Tag: contemporary

adult

Review: Orchard Valley Grooms by Debbie Macomber

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Orchard Valley #1-2

orchard valley grooms -debbie macomberValerie rushes home to Orchard Valley, Oregon, when her father, David, suffers a heart attack. She and her two younger sisters, Stephanie and Norah, are gathering at his side, praying he’ll live, fearing he’ll die.

At a time like this, falling in love is the last thing on Valerie’s mind. And with Dr. Colby Winston, of all people! He’s David’s heart surgeon, a renowned specialist who enjoys small-town living, while Valerie is a high-powered businesswoman who prefers city life. They’re complete opposites in every way. Yet David keeps insisting she and Colby are a perfect couple.

Meanwhile Stephanie has other worries besides her father’s health. She’d fled Orchard Valley three years earlier after her humiliating rejection by local journalist Charles Tomaselli. Now she’s home, and it’s not long before they begin reliving past battles–and renewing old feelings. He was the reason she left. This time, will he give her a reason to stay? David seems to think so.

Does their father know something Valerie and Stephanie don’t?

3 Drink Me Potions

It’s a fairly open secret that I have some strange soft spot for Debbie Macomber. Yes, her stories can be cheesy with their happy-ever-after endings, but sometimes, a girl just needs those kinds of endings, you know?

With Orchard Valley Grooms, I had such high hopes. Two sisters falling in love with their respective special someones? Sounds like it fits the criteria to a glove.

But. Yes, there is a but. These two stories captured me with their endless drama and irritated me to no end all at the same time.

In Valerie, the immediate attraction and way Colby and Valerie fell for each other made some sense in a way. Valerie was under a lot of stress what with her father suffering from a heart attack. Colby was there to give her the emotional support that she needed. However, by the end of it, they were happily in love and thinking of marriage in, what, three weeks? Does this happen in real life? How can one know if this person would survive every bump in the road that’s sure to come in hopefully a long marriage? Sure, it may be an adventure to find out, but still. It was a little unsettling to see that it happened all so quickly.

And then there’s the fact of their drama that initially prevented them from getting together after realizing each others’ feelings. Colby is traditional as crap! Don’t mind my language. A women can very well work and take care of a family. Yes, he’s tired at nights after his long (and presumably emotion-taxing) shifts, but a woman doesn’t just live to serve hand and foot for him when he gets home. As for Valerie, I understood her inhibitions but she wasn’t all for compromise initially either.

If that first story wasn’t exhausting enough, I immediately jumped into Stephanie. Silly me thought it would help relieve my inner frustrations. Oh boy, was I wrong.

I liked Steffie more than Valerie in a sense that I could understand unrequited love. She ran away from the face of rejection and I don’t blame her. Charles was awful when she admitted her feelings three years prior. Who could blame a girl for wanting to get away from such embarrassment?

However, the resolution to Charles’ actions just didn’t seem quite…right with me. It wasn’t that it couldn’t have been plausible. It could have been. I just didn’t understand why wait so long to tell Steffie he felt the same way. So much drama and heart ache could’ve easily been bypassed if he did. Why get so angry if he knew she still felt the same way towards him? I just dunno. This poor heart of mine couldn’t handle all this nonsensical heart ache.

Anyway, I gobbled these stories up as fast as I could and although I didn’t love them as I had hoped, they weren’t terrible. A guilty pleasure, if you will. But never have I wanted to throttle guys as much as I did with these men. I can fully understand the Bloomfield sisters’ feelings.

Overall Recommendation:
Two stories in one with each based on one Bloomfield sister. I couldn’t ask for more, can I? Turns out, the story didn’t hold as much for me as I had hoped. In both Valerie and Stephanie, the male protagonists acted in nonsensical manners that drove me (and the Bloomfield sisters) crazy. I suppose there had to be tension and drama to prevent an immediate happily-ever-after resolution, but it was exhausting. I wouldn’t necessarily throw these stories out. It was still the cheesy, happy ending kind of story that I needed on occasion. At least it fills up that requirement perfectly. I would say it’s perfect if that is the kinda book you’re looking for on a boring, lazy afternoon.

