Review - The Witness by Nora Roberts

Elizabeth Fitch is tired of living her life by her mother’s strict rules. So the minute her mother leaves for a medical conference, Elizabeth is out the door and headed to the mall. One new wardrobe, one new BFF, and two new fake IDs later, Liz finds herself at Chicago’s hottest nightclub. But before the night is over, Liz will be a witness to murder, when Alex Gurevich, the nightclub owner, is eliminated by two of his business associates. Twelve years later, Liz, now living as Abigail Lowery, has built a new life for herself as a freelance computer-security programmer in Bickford, Arkansas. Abigail’s first and only priority is staying one step ahead of the Russian Mob, who has never stopped trying to get rid of the one living witness to Gurevich’s murder. The only problem is that Bickford’s new chief of police, Brooks Gleason, simply refuses to let her live in peace, and nothing Abigail says or does seems to convince him that she doesn’t need his help (Amazon).

This is Nora at the top of her game.  In fact I think it is the first novel since Three Fates  that I really enjoyed and want to read again.  My attention was riveted from the first sentence to the last page.  The whole book could have focused on Elizabeth/Abigail in the first year or two after the murder and I still would have read it.  I found Abigail's character to be believable in light of how she was raised, what happened to her and how she had to live.  Although at times her mannerisms and social skills made me think she was a little Autistic.  Not sure if she was, or if Roberts portrayed her that way to show how stunted her upbringing was and the lack of social connections she had before meeting Brooks.  Brooks seems to be the typical Beta male lead, a take charge type of guy that does so while considering the feelings of others.  I did find him to be pushy and overbearing at the beginning with Abigail.  But I let that go, because she was so reclusive, if brooks wasn't pushy, there would have been no love story.

There were no unexpected twits or turns in this novel, but I enjoyed it all.

Friday Book Trailer

Today I am posting a book trailer for a book I have not read yet.  But the video is absolutely hilarious.  It's Ellen "auditioning" for the Fifty Shades of Grey audiobook.  Everywhere I go, I am hearing about this book.  Everyone is talking about it, some reviews are great, others not so much.  I haven't decided if I am going to read it.  But that seems to be my MO with really popular books for some reason.  I waited until about 2000 before finally reading the Harry Potter series - and loved it.  Same with Diana Gabaldon, kept seeing her books at the store and would read the back cover.  But I would always put the book back and think I would get it next time.  Once I finally picked one of her books up, I was hooked.  Although the opposite happened with the Twilight series.  Everyone was telling me to read it, when I finally did I was disappointed.  So I am still on the fence about this book, but still find this video highly entertaining.



You might also want to check out the first 3 chapters of a parody, apparently this guy also has a book deal now http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13548945-fifty-one-shades.

Review - Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington.  She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal:  her fiancé Kevin has left her.  His new lover is Lucy’s own sister.   Lucy's bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life.   Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life—even after being broken—can be made into something new and beautiful (Amazon).

For the most part I would say that I liked this book, but I didn't love it, and at points I was cringing.  What I liked about the book:  Lucy and Sam were enjoyable characters that had chemistry together.  Although the Amazon blurb leads one to believe that there is a "big misunderstanding" with how they start dating, in actuality Sam tells Lucy right away about Kevin setting them up.  I found this a refreshing way to deal with the plot rather than Kleypas relying on a hidden secret only to bring it out later for drama.

What I didn't like: the book seemed to waffle between being a contemporary romance and chick lit.  When it read as romance I found the story flowed more and had more chemistry.  When it read as chick lit, I lost interest and skimmed the pages.  Although Lucy and Sam had chemistry, I would characterize the romance in this book as subtle.  I much prefer Kleypas' books that have steamier love scenes.  There is also a paranormal element to the story involving Lucy's ability to change glass into butterflies and Sam's ability to grow plants.  I didn't really see a need for the magic.  It felt like it was placed in the book as an after thought.  Overall, not one of Lisa Kleypas' best efforts.  If you are looking for a meatier romance try one of her historicals or the contemporary Texas trilogy.

Johanna Lindsey's Let Love Find You Cover

It's finally here.  Well the cover, not the actual book.  I had my first look at the cover for Johanna Lindsey's new book Let Love Find You.



What do you think?  It doesn't really grab my attention.  Well, maybe the floating scarf spewing out of her chest does.  Overall, I find the cover lackluster and the storyline unappealing.  I will definitely be borrowing this from the library.

Synopsis for Let Love Find You by Johanna Lindsey

I haven't come across a synopsis for Johanna Lindsey's new book in my search, but an anonymous poster left this in my comments:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsey sweeps readers into the ballrooms and country houses of England’s elite society in the sparkling, passion-filled tale of a desperate debutante who learns in a most delightful way that she can’t fight her scandalous attraction to her virile matchmaker.Lady Amanda Locke has struck out miserably in her two Seasons on the marriage mart. Beautiful, titled, and charming – even if she does talk a bit too much, Amanda doesn’t understand why love eludes her. Even her father, the Duke of Norford, is so perplexed he is prepared to take drastic measures to ensure his daughter’s happiness. Now, as Amanda begins her third Season, she gets a little help from Cupid, a darkly handsome horse breeder whose knowledge of basic animal attraction has guided him in arranging more than a few successful matches between the young ladies and gentlemen of the ton. Hired by Amanda’s family, Devin Baldwin produces results for Amanda and soon she is happy to be courted by one of his clients, the dashing Viscount Altone. In order to secure Amanda’s match to a nobleman obsessed with horse racing, Devin must teach Amanda how to overcome her fear of horses. But as Devin shows her the joys of riding, hunting, and racing, will their own hearts run astray as Amanda finds herself falling in love with Cupid himself?

Friday Book Trailer

I happened across a book trailer for Kathleen Givens' book, On a Highland Shore, which I absolutely loved.  If you haven't read it yet, check it out.

Review - On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens

In an age when Norse invaders threaten Scottish civilization, one woman will defend her clan's honor and claim her own exceptional destiny.

1263: As the Highland village of Somerstrath prepares for the joyous wedding of Margaret MacDonald, the laird's daughter, a dark storm of bloodshed and betrayal closes in.... Now, determined to hold her shattered clan together and locate her abducted younger brother in the wake of a brutal Viking attack, Margaret must choose between obeying the dictates of King Alexander's court, or placing her trust in Gannon MacMagnus, an imposing half-Irish, half-Norse warrior. Who is this stranger who vows not to harm her? Will he vanquish the barbarous killers who would continue to destroy the rugged, magnificent land she calls home? (Amazon).

I loved this book and spent most of the weekend reading it because I couldn't put it down.  I didn't want to put it down.  This book had a perfect balance of historical detail and romance.  I was drawn into the story and wanted to learn about the hero and heroine as well as other characters. This was the first book by Givens that I have read and I plan on glomming her backlist.  Unfortunately while looking up how many books she has written and what may be coming next, I discovered that the author has passed away.  I truly believe that the romance community has lost a great voice in Kathleen Givens.

Let Love Find You by Johanna Lindsey

It's that time of year again.  I have found the title for Johanna Lindsey's 2012 release.  The book is called "Let Love Find You".  Once again I find myself  hoping that this will be it.  That this book will be the one with the magical something that the old Lindseys contained.  So although I have given up on a lot of authors over the years, I think Lindsey is one that I will continue to read in hopes of catching a glimmer of the chemistry and rich stories her books had prior to 1995.

I have not found a cover or synopsis for "Let Love Find You" yet.  But I do know that this book will be released on June 12, 2012.  My prediction is that this book returns to the Malory family, maybe one of Tony or James's daughters?