Two Romance Reviews: Carolyn Brown and Ashlyn Chase

Hey guys! Here are two mini reviews for some fun romance reads. They were both released this month from Sourcebooks.

First up is I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown, the first in a new series.

Summary: Daisy O'Dell is the independent single woman who owns the Honky Tonk beer joint and she is definitely not looking for love... until sexy cowboy Jarod walks into the bar. He's just in town helping his ailing uncle with his ranch and is also not in the market, especially with someone who's "just a barmaid." Will love prevail?

My thoughts: This was a fun summer read. It has all the elements: stubborn, beautiful heroine, gorgeous cowboy, sassy best friend, local eccentrics and it's set in Texas. Any time I read a story set in Texas, it makes me want to live there, or maybe just visit. Where else can you get away with wearing pink cowboy boots with your shorts? I would recommend this as a beach read. Escapist, romantic fiction! Was it predictable? Yeah, but I'm looking forward to reading the others in this series!

My Rating: 3/5

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Next up is a paranormal romance, Strange Neighbors, by Ashlyn Chase.

Summary: Merry Mackenzie, a young and beautiful nurse, moves to the city looking for independence and romance, and finds it in the sexy, famous, baseball pitcher, Jason Falco, who just happens to be her landlord, and a shapeshifter! The other tenants in their building include vampires, witches, a ghost, and werewolves. How will their romance play out with all these... interesting... and of course... strange neighbors?!

My Thoughts: This was a very cute and playful story which I found to be really enjoyable for a quick summer read. It also had a lot of humor, and the characters were interesting and funny. The witches, for example, were phone sex "actresses," and the building is haunted by a funny old ghost named Chad, who doesn't want anyone moving into his old place 3A. Rounding off the large cast of paranormal characters, which also include vampires, and more, is Jason's whacky and always entertaining Aunt Dottie, the building "manager." All in all, this was a fun story, nothing too deep or special, of course, but overall a fun and typical paranormal romance, with a nice touch of humor and wit. It also had a lot of romance and some "hot" scenes.

My Rating: 3/5

Disclaimer: Though I received these free of charge for review, these are my honest opinions.

Review: A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware was originally published in 1997, and is a June 2010 re-release from Sourcebooks.

Summary: Hollywood wife, Blythe Barton Stowe, escapes to a remote cottage in Cornwall to heal after her marriage and career fall apart. Her grandmother has always told her that her ancestors came from the manor and she soon finds herself entwined with the manor and its current resident, Lucas Teague, in both the past and the present.

My thoughts: I couldn't wait to read this book when I got it. I've always been intrigued by the thought of time travel - who wouldn't like to go back in time and see things first hand (of course only if I could be guaranteed I'd make it back to the present safely!)? There's even a semi-plausible scientific explanation for the time traveling going on in this book, which I've never encountered in a book before. The characters are well developed and likable (in most cases, not so much in one that comes immediately to mind) and I think that is so important to keeping you glued to a story. If I don't feel like I know the characters or at least care about them, it's almost impossible to care about their story. There's a nice romance brewing, along with the story of Blythe regaining her belief in herself. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking for more work, past and present, from this author.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Disclaimer: Though I received this book free of charge for review, these are my honest opinions.

My New Blog Look!

I got a new header! Yippee! I'm pretty much in love with it. Emily, aka, The Blog Fairy, made it, and it was just what I wanted. She's pretty awesome, so I'd recommend you check her out if you're in the market for a new look. She does all kinds of stuff. She has a bit of a wait list, but let me tell you, it was so worth the wait. I am so happy with the way my header turned out. She did everything I asked for! What do you think of the new look?

Seriously, I can't stop looking at it. It's just so stinkin' cute.

Look at the girl's hair... and then look at MY hair in my profile picture. What the H, it looks just like my hair, with the swoopy to one side, and she has black glasses just like me, and she put an adorable cat and worm just like I wanted. I just LOVE it!

Here's her link again!

Review: Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Last week I finished up Siren by Tricia Rayburn. This was an awesome book that I read through Around the World Tours. It will be released in July.

Summary: Vanessa, seventeen, has always looked up to her older sister, the brave and seemingly fearless, Justine. They are vacationing at their summer home in Winter Harbor, Maine when Justine goes cliff diving and dies. It's ruled as an accident, but Vanessa knows somehow that it wasn't. Then, the normally peaceful town of Winter Harbor starts turning into something eerie and creepy when they start getting daily storms, and dead bodies begin washing up onshore every day with frightening grins on their faces. Vanessa knows there is something mysterious going on to cause these deaths, and that the same thing must have killed her sister. The search leads her to discoveries about herself and the people around her that are shocking.

