fiction

Review (Take 2): Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis

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20140225-151742.jpg Fly me to Lucky Harbor, home of strong women with loyal friendships, gossipy old Lucille, and quiet alpha men! This installment finds troubled Aubrey making amends to the people she’s wronged, and strong silent Ben finally ready to fall in love again.

I always enjoy Shalvis’ romantic tales. But I also appreciate Aubrey’s friendship with the women who own shops adjoining hers. How fun to be a fly on the wall while the girls eat cupcakes and dish about their lives!

I also enjoy the recurring character Lucille. She’s one of the threads that gives the Lucky Harbor series continuity, and her gossip is good-hearted and harmless.

Shalvis focused a bit on children’s welfare in this novel, and she did it realistically. Shalvis shows the difference between men who shirk their parental duties (sometimes unknowingly), and men who are nurturing and raise their children well.

Lucky Harbor is a must-read for me. I’m invested in the characters, the shops, the relationships and the romances. Thanks, Miss Jill, for yet another happily ever after.

–Calliope

Just Released!
Buy Once in a Lifetime

Review: Evening Stars by Susan Mallery

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20140224-200548.jpg I love this Blackberry Island series! Evening Stars is the newest, and will be released February 25.

Blackberry Island has family issues, local doctors’ practices, small businesses, small-town quirkiness, and romance. Lots of romance! In Evening Stars, Nina gets a chance to think about herself for a change. She learns to stop trying I take care of (control) the people around her, and let go of her worries. One route she takes is having a casual fling with Kyle, a younger man. It is fun but not fulfilling. She also spends time with her ex… Dylan is a great guy but they have more of a friendship than anything else. I liked watching Nina figure out which guy – if any – she really should be with.

Susan Mallery writes characters and dialogue that are so natural I don’t even stop to think that they might not be real. The antique-shop goings-on were fun to read, as were the pediatric waiting room incidents. Nina’s irresponsible little sister offered some comic relief. Dylan and Kyle provided eye candy and nice cars… And great dates. And Nina’s parents illustrate how love might be what makes a family go ’round, but part of that love is responsibility, reliability and stability.

Sometimes I felt like the characters were a bit exaggerated or stereotypical in their behavior, but it’s part of what made the book fun to read.

Susan Mallery and the Blackberry Island series are on my BOLO list. I’ll continue to be on the lookout for more to add to my kindle, because once they’re on there, they don’t last long!

–Calliope

Buy/preorder (Feb 25) Evening Stars

Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Never Let Me Go, is one of those books that doesn’t fall into a neat little genre.  It’s like life; it isn’t perfect, not everyone is going to like it along the way, but boy, it is fascinating! Now, I realize that this has been sitting on the shelves since 2005, however, I believe that it is nice to pick up an older book now and then and rediscover, or, indeed discover, the epitome of a multi-faceted work of genius.

Like I said above, Ishiguro’s novel cannot be defined in one genre; romance, dystopian, drama, all play their respective hands throughout. I think this is why I loved it so much.  I tend to not be a fan of romance or dystopia, but in little bits, they definitely work, and even complement one another.  With merging these genres, Ishiguro actually presents an almost deconstructed version of each one:  In a typical (and I say typical because I’m aware it’s not always the case) dystopian novel, the reader is presented with a world that is at its knees; it is often harsh, grey, and survival instincts are at an all-time high.  In Ishiguro’s novel, the reader is presented with a dystopian world in the form of an upper middle class British boarding school.  Now, we all know that there must be some kind of untowardness when the Brits are involved (after all, this isn’t a Sophie Kinsella novel, or a Merchant-Ivory production!), and the assumption would be correct.  I won’t spoil the surprise of what makes this novel have its dystopian theme, but suffice to say, Ishiguro was writing ahead of his time, as we are ever so slowly seeing this topic become ever more prevalent.

It could be argued that the romance aspect to the novel is slightly more conventional.  We are presented with a classic love triangle, where boy loves girl (or girl loves boy) boy/girl can’t verbalise said feelings and ends up seeing another person as a rebound.  However, those of you that know me, KNOW that I wouldn’t read a book with such a simple theme.  Ishiguro presents this theme and turns it on its head by making the reader love and hate each individual character.  Not one of them can claim the moral high ground all throughout the novel.

Overall, this is a novel that will infuriate you, make you smile, make you think, make you gasp, and may even make you cry.  It’s an unflinching look at a controversial topic, whilst employing classic themes and presenting them in a unique way.  Even if you don’t like it, Never Let Me Go, is worth picking up simply for the above mentioned points.  Take a leap of faith and have your opinions and comfort zone challenged.

