Summary:
Mark Bressler is the former captain of the Seattle Chinooks. Chelsea Ross is an aspiring actress who can't get a part that isn't "town slut" because of her big boobs. Chelsea takes a job as Mark's personal assistant to save up money for a boob reduction. Mark was in a horrific car accident that's left him in constant pain and unable to play hockey anymore. Standard romance plot ensues, including the "something happens to break them up for a while which leads one of them to profess their undying love."
Thoughts:
Kind of predictable. But it was good. Intriguing. I read the whole thing yesterday. It was a quick read. Gibson's storytelling skills are pretty good. I couldn't stop reading, even though I knew I should go to sleep. I think I got into it because of the hockey player, to be honest. I've been getting more into hockey thanks to the hunky honey's newfound interest in it, and this one got inside the head of the player himself. It was kind of neat for me. Call me crazy.
The storyline itself is not bad. The writing is pretty darn good. I might look into getting more of Gibson's work, see if it's all this intriguing. We'll see.
Pages: 384
Genre: Romance, straight up.
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: Sure, why not?
23 down, 27 to go! (At this point in the year, I should be at 21, so I'm ahead of the 50 book mark. Yay me!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Lois Lane Tells All (Karen Hawkins)
Summary:
Susan is a news reporter with a special love for Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Mark is an accountant trying to get Susan's paper from running into the ground. Opposites attract, standard romance novel storyline ensues, with the added bonus of a little mystery thrown in. (Someone stole $30K from a church bake sale, and someone else is making threats to Susan's life.)
Thoughts:
Standard romance novel. There's not much else to say, except the editor on this one could use going over it one more time. To be fair, the mystery parts were not so predictable, but the romance bits? More obvious than the nose on my face. Once again, I wish we could see a little of the happily ever after bits. Most romances end with the MCs saying "I love you" for the first time ever (and usually actually revealing that there's any feelings there at all) on the very last page. Is it so wrong to want to see a little conflict after they say "I love you"?
Pages: 379
Genre: Romance, mystery
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Eh, it was okay. I wouldn't tell someone not to read it...
22 down, 28 to go!
Susan is a news reporter with a special love for Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Mark is an accountant trying to get Susan's paper from running into the ground. Opposites attract, standard romance novel storyline ensues, with the added bonus of a little mystery thrown in. (Someone stole $30K from a church bake sale, and someone else is making threats to Susan's life.)
Thoughts:
Standard romance novel. There's not much else to say, except the editor on this one could use going over it one more time. To be fair, the mystery parts were not so predictable, but the romance bits? More obvious than the nose on my face. Once again, I wish we could see a little of the happily ever after bits. Most romances end with the MCs saying "I love you" for the first time ever (and usually actually revealing that there's any feelings there at all) on the very last page. Is it so wrong to want to see a little conflict after they say "I love you"?
Pages: 379
Genre: Romance, mystery
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Eh, it was okay. I wouldn't tell someone not to read it...
22 down, 28 to go!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Pact (Jodi Picoult)
Summary:
Chris and Emily grew up together. Literally. Their parents were best friends, and so were they, all through their childhoods. And at thirteen and fourteen, when it was time for them to explore a relationship with the opposite sex, of course they did it together. But at seventeen, they find themselves at a carousel in the middle of the night, with a revolver, two bullets, and a sadness growing within them. Emily winds up dead, and Chris is left to pick up the pieces.
The book begins with the shot, and follows Chris as he gets arrested for Emily's murder and put on trial.
Thoughts:
This book is wholly depressing. Readers watch as Chris gets locked up and deals with prison life, and his parents deal with the fear that their son is a murderer. We see Emily's parents fight the idea that not only was their daughter possibly suicidal, but also keeping very big secrets from them.
It was well written, yes, and a real page-turner for sure. But it was completely depressing, and if all of Picoult's work is this sad, I don't think I can bring myself to read more. I read to get my mind off the heaviness of the world around me, not to be dragged down further.
Oh, and according to the cover, this is a love story. This was just a sadness story.
Pages: 389
Genre: Mystery, romance?
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: Maybe, if you like to read a depressing love story...
21 down, 29 to go!
Chris and Emily grew up together. Literally. Their parents were best friends, and so were they, all through their childhoods. And at thirteen and fourteen, when it was time for them to explore a relationship with the opposite sex, of course they did it together. But at seventeen, they find themselves at a carousel in the middle of the night, with a revolver, two bullets, and a sadness growing within them. Emily winds up dead, and Chris is left to pick up the pieces.
