Book Reviews

Book Review: Home Front by Kristin Hannah

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Home Front

So book 25 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Home Front by Kristin Hannah.

‘From a distance, Michael and Jolen Zarkades seem to have it all: a solid dependable marriage, exciting careers and children they adore. But after twelve blissful years together, the couple has lost their way. They are unhappy and edging towards divorce. Then an unexpected deployment tears their already fragile family apart, sending one of them deep into harm’s way and leaving the other at home, caring for the children and waiting for news. When the worst happens, each must face their darkest fear and fight for the future of their family.’ (Thanks Amazon)

I don’t even know where to start with this novel.  I usually love novels that are based around World War II, so this was a little different for me.  This is a modern novel about a modern couple unexpectedly caught up in a modern war.  Michael and Jolen Zarkades have loved each other throughout their solid marriage, and have created a family of their own.  However grief has caused a wedge to grow between them, and at a defining moment in their marriage they find themselves torn apart as Jolen finds herself on the frontline in Iraq, leaving behind her a broken marriage and two daughters fighting to find their own place in the world without their mother.

This is a story about love and loss: the love between lovers, the love between friends and what it might mean to lose that love.  It’s a story about strength and hope, and about fear and weakness.

I loved this novel – I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t know which route this story would take but I loved it.  It is heart wrenching and tragic, with only the faintest hint of hope shining through, but shine through it did.  Reading a novel based around an event that is so recent in modern history gave a realness to this story.  The characters were deep, flawed and authentic.  I wanted to know their back stories and what caused them to act the way that they did.  I also wanted to know what would happen to them, I wanted to know how their story would end.  I can’t recommend this novel enough – let me know what you thought.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖 📗

 

Book Review: Cowboys Don’t Cry byAnne McAllister

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Cowboys Don't Cry

Book 24 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Cowboys Don’t Cry by Anne McAllister.

‘When Wyoming cowboy Robert Tanner promised to help out the new owner of the Three Bar C, he didn’t expect to have to teach a city girl schoolteacher how to run a ranch. Worse, Maggie MacLeod was a beautiful feisty redhead with flashing eyes and kissable lips — a woman who could tempt a saint.

Tanner was far from a saint. He didn’t do permanent, he didn’t do relationships. The smart thing would be to leave. But a man was only as good as his word. Trouble was, the longer he stayed, the more Maggie got under his skin…’ (Thanks Amazon!)

Cowboys Don’t Cry is the first in the Tanner Brothers series.  The chick lit continues for Chapter and Cake…I enjoy a cowboy romance, and this one fit the bill.  Tanner is a troubled cowboy who has run away from his past to run the Three Bar C ranch.  He loves his job, but he finds himself in a compromising position when Maggie MacLeod leaves the city to take over running the ranch.  Whilst teaching Maggie the ropes, Tanner finds himself falling for her, despite promising himself a long time ago that he would never fall in love again.

This was another easy read that I flew through – a story about two people who meet but cannot be together until they have worked through some issues.  I enjoyed the read, although if I am entirely honest I may not rush to pick up the next in there series.  It was an easy, enjoyable read, but it did not leave me wanting more.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖

Book Review: Destined for Love by Melissa Foster

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Destined For Love

Book number 23 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Destined for Love by Melissa Foster.

‘Rex Braden is wealthy, hard working, and fiercely loyal. Sweat at his brow, he works the family ranch by day, then kicks back at night with part time lovers who require nothing more than his physical presence a few times each week. But that was before. Before Jade Johnson, the daughter of the man his father has been feuding with for over forty years, moves back into town.

After ditching a horrific relationship–and her veterinary practice in the process–Jade Johnson returns to the safety of her small hometown and finally finds her footing. That is…until her horse is injured and Rex Braden comes to her rescue. The last thing she needs is a bull-headed, too-handsome-for-his-own-good Braden complicating her life.

Despite the angry family history, sparks fly between Rex and Jade, and attitudes follow. Fifteen years of stifled, forbidden love stirs a surge of passion too strong for either to deny–and the rebel in each of them rears its powerful head. Loyalties are tested, and relationships are strained. Rex and Jade are about to find out if true love really can conquer all.’ (Thanks Amazon!)

