Marie August's Blog, page 7
January 17, 2014
Book Review: Without a Clue by Trish Jensen
Delightful comedy of errors Without a Clue by Trish Jensen
Reading Level: Adult Romance
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Special Releases
Pages: 224 pages
Source: Author Request
Reviewed By:Kate McMurry
Event planner, Meg Renshaw, has never hosted a mystery weekend before, but it seems like a sure thing to set it within an enormous, atmospheric, antebellum mansion on a Charleston plantation. Unfortunately, the project is plagued with problems from the start, most disastrous being when the actor hired to play the murder victim passes out from root-canal pain pills before it is time for him to become a corpse. As if that wasn't bad enough, handsome, wealthy Matt Rossi shows up and announces he is the new owner of the property. He claims that Meg's contract to use his home is invalid, and he demands that she and her guests leave at once. Meg exercises every bit of patience and charm she possesses to change Matt's mind, and he is unable to resist her. He hasn't been this intensely attracted to a woman in his life, and his insistence on staying on to supervise the mystery weekend is as much about connecting with Meg as it is about protecting his home. Meg immediately takes advantage of his presence to further persuade Matt to join the cast of her flamboyant production in the role of the dead man. Once again, he gives into her, because Meg plays the part of his character's mistress and there is at least one bedroom scene before his character is murdered.
This is a really cute romantic comedy which uses the ever-green plot of the spontaneous, seat-of-her-pants heroine loosening up a straight-laced, workaholic hero. The setting in a Southern plantation house is unusual and fascinating, and the concept of a mystery weekend is also quite unique, is extremely well done, and provides endless opportunities for comedy-of-errors hysteria.
As for the romance between Meg and Matt, they are highly sympathetic protagonists who have terrific chemistry, and their repartee is wonderful.
All in all, this book is a major treat for fans of romantic comedy, and I strongly recommend it.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Hero: 5
Setting: 5
Romance Plot: 5
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
January 16, 2014
Book Review: Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill
Fun, YA, girl-power, trading-places, sports story Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: January 7, 2014
Pages: 354 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Amazon Vine
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Sloane Emily Jacobs is the sixteen-year-old daughter of a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C. She has been burned out on figure skating since she fell in a major competition three years ago, but her mother wants her to make a comeback by attending an ice-skating camp in Montreal, Canada which will consume eight weeks of Sloane's summer break. Sloane seeks out her father at his office to gain his support in foiling her mother's plan and stumbles upon him in an amorous embrace with his young, beautiful press secretary. Suddenly all Sloane ggj is to get out of town.
Sloane Devon Jacobs is the sixteen-year-old daughter of a working-class family from Philadelphia. Her mother is an alcoholic currently in court-mandated rehab; her father is struggling with losing his wife, and Sloane has put her painful feelings of abandonment on hold by making hockey her whole life. Unfortunately, her game is a mess because she keeps getting into fights with her team members, and she freezes up every time she has a clear shot at the puck to make a goal. Her coach warns her that her chances for a college, hockey scholarship will go up in smoke if she doesn't get her act together. In order to make that more possible, he uses his personal connections to get her a spot at a prestigious hockey camp in Montreal.
The two Sloans meet by chance at a hotel in Montreal, and impulsively agree to trade places for the summer, since both have a similar need to avoid the stressful pressure to succeed at their particular sport.
Anyone who enjoys stories where two protagonists switch places (such as The Parent Trap, The Prince and the Pauper, and Trading Places) will enjoy this novel. And those who are fans of young-adult, girl-power, sports stories will be particularly pleased. There are also family-dysfunction subplots for both of the heroines which will be appreciated by readers who like YA family drama.
My favorite parts of the book involve the skating scenes. They are extremely well done and often quite exciting. There are also excellent romantic subplots, with each of the two young women finding very appealing romantic partners in Montreal.
The main trading-places plot is based in several major coincidences, and there are additional coincidences strewn throughout the novel. However, since the author consistently employs coincidence to cause conflict rather than to conveniently solve problems, it is easy to overlook that literary device because it results in such a fun story.
Both of the Sloanes are sympathetic and intriguing heroines, and I loved that each are clearly outstanding athletes. I liked that their love interests were both athletes as well, and that these guys were supportive and sensitive, rather than merely well-muscled alpha males.
