Book review: The Royal We

Title:  The Royal We

Author: Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Format: ebook

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:  American Bex Porter's life is changed forever when she goes overseas to Oxford for school and meets Nick, the heir to the British Throne.  Years later, on the eve of their wedding, Bex reflects on their love story and if past transgressions can be forgiven in time for one of the most anticipated events of the century.

Review:  This book, written by the Fug Girls, is pure, amazing fluff.  Like light, airy cotton candy.  If you ever wondered what Princess Kate's life was like as she met Prince William, this is the escape for you.  Sure, Kate is made an American and Pippa is a twin instead of a younger sister, but we all know what this book is about.  If anything, it makes Kate a little more interesting.  Kate is such a perfect princess, sometimes I want to see her break out of her shell a bit.

Time to write: 2:29

Book review: A Fall of Marigolds

Title: A Fall of Marigolds
Author: Susan Meissner
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary: This is a tale of two women--Clara and Taryn.  Clara is working as a nurse on Ellis Island in 1911.  She can't bear to return to Manhattan after witnessing the man she loved fall to his death during the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.  Taryn's story takes place in Manhattan in 2011.  Taryn's husband died on 9/11.  Taryn was supposed to meet him in the Tower to tell him she was pregnant but she was running behind and she survived while her husband died.  Their stories are blended by a beautiful scarf that provides comfort to both of them in their time of need.

Review: I wanted to like this book more.  There was nothing wrong with it.  It just wasn't great.  Maybe I feel like it should have been more heavy.  There are some heavy topics here but it didn't get too deep.  Everything was pulled together in a pretty bow at the end and sometimes I get disappointed by those.

Time to write: 1:38

Book review: We Were Liars

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Format: e-book
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Cadence Eastman comes from a wealthy family.  She spends her summers on her family's private island off of the Cape with her cousins Mirren and Johnny, and Gat, who is the son of one of her aunt's boyfriends.  When Cadence is 15, there's a terrible fire on the island.  Cadence returns the island when she's 17 and tries to piece together the events of the fire.  The story flips back and forth between the summers when Cadence is 15 and 17.

Review:  It turns out this is a Young Adult (YA) novel.  Who knew?  This book is also positioned as a suspense novel but I don't think I'd characterize it as that myself.  I'd say this is a coming-of-age novel.  Anyway, this book is great if only for the ending alone.  I almost don't want to say too much here at the risk of giving away the book, so just trust me on this one.

Time to write: 1:34

Book review: First Frost

Title: First Frost
Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary: October is always a strange time of year for the Waverly women.  It has to do with their strange apple tree that blooms with the first frost.  But this October in particular feels particularly strange.  The Waverly women are notorious in their town in North Carolina for possessing special gifts.   This October is a particularly difficult one for sisters Sydney and Claire, and Sydney's teenage daughter, Bay, all for different reasons.  Will their families survive this year's first frost?

Review: This book was perfectly pleasant.  And as I think of the next two reviews that I have to write about books that were much more intense than this, I sort of wish I had this as a palate cleanser between the two.  While this book was perfectly pleasant, I wouldn't say it was fantastic, thus the reason for the three stars.

When I finish a book I try to put the shell of the review together and at the very least indicate my initial rating.  I'm sticking with the three stars, although I'm tempted to go 3.5 to compromise between the me that first wrote three stars and the present me that's leaning towards four.   But I'm going to stick with my three stars.  If you're looking for something light, or a palate cleanser, this is a good choice.

Time to write: 4:11

Book review: Secrets of the Lighthouse

Title: Secrets of the Lighthouse
Author: Santa Montefiore
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Ellen Trawton is running away.  She hates her job and is engaged to a man that she doesn't want to marry.  She escapes to the Irish town where her mom grew up to live with an aunt that she's never met.  While there she discovers an entire extended family that her mom has never mentioned.  There's also a sexy (but brooding) widower.  The widower's dead wife isn't very happy that her husband might be starting to move on (five years after her death, I might add).

Review: I'm pretty sure I already started this review, but sometimes Blogger gets a little testy and doesn't like to save my drafts.  I hate re-writing reviews.  It makes me crabby.  However, this book is a delightful frothy confection.  And there are angels (well maybe one angel and a ghost).  I like angels.  Nothing earth shattering, pretty formulaic, but who cares?  It's a book version of the rom com. Also, can we talk about how unique the author's name is?  I have no idea if that's her real name, and I can't imagine what it's like to grow up with the name Santa.  I surmised from reading up on the author that she grew up wealthy.  Maybe Santa is the English counterpart to Muffy or Tinsley? 

So why not the full five stars? Because, Ellen comes from a wealthy family.  And has the luxury of quitting her job and escaping to Ireland.  Perhaps I need to start getting my book suggestions from publications other than People magazine.

Anyhoo, if you're looking for an easy read during the cold winter, I highly recommend this. 

Book review: The Rosie Project

Title: The Rosie Project
Author: Graeme Simsion
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Don Tillman is a Genetics Professor.  While he's brilliant, his social skills are a bit lacking.  Example: He's created a questionnaire that he's titled The Wife Project.  The questionnaire is designed to help him identify his perfect mate and weed out women with undesirable qualities.  Enter Rosie.  She's looking for her father and seeks Don's help to help her identify him.  Rosie doesn't fit Don's profile of the perfect mate at all, yet he can't get her off of his mind.  Maybe love isn't as simple as answering all the questions correctly on a survey?

Review:  This is a great beach read, especially for rom com lovers.  I waffled between three and four stars and finally landed on the four.  It was amusing more than funny (at least to me, maybe I don't get Australian humor?), but it's still cute.  It's obvious where the story is going and at times it feels like the author dragged out the ending a bit, but still a light easy read for the summer and it's fun to see Graeme's transformation.  He tries really hard to be aware of social cues, but it's hard for him.