One Lucky Cowboy - Carolyn Brown

One Lucky Cowboy by Carolyn Brown
Form: ARC Book
Genre: Romance

Jane Day is on the run from the paid assassin who had been her fiance. In Wichita Falls, Texas, she meets Nellie Luckadeau, a spitfire of an old lady who desperately needs someone to work on her ranch. But Nellie's drop-dead gorgeous grandson "Lucky Slade" is sure he can spot a con artist a mile away. He's determined not to let some upstart like Jane fleece his granny.
When his signature intimidation methods don't convince Jane to leave, he pours on the charm to make her spill what she's up to. She's happy to play along, but she's not going to let this hot, hostile cowboy run her off his land when all she needs is a lucky break.

Source: booksamillion.com

I really enjoyed reading One Lucky Cowboy. Jane is fun, crazy, mischievous and wonderful all wrapped into one, and she gives Slade a run for his money at every twist and turn. Honestly, I’m a little surprised that she wasn’t written as a red-head, as she has all the attributes of a stereo-typical redhead. Slade was very much a cowboy and was so hung up on pride that half the time he had a hard time seeing his nose despite his face, or maybe it was just that he had a hard time admitting to what his feelings truly were. There are so many different scenes and events that really develop Jane and Slade’s characters, you get to know them rather well. Nellie was also an awesome character, and I loved all of her group of friends.

There were a lot of references to music, movies, books and authors in this book – I sort of wondered if Carolyn Brown was throwing in some of her favorites for us to enjoy, (although I have to say that I had never seen The Bucket List and probably won’t now that I know it ends up so sad…). I did like that these everyday things were included in the lives of Jane and Slade, because so often it seems that books have so many other things going on in them – the characters stop being real people doing real things.

The moving line of the book was really the best part of all. The action kept a reasonable pace, and allowed for even more opportunity for Jane and Slade to get to know each other, and became real friends – but there were times when I felt the scenes were crossing the line of believable; i.e. while at the safe house. All-in-all, I found One Lucky Cowboy to be very entertaining.

Wild Blue Under - Judi Fennell

Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell

Form: ARC Book

Genre: Adult Fantasy

The underwater kingdom is his as soon as he claims his queen
Rod Tritone has the looks and charm to snag any queen he wants for his Mer kingdom, but unfortunately, it's not up to him. As fate would have it, the one woman destined to rule with him is terrified of water

She lives in land-locked Kansas and has no idea she's a princess
Valerie Dumere thinks Rod is gorgeous and irresistible but why does he keep insisting she has another side to herself that only he can show her?

Source: Booksamillion.com

Wild Blue Under is the second of a Mer-human series by Judi Fennell, the first being In Over Her Head. Judi Fennell has created a very imaginative romance series about Mer-humans and a whole new take on the water and animal world around us. There are many books that are based around the mythical City of Atlantis, and the creatures that reside there, most of them have a darker feel about them, more evil; Judi Fennell’s world is like a breath of fresh air, bright and happy despite the danger and suspense. I think that is what appeals to me the most about her books. I love paranormal/fantasy romance novels; I enjoy the dark, aggressive heroes – but the sweet tenderness of Rod’s (and Reel’s) character and the less evil and sinister feel of the books as a whole provides a nice change.

What I liked most about Wild Blue Under is that Valerie and Rod had a chance to develop their relationship. Sure, there was the obvious instant sexual attraction that usually takes place in a romance novel, but they were given a chance to get to know one another. Each talked about their life, growing up, who they were, who they wish they were. It made the relationship between the two more believable. When they finally joined as a couple, they loved each other; it wasn’t merely an attraction.

My least favorite part; all the talking birds. I understand that this is fantasy, and I absolutely 100% agree that in these books anything and everything can happen and is fair game, but the talking birds continued to transform this into a “it could happen” novel to a “this could be a cartoon” novel for me. Most of the time I was just reading and trying to keep the thought that Livingston was just another character in the book, and kept his bird status deep in the back of my head.

The Lovely Bones and Dear Zoe

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This past week I read two books that were very similar in topic matter: The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold and Dear Zoe, by Philip Beard. Both books dealt with the death of a girl. In The Lovely Bones, it was Susie, a teenage girl who fell prey to a sick man who rapes and murders mostly teenagers, but sometimes older women. In Dear Zoe, the girl was a toddler named Zoe who was about the age of my youngest daughter, and probably the hardest of the two for me to deal with.

The Lovely Bones was surprising in a super natural sort of way. The brief glimpses of Susie in the human world, and her ultimate appearance near the end. The way the book was described to me, I was expecting more of her and her heaven, when in reality this is her telling of the story from heaven of the years after her death. I knew the healing aspect for her family would be there, and I counted on it from the beginning, because I would never put myself through a book like this without expecting something happy to end on.

