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Book Reviews - Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction - By an Adult for Adults

Island Girls Nancy Thayer Summer Read Beach Book Romance Novel Chick Lit

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Island Girls: A Novel was a bit off the usual type of book that I read. It’s entertaining, classic beach novel, about three sisters who spend the summer together, fall in love and renew their sisterhood.

This was the first book by Nancy Thayer I have read. Our local library newsletter included this in their recent “new books” section and it sounded fun. Plus the cover was lovely with the fluttering beach umbrella. I detest books full of women having affairs and angst about marriage, careers, suburbia depression. I much prefer books about happy people or people who at least recognize happiness when it flits in and seize the joy. Island Girls: A Novel was that.

Characters

Arden is a semi-famous television personality with her own show in Boston. She’s threatened a little by a younger colleague brought in to revive ratings by appealing to younger viewers. Arden is 34, single and has not been back to Nantucket since she was exiled by her stepmother for alleged theft. Arden gets along fine with her own mother.

Meg is Arden’s half sister, 31 and also unmarried, an English professor at a community college. She feels drawn to teach at the smaller school because she is a teacher first, before a researcher. She wants to help her students and she is very good at it. Meg’s best buddy is 26 and a guy; Meg is drawn to him but fights it as she fears he will dump her like her dad dumped her mom. Meg’s mother remarried and has a new life with her husband and sons; Meg is an afterthought in their lives.

Jenny lives on Nantucket in her parents’ summer home and runs a computer business. Arden and Meg’s father adopted Jenny when she was 10, making her Arden and Meg’s stepsister. She is also 31 and gets along fine with her mother.

The mothers all appear in the book too but are not central characters. The sisters’ boyfriends and would-be boy friends have parts and their deceased father plays a role too.

Plot Plot is light and fluffy. Arden, Meg and Jenny must spend 3 months on Nantucket living together to inherit their father’s house. The house is worth over $2,000,000 so it’s worth an inconvenience or two.

Of course the girls end up renewing their sisterhood and all fall in love.

Overall This was fun and I was intrigued enough to check out vacation rentals on Nantucket. (Summer rentals start at several thousand per week; October is more reasonable.) I also checked out two more Nancy Thayer books although I suspect she will be a once a year author, not a steady diet. I’m not enjoying the second on nearly so much.

4 stars.

The Paid Companion Amanda Quick Regency Romance Suspense Jayne Ann Krentz

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The Paid Companion is a lot of fun, a good combination of romance and suspense set in Regency England. Our heroine Elenora has been cheated of her entire inheritance by her dumb and greedy stepfather and her erstwhile fiance dumped her the minute he heard she lost her fortune.

Sadly this situation happened; in the early 1800s women had no control over their own fortune and their male “guardians” could gamble it away. Elenora was not surprised when the sheriff arrived to kick her out but she was surprised when her fiance broke the engagement.

Meanwhile the hero, Arthur Lancaster, Earl of St. Merryn, has had his fiancee run away to marry another man. One of the best scenes in the book is when Arthur hears that she has bolted while at his club and makes a dry comment about the best way to secure a wife would be to look for a paid companion. Of course his friends think he is cold and unfeeling while in fact he had helped orchestrate the elopement.

Arthur wants to solve his uncle’s murder and does not want to be hounded by marriage-minded mamas and daughters. He hires Elenora to pose as his fiancee. They quickly run afoul of the villain, the mad Parker, who killed the uncle to obtain his snuffbox. The box was one of a set with a pure ruby.

The villain Parker fancies himself a great scientist, “England’s second Newton” and has set up his laboratory in a fascinating part of London, underground, accessible by a “lost river”. Amanda Quick notes that these rivers actually exist, apparently flowing under London and built over.

It’s quickly obvious to the readers and to Arthur the two lead characters are in love, but it’s not so obvious to Elenora. The book has several enjoyable plot twists and secondary characters.

The Good Points

The Paid Companion is a fun, fast read with enjoyable characters. There are secondary villains, such as Elenora’s ex fiance or Arthur’s butler that add greatly to the story. The butler especially was an excellent character; Amanda Quick took care to make him realistic and his actions plausible.

Amanda Quick took time to elaborate the setting and background of Regency England high society. This also added to the story and made it more interesting and vivid.

The Less Good

The ending was a little too pat. We knew Parker would come to a sticky end and we knew Elenora and Arthur would end up with a real engagement. When you know the ending it’s tricky getting to it with any element of surprise.

The other thing I didn’t like were the love scenes. Would a woman in Elenora’s position – a paid companion with few resources in milliue where women had few rights and unwed mothers were viewed as tramps – really risk her future on sexual intercourse? I don’t think so. Plus I don’t care for the current fashion to throw obligatory sex scenes in every novel. Is this really necessary?

