Category Archives: Book Opinion

Evergreen Springs

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Author: RaeAnne Thayne          evergreen
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Holiday Romance
Source: Little Bird Publishing

Publication Date: September 29, 2015

 

Goodreads:  Celebrate the magic of Christmas in Haven Point with New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne, where hope, home, and happily-ever-after are as close as your holiday stocking…

Christmas is the last thing Cole Barrett is thinking about this year. He’s barely hanging on trying to care for his two grieving children since his ex-wife died in a tragic accident. For the reclusive Cole, this is no time for gift-giving and celebration—and certainly not for a sunny-natured optimist to blow into his screwed-up life.

In the years since her cancer treatments, physician Devin Shaw has researched the curative powers of Lake Haven’s mineral waters. Unfortunately, the hot springs are on Barrett property, forcing Devin to strike a bargain with the ranch’s attractively gruff owner: she’ll give Cole’s children the magical Christmas they deserve, and Cole will allow her patients access to the springs. But can she work her holiday magic to heal the Barrett family’s battered hearts—and her own?

Ope’s Opinion:  This is another wonderful read from RaeAnne Thayne.  She really knows how to write great characters that you really care about.  You want them to be happy.

Even though the endings are predictable, you want to keep reading to see how they get there.  It is always a great ride along the way.

I am looking forward to her next book.

Rating: 4 – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

BIGLAW

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Author: Lindsay Cameron                biglaw
Publisher: Ankerwycke
Genre:  Mystery
Source:  BookSpark

 

 

Goodreads:  The Devil Wears Prada meets One L, BIGLAW provides an insider’s view of the cut-throat world of big New York law firms.

Mackenzie Corbett has always dreamed of living in New York City. Now, almost two years into her job as an associate at a premier Manhattan law firm, she’s living her fantasy–big salary, high profile deals, cute boyfriend, designer bag on her arm. The giant bags under her eyes from lack of sleep don’t fit into the fantasy, though. To make matters worse, she’s being tormented by a bitter, bitchy senior associate, her cute boyfriend is annoyed she never has time for him, and now she’s stuck on the deal from hell with a partner whose biggest claim to fame is throwing a stapler at a cleaning lady because she touched his ficus plant.

With the opportunity to secure a prestigious secondment on line, the overachiever in her is determined to endure whatever it takes to close the biggest deal in the firm’s history. But when Mackenzie finds herself the focus of a devastating investigation her dream job begins spiraling into a nightmare.

In this pitch perfect, frightening accurate novel, Lindsay Cameron throws back the curtain to this intriguing world exposing the truth about life in Biglaw.

 

 

Ope’s Opinion:  The ending saved the book for me.  I was not enjoying the book.  It was about a female lawyer who whined the whole time how her superiors were over working her.  She felt like she couldn’t do anything about it, but I didn’t really see her trying to do anything either.  She sacrificed all for the job.

If you took the “f” word out of this book it would have been a significantly shorter book.  The word was used over and over and over and over again.  I am not exaggerating at all.

After reading most of the book, I was thinking it was a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5.   Then the last couple of chapters brought it up to a 3.

Rating: 3 – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

I Always Cry at Weddings

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Author: Sara Goff
Publisher: WhiteFire Publishing             i always cry
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Larrisa Ackerman
Claire McKinney PR, LLC

Publication Date:  September 15, 2015

 

Amazon:  Ava Larson is going to bring all the other brides to tears. 

Engaged to a wealthy NYC socialite’s son, Ava is ready to set the city abuzz with her glamorous wedding. At least until she realizes her relationship isn’t what it should be. Then, in a move as daring as a red satin dress, she does the unthinkable–she calls it all off and makes a promise to God that from now on, she’ll save sex for marriage.

She’s convinced the future is hers for the taking, especially when an undercover cop promises a new romance…and an unexpected friendship with the homeless guy under her stoop brightens her days.

But when her carefully balanced life teeters out of control, weddings aren’t the only thing to make her cry. Ava has to figure out what life she really wants to live…and what in the world love really means.

