Nicole Reads A Lot

so many books, so little time

Oct 22

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

by Nicole
Title:The Perfect Match
Author:Kristan Higgins
PublisherHarlequin
Publication Date:October 29, 2013
Publisher's DescriptionWhat if the perfect match is a perfect surprise?

Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there…or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn't easier said than done.

Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind.

In a moment of impulsiveness, Honor agrees to help Tom with a marriage of convenience—and make her ex jealous in the process. But juggling a fiancé, hiding out from her former best friend and managing her job at the family vineyard isn't easy. And as sparks start to fly between Honor and Tom, they might discover that their pretend relationship is far too perfect to be anything but true love…
My Rating***

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I really enjoyed some of Ms. Higgins’ earlier works, although some of her more recent books haven’t worked for me. I’m not sure what I was expecting from The Perfect Match, but the immediate desire to cringe wasn’t it. I found the first part of this book so excruciating to read that it actually made me a little angry. How could Honor be so dense when it came to Brogan? I had trouble believing that a woman this smart and capable could so wildly misjudge a relationship. I had to put this book down for a while, until my sympathetic embarrassment faded. I was near my mother when I read the dinner scene, and my litany of, “Oh my god, no. Oh, no no no no no. Oh, Honor!” made her ask me what was happening in the book. Nothing pleasant, I can assure you.

Once I got over feeling like my face would never again cool down, I continued to read this book and was genuinely drawn to most of the characters. Goggy and Pop’s relationship kept me in stitches. Honor’s other relatives were strange but obviously loved her a lot. Brogan was mostly lacking in personality, and I felt that his character needed to be better defined. What was this man’s appeal? Hotness is great, but we weren’t given much evidence of his other awesome qualities, and certainly nothing that would explain a love that spanned half of Honor’s life. Tom, on the other hand, was a multifaceted delight, and his relationship with Charlie was one of the book’s highlights for me.

Although this is not my favorite of Ms. Higgins’ books (that would be either The Next Best Thing or Too Good to Be True, depending on my mood that day), I certainly enjoyed it more than I did The Best Man.

2013 NetGalley Challenge 3 Star Books Book Reviews

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Oct 21

One Night with the Laird by Nicola Cornick

by Nicole
Title:One Night with the Laird
Author:Nicola Cornick
PublisherHarlequin
Publication Date:October 29, 2013
Publisher's DescriptionCan true love be born from scandal?

She is young and beautiful and fashionable, Edinburgh's most flirtatious hostess. But within the merry widow beats a grieving heart. Lady Mairi mourns the husband she lost two years before—and no matter how accomplished a lover Jack Rutherford may be, their wanton night together was an encounter of the body only, and Lady Mairi would prefer to forget it.

But when Mairi is threatened by a blackmailer, Jack is the only man who can protect her. As they work together to uncover where the danger lies, their passion reignites. Little by little, the masks they wear burn away, and their most private secrets come to light…
My rating:****

Although the title 9780373777907_p0_v1_s260x420of this book is completely misleading (Jack is NOT a laird), I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The book grabbed my attention from the beginning. Mairi’s desperate self-loathing was interesting to me, because that type of emotion seems to be the exclusive province of men in romance novels. In fact, Jack’s early and initially unrequited desire for an emotional attachment to Mairi seemed to be what one would normally see from a female character. I loved how these personality traits were just presented, without Ms. Cornick feeling the need to justify or excuse who Jack and Mairi were.

The entire trajectory of their relationship was unexpected, and I loved how they were both a bit prickly and shy of each other in the oddest of ways. Watching Jack come to terms with his love for Mairi was a treat, and witnessing her journey toward reconciling her past and moving forward was similarly entertaining. I know that I’ve read other of Ms. Cornick’s books in the past, but I can’t remember having enjoyed them this much.  I’m going to go through her backlist and see if I like her other novels as much as I did One Night with the Laird.

I’m a big fan of books where falling in love is not the be-all and end-all of the characters’ lives. Mairi in particular had some very serious obstacles to overcome in her own life (emotional and literal) before she could truly accept Jack. The Scottish backdrop figures into this story in only a minor way; this historical novel could easily have been set in England without Ms. Cornick having to rework much of the story. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical romances, especially those with a soft spot for characters who must heal themselves before they can embrace love.

