Marie August's Blog, page 4

Book Review: The Roommate by Carla Krae

Adorable, New Adult, Friends-to-Lovers Plot

The Roommate (West Coast Soulmates #3) by Carla Krae[image error]

Reading Level: New Adult
Release Date: April 19, 2016
Publisher: Willowick Publishing
Pages: 108 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Jessica has been living in L.A. the past three years since graduating from university, and during that time she has been happily reunited with her best friend since seventh grade, Rosalind, who had previously attended a different university than Jessica. Though they are quite close and enjoy each other's company, the two friends are very different. Jessica's idea of a good time on a Friday night after a long week as an office worker is to loll around on her couch, watching a movie on DVD while consuming popcorn, pizza and soda. Extroverted Rosalind, on the other hand, is much more of a party animal, and she's very rarely been able to convince Jessica to join her in her partying adventures.

Out of the blue one day Rosalind phones Jessica to call in their "BFF chip," a pact they made in middle school, the gist of which is that when the chip is called in, the BFF must agree to grant the requested favor as it is understood to be an absolute emergency. Rosalind is out of town and cannot keep her promise to pick up her brother Patrick at LA International Airport in an hour. He was only given three days notice to show up for his first real IT job since completing his masters degree in computer science, and her work schedule has made it impossible for her to keep her word. She also cannot offer him her couch to crash on for a few weeks until he can get his own place because her apartment building has been temporarily condemned and evacuated. She begs Jessica to also house her brother until Rosalind can help him make other arrangements.

Jessica hesitates only a moment before agreeing to everything. At the airport, a huge shock awaits her. It's been seven years since she last saw Patrick, just before she left for college, when he was 17 and she was 18. On the outside, the only thing familiar now about "little Ricky" is his curly, brown hair, his thick-framed glasses and his quiet, introverted demeanor. In the intervening years, he's grown half a foot, bulked up, and become a "hunk of hotness too yummy to be real." Not only that, Jessica soon discovers that he's an old-fashioned gentleman who is unfailingly considerate and polite, a fabulous cook, and a tidy and unobtrusive roommate. In other words, he's Mr. Ideal Man whom any young woman, most especially our heroine, would be ecstatic to date. Unfortunately, as her BFF's younger brother, he's forbidden fruit for Jessica. She's constantly worried that she will embarrass him and humiliate herself by failing to hide from him the drooling crush on him that she developed from the moment they met, a lustful fascination which only grows stronger with every enticing moment she spends with him.

This is a fairly short book, but it flows well and feels satisfying and complete. I really enjoyed Jessica and Patrick, who are both very sympathetic characters. I particularly liked Patrick. What a delightful change in a New Adult (NA) romance to encounter a metrosexual, Beta male as the hero! He has no tattoos, doesn't use foul language, is respectful of women, and absolutely is **not** a typical, promiscuous NA romantic hero. There is no sex scene in the book until the very end, and it is done with great sensitivity and is highly emotional rather than simply being crude. In other words, the sex works as it ideally ought to in a romance novel by contributing with deep emotion to the building romantic relationship. This, too, is very refreshing, since the vast percentage of NA romances seem to be nothing but a series of gratuitous, crude, sex scenes with very little plot holding them together.

It was also nice to read a NA romance set somewhere besides a university campus. There are no "F bombs" from any of the characters, and no wild, frat-boy type parties. In fact, there is only one scene in which the heroine gets drunk, and it is clearly a major aberration in her normal life. The hero in that situation is her designated driver and caretaker, and does not drink at all in the book.

Because this is a very short, contemporary romance, there were not a lot of subcharacters who existed beyond being simple "walk-on" characters with no lines. However, the subcharacters that are in the plot serve important purposes, such as Confidant and Antagonist, and they are well drawn.

This novel is written in first person point of view, past tense. Though most NA romance novels these days also give the hero's point of view, in this case, because the book is so short, not knowing what Patrick is thinking adds to Jessica's conflict and suspense about how he feels about her and as such, works well.

