Review: Still Me by Jojo Moyes

This book is so good. As expected, parts of it made me laugh, made me furious, and made me cry.

I love Lou, so glad to return to her world and find out how she's doing, but part of this story infuriated me. I found myself thinking, all this time and she's learned nothing, she still lets people walk all over her, won't fight for what matters to her. This wasn't the life Will wanted for her, always putting other people's lives before her own. She's too nice, like pathetically self-destructively nice at one point. There were several times when bad things happened to her with regard to her relationship and her job and she just let them, did nothing to protect herself. I can't relate to that level of niceness, but, in the end, maybe her being nice is why things work out for her. Takes a very well written story and characters to make me feel so strongly about a book.

Things do eventually work out for her with regard to her relationship and her job.

In this story, Lou has taken a job in New York City, working as a personal assistant for a very wealthy man's new wife. (The wife reminded me of a rather well-known rich wife, and that bothered me because this was the last place where I wanted to be thinking about those people, but anyway. I imagine the description would apply to a lot of wealthy New York wives.) The couple is pretty awful and it upset me to see Lou in this position.

Also, Lou is still trying to maintain her relationship with "Ambulance Sam" and as you can imagine, that proves somewhat difficult. But this is Lou, and she makes things fun and interesting and sweet.

Overall, I loved the book. I imagine this is the last we'll hear of Lou, but I would gladly read more about it, because she really is a wonderful character.

I received a copy of this via Netgalley.

Review: Christmas in London by Anita Hughes

When I realized this was by the same author as Christmas in Paris, I probably should have stopped reading it. But I'm a sucker for a Christmas story set in London (or Paris for that matter).

As with Christmas in Paris, the setting is really nice. The author does a great job of describing the city. I've never been to London at Christmas, but it's one of my dreams and the author makes the setting sound magical. However, also like Christmas in Paris, the characters are, for the most part, not like able people and the relationships are not in any way desirable.

There are two relationships happening. One a brand new one, the other a couple reunited after many years apart. The women in the story were okay, but the men - why would anyone want to be with these men? The men are weak and whiny and have no respect for the women. It felt like in the end both women sort of thought, oh well, probably can't do much better, too busy with careers and all that, so may as well settle for these losers. I would have been much happier if both women had decided that the men weren't worth their trouble and decided to ditch them and continue to focus on their careers. I feel like their careers would be much more satisfying. As far as I could tell, there was absolutely nothing appealing about these men. I don't understand why any woman would want them.


As a romance, this didn't work for me, but I did enjoy the glimpse of London at Christmas.

I received a copy of this via Netgalley.

Review: Accidentally on Purpose by Jill Shalvis

Accidentally on Purpose by Jill Shalvis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was so looking forward to reading this book. Jill Shalvis has written some of my favorite romances. I recommend her books to everyone. And I've enjoyed the other books in this series. In the other books, I'd really liked this particular couple so I thought I'd love their book.

I was saving this for when I needed a great romance to read, when I didn't want to take chances on an unknown or unreliable author. And I'll admit upfront that maybe part of the problem is me, it's been a few months since I've read a romance. They used to be my preferred escape, but lately I've not enjoyed them much or felt any desire to read them - sticking to nonfiction or mystery or historical fiction instead. But whatever the problem, this book did not work for me.

The characters were painfully immature in their behavior and the scenarios were not believable. A group of guys wanted s'mores so much that they call one of their girlfriends and beg her to drive an hour and a half with supplies. Really? S'mores aren't even that good - not good enough to expect someone you care about to drive out into the middle of no where at night.

I found the character of Elle to be so irritating. All we really know about her is that she had a bad childhood and now wears very nice, expensive clothes. Over and over again, we're told that she has on a great dress and shoes and she looks badass. But she's always cold because she's under dressed and feels it's more important to look nice than be practical. At some point, she should maybe start to pay attention to the weather and dress accordingly, but then she wouldn't need to be wearing Archer's jacket all the time. This happened several times in the book. That might have been my biggest problem with the story, it felt so repetitive. The same things kept happening, and the same phrases were used. Elle wanted to "climb him like a tree" multiple times within just a few pages. I grew tired of the word "badass" being used so often. I need to know what makes that person a badass, don't just tell me they are.

