Tag: romance

The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons

Title: The Girl in Times Square
Author: Paullina Simons
Pub. Date: 30-Jun-2004
Rating: 4.7 Stars

I am so in love with Paullina Simons’s writing. She captured me with The Bronze Horseman, and I have been a fan ever since. The Girl in Times Square just solidifies my admiration of her work.  It is one of the most heart wrenching stories I have read.

Lily Quinn is twenty-four and still in college since she lacks a few credits to graduate. Lily just can’t seem to get her life together. Her boyfriend has moved out of their tiny apartment she shares with her friend Amy and now she has to pay his portion of rent. She can barely afford her share. Feeling like she is drifting, she lets her grandmother talk her into visiting her mother in Hawaii. Continue reading “The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons”

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun is Also a Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Pub. Date: 1-Nov-2016
Rating: 5 Stars

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is another one of those books that has been on my to-be-read list since it first came out.  Why, oh why does it take over a year to get to such a good book? After reading books like this I almost always beat myself up for not getting to it sooner.

In this story, the author is asking the reader to believe in fate and love at first site. Daniel is in the right place at the right time to meet Natasha.  Only Natasha is scheduled to be deported back to Jamaica that very evening. Therefore, Daniel has only a few hours to convince Natasha that two people can fall in love in an initial meeting and he has the science to prove it. Natasha is very skeptical, and rightly so, especially since she is Jamaican and he is Korean and she knows her parents would never approve of a relationship with Daniel.  Continue reading “The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon”

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Title: The Rules of Magic
Author: Alice Hoffman
Pub. Date: 10-Oct-2017
Rating: 5 Stars

I could not wait to get my hands on this book. Therefore, I was super excited to see it was a selection at Book of the Month. I loved Practical Magic and just knew that The Rules of Magic would be the same. I was right!

The Rules of Magic is the prequel to Practical Magic and in it we meet Jet and Franny, when they are young, along with their brother Vincent. The story starts in New York when the three siblings are still children living under what they consider harsh parental rules. They can’t wear black, red shoes, or have any books on magic, among other things. They know they are different but their parents refuse to discuss their heritage with them. Then one day an invite from their Aunt Isabelle arrives and the trio sets off to Massachusetts on their summer break for a visit.  Continue reading “The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman”

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

Title: The Queen of the Night
Author: Alexander Chee
Pub. Date: 2-Jan-2016
Rating: 3 Stars

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee is one of those books that I should have fell in love with from the opening pages. From the synopsis it sounded to me like most everything I love about historical fiction. Sadly, I was disappointed.

Lilliet Berne is a famous Paris opera singer with a checked past. She has survived untold hardships to arrive at the place she is today. There are only a few people who know the whole truth of who Lilliet really is, a sum total of four, and it seems one of them is out to expose her. She knows this because a new opera has been written just for her, the crowning glory for an opera singer, and her life is the story. All her secrets will be exposed to the world. Continue reading “The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee”

Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble

Title: Beneath Copper Falls
Author: Colleen Coble
Pub. Date: 10-Jul-2017
Rating: 4 Stars

Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble is a crime thriller/romance for lovers of fast paced novels. This is the sixth book in the Rock Harbor series, but fear not, it can be read as a stand-alone. Since I have not read the others in the series, I can honestly say that I suffered no ill effects.

After leaving an abusive relationship, Dana Newell has returned home to the UP of Michigan and has a job waiting for her as a 911 dispatcher. She is excited to see her brother, her friends and have her life return to normal. She moves in with her brother and starts the process of rebuilding.  Continue reading “Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble”

House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick

Title: House of Shadows
Author: Nicola Cornick
Pub. Date: 17-Oct-2017
Rating: 5 Stars

House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick is a wonderful, fictional story that has been skillfully woven into and around English history. The story line was rather complex as the reader is actually following three separate time lines, one in the 17th century, the 19th and the present.

The story opens on the death bed of Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen, as she implorers William Craven, the First Earl of Craven her faithful and devoted cavalier, to destroy a pearl and a jeweled mirror that she believed had wrought havoc in her family. The story then leaps forward to the present when Holly gets a call in the middle of the night from her niece saying her father, Holly’s brother, is missing. Continue reading “House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick”

Awakening Magic by Neely Powell

Title: Awakening Magic
Author: Neely Powell
Pub. Date: 14-Dec-2016
Rating: 4 Stars

Awakening Magic by Neely Powell is a paranormal story, with a touch of romance, about a family of witches that have carved out a safe haven for themselves and others like them in north Georgia.  When an old enemy returns to their normally quite community they must use their strength as a family unit to protect and save the ones they love.

Brenna Burns, one of the Connelly coven witches, has recently returned to New Mourne after spending several years in Atlanta. She is not the only entity that has returned to the small town. You see, every generation a Woman in White demands a sacrifice of one of the coven’s own as a tribute. As a precursor to the sacrifice of one of the Connelly witches an evil settles over the town causing death and destruction. Continue reading “Awakening Magic by Neely Powell”

When Life Gets in the Way by Ines Vieira

Title: When Life Gets in the Way
Author: Ines Vieira
Pub. Date: 1-Aug-2016
Rating: 4 Stars

When Life Gets in the Way by Ines Vieira is the coming-of-age story of Cassandra (Cass) MacKenzie and Isaac Silva, told in alternating POVs, and how each of them struggles with adversity during those trying teenage years. It is also a sweet love story with an emphasis on family dynamics and the important of family to relationships.

Cass is totally driven. She has one goal in mind and that is getting into Berkeley. She has been planning this life since she was a young girl and she is so close to her goal she can taste it. There are only two small problems. The first is her mother who has recently been extremely depressed and then there is her unexpected and unwanted desire for Isaac whose family has recently returned to Plymouth from Arizona. Continue reading “When Life Gets in the Way by Ines Vieira”

The Library of Light and Shadow by M. J. Rose

Title: The Library of Light and Shadow Author: M. J. Rose Pub. Date: 18-July-2017 Rating: 4 Stars

The Library of Light and Shadow by M. J. Rose is the third installment in the Daughters of La Lune series. The book can be read as a stand-alone and is a pleasant mix of historical fiction, romance and fantasy. The setting is during the roaring twenties, known in France as “annees folles” or crazy years. This was a time when excess was all the rage and women were just starting to redefine their role in society.

The story is about Delphine Duplessi, a gifted young artist from France living in New York City. Delphine makes her living as a party favor drawing “shadow portraits” at high society parties. The portraits reveal the darkest secrets of those she draws. While this ability is a gift, it is also a curse. It can, and did, wreak havoc in the lives of those whose shadow portraits revealed secrets not meant to be uncovered. Continue reading “The Library of Light and Shadow by M. J. Rose”

The Waking Land by Callie Bates

Title: The Waking Land
Author: Callie Bates
Pub. Date: 27-Jun-2017
Rating 4.5 Stars

The Waking Land is a debut novel by Callie Bates. It is filled with complex characters and elegant world building. Ms. Bates has given the reader beautiful descriptions of this magical world without being verbose. Not an easy thing to do.

From the beginning I was hooked when Elanna Valtai, at the age of five, is kidnapped in her own home by King Antoine. The king takes her in an attempt to squash the rebellion Elanna’s father has been planning. Her continued captivity is the King’s insurance that there will be no further uprisings. Once at the king’s court in Eren, Antoine raises Elanna, for fourteen years, alongside his own daughter and Elanna becomes fiercely loyal to him.  Continue reading “The Waking Land by Callie Bates”