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Category: Contemporary

Review: Bound by Antonya Nelson

[ 0 ] May 21, 2012

Reviewed by Alisha Churbe

The story starts with a dog. The dog has been in a car accident with its owner. Exit dog.

Enter Oliver Desplaines, a 70-year-old successful man– successful as both an entrepreneur and a philanderer. He is now married to his third wife, with a ‘Sweetheart’ on the side. (Will he ever learn?) His third wife is Catherine. Catherine’s mother is in a care facility and an ex-professor; she seems to be quite close in age to Oliver. Mother is disapproving of her daughter’s marriage and many of her personality traits as well.

Catherine’s best friend from high school, Misty, dies in a car crash and leaves Catherine to care for her daughter, also Catherine. They apparently made a pact; however, Catherine does not remember this agreement and on more than one occasion cannot believe that Misty ended up a mother. Catherine also knew nothing of the daughter as they hadn’t been in touch since college.

Also during their teen years, there was the BTK serial killer. He began his spree of killings across the street from Misty’s house and he’s been killing ever since. News information is spattered throughout the book, as his reign runs in parallel to Catherine’s life. Misty’s daughter, nicknamed Cattie, has her own teen drama and runs away from boarding school when she hears the news of her mother’s death (or suicide?).

Nelson’s description of setting and place is truly mesmerizing, but the characters are only sort of likable. There are many characters that come and go throughout the novel. There are some that only appear a time or two and appear to have importance, but are later forgotten; one character simply walks out of the novel, while another one dies to tie up the loose end.

Bound is riddled with many parallel plot lines. Some intersect and others only seem as though they may touch, but never actually do. This creates an element of suspense and in the end a bit of frustration. The anticipation of the story lines possibly intersecting will keep you reading. The novel is a quick read with only moments of depth. There are moments of brilliance hidden in this novel along with some unforgettable, vivid descriptions. For that alone, it could be worth the read, just don’t go in for the plot.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Part-time fiction writer, Alisha Churbe lives in Portland, Oregon. In the rare instances when you can pry her away from books, Alisha can be found travelling in foreign countries, cooking, or hiking with her husband Michael and dog Euro.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Bloomsbury USA. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Objects of My Affection by Jill Smolinski

[ 2 ] May 16, 2012

Reviewed by Alysia George

If you’ve ever watched one of those reality shows about hoarding or about interventions, you probably have quite a bit of insight into both of these situations. And you’ve probably thanked your lucky stars that you haven’t had to deal with either of them. But even though reality television is undoubtedly sensationalized, there  is some truth behind it which forms its basis, at least in these cases. Jill Smolinski takes us on a fictional journey involving both hoarding and addiction and intervention in her novel, Objects of My Affection.

The main character, Lucy, is on a bad luck streak. First she loses her job, then her boyfriend leaves her, and finally she is compelled to arrange an intervention for her teenage, drug addicted son. To pay for his rehab, she has to sell her house and most of her belongings. Feeling completely desperate to start a new life, Lucy takes a job helping a hoarder clean out her house.

The job is more challenging than she imagined, and so is helping her son overcome his addiction. But nonetheless, Lucy is determined. Unlikely friendships form, and Lucy comes to understand that she has a lot of self-growth to do along the way as well.

I love that Objects of My Affection touches on current issues in a fresh and interesting way. Smolinski writes real, likeable characters, just as she did in her last book, The Next Thing on My List. This is a quick and fun read that I would definitely recommend.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Alysia lives in Metro Detroit with her husband and four children. She writes about family life, parenting issues, and other things of interest to her on her blog, Michigal.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Touchstone. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Calico Joe by John Grisham

[ 6 ] May 11, 2012

Reviewed by Jennifer Rasmussen

Paul Tracey is on a quest to amend a wrong his father, a pitcher for the NY Mets, committed against one of baseball’s greats, a young up-and-coming rookie for the Chicago Cubs, Joe Castle “Calico Joe”.

In true Grisham fashion, the book opens with an incredibly in-depth accounting of Joe Castle’s first few rookie games, and Paul’s hero-worship of this superstar. The opening stories are so factual and detail-rich I had to have my baseball-geek husband translate a few of them, but then the story kicks into high gear as Grisham reveals the relationship–and life-changing event–between Joe Castle and his father. From that point on, I couldn’t put it down.

Grisham has a fantastic way of making the characters come alive and intertwines the events with an artistic flair. This allowed me to effortlessly switch between the flashbacks of how the events unfolded when Paul was young and Paul’s journey to right them as a grown man.

