Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart - Beth Pattillo

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: ARC Book

Claire Prescott doesn't understand Mr. Darcy's appeal. She's been comfortably dating Neil, a nice - if a bit negligent - sports fanatic. But when she agrees to stand in for her sister at a Jane Austen seminar in Oxford, England, she finds herself holding a lost version of Pride and Prejudice. Scholars thought Austen's original manuscript was destroyed centuries ago, but as Claire reads the first draft, Austen's own struggle to find the right hero for Elizabeth Bennet.

And when a tall, dark, and dashing stranger crosses her path, will the staid Claire suddenly discover her inner Lizzie Bennet? Neil's unexpected arrival in Oxford complicates Claire's journey to finding her own romantic lead, and she discovers that finding the right hero can be more difficult than she ever imagined.

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart is the story of a woman who finds that falling in love may be the biggest adventure of all and that a true hero can appear in the most unexpected places.

~Source: back of book

First of all, I must say that I love the cover of this book. It's beautiful and romantic, and if I hadn't agreed to read this book, I probably would have picked up and checked out the back summary based on the cover alone!

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart was a very enjoyable read for me. I really liked the characters, especially how each and every character was expressly different. There are many times when you read a book, and while the main characters are allowed to develop and express their personalities, the minor characters of the book sort of take on a cookie cutter appearance. There may be physical descriptions that distinguish who they are, their characters are very robotic and are the main point of their presence is to offer support to the leads. Beth Pattillo developed all of her characters into people I could see in my mind's eye as well as gain an understanding of on a personal level. Kudos for that!

I also enjoyed watching Claire discover herself, or rather discover that she had no idea who she was. Even her purpose for going to Oxford to the seminar was made as a favor to or in a "care taker role" for her sister, and not as a decision of her own. Soon you discover that there is very little about Claire's life that is her own choice or will. So it is no surprise when she meets James at the seminar and feels the buzz of attraction between them, that the part of Claire that just wants something for herself steps up and takes control. Their relationship develops rather fast and furious, as they are swept up in the romance of London and Pride and Prejudice. Add this in with the revelation if First Impressions, the secret first draft of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and the world becomes an interesting, if not complicated break from what has become Claire's life.

My favorite part, outside of the ending which I won't blow for you, was the presentations at the seminar. I loved hearing everyone's different opinions and thoughts about Pride and Prejudice. It has opened up a desire to go back and revisit the book for myself, looking at from more than just a head-on approach. The only thing I was a little disappointed in the book was I really wanted more resolution between Harriot and Eleanor. I know that Harriet pointed out that no matter how you raise your kids, they are cut from a particular cloth and that is how they are going to be, and that should have been resolution enough, but I was harboring a desire for an understanding to come between them.

Beauty - Robin McKinley

Beauty: a Retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: Hardback Book

A strange imprisonment
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.
When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"
Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple: "Beauty and the Beast."

Source: booksamillion.com

I love the story of Beauty and the Beast. It was my long-standing favorite Disney film for forever. I think I like it mostly because I can relate to Beauty. Her love of books, hope of true romantic love, and down to earth-ness on many aspects of life. Anyhow, someone recommended Robin McKinley’s rendition of Beauty and the Beast to me after I read her book, Sunshine. It took me a while to get a hold of the book (I was waiting on a trade from swaptree.com), and then I just had many things on my to be read list that I just wanted to get to first…so it took me a while to get it. Reading Beauty on the skirt-tails of reading The Thirteenth Tale was perfect, because the authors have a very similar style. There are a lot of details in the writing style. It was a good combination for me.

I was captivated with this story from the start. Again, I think it was mostly because I knew the story, I knew what happened and was really excited to see it unfold. But then again, thinking about to reading Sunshine, I was captivated by that story too. It took me a long time to get into it, but once I was I cared about the characters and was excited for what happened. I think Robin McKinley must have a very unique writing style that does that. I cannot pinpoint exactly what it is that is so great. Maybe in some small way it IS all the details in her books that eventually slam into each other to make this wonderful story. Her books don’t have a lot of action. Well, Sunshine did closer to the end, but still yet, I found the book moved very slow. Her books are also not overly romantic. In fact, in both books I’ve read of hers, Robin McKinley has left me wanting – wanting MUCH MUCH more. More so with Sunshine than Beauty.