The setting of Montreal is very well done, adding to the unique appeal of this story. It is great to discover a YA novel that has not a single scene set in a high school. In addition, the writing in general is excellent.
This story is a "clean read," suitable for all ages. There is no underage drinking, smoking, wild parties or sex.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book through Amazon Vine.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroines: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Girl-Power Sports Plot:
Romance Subplots: 5
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
January 12, 2014
Book Review: The Transient by M.W. Russell
Excellent, YA paranormal romance with ghosts The Transient (The Castle Trilogy #1) by M.W. Russell
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Pages: 232 pages
Source: Copy from Author
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Melodie Gibson was born in New Zealand, but traveled all over the world with her surfer father and most recently lived in Australia. Her father and her deceased mother both came from wealthy families, but neither cared for the outer trappings of wealth, and certainly had no interest in offering Melodie a stable, middle-class upbringing. Melodie loves her father, who is easy-going, adventurous, and truly fond of her, too, but she's always wished they could settle down. Then suddenly, her wish unexpectedly comes true when her father inherits a bed and breakfast in upper New York State that has been in his family for 150 years, and is so enormous, it is rightfully called Heartworth Castle. Melodie soon learns that the castle has a reputation with the locals for being haunted, a rumor that she is amazed to discover is actually quite true when she encounters a handsome, teenage ghost on the property.
The author has included information in her blurb about this book which I myself would have considered a "spoiler," but since she has offered it herself, I will include it here as well: "THE TRANSIENT is the first installment in the completed 'Castle Trilogy' which creates an original mythology with roots in classical and biblical literature, where the afterlife is as complicated as the present, and the rules are just as hard to follow. It centres around Melodie, a socially awkward teenager, and Joseph, a 'Transient ghost' who can take human form and who was murdered by a spurned love in the latter stages of the Civil War. No one is supposed to be able to see Joseph--but Melodie Gibson does. This unexplained contact sparks a passionate romance between the two. As Mel settles into her new American home and begins making mortal friends, she falls for Joseph, but not before the Governance and some old enemies of Joseph's begin to materialize against them. Apparently, not everyone is happy about their new found love."
Generally, in romance fiction, when the heroine falls in love with a ghost, there are two possible endings of the story if it is to be a traditional, HEA (happily ever after) romance: (1) The ghost hero comes back to life (there are strong hints this possibility exists within the magic of this story's fictional world), (2) the heroine dies, either in her youth or in old age, and becomes a ghost and joins with the hero in the afterlife (this version has rarely been done). Neither of these possibilities occurs in this book, but I did not expect it to, because this is a trilogy, and if there is to be a HEA, it will occur at the end of the third book. At any rate, the main source of surprise in HEA romance is not in how the story ends, but the journey of the romance itself. In a trilogy like this, the journey of the romance is expanded across three books, rather than one book in the case of a stand-alone novel.
In this, book 1 of the trilogy, the author establishes her magical world, which contains a rather unique approach to ghosts and the mythology surrounding them. In addition, she has offered an important element frequently found in young-adult fiction, a coterie of friends who serve as companions and allies to the heroine. The three friends in this story, two girls and a boy, are all seventeen like Melodie, and they are convincingly portrayed appropriate to their age.
The setting is also quite unusual and interesting in this novel, with a Gothic castle for the heroine's home. The heroine's Australian background and unusual (to an American) use of English adds a fascinating element to the story as well.