Ope’s Opinion:  When you read the synopsis you know that Ava calls off her wedding.  So I thought that would be the down part of the book and you would see Ava work her way out of a bad relationship into a good place.  Well, it did happen, but it took almost the whole book before the good stuff happened.

I didn’t think Ava could have anymore trouble or make any more bad decisions, yet another came along.  I was starting to think no one person could have this many bad things in their life.

Slowly and I do mean slowly Ava figured out who she was and what she should be doing.  I thought end was very good, it just took a long time to get there.

Rating: 3 – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Wildest Dreams

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Author: Robyn Carr          wildest
Publisher: MIRA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Little Bird Publicity

 

 

Goodreads:  Blake Smiley searched the country for just the right place to call home. The professional triathlete has traveled the world, but Thunder Point has what he needs to put down the roots he’s never had. In the quiet coastal town he can focus on his training without distractions. Until he meets his new neighbors and everything changes.

Lin Su Simmons and her teenage son, Charlie, are fixtures at Winnie Banks’ house as Lin Su nurses Winnie through the realities of ALS. A single mother, Lin Su is proud of taking charge and never showing weakness. But she has her hands full coping with a job, debt and Charlie’s health issues. And Charlie is asking questions about his family history—questions she doesn’t want to answer.

When Charlie enlists Blake’s help to escape his overprotective mother, Lin Su resents the interference in her life. But Blake is certain he can break through her barriers and be the man she and Charlie need. When faced with a terrible situation, Blake comes to the rescue, and Lin Su realizes he just might be the man of her dreams. Together, they recognize that family is who you choose it to be.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is another wonderful Robyn Carr book from the Thunder Point Series.  She just keeps writing great characters who make Thunder Point more interesting and fun to read.

Lin Su’s story was a steady slow moving one.  Being a mom and being hurt in the past made her reluctant to get into a relationship that might hurt her or her son.  I loved the way Blake slowly, cautiously eased Lin Su into a friendship first.

It was great to see all the other people in Thunder Point get updated.  Robyn Carr does a really good job of naturally including the other town people in each book.  She also does a great job of telling you who everyone is if this is the first book you picked up.

Rating: 4 – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

If You Only Knew

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Author: Kristan Higgins                       if you only knew
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source:  Little Bird Publicity 

 

Goodreads:  Sisterhood in all its drama, hilarity and tears is at the heart ofNew York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins’s thoroughly captivating new novel, featuring the wit and romance that readers have come to expect from the much-loved creator of the Blue Heron series…

Wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate understands the happily-ever-after business, yet somehow she’s still involved in her ex-husband’s life. In fact, Owen’s new wife may—inexplicably—be Jenny’s new best friend. Sensing this, well, relationship isn’t helping her move on, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she’ll be able to bask in her sister Rachel’s picture-perfect family life…and hopefully make one of her own.

Her timing couldn’t be more perfect, since Rachel will need her younger sister. Her idyllic marriage has just fallen to pieces in spectacular fashion after she discovers her husband sexting with one of his colleagues. Second chances aren’t in Rachel’s nature, but the desire for an intact family has her rethinking her stance on adultery, much to Jenny’s surprise. Rachel points to their parents’ “perfect” marriage as a shining example, but to protect her sister Jenny may have to tarnish that memory—and their relationship­—and reveal a secret about their family she’s been keeping since childhood.

During this summer of secrets and lies, temptation and revelation, Jenny and Rachel will rely on each other to find the humor in their personal catastrophes, the joy in their triumphs…and the strength to keep hanging on.

Ope’s Opinion:  This book was about sisters and mothers – their marriages, love, divorce and finding yourself.  Through most of the book I was wishing the female characters were stronger and more independent.

I loved the pace of this book.  Kristan Higgins kept it moving with small surprises all along the way.  She made me care about each character.  They were very well developed.

The end brought it all together for everyone.  It made me like the book.