The book begins with the shot, and follows Chris as he gets arrested for Emily's murder and put on trial.
Thoughts:
This book is wholly depressing. Readers watch as Chris gets locked up and deals with prison life, and his parents deal with the fear that their son is a murderer. We see Emily's parents fight the idea that not only was their daughter possibly suicidal, but also keeping very big secrets from them.
It was well written, yes, and a real page-turner for sure. But it was completely depressing, and if all of Picoult's work is this sad, I don't think I can bring myself to read more. I read to get my mind off the heaviness of the world around me, not to be dragged down further.
Oh, and according to the cover, this is a love story. This was just a sadness story.
Pages: 389
Genre: Mystery, romance?
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: Maybe, if you like to read a depressing love story...
21 down, 29 to go!
Aunt Dimity and the Duke (Nancy Atherton)
Summary:
Emma is a gardener extraordinaire. She leaves her home in the States to explore gardens in England after her long-term boyfriend not only leaves her, but goes and gets married. Emma stumbles upon friends of Aunt Dimity, and gets sent to see the gardens at a private manor. At the same time, Derek, a widower with two very precocious children, is asked to help at the same manor, fixing a beautiful stained glass window.
The two of them stumble upon a mystery and work together to discover the real truth.
Thoughts:
Just as good as Aunt Dimity's Death. Aunt Dimity only makes a brief appearance in a flashback/memory. It seems like Dimity only shows herself through others' love for her. They are fun and intriguing books. The writing is great as well. I'll be continuing down the line through Dimity's other adventures.
Pages: 290
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
20 down, 30 to go!
Emma is a gardener extraordinaire. She leaves her home in the States to explore gardens in England after her long-term boyfriend not only leaves her, but goes and gets married. Emma stumbles upon friends of Aunt Dimity, and gets sent to see the gardens at a private manor. At the same time, Derek, a widower with two very precocious children, is asked to help at the same manor, fixing a beautiful stained glass window.
The two of them stumble upon a mystery and work together to discover the real truth.
Thoughts:
Just as good as Aunt Dimity's Death. Aunt Dimity only makes a brief appearance in a flashback/memory. It seems like Dimity only shows herself through others' love for her. They are fun and intriguing books. The writing is great as well. I'll be continuing down the line through Dimity's other adventures.
Pages: 290
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.
20 down, 30 to go!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (Cleo Coyle/Alice Kimberly)
Summary:
Pen McClure is a bookshop owner in "hicksville" Rhode Island. She's a single mom, thanks to her husband committing suicide. She moves her son from NYC to Rhode Island to get away from the crazy city life- and the crazy in-laws. She buys into her aunt's bookstore, and rehabs it so she can help put it on the map. At her first author signing event, the author himself keels over dead. What progresses is that Pen tries to hunt down the murderer. Oh, and by the way, her biggest ally is a private dick from the 1940's who was offed in that same bookstore sixty years ago. She's the only one that can hear Jack Shepherd's voice. And he's an A-number-one flirt, too.
Thoughts:
Written by Cleo Coyle under the name of "Alice Kimberly." Why do writers do this? I don't get it. Anyway... The book.
So much fun. I couldn't out it down. Seriously, I loved this book. I'll be going to get more Cleo Coyle in the future, I think. It sounds, from the way she ended the book, that there's more in this series. So I'll be hunting that down, for sure. I love Jack. I love Penelope. I want more, like, now.
Pages: 261
Genre: Mystery, straight up.
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely. I already have, actually. I'll be handing this off tomorrow afternoon, actually. :)
19 down, 31 to go!
Pen McClure is a bookshop owner in "hicksville" Rhode Island. She's a single mom, thanks to her husband committing suicide. She moves her son from NYC to Rhode Island to get away from the crazy city life- and the crazy in-laws. She buys into her aunt's bookstore, and rehabs it so she can help put it on the map. At her first author signing event, the author himself keels over dead. What progresses is that Pen tries to hunt down the murderer. Oh, and by the way, her biggest ally is a private dick from the 1940's who was offed in that same bookstore sixty years ago. She's the only one that can hear Jack Shepherd's voice. And he's an A-number-one flirt, too.
Thoughts:
Written by Cleo Coyle under the name of "Alice Kimberly." Why do writers do this? I don't get it. Anyway... The book.
So much fun. I couldn't out it down. Seriously, I loved this book. I'll be going to get more Cleo Coyle in the future, I think. It sounds, from the way she ended the book, that there's more in this series. So I'll be hunting that down, for sure. I love Jack. I love Penelope. I want more, like, now.
