Category: Reviews

Review: Bachelor Boys

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Bachelor Boys by Kate SaundersKate Saunders, Bachelor Boys

Cassie Shaw grew up next door to the Darling family, who gave her the warmth and affection that her own family lacked. She would do anything for the Darlings, especially for Phoebe, whom Cassie has loved as a mother all her life. Now Phoebe is dying of leukemia, and she’s worried about her two sons, Fritz and Ben. She asks Cassie to find suitable wives for her boys so that they’ll have someone to take care of them when Phoebe is gone. Cassie has no choice but to agree with Phoebe’s plan, but secretly she has reservations. Fritz and Ben are both incredibly handsome and charming, but they’re also unemployed and living in their mother’s basement. How can she turn these unkempt bachelors into marriage material — especially when all her efforts at matchmaking seem to go catastrophically wrong?

I don’t have too much to say about this book. It’s fairly typical chick lit, and I found it a quick and entertaining read. Cassie is a likable narrator and comes across as very self-aware — though that doesn’t prevent her from making some absolutely terrible decisions. I’m not sure how I feel about Fritz and Ben, honestly. The book attempts to redeem them, but they are consistently portrayed as immature and careless in their everyday lives. The bright spot of the book is Phoebe, and the other characters are at their best in their relationships with her. Of course, her sweetness and charm make her inevitable death all the more heartbreaking, and I actually teared up in a few places. So I can’t exactly characterize this book as a “light” read, but I did enjoy it. I didn’t completely buy into the romance, but the book is entertaining enough for an afternoon or two.

Review: Agent of Change

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Steve Miller & Sharon Lee, Agent of Change

Val Con yos’Phelium has just completed his latest covert mission  when he runs into a young woman being attacked by five or six mercenaries. Against his better judgment, he enters the fray and helps her to fend off her attackers. As a result, he learns that Miri Robertson is a mercenary and ex-bodyguard who has run afoul of the Juntavas, a kind of interplanetary mafia. Both on the run, Val Con and Miri decide to team up: together they will acquire adequate money and transportation to make good their escape. Of course, their plan is complicated by several more attacks from both the Juntavas and the local police. As they fight their way to freedom and encounter various friends and foes, Val Con and Miri also begin to develop feelings for each other beyond simple partnership.

You know that saying about judging a book by its cover? Well, this is one situation where you can absolutely do it. This book is a fairly conventional (to the best of my knowledge — I haven’t read that much sci fi) space opera with a hint of romance. And yes, there are giant turtles! I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but afterward I started noticing a lot of unanswered questions. For example, we know that Val Con is a spy and that his handlers have somehow rewired his brain; he’s able to make precise calculations about his chances of survival over a given period of time. But we don’t really know anything about his employers or the nature of his work as a spy. There are several other novels in this series, and I’m guessing this is not the first one, although it’s proven hard for me to verify the order of the books. So maybe that’s why I found the story a bit confusing. I’m not curious enough to track down the rest of the books, so I suppose I’ll just have to live with those loose ends. Still, this novel is a fun read for what it is.

Review: Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter

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Simon Brett, Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter

This send-up of the Golden Age mystery stars the amiable but incredibly dense Blotto and his sister Twinks, who is both staggeringly beautiful and extremely intelligent. The story begins with the discovery of a body in the library (of course), which happens to belong to a visiting dignitary from Mitteleuropia. The exiled King Sigismund and his retinue are staying at Blotto and Twinks’ home due to a recent coup in Mitteleuropia by the ex-king’s traitorous brother. But the body in the library turns out to be the least of Blotto and Twinks’ worries when they stumble upon a plot to kidnap the ex-king’s daughter. Now they must save the ex-princess, infiltrate the Mitteleuropian court, and restore King Sigismund to his rightful place on the throne.

As with most parodies, enjoyment of the humor will vary widely from reader to reader; personally, I liked it and thought it worked well. The plot is, of course, ridiculous and wildly improbable, but that’s part of the fun. The characters are also fairly two-dimensional; even Blotto, the protagonist (of sorts), doesn’t really have any depth. But again, in my view, that’s not the point of the book. Rather, this novel is a playful homage to the classic British cozy, with more than a few nods to P.G. Wodehouse thrown in. Anyone who likes the Golden Age of mysteries would probably find a lot to enjoy and appreciate in this novel. That said, the jokes do get a bit repetitive, and they’re also not particularly subtle, so I can understand why some people might find the whole thing irritating rather than amusing. In my opinion, though, the book succeeds in being a fun, silly read, and I’ll most likely continue with the series.

Review: Garden Spells

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Garden Spells by Sarah Addison AllenSarah Addison Allen, Garden Spells

Everyone in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, knows that there’s something strange about the Waverleys. Flowers bloom in their garden all year round, and the apple tree in their yard has certain unusual properties. Claire Waverley has lived in Bascom since childhood and is happy to embrace her special role as a Waverley. By contrast, her sister Sydney left town after high school and has been constantly on the move ever since. The two sisters have never gotten along; but when Sydney unexpectedly returns to Bascom with her daughter Bay in tow, they must find a way to heal their relationship and face the consequences of their respective pasts.

