Of Literature and Lattes - Katherine Reay

Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In this book, we return to the fictional Chicago, Illinois suburb of Winsome. Alyssa has returned there as a last resort. The Silicone Valley company she worked for is being investigated by the FBI, and no other companies there will hire her. So, she returns to her childhood home and all the relationship issues included in it. At the same time, Jeremy has relocated to Winsome to open the coffee shop of his dreams and be closer to his daughter. All is not roses there either.

I was looking forward to returning to Winsome. This isn't necessarily a sequel to The Printed Letter Bookshop (which I really enjoyed), but it was helpful to have read that one to have more context for Alyssa.

I really wanted to love this book, and I just didn't. I didn't enjoy any of the characters, and there seemed to be a lot of repetition in informational details about some of them. Additionally, there were random characters that were just thrown in occasionally with very specific details about them. I'm assuming to set up for a third book in Winsome, but it just irked me a bit to have tidbits dropped and no follow through.

Also, the whole plot and relationships and drama seemed to happen really quickly. I did like some of the interactions between Alyssa and her mom, but then other interactions seemed to come from left field.

I felt overall there was a lot of telling and not so much showing when it came to everything in this book.

Not my favorite of hers. I loved some of here other books much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I received a complementary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.


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The Fifth Avenue Story Society - Rachel Hauck

The Fifth Avenue Story Society by Rachel Hauck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this book by Christian author Rachel Hauck, five seemingly unconnected individuals each receive an invitation to a story society no one has ever heard of in a library few visit. As they meet and ponder why they are there and the purpose of the society, their lives begin to intertwine (or reconnect, in some cases).

Thank you to Thomas Nelson publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy for my review. All opinions are my own.

Let me start the "official" portion of my review by saying this was one of the roughest advanced review copies I've read to date as far as editing and formatting issues. I tried to not let it affect my reading pleasure and therefore my review, hoping that a lot of it gets cleaned up in the final version. However, truth be told, some of the discrepancies and such did impact my reading. There were a couple of different points I was confused or lost because of inconsistencies or things coming out of left field.

That being said, I did like the story overall. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions. I appreciated the tie in to Hauck's previous book (although if you haven't read The Writing Desk, you can still read this one). The characters had real issues and hangups and real life and tragedy to work through, which they did.

I did feel like the Christian element was a bit heavy handed and hard-hitting when coming all at the end. That could be personal preference, though, liking that to be sprinkled throughout.

A good read full of likeable characters and relationship building/growth achieving plots.

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The Love Letter - Rachel Hauck

The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In Rachel Hauck's latest dual narrative Christian romance, we move between Revolutionary War South Carolina and present day California. In the past, Esther Longfellow - daughter of a Loyalist - is in love with Hamilton Lightfoot, who leans Patriot. What will become of their love?

In present day, Chloe Daschle pours her heart and soul into an unlikely role, hoping to right her acting career. She is playing "Esther" in the screen play written by Hamilton's descendant, Jesse Gates. Is romance brewing there too?

Of course romance is brewing! Didn't I already mention the genre is Christian romance? The end result is generally predictable, but the journey there is what's important.

The characters, while I liked them, confused me with their decisions. Mainly in the current day plot line. Who leaves a wedding reception (when part of the bridal party) with a stranger to eat pizza at said stranger's house? Also, Esther is the only one who didn't waver in what she wanted.

I did like the Smitty character. I had my suspicions about him and am glad with how that character line ended up.

The historical plot was interesting to me. Revolutionary War books (and even history lessons) seem to focus on the New England colonies. In fact, I don't know that I've ever considered there were colonies in the south that were involved in the fighting. But there were. And I enjoyed the unusual, but still accurate, locale of the past story line.

This book overall was decent. I liked it and was engaged in the quick read. But I lean towards the "okay" side of I liked it instead of the "I really liked it" side of liked it.

If you'd like to read more of my reviews, visit my blog at https://mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com/

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If I Live (If I Run #3) - Terri Blackstock

If I Live by Terri Blackstock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This books brings closure to the tale of Casey and her run from the cops trying to kill her. In book one, she had evidence about dirty cops. Through the three books, those cops are trying to find and murder her in the hopes of the evidence disappearing along with her. However, Dylan (a war veteran with PTSD) was also hired to track her down. This book wraps it all up.

I enjoyed it. I liked both Casey and Dylan and was rooting against the evil cops. I think some of the scenarios were fairly preposterous, but I was invested in the story enough to suspend disbelief. There were some surprises in this book that I didn't expect. All in all, it was a great conclusion to the series.

Do start with book one though. This is a series you can't read out of order.

