Category: Fiction (Page 1 of 2)

When you need sweet, light, and fun, try this

July 15, 2023 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Listen to Your Heart

Fern Michaels (Kensington)

[star rating = “3.5”]

A legendary author

Fern Michaels is a legendary author and her story is one of many amazing accomplishments. I am glad I read one of her books and I would definitely read another.

But …

That said, this is a very light-weight story. It’s entertaining and fun, but it lacks the type of “reach into your heart and grab you” type of writing that I was looking for. This definitely isn’t Nicholas Sparks, so if you’re looking for something at that level, keep looking. But it’s a fun, light read and worth a rainy day read, if you know what I mean.

It’s the story of twin sisters, still grieving over the death of their parents in a car accidents. One sister (Kitty) has adjusted, is engaged, is the great cook in the family business, and seems to be successful.

The other sister (Josie) is struggling until along comes a wealthy suitor (Paul) and the two fall in love. There are some minor near misses where they almost fail to connect but the plot is relatively thin and there’s a little too much coincidence, unrealistic behaviors, and easy results.

Spoilers

The wealthy suitor happens to the be the son of one of Josie’s clients. He’s somewhat estranged from his mother (Marie) because she became emotionally disengaged from him due to the death of her other two children. You don’t get a great sense of how this plays out and there are too many unanswered questions. Is it just grief? Is she afraid to engage with him because she may lose him? Why isn’t it more likely that she would increase in her attachment to him as her last surviving child?

In any case, Paul locates and rescues his long lost niece and her child, who lost connection with Marie after the death of Marie’s daughter (Paul’s sister).

Summary

It’s a little trite and it’s rather contrived but it’s got the happy ever after ending and some romantic buzz. The lack of moral depth bothered me and there wasn’t enough romantic tension. But if you want light and fluffy, this will give you a few hours of light-hearted entertainment.

The Last Le Carré: Make time to read it

July 12, 2023 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Silverview

John Le Carré (Viking)

There will never be another Le Carre

No one can write like Le Carré – I am convinced of this. Sadly, he passed away in 2020. At the time of his death, Silverview was finished but unpublished. Fortunately, his son brought it to publication. If you’re a Le Carré fan, don’t miss it!

Is this book in the league of some of his classics like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Russia House? Honestly, it’s hard to compare anything those books, which are true classics. My answer is “no, it’s not as awesome as those.” But it’s still great, it’s classic Le Carré. In a strange way, the book has an air of finality about it, and I can’t help but wonder if Le Carré somehow knew this would be his last book. If you’re a Le Carré fan, I highly recommend it.

What’s it about?

The book opens with a young woman delivering a letter on behalf of her dying mother, Deborah Avon, whom we ultimately learn is a former high profile spy. What’s in the letter? That’s the key. She’s delivering the letter to Stewart Proctor of MI6, who becomes an integral player in the story.

Living in the same town as the dying spy, is the young Julian Lawnsley who has left a high-flying finance career in London in order to open a bookstore. He is befriended by a well-educated gentleman who becomes his confidant in building and growing the bookstore. That man, Edward, is non other than the husband of Deborah, the dying spy.

What we learn later is that Edward himself also had a distinguished spy past that began before he married Deborah. And we come to discover that this career was resurrected by MI6 when the former Yugoslavia descended into war, and Edward’s past skills became extremely valuable. We learn all this as Stewart Proctor talks extensively with two retired spies.

Disillusionment

Le Carré slowing pulls back the curtain for us to see that Edward, committed to peace in Bosnia, becomes progressively disillusioned with the work being done in Bosnia, which is comes to see as failing to protect innocent Bosnian lives. The final straw is the execution by the Serbs of two members of a family to which he has become particularly attached. They were not Bosnians, but they were executed because they had provided medical support to Bosnian Muslims. Only the wife, Salma, survived.

Providing a frame to this disillusionment, one of the retired spies sharing the story with Procter says “we didn’t do too much to alter the course of human history, did we?”

The spoiler stuff

So it turns out that Edward crossed sides after what he saw in Bosnia. He’s been spying on his wife, Deborah, ever since. Of course, he’s spying on Britain, and passing the information to Salma, with whom he’s in love. Why? Because Edward believes he’s chasing true world peace and he’s come to believe that the British and their American allies really aren’t legitimately committed to the same peace to which he’s committed.

Love spy fiction? Read this

July 7, 2023 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Eye of the Needle

Ken Follett (Harper)

What’s it about?

The book is fictional but it’s a spy novel set in WWII and is based on the Allied effort that was dubbed “Operation Fortitude.” The operation was designed to mislead the Nazis into believing that the Allied forces would invade France from the Pas de Calais, rather than Normandy.

Until I read this book, I was unaware of this operation but it was really quite creative and the efforts the Allies went to in order to create the deception was amazingly extensive.

