Review: Summer Getaway

 

Summer Getaway

About the Book

Single mom Robyn Caldwell needs a new plan for her future.  She has always put her family first.  Now, with her kids grown, she yearns for a change. But what can she do when her daughter has become the most demanding bride ever, her son won’t even consider college, her best friend is on the brink of marital disaster and her ex is making a monumentally bad decision that could ruin everything?

Take a vacation, of course. Press reset. When her great-aunt Lillian invites her to Santa Barbara for the summer, Robyn hops on the first plane to sunny California.

But it’s hard to get away when you’re the heart of the family. One by one, everyone she loves follows her across the country. Somehow, their baggage doesn’t feel as heavy in the sun-drenched, mishmash mansion. The more time Robyn spends with free-spirited Lillian, the more possibilities she sees—for dreams, love, family. She can have everything she ever wanted, if only she can muster the courage to take a chance on herself?

My Comments

The women featured in most women's fiction/romance books tend to be young women, women the age of my daughter.  While Robyn is younger than I am, we are at about the same stage of life--our nest is emptying and we are having to say "now what?". Another thing we have in common is young adult children and trying to balance being there for them and making their problems ours.  Unfortunately, running away to Aunt Lillian's isn't an option for me.  

The strength of Susan Mallery's good books is her characters and that is true of this book.  Robyn's daughter goes from being the clueless rich girl to someone who wants to stand on her own two feet.  Her son shows the maturity that a lot of young people could use when he rejects his parents' paths for his life and goes for what he wants.  Even the ex-husband finally grows up (or so it seems).  

I read this one in one sitting so it definitely caught my attention.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy via NetGalley. Grade:  B+

Only Yours: My Review

Only Yours (Hqn)

About the Book:

Montana Hendrix has found her calling—working with therapy dogs. With a career she loves in a hometown she adores, she's finally ready to look for her own happily ever after. Could one of her dogs help her find Mr. Right… or maybe Dr. Right?

Surgeon Simon Bradley prefers the sterility of the hospital to the messiness of real life, especially when real life includes an accident-prone mutt and a woman whose kisses make him want what he knows he can't have. Scarred since childhood, he avoids emotional entanglement by moving from place to place to heal children who need his skillful touch. Can his growing feelings for Montana lead him to find a home in Fool's Gold, or will he walk away, taking her broken heart with him?

My Comments:

I almost quit reading this one.  I found the writing to be weak and melodramatic and some situations highly improbable.  Dr. Wonderful Surgeon discusses a patient's personal life with his girlfriend, a hospital volunteer--can we say HIPAA violation?  A little girl with horrible burn injuries goes into cardiac arrest in the hospital.  CPR is administered and a couple of hours later the little girl is feeling much better (and didn't have a sore chest).  

I figured out real early on what the resolution would be--but that's not a reach with a romance novel.  I kept reading because of of a subplot involving Nevada's mother, but it was just a set-up for another book, which I will not be reading.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley  Grade:  C

Review: Only Mine

Only Mine (Fool's Gold)

About the Book:

Her town’s lack of men may make headlines, but it isn’t news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance reality competition filming in Fool’s Gold. Screening eligible bachelors is a difficult enough task, but Dakota hits an unexpected snag when a sexy stranger comes to town. Finn Anderssen will do anything to keep his twin brothers — the perfect contestants — off the show. Despite Dakota’s better judgment, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious outsider. Like her, Finn knows about heartbreak and how a family can fall apart, so she doesn’t dare to hope for anything more than a fling. After all, even in the Land of Happy Endings, finding true love is never as easy as it looks on TV.

My Comments:

This is the second Susan Mallery book I've read and I've decided I like her stories but there is something I can't quite describe that makes me not like her writing style.  I like the contrast between the two sets of siblings.  Dakota and her fellow triplets Montana and Nevada are close but respect each other's independence.  They are part of a small town where everyone helps all the time. Finn is the older brother turned dad to his younger twin brothers.  He is overbearing; they sneak off.  They come from a town that values independence, not interdependence.  Actually, I'd say that's the theme of the whole book--adult independence--how much is good and how much is too much?  Finn has to answer that question for himself, not only the regard to his relationship with his younger brothers but also in connection with his relationship with Dakota.  The twins have to answer that regarding their relationship with Finn and one of the twin's woman has to learn to answer that question regarding her mother.  

The book is general market romance and there are quite a few intimate scenes where little is left to the imagination.  

