“People say love gets fouled by a difference big as ours. I didn’t know for sure whether Miss Sarah’s feelings came from love or guilt. I didn’t know whether mine came from love or a need to be safe. She loved me and pitied me. And I loved her and used her. It never was a simple thing.” (54) I’d seen The Invention of Wings (2014) by Sue Monk Kidd on book shelves, and I’d heard some buzz about it. With only a very vague […]
A thoughtful love story
I’ve seen so many favorable reviews for Me Before You (2013) by Jojo Moyes that I was compelled to pick it up. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, but it was worth reading: a thoughtful, sweet, and sad story about two people coming together and improving each others’ lives. Louisa Clark is stuck in a rut. She’s in her mid-twenties, lives with her parents, and has worked in a cafe for the past six years. Her boyfriend is obsessed with exercise and has […]
J.K. Rowling does her thing
Like many others, I am a big fan of Harry Potter, but I haven’t had much interest in reading the later and more adult fare by J.K. Rowling. Even so, I wasn’t disappointed when my book club chose The Cuckoo’s Calling (2013) by “Robert Galbraith” as its next book. Cuckoo’s Calling is a classic murder mystery reminiscent of the noir style of Hammett. Cormoran Strike is a war hero who lost his leg in Iraq. He’s just had a terrible break-up with his beautiful girlfriend, […]
Catching Up on my Vacation Romance Reading
I feel the need to apologize since I read these books over a month ago and am only now getting around to posting reviews. I’m sure I would have remembered more details and more of my feelings about the books if I’d been more on the ball. Now they’ve all sort of melded together in my head, but I wrote down what I could: A Lot Like Love by Julie James It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long Just the Sexiest […]
Well, Rose is no Bella
I read Vampire Academy (2007) by Richelle Mead after hearing about it from some Cannonballers and thinking that it sounded like a fun read. And for the most part it was quick and entertaining. Sure, it sometimes made me feel old. I thought that Rose was sometimes a bad role model, acting like a “mean girl” without remorse, but on the whole I enjoyed it. There’s a lot of teen vampire books out there, and in this one Mead switches things up by creating three […]
Sweet and Funny
I’m not sure if it was my mood or the unusually long gap between romance novels, but I really, really liked How the Marquess Was Won (2011) by Julie Anne Long. After almost giving up on Long entirely because of some extreme typo issues, she’s become one of my favorite historical romance novelists. I already have a couple more of hers on my kindle, which I’m saving for my vacation. Now, there were some major typo issues in this book as well, but it wasn’t […]