*** If you find the “f” word offensive, this book used it a lot in the beginning.

Rating: 3.5 – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

 

 

 

 

 

A Window Opens

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Author: Elisabeth Egan               window
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Simon & Schuster

 

Publication Date: August 25, 2015
TODAY!!

 

Goodreads:  In A Window Opens, beloved books editor at Glamour magazine, Elisabeth Egan, brings us Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age.

Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers―an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life―seems suddenly within reach.

Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up and her work takes an unexpected turn. Readers will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all, but what does she―Alice Pearse―really want?

Ope’s Opinion:  Alice is a character most people can relate to.  Trying to be part of a family, supporting everyone and still trying to fulfill your own dreams.  She has a lot to balance.  My thinking is you can have it all, just not all at once.  I feel like Alice showed us what really happens to families – everyone changes and adapts with different circumstances.

Having a book about books, is always a good thing for me.  I enjoy the whole book industry – it fascinates me.  It was interesting to see her dream job not always be a dream.

Elisabeth Egan’s writing meandered for me.  The meanderings gave you back ground and explained things.  But at times, in those meanderings, I lost where the story was going.

Rating: 4 – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

The Summertime Girls

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Author: Laura Hankin                                     summertime girls
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Source: BEA

 

 

Goodreads:  When two lifelong friends reunite for one more summer in small-town Maine, they must bridge the gap caused by the dreams and secrets that tore them apart…

Ally Morris and Beth Abbott were beyond inseparable. From the very first time they met, the girls knew they’d found a once-in-a-lifetime friendship. But sometimes, life can’t help but get in the way.

As time goes by, disappointments and petty resentments begin to alter what they once thought was forever. Ally’s boho lifestyle leaves her drowning in confusion and cheap whisky, while a terrible secret threatens to shatter Beth’s carefully controlled world. By the time they need each other most, Ally and Beth are nearly strangers to each other.

When a family crisis prompts Beth to contact Ally for help out of the blue, the girls reunite in Maine. But the distance between them is overwhelming. To save their friendship, Ally and Beth will have to confront painful moments in their past and redefine who they are—before their incredible connection fades away for good…

Ope’s Opinion:  The friendship story was very enjoyable.  I liked that their was a friendship between two young women paralleled two older women.  Female friendships cross time lines.  It was interesting to see the older women learn from the younger women.

The story, the characters and their feelings were all very realistic.  I did not care for the casual attitude toward sex.  Ally acted like it was a sport or a time killer instead of something with meaning.

I would have given this book a 4 rating, but the constant use of the “f” word made me feel like I could not recommend this book to several of my friends.  I wish authors would be more creative and find other words to express their characters thoughts and words.

Rating:  3 –  I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Sleeping with the Enemy

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Author: Tracy Solheim                 sleeping
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Booksparks

 

 

Goodreads:  The author of Risky Game returns with a football team owner who’s a real player, and the woman who’s ready to call him out on everything . . .

Dot-com millionaire Jay McManus is discovering that owning a pro football team like the Baltimore Blaze isn’t easy. An anonymous blogger is out to destroy his reputation, and now his team is being sued by its own cheerleaders. If Jay’s not careful, he could lose big—and not just financially.

Bridgett Janik’s brother may play for the Baltimore Blaze, but she’s not thrilled to be defending Jay McManus, the man who broke her heart. It’s bad enough she has to mingle with Jay during games, but working beside her former lover may be too much for her body—and her heart—to resist.

Jay’s determined not to let Bridgett slip away from him a second time. But, as the two follow the mysterious blogger’s trail, secrets—both past and present—are revealed, and Jay and Bridgett must decide if their relationship can be something more than just sleeping with the enemy.

Ope’s Opinion: This is my first book by Tracy Solheim.  Although this is book four of the Out of Bounds series, I did not feel like I was missing a part of the story.  

The repetative theme of how hot Bridgett and Jay are for each other made the story move slowly.  On the other hand, the subtle disclosure of their past relationship was written amazingly well and made me want to know more.