2013 2013 NetGalley Challenge 4 Star Books Book Reviews

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Aug 19

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

by Nicole
Title:Eleanor & Park
Author:Rainbow Rowell
PublisherSt. Martin's Press
Publication Date:February 2013
Publisher's DescriptionSet over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.
My rating:****

15745753 I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book this book. Eleanor & Park is  about two teenagers who, for different reasons, don’t fit into their 1986 Omaha, Nebraska setting. Eleanor is too big, her hair is too red, and she dresses too oddly. Park is half-Korean and keenly aware that he is different from not only the people in his neighborhood, but also his immediate family. Eleanor, the new kid in school, starts out not knowing anybody, but she and Park soon bond over their shared love of music and comic books.

Eleanor and Park are believable teenage characters, and never seem fake or too grown up, even though they face circumstances that would be challenging for most adults. Watching them learn more about each other, the world, and themselves was an enjoyable journey, and made me want to read everything that Rainbow Rowell ever wrote. ’80s pop culture is front on center in this novel: Eleanor and Park devour Watchmen and swoon over “How Soon is Now.” Even though this is a young adult novel, it is definitely not appropriate for younger teens; the profanity and subject matter addressed in this book would probably be appropriate for readers ages 16 and up. I would recommend this books to adults, too, especially those who remember ’80s New Wave, John Hughes movies, and acid washed jeans from when they first were popular.

2013 4 Star Books Young Adult

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Mar 25

Mountain Echoes by C. E. Murphy

by Nicole
Title:Mountain Echoes
Author:C. E. Murphy
PublisherHarlequin
Publication Date:April 2, 2013
Publisher's DescriptionYOU CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN

Joanne Walker has survived an encounter with the Master at great personal cost, but now her father is missing—stolen from the timeline. She must finally return to North Carolina to find him—and to meet Aidan, the son she left behind long ago.

That would be enough for any shaman to face, but Joanne’s beloved Appalachians are being torn apart by an evil reaching forward from the distant past. Anything that gets in its way becomes tainted—or worse.

And Aidan has gotten in the way.

Only by calling on every aspect of her shamanic powers can Joanne pull the past apart and weave a better future. It will take everything she has—and more.

Unless she can turn back time...but time is never on Joanne’s side.
My rating:****

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I love Joanne Walker. She’s a great character, and I’ve enjoyed watching her grow more comfortable with her abilities over the course of the Walker Papers series. I also really love that Mountain Echoes is the penultimate novel in this series. I’m not at all sick of Joanne, but each new entry in a series bring with it the possibility of stagnancy; Joanne and Morrison (dear baby Jesus, please bring me a Morrison for Festivus) remain one of my favorite fictional pairings, and while each visit with them is undoubtedly a treat, I almost want to give them a little privacy.

I never said I wasn’t weird.
It was great to see Joanne interact with people from her past. Watching a relatively more mellow Jo surprise people who remembered how she used to be was pretty entertaining. As always, Jo’s delight in her abilities was pretty delightful to witness. I really felt her turmoil when it came to her feelings about her father and her upbringing, and watching her integrate new information into old memories was a pretty rewarding experience.
I think that maybe I can’t be objective about this series, because I love it that much, but I just don’t see how anybody who is interested in the initial premise and reads the novels is going to be disappointed.

2013 2013 NetGalley Challenge 4 Star Books Book Reviews Urban Fantasy

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Feb 26

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

by Nicole

Title:The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2
Author:Patrick Rothfuss
PublisherBrilliance Audio
Publication Date:March 2011
Publisher's Description"My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I have burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to God's, loved women and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me."
So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature - the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
My rating:****

Wise Man's Fear
The second day of Kvothe’s story is more interesting than the first! For one thing, we now have some understanding of who he is, so his recitation of his life means more. For another thing, more happens. The events that comprise the myth of Kvothe began in the first novel, and here we see more of what made Kvothe a legend in his own time. We also get the first inkling of how it was for Kvothe to be confronted with his reputation whilst going about his daily life.

We also get more of a juxtaposition between the younger, powerful Kvothe and present-day Kvothe, who seems greatly altered and reduced. The mystery of how he went from being the person in the stories to being the person telling the stories is a tantalizing one. His relationship with Bast is also rounded out here. Bast is an interesting character in his own right, and I am looking forward to hearing how he became Kvothe’s student.

One thing that bothered me is that Mr. Podehl’s narration wasn’t consistent. He pronounced names such as Fela and Devi differently in this book than he did in the first, but then alternated between the two pronunciations of Fela throughout The Wise Man’s Fear. This was initially confusing, but then just annoying.

Although the audio version of this book was 42 hours long, I listened to it in the span of several days, because it was just that interesting. I completely understand how Mr. Rothfuss isn’t churning these books out every year, due to their length and awesomeness, but I am eagerly anticipating the third book in this series.

2013 4 Star Books Book Reviews Fantasy

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