Interrupted: Life Beyond Words

Interrupted: Life Beyond Words, by Rachel Coker, is not always an easy read, mostly because the main character, Allie Everly, is not always an easy character to like. Sometimes she is petulant, sometimes she is mean-spirited, and sometimes she is ungrateful. But one thing Allie consistently is, as written by Rachel Coker, is interesting.

When we meet her, she is fending off the unwanted advances of Sam Carroll, her neighbor, and ostensibly the only friend she has. With World War II humming in the background, pre-teen Allie must deal with her mother's illness and Sam's adoration. When her mother dies, Allie is shipped off to live with the woman who soon adopts her, and Allie's world goes from cloudy to dark. She and Sam eventually cross paths again, but Allie is so difficult and unhappy that she nearly destroys their friendship.

Allie treats the people in her life with undisguised disdain, constantly comparing her adoptive mother with her biological mother. But Coker doesn't establish that life was all that great for Allie when her mother was alive, so it is difficult to empathize with her loss. Still, though, I enjoyed getting to know her in this book, even if I occasionally wanted to slap her.

A favorite passage:

My mind was racing. I backed away from him, bumping my head against one of Beatrice's cabinets.

"But I never meant to hurt you." He lowered his voice. "I just wanted to be with you. I've always wanted to be with you, to see you and to make you as happy as you make me." He reached out and touched my hair, smiling softly.

It was my turn to speak, but when I opened my mouth, no words came out. My wrist throbbed; I looked down and saw my white knuckles gripping the countertops. I let go and stuck them behind my back, avoiding Sam's eyes. "Go home, Sam," I whispered. 

That shows you what you're up against with Allie. But give her a chance. Interrupted is a good, enjoyable book with a deeply flawed heroine.

Midnight Remedy

I am a sucker for romance novels.

There, I said it.

While Pride and Prejudice and Les Misérables are my unquestionable two all-time favorites, give me a good romance novel, and I blissfully float on a puffy marshmallow pillow of gooey joy.

So when, thanks to NetGalley, I got my hands on Midnight Remedy, by Eve Gaddy, I rubbed my hands together and read with abandon.

It did not disappoint.

Piper thought she was giving a friend some herbs to use as an ointment, but the friend brewed them as tea. Now, poof! the friend's husband has been cured of infertility, and the friend is pregnant. Dr. Eric Chambers is not thrilled about this, and he first confronts Piper, hoping to find out what kind of herbs she used. This being a Hot Romance Novel, all that friction eventually leads to some serious headboard rockin'. But of course, the path to true lust love never runs smoothly, and Piper and Eric suffer some Issues. Namely, her distaste of all things marriage and publicity. And then there is his hotness, which - well, there is nothing wrong with his hotness.

Here are some lines that particularly jumped out at me:

Oh, Lord, he sounded so sympathetic. "No, it's nothing." She hadn't been thinking of Mrs. Croaker, she'd been thinking about Eric. About kissing him good night. Even before they turned into the driveway, anticipation made her stomach churn. Why in the world was she making a big deal out of a simple good night kiss?

He walked her to the door, but instead of leaving, he simply stood there staring at her. At her mouth. He was going to kiss her. She wanted him to. And she was scared witless of what would happen when he did.

"Good night, Piper. I'll call you."

Will this book win a Pulitzer? No. Will it change your life? No. But is it fun to read? Is the conflict reasonable and interesting? Are the characters inviting? Is the headboard rockin' good? Yes, yes, yes and yessssss.

Go on, now. Read Midnight Remedy. You deserve a break from the drudgery of life.

Lily

Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to preview Lily: Song of the River, co-written by Diane T. Ashley and Aaron McCarver.

Lily is set in 1859 Natchez, Mississippi, and is perhaps the first book I've read set in that place and time. Lily Anderson is an 18-year-old girl with two younger sisters, forced to live with her grandmother after her mother's death and father's desertion. Lily has one goal: to be independent from her grandmother. It isn't that she does not love her grandmother - she does. Quite a bit, in fact. But Lily was born to live on the water, and she misses it. Until her mother's death, she and her family lived on a boat, and Lily wants to return. So after her grandfather passes away, she takes the inheritance left to her and her sisters and purchases a boat.

Only it turns out that she purchases 51%. A controlling interest, but a shared interest, nonetheless. Her co-owner is the rakish Blake Matthews, who wants to create a gambling boat, whereas Lily wants to haul cargo. They agree to her terms, and their partnership proceeds.

You can probably predict where this is headed.

There are obstacles to their budding love story, namely Blake's dismissal of God. See, Lily is really all about God's love. So if you aren't interested in books that stir the soul, then this is not for you. The religious fervor is not piled on thick, however. It actually is smoothly inserted into the story, and it avoids getting preachy. For that, Ashley and McCarver should be commended.

A particular exchange I enjoyed:

Not seeing why she wanted to bring God into the discussion, he waited.

Lily turned to him. "He already had things worked out, Blake. Don't you see? He'll help us through this trouble. I'm sure of it."

