Posts filed under 'Romance'
It’s nearing the end of the year and I had a little vacation time to use (or lose) and naturally I did some reading. Not as much as I thought I would of course, all that nice sunshiny weather got in the way of that plan, but I did get a few books read.
First up was Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti. This thriller starts off with a bang - or a crash - and doesn’t let up once. Chemist Emma Caldridge is on a flight to Bogota, Columbia that’s been hijacked and forced to land in the jungle. The too-small runway causes a crash and kills many of the passengers and crew, but enough remain to be taken hostage by a guerilla army. Since she was ejected a ways from the crash, only Emma manages to escape capture. When the possibility of rescue becomes increasingly remote, Emma decides to follow the rest of the passengers and their captors to somewhere where escape may be possible. Emma’s experience as a chemist and the fact that she’s an ultramarathoner (running races over 100 miles) help her to not only survive but triumph. Though some reviewers have commented on Emma’s lucky streak and abilities, I liked that Emma was entirely competent and put her knowledge to good use. Just the right pace for a vacation read.
Next I dived into the latest J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) book, Kindred in Death. As with all the books in the series this is a futuristic mystery with romance in the mix. Lieutenant Eve Dallas is supposed to be enjoying a few days off from her job in homicide. That plan is quashed when a fellow officer’s daughter is murdered. He wants Dallas on the case and she’s determined to do all in her power to find the killer. In many of the books in this series the ratio of mystery to romance is probably 70/30, here it’s about 90/10. So if you read these for the relationship development or the appearance of the members of Eve’s “family” you may not be as pleased with this one as I was. I liked the intense police procedural arc of this one given the brutality of the crime. Eve is the future version of Brenda Lee Johnson of The Closer (though the character of Eve Dallas came first) and she is just as single-minded when it comes to murder. As it should be.
The book I finished just before returning to work was The Hidden Man by David Ellis. Jason Kollarich is an attorney who is trying to come back from a personal tragedy. He’d been an up-and-comer at a big law firm but gave it up after the death of his wife and daughter. Now he is nominally still in business as a single practitioner, but many days he barely makes it to the office. On one of the rare days Jason does make an appearance at the office he gains a new client. A mysterious man by the name of Smith hires Jason to represent Sammy Cutler. Jason has known Sammy all his life, though he hasn’t seen him in years. Now Sammy is accused of killing a man who was the main suspect in the disappearance of Sammy’s three-year-old sister 26 years ago. Jason accepts the assignment but chafes at the strictures placed on him by Mr. Smith. As he delves deeper he realizes that nothing is at it seems - today or 26 years ago. Great legal procedural.
All in all some great choices whether you’re on vacation or not.
November 12th, 2009
Jane J. - Central Library
Sometimes a book is a good read (or listen) just because it is fun and entertaining and has likable characters. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, author of the the very popular Shopaholic series, is exactly that. It doesn’t really matter that the story is a bit silly and unrealistic; it is easy to suspend belief and get caught up regardless.
Lara Lington has problems. She is working in a head hunting firm that has some serious financial concerns, her business partner has mysteriously disappeared, and she has yet to get over her previous relationship (after being dumped by someone she thought she was in love with).
After attending the funeral of her great aunt Sadie, who lived to be 105, Lara finds herself trailed by Sadie’s ghost. Sadie will not rest until her necklace is found and buried with her. She is quite assertive and among other things insists that Lara dress in 20’s clothing and when Sadie is attracted to a man, insists that Lara ask him out. No big surprise that he becomes the romantic interest requisite in chick-lit.
Eventually the necklace is found and Sadie disappears from Lara’s now changed life. Along the way, Kinsella is able to contrast women’s lives and expectations in 21st century with the 1920’s, and to create an enjoyable cross generational relationship for Sadie and Lara.
November 10th, 2009
Mary K. - Central
Alexia Tarabotti is a hopeless case. Half-Italian, outspoken and–at the advanced age of 25–too old for marriage, she’s hardly presentable in fashionable Victorian society. Of course, it doesn’t help Alexia’s tactfulness that she’s entirely soulless, a preternatural being in a London filled with werewolves, vampires and ghosts living side-by-side with normal human beings. Thanks to her assiduous reading of Greek ethics, no human is the wiser to her soulless state, but Alexia’s status brings her to the attention of BUR (Bureau of Unnatural Registry), since all preternaturals have the ability to turn supernaturals into humans by touch.