Still yet, while in the end Susie felt released from her role on earth, I still was left with an bit of a melancholy feel about the whole thing. I think the biggest disappointment for me was that her murderer was never officially caught. While there was some vindication and resolve there – it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted him busted and shut away. Some resolution in the murder, thus a more rounded resolution in Susie’s family. I know I have made this sound like I was not enjoying the book, but that is not true either. I’m just telling you what I expected. This book was very lyrical in a way. The descriptions and feelings were powerful throughout the book, and probably very real. The emotions and all. This is a good book, if you can deal with the topic matter. It’s not real heavy or graphic on the crime itself, but the grief of the family is very real.

Dear Zoe by Philip Beard

Dear Zoe was not near as emotional in it’s verse. It’s told from the perspective of Tess, the teenage sister of Zoe. She is distraught, to say the least, and not just because her baby sister is gone, but because she was the one responsible for her when the accident happened. She feels very much an outsider, since she is the daughter she suspects her mom didn’t mean to have, and her step dad is not really her dad, but then neither is her dad. There’s no where she feels like she belongs.

This book was particularly hard for me, because when the book described the actions of Zoe, I would imagine my daughter and her face and her smiles and it would just break my heart. So while the book itself had a very teenage quality about it, the writing, the content, etc. the grief portion of the book was very very difficult for me.

The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Form: Paperback Book

a long, hot summer

That's what sixteen-year-old Macy Queen has to look forward to. Her boyfriend, Jason, is gonig away to Brain Camp. She's stuck with a dull-as-dishwater job at the library. And all of her free time promises to be spent studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father's death.

But everything changes when Macy is corralled into helping out at one of her mother's open house events, and she meets with the chaotic Wish Catering crew. Before long, Macy ditches her library job and joins up with hte Wish gang: bighearted Delia; quiet, introspective Monica; and fun-loving, fashion-conscious Kristy. But best of all, there's Wes - artistic, insightful, and understanding Wes - who gets Macy to look at life in a whole new way.

Source: back of book

One word summary: rewarding

The Truth About Forever is another good one, to say the least. I really like the story that Sarah Dessen tells. She's got great character development, and the storyline draws you in from the beginning. In this story, the walk through Macy's emergence from "perfect" is almost slow in some areas, but so good that you suck in all the details. There are many wonderful parts to this book - one of my favorite parts would be at the climax - when Macy's sister lays out the grief and pain that she and Macy are still suffering over the death of their father. That moment just lays all the cards on the table and spins the book to an solid ending.

Wes is a great character. I love the game of Truth he plays with Macy throughout the book, and how he's solid and a nice guy. I got chills when he finally passed on a question, because I just knew that the one thing he wanted to do had to do with her. It was very heart-thumping because he knew she wasn't ready. How perfect and wonderful is that?

Jason was awful. Completely weird and annoying. The thing is, if I haven't known people who dealt with life in a similar fashion, I would say that his character was completely unrealistic. But the truth of the matter is, there are people who look at life as a grand "to-do list" and it sucks all the character and passion out of a relationship. I love how Macy just leaves him hanging, she didn't even give him an answer when he wanted to reestablish their relationship.

Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Form: Book
Series: Tales of Faerie

RULE #3
Don't Stare at invisible faeries.

RULE #2
Don't speak to invisible faeries.

RULE #1
Don't ever attract their attention.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. When the rules that have kept Aislinn safe from them stop working, everything is suddenly on the line: her freedom: her best friend, Seth: her life; everything.

Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning twenty-first century faery tale.

Source: back of book

One Word Summary: Poetic

I say “poetic” because I think Melissa Marr’s writing style is just that. She may not be making a poem, but she is very descriptive and imaginative, for some reason the entire book sort of reminded me of a beautifully done poem.

I read a few reviews prior to reading Wicked Lovely that made me put off reading the book for a little bit. Mostly reviews where people were having a difficult time getting into the book. I didn’t feel the slowness at all, in fact I really enjoyed the pace of the book. I felt that most any questions you might ask were there, and relationships between characters were well established. It really made the book alive for me, very believable in an unbelievable way.

I like how this isn’t a typical love story. I was afraid that Melissa Marr was going to establish two beautiful relationships and then split them up again in some drastic, over-the-top love scene. So thank you Melissa, for not doing that!

Okay, so my only complaints? Seth was entirely too understanding. Aislinn did some stuff that would have made any guy mad. She kissed another guy for starters, also she changed drastically and suddenly. Yes, it wasn’t her fault, but his temper didn’t flair once. He didn’t seem overly protective of her either – which is an attribute I do love in a book (not so much in real life), but he was just all around a laid back guy. Second, I wanted more drama at the end. I know, I know - Seth was taken, Donia was taken, there was a small battle over control at the end, but it wasn’t nearly as big as I was expecting. I think I was expecting something a little more Holly Black at the end of Tithe; but different author, different set of Fae.

All-in-all, I’m looking forward to reading more of Melissa’s books. Very entertaining, in reality; exactly what I was looking for in a fantasy novel!