Fiction

Review: Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt

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Ohmygoodnessilovedthisbook. 

Lucy has been living in Boston – the same city as her überfeminist mother for the past two decades. With her egomania and focus on art, Fiona has managed to simultaneously  humiliate, neglect and drive away Lucy. So Lucy reaches out to her sister Juliet in the western Lake District of Cumbria, England. Juliet takes Lucy in, and there begins the roller coaster of estranged sisters, emotional numbness, putting on a happy front, and trying to find love in all the right places. 

Though it reads like chick lit, Rainy Day Sisters illustrates some heavy inner conflicts. Hewitt masterfully describes the mental anguish of the sisters and their love interests. Totally believable. Alex’s daughters were written well, also, from the sullen and reserved teenager to the perky and innocent primary-grader. Best of all were the townspeople of Hartley-by-the-Sea. They were quirky but not over the top. They developed authentically and I was just as interested in their stories as I was in Lucy, Juliet, Alex and Peter. 

I laughed and cried and sighed at the happily ever after… And then I ran to Amazon.com looking for the next one in the series. Which isn’t out yet. Because this one was just released. 🙂 But I was just so excited to hear more about the realistic, endearing, and lovely people in the HARTLEY-BY-THE-SEA. 

-calliope

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Review: Optical Delusions in Deadtown by Ann Charles

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11830198Wow! What happened? I loved the first book so very much! This one? Meh…..

Again, I must stress, I don’t understand these stupid covers at all! I still look at them and think of something from “True Blood” or something along those lines….very different from what the books really are about….yes, there is a bit of paranormal in these novels….but they are only a tiny slice of plot…and even at that the main character is always questioning if it even exists….so readers should be warned, if they are looking for some bad arse kicking sexy momma going off killing vampires/werewolves/zombies well they really won’t find that here……just a mention of a ghost or two….

The first book centers around spunky and single Violet Parker and her attempts to support herself and her two children, whilst also trying to maintain her sanity as she deals with all sorts of trouble that only a spunky, single independent woman could get in to. It’s full of laughs and near misses and heart tugging moments that you have no chance of escaping without loving Violet and her children.

This book? We hardly have even a glimpse of her children. Much of the book is spent with Violet trying to win over Doc…or at least getting him into a bed…..whilst at the same time she is playing best mate to her friend that fancies herself in love with Doc as well. At no point does she come clean.

Her dedication to being independent and her children that I so admired in book one really seems to take a back burner in this installment. Yes, you can be single, have kids, and fancy a man….yes, you can even sleep with said man…..but I felt that the entire novel was more focused on that then even the mystery in this novel….

I almost felt like I was reading some Janet Evanovich novel….and not a very entertaining one at that….

again….such a let down after book number one….

sigh…..

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now Optical Delusions in Deadtown by Ann Charles

Review: Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

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who-do-you-love-9781451617818_hrJennifer Weiner sure does know how to write a love story. And while it’s true that not all of her books fall into this category, I think it’s fair to say that this is where she truly excels as an author. Her newest novel adds another winner to that list.

Rachel and Andy meet for the very first time when they’re just eight years old. Although they’re both patients at a hospital, that’s where the similarities end. Rachel comes from a well-to-do, stable family. Andy, on the other hand, is the child of a single mother who spends much of her time working to support their family of two. That chance encounter at such a young age makes a mark on each of them, and when they meet again so many years later the sparks definitely fly. And so it goes over time. They meet by happenstance time and again. Their relationship is reignited, but without fail something happens to drive them apart.

So this is a love story, without a doubt. And it’s romantic and heart-tugging at times. But it’s a love story that spans several decades, tells a story of love that persists despite all odds. And it’s not wrapped up all nice and neat in a pretty little package. There are definite bumps along the way, and some of those bumps are as big as sinkholes. But still. It’s a story that pulls you in and makes you love the characters in spite of their very real flaws. You want both of them to win, and you want them to get their happily ever after. Do they? You’ll have to read the book to find out…

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Who Do You Love: A Novel

Review: The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

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Alrighty then. I didn’t expect that! Here’s a small Australian town with an outcast woman living uphill from a burning garbage heap, and the outcast’s daughter coming back after twenty years. For what? I think she misses her mom. Tilly does the good daughter thing, cleans up her incoherent and dysfunctional mother as well as the house she subsists in, and tries to find her place in a town that never wanted her. 

And then Tilly starts making beautiful dresses for the townspeople – because she’s a talented pro with haute couture training.  And they don’t pay her. And then we find out why Tilly left and why they all hate her so much. Personally I think they hate themselves and take it out on Tilly. 

A new dressmaker arrives on Tilly’s heels and seems to turn the town upside down. Maybe her flawed dresses symbolize the townspeople’s real characters: uneven, backwards, trying to be something they’re not. 

And from there on the story is a whirlwind of crazy. Affairs, financial ruin, secrets, deaths. I’m not sure how it all happened… I certainly didn’t expect any of it! 

It’s dark and grim and clever and funny. And if it’s a mirror of life, it’s downright scary. A smart – and bizarre – read. 

-calliope

Buy THE DRESSMAKER: A NOVEL

Review: The Casualties by Nick Holdstock

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23014701I have so many great books on my TBR list that it’s not often I read books I don’t like. However, that doesn’t mean I limit myself to well know authors or sure fire proven winners. Some of my best reads were books that no one I knew had read. Glancing at the blup of this book I thought it had real potential.

What can I say….this will probably be my lowest rated book this year. Damn it! I hate it when that happens…when you read a book and you just know it will be the low point of the year. I’ve spent some time trying to figure out why I disliked it so much. Really, dislike is a strong word. I didn’t dislike it so much as I just didn’t care for it. It was a very flat read for me. It didn’t excite me. It didn’t leave me wanting to rush through it to find out how it ends. It didn’t have me wanting to slow down and savory every word. Once I bonded with a character they would do something really strange that weirded me out and I couldn’t get past it enough to like them or be interested in them. Then there are the characters I just didn’t get enough insight to even feign interest in them.

After reading the book and being somewhat disappointed I rushed to read the other reviews to see why they loved it so much. Hmmmmmmm….nothing to enlighten me there either…Granted, there aren’t many out there as the book has yet to be published at this time….but what I saw gave me no insight as to why they rated the book so high….

Alas….I guess that’s just how it is sometimes….as really, I can’t give much insight to why I didn’t enjoy it as much….nothing in it made me passionate to hate it either (I sometimes love books that I hate! Just to know they can get such raw emotions from me is something!)….there just wasn’t much inspiration in this novel for me….it was like mushy potatoes….yes, you can eat them….but you neither love them or hate them…they are just something to fill you up until the next great meal comes along….

Until next time…

Urania xx

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Buy it now The Casualties by Nick Holdstock

Review: How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

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How_to_Say_I_Love_You_Out_Loud_for_sitejpgModern-day readers are very fortunate. No matter what situation-ailment-predicament-life event they find themselves in, there’s a book for it. Nonfiction if they’re after factual information, fiction if they want to simply lose themselves in a story. And it’s the same for young adult readers. Almost every possible scenario has been imagined, everything from bullying to living with a mental illness. It’s not as common, however, to find a book that tells the story from the perspective of a family member. This wonderful book from Karole Cozzo does just that.

The story is told from the point of view of Jordan, a young girl living with a secret. To her it’s a terrible secret, one that’s led to embarrassment and isolation in the past. But it’s not something she can control. Her younger brother Phillip has autism, and it pretty much governs everything that goes on in her family. From family outings to alone time spent with her mom, it all revolves around Phillip and his unpredictable, ever-changing moods.

She survives by keeping a definite separation between home and school. A student at an elite school, she gets by well enough. She’s active in sports and does well enough academically. But she keeps her friends at arms-length, never letting down that boundary between the outside world and her home life. While not an ideal solution, it works for Jordyn. Until Phillip is unexpectedly and unavoidably transferred to her school. Now all her worst fears come true as the lines between home and school are crossed. And Jordyn has to confront some hard truths about herself. Is she using Phillip as an excuse to not let others into her life?

It’s hard to like Jordyn at first because she’s so hard on herself and her family. She’s embarrassed of Phillip, even to the point of pretending to not even know him. Most of us would find that inexcusable. But she’s a teenage girl, and that says a lot. Being a teen is hard enough, especially in an elite school. It’s entirely understandable to see how she’d want a little bit of normalcy, one area of her life that isn’t ruled by Phillip.

This was an outstanding story. It’s plausible and realistically written, and the descriptions of Phillip’s behavior as a person with autism ring true. It will hit home for anyone affected by autism, but will have readers of all kinds hooked until the very end.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: How to Say I Love You Out Loud

Review: Rome in Love by Anita Hughes 

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I loved Lake Como by Anita Hughes and was so excited for another great summer read set in Italy. 

Rome in Love is the story of Amelia Tate, movie star on location in Rome. She meets a handsome man, and then needs to resolve a couple of challenges: one, she told him she was a maid; two, she has a fiancé; three, she keeps drinking too much champagne and passing out in the handsome man’s presence. 

Hughes includes flashbacks to Audrey Hepburn via letters from Hepburn to a friend, and she also writes a subplot involving a princess who falls in love with someone other than the pre-arranged Prince-to-be. 

I loved the on-location descriptions and “seeing” the sights with Amelia, Philip, Sophie, Theo, Veronique, and Greg. Traveling in Italy was wonderful — and no jet lag for me! 