I enjoyed more of the story part of this book.  I liked that each of the main characters had careers and were independent.  I like how they were brought back into each others lives.

Side note:  This may sound petty, but I would have enjoyed the reading experience more if the print was not so small with a large margin on the book.

Rating: 3 – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Dancing Through Life

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Author: Candace Cameron Bure           dancing
Publisher: B&H Books
Genre: Memoir
Source:  BEA

 

Goodreads: Candace Cameron Bure has grown up before our eyes and we’ve watched as she’s balanced life in Hollywood with her faith for many years. But that all reached new heights when she was given the opportunity to join the cast of Dancing With the Stars. Being on the show was one of her dreams come true; and with that dream came the opportunity to display her Christian faith in front of millions of people, through an intense season of stretching beyond her limits, and to run the race God gave her with joy and perseverance.

Join Candace as she reflects on the self-discovery that came through leaping out of her comfort zone. Go behind the scenes and experience the highs and lows, the roadblocks, and the personal victories. Hear straight from her heart on tough lessons learned about grace, rejection, perfectionism, disappointment, accountability, dealing with criticism, and more. Through God’s strength, and with the help of endless support from her family and friends, see how Candace stayed true to herself and publicly lived out her faith in Christ all the way to the finale.

How do you stand with conviction in your world? Where does your courage come from when faced with challenges? How do you live out your faith on a daily basis despite opposition? Your stage probably isn’t in Hollywood and the challenges you are facing may not be on live television, but they are no less real. Come along with Candace as she shares how she found the courage to stand with conviction on one of the largest platforms of her life.

Ope’s Opinion:  If you are a Dancing with the Stars fan you definitely will enjoy reading this book.  Candace shared her view of before, during and after her time on Dancing with the Stars.  

If you enjoyed watching Candace grow up on TV you will enjoy this book.

My only disappointment was that I wanted more of her family and private life.  That was not the focus of this book.  The focus was her time on DWTS and keeping her focus on her faith while dancing.

Rating: 3 – I like this book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

I’m Not Her

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Author: Cara Sue Achterberg         I'm
Publisher: Story Plant
Genre: Adult Fiction
Source: Story Plant

 

Goodreads:  It was a Tuesday like any other. And then it wasn’t. A simple encounter at a supermarket changed Carin Fletcher’s and Leann Cane’s lives – literally. Suddenly Carin, a pretty, self-absorbed, underemployed college graduate, finds herself living as Leann, an uneducated, perennially poor, obese checkout clerk, and vice versa.

Carin is at first horrified: she’s enormous, she can barely make ends meet, her husband is an abusive loser, and she’s saddled with the kid Leann had when she was a teenager. Meanwhile, Leann is initially thrilled: she’s escaped destitution, she looks like a model, and people treat her completely differently.

But as the days pass, it becomes clear that life isn’t clear-cut for either woman. Carin finds herself attaching to Trevor, Leann’s precocious son, and developing feelings for Jimmy, a fellow employee who treats her with the respect few others bother to give her because of her appearance. At the same time, Leann is living a life she’s always wanted in a body she’s always dreamed about, but that doesn’t mean that all of her problems have gone away…and a new one is emerging with Carin’s sometimes-boyfriend.

Both women are facing unknowable futures that neither could have imagined. Are they destined to live this way forever? And if so, where will it all lead?

A brilliant, nuanced, and surprising tale about the way the world sees us and the courses we are on, I’M NOT HER is a remarkably assured first novel that introduces a profound new storyteller.

Ope’s Opinion:  I wish I had known the two main characters more before they were switched.  It was hard to understand their individual struggles when I didn’t feel like I knew their past.  

As I did get to know their present situations, it felt a little stereotypical. There was an overweight, abusive girl and a beautiful self absorbed girl.  For Leann, it is the grass is always greener on the other side until you get there.  For Carin, I think it is a wake up call to appreciate the life she had even with it’s struggles.

I like at the end that Carin talks about the outside of someone being like wallpaper. You can change it, but the inside is still the same.

Rating: 3 – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.