Review: "Caught" by Lisa Moore

Caught begins with a prison break. Twenty-five-year-old David Slaney, locked up on charges of marijuana possession, has escaped his cell and sprinted to the highway. There, he is picked up by a friend of his sister’s and transported to a strip bar where he survives his first night on the run. But evading the cops isn’t his only objective; Slaney intends to track down his old partner, Hearn, and get back into the drug business. Along the way, Slaney’s fugitive journey across Canada rushes vibrantly to life as he visits an old flame and adopts numerous guises to outpace authorities: hitchhiker, houseguest, student, lover. When finally he reunites with Hearn just steps ahead of a detective hell-bent on making a high-profile arrest, their scheme sends Slaney to Mexico, Colombia, and back again on an epic quest fueled by luck, charm, and unbending conviction. Moore's most plot-driven novel to date, Caught is a thrillingly charged escapade that thrums with energy and suspense and deftly captures a moment in the late 1970s before the almost folkloric glamour surrounding pot smuggling turned violent. Ripe with bravado, love, ambition, and folly, Caught is about trust and deceit, about the risks we take for the lives we want and the mistakes we can’t outrun.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this novel.

Oops.  I did it again.  I decided to read a book simply because I liked the cover and the fact it was nominated for a prestigious award.  Sometimes this type of novel works for me - I like it and enjoy the reading experience.  Other times, as was the case with "Caught", I find myself slogging through and forcing myself to finish.

One thing that irritated me to no end was the lack of punctuation!  Why do authors do this?  So many times I had to reread passages in order to figure out who was talking, or if they were speaking out loud or merely thinking.  It's not that I can't figure this stuff out, it's that I don't want to!  After a long day of work and family obligations, the last thing I need or want to do is try to figure out what's going on in my supposed leisure reading.  Ugh, I left that behind in University.

I suppose I should write something about the characters, but the only one I remember anything about is David Slaney.  He's young, handsome, and charismatic, but he makes the stupidest decisions, so he's pretty hard to feel sympathetic towards.  Of course there are other characters, like Patterson, the undercover guy trying to take down the whole operation, but again, I didn't really get attached to him.  

Yeah, I don't know.  Not much of a review, but that's all I've really got to say about this book.  Good luck with it if you decide to give it a read.

My rating:

Review: "Don't Even Think About It" by Sarah Mlynowski

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper. Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same. So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book.

I kind of want to call this book cute, but that would make it sound pretty juvenile, which it wasn't.  Although the premise was rather fantastical - kids from one homeroom developing ESP as a result of a tainted flu vaccine - the characters themselves seemed authentic and realistic.  I know I am far from my teen years, but I could still relate.

Each character is unique, and we get to know some of them more than others, but given that there are 22 of them, this is probably a good thing.  We've got the power couple, the brainiac, the shy girl, and the guy whose thoughts are overly preoccupied with sex.  There's a jock, the twins, and a couple others thrown in for good measure.  But since the story is told from a collective POV, it is difficult to connect deeply to any of the characters, and this is one area I felt could have been improved.  Still, overall a good read, fun and light.

My rating: 

  

Review: "Jagged" by Kristen Ashley

An old flame rekindled . . . Zara Cinders always knew Ham Reece was the one, but he wasn't interested in settling down. When she found someone who was, Ham walked out of her life. Three years later, Zara's lost her business, her marriage, and she's barely getting by in a tiny apartment on the wrong side of the tracks. As soon as Ham hears about Zara's plight, he's on her doorstep offering her a lifeline. Now, it will take every ounce of will power she possesses to resist all that he offers. Ham was always a traveling man, never one to settle down in one town, with one woman, for more time than absolutely necessary. But Ham's faced his own demons, and he's learned a lot. About himself, and about the life he knows he's meant to live. So when he hears that Zara's having a rough time, he wants to be the one to help. In fact, he wants to do more than that for Zara. A lot more. But first, he must prove to Zara that he's a changed man.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this novel.

I was really excited to read this because I've heard great things about this author, but I'm feeling a little underwhelmed at the moment.  I like the fact that Ham and Zara are ordinary people with ordinary jobs, and I like the setting of Gnaw Bone, a small town in the Colorado Rockies.  What's got me flummoxed is the dialogue!  Do people really talk that way?  Is it a Colorado thing?  Ham sounds like a Neanderthal, which I suppose goes with his persona, but still, not a guy I would be attracted to.  Are all of Kristen Ashley's characters like this?  I sure hope not!