My Thoughts: This book was awesome! It was full of surprises and was so much fun to read! I got really into the story and dragged into the mystery surrounding Winter Harbor and the deaths. It had this dark, creepy undertone too which I really enjoyed that added a great level of suspense that I don't often find in YA. It even had a paranormal twist which I didn't like at first, but it was really so unique and interesting that I ended up loving it. This book was bold, fascinating, and wonderful! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel!

My Rating: 5/5

I'm a Grand Prize Winner!

Yesterday, I got some of the best news I have ever received in my LIFE. EVER.

I won what could only be described as a book lover's dream come true. 28 AUTOGRAPHED books from 28 different amazing women authors. This includes an autographed copy of my beloved Jen Lancaster's latest My Fair Lazy, which I have been coveting since its release, but as a broke college student, have been waiting for in paperback, and Allison's new book, The One That I Want. CAN YOU SAY AHHHH!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!

Okay. Now I will try to calm down a little bit to explain the best story of my life. I read on Jen's blog that Allison Winn Scotch (another great author, I read her novel, Time of My Life - wonderful, by the way) was hosting a contest on Facebook. 28 winners would be chosen and each would receive one of the books. All you needed to do was leave a comment on her FB post for the contest, and winners would be randomly chosen. THEN, they decided that if they reached 1000 entries, they would add a grand prize winner in addition to the original 28 winners, who would receive all 28 books.

Well, who would have effing thought that when I opened up the note on Facebook titled "Drumroll Please... and The Winners Are..." that under GRAND PRIZE WINNER was my name. I couldn't believe my eyes. I literally started gasping and shaking. I couldn't catch my breath. It's like I won the lottery! NO! It's better than if I won the lottery, because these signed books are priceless! They will all come to me directly from the authors themselves, so I'll keep you all updated. They will have a special bookshelf in my room and I'll take pictures and everything.

Here is the list of books I'm getting on Allison's blog, and the winning announcement.

This is a dream come true! I never believed this would happen to me. I can't even describe how excited and happy I am.

A big huge thank you to all the authors who donated the books!!!! Especially Allison who held the contest (she is amazing!) and Jen (my favorite author ever, if you couldn't tell by my picture on the left, for announcing the contest on her blog).

I'm sorry if I sound like I am bragging. I do not mean to brag. I have just never been so lucky and happy before and no one understands my excitement about this. I am just bursting at the seams and I figured all my book girls here would understand. :)

Blogger Issues, Anyone?

Is anyone else having any issues with blogs loading up in the past few days?

I follow a lot of blogs and I read them through the blogger dashboard, but for the past three days, when I see a post I want to read, I'll click on it, and the blogs are taking FOREVER to load up, if they load at all, and my comments are taking forever to go through.

I don't think it's my computer, because I had this problem on another computer too, so I'm wondering if there's something going on with Blogger.

Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

I read Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, by Beth Hoffman last month and was really impressed. It's in my top three books of 2010 so far this year.

Summary: This story takes place in the 60's. CeeCee Honeycutt is only twelve, but she's had to take care of her crazy and disillusioned mama in Ohio for years since her dad keeps running off on "business affairs," though the book smart CeeCee knows what kind of affairs they really are. One day, while on the way to the Goodwill in a fancy old prom dress, CeeCee's mom gets killed in a freak accident. With nowhere else to go, CeeCee's great-aunt Tootie comes and takes her down to Georgia to live with her. CeeCee's life is turned upside down as she is swept into this Southern world and encounters so many new people, like Oletta, her wealthy grandmother's African American cook, and Thelma, her elusive and beautiful neighbor. With these women, CeeCee learns what it's like to finally live and love normally. Amongst these women, CeeCee has finally found friendship, wisdom, and a place where she belongs.

My Thoughts: This book was so incredibly charming and I must say, I really adored it. I did find it a bit difficult to summarize because it was a very character driven book (just the way I like 'em!), but I can say this: it was a subtle, gentle, slow moving story with a vivid, unforgettable cast of characters. In fact, these characters were perhaps some of the best I have ever encountered in fiction, particularly CeeCee and Oletta Jones.

I loved CeeCee and thought she was an excellent narrator and character with a strong voice. She was endearing, inquisitive, wise beyond her years, and a lover of books and fiction. She was smart and also hilarious. One scene in particular had me cracking up (the bra scene, for those of you who've read it). Oletta was also incredible. She became a motherly figure to CeeCee and I instantly loved her for that. She wasn't afraid to be stern with CeeCee when necessary, but her love was so natural and obvious. The bond between the two is incredible and blossoms throughout the book. CeeCee learns what it means to have friends, family and love in her life.

You could say this book is a coming of age story, or that it's a Southern novel. It is both of those things - absolutely. It's more than that though because it is full of so much heart. I don't want to sound like a total cheeseball, but this book made me laugh AND got to my heart. Now that's quite a feat to do both of those things in the same book, huh? I'd recommend this book to just about anyone.

