Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Sometimes love’s right there in front of you.

As Stephanie Coulter discovers, sometimes you find it in the most ordinary places—and what could be more ordinary than the office? Stephanie, who works as an assistant at Lockwood Industries in Minneapolis, is temporarily assigned to the boss—Jonas Lockwood himself. Jonas lives up (or down!) to his reputation as a tyrant, dictator and grouch. But Stephanie’s colleagues, romance readers all, decide that he’s really the classic lonely hero. What he needs, they say, is Love ‘n’ Marriage. And the woman they have in mind for him is… Stephanie.

Bethany Stone, on the other hand, is already in love with her boss, Joshua Norris, although their relationship is strictly business. But one day he asks for her help—outside the office. Joshua’s ten-year-old daughter, Angie, is coming to live with him and he has no idea how to raise a precocious little girl. Angie might be Almost an Angel, but she quickly develops a matchmaking plan for her dad—and Bethany!

3 Drink Me Potions

I know, I know. These stories are rather old and not in the YA genre, so sue me. Call me grandmotherly if you have to, but her stories aren’t bad. I mean, not all of them are at least. This one just so happens to be “okay” instead of awesome.

In Love in Plain Sight, the first story had one of the most annoying male characters ever. He was very cold and arrogant. Come on, it even said that he was an arrogant man. At least that was an accurate description of him. However, the way the ladies in the company, DIE HARD ROMANTICS (really??), go about meddling in people’s love affairs is rather weird. I know I love books and sometimes wish to bash characters’ heads in (I say this as nicely as possible) for the stupid things they say or do, but to think their boss is like a “hero” in a romance novel is taking it more than a step too far. So I can totally see the protagonist, Stephanie’s skepticism. Mine was ricocheting off the roof as I was reading this. I would NEVER imagine my friends as “heroine” material either. Okay, I’m also not much of a matchmaker but that’s besides the point. Imaginary guys in books are also not necessarily anything like real life guys (if you’re a guy, I’m sorry!).

So, what does their meddling get? She falls for the guy, even with all his thorny attitudes, and it doesn’t go well. Predicted that ages ago.

It was amusing in the sense that the problems that come in the way of their love was SO predictable. I wished I loved it more, but the year in which the story was written really shines through for once. Basically a secretary falling for her aloof and somewhat mysterious boss. It was mildly entertaining, but definitely not worth a second read.

As for the second story, at least there were no meddling co-workers who only “mean well”. But the boss was still JUST AS COLD. Come on! I’m starting to roll my eyes here. Can’t the man be somewhat nicer at least? Either way, it sat a little better with me because of the daughter, Angie. She was very aptly described, and I could almost see a wonderful little girl in front of me. She was by far from perfect and not the stereotypical angel type of kid, although at the heart of it, it was clear she loved her dad and Bethany. For that reason, it helped with the story a little bit more. Still not really worth a second read, but it was better.

Overall Recommendation:
Although I was dying to enjoy or at least be thoroughly entertained as I normally am by Debbie Macomber’s compilation 2-in-1 books, these 2 stories just didn’t sit well with me. For one, both male protagonists were rather bland and cold. It didn’t make sense to see these aloof and arrogant men as someone who would profess the kind of care that they later seemed to show. I just couldn’t believe in it. That’s not to say it wasn’t at least mildly entertaining to see the crazy antics that the women drove themselves into, or that some of the minor characters weren’t as real. It just wasn’t up to par from what I had come to expect from the author. I’m gonna just blame it on the age (30 years now) of the stories from when they were first written.

Review: Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

May 27, 2015May 29, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Opposites attract—and then complicate—in this romantic, relatable novel from the author of Two-Way Street and Sometimes It Happens.

It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.

Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.

Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.

Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

3 Drink Me Potions

Through to You was meh. I never had really high expectations for it, having never read any Lauren Barnholdt books before, but I was in the mood for a fun read that wouldn’t rile me up too much.

I was wrong.

Alternating between POVs of both Penn and Harper, it started off kinda fun as I’d initially hoped. Harper’s your typical shy, never been really noticed by anyone in her school type of gal. Penn is your stereotypical bad boy who doesn’t do relationships. I didn’t mind that. They were an interesting pairing and it amused me. At first.

But that lasted all about till maybe halfway through the book. Mind you, the book isn’t all that long either so it was rather quick that I became so annoyed. Penn has family problems. That’s made quite obvious and explicit rather early on in the story. But this book isn’t one of those that deals in character growth and development when it comes to having tough family lives. No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just an excuse for Penn to act all moody the way he is.