We're told that Elle's strong and independent and she cares deeply about people, but I never saw that in her actions. She seemed incredibly shallow and rude most of the time. There's playing hard to get and there's downright mean. I'm not a big fan of the whole - "he/she picks on you because they like you." These are supposed to be adults. That Archer kept wanting her kind of made him seem like a creep who couldn't take a hint. As readers, we know that Elle really likes him, but he can't read her mind, and she keeps telling him to get out of her life. Then later on we find out more about Archer that made him seem especially creepy and I wasn't expecting that because, for the most part, I liked him. Thought he seemed like a nice guy, but not so much by the end of the book. When he was turned on by seeing her barefoot and in his kitchen and "maybe pregnant", I decided he was simply gross.

Then there were her "dancing" "happy" nipples. They could sense when Archer was near and would respond, even though she hadn't realized he was in the room yet. At one point, this is how she knows it must be him in the room, her nipples were happy. What? This, along with the use of the phrase "friend zone" sort of completely lost me. I can't take seriously anything that uses that phrase.

I'm being especially harsh, and feel somewhat guilty about that. Had this not been by one of my favorite authors, and had I not been so anxious to read it, and certain I was going to love it, I probably wouldn't be so critical of it. I have every intention of continuing to read this series and anything else by this author, but I might need to lower my expectations, just as a precaution.

Review: The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

I read this books months ago, I decided to hold off on writing a review until closer to publication date and then waited too long. Now I feel compelled to finish the review because I'm seeing this book everywhere. I didn't enjoy this book much at all. I found the love story to be weak and the story line to be very predictable. I was describing the book to someone else, and they kept guessing what happened, and they were right each time.

Sometimes I read a love story, and I find myself thinking I may be missing out in life because it all sounds so wonderful, even if things do end badly. (My favorite love stories are those that end badly - Wuthering Heights, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, English Patient, you get the idea.) But other times, I read a story in which the primary love story is so unsettling, it gives me a brand new appreciation for my single status. This book falls into the latter category.

I was looking for something romantic and tragic, and hoped this would be it. But for one, while I understood that the events in the story were pretty dreary, I never felt a strong emotional connection to the characters or their situation. The love, which seemed like more of an infatuation, seemed very one-sided.

The main character, the person telling the story, was such a weak character. Throughout the entire story, she continued to allow things to happen to her, never taking control of the situation. She meets Gabe in class, and it's a very intense situation. They share a moment on a day they'll never forget, and she thinks she's met the love of her life. Next time she speaks to him, she learns he's returned to his ex-girlfriend. They eventually do get together, but Gabe leaves her to pursue his career. For the next few years, they're in and out of each other's lives, but their whole history together seems to be about him turning to her when he's alone and can't find anyone better.

This character marries someone she doesn't love because she feels like she's expected to marry him, she has children because it's expected. I was so bothered by the situations in which she became pregnant. Despite being secure financially and loving her job (which her husband wants her to quit), she has a fairly awful life. So of course she continues to think the relationship that ended shortly after her college days is the ideal situation. To me, it didn't seem like a great love affair, but rather a desperate need to escape.

A lot of people seem to like this book. I'm not one of them.

I also don't like the way it's being marketed as "the next Me Before You." Seeing this, you know there must be some sort of tragedy. But other than that, there isn't anything similar.

I received a review copy via NetGalley. 

Review: Suddenly Sorceress by Erica Lucke Dean

I didn't enjoy this book very much. Never felt much of a connection to the main character. I thought the situation was a little too abrupt - there needed to be more of an explanation as to the cause of magical things that were happening. I saw this as someone who reads a lot of paranormal novels - so it takes a lot for me to think something is too out there.

This really just wasn't the type of book I enjoy, a little too light and fluffy for me. The characters were a bit too silly and I found that boring rather than entertaining. That might be more of a problem with me and my usual tastes and expections than the actual book.

I received this via NetGalley. 

Review: The Witches of Cambridge by Menna van Praag

As soon as October begins, I like to read nothing but witch themed books. I make a few exceptions, but I tend to set aside these books until this time of the year.

I started with Menna van Praag's Witches of Cambridge. I'd been looking forward to reading this for a while. I love academic settings. One of my favorite books is about a witch in Oxford. I'd hoped for something similar with this book in regards to intellectual stimulation. Didn't happen.

