2010 ARC Challenge

Book Review: Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley

December 29, 2010 by Darlene

Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley is the kind of book that you go to when you need a light and fluffy read laced with a flirty romance and a good dose of hanky panky! Every once in a while I need to sit down and lose myself in some good chick-lit and Dating Mr. December filled that need perfectly.

Emma has been kicked and tossed around a lot lately. She lost her boyfriend to her boss and consequently lost her job. So, what does she do? She leaves London and heads for the boonies of Cumbria to work instead and just get away from it all. What’s she going to be doing? Well the first order of business is getting a bunch of down home kind of guys to agree to do a calendar — with not a whole lot of covering up going on if you catch my drift — to raise money for a new base camp that they desperately need. The men seem responsive to the idea — all but Will — the most ruggedly handsome man she’s seen in a while.

Will is very opposed to the calendar but agrees since he’s all for supporting the team not to mention that Emma seems to set his heart to pounding. It seems though that he and Emma keep butting heads at every turn and managing to spur each other on without even trying hard. Not to mention that they both seem to be making eyes at each other without either of them knowing it. Now the thing is that Emma has been hurt enough. She’s certainly not going near another man for a while and certainly not one that seems to have the reputation of a love em’, leave em’ kind of guy. Then there’s Will who has this hard exterior but maybe is a lot softer than most think – is he hiding a few deep hurts himself that make him leery of falling for anyone?

Try as you might in a small town it’s hard not to get thrown together and to top it off Emma and Will do seem to have some serious sparks flying between them. Emma doesn’t want a broken heart again though but Will keeps doing things that make her think that maybe there is a chance for them. Will she open up and give the relationship a chance? Is there even a relationship to worry about? Then there’s Will – is he willing to give up his wild ways for Emma? Or does he want his space and freedom, thereby breaking Emma’s heart again?

Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley is great for those who love chick-lit or romance. I enjoyed it although did find it a bit slow in some parts. However the author’s witty dialogue had me laughing more than once and the storyline did keep me interested to the point where I needed to know what was going to happen. It’s a good read for this time of year when people are busy and just want something cute and light that they can lose themselves in for a little while. Keep in mind though that this book has nothing to do with Christmas even though you might think so from the cover.

You can pick up your own copy of Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley here in the US and here in Canada. Be sure to check out Phillipa Ashley’s website as well!

My review copy of Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley was provided by Sourcebooks.

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Book Review: The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason

December 20, 2010 by Darlene

The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason brings alive the life at court with all the treachery and betrayal that swirls through it. The King’s Daughter is about the life of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and VI of Scotland, told through her own eyes.

From a very young age Elizabeth is aware of her place in the family as third in line to the throne. She would be matched in a marriage that would further benefit her father’s position. Elizabeth is kept very sheltered and away from court. Her father doesn’t want her to know anything that is going on there. Her mother has nothing to do with her. Her mother at one time tells her that there is no point in getting to know a daughter as they are soon married off and the mother’s heart is only broken if they are close. The only thing that Elizabeth truly treasures is the special relationship she shares with her older brother Henry, Prince of Wales.

King James is quite erratic and unstable at times; given to flying into rages. His biggest fear being that his children are trying to take over the throne. This is his main reason for keeping Elizabeth so secluded and for keeping Henry under his thumb as well. Elizabeth though is pretty gutsy and does at times stand up to her father especially when he threatens to marry her off to someone she can’t even stand the thought of being married to. She also, as she gets older, decides to send out spies in order to learn more about what is going on around her especially those matters to do with her. She learns many things; things about her father as well; things that finally give her more control over her own life and future.

The biggest fear Elizabeth had was that she would be married off to some old and mean man. There were many times she was put on display to would be suitors. There were a few that she outright refused to marry; standing up to her father’s rage. In this matter her brother Henry came to her rescue. He tried hard to find her a man that would make a good match for her; someone that would make her happy and succeeded. Without him, who knows who her father would have sent her off with.

I liked Elizabeth and enjoyed this novel being told from her viewpoint. Dickason weaves fact with fiction in such a way that kept me turning the pages in this book to see what Elizabeth would face next. Henry as well was a character I liked. He seemed a kind and caring prince regardless of his father. King James is painted in a bad light in this novel- he is unstable and mean; most often quite drunk.

As with most historicals I am always appalled by how little say that women had and very horrified at the young age they were married off at; most often to men much too old for them. They were used as pawns; nothing more. That a mother turned away from her children because it hurt too much to love them, only to lose them, breaks my heart and yet this is how things were. Elizabeth spent her days not knowing what would happen to her at any given moment. I was glad that she found love and a way to move forward in her life. If you’re a lover of anything historical, then Christie Dickason’s The King’s Daughter is definitely a book you’ll want to read!

I read The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can check out all the other tour stops here and also be sure to visit Christie Dickason’s website as well. You can purchase The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason here in the US and here in Canada.

