Book Review: The Two Week Wait - Sarah Rayner

The Two Week Wait - Sarah Rayner

After a health scare, Brighton-based Lou is forced to confront the fact that her time to have a baby is running out.  She can't imagine a future without children, but her partner doesn't seem to feel the same way, and she's not sure whether she could go it alone.

Meanwhile, up in Yorkshire, Cath is longing to start a family with her husband, Rich.  No one would be happier to have a child than Rich, but Cath is infertile.

Could these strangers help one another out?

3/5 stars (liked it)

If you've read One Moment, One Morning then you already know who Lou is.  There are also some characters from that book.  I really liked this book because I got to see where the characters were after the events of the first book.  Lou really wants a child and so does Cath.  It is amazing the sacrifices people will go through to have a child.  This book really made me appreciate the fact that I had no trouble having my two children.  I'm not sure I would go through the IVF process after reading this book.  I thought the author did a good job letting us know all that involves and she seems to have done a lot of research on the subject.

Book Review: Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past.  Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships; one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo.  Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her...a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport.  With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards...and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

3/5 stars (liked it)

This is the fourth book I have read by Nicholas Sparks and it is a lot different than the other books.  Most of his books are just tear jerker love stories.  This one had a lot of suspense, especially at the end when Katie's past comes back.  There is also the typical love story.  Alex is such a great man and father, who wouldn't love him.  Over I liked the book and I really liked the cover with the bike.

Book Review: The Indigo Spell - Richelle Mead

The Indigo Spell - Richelle Mead

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do.  Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch - a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run.  Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her.  But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought.  There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her.  And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood -- or else she might be next.

5/5 stars (it was amazing)

By far the best book in the series.  Sydney has changed so much since Rose met her and I absolutely love this new Sydney.  Also if I didn't love Adrian before I really love him now.  This book made me laugh in so many places with Adrian's one liners.  I loved the tension between Adrian and Sydney.  We do get to see some characters from Vampire Academy and of course Jill, Eddie & Angeline are in the book but this book really focuses on Sydney and the journey she is on.  From meeting former Alchemist Marcus and learning the truth about Alchemists to embracing the witch within her and practicing magic.  The ending really caught me off guard and I cannot wait to read the next book to see what troubles this will bring rebellious Sydney.

Book Club: Shanghai Girls - Lisa See

Shanghai Girls - Lisa See

In 1937 Shanghai—the Paris of Asia—twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree—until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth. To repay his debts, he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from Los Angeles to find Chinese brides. As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, from the Chinese countryside to the shores of America. Though inseparable best friends, the sisters also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. Along the way they make terrible sacrifices, face impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are—Shanghai girls.

I really enjoyed this book and was surprised to learn all the hardships that Chinese immigrants had to go through.  This books follows sisters Pearl & May for 20 years.  First their life in Shanghai as calendar girls, then we follow them to California as Chinese brides.  Then once they have been her for several years and all that they have gone through and all the family has been through.  But through it all these sisters managed to stay together.

Our next book:  These Granite Islands - Sarah Stonich

Book Review: Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

3 out of 5 stars (liked it)

I added this book a while ago, then I saw that a movie was coming out based on it so it made me want to read it sooner.  The book is from Ethan's point of view.  I'm not used to a male's point of view in a book but I actually liked it.  Ethan is very much a southern gentleman who respects his elders.  His parent figure is Amma and I wish we could have gotten to know her better.  His love interest is Lena who is a Caster (it's basically a witch).  Her family are the Ravenwoods, who are basically the outcast in the small town of Gatlin.  So right away she is not liked at school and by having Ethan like her it just makes him an outcast as well.  I liked the book but thought it was a little too long.  Also I don't really like how it ended.

Book Review: The One I left Behind - Jennifer McMahon

The One I left Behind - Jennifer McMahon

The summer of 1985 changed Reggie's life. Thirteen, awkward, and without a father, she finds herself mixed up with her school's outcasts-Charlie, the local detective's son, and Tara, a goth kid who has a mental hold over Reggie and harbors a dark secret. That same summer a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother Vera-an ex-model with many "boyfriends" and a thirst for gin-the most, Vera's hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there's no body and Neptune disappears.

Now a successful architect who left her hometown behind after that horrific summer, Reggie doesn't trust anyone and lives with few attachments. But when she gets a call from a homeless shelter saying that her mother has been found alive, Reggie must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

This is the second book I have read by this author.  I've noticed two things, she seems to like little girls on the cover which kind of gives the reader a creepy feeling about what happens in the book.  Second she has a writing style that is unique.  She seems to like to switch back and forth between a childhood and present day, where something happened during the character's childhood.  This book is about a killer named Neptune and a character named Reggie.  We are sent to 1985 when Neptune first appeared and Vera, Reggie's mother was taken by Neptune but her body was never found.  Reggie is 13 years old and searches for clues as to where her mother is and who the killer is.  In the process something bad happens and her friendship with Charlie and Tara suffer.  Then we see Reggie in present day where she gets a call that her mother has been found alive.  Her world gets turned upside down especially with the return of Neptune.  I had a bad feeling about a character from the beginning and that feeling was justified by the end.  This was a book that I could not put down.

Book Review: Four to Score - Janet Evanovich

Four to Score - Janet Evanovich

Working for her bail bondsman cousin Vinnie, Stephanie is hot on the trail of revenge-seeking waitress Maxine Nowicki, whose crimes include bail jumping, theft, and extortion. Someone is terrifying Maxine's friends, and those who have seen her are turning up dead. Also on the hunt for Maxine is Joyce Barnhardt, Stephanie's archenemy and rival bounty hunter. Stephanie's attitude never wavers-- even when aided by crazy Grandma Mazur, ex-hooker and wannabe bounty hunter Lula, and transvestite rock musician Sally Sweet-- and even when Stephanie makes an enemy whose deadly tactics escalate from threatening messages to firebombs. All of this pales in comparison, though, with an even greater danger Stephanie faces, when, homeless and broke, she and her hamster Rex move in with a vice cop Joe Morelli. RATED PG35 for licentious wit and libidinous cohabitation.

 

3/5 stars (liked it)

This book introduces us to a cross dresser named Sally Sweet.  I thought this one was a little steamier than the first three books.  Also still a funny book and it is unbelievable all of the trouble that Stephanie Plum gets herself into.  But in the end she always gets what she's after.