Category: adult

adult

Review: Blue Moon Promise by Colleen Coble

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Under Texas Stars #1

blue moon promise -colleen cobleLucy Marsh’s worldly resources are running out, but she’s fiercely determined to care for her younger brother and sister. When she discovers that their father’s recent death was no accident, Lucy is eager to leave town. She accepts a proxy marriage she believes will provide safe refuge. But trouble follows her to Texas where her new husband is surprised to suddenly have a wife and children to care for.

Nate Stanton always hoped he’d marry someday, but running the family ranch meant he had no time for romance. When his father deposits Lucy Marsh–a city girl–on his doorstep, with two siblings in the bargain, he expects ranch life will send her running on the first train out of town. But Lucy is made of tougher stuff than Nate imagined. When danger moves in, Nate finds he’d give anything to protect Lucy and the children he’s grown to love. Even if it means giving up his ranch.

Blue Moon Promise is a story of hope, romance, and suspense . . . immersing the reader in a rich historical tale set under Texas stars.

 

3.5 Drink Me Potions

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve read a Colleen Coble novel. I’ve forgotten just how much I love her mysteries. Blue Moon Promise has not let me down in any way. I haven’t read a historical novel in a while, but I instantly fell in love with the characters here. Lucy, right off the bat, was a protagonist that I could root for. She had so much heart and yearned to be the one who could take care of everyone. Her family situation wasn’t ideal. She had to care for her baby brother and sister while trying to escape a dangerous person who may have had something to do with their father’s death.

Enter the less-than-ideal marriage agreement with Nate. He wanted nothing to do with a wife, and Lucy tried so hard to be the typical rancher’s wife that he could at least imagine being with. Things weren’t easy for her, but she did her best.

There were silly moments, like finding a pet tarantula in the pantry, and there were heartfelt moments like Nate beginning to fall for his new already-made family. The mystery wasn’t very integral in this novel, which surprised me as that is what Coble’s really good at. However, it was still an amazing story of finding the best in any situation, and realizing in hindsight that this was exactly where everyone was meant to be.

All in all, I couldn’t put this book down and I do believe I will be browsing through many more of Coble’s novels very soon.

Overall Recommendation:

Blue Moon Promise was a delight that I hadn’t expected. Set in a historical setting on a rancher’s farm, Lucy and her little brother and sister embark on a new life with her new husband that she’s agreed to marry for the sake of her family. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but Lucy’s strong-willed character and desire to be the best that she can be no matter how dire the situation had me really rooting for her success. A little lighter in the mystery department, this novel still had all the trademarks of Colleen Coble from what I remember in another piece of work I’ve read from her a long time ago. This was definitely worth the read.

adult

Review: Eyes on You by Kate White

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

eyes on you -kate whiteA rising media star must battle a diabolical enemy in this riveting tale of psychological suspense from Kate White, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sixes and Hush.

After a painful divorce and losing her on-air job two years ago, Robin Trainer has fought hard to regain her career. Now, as the popular cohost of a nightly entertainment show and the author of a hot new bestseller, she’s being dubbed a media double threat. In a business full of rivals eager to see you fail, making a comeback was tough, and Robin isn’t about to do anything that could jeopardize her newfound success.

But suddenly things begin going wrong. A few small but nasty incidents shake her confidence: a vicious note tucked into her purse at her book signing; the photo on her book jacket slashed in her office; a doll that looks just like her—but with its eyes gouged out—left on her desk chair. Soon the meanness turns threatening.

Someone has eyes on Robin, an adversary with a dark agenda who wants to hurt her and see her fall, and the clues point to someone she works with every day. As she frantically tries to put the pieces together and unmask an enemy hiding in the shadows all too close to her, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the person responsible isn’t going to stop until Robin loses everything that matters to her . . . including her life.

In this nail-biting thriller full of stunning twists, Kate White takes you behind the scenes of the glamorous, high-intensity world of television and ratchets up the suspense, page by page, to the shocking end.

1 Drink Me Potion

DNF at approximately 25%

I’m sad, but this is my very FIRST did-not-finish book I’ve ever opened. Sure, there were books that I may have put aside for a while, but I always eventually got back to them.

I just couldn’t stand the beginning. Robin was not a very interesting protagonist. It opens with her successful debut of some book that she wrote while also being co-anchor to some show that was slowly rising in fame and success as well. Yay, I’m glad for you, Robin, but OH MY GOODNESS, White really dwells heavily on the details of Robin’s career in the TV biz. I get that the author has experience in this area prior to writing novels, but this was getting on my nerves. I didn’t sign up to read this book because I wanted to know the intricate details of being an anchor. I opened it to read a juicy MYSTERY.

The mystery started off fine, I guess. Someone left a scary note in Robin’s purse while she wasn’t looking during the book launch party. Whoop-dee-doo. Maybe it got a ton better with the scary stuff later into the novel, but it was just so hard to pick up again when I knew she was just at her office prepping for her work that day.

It wasn’t just the mystery that was somewhat ruined for me. The romance! Where to start with that? I did NOT like that co-anchor of hers. So what if he was just recently available after some break up with his girlfriend? I don’t care! Maybe I’m just way too young to care about some “bad-boy” forty-one year old man and his love life, but seeing him flirt with Robin and vice versa just sat weirdly in my stomach.

Overall, I guess if this wasn’t listed as part of Overdrive’s Big Read project and was readily available, I probably would have NEVER picked up Eyes on You.

Overall Recommendation:
Expecting a deliciously scary and suspenseful novel with a freaky psycho stalking our protagonist, Eyes on You dwindled all those expectations bit by bit. It was slow in starting, and particularly focused on minute details of Robin’s life that seemed unnecessary. My interest levels dropped rapidly, and then took a plummet when the love interest was introduced. As co-anchor to Robin’s successful show, the chemistry felt too scripted and cliche. I couldn’t finish this book for all these reasons above and more. You can definitely find better mysteries with similar plots elsewhere.

adult

Review: Love in Plain Sight by Debbie Macomber

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

love in plain sight -debbie macomberSometimes 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.