Tag: contemporary

Review: My Life Next Door

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My Life Next DoorHuntley Fitzpatrick, My Life Next Door

All her life, Samantha Reed has been fascinated by her next-door neighbors, the Garretts. They are a loud, messy family with eight children, and they live in a state of almost constant chaos. Samantha’s uptight mother has always told her to stay away from the Garretts, but Samantha is jealous of their seemingly carefree lives. However, she’s only ever watched them from afar…until one day, when Samantha is 17, Jase Garrett climbs up to her bedroom window and introduces himself. Jase is handsome and sweet, and he has a strong sense of responsibility, unlike most of the privileged guys Samantha knows. The more time Samantha spends with Jase, the more she falls for him. But eventually a terrible tragedy forces Samantha to choose between the Garretts and her own family.

I’d heard so many great things about this book that I finally just had to read it! It didn’t quite live up to my very high expectations, but overall I enjoyed the book. I really loved the depiction of the Garretts; it’s rare to see a large family portrayed in fiction at all, much less in a positive light. The romance was sweet and straightforward, without the endless angst and love triangles that fill a lot of YA novels. I also found the plot with Samantha’s mother very interesting…I honestly had no idea where it was going to go! I loved some of the secondary characters, particularly Tim; I would have liked more of his story. Overall, this is a very well-written and enjoyable YA novel, and it would definitely be a perfect summer read!

Review: A Girl Like You

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A Girl Like YouGemma Burgess, A Girl Like You

Abigail Wood has just had a terrible realization: she doesn’t know how to be single. She’s been with the same man since college but is recently on the market again, and now she’s trying to navigate the London dating scene…with no clue what she’s doing. Her sister Sophie and best friend Plum shower her with well-meaning (and often contradictory) advice, but Abigail still seems to end up dating — and getting dumped by — the wrong men. Desperate, she seeks help from her flatmate Robert, a smooth-talking man who can seemingly get any woman he wants. Abigail decides to try Robert’s tips, and she’s shocked (and pleased) to discover that they actually work! Abigail becomes more confident in her career as well as her love life, and she’s never been happier. But when she meets a guy she really, really wants to impress, she’s suddenly not sure that she can keep following Robert’s advice.

I really loved Gemma Burgess’ first book, The Dating Detox, so when I found out she’d written another one, I put it on my wishlist immediately. I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint! If you like chick lit, I can’t recommend this author highly enough. Abigail is a fun heroine with a sassy, tongue-in-cheek style, and I think that she’s a very relatable character — sort of a much-less-obnoxious Carrie Bradshaw. I certainly can’t imagine myself doing some of the things that Abigail does, but it was fun to escape into her world for a while! I also loved Abigail’s friends, who have their own lives apart from her drama but who still manage to be there and support her. The overall plot of which man Abigail will end up with is fairly transparent, but it was still fun watching her realize it. I’m disappointed that I don’t have any more Gemma Burgess books to read…hopefully she’ll write another one soon!

The Cinderella Deal

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The Cinderella DealJennifer Crusie, The Cinderella Deal

Daisy Flattery is a free spirit, an artist with a penchant for adopting stray animals and telling stories that are “unreal but not untrue.” She couldn’t be more unlike her upstairs neighbor, Lincoln Blaise, a reserved academic who dreams of becoming a college professor. But fate brings Daisy and Linc together in a surprising way: Linc has just been interviewed for a great job at a small liberal-arts college, but the unspoken catch is that he needs a wife if he wants to get hired. Linc immediately invents a fiancée and offers Daisy money to pose as the lucky woman. Daisy doesn’t like Linc much, but she’s flat broke, so she accepts his proposal. But the more time they spend together, the more Daisy and Linc realize that their fake relationship might actually have a real future.

Is the premise of this book preposterous? Yes, yes it is…but this book was such a fun little read! Despite the incredibly familiar opposites-attract plot, this book seemed like a breath of fresh air to me. I just really loved both Daisy and Linc; despite appearances, they are both fundamentally kind, big-hearted people who are ready to take a chance on love. There’s a great mixture of romance and humor, and I think it would make a wonderful chick flick. I also enjoyed the book’s setting, which is primarily a small college town with plenty of quirky secondary characters. I would definitely recommend this book to people who are feeling grumpy or depressed — it’s an instant mood-lifter!

Review: The Trouble with Paradise

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The Trouble with ParadiseJill Shalvis, The Trouble with Paradise

Dorie Anderson desperately needs a vacation. She’s single, overworked, underpaid, and stuck in a dead-end job at Shop-Mart when she’d rather be designing her own clothing line. So when she suddenly wins a spot on a luxury cruise to the South Pacific, she jumps at the chance to have an adventure. And adventure seems to be headed her way in the form of adorable baseball star Andy Hutchinson. He’s sweet and kind, and he has a sexy Texas drawl…so why can’t Dorie stop thinking about the brooding ship’s doctor, Christian Montague? As Dorie struggles with her feelings for these two men, she also faces much bigger problems, including a storm, a shipwreck, and even a potential murder.