While I enjoyed all the threads of Rome in Love, it could have used some editing. It seemed every chapter began with a description of someone’s attire, with lots of brand-name-dropping… and most chapters ended with Amelia falling asleep. Too repetitive for me. Also, how many times does a young woman get drunk, pass out, and find herself in the same strange man’s apartment before she decides to stop? She was in a foreign country! I had to suspend my disbelief just a little too much.  

Nonetheless, I was so enamored with the romantic gazes over espresso and the delicious food descriptions that I’ll be reading the next Anita Hughes novel, for sure!

-calliope

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Review – The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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11250317Today, we’re going to be travelling back a few thousand years! Don’t worry, you won’t need your passport! Now, we all know, or at least have heard of, the classical Greek stories of Achilles, the Trojan War, Helen of Troy etc etc… However, as with any great myth or story, we rarely hear the precursor; what happened before the events to these people? Particularly, what force, passion, emotion, inspired Achilles to step up and continue fighting (readers of Homer’s Iliad will know that Achilles refused to fight after his slave was taken away)? I don’t want to spoil anything, as even if you already know the whole story of the Iliad, this is a fresh take, so the raw power of the story will take your breath away.
Miller takes us on an adventure (I purposely use that word because that’s exactly how this books reads, as an adventure) exploring the early years of Achilles and his friend, Patroclus. They are brought up together in the same house and received much of the same education and training. Over the years we experience their bond strengthening and later events make much more sense.
Again, I just want to make a point of mentioning that my lexical choice of “experience” and “adventure”, is really not an accident. Miller’s writing allows us to “be in the moment” and to really feel for these characters, because we have been on the same journey as them. We’ve essentially experienced what they’ve experienced. Now, I know that sounds incredibly corny, but it’s the only way I can describe it. Miller’s style of writing is sparse, complex, simple, detailed, lyrical, poignant and mythical. All this coming in a debut novel is extremely rare. I suppose it helps that Miller has both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Ancient Greek and Latin languages as well as Classical studies. That urge to know more, and be inspired by the texts in their original languages, and have the academic ability and opportunity to really research your subject, is a real credit to Miller, along with her seemingly innate ability to write a damn good story!
I really cannot recommend this novel enough. A solid read, and for those of you that dislike lengthy novels, one t that packs such a punch in just over 400 pages – got to be worth a read!

Pegasus (and no, I did not consult on this novel!)

The Song of Achilles: A Novel

Review: Thrill Me by Susan Mallery

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Susan Mallery is a genius! She wrote Thrill Me as part of her long-running Fool’s Gold series, but it’s also part of a mini-series trio.  I love that! If you’re new to Fool’s Gold, or you don’t keep up with series, you can read the Hold Me, Kiss Me, Thrill Me trio and be totally satisfied. (You can read any of the Fool’s Gold books as standalones, but they’re much more fun together.)

In Thrill Me, Maya and Del separately return to their hometown to work on a project for Mayor Marsha. Maya works in video editing, and Del is a charmer on camera. Their work chemistry is easy and natural, and even though they had decade-old romantic history together, Del and Maya renew their relationship in the form of friendship. 

Mallery impresses me by coming up with new and exciting professions for her characters. I LOVE the video production descriptions in this book.  Plus, it’s a good backdrop for Del and Maya getting close in the editing room.  ðŸ˜‰

Maya and Del are loveable and fun characters, perfect for each other, and perfect for Fool’s Gold. Their romance was mostly in their own minds until they finally admitted feelings for each other and decided on Happily Ever After.  Another Susan Mallery winner! 
-calliope

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Review: Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon

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17302690I usually don’t pay much attention to reviews. A contradiction, I know, coming from someone who shares my love of great stories by writing reviews. But let me clarify. I don’t pay much attention to reviews unless they come from someone whose opinion I know and trust, someone who enjoys the same types of stories that I do. So I hope that’s how you view us here at the Muses, trusted friends who offer a little bit of something for everyone.

Having cancer sucks, even more so when you’re seventeen years old. That’s just what Richie is facing. And even worse, he’s been moved to hospice. We all know what that means. He’s the youngest person on the hospice ward with the exception of Sylvie. So of course there’s a romance brewing. If the story ran on that alone, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. It’s the cast of supporting characters that adds so much more. There’s Richie’s crazy but fun uncle who manages to sneak him out for a night of fun on Halloween. There’s his grandma who is complicit in helping him sneak around with Sylvie. Sylvie’s dad, by the way is one scary dude. Staying out of his reach becomes a full-time challenge in itself for Richie. And then there are the nurses and staff members, all full of personality and compassion at the same time.

I think it’s unfair to compare this story to The Fault in Our Stars as so many reviews have done. Because let’s be honest, that was a one of a kind, once in a lifetime story. And I don’t say that to take anything away from this book. It’s a different kind of book that just happens to share a few common characteristics with TFIOS. But it’s just as good in its own way.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Somebody Up There Hates You: A Novel