Of course, supernatural beings or not, decorum must be maintained. Alexia is annoyed when a vampire accosts her at a ball and even more put out when she accidently kills it with her brass parasol. A BUR investigation reveals the vamp was a new creation, even as reports of registered supernaturals mysteriously vanishing begin to trickle into headquarters. With the begruding aid of Alpha werewolf Lord Maccon and the flamboyant vampire Lord Akeldama, Alexia uses her special talents to find out who is behind the new creatures and why. But she has to do it while fending off shadowy figures prepared to manhandle her person into dark carriages–and increasingly from Lord Maccon’s attempts to manhandle her, although she’s growing to tolerate his attentions.
There really isn’t any good way to categorize Gail Carriger’s new novel Soulless. It’s a sort of paranormal romance steampunk-fantasy alternative history screwball comedy that conjures up images of Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossed with a foul-temptered Mary Poppins. Alexia’s conscious efforts at tactfulness coupled with her willingness to wield the brass parasol keeps the action tripping along blithely. And while Soulless definitely follows many of the tropes of romance novels (there’s no shortage of rustling taffeta and untied cravats), Carriger writes it all very tongue in cheek. Like a good treacle tart (Alexia’s favorite dessert), Carriager’s new series is one of those delights that has one wishing for seconds. The next installment, Changeless, is due out next March.
November 3rd, 2009
Katie H.
Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham looks initially imposing. A chick lit novel at over 600 pages? A reader could be forgiven for thinking they just don’t have the time. Fear not, fans of Bridget Jones, this tome is an epistolary novel written in - mostly short - emails to and from Holly beginning when she starts a new job and ending when she finds the “one”.
Holly Denham (yep, same name as the author) has just taken a job as a receptionist in a busy London banking firm. She shares the desk with Trish who is initially cool towards Holly but eventually warms up. Because of the busyness of their job, Holly and Trish are not allowed to speak with each other and must communicate via email. Intertwined with her chats with Trish are emails to Holly’s best friend Jason, who manages a posh hotel, Aisha, a free and easy friend, and Hollly’s family (meddling mom, a married sister, a brother who is trying to open a fetish club and her snarky grandmother who is chafing at the restrictions at her senior living facility ).
Though this is a fast read, I was initially slow to warm to the novel. The set-up is clever and the author did a great job at showing who her characters are within the space of a few emails, but I think what took some time for me was Holly herself. She’s a bit of a doormat initially and it took a while for the reasons why to manifest. Once I began to get an inkling about the very real reasons for why Holly is the way she is, I was in and turning pages like a crazy person. But getting there took a little time. And with all of the build-up I was a little skeptical about the fast resolve at the end. On this point I’ll give the author a bit of a pass since a sequel is in the works. I’m guessing the ‘everything’s hunky-dory’conclusion will reverse itself to some extent and Holly will have to progress a little more to get her happy ending.
You can definitely count me in when the time comes.
October 22nd, 2009
Jane J. - Central Library
= true love forever. Or at least a good go at it. The dairy farmer missing two fingers is named Benny and the beige librarian is named Shrimp and they are the stars of the wacky romance in translation Benny and Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti.
I will call this a romance, even though on the spine of the copy I checked out from the library, there was a “literature” sticker. I do find that curious - is it “literature” because it was written in Sweden and that makes it more literary than if it were written in the States? Because this book is an all-out romance. We’re talking meet (not so) cute, an awkward first date, lots of crazy sex, lots of tender moments, lots of will they make it or are they just too different? Hope hope hope. Want want want. Sigh sigh sigh. You get the picture. It’s a romance. A really good one.
Even though Benny and Shrimp are living in modern day Sweden, the feeling of this book is very similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The community is small and rural, the characters are oh, so quirky, and opposites attract when it comes to the couple in question. The book is not written in letters, but in alternating chapters. Shrimp’s chapters are decorated with a star and fleur-de-lis pattern and Benny’s with little cows.
You may learn a lot about dairy farming. Unless you already know a lot about dairy farming, this being Wisconsin and all. Regardless, it is a reminder to us all that it takes a lot of hard work to run a dairy farm. Hard, hard work that never really ends. You will not learn so much about being a librarian.
I know I say this several times a year, but I haven’t said it yet: this is my favorite book of the year. It’s everything that the cover blurb says it is, offbeat, charming, and fun. And it really makes your heart hurt.
