Tag: romance

REVIEW: The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

When Judge Stewart and his wife are arrested for trying to pay for their dinner with a $4 stamp, the family knows there’s trouble. Their three kids have different ideas about what they should do – nothing, blame it on eccentricity, or throw money at the problem.

Instead, they hire an expert who helps senior adults manage their space and belongings and downsize when necessary. It doesn’t sound very interesting, but when the expert is the younger brother’s ex whom he left 10 years earlier without a word, things start to get interesting very quickly!

Review

The description doesn’t do the hilarity of this story justice!

First, it’s told mostly through text, chat and email exchanges in addition to internet reviews and news articles. The middle brother’s issues with autocorrect alone were a riot! But there are lots of fantastic moments well told in this format. This also makes for a fast read.

Second, the Stewart family relationships are entertaining. Whether it’s the kid who always wears a costume, the sibling banter between the brothers, or the dynamics with the elderly parents, there’s a lot to keep readers turning pages.

There’s also the romantic relationship with the youngest Stewart and his ex. Can they overcome their past or are they destined to repeat it?

I read this one after pushing through a book I didn’t like. This one was so delightful in contrast that reading it felt like a treat – a reward for enduring the previous one! I would read this again because I had such a fun time with it.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

 

REVIEW: Can I See You Again? by Allison Morgan

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A matchmaking romance! Bree Caxton has it all. She’s built her matchmaking business from the ground up. She’s in a long term relationship that seems on the edge of commitment. And her book is about to be published, and it’s got the potential to be a best seller.

But her boyfriend breaks up with Bree instead of asking her to marry him. And the publicity her agent has arranged requires her to have a boyfriend. So she convinces a client to pretend to be her boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong?

Matchmaking Romance

Review

I discovered this book on a new releases table at my local book story several months before I bought it. The story sounded fantastic, but I was getting other things that day and decided to wait. Then I couldn’t remember what it was called or who the author was! I would go back to the store, remember that I had read about this great book, and I would wander, hoping it would jump out at me once again. Once I found it, I was eager to dive into it right away. I had waited and thought about this story for a long time and couldn’t wait to find out what happens.

But when the book started, I was disappointed. I knew the story would be stressful. This is a common set up. The main character tells one lie to fix an immediate problem and then the lies compound until everything falls apart. But I found some of the characters crass and off-putting in the beginning. I wasn’t sure I would even finish the story.

Then I got to the “Tough Mudder.” (It’s like an Iron Man competition.) All of a sudden, I was laughing! The whole story came together for me in that chapter. From there, I couldn’t put the book down, even as it careened inevitably toward disaster. I was so glad I stuck with the story!

If the summary above sounds like something you might like, I recommend trying it. If it doesn’t click right away, keep with it until the Tough Mudder and see if it clicks for you there like it did for me. I even went back and read parts of that chapter a second time, I enjoyed it so much!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Alien Nation by Gini Koch

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

First Lady, Kitty Katt-Martini, has negotiated the unexpected road to the White House fairly smoothly, all things considered. She’s foiled multiple bad-guy plans du jour. She spun the last attack so it blew back on the hateful aliens at the core of so many plots against them. She’s “Megalomaniac Girl,” and she knows how to think like the bad guys and figure out how to save the day!

But the Mastermind is still at large. Enemies from previous engagements are lurking, waiting to strike until they think they’ve been forgotten. And many humans around the world are still uneasy – if not downright hostile – about aliens being in charge of anything.

So when Kitty and the gang get the word that several previously unknown alien races are fleeing to Earth for asylum, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to triumph once again. So many things could go wrong. And if they can’t get things together on Earth, or manage the new arrivals smoothly, what’s going to happen when a ravenous horde of aliens follows the refugees with intent to devour everyone on Earth?

science fiction romance

Review

I have no idea how Gini Koch manages to churn out two 500+ page books a year in addition to her other writing, promotion, and personal activities! But I am so glad she does. These books are dense, chock full of action, sarcasm, humor, plots to foil and enemies to defeat. And I love every one of them!

This is book 14 in this science-fiction/romance/mystery/action series. I highly recommend reading them in order to get the most out of the character development and the “big reveals.”

My favorite aspect of this series is the characters. Kitty is one of my favorite characters of all time. She is sassy and smart. She defends the voiceless and the oppressed. She holds onto the hope that she can turn some of their enemies to the side of good – and she does. The cast around her is huge (another reason to read the books in order so you know who is who and how they connect to the main storyline), full of fantastic characters with their own well-defined skills and personalities. A lot of the humor in the stories comes from these relationships and the history between the characters, so the better the reader knows the characters, the more fun he/she has with the story.

This particular book is a celebration for long-term fans because some of the long-running plot lines seem to come to a satisfying conclusion. , Readers won’t know for sure, though, which enemies and plans are still in play until we see what happens in the next books in the series. Book 15, Alien Education, releases May 2, 2017 (release dates subject to change).

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A Christmas romance perfect for the Hallmark Channel! Julia’s neighbor, Cain, is a Scrooge if there ever was one. Terse, grouchy, and no holiday spirit. Julia’s so frustrated, she wants to throttle him! Her friend suggests that she “kill him with kindness” instead. She’s supposed to be building a blog following as part of a job interview anyway. This kindness project could be just what she needs to get the job she wants and survive the holiday season with her grump of a neighbor!

Christmas romance by Debbie Macomber

Review

This is a Hallmark Channel movie wrapped in a book jacket. I could see the movie playing in my head as I read. Maybe Candace Cameron Bure could pay Julia!

This is a sweet, simple Christmas romance. A bit predictable – like those Hallmark movies where things unravel at the 90 minute mark and resolve 30 minutes later. But I enjoyed the characters. I liked how the kindness project worked on both of the leads. It was just what I look for in a Christmas read – a touching story with characters I enjoy. If you saw my post about new Christmas books that came out this year, this was one of the books I wanted to try. I’m glad I did.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