Novella

Review: Bridesmaid by Julia London

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20130928-072827.jpg Bridesmaid is a novella about Kate, who has to travel from New York to Seattle on a deadline — and with a poufy bridesmaid dress in tow. Joe, a handsome, successful IT guy who hasn’t yet found his one and only, sweetens the trip.

Kate and Joe overcome funny travel challenges together in order to their final destinations. On the journey, they notice they kind of like each other. What do they do about it? Read the book!

I’ve read Julia London before and I usually like her books. I also appreciate a really tightly written yet thorough novella. I didn’t enjoy Bridesmaid as much as I wanted. The writing wasn’t as good as I expected, the dialogue was just mediocre, and the characters were a little flat.

Bridesmaid has a cute plot and a nice, easy love story. But it isn’t quite the best you can get from Julia London.

–Calliope

Buy it now Bridesmaid

Review: Delectable by Adrianne Lee

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20130909-091341.jpg I found Delectable so refreshing! Instead of boy meets girl until happily ever after, Adrianne Lee gives us a romance about a newlywed couple who almost didn’t make it past their first two years of marriage.

With intervention from friends and family, Quint and Callee are thrown together in the kitchen of Big Sky Pie Cafe. They think about rekindling their relationship and decide against it several times. Eventually, all roads do lead to a happily ever after.

I liked how Callee made Quint work for the relationship. She refused to be a doormat even though she still loved him. I loved Quint’s efforts to save his marriage, especially his attempts to be romantic while still being his authentic self.

The ending was abrupt and could have used another chapter about Callee to bring the reader along on her mind trip, but I made the leap and enjoyed the book as a whole.

True love and homemade pies made this novella totally delectable!

-Calliope

Buy It Now Delectable

Review: Patchwork Family in the Outback by Soraya Lane

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Poppy leaves the city and heads to a teaching position in the outback, hoping for a fresh start after her husband did her wrong. Harrison loves the land he was raised on and is determined to raise his own children there – despite his wife leaving the family for a more exciting city life.

This novella is very well-written, and the small cast of characters is nicely developed. There’s a meet-cute, the push and pull of new and unexpected chemistry, and a convenient storm that gives Poppy and Harrison a final push toward each other.

I loved the relationship between Harrison’s children and Poppy. I thought it was pretty realistic for a teacher to want to care for mother-less children. I also liked that Harrison was so rough and tough, but had a soft spot for his children.

I enjoyed reading about this Patchwork Family, and wished it was a full-length novel. For an hour or two I was transported to rural Aussie ranch country, and fell in love with Harrison’s family just like Poppy did.

–Calliope

For a quick, enjoyable, uplifting read for under $4:

Buy It Now Patchwork Family in the Outback

Review: Her Favorite Temptation by Sarah Mayberry

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18184035This novella felt more like a full length novel to me, which is definitely a good thing. Leah is a cardiovascular surgeon who is making a change in her specialty and going against her patents wishes. When she meets Will she thinks he’s handsome and had a great voice. Will is shocked she doesn’t recognize him as part of the duo who has been all over the radio the last few years.

The two strike up a friendship although both are clearly attracted to each other. Their friendship grows as they try to ignore their feelings.

I love both characters here. Leah is obviously a very strong female lead, smart and headstrong. Will has charm and is very there for Leah when she needs him. Their interactions were warm, funny and annoying as I clearly wanted them together immediately.

Sarah Mayberry does the buildup to the romance perfectly, leaving the readers ready to scream if the couple doesn’t kiss this instant. But of course they eventually do and sparks fly. We get our HEA at the end, after a few obstacles having been overcome. This is a sweet romance and a quick read.

I loved the whole thing from beginning to end. This was intended to be a short story but the author ended up writing more (yay for us!) and is the lead in for her next full length book – Her Favorite Rival. That will tell the story of Audrey, Leah’s older sister, who we get to see quite a bit of in this one. I’m a fan of lead in books and getting to see bits of one character and then see them be the lead in the next.

I can’t wait to read her next one!

OH! Almost forgot this book is free for the entire month of August! So click below and get a great book for free!!

5 stars

~ Clio

Buy it Now Her Favorite Temptation

An Early Look: Review: Cake by Lauren Dane

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imageARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

This novella is part of the Harlequin’s new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads line. (The first one, by Sylvia Day, will be released tomorrow). It definitely lives up to name of the line.

