Tag Archives: 2 stars

Book Review: Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

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As bubbly as champagne and delectable as wedding cake, Once and for All, Sarah Dessen’s thirteenth novel, is set in the world of wedding planning, where crises are routine.

Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that’s why she’s cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm’s length. But Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged, now that he’s met the one girl he really wants.

Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

 

Oh man, this one was a disappointment for me. I’ve read most, if not all of Sarah Dessen’s books. Once and for All came out a while ago, but for my birthday this past year I finally asked my husband for it. But I just didn’t like it guys. Continue reading →

Trust Me? Review

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Title:  Trust Me?

Author:  K.E. Osborn

Published:  2013 by Smashwords

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Click here to buy Trust Me? from Amazon

 

Jenifer works in an administrative position at an auto repair shop.  She is already having a not-so-perfect morning when she gets into a car accident.  Jeni lashes out at the man who rear ends her, gives him her information and then takes off to get to work.  Little does she know that the man she was in the accident with, Aiden, will bring his very expensive car to the auto shop she works at to get it fixed.  Aiden is fixated on getting a date with Jeni and doesn’t let up until she says yes.  Turns out he’s incredibly rich, and he and Jeni fall for one another.  But then Jeni learns that Aiden is being investigated for possible embezzlement, and her trust issues flare up.

This book just didn’t do it for me; amongst other things, it didn’t feel authentic.  I felt as if the story was told instead of shown.  And lots of things just didn’t even feel realistic including the characters.  It was just too forced.

We know that Jenifer has trust issues with guys, but I felt like it barely came up, and when it did she basically talked about it with her roommate; I didn’t feel it from her if that makes sense.

Aiden doesn’t have a great relationship with his father, but again it just seemed too fake, if you will.  So did the grandmother’s conversation with Jeni that happens after Aiden’s father is rude to her.  Nana says,

Darling, you look wonderful tonight.  I am sorry about my ignorant son.  He has become arrogant and downright mean over the years.  Unfortunately, Alistair has become like his own father.  Insults and intimidation seem to be his only way of communication.  It’s not how I would’ve liked him to turn out, but he is his father’s son.  Please take anything he says with a grain of salt, okay, dear?  (Location 2354 of 5657 on kindle)

I don’t know.  If someone said this to me I would think they were reading from a script rather than talking from their heart.

And Aiden’s personal assistant is fired at a family party (I won’t say why, I don’t want to give everything away) and Jeni is nominated to take the position, and does!  His PA is fired, and she decides she’ll take the job, in a total of four pages.  Again, not realistic.

And then, when conflict strikes, Jeni loses it.  I get it, it happens.  It just seemed way too dramatic to me that she would fall into a depression because of what happened instead of getting up and doing something about it.  (Can’t say more; again don’t want to give away the story).

And there were so many I love you love you love you, ahhhh!  I get it!  Show me, don’t tell me.

Although I have a lot of complaints, it was an okay book.  This story was a good idea, just not executed well. Overall I would not recommend.

 

 

My Rating:  2 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author, in exchange for an honest review.*****     

Hit and Stay Review

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Title:  Hit and Stay

Author: Ninette Swann

Published: 2012 by Resplendence Publishing

Genre: Romance, Fiction

Click here to buy Hit and Stay from Amazon.com

 

Andrea Wadsworth is engaged to John Waters (who is running for senator).  She gets a phone call saying her grandfather is ill and it’s an emergency, but she doesn’t have a car so she decides to ride her bike to see him.  On the ride there, she gets hit by a car.

Jake Harrison, once a police officer, happens to be at the scene.  He immediately takes charge of the situation before the other police get there.  He also feels a need to do his own investigation, and visits Andrea at the hospital to see how she is.  Andrea and Jake end up on the run, trying to figure out who ran her over and why, with a little romance on the side.

So this was my first novella, and I didn’t really like it.  I was looking forward to it too because it had good ratings.  Here’s why I didn’t like it.  I felt like the relationship between Andrea and Jake moved way too fast.  They hardly knew each other and started developing serious feelings really fast.  Also, Jake told Andrea his past, which was a little sketchy, and she didn’t really care that much.  I just thought it was odd.

Another trivial thing that bothered me, were the names John and Jake are pretty similar for two main characters.  A few times as I was reading, I had to backtrack and think about which character was which, especially in the beginning.

I’m not sure if this is the way that novellas are, with the relationships moving so fast because it is a short story so there isn’t much time for them to develop?  The story itself was well told and suspenseful, and I enjoyed the secondary character, Burt, who was Jake’s friend and a reporter.  But overall, the lack of character development, and how it just didn’t feel real, is the reason that I thought this book was just okay and gave it two out of five stars.

 

My Rating:  2 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****