I love Sarah Addison Allen’s books, and Garden Spells is certainly no exception. Allen’s writing is lush, magical, and romantic; while I’m normally not a big fan of flowery descriptions, in this case they contribute to the vivid atmosphere. Both Claire and Sydney are well-drawn characters in whom I became very invested, and the secondary characters are also quirky and interesting. I especially liked Evanelle, an elderly Waverley woman who is occasionally compelled to give people random objects that they later turn out to need. My only quibble is that Bay seems a bit precocious for a 5-year-old, but it didn’t bother me that much. I’d definitely recommend this book, and Sarah Addison Allen in general, to people looking for light fiction with a unique twist. Unfortunately I only have one of her books left to discover, The Girl Who Chased the Moon. Hopefully she’ll write another one soon!

Review: Too Good to Be True

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Too Good To Be True by Kristan HigginsKristan Higgins, Too Good to Be True

Grace Emerson doesn’t consider herself a particularly pitiable person. She loves her job teaching American history. She has her own house and an adorable dog named Angus. But when her fiancé dumps her and begins dating her younger sister instead, Grace discovers that everyone in her family feels sorry for her. To escape their pity, Grace tells them that she’s started dating someone else — a wonderful, handsome, sensitive pediatric surgeon. Too bad he’s fictional — unlike Grace’s sexy new neighbor, Callahan O’Shea, whose sarcastic barbs annoy Grace even as she finds herself increasingly attracted to him.

This is my second encounter with Kristan Higgins (after Just One of the Guys), and I think I can safely say I’ve found a new author to enjoy. Every once in a while I just want to read a light, fluffy contemporary romance, and Higgins definitely fits the bill. Her books are a little unconventional for the romance genre, for two reasons: (1) there are almost no sex scenes  — she mostly uses the fade-to-black approach — and (2) the story is only told from the heroine’s point of view. That’s one aspect of the book I didn’t like so much; I would have loved to see some of the events from Callahan’s perspective. But other than that, I enjoyed this book a lot. I especially liked the fact that there was no Big Misunderstanding keeping Grace and Cal apart. The obstacles to the romance are realistic and don’t seem contrived. I’ll definitely seek out more by Higgins in the future.

Reread: Emma

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As some of you already know, I am a huge Jane Austen fan. I’ve read all six of her completed novels multiple times, and I’ve seen (and in fact own) most of the major film adaptations. I may or may not (ahem) be in love with Mr. Darcy. I also have a Jane Austen action figure, which is lovingly preserved in its original packaging. In short, I am a big Austen dork. Feel free to judge.

Yet I recently realized that, for some reason, I hadn’t read any Austen in at least a year. To rectify the situation, I decided to revisit Emma. It’s definitely been several years since I last read it, and even though it’s not my favorite Austen novel (that would be Pride and Prejudice, obviously), I was craving some Highbury action. Here are some things that I was thinking about during this reading (and guys, there will be SPOILERS, so be warned!):

  • Miss Bates is GENIUS. Her long monologues may seem pointless and boring, but they actually contain all the clues to the Frank Churchill/Jane Fairfax relationship. I love Miss Bates. She would undoubtedly be tedious in real life, but she’s definitely a wonderful comic character — and also the moral center of the novel. Other characters (Emma in particular) are often judged by how well or poorly they treat Miss Bates.
  • The romance between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax is actually a lot more dramatic than the main action with Emma. In some ways, Jane Fairfax is actually a much more likely heroine for a novel: she’s an orphan raised in a wealthy environment but destined to become a governess. She’s beautiful and accomplished — much more so than Emma, we’re told. She meets the dashing Frank Churchill at Weymouth and is swept off her feet. They’re secretly engaged, unfairly separated by the class-conscious Churchills, and forced to hide their true feelings from everyone else. It’s practically Romeo and Juliet, if you think about it! Yet Austen interestingly decided to tell most of this story offstage, focusing instead on the more mundane dramas of Highbury.
  • I love the moment when Emma meets Mrs. Elton for the first time and is enraged that she casually refers to Mr. Knightley as “Knightley.” Methinks I see some foreshadowing there!
  • Speaking of Emma and Mrs. Elton, in some ways they are eerily similar. Emma judges Mrs. Elton harshly for trying to manage every aspect of Jane Fairfax’s life — yet Emma herself did essentially the same thing to Harriet Smith! Emma is a more sympathetic character than Mrs. Elton, but does she really deserve to be?

So anyway, I really enjoyed my reread of Emma, and now I have a craving to watch the 1996 movie version with Gwyneth Paltrow. Well, either that or “Clueless”!

Review: 84, Charing Cross Road

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84, Charing Cross Road by Helene HanffHelene Hanff, 84, Charing Cross Road

This slim collection of letters chronicles the friendship between Helene Hanff, an American writer, and the employees of an antiquarian bookstore located at 84, Charing Cross Road in London. Hanff initially wrote to the bookstore after seeing their newspaper ad because she wanted a book she couldn’t get locally. Her often humorous demands for books initiated a lively correspondence between herself and the bookstore employees, a correspondence that soon led to deep and long-lasting friendships.

I loved this book, as I think any bibliophile would. The letters between Hanff and her various correspondents reveal a deep love of books, both their content and the quality of their binding. It was wonderful to read the booksellers’ descriptions of the various volumes they were planning to send Hanff — things along the lines of, “it’s a good clean copy bound in red leather.” Most of the letters are also uproariously funny; Hanff seems like a tremendously entertaining person to be around. My only complaint is that the book is extremely short, less than 100 pages. I wish more of the letters had been included! Nevertheless, I’d highly recommend this book to anyone, especially literary types looking for a good laugh.

Review: Julia and the Master of Morancourt

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Julia and the Master of Morancourt: A Novel…Janet Aylmer, Julia and the Master of Morancourt

Julia Maitland, the oldest of three sisters, is expected to marry well so that her family will be supported when her father dies. She vows that she will not marry a man she doesn’t love, but she nevertheless agrees to her mother’s various schemes to introduce her to eligible men. While visiting a friend of the family, Harry Douglas, Julia becomes acquainted with his son Kit and is immediately attracted to him; however, as a younger son, Kit isn’t a good match from a monetary standpoint. Throughout the course of the novel, Julia strives to reconcile her familial responsibility with her heart.

I’m a sucker for a good Regency-era love story, so I was expecting to enjoy this book much more than I did. The “marry rich to support the family” plot is horribly overdone in this genre (and no one has ever done it as well as Jane Austen, so part of me wonders why people are even still trying). Also, there was no suspense whatsoever. Even a subplot about possible illegal activity involving Kit’s servants failed to hold my interest, mostly because the solution to the entire thing was so blatantly obvious from the beginning. There was also something jarring about the writing style; though the book tries to imitate period language, it comes off sounding stilted and awkward. All in all, I was disappointed in this book. Should have picked up a Georgette Heyer novel instead!

Review: Flat-Out Love

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Flat-Out Love by Jessica ParkJessica Park, Flat-Out Love

When Julie Seagle moves to Boston for college and her housing plans fall through, she desperately needs a new place to stay. An old friend of her mother’s, Erin Watkins, offers her free room and board until she can make other arrangements. Julie is immediately drawn to the Watkins family but is concerned about their daughter Celeste, who clearly has serious psychological issues. The closer Julie grows to the Watkinses, particularly their two sons Finn and Matt, the more attached she becomes. But the key to Celeste’s behavior is a devastating secret that may destroy both the Watkins family and Julie’s newfound romance.

I normally don’t read self-published books, but this one received such a positive review from Janicu that I had to track down my own copy. I have to say, I was very impressed with the quality of my edition (pictured): I’m pretty sure I only spotted one typo! As for the book itself, I really enjoyed it. The love story turned out just like I wanted it to. As for the “shocking” secret, I guessed it long before Julie did, but I was happy to wait for her to discover it for herself. Also, I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed Celeste’s character. Normally precocious children, whether fictional or real, irritate me to no end. In this case, though, I genuinely found her amusing. Overall, I really liked this book and will be interested to see what Jessica Park may write in the future.

Review: The Iron Wyrm Affair

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The Iron Wyrm AffairLilith Saintcrow, The Iron Wyrm Affair

In an alternate-universe Victorian London, sorcery is common (though frowned upon), and incredible geniuses known as mentaths are capable of being literally bored to death. Archibald Clare, an unregistered mentath, is in this precarious state when he suddenly learns that his life may be in danger: someone has been killing and mutilating mentaths throughout the city. To investigate, Archibald teams up with Emma Bannon, a powerful sorceress with a dangerous gift and a mysterious past. Their mission takes them throughout the dirty streets of Londinium, where they tangle with foreign assassins, murderous automatons, and very black magic.

Since I enjoy Victorian-era steampunk, I was excited to win this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. It certainly delivers a fast-paced plot packed with action; it was easy to keep turning the pages, and I never felt like the book dragged. There were also enough steampunk elements to please fans of the genre, including mechanical limbs and giant, spider-like automatons. However, the world-building in general didn’t work for me. Saintcrow avoids lengthy exposition, which is a good thing, except that as a result I constantly felt like I was missing something. For example, we learn that Archibald is an unregistered mentath, but we don’t know why he’s unregistered, or even what being unregistered actually means. Similarly, we know that Emma is a sorceress, but we never learn the basic rules of the magical system; Emma can seemingly do whatever she wants with a few simple chants. I found it difficult to become invested in the story because I kept getting distracted by the underdeveloped world of the novel.

This is book one in a projected series, so presumably everything will start to make more sense in future installments. However, I don’t think I’m invested enough in the characters to continue with this series.