I’ll admit, I picked up this book solely because I needed something set in the South Pacific for the Around the World in 12 Books Challenge. I’ve also heard really good things about Jill Shalvis, who is apparently a very popular author in the contemporary romance genre. Unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly impressed by this book. It’s a fun, beachy read with a fair amount of bodice ripping (or the modern equivalent), but that’s about it. I enjoyed the direct writing style: Shalvis doesn’t waste a lot of time setting the scene or developing backstory, preferring to dive into the action instead. But the dialogue did make me cringe on occasion, and there wasn’t much character development in either Dorie or her hero. The “mystery” subplot also felt completely unnecessary and uninteresting. I might give Shalvis another chance, but I’ll look for one of her more recent and more popular novels.

Review: The Best Man

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The Best ManKristan Higgins, The Best Man

Faith Holland hasn’t been back to her hometown for three years — ever since her fiancé Jeremy revealed that he was gay and left her at the altar. Now she’s coming home to refurbish an old barn on her family’s vineyard, but she’s not sure she can handle being around Jeremy again. Unfortunately, she keeps running into his best friend, Levi Cooper, whom Faith blames for ruining her wedding by encouraging Jeremy to come out. Meanwhile, Levi is annoyed that he keeps running into Faith; he remembers her as the goody-goody who would have (albeit unknowingly) ruined his best friend’s life. Neither of them expected that they would feel so attracted to each other; but can Faith and Levi ever build a future together when they have such a complicated past?

I really like Kristan Higgins’ contemporary romances, so of course I had to buy this one as soon as it came out. There are a few differences between this book and the other Higgins novels that I’ve read, but I think they’re good differences. First of all, normally Higgins writes from the heroine’s point of view, but in this book she uses a 3rd-person p.o.v. that follows Faith and Levi in turn. I was glad that she focused on the hero and heroine equally, so that I could get some insight into both characters and understand where they were both coming from. I also really liked Levi, because he’s not quite the stereotypical romantic hero. He’s occasionally crude, shallow, and quick to judge, which makes him a real person rather than an idealized fantasy. Overall, I devoured this novel and am looking forward to Higgins’ next book!

Review: Adorkable

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AdorkableSarra Manning, Adorkable

Jeane Smith has never been what you’d call a normal teenager. She dyes her hair weird colors (it’s currently gray, like an old lady’s), buys her clothes at jumble sales, and has a blog on youth culture that’s turned into a full-fledged brand. Jeane has no patience for the boring, vapid teenagers who go to her school, so she’s shocked when all-around golden boy Michael Lee approaches her and informs her that his girlfriend and Jeane’s boyfriend appear to have a thing for each other. At first Jeane is angry and suspicious, which causes her to turn her wrath on Michael. In turn, Michael is extremely put off by Jeane’s in-your-face attitude. But when one of their arguments inexplicably turns into a makeout session, Jeane and Michael begin spending more time together and growing closer to each other in the process.

I really liked Manning’s novel You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, so I was excited to read this one when it came out. I ended up devouring it in a single day — it may not be great literature, but it sucked me in! What I really like about these characters is that they’re not too good to be true. They have real flaws, to the extent that they’re downright unlikeable at times: Jeane is obnoxious, Michael is cocky, and they’re both extremely self-centered. But the beauty of the story is that it lets you see that they are both lovable despite their faults. I also liked that Jeane and Michael’s relationship is not the perfect, magical love that so often seems to appear in romance novels (both YA and adult). For example, Michael still has a deep attachment to his first love, and his relationship with Jeane doesn’t make that previous relationship any less significant. So I would definitely recommend this book to fans of YA romance.

Review: Eleanor & Park

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Eleanor & ParkRainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park

Eleanor is a chubby new girl with out-of-control red hair and weird clothes. Park is a quiet half-Korean boy who clings to his position at the edge of the cool group. In the normal course of things, they would have no reason to speak to each other. But the first day that Eleanor gets on the bus, she is immediately taunted and ostracized by the other students — and Park surprises himself by letting her sit next to him. Tentatively, Eleanor and Park begin to build a friendship, which gradually deepens into an intense love. But the odds are stacked against them: Park’s parents don’t warm to the prickly Eleanor, and Eleanor’s family life is such a disaster that Park can’t even come to her house. Plus, they’re both smart people and know that high school relationships rarely last forever. Will their relationship be able to survive these obstacles, or will love ultimately tear them apart?

After loving Rowell’s debut novel, Attachments, I naturally had to check out this book too…and happily, it is equally awesome! Both Eleanor and Park are wonderful, likable characters, and it was lovely to see each of them through the other’s eyes. I completely believed in their passionate love for each other, which is unusual for me with teen romance. I tend to scoff at happily-ever-after endings in YA, because very few high school relationships actually work out over the long term. But this book swept me away with its giddy intensity, and I found myself happily rooting for Eleanor and Park to make it. I also really enjoyed the pop culture references that are sprinkled throughout the book; it’s set in the 1980s, so there are many mentions of New Wave and cassette tapes and feathered bangs. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of romance or chick lit, even those who don’t normally read YA.