Melodie is a strong, sympathetic heroine, and Joseph is a wonderful hero. I really enjoyed their relationship, especially the magical elements related to Joseph's ghostly powers. The two of them have a great deal of unsupervised time together and this, combined with the fact that Joseph is capable of physically expressing his affection for Melodie, adds an intriguing element of sensuality to the story. However, much as Meg Cabot did in her ghostly Mediator series, this author has chosen to keep her story a "clean read," with no sexuality beyond kissing and hugs between Melodie and Joseph.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Romantic Hero: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Fantasy World-Building Plot: 5
Romance Plot: 5
Mystery Plot: 4
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
January 6, 2014
Book Review: Notable by Marni Bates
Book 3 of the YA, chick-lit, Awkward series Notable (Smith High #3) by Marni Bates
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Publisher: Kensington Books
Pages: 273 pages
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
Reviewed By:Kate McMurry
Chelsea Halloway reigns supreme at her high school, but her home life is a shambles due to her parents' going through a vicious divorce. In addition, her mother frequently belittles Chelsea's intelligence, and it's impossible for her to avoid taking those cutting comments seriously because Chelsea's boyfriend recently dumped her for the smartest girl in school. Then, as if her life wasn't already in bad enough shape, Chelsea's parents decide to ship her off to Cambodia for a study-abroad trip. Chelsea is completely out of her element, not only because it is a foreign country whose language she doesn't speak, but because everyone else on the trip is a college student. Worst of all, their group runs afoul of a dangerous drug lord, and it's clear to Chelsea that the professor in charge of their trip isn't capable of saving them. It's up to her to figure out a way to get them all out of the country alive.
This is the third book in the young-adult, chick-lit, Awkward series. It has a hugely different focus than the first two books, not merely because the protagonist is the quintessential "Mean Girl" who has been an unlikeable antagonist in the first two books, but also because the setting is completely different. Rather than occurring in the familiar YA setting of a typical high school in the United States, it takes place in an exotic, foreign country, and the story includes elements of action-adventure, rather than the non-dangerous, chick-lit, comedy of errors offered in the rest of this series. There is still plenty of humor, though, and Chelsea is a sympathetic heroine because she grows tremendously in this story, demonstrating a great deal of moral and physical courage under very trying circumstances.
There is a romantic subplot in this book, but the main focus is "girl power," as is the case for both of the other books in this series. Overall, this is an amusing and endearing chick lit novel, and anyone who enjoys that type of comedy will find this an entertaining read.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Chick-Lit Plot: 5
Action-Adventure Plot: 4
Romantic Subplot: 5
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
December 31, 2013
Book Review: Isn't She Lovely by Lauren Layne
Fantastic, NA romantic comedy!Isn't She Lovely by Lauren Layne
Reading Level: New Adult
Release Date: October 28, 2013
Publisher: Flirt
Pages: 243 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
When Stephanie Kendrick, a 20-year-old college senior, signed up for a summer screenwriting course with a famous screenwriter at NYU, she didn't anticipate being saddled with a partner for the project that will provide the entire source of her grade for the class, a screenplay based on the myth of Pygmalion.
Ethan Price, Stephanie's assigned partner, is a senior at NYU like her, but he couldn't be more different from her in his background and life choices. Where Stephanie is a film major with a middle-class upbringing whose approach to fashion is classic, tortured-artist Goth, Ethan is a business major from an ultra-rich family who looks like a GQ cover model. The two of them trade barbs from the moment they meet, colliding in the corridor outside their screenwriting classroom on the first day of summer school. Stephanie dreads working with Ethan, whom she regards as a feckless frat boy who will torpedo her grade point average, and she is shocked when, seemingly out of the blue, Ethan begs her to act as his real, live Pygmalion. He needs a fake girlfriend for multiple upcoming family events to convince his parents that he is never going to get back together with his cheating ex-girlfriend--a rich, polished beauty from Ethan's social circle. Stephanie initially resists the appalling notion of forsaking her own avant-garde identity to become Ethan's personal, dress-up Barbie doll in sweater sets and pearls, until it occurs to her that the masquerade will provide invaluable hands-on research to increase the authenticity of their mutual screenplay.
I was thrilled to discover this novel because I am a huge fan of romantic comedy, something that is almost non-existent in the relatively new romance subgenre, New Adult, which so far tends almost exclusively toward very dark drama. Even more delightful is the fact that the humor in this story extensively derives from the clever repartee between Stephanie and Ethan, as well as the ever-green romance plot of a fake romantic relationship, which is one of my comic favorites. Delightfully, the witty banter extends throughout the novel, a humorous feat that is extremely difficult for authors of romantic comedy to sustain.
I also greatly enjoyed reading a NA novel with a hero who has not a single piercing or tattoo on his body, and whose romantic history includes only one lover within a long-term relationship rather than an endless string of one-night stands emblematic of the cliche "man whore." Ethan in specific is a fabulous hero. He can be overconfident to the point of being egotistical, but he is also quick witted, attentively observant, and compassionate.