All Else Confusion Gentle Romance by Betty Neels English Countryside Novel

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I mentioned in my last post how much I enjoyed romance novels by Betty Neels. They are gentle, friendly, easy reading with interesting characters. Sometimes the plots are a bit contrived, but that is true for most romance novels – it’s even true for romance in real life!

All Else Confusion uses one of Betty Neels’ more difficult plots, where the couple, Jake and Annis, marry before discovering or realizing they are in love. These are difficult because the author has to give some plausible reason for the marriage, has to provide some incident that shows to one or the other (or both) people that they really are in love, has to have some tension or challenge.

Plot Difficulties

If you think about it, there are four main variations on this plot.

  1. He thinks it’s convenience.  She knows she loves him.
  2. He thinks it’s convenience and so does she.
  3. He knows it’s love but she does not.
  4. They both know it is love but for some reason neither realizes the other feels the same way or is afraid to say something.

There are sub variations of course.  One of them could love the other but not know it, or one could have extremely good reasons to get married that cause the other to assume there is no love, etc and etc.  The main problem with these plots is turning the corner from “convenience” to “love” and giving a good picture of both characters and their feelings.

Character Limitations

Betty Neels tells the story from the female perspective and in some of her later novels she does a better job showing the man’s point of view and emotions than she does with All Else Confusion. She wrote All Else Confusion after she had been writing novels for over 10 years, but it reads like it was one of her earliest, more tentative stories from before she developed her sure voice.

In any case, we never get a sense of Jake’s true emotions. Does he love Annis from the beginning? Or only after they are married, and if only afterwards, what caused the change?

Overall OK Story

Overall I’d rate this as in the bottom half of her novels.  I did read it to the end but I don’t desire to read it again.  It was a little too simplistic and without the emotional depth that make romance novels so enjoyable.

Trust Me On This Screwball Romantic Comedy Novel Jennifer Crusie

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Jennifer Crusie describes Trust Me on This as a screwball comedy, with lots of plot twists and turns, mistaken identities, unexpected romances. It wasn’t that complicated a story. I enjoyed it, but it’s one of those books where things just happen and the characters never come alive.  Crusie wrote plenty of plot but not a lot of story.

Trust Me on This is a cute story with two parallel romances plus a plot to trap a fraudster and another plot by the main heroine, Dennie Banks, to bump her journalism career up a few steps from women’s page to more serious interviews.

3 Stars

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Romance Novels – A Royal Pain by Megan Mulry, Always and Forever by Betty Neels

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It would be hard to find two romance novels as different as these.

A Royal Pain

A Royal Pain is about a modern American girl Bronte Talbot who is dead set on having a hot temporary boyfriend with lots of sex and no commitment. Bronte seems to believe this is what she is supposed to be doing as a modern career minded female, especially after a disastrous romance. I never got the impression that Bronte truly wanted the no-strings-attached relationship as much as she felt it was what she deserved and would be safest.

I didn’t care much for this. I read about two thirds through then skimmed the rest as Bronte got tiresome and so did her romance with the British doctoral student who turned out to be a duke and second cousin to the Queen of England. I’m not a fan of this lifestyle or beliefs and attitudes and it was hard to give a darn for the characters. Frankly the dialogue and plot weren’t enough to overcome the sleaze factor.

The dialogue deteriorated into a string of F-F-F-F because apparently we were supposed to admire Bronte’s liberation from good English and her use of profanity. She was shallow, superficial and totally selfish. Example, she thought she might be pregnant and resented her fiance’s suggestion she not drink and even more resented his disapproval when she blithely mentioned the morning after pill. Really? You are going to get married yet you think your fiance is controlling because he suggested you skip the wine? Grow up Bronte!

The minor characters were stereotypes. Max’s mother is stuck up and not at all happy with Max’ choice of bride. Bronte’s friends are shallow just like she is. All in all, it was a boring, annoying novel and one I cannot recommend.

Always and Forever

Always and Forever by Betty Neels is classic Betty Neels. She wrote gentle, books with interesting characters.

Like all her books Always and Forever  has no sex scenes. There is tension and attraction but it is not in your face or in your bed. The characters don’t sleep around and they display all around good moral standards, not talking about others, not gossiping, not taking advantage or mooching, not giving into jealousy or envying others their good fortunes.

Always and Forever finds Amabel running her mother’s bed and breakfast while her mother is in Canada visiting her sister and her sister’s new baby. It’s obvious that Amabel and her mother are not well off, but they have enough to live on. One guest is Oliver Fforde who arrives with his mother during a bad storm. Although Amabel is not the type of girl he normally dates something about her lingers in his mind and Oliver seeks her out several times.

Amabel’s mother returns along with her new husband who instantly dislikes Amabel but is prepared to allow her to stay provided she works for free in his new nursery business and takes care of the housework. The final straw, when her new stepfather plans to kill her cat and dog, sends Amabel to visit her older aunt near York. There she finds work in a trendy gift shop.

Oliver visits her a couple times, although he isn’t sure why. He isn’t aware that he is attracted to her kindness, good cheer and steady character. Unfortunately the girl he has been dating discovers Amabel and prevails on her employer to fire her. Oliver finds her in the nick of time.

A few more mishaps ensue, but all happen without excessive drama. Once you accept that characters like these two exist, and accept the coincidental meeting, the story proceeds in a believable way that is most enjoyable.

I’ve always enjoyed Betty Neels’ novels. Yes, it is difficult to believe there are that many rich, single, successful Dutch doctors who desperately need wives, and yes, it’s a bit fortuitous how often the wife they need turns out to be our English heroine. But if you can get by that plot device the books are easy reading and fun and the characters are admirable. None of her characters is nasty or vindictive – although they may be tempted – nor are they saintly or too good to be true. I was delighted to find that her books have been reissued and intend to read them all.

What the Lady Wants, Romance Romantic Novel Jennifer Crusie

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What the Lady Wants is a light romance, cute with some funny moments. The hero is a private detective who helps his client Mae solve a murder, find a diary and fall in love.

I am on a bit of a Jennifer Crusie kick right now. I read a couple of hers and enjoyed them enough to look for more.  I found this one at the library. It’s the lightest of the three I’ve read so far, all fluff. Cute fluff, funny fluff, but fluff. I prefer books that have a little bit of meat to them. This a Harlequin romance, so we’re not looking at War and Peace, but…

It’s cute and a very fast read; at 155 pages we’re talking an early evening. There are some explicit sex scenes (it is a Harlequin after all) and some good dialogue.

Three stars.

Here are my reviews of her previous books.

Anyone But You review is:  Anyone But You, Romance Novel by Jennifer Crusie Romantic Comedy

The Cinderella Deal review is:  The Cinderella Deal, Romantic Comedy by Jennifer Crusie

Anyone But You, Romance Novel by Jennifer Crusie Romantic Comedy

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Jennifer Crusie specializes in fun romantic novels with plenty of character interest and good old fashioned plot. Anyone But You begins with Nina, a 40 year old recently divorced lady, picking out a perky puppy from the shelter. Luckily she spots Fred, an older beagle basset mix who is on his last day of life, before she can pick out a puppy. Fred is not perky. He is morose, fat and a little shy of love.

Nina lives in a 3 story older home converted into flats with a fire escape running outside the window. Nina decides to teach Fred how to climb down the escape to do his business by the dumpster in the back yard. Of course she meets her neighbor Alex when Fred gets mixed up on which window to climb back into and curls up next to Alex on his couch instead of with Nina on her couch.

The Plot and Characters

The plot is cute, funny, and what saves it from being contrived is the characters have real issues. Nina is worried about getting old and fears getting involved with Alex because he is so much younger. Plus Nina works for a specialty publisher that is slowly going broke due to publishing far too many serious, boring books. Nina has to decide how important the age gap is and she takes a huge risk on a funny, sexy novel that she knows her boss will deplore.

Alex is an emergency room doctor from a family of all doctors, all of whom specialize, make tons of money and all of whom what Alex to follow their career path. Alex is happy being an ER doctor, thank you very much, but he is tempted to specialize to earn the income he thinks Nina wants.

The two main minor characters, Charity and Max, have serious life challenges they must acknowledge. The characters do work things out but there is no magic wand. Each must decide something and take action that leaves them exposed and at risk.

Deja Vu All Over Again

I read Anyone But You within a week of reading The Cinderella Deal. You can read my review of The Cinderella Deal here:

The Cinderella Deal, Romantic Comedy by Jennifer Crusie

I was struck by how Crusie reuses the same plot elements, even similar minor characters, yet manages to make the story fresh and interesting. Let’s see the parallels:

Book begins with girl finding a pet. Yes.
Girl initially believes boy is completely unsuitable. Yes.
Boy is a professional, not rich but comfortable. Yes.
Girl and boy live in the same apartment house. Yes.
Girl has career difficulties. Yes.

Overall I found The Cinderella Deal a little more intricate novel with more complex secondary plots but I enjoyed the characters in Anyone But You more.

Romance Novel

Anyone But You is published by Harlequin, the imprint notable for steamy scenes more than literary quality. Anyone But You has about 10 pages of steam and is well written.

Recommendation

Anyone But You was a fun book that I enjoyed enough to continue to get more books by Jennifer Crusie. I give it four stars.

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The Cinderella Deal, Romantic Comedy by Jennifer Crusie

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Jennifer Crusie has an intriguing forward for The Cinderella Deal, calling it her first book where she decided to mute the light ironic touch in favor of letting the characters – and readers – experience real emotion. As she states: “Good stories are about hearts and minds but the heart always comes first”.

I wasn’t sure whether this would be a tear jerker or a romantic comedy with a dose of mid life crisis or what I was getting into. The Cinderella Deal turned out to be a very good story with fun characters, interesting plot, great dialogue and setting.

The Characters

Daisy left her teaching job to pursue her dream of being an artist.  After four years she has depleted her savings, she still hasn’t had her first show, she can’t even get the jerky craft boutique to pay her what they owe.  She lives in an older building with her cat Liz.  Daisy is on the verge of panic knowing she doesn’t have this month’s rent and her dreams are looking more and more tarnished around the edges.

Daisy is one of those open hearted people that everyone feels a warm bond with.  She dresses a bit eccentrically and has a penchant for rescuing beat up furniture and lamps because they appeal to her and giving cats a home even though she is not allowed pets.  She is very wary of her tall handsome neighbor Linc because he drives a Porsche and moved Liz with his foot.  Linc is definitely not her type!

Linc teaches history at a city university.  He is ambitious and wants to write another book, but he also wants to move to a liberal arts college where he will have more time for research and writing and smaller classes to teach.  He is handsome and at the moment is in between girl friends.  He prefers small blond ladies who are well organized and articulate.  Daisy is definitely not his type!

Other characters are Julia, Daisy’s best friend, Chickie, the put-upon wife of the lecherous dean Crawford, Evan, the rather morose professor, various students, the local vet and of course Daisy’s pets Liz, new kitten and rescue dog Jupiter.  Daisy and Linc’s mothers show up to “help” with the wedding and later her father with second wife appear too.

The Plot

Linc needs a fiancee, in fact a wife, to get his dream job.  Daisy needs money.  See where this is going?  Linc offers Daisy $1000 to pose as his fiancee for a weekend when he visits the college for his job interview.  When he tried to tell the dean that Daisy broke the “engagement”, Crawford has a fit and orders Linc to go get her.  They agree to marry for a year, then separate with no hard feelings.

Naturally love gets in the way although neither one realizes it. Linc is restrained, cool, not inclined to invite students to his home.  Daisy is the opposite.  Daisy moves all of Linc’s contemporary furniture upstairs and puts her shabby, mismatched furniture in its place.  Linc hates her furniture, calls it junk.  Students arrive; Linc’s mother arrives and gets terribly ill; Daisy paints the house, the furniture and pictures of Linc.

Sure, the final ending is preordained.  Linc and Daisy fall in love.  But how we get there is lots of fun.  I thoroughly enjoyed The Cinderella Deal.

Lots of Fun, Great Weekend Read

If you’re in the mood for something a little on the light side but not all fluff, then try The Cinderella Deal.  This is not  highfalutin literature but it’s not junk by any stretch.

In fact I liked The Cinderella Deal so much I got more books by Jenifer Crusie!

4 Stars

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Cute Enough: Boomerang Bride Romance Novel by Fiona Lowe

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Here’s a contemporary romance that is a reasonably decent read, well-enough written to enjoy, but ultimately nothing that I want to re-read or keep, Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe. We meet our hero first, super-star architect and great looking guy Marc Olsen. He spots a stranger standing in front of a closed storefront in his small Wisconsin hometown wearing a wedding dress and holding a wedding cake. Since it’s a bit unusual to say the least, he stops. The bride is our heroine from Australia, Matilda, and she is in Wisconsin to marry her online sweetheart Barry.

Needless to say, Barry is a fraud and stole Matilda’s money and self-respect. Matilda is stranded in this small northern town in late November, no friends, no money and someone stole her rental car.

Marc is also in a bind. He came home from New York for his annual Thanksgiving whirlwind visit, but his sister has breast cancer. She asks Marc to stay with her and provide care since for some unknown reason she doesn’t want to ask her mom or any friends.

Of course Marc ends up hiring Matilda to help; of course they fall into instant lust. Eventually Marc returns to New York and Matilda turns a chance encounter into a successful wedding consulting business. They both discover that lust turned into love and they end up happily together.

This is a fast read. The main characters Marc and Matilda both seem a little unreal to me. But the side characters, Marc’s nephew, Matilda’s business partner are well done and come across like real people. You can relate the quickly sketched personalities to people you know and their motivations and actions make sense.

Overall I enjoyed this book on a cold weekend, but will not reread it. I don’t read many romance novels so I’m not likely to track down more books by author Fiona Lowe. If you enjoy romance novels then you probably will like this one.

3 Stars

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