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obsidian_blue's reviews
3097 reviews
The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee
4.0
For the most part I do love authors like Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman for writing novels that have a magical element included. I re-read "Garden Spells" and "The Red Garden" so many times I probably know most of the words by heart now. "The Glass Kitchen" tries its best to mimic these other novels and almost pulls it off.
One of the main characters in this novel is Portia Cuthcart. Portia, realizes at a young age that she has inherited a gift called the "knowing" that her grandmother had as well. She would wake up or go throughout the day and just know what to cook a person depending on what type of mood they are in at that moment. Sometimes she is even able to tell based on what she thinks and then cooks if someone will be visited soon with a death. Several years later she moves from Texas to New York to be closer to her two sisters and to get back control of her life. Portia then comes to meet several other people, including a girl named Ariel and her family that she becomes increasingly drawn to despite herself.
Ariel is the other main character in this novel. Ariel is still recovering from the loss of her mother. Ariel's father, Gabriel, and sister, Miranda, are constantly at odds with each other. Ariel believes that if she can just find her father a girlfriend that things will get better.
I think that if Linda Francis Lee managed to weave in the magical element very well, but I wish that there had been more explanation of what the "knowing" was and how other members of the family had it as well. That part was pretty much glossed over in the writing.
I also thought it was very cute to break up the parts of the novel by saying "First Course", "Second Course,", etc. with recipes and then having the full recipes at the end of the novel. I tried the chile cheese and bacon stuffed cherry tomato recipe and it was ridiculously good.
With all that said, I still gave this novel three and a half stars. The reason why I gave this novel just three and half stars though is that when the novel shifted from Portia to Ariel I felt as if I reading two novels squashed together into one. Ariel's storyline is important it honestly just didn't fit with what was going on with Portia very well.
Additionally, I wish that Ms. Lee had been in less of a hurry to get to the present day with Portia. The first chapter was just an information dump in my eyes. Portia's character goes through some major life altering events and the reader does not get a chance to absorb them before we run onto the next thing with her living in New York.
Finally, I would say that some of the characters were not drawn very well in this novel. For example, the characters of Olivia and Cordelia (Portia's two sisters) were just flat. Besides describing how the sisters looked different from one another I never felt as if I got to know them very well. I was actually more intrigued with both Cordelia and Olivia and wished that we had been provided more details and glimpses into their lives. I felt like if the entire Ariel storyline had been removed and the novel focused more on Olivia and Cordelia it would have made the novel stronger in my eyes.
I also have to say that I wish that there had been more depth to the character of Gabriel as well. I found him boring and way too high-handed to be believed at times.
Please note that this novel was provided to me free via the Amazon Vine Program for a honest review. It will be released on June 17, 2014.
One of the main characters in this novel is Portia Cuthcart. Portia, realizes at a young age that she has inherited a gift called the "knowing" that her grandmother had as well. She would wake up or go throughout the day and just know what to cook a person depending on what type of mood they are in at that moment. Sometimes she is even able to tell based on what she thinks and then cooks if someone will be visited soon with a death. Several years later she moves from Texas to New York to be closer to her two sisters and to get back control of her life. Portia then comes to meet several other people, including a girl named Ariel and her family that she becomes increasingly drawn to despite herself.
Ariel is the other main character in this novel. Ariel is still recovering from the loss of her mother. Ariel's father, Gabriel, and sister, Miranda, are constantly at odds with each other. Ariel believes that if she can just find her father a girlfriend that things will get better.
I think that if Linda Francis Lee managed to weave in the magical element very well, but I wish that there had been more explanation of what the "knowing" was and how other members of the family had it as well. That part was pretty much glossed over in the writing.
I also thought it was very cute to break up the parts of the novel by saying "First Course", "Second Course,", etc. with recipes and then having the full recipes at the end of the novel. I tried the chile cheese and bacon stuffed cherry tomato recipe and it was ridiculously good.
With all that said, I still gave this novel three and a half stars. The reason why I gave this novel just three and half stars though is that when the novel shifted from Portia to Ariel I felt as if I reading two novels squashed together into one. Ariel's storyline is important it honestly just didn't fit with what was going on with Portia very well.