Stephanie is also a terrific heroine. She has strong goals and motivation, and she has a significant growth arc within the story. Her angst in the dark periods of the book is never whiny, and her relationship choices, in her family and romantic past, make sense given her history and personality.
There is plenty of sexual tension between the two attractive protagonists, but the sexual scenes are never graphic or crude and, again unlike the vast majority of NA novels in the marketplace so far, this novel does not consist of an endless string of erotic sex scenes. The emphasis is on the hero and heroine's mental and emotional connection, with a gradual movement from semi-enemies to friends occurring before any sexual acts are initiated.
In short, this is an absolute treasure of a romance novel, and fans of romance in general and romantic comedy in particular will be utterly delighted.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Hero: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Romance Plot: 5
Comedy: 5
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
December 22, 2013
Book Review: Love the One You're With by Lauren Layne
Terrific romantic comedyLove the One You're With (Sex, Love, and Stiletto #1) by Lauren Layne
Reading Level: Adult Romance
Release Date: December 9, 2013
Publisher: Loveswept
Pages: 271 pages
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Twenty-nine-year-old Grace Brighton recently broke up with her boyfriend of nine years, when she caught him cheating on her. As a result of the breakup, she lost not only her faith in men, but a much more comfy lifestyle in hyper-expensive New York City than she can afford on her salary alone as an editor for the women's magazine, Stiletto. Not that Grace actually has to live only on what she herself can earn, since she comes from a very wealthy family, but Grace is a self-sufficient woman who prefers to make her own way.
On her first day returning to work after an extended leave of absence to lick her wounds, Grace is running late and is forced to take a cab to work instead of the subway. A gorgeous man, obviously making the walk of shame after an overnight sexual adventure, is flagging down a cab at the same time as Grace and gallantly offers the cab to her--or so she thinks, until he climbs in after her. The two of them immediately begin a verbal sparring match, and the attraction between them is instant and obviously mutual, but Grace leaps out of the cab before any phone numbers can be exchanged, determined to keep to her vow to avoid dating for at least six months and turn all her attention to her job.
Unfortunately, Grace's no-men vow is immediately tossed overboard by her very first assignment. Her editor has accepted an offer from the new owner of Oxford, a men's magazine along the lines of GQ, to create a series of "he said, she said" stories written by Grace, as the dating expert from Stiletto, and her male counterpart at Oxford. Each will write his/her version of events occurring during a series of pre-arranged dates between the two of them. The dates themselves, and the write-ups afterward, are to be pursued as a competition to determine which of the two of them is best at the game of dating. Grace's dislike of the assignment turns to dismay when the journalist assigned to partner with her, against all odds, is revealed to be the impudent hunk she met that very morning in her cab.
Jake Malone is in his early thirties and has worked at Oxford for six years. He never thought he'd stay in one place this long, and he is extremely restless. Prior to the current owner taking charge, it was understood by arrangement with his former boss that he was to become Oxford's travel editor. Aggravatingly, the new owner is only willing to conditionally keep that promise. Jake first must take one for the home team and successfully demonstrate that the Oxford editors are not the insensitive, sexist clods that women believe them to be by proving himself to understand women far better than the female editor from Stiletto understands men. Jake thinks the whole idea of the competition is ridiculous, but he does love the company of women and considers himself something of an expert on them, so he believes winning this competition is in the bag for him, and if it will guarantee him the job he wants, he agrees to cooperate with his editor's stunt. But Jake's initial reluctance turns to excited interest when the beautiful woman he recently, and extremely memorably, encountered in a cab shows up at the first date, dressed like a high-class hooker, and even more filled with snappy comebacks than she was when he connected with her the first time.
I had not read the initial book in this series before reading this one, but this book quite comfortably stands on its own, and I did not feel as if I were missing any important context necessary to follow the story. I did, however, enjoy this book so much that I have since sought out not only book one in this series but everything else this extremely talented author has written.
Grace is a highly sympathetic heroine, and Jake is a terrific hero. Both are strong, independent, and very verbally adept. I am a huge fan of romantic comedy, and my absolute favorite aspect of it is when the hero and heroine trade witty barbs, as occurs so entertainingly in this book. I also love relationship-of-convenience stories, and this is a particularly well done one.