YA

Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

I was here -gayle forman

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

4 Drink Me Potions

I Was Here left me breathless and stunned with the simplicity of Cody’s journey. It left me wishing that there was more after the last pages faded from sight, although it did end on a good note.

Cody was left devastated after the sudden – and unforeseen – death of her best friend, Meg. Now, I haven’t personally been touched by a loved one who even made an attempt on their life, and I generally don’t read a lot of novels on suicides, but I Was Here resonated deeply with me. Meg was her best friend, her better half. To not have known something so huge happening in someone who played such an integral role in her life left her shattered.

 

“I recently lost someone. Someone so integral to me, it’s like a part of me is gone. And now I don’t know how to be anymore. If there’s even a me without her. It’s like she was my sun, and then my sun went out. Imagine if the real sun went out. Maybe there’d still be life on Earth, but would you still want to live here? Do I still want to live here?”

 

I may not personally understand that feeling, but Gayle Forman writes in a way that realistically draws you in. Even without having read the Author’s Note at the end, it was obvious that this novel was inspired by someone who might have actually gone through an experience like this. It was poignant and, well, real.

Cody was also a very interesting heroine. Right off the bat, you knew she wasn’t some scared, weak girl who wanted to cry. She was tough as nails. And maybe more than a little bit angry at herself and Meg for killing herself.

 

“Meg’s parents look blasted into heartbreak, the hollows under their eyes so deep, I don’t see how they’ll ever go away. And it’s for them I find my least stinky dress and put it on. I get ready to sing. Again.
Amazing Grace. How Vile the Sound.

 

But she also was fighting a lot of grief and guilt. She was the best friend. Shouldn’t she have known? Shouldn’t she have been the one telling Meg life wouldn’t be the same without her?

Enter Ben McCallister into this turmoil. He had history with Meg, one that Cody personally did not like. They had a rough start, but there was something drawing them together. Maybe it was this shared guilt for Meg’s decision. Whatever it was, this romance wasn’t some silly-nilly attraction. It was based on a shared understanding on how messed up their lives can get, the same need for someone to just listen and get it. Get them.

I loved how they interacted and the fact that they’re both imperfect. Ben’s not some great guy. He used girls, albeit regretful and a little ashamed afterwards. Cody’s…well, she’s just angry deep inside. Mostly at herself, but this causes her to lash out and distance others. Oh, and both have mouths like sailors.

But together? They lit a tiny spark. A spark that may just be hope for the future. And realizing that Meg’s death wasn’t their fault. They just had to learn to forgive themselves. After all, forgiveness is a miracle drug for the soul.

With this thought in mind, I Was Here was the perfect name for this novel. ‘Cause at the end of the day, what better message for anyone to leave behind than “I was here”?

Overall Recommendation:
Gayle Forman does it again with another sweeping tale of heartache, guilt and a personal journey in finding a way to forgive. Cody was an imperfect heroine who went in search of the reasons why her best friend would kill herself. Without telling her. Without even knowing it could happen. Although she hoped to find a way to give justice to her best friend, if not in life then in death, it leads her to finding herself, as well as a particular guy who may just understand exactly what she’s going through. I Was Here is a poignant story that dives deep into the psyche of someone considering to kill themselves, and how people closest to them would deal with the aftermath. I would definitely recommend you read this touching novel.

YA

Review: Can’t Lose You by J.R. Brown

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

can't lose you -jr brownMy name is Elizabeth Grace Payton. I just graduated high school and am looking forward to enjoying my last summer with Jayce before we go off to college together. Jayce isn’t just my boyfriend, he’s my everything.

I’ve heard stories about people saying there can be one moment that changes their entire life. As if this moment flipped their entire life upside down. They said that once that moment happened things never went back to what could’ve been, what should’ve been. I always thought these people were being a little dramatic. I mean, how could one moment change everything? Change your entire life?
Well, apparently I was naïve because that’s exactly what happened to me and I never even saw it coming.