As a reader, I do like details, I like full stories with a wonderful happily ever after, I really like romance. I love perfect couples. Beauty did offer most of that to me. It wasn’t until after the book was done and read that I thought, “but what about…?” There were so many things that just didn’t get explained in my opinion. Things like, what DID Beast eat anyway, that probably really aren’t important details in the story, but ended up being important to me. I also wanted more love, more of a connection between the two. I’m afraid that Beast proposing every night to Beauty felt more like desperation than love. It felt like he just wanted to break the curse and move on rather than he was truly in love with her. But, on the other than, there was the scene where Beauty faints and Beast carries her. His tenderness at this, and her shock when she wakes up in his arms, was beautiful – and the most expressed love that I saw from Beast, outside of granting her a week with her family.

So I loved the book, and at the same time it was “eh, just okay” too. It’s weird to have two different opinions, and makes it even more difficult to write about it. It did get me thinking that I’d like to read a book from the Beast’s perspective, since most every rendition is from Beauty’s. A quick search on booksamillion.com brought me to Beastly by Alex Flinn. I’ve never read anything by Alex, and am not sure how this will measure up to the usual story, but I’m sticking this on my TBR list and hoping for the best!

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: Book

Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny.

Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

Source: booksamillion.com

The Thirteenth Tale surprised me. I had attempted to read this book once, almost a year ago. I probably got to the 2^nd chapter and put the book down. There are so many words, so many descriptions and not enough action. I like dialogue and I like stuff to happen. It felt like story was just words for me. Despite that first start, I decided when an online book group wanted to do this book, that I would give it another shot. Once again I found myself slightly lost in it’s descriptions and felt like the book was moving slowly, since this was sort of like an assignment than reading for pleasure, I pressed on. I’m very glad that I did.

When I attempted to describe to my husband what this book was about I said something like, “Well, let’s put it this way; the author of this book is writing about a semi-biographer/bookstore clerk who is writing a biography of an author who is dictating the story I am reading.” So from the perspective of Diane Setterfield, that is some pretty complex writing to begin with. The Thirteenth Tale is filled with so many surprises, twists and turns that it definitely makes up for the slow pace of the book. In fact, I’m positive that the slow pace of the book was rather intentional. Diane does not reveal the next surprise until it is absolutely necessary, and every single time I caught myself thinking, “Man, didn’t see that one coming!”

My one and only complaint with the book happened at the very end. (I apologize in advance for this spoiler, but I cannot voice my complaint without the spoiler. If you haven’t read the book, you may want to stop now and come back after you read it and continue my review!) The appearance of Margaret’s sister cheapened her entire story for me. For the entire book Margaret is haunted by the twin sister who died at birth. She spends a lot of time mourning over the loss of this person she never actually met in real life. But it’s not exactly the person, but the connection of twins that has her feeling as though she is missing half of herself. There are many instances in which Margaret finds herself looking at her sister, almost communicating with her in away – and every time she is “seeing” her sister, it is actually a reflection of one kind or another of herself. So there is no actual ghost. So to write the entire story in that way, and then at the very end let there actually be a ghost really did nothing for met at all.

In reality, this part of the book was only a very small segement, a side story of the whole. The story of Adeline and Emmeline is the story that had me glued to this book. Okay, “glued” might actually be too strong of the word. Like I have mentioned, there are a lot of descriptions and long paragraphs. This made it very easy for me to put the book down and come back to it. That is not how I usually am, I usually cannot put the book down because I can’t wait to find out what happens next. But, even when I did put the book down, the story and the characters were playing their part in my head, keeping me wrapped up into it’s story.

I highly recommend this book!

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.