Pegasus.

Buy it now – Never Let Me Go

New Releases for October 15, 2013

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Well, it’s that time again. New release day!! I, for one, am super excited to tell you about a few of these books.

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The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
For those of you who LOVE all things Amazon, this is right up your alley. 🙂 I must admit, I’m intrigued, myself.

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Naked Sushi
I’m currently reading this book. I’m in the beginning and so far, I’m quite enjoying it. These Cosmo Red Hot Reads have been fun.

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Everything You Need to Know
And here’s another Cosmo Red Hot Read. It was a quick and fun book. I hope they come out with more of these.

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The Wolves of Midwinter: The Wolf Gift Chronicles
This is the second book in The Wolf Gift Chronicles. I, myself, am a bit afraid of Ms. Rice books. One of these days, I’ll take a chance and try one. 🙂
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UnSouled (Unwind Dystology)
This is third book in the Unwind Dystology series. I am adding this one to my tbr list. I love dystopian books!!

18589060Holding Out for a Hero
This is another book that has caught my attention. One of the Muses has already read it and will post a review tomorrow. Here is the link

17284874Bold Tricks (The Artists Trilogy)
The Artists trilogy is another series I’m dying to read. I’m glad I waited til the third book is out, though. Now I can read in peace. 🙂

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Finding It (Losing It)
This is the third book in the Losing It series. I’ve enjoyed these a lot. My review, for this one, will be posted later today. I’ll link it HERE.

I hope you enjoy all of your new releases.

~Melpomene

Review: The Truth is in the Wine by Curtis Bunn

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This novel has a good premise but many flaws. The story is about a husband and wife with a rocky marriage. Since they both enjoy fine wine, Ginger and Paul decide to take the vacation they’ve always wanted – to Napa Valley.

The book could be great, but the writing is amateurish and long-winded.

  1. Instead of dialogue, Bunn uses stream of consciousness much of the time. While this is okay in theory, it’s difficult to read a whole novel written in this way. In addition, the thoughts are repetitive and circular. While this may mimic a person’s thoughts in real life, it doesn’t work In a novel.
  2. The writing is uneven. A well written page might be abruptly punctuated with an amateur “it didn’t feel good.” If the description is precise, the reader doesn’t need to be told that something didn’t feel good.
  3. The sex scenes are abrupt and vulgar. Perhaps college boys would appreciate them, but a (mumblemumble)-ty year old muse…. Not so much. Perhaps I am not the intended audience. But then, who IS the audience for a book about marriage with unappealing and unromantic sex scenes?
  4. The author uses so much real estate to describe and explain things instead of showing the reader something succinctly. Describing four people’s meals in detail — when the menu isn’t relevant — doesn’t move the plot forward.
  5. Implausible subplots: The 40-yr old wife who couldn’t get pregnant for 20 years gets pregnant, has an abortion without telling anyone, then 2 months later gets pregnant again. The two pregnancies are a result of having sex three times over the course of four months. Really?
    Another far fetched subplot was a double date 3000 miles away where one woman and the other woman’s date are long lost lovers from 40 years ago.

There’s more if you can stand it.

Curtis Bunn uses incorrect vocabulary and confusing descriptions. Examples:
-One passage states “to determine if they had stuffed contraband up the cracks of their anuses”. Anuses don’t have cracks.
– Putting lips to a wineglass is described as akin to putting lips on the wife’s breast. How exactly is a wineglass like a breast?
-God and His blessings are mentioned frequently… And even more frequently, the use of “Goddamn.”
-The author includes in the double date conversation a joke-y allusion to jerry Sandusky “who molested all those boys” – and “the ladies laughed.” Not funny.

The book was all over the place. Curtis Bunn employs frat boy humor, pretentious mentions of numerous specific wines, wannabe-marriage-counseling through a thin veil of fiction, and totally unbelievable subplots to create a confusing, uneven novel that I struggled to finish.

One star for unique ideas. The book needs heavy editing.

-Calliope

I don’t recommend The Truth is in the Wine. But I DO recommend this wonderful, witty, clever, well-written book about a marriage on the rocks:

The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank

New Releases for October 1, 2013

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I can’t believe it’s October already!! But I love the Fall weather. It’s perfect for cuddling up in a blanket, with a cup of mint tea and my kindle.

