Nadia Knows Best

Jul 102008
 

Nadia Kinsella gets stranded in the snowy Cotswolds with the attractive Jay Tiernan. She already has the perfect boyfriend and avoids temptation by thinking of Laurie, who she doesn’t get to see much due to modelling contracts. Her dysfunctional but loving family drive her nuts but wouldn’t change them for anything, even when trouble is coming and secrets are revealed.

I have been reading Jill Mansell’s books for years and have never come across a bad one. They are always funny, touching, endearing and very human. I do feel however,  Nadia Knows Best is one of the weaker ones, a couple of the characters are a little larger than life and very irritating, but it is still an enjoyable book. I first read it several years ago and as with all of Jill Mansell’s books is on my permanent re-read list.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

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Highland Fling

Jul 092008
 

Jenny Porter is a Virtual Assistant, asked by her client to go to Scotland and see if she could find out why a mill he had a stake in, was failing. Her less than supportive boyfriend Henry thinks she is too softhearted and impulsive to do the job and she is determined to prove him wrong. Agreeing to help out at a roadside cafe probably wasn’t a good start and finding herself lending a hand to everyone at Dalmain House didn’t help either. Deciding she wanted to save the mill from closure, in spite of what her client wanted might have been a bit much but then Henry arrives. Should she tuck her tail between her legs and return home or stick to her guns and do what she set out to achieve, and could the abrasive but attractive Ross Grant have something to do with that?

This book was a bit of a disappointment after enjoying Artistic Licence so much. The character of Jenny was well written and I liked her, but everyone else seemed a bit drab and irritating. She ends up doing so much for everyone else, it felt a bit exhausting and given the interplay between her and Ross, the ending of the book seemed a bit improbable. It was entertaining and I certainly wanted to finish it to see how everything turned out but to me it was an OK read rather than a good one.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

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Eagerly awaited order!

Jul 062008
 

OK, so I caved in and ordered the next Lois McMaster Bujold book and the next Laura Anne Gilman. Warrior’s Apprentice and Bring it on should be here sometime next week hopefully :)

I love Amazon marketplace, it’s such a good way to get new stuff to read if you are on a very limited budget! I do prefer to buy new, so the authors benefit but it’s just too expensive :( If Libraries stocked enough of what I like to read, I would be there all the time ;)

Artistic Licence

Jul 062008
 

Thea Orville, one time professional photographer, now fed-up landlady to art students is persuaded to accompany a friend on an art appreciation holiday. While there she meets a charming artist and when almost home, decides to throw wind in the face of caution and escapes to Ireland to visit him. Realising she needs a new direction in life, Rory gives her the perfect opportunity and when her nosy friend turns up on his doorstep with some equally unwelcome guests, she seizes the opportunity with both hands. Now if she can just realise her plans while learning to saying NO! to Molly, Rory and Petal, and deny her attraction to the enigmatic Ben, things might just work out…

I find it hard to put Katie Fforde’s books down, they are lighthearted, funny, romantic with wonderful escapism, and Artistic Licence is yet another great read. The only disappointing thing, is that I finish them too soon! This book took me about five hours to read, and just like her other books, left me with a warm glow, and the feeling of having been thoroughly entertained.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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Cordelia’s Honor

Jul 042008
 

Commander Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Astronomical Survey team finds herself stranded on the surface of the latest planet she, and her team, were surveying for colonisation suitability. After an attack forced the majority of her colleagues to leave the planet to save their lives, she was left downside with a horribly injured companion, few supplies and one of the enemy who was apparently as stranded as she was. The Butcher of Komarr, Lord Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar was a victim of Mutiny and betrayal that threatened the core of honour bound Barrayaran society and, as Commander Naismith realised, much more to him than met the eye. After rescue and escape, distrust from her own people, Cordelia throws her lot in with the enigmatic Vorkosigan who is not without troubles of his own. Can they do what must be done, with honour?

