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Review: The Girls of August by Anne Rivers Siddons

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This would be a fantastic book to listen to in the car on the way to the beach for a week. Or while basking in the sun on your back deck. It’s a beach read… about the beach and its freedom and isolation and peace.

I admit I went into this book expecting something heavy. Instead I found an easygoing story about four women who get together for two weeks at the beach. The catch is, one woman is the new girl. The other three don’t let her forget it, and make her life miserable until personal tragedies bring them all together.

The Girls of August leaves many loose ends: we don’t know what happens with the health of two of the women, or the marriages of the other two. We never find out what happens to the island natives, or to the land that was supposedly left to one of the husbands. We don’t know if there’s a next vacation planned or a wedding.

I’m uncomfortable finishing a book without closure. I felt like I read a short story that was supposed to share a moral or a theme, but left the plot hanging.

However, The Girls of August has the wonderful redemptive quality of authentic friendships and introversion. These ladies were real with each other. They were snarky and sarcastic and bitter and loving and comforting and witty. They used the quiet of the beach to peel away their layers and discover themselves – not the women other people *expected * them to be, but who they really were. These women didn’t necessarily change, they just figured out who they were and who they were going to be from now on.

–Calliope

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Review: The City by Dean Koontz

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thecityIt’s been many years since I’ve read any Dean Koontz….okay…by many I mean at least 20….oh dear, I am getting so old! Without going into just how stupid I am, I was a bit confused at the start of this book….this was in NO WAY Koontz’s FAULT….it was my own….When it started to make sense to me…well….I still wasn’t swept away with the story. It was interesting….but a bit long-winded to me…However, at about 30% into it, I fell in love. This goes to show that it doesn’t matter what the story is…..how bad it is….how good it is…..if a character wins your heart…well….the book owns you….

Don’t get me wrong…this isn’t a bad story….there is one bit that doesn’t really tie in for me….The mysterious lady from the 6th floor really is never fully explained to my satisfaction…and no, I won’t go into this as I hate spoilers!

However, the tenant from the 4th floor absolutely won my heart over….He wasn’t the main character….but he was the one that completely owned my heart…

I enjoyed this story, but I can’t say that it really reminded me of the Koontz that I used to read…and if not for the love I felt for the gentleman I have mentioned, I believe that I would have liked the story alright, but could not have been motivated to review it or to give it a second thought after finishing the final page….

There is a bit of the supernatural going on in the novel, but it is not heavy…and it’s certainly not horror….more suspenseful than scary….

This is a story told Jonah Ellington Basie Hines Eldridge Wilson Hampton Armstrong Kirk……yes…..that’s correct….please don’t make me repeat it….let’s just make it easier on all of us and say Jonah….

Jonah is an older man when this story begins…it begins when a friend tells him he needs to talk about his life…..he asks if this includes “the dark stuff” and is told that “the dark stuff” needs to be included as well…..so Jonah starts to tell his story….he mostly goes back to when he was 9-11 years old and the events that occurred during this time…We meet his parents, and his grandparents and many others that reside in “The City”…..in the end we learn that it is not really the buildings and the location that makes a true city….A city is made up by the people who live within it….

I realise that this might sound very simple….and kinda boring…..but hey ho….weren’t you paying attention at all when I said that there is a character in here that makes the entire book worth your time? Go on…..stop reading this looking for spoilers….you won’t find any here…..all you’ll find is my recommendation that you should give this one by Koontz a read…..move on now…nothing more for you here…..go get the book…..go on…move it…..shoo….

Until next time….

Urania xx

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review

Buy it now The City by Dean Koontz

Review: Until We Touch by Susan Mallery

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I fell in love with Fool’s Gold a while back, and the Score crew was a big reason why. Until We Touch focuses big time on Score – especially on cutie Larissa. She will do anything for an animal or a person in need… And Score partner Jack McGarry will always come running to help.

I’m not a huge animal person, but Larissa is, and her compulsion to rescue animals totally worked. If you love fur babies, you’ll sympathize and have some tender I-heart-animal moments. And if you don’t, you’ll just appreciate Larissa’s generous heart — like I did. In this book, Larissa helps plenty of animals, but she also makes a big difference in the life of a young adult… And reels in Jack for assistance.

So. The love story. It’s a slow build-up, then some good fireworks, then some bad fireworks. The awesome thing about loving someone is that it’s about the actions, not the feelings. Larissa and Jack already act like they love each other! It’s only when the words and feelings are brought to the surface that trouble arises.

I liked that Larissa was a little naive here. It fits her personality and brought me back to “stupid things I did while in my 20s” – hah! And I liked that Jack was wonderful except for the time he was a completely big jerk and I could’ve just pushed him with two open palms and said WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!

The best part about a perfect hero who makes a gigantic stupid mistake is watching him make up for it. The apologies were worth the anguish, they really were.

