SPOILER ALERT!
The Perfect Present
Karen Swan's books have so much more depth than many others in this genre. All of the characters are strongly written, there will be some surprises, the plot is not predictable and it's more about the growth of the heroine than the romance. What I like particularly is that she doesn't do two-dimensional baddies. Yes, the "rival woman" turned out to be very far from perfect, but she had a traumatic past as well, and the charming surface image was still true. In so much "women's writing" the rival woman or erring boyfriend/husband is so ridiculously selfish and cruel that it isn't credible that the supposedly intelligent hero or heroine could possibly have stuck with them. Laura's boyfriend is lovely, he just isn't the right one. I have read a few of Karen Swan's books and she hasn't disappointed me yet.
SPOILER ALERT!
The Perfect Present
Karen Swan's books have so much more depth than many others in this genre. All of the characters are strongly written, there will be some surprises, the plot is not predictable and it's more about the growth of the heroine than the romance. What I like particularly is that she doesn't do two-dimensional baddies. Yes, the "rival woman" turned out to be very far from perfect, but she had a traumatic past as well, and the charming surface image was still true. In so much "women's writing" the rival woman or erring boyfriend/husband is so ridiculously selfish and cruel that it isn't credible that the supposedly intelligent hero or heroine could possibly have stuck with them. Laura's boyfriend is lovely, he just isn't the right one. I have read a few of Karen Swan's books and she hasn't disappointed me yet.
Christmas at Tiffany's
I usually find that a romance of 500+ pages is far too long, but not this one. I enjoyed every page, thought the characters were well-rounded and the pace just right to keep me turning pages. The plot surprised me several times, including one big shock. Not your usual fluff, really good.
Christmas at Tiffany's
I usually find that a romance of 500+ pages is far too long, but not this one. I enjoyed every page, thought the characters were well-rounded and the pace just right to keep me turning pages. The plot surprised me several times, including one big shock. Not your usual fluff, really good.
The Cake Shop In The Garden
The title suggests the common format of "Youngish heroine, hit by crisis, starts cute small business, eventually triumphs." Carole Matthews often writes stories with more interesting plots, and here is one of them. Early-forties Fay is already running the cute cake shop, and is overworked and stuck in a rut. The author is very good on character and plot, more so than many in this genre. However, the heroine does need to be shaken until her teeth rattle for being such a willing doormat, which is annoyingly true-to-type for many romances. That irritation aside, this is a cut above most chick lit.
The Cake Shop In The Garden
The title suggests the common format of "Youngish heroine, hit by crisis, starts cute small business, eventually triumphs." Carole Matthews often writes stories with more interesting plots, and here is one of them. Early-forties Fay is already running the cute cake shop, and is overworked and stuck in a rut. The author is very good on character and plot, more so than many in this genre. However, the heroine does need to be shaken until her teeth rattle for being such a willing doormat, which is annoyingly true-to-type for many romances. That irritation aside, this is a cut above most chick lit.
Paris Immortal Awakenings (Book 2 in series)
I enjoyed the first one very much, and this one is as good for different reasons. The action moves out of Paris for some of the story, and the pace picks up with the change of location. So if you prefer the more fast and furious kind of paranormal story, then you will like those bits best. I do like fast and furious when it's well-done, but also subtle and classy, which is not common in modern paranormal novels. Sherry Roit can do classy, and that's the best thing about this Paris Immortal series - so far anyway. I find PK a bit boring, but that's a minor criticism, as the men are obviously meant to be the sparkly ones in these books.
 - Sherry Roit)
Black Beauty (Scholastic Classics)
The first non-picture book that I read on my own, in my own room, voluntarily, aged 7. It was a revelation, and started a delight in books that will last as long as I do.
 - Anna Sewell)
The Goddess Test
Taking an old tale and giving it an exciting twist for a new audience is a job for a skilled, dedicated writer who is prepared to put effort into making the differences in the new version gel with the original story and characters. Fans of the original will mostly love it, and it will still be accessible to everyone else. Taking the same tale and changing every part of it, trashing every character within it, is a job for the less talented, lazy writers out there. This is like writing a story about a lovely faultless guy, who visits his mother once a week and gives to charity, and then calling him Dracula. Why bother? I gave it two stars rather than one because I did finish listening to it on a long journey, and it did pass the time.
The Goddess Test
Taking an old tale and giving it an exciting twist for a new audience is a job for a skilled, dedicated writer who is prepared to put effort into making the differences in the new version gel with the original story and characters. Fans of the original will mostly love it, and it will still be accessible to everyone else. Taking the same tale and changing every part of it, trashing every character within it, is a job for the less talented, lazy writers out there. This is like writing a story about a lovely faultless guy, who visits his mother once a week and gives to charity, and then calling him Dracula. Why bother? I gave it two stars rather than one because I did finish listening to it on a long journey, and it did pass the time.
Strangers
Producers of audio books, please, please try harder to choose your readers carefully. If a story is set abroad ( in this case Britain), you need a narrator from that country. You may have found an actor who can "do" a foreign accent well enough to amuse their friends for 2 minutes. This does not qualify them to read convincingly in that accent for 14 hours. Tilly Hooper obviously has a pleasant voice - I can hear that in the introduction. Thereafter, it was excruciating to listen to her because she was obviously struggling so hard to force sounds that don't come naturally to her. I hope she was paid well, because it was obviously torture for her, and it would have been torture for me too if I hadn't given up after the first twenty minutes. If you can't get a native of the country in which the story is set to read it, then just let your reader narrate in their own accent. Maybe it wouldn't be correct, but it wouldn't be as bad as this. I will have to read this instead.
Strangers
Producers of audio books, please, please try harder to choose your readers carefully. If a story is set abroad ( in this case Britain), you need a narrator from that country. You may have found an actor who can "do" a foreign accent well enough to amuse their friends for 2 minutes. This does not qualify them to read convincingly in that accent for 14 hours. Tilly Hooper obviously has a pleasant voice - I can hear that in the introduction. Thereafter, it was excruciating to listen to her because she was obviously struggling so hard to force sounds that don't come naturally to her. I hope she was paid well, because it was obviously torture for her, and it would have been torture for me too if I hadn't given up after the first twenty minutes. If you can't get a native of the country in which the story is set to read it, then just let your reader narrate in their own accent. Maybe it wouldn't be correct, but it wouldn't be as bad as this. I will have to read this instead.
SPOILER ALERT!
Morrigan's Cross
I lke Nora Roberts' writing style, and a little of that style is in this book, which meant that I actually finished it. The characters were all dull, and the plot, such as it was, was predictable. 2 things particularly irritated me:1. There is one non-white good guy in the story (in fact I think in the whole book). Only one of the good guys doesn't make it to the end, and colour me not in the least bit surprised - it's King. - the depressingly familiar expendable black character, yet again. Casual racism is alive and well in too many fims and books.
2. This supposedly wily 2000 year old vampire baddy can only come up with one method of attack, namely send a vampire/s to pretend to be humans in need of help - 3 times!!! And guess what? The good guys don't fall for it the first 2 times, but the 3rd time they do!
SPOILER ALERT!
Morrigan's Cross
I lke Nora Roberts' writing style, and a little of that style is in this book, which meant that I actually finished it. The characters were all dull, and the plot, such as it was, was predictable. 2 things particularly irritated me:1. There is one non-white good guy in the story (in fact I think in the whole book). Only one of the good guys doesn't make it to the end, and colour me not in the least bit surprised - it's King. - the depressingly familiar expendable black character, yet again. Casual racism is alive and well in too many fims and books.
2. This supposedly wily 2000 year old vampire baddy can only come up with one method of attack, namely send a vampire/s to pretend to be humans in need of help - 3 times!!! And guess what? The good guys don't fall for it the first 2 times, but the 3rd time they do!
Wide Awake
Why isn't this novel published and a best seller? It is my favourite read for a while. Twilight character names, a vaguely Twilight plot, and other minor Twilight details, but as another reviewer has said, if you changed the names you wouldn't know that. Twilight lovers will love this though. It is long, and could have been a bit shorter for perfection, but I loved it, and when you are loving something, a couple of hundred unnecessary pages are a good thing. It is unusual for me to read until 4am on two nights running as I did with this, but I really didn't want to stop. Edward and Bella are messed up by awful events in the past, are terrified to sleep, antisocial, and miserable. They meet, realise that they have things in common, and that they can help each other. The story follows them over a few years as they struggle with their psychological/sexual problems and family relationships. If you don't like bad language and explicit descriptions of sex then you might want to give it a miss, but I would suggest skim-reading the sex scenes instead if you must, as the book is so good. All of the characters are very real, and the 'Twilight' ones do have a lot in common with the originals. It is funny, sad and really gripping. Give it a go, you won't regret it.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
Starts well, with clever ideas for a kind-of time travelling story. The middle section, set in russia in the cold war, is tedious. This part is made harder to plough through because the main character is grey and boring.The last third of it got better. I gave it three stars for the brilliant idea, partly realised, but I couldn't recommend it as a good read. It had the potential to be a classic, what a pity.Sex: none
Violence: some nasty things happen, but not described in much detail.
Bad language: none
