Fiction

Review: Paris is Always a Good Idea by Nicolas Barreau

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Rosalie had high hopes for her humble  wishing card shop in the middle of Paris. She had little idea a famous author would stumble in and change her world. She had absolutely no notion she’d have another gentleman stroll in … and rock her world. 

This charming book had me aahhing and mmmm’ing and sighing, as well as laughing with tears in my eyes. Barreau’s descriptions of Paris streets and pastries brought me back to my one and only trip abroad when I was in my twenties. 

The famous author’s past offered the reader a cozy mystery and provided opportunities for Barreau to flesh out Rosalie’s character. Though Rosalie was primarily an artist and shopkeeper, we got to know her better through her mystery-solving endeavors and interactions with other characters. 

My favorite part of this book was finding out about a secret love story in addition to the obvious one. Paris once, Paris twice, Paris always. 

-calliope

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Review: The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton 

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Book-lover Delaney from Kansas answers a Help Wanted ad placed by a Scottish bookshop owner. When she arrives in Edinburgh, she realizes she’s getting more than she bargained for: Treasures, ghosts, and new friends keeping closely held secrets. 

When Delaney finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery, she does some amateur investigating… and there her adventures get real. 

I loved the bookshop setting, the streets of Edinburgh, and especially Delaney’s Pub across the street with the good-looking, kilt-wearing, half-smiling, full-on charming pub owner. 

I could’ve done without the dialogue being written in Scottish dialect and the contrivances trying to convince me that Delaney really loved books. Both were off-putting, and I almost didn’t read past chapter one. I think the story would have flowed a little better – especially in the beginning – had the author not tried quite so hard to prove her points. 

Once I accepted the Scottish dialogue and allowed myself to skip over anything repetitive, I started to love Delaney and her new friends. She left her home for a new experience — and she really dove into it head first. Gotta love that courage. 

Take a trip with Delaney in Edinburgh. You’ll get into her head and help her solve a mystery. And keep an eye out for the handsome Scot across the street. 

-calliope

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Review: The Expats by Chris Pavone

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expat***Spoilers without spoilers***

Another tough one for me. I love this book for the most part…put the ending really knocked it down for me from a book I could have loved to just “meh”.

The stuff going on between Kate and her husband, Dexter was more than enough to carry the entire book. Once we found out what Kate’s previous job was there were dozens of ways this book could have went…All of them good. When you add the secrets that she kept from her husband and how they continued to grow after time to such an extent that she felt she could never share them. Once you’ve went years not telling the truth, the truth becomes even harder to share, simply because you didn’t do so long ago. Something simple and harmless (Although her previous job was far from that!) grows more menacing as the time goes by…The party kept in the dark will always wonder why didn’t you share SOONER? What else have they hiding all that time.

Then you have Dexter…who might not be so innocent as Kate once believed. Maybe he doesn’t truly have such a passive personality after all. If she has her secrets, why shouldn’t she realise that he might have his very own. Perhaps even bigger than hers!

See! Paranoia just feeds upon itself with just that….it just builds and builds. Considering Kate’s previous job title, paranoia is understandable…or is it? See! There it goes again! That is why this book could have been fantastic….

Alas, the author decided that it wasn’t enough….he had to throw in some extra characters and at the ending make the entire storyline not about Kate and Dexter, but about this mass cover up/conspiracy/manipulation. The entire novel could have…nay, should have left the other couple as bit players and nothing more. I wish authors remembered that you don’t have to fabricate drama in every sentence. If it’s there it’s there! No need to try to insert more. It just seems forced and unbelievable for me. I understand the need for some authors to provide *surprising and shocking* endings in novels. I suppose the public does demand them. However, the best ones are the believable ones aren’t just Johnny on the spot and seemingly there to cause drama. They are the ones that were there all along…

Another major let down for me, but just as the book was too predictable, I suppose my let down is just as predictable….

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now The Expats by Chris Pavone

Review: The Children’s Home by Charles Lambert

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This was one weirdly confusing book. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It left me thinking for a bit, wondering exactly how I wanted to proceed with my review. Because it’s a story that’s not for everyone. Some will love it, some will not.

The story opens with the arrival of children. Nobody knows where they came from or how they got there. And that remains the case for the entirety of the story. But they arrive one after the other, some left on the doorstep and some simply wandering up to the door.

As owner of the sprawling estate, it falls on Morgan to decide what to do. As a hermit, he’s lonely from time to time and comes to enjoy the company of the children as does Engel, the caretaker. Who, by the way, also showed up mysteriously shortly before the children. Strange children are accompanied by strange happenings, of course.

So here is the overriding mystery of the story. But another equally compelling mystery concerns Morgan’s reclusiveness. What happened during his childhood to horribly scar him? Yet another intriguing tidbit the author drags out as long as possible.

I guess I’m not sure exactly how to describe this book. It’s good, but frustrating at the same time. I wanted more answers but in a way am glad they weren’t given to me. And if I’ve confused you even more, so goes The Children’s Home.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  The Children’s Home

Review: the one you really want  by Jill Mansell

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Carmen is getting through the grief of losing her husband, her friend Nancy is getting over her ex-husband’s cheating ways, and the ladies are hanging out in posh Chelsea … where men seem to be popping up wherever they go. Some are eligible, some pretend to be, and some pretend NOT to be — all for the sake of love… and money. 

I loved the twists and turns in this romp through different levels of relationships. I enjoyed meeting the neighbors, the shelter folks, the gym rats, the long lost daughter… Mansell writes a fun cast of characters and dialogue that’s funny, tender, and believable. 

I appreciate Mansell’s talent for spinning a tale that’s pretty crazy, but just real enough that it could be true. And as always, I’m happy when the characters are happy, and sighing with joy when they live happily ever after. 