Additionally, I wish that Ms. Lee had been in less of a hurry to get to the present day with Portia. The first chapter was just an information dump in my eyes. Portia's character goes through some major life altering events and the reader does not get a chance to absorb them before we run onto the next thing with her living in New York.
Finally, I would say that some of the characters were not drawn very well in this novel. For example, the characters of Olivia and Cordelia (Portia's two sisters) were just flat. Besides describing how the sisters looked different from one another I never felt as if I got to know them very well. I was actually more intrigued with both Cordelia and Olivia and wished that we had been provided more details and glimpses into their lives. I felt like if the entire Ariel storyline had been removed and the novel focused more on Olivia and Cordelia it would have made the novel stronger in my eyes.
I also have to say that I wish that there had been more depth to the character of Gabriel as well. I found him boring and way too high-handed to be believed at times.
Please note that this novel was provided to me free via the Amazon Vine Program for a honest review. It will be released on June 17, 2014.
Glitter and Glue: A Memoir by Kelly Corrigan
5.0
I have never read a book by Kelly Corrigan before so this memoir was my first taste of her writing style. I have to say that her writing style really worked for me and each chapter went by so fast. Ms. Corrigan is a natural born storyteller and the way she describes people and even events I felt as if I was right there watching everything happen.
What made me really love this memoir though was that it caused me to sit down and really think about the relationship I had with my mother. I think mother/daughter relationships are often for the most case very jumbled.
Ms. Corrigan did a really good job with setting up the main premise of this memoir. Starting in the present time Kelly is dealing with some bad news she gets to her mother coming to stay with her for a visit. This causes Kelly to think and realize that when something serious and awful has happened she always wants her mother. She loves her dad and is what would be considered a "daddy's girl" but she realizes that her mother does love her and just is not as demonstrative as she would like.
We then have Kelly shifting the memoir to when she was newly graduated from college and decided that she and her best friend, Tracey would do a tour around the world for a year. While touring, and becoming broke through their travels the two young women remain in Australia and decide to become nannies to support themselves. While in Australia we have Kelly thinking more and more about her relationship with her mother while she deals with being a nanny to two motherless children.
I really think that the memoir as a whole worked and I loved that each chapter was told as Kelly in the "present" dealing with the children in Australia and having her mom as the voice in her head the entire time. The chapters would also usually go back to a story dealing with Kelly and her mom or her trying to understand what made her mom ticked.
I really did love this memoir and will try to check out this author's other books.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. This novel was released on February 4, 2014.
What made me really love this memoir though was that it caused me to sit down and really think about the relationship I had with my mother. I think mother/daughter relationships are often for the most case very jumbled.
Ms. Corrigan did a really good job with setting up the main premise of this memoir. Starting in the present time Kelly is dealing with some bad news she gets to her mother coming to stay with her for a visit. This causes Kelly to think and realize that when something serious and awful has happened she always wants her mother. She loves her dad and is what would be considered a "daddy's girl" but she realizes that her mother does love her and just is not as demonstrative as she would like.
We then have Kelly shifting the memoir to when she was newly graduated from college and decided that she and her best friend, Tracey would do a tour around the world for a year. While touring, and becoming broke through their travels the two young women remain in Australia and decide to become nannies to support themselves. While in Australia we have Kelly thinking more and more about her relationship with her mother while she deals with being a nanny to two motherless children.
I really think that the memoir as a whole worked and I loved that each chapter was told as Kelly in the "present" dealing with the children in Australia and having her mom as the voice in her head the entire time. The chapters would also usually go back to a story dealing with Kelly and her mom or her trying to understand what made her mom ticked.
I really did love this memoir and will try to check out this author's other books.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. This novel was released on February 4, 2014.
Never Google Heartbreak by Emma Garcia
4.0
The main character in "Never Google Heartbreak is Viv. Viv has dealt with being in a roller coaster relationship with her fiancee Rob for five years. Viv keeps dealing with Rob constantly calling off their wedding and then getting back together with her weeks later. After Rob calls off the wedding again Viv decides she has had enough and moves out. Viv hopes that her moving out will cause Rob to realize that they are meant to be together and he will pull himself together. Fast forward months later and Rob has moved on...without Viv. Viv decides the best thing to do to help herself and others is to set up a website that would give tips to others on how to get over being dumped.
