Isabelle Joshua's Blog, page 12
May 25, 2016
Review: The Total Package
The Total Package by Stephanie EvanovichMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I couldn't wait to read this book because I LOVED "Big Girl Panties" so much. I also liked The Sweet Spot. This one wasn't as good as those two. I didn't find the characters very funny. I guess I thought his feelings for her were a little hard to understand because the story didn't explain their chemistry when they first knew each other. It was also hard to relate to a character that has been holding onto a crush for years. I also couldn't imagine leaving my child for months on end even for a job. I will keep reading her because it was a good book.
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Review: Sweet Talk
Sweet Talk by Julie GarwoodMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I thought it was okay. better than some but as good as most I've read. I liked Grayson and the dialogue was good but there were parts that were over the top and don't make sense to me. Two month no contact after sleeping together, uh no deal.
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Review: A Baby of Her Own
A Baby of Her Own by Brenda NovakMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was an okay book. It was hard to relate to the main character and I wasn't crazy about her friend. The story was engaging and it kept my interest and I finished it quickly. I thought it was interesting how they characters came together but it was just a good story.
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Review: Trying Not to Love You
Trying Not to Love You by Megan SmithMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Okay story and decent writing
I felt like this was YA but had some explicit sex. The writing seemed rushed and I felt like my 18 yr old was telling the story so I suppose it worked as the POV was of a young woman. I didn't feel like the character really grew. Mackenzie was very immature and irrational. It was hard to relate because of the stupid family dynamics of the over protective brothers. I didn't feel that there was a lot of depth to the characters. I think it was okay and I don't regret reading it but I wont keep reading the series. I didn't feel a connection to any character. I didn't really care and it was very predictable.
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Review: First Comes Love
First Comes Love by Emily GiffinMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I won my ARC copy through a Goodreads Giveaway. I liked the book and the writing was good. I haven't read all of her books but my favorite is "The One and Only." The author seems to like to deal with difficult family relationship and she does this in First Comes Loves as well. Meredith and Josie are the main characters, they are sisters that experiences a great loss when their brother died and it has affected them in their lives over fifteen years later. I didn't feel connected or invested in either of the women. Their mutual dislike for one another was hard to understand and hard to relate to. It may also be that I enjoy romance and there wasn't much in it at all. I also couldn't relate to Meredith (I think) that made decisions out of obligation or for fear of hurting her family and loved ones. Then Josie's relationship with her roommate and then potential love interest. To me each women didn't have very strong feeling except for their dislike of each other. Otherwise they were rather blah emotionally. And the big secret that was plaguing Josie wasn't surprising or I thought that horrible and the reaction by Meredith was over the top. It held my attention well and I finished it quickly. I just didn't feel connected to either main character. I felt more for the men in the story than I did for the women. Maybe my personal experiences within my family is so different than the women in her story that it made it hard to connect with. But I would say that it was a good read, just not great.
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April 29, 2016
Review: Throb
Throb by Vi KeelandMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Fast and a fun read but lacked the something more to make it memorable...
It was an interesting story. I liked Cooper, but then he got super controlling and talked about sex all the time. It was a turn-off. I liked Kate, and the story was interesting. But there wasn't much else there. The sex was hot, but this is the second book written by Vi Keeland that I get a "50 Shades" vibe. I know that 50 Shades didn't invent the no touching and the "bossy" and a whole host of other cliche things that are now aligned with that book, but I can't help what I feel. I never got a strong connection to either characters and so I didn't really feel either of their pain through the conflict part. It was a fun and fast read but one I will probably soon forget.
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April 26, 2016
Review: Just Imagine
Just Imagine by Susan Elizabeth PhillipsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another great one by SEP. This was the last book of hers that I'd not yet read. It was so clever and unique and I loved the Kit and Baron. I will definitely re-read this one. I did see elements of Rhett and Scarlett but in the end their stubborness was overcome by their deep love. I loved that she flirted with every man except Baron and he was going wild. I also loved the other woman that played along but really knew that Kit and Baron needed to get over themselves and be happy together. It was funny and sexy.
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Confession
When I was a teenager, and I'd waited until the last possible minute to do the dishes before my single mother would come back home after being out trying to find a husband, I'd pretend I was a spurned wife. I would act out a scene. I was the stay at home wife or wife that had happened downtown and saw my husband out with another woman, kissing, holding, whatever betrayal he committed, and I would be waiting for him. Doing the dishes and ready to pounce, then I'd imagine him walking in, and I'd ask him what he'd done that day, luring him into the lie, ready to smash him with the truth that I'd discovered earlier that day. I'd yell, I'd argue, I'd say horrible things and bring myself to tears with the real emotion that I had conjured up thinking of how hurt I would be that my husband did this to me. I think I was about 15 years old.
Then when I was in college, and the invention of cell phones was so new that I had one that only held 180 minutes/month that I primarily used for emergencies and when I'd make the trek from Austin to Dallas to visit my family, I have elaborate conversations. With my boyfriend, parents, friends, boss, whoever I could think of and I'd create situations or conflict to discuss.
Then when my husband I were searching for our home together, I'd make up stories about the families that lived in the house and why they were selling. I'd look for clues; the master closet would be empty on one side, or the bedside table was full of stuff while the matching one on the other side was empty. Divorce, cheating, drama. That's what I would create. If there weren't enough in my already crazy life, I'd create stories and arguments, heartache, betrayal.
I don't remember making up fun or happy stories. Maybe there was more emotion or punch to the scenes in my head when I could yell and tell my imaginary husband that I never wanted to see him again.
I tried writing stories when I was even younger. I got a large spiral notebook and would decide on a name and what my character looked like, blah, blah and then nothing. I had no story; I tried to write about my life but I was boring, and I didn't know what to write that was interesting, and I got bored with it.
So in my 30s, I had come back to two loves that I left when I was young. In my youth, I gave up the idea that I would be a writer and I gave up on a legal profession. Now over 20 years later, I am doing both. I am doing them better than I could have during my naive youth and I'm grateful that my experiences stimulate my stories.
Now, I write or think about stories and then quickly write them down while I'm waiting at the traffic light, singing in church, spending time with my family, driving, waiting, and in the silence, I think about stories. I write my ideas down; I record my ideas, and I think about my ideas.
For me, I have to get the story down while it's fresh or it will evaporate. And when I have the time to put the story on the page, I usually have 20-30 records of ideas or scenes for the stories. Sometimes I listen to them if I've forgotten a part but most of the time, I 've been thinking about it and plotting the scenes that when I write it, it just flows out of me. I don't do much else but write. I stop begrudgingly to go to the restroom, to eat, to pick my kids up from school, to live beyond the story in my head.
Then when I was in college, and the invention of cell phones was so new that I had one that only held 180 minutes/month that I primarily used for emergencies and when I'd make the trek from Austin to Dallas to visit my family, I have elaborate conversations. With my boyfriend, parents, friends, boss, whoever I could think of and I'd create situations or conflict to discuss.
Then when my husband I were searching for our home together, I'd make up stories about the families that lived in the house and why they were selling. I'd look for clues; the master closet would be empty on one side, or the bedside table was full of stuff while the matching one on the other side was empty. Divorce, cheating, drama. That's what I would create. If there weren't enough in my already crazy life, I'd create stories and arguments, heartache, betrayal.
I don't remember making up fun or happy stories. Maybe there was more emotion or punch to the scenes in my head when I could yell and tell my imaginary husband that I never wanted to see him again.
I tried writing stories when I was even younger. I got a large spiral notebook and would decide on a name and what my character looked like, blah, blah and then nothing. I had no story; I tried to write about my life but I was boring, and I didn't know what to write that was interesting, and I got bored with it.
So in my 30s, I had come back to two loves that I left when I was young. In my youth, I gave up the idea that I would be a writer and I gave up on a legal profession. Now over 20 years later, I am doing both. I am doing them better than I could have during my naive youth and I'm grateful that my experiences stimulate my stories.
Now, I write or think about stories and then quickly write them down while I'm waiting at the traffic light, singing in church, spending time with my family, driving, waiting, and in the silence, I think about stories. I write my ideas down; I record my ideas, and I think about my ideas.
For me, I have to get the story down while it's fresh or it will evaporate. And when I have the time to put the story on the page, I usually have 20-30 records of ideas or scenes for the stories. Sometimes I listen to them if I've forgotten a part but most of the time, I 've been thinking about it and plotting the scenes that when I write it, it just flows out of me. I don't do much else but write. I stop begrudgingly to go to the restroom, to eat, to pick my kids up from school, to live beyond the story in my head.
April 24, 2016
The Bluebird (Caged Beauty Series, Book2): SPOILER ALERT
Writing the second book in this series has some positives and negatives. There are things that I want to do with the book, but I have to balance keeping the fans and readers interested along the way. So many readers fell in love with Alex along the way with Kathryn, and they eagerly anticipate their reunion in book 2. But I will hint to a spoiler that there is some unexpected good news that will bring them back together, it can't be accomplished so easily or else we'd all get bored with the story.
So when I wrote The Swallow, it was a stand-alone novel in the first draft and Kathryn and Alex did end up together. But I got bored with the progression of the story, and it seemed to be so tidy. I wanted more suspense and to draw out the relationship. But by drawing it out, I had to create separation and distance between the romantic couple. So I know the end goal for this novel, and I believe most of my readers will be very happy, but we have to go on the rollercoaster of thrills to get to the satisfying end. I struggle with the boundaries that my readers will accept without getting too pissed off with Kathryn or for that matter Alex. I don't know about you, but books that I love are books that are filled with characters the frustrate me, make me laugh and bring me emotionally along with them on their journey with the other characters. I do not usually love everything about my characters, it wouldn't be an accurate picture of a complex person, for the characters to have no flaws. But some flaws are fatal for readers. Some readers must not have screwed up as badly as I have because I can't write off characters for being selfish, spoiled, bitchy, adulterous, deceptive, and a whole host of other bad acts. Because I'm not perfect, my characters aren't' either.
I heard and excellent verse in church today from Proverbs about friendship:
Proverbs 27:6 "Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy." NIV
Relationships are messy, and we hurt each other, but that usually means we are invested, and care, easy and pampering only comes from those that don't care about you as a person. So my characters are sincere friends, and they hurt each other. They are real, they screw up, they are conflicted, they are selfish, and many times well-intentioned but act wrong.
Another spoiler is that I plan on including Alex's Point of View. I am still working out how it will occur if it will be in a few chapters or if I will include a separate book with just his perspective. But for those of you who LOVE Alex and want to know what he's thinking about when he looks at Kathryn when he leans down to kiss her when he wants to reach out and hold her, you'll get it. Just not sure how much you will get.
So when I wrote The Swallow, it was a stand-alone novel in the first draft and Kathryn and Alex did end up together. But I got bored with the progression of the story, and it seemed to be so tidy. I wanted more suspense and to draw out the relationship. But by drawing it out, I had to create separation and distance between the romantic couple. So I know the end goal for this novel, and I believe most of my readers will be very happy, but we have to go on the rollercoaster of thrills to get to the satisfying end. I struggle with the boundaries that my readers will accept without getting too pissed off with Kathryn or for that matter Alex. I don't know about you, but books that I love are books that are filled with characters the frustrate me, make me laugh and bring me emotionally along with them on their journey with the other characters. I do not usually love everything about my characters, it wouldn't be an accurate picture of a complex person, for the characters to have no flaws. But some flaws are fatal for readers. Some readers must not have screwed up as badly as I have because I can't write off characters for being selfish, spoiled, bitchy, adulterous, deceptive, and a whole host of other bad acts. Because I'm not perfect, my characters aren't' either.
I heard and excellent verse in church today from Proverbs about friendship:
Proverbs 27:6 "Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy." NIV
Relationships are messy, and we hurt each other, but that usually means we are invested, and care, easy and pampering only comes from those that don't care about you as a person. So my characters are sincere friends, and they hurt each other. They are real, they screw up, they are conflicted, they are selfish, and many times well-intentioned but act wrong.
Another spoiler is that I plan on including Alex's Point of View. I am still working out how it will occur if it will be in a few chapters or if I will include a separate book with just his perspective. But for those of you who LOVE Alex and want to know what he's thinking about when he looks at Kathryn when he leans down to kiss her when he wants to reach out and hold her, you'll get it. Just not sure how much you will get.
April 20, 2016
Howdy Girl
My first job out of school was at an advertising agency in downtown Austin. I started as an intern in my final year of school and they hired me to stay. I loved the work I did there but I wanted more responsibility and to be an account executive. My first job title was "Howdy Girl" and I hated it. I would rather have been called "Jr. Assistant" but no, my boss thought it was cute. Anyways, I have been writing down my thoughts for a new novel in more of a Chick-Lit genre from my experiences there. I have the basic premise down and have been fleshing out the first few scenes but as I think over what I've written, it sounds more of a romance than Chick-Lit. I need to develop it more to see if I can make it humorous but I may not be a humor writer. I love reading books that make me laugh and I love comedies but I'm not sure if that will translate into writing well in this area. I'm going to keep trying and maybe it will just be a romance, but I like the story as I'm taking notes.