As is common in traditional, "happily ever after," adult, romantic fiction (as opposed to young-adult romance), we get to experience both the hero and heroine's point of view. This allows us to get to know both of them really well. Underneath each of their crusty exteriors, they have a lot in common, such as intelligence, compassion and loyalty, and they are equally ambitious in their careers. The sexual chemistry between them is explosive, and the development of their relationship from antagonists to friends and then to lovers is extremely well done.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Hero: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Romance Plot: 5
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book through NetGalley.
December 20, 2013
Book Review: The Kissing Deadline by Emily Evans
Terrific YA romantic comedyThe Kissing Deadline by Emily Evans
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: July 27, 2012
Pages: 146 pages
Source: Purchase
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Fans of "putting on a play" young-adult comedies, such as Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List
by Janette Rallison, classic John Hughes teen comedies such as Sixteen Candles
from 1984, or the adult romantic comedy movie, You've Got Mail
, will greatly enjoy this fast, fun comedy of errors.
Cassie is an almost-sixteen sophomore who has never been kissed, mainly because, as a shy introvert, she's never dated. Her two best friends insist it's past time for her to launch herself into the world of dating, and they set a deadline that before she turns sixteen in a few weeks, she must kiss a high school boy. Ideally, it would be someone she is attracted to and is dating, but her friends proclaim that being kissed is the paramount necessity, and they have a ten-step plan for accomplishing the goal of shoving Cassie out of her shell.
When they announce their mission to Cassie, it immediately becomes obvious to her friends that though Cassie is at the Volkswagen (or even motor scooter) level of the school's social hierarchy, she has Ferrari tastes. Gorgeous, popular Ryan is, even as a sophomore, one of the hottest guys in school, way out of Cassie's league, and she's had a hopeless crush on him for ages. Not only doesn't he even know she's alive, he has a girlfriend, a cheerleader named Amber who is Cassie's complete opposite. She's as good-looking and outgoing as Ryan, a co-equal member of the school's elite, and her family is almost as prosperous as his. What Ryan doesn't seem to realize, though, is a major flaw in Amber that is glaringly evident to everyone else at school--she doesn't know the meaning of fidelity, as she blatantly cheats on him with multiple boys.
As part of their plan to put Cassie where she has a chance to interact with kissable boys, her friends urge Cassie to try out for the school play, something her BFF's do every year and Cassie never has. No one is surprised when Ryan wins the male lead and Amber is selected as his leading lady, and Cassie is relieved that she herself is only offered a small, non-speaking part. But unfortunately for her issues with shyness, Cassie is also chosen as Amber's understudy. Because of Amber's flakiness about showing up for play practice, the director commands Cassie to take Amber's place, and she's overwhelmed by the simultaneously thrilling and terrifying experience of acting the part of Ryan's beloved on stage.
This is an extremely cute story that is a terrific combination of chick-lit-style, comic, relationship disasters and sweetly sexy romance. Cassie is the classic, naive heroine, and Ryan is a fascinating combination of socially savvy male and seemingly clueless cuckold. In the midst of the comedy, though, Ryan's motivation for staying loyal to his unfaithful girlfriend is carefully and believably exposed.
In addition to the comedy created by the main storyline of the kissless Cassie, there are many moments of laugh-out-loud humor generated by the antics of two marvelous subcharacters who are my particular favorites in this book, the school's coach, who also teaches science, and Cassie's younger brother.
Though this isn't a traditional romance in the sense that Ryan is not technically available to potentially date Cassie for most of the book, the plot device of a central romantic conflict of one of the romantic protagonists being tied up in a relationship with an unfaithful partner is a popular, time-honored trope in romantic comedy movies, and it works very well in this book.
I am a huge fan of comedy in general, and romantic comedy in particular, and I am always delighted when I am fortunate enough to encounter YA romantic comedy. It is, sadly, far too rare, with so much emphasis in the YA market on melodramatic plots, whether in the form of family/social drama or horrifying dystopians. It is the proverbial cherry on the top of the sundae when the YA, romantic-comedy author I discover has as much talent as Emily Evans. In my humble opinion, she is a rising star worthy of the ranks of YA luminaries such as Janette Rallison, and I have read with delight every romantic comedy she's written so far.