I am happy to report that this is a standalone novel with no cliffhanger ending. In fact, it is a classic romance novel in that there is a HEA (happily ever after) ending.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 4

Hero: 5

Subcharacters: 4

Setting: 4

Romance Plot: 4

Writing: 4

Overall: 4

Book Review: Stay by Emily Evans

A terrifically entertaining, young-adult romantic comedy

Stay by Emily Evans[image error]

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: November 20, 2016
Publisher: Emily Evans
Pages: 163 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Seventeen-year-old Mia is thrilled to discover that during most of her senior year in high school, she will be granted an unprecedented degree of personal freedom to party with her best friend and fellow cheerleader, Lauren. Her very conservative parents are setting out on a months-long, around-the-world cruise, and they have left her in the care of her 24-year-old, absent-minded, artist sister, Hope. When soon after her parents are on their way, Mia discovers that Hope will be moving in with her fabulously wealthy, and extremely take-charge, Greek boyfriend, Niko, she's more than willing to live alone at Hope's apartment. But neither Hope nor Niko will hear of this arrangement. Hope insists that it's her responsibility to supervise Mia, and Niko feels honor bound to assist Hope in a mission that Mia considers completely unnecessary. The last thing she wants is a second babysitter who is much more wide-awake than Hope. The decision is taken out of her hands, however, when Niko sends in a whole team of movers and whisks the sisters to his place, an enormous mansion that seems more like a palace to Mia than a home.

As a consolation prize for his high-handedness, Niko informs Hope and Mia that his sister, Sacha, who will be a senior like Mia, is withdrawing from the British boarding school she's attended for years, is coming to live with Niko, and will attend Mia's school, Trallwyn High School in Texas. Mia is intrigued at the possibility of gaining a new girlfriend and begins a lively, anticipatory correspondence with Sacha via email and text. Sacha proves to be a witty and fascinating girl, and Mia is very much looking forward to spending time with the lively Sacha, who will be sharing a suite of rooms with her in Niko's mansion. But on the day of Sacha's arrival, Mia and Hope are utterly shocked to discover that Niko has misled them. His "sister" is actually a brother. And what a brother! He's six-foot-two, with an athletic physique, a gorgeous face, and his name is Alexander.

Alexander has two nicknames, Alexi, and another name only used by his closest family members--Sacha.

This book is a terrific, PG, romantic romp by talented YA author, Emily Evans. Alexei and Mia are very sympathetic protagonists and make a wonderful couple. There are also many quirky subcharacters, and I especially enjoyed the odd-couple of Niko and Hope.

Adult romance readers (and about 60% of the audience for YA novels are drawn from this demographic, including myself) who have read Harlequin Presents novels will enjoy a really fun, comic homage to the rich, Greek, alpha hero so often found in HP novels.

As is always the case with Ms. Evans's YA novels, the heroine is a virgin, and there is no underage sex. However, the author does a fabulous job creating really enthralling sensuality and sexual chemistry between the attractive and pleasing hero and heroine while offering only hand-holding, sunscreen applications to each other's backs, and a few heated kisses. This is a rather remarkable achievement, and quite refreshing in a romance-novel universe extremely overpopulated with boringly explicit sex scenes that too often substitute heaving body parts for real emotion.

I would have rated this book G, but due to some underage drinking and the definitely sensual tone of many scenes, I would say it rather leans more toward PG.