The book follows the efforts to capture Die Nadel (“The Needle”), who has discovered and photographed the Allied deception, which involved decoy tanks and barracks that simulated a major troop buildup. From the air, and through false wireless transmissions, the Nazis could be deceived. On the ground, it would need an individual to penetrate the restricted areas and verify that the troop buildup was a deception. Die Nadel is that individual and the Allied victory depends on stopping him from sharing what he knows with his Nazi masters.

Why is it worth reading?

The book is high-energy and gripping. It’s got that page-turning quality that draws you in and keeps you reading. The characters are well developed and intriguing, but it’s the action that keeps the reader coming back for more.

The conclusion

[Spoiler alerts]

Die Nadel is a professional but he is an evil individual. The book pulls at the reader’s emotions, especially as Die Nadal deceives a beautiful young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, who becomes an unwitting supporter. But in a moment of horror, she discovers the truth and becomes instrumental in Die Nadel’s downfall, and his failure to deliver the vital information to his Nazi masters.

Reflections

This was my first Ken Follett book. I definitely enjoyed this book so I’ll be looking for more of Follett’s books going forward!

Beam me up Scottie: No Romantic Quality Here

January 1, 2022 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Montana Welcome

Melinda Curtis (Harlequin Heartwarming, Toronto)

Disclosure: You can borrow books from your local library at no charge. You can buy books from Amazon or elsewhere. Sometimes I buy books to keep; many times I borrow books from the library. In my blog, I provide a link to books on Amazon. If you buy after clicking through to Amazon via one of these links, I receive a commission

Let me just say …

I wanted to like this book. I like the Heartwarming concept and I love to read romance. I liked that it was a clean romance and I liked some of the writing. But this book didn’t do it for me. Sorry. In all honesty I think it barely reached the lowest rung of romantic mediocrity.

What’s wrong: The Story

The story here is completely unbelievable. On the day of the wedding the groom (Danny) gets cold feet, the bride (Lily) gets cold feet, the bride learns that her father (Rudy) is really her step-father and her biological grandfather (Elias Blackwell, known as “Big E”) shows up wanting to take her to Montana to meet the family.

When you think things can’t get less believable, it turns out that the runaway bride will travel from her home (San Diego) to Montana in an old RV chaperoned by a handsome cowboy (Conner). But they’ll first detour through Las Vegas to pick up Big E’s step-granddaughter (who is getting married) and her maid of honor.

Of course, Lily’s financee Danny, and her step-father, Rudy, chase her up to Montana to sort things out. Unsurprisingly, Lily ends up falling in love with Conner.

What’s wrong: The Characters

It’s well known that the characters are at the heart of a romance. Here, the characters are two dimensional and unbelievable. Sorry, I really wanted to like them but they just didn’t “come alive” for me. Another problem is that there are too many characters.

Concluding thoughts

I read this novel because Harlequin listed it as their “sample” for aspiring authors in the Heartwarming line. As a result, I expected it to be really good. It wasn’t. I was let down and I really don’t know how Harlequin even decided to publish this one.

Loss, Pain, Healing & Hope: It’s a Riveting but Raw Romance

January 1, 2022 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Just Last Night

Mhari McFarlane (HarperCollins Publishers, NY)

Well written, great characters!

This English romance is touching and really well written. The pacing is great and the characters – the most important part of a romance – are richly developed. Told in the first person, the story revolves around four close friends – Eve (narrator), Suzie, Ed, and Justin – who are interconnected in multiple ways. We see their weaknesses, their strengths, and their growth through time. At the heart of the story is Eve’s decade’s long crush on Ed, who becomes engaged to someone else (a narcissistic drama queen), and that’s when things get tricky …

[Spoiler alert] The night of the engagement, Suzie dies suddenly as a result of an accident, and the other friends find themselves drawn even closer together in their agony. The pain of loss is palpable. But then the narrator, Eve, discovers that Suzie previously slept with Ed, despite knowing how Eve felt about Ed. Eve is crushed – why would her friend betray her like that?

Enter Suzie’s estranged brother – Finlay – whom everyone knows as public enemy number one. He’s arrogant, self-centered, and “poison” – or so they’ve all been led to believe. But things aren’t always what they seem and there’s a dark family secret. Eve takes a chance in getting to know Finlay, and through him she comes to see how Ed has been leading her on all these years to satisfy his own ego.

And then things unravel fast. Ed’s relationship crumbles and the marriage is called off, as he declares his undying love for Eve. But it’s too late. Eve knows he does truly love her and she’s not willing to be second. It’s Finlay who understands her – and she understands him. The love that’s grown up between them is real and nothing – not even living on two different continents – is going to stop them.

What I loved

The characters, the unexpected story line developments, the mystery, the tension.