Gregori is a successful multi-media artist. He’s also very, very hot with his tattoos, nipple rings and beard. Wren, currently attending art school, is working hard to get her graphic novel published. Her job as a bike messenger helps pays the bills. Wren has been delivering packages and paperwork for Gregori for a year now.

They have slowly developed a friendship in that year. She always makes her deliveries to him last so that they can chat about his work or her art school. He provides her with scrumptious treats and hot tea.

Underlining the friendship is a super-charged attraction. When they do finally have sex, it is scorching. It scares Gregori how amazing the sex is and how at ease it is to be with Wren. He’s divorced and very wary of being in a relationship. He is the first to back away.

Wren is a fabulous, take-charge heroine. She sees that Gregori is skittish and scared but doesn’t back down from what she wants and doesn’t let Gregori push her aside. She shows him in every way that their relationship will be different than the marriage he had.

“I came here to get some distance between us. To cool things off.” She stepped closer. “I know. I came here to put an end to such silliness.”

Although, this is a short read, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything in the story. I belived in Wren and Gregori’s HEA. Wren is a fierce heroine. I adored her. She never let Gregori give in to his insecurities about their relationship.

This novella will be out Monday, September 15. Go and pre-order this! You won’t regret it!

~Thalia

Pre-order It Now Cake

Review (Another Look): The Story Guy by Mary Ann Rivers

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Clio wrote a great review of this novella on July 16… So this will be brief.

Mary Ann Rivers writes so the reader is in the story with the characters. I felt part of the book – and I think that’s one sign of successful writing.

For one, I thought I would be freaked out reading about a librarian meeting a stranger in the park every Wednesday for a make-out session. But I wasn’t. Mary Ann Rivers wrote in the apprehension as well as the excitement (and the relief when the Wednesday guy turned out to be nice and normal), and I felt it right along with Carrie.

In this age of the Internet and texting, sometimes it’s easier to show our real selves to a stranger instead of a friend. That’s what Carrie and Brian did. They spilled their guts in instant messages, and got to know each other better than if they had gone on a month’s worth of coffee dates. Awesomely, I got to know Carrie and Brian, too, and I got to see how perfect they were for each other.

You know the feeling you get when you first start dating someone? Like there’s no one else to think about? Like no one else in the world exists? Rivers did an amazing job using the precise words and manner to give me that novel feeling of beautiful isolation. Brian and Carrie were in their own little world, until they were ready to face the world together.

Rivers has a talent for immersing the reader in her story. I look forward to more by her.

Netgalley provided me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

–Calliope

Buy It Now The Story Guy (Novella)

Review: The Biscuit Witch by Deborah Smith

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biscuitI first ran across Deborah Smith by accident. I was new to e-book technology and ran across a free book of hers that was titled “The Crossroad Café”. At that time I had very few book titles on my kindle. I expected a quick fluffy read that would entertain me, but soon leave my mind completely….however, years later I still love that book…it took me completely by surprise and was so much more than I ever expected….I seriously love Deborah Smith. She has a wonderful writing style. Very real. She makes the characters come to life. So when I heard this novella was coming out revisiting the characters I had first met in TCC, I was so excited! I started this book the minute I got my copy.

This short novella was a very nice way for me to go back to Crossroad Cove for a visit. I usually do not care for novellas, but this one was a nice break for me. I’m not sure if it was a formatting issue (I am reviewing a copy from NetGalley) or just how the book was written, but it was confusing at parts when the point of view jumped between the lead characters. It was easy enough to figure it out, but it should have been seamless, and it was not. I understand that this is one part of what will eventually be three novellas to make one book….two sibling stories are to follow….however, I feel that there was plenty of story between the Tal, Doug, and Eve to merit a full novel. I felt this was rushed and I missed the building up of their story. I can easily see where 200 +more pages could have been written about them. There was so much history before they all came together, more time should have been made to hear their full stories. I still love Smith’s writing style, but I feel she cheated us on this one….I wanted more!!!!

*spoiler*
My major complaint (besides the rushing of the story) is the rushing of the characters. I don’t necessarily agree that a small child calls a stranger Daddy two days after meeting him. This really bothered me. If this had been a full-fledged novel, this could have been avoided and would have been a moot point…instead, it’s something that left a bad feeling for me.

Still really enjoyed the book and am now more firmly cemented as knowing Smith is a “need to read” for me….

Review copy provided by NetGalley

~Urania

Buy it now The Biscuit Witch (A Crossroads Café Novella, Book One of the MacBrides)