Long Time Coming by Edie Claire

Yet another book that was decently written but predictable. However, yes the storyline touches on possible supernatural activity it doesn't go overboard. I know this aspect was introduced to give the story a twist but did it really serve its purpose. 

I admit I enjoyed reading this book and practically read it straight through. Yes there were aspects that could be foreseen but that didn't detract from the book for me. 

Yes there are some things in the book I would change because I feel they were not needed. Some characters or situation I think I would omit.

I'm sorry I don't have much more to say about the book. It helped me past the time I need to take to relax but other than that the book was ok. I guess I just expected more from it. 

With that said I liked the fact that the main character was a veterinarian. You don't see that profession used in books very much.

So until the next book.

Yours truly,

The Reader

Six Clicks Away by Bonnie Rozanski

I began reading this book thinking the concept of studying six degrees of separation through social networking was simple enough. I looked forward to seeing what would happen, with the technology we have now and the speed at which it would work. I was looking to have a twist in the story but... I thought that it would be a straight forward read but it turned out to be daunting, very boring and annoying.

 

The story was over written with too many situations the author felt had to be explained in detail by either going back in memory sequences or by showing a different point of view from another character. An example is with the character Raj. You first see him having lunch with an actor named Matthew Boone. Well you go through several chapters with Raj and his family or Rachel and Jeremy and Antara and Marcus then all of a sudden you are back to that lunch table and now the point of view is from Matthew. Just way to much. By the way the chapters are not numbered just listed by location so it is hard for me to go back and say how many chapters occur between the two scenes. 

 

It is hard to explain what annoyed me about this book without giving spoiler details and I do not wish to do that. So I will try to bullet point a few things without trying to give to much away.

 

• There was a love interest that made no since because the characters had no chemistry and the time frame at which this sudden love interest happen was too off.
• There is a business connection that is ridiculous and would never happen. No one would ever friend someone on their social network who is a bill collector, especially someone from another country.
• Another character looking up a past love from when she was a teenager. That in itself is not the problem but after finding out he is married with two children she pursues him trying to rekindle past feelings.
• When has anyone, from another country, working as a bill collector tried to help you improve your finances by contacting someone to help you remortgage your home.
• The time frame at which most of the situations happen is just to fast.
• This one I have to give a small spoiler. A local police officer who says he is from the cyber crime unit comes to Rachel's apartment. First off he never gives his name he just tells her he wants to talk to her down at the station with her laptop but she is not being arrested. Rachel goes with him without question and takes her laptop. He doesn't tell her his name until they are there at the station in a small room and then when he asks to see her computer she gladly shows him. Who does that? 

The connections in this book: (these are the main characters, there are other minor characters)

Jeremy and Rachel - classmates who start the project
Rachel and Julia - Julia graduated from the school Rachel goes to - the connection is minor and brief
Julia and Marcus - former teen sweethearts
Marcus and Antara - debtor and bill collector
Antara and Raj - cousins
Raj and Matthew - producer and actor
Matthew and Julia - actor and writer

It felt like the connections were too forced to move the story along.

I do not recommend this book. Too long, too drawn out, too over written.


Until the next book

Yours truly,
The Reader

The Ivy House by Drea Stein

This book was a nice little distraction. There was nothing spectacular about the book but it was a nice read. The storyline was predictable. Even thought I read straight through this book it wasn't a memorable read. If you want a distraction to past the time then yes go ahead and pick up this book, but if you're looking for more this is not the book for you. 

 

To be honest if the other book I was reading when I was reading this one hadn't been so bad I probably would have been more annoyed with its predictability.

 

Yours truly,

 

The Reader

Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly

This book was typical as far as a romance novel is concerned, but it was well written. Once I began reading it I couldn't put it down till I was finished. It actually captured my romantic side. Once you get past the weirdness and dangerous aspect of the situation you become tangled in this romantic fantasy web of meeting that person that is the right one for you. 

 

The story was quirky but not very believable in the since that you wake up in Las Vegas married to someone you just met and you can't remember anything of what happened. I guess it could and has happened in real life but how many times is the guy some handsome, rich hunk or the woman beautiful, smart, independent and what are the odds of that person being your sole mate. About a billion to one. However looking past all that and the true likelihood of that happening and just ride with the fantasy of it all. 

 

I was able to visualize certain real life actors playing the parts in my mind. See their expressions and hear their voice saying the words. That tells me that these characters were well written. They became three dimensional in my imagination. 

 

At first I got caught up in Conner's romantic attention, then it began to get overwhelming, then very annoying and I started to wonder if this guy was for real. It is not until of course close to the end where realization of why he's acting the way he is and why he is so afraid of love. I wasn't sure what I thought of Megan at first. You can see right of she has trust issues but waking up in that situation who would be trusting of the other person. However, the reason for her trust issues comes out and you can also understand why she is afraid of love.

 

With that said I enjoyed reading the book and was happy just being taken away from reality for a while.

I read this book very much in the context that it was written, as a romantic "what if" fantasy.

Please remember that all reviews are strictly my opinion.

Till the next book,

The Reader

Free is always GREAT

Ok let's admit it. We ALL love FREE! I currently have over 1000 kindle books and they were all free. Don't get me wrong I like supporting authors but I actually have been unemployed since February 2013. So I'm sure you can understand why I have been leaning more toward the free books than the ones I have to pay for. However, my wishlist on Amazon keeps growing in anticipation to when I'll be able to makes some purchase of Kindle books. As far as physical books I am keeping those to a strict minimum. My family and I have plans for changing our life style and becoming Travel Trailer Residents which I am writing about in my other blog Our Life as Travel Trailer Residents. I won't go into a long talk about it but you are welcome to drop by and check us out on the blog. 