What I didn’t love

The language isn’t great — I don’t think it helps the novel and I don’t know why the author included it. There are multiple uses of the “f” word, the “s” word, but most disappointingly one single use of the “c” word. I felt that damaged an otherwise outstanding novel.

Good characters … but the conflict lost me

July 25, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

A Place to Belong

RaeAnne Thayne (Harlequin Selects)

Romance and the characters

I love reading romance, I’ve read a lot and I can be a little critical. Obviously, romance is all about the characters and I liked the characters in this book a lot.

The male lead, Quinn, has come from a tragic background but he’s made good. He’s successful, handsome, wealthy … and single and unable to commit because of his tragic family background. Quinn has come back to small town Idaho to be with his dying former foster mother, Jo.

The female lead, Tess, is beautiful, a former high school cheerleader, popular, and tragically widowed. And she’s one of the hospice nurses assigned to working with Jo.

Tess and Quinn, former high school peers, cross paths again. He remembers how cruel she had been to him at high school, even lying to create major problems for him. Of course, she did this because she loved him but she was immature and self-centered … and she’s changed. He doesn’t know that – yet.

The story unfolds nicely and Tess and Quinn fall in love. It’s sweet, it’s touching. But in romance we all know that something is going to drive them apart. In this case, the hint was that Quinn would need to return home to Seattle, to keep running his prosperous business.

Romance and the conflict

This was where the book lost me. I was waiting for a big powerful conflict. Instead, right after a passionate love-making scene, Tess turns on Quinn when he says he wishes he didn’t have to leave. Why? Because she doesn’t believe he is ever going to want to marry (because of his tragic family background. Spoiler alert: his father murdered his mother and then committed suicide).

He wants to try the long-distance relationship. She says it’s over and she’s not going to take a chance to see if he comes around to marriage. At this point I’m asking “does she really expect him to propose after just a few weeks? Isn’t it just a little too early to be questioning why he hasn’t committed to a long-run relationship?”

So this bothered me. She’s in love like never before and she’s loved him ever since high school. People in love like that don’t just throw it away because the distance thing might not work and he might never want to marry. They do crazy things; they take chances. In actual fact, Quinn has shared things about his past with her that he’s rarely shared with anyone before and he’s professed the depth of his feelings for Tess. There’s every reason to believe that this is the relationship that will change him, will free him from his past and enable him to take a chance on marriage. Everything points to this and yet she says, no, I’m not willing to take a chance.

I just couldn’t buy that. I don’t regret reading the book — I liked the characters and I liked that they ended up happily ever after (as good romances are supposed to do!). But I didn’t feel the pain of the forced conflict and I didn’t feel crushed when the story came to an end. Sorry.

Laugh, Cry, Love: Another Nicholas Sparks hit

March 15, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

The Rescue

Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central Publishing)

If you’re a parent, if you love Nicholas Sparks’ books, if you’re a romantic … you will definitely enjoy this one.

Denise is the pretty single mother of a little boy who is struggling with a speech delay. She’s lonely. She’s lost both her parents and she’s in a new town. Her life hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t been fair. Did I mention she’s lonely?

Taylor is the rugged volunteer firefighter who rescues Denise and her son after a car accident. He has plenty of friends but he’s single and and he’s carrying a heavy burden. His self-loathing causes him to sabotage every relationship. He just can’t allow himself to be happy.

Denise is different to anyone Taylor has met. He falls in love with her and he becomes a doting father figure to her son. But of course, he’s back on the same destructive path. And it costs him his relationship with Denise.

[Spoiler alert]. Denise and Taylor are both broken, wounded people. Taylor knows he’s truly in love with Denise and that he can’t destroy this relationship. There’s too much at stake. In desperation, he opens up to her and shares the heart-breaking burden he’s carried for so long. Denise understands suffering – she’s been dealing with it for many years. She’s there for Taylor; she’s the perfect one for him. This is a special match.

Life can be hard and this book doesn’t sugar-coat the impact of life’s hardships. But it’ll touch your heart and leave you feeling that there’s someone for everyone and that true love has a remarkable impact on the human heart.

The Choice: This is Nicholas Sparks at his best

February 8, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

The Choice

Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central Publishing)

This is without doubt one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks books. The characters are exceptionally well developed and truly come alive. The romance is tender, believable and will draw you in. There’s humor and heartache, tears and tenderness. You won’t want to put the book down and it will be worth every minute of your time. I highly recommend it.

The books follows the story of Travis Parker (the local veterinarian) who falls in love with his new neighbor, Gabby Holland (who has moved to town to become a PA in the local medical clinic). Gabby already has a boyfriend whom she hopes to marry but she’s unhappy in her relationship and the reader knows that she is settling for second best. As the relationship with Travis blossoms, Gabby knows that she’s fallen in love and this time it’s real.

