Tag: college town

REVIEW: Begin Again by Emma Lord

REVIEW: Begin Again by Emma Lord

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Andie has pulled off the impossible – a mid-year transfer to Blue Ridge State. It’s going to be perfect – she can experience all the things she has grown up hearing about. And she’s going to surprise her boyfriend, Connor, with the news that they will be at Blue Ridge State together.

Except nothing goes as planned.

Her first class is a disaster. She loses the pivotal ribbon in the scavenger hunt that was the primary reason for pushing to transfer mid-year. And then Connor announces his own surprise – he’s transferred home to go to the local community college with Andie.

As Andie tackles her first semester at Blue Ridge State, some of her expectations – for her relationship with Connor, for her quest to connect with her late mother by being at BRS, and for herself get challenged and leave her wondering what path she wants to be on after all.

Review

I have been a huge fan of Emma Lord for awhile. When You Get the Chance, You Have a Match, and Tweet Cute are some of my favorite YA stories of recent years. This story was a bit “quieter” for me – more introspective – but also a great read.

I connected with this story in a way I haven’t with the author’s earlier books. As a student of the Enneagram, I saw a lot of Type 2 thinking and behaving in Andie. This drew me to look at the story a bit more clinically rather than being able to just fall into the story. It’s good – and spot on. Just a different reading experience for me.

This is more Andie’s story than it is a romance. Oh, the romance is there – and it’s good! But Andie’s on a journey of personal growth and self-discovery that will have to take precedence over everything else. And the journey is so well done. I loved that the Andie is in college. It’s the perfect setting for her journey. There’s tons to love – from the dorm to the relationships to Bagelopolis. It’s all lovely.

There were several laugh-out-loud moments in this – as I’ve come to expect from the author – as well as great characters, and an engaging story. Emma Lord fans should not miss this one. And if the author is new to you, go ahead and pick up her backlist, too, because you are going to want to read them all! (Language)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.

REVIEW: Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert

REVIEW: Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Amy and her choreographer boyfriend, Richard, have been as close as ever. But when he goes away for a weekend to a family event, things get strained. And Amy wonders if their relationship perhaps wasn’t all she thought it was.

When one of Richard’s dance students goes missing that same weekend, the police are very interested to hear Richard’s take on his relationship with the girl. The rumor is that she was seeing an older man. Amy just wants everything to go back to normal.

But that’s not likely. Amy’s ex, Charles, is back in town. He moved into a mountain home with his girlfriend – the woman he was seeing on the side when he was dating Amy. The girlfriend was recently killed in a hit-and-run. While Amy sympathizes for him in the loss, she wants no part of him in her life.

The missing student’s project supervisor, a local folklorist, is convinced some folks in town are up to no good, and she’s determined to expose their secrets unless she gets what she wants. Nothing good can come from that approach.

Review

This was an uneven story for me. And I really enjoyed the first two books in the series. I felt like there were too many story threads at work – especially in the early chapters – for me to have a good hook into the story to propel me forward.

I generally like the characters in this series, but Richard wasn’t very likeable early on. And I didn’t see a lot of reasons for Amy to be so forgiving after the way he treated her. I softened to him a little after reading what his parents were like, though. Ugh.

The mystery felt a little scattered to me, too. There was the missing student right away, but a murder didn’t happen until almost a third of the way through the book. It left me questioning where things were going for a lot longer than I generally prefer at the start of a mystery.

The ending, though, was satisfying. Lots of suspense for the wrap up of the mystery. Then there were several more chapters to wrap up the rest of the story threads – several more in addition to what I included in my summary.

If you already enjoy this series, give this one a whirl and see what you think. You may enjoy the various plot threads woven throughout the book. If you haven’t tried this series before, I’d suggest you go back to book one first and see if the characters and setting are a good fit for you. The character development in the series makes reading the books in order important.

Rating: ♥♥♥½