You definitely know what you are getting when you read chick lit or romance novels which is why I love them. You get a heroine and a hero hopefully written so well that you can root for them and watch them ride off into the sunset with each other in the end. It can be a bit formulaic in some novels after a while though. We get the above formula in this novel, but I can say I was pleasantly surprised how much I really liked this novel and how well it worked.
I did think that the comparison of this novel to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diaryare spot on though I laughed more while reading this book then while reading the former novel.
I think that the main character, Viv, is very much a flawed heroine (how I like them) and some of her traits such as selfishness with regards to her grandmother and absorption with Rob make her at times not a great friend. I was a bit disappointed in some of her choices that the character made in this novel but found it very true to life that Viv would act in this way. I do want to say though that I was glad though in the end we had her getting some self-awareness about her life and her friendships.
I also think that Emma Garcia hit upon a cute formula to start each chapter with excerpts from articles or comments from online dealing with relationships, weddings, songs, etc. I am still cracking up about Chapter 14 Family and Friends Quiz which if you select mostly C's the article recommends you seek professional help.
Additionally, having Viv her be a total mess personally but having her life together professionally was a nice change for me to read. Usually we have a heroine in these types of novels that are so-so at work or not professional at all. Watching Viv trying to be a mentor to her dim-witted but lovable colleague Christine cracked me up.
I loved the character of Max (one of Viv's best friends) and thought that Ms. Garcia managed to make him a leaving breathing character along with Viv, Christine, and a few others.
The only character that really did not work for me in this novel was Viv's other best friend, Lucy. I was at a loss of why these two were friends since Lucy would randomly appear and re-appear in the novel and just seemed as absorbed in her own personal life as Viv. I never really got a better understanding of this character and wish that we had more dialogue between her and Viv. That would maybe have helped flesh that character out a bit more.
You definitely know what you are getting when you read chick lit or romance novels which is why I love them. You get a heroine and a hero hopefully written so well that you can root for them and watch them ride off into the sunset with each other in the end. It can be a bit formulaic in some novels after a while though. We get the above formula in this novel, but I can say I was pleasantly surprised how much I really liked this novel and how well it worked.
I did think that the comparison of this novel to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diaryare spot on though I laughed more while reading this book then while reading the former novel.
I think that the main character, Viv, is very much a flawed heroine (how I like them) and some of her traits such as selfishness with regards to her grandmother and absorption with Rob make her at times not a great friend. I was a bit disappointed in some of her choices that the character made in this novel but found it very true to life that Viv would act in this way. I do want to say though that I was glad though in the end we had her getting some self-awareness about her life and her friendships.
I also think that Emma Garcia hit upon a cute formula to start each chapter with excerpts from articles or comments from online dealing with relationships, weddings, songs, etc. I am still cracking up about Chapter 14 Family and Friends Quiz which if you select mostly C's the article recommends you seek professional help.
Additionally, having Viv her be a total mess personally but having her life together professionally was a nice change for me to read. Usually we have a heroine in these types of novels that are so-so at work or not professional at all. Watching Viv trying to be a mentor to her dim-witted but lovable colleague Christine cracked me up.
I loved the character of Max (one of Viv's best friends) and thought that Ms. Garcia managed to make him a leaving breathing character along with Viv, Christine, and a few others.
The only character that really did not work for me in this novel was Viv's other best friend, Lucy. I was at a loss of why these two were friends since Lucy would randomly appear and re-appear in the novel and just seemed as absorbed in her own personal life as Viv. I never really got a better understanding of this character and wish that we had more dialogue between her and Viv. That would maybe have helped flesh that character out a bit more.
China Dolls by Lisa See
5.0
I previously read and loved Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel and Peony in Love: A Novel. I was less enamored with Lisa See's last two novels, Shanghai Girls: A Novel and Dreams of Joy: A Novel.