Parental Guidance: As is the case with all YA books by Ms. Evans, this is a "clean read," with no more overt sexuality contained in the book than kissing, no swearing, and no drunken, underage parties.
I purchased this book in a Kindle edition, and it is well edited and well formatted.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Hero: 5
Subcharacters: 5 stars (I'd give the coach and the heroine's brother 6 stars if I could!): 5
Comedy-of-Errors Plot: 5
Romance Plot: 5
Writing: 5
Overall: 5
December 19, 2013
Book Review: Double Digit by Annabel Monaghan
A second adventure with Digit Double Digit (A Girl Named Digit #2) by Annabel Monaghan
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 192 pages
Source: Vine
Reviewed By:Kate McMurry
Fans of the TV series Numb3rs will enjoy this clever series with an 18-year-old heroine who is a math genius.
Farrah ("Digit") Higgins has just begun her freshman y;ea;r at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is delighted to be there, because she has finally found "her people." She can just be herself, utterly brilliant at math, and not pretend to be a so-called normal teenage girl, which is how she spent her years in a public high school.
Digit is also relieved to have escaped the traumatic adventures she experienced the spring of her senior year. She had a wonderful, relaxing, romantic summer with her handsome FBI boyfriend, John--who is almost as smart in his way as Digit and, unlike Digit, opted to graduate early from high school and complete university in a couple of years--and she is looking forward to his first visit from his job in New York City. But soon after he arrives they have an argument which leads to Digit dumping him before he can, she assumes, dump him. He wants them to have some breathing room from each other because he believes that the intensity of their relationship will overshadow her fun and fancy-free time at university, and it won't be very good for his FBI career either.
The breakup definitely puts a crimp in Digit's collegiate happiness, and the last vestige of it is destroyed when she learns, the hard way, that her life of dangerous adventure has not come to an end. Her laptop has been under surveillance for months by both the CIA and the evil ecoterrorist, Jonas Furnis, who tried to kill her last spring. She discovers this privacy invastion after she thoughtlessly hacks into the Department of Defense's database and two very bad things happen. First, the director of the CIA threatens her with a possible jail sentence for espionage and, second, her phenomenal hacking skills inspire Jonas Furnis to seek her out as a potential forced ally for his world-dominion aspirations.
This is the second book in the young-adult Digit series. The first book had an important romance and, if it had been written as an adult novel, would most likely have been classified by the publisher as "romantic suspense." This book has a very different focus. The romance with John is thrown overboard early on, and the publisher is marketing this book as a "sassy, super smart thriller."
I personally very much enjoyed the lighthearted romance between Digit and John in Book 1, and I was quite disappointed to see it not only shoved to the side, but the author introducing a romantic-triangle, when Digit forms a very close friendship with a fellow MIT genius who studies nano technology and who is also quite attractive. The author implies in the acknowledgement section of her book that dumping John was her editor's idea. I respectfully disagree with the editor's suggestion. I liked the book in spite of throwing John overboard, not because of it.
Digit herself, though, continues to be a fascinating, enjoyable character. I personally love plots with brilliant, quirky geniuses, and almost always they are male. Having Digit be female is a terrific addition to this particular type of action-adventure mystery, and she is also a trailblazer among girl-power, YA heroines.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4
Subcharacters: 4
Romantic-Triangle Plot: 3
Action-Mystery Plot: 4
Writing: 5
Overall: 4
December 14, 2013
Book Review: Haint She Sweet by Maureen Hardegree
Terrific fourth installment in a fun, paranormal, chick-lit seriesHaint She Sweet (Ghost Handlers #4) by Maureen Hardegree
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: July 31, 2013
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Pages: 206 pages
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Heather Tildy has a much more stressful than normal transition from middle school to high school as she begins her freshman year, because she is a ghost handler who is in between assignments and wide open to be latched onto by an opportunistic ghost. Up until the moment the ghost Heather is currently wrangling fulfills what it is hanging around for and moves on, no other ghost can make demands on Heather. But once that ghost is gone, Heather is vulnerable to the next ghost who manages to get its hooks into her.
