Book Review

Review: Crazy Days of Christmas by Jill Barry

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Food and romance go together like toast and jam as far as I’m concerned; that is, perfectly! In Crazy Days of Christmas, Lucy finds herself suddenly short one chef at the restaurant she owns. Chef James happens to be looking for a short term assignment, and is glad to fill in at The Town Mouse. They both get more than they bargained for: a micromanaging restauranteur and a menu revolutionary who step on each other’s toes and push back more than expected! 
I mostly enjoyed all the restaurant talk and menu changes in this light romance. I have fun reading about food. Jill Barry also did a nice job maintaining the tension between Lucy and James without it feeling forced. I was charmed by the development of their relationship, even when Lucy and James weren’t even sure where it was going! The only negative for me was that this food-focused romance had such a Christmassy title… a little bit misleading. 

Not to fear, there was a happily ever after for Lucy AND her restaurant, and that makes this reader pretty happy. 

-calliope 

Buy CRAZY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (it was FREE when I last checked!)

Review: Under the Eagle (Eagle, #1) by Simon Scarrow

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578428I really enjoyed parts of this novel. Other parts kinda bored me. Here we have a young 17-year-old man who joins the Roman army right before an invasion of England. Because of his past (that we do not know about) he is placed second in command under his commander Marco.

My main complaint about the book is that is seems to just go from no relationship between Marco and Cato and then too much more. For me that would have been the best part of the book. Seeing that relationship grow. Watching Cato help Marco learning to read. Watching Marco build up the self-confidence in the boy. We only saw minor glimpses of that happening.

It was obvious to me who the spy was. From the very first mention of their name. I also kind of resent not being told who Cato really is. His history. It will obviously come about and we will eventually know, but I am disappointed that the author didn’t expect anyone to actually ask Cato who his father is…especially when it became apparent that the leaders wife knew him by sight. Obviously someone would have questioned him about his father since it placed him in a position of authority above me twice his age and all the whilst he had no training.

Finally, this book really shone when Cato was at the forefront in battle. When he placed himself in danger to save others without a thought of his own safety. When he would scream a battle cry and not even know where it came from. At times he was very childish, but when he was a man, he was a man to be feared and admired.

I just wish we had seen more of the same from Marco. As it stands in the ending of this novel, he is a very flat character.

I’m not sure if I shall continue this series or not….yes, I want to find out more about Cato, but sadly, I’m just not sure if I’m really willing to invest the time to find out those answers

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now Under the Eagle (Eagle, #1) by Simon Scarrow

Review: Billy and Me (Billy and Me, #1) by Giovanna Fletcher

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25663643** spoiler alert ** Oh dear…sorry….but oh dear….it’s time to admit that I don’t hate “chick lit”…okay maybe I hate that term…but I actually do enjoy a light-hearted romantic romp around now and again…

However, this wasn’t the book for me…

I suppose some people might have issues with how fast the romance progressed…ummm…not me…I met my husband and fell in love in four short days once on holiday…today, even on a bad day, I still love him more than I could ever express…more than I ever thought I could…

However, I just don’t think these two people belonged together. I just don’t think Sophie was ready for a relationship. At the end of the novel I still don’t think she was.

I kept trying to put myself in her shoes…and honestly, I can’t understand why she refused to trust Billy throughout the novel. He gave her no reason to distrust him…except for being the exact person he actually is…a famous, attractive movie star. He didn’t really even have much of a past of being a bad boy…sure he dated before Sophie, but he wasn’t portrayed as a dishonest person in those relationships…

Sophie’s only reason for distrust was her doubt of her own self worth…and that certainly wasn’t Billy’s fault as he spent the entire novel telling her how important she was to him.

I didn’t sense a lot of depth in Sophie or Billy either one. To be honest, they were both pretty boring to read about. The saving grace of this novel are two of the secondary characters. Sophie’s mum…who I actually disliked for the first half of the book, but came to appreciate…and of course, Molly….Molly was the best part of the book! However, once again, I felt like as great as these two secondary characters were, that there will still much more that could have been added to even them…

This was a fast and easy read…and don’t misunderstand, I did enjoy it. However, this is one HEA ending that I think would have been better to never have happened….sorry but true…

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

Review: Geisha With Green Eyes by India Millar

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31109220Mixed reviews on this one. I will quickly say that it felt like borderline erotica that was poorly executed. I also think that at the start that the writing style was mimic of the writing style of “Memories of a Geisha”, but where in MoaG it felt authentic, in this novel it just felt amateurish and childish.

Also you had the main character that was obviously powerful in her own right, and at times, she seemed to know this, but most of the time she was still dogeza with the other girls. SHe plainly knew the workings of the culture as it was all she knew…She noted the powers that some of the girls had over the others and noted the powers that her “auntie” had…even though men were always in power at the end of the day…however, it still bothered me that she seemed so subservient to everyone, even though she, in her own right, was put into several positions of power by some of her patrons.

Many times I wanted to put this novel down and place it in my DNF column. There are many parts of the story I would have liked to seen handled differently.

