Cecelia Ahern - The Time of my Life

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN: 9780007350445

My rating: 4/5

Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life – and she’s going to have to keep it.
Lying on Lucy Silchester’s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation – to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she's been ignoring it and it needs to meet with her face to face.

It sounds peculiar, but Lucy’s read about this in a magazine. Anyway, she can’t make the date: she’s much too busy despising her job, skipping out on her friends and avoiding her family.

But Lucy’s life isn’t what it seems. Some of the choices she’s made – and stories she’s told – aren’t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, her stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory – unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her. (CeceliaAhern.ie)

 

 

My thoughts

 

I cannot believe, I'd had the book on my desk for over a year before I started reading, but after the previous Ahern books I'd been a bit hesitant!

Anyway ... beautifully written and thought provoking would be a summary of this review!

 

Lucy, the main character, meets "her life", a grumpy guy who is trying to improve her life. Her life: she's broken up with her partner, lost her job and now lives in a small apartment, growing more and more distant to her family and friends.

 

I didn't really like Lucy that much, although very realistic, I couldn't really warm to her. Yet, I loved "her life". He was funny, witty and had some really good lines.

 

Bottom line, I'd say, this is Cecelia Ahern at her best again. The story makes you think, not only about what you've just read, but your own life, and stays with you well and truly after you've finished the book. I laughed, I blinked away tears - and loved it!

 

 

Lee Child - The Enemy (Reacher #8)

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN: 9780440423003

My rating: 3/5




You’re in the Army now, son…
New Year’s Day, 1990. The Berlin Wall is coming down. The Cold War is ending. Soon America won’t have any enemies left. The Army won’t have anybody to fight. Things are going to change. Jack Reacher is the Military Police duty officer on a base in North Carolina when he takes a call reporting a dead soldier in a hot-sheets motel. Reacher tells the local cops to handle it—heart attacks happen all the time.
But why is Reacher in North Carolina, instead of Panama, where the action is? Then the dead man turns out to have been a two-star general who should have been in Europe. And when Reacher goes to the general’s house to break the news, he finds another corpse: the general’s wife. What is he dealing with here? The last echoes of the old world… or the first shocks of the new?
Winner of 2005 Nero, Barry and (yes, this is not a typo) Jack Reacher awards. The Nero Award, for literary excellence in the mystery genre, is awarded by The Wolfe Pack. The Barry Award for Best Novel of the Year is awarded by Deadly Pleasures magazine. The Jack Reacher Award win was the first annual award presented by Crime Spree Magazine and it was for the very readable, appealing-to-every-age, Jack Reacher novels! (Lee Child.com)


My thoughts

Say what ?

I do love Reacher and have loved most of his stories, or should I say Lee Child? BTW,  I almost fell of the seat when I saw Lee's cameo in the movie. Too funny.

Anyway - this one wasn't for me. I couldn't follow. I felt lost most of the time and noticed myself putting the book aside more often than usual. I really liked the sub-plot of Reacher's "family affairs". But really, most of the details of the main plot were just beyond me, I'm afraid.

I got the gist of who killed who, but the "real" why is still a mystery.

Any verdicts, yet, on the movie from you? 

Rachel Gibson - Tangled up in You

Publisher: HarperCollins

ISBN:  9780061178030

My rating: 3/5


Maddie is determined to uncover the untold story about the town's sordid past—her past. As a child, Maddie lost everything, and now she's back at the scene of the scandal—a local establishment that's always belonged to the Hennessys—determined to uncover the truth, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Especially not a black-haired, blue-eyed Hennessy.
Everyone in Truly knows that the Hennessy men are irresistible, and the current owner, Mick, is no exception. His late father was a skirt-chasing heartbreaker who ended up causing disaster for two families. So far, Mick's managed to keep the ladies in line, but when he claps eyes on Maddie, with her luscious curves and tempting lips, he can't resist getting tangled up with her.

But Maddie is keeping secrets, not the least of which is her true reason for being in town. And when Mick discovers what-s really going on, there is going to be a whole lot of trouble in Truly.
(rachelgibson.com)


My thoughts

This could have been a really good story, if the focus had been on the plot instead the romance - yet, having said that, in all fairness, romance readers are the target audience.
Maddie Dupree's life is surrounded by serial killers - she interviews them for her books, but this time the background story for her next story is different: her mother's death. The truth about the past and the reason for the death. That takes her to Truly, Idaho.
Mick Hennessy owns a bar in Truly, Maddie's first stop for her research. Needless to say they both find each other and get involved. Until Mick finds out who she really is.