I found this book easy to put down, and once it was out of sight, it was definitely out of mind.  In consequence, it seemed to take me forever to finish it.  As the book progressed, I started to get used to the writing style, but I wouldn't say I warmed up to it.  The characters were memorable, but only because I've never read characters who speak in quite that manner.  There was a bit of action, but honestly, nothing to write home about.  Overall, I'm rather disappointed, but maybe that's because my expectations were so high. 

My rating:  2.5 stars

  

Review: "The Naughty Girls Book Club" by Sophie Hart

A quaint suburb. A quiet little book club. A very naughty reading list. When Estelle sets up a book group in order to increase custom to her struggling cafe, what follows is more mind-blowing than she could have ever imagined... As the first book club meeting flounders, Estelle suggests a spot of erotica to spice things up. Inspired by their naughty novels, this group of shy suburban readers shake off their inhibitions and soon discover that their own lives can be just as scandalous...

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this novel.

I really enjoyed this book!  I actually think it would be the perfect pick for my old book club!  Light, fun, intelligent, I would recommend it to just about everyone.

The story is told from multiple points of view, and this allows the reader insight from the five members of the book club and occasionally the spouses of these characters.  Sometimes a chapter would end on a real note of suspense with one character, and then switch to another character, and I'd be left thinking, "Nooooo!  I want to know what's going to happen!"  I almost resented switching to another character's story line, until I remembered that I liked this character just as much as the last.  This technique kept the plot moving along smoothly and I never felt like I was having to slog through.  

I could relate on different levels to all the members of the book club.  Sue reminds me a lot of my mom - newly retired, wanting to stay active and explore and experience new things, while married to a spouse who wants entirely different things.  I can remember what it was like to be in Rebecca's stage of life - newly wed and sorting through what that means as far as her role in the relationship.  Although I'm not divorced, I probably related most to Estelle - we're both  mothers, struggling to work, take care of our family, and sometimes losing our self in the process.  I couldn't relate to Gracie as much, but I loved seeing her relationship with Reggie develop.

My rating:

Review: "Playing for Keeps" by Kate Donovan

When Erica McCall finally gets her big break in advertising, she knows just which spokesperson to pitch: gorgeous football superstar Johnny Spurling. She has followed his career since college and knows he’s perfect for the spot, even though it’s common knowledge his famous family doesn’t do product endorsements, ever. But Erica knows Johnny’s weak spot, and she’s confident she can use it to gain his trust and seal the deal. Quarterback Johnny Spurling is running out of time. His father’s health is failing, and there’s one last thing he’s asked Johnny to do—settle down and produce a son, before it’s too late. Which means Johnny needs a new kind of girlfriend. No more casual hookups or high-maintenance divas. When his sister-in-law claims to have the perfect candidate, he urges her to set up a postseason blind date. Then Johnny meets long-haired, long-legged Erica and can’t resist her outrageous proposal—or her. So he decides he’ll do the commercial and have one final, hot-as-hell fling before settling down. They set the ground rules, then proceed to break every one of them as fun turns to the kind of true romance that just doesn’t end with the final touchdown—and with luck, never ends at all.

Thank you to Netgalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book.

I quite enjoyed "Play by Play" by Kate Donovan, which I also received for review from Netgalley.  I found it a quick, light, romantic read.  So I decided to give "Playing for Keeps", second In the Play Makers series, a try.  Alas, it fell a bit short for me.

Erica and Johnny, the two main characters, are likable enough, but I felt a bit detached from them.  The synopsis sounds great, but the plot just dragged on and on.  There were so many details about flights between cities so Erica and Johnny could be together that I felt Erica could have been a better travel agent than an ad exec.

There was a bit of a side story thrown in there, too, that I didn't really like.  When the characters involved were first mentioned, and then mentioned sporadically through the first half of the book, I kept thinking, "What do these guys have to do with anything, and why is Erica talking and thinking about them all the time?"  It just seemed odd, out of place.  Things became more clear later on, but I still think this secondary story line didn't really add to the overall plot, but rather detracted from it.  Plus it just added unnecessary length to the book.

The sex was lukewarm.  More tell than show, if that makes any sense.  Like Erica would think back on how amazing their sex was, but all we were shown of that was that they did it in a room other than the bedroom.  Not much of an emotional connection between her and Johnny, either.  When Johnny said that he was in love with Erica, it seemed to come out of left field.

One last thing I'm going to mention that bothered me.  Johnny made a joke in the beginning about how his sister-in-law was going to set him up on a blind date with a teacher, someone who was wanting to settle down, get married and have kids.  Erica was absolutely convinced that Johnny was going to marry this blind-date-teacher right after the Super Bowl, but really, who would do that?  I thought she was pretty silly to leave this future blind date hanging over their heads and not really discuss it with Johnny.  If she trusted him at all, she would have realized that he wouldn't do something like get married to a stranger right after falling in love with her.  

