are shown in the early pages of the book and then…. nothing, nothing really big happens… like nothing carries the story. I am hoping this makes sense but in Weird Sisters (and in Carry the One for that matter) the books are just about every day family life, what they are doing, eating, saying,…. day to day life. I am basically, as the reader, along for the ride.
I have given a lot of thought to this as now in just a matter of two weeks I have stumbled on to this twice in my reading. I guess, and maybe its just me… but I like more plot, more happenings, more emotion….
and I just did not feel it.
Does the book have its moments?
I think so, but here is the clincher. Usually in a book or audio as I am going along, I pick up on something I love about the book or something that made me want to know more and I can not wait to chat with you all about that in the review…. Yet, today, as I type this… I am clinging to nothing. No point of the book is standing out to me, and that right there is why I leave this book (audio) with no connections.
It started with a wedding. And then there was a reception. There was a lot of drinking, and a lot of drugs. In hindsight, it probably was not the best idea they had ever had to drive that night in a drunken drug induced haze but they did.
And that is when they hit the girl.
For Carmen, Alice, and Nick, the accident is carried with them wherever they go, far into the future. The girl shows up in Alice’s paintings in the gallery…. a girl, wearing the same clothes she wore that fateful night…. a girl who Alice can not find closure for. Casey has memories of the girl she never knew and Nick all these years later still tries to hide inside a bottle.
How… in the flash of a wrong choice, that alters lives forever… HOW do you move on with out carrying the one?
When I first read the synopsis of Carry The One I could not wait to get my hands on it. A tragedy… an accident… and how a family moves on from something so terrible, so senseless, so their fault….
and so I listened to this on audio and…
let’s just say Carry The One was not what I had thought it would be. I was expecting a deeply involved novel that did carry the victim throughout the pages. That was not the case. In fact, the book is really more about the three siblings, Alice, Carmen, and Nick… and their lives. Alice paints and searches for love, but that is no different from what was happening prior to the accident. Carmen’s choices may have an underlying hint of the accident and a need for closure, but mostly she is just doing life, and Nick… well Nick was in trouble before the accident with his drug use and alcohol abuse and that remains the same throughout the book.
I hate to use the word disappointed, but that is what sums this one up for me. I really thought this book was going to show how one struggles to move on when the unthinkable happens and I really thought the center of the book was going to be about the little girl, Casey. To me, it was just a book about the lives of three people and day after day how they tried to get it right. The girl, is not mentioned much, but occasionally, yes.
Maybe I set myself up for failure on this one by having an entirely different idea of how this would play out. I wanted to like this, shoot… I wanted to love this.
I did not.
There are some interesting reviews going around about this book. Quite a few loved it. I think a few more found it an average read. Be sure to check out other opinions on Carry The One and if you have read this, please let me know in the comments and I will be happy to link up your review to mine.
Elizabeth, a young widow of extraordinary beauty catches the eye of the “To Be Crowned” King Edward. When he tries to seduce her Elizabeth holds strong for as attracted to Edward as she is, she does not want to bring shame onto her family. Yet Edward can think of no other woman than Elizabeth so he marries her in secret to buy his time as to when he can announce this marriage to an ordinary girl, not one of royalty as his hand was promised….
fact mixes with fiction as the story unfolds of Elizabeth’s two sons and the mystery that surrounds them and the Tower of London to this day as an unsolved mystery, lost to the winds… and the sea.
The Princes in the Tower is a term which refers to Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville alive at the time of their father's death. Sometime around 1483, it is assumed that they were murdered, although there is no proof of this theory other than their disappearance.
SO…. is it good to be King? Apparently. King Edward is constantly off in battle, hanging with the guys, and as time goes on women a plenty on the side.
AND if you ever thought to be a Queen would be sitting in the lap of luxury – spend a little time with this book. Elizabeth is constantly defending her household, at times sent into hiding for her and her children’s safety, and of course putting up with the Kings extra curricular activities.