As for the updates on other characters: Taryn’s wedding planning was enjoyable, and I liked the fun closure to Sam’s love life. Mayor Marsha brought upheaval and some new guests to town… and the local businesses were thriving. Read it. You’ll see – and love it – for yourself.

By the way, I read Until We Touch on the beach. My daughter looked at me from the edge of the ocean, rolled her eyes, and said, “There’s mom, crying again over a book.”

Yup. You betchya. Tears of sadness, tears of joy. That’s a successful read.

-Calliope

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Review: The Promise by Robyn Carr

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20140623-230542-83142578.jpg Robyn Carr, you’ve done it! You’ve created a Thunder Point novel that I fell in love with, just as I fell in love with the Virgin River books. The Promise was SO satisfying. From the small-town doctor’s office to the big-time ex-boyfriend cardiologist, from the romantic tension between widower Scott and newcomer Peyton to the comfortable companionship of Carrie and Rawley, I was completely taken by The Promise.

I was glad Carr took the time to give me her usual update on characters from past books, and even happier that this installment centered on a romantic relationship or two. Or three. I was pleasantly surprised to find Rawley making a move … And making no apologies for it!

Some of the most fun parts to read were of Peyton’s visits to her family farm. I could feel her joy and relief when she stepped foot on the property: a place of safety, respite, love, and dancing! Peyton’s family was warm and embracing, a lovely counterpart to the misunderstandings and dilemmas facing Peyton. And the food… Ohmygoodness my mouth was watering. I wasn’t even hungry and I was jonesing for a fresh baked baguette, olive oil, and just-picked tomatoes.

The Promise really has it all: food, family, fun, love … oh! and two new babies. Irresistible. I’ll read it again unless Book 6 is waiting in the wings.

Ms. Carr? Possible publish date for book 6? Hello?

-Calliope

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Review: Our Happy Time by Gong Ji-young

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ourhappytime***This book will be released in the USA on July 1, 2014***

Wow. This was a gem of a read for me. I am so glad I stumbled across this novel. If I were the type to read book descriptions I would have more than likely passed. This is a novel that has strong religious tones. The exact type of novel I avoid. However, this was so much more. This is a novel about acceptance. Acceptance not only of others, but also yourself. It’s a story about finding oneself. It’s a story about looking beyond your past and trying to imagine a future. A future where you find the strength to want to go on. It’s also about forgiveness. Of asking for it, and of accepting it as well. There is just so much contained within these covers of this book.

I really admire Gong Ji-young for not taking this book and trying to turn it into a prettily wrapped happily ever after book, although the reader will surely wish for this to book to end happily. I’m not saying there isn’t a HEA, I’m just saying that sometimes just getting though another day must be enough. As Ji-young points out more than once, “instead of saying you want to die, you should instead be saying you want to live better”.

Here you have a young, beautiful, affluential woman. She’s a professor, a world traveler and a past singing sensation. She comes from a *perfect* family. However, we find out throughout the story that she has not really bothered to enjoy life or to even live for the last 15 years. The woman the world sees couldn’t be further from whom the woman actually is.

As this point the young woman joins her Aunt, a nun, to weekly prison visits of a man on death row. This man makes no excuses for what he has done. He does not deny anything.

All of a sudden both the woman and the man are forced to see the world though someone else’s eyes. Once this occurs, there is no turning back. Suddenly, one must realise that no matter how alone you have felt your entire life, there are others out there in the world as well. Suddenly you must realise that if continue to focus on only yourself and your experiences…well, you are missing out on everyone else’s experiences.

Ji-young has some real zingers of some quotes in this book. Some of what she wrote had a profound effect on me.

This is one book that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. I won’t forget the characters. I won’t forget the quotes. And I certainly won’t be forgetting the the feelings she evoked or the message that I received. I hope you give this book a chance and feel the same….I so loved it…

Until next time….

Urania xx

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Buy it now Our Happy Time by Gong Ji-young

Review: Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

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20140209-163912.jpgA young single mother dies a violent death. Her two young children witness this horror. With no family members to take them in, they are at the mercy of the courts until an adoptive family is found. Not only is the family willing to adopt both young children, they are also extremely wealthy. And they all live happily ever after…or not.

Things start out well enough for Jamie and his sister Cate when they’re adopted by the Henry family. They fit right in and are soon enrolled in private school, horse-riding lessons, piano lessons, and everything else that being part of a well-off family entails. But as they enter their teenage years, Cate begins to spiral downward in a cycle of drug and alcohol abuse as well as signs of mental illness. Cate’s wild ways catch up with her when she’s sentenced to a juvenile detention facility for burning down a neighborhood horse barn. Jamie’s life without Cate settles into a predictable, safe rhythm. That is, until Cate is released. It starts with threatening phone calls and soon Jamie is seeing Cate everywhere he looks. She’s come back for him, and she’s still crazy. Or is she?

