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Review Date: 3/6/2008
Helpful Score: 2
I really wanted to like this book, I really did. I love everything about Paris, I've visited the City of Light, and nanny books are tres chic these days, so what's not to like?
The book started off well enough, and I'd classify it as light, fun and breezy. It stays light and breezy throughout -- superficial, one might say -- and it's really not that surprising, as it's based on the author's actual nanny stint during six weeks in Paris. Six weeks. It felt stretched thin at times, probably because it was. I don't know about you, but writing about six weeks of my life may fill a page or two, but it certainly wouldn't make a full book. Despite being in Paris and southern France, I think the author had the same difficulties in expanding upon her blog posts for the Houston Chronicle to fill an entire book.
Maybe it's because I'm no longer in my early 20s, or maybe because my idea of the world is larger than the state of Arkansas (where the author is from), but I rolled my eyes when the author described her "hardships" in France. Excuse me while I break out the world's smallest violin. There's also a bit of "The Ugly American" in here, which makes some parts slightly embarrassing to read.
The book started off well enough, and I'd classify it as light, fun and breezy. It stays light and breezy throughout -- superficial, one might say -- and it's really not that surprising, as it's based on the author's actual nanny stint during six weeks in Paris. Six weeks. It felt stretched thin at times, probably because it was. I don't know about you, but writing about six weeks of my life may fill a page or two, but it certainly wouldn't make a full book. Despite being in Paris and southern France, I think the author had the same difficulties in expanding upon her blog posts for the Houston Chronicle to fill an entire book.
Maybe it's because I'm no longer in my early 20s, or maybe because my idea of the world is larger than the state of Arkansas (where the author is from), but I rolled my eyes when the author described her "hardships" in France. Excuse me while I break out the world's smallest violin. There's also a bit of "The Ugly American" in here, which makes some parts slightly embarrassing to read.
Review Date: 3/6/2008
Helpful Score: 1
I absolutely loved The Other Boleyn Girl, and I don't think any of Philippa Gregory's other works have managed to live up to that example.
This book is billed as a "direct sequel" to The Other Boleyn Girl, and while its events occur directly afterwards, it's not really necessary to enjoy or understand it.
The three viewpoints -- Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn -- is a novel approach, but I've read a much better example of the technique in The Poisonwood Bible. There isn't enough variation in the "voices" used here: you have the plain, smart, oppressed woman in Anne of Cleves; the pretty, dumb, oppressed woman in Katherine Howard; and the remorseful, vindictive oppressed woman in Jane Boleyn.
Overall, it was an interesting but unsatisfying read, but just about any approach to the soap opera that was Henry VIII could have boasted that.
This book is billed as a "direct sequel" to The Other Boleyn Girl, and while its events occur directly afterwards, it's not really necessary to enjoy or understand it.
The three viewpoints -- Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn -- is a novel approach, but I've read a much better example of the technique in The Poisonwood Bible. There isn't enough variation in the "voices" used here: you have the plain, smart, oppressed woman in Anne of Cleves; the pretty, dumb, oppressed woman in Katherine Howard; and the remorseful, vindictive oppressed woman in Jane Boleyn.
Overall, it was an interesting but unsatisfying read, but just about any approach