My review copy of The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

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Book Review: Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck & GIVEAWAY

December 13, 2010 by Darlene

Dining with Joy was my first experience reading any of Rachel Hauck’s work but it most certainly won’t be my last. What a fantastic, feel good read and perfect for all us foodies out there! There’s even a couple of recipes at the end of the book — one for banana bread that I fully intend to try out!

Joy Ballard is the star of the very popular cooking show, Dining with Joy. The problem—Joy can’t cook! At all! She’s one of those who can’t even boil water without burning down the house kind of cooks. However, she has that special something that captivates an audience and makes the show a success. How did Joy end up on a cooking show when she can’t cook, you ask? Well it was her father’s show and when he became suddenly ill and passed he asked that she take over. She couldn’t refuse her father and after with Joy being so popular, it seemed easy enough to continue the lie.

Things are going merrily along until the producer sells the show right out from under Joy without warning. The new producer Allison has no idea about Joy and her little secret but she is money hungry and ambitious and she plans on taking the show to new heights. She does the one thing that Joy hates which is being thrown into a cooking competition and worse it’s with Wenda – Joy’s trouble making rival who just may know about Joy’s secret. Of course Joy is terrified – she can’t cook! However, just in time and to the rescue, is the handsome and talented chef Luke Redmond to save Joy’s day. He saves more than Joy’s day though; he may have stolen her heart as well.

Luke becomes Joy’s co-host and her hope is that he’ll be able to take over all the cooking segments, leaving her the reality stuff. Along the way sparks seem to fly between them but then sizzle out only to sparkle again. However, as with all things, nothing stays the same. It’s only a matter of time before Joy’s lies will catch up with her and everything will go up in smoke. Will she still have a career? More importantly, will she still have Luke?

I loved Joy. I thought she was funny even while being really stubborn. There is so much more to this book than just the cooking aspects as well. There is Joy’s family and all the other stuff surrounding the story that makes it good too like her past relationship with her father. The novel is classed as Christian Romance and there are numerous references to God but not overwhelmingly so although for me I love Christian fiction so it in no way bothered me. The romance is light and fun – just the way I like it. Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck is a light and fun read – just perfect for this time of the year when you just want to relax and enjoy a book. It’s definitely one of my favorites of the month!

I read Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. Be sure to stop by and check out the other tour stops as well as Rachel Hauck’s website. If you’d like to purchase your own copy you can do so here in the US or here in Canada. That or you can try your luck in my giveaway below!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have 1 copy of Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck to share with my readers courtesy of the publisher. To enter:

For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you.
For 2 entries follow my blog. Those who do get the extra entry as well – just let me know in your comment.
For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway to spread the word.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, January 8, 2011. Good luck everyone!

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
My review copy of Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck was provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

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Book Review: Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

December 7, 2010 by Darlene

Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning is the fourth in the MacKayla Lane series. This series has kept me hooked from the beginning with all the twists, turns and action always keeping me on the edge of my seat. My only complaint is I don’t yet have Shadowfever and I’m dying to know what happened after those last few lines I read in Dreamfever left me speechless. Just a warning: there may be an unintentional spoiler as it’s hard to review a fourth book without talking a bit about the previous ones.

This installment finds Mac learning even more about her past and her bloodline. It picks up right where Faefever leaves off so you don’t feel lost or confused at all. Dreamfever finds Mac leading quite the life in the beginning but I won’t go further with that as it’s best read, not told. I will say though that the beginning of this book is not for the faint of heart. However I will say that Barrons tries his best to get Mac back to the world of the living.

Once Mac is ‘back’, she is on a mission to find out more about herself and fight the dark powers that be that have destroyed what she’s come to think of as her city. Mac has really grown from the beginning of the series and it’s nice to see. She’s strong, courageous, and now she’s willing to accept help in her mission to fight the dark powers. Previously Mac thought she could do it all – she didn’t need anybody. I also love that she’s befriended Dani – a thirteen year old sidhe-seer. I like that she’s taken her under her wing even though Dani is quite capable of surviving most of the time on her own. It’s a nice touch in the series.

So Mac is pretty much where she has been in all the other books – still seeking out the Sinsar Dubh (the dark book). However we are left with a cliffhanger of epic proportions in this book and I almost wish I hadn’t read Dreamfever yet so I could have just moved on to the fifth and final book, Shadowfever, when I did. I’m hoping in the last installment that first I’ll get the answers to what happened in Dreamfever and secondly that all the unanswered questions of the whole series will finally be addressed. I can’t wait!

I read Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. Be sure to check out the other tour stops here to see what others are saying about this fantastic series. You can also pop in and visit Karen Marie Moning’s website which is awesome. If you’re so inclined you can pick up your own copy of Dreamfever here in the US and here in Canada but you’d be much better off starting from the beginning of the series. You won’t be sorry!

My copy of Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning provided for review from TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

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Book Review: Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller

December 1, 2010 by Darlene

Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is a novel that at it’s core I think is about the bonds between mothers and daughters and how what happens in the past often comes back to haunt the future.