My rating:

"Imaginary Lines" by Allison Parr - Dreamcast!

Welcome to the "Imaginary Lines" Blog Tour!  Today I have for you Allison Parr's dreamcast for this book!

Tamar Rosenfeld has been in love with New York Leopards linebacker Abraham Krasner since they were twelve years old. She'd always considered it destiny that they'd end up together…until Abe was drafted and she professed her feelings in a moment of blind excitement. The sting of his rejection was like nothing she'd ever felt before, and it's nothing she'll ever forget. Older and wiser, Tamar has landed a dream job as a reporter for one of New York's premier athletic websites. Determined to stop being the safe, boring girl she's felt like for most of her life, Tamar makes a list of all the things she wants to do and see in her new city, and Getting Over Abraham is priority number one. But destiny has finally chosen to interfere. Just as Tamar's decided to move on, Abe's realized she's the only woman for him. When he confides the truth, Tamar has to decide if she can put her crush behind her, or take a chance on the very man who's been holding her back all these years.

Dreamcast

Wow, I never realized how hard it would be to cast my own books.

I’ve watched people cast the heroes and heroines of my books, and I’ve occasionally dreamt up casts for my favorite titles, but I’ve never done it for my own. Probably because it’s almost impossible to find an actor who looks just right compared to your mental image.

Still, I took a stab at it, and I’m pretty pleased with the results! I’m also now doubly impressed with all the casting so many reviewers do.


Tamar Rosenfeld - Alison Brie

Tamar’s friendly and smart with a slightly dry sense of humor – and she’s almost literally the girl next door. Actress Alison Brie seemed like a pretty good fit. Also, I guess she’s on this show called Community? You might have heard of heard of it.

Abraham Krasner - John Gallagher Jr.


Ironically, actor John Gallagher Jr.’s pretty famous for playing a producer in The Newsroom, while in Imaginary Lines it’s the heroine who’s a journalist. But hey, he can probably pull off being an NFL player, no? He definitely has the great smile down.


Tanya Jones – Sandra Bullock

Everyone needs a little star power, right? Bullock would be perfect as Tanya, the editor Tamar goes to work for in New York. She already has the tough-ass boss thing down from The Proposal, and knows the football scene well from The Blind Side. Plus, I love her.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Lines-Allison-Parr-ebook/dp/B00GKBHIQM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396555527&sr=8-1&keywords=Imaginary+Lines

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imaginary-lines-allison-parr/1117366825?ean=9781426897757

Links:

Blog: www.allisonparr.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Allison_Parr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allisonparrwrites

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6876947.Allison_Parr

Imaginary Lines Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20645592-imaginary-lines?from_search=true

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Review: "Searching for Beautiful" by Nyrae Dawn

Before, Brynn had a group of best friends, a loving boyfriend, a growing talent for pottery. She had a life. And after…she had none. When Brynn lost the boyfriend who never loved her, the friends who feel she betrayed their trust, and the new life just beginning to grow inside her, she believes her future is as empty as her body. But then Christian, the boy next door, starts coming around. Playing his guitar and pushing her to create art once more. She meets some new friends at the local community center, plus even gets her dad to look her in the eye again…sort of. But can Brynn open up her heart to truly find her life’s own beauty, when living for the after means letting go of the before? This is a Young Adult title.

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book.

Honestly, I could not help but feel for Brynn.  There were times that I wished she made smarter choices, or was more open with her friends, but that's the beauty of Nyrae Dawn's writing - even though we may not agree with everything a character does, we can still understand why they did what they did and empathize with them.  Brynn was already in such a vulnerable spot when she met the boyfriend who would ultimately betray her that it's understandable and forgivable for her to get involved with him.  She ignored all the warning signs, but given her situation, it's easy to see why she would.

Christian was great!  I loved how he was so confident and sure of himself.  He was a really good influence on Brynn whenever she started to feel ashamed, guilty, or embarrassed around her old friends.  Around him, she could be herself and to hell with what everyone else thought.  He seemed to give her the strength she needed to work her way partially back to who she was before - someone who loved pottery, had a close relationship with her father, and had friends.  And although I don't think she will ever be quite the same as she was, those were the things that made her truly happy before her tragedies.

While this isn't a really light, happy read, I think it is still very worthwhile in that it touches on some very serious subjects facing teens today (or even back in my day, so old people like me can relate, too!).

My rating: 

Top Ten Tuesday

I haven't participated in any memes for a while, so I thought I'd better get in on this week's Top Ten Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's topic is:  Top Ten Bookish Things (That Aren't Books) That I'd Like To Own.