When ghosts at her school realize that Heather can see and hear them, they loudly plead with her to help them, and Heather knows from hard experience that she has very limited time to size up her numerous petitioners and choose the least-worst from among them. Even though she's, by now, handled multiple ghosts, she still hasn't figured out how to improve the quality of the ghosts accosting her, and she ends up stuck with a middle-aged battle-axe who is the worst ghost poor Heather has had to deal with so far.
The ghost is a control-freak lunch lady who steamrolls the hapless Heather into acting as her living instrument to spread a rigorous regimen of healthy eating. Since Heather lives in Pecan Hills, a backwater area in Georgia where a diet loaded down with fried and processed junk is epidemic among the local population, this is an enormous feat to attempt in her own family, let alone in her school and beyond.
This book is fourth in a series, and I had not read any of the other books before this one. I was easily able to follow the plot, though, because the author does a great job filling in important backstory, including just enough crucial information to avoid confusion, but not so much as to slow down the forward action of the current book.
Heather is a very sympathetic heroine. Though she is constantly overwhelmed by her ghost-handler destiny, she never gives up or gives in, and her many misadventures with ghosts provide lots of laughs.
The Southern setting created by this Georgian author adds uniqueness to the story and is very well done. As someone who was born and raised in the southern part of Missouri and spent time as an adult living in Georgia, I find the Southern culture presented in the story delightfully authentic.
Each book in this series provides Heather with a new love interest and, as is common with chick lit compared to romance novels, the focus is on girl power and dating disasters rather than achieving a committed, romantic relationship.
This book is G-rated, and girls as young as ten will enjoy it. But Heather's adventures are so clever and entertaining, that girls and women of all ages, especially fans of the paranormal and comedy, will love both this particular book and the entire series.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Fantasy World-Building: 5
Writing: 5
Chick-Lit Plot: 5
Overall: 5
Book Review: Haint She Sweet: Volume 4 by Maureen Hardegree
Terrific fourth installment in a fun, paranormal, chick-lit seriesHaint She Sweet: Volume 4 by Maureen Hardegree
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: July 31, 2013
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Pages: 206 pages
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Heather Tildy has a much more stressful than normal transition from middle school to high school as she begins her freshman year, because she is a ghost handler who is in between assignments and wide open to be latched onto by an opportunistic ghost. Up until the moment the ghost Heather is currently wrangling fulfills what it is hanging around for and moves on, no other ghost can make demands on Heather. But once that ghost is gone, Heather is vulnerable to the next ghost who manages to get its hooks into her.
When ghosts at her school realize that Heather can see and hear them, they loudly plead with her to help them, and Heather knows from hard experience that she has very limited time to size up her numerous petitioners and choose the least-worst from among them. Even though she's, by now, handled multiple ghosts, she still hasn't figured out how to improve the quality of the ghosts accosting her, and she ends up stuck with a middle-aged battle-axe who is the worst ghost poor Heather has had to deal with so far.
The ghost is a control-freak lunch lady who steamrolls the hapless Heather into acting as her living instrument to spread a rigorous regimen of healthy eating. Since Heather lives in Pecan Hills, a backwater area in Georgia where a diet loaded down with fried and processed junk is epidemic among the local population, this is an enormous feat to attempt in her own family, let alone in her school and beyond.
This book is fourth in a series, and I had not read any of the other books before this one. I was easily able to follow the plot, though, because the author does a great job filling in important backstory, including just enough crucial information to avoid confusion, but not so much as to slow down the forward action of the current book.
Heather is a very sympathetic heroine. Though she is constantly overwhelmed by her ghost-handler destiny, she never gives up or gives in, and her many misadventures with ghosts provide lots of laughs.
The Southern setting created by this Georgian author adds uniqueness to the story and is very well done. As someone who was born and raised in the southern part of Missouri and spent time as an adult living in Georgia, I find the Southern culture presented in the story delightfully authentic.
Each book in this series provides Heather with a new love interest and, as is common with chick lit compared to romance novels, the focus is on girl power and dating disasters rather than achieving a committed, romantic relationship.
This book is G-rated, and girls as young as ten will enjoy it. But Heather's adventures are so clever and entertaining, that girls and women of all ages, especially fans of the paranormal and comedy, will love both this particular book and the entire series.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5
Subcharacters: 5
Fantasy World-Building: 5
Writing: 5
Chick-Lit Plot: 5
Overall: 5
