skip to main |
skip to sidebar
By Dee DeTarsio
Published by Just Publishing
05 October 2010
Kindle edition courtesy of Dee DeTarsio
In a rut in San Diego, Julie Fraser decides to surprise her husband, Colin, by joining him in Costa Rica where he is on a business trip. Julie expects her vacation to be one of lounging by the pool and ordering room service. She couldn't be more wrong.
A string of mishaps is awaiting Julie on this vacation: she accidentally steals a jade idol believed to be directly related to global warming, finds herself lost in the rainforest, gets stoned, befriends a monkey, is rescued by a gorgeous local, discovers a love potion, and gets arrested, all the while trying to ensure the idol doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Julie's time lost in the rainforest isn't just a series of escapades, however. The reader also gets to know Julie in non-humourous moments as she reflects on her marriage and her life in San Diego.
DeTarsio has given us a bit of mystery, a bit of suspense, a bit of romance, and a lot of humour all rolled into one book. It's a quick read, due not only to DeTarsio's nicely paced writing but because you just can't leave at the end of a chapter. Wondering what was going to happen to Julie kept me going page after page after page.
This book is a step away from conventional chick-lit or women's fiction or however you want to phrase it. There is no shoe shopping, manicures, or pedicures; just a dirty stinky woman lost in the jungle (who would probably much rather be shoe shopping and having manicures and pedicures).
This is a fun book. And even though Julie was dirty and smelly through most of the book, she was a breath of fresh air to me.
By Isabel Wolff
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers
2005
Laura Quick is host of Britain's popular new quiz show, Whadda Ya Know?!! She has spent several years trying to get her life back on track after losing her husband, Nick, and the show is a welcome distraction. Laura's intelligence and hosting skills are a hit with the fans and the critics love her. Apparently, so does an old flame who sees her hosting the show and becomes a contestant with the sole purpose of rekindling the romance. Of course, old flames have new lives and this one comes complete with a six-year-old daughter and a mental ex-wife.
While the romance portion of the book is interesting and well constructed, it's the general knowledge game show parts that kept me tearing through the pages. Some interesting facts I discovered while reading this book: the traditional Muslim colour for mourning is white; gnu is the alternative word for wildebeest; there are seventy-eight Tarot cards to a deck; hippopotamus milk is pink. It's not too often one comes away so knowledgeable after reading "female literature"!
Overall, A Question of Love is an enjoyable novel with some plot surprises along the way. Although it isn't a new release, if you can get your hands on it, buy it, read it, and fill your head with a good story and some general knowledge.
By Mary Janice Davidson
Published by The Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
July 2005
Elizabeth Taylor (Betsy, to her friends) is the undead queen of the vampires. She has a very sexy on again/off again relationship with her consort, Eric Sinclair. Her friends and family know she is undead and mostly, they are okay with it. She lives in a mansion owned by her best friend Jessica.
That brings us up to speed. Undead and Unappreciated is installment three of the Undead and... series. This time around, Betsy meets her half-sister, Laura, who is quite literally the spawn of the devil and destined to rule the world. Also, the employees of Scratch - the vampire nightclub Betsy inherited when she killed Monique the evil vampire in a previous novel - have decided to go on strike.
I quite like this series because (a) even though there are lots of killings and feedings the stories are not scary (b) Betsy's sarcasm for everything cracks me up (c) the chick-lit/romance aspects of the story are a nice mix with the vampire lifestyle.
If you're looking for vampires that are snarky and sexy (as opposed to sparkly and sulky) this series is for you.
By Sheila O'Flanagan
First published in paperback in 2010 by Headline Review
An imprint of Headline Publishing Group
Britt McDonagh, hard-nosed divorce lawyer, has written a romance novel entitled "The Perfect Man" and it has hit all the best seller lists. She agrees to talk about her novel and offer some writing tips on board a cruise ship during a two-week Valentine Cruise and takes her single-mom sister, Mia, with her to act as her PA.
Britt has a hard time reconciling her hard-hearted lawyer self with her softer, romantic self, so she writes the novel under the name Brigitte Martin and presents herself to the world as a glamorous woman, which is quite unlike the heartbroken divorced woman she actually is.
Mia's past includes a passionate affair in Guatemala which produced a daughter. The relationship never sustained itself, but four years on Mia still loves Alejo and can't move on.
"The Perfect Man" is, of course, a romance novel; what else could it be when a Valentine Cruise is so conducive to love? As usual O'Flanagan has hit the nail on the head in the romance department.
Also as usual, O'Flanagan delves deep into family relationships. The unfolding story of Britt and Mia - who had never been exceptionally close but were now roomies for the duration of the cruise - show us exactly how siblings can be.
O'Flanagan also takes us inside the life of a best-selling novelist; the doubts of a writer, how to take an idea and make it into a book, and what happens when the writing takes over. Perhaps O'Flanagan was referring to herself when she wrote this paragraph after Britt questions herself on what to do with her book's characters:
"They're not real people, she reminded herself sharply. I can do whatever I like with them. But she knew she couldn't. She knew that they were the only ones who were calling the shots. She just hoped they knew what they were doing."
I knew what I was doing when I purchased this book - Sheila O'Flanagan never, ever disappoints.
By Sharon Owens
Published by Poolbeg Press Ltd.
2008
Sarah Quinn is about to have a beautiful Christmas wedding at a Scottish manor owned by her fiance, Mackenzie Campbell. All her friends envy her for snagging the gorgeous, older Mackenzie. On the eve of the wedding, Sarah overhears Mackenzie talking to his best friend. What she hears in this conversation prompts her to leave the manor in the middle of the night, eventually ending up at the Irish seaside.
This is where the book really picks up speed. After all, small town life is invariably more interesting than city life; everybody knows everybody's business and the quirks of townspeople stand out far more than in a big city.
Owens' storytelling style is straightforward; no time-shifting, no extraneous information to divert from the story, and in an easy-to-read manner. While this novel is billed as a romance (and there's lots of it), there are also other stories to draw you in - drugs, crime, a bit of a mystery and, believe it or not, even a fetish thrown in for good measure.
Perhaps my favourite characters in this book are Sarah's parents, Agatha and Richard. Owens gives them the best comedic lines and I had more than a few chuckles whilst enjoying sentences such as this description of Agatha's disapproval of a matter:
"Mrs Quinn pursed her lips until she could have fitted them through the eye of a needle."
Owens pulls a lot of characters into this book, but she gives each one a good storyline, one story weaving into the next, with satisfactory resolutions to all stories at the end.
By Sheila O'Flanagan
Published by Headline Review, 2008
Anyone who reads Sheila O'Flanagan's novels already knows this is not the romance novel the marketing department would have you believe. O'Flanagan's female leads have interesting jobs, full lives, and the romance is often incidental. I'm not complaining; I wouldn't have been able to read her fourteen previous novels, otherwise.
Romy Kilkenny is a forensic archaeologist living in Australia. Her sister, Kathryn, is a forensic accountant living in New York. Darragh, the older brother, runs the family manufacturing firm in Ireland. A reunion of sorts occurs when the matriarch, Veronica, needs back surgery and the Dolan/Kilkenny clan ends up back in Ireland.
O'Flanagan has a keen eye for family dynamics and the child placement theory gets a run for its money in this story - older brother as family head, middle girl having to prove herself and Romy, the baby of the family, feeling left behind.
Romy's romantic life is a thread throughout the story, but the family is the story here. Now, who can I speak to about stopping the girlie cover art for O'Flanagan's books?