Lisa See's newest novels focuses on three Asian women who end up dancing at the Forbidden City nightclub in 1938. The entire novel takes place from the 1930s to 1988. The three women are Ruby Tom, Grace Lee, and Helen Wong. Ruby is sexier and flashier than the other two women. Grace is from the mid-west and bored with her life. Helen is from a wealthy family in San Francisco's Chinatown. The three women meet at the nightclub and become fast friends.
What I really loved about this novel is that it describes how suddenly the United States became a different place after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Asians could not be trusted and the Japanese were the enemies. The United States also became more confusing for many women during this time period since women were able to go out into the work force en masse and hold jobs that typically were held by men. I thought Ms. See was able to show that these women coming from a traditional background were expected to be even more traditional than most American women were in this time and place. I also loved how Ms. See worked in the pain of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I think sometimes most Americans forget about that time in our history and it was interesting to read about since it impacted one of the characters.
That said I gave this novel 4.5 stars. Having three characters is a tough thing for most authors to juggle. You have to keep three story-lines going and also manage to make all the story-lines and characters weave together seamlessly. Ms. See I thought was not able to work all of the story-lines together very well. For me the character I was most interested in was Ruby. I don't want to get too spoilerish in my review but when readers start reading about Ruby you will find out why she held my interest the most out of the three women.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. It will be released on June 3, 2014.
Lisa See's newest novels focuses on three Asian women who end up dancing at the Forbidden City nightclub in 1938. The entire novel takes place from the 1930s to 1988. The three women are Ruby Tom, Grace Lee, and Helen Wong. Ruby is sexier and flashier than the other two women. Grace is from the mid-west and bored with her life. Helen is from a wealthy family in San Francisco's Chinatown. The three women meet at the nightclub and become fast friends.
What I really loved about this novel is that it describes how suddenly the United States became a different place after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Asians could not be trusted and the Japanese were the enemies. The United States also became more confusing for many women during this time period since women were able to go out into the work force en masse and hold jobs that typically were held by men. I thought Ms. See was able to show that these women coming from a traditional background were expected to be even more traditional than most American women were in this time and place. I also loved how Ms. See worked in the pain of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I think sometimes most Americans forget about that time in our history and it was interesting to read about since it impacted one of the characters.
That said I gave this novel 4.5 stars. Having three characters is a tough thing for most authors to juggle. You have to keep three story-lines going and also manage to make all the story-lines and characters weave together seamlessly. Ms. See I thought was not able to work all of the story-lines together very well. For me the character I was most interested in was Ruby. I don't want to get too spoilerish in my review but when readers start reading about Ruby you will find out why she held my interest the most out of the three women.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. It will be released on June 3, 2014.
Tuesdays at the Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene
3.0
This is a short story sequel to Vanessa Greene's The Vintage Teacup Club. I absolutely adored the first book and the characters of Jenny, Maggie, and Allison. It is a year after the events in the first book.
We now have Jenny getting ready to go on tour as a children's book author. Maggie is still dealing with being a new mother to her son Leo and a partner to Owen. Alison is happy since she is now a co-owner of the cafe and art gallery that her best friend started in the last novel.
I am sad to say that though I loved the first book this short story by Vanessa Greene really did not work for me. I think the problem was that she had three distinct story-lines going on and everything was happening at a breakneck pace. We had Jenny trying to deal with her brother's secret; Maggie trying to keep her sanity due to having a newborn; and Alison worrying about the new coffee house that opened up across the street from her cafe. The three women barely had any scenes together and none of the story-lines were meshed well. I think this should have just been a full fledged novel so that Vanessa Greene could have fully fleshed out everything and not had all of the plots wrap up in a nice tidy bow after 48 pages. I hope that if she revisits these characters in a future novel it is a full length novel so we can get enough time to enjoy all of the characters.
We now have Jenny getting ready to go on tour as a children's book author. Maggie is still dealing with being a new mother to her son Leo and a partner to Owen. Alison is happy since she is now a co-owner of the cafe and art gallery that her best friend started in the last novel.