Yes that’s right….i’m on a chick lit roll!  I have required some easy reading of late, and this one definitely hit the spot.  The gorgeous Rex Braden, a family man who works his family ranch is happy with his life – or so he thinks – when Jade Johnson, the daughter of his neighbour returns to town.  Fifteen years after he last saw her, old feelings are stirred up as he tries to stay away from her, knowing that this father would be furious to find out he was talking to a member of the Johnson family.

I knew where this story was going but I didn’t care.  It was a little saucy; a hot forbidden romance.  A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine!  If you are looking for a light read, full of romance then this would be a great choice.  It’s the second book in the Braden series – whilst I have not read the first in the series, I don’t believe I missed out by reading this one first.  I do however intend to read the rest of the series.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📗

Book Review: Planning Bliss by Michelle Jo Quinn

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Planning Bliss

The 22nd book in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Planning Bliss by Michelle Jo Quinn.

‘He may be the best man,
but he’s the worst man for her…

Wedding planner, Veronica Soto-Stewart believes everyone deserves a fairy tale wedding – even her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée. Unable to refuse their request for the sake of her business, she finds herself planning the most magical event for the perfect couple.

Except nothing is ever perfect…

Especially when the best man, Levi Laurent, is doing everything to get her to notice him, but Veronica wants nothing to do with the rich, sexy, irresistible playboy.

Can Levi convince Veronica that her own happily ever after is closer than she thinks?’ (Thanks Amazon)

So Planning Bliss (previously published as Confessions of a Wedding Planner) is the first book in the Bliss series by Michelle Jo Quinn.   Veronica cannot bring herself to refuse Jake, her perfect ex-boyfriend, when he asks her to arrange his wedding to Sandrine, the glamorous French woman he fell in love with whilst still dating her.  Veronica finds herself unable to refuse Jake himself, or the business that it will give her by arranging such a lavish wedding.  As a result, she finds herself stuck with Levi, Jake’s best friend and best man, a man that has infuriated Veronica every since she has known him.  I don’t want to give any of the story away, although you will guess what happens.  This is not a novel about twists and turns though.   This is an easy read – it is exactly what you would expect it to be. If you aren’t looking for surprises but rather a light hearted piece of chick lit then this novel will fit the bill.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖

Book Review: Montana Snowfall by Caroline Fyffe

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Montana Snowfall

Book 21 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Caroline Fyffe’s Montana Snowfall.

‘Y Knot, Montana Territory, 1886
When Roady Guthrie, longtime foreman for the McCutcheon ranch, takes time off to go bear hunting, he never expects to find a young woman asleep in his hunting cabin in the midst of a snowstorm. Worried what their unchaperoned situation will do to her reputation, Roady is uneasy when the snowfall keeps them stranded–just long enough for him to lose his heart.

Sally Stanford has a secret–one that sent her running from St. Louis to Y Knot and into arms of her sister. A secret that would shatter Roady’s high opinion of her, if he knew. When Sally realizes her plan is doomed to fail, she turns to the only man she trusts.’ (Thanks Amazon)

So, Montana Snowfall is the 7th in the McCutcheon Family series, but the first that I have read. Having not read the others, I couldn’t tell you if it was necessary, although I would say not – I didn’t feel as though I was missing any vital information about any of the other character, or any back stories.

Sally Stanford is a new character to the story, as we are introduced to her as she journeys to Y Knot to stay with her sister, carrying a secret that she feels no one must ever find out.  On her journey to Y Knot she meets Roady Guthrie, a foreman for the McCutcheon’s who is out bear hunting.

This novel is set is 1886 America, and as such, much of the story is set around morality, relationships and appropriateness.  It highlights how difficult it was for a woman at that time, but also that it wasn’t impossible to find a man to be compassionate and caring in times of need.  This novel is a delicate and enduring love story between two people who both have their own issues but are able to come together and help each other.

I did find myself racing through this novel a little at times; it was sometimes a little slow moving with maybe not enough drama for me.  However it was a lovely read with enjoyable, believable characters.  Whether I read another in the McCutcheon series remains to be seen, but as a stand alone novel I found Montana Snowfall to be an easy, pleasant read.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖

Book Review: Hiroshima by John Hersey

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Hiroshima

So i’ve made it to book 20 (only 30 left to go!) in my Goodreads Reading Challenge.  My latest review is of Hiroshima by John Hersey.

‘The room was filled with a blinding light. She was paralysed by fear, fixed still in her chair for a long moment. Everything fell.’