September 3rd, 2009
Molly - Central
Given the candy-colored cover and the peek-a-boo picture of the heroine, one might be forgiven for thinking that Addition by Toni Jordan is another in a long line of similar chick lit novels. Certainly Addition has wit and humor but it’s the appealingly quirky (some might say crazy) heroine that rules the pages. And that crazy adds depth in this Australian debut.
Grace Lisa Vandenburg (19 letters) has a compulsion to count. The behavior started when she was eight years old and has continued ever since. And up until recently she was maintaining quite happily. Sure Grace counted each step and each stroke of the hairbrush and each poppy seed on her cake, but she also had a job she liked - teaching grade schoolers - and she even dated from time to time. So what happened? How did she reach the point of being unemployed, on disability pay and considered to be nuts by her family and friends?
Interspersed with the history of Nikola Tesla (a man Grace admires and fantasizes about) is Grace’s own story and her slowly coming to terms with who she is and how she got here. Along the way she meets Seamus Joseph O’Reilly (19 letters), finds a new place in her family and a new role in life.
This charming, bittersweet novel hit all the right notes. I look forward to more from Ms. Jordan.
April 1st, 2009
Jane J. - Central Library
The Courtesan Chronicles is a trilogy of Regency romances by Claudia Dain. So far there are only three, but according to her web page she plans on writing more. Yeah!
A major character in all three romances is Lady Sophia Darby, a former courtesan who married an Earl for love. I like Sophia. She is funny, smart, and people-savvy. She stretches the boundaries of society and keeps the Ton on its toes. She uses her people-reading skills to help other young women find their happily ever after just as she did. Along the way we not only learn about the main love interests of the story, but we slowly learn more about Sophia’s background and family.
Her first opportunity to play matchmaker is with her own daughter, Caroline, in The Courtesan’s Daughter. Because of her mother’s infamous past as a courtesan, Caroline’s marriage prospects are somewhat limited. So when her mother agrees to pay the gambling debts of the Earl of Ashdon in exchange for marriage, Caroline is more than a bit upset. Ashdon sees her as aloof and prudish, which enrages her even more. She decides to take control of her life and become a courtesan just like her mother was. The changes to her dress and behavior cause Ashdon to see her in a different light and he decides that marrying her won’t be so bad after all. However, he has to convince Caroline and push aside the other suitors. Along the way Lady Darby helps them both see how right they are for each other.
After successfully matching up her daughter, she now has the respectable young ladies of London coming to her for help finding a husband. In The Courtesan’s Secret Lady Louisa Kirkland enlists the help of Lady Darby to win the love of the rakish Marquis of Dutton and to retrieve her family’s pearls which are in his possession. Louisa’s father sold them to Dutton and she wants them back along with Dutton as a husband. However, Sophia realizes that Louisa really belongs with her childhood friend, Lord Henry Blakesley. Wagers are placed on who will end up with whom. Lady Sophia uses her considerable people skills to make sure that Louisa ends up with the right man. A delightful regency romp.
The lastest in the Courtesan Chronicles is The Courtesan’s Wager. Lady Amelia Caversham been on the marriage market for a while without success. Since Lady Darby fixed up her daughter and Amelia’s cousin, Amelia decides that she needs help landing a husband. In spite of her apprehension, Amelia asks Lady Darby to help her land a duke. Of course, Sophia agrees and the hunt for a duke begins. With Lady Darby’s help Amelia begins to compile a list of dukes to interview for a husband. Once she interviews one duke the competition to get on her interview list begins. In fact, bets are placed on who Amelia will chose. The brother of one of the interviewees, the Earl of Cranleigh, has made it very clear that he will do anything to protect his brother from falling under her spell. One thinks that the man doth protest too much. It is fun to watch Amelia and Cranleigh spar and, of course, to find true love.
These romances are funny, sensuous, and a delight to read. I really admire the beautiful widowed Lady Sophia Darby and look forward to reading more in the series of books where she plays matchmaker and maybe even finds love again for herself.
March 26th, 2009
Kathy K. - Central
Very Valentine, the first in a new trilogy from bestseller author Adriana Trigiani (Big Stone Gap), features the Roncalli/Angelini family of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. 33-year-old Valentine, the middle sister referred to as the “funny one” since childhood, finds herself living with her 80-year-old grandmother, Teodora Angelini, in an apartment above the family’s struggling wedding shoe business. Valentine’s engagement and career as a teacher ended in disappointment and she is ready to start over learning the family business.