The book started out well, and I enjoyed the first half. Very light read, focusing on relationships and babies and baking. In the beginning though, it reminded me a bit of Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic, which I loved. But about midway through, I began to lose interest. I thought the beginning was written in the way it was as a way to introduce characters and establish  the setting, but it never moved beyond that style of writing. In fact, about halfway through, it became even more distant and choppy.

There are six different witches in this story, and each of them have their own story lines, with some slight overlap. It was hard to follow their stories though because we would get about four to eight paragraphs about one character, and then it would jump to a completely different story line. This happened for a significant portion of the book. It made it difficult to stick with the book. I think it would have worked much better as a collection of short stories, each character getting her or his own story, with the same characters making a few appearances. Had I not already been about 70% into the book, I would have simply stopped reading because I didn't care about the characters. I never felt any kind of emotional connection to what was happening with their characters. They were suffering with problems in their families, their marriages, problems with their children and lovers, and I simply didn't care because I never felt like we learned enough about the characters to understand what they were feeling.

Also there were a few factual errors that bothered me. One person is a professor of art, another is a student, so in the beginning, there are several mentions of art. As an art lover, I thought this would endear me to the book, but instead, I was just annoyed with the mentions of art. Klimt's The Kiss is not on display at the Fitzwilliam (it's in Vienna), nor is Van Gogh's Starry Night (that's in New York City) or his Church at Auvers (Paris). I know the story is fiction, but if someone is going to mention real works of art, maybe at least explain why they're on display in other places - special exhibition or something. For other people, this might not be a big deal. But I travel to a lot of art museums and have seen these paintings, and I teach art, and when I show students works of art or have them look up information about paintings, I also require that they find out where the painting is currently located. So maybe don't mention specific paintings if the rest of the info about the paintings isn't accurate?

Overall, I didn't enjoy this all that much. Started out well, but by the end, was kind of wishing I hadn't read it.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: The Confectioner's Tale by Laura Madeleine

I wanted to read this because it was set in Paris and I think the cover is absolutely beautiful.

I like the style of the two time lines - a person in present time learning about a situation that happened in the past. In this case the main character uncovers a letter in her grandfather's things in which he's asking for forgiveness. She then begins to research what he could possibly have done. Her research includes finding a photo of a chocolate shop in Paris and searching for a painting of the same shop.

This summer, I read a a few books written in this same style - all set in Paris, all involving chocolate or art. This may have been my least favorite of those books.

I found the present day story line to be a bit over the top, she's trying to do this research and their is a rival historian trying to steal or sabotage her work. He's this villain, speaking ill of her grandfather in lectures and then stealing her notes in the library. Seemed a bit much.

And the past story line, again, I think it was supposed to be a dramatic love story, but it left me feeling cold. I didn't care all that much about the characters, I felt like the whole falling passionately in love part was sort of glossed over. All the build up seemed to be leading to something much more dramatic than the end result.
Felt a bit anti-climatic.

The book was okay, I didn't by any means hate it, but if I were going to recommend a book set in Paris, with a great love story and some history, I can think of several others I'd mention before this one.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: The Bookshop on the Corner by Rebecca Raisin

I did not enjoy this book. I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the set up. Everything was much, much too perfect.

Sarah owns a bookshop, and she loves reading romances, but has no real romance life of her own. Then one day, a guy walks in who could be straight out of a romance novel. He's perfect and he's already madly in love with her. He's a writer, but took the assignment just to meet her because he'd glimpsed her at some other event - or something like that. (It's been a while si
nce I read the book - I'm really behind on reviews so details might be fuzzy.)

There was never any conflict. The man had no flaws. He didn't even know her and he was in love with her, ready to re-arrange his life for her.

I like a happily ever after as much as the next person - I love them, I love romance novels. But I need more of a story. These characters were so one-dimensional. They were simply perfect. Oh sure, Sarah, had her doubts about him, but she didn't have any good reason for her doubts, which just seemed silly. At one point the guy even says, this is the part of the romance novel where we're supposed to have conflict or something bizarre like that.

As much as I like the fantasy like happily ever after, I need the character to be a little bit more real.

And yet, having said all that, and not liking this book, I'm still curious about other books by this author. Maybe the problem was that this was a novella, rather than a complete novel?

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown

The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown is what I consider to be the book of the summer. The book provides the perfect escape to Paris at the turn of the century, a bit of romance, and even more so a strong story about a woman discovering who she is and what she needs, rather than what everyone expects her to be.