I am sad to say that though I loved the first book this short story by Vanessa Greene really did not work for me. I think the problem was that she had three distinct story-lines going on and everything was happening at a breakneck pace. We had Jenny trying to deal with her brother's secret; Maggie trying to keep her sanity due to having a newborn; and Alison worrying about the new coffee house that opened up across the street from her cafe. The three women barely had any scenes together and none of the story-lines were meshed well. I think this should have just been a full fledged novel so that Vanessa Greene could have fully fleshed out everything and not had all of the plots wrap up in a nice tidy bow after 48 pages. I hope that if she revisits these characters in a future novel it is a full length novel so we can get enough time to enjoy all of the characters.
Just Good Friends by Rosalind James
5.0
I really did love the first novel in the "Escape to New Zealand" series, Just This Once: Escape to New Zealand Book One. I felt as if I was reading an old school romance novel where the men were men and the sex scenes were hot and pretty explicit.
In Rosalind James's second novel, "Just Good Friends: Escape to New Zealand Book Two, features two characters, Kate Lamonica and Koti James.
Kate has fled from the U.S. to New Zealand due to an obsessive ex-boyfriend who would not stop stalking her. Koti is a Maori rugby player playing for the All Blacks. It was really interesting to read about the Maori culture and to have that play a factor in this novel with Koti explaining this side of himself to Kate.
What I thought was very good and interesting is that you do have Kate having some problems initially with trusting Koti due to her last relationship. The two start off as friends and then you get to see their friendship change into something more. I honestly bought their relationship and loved how you did not just have the two romantic leads falling in love with each other after only one day. I will admit at times Kate was hard to like. However, in the end both characters won me completely over.
Also the love scenes once again were smoking. I think most romance reads for the most part are somewhat vanilla when they write love scenes, which is alright. I just love the fact that Rosalind James keeps evoking older romance novels in my mind with how explicit she is when the two main leads have sex with each other.
We have a welcome appearance by Hannah and Drew from "Just This Once" and we get to catch up with this twosome to see how Hannah is liking and settling in living in New Zealand. Even though I only had the first two novels on my to be read pile for 2014 I still plan on continuing with this series.
In Rosalind James's second novel, "Just Good Friends: Escape to New Zealand Book Two, features two characters, Kate Lamonica and Koti James.
Kate has fled from the U.S. to New Zealand due to an obsessive ex-boyfriend who would not stop stalking her. Koti is a Maori rugby player playing for the All Blacks. It was really interesting to read about the Maori culture and to have that play a factor in this novel with Koti explaining this side of himself to Kate.
What I thought was very good and interesting is that you do have Kate having some problems initially with trusting Koti due to her last relationship. The two start off as friends and then you get to see their friendship change into something more. I honestly bought their relationship and loved how you did not just have the two romantic leads falling in love with each other after only one day. I will admit at times Kate was hard to like. However, in the end both characters won me completely over.
Also the love scenes once again were smoking. I think most romance reads for the most part are somewhat vanilla when they write love scenes, which is alright. I just love the fact that Rosalind James keeps evoking older romance novels in my mind with how explicit she is when the two main leads have sex with each other.
We have a welcome appearance by Hannah and Drew from "Just This Once" and we get to catch up with this twosome to see how Hannah is liking and settling in living in New Zealand. Even though I only had the first two novels on my to be read pile for 2014 I still plan on continuing with this series.
The Widow's Walk by Robert Barclay
3.0
I know that this novel is being compared to The Time Traveler's Wife and but I would have to say that this novel does not even hold a close candle to that thoughtful and heartbreaking novel. I really do love time travel romance reads like Remembrance and A Knight in Shining Armor since if the author is clever they can seamlessly add in the time travel aspects to the plot to make it feel real to readers. Ultimately, The Widow's Walk: A Novel was a bland read that did not make a lot of sense once the author tries to tie things up in the end. I think I said a few times out loud, "Nope, that makes no sense at all." FYI, this is not a good thing while reading a book.
The novels begins with Constance Canfield awaiting sightings of her husband Adam's whaling ship in the 1840s in Bedford, MA. Constance constantly paces the widow walk at her home called Seaside and dreams how happy she will be once Adam is back from his two year voyage at sea. We then spring forward into the present day with Garret Richmond purchasing Seaside. Garret is an architect and hopes to rebuild Seaside to its former glory. Garrett begins to feel as if someone is at Seaside with him and comes to meet Constance who has been trapped at Seaside for 150 years. Until now no one could see Constance but for some reason Garrett is able to see her.