By the way, I purchased this book in Kindle format, and as is the case with every one of Ms. Evans's books (I own them all), it is well formatted and designed, with zero editing errors. The same cannot be said for many mainstream-published Kindle books these days, particularly from the above-mentioned Harlequin lines.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Romance Plot: 4

Comedic Elements: 4

Writing: 4

Overall: 4.5 stars rounded to 5 stars

Book Review: Cart Princess by Kristina Springer

If you enjoy YA chicklit, you will like this book

Cart Princess by Kristina Springer[image error]

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: January 30, 2014
Pages: 18 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

On her very first day of work at her small-town grocery store, fifteen-year-old Ronnie develops a gigantic crush Nick, a good-looking teenage coworker in the produce department. Gregarious Ronnie seeks advice from various fellow grocery baggers and even adult customers on how to snag Nick's attention. Unfortunately, Ronnie is soon informed by older members of the staff that there is a workplace taboo about coworkers from different departments in the store dating. Ronnie considers this a ridiculous rule and refuses to let it impede her numerous comic attempts to catch Nick's eye.

This is a light-hearted, YA, chick lit romp. It is G-rated and suitable for all ages.

Note that this is not a romantic comedy. It is a typical "dating disasters" chick lit comedy.

I rate this story as follows:

Heroine: 4

Subcharacters: 4

Chick Lit Plot: 4

Writing: 4

Overall: 4

Book Review: Not Always a Saint by Mary Jo Putney

Action-packed historical romance

Not Always a Saint (The Lost Lords, #7) by Mary Jo Putney[image error]

Reading Level: Adult Romance
Release Date: August 25, 2015
Publisher: Zebra
Pages: 352 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Daniel Herbert lost the love of his life many years ago, a young woman who died before they could marry. He has since lived a life dedicated to service as a doctor and a vicar. As a man with no worldly ambition, he finds it an obnoxious burden when he unexpectedly inherits a barony. He decides the solution to his problem is to enter a marriage of convenience with a very capable woman who will take over his new worldly responsibilities so that he can continue with his true calling as a doctor.

Jezebel (Jessie) Kelham is a young widow who hoped to avoid ever marrying again after terrible past experiences with brutal men, but her late husband's cruel and avaricious nephew threatens to take her daughter from her in order to gain control of her inheritance, and the only way available for her to protect her daughter is to find a man of substance to marry.

These two wounded souls embark on a marriage in which they can both offer each other something practical that they desperately need, but neither has any idea that an utterly impractical, explosive passion will spark between them, undermining everything they thought they knew about themselves and marriage itself.

This is an exciting pairing of two very sympathetic protagonists. As we fans of the talented Ms. Putney have come to expect over the many years of her prolific career, this novel contains a very strong and determined heroine and a compelling hero. In addition, the historical details of the story are woven seamlessly into an exciting plot with lots of "woman in peril" moments from a dark villain.

Though this is the seventh book in the Lost Lords series, and it can be read as a standalone, the rest of the series is highly recommended as well.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Romance Plot: 5

Setting: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

Absolutely wonderful!!

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews[image error]

Reading Level: Adult Romance
Release Date: November 13, 2015
Publisher: NYLA
Pages: 315 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

This is the second book in the fabulous, self-published, Innkeeper series. I raced through it in one sitting. I simply could not stand to put it down, and I was left at the end feeling sadness it was over, but complete satisfaction at the resolution of the plot, and a sense of complete awe at the never-ending talent of this amazing writing duo. Fans of Ilona Andrews will be ecstatic at this latest addition to their ever-growing list of urban fantasy books.

Dina DeMille is in her mid-20's, and she runs a excitingly magical Bed and Breakfast which is a way station for interplanetary travel. Her inn resides in a reality beyond Earth's laws of physics, and her cute, fluffy dog can transform into a dangerous monster who rabidly defends her as needed. Her inn is in desperate need of more guests, besides its sole inhabitant, a former Galactic despot responsible for the massacre of millions. This is not only necessary for Dina's bottom line, but the magic within the inn feeds on the magic of its guests to not only thrive but for its very survival. Thus, when an intergalactic Arbitrator shows up at Dina's door with an offer for her to host a peace summit between three warring species from a distant planet, even though all other innkeepers on Earth have refused this disastrous conference, Dina can't afford to pass up this lucrative offer, gambling that she will keep violence from breaking out, which would destroy the reputation of her inn.