However, at the end of the day, I wanted to see what happened at the end of the story. At the end of the day I think there was some great potential here to make a mediocre novel into something that was very good. Yes it fell short, but I spent a great deal of time imagining and thinking about this novel when I wasn’t reading it. I just couldn’t manage to put it aside and felt compelled to finish it. I didn’t want to walk away and leave it undone. That in itself is something. I have to give credit where credit is due. No it wasn’t written as I wished it had, some parts of it I found silly even, but despite all of that, I had to finish it and I am glad that I did.

Not my best read of the year, but certainly not my worst either…

Until next time…
Urania xx

Review copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Buy your copy here Geisha With Green Eyes by India Millar

Review: Two Christmas novellas- Forever Christmas & My True Love Gave to Me by Christine Lynxwiler

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November means Christmas reading, so I hunkered down the past couple nights with two novellas in my Kindle’s “Christmas” folder. 

These charming and heartfelt stories felt like full-length novels in that the characters were many and varied, the plots had time to twist and meander a bit, and the main characters were wonderfully developed. 

In Forever Christmas, Kristianna tries to live out her own authentic life, fighting through family pressures and a stressful romantic past. I loved that Kristianna’s best friends never wavered in their love and loyalty to her. I enjoyed Kristianna’s fun dates, her surprise gifts, and the relationships she had with the quirky townspeople. Although saving her town of Jingle Bells from corporate intrusion was top of mind, Kristianna eventually got the message that working together for a solution is more effective than cutting off your nose to spite your face. 

In My True Love Gave to Me, loving wife and mom of two Penny has had it up to here with her newly-unemployed husband’s moping. But when he finally does something to snap out of it, she’s not truly on board with that either. The plan? A family RV trip. The reaction? Horror, as you might guess. However, in the spirit of a good Christmas story, the lessons are in the journey. Lynxwiler gives us an entertaining road trip where relationships are strengthened, trust is built, and true love abounds. 

Both novellas have a Christian perspective, with a mentions of “God’s plan” and positively describing other characters as Christian. They both have a happily ever after, too. 

You’ll be glad to know my Kindle’s Christmas folder is full of myriad holiday novels. These were only the tip of the iceberg! 

-calliope 

Buy MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME
Buy FOREVER CHRISTMAS

Review: Faithful by Alice Hoffman 

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Faithful is a good YA novel with some realistic grit and an excellent rendering of teenage emotion. Hoffman perfectly describes adolescent/young adult self-centeredness — being egocentric without knowing it — the feeling that no one understands you and you’re the only one going through so much pain. 

Hoffman has a terrific way of harnessing the overwhelming despair Shelby feels without making the book contrived or too angsty. I believed in Shelby as she looked for ways to save herself – some destroyed her further, but some were steps toward healing. Hoffman beautifully illustrated a realistic message of HOPE – there’s a way out and something better waiting, but it’s up to you to grab a hold of the ladder rungs. In Faithful, Shelby achieved more than she ever bargained for: she found her savior, and became one to someone else. 

*This novel is not appropriate for teens under age 15 due to brief and infrequent but graphic and vulgar descriptions of sex.* 

-calliope

Buy FAITHFUL

Review: The Return of Norah Wells by Virginia Macgregor

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3112057424997133(Titled The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells in the UK) ** spoiler alert ** I have to say that I read this book quickly. I really felt compelled to finish it to the end. I had to see how it ended.

Having said that, well….that’s all I can really say…I found the writing style not only distracting, but also confusing. I found many parts of the novel repetitive. I found the children to be the only mature characters in the novel. I understood their confusion. I understood their emotions and feelings going back and forth. The adults however…I just couldn’t relate to. Their constant going back and forth. Their seeming ability to let 6 years go by and every one of them thinking things could/would go back to how it was before.

How does one expect us to feel sorry for the one that left, when she only came back for the reasons she did…I might not agree with her leaving…or why she left…but I could try to relate and understand it somehow…but let’s face it, if she wasn’t facing a life changing situation, she would still be off doing whatever it is that she did the previous 6 years…

The father…don’t even get me started on him. I understand not being perfect. I understand being confused…but he just took it to another level, didn’t he?

The “otherworldliness” stuff…again…I just don’t get it…sure, I understand that the author might have felt she was adding to the story and trying to stick in clever bits of symbolism, but seriously? It just added to the confusion and the not connecting to the story…as did all the strange “prominent but not prominent” twitter cast.

