Book Review: Swinging on a Star

Swinging on a Star: A Novel (Weddings by Bella)

I thought the premise of this novel sounded amusing:

Janice Thompson returns with another hilarious tale in the Weddings by Bella series with Swinging on a Star.

In this latest release from Thompson, Bella Rossi's life is nearing perfection. She's got the perfect guy, she's running a successful business, and she's about to plan her most ambitious wedding yet, a Renaissance-themed fairy tale come true, complete with period costumes and foods, horse-drawn carriages, and even a castle. There's just one hitch. The best man just happens to be Brock Benson, Hollywood's hottest and most eligible bachelor. Oh, and did we mention he's staying at the Rossi house to avoid the paparazzi?


With all the pressure surrounding this wedding, Bella's not sure she's going to make it through. Add her starstruck sister, her feuding aunt and uncle, and a trio of large, sequined church ladies with even bigger personalities, and you've got a recipe for disaster—and a lot of laughs. This hilarious romantic comedy is sure to delight both fans and new readers alike.

Janice Thompson is a seasoned romance author and native Texan. An experienced wedding coordinator herself, Thompson brings alive in her books the everyday drama and humor of getting
married. She is the author of Fools Rush In and lives in Texas.

My Review:  As I said, I thought the premise sounded amusing, but after 50 pages I was ready to quit.  I'm trying to figure out why, and I've decided that it is probably because it is a romantic comedy, and I often dislike comedy.  I sort of see where this one is going, and I'm just not interested, but folks who like comedy probably would like it--(FYI I can't stand Sienfeld, or Cheers or any TV show of that ilk).  It is Christian fiction and a little religion was mentioned in the part I read, but I wouldn't call it preachy.  The writing is professional.  Like I said, comedy isn't my thing, and this struck me as much more comedy than romance.

I'd like to thank Donna Hausler at Baker Publishing Group for sending me a review copy of this book.  Swinging on a Star: A Novel (Weddings by Bella) is available January 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Women's Week: Cougars?

The Cougar Club: A Novel was the inspiration for this weeks' series of posts about women.  I reviewed it earlier this week, and have a giveaway going.  To win an autographed copy, leave your name and email address on the giveaway post, and for more entries, leave substantive comments regarding any of my Women's Week posts.

Since The Cougar Club: A Novel was the inspiration for this series, I thought we'd take a day to discuss the "Cougar" phenomenon.  A "Cougar", I've recently learned, is a women who exclusively, or almost exclusively, dates younger men--men at least ten years younger than she is.   Are you a Cougar?  If so, why?  What do you think you bring to a relationship that the man wouldn't get with someone his own age?  What do younger men have that men your age don't?  Do you know any Cougars?  What do you think of them and/or their dates?  What do you think of the whole idea?

I don't know any "Cougars" well enough to make any personal comments or observations.  However, in general, people are involved in the dating world for one of two reasons:  they are seeking marriage or they are seeking sex.  If all a Cougar wants is sex, then she shouldn't be surprised if she finds herself getting it with immature self-absorbed men.  If she wants marriage, frankly, why should a man that much younger consider marrying her, especially if she is past her childbearing years?  For the most part, men who are stable, loving and responsible and seeking marriage also want kids.  That's not to say it is impossible for  Cougar to find a good man, it is just that, from what I see of people in general, it doesn't seem likely to me.

Women's Week: Can You Have It All?

 

     One thing that struck me about the characters of   The Cougar Club: A Novel is that they had very successful career lives, and were, at least in my opinion, with one exception, failures on the personal side.  Can we have it all?  Is the price of a high-powered, high-paying, high-profile job your personal life?  Can a woman expect to be highly successful at the office, and a happily married mother?  Men do it all the time, and often credit the support of their wives as a factor in their success, but many of the successful women you see do not have husbands.  Sarah Palin seems to have it all.  Is she a role model, proof that it can be done, or is she an anomaly, someone setting a standard the normal woman cannot hope to match?  Is Condoleezza Rice, who has never married, more the norm for a successful career woman?  What do you think?  Leave a comment, (remember substantive comments get you a chance to win The Cougar Club: A Novel) giving your views on this subject, or blog about it yourself, and leave me a link.

In my opinion, the main problem with those high-powered, high-paying, high-status jobs is that, for the most part, they are very time-consuming.  I haven't met anyone yet who can be in two places at the same time.  I have a boss who has a daughter the same age as my little one.  There have been several things in which her daughter has been involved that I know she wanted to attend, but she couldn't, because she had something at work that she just couldn't get out of.  I realize there are some lower-class moms who couldn't have afforded to miss work, so would have missed the same events, but I've noticed that those of us in the middle generally are able to arrange our schedules to be there when our kids want us there.  As far as husbands go, I think it is hard to find a man who can both handle a woman being very successful and yet be the kind of man she wants around.  To find a man like that who is willing to be the primary caretaker of children is practically impossible.   So, in general, no I don't think it is possible to have it all, at least for most women.  Looking at the women who have reached the pinnacle of many professions shows a group of women who are single and/or childless in much greater numbers than the men in the same positions.  It's not fair, but it seems to me to be the way it is.

Lenten Link-up

As we begin this Lent, I'd like to invite you to join me weekly on Wednesdays for Lenten Link-up.  Each week I'll post a lent-related question.  Answer it on your blog and link your post to mine via Mr. Linky, or just leave a comment.  Let's walk together these next 40 days.

Question:  What are your resolutions this Lent, and why did you pick them?
My Answer:  Daily Mass once a week, because it forces me to make time to pray, and because once a week is challenging but something I am able to do.
Confession twice during Lent, because I need to go more often.
Walk 30 minutes a day, because I need to start an exercise program--and I can use that time to pray.
Read a book about Lent and Mary that I've had for over a year.