Monthly Archives: October 2014

In Your Dreams

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Author:  Kristan Higgins                  in your dreams
Publisher:  Harlequin HQN
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Source:  Little Bird Publicity 

 

Publication Date: September 30, 2014

 

Goodreads:  Emmaline Neal needs a date. Just a date—someone to help her get through her ex-fiancé’s wedding without losing her mind. But pickings are slim in Manningsport, New York, population 715. In fact, there’s really only one option: local heartthrob Jack Holland. Everyone loves Jack, and he won’t get the wrong idea…. After all, Jack Holland would never actually be interested in a woman like Em. Especially not with his beautiful ex-wife creeping around, angling to reunite ever since he rescued a group of teens and became a local hero.

But when the wedding festivities take an unexpectedly passionate turn, Em figures it was just one crazy night. Jack is too gorgeous, too popular, to ever end up with her. So why is she the one he can talk to about his deep, dark feelings? If Em is going to get her dream man, she’ll have to start by believing in him…

Ope’s Opinion:  It was a lot of fun reading about the Holland family updates and more about Jack’s story.   Kristan Higgins writes stories that make me keep reading and anxiously wait for her next book.

I found it refreshing to read a wonderful love story without all the explicit sex scenes.  It was nice to read about a realistic relationship.  They obviously were physically attracted to each other, but all the sexual details were left out – really nice!  Loved that part of the book.

The middle of the book drug on just little longer then I wish it had.  Not enough for me to put the book down and not want to read it – just ready for it move along a little faster.

The ending was expected and exactly what I wanted.  Ready to read another one of her books.  May go back and see if I can find one I haven’t read yet.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Truth Be Told

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Author: Hank Phillipi Ryan          truth be told
Publisher:  Forge Books
Genre:  Mystery
Source:  BEA

 

Publication Date:  October 7, 2014

 

Goodreads:  Truth Be Told, part of the bestselling Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan series by Agatha, Anthony, Mary Higgins Clark, and Macavity Award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan, begins with tragedy: a middle-class family evicted from their suburban home. In digging up the facts on this heartbreaking story—and on other foreclosures— reporter Ryland soon learns the truth behind a big-bucks scheme and the surprising players who will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep their goal a secret. Turns out, there’s more than one way to rob a bank.

Boston police detective Jake Brogan has a liar on his hands. A man has just confessed to the famous twenty-year-old Lilac Sunday killing, and while Jake’s colleagues take him at his word, Jake is not so sure. But he has personal reasons for hoping they’ve finally solved the cold case.

Financial manipulation, the terror of foreclosures, the power of numbers, the primal need for home and family and love. What happens when what you believe is true turns out to be a lie?

Ope’s Opinion:  This book moved really fast.  As a matter of fact it was moving so fast in the beginning I felt like I needed a play card to keep track of who was who.  At first it flipped from one scene to another and I was having trouble keeping up with everyone.  As I got to know the characters and who was involved with who, it became easier to hop from scene to scene.  

This is my first book by Hank Phillipi Ryan, so some of these characters that have been introduced in earlier books, I was not familiar with.  That may have been helpful in the beginning of this book.  Once the story got going, I didn’t feel like I missed too much from previous books.

I enjoyed the pace of this book.  It kept me reading when I was suppose to be doing other things!  So before you start this book, make sure you have time just keep reading.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Reunion

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Author:  Hannah Pittard                         reunion
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing
Genre:  Adult Fiction
Source:  BEA

 

Publication Date: October 7, 2014

 

 

Goodreads:  Heartbreak and hilarity come together in this story of a far-flung family reunited for one weekend by their father’s death, by the author of the highly acclaimed The Fates Will Find Their Way.

Five minutes before her flight is set to take off, Kate Pulaski, failed screenwriter and newly-failed wife, learns that her estranged father killed himself. More shocked than saddened by the news, she reluctantly gives in to her older siblings’ request that she join them–and her many half-siblings, and most of her father’s five former wives–in Atlanta, their birthplace, for a final farewell.

Written with huge heart and bracing wit, REUNION takes place over the following four days, as family secrets are revealed, personal deceits are uncovered, and Kate–an inveterate liar looking for a way to come clean–slowly begins to acknowledge the overwhelming similarities between herself and the man she never thought she’d claim as an influence, much less a father. Hannah Pittard’s “engaging and vigorous”* prose masterfully illuminates the problems that can divide modern families-and the ties that prove impossible to break.

Ope’s Opinion:  The cover of the book made me think of  a warm happy reunion.  The beginning was very depressing and slow moving.  It is interesting to watch three siblings come together and revert to their childhood ways.  

I did like seeing Nell, Elliot, and Kate grow.  They seem to help each other get through the hard time of loosing their father.  I found this to be a familiar story.  There were a few times I wanted the story to move a little faster.

The title of each chapter told you what was going to happen in that chapter.  At the end of each chapter I thought to myself – okay that is what happened!  The chapter headings should have been the outline for the author, but not put into the book.

The book felt like it just ended.  I felt like things were wrapped up, but it fell flat for me.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
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Pink & Green is the New Black

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Author:  Lisa Greenwald   pink
Publisher:  Amulet Books
Genre: Middle Grade
Source:  BEA

 

Publication Date:  October 7, 2014

 

 

Goodreads:  Lucy Desberg is in eighth grade, and she’s determined to make this year perfect. Over the course of the year, though, her talents for makeup and problem-solving will be put to the test.On the outside, things couldn’t be better: her family’s spa is doing well, and she has a boyfriend, Yamir. But Yamir’s in high school now, and Lucy’s too embarrassed to admit that he hasn’t called her in weeks. To take her mind off him, she throws herself into planning the eighth-grade masquerade, using her makeup skills to rally her classmates. But as she soon learns, ignoring a problem does not make it go away. It’s destined to pop up at the worst possible time.Lucy’s resourcefulness will be put to the test as she grows up and starts making decisions about the type of person—and girlfriend and friend and daughter and sister—that she wants to be.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is the third book in the Pink & Green series.  This is the second one I have read.  They are really great stories, very well written and engaging characters.  

Lisa Greenwald knows how to keep you interested throughout the whole book.  If you are an adult looking for something to read with your middle grade child – I would highly recommend this one.  It will be relatable to your middle grade child and it will keep your attention too.

The characters are relatable, with flaws.  You will be comfortable letting your middle grade child read about the actions and language these characters display. The situations were age appropriate and the parents were a part of the story.

I hope there will be more to the Pink & Green series.

 

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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