I liked this book a lot. After having spent a week in Paris, upon returning, I binge read books set in Paris. It's my way of extending the trip, if only in my mind.  Was very happy when I got approved for a review copy of this book and started reading it right away. It did a wonderful job of returning me to the city.

Part of what appealed to me about this story was the importance placed on art, creating art and appreciating art. In the beginning of the story, Madeleine is working as a volunteer at an art museum, and she has a conversation with an art teacher who is there with her students. Full disclosure, I'm an art teacher, so this had me hooked right away. This art teacher said all the right things - all the things an art teacher is supposed to say, because it's what we believe, and why we do our jobs. Madeleine loved art when she was younger, but then she got older and set it aside as if it were a childish hobby. The art teacher tries to encourage her to return to painting if that's what she loved doing. This conversation plants a seed in Madeleine's mind.

She isn't happy with her current life. She came from a wealthy, socially influential family, and married into the same. She did it because it was what was expected of her, not what she wanted. She's never paid any attention to what she wanted.

But shortly after talking to the art teacher, and after another argument with her husband, she's on her way to a planned visit with her mother. And she decided that maybe she'll stay a while, no need to rush back home to a husband that doesn't even seem to want her around.

And while she's at her mother's house, she finds a journal belonging to her grandmother. Through this journal, she discovers a side to her grandmother that she never knew existed. Her grandmother had gone away to Paris and fallen in love with an artist.

The story moves back and forth between Madeleine coping with her current situation, as we also follow along with the adventures of her grandmother in Paris. Her grandmother's story inspires her to try to rewrite her own story, to turn it into something she wants instead of doing what everyone else expects her to do.

I loved the Paris scenes, as well as the inspiring story of Madeleine finally discovering her true passion. It's a great book. It's my current recommendation if anyone says, "I don't know what to read right now." And I know I called it the book of the summer, but it's perfectly suitable for fall or winter or whenever. As a school teacher, I become a little fixated on summer. This is not by any means strictly a beach read. It has a strong story, emotionally satisfying. Would gladly recommend this book to any of my friends.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: One Evening in Paris by Nicolas Barreau

I read this while I was in Paris. The cover is beautiful. The location in the picture on the cover is one of my favorite spots to take photos in Paris.

I really enjoyed the setting. The author described the city well. The story was focused on the areas where I was spending most of my time. That was purely coincidental, but for me, made the story more enjoyable.

The story was okay, but a bit far fetched. Alain owns a cinema in Paris, and every week he notices a woman attending the show. Finally he works up the nerve to ask her out. They go out have a wonderful evening, then she disappears. Around the same time, he's approached by a movie director and an actress, wanting to use his cinema for filming. The actress had fond memories of the place because she used to visit there when she was younger. The director sounds very much like Woody Allen and made me think of the movie Midnight in Paris.

As the movie is being filmed, Alain is becoming obsessed with finding this woman. I'm not going to give away the story, but I felt like there were way too many coincidences. Also part of me thought Alain came off as a really creepy, kind of stalkerish guy. For me, the logical explanation for the woman disappearing would be that she didn't want to see the guy again. And now that he'd asked her out, she didn't really feel comfortable attending the cinema anymore. If that was her place to escape to each week to watch old movies, he sort of ruined it for her by making it about him being interested in her. Of course, that wasn't the case, and this is supposed to be a love story. My theory was completely wrong, but still.

The very detailed Paris setting made the book worth reading, and if you aren't as cynical as me, the love story might be sort of sweet. It's an enjoyable quick read.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley. 

Review: The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan

I liked this book a lot. I read it while I was in Paris, so I was visiting the same area described in the book.

This was one of several books I read this summer that are set in Paris and have two timelines. One set in present time and the other involving events of the past. In this book, following an accident at a candy shop, Anna ends up in the hospital, sharing a room with her former French teacher, Claire. To pass the time, the teacher helps Anna with her French. And when Anna is well enough, Claire helps Anna find a job in Paris at a chocolate shop owned by her former sweetheart, Thierry.

While in Paris, as Anna is getting used to her new job and becoming involved in the lives of those around her, we're also learning about Claire's past, when she was teenager in Paris falling in love with the charismatic young chocolate shop owner forty years earlier.

This was the second book I read in a row that involved couples who were separated from each other for forty years. As both Claire and Thierry's health declines, Anna becomes determined to make arrangements for them to see each other again, after all these years. Theirs is a very sweet, but sad love story.