2015 is the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima, when, on 6 August at 8.15am, an atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city, killing one hundred thousand men, women and children in its white fury. John Hersey’s spare, devastating report on the attack was first published in the New Yorker in 1946. Written in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, it chronicles what happened through the eyes of six civilians who survived against the odds. It is a classic piece of journalism, and a defining moment of the nuclear age.’ (Thanks Amazon)

So for the first time this year, i’ve chosen a non-fiction book to read as part of my reading challenge, and what a hard hitting, amazing piece of writing I chose.  This should be vital reading for all, not just lovers of History (we all know I love a bit of WWII history, whether it be fact or fiction).  In fact I truly believe all budding scientists should be made to read this important piece of journalism.  Our advances in technology are mind boggling, particularly, if like me, you are not scientific in nature.  This essay really highlights what effect these technological advances can have.  The atomic bomb was hailed as one of the most important advances in science and warfare in the 20th century, however the aftermath for those innocent civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is horrifying.  John Hersey sought to bring clarity to the Allied countries as they celebrated their victory in bringing WWII to an end.  In an age where the news was only really accessible in newspapers, John Hersey wrote one of the most important articles of that time.  The New Yorker dedicated its entire issue on 31st August 1946 to his article, which follows six survivors in the aftermath of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

Instead of celebrating the Allies victory, he showed the world the cost of that victory.  Innocent men, women and children killed or severely injured, whole families wiped out, homes and businesses lost with no warning of what was coming.  He showed the world that the war was not won by wiping out an army, but by wiping out two cities filled with innocent people.

‘in general, survivors that day assisted only their relatives or immediate neighbours, for they could not comprehend or tolerate a wider circle of misery.’ (Hiroshima)

Thankfully the world has not had to witness the use of atomic warfare since that fateful day in 1945.  However, given that 70 years has passed and technology has moved on considerably, this article could not be more important right now.  As tensions rise across the world, I think it is vital that people have an awareness of the consequences of any action they may take.  The world lives in fear of a war breaking out that includes atomic warfare; this article shows that the world is right to be fearful.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖 📖

Book Review: Robinson Crusoe 2244 by E.J. Robinson

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Robinson Crusoe 2244

Book number 19 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Robinson Crusoe 2244 by E.J. Robinson.

‘Two centuries after mankind drove itself to the brink of extinction, a new civilization rises from the ashes of what was once Great Britain. But when deadly strife breaks out among their ranks, the teenage son of one prominent family finds himself fleeing in the dead of night only to wind up shipwrecked on the forbidden continent of America. Armed with only his wit and the most unexpected of allies, the teenager struggles to survive in a wasteland filled with unspeakable horrors and in the end must uncover the one secret that can save his own people or spell doom for mankind forever.’ (Thanks Amazon!)

The first in a trilogy, Robinson Crusoe 2244 is a post apocalyptic novel which focuses on Robinson Crusoe and his growth into a man as he finds himself fleeing his home and winding up in the desolate landscape of the forbidden continent of America.

Robinson Crusoe finds himself alone in a dangerous, empty landscape, having unexpectedly been betrayed and forced to flee his home.  He follows a trail left by his dead mother which takes him to America, a continent ravaged by a virus many years previously.

‘All his life he had been told the world was full of horrors, but he had never understood that the worst of them was man’ (Robinson Crusoe 2244)

This novel follows Robinson Crusoe as he fights to survive in a place that is constantly trying to kill him.  His only saving grace is the traces of his mother, along with meeting and saving Friday, a strong, independent woman who is also fighting her own battles.  Together they are able to help each other, and learn from one another as the push for their safety and freedom.

The novel ends ready for the next instalment, Robinson Crusoe 2245, to begin. Whilst I found some sections of the book a little hard going, overall I enjoyed the premise of the novel and it’s leading characters.  It was interesting to read a novel based on a story we all know, with a dystopian twist and I look forward to reading the second novel in this trilogy.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖

Book Review: A Vintage Wedding by Katie Fforde

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A Vintage Wedding

Book 18 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is A Vintage Wedding by Katie Fforde.

‘In a small Cotswold country town, Beth, Lindy and Rachel are looking for new beginnings.

So they set up in business, organising stylish and perfectly affordable vintage weddings.

Soon they are busy arranging other people’s Big Days.