Finally, the different POVs….I don’t mind stories told in different POVs…but when the character in the chapter refers to themselves in 3rd person…it just does my head in…I’ve never before read anything like that…it’s almost like the characters decided to play both character and a narrator and that they couldn’t even keep their roles straight and kept getting confused and that’s why they slipped into 3rd person narratives from time to time…

Honestly, I’m not trying to rip this book to shreds. It was an interesting storyline. People do walk out of their lives. Sometimes they decide to come back. Often for the exact reasons described in this novel. However, I just don’t think many of them come back and expect to pick up exactly where they left off…they come back hoping to mend fences and make amends….not to step right back into the life they walked away from..as if nothing happened….as if they hadn’t been heard from in 6 years…as if time froze and did not move one once they left…and certainly, not one, but several adults expecting that to happen for various different reasons…

When it’s all said and done, am I glad I read this book? Yes. Was I in a hurry to finish so I could see what happened? Yes. Did I SOOOOO wish it was written differently? Hell yes…

Until next time…
Urania xx

Review copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Buy it now The Return of Norah Wells by Virginia Macgregor

Review: Rhythm & Clues by Sue Ann Jaffarian 

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These Odelia Grey mysteries satisfy me so. Jaffarian includes much more than just the crime and sleuth aspect; some of the books focus on Odelia and her attorney boss Mike Steele. Others give us strong subplots involving Odelia’s friends on the police force. This latest in the series includes rock stars, bodyguards, and the delicate relationship between a strong daughter and her strong mother. 

While rock legends don’t do it for me (and so I was a little bored with that part of the plot), Odelia unraveled murders with her signature stubbornness and throwing caution to the wind. I loved the middle-of-the-night meddling, the saving grace of Odelia’s formerly criminal friends, and the comic relief that reminds me of Stephanie Plum. Much to my delight, Jaffarian also surprised me in Rhythm & Clues with my most favorite part of any book ever: the hint of a romantic happily ever after.

 *Vroom vroom*

Can’t wait for the next one. 

-calliope

Buy RHYTHM & CLUES

Review: A Summer at Sea by Katie Fforde

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25613372Oh dear…I hate to give a review for a book I didn’t like much by an author that everyone seems to love. Especially if it’s a genre that I’ve made clear isn’t my favourite.

As I’ve wanted to read more books from this genre lately I have been asking myself more and more why it’s not a genre that I absolutely love.

This book is why! I’ve read some exceptional books that were classified “chick lit”. I’ve read some that make my heart swell…some that have made me laugh out loud…and some that have given me so many “feels” that I can’t help but to always seek out that next one that makes me feel all those emotions.

This book wasn’t awful. But I just had issues with the characters.

Why was the main character so stressed out from a job that she proclaimed meant so much to her, that she was so passionate about, but then was willing to just walk away for several months. I understand stress…I do! I understand needing a break…I do! However, this just seemed like it was over dramatic, especially since a few weeks later it was once again the best job in the universe with no issues at all…what was the real story going on there?

Second, I can’t stand where a character just falls for someone they don’t know…I mean, she didn’t even seem to find him that attractive when she first saw him…then suddenly after talking to her mate, she couldn’t stop thinking of him…then after one day she’s willing to do all sorts of things with him…

TBH, when we first heard of the *love interest* in this novel the description was so non-descriptive I didn’t have a clue what he was like…I pictured him as older man who didn’t speak much and might not even speak the same language…

Again, I’m not trying to be horrible here…the book REALLY was okay…

I just need some type of foundation to build a HEA on and I don’t feel like I received that in this novel. Little Kate was wonderful…the teddy was wonderful…the elderly Maisie was equally wonderful…

But that’s it…the rest just weren’t…and there were bits that really bothered me…How in an interview and discussing a new job the main character kept referring to the elderly as “old people”. Here she is in an interview and they ask her if she’s ever worked with senior citizens and she goes on about “one old lady in particular”. I’m not really one for strict PC, but I just found it a bit off-putting for me. It bothered me. Two days later it STILL bothers me…That “old woman” was meant to be her friend…and there you have it…I just found Emily shallow and fickle. I found Alasdair stern, controlling and unforgiving…and I didn’t seem them as an item at all…

I certainly didn’t hate the book, but I can’t reconcile myself a fantastic, deep felt relationship between two people who I never saw any evidence of…so this book was a pass for me…

Until next time…
Urania xx

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Buy your copy here A Summer at Sea by Katie Fforde

Review: Love Literary Style by Karin Gillespie

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Even though I REALLY enjoy books about books, I cringe a little whenever I start a new one. I half expect camp and contrivance, as much as I hope it gives me a protagonist who loves reading and writing as much as I do. 

I had nothing to fear with Love Literary Style. Gillespie wrote a perfectly entertaining and thought-provoking account of Laurie Lee, novice romance novelist, and her meet-cutie Aaron Mite, fancy schmancy highbrow lit fic writer extraordinaire. Their ups and downs totally work.  The author talking to the reader via the characters is ingenious. Aaron Mite’s longtime girlfriend is bizarre … and maybe a necessary foil so Aaron could really find himself. 

The best thing Laurie Lee did for herself and her relationships was also my favorite part of the book: finding an expert to help improve her writing. He gave her so much more, and she knew it and appreciated it. I also ADORED the ending — a happily ever after, of course — and Gillespie wrote this one with aplomb. 

I read an advance copy, and there was an error (alluded instead of eluded) in a scene that references a famous movie. Reading incorrect vocabulary gets under my skin in general, but I kind of couldn’t believe I read this in a book about writing books. Fortunately, Gillespie’s lovely epilogue made me forget all about it. She tied up all the loose … ends; and that made it easy to grin and … bear it. 

-calliope 

Buy LOVE LITERARY STYLE