I felt as if the author worked at minimizing the sad parts in comparison to the happy ones. But in doing so, I felt as though I was emotionally robbed. For some people this may seem like a good thing, but I felt like I wasn't allowed to properly grieve.

Really good book though. The Paris descriptions are wonderful, as are the details about all the delicious sounding chocolate being made.

Would recommend this for an enjoyable, sweet love story set in Paris. Will definitely be reading more by this author.

I'll See You in Paris by Michelle Gable

I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

Despite the title, the story doesn't actually take place in Paris. Most of it takes place in an English village.

There are two story lines, one in the present day, involving Laurel returning with her daughter, Annie, to a place where she spent time when she was younger. As Annie is trying to learn more about her mother's past, readers are also made aware of the events that happened thirty years earlier.

Annie meets a man in a pub who begins to tell her stories, providing her with the information she is seeking. I especially enjoyed the stories that took place in the past. And the the eccentric Duchess of Marlborough is an entertaining character. I like that the author does her research and includes these historical characters. Also having seen a Boldini exhibit last summer, I appreciate the art history. 

Sometimes I'm bothered by absurd coincidences, but that wasn't the case with this story. These seemed to make sense. 

Really good story. The past and present story lines worked well, kept the reading guessing for the most part as to the secretes waiting to be revealed.

My only issue was with the man Annie was planning to marry. He came across as a little too perfect and wonderful. Every time something would happen, Annie would email him for suggestions and then spout his advice as if he were some all-knowing being. For some reason, that really put me off.

Overall though, a really nice story, one I'd readily recommend.

Review: Meternity by Meghann Foye

I thought this was going to be some silly, funny book, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it - this being some prime vacation reading time at the moment - but I really liked the description and thought a light humorous read might be beneficial. This book turned out to be much deeper and meaningful than I expected. This book has be doing a lot of thinking about life and choices and things women have to go through in the workplace.

The main character was so real. As someone who has chosen to not have children, I could relate to her very well. Granted, I've never even considered faking a pregnancy, but I admit to feeling some jealousy - or rather a lot of jealousy - over people taking maternity leave. Yes, I know, I'm so selfish and horrible, I'll say it before anyone else does, no need to point it out. Babies are so important. I kind of think a few months to work on my writing or painting or traveling through Europe is also important, but I can't exactly ask for a few months off to do that, knowing that when I'm done I'll have a job waiting for me. And as a person with no children, I'm so very tired and smiling and saying, "sure, no problem", every time I have to take over someone else's responsibilities because they can't do it due to child related reasons. So, you see, this book resonated with me because the character in this story is having to deal with all of that. This book examines the idea that women are considered insignificant, unless they have a husband and/or a child.

In the beginning of the story, Liz Buckley, who works at a parenting magazine in New York City, is attending yet another work-related baby shower. She's stressed at work, overwhelmed with responsibilities and upset because she realizes she's going to miss her trip to Paris. Her emotional stress manifests physically, and around this time, a co-worker notices a pregnancy app on her phone. They assume her illness is related to pregnancy, "Not you, too?" they ask, and she doesn't deny it. In that moment, she thinks, maybe it is her turn.

 Her not so very well thought out plan is to use maternity leave to find some travel related free lance writing work and then quit her job. But her plan doesn't work out quite as neatly as she hopes. For the next six months, she's wearing fake bumps to work, while also finding that her new "condition" has people treating her different. People are being nicer, there's talk of a potential raise and title change - what she's been wanting for years, and being constantly overlooked. She can take off mornings for doctors appointments and spend the day working from home. And she begins re-evaluating decisions made in her social life. She's surrounded by people in search of "potential husbands" and she knows a lot of people who are settling for anyone who fits the description - not holding out for the perfect man. At age 31, she's trying to figure out what she really wants in life. She feels guilty for wanting something more than just a husband and a baby, because that seems to be enough for other people. Wouldn't life be easier if that was all she wanted, instead of wanting to travel the world and write important stories?

This is a story about self discovery. While faking her pregnancy, Liz does begin to create a new life - not in the form of a baby, but rather for herself. She's forced to examine her life and her choices and desires. What I really liked about the book is that there aren't any clear solutions. The perfect man doesn't show up. The perfect job doesn't magically materialize. She doesn't suddenly have an epiphany and decide that the answer to her problems is to actually get pregnant and settle down with a nice guy. Instead, Liz finally accepts that she needs to be honest and she needs to follow her dreams and she has to start taking chances.