I ultimately gave this novel three stars because I ultimately found the two main characters boring, the storyline nonsensical, and the ending laughable.
I ultimately never found Constance and Garrett's love to be real. Initially I was intrigued by Constance since she and Adam seemed to be one hundred percent in love with one another. However, once readers are transported into the present day with her and she starts to fall for Garrett she just became insipid to me. I ultimately could not understand why either one of them fell for each other.
The actual storyline just made no sense once you got further into the novel. It still does not make sense to me that somehow Constance is not a ghost and is able to eat, drink, move things, steal them, but until now only Garrett could see her. Also without being too spoilery the ability to transport things back and forth through time just drove me crazy. I hate novels that do this.
The ending to me was really not well thought out at all. I wish that the novel had went another way and if the author had I think changed up the ending from what it was then this could have been compared to "The Time Traveler's Wife." Instead I think he tried to wrap things up in a tidy bow.
Please note that I received this product via the Amazon Vine Program.
The novels begins with Constance Canfield awaiting sightings of her husband Adam's whaling ship in the 1840s in Bedford, MA. Constance constantly paces the widow walk at her home called Seaside and dreams how happy she will be once Adam is back from his two year voyage at sea. We then spring forward into the present day with Garret Richmond purchasing Seaside. Garret is an architect and hopes to rebuild Seaside to its former glory. Garrett begins to feel as if someone is at Seaside with him and comes to meet Constance who has been trapped at Seaside for 150 years. Until now no one could see Constance but for some reason Garrett is able to see her.
I ultimately gave this novel three stars because I ultimately found the two main characters boring, the storyline nonsensical, and the ending laughable.
I ultimately never found Constance and Garrett's love to be real. Initially I was intrigued by Constance since she and Adam seemed to be one hundred percent in love with one another. However, once readers are transported into the present day with her and she starts to fall for Garrett she just became insipid to me. I ultimately could not understand why either one of them fell for each other.
The actual storyline just made no sense once you got further into the novel. It still does not make sense to me that somehow Constance is not a ghost and is able to eat, drink, move things, steal them, but until now only Garrett could see her. Also without being too spoilery the ability to transport things back and forth through time just drove me crazy. I hate novels that do this.
The ending to me was really not well thought out at all. I wish that the novel had went another way and if the author had I think changed up the ending from what it was then this could have been compared to "The Time Traveler's Wife." Instead I think he tried to wrap things up in a tidy bow.
Please note that I received this product via the Amazon Vine Program.
The All You Can Dream Buffet by Barbara O'Neal
3.0
I have previously read Barbara O'Neal's novels and found them to be very uplifting stories with characters I could relate to. However, in her latest, "The All You Can Dream Buffet" I found myself at a loss of what to make of this story. Unlike with her previous novels I found this one downright difficult to finish.
This novels centers around four women. Lavender owns Lavender Honey Farms which is an organic farm located in Oregon. Through her food blog she has became friends with three other bloggers who are planning on visiting Lavender's farm for her 85th birthday celebration. The other three women are Ruby, Ginny, and Valerie. Ruby is dealing with a recent breakup and pregnancy. Ginny is still adjusting to the repercussions of her husband and family finding out that she is a popular food blogger. And Valerie is attempting to move herself and her daughter away from their home to begin a new start.
What I really loved about this novel is that Barbara O'Neal includes the women's food blogs as part of the novel. So in certain instances you can read a blog that Ginny starts with a photo showing one of the cakes she bakes. Or we get to read Ruby's organic recipes.
Other than that though the whole book started and stopped in fits and starts. I think the main issue is that though this is supposed to be a novel about four women the majority deals with Ginny and Ruby. Valerie does not come on to the scene until more than halfway through the novel and I found her story more intriguing and heartbreaking than the other two women. Also there are love interests telegraphed quite early throughout the novel so any suspense to be had with that was pretty much lost.
I think this novel would have worked out better as just a story told from Ginny or even Ruby's point of view so that way the reader did not keep going back and forth with their story-lines.