One night changed everything. I ended up in the wrong place, at the wrong time. My dreams, my future, and my life were taken away from me. I can no longer be Elizabeth Grace Payton.

I am now Riley Lynn Anderson.

4 Drink Me Potions

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I am left with a lot of emotions after finishing Can’t Lose You. It was most definitely an easy read, and particularly enjoyable in the midst of studying for midterms.

I really liked it, yet there were things that annoyed me endlessly at the same time. If I wasn’t so busy and craved the distraction, maybe my rating would’ve changed. However, as it stands right now, Can’t Lose You made my heart skip a beat here and there and had me craving to dive back into Riley’s life. Her relationship with Jayce was definitely the highlight of the book. Which is a good thing ’cause that pretty much takes up the majority of the plot.

It was well-done in my opinion. What would happen to a couple who thought they knew exactly what their future plans were going to be like, only to have it suddenly change overnight? Yes, I will agree that the synopsis’ vague description of the “inciting incident” poorly tried to build-up the suspense when it really shouldn’t have. This was by far NOT a suspenseful book. I don’t expect it to. It’s a romance novel, for goodness’s sake. Half the things that happened on the more “scary” side of the plot was BEYOND predictable.

Good thing I only cared for the romance. If you want more, don’t expect much beyond that.

Anyway, meeting again way across the country after years apart, how could Jayce and Riley expect it to be the same? I loved that J.R. Brown really explored their feelings, the unresolved issues, and hard decisions that came with this second chance. She didn’t jump the gun on anything. It wasn’t like they immediately had it all figured out, and just wanted to be together, like some insta-love stories I’ve read.

No, a good romance story dives deep into the heart of the relationship, and that is what you get here. A beautiful love story of two people, against all odds, getting their second chance.

Now, Jayce and Riley may have captured my heart enough to get 4 generous stars from me. It could’ve been higher – if Brown had just written in a manner that did not bug me incessantly.

Listen. Who writes down everything a protagonist does? Honestly. I write stories too since I was barely a teenager. I loved the concept and plot of the story because it reminds me of something I would’ve loved to write myself.

But the style? Here’s an example of it.

“I pull into the parking lot, grab my things, and head to class. I get to my seat just as the professor comes into the room. I like that the classes are small, but if you’re late then they usually notice. I pull out my notebook and pen and prepare to take notes. Thankfully class goes by quick, and before I know it I’m walking out the door towards my car.”

And this.

“I walk over to my closet, grab some clothes, and head for the shower. After I shower and dress I begin fixing my hair…Instead of drying my hair I decide to use some mousse and leave it curly. After I fix my hair I put on some black eye liner and mascara and call it good. I rush out of the bathroom to my room, grab my things and head out to the kitchen.”

Honestly. It’s exhausting reading everything little thing she does. I see this. I pick up this. I put on this. I do this. Oh. My. Goodness. Do we have to know that she puts on black eyeliner and mascara 3 times in this story? I get that in some way it helps us see what her life is like, but it dragsssssss it out. And this is how it’s like for the WHOLE story, by the way.

It’s not to say I hated it so much I couldn’t continue reading. In fact, the writing style was reminiscent of something. My old writing style, actually. When I was thirteen. I’m being generous. One star docked off for adolescent writing only happens when I’m in a good mood.

And ’cause Jayce has captured my heart. Who wouldn’t want a guy like him? Who fights for you no matter how hard you push him away?

I’ll leave this off with probably the cutest quote in the entire novel.

“Jayce: Don’t worry about the storm, I’ll be there to keep you warm. No need to check the time, you’ll be forever mine.”

Overall Recommendation:
Can’t Lose You was a gorgeous love story centred on a couple who was separated due to one fateful (but not that exciting) incident that changed everything. Getting their second chance years later, their relationship was carefully and realistically explored, which really pulls at the heartstrings. Brown’s writing style was a challenge to get over as she writes in a simple fashion that literally describes everything that Riley is doing throughout her day. If you can survive that, I do believe this little romance may just pop out a tear or two.