The Angelini Shoe Company founded by her grandfather in 1903 is in financial trouble and Valentine needs a plan to keep her older brother Albert from selling the building for a quick profit. A solution presents itself in the form of a contest among area businesses to design wedding shoes for an upcoming window display at the Bergdorf-Goodman store on Fifth Ave. In the midst of Valentine’s busy life in the shop, she meets restaurateur Roman Falconi, whose many hours at the popular Ca’ d’Oro leave little room for romance.
Very Valentine is really a love story; not only romantic love but love of family, tradition and Old World craftsmanship in the 21st century. The many colorful characters made for a fun book and I’m glad to know that there are two more planned featuring the Roncalli/Angelini clan.
March 2nd, 2009
Lesley - Central
I really want you to like Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs. The main character, Augusta (Gus) Simpson, is a Martha Stewart-like celebrity who hosts her own show on the CookingChannel. She is a wonderful cook, always perfectly dressed, attractive and everyone loves her. She’s turning fifty and having a hard time with the fact that time is marching on. I, on the other hand, am having a hard time keeping track of all the secondary characters surrounding Gus. So, if you love The Friday Night Knitting Club and are interested in reading more Kate Jacobs, here is a little cheat sheet for you to print out and keep handy while you read:
- Augusta (Gus) Simpson - celebrity cook, widow, turning 50, needs to loosen up a bit.
- Sabrina - youngest daughter of Gus and flaky interior designer who wears bright clothes.
- Aimee - oldest daughter of Gus and serious economist for the UN. Likes to watch game shows.
- Christopher - husband of Gus who died 20 years prior to the beginning of the novel.
- Hannah - next door neighbor of Gus and former tennis prodigy banned from the sport à la Tonya Harding.
- Troy - Sabrina’s ex-boyfriend and promising young fresh fruit vending machine entrepreneur.
- Billy - Sabrina’s new fiancé and upstanding guy.
- Porter - Gus’s producer and longtime friend.
- Alan - the CookingChannel network guy.
- Carmen - former Miss Spain, culinary institute graduate and Gus’s rival at the CookingChannel.
- Oliver - former Wall Street guy, now hunky sous-chef for Gus, dated Carmen briefly.
- Gary - New Age group facilitator at hotel retreat.
- David - money swindler to the stars.
- Priya Patel - wins online contest to cook on air with Gus and the gang.
- FBI Agent Jeremy Brewer - investigating David’s money swindling crime.
- Lunch Bunch - show that launched Gus’s career on the CookingChannel.
- Cooking with Gusto! - show that Gus is currently working on.
- Eat, Drink, and Be - new concept show starring Gus and most of the aforementioned characters.
- Even more characters that I cannot remember, like Porter’s wife, Alan’s girlfriend, Priya’s husband and kids, etc.
- Rachael Ray, Matt Lauer, Ann Curry, Diane Sawyer, Chris Cuomo, Robin Roberts - starring as themselves.
There you have it. Aside from the seemingly never-ending array of characters, the plot was enjoyable and would make a great, madcap movie starring Diane Keaton as Gus. I will highlight some of my favorite bits: the cooking show takes place in Gus’s amazing, fully equipped home kitchen. There is a ton of cooking and drinking and eating - each dish more delicious than the next. Life on cable TV is not so nice! And even though there are so many of them, the characters are likeable (or evil) enough for you to want to know what happens to them. Now that you have my handy cheat sheet to refer to, you can sit, read, and be.
February 17th, 2009
Molly - Central
If you work in a library - or even if you’re just a big reader - sooner or later you’re going to have a book show up amidst your reserves that makes you wonder what or who prompted you to request it. Often these books don’t grab me and I’m even more puzzled about why I came to request them. But every now and then one of them is just right. Turning Tables by Heather & Rose MacDowell is that most welcome of surprises.
Erin Edwards has been downsized from her marketing job and after five months of looking for a new job in her field, she’s desperate to find a paying gig. When her father’s friend sets her up as the newest wait-person at the ultra-chic restaurant, Roulette in New York, Erin reluctantly takes the job. This isn’t what she went to school for. But she quickly realizes that being a server in a high-end restaurant is a lot harder then it seems. While learning the job she has to absorb abuse from her boss, the chef and the customers, but the tips make the job a hard one to leave. That fact and the chance to best the management by sticking with it, when they’d like nothing better then to see her gone, keep Erin in the job.
Given the cover art you’d be safe in guessing that this book falls within the bounds of chick-lit. A genre that is very definitely hit or miss for me. Luckily the MacDowell sisters have made their book about something more then the inept/clumsy/clueless gal (who’s obsessed with shoes) finally figuring out which guy is for her - after she spends hundreds of pages dealing with the guy who isn’t. Certainly Erin finds a love interest, but that is not the focus of this book and thankfully the only discussion of shoes is Erin’s need to find something comfortable to wear while running from table to table. Instead of shopping, Erin is figuring out where to go with her job and career and how much she should let those things define her.
I’ve never waited tables but clearly the authors have and the behind-the-scenes glimpse into an upscale NY restaurant and the divisions amongst the staff were fascinating for this Top Chef fan. Add that to my interest in Erin’s struggles and this was definitely a winner. So thank you to the person who suggested this book to me.
February 9th, 2009
Jane J. - Central Library
It really is. I’m talking about LibraryThing. Have you ever used LibraryThing recommendations? Praise be. I cannot even begin to describe the reading miracle that occurred last summer when I searched recommendations for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which had been ruling my best read charts for 2008 (and all-time favorites for that matter) until it got edged out at the very last second by my new favorite book of the year, The Hunger Games (so heart wrenching! so surprising! so best of the year!). But I digress. I have been reading books from that little list all year long and loving them: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry and The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett to name a few. Then I clicked on The Lace Reader, and got a new list including Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. And the miracle continues. What a good choice!
Garden Spells is primarily a family story about trust and accepting who you are and where you come from. And where Claire Waverley comes from is Bascomb, North Carolina. And who she is is a Waverley. And the Waverley women all have special talents. In a genteel, southern hospitality kind of way. Claire’s special talent is cooking up magical concoctions with the flowers and herbs that grow in the garden outside the family’s Queen Anne estate. Violet white cake. Rose petal scones. Lavender bread. You get the idea. This book is sweet and hopeful and filled with magic: actual spells and the wonders of life variety. Mary K. reviewed this title on MADreads in 2007 with some hesitations about the predictable ending, so I will spill the beans here: it has a happy ending. And that is exactly what I like and expect (I actually feel cheated if I don’t get one).
From the Garden Spells recommendations list, I placed a hold on Allen’s new book, Sugar Queen and noticed a repeat of another favorite book read in 2008, The Thirteenth Tale. And the web grows and grows. A couple of titles were repeated on multiple lists, so I know I really need to read American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld next. If you haven’t tried LibraryThing, it’s a fun way to keep track of what you’re reading and connect you with people who read the same things. You can also get great suggestions from your librarian friends (I know I do on an almost daily basis) with Book-Alikes. This service lets you list authors and books that you like or don’t like and a librarian will respond with some suggestions based on your criteria. So many good things!
January 20th, 2009
Molly - Central
- these are the well-known lyrics of the folk song Scarborough Fair. Nancy Werlin weaves the tasks featured in a variation of verse two of the song into the suspenseful plot of Impossible. Seventeen-year-old Lucy Scarborough must break the curse of the Elfin Knight by completing the following:
- make a magical shirt…without any seam or needlework.
- find an acre of land…between the salt water and the sea strand…
- plow it with just a goat’s horn…and sow it all over with one grain of corn…
This book is fantastical and fast-paced and impossible to put down. I am not generally a fantasy reader (I know, I know, I said the same thing about vampires), but I would say this book is primarily a romance with thrills and fantasy thrown into the mix. Lucy is a modern American teen, heading off to prom. She is also struggling with an apparent genetic tendency towards mental illness, a horrific date rape, an unexpected pregnancy and a possible family curse. If you like a story where true love battles evil and prevails against all odds, Impossible fits the bill.
This book has been garnering lots of attention and is on the YALSA 2009 Nominations list of Best Books for Young Adults. The modern-day setting serves as a great contrast to the medieval lyrics and elfin curse and is a surprising, spellbinding read. Impossible is my second favorite YA book of the year: stay tuned for my #1 read in an upcoming review.
December 29th, 2008
Molly - Central
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