This novels centers around four women. Lavender owns Lavender Honey Farms which is an organic farm located in Oregon. Through her food blog she has became friends with three other bloggers who are planning on visiting Lavender's farm for her 85th birthday celebration. The other three women are Ruby, Ginny, and Valerie. Ruby is dealing with a recent breakup and pregnancy. Ginny is still adjusting to the repercussions of her husband and family finding out that she is a popular food blogger. And Valerie is attempting to move herself and her daughter away from their home to begin a new start.
What I really loved about this novel is that Barbara O'Neal includes the women's food blogs as part of the novel. So in certain instances you can read a blog that Ginny starts with a photo showing one of the cakes she bakes. Or we get to read Ruby's organic recipes.
Other than that though the whole book started and stopped in fits and starts. I think the main issue is that though this is supposed to be a novel about four women the majority deals with Ginny and Ruby. Valerie does not come on to the scene until more than halfway through the novel and I found her story more intriguing and heartbreaking than the other two women. Also there are love interests telegraphed quite early throughout the novel so any suspense to be had with that was pretty much lost.
I think this novel would have worked out better as just a story told from Ginny or even Ruby's point of view so that way the reader did not keep going back and forth with their story-lines.
The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston
2.0
I have completely loved every novel that Paula Brackston has put out. I devoured The Witch's Daughter and absolutely adored The Winter Witch. While reading "The Midnight Witch" I felt as if a completely different author than Ms. Brackston wrote this.
This novel is about Lady Lilith Montgomery. Lilith lives in London in the Regency era it appears. She is beautiful and comes from a wealthy family. She is also a witch. Her recently deceased father was the Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven which practices necromancy. After her father's death Lilith is preparing to become Head Witch even though a new threat starts to move against her coven. Additionally, though Lilith is engaged to a fellow witch she finds herself being drawn to Bram who is a painted recently moved to London.
The plot of this novel really did sound interesting but I just think something fell apart in the final execution.
First, all of the parts of the novel dealing with Lilith's brother Freddie were just boring to me. I know why we needed that details due to events later in the book, but he was a strictly one dimensional character throughout the entire novel.
Second, the threat from the Sentinels was not scary at all to me. I needed to feel more fear for Lilith. I remember reading "The Winter Witch and being totally afraid for Morgana. The final scene with her fighting for her life was so well done. I don't know why I was not caught up in fear for Lilith while reading this. Instead I found myself just counting page until I could put the book away. Quick aside, I don't know why but every time I read Sentinels I started cracking up thinking about the Sentinels that tried to kill the mutants in the X-Men comic books. I doubt that Ms. Brackston was trying to call up that image for readers but that kept popping up in my head.
Third, I also think that having the novel told from the first person point of view for Lilith and then shifting back to third person points of view for Bram and another character in this novel did not work at all. I honestly think the book would have been stronger to have it told from first person the whole way through and completely cut out the other passages.
Fourth, there was way too much detail in this novel. You would be reading about Lilith preparing herself for going out and it would take two paragraphs due to the describing of what she had on and what she had to take off and her hair and undergarments and it just got to be too much information for me to process in a sitting.
I would definitely recommend "The Winter Witch" and "The Witches Daughter" but I would suggest readers pass on this novel if this is their first foray into Ms. Brackston's writing.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
This novel is about Lady Lilith Montgomery. Lilith lives in London in the Regency era it appears. She is beautiful and comes from a wealthy family. She is also a witch. Her recently deceased father was the Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven which practices necromancy. After her father's death Lilith is preparing to become Head Witch even though a new threat starts to move against her coven. Additionally, though Lilith is engaged to a fellow witch she finds herself being drawn to Bram who is a painted recently moved to London.
The plot of this novel really did sound interesting but I just think something fell apart in the final execution.
First, all of the parts of the novel dealing with Lilith's brother Freddie were just boring to me. I know why we needed that details due to events later in the book, but he was a strictly one dimensional character throughout the entire novel.