Review: Juliet

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JulietAnne Fortier, Juliet

Julie Jacobs and her twin sister, Janice, have lived with their Aunt Rose ever since their parents died tragically when they were babies. When Aunt Rose dies, her will stipulates that Janice will inherit her entire fortune, including the house. Julie is shocked and angered by this slight, until she discovers that Aunt Rose has left her some old documents that belonged to her mother — documents that hint at a treasure hidden somewhere in Siena, Italy. Julie immediately goes to Siena in hopes of discovering this hypothetical treasure, but she soon finds that her inheritance — and indeed her whole identity — is bound up in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Far from being the fictional creation of William Shakespeare, their story is based on true events that occurred in Siena in the 1300s. As Julie digs deeper into the medieval legend of Romeo and Juliet, she eventually discovers some priceless artifacts connected to the lovers and finds her own destiny in the process.

Though Romeo and Juliet is by no means my favorite Shakespeare play (that would be Much Ado About Nothing, in case you were wondering!), I was excited to read this book for its combination of literary detection and romance. Unfortunately, I ended up not liking it very much! My main problem is that the heroine, Julie, is too whiny. She constantly complains about Janice’s poor treatment of her growing up, and she’s always bemoaning her “unattractive” appearance, even though she immediately catches the eye of a handsome Italian. I also hated her narrative style, which is completely stilted and unrealistic. The dialogue is almost uniformly terrible. As for the actual story, parts of it were interesting, especially in the historical chapters. But as events unfolded, I grew more and more irritated at the supernatural elements of the plot, which I was not expecting at all. Basically there’s this Ancient Curse ™ that hangs over Julie and her paramour, who are sort of reincarnations of the original Romeo and Juliet, and they need to break it in order to live happily ever after. The farther I got through the book, the more I went from “not great, but still readable” to “I can’t wait for this mess to end!” Overall, not recommended.

Review: Psych Major Syndrome

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Psych Major SyndromeAlicia Thompson, Psych Major Syndrome

Leigh has just started her freshman year at a small liberal-arts college in California that is renowned for both its unconventional academic structure (no grades!) and its intellectual rigor. A smart and driven psychology major, Leigh enjoys her classes but is dismayed by how competitive her fellow students are — and how eagerly they discuss senior thesis topics and grad school options. In addition to being intimidated by her classmates, Leigh is also worried about her love life. She and her high school boyfriend Andrew have been together for over a year, but their relationship seems to be fizzling. Then there’s Andrew’s roommate Nathan, who is openly hostile to Leigh for no apparent reason. In order to survive her college experience, Leigh must take her hard-won insights into psychology and apply them to her own life.

I decided to read this book primarily because of Janice’s review, but also because I really enjoy books set in college. I don’t understand why more books are not set in universities, as most people grow and change a lot during those four (or more) years. So I liked the college-y aspects of this book, such as Leigh’s close relationship with her roommate Ami. I also enjoyed the little tidbits about psychology that are sprinkled throughout the book, such as the definitions of psych-related terms at the beginning of each chapter. Otherwise, though, the book is quite predictable; the romance was cute but not particularly original or exciting. Overall it’s a fun, quick read that requires very little brain power, but it did keep me turning the pages.

Review: The Dating Detox

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The Dating DetoxGemma Burgess, The Dating Detox

Sass (real name Sarah) is a 20-something copywriter in a London advertising agency who has just been dumped for the sixth time in a row. What’s wrong with her? Why can’t she make a relationship last? And why is she always the one getting dumped, even when she doesn’t like the guy all that much either? After several drinks and talks with her best friends, Bloomie and Kate, Sass decides she’s had enough of heartbreak and rejection: she’s going on a dating sabbatical. For three months, she won’t flirt, date, or sleep with any men. Almost immediately, Sass begins to notice improvements in her life. She’s more confident at work, she’s more productive in her free time, and she’s not distracted by men all the time. But when she meets Jake, a handsome and charming man who shares her offbeat sense of humor, she must decide whether to risk everything she’s achieved through her dating sabbatical and take a chance on a new relationship.

What a fun book! Yes, it’s chick lit and thus inherently predictable, but Sass’ original voice makes it a lot more interesting than the usual fare in this genre. Sass narrates the book in present tense, which is usually something I hate, but in this case it really emphasizes Sass’ upbeat, live-in-the-moment character. However, this is a book in which you really have to like the heroine, so if detailed descriptions of outfits (yes, she loves clothes) and the bar scene in London put you off, then you may not enjoy the book as much as I did. I also really liked the fact that the other characters in this book are fleshed-out individuals with their own problems and concerns. Bloomie and Kate, for example, both grow and change throughout the course of the novel as they navigate problems at work and in their relationships. Many chick-lit books can feel like a one-woman show, but that was definitely not the case here! Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys British chick lit, and I look forward to reading more by Burgess.