Maybe I'm taking the story a little too seriously, but for me, this story really struck a chord. I'm about nine years old than Liz, but recently have been dealing with so many of these same thoughts with regard to career and life decisions.

I enjoyed this book, and will readily recommend it to any of my child-free friends. I think it might offend some moms though, especially those who are so caught up in the "mom culture" that this book describes at length. But then again, I don't know how moms think. Might be nice and a little enlightening for them to see things from a different perspective.

Also, very much enjoyed the New York City setting. Right out of college, I went to New York City, hoping to work in magazines. After a bit of temp work, I left, returned to Texas to work for newspapers, thinking I'd save up some money and then return to New York City. Almost twenty years later, still in Texas, completely out of the journalism business, but I visit New York City often. One of my favorite cities, and I thought this book captured the New York City lifestyle very well. 

Great book. Enjoyable read. But now I'm googling things like "travel writing workshops."

Expected publication date: April 26, 2016

I received a copy via NetGalley.

Review: Humbugs and Heartstrings by Catherine Ferguson

I liked this story. It's a take on Christmas Carol, which is a favorite of mine.

It's around Christmas, and Bobbie is trying to save up money so her brother can have an operation. But her boss, Carol, is horrible. However, Carol is also her former best friend. In this version of the story, Carol is Scrooge and Bobbie is well, Bob Cratchit. There aren't any actual ghosts, but there is a woman who reads tea leaves, the appearance of a old DVD and some odd electric shortages in place of the spirits.

A man named Charlie is the catalyst who enters their lives. Bobbie meets him first, via email and the phone, and against her better judgment is developing a rather powerful crush on him. She thinks Carol also likes him, until it because clear she is trying so hard to impress him in hopes of some financial backing for her failing business.

The story is more about Bobbie and Carol's friendship than any sort of romance, which was fine with me. But some parts of the friendship didn't seem very realistic. If Carol was such a great friend, why did things fall apart so badly? The story goes back and forth and it's hard to tell what kind of person Carol really is.

Some of the situations were a little ridiculous and unbelievable. Set up a huge Christmas Fair with practically no experience. Huge absurd fights. This is something of a lighthearted story that avoids going into too much depth as to the underlying emotions and causes of their actions and behaviors. As terrible as things may be at one moment, they are as quickly and easily resolved in the next.

Overall an enjoyable, light, quick read focusing on friendship, set around the holidays.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Cold Feet at Christmas by Debbie Johnson

I really liked the way this book started. Leah is on the run on what was supposed to be her wedding day after she finds her soon-to-be husband shagging a bridesmaid. The wedding was supposed to be the perfect fairy tale, set at a Scottish castle. She takes off in the snow and her car breaks down. So, at risk of freezing to death, she begins to walk to the nearest building - all while still in her wedding dress.

The door is answered by a handsome American who Leah is certain must be a god. Rob is hiding out in Scotland to avoid his family during the Christmas holidays. He takes Leah in, where she promptly passes out from her walk through the cold. He warms her up and she recovers, and because of the weather, the two are trapped together for a while.

During this time, they give into their attraction to each other, both assuming it's just a holiday thing from which they will both soon walk away. But after Rob learns why Leah ran, he offers her a new beginning in Chicago. He's wealthy and can afford to help her out, but he's very clear about not wanting to continue having any sort of physical relationship with her, that part of their relationship is over.

Leah takes him up on the offer, but later has regrets. The fun Rob she spent Christmas with in Scotland is gone, replaced by a workaholic serious, angry man.

This is when I began to like the book a bit less. What started out as fun and cute, took on a much darker shade as the characters begin to deal with some nightmares from their past. And yet, the writing continued to provide this information in the same, light-hearted style which felt odd to me.  Though, at one point, Leah is described as always handing serious issues by making light of them and trying to remain humorous - and that's how this story was written.

Leah and Rob are still drawn to each other, but Rob is avoiding relationships - he has his reasons. Leah is heartbroken. They go back and forth for a while and then Leah moves out.

I'm not going to spoil what happens next. But it's the sort of thing that tends to put me off a book. One of my least favorite twists to a story. For a moment, I began to really regret the time I'd spent with this story. It's not necessarily something most people dislike, in fact, a lot of romance readers probably love this sort of storyline. I hated it for a while, but in the end, I hated it less and even sort of liked it. To be clear, the author handled a story line I usually hate in such a way that I still enjoyed the book.

