Category Archives: romance

Anna and the French Kiss

Posted on January 2, 2011 | 3 Comments

Anna and the French Kiss

by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: A+

From Goodreads: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

Oh. My. God. Can you have an affair with a book? If you can, you might as well call me Jezabel, because I’m done for. Stephanie Perkins is a genius. The writing in this book is so simple, but beautiful. The characters are deep and the story is a beautiful one of young love and discovering yourself. The cover and the Goodreads synopsis don’t do this book justice.

We all have literary crushes (what? you don’t?), but Etienne St. Clair will make you swoon. I laughed out loud so many times at this book, but I also wanted to reach in and thump the characters at times for not realizing what was going on. It made me think back to my teen years and reminisce. It made me wonder why on earth I never went to school abroad. Oh yeah, because we weren’t loaded. I could sit here and gush all night about this book, but I’m just afraid I’d give it away. The best thing I can offer? Go read it NOW!

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Posted in 2011 Reads, books, romance, Stephanie Perkins, Young Adult

Birthright

Posted on August 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

Birthright

by Nora Roberts

My rating: B

Archaeologist Callie Dunbrook is sent in to head the Antietam Creek Project in the heart of Maryland. What would be a routine historical dig turns into a life-changing mystery just after her ex-husband, the lead anthropologist is sent in to head up the dig with her. Local legends, crime, and strange coincidences all work together to change Callie’s life perception of her past.

Well, I don’t have to tell any of you who Nora Roberts is. Hello, the woman has written over 100 novels. Geez! I can barely get myself to write ONE.

I picked this up from a stack of paperbacks that my mom was getting rid of last month. She had quite a few Nora Roberts books that I hadn’t read, and this one looked right up my alley. I’m a HUGE fan of the show Bones, and this book was very similar, as far as the relationship dynamic and the anthropology stuff. Overall, I really liked the characters and the mystery was solid until the end. She definitely threw out a surprise or two. One problem I had with this? The pacing. It was SO slow in the beginning, and I felt like nearly all of the action was shoved into the last 1/4 of the book. I would have liked it if it were a bit more spread out. I think it would have made for a quicker read.

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Posted in 75 in 2010, books, fiction, Nora Roberts, romance

Fade

Posted on July 5, 2010 | 2 Comments

Fade

by Lisa McMann

My rating: A

Fade reunites us with Janie and Cabel, the unlikely pair of high school crime fighters. Captain has given Janie a new assignment that had Cabel more than a little concerned about her safety. While Cabel is busy worrying, Janie takes the time to practice controlling her dreams even more with the help of Miss Stubin’s notes. She finds some quite interesting news that could mean she’s in store for a very different future than she had planned.

The sequal to Wake was just as good, but in a very different way. The dynamic of Cabel and Janie’s relationship changes and we start to see them struggling with individual issues that affect their relationship. The mystery in this novel was not necessarily shocking, but definitely pertinent to today’s society. I love how gutsy Janie is, yet how she manages to remain so flawed at the same time. McMann does an amazing job of showing us the inner struggles that characters are undergoing. Her characters are so real and raw. I love that. I can’t wait to read the 3rd book in this series, Gone. Look for its review very soon.

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Posted in 75 in 2010, books, Lisa McMann, romance, Series, Young Adult

Happy Anniversary, Hubby!

Posted on June 12, 2010 | 1 Comment

Today, my husband and I will celebrate 6 glorious years of marriage. Or, as I said to him yesterday: 4 glorious years and two that we didn’t kill each other. I love you sweetie, and even though we’ve had a lot of hard times, you are truly the one that I want to be with. I can’t imagine my life without you.

Here are a few scanned wedding pictures for you to enjoy. Look at how young we were (I was 19 and he was 20)!

And a few of us through the years:

The first day we got our Mac, playing with the Photo Booth program.

Vegas, December 2008

Prom 2003

at a basketball game, circa 2007

Christmas 07

Walkaround 2008

Okay…that’s enough reminiscing for now. Hopefully the hubs puts up with me for another few years at least. We’ll see. :)

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Posted in romance

Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich

Posted on March 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich & Leanne Banks

My rating: **

Cate Madigan is  26 year old college student who is constantly being fixed up with losers. Even though she begs her family to end the blind dates, they insist that she needs a nice boy to settle down with. Cate isn’t so sure. Her resolve is wavering and she is feeling anxious about the whole situation after her latest fix-up with a hairy little man named Patrick Pug. Just when she is about to throw her hands up, things get interesting. A stranger walks into the bar where Cate works… a very handsome stranger who shows interest in her. No sooner than she starts to flirt with him, things begin to go awry. Cate’s cross-dressing roommate begins to get threatening phone calls and then mysteriously disappears. Cate is left to trust the handsome stranger to help her solve the mystery.

I’ll admit it: I’m a huge Janet Evanovich fan. Her novels are cheesy, predictable, and just plain fun. Last year, I started reading her Stephanie Plum novels and didn’t stop until I finished the latest in the series. I just devour them like candy. This wasn’t the same.

Hot Stuff was one of Janet’s earlier novels, and it shows. Her characters are a little cooky, but not in the fun, Grandma Mazur way. They just get irritating. The mystery in this wasn’t all that much of a mystery after all. I felt like the plot was dragging for most of the book and I didn’t really care about the outcome. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Even if you like Janet Evanovich, pass on this one. I don’t think it is worth your time.

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Posted in 75 in 2010, books, chick lit, Janet Evanovich, mystery, romance

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Posted on March 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

My rating: ***

Another one of Nora Roberts’ triologies. I tell you, it’s a guilty pleasure but I’m addicted to her books. For me, they are just such easy, indulging reads.

Blood Brothers is set in Hawkins Hollow, MA and it follows the lives of 3 men: Gabe, Fox, and Cal. The three are very different from one another, but are bound together forever by blood. On the night of their 10th birthday, the 3 boys visited the hollow where the mysterious altar stone lay filled with secrets. The boys had no clue that their birthday pact would turn into something much more: a tie for life to each other and to the town.

Every 7 years, strange things happen in Hawkins Hollow. The townspeople begin to lose their minds and do devious, dangerous, and even wicked things to one another and to themselves. It’s up to Cal, Gabe, and Fox to find whatever it is that causes these strange occurrences and stop it. If they don’t, their town will likely fall to ruin and worse… they may die.

I listened to this on my way out to Arizona. For me, audiobooks can sometimes be difficult because my attention is lost when I’m not focusing on the words on a page. Blood Brothers didn’t have that problem. As always, Nora Roberts did a fantastic job of creating characters that are vivid and loveable. She seems to have just the right balance of intrigue and realism. Though mysterious things were happening in this book (some very far-fetched), the humans seemed just that: human.

So far, this isn’t my favorite trilogy of hers, but I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series. I will warn you though, that this is another predictable story from Nora Roberts. She has a very set path that she takes with her books, and this is no different. If you are looking for something away from her norm, this isn’t it. If you are looking for a little romance, mystery, and science fiction then give this a try!

16 down, 49 to go!

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Posted in 75 in 2010, books, Nora Roberts, romance, Science Fiction

6/75: The Luxe

Posted on January 21, 2010 | Leave a comment


The Luxe
by Anna Godberson

The Luxe is a Young Adult novel set around the turn of the century. It’s filled with high society girls who live their lives by a strict set of social rules. They dress up in exquisite gowns and sip champagne into the wee hours of the morning. That’s all well and good until someone gets killed.

The book starts with the funeral of Elizabeth Holland, one of New York’s finest ladies of society, from one of the old money families. Then, it flashes back to Elizabeth very much not dead but engaging in all sorts of social gatherings. She’s the envy of many a young girl and her exploits are plastered over the society columns in the newspapers each morning. The mystery is… who could possibly want this perfect girl dead?

I had heard good reviews for this book thanks to my friends on the Nest Book Club and Jessica over at Reading is Sexy. Unfortunately, alot of other people must have heard these same reviews, because I had to wait forever to get it from the library. I agree completely with the good words this book has received. To me, it was almost like reading today’s gossip magazines, but in a more fashionable era. (Think the Astor family and you’ll have the perfect picture)

I usually have a hard time reading about people in the upper echelon of society because it is so drastically different from my upbringing that I can’t seem to find any common ground with the characters. This wasn’t the case at all with this book. It is so beautifully written that I found myself burning through the pages wanting to know what was around the next corner. It wasn’t the most well-executed mystery I’ve ever read, but it was well worth it. The ending wasn’t a huge surprise, but it was totally what I wanted so I was okay with it. Plus, how can you NOT love a book with a cover like this? If only every girl owned a dress like that, the world would be a better place. This is coming from a complete NON girly-girl!

Read it! I know I will be continuing with the series, so look for the reviews on here.

Oh, and if you’re interested in knowing more about the series and even reading part of the book online you can visit the official site for the Luxe series.

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Posted in 75 in 2010, Anna Godberson, books, mystery, romance, Young Adult