This second novel by Stephanie Kuehn had me flipping pages, or in my case pushing page turn buttons, faster than you can imagine. It’s an intense, on-the-edge of your seat novel that I finished in one day. I kinda thought I had it figured out towards the end but there was still enough suspense at the end to satisfy me. And a big plus for young adult readers is that it’s a fairly safe book with only the hint of sexual tension between teenagers. Grab this one and plan to set everything else aside until you finish it!

~Thalia

Buy it Now: Complicit

Review: The Same but Different by Serena Clarke

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The beautiful thing about book titles is that they seem to mean one thing at first, and then you finish the book and realize they could mean a whole bunch of other things.

Cady and Shelby are twins – the same but different, yeah? There’s a death in the family and they decide to travel from the UK to the US… and join a flash mob thingy called Flashpoint. While they’re there, they look for their biological dad, and run into two women also named Cady and Shelby -the same but different, again! And by the end of their US adventure, Cady and Shelby grow and develop and peel away layers until they themselves are different… yet the same.

I thought this book would be straight up romance or chick lit, but it was really much more. There was suspense, adventure, family drama, more family drama, and yep, some romance. It was refreshing to read such a well-rounded story, kind of along the lines of a Nora Roberts novel. I’m used to so much straightforward chick lit romance that I forget how satisfying a good, substantial story can be. A big Thank You to Serena Clarke for reminding me. 🙂

–Calliope

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Review: That Night by Chevy Stevens

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20140319-213038.jpgWhere to start with this one? Let me begin by saying that all passionate readers have that select group of favorite authors whose newest release is an eagerly anticipated, must-read. Chevy Stevens is one of those authors for me. Anytime she puts out a new story, I just know it’s going to be a good one. This newest selection did not disappoint.

Our protagonist is Toni, a young woman who is being released from prison after a long stint served for the murder of her teenage sister. Everyone, even Toni’s parents, were eventually convinced that she and boyfriend Ryan did indeed murder Nicole. Now seventeen years later, Toni is trying to get her life back on track and find some sense of normalcy, albeit a completely different kind of normal from the one she knew before her incarceration. However, the past has other plans. Enemies and secrets from the past begin to show their ugly heads, threatening to send Toni back to prison. Her only chance to save herself is to find out who is really responsible for her sister’s death.

I enjoyed this story and as a result finished it in a matter of a couple of days. It’s a great honor to read and review this work before it hits the stands. Chevy Stevens has been a favorite author of mine since I discovered Still Missing a few years ago. I will say that this story lacked some of the intensity of her previous stories. It wasn’t as pulse-pounding and page-turning as her earlier works. But, you really can’t go wrong when you pick one of her books off the shelf. You can always rely on a good, compelling story with intriguing characters. Add this one to your list, especially if you’ve enjoyed her other stories!

~Thalia

Buy it Now: That Night

Review: Just One Thing by Holly Jacobs

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20140612-122043-44443951.jpg Loss is powerful. So powerful that sometimes people lose themselves because they are so distraught from the grief of losing someone else. In Just One Thing, Lexie didn’t function as her normal self anymore. She created a shell of a person in order to get through her days. Bartender Sam did the same thing.

And because they couldn’t crack their shells, to all at once release their authentic selves, they did it one thing at a time. Lexie and Sam exchanged one statement, one feeling, one story each week, until they formed a friendship– a real, honest, trusting friendship.

I loved hearing their “one things.” It’s rough to climb out of grief. It’s painful to trust someone again. Telling a friend one thing and being able to hold back the rest makes the climbing easier. It makes telling the NEXT thing easier. I totally sympathized with Lexie’s loss and grief and feeling of emptiness. And I knew she’d feel fulfilled again once she shed her shell.

I read for fun, you know, so I appreciated the wit, the poignancy, and the romance in Just One Thing. The story was about lifting up, healing, overcoming.

Lexie and Sam’s love story may have started out slowly and reluctantly, but when they healed enough to open up fully, they loved deeply and joyfully. Sigh. Dreamy, right? The whole book is dreamy. Deep and joyful love… that’s a happily-ever-after all day long.

-Calliope

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Review: Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand

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20140612-125512-46512637.jpg Aahhh, young love! The tension, the fun, the sighing when you re-live a good date, the well-intentioned interference of the matchmaking grandparents…. Yeah.

Anna and Felty were successful in the match of their grandson Moses, and now they’ve moved on to shy Lily and brazen Aden. Beckstrand totally cracked me up with Lily blushing all the time, Aden the bad boy trying to be good, Felty and Anna bantering and giving sidelong glances. She writes likeable characters and strong dialogue. The story is meaty enough to sink into, but easy enough that I could read without working at it.

Aden and Lily’s love story was charming and believable. I liked how Aden kept persisting, even when Lily’s dad rejected him over and over again. The best part was when Lily used the strength of Aden’s love for her to stand up for herself. Brava, Lily!

I’ve fallen in love with these contemporary Amish young adults and their search for fun, friendship, and godly love. Bring on Book Three!

-Calliope

Read my review of book one, Huckleberry Hill.

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