Overall, it's a fun, light-hearted story, despite some serious issues with which the characters are dealing. A nice, happy ending most people will enjoy.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

When I was in London this summer, I kept seeing big billboards for this book on the subway and the brief description of the book provided made me want to read it.

This is the story of a family that seemed perfect and normal.  Then tragedy struck and everyone handled it their own, self-destructive way.  The story is told in flashbacks, as the family gathers to death with a member's death and the settling of affairs.

I liked this book, but there were parts of it that may have hit a little too close to home for me, forcing me to face things about my own life that I have tried to ignore.  That might have hindered my full enjoyment of the book because parts of it felt almost painful to read.  One of the main characters in this book is a hoarder.  While I'm not a hoarder, I do need to get rid of some things in my house. There's a line about a bag of items set aside for Oxfam that had been there for years, and it reminded me that I have a bag of items for Goodwill in the guest room - and it's been there for a very long time. Things like that frightened me.  I'm an art teacher, so I save things for projects, cardboard and empty containers.  Reading this book made me want to start throwing everything away.  So maybe that's a good thing.

Clearly, the book evokes some strong emotions.  While the mother and her hoarding is the central part of the story, that isn't the only storyline.  We see the effects of the mother's mental illness on the rest of her family - her husband and three children.

It's a good book, but a very sad book. While there's an attempt at showing some sort of hope at the end, I didn't feel fully convinced, at least not where one particular character was concerned. I don't want to give away what happens, but I couldn't help but feel as if Beth's situation in the end was just as bad as ever. It's described as if she's finally recovered from her past issues, but she's only put herself in a situation that will most likely lead to many more years of twisted family issues.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy

I liked this book quite a bit. I very much enjoyed the idea behind the story - running away to the French countryside to escape the holidays. Evie is dreading Christmas and her friends offer to let her stay at their place in France.  In the process of running away, Evie is able to finally come to terms with the grief that forced her to run away.  She also meets some wonderful people in the area and rekindles her love of cooking.

But I'm only giving this three stars instead of the four I'd normally give a book like this because I had a problem with the way the story ended. I don't want to give away too much, but I didn't think the husband was treated fairly. He suffered the same loss, and for some reason he's supposed to be punished because he didn't give up on life the way Evie did? If he did something horrible that was deserving of the way he was treated it wasn't mentioned.  It sounded as if even when they were separated he continued to credit Evie with his success as celebrity chef.  He didn't run off and abandon her.  If Evie really wanted to honor her dead child, shouldn't treating the child's father fairly be part of that? The more I think about this, the more I'm bothered by it.

Overall, I enjoyed the characters and especially the setting and this is yet another book that has made me want to run away to France for the holidays.  I think a lot of people probably won't be as bothered as I was by the ending. There's still a nice, simple romance involved, but to me it seemed a bit generic and an easy solution when going another direction would have created a much deeper, stronger love story.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: The Little Christmas Kitchen by Jenny Oliver

One of my favorite holiday books last year was Jenny Oliver's Parisian Christmas Bake-off, so I was very excited to read this book.  This did not disappoint.  Another to add to my holiday favorites.

While I didn't like it quite as much as Parisian Bake-off, I still liked it a lot.

Ella has just learned her husband is cheating on her, so without giving much thought to her actions, she packs a bag and takes off to Greece to stay with her mother and sister - even though she's not been especially close to them since her parents' divorce when she was a teenager.

Her sister, Maddy, in the meantime, has dreams of going to London and singing in a club.  Ella offers her the use of her flat, since she won't be there.  So we have the two story lines - Ella, working at her mother's cafe in Greece while Maddy is wandering around London on her own for the first time in her life.

What I enjoy most about this story is the complex characters.  While the characters may at times perceive some of the others to be all good or bad, it's clear to the reader that isn't the case.  While Ella and Maddy are both adults, they've spent years harboring some child like anger toward their parents.  They had their reasons, but being in a new location allows both of them begin to see things from a different perspective. 

This book is all about finally accepting the past and yourself and your flaws as well as the flaws of the people you love.  That sounds kind of hokey, but it's actually really well written and the result is a fun story that has a very powerful underlying meaning to it.  