Sylvia Sandon is a wife to Nathan and a mother to Hannah and Emmie. She’s overwhelmed with the demands of her daughters, an artistic career presently going nowhere, and a marriage which is in trouble. It seems that she and Nathan have lost that spark that used to keep their marriage alive. Sure it can be the fact that they have kids now, they are both busy, or can it be she just doesn’t care anymore. Then one day when she takes the kids into town she meets Tai Rosen, father to one of her art students, and she’s more than intrigued. Yet…she always said she would never become her mother…

To better understand Sylvia you have to go back to her childhood which was far from normal. Her own parents had a very rocky relationship and Sylvia’s father was prone to very violent outbursts towards his family. Her mother carried on an affair with a married man for years and very selfishly involved her daughters in the secrecy of this affair. As well Sylvia’s mother had a very different kind of relationship with her – she treated Sylvia as a confidant instead of a daughter. She put pressures on Sylvia that no mother should. Sylvia saw what this affair did to her family as it literally destroyed them.

Sylvia swore to herself that she would never let this happen to her family and yet when Tai came into her life she began to sway. She was unhappy and frustrated and Tai made her feel better about herself even while she was consumed with guilt. In the short time of their tryst, very explicit emails went back and forth and Sylvia became more distant from Nathan. Nothing stays the same for long though and the walls fall down when Sylvia’s oldest daughter Hannah learns of the affair. Now Sylvia has put her own daughter in the same position she was as a young girl – keeping a secret that no child should ever have to keep for a parent.

Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is an emotionally charged novel that at times has you cringing at Sylvia’s childhood and then frustrated with her decisions as an adult. I don’t condone infidelity in any way but this novel me me wonder about the reasons why – could Sylvia’s upbringing have had anything to do with the fact that she fell into the affair? That’s what I asked myself as I read the novel and I guess for me I don’t know – if you haven’t lived someone else’s life you can’t really say what decisions you might make.

This novel would appeal to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction and I think it would be a great pick for a book club as novels such as these always spark a lot of conversation. For myself I found the novel slow to start but once I got into the dynamics of Sylvia’s childhood and it’s implications I was completely drawn in and didn’t want to put the book down.

I read Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can see what others thought of the novel here and be sure to check out Dori Ostermiller’s website as well. You can purchase your own copy of Outside the Ordinary World here in the US and here in Canada.

My copy of Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller was provided for review by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

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Book Review: Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb

November 30, 2010 by Darlene

I’ve been a fan of Wally Lamb for quite a few years now having read a few of his novels so I was excited to read Wishin’ and Hopin’ and I wasn’t disappointed. At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but just as quickly I got into the swing of things back in the 1960’s and starting enjoying this novel quite a bit. It really takes you back to a time when things were easier and reminds you of the younger years you’ve already left behind with fondness.

Felix Funicello, yes a distant cousin to the famous Annette Funicello, is in fifth grade and much to his horror is always compared to Dondi, the adorable war orphan in comic strips. This novel is about Felix in the fifth grade and yet so much more with all the other quirky characters hanging out in this book. Felix is quite the kid, very naive, and very amusing. You can’t help but laugh out loud with some of the things he’ll say or do. He has a friend Lonny who is far from innocent and Lonny likes to tell Felix jokes that just fly right over his head and unfortunately for Felix come back later to bite him in the butt when he tells them in the most inappropriate places.

Life is pretty busy for Felix. His father runs a diner where Felix likes to spend time, his mother is going to be on television for the Pillsbury Bake-Off (this was so funny), Felix himself is going to appear on the Ranger Andy show, school is hopping with new teachers and entertaining students and most of all there is the dreaded school Christmas pageant coming up.

One of the funniest parts of the novel for me was when a new student came to Felix’s fifth grade class – her name Zhenya and she’s from Russia. Between the way she pronounces things to her personality, these sections had me laughing. She definitely wasn’t the typical Catholic girl and while she wasn’t too popular with the girls she certainly was with the boys as she loved sports instead of girly things. I busted a gut on her pronunciation of Felix Funicello’s name which I just have to share – Fillix Foony Jello.

Other than the funny Zhenya, this novel is full of funny and quirky characters. There are many characters introduced in this novel and yet it’s not hard to keep track of any of them. Felix’s classmates are amusing especially Rosalie who strives to be the teacher’s pet and gets her nose very out of joint if she isn’t. My favorite of course is Felix who takes us back to the innocence of being a kid where a scary movie sends you to sleep with mom and where you just live life without the worries and stresses of being an adult.

If you want to find yourself back in the time when the Beatles were Entertainer of the Year, Mary Poppins was the most popular movie, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis was in the theater, Annette Funicello was at the height of her career, or Gunsmoke was still on the air; then Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb is the book for you. You surely won’t be disappointed by this wonderful journey back in time!

I read Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb for his book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can check out what others thought of the novel here. You can purchase your own copy here in the US and here in the Canada.

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Fe ed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

My copy of Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb was provided for review by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

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