What none of them know is that their own romances lie waiting, just around the corner…’ (Thanks Amazon!)

Beth, Lindy and Rachel are three very different women who are thrown together in the small village of Chippingford.

Beth has recently finished university, and finds herself in the village of Chippingford with the mammoth task of arranging her sisters wedding on a very small budget, whilst seeking some form of employment to enable her live more comfortably (and to stop accepting money from her Dad).

Lindy is a divorced mother of two, and a whizz on the sewing machine.  However, with a three and six year old, she has struggled making time to see friends and as a result has become quite lonely.

Rachel is a little older than Beth and Lindy, and definitely more cynical when it comes to matters of the heart.  She is efficient and organised in every way (useful, given that she is an accountant), with a touch of OCD thrown in for good measure.

Together the three of them form both a friendship and a business, as they create Vintage Weddings, not only to organise Beth’s sister Helena’s wedding but others too.  Like any good chick lit, we have some romance thrown in for good measure, as the girls get to know Angus, Raff and Finn.

As chick lits go, A Vintage Wedding has the right mix of love, friendship and drama.  It’s a great, easy read – perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon with a cheeky glass of wine!  Give it a go!

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📗

Book Review: Lies by Michael Grant

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Lies

We’ve made it to book 17 in my 2017 Goodreads Reading Challenge: Lies by Michael Grant.

‘It’s been seven months since all the adults disappeared. Gone. It happens in one night: a girl who died now walks among the living; Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach; and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most: Drake. But Drake is dead—or so they thought.

Perdido Beach burns and battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake, who is back from the dead and ready to finish where he and Sam left off. They say that death is a way to escape the FAYZ, but are the kids of Perdido Beach desperate enough to believe that death will set them free?’ (Thanks Amazon!)

So I have once again returned to Michael Grants Gone series, for his third instalment, Lies.  This series follows a group of children after the disappearance of any over the age of 15 from their town.  As the realisation sets in that the adults will not be returning, these children have to fight to live as they battle hunger and then, each other.  Lies join these children seven months after the disappearance of the adults.  Hunger is rife as all the food is gone and they are forced to forage, hunt and grow their own in order to survive.  Children are dying, and ‘lies’ start to circulate this young community as the number of children with mutations grows, which scares many.  A rumour starts to spread that death will set these children free, returning them to their parents and the inaccessible outside world.  Death also creates fear however, as no one knows for sure what happens as those left behind are forced to bury the dead.

I am really enjoying this dystopian series, which is based around the really interesting concept of children being forced to care for themselves when they find themselves trapped inside the FAYZ.  It brings out both the best and the worst in the older children, as they fight for power, food, order and an understanding of what is happening to them as mutant powers emerge.  It also very clearly highlights how vulnerable younger children really are when they are left with no one to care for them, which to me just shows how vulnerable we are as a human race.  Children are forced to make grown up decisions without any life experience or knowledge of what the consequences of those decisions may be.  I would advise that this is read as part of the series rather than as a stand alone book, but do give the series a go.  The characterisation is great and the plot is gripping.  The stage has been set for Plague, book four in the series and I look forward to reading it!

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📗

Guest Book Review: Heroes of Olympus: Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

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So following the resounding success of his brothers blog, which culminated in Cressida Cowell reading it and sending him a little tweet, Ed has now decided that he too would like to contribute to my blog.  His latest read was Blood of Olympus from the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.  Firstly, I cannot emphasise enough just how much Ed is enjoying Rick Riordans work.  He devoured the Percy Jackson series, loves the Heroes of Olympus and is planning on reading Magnus Chase.  He spends many a dinnertime teaching the entire family about mythology and Gods – I love how enthusiastic he is.  So, please enjoy his review.

Characters

The characters are Leo, Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Hazel and Frank.  I liked them all because they were dramatic, funny and crazy.  They all made the book good in their own way.

Plot

The plot is that Gaia plans to destroy the world.  She is the oldest Goddess and has been asleep for too many years.  Her children, the giants, plan to wake her but seven famous demigods stand in their way.

Your opinion

There wasn’t many scary bits but a lot of laughter.  I loved this book.  My favourite part was where Leo arrived at Ogygia for the second time when he face planted into the sand trying to make a heroic landing.

Recommend?

I would recommend this book to people who like small romance and huge comedy!

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖 📖