Thanks to the publisher for making a complimentary copy available via NetGalley.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  Grade:  B-

My Review: Already Home

Already Home

About the Book:

After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She’s supported her ex-husband’s dreams for so long that she can’t even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents’ home andenvisions her very own cooking store.

Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna’s adoptive mother. But just as she’s gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.

Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex’s latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love....

Coming Unraveled, Mallery's story in THE KNITTING DIARIES anthology (April 2011), is loosely linked to the story in ALREADY HOME.

My Comments:

I got this from NetGalley, and as I've expressed before, one thing I like about NetGalley is the total lack of pressure to review books, and therefore, a total lack of pressure to stick with books I'm not really enjoying.  When I started Already Home I didn't care for the writing style, and after about 10% of the book,was considering abandoning it.  However, shortly thereafter, it grabbed me.  It is a love story, but not really a romance.  We learn about the love her birth parents have for each other, and for her birth siblings, the love her adoptive parents have for her,and for each other, the love she learns to have with her birth parents and the love that develops between her and a guy, and between her friend and another guy.  Jenna also needs to  learn to love herself again.  

I enjoyed watching Jenna's business grow and prosper.  I really liked her friend and employee.  She'd had a real lack of love in her life, and now is thriving under the love of Jenna and her family.  

Jenna's birth parents are portrayed as aging hippies, but in doing the math, I discovered that they were my age, and the hippies were definitely before my time.  Still, by the end of the book I had learned to care for them and realized that I had pre-judged them by outward appearances.  

I'll give this book a B.  It has a couple of intimate scenes that happen before marriage but they aren't graphic. 

Review: The Knitting Diaries

The Knitting Diaries: The Twenty-First Wish\Coming Unraveled\Return to Summer Island

About the Book:

Knitting is many things to many people.

Knitting is a way of life

The Twenty-First Wish by Debbie Macomber
Anne Marie Roche and her adopted daughter, ten-year-old Ellen, have each written a list of twenty wishes—on which they included learning to knit. Like many of their wishes, it’s come true and now they knit practically every day. But Ellen has quietly added a twenty-first wish: that her mom will fall in love with Tim, Ellen’s birth father, who’s recently entered their lives.…

Knitting is a passion

Coming Unraveled by Susan Mallery
When Robyn Mulligan’s dreams of becoming a Broadway star give way to an intense longing for her childhood home, she decides it’s time to make a fresh start back in Texas, running her grandmother’s knitting store. But the handsome, hot-tempered T. J. Passman isn’t making it easy on her. If he can learn to trust Robyn, and overcome his tragic past, they just might discover a passion like no other.

Knitting is a comfort

Return to Summer Island by Christina Skye
After a devastating car accident, Caro McNeal finds healing on Oregon’s sleepy Summer Island, where she’s warmly embraced by a community of knitters. She also finds meaning and purpose in the letters she exchanges with a marine serving in Afghanistan. But when life takes another unexpected turn, will Caro untangle her fears and pick up the threads of hope, opening her heart to wherever it takes her?

My Comments:

What could an anthology of three short romances by these authors be but sweet?  All feature knitters, and all three stories are preceded by knitting patterns.  The Twenty-First Wish is the continuation of Macomber's Twenty Wishes (my review) and like Macomber's recent work, it is squeaky clean.  With its short length, I didn't really get a feel for the characters, but since I "knew" them from Twenty Questions, it wasn't a problem.  Without that background, it is simply a predictable story with an overused plot--should she go for Mr. Steady and Reliable, or Mr Makes Her Heart Go Pitter Patter.  

The hero and heroine in Coming Unraveled are better developed than Macomber's characters.  Mallery's characters begin the book disliking each other but end it....  Both are hurting in their own way, each brings healing to the other and Grandma and her friends make this as cozy as a hand-knit scarf.  It is the only one of the three stories with an intimate scene, and I'd describe it as moderately graphic.

Return to Summer Island is about a young woman recovering from physical injuries and a young Marine she meets on the day before he is to return to Afghanistan.  While a bit unrealistic, the story was heartwarming, and if you are an animal lover, you'll be glad to know that a dog and cat are major characters.

While I doubt any of these stories will make any list of classic literature, they were all fun reads and if you like these authors and/or clean romances, give them a try.  Grade:  B-

Thanks to the publisher for making a complimentary review copy available to me via NetGalley.  I was not obligated to provide any review, much less a positive one.