My only issue with the book (possible spoiler, if you're worried I might be giving something away, skip to the next paragraph) was the idea that Ella would prefer life in Greece to life in London.  I thought her life in London seemed pretty great.  I also have to admit to kind of hoping she would get back together with her husband - despite what he did, he seemed to still love her and she him.  I guess I just wasn't all that impressed with the romance in the story.  I think what I would have preferred to happen would be Ella saying maybe she needed a break from relationships for a while since she just got out of a marriage, and maybe taking some time to figure out who she was and what she wanted without a guy influencing her decisions.  

Overall though, I really liked this book.  While I was reading it, I noticed it was free on amazon for a few days and I tried to get everyone I know to download it.  And really, whatever the current price is, usually just two or three dollars, is completely worth it.  Very good holiday read.  Nice, fun story with a good message about family and self perception.  

I received a review copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: A Wedding in Provence by Ellen Sussman

I decided to read this while I was travelling this summer.  I like to read books that are set in the places I'm visiting while I'm there.  I started this while in France, visiting chateaux in the Loire Valley - so not exactly Provence, but the same country.

I read most of this book while on the train from Paris to Brussels, then Brussels to Bruges and back, and then Brussels to London.  It's an okay book, didn't love it, didn't hate it.  Sometimes those are the most difficult to review.

This is the story about an older couple going to Provence to get married at a friend's bed & breakfast.  The scenery is beautiful, but the people gathered for the wedding aren't feeling so fairy tale like.

There isn't anything too dramatic or horrible,  just a typical family drama.  Two sisters, one good with her act together, the other something of an irresponsible bad girl.  The irresponsible daughter shows up at the wedding with a guy she met on the plane.  The good daughter shows up alone, her boyfriend finding an excuse to avoid the trip.  Somewhere along the way the good daughter decides she's tired of being good and the bad daughter is forced to behave responsibly.  I found it a bit of a stretch to assume that their entire personalities were transformed based on the events of one weekend, but this is why it's fiction.

I didn't feel any strong connection to the characters.  In fact, I kind of disliked the couple getting married.  The mom especially seemed like a rather unpleasant person, and I don't think that was the intention.  I didn't ever get the feeling that this couple had some great love that was going to solve all their other problems.  The couple I liked more was the one running the Bed & Breakfast, despite their problems, they seemed genuine.

Overall, the book was okay.  A fairly quick read, it held my interest and did well to pass all the time I spent on trains.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Dating Cary Grant by Emelle Gamble

This is a very light-hearted story, and I know that's what some people enjoy.  I tend to read things that are a little grittier, I need more angst, more intensity. This book just wasn't the sort of thing I usually read.

I did enjoy the New York City setting and all of the movie references.

I had been looking forward to reading this book because I'm a big Cary Grant fan.  Based on the title and description of the book, I thought the character was going to have an affair with the ghost of Cary Grant or a Cary Grant look-a-like or something like that.  I was sort of hoping for that.

Instead this was more about a woman, Tracy, trying to save her marriage, or maybe escape her marriage.  Escape is how I viewed it in the beginning.  She had a job in New York City, and wanted to be near her job, while her husband was working as a small town mayor in Connecticut.  For someone like me, New York City seems like the obvious choice.  If you have the opportunity to live there, who wouldn't?  Maybe that's just me.

I suppose I hoped this was a story about a woman finding herself and figuring out what she really wanted out of life..  Okay, it sort of is, but what she found and what she realized she wanted wasn't what I would have wanted, so I guess that bothered me.  I wanted her to find what she wanted in the arms of a handsome, Cary Grant-like stranger.

In general, I don't like stories in which women are made to feel guilty because they want to pursue their careers.  I know I'm supposed to understand that she realized love was more important - but I didn't feel like I ever knew enough about her marriage or her husband to accept that.

I felt like there was a lot going on in this story - we have Tracy trying to figure out what she wants and the issues with her job, then there are these strange characters that keep popping up, then it's sort of a romance.  I think I would have enjoyed the book more if there had been a stronger focus on one of those elements - either make it more of a ghost story or more of a romance.  Overall, I didn't have any strong feelings either way about the book.  I didn't love it, didn't hate it.  It wasn't at all what I expected though, so that might have been what threw me off.

I'm sure this book would work just fine for someone who did want a sweet, nice romance that takes place in New York City, with a few appearance from some rather well-known ghosts.