Second, the threat from the Sentinels was not scary at all to me. I needed to feel more fear for Lilith. I remember reading "The Winter Witch and being totally afraid for Morgana. The final scene with her fighting for her life was so well done. I don't know why I was not caught up in fear for Lilith while reading this. Instead I found myself just counting page until I could put the book away. Quick aside, I don't know why but every time I read Sentinels I started cracking up thinking about the Sentinels that tried to kill the mutants in the X-Men comic books. I doubt that Ms. Brackston was trying to call up that image for readers but that kept popping up in my head.
Third, I also think that having the novel told from the first person point of view for Lilith and then shifting back to third person points of view for Bram and another character in this novel did not work at all. I honestly think the book would have been stronger to have it told from first person the whole way through and completely cut out the other passages.
Fourth, there was way too much detail in this novel. You would be reading about Lilith preparing herself for going out and it would take two paragraphs due to the describing of what she had on and what she had to take off and her hair and undergarments and it just got to be too much information for me to process in a sitting.
I would definitely recommend "The Winter Witch" and "The Witches Daughter" but I would suggest readers pass on this novel if this is their first foray into Ms. Brackston's writing.
Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program.
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir by Kristin Newman
5.0
I have already told several friends of mine about this hilarious and often poignant memoir by Kristin Newman. Due to where I currently live and work in the world there are many women out there like Ms. Newman who due to the demands of their career or just because they realize that marriage and kids is not for them end up doing something else completely different than their friends and family.
Ms. Newman is a comedy writer and has written for shows like "Chuck", "How I Met Your Mother" and "That 70s Show." Being a comedy writer in L.A. sounds interesting, and readers will get some details sprinkled throughout about the writer's room and what parts of her life made it into certain episodes. However, the majority of this memoir really focuses on Ms. Newman's first love and heartbreak and how from that experience she started to travel more and got to meet some very interesting and pivotal people in her life.
As someone who only left the country for the first time when I was 25 (I went to Italy) I know how intoxicating it can be when you start to travel for the first time as a single woman. I also know how Ms. Newman feels when she starts to relate how slowly but surely all of her friends started to do normal things like get married and have kids and how out of place you feel when you are still looking for the one.
I loved reading about her adventures in Amsterdam, the Dominican Republic, Russia and a whole slew of other places. Readers will also enjoy Ms. Newman's writing style which I thought was detailed without being boring. Several times while reading I started laughing at a story she was relating. It felt as if I was hanging out with one of my friends, sipping wine, and gabbing about all of the goofy things we did while on a recent trip.
One thing that I do want to give Ms. Newman credit for is that she acknowledges at times how selfish she was during certain parts of her life. I ultimately thought this was a very self aware memoir and would definitely read something written by Ms. Newman again in the future.
I would definitely recommend!
Please note that I received this novel for free through the Amazon Vine Program and this novel will be released on May 20, 2014.
Ms. Newman is a comedy writer and has written for shows like "Chuck", "How I Met Your Mother" and "That 70s Show." Being a comedy writer in L.A. sounds interesting, and readers will get some details sprinkled throughout about the writer's room and what parts of her life made it into certain episodes. However, the majority of this memoir really focuses on Ms. Newman's first love and heartbreak and how from that experience she started to travel more and got to meet some very interesting and pivotal people in her life.
As someone who only left the country for the first time when I was 25 (I went to Italy) I know how intoxicating it can be when you start to travel for the first time as a single woman. I also know how Ms. Newman feels when she starts to relate how slowly but surely all of her friends started to do normal things like get married and have kids and how out of place you feel when you are still looking for the one.
I loved reading about her adventures in Amsterdam, the Dominican Republic, Russia and a whole slew of other places. Readers will also enjoy Ms. Newman's writing style which I thought was detailed without being boring. Several times while reading I started laughing at a story she was relating. It felt as if I was hanging out with one of my friends, sipping wine, and gabbing about all of the goofy things we did while on a recent trip.
One thing that I do want to give Ms. Newman credit for is that she acknowledges at times how selfish she was during certain parts of her life. I ultimately thought this was a very self aware memoir and would definitely read something written by Ms. Newman again in the future.
I would definitely recommend!
Please note that I received this novel for free through the Amazon Vine Program and this novel will be released on May 20, 2014.