I received this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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A Royal Christmas Wedding - Rachel Hauck

A Royal Christmas Wedding by Rachel Hauck
(Royal Wedding Series #4)

Genre:  Christian fiction, romance

Pages:  240 pages

Publishing Date:  October 18, 2015

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s been five years since Avery Truitt and Prince Colin of Brighton Kingdom fell in love. But he broke her heart with no explanation.
Fast forward to present day, and Colin is Brighton’s most eligible bachelor now that cousin Stephen has married. When Avery’s father dies of a heart attack, she puts her life on hold and returns home to St. Simons Island, Georgia, to help Mama with the family restaurant. But Mama misses Avery’s sister Susanna, who lives four thousand miles away in Brighton Kingdom—and is expecting her first child. So Mama insists she and Avery spend the Christmas season in Brighton.
Colin and Avery are going to see each other a lot while she’s visiting. But she can’t forget the way he hurt her, and he didn’t expect his feelings to still be so strong.
Avery is torn between considering a future in Brighton and taking a coaching job in Georgia, and Colin is finally pushed to pursue what he really wants. Is it too late to convince Avery that she is his true love? And even if he does, will she make it to the chapel on Christmas Day to give him her heart?


My Thoughts:

I have read the previous three books in Rachel Hauck’s Royal Wedding Series.  I’ll admit, I’m fairly obsessed with royalty and the idea of fairy tale perfect matches.  So when I learned she had a new book in the series, I requested an ARC from NetGalley.

Unfortunately, I didn’t fall in love with this book.  It was, probably, my least favorite of the series – a couple of which I enjoyed.  I gave it 2 stars (“It was okay.”) on Goodreads but is more of a 1.5 in my evaluation. 

Avery and Colin have a past.  In a whirlwind courtship when Avery was 17, they fell deeply and madly in love.  Then Colin cancelled on attending her prom and ceased all communication…for five years.  Then the holiday season suddenly throws them back together in daily contact via their respective families.  The whole premise is if they rekindle their love.  Which, of course they do.  It’s a Christian romance book.  So it’s more a question of how they do. 

I enjoyed revisiting with Susanna from a previous book.  A few other characters make mentions or brief appearances.  But this book definitely has Avery and Colin as the focus – which is how it should be in this genre.  And they drove me crazy.  How adamant Avery was that she was over him when speaking to others but kept talking to herself about how much she was still in love with him.  How they (Colin mostly) continued to get into the same situations to cause doubt and angst. 

My angst with the book was how quickly all of it happened.  Granted, Colin and Avery had a relationship five years previous.  However, five years have passed.  Haven’t they both changed?  Don’t they want to at least sort of get to know who they each are now – especially since everything that goes wrong Avery assumes Colin is just the same as he’d been.    I would have liked a slower pace for the romance (re)development. 

I did struggle some, too, with knowing who was talking.  Many times, I didn’t know who had which lines of dialogue.  That was frustrating.  Perhaps it is an issue just with the ebook copy I had.    There were also some discrepancies in the text.  Minor things, but there nonetheless.

All that being said, this book is still a good read for those in a mood for ooey gooey emotional romance free of sex.  While it didn’t keep me up at night turning pages, it was still a sweet story most enjoyed by those who like some fluff in their reading.  So probably just perfect for a Christmas book. 

Mistress of Tall Acre - Laura Frantz

Title:               Mistress of Tall Acre

Author:            Laura Frantz

Publisher:        Revel

Market:           Christian

Genre:             Romance; Historical Fiction

Length:            400 pages

Pub. Date:       September 8, 2015

Description (from Amazon):

The American Revolution is finally over, and Sophie Menzies is starved for good news. When her nearest neighbor, General Seamus Ogilvy, finally comes home to Tall Acre, she hopes it is a sign of better days to come. But the general is now a widower with a small daughter in desperate need of a mother. Nearly destitute, Sophie agrees to marry Seamus and become the mistress of Tall Acre in what seems a safe, sensible arrangement. But when a woman from the general's past returns without warning, the ties that bind this fledgling family together will be strained to the utmost. When all is said and done, who will be the rightful mistress of Tall Acre?

Triumph and tragedy, loyalty and betrayal--readers find it all in the rich pages of this newest historical novel from the talented pen of Laura Frantz. Her careful historical details immerse the reader in the story world, and her emotional writing and finely tuned characters never cease to enchant fans both old and new.

My Review:

I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy via the publisher at NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I chose this book based on both its cover and the description.  I am a fan of historical fiction.  I enjoy learning about times past cushioned in a good tale.  I did go into the book expecting a bit of a mystery to be solved.  Since that wasn’t the case, I was a bit disappointed.  However, the writing was engaging and I enjoyed the story overall.

The book had great descriptions and period information.  I really believe that the author, Laura Frantz, did her research and immersed herself the in the revolutionary time period.  However, I found the dialogue – especially between Sophie and Seamus – to be stilted.  And even Lily Cate, the general’s young daughter, seemed overly precocious.  The flow of the story was choppy in a lot of places.

Despite the dialogue issues, I did find myself rooting for Sophie & Seamus to work out their issues and find happiness.  While there wasn’t a lot of character growth in an outward way, a lot of it was implied internally.

The romance was both sweet and chastely written.  The spiritual elements were well-integrated into the characters and the story overall. 

The only potentially questionable content would involve a spoiler.  Suffice it to say there was nothing graphic or offensive in the story.

The novel was very predictable.  But most historical romances are.  That’s what makes it a sweet, comforting read.  I believe it would appeal to women who like to read historical fiction and sometime need a book that doesn’t require them to think deeply.  I enjoyed it overall.

Pros:

• Great immersion into the time period
• Detailed descriptions
  
  

Cons:

• Stilted conversations
• Choppy flow

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 (good)