[Spoiler alert] Fast forward some years and Travis and Gabby are married with two daughters. Their lives are picture perfect until the accident. Now Gabby lies in a coma and Travis faces “the choice” – will he follow Gabby’s wishes (expressed years ago) and allow her to die or will he hold on and hope against hope that she recovers? The intensity of Travis’s love is too great. He cannot let Gabby go. In the epilogue, we learn that his decision was the right one: Gabby awakens; life is restored; patience and enduring love are rewarded. It will melt your heart. Read it.

This is one of those rare cases where the movie is just as good as the book and perhaps even better. Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer do an incredible job of bringing alive the leading characters. It’s hard not to fall in love with them.

The movie mostly follows the book. One departure from the book is in the details of the accident. In the book, both Gabby and Travis are both in the vehicle when they have the accident and Travis is driving (too fast in poor conditions). In the movie, Gabby is driving alone in the rain because Travis has failed to turn up in time for their date. Nonetheless, the movie captures the very same feelings — Travis believes that he’s responsible for what happened to Gabby and that if he’d made different decisions, better choices, the accident wouldn’t have happened.

Love at first sight? For me, not this time

January 25, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

At First Sight

Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central Publishing)

I need to start this review by saying … I love Nicholas Sparks’ books and I’ve read most (?) of them. The problem with this is that when I read a Sparks’ book, I start with the presumption that it’s going to be phenomenal. Most of the time, I’m right, but this time I was a little disappointed.

And I also didn’t realize until too late that this was a “book 2,” by which I mean to say, I haven’t read book 1. I think this impacted my ability to appreciate the book.

That said, it was good book but probably my least favorite Sparks. I didn’t feel like it had the same character development (quite possibly because I haven’t read book 1). It was also a little too predictable. I pretty much guessed exactly what was going to happen and then I was disappointed that I was right!

The good

There were three things I really like about this book.

It’s relatable. If you’re married/have been married and if you have had kids, you’re bound to relate to at least some parts of it.

It has a message without being “preachy”. It’s going to touch you. It’s going to make you think.

The epilogue of the book is great. I predicted how things would play out so the conclusion wasn’t impactful for me. But the epilogue was and I enjoyed it.

The bad

Usually, I find that I love the characters that Nicolas Sparks creates. Here, I didn’t really warm to the two main characters all that much. I found Lexie just a little too self-centred and Jeremy’s writer’s block got old.

(spoiler alert) Part of the story involves some mysterious emails that Jeremy received. I found this part unrealistic and contrived. The emails turn out to be from his best friend but I never felt I really felt this was satisfactorily resolved and explained.

I’m going to read book 1

If you decide to read this book, be smarter than me and read book 1 first.

I plan to read book 1 to see what I missed!

Loved Downton Abbey? You will love this book!

January 9, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro (Vintage International)

This is an awesome, well-written and insightful book and I loved it! It’s not for everyone. It’s slower moving and subtle. It’s a love story — or rather a story of missed opportunities. If you loved Downton Abbey, this book is for you. If you’re looking for fast-paced action, this book is not for you.

The story is told in the first person, narrated by Mr. Stevens, the long-serving butler of Darlington Hall. Stevens journeys through the southern part of Britain to meet up with Miss Kenton (now Mrs Benn), his former colleague whom he understands to be in the process of divorcing. He hopes to entice Miss Kenton to return to her employment at Darlington Hall … and yet the observant reader can see that it is not merely her professional association that Stevens seeks.

As he travels, Stevens shares his reflections on a life of unquestioning loyal service to Lord Darlington during the pre-World War II era. Stevens is quintessentially British: he never flinches in his loyalty and his commitment to appearance and professionalism, even when it comes at great personal cost. Even when it is progressively revealed that Lord Darlington was a Nazi-sympathizer, still Stevens remains loyal to his master, in whom he always sees, and of whom he always believes, the best.

Running throughout the text is the story of the developing relationship between Stevens and the housekeeper, Miss Kenton. They clash and yet they connect on a deeper level. There’s something special there. Almost.

[Spoiler alert] When Stevens finally connects with Miss Kenton, they reminisce together on old times. Poignantly, Stevens asks her if she is happy. Yes, she is happy and yet she is not because she sees what might have been:

“But that doesn’t mean to say, of course, there aren’t occasions now and then – extremely desolate occasions – when you think to yourself: “What a terrible mistake I’ve made with my life.” And you get to thinking about a different life, a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking about a life I may have had with you, Mr. Stevens.”

The words touch Mr. Stevens and he states: “as you might appreciate, their implications were such as to provoke a certain degree of sorrow within me. Indeed – why should I not admit it? – at that moment, my heart was breaking.”

And yet, ever the stiff-upper-lip Brit, Stevens concludes he must go on “and try to make the best of what remains of my day.”

It’s compelling, it’s powerful, and it will make you think about what matters in life and how to make it count.

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