Cordelia’s Honor is actually 2 books – Shards of Honor and Barrayar that were published together to make a continuous story of the life of Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan. They run consecutively and to my mind make a great single volume. This is the first book by Lois McMaster Bujold I’ve read, and it definitely won’t be the last. By the end of the first chapter I was hooked, the flow of the story and the characterisations just superb. Sometimes sentence structure was a little complex but that smoothed out towards the middle. It didn’t detract from the story nor put me off continuing eagerly. It actually has so many facets to it, I can’t imagine there not being something in it for everyone. It’s a love story as well as a war story. It’s science fiction along with fantasy and the history side follows old russian society lines. The differences between Betan and Barrayan values is very distinct and Bujold’s writing manages to display both at the same time even in the same conversation. Cordelia is very urbane and can be amusingly sarcastic whereas Aral Vorkosigan is very military and can be almost rigid but also ironic. They bring out the best in each other and it’s great to see how they evolve from their original personalities to who they are by the end of the book. I don’t have the next in the series but I will be getting it as soon as I can!

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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A promise made…

Jul 032008
 

… is finally a promise kept ;)

Several years ago, a good friend of mine (Graham!) urged me to read Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga. I bought the first book and it has since languished on my shelves, looking forlorn. Another friend of mine (Jody!) who is another book nut made me promise to read it, and that was a couple of years ago ;)

After a recent conversation about it with Jody, I finally dug it out and started it, almost certain it would be OK, but not fire me up. How wrong I was! :)

I’m about half way through Cordelia’s Honor and loving it. I hate it when people are so right ;)

Will do a full review when I’m finished :)

Thanks Graham and Jody!

Trying to read Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Jul 032008
 

I saw a couple of the Dexter TV shows, and I looked them up online, discovering they were based on a book (Darkly Dreaming Dexter). I didn’t see any further episodes, and to be honest, the guilty feeling I got when watching them was a bit too much anyway. But I thought I’d give the book a shot.

It has three things going against it.

1. I know how it ends (in general), since I read about it in advance.
2. I know how it starts (in general), since I saw the first couple of TV shows.
3. It’s about confusion and misplaced suspicion.

Anyone who’s ever listened to me rant about what I don’t like in TV shows or books knows that I can’t cope with or don’t enjoy reading about confused identify, misplaced suspicion as a result of that confusion, etc. Having said all that, the writing is very impressive, and the first few pages have kept me gripped, so hopefully I’ll be able to get over those issues and give it a serious go.

Fractured

Jul 012008
 

Abigail Campano arrived home earlier than usual and finding a car in her driveway, she expected to see her daughter and her best friend cutting school again. What greeted her instead was horrific – her daughter’s beaten and bloody body and her killer hovering over the still form, bloody knife in hand. Will Trent from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assigned the case, his boss breathing heavily down his neck, he has to work with a none-to-friendly Atlanta Police Department to try and solve this high profile case involving one of Atlanta’s wealthiest families. He also has to work with a partner from APD, Faith Mitchell who has more cause than most to hold a grudge against him. They have to put their shared history aside and work together to save the life of a teenager and after mistakes were made early on in the investigation, time is running out.

I didn’t realise until a little way into the book that I had met Will Trent before. He first appeared in Triptych which I had enjoyed, so it was nice seeing him again. I could have used a clue on the cover tho, I have a terrible memory and find it very handy to have related books listed. That aside, there was much to enjoy about Fractured. It was very easy to read, the story flowed really well, and I was caught out a couple of times as to where the plot was headed which is always nice. I liked the main characters of Will Trent and Faith Mitchell, Karin Slaughter always manages to create believeable, likeable and interesting people as her ‘heroes’ and she often makes you feel sorry for the ‘baddies’ up to a point, along with hating them for what they’ve done. She doesn’t use an excess of gore and is almost matter of fact about it, which I really like. It’s there, it’s an inevitable part of the plot event but it can be way overdone for the sake of it.

I was up until 2am finishing it as I couldn’t put it down and that for me is a sign of a good book.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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