I was first introduced to Philippa Gregory with The Other Boleyn Girl. I love love loved that book. In fact this was the first book our book club read and all agreed on that we enjoyed it very much. It was Philippa Gregory who first gave me the taste of historical fiction and I liked it. And I wanted more.
The White Queen was all I had hoped for… not only a fascinating fictional take of the interweaving of the life and times of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth, but also Philippa’s magical touch of mixing the non fiction throughout. As I marveled at all the things that Queen Elizabeth did to ensure her childrens future as royalty… I had to wonder if her own ambitions would not be the death of them all….
Going into this read I was not aware of the true mystery lying within these pages… one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in English history.
On Amazon this audio is $12.81 currently and well worth it. The series, entitles The Cousins War continues with The Red Queen, which is about Margaret Beaufort and her founding of the greatest dynasty England has ever known, The Tudors. Before you groan about this being a trilogy, fear not, each book stands alone wonderfully and there was no cliff hanger at the end of White Queen, although I would like to continue on with these books/audio.
Highly engaging, Philippa Gregory herself says at the end of this book it is more fact than fiction.
Young widower Gabriel McQueen has just arrived back to his childhood town on military leave to see his young son and his father the sheriff. Gabriel had hardly put a foot in the door when his father informs him of an incoming ice storm. In Maine, this is dangerous news and he is quick to do as his father tasks.
The task: To go deep up into the mountains and bring back long time resident Lorelei Helton to safety. Gabriel know Lorelei (Lolly) all to well and she was rather a pain in his back side back in High school and basically there is no love lost between them. Begrudgingly he heads up into the mountains to bring her to safety before the storm hits and leaves her stranded.
After abandoning his truck when the roads get too bad and taking the last mile on foot, Gabriel finds Lolly being held captive in her home by a couple of strangers hell-bent on keeping her or killing her, it didn’t matter which… and now Gabriel unarmed has more to deal with then just the enraging Lolly.
Well now…. *clears throat*… its been a while since I have brought out the bag of snarky. Ok actually that’s new… I thought of it when I was planning this review, but I am keeping it.. in the case I need to pull it out again.
My one previous experience with Linda Howard was in 2001 when our very small book club at the time read Mr. Perfect. I loved it. I thought it was hilarious and a bit scandalous… (in 2001 I was not much of an adventurous reader…), I have always meant to read her again… but alas, it never happened.
Then recently at my library I seen this audio… the synopsis sounded good… ice storm, bad people, a mountain top rescue and a sheriff’s son… good enough for Sheila!
But wait… lets start with the cover. In my defense… the audio book I checked out from the library had a big Kitchigami Library sticker over that picture, or I can tell you if I would have seen that cover I never would have chosen this book.
Why not?
Yes, yes, you in the back waving your arm wildly – that’s right… I don’t like romance books. And honestly I would have read the synopsis, looked at the cover, looked at the synopsis again, and said “huh?” It doesn’t make sense to me….
and now to dig into that bag of snarky…. hang on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride…
Right from the start there is an exceptionally LLLLOOOONNNNNGGGGG description of how Gabriel would rather rescue anyone than Lolly. How she bugged him so much in school and he just found her irritating. I think I groaned out loud…. right then you knew it was going to be love.
And now if you are thinking, “Sheila, you are spoiling the book!” …. nope… trust me, within the first 5 minutes you get this scene and many more like it. Honestly with this kind of writing throughout the book time and again… hinting of what is to come… I am not spoiling the book… the book is spoiling the book. 😯
The people in Lolly’s house are not scary, they are laughable… but I don’t think they were meant to be… they are just so dumb…. and in the end… ugh…. don’t get me started…. I seriously think I rolled my eyes… hello? Who ordered the clichés? Would you like to super size that?
Finally I thought this book must be Linda Howard’s early writing as it just isn’t well-developed…. imagine my surprise when I noticed it was released in 2009!
My advice is do not buy this book… if you are curious or think it sounds like a good read, I recommend picking it up from your local library. Save a tree.
Book Journey 