I loved the actual plot, but got bored with the sex scenes. Too many, too detailed.

Jill Shalvis - Instant Gratification (Wilder #2)

Publisher: Brava Kensington

ISBN: 9780758231253

My rating: 3.5/5

In Instant Attraction, Jill Shalvis introduced Cameron, Stone, and T.J.; the sexy, daredevil brothers who run Wilder Adventures. And for Stone Wilder, the thrill of a lifetime is about to arrive in a surprising package. . .

The Doctor Is In Deep
Wishful, California, is 3000 miles from Dr. Emma Sinclair's last job in a New York City ER. It may as well be another galaxy. Here, running her father's clinic for a summer, Emma treats bee stings, stomach flu, and the occasional pet cat. Plus, she has to contend with patients like Stone Wilder: gorgeous, laid-back, and irritating beyond belief. The man laughs at her. A lot. And Emma loathes him. All except that tiny part of her that wants to throw him on her examining table and break every doctor-patient rule in the book. . .
When Stone tries to help Emma learn to loosen up a bit, he pictures white-water rafting or scenic mountain hikes. Not a mind-blowing affair that shakes them both to the core. Emma's sure she has no place in a town like Wishful, but Stone knows different. Emma belongs here - in this town, in his life. And convincing this strong-minded, stubborn, sexy woman of that fact will be a challenge no Wilder man could resist. . .


My thoughts

What d'they say? Don't judge a book by it's cover. I wish I had waited buying the Wilder books, because the newer releases look so much better.

But, anyhow, on with my summer Jill'athon. Yeah. I hope she's sitting down writing more, because I'm running out of books.

Instant Gratification hasn't quite lived up to Instant Attraction. Though Emma and Stone were interesting characters, there wasn't quite the edginess like Katie and Cam. Too smooth I suppose.
Emma's an ER doctor from NY who's come to Wishful to help out her distant father, who suffered a heart attack. Being more or less the opposite to Stone, uptight and holding back, whereas he's out there, helping and doing.

Nice story, but I felt the typical Jill wit and humour was missing somewhat. And a few questions for me personally where never answered.

All in all, a nice story, typical Shalvis plot, must read for any Shalvis fans, if you're a newbie, grab a different one first.

Kathy Reich - Deadly Decisions

Publisher: Random House

ISBN: 9781448106608

My rating: 3/5


The third gripping Temperance Brennan novel from world-class forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, the international no. 1 bestselling crime thriller writer and the inspiration behind the hit TV series Bones. A nine-year-old girl is killed in crossfire on her way to ballet class. Soon afterwards, the body of a teenager killed in North Carolina is found hundreds of miles away. Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan knows she must stay professional, but when the young girl's body is wheeled into the morgue she cannot help but react. And when an exhumation reveals the bones of yet another innocent in a hidden grave close to a biker gang headquarters, Tempe begins a lone and risky investigation into the lawless underworld of organised crime.

 

My thoughts

Number 3 didn't really rock my world.

It's all about Motorbike gangs and the accidental death of a young girl. I have to admit, it took me a while to get my head around the story. As much as I like the extra details Reichs gives in regards to pathology or in this book blood spattern, IMHO there's right and there's too much. I thought it was all a bit too much. Everything was in too much detail, I thought.

The rest of the story is the same as previously - add a family member (BTW - the nephew Kit is a hoot!) and put Brennan in a dangerous situation - voila, another Brennan story. Well more or less.



#1 Kathy Reichs - Deja Dead

#2 Kathy Reichs - Death Du Jour

#4 Kathy Reichs - Fatal Voyage

Sophie Kinsella - I've got your number

Publisher:  Black Swan

ISBN: 978-0552774406

My rating: n/a


I've lost it. The only thing in the world I wasn't supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It's been in Magnus's family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I've lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate Poppy. Stay positive!!

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry the ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her 'happy ever after' begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring but in the panic that followed, she has now lost her phone. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn't agree. He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents... she soon realises that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life. (SophieKinsella.co.uk)


Sorry - no thoughts on this one, at least not any I'd like to share.