I swear, he’s like hot and cold; one minute he’s happy and grabbing Harper to hang with him, the next he’s moody as crap and giving everyone the silent treatment. For WEEKS ON END. It’s not only because of his family problems that sets him off. That’s just why he keeps relationships at arm’s length. The REAL problem lies in the fact that he hurt his shoulder and can’t play baseball anymore. Okay, I get that that would really suck for someone who was relying on the sport for a way to make a future living, but my goodness, he’s downright acting like a sulky five-year-old.

Why is that? He blames EVERYONE for what happened to him. He’s just given up for any way to heal his shoulder, getting mad at anyone who tries to give him the slightest bit of hope. I wanted to poke him every time his POV came up. Urgh.

Aside from Penn, Through to You was mediocre in a genre that is FILLED with stories with similar premises. The ending was also rather abrupt in my opinion. If not giving the time for the characters to grow up a little from the immature actions they dealt out in the story (AHEM PENN), then at least follow through with the relationship between Penn and Harper. The plot really seemed like pieces were thrown back together in a haste to conclude everything. It also wouldn’t have hurt to make the relationship seem more plausible either. Like come on! Just because they both couldn’t “get the other out of their heads” does NOT a relationship make. Pfft, not enough chemistry. That’s important in my books.

I don’t know if I’d read other Lauren Barnholdt books, but even with lowered expectations, it just didn’t stand out amongst a very populated genre.

Overall Recommendation:
Through to You had its flaws. Penn was an insufferably immature character who threw temper tantrums and had such terrible mood swings for no good reason. What could have been an interesting story about learning to deal with the problems life swings at you turned out to be a mediocre story about a boy who for some reason (still unknown to me) eventually let a girl into his life and things just somewhat got better from there. The relationship aspect wasn’t the strongest, and Harper’s voice wasn’t unique enough to be remembered after finishing the book. In a genre full of stories such as this, sadly, Through to You landed squarely in the barely memorable category.

Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

May 25, 2015June 7, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Your plan changes. Your destiny doesn’t.

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby’s senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby’s never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that’s finally within reach.

4 Drink Me Potions

We are more real than real, said Abby to Josh, a guy whom she only met through her parallel self taking a different path than she did.

Alternate realities and parallel worlds can be so complex, but Lauren Miller did a fantastic job with this novel. Parallel is just indescribable, in the best way possible.

You ever wonder what it would have been like if you’d just done something differently? For Abby, the decision that set her on two different trajectories in life between her parallel worlds came down to this: taking drama or an astronomy class as her last-minute elective in her senior year.

Parallel alternates between Abby’s senior year, following her parallel self experiencing a different set of events after having to take astronomy class instead of drama, in which that path would have led her to becoming the Hollywood actress she remembered she was from her “real” life, and one year later where she finds herself in Yale. Now, if that doesn’t get complicated enough, every time her parallel self makes a different decision, it could cause HUGE rippling effects onto the reality that Abby is now living with as a student at Yale.

This novel explored how even the smallest decisions or events could have led to almost-lost friendships, or could-have-been moments with someone special. Not only that, but it looked into fate (we have a reason for living) and ultimately, what our destiny is even with the ever-changing realities.

I could gush forever, but Miller’s debut novel was absolutely fantastic. With Abby as an amazing protagonist trying to remain “independent” of her parallel self while dealing with a setting that could change at any moment, it made living the day to day all the more important. The conclusion of the novel was stunning, in the sense that it also covered the topic of soulmates. What if her parallel met someone who could love her in a way no one else can, but Abby in her other life chose differently and thus hadn’t met him? What then?

The answer was simple. Our path or trajectory in life may change based on our day-to-day decisions, but something destined in our lives will find its way. And that’s exactly what happened in Parallel. The ending was perfect. Sure, it was a little bittersweet, but it was still so romantic. Being able to find that someone for you even when it first came through as only memories from your parallel self, that speaks of a love that’s more real than real, with real suggesting it stays true even across realities.

At the end of the day, this novel handled everything amazingly. It was clever. Wildly imaginative and creative. I will end off with one of my favourite quotes from the book.

“Abigail Hannah Barnes,
You changed my life. A year ago today, when you walked into it. ‘Are you here by fate or choice?’ you asked me. I said choice. Now I know better.
-Josh”

Overall Recommendation:
Parallel was an absolute fantastic read. It explored so many philosophical elements, from our changing fate when making decisions in life to the ever-present destiny that we each are supposed to hold and possibly that one person (our soulmate) that lies somewhere in our world to find. It asked questions that made you really think. What if you had done something differently? Would your life have changed in ways you could never imagine? Could you miss out on meeting your soulmate if you made the wrong decision? All in all, this novel was deeply romantic and thoroughly explored elements we can all relate to. A definite page-turner & 100% recommended

Author: Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Love in Plain Sight by Debbie Macomber

Review: Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt