Book Review: The River at Night by Erica Ferencik

Book Review: The River at Night by Erica Ferencik

Publisher:  Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books

            Scout Press

The description of this book drew me in so I requested it with high hopes. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Four middle-aged women are going on their yearly girl’s trip in the wilds of main. Their goal: white water rafting on a rather rough river. They hire a guide whose idea of planning a route on the river is a hand drawn map. Had he been a local and familiar with the river it might not have mattered but he’s only done the river once or twice himself. It doesn’t help that he is made out to be an almost brainless dude bro.

Out of the four female characters I just couldn’t find one to root for or identify with. At times they take turns becoming almost invisible. Their friendship doesn’t really seem to be well defined. Instead of four friends with a 15 year friendship I felt more like I was reading about four women who met in a yoga class and decided to just hang out for a weekend.

Calamity happens on the river and I was expecting to read a tale of survival against the elements. Again, I was disappointed. Having the women be challenged by the environment and having to learn to rely upon each other and themselves would have been a really good story. Instead, other characters are thrown in and it tosses that whole plot out the window.

I don’t want to spoil the book in case you want to read it but the stereotypes of the local people in the story grated on my nerves. You’ll see what I mean when you read it.

It wasn’t a super bad book. It moved quickly and kept you turning the page to see what craziness happened next. It just didn’t live up to my expectations. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to drop me a comment to tell me I was wrong.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Always by Sarah Jio

Book Review: Always by Sarah Jio

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

I wanted to love this book but ended up only liking it. It’s a pretty quick and decent read. The story is captivating and it makes you want to keep turning the page to see what happens next.

The love of Kailey Crane’s life disappeared and left her heart broken but she has finally recovered. Successful social commentary journalist, engaged to a wealthy fiancé, and living in a beautiful home with a view she seems to have landed on her feet. One night, after a luxurious dinner, she comes across the now homeless Cade. While memories of their time together come flooding back to her, he seems to be unable to remember her.

What happened to Cade? A once up and coming music mogul has turned into a dirty, ragged homeless man. Why can’t he remember Kailey? Why did he disappear from her life without a word? Unfortunately, at the end of the book some loose ends stay loose and are never resolved. This is irksome.

Also irksome is the character of Kailey. I wanted to like her. I wanted to feel empathy for her broken heart and love lost. Unfortunately she was entirely selfish. She completely shut out Ryan, her new fiancé, in her quest to help Cade. She withdraws money from their joint account, lies to him about working, and even leaves a planned holiday to return to Cade. Emotional cheating can sometimes be worse than physical cheating and this book shows it in detail. As much as I appreciate a good “finding your lost love” story, her behavior really makes her unlikable.

The book bounces back and forth from the present day to the 90s when Kailey and Cade’s relationship took place. The author handles this pretty well as it’s not jarring and it doesn’t take you too far out of the story. It brought me back to the 90s with the musical references and clothing references. The nostalgia was spot on for me.

I didn’t love the ending at all. It seems a little rushed and as I said there are several loose ends that don’t get resolved. All in all it was a good book and I enjoyed it but it won’t make my favorites list.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Book Review: Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

Debbie Macomber proves that she is the queen of light, fun Christmas romance novels. This book is perfect to curl up with on the couch by the light of the Christmas tree. Unless you have the cold heart of the Grinch, this is a fun book for you.

“Kill him with kindness” is what Julia decides to do after a few rough encounters with Cain, her handsome but jerky neighbor. The plus side to her project is that she is going to blog about it in attempt to get a promotion at her job. She buys Cain coffee, bakes him homemade cookies, but nothing seems to work.

She is bent and determined to win him over and eventually finds herself falling for her own personal Ebenezer Scrooge. Fortunately Cain seems to be falling for her as well. Her blog readership and comments explode and she is soon faced with a dilemma. Is getting the promotion at work worth alienating Cain when he finds out he is being used for blog material? Will he understand that he started out as a project but soon turned into something more?

The interactions between Julie and Cain were fun to read. Both characters have experienced pain in past relationships and though both are hesitant they both end up falling for the other. This is a quick, festive read and will leave you with the warm fuzzies of the Christmas season.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Dying for Christmas by Tammy Cohen

Book Review: Dying for Christmas by Tammy Cohen

Publisher: Pegasus Books

Jessica Gold stops for a coffee after a long day of Christmas shopping. She leaves with a man named Dominic Lacey and ends up in his apartment. She begins to regret her mistake and wants to leave but Dominic has other plans. He’s keeping her captive for twelve days of Christmas celebrations.

Every day gets more bizarre. Dominic behaves erratically. He dresses her in his missing wife’s clothing, force feeds her rich and fatty foods and then calls her fat, and every night he gives her a morbid gift. Included are family photos, his dead sister’s favorite toy…even a bag of teeth. He claims he will let Jessica go home but she knows that she will never be able to escape.

All the attempts to leave are foiled by Dominic. He always seems to be one step ahead of Jessica. Kim, the detective in charge of the investigation into Jessica’s disappearance, has no clear leads to where Jessica could be. It’s like she disappeared into thin air.

I’m not going to get too in depth because to do so would reveal the plot twists that kept me reading this book into the wee hours. Every time I thought I had things figured out the plot would veer off and surprise me.

The ending was a little creepy and felt a little unfinished. The parts of the book with Kim the detective pulled me out of the story and felt unnecessary. Other than that this was a decent thriller with a ton of twists.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

Book Review: Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group

            Clarion Books

I am 38 years old and the mother of two children under ten. Some would wonder why I am reviewing a book rated as young adult and teens. I was drawn to the book because of the theme of mental illness. I assumed that it would be like a lot of books out there where someone was ill, they meet the love of their life, and then they are magically okay.

This is not that book. This is much better.

Norah suffers from a myriad of mental illnesses, agoraphobia and anxiety attacks being the most dominant. She hasn’t left her house in four years and her mother not only home schools her but she has become Norah’s best and only friend. Norah realizes what a burden she has become to her mother and she loves her all the more for it.

One day the delivery person dropping off Norah’s grocery leaves her order on the front porch. She is unable to get them herself even after trying to “fish” for them with a mop handle. New neighbor Luke comes to her rescue. The awkwardness of two teens meeting is amplified by Norah’s situation. She wants to hide in her house with embarrassment but Luke keeps coming back and slowly becomes Norah’s new friend.

The book walks you through Norah’s day to day issues but at no point does it drag or get boring. The portrayal of mental illness and Norah’s struggles are very realistic. You laugh with her, you cry with her, you feel happy with her when she starts feeling more than friendship for Luke, and your heart breaks for her when her illness and self doubts interfere with her blossoming relationship.

This book is honest and raw. It’s happy and sad and hopeful. The best part? Luke doesn’t heal Norah and she doesn’t magically overcome her issues. He opens her eyes and heart to the possibilities that are out there and she begins to heal and try to save herself. She starts to really look at herself and live…but she is doing it for herself and NOT for him.

Bring the tissues for the sad parts and be okay with laughing out loud at the good parts. This book is amazing in the fact that it portrays mental illness in a real and honest way. It shows the reader that even if you can’t wave a magic wand and make everything perfect that you can still have a brand of magic all your own.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, no matter what age you may be. I messaged my friend April as soon as I was done with it and urged her to read it ASAP. I urge you to do the same. You won’t regret it.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg

Book Review: The Whole Town’s Talking by Fannie Flagg

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Random House

This book spans the happenings in a small town over a hundred years. While it may sound like a boring history lesson, it is anything but. Elmwood Springs is a town in Missouri founded by Swedish immigrant Lordor Nordstrom. The book starts with him founding the town and then sending away for a mail order bride.

Every character in this book is fleshed out really well. I felt almost as if I knew them by the end of the book. They were good people, flawed, but came together as a community of people that loved one another. Well, some of them more than others. It’s a testament to Flagg’s writing that the characters have so much life to them.

I don’t want to spoil a key part of the book but I do want to say that it really made me think about life and what you would do if you had just one more moment to talk to that special someone or best friend.

The chapters are short which makes the book go by really quickly. I enjoyed how the story was told from many different points of view and yet remained cohesive. The historical events that were mixed through out reminded me of a few things that I had forgotten.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light hearted yet thoughtful read. It’s a book that I will come back to whenever I need that feel good feeling.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.