-calliope

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Review: Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

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25785334Oh dear….

I’ve read a few Gudenkauf novels and have absolutely loved them. This one? Ehh….not so much…

It read like a very bad Columbo drama episode on the telly.

Here we have Sarah and Jack going to back to Jack’s hometown after his absence of 20 years. As Sarah starts to learn more about Jack’s past, she becomes less sure of her future.

I suppose that I just had a problem with Sarah and Jack as characters. After 20 years of marriage they just didn’t seem to click at all. Even at the ending, the connection between them never seemed there…

I am also one that always has problems when a scared, inexperienced person walks away from a relatively safe situation and places themselves in grave danger, especially knowing that a police officer is closer and would be able to able to handle the situation and that they, themselves, wouldn’t be able to protect themselves, let alone any one else.

When authors do this exact thing it really puts me off the entire book. Saying that, I can honestly say it didn’t take just the ending to put me off this book. I was bored with my constant eye rolling with Sarah’s behaviour pretty early on. I don’t have to like a character to enjoy a book, but I do have to believe that a person would have acted in that way in real life. With this one I just felt, again, that it was an overreacted plot to create drama and suspense. A good novel doesn’t do that…No “overacting” is needed…

I’ll still read the next Gudenkauf novel that comes out…One bad book doesn’t put me off an author…especially one that I have enjoyed so much in the past…

I also hope Colombo does not take offense at me over this review 🙂 I loved Columbo when I was growing up….hahahaha

Until next time…

Urania

ARC provided by Edelweiss for an honest review

Buy it now Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

Review: The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

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Way back when, I read several of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware stories. And I loved them. Still, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this one. I was not disappointed.

Grace Blades had about as hard of a childhood as one can have and live to tell the tale. Unwanted from the beginning, and pretty much unloved all along, she was left to fend for herself while her mom and dad partied away. Then the unthinkable happens when her mom and dad die. But in a way, this is her salvation. This is her opportunity to escape the life she’s had and maybe have a shot at a better one.

As she weaves her way through the foster care system, she encounters a different kind of nightmare. She survives, though, and comes out stronger than anyone could ever have predicted. A loner by choice, she’s a highly successful psychologist treating people who’ve experienced traumatic events.

She also harbors a naughty little secret side that nobody would ever guess exists. And it’s this naughty side that brings her in contact with someone from her childhood that she’d rather forget. And then he’s murdered. Being the strong person she is, of course she can’t just sit by and wait for the police to solve the crime.

This is a great thriller. There’s a nice little shoutout to Alex Delaware in the plot that will please fans of his series. Grace is a great leading character, even though she’s far from perfect. My only complaint is that the ending of the story was a bit too wordy and drawn-out. Not enough to to keep me from recommending it, though!

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  The Murderer’s Daughter

Review: Nobody But You by Jill Shalvis 

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I never thought I’d love a Jill Shalvis series other than my First Jill Shalvis Series, Lucky Harbor. But I am falling in love all over again. Maybe it’s Cedar Ridge itself – sort of reminds me of Robyn Carr’s town of Virgin River, or maybe it’s the Kincaid brothers, but either way Shalvis has me hooked. 

In Nobody But You, military guy Jacob Kincaid returns home to his estranged twin brother and several other siblings (who are happier to see him than his twin pretends to be). Jacob didn’t realize there was more waiting for him in Cedar Ridge: one spit-fire Sophie Marren, recently divorced from her cheating ex-husband and living in a boat illegally moored at, yup, Jacob’s dock. 

Nobody But You reads total Shalvis: authentic and witty dialogue, lots of affection and competition among siblings, and great views. What sets this story apart from her others is the spice factor. Shalvis describes a lot more bedroom activity than usual, though not a gratuitous sentence in the bunch. Every kiss and caress reflects the passion Sophie and Jacob develop for each other, because of and despite misunderstandings and heartfelt fears of commitment. 

The only question I had at the end was Who’s Next to fall in love in Cedar Ridge now that the Kincaid brothers are taken? 😉 

-calliope 

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Review: Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen

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Tess Gerritsen doesn’t write a bad story. From her Rizzoli & Isles series to her countless stand alones, she’s a master at her craft. This older thriller is no exception.

When bodies start showing up in Boston, it doesn’t cause too much of a ripple. Boston is a large city, after all. And some of the dead did lead questionable lifestyles. Medical examiner Kat Novak thinks there’s more to it than just random murders, however. She fears that a serial killer is at large. Convincing the higher authorities is difficult. The mayor isn’t interested in hearing her theories, especially ones that cast a bad light on the city.

While this doesn’t rank as one of her best for me, it’s nonetheless very good. The author is able to create characters who take control of the story, pulling you along with it. Her stories all fall into the “just one more chapter I can’t put it down” category, and this one is no exception.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Girl Missing

Review: Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher 

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I loved Rosamunde Pilcher’s Shell Seekers so much that I wanted another Pilcher novel ASAP. So I put Winter Solstice on my TBR list, and here we are. 

Winter Solstice has the same depth and character development and saga feel as Shell Seekers, but it’s a little more lighthearted, fun and romantic. 

Pilcher speaks my language when she writes parallel relationships and symmetrical settings. I liked comparing Carrie to her cousin Elfrida, or Lucy to her Aunt Carrie. The men who enter their lives aren’t necessarily similar, but they all share a tender heart for the right woman. Carrie, Lucy and Elfrida treasure their independence, but appreciate being cared for and treasured as well. 

Death, divorce, and family secrets move this plot along. Property changes hands, mothers shirk their duties, love is lost in a variety of ways. But rising above the bleak Scotland winter as well as the winter season of life are the warm hearts and hands of three generations celebrating love. 

-calliope 

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