Pages: 261
Genre: Mystery, straight up.
Grade: A+
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely. I already have, actually. I'll be handing this off tomorrow afternoon, actually. :)
19 down, 31 to go!
She Went All the Way (Meg Cabot)
Summary:
Lou Calabrese and Jack Townsend board a helicopter to get to the set of the movie that Lou wrote, and Jack is staring in. They hate each other, but figure they can handle a few minutes stuck in a small moving vehicle. Little do they know there's a plot against Jack's life, and the helicopter pilot has been hired to kill Jack. They fight off the pilot and the chopper crashes. Oh, did I mention that this is in the wilderness of Alaska? For the next few days, they fight to stay warm and alive. Will they ever figure out who's out to get Jack? (Or how to get themselves back to some sort of civilization.)
Thoughts:
Awesome, as always with Ms. Cabot. I have loved Ms. Meg for many years now, since the first Princess Diaries book, (no, I haven't read them all. I got bored with them about four books in) and have loved just about everything I've ever read of hers. I have about six books of hers to cover still. I want to hold off, though, because I don't want to kill all the Cabot joy and never have more from her to read. Ah, but back to this one.
Lou's an awesome character. Jack too. It is, of course, the classic romantic comedy plot line. Girl hates boy. Girl and Boy get stuck in some sort of situation where they have to be in close quarters for an indeterminate length of time. They both start falling for each other, but won't tell the other one. They fall into having sex eventually. They get back to their regular life, having to avoid each other because it's just "too weird." One does something daring to win the other's heart for good. The end. The thing about Cabot is that she makes you actually want to get to those points. She makes you want to see them fall in love. Plus, she's fun about it.
Pages: 354
Genre: Chicklit, Mystery, Romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: YES. Anything Meg's, I'll recommend it, except the Queen of Babble sequels. Those were surprisingly bad.
18 down, 32 to go!
Lou Calabrese and Jack Townsend board a helicopter to get to the set of the movie that Lou wrote, and Jack is staring in. They hate each other, but figure they can handle a few minutes stuck in a small moving vehicle. Little do they know there's a plot against Jack's life, and the helicopter pilot has been hired to kill Jack. They fight off the pilot and the chopper crashes. Oh, did I mention that this is in the wilderness of Alaska? For the next few days, they fight to stay warm and alive. Will they ever figure out who's out to get Jack? (Or how to get themselves back to some sort of civilization.)
Thoughts:
Awesome, as always with Ms. Cabot. I have loved Ms. Meg for many years now, since the first Princess Diaries book, (no, I haven't read them all. I got bored with them about four books in) and have loved just about everything I've ever read of hers. I have about six books of hers to cover still. I want to hold off, though, because I don't want to kill all the Cabot joy and never have more from her to read. Ah, but back to this one.
Lou's an awesome character. Jack too. It is, of course, the classic romantic comedy plot line. Girl hates boy. Girl and Boy get stuck in some sort of situation where they have to be in close quarters for an indeterminate length of time. They both start falling for each other, but won't tell the other one. They fall into having sex eventually. They get back to their regular life, having to avoid each other because it's just "too weird." One does something daring to win the other's heart for good. The end. The thing about Cabot is that she makes you actually want to get to those points. She makes you want to see them fall in love. Plus, she's fun about it.
Pages: 354
Genre: Chicklit, Mystery, Romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: YES. Anything Meg's, I'll recommend it, except the Queen of Babble sequels. Those were surprisingly bad.
18 down, 32 to go!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Jack Wakes Up (Seth Harwood)
Summary:
Jack Palms is a one-hit-wonder actor. He was in one movie (sure, a big blockbuster type movie) whose sequel got canned after Jack's crazy, drugged up, and drunk wife decided to lay allegations against Jack, saying he abused her. It's been years since this happened, and Jack's recovered from his own substance abuse issues. Jack gets a call from an old buddy of his, Ralph, the producer from Jack's movie. Ralph wants Jack to get involved with one little project, one last job for Ralph. Jack agrees, but finds out it involves some coked-up Czechs who want to score some more coke before they go on a road trip around the US.
What follows is Ralph getting killed, and Jack becoming the front man on the deal, which leads him and the Czech guys getting into a mess. There are drug cartels galore in this version of San Francisco, and one of them is trying to take the rest down, by way of shooting up the city worse than any action movie. Oh, and the cop that called the press when he went to arrest Jack for abuse is on the case now, and is forcing Jack to bring him something good. Jack's got to figure out who's at the top of all of it, and serve it up to the cop on a platter.