I can’t believe how many new releases come out this month. I am almost afraid to see how low my Amazon account will dwindle down to. So maybe if I only look at it week by week it won’t be so bad….maybe.

Since it’s the first of the month, that means new $2.99 book deals. Here is the link.

And here are a few that some of us are waiting for:

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Torn: The Connections Series, #2
I’ve read Connected, the first one, and it left us hanging with a cliffy. So I am so anxious to read this! It has a hot rocker. What more can we ask for? 🙂 This will complete the duet. I’m so glad to here it’s only a two book set. All these trilogies kill me!!

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Midnight’s Temptation (Dark Warriors)
I LOVE this series!! I was bamboozled into reading the first book of this series. And ever since then. I was completely addicted. If you like druids and fea, with a smidgen of romance thrown it, you’ll like this series.

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Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries)
I have been waiting very impatiently for this one. I’m a sucker for BDSM books. This book has that, and an extra dose of suspense. Perfect combination.

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The Wager: The Bet series: Book 2
I totally loved this book!! Funny and emotional. I seriously was cracking up. But there’s one scene that had me tearing up. So sweet.

“Love isn’t effortless; it hurts. When I watch you my chest feels like it’s going to explode, when you touch me I feel it everywhere, when you breathe I hold my breath until you exhale. Love is hell, it’s torture, it drives a man insane, and it’s the scariest thing I’ve ever felt. I feel like I just jumped into a burning building…but Char, you’re my water. I need to know one thing.”
“What?” She whispered.
“Will you come to my rescue?”

I know, right?!?! Here’s the link to my review.

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Red Hill

If you’ve read Beautiful Disaster, and loved it, you should try this one as well. I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I’m not a fan of zombies, but this book threw me for a loop. I figured if I loved BD, I would love this one as well. I was right. 🙂 Here is the link to my review.

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Love and Lists (Chocoholics)
If you haven’t read Tara Sivec’s Chocolate Lovers series, you must do that first!! This is the spin off series. SO technically you don’t NEED to read the others first, but you’d be missing out on a whole lotta funny. And who doesn’t need funny in their lives??

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Possession: A Novel of the Fallen Angels
This is another paranormal romance series from J.R.Ward. I’ve only read her Black Dagger Brotherhood, but I have the first book, in this series, sitting patiently on my kindle. Hopefully one of these days, I’ll get to it.

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Found in You (Fixed)
I’m dying to read this trilogy! I will admit, I only bought it because of the cover. I’m shallow like that. I’m hoping to get to these sometime this month also. The first book, Fixed on You (The Fixed Trilogy), didn’t end on a cliffy. So that makes me feel a lot better.

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The Signature of All Things: A Novel
A novel about desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed. I’m finding myself drawn to historical fiction lately. This sounds like something I may have to squeeze in. 🙂

~Melpomene

Price drops!

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I just looked on my amazon wish list, and though my list is a mite outdated, I did see some price drops. So I’m sharing. 🙂 Just click on the title to get to the amazon purchase page.

Enjoy!
-Calliope

Fortunately, the Milk – by Neil Gaiman

Night Film – by Marcia Pessl

Home to Whiskey Creek – by Brenda Novak

A Time to Kill – by John Grisham

The Newcomer – by Robyn Carr (The Hero is also just $3.99)

Review: The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank

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4 stars

The Last Original Wife cracked me up! One thread in the book was about how Wes, the husband, didn’t appreciate his wife Les’ humor — kind of like how some reviewers didn’t appreciate the humor in this book. But I did. 🙂

The book is ostensibly about a marriage gone wrong, a woman’s search for her own identity, and the social dynamic in the south. Underneath, the author comments on society’s expectations and prejudices. To experience it all, I went on a hilarious literary trip from Atlanta to Charleston, replete with a brother living in a haunted house, walks along the battery with iced cocktails, dinners at the Club, and a lover who wears seersucker suits.

Wes and Les had a less-than-perfect marriage. And Les finally got fed up with Wes’ idiocy. Did she make a high moral choice? No. Did he deserve it? Yeah, pretty much. They both hid their real selves from each other for years, so in my opinion they both reaped what they sowed.

I really enjoyed the humor, the insouciance, the ridiculousness of these characters and their interactions. I felt like I was reading the book version of a mural of caricatures.

I didn’t agree with everything the characters did in The Last Original Wife. I wouldn’t have made the decisions they did. But I loved reading their story.

–Calliope

Buy It Now The Last Original Wife