This second book in the Innkeeper series, in addition to inserting multiple, familiar, beloved characters from book 1, introduces some new, extremely colorful characters, and reintroduces some beloved characters from another Ilona Andrews series. I won't create a spoiler by saying exactly who the latter characters are, but I will say that, personally, they are some of my most beloved Andrews characters of all time, and I was utterly delighted to run into them here.

The book is filled with laugh-out-loud humor, a great deal of emotional warmth, and lots of action. As always, Andrews creates a highly sympathetic, determined, strong heroine. Dana is simply wonderful, and I can't wait to read more of this series and her continuing adventures.

This book has recently come out in audiobook format, and after reading it in Kindle format, I'm going to turn right around and listen to both this book and book 1 in audio format, as well, because they are narrated by the fabulous Renee Raudman, who narrates all of the Andrews books so far.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Worldbuilding: 5

Action-Adventure Plot: 5

Romantic Subplot: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: Love in an Elevator: A Romantic Comedy Anthology by Whitney Dineen, Aven Ellis, et al

Cute collection of romantic comedy novellas

Love in an Elevator: A Romantic Comedy Anthology by Whitney Dineen, Aven Ellis, et al[image error]

Reading Level: Adult Romance
Release Date: July 20, 2016
Pages: 359 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

This is a cute collection of romantic comedy novellas. All the stories are a fun read, but in my humble opinion, as a huge fan of romantic comedy, one story in particular is truly outstanding, and it alone is worth the very reasonable price of the book, which I bought in Kindle format:

GOING UP? by Whitney Dineen

Fiona Kitchen moves to the Big Apple to expand her spa business to a new and more prosperous location, but instead of making the contacts that lead to fulfilling her dream, she ends up running all over New York with her portable massage table offering at-home massages to grumpy customers until the day the ultimate in bad customers, a rude old lady in a ritzy apartment building, tops off her dismissive attitude toward Fiona throughout the massage by refusing to pay her. The only silver lining of that rock-bottom moment comes when she's offered a job in that same posh building as an elevator operator. The pay is good, but she's forced to wear a bizarre uniform like something out of a 1950's movie. Her life gets increasingly complicated when she begins to fall in a big way for a gorgeous handyman updating the penthouse apartment in the building, and her life may actually be in danger when a notorious mob boss makes her an offer she can't refuse--to give him a massage in a huge, dilapidated warehouse he owns on the wrong side of town.

This story is an absolutely hilarious, chick-lit type romance. I laughed out loud numerous times. I loved the heroine, got a real kick out of her quirky mother and grandmother, and the mob boss turned out to be a huge comic surprise in the plot. The hero is both sexy and adorable and a great match for the wise-cracking heroine.

I rate this story as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Subcharacters: 5

Romance Plot: 5

Chick Lit Plot: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: Dating on the Dork Side by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance

Terrific YA, girl-power chick lit!

Dating on the Dork Side by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance[image error]

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: November 25, 2015
Publisher: Collins Mark Books
Pages: 334 pages
Source: Library
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Camy Cavanaugh loved playing football as the only girl on the boys' football team until a knee injury sidelined her permanently. In the three years since then, she has attempted to fill her life with her beloved volunteer job as a peer tutor--in a classroom at her high school with a bird's eye view of the football team and the boy she had a huge crush on in middle school, quarterback Gavin Madison, who hasn't talked to her since her injury. In addition to being an excellent tutor, Camy has better than average computer skills, though not as much as her computer-genius best friend, and she uses these skills to access a secret website populated with girl-bashing members of the football team. When Camy passes on information about this website to the most popular girl in school, a cheerleader and Gavin's current girlfriend, it becomes a trigger for a battle of the sexes that Camy is reluctantly drawn into the middle of.

I'm not normally a fan of chick lit, whether adult or teen versions, but this is one of the best I've ever read, for the primary reason that it is both "girl power" and "girls united" in its major themes. Instead of a cliche "Mean Girl" cheerleader persecuting the "geeky" heroine, they become part of a team of four girls, none of which, in the normal course of events, would have ever been friends because they are very different. In fact, they are so different, it rather reminds me of the unlikely band of female friends in the popular TV series of a few years ago, "Army Wives."

Generally speaking, the central premise of YA chick lit is the exact opposite of the central premise of romance. Chick lit encourages girls to believe that romance is a barrier to making their most important life goals happen, that romance reduces you to something less than you can be. In contrast, the central ideal of romance is the idea of finding a true friend and task partner in life, a pairing that expands the possibilities of both partners and makes each far larger in character and accomplishment than would be possible if they were not together. Fascinatingly, this book takes these opposite contentions and satisfies both of them in one story in an extremely well-written and satisfying way. In fact, I'd say the book is brilliantly written.

I rate this book as follows:

Main Heroine: 4

Subcharacters (Female Cohort): 5

Main Male Romantic Interest: 4

Secondary Male Romantic Interests: 5

Chick Lit Plot: 5

Romance Subplots: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: All Laced Up by Erin Fletcher

G-rated, young adult sports romance

All Laced Up by Erin Fletcher[image error]

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: October 10, 2016
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Budding hockey star, Pierce Miller, has a sizeable following, in person and online, but Lia Bailey is far from one of his fans. In fact, she thinks he's an arrogant jerk. They are both seventeen and have been in the same school and used the same ice rink for over a decade, but he doesn't even know her name. Lia wouldn't have minded never getting to know Pierce up close and personal at all, but fate has another plan in mind. The two of them are asked to share the responsibility of teaching a skating class to young children in order to save their beloved ice rink from bankruptcy, and extended close proximity to Pierce reveals a sensitive side of him that Lia never imagined possible.

I adore a good YA sports romance, especially when both the hero and heroine are talented athletes. In this story, not only is the hero Pierce being scouted to play professional hockey, but the heroine Lia is well on her way to becoming an Olympic-caliber figure skater. The hero is especially sympathetic as he compassionately cares for his disabled little brother. I also especially enjoyed the central, romantic plot device of them growing to be friends on two levels, in person, and in private chat sessions on a sports forum online where Lia, in the guise of an anonymous poster with a fake screen name, offers him hockey advice, which she learned from her deceased stepfather, a hockey superstar.

I am delighted to report that there are no scenes with drinking, drugs, sex, or any house-destroying, wild parties. There are no Mean Girl cheerleaders, and no Mean Boy sports stars. The hero has no tattoos, and there is no indication he has ever been promiscuous. What a concept! It's always great, and far too uncommon these days, to discover a YA novel minus the endlessly copied John Hughes movie tropes from the 1980's.

As an additional surprise, the hero and heroine actually eat a healthy diet due to their coaches telling them lousy food produces a lousy sports performance. What a pleasant change from endlessly boring repetition in YA novels of teen protagonists gorging on pizza, chips, burgers, and sugary treats.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 4

Hero: 5

Romance Plot: 4

Sports Plot: 4

Writing: 4

Overall: 4

Book Review: First Star I See Tonight by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Review of Audiobook

First Star I See Tonight (Chicago Stars #8) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips[image error]

Reading Level: Adult Romance
Release Date: June 27, 2017
Publisher: HarperAudio; Unabridged edition
Length: 9 CDs
Source: Library
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narrator, Nicole Poole, is truly outstanding. She does male and female voices of all ages extremely well.

Piper Dove recently purchased from her stepmother, at an unreasonably exorbitant price, the PI agency that belonged to her newly deceased father. He raised her, as an only child, as if she were his son and his clone. She was never to complain or cry over anything bad that happened to her, and he trained her to be extremely well versed in every form of self-defense, including firearms, because her mother was murdered when she was a child, and he wanted her to be able to survive any threat. However, in his drive to keep her safe, he refused to support her dream to follow in his footsteps and be a PI like him, because it is sometimes a dangerous profession. Thus, with extreme frustration, until this moment, she has worked for years as a website designer. Nearly broke and desperate to establish herself as a hotshot PI, she is delighted and massively relieved when she snags a major coup of an assignment from a very rich businesswoman, which comes with the promise that, if she succeeds, that this woman will offer many more equally lucrative assignments in the future. Piper is to follow retired football star, Cooper Graham, all over their home town of Chicago, learning everything about his personal integrity because the rich businesswoman is contemplating investing in an expansion of Cooper's local, trendy nightclub into a chain of similar nightclubs around the country. Unfortunately for Piper, in spite of her great ingenuity employing multiple disguises, Cooper is much too observant. He recognizes her as the same person he has seen in his wake all over town. He confronts her and threatens to report her to the police as a stalker.

I was personally disappointed that, once again, SEP has opted in this book to avoid doing what she most excels at, a main plot of romantic comedy with snappy repartee, and a subplot based on a down-and-out, alienated, spunky heroine forming wonderful, warm-hearted relationships with former friends or strangers who start out resenting or even outright disliking her, but who ultimately evolve into forming with the heroine a close, loving, family of affiliation. Instead, as she has the last couple of books, SEP has once again opted to venture into the murky waters of romantic suspense, which is not her forte, and not what her fans most enjoy.

Having said all that, however, I freely admit that SEP is so talented that, no matter what she writes, her romance novels are better than 80% of contemporary romance writers out there, either indie or mainstream. However, when she opts to play to her strengths, she is capable of writing within the top 99-percentile. My question is, why write at B-minus level when you are capable of writing at A-plus level?

I hope very much that in the future she chooses to return to her strengths once again.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 3

Hero: 3

Subcharacters: 3

Romance Plot: 4

Suspense Plot: 3

Subcharacters: 3

Rescue Subplot: 3

Epilogue: 3

Overall Writing: 4

Narration of Audiobook: 5

Overall: 3.5 rounded to 4

Book Review: The Pepper Jones Collection by Ali Dean

First three books of a five-book YA/NA series

The Pepper Jones Collection by Ali Dean[image error]

Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: June 15, 2015
Pages: 665 Kindle pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Sixteen-year-old Pepper Jones loves running, and she's fantastic at it, even though she's only been running a little over two years. In fact, she's well on her way to achieving her goal to become a national cross-country champion this year, while still a junior in high school. The only thing complicating her life is her long-term crush on her best friend, seventeen-year-old senior, Jace Wilder. They've been neighbors since they were toddlers. Pepper's parents died in a car accident when she was a baby, and Jace's mother deserted him and his father when he was four. Pepper's grandmother, Bunny, became her guardian, and she became Jace's chidlcare provider, too, when he lost his mother. Pepper regarded Jace in a sisterly light until the summer Pepper was thirteen and Jace was fourteen, and she suddenly became aware of how gorgeous he had become--and the unsettling reality that girls were flocking around him, vying for his attention, many of them physically pawing him in the process.

Unfortunately for Pepper, the odds of her ever being more than a little sister to Jace are slim to none. He's never flirted with her or in any way indicated that he has any romantic interest in her.

I already owned the first book in this series when I purchased this collection. It is a very cost-effective way of obtaining the first three books in the series, which occur while Pepper is still in high school. The final two books are New Adult rather than Young Adult and occur while she is in college.

In the sequels to the first book, I continue to enjoy the portions of Pepper's story relating to her experiences as a runner. I love female-centric, YA sports stories. I am less enthralled by the ongoing soap-opera-ish trials of her main romantic relationship with a classic YA/NA "man whore" hero and the inclusion of a romantic triangle, which I normally do not enjoy. However, I will not grade down these three books for that reason since many fans of YA and NA romance do not find that sort of thing a deterrent to their enjoyment and many mainstream authors offer the same type of romantic interest (see especially Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally).

I rate these three books of the Pepper series as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 3

Sports Plot: 5

Romance Plot: 3

Writing: 4

Overall: 4