I have a pinterest board titled "Things I Want to Make", and there are some fabulous bookshelf ideas I've pinned.  Here they are (the pictures are linked to the pins):

1.  Pallet shelf:

2.  Ikea spice rack bookshelves

3.  Fabric sling bookshelves

4.  Ladder bookshelf

5.  Tree bookshelf

6.  Floating bookshelves

7.  Pipe bookshelf

8.  Rain gutter shelves

9.  Front facing bookshelf

10.  And last, but not least, this is what I want my TV room to look like:

Can you just imagine what those shelves would look like jam packed with books?  Heaven!  

I hope you've enjoyed my little top ten post!  Leave me a link to yours, and I'll be sure to visit back!

"Imaginary Lines" Release Day Launch!

Tamar Rosenfeld has been in love with New York Leopards linebacker Abraham Krasner since they were twelve years old. She'd always considered it destiny that they'd end up together…until Abe was drafted and she professed her feelings in a moment of blind excitement. The sting of his rejection was like nothing she'd ever felt before, and it's nothing she'll ever forget. Older and wiser, Tamar has landed a dream job as a reporter for one of New York's premier athletic websites. Determined to stop being the safe, boring girl she's felt like for most of her life, Tamar makes a list of all the things she wants to do and see in her new city, and Getting Over Abraham is priority number one. But destiny has finally chosen to interfere. Just as Tamar's decided to move on, Abe's realized she's the only woman for him. When he confides the truth, Tamar has to decide if she can put her crush behind her, or take a chance on the very man who's been holding her back all these years.

Allison Parr Bio:

Allison Parr is the author of Rush Me, Running Back, and Imaginary Lines. She grew up in small town New England, where she developed an incurable case of wanderlust. After graduating with degrees in archaeology and creative writing, she spent the next several years living in San Francisco, Paris, Boston, and New York.  When she’s not traveling or writing, she’s making a mean chocolate cake or bad historical jokes. She’s also amassing enough books to rival the library in Beauty and the Beast.

To learn more about Allison’s books and travels, visit her at www.allisonparr.com

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Lines-Allison-Parr-ebook/dp/B00GKBHIQM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396555527&sr=8-1&keywords=Imaginary+Lines

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imaginary-lines-allison-parr/1117366825?ean=9781426897757

Links:

Blog: www.allisonparr.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Allison_Parr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allisonparrwrites

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6876947.Allison_Parr

Imaginary Lines Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20645592-imaginary-lines?from_search=true

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Review: "The Edge of Always" by J.A. Redmerski

He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place… When everything falls apart, love remains . . . THE EDGE OF ALWAYS Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged—and a wedding isn’t the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can’t wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew – a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to—until tragedy blindsides them. Andrew doesn’t understand how this could happen to them. He’s trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won’t do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride…

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book.

I was soooooooo happy when I received this book for review.  I think I squealed, and I'm not much of a squealer!  But then I read it (picture me with a sad-looking frown on my face).

At 30%, this is what I wrote:

"Having a hard time seeing where this is going.  It feels very slow, especially in comparison to "The Edge of Never".  There's no sense of the urgency I felt when reading "The Edge of Never".  With that book, even though I had some issues with the writing, I was able to overlook them because I was so drawn in by the story.  I could barely put it down, I just HAD to know what was going to happen next!  "The Edge of Always" is very put-downable, and Camryn and Andrew don't have the same pull on me as before.

At 58%, this is what I wrote (and this would be considered spoilerish, so if you are planning to read this book, skip ahead to the next page break):

"Just finished reading the part where Camryn and Andrew get drugged, and I don't know, it just doesn't strike me as authentic.  Here's what I thought SHOULD have happened - Andrew only thinks he was drugged.  Really, he has another brain tumour and that's why he's hallucinating.  Camryn wakes up to him getting into a fist fight over something that didn't really happen!  And then she starts to worry.  I think that would have been much better.  Or how 'bout this?  The cop pulls over, and instead of just chatting with them and letting them go, he arrests Andrew for assault?  But no, what we've got here is a series of crises that get wrapped up very quickly and simply.  And really, I'm starting to get bored by it all."

Later on in the book, there's a section where Camryn realizes that she can't go back in time and recreate the amazing experience she and Andrew had in New Orleans, and by trying to do so only resulted in tainting those great memories. That's basically how I feel about this book.  By reading it, I've only tainted the memory of my reading experience with "The Edge of Never". I almost feel like this book should not have been written. But that's pretty harsh.  I guess I'm just really disappointed.  

My rating: