Book Review: Me, Cinderella? by Aubrey Rose

The Deal: When walking to study group, Bryn came across a man sitting on a bench looking quite desolate, so she bought him a cup of coffee as an small act of kindness she could barely afford, but was happy to do anyway; and then she went on her way, studying for an upcoming test for a prestigious fellowship that could take her to Europe, something she wants for personal reasons. 

The man turned out to be Dr. Eliot Herceg, a brilliant mathematician and heir to a big fortune who is haunted by his own past and demons. 

Then, after a couple more encounters between Bryn and Eliot, it turns out Eliot is in charge of the fellowship Bryn wants and, once she wins it, they wind up spending a lot of time together, and opening to each other little by little. 

My Thoughts: When something as a hint of a fairy tale retelling, I almost always get really excited about it, so I was happy when I got the galley of Me, Cinderella? It sounded interesting and the whole maths thing sounded interesting. 

Sadly, this book was a bit of a dud. 

I wasn't really drawn to the characters who acted a bit weird (Eliot in particular always sounded much younger than he was supposed to be, and Bryn was just a bit too strange sometimes) and were mopey a lot of the time. 

And, in the end, I just wasn't very invested or interested in how things went. Mostly, I think the characters could have been a little more tridimensional and the situations a little less trite.  

Book Review: The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

At First Glance: Honor Holland is the responsible one, she runs the business end of her family's winery almost single handedly and she never strays from the straight and narrow. Until the day she turns 35 and is informed by her doctor that her biological clock is ticking. Which prompts her to go see her "Friend with Bennefits" of a dozen years (and basically only close friend) Brogan and ask him to marry her.

Brogan rejects her, only to wind up engaged to Honor's only othe friend Dana less than two months later.

Rejected and humiliated, Honor agrees to marry Tom Barlow, a british engeneering professor at the local college who is a bit desperate for a green card that would allow him to stay in the States near his "unofficial" step-son Charlie.

Second Glance: So I vaguely remembered Honor from reading The Best Man a few months ago, and I was a bit intrigued by the story so I picked it up even when Kristan Higgins and myself have been very hit-and-miss lately.

The Perfect Match turned out to be a nice story in the end but it was by no means perfect. It was enjoyable in that vague way most of Kristan Higgins' books are: they have charming lead characters, quirky-cute background characters and they are generally well written. But it also suffered from the usual downfalls of Higgins' books: she loves to humiliate he characters, and they tend to make too much of things that are unimportant and kind of incorrect.

In this case, the doctor telling Honor  - quite badly and in a very unprofesional way - that her eggs are basically expringing at the ripe old-age of 35 and that she should get busy having kids, prompt an otherwise level-headed woman to do something foolish.

And there is also that moment I have in almost every Higgins book where I scream at the book and at the protagonist so she'll grow a spine and speak up and stick up for herself. (they always take forever to do so, in my opinion).

Tom was nice but a bit piggy headed too.

Bottom Line: I do recommend The Perfect Match, I think it's one of the better books Ms Higgins has put out in the last couple of years and it was quite enjoyable in it's own way.

1/2

Book Review: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

The Deal: Rose Justice really wanted to help in the war effort and used her family's influence to become an ATA in England, where she flies planes back and forth so other people can fly them into the warfront. She hopes she could do more, though, as she has more flying experience than half the male pilots, but she knows being an ATA is pretty much all she can hope for. 

So she's en England, away from here family and doing what she can. Until one time when she's flying a plane from France to England and she's captured and sent to a concentration camp. 

There Rose, who always lived a privileged and sheltered life in Pensilvania, can barely wrap her mind around the atrocities happening around her and to her, even as she's living them. 

My Thoughts: Rose Under Fire is an emotional read, the things Rose goes through and how war takes a toll on the young - even before she is captured, she talks about how tired they all are all the time, because they can't stop working on the war effort - and I've to say that at first I liked the style a bit more than in Code Name Verity. 

But only at the beginning, as unreliable a narrator as "Verity" was and as word-y as I sometimes found it, I liked the structure of it better. With Rose Under Fire, it starts so well, but at one point it was going back and forth quite a bit via flashbacks, between her life after and her life while in the camp, and I found that a bit distracting. Same with her poetry, but I'm no big fan of poems, I have to admit. 

The writing is powerful and it does deliver a punch, but I don't know... World Ward II it's one of those subjects I know an unusual amount of, so I knew a lot of the things Rose was about to come face to face with and I knew about the "Rabbits" so, there was the punch but I'm not sure it affected me as much as it will to other readers. It was awful, but I was kind of prepared for it, so I wasn't in shock and I found Rose a little too naive. 

Otherwise, Elizabeth Wein is a great story teller, and Rose's voice does pull you into the story and keeps you there. My one complaint, though, is how little involvement Rose's family has with her in the aftermath, that was just plain weird. But then again, I'm Mexican, we tend to be super close knit in good and bad times. 

Cover Love: The Hero's Guide to Being and Outlaw

Hello my peeps!!
Just a quick post to show you the cover for a Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw, third book of the League of Princes series.

There isn't a summary yet so, without further ado, I give you the cover:

It looks really fun!! :) And I can't wait for it!!!

Also, sorry I havent been able to comment or answer comments. I'm still a bit sick :(

Book Review: Two of a Kind by Yona Zeldis McDonough

At First Sight: When they first met at a wedding, Christina Connolly and Andy Stern weren't off to the best start. Christina thought Andy rude and brusque, and Andy thought Christina was very reserved and icy.

But Christina, an interior decorator, couldn't turn her nose up at the opportunity to work for Andy - a very successful obi/gyn doctor - on his Upper East Side apartment.

Both are widowers (Christina for 10 years, Andy for about 2), and don't seem to have much in common, each struggling with careers and single-parenthood; but little by little they are drawn to each other, building on a physical attraction they can't help but to explore.

In the background are both their children, Christina's 14 year old Jordan who is an aspiring ballerina who puts too much pressure on herself; and Andy's 16 year old Oliver, who is using drugs to cope with his Mom's death and Andy's workaholic ways.

To Andy's surprise, Oliver likes Christina almost instantly and is happy to spend time with her, but Jordan is another story entirely as she can't seem to stand him; making their blending of their families seem impossible. 

Second Glance: Two of a Kind was a pleasant surprise. I hoped I would like it, but I wasn't sure as I hadn't tried this author before and the beginning was a little slow - it takes Christina and Andy a while to get together.

But I loved this book for it's realism, even though they are vaguely attracted to each other at first, Andy and Christina don't jump in bed together, they become friends first and they have many fights - Christina is a bit oversensitive as a result of a childhood spent with a volatile parent; and Andy is used to let his mouth run off and has little tact when dealing with people other than his patients - yet they try to make it work, even when real life keeps intruding.

You also get to see a lot of their life apart, with Christina's struggling business and Andy's practice, and it's nice to see that they have real problems. I even liked Oliver and Jordan, even if Oliver was a bit of aimless and Jordan was a bit of a brat.

My one complaint about the book is that I would have liked to see Andy and Christina spend more time together. 

Bottom Line: Two of a Kind was a very enjoyable read, full of characters that right true and sound normal. It's not exactly a romance novel, but it has a very strong romantic element and it had some very sweet moments - my favorite is when Andy tells Oliver that Christina is his girlfriend and Oliver has the best reaction ever.