My Rating: 5/5

Review: The Heart is Not a Size by Beth Kephart

I recently read The Heart is Not a Size by Beth Kephart as part of a blog tour that was at the end of May. I'm a little late, so my apologies about that (I fail).

Summary: Georgia, an introverted and studious high school junior, and her best friend, the whimsical and somewhat wild Riley, go on a service trip to Juarez, Mexico during school break with a handful of other students. While there, they learn about the life and hardships in this drastically different culture, but also face a dilemma in their lifelong friendship. Georgia, dealing with panic attacks, is concerned when she notices Riley's newly developed Anorexia (which she is doing to make a point to her rich and snobby mother), and when she calls her on it, Riley turns her back and stops talking to her. So we see two stories running parallel: the students trying to help build up a community in Juarez by building the foundation for a community bathroom, and Georgia trying to reconcile and come to terms with her friendship with Riley.

My Thoughts: I thought the message of this novel was excellent. I liked that the author made a point of recognizing another culture, and the significance of helping in places such as Juarez. Literature is a great place to share such things and to learn about other cultures, and ways that we can help, so I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I also thought the writing had a certain lyrical aspect which made the story beautiful to read. What I didn't enjoy so much was the fact that there were so many characters in such a short book and I was left feeling as though I never made a connection with any of them and that most of them were far too underdeveloped. I did like Georgia, and did feel somewhat of a connection with her, and can sympathize with some of her problems, but that's about it. I think this novel had a lot of potential, but that it was far too short to reach said potential. Not to say this book was not worthwhile - it certainly was, but it just wasn't the right book for me. I like to see really strongly developed characters.

This reads a lot like my last review, in which I also complain about lack of characterization. I'm seeing a theme here. I'm drawn to character-driven novels, (which is probably why I'm a huge fan of memoirs and essayists), and I really need to see deep development in order to connect with a character. If not, I find it hard to get engrossed in a book.

My Rating: 3/5

A Hello to my Blog Followers!

Hi to my new followers in the past few months (and the old ones too)! Thanks for stopping by the blog and I hope you like what you've seen so far!

I just wanted to say to any of my followers, old or new, if you have a blog, and you've noticed I don't follow it or have not stopped by, please comment below with your blog address so I can check it out! For some people, your blog links don't show up when I click on your little picture, so that's why I've never been to your blog and or followed you.

I love connecting with fellow booklovers and readers and I am glad that you are here! :)

Review: Things I Know About Love by Kate le Vann

I recently read Things I Know About Love by Kate le Vann, a young adult novel, for Around the World tours. It will be released on June 22, 2010.

Summary: Livia, an English teenager who has grown up with Leukemia, feels unlucky in love. Now that she has been feeling better for some time, and believes that she may be recovering, she has decided to spend the summer in America, visiting her older brother who is attending Princeton. While there, she chronicles her time in the U.S. on a blog, as well as her past experiences of love, and also, the new guy she meets, Adam, who may just change everything she thought she knew about love. . .

My Thoughts: I think that the premise of this book was really cute and that it had a lot of heart, but that it ultimately fell a bit flat. I really liked the whole blogging aspect, and the reexamination of all of Livia's past relationships. They were all told in flashback style sort of, like mini-stories within the larger story. I also liked the fun brother-sister bond, and the romance between her and the new guy she meets, Adam.

The problem I found was that the story was too short therefore leaving the characters and story much too underdeveloped for my taste. The book was somewhere around 160 pages or so, and I really did not feel that I was able to connect with the characters much, and that the romance between Livia and Adam did not seem realistic. I believe if the book had been longer, everything would have been much more developed and this story would have been excellent. Otherwise, it was a cute story, albeit a bit heartbreaking at times. That being said, I think a younger audience would really enjoy it. For me, being an adult reader, I'd have liked to see more length and characterization.

My Rating: 3/5

Review: Indivisible by Kristen Heitzmann

I read Kristen Heitzmann's novel, Indivisible, for a blog tour. This posting is a little bit late for the tour, so my apologies for that.

Summary: Jonah Westfall is the Chief of Police of Redford, Colorado, a relatively quiet town, until the gruesome discovery of a pair of mutilated raccoons. As he tries to find the perpetrator of this crime before it escalates to possibly human targets, he is also forced to deal with his sobriety and an unsettled relationship with a childhood friend, Tia Manning.

My thoughts: While reading this book, there were so many character secrets and things buried in the past, that I thought maybe this was a sequel and I had missed the first in the series. Things were eventually explained, but I thought that maybe there were a few too many mysteries to fully understand the story while reading it. On the plus side, the characters were interesting and complex and I did want to finish the book to see what happened to them.

Overall, it was a worthwhile read, and if you like a lot of surprises in your books, you would really enjoy this.

My Rating: 3/5