Lily Cahill's Blog, page 2

Renee’s First Romance Novel — “The Endearment” by LaVyrle Spencer

In honor of Valentine’s Day, each Lily is recounting the book that first made them blush, swoon, and fall in love with romance. Happy reading, heroes! And most of all, happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Lily

It was the summer before seventh grade, and I had read all of my mother’s Mary Higgins Clark books. What else is a bookish girl to do when she’s read everything on her shelf a dozen times, raided her mom’s bookshelf, and is left with nothing else to read? I’ll tell you what: She pulls a book from the very top shelf, the shelf she’s not really supposed to choose from.

And that, heroes, is how I discovered my very first romance novel. Between the covers of LaVyrle Spencer’s “The Endearment,” I found a sweet romance–or sweet now that I think back mumble mumble years ago–about a Swede named Karl living in Minnesota and his mail-order bride. He was kind of like the older brother of Kirsten, my very favorite American Girl … if they covered things like sex in American Girl, which they didn’t. Anna, his aforementioned mail-order bride, was feisty and fun, and the love that grew between them left me breathless. It also taught me all the ways body parts could be described as fruits and vegetables. (Ahem, cucumbers.)

I knew almost immediately that “The Endearment” was most certainly not like a Mary Higgins Clark mystery, but I just could not stop reading it. I hid it under my pillow and surreptitiously read whenever I could. It was thrilling, reading the naughty bits, and memorable. It sticks out to me in the same way that reading Stephen King’s “The Eyes of the Dragon” in sixth grade sticks out for teaching me the word “flaccid.” But let me tell you, there was nothing flaccid about Karl.

Thinking about it now, “The Endearment” is one of those cozy romances that gets a little bit naughty while still being sweet. And I think it was the perfect introduction to the world of romance novels.

From the streets of 19th-century Boston to the harsh frontier–she wove a web of deception to ensnare her man!

Lovely, fiery-tempered Anna Reardon was forced to lie to get out of the street urchin’s life that shamed her … to become Karl Lindstrom’s mail-order bride in the beautiful, treacherous Minnesota wilderness.

Karl forgave Anna for her deceptions–but there was still one shameful, burning secret that she had to hide from him, knowing its revelation would destroy the love that had become her very life!

Buy it here!

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Published on February 08, 2016 07:18

REVIEW: “Anything for You” by Kristan Higgins

Before you get down on bended knee…

…you should be pretty darn sure the answer will be yes. For ten years, Connor O’Rourke has been waiting for Jessica Dunn to take their on-again, off-again relationship public, and he thinks the time has come. His restaurant is thriving, she’s got her dream job at Blue Heron Vineyard—it’s the perfect time to get married.

When he pops the question, however, her answer is a fond but firm no. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Jess has her hands full with her younger brother, who’s now living with her full-time, and a great career after years of waitressing. What she and Connor have is perfect: friends with an excellent benefits package. Besides, with her difficult past (and reputation), she’s positive married life isn’t for her.

But this time, Connor says it’s all or nothing. If she doesn’t want to marry him, he’ll find someone who does. Easier said than done, given that he’s never loved anyone but her. And maybe Jessica isn’t quite as sure as she thinks…

Rating: 4.89 out of 5 Capes

Heroes,

Ohmigod, I love Kristan Higgins so much. She’s a favorite of mine, and when I saw this book in the grocery store yesterday I snapped it up and finished the whole thing in about five hours. I’m a fast reader, but she’s also just that good. “Anything For You” is funny, heart-warming, and satisfying, with memorable characters, a charming setting, and a well-balanced love story that hits all the right notes.

This is the fifth book in the Blue Heron collection, and both of the main characters are already familiar to fans of the series. Connor O’Rourke is a sexy chef who owns a restaurant with his twin sister and has big plans to expand his business. He’s got a complicated but loving relationship with his family, and he’s ready to settle down with his on-again, off-again love, Jessica Dunn. I enjoyed Connor, but Jessica was a surprising delight. She’s been a bit of a villain in other books in the series, and I really enjoyed seeing a different side of her. By the end of the book, I felt I understood her and admired her because of it. Higgins pulls off a neat trick with her character, and I’m impressed by the way her outward coldness to other characters was transformed into strength and determination.

I’ve been into Kristan Higgins ever since I read “Just One of the Guys,” and I can honestly say she just gets better and better. That said, she definitely has a formula working here. All of her books are set in beautiful, quirky, small towns. At least one of the two main characters always has a big, complicated family that is frequently played for laughs. Most of the time, the two main characters have a background before the book begins. There’s not a lot of high-drama in these books; instead, they are largely about the way small incidents shape personalities and how love can reframe those memories. There’s always a dog. The sameness of her books somehow feels realistic instead of routine, homey instead of lazy.

The Blue Heron series, set in upstate New York wine country, centers around the Holland family, and features a large cast of recurring characters. I enjoyed them all, but I think “Anything For You” is my favorite, along with “The Best Man.” In my opinion, Higgins is one of the best writers in romance today, and I will always pick up one of her books.

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Published on January 27, 2016 07:00

REVIEW: The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger

It’s one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It’s quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time.

Welcome to Finishing School.Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners–and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine’s, young ladies learn to finish … everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage–in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year’s education.

Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail’s legions of fans have come to adore.

Rating: 4.87 out of 5

Heroes,

Once upon a time, I had an idea to write a series called Mayhem Academy, wherein a group of teenagers trained to be international super spies. I never pursued it. Now I’m glad, because Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series is infinitely better than anything I could have written.

This series is SO MUCH FUN. Brave, clever, and loyal, Sophronia Temminick is the star pupil at Madame Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, which is a “finishing school” in more ways than one. The young ladies of Madame Geraldine’s are taught everything they need to succeed in polite 1850s London society, but they also receive lessons in weapons, poisoning, and manipulative flirtation. They are training to be Intelligencers–secret operatives hiding in plain site.

Brave, clever, and bold, Sophronia and her friends continually find themselves in the center of government plots and vicious power struggles between humans, vampires, and werewolves. Did I mention there are vampires and werewolves? And steampunk mechanicals who act as servants and pets? And dirigibles, Flywayman, and crystalline communication devices? This book is classified as YA, which makes sense given the age group of the characters, but it has a sophistication and sense of humor that is very adult. Seriously, this world is so real, so developed, and so delightfully British. It’s like Jane Austen meets James Bond by way of Fawlty Towers.

Start with the first book, Etiquette & Espionage, where Sophronia begins her training and makes the friends and enemies that will follow her through her education. In the second book, Curtsies & Conspiracies, Sophronia travels to London and delves into complex political struggles, and also meets a rather handsome young lordling. In the third book, Waistcoats & Weaponry, Sophronia formulates a bold plan to aid a friend that involves both skilled flirtation techniques and hijacking a train. The fourth book, Manners & Mutiny, brings the series to a satisfying and surprising close.

I can’t recommend these books enough. They are a perfect blend of action, humor, and budding romance. Carriger has written two other series in this same universe, and you can bet they are going on my reading list. If you are looking for a quick, exciting read, you can’t go wrong with Gail Carriger’s Finishing School.

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Published on January 22, 2016 07:00

Review: “The Little Paris Bookshop” by Nina George

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, “The Little Paris Bookshop” is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Capes

Dear Heroes,

If I were a literary apothecary, I would prescribe “The Little Paris Bookshop” for PMS. Its lush language, tragic passion, and romantic Parisian setting go perfectly with wine, chocolate, and hormonal anarchy.

Fans of “Amelie” or Maupin’s “Tales of the City” series will delight in this novel. The main character, Jean Perdu, is surrounded by a charming cast of eccentrics who have nuanced, evolved opinions on life and love. At the beginning of the novel, Jean acts as their intellectual pharmacist, prescribing the books that each person needs. However, he is unable to find the book that will bring him back to life after twenty years of heartache. What Jean needs isn’t a book–it is the excitement, uncertainty, and surprises provided by an adventure. He sets off to make peace with his lost love. Along the way, he learns how to live, forgive, and move on to the next chapter in his life.

Jean’s bookshop is a floating barge anchored along the Seine. How cool is that? In another life, I would have moved to Paris after college and spent my days soaking up its beauty and history. I would 100 percent stop at Jean Perdu’s riverborne bookshop and let him pick out a book for me. Most book lovers have had the magical experience of picking up just the right book at just the right time. Personally, I would rather follow a prescribed course of literature over any anti-depressant.

This book has flaws. Oddly, they are the same as its strengths. The language is gorgeous, but it can sometimes be repetitive or overly flowery. It’s unabashedly romantic, which sometimes made my heart sing and sometimes made my eyes roll. Love is depicted as mysterious and uncontrollable, which I disagree with on principle: as a romance writer, I believe that love has just as much to do with choice as it does with destiny. The idea that Jean Perdu yearns for his lost love for twenty years makes me mourn for him, but it also makes me rage: what a terrible, pathetic waste to let your heart stay broken for so long! In real life, if someone told me they had lost a lover and therefore shuttered their heart for two decades, I would smack them upside the head. It’s not reasonable to mourn that long, not logical–get over it and get on with your life! But characters in novels aren’t reasonable or logical; if Jean Perdu had been able to get over his lost love, there would be no story to tell here.

The depth of his frozen sorrow at the beginning of the novel makes his gradual reawakening all the more powerful. I enjoyed this novel because it is a take on romance that we don’t often see, and because it made me think of France and all the romance of French culture. This book isn’t for everyone, but if you are in the mood for big emotions, this just might do the trick.

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Published on January 18, 2016 07:00

REVIEW: “The Girl With All The Gifts” by M.R. Carey

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.

“The Girl With All the Gifts” is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Capes

Heroes,

I’m not sure what to make of the recent trend towards literary science fiction. On the one hand, I’m excited to see the literary establishment embracing plotlines and conventions that would typically be relegated to genre fiction. On the other hand, doesn’t “literary science fiction” just mean “good science fiction?” Sci-fi has always taken on the challenge of showing humanity from speculative or futuristic perspectives. “The Girl With All The Gifts” is brilliantly written and emotionally challenging. That alone should be enough to earn acclaim, regardless of where the book is shelved.

The book opens in the voice of Melanie, a young girl who doesn’t realize that she is imprisoned. The reason she’s imprisoned, the reason she’s special, is revealed so neatly that I wouldn’t dare spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that the story really begins when Melanie escapes into a dangerous world where horrific death lurks around every corner. She and her companions attempt to get to safety, and along the way they solve a medical mystery that will affect the future of humanity.

It is difficult to write a review of this book without spoiling its many twists and revelations. What I can tell you is this: “The Girl With All The Gifts” envisions a future where all our human foibles are still fully in effect. Jealousy, ambition, love, fear, and guilt motivate the main characters to commit unspeakable acts. This novel has plenty of compelling and disturbing action, which drives the larger philosophical questions that give the novel weight. The blend makes for an intriguing page-turner that continually surprises the reader.

This novel follows in the footsteps of several weighty post-apocalyptic novels that have come out in the past few years, like Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven” or “The Passage” by Justin Cronin. One of the things that makes this sub-genre so compelling is that these novels offer a glimpse of the essence of humanity, stripped of the comforts and conventions that keep our baser instincts in check. The ending is shocking, inevitable, and oddly satisfying. So we get an intense examination of how different personality types deal under pressure, plus some super creepy action scenes to keep you entertained. That’s good stuff, no matter what genre you’re in to. Check it out.

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Published on January 14, 2016 09:56

REVIEW: “The Girl With All the Gifts” by M.R. Carey

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.

“The Girl With All the Gifts” is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Capes

Heroes,

I’m not sure what to make of the recent trend towards literary science fiction. On the one hand, I’m excited to see the literary establishment embracing plotlines and conventions that would typically be relegated to genre fiction. On the other hand, doesn’t “literary science fiction” just mean “good science fiction?” Sci-fi has always taken on the challenge of showing humanity from speculative or futuristic perspectives. “The Girl With All The Gifts” is brilliantly written and emotionally challenging. That alone should be enough to earn acclaim, regardless of where the book is shelved.

The book opens in the voice of Melanie, a young girl who doesn’t realize that she is imprisoned. The reason she’s imprisoned, the reason she’s special, is revealed so neatly that I wouldn’t dare spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that the story really begins when Melanie escapes into a dangerous world where horrific death lurks around every corner. She and her companions attempt to get to safety, and along the way they solve a medical mystery that will affect the future of humanity.

It is difficult to write a review of this book without spoiling its many twists and revelations. What I can tell you is this: “The Girl With All The Gifts” envisions a future where all our human foibles are still fully in effect. Jealousy, ambition, love, fear, and guilt motivate the main characters to commit unspeakable acts. This novel has plenty of compelling and disturbing action, which drives the larger philosophical questions that give the novel weight. The blend makes for an intriguing page-turner that continually surprises the reader.

This novel follows in the footsteps of several weighty post-apocalyptic novels that have come out in the past few years, like Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven” or “The Passage” by Justin Cronin. One of the things that makes this sub-genre so compelling is that these novels offer a glimpse of the essence of humanity, stripped of the comforts and conventions that keep our baser instincts in check. The ending is shocking, inevitable, and oddly satisfying. So we get an intense examination of how different personality types deal under pressure, plus some super creepy action scenes to keep you entertained. That’s good stuff, no matter what genre you’re in to. Check it out.

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Published on January 14, 2016 08:35

Lily resolves…

Happy New Year! We here at Lily Cahill have had quite a year, and we’re hoping 2016 treats us just as nicely as 2015.

A few weeks ago, we were all gathered at Lily HQ (not going to lie, it’s a Panera Bread) and started talking about resolutions. Our resolutions run the gamut, but meticulously-detailed lists to nothing at all. As we say hello to 2016, we thought we’d share our resolutions with you, our heroes. And despite how different our lists are, there is one thing we can all agree on: Read more! There are so many books out there just waiting to be discovered. Including, ahem, the latest installment of our Independence Falls series, SHIFTED.

What are your resolutions for the year? We’d love to hear about them.

A brand new year calls for new goals (photo courtesy Sharon Mollerus via Flickr)

Cory: My New Year’s Resolution for 2016 is: When I open the oven, I will wait five seconds for the heat to disperse, instead of leaning right into it and getting a blast of heat in the face.

Alex:

1. Get in better shape. I joked with a girlfriend I play tennis with that she was working off her baby weight and I was working off my novel weight. I’m not *very* concerned about the weight part but I find myself huffing and puffing over activities I once did with ease and I’d love to treat my body better than I am now.

2. See Colorado. I live in such a beautiful state and there’s so much to see its hard to get to it all. Especially when the stuff right in your backyard is so great.

3. Be Organized. Organization is always a struggle and I find myself trying new ways of organizing all the time. My goal this year is just to be more consistent! Pretty generic. Nothing super new, but New Years are for blank slates and a chance to refresh your mind and get a chance to be a better version of yourself. Here’s to 2016! Cheers!

Renee:

I have a friend who chooses a single thing each year to give up or add for the year … give up diet Coke, give up chocolate. And she’s amazing at it! So can I pretend to be like her? No? Okay, so I don’t do resolutions. I totally get the reason behind it, but it’s just not my thing. Instead, I’ll spend the first few weeks of January decluttering (I am very anti-clutter) and refreshing my house, my wardrobe, my indulgences. It makes me feel like I’m starting the new year with fresh eyes and a positive attitude.

Elizabeth:

Read more poetry; go to bed earlier; take a French class; found* Hogwarts; and will Harry Potter into reality. (Editor’s note: When Renee asked Liz whether she meant find instead of found, she responded … “No. I am going to found Hogwarts. I am going to Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor that shit. I’m going to create motherf*cking Hogwarts. You’re welcome, world.”)

Livia:

1. Prioritize time off so I’m a normal human being instead of a stressed-out pretzel of cramped muscles and shouty thoughts. Put it in the calendar and stick to it.

2. Stop committing to do stuff that eats away at #1.

3. Continue writing! Includes writing another screenplay, because it’s been a while and I love them.

4. Audition for a choir.

5. Learn to sing the mezzo (Malika’s) part in the Flower Duet from Lakme.

6. Finally finish my photo archiving project.

7. Get back into a morning routine to energize my day.

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Published on January 01, 2016 09:18