In my short journey in 2013 I learned how to continue getting things I want without having to pay an arm and a leg for it. I've found a way to fund my book love by putting in just a little time and effort. In April 2013 I signed up on a site called Swagbucks where you can watch videos, take surveys, play games, shop and complete special offers among other things and you can even search the web through the site and earn. You can earn swagbucks that you can redeem for gift cards or cash through a PayPal account. That is where I can earn Amazon gift cards to purchase non free books for my Kindle. Isn't that cool. They also have cards for Barnes and Noble and iTunes. So if you think about it you are still supporting authors but with free money (well not exactly free because you have to put a little work into it to get it but you get the gist).

You may be wondering if this site really does pay out for doing so little, well to date I have earned over 38,000 swag bucks which translates to roughly just under $400. No I am not making a living off of Swagbucks but it helps having it for the little extras in life and have redeemed them for gift cards to Walmart, Starbucks and to my PayPal account. So if you would like to check out Swagbucks and sign up for an account I have posted here a link for a referral from me. Or you can find a link at the top of my side bar. I still prefer to have some books in physical form like my cook books and books on sewing, quilting, and tailoring among others so if you go through my referral link I can get credit for you when you earn swagbucks during a search. 

As I move along in this blog I will be posting up sites or links where you can go to find bargain and free books for your Kindle. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any Nook books for free except for samples on the B&N website. So most of my information will be for Kindle, but if I come across some thing for Nook I will certainly share it.

So until my next post

The Reader

Snowbound with a Stranger by Patricia Keyson

Kindle ebook: Free

What can I say, I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get past a few things. In reading this book the writing felt sketchy and rushed. Scenes didn't feel played out enough to move the story along smoothly. Now as I said in my introduction I don't give spoilers but I think I can use this part of the book as an example of what I am talking about without it being a spoiler.

         Megan felt foolish. The cold and isolation must be addling her brain. She must get away from here as soon as she possibly could. Minutes later, Jamie was back in the kitchen cheerfully whistling and bustling around finding mugs and spoons.

“I can’t bear people who are cheerful first thing in the morning,” Megan said, as she drifted back into the living room . She stabbed at the fire with the poker, hoping to stir some more life into it.

Jamie followed her in, carrying the steaming mugs. “Well, we’re both up now so we might as well make the most of it.”

KEYSON, PATRICIA (2013-11-06). SNOWBOUND WITH A STRANGER (romance books) (Kindle Locations 258-262). Not So Noble Romance Fiction Novels. Kindle Edition.

I'm sorry but even with my electric kettle it takes more than a few seconds to boil water and brew a cup of tea. It say that Megan drifted back into the living room. She stabbed at the fire... to bring it to life then jumps straight to Jamie followed her in, carrying the steaming mugs. It's about the relationship of time. This is but only one example of the writing being jumpy. A few more words or a single sentence could have made it flow smoother for example just adding 'while waiting for the tea' to the beginning or end of the sentence She stabbed at the fire... would show a passage of time and made it flow better.

The premise of the book was far fetched but I thought it could work. Last year I read another book with two strangers being snowbound together but how they became that way worked out better than in this book. I'm sorry but a woman all alone in a cabin in the woods just let's a stranger come and stay with her. Maybe it's my modern since of survival but I don't think I would do that, I don't care how handsome a man may be. The most dangerous person can also be the most charming. I understand that this is fiction but there has to be some element of true behavior to make it work.

Also who goes to a mountain cabin and not bring your own food. She says the owners promised a Welcome basket but usually something like that does not have enough in it for one day let alone several. Maybe it's the Girl Scout in me but I feel you should always make yourself prepared for any situation. Also doesn't the owner of the cabins maintain them if they are in the business of renting them out. Old furniture, food left buy previous tenants and pipes that freeze are not good for business. Also she booked a 2 bedroom cabin and ended up with a one room shack. I would definitely be contacting the owners for an explanation and possible refund.

Another thing that annoyed me was the miscommunication between Megan and Jamie. This seems to be a technique used by a lot of romance novel writers to keep or I should say to extend the story.

Lastly I felt the characters were too one dimensional. They just had no substance to them.

That's my take on this book. I gave it three stars on Good Reads because I was able to get though the book in one day. I have read books where the writing was so bad that I couldn't even finish reading it but not this one.

Please remember that all reviews are strictly my opinion. So until the next book.

This is The Reader

The Challenge Has Begun

Hi everyone, I have begun my book challenge for 2014 by reading my first book for the year Snowbound with a Stranger by Patricia Keyson. I finished reading it over night and I'm in the process of writing a review and will post it later today. 

 

Happy New Year and good luck on your own book challenges for 2014.

The Reader

Introduction

Hi, I am The Reader. I chose to use this name because that is exactly what I am. I love to read and listen to books. Not just one or two genres but whatever appeals to my interest at the time. I also don't limit myself to the type of book I read. I read physical books, ebooks and audio books. I feel some books are best heard rather than read but that's just my opinion. I will let you know in my review if the book was a physical, ebook or audio book.

The majority of books I read now are on my Kindle or books I get from the library. The Kindle books I have gotten for free through sites I will mention in resources. I have also purchased books through Audible and iTunes. I find there is an endless source of books out there and I just want to share what I've found. 

In this blog I will have reviews of books, book stores, book sites and sources. However I do not wish to review any author. I feel reading a book is purely personal so I can give my opinion and feelings about a book but I will not review an author based on another persons information, and as it is very unlikely that I will meet any of these authors I can not and will not judge them.

With that said I will try to keep my reviews very professional. I do not wish to berate anyone's work however I will say frankly if I like the book or not. I will also try not to give spoilers in my reviews. I think that reviewing a book by using spoilers is not reviewing at all.

Please remember that all reviews are strictly my opinion.