I have a glancing knowledge of baseball, and for anyone who’s not a major follower of baseball, I will caution you that the first chapter may be difficult to follow, but worth sticking it out. Once the relationship between Paul’s father and Joe is revealed, baseball knowledge is no longer necessary. I understand why Grisham layered the details of Joe’s first few games, and baseball geeks will love it, but Calico Joe is really a book about people, forgiveness and relationships.

Calico Joe is a fantastic read for Grisham fans, baseball fans, and anyone looking for a light, quick drama.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of Calico Joe!

Jen Greyson writes supernatural thrillers and corporate training guides and tries not to mix the two. You can find her free ebook, How to Build a Writing Platform that Works: The New Path to Publishing, at her website, http://TheSurvivalMama.com.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Doubleday. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
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Review: The Courtesan’s Lover by Gabrielle Kimm

[ 3 ] May 7, 2012

Reviewed by Colleen Turner

Francesca Felizzi, the beautiful, quick-witted and caring courtesan we first met in Gabrielle Kimm’s novel, His Last Duchess, is back and center stage in The Courtesan’s Lover.

Two years have passed since she ran from the Duke of Ferrara and her life as his paid mistress, taking their twin daughters with her. Francesca is now enjoying the life of a well-paid courtesan in Napoli. She has two houses: one for her life with her daughters and one for her work. She has all the money she could need and is able to live an opulent, lascivious life on her own terms. She gives her body to her patrons in any manner of lewd ways and entertains patrons who can be quite brutal. But, she is paid very highly to do so and has always been able to keep her heart her own and stay in control of what happens behind closed doors. No matter what, she strives to keep the end goal in mind: to keep her daughters innocent of her work and to ensure that they will never have to sell themselves to survive.

When her services are paid for to deflower a young man named Gianni Della Rovere, he shows Francesca a touch of kindness she isn’t used to and she begins to long for someone who would truly love her. Out with another patron and disguised as his virtuous, widowed cousin, she meets Gianni’s father, Luca, and they share an instant attraction that shocks them both. She knows she wants him more than any other man and must do whatever it takes to try and make a life with him. But Luca is not the sort of man who would want a courtesan and she will have to give up the life that has helped her to survive all these years. But even when she gives up that life, will he accept her tainted reputation?

As Francesca’s lies about her life become too much and she resolves to tell Luca the truth, her life, and the lives of her daughters, are put in jeopardy by her past. She now must not only tell Luca the truth but enlist him to help her save her family. Will he be able to forgive her? And will she ever be able to be anything other than a courtesan?

I absolutely adored His Last Duchess and was so excited to read The Courtesan’s Lover. Gabrielle Kimm does not disappoint and this book is juicy, dramatic and thoroughly enticing. Readers who tend to shy away from sexualized stories may feel uncomfortable with some passages but I found that Kimm was able to communicate the bawdy parts of the story without being vulgar. While there are a few characters that I thought could have been left out of the story to condense its length, everyone served a purpose and all details were neatly wrapped up by the end.

The book stands alone from His Last Duchess but I would definitely recommend reading both books because they are both wonderful. If you like racy but well written historical fiction you can’t go wrong with either.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Colleen lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, son, their dog Oliver and their fish Finn. When not working or taking care of her family she has her nose stuck in a book (and, let’s face it, often when she is working or taking care of her family as well). Nothing excites her more than discovering a new author to obsess over or a hidden jewel of a book to worship.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Sourcebooks Landmark. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge

[ 2 ] May 5, 2012

Reviewed by Melanie Kline

On the last day of the millennium, Faith Bass Darling wakes up with a plan to have a garage sale. Five generations of heirlooms, all the memories she has accumulated throughout her life, every last piece of furniture, dishes, pictures, priceless Tiffany lamps, everything must go. Why? God told her to.

Strange as this may sound, it is even odder to the people who arrive at the garage sale and begin snatching things up as fast as they can and as much as they can carry. Faith has been a recluse for many years, after the bank that she owned foreclosed on her own home and she was forced to sell the bank in order to keep her home. Faith has known much hardship in her life despite being rich and lost her own faith in the world. One day she went into her house and never came out.

Faith’s estranged daughter just happens to choose this day to arrive at her mother’s home and is beyond shocked to find everything on the front lawn. All the precious objects she was never allowed to touch as a child are selling for “whatever you can afford.”

No one truly believes Faith when she tells them that this is her last day on earth and that God has spoken to her because she zones in and out of awareness with the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale alternates between hysterically funny and extremely boring. She experiences flashes from the past which aid you in understanding not only the story, but also the worth of the possessions on the lawn. Unfortunately, the book also drags on and on with sale after sale and flashback after flashback until you begin to wonder if it will ever end. This was a great concept for a novel, but I feel that it needed much more work before going to print.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb

[ 3 ] May 1, 2012

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

With a title as eye-catching as The Face Thief, Eli Gottlieb’s new novel sounded enticing and memorable. The opening chapter drew me in as Margot, the villain of the novel, tumbles down some stairs and ends up injured–obviously pushed by someone. But as the story progressed, I couldn’t wait to be finished with this one.

The chapters go back and forth between the present and the past, where we are witnesses to the events that led up to Margot’s fall. Margot pays for private lessons from Lawrence Billings to perfect her ability to con people, and in the process screws with Billings’ personal life. She is already very successful at what she does, and has conned a married man, John Potash, out of his family’s life savings.

It’s rather difficult to talk about a plot for The Face Thief, because there doesn’t really seem to be one. Gottlieb instead focuses more on the characters, but with so much back and forth between them all I had a hard time forming any emotional attachments to any of them. Neither Billings nor Potash are sympathetic characters; they each contribute in subtle ways to their own downfalls, Billings for giving in to Margot’s flirtations, and Potash for falling for something that was too good to be true. Also thrown into the mix is a police officer that does not enhance this novel in any way. Billings’ wife, a very minor character, is perhaps the most sympathetic of the lot, but after more of Billings’ back story was revealed, I found myself losing respect even for her.

In reading The Face Thief, I have realized that I am the type of reader that prefers a strong plot balanced out by equally well written characters. Novels that focus entirely on characters with a very weak plot–or no plot, in this case–are far less interesting to read.

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ 

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Giveaway: Helen Keller in Love by Rosie Sultan

[ 44 ] April 30, 2012

Enter to win a copy of Helen Keller in Love by Rosie Sultan!

About the book

Sultan, fascinated by Helen Keller since she was eight years old, was inspired by a brief note found in the Helen Keller Archives at the American Foundation for the Blind in a file labeled “Peter Fagan.” The note, from Fagan’s grown daughter, read: “I remember my father…showing us a lovely photograph of you, and beneath it a penciled note in your handwriting…I would certainly appreciate it very much if you remember him and would care to send me whatever recollections you have of him.” Helen never wrote back.

Helen Keller in Love begins when Helen is in her thirties and Annie Sullivan falls too ill to keep up with their grueling schedule on the lecture circuit. Annie’s estranged husband, John Macy, sends a young, ambitious reporter named Peter Fagan to step in as Helen’s private secretary. Their interactions—signing into hands and lip-reading with hands and fingers—soon blossoms into the full-fledged romance for which Helen has long yearned.

Finally liberated from the physical and moral constraints she has been forced to live under, Helen and Peter find their affair met with stern disapproval from both Annie and Helen’s family. With Helen already struggling to maintain crowds at her events and cash in her accounts, her new relationship ratchets up tension between those she holds most dear, most keenly with Annie Sullivan, the guide who led her journey from darkness to light.

A captivating love story of triumph and imaginative sympathy, Helen Keller in Love takes us into the mind and heart of an American icon.
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Review: The Three Colonels by Jack Caldwell

[ 3 ] April 27, 2012

Reviewed by Meg Massey

Colonels Buford, Fitzwilliam, and Brandon are three men in the midst of courtship or early marriage with three beloved Austen heroines. Romance is the rule of the day, until Napoleon escapes from exile in Elba, and draws all of Europe into chaos. Suddenly these three men find themselves heading back into battle, and Caroline, Anne and Marianne find themselves struggling with the possibility of losing those they love.

Jack Caldwell’s The Three Colonels is a refreshing continuation of Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility. Caldwell creates a storyline in which our favorite characters from both novels, like Elizabeth and Marianne, become friends and interact regularly. We also see a wonderful transformation in Caroline Bingley, and a change in her relationship with the Darcys and the Bennet sisters.

In addition to Caldwell’s believable characterizations, this novel features action-packed battle scenes at Waterloo and the growth of romances that we never would have thought possible. In short, The Three Colonels is the ideal read for Austen fans, and one of the most enjoyable Austen sequels I’ve read in a long time.

Warning: This novel does contain some sexual content.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Meg lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Ryan. Library professional by day, freelance writer by night, Meg writes about life, entertainment and everything in between on her blog.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Sourcebooks Landmark. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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