Review: Heroes Are My Weakness

I first picked up Heroes Are My Weakness at the book store months ago. I was able to read only one chapter, hungrily and quickly, before I had to leave. Like all great books, the story haunted me until I finally bought it. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is absolutely amazing and certainly one of my automatic-buys, so I knew I was going to love this book. I just wasn’t prepared for how the story developed. This one is a little different for her.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips has incredible dialogue. I mean, the characters have lines that leave me staring aghast at the page unable to think how someone thought of that retort. It never grows dull, it never becomes repetitive or whiny. It’s fast, gripping, hilarious and stunning. She can also wind a story and make turns that leave me shaking my head wondering how she did that. And, finally, she has amazing characters. Not just fully fleshed out but with really interesting back stories that I just love to discover.

This book has all of that…but it’s different. Really different.

Heroes Are My Weakness is the story of Annie and Theo. She’s on a remote island to try and keep a cottage as a source of funds. He’s a reclusive author with a very dark past. They both share a common history that is slowly revealed in the book. They also fall in love.

I keep saying that this one is different but how? Well, usually, with Susan Elizabeth Phillips, you get great humour, great dialogue and a fantastic love story. This one had all of that…and a mystery. It was a bit like reading Sandra Brown. I would come to the end of one chapter to find out something that made me gasp and turn, in desperation to the next chapter. I wasn’t ready for that with S.E.P. There was a villain and there was danger and people almost died…mostly myself with anxiety. I don’t do well with thrillers or fear. I have two huge dogs for a reason, people.

I’m not complaining. I was delighted with the book, loved it and couldn’t put it down. My hubby made dinner, we had company and all I did was read. Terrible and really rude–I know!–but if you pick up this book, you’ll understand. I couldn’t rest until I knew what was going to happen. It was one of those.

I particularly loved how the back story is revealed so slowly, organically, weaved carefully into the story so that the relevant pieces appear just when they’re pertinent and interesting to the reader. I never once resented that the book went into the past. I wanted to know what had happened because it had to do with the present in the story.

And I truly liked the characters. To me, they seemed both complete and perfectly flawed. They weren’t mouses who suddenly become lions, they kept their personality. Still they managed to step outside their comfort zones and grow into better people. The love story was completely believable and plausible.

I could really ramble on because there are facets of this book that are truly superior. The writing is absolutely fantastic and the humour made me laugh out loud. But this review is already ridiculously long. So, let me finish with with a recommendation. I’d recommend this for both contemporary fans and thriller fans. If you like Sandra Brown, or Nora Roberts this one is for you. Enjoy and let me know what you think! (But be brief, will you? No one likes some one who rambles on). 😀

(credit: goodreads.com)

Note: to go to site click here.

Review: Heartbreaker

I picked out Heartbreaker on the recommendation of the store clerk in the used book store. I was heading for a flight and I needed something to read. I had never read Karen Robards but with those waiting lines at the airport facing me, I grabbed the book and dove in.

Heartbreaker is non-stop action, which is the best sort of book to have while you’re waiting to board a plane. I couldn’t care less that the person behind me just jumped ahead of me in line because I just kept reading. And it’s got humour weaved in, which is one of my favourite things in romance. It was awesome.

I loved Lynn from the start. I don’t smoke, but I could relate to everything else about her. She was trying to fit in with a bunch of outdoor enthusiasts and she was failing miserably. Lynn is going along with the group hoping to bond with Rory her teenage daughter.

Rory is a very realistic teen and I was desperately glad that she was authentic. There’s little worse than ‘perfect’ children in books. Kids who respect adults, obey, speak only in complete sentences and listen to their elders. Please! Rory was difficult with her mom, moody, defiant and moody. A completely credible teen.

Lynn has a tough time in the outdoors and her reactions to the other happy-go, enthusiastic members of the group are hilarious. Poor woman, things don’t get better for her. She and her daughter have an accident and end up pretty much stranded and hurt. Jess, one of the guides, drops down to help them and the adventure takes off from there.

With Jess along, they have to make it out of the mountains alive. Easier said than done in this mountain though. A group of cult members happens to also be there and they quickly decide that the trio must die.

It’s a pretty roller-coaster ride that had me moaning at the end of more than one chapter with dismay. I had no idea what was going to happen next and I was visiting relatives, which meant I couldn’t ignore them and keep reading. Closing this book was absolutely painful.

I would highly recommend Heartbreaker, especially if you’re going on a plane but certainly as a great summer read. It’s easy, fast, has great dialogue and witty humour. Best of all, it’s romance, so that fits me like a glove. Only one caution, relatives might not understand it if you bring the book along when you visit. 😀

(credit:goodreads.com)

Note: click on book to go to site.

Review: The Professional

The Professional, from Kresley Cole is simply pure enjoyment. A story of rags to riches with the thrill of a chase added in. It’s never too complicated to follow and never let me down. I devoured it in one of those delicious afternoons that make me wish for the weekend.

Natalie is a hard-working Masters student when she gets a surprise. She meets a mysterious Siberian, Sevastyan, who refuses to take no for an answer and drags her to Russia. On the plane ride there, Natalie starts to uncover her story and why she’s suddenly in danger.

Sevastyan is protective and introverted which, at times, creates issues. But the two are pushed into relying on each other and it’s not long before they’re in a roller-coaster of an adventure.

The Professional was terrific read. It’s written from Natalie’s point of view and I loved that. It’s intimate and I fell in love with Natalie from the start. The plot kept me glued to the pages. It moves quickly from one location to another and kept me wondering what was going to happen next. Fun and delightfully romantic, I’d highly recommend this one to anyone who likes a thriller and romance.

(credit: kresleycole.com)

Review: False Awakening by Callum McLaughlin

A wonderful review by Melissa Barker-Simpson. The book sounds absolutely awesome!

How Sandra Brown terrified me

I started ‘Hello, Darkness’ by Sandra Brown because I hadn’t read her books in a while and this particular story sounded really easy to get into. A nice lady, Paris is a bit of a loner and works as a night-time radio host. She gets into a bit of a fix with a caller who identifies himself as ‘Valentino’ and has to enlist the help of a police psychologist–the man she had hoped never to meet again. Nice, right? I thought so.

I got into the book all right; in fact, I couldn’t put the thing down. Now, usually that’s not an issue but, this time, the villain was a serial killer. Worse, he was a psychopath who not only kidnapped and raped his victims, he also killed them in horrible ways.

Now, you may not know this but I’m a bit of a chicken and a worry-wart. When I read a book, I can’t handle the characters suffering. I cry, bawl and basically suffer right along with them. Endearing or idiotic, you be the judge. The point is that trait is pretty annoying when you’re reading about a serial killer. I basically bit all my nails and cursed in several languages because that book kept throwing danger at poor Paris until the very end.

I didn’t sleep very well either. Not until I finished the book and convinced myself that no one was coming in my house. My dogs are no help. Those two love every person who walks in the door, strangers included. The only thing that would stop a thief would be allergies.

Now, before you start to worry, Paris does find her happy ending in ‘Hello, darkness’. And the bad guy gets caught. But there’s no denying there are a few tense moments. This book is a certain page-turner.

I would definitely recommend this one. It’s like CSI with a romance thrown in. Fun and quick to read but incredibly addictive.

Just don’t read it at night.

(credit:mostlyfiction.com)