Thoughts:
What I read was an uncorrected proof, apparently. But as far as I could tell, it was only missing a few bits of punctuation. REALLY good story. I could do without all the drug references, sure, but for the most part, it was really good. I was figuring things out just when Jack was, so for once I wasn't three steps ahead. A few twists came out of no where on me, which is always a good thing. Plus, Jack has a '66 Mustang fastback, K-code, which means he's pretty awesome. Great writing, though. Finally another good one under the belt.
Pages: 293
Genre: Action, mystery
Grade: A-/B+
Would I Recommend?: Yes, absolutely.
17 down, 33 to go!
Jack Palms is a one-hit-wonder actor. He was in one movie (sure, a big blockbuster type movie) whose sequel got canned after Jack's crazy, drugged up, and drunk wife decided to lay allegations against Jack, saying he abused her. It's been years since this happened, and Jack's recovered from his own substance abuse issues. Jack gets a call from an old buddy of his, Ralph, the producer from Jack's movie. Ralph wants Jack to get involved with one little project, one last job for Ralph. Jack agrees, but finds out it involves some coked-up Czechs who want to score some more coke before they go on a road trip around the US.
What follows is Ralph getting killed, and Jack becoming the front man on the deal, which leads him and the Czech guys getting into a mess. There are drug cartels galore in this version of San Francisco, and one of them is trying to take the rest down, by way of shooting up the city worse than any action movie. Oh, and the cop that called the press when he went to arrest Jack for abuse is on the case now, and is forcing Jack to bring him something good. Jack's got to figure out who's at the top of all of it, and serve it up to the cop on a platter.
Thoughts:
What I read was an uncorrected proof, apparently. But as far as I could tell, it was only missing a few bits of punctuation. REALLY good story. I could do without all the drug references, sure, but for the most part, it was really good. I was figuring things out just when Jack was, so for once I wasn't three steps ahead. A few twists came out of no where on me, which is always a good thing. Plus, Jack has a '66 Mustang fastback, K-code, which means he's pretty awesome. Great writing, though. Finally another good one under the belt.
Pages: 293
Genre: Action, mystery
Grade: A-/B+
Would I Recommend?: Yes, absolutely.
17 down, 33 to go!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Bermudez Triangle (Maureen Johnson)
Summary:
The book starts out with three best friends saying goodbye as one gets ready to go away for the summer for the first time since they were babies (or something) and the other two are stuck waitressing for the whole summer. Nina goes off to a summer program at Stamford and meets a cute guy that she goes on to have a long-distance relationship with once she gets home. Avery and Mel go on to hook up with each other (and hide it from Nina.) and spend the entire summer together pretty much all the time. Once Nina's back from California, she feels that something is different between the three of them, but couldn't figure out what was up until she catches Mel and Avery in the act. The rest of their senior year followed with the "Triangle" (as they called themselves) trying to find their way back to their friendship.
Thoughts:
Thinking about it now, it's kind of like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, only without the pants, and with one less girl, but it's got a very different feel to it than Sisterhood did. But it's nice to see a book written for teenagers that is mostly about friendships being lost and found again, instead of being all love story all the time.
I liked it, but I didn't love it. The writing was great though, exactly like the last book by Johnson that I read. She's got a way with words, that one.
Pages: 384
Genre: teenlit, romance, friendships
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: Sure.
16 down, 34 to go!
The book starts out with three best friends saying goodbye as one gets ready to go away for the summer for the first time since they were babies (or something) and the other two are stuck waitressing for the whole summer. Nina goes off to a summer program at Stamford and meets a cute guy that she goes on to have a long-distance relationship with once she gets home. Avery and Mel go on to hook up with each other (and hide it from Nina.) and spend the entire summer together pretty much all the time. Once Nina's back from California, she feels that something is different between the three of them, but couldn't figure out what was up until she catches Mel and Avery in the act. The rest of their senior year followed with the "Triangle" (as they called themselves) trying to find their way back to their friendship.
Thoughts:
Thinking about it now, it's kind of like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, only without the pants, and with one less girl, but it's got a very different feel to it than Sisterhood did. But it's nice to see a book written for teenagers that is mostly about friendships being lost and found again, instead of being all love story all the time.
I liked it, but I didn't love it. The writing was great though, exactly like the last book by Johnson that I read. She's got a way with words, that one.
Pages: 384
Genre: teenlit, romance, friendships
Grade: B+
Would I Recommend?: Sure.
16 down, 34 to go!
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