"If you say so, Lily." She might want to rely on God, but he was more of a man of action than of prayer. That was why he'd considered their predicament from every angle. He had a solution, but would she accept it? Could she let go of her strict moral code long enough to allow him to put his plan into action? He doubted it but felt he needed to try anyway. "There's another way around this."

 See? God is in the story, but you don't feel like you're listening to a sermon.

This is a pleasant, if unsurprising, read. The subtitle says that it's "Book One," so I assume other books are coming.

The characters are enjoyable, the story is interesting, and the message is nicely played. I liked this book, but didn't love it. It's ... nice. It doesn't grab you, nor do you feel wildly compelled to turn the pages. But if you're looking for a nice, sweet story, this is for you.

Bandwith

Crikey.

It takes a lot for me to quit on a book. A LOT. I read possibly the worst book ever written, Vapor, and finished it. While some may have liked that one, I struggled to enjoy the story of a man who turns into a cloud, and the woman who loves him. 

For real.

So if I can last through that one, I can handle anything, right?

Wrong.

I received an ARC of Bandwith, a new book by Angus Morrison. I am all about new authors and bringing them attention. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book.

In the interest of full disclosure, I only made it to page 47. I tried, faithful readers, heaven knows I tried. I wanted to be intrigued by the story of a guy who used to work for the CIA but now is a speech writer/adivsor for the sixth wealthiest man in the world. So there's that. Then there is the other story line about a kid in Holland who figures out how to use water as a conductor of sorts for things such as telephone calls, and transmitting video and other data. 

I think this book is a mystery, and I think it's supposed to be kind of Bourne Identity-ish in that you jump from country to country. I visited restaurants, saw a dead body in a bathtub (electrocution - not pretty, and you learn quite a bit about the process) and hopped from North America to Europe. Fun times.

Alas, I can't tell you much about this book, because I just could not get past page 47. And it was a chore to get to that point.

Considering there are a lot of people who gave Vapor rousing reviews (although I suspect that they did so just to ensure that they are not the only ones who wasted money on it), I'm sure some people will like Bandwith. I'm just not one of them. I didn't care about Hayden or the billionaire or anyone else. 

I dislike giving bad reviews to books, because I love books. But in this case, well, I've gotta do what I've gotta do.

 (just because I can't bear to totally trash the thing)

The Violets of March

I happened to receive an advanced reader's copy of The Violets of March by Sarah Jio, and I am so grateful. I'm not sure I would have discovered this little treasure otherwise.

As Emily hits her mid-thirties, her once fairytale life - a bestseller, marriage to a hot husband - has fallen into a deep ravine. To lick her wounds and sort herself out, she heads from NYC to visit her Great Aunt Bee on Bainbridge Island, a place she spent many summers during her youth. Before she spends her first night, however, she finds herself lured into a mystery after reading a diary written by a mysterious author. Her curiosity piqued, Emily begins researching not only the diary's author, but her family as well. There is romance, mystery, heartbreak and healing. This is very much a chick lit book, but good chick lit. It's a quick read, and one you will enjoy.

One Night that Changes Everything

YI read a lot of Young Adult lit. I say that I read it because I teach high school students and it helps me keep in touch with them, but really, I just enjoy the genre.

One of my most recent YA reads was One Night that Changes Everything, by Lauren Barnholdt. I started this book on the drive to work (my son drove, so let's dispel the panic that I read while driving. I WISH I could!) and finished it that night, after supper, after dishes, after kid stuff. It's a fast, breezy read, but so cute. I think I might have gotten a little teary-eyed even, but then again, I am guilty of fully investing myself in just about every book I read.

High school junior Eliza has had her precious journal, in which she writes down all of her fears, and to add to those fears, she is afraid that her ex-boyfriend, Cooper, has it. To get back the journal, she has to perform several of her fears, and Cooper seems to be behind it all. So for one night, she and two of her friends attempt to fulfill the tasks and get back her journal.

Not the most fully-developed characters, and not a story that expects you to ask a lot of deep questions, but One Night that Changes Everything is fun and silly. Silly in a good way, I guess. I added this one to the class library, and I'm sure some of the girls will check it out. I'll let you know what they say.

A Harlan Coben Two-fer

I am in danger of developing an addiction to Harlan Coben's mysteries. It started with Deal Breaker, the first in the Myron Bolitar series. I could not put it down, faithful readers. I think I read it in a day.

Recently, I picked up two more Coben books.

The first is another in the Bolitar series, Fade Away. This time, sports agent Myron Bolitar finds himself joining the New Jersey Dragons professional basketball team, despite his advanced age of 32. But alas for Myron, he isn't signed because of his hardcourt prowess, but rather because the team's owner needs his help. It turns out that star player Greg Downing has disappeared, and Myron needs to find him. There are plot twists that make sense, a little romance, and a mystery that keeps you turning the pages.

 

Equally as impressive is Tell No One. This, like The Innocent, is not part of the Myron Bolitar series. This time the focus is on Dr. David Beck, whose wife apparently died eight years ago. But he gets an email that makes him question all that he was led to believe. Again, Harlan Coben sends you on a merry chase, some of which you might see coming. What separates this from lesser mysteries, however, is that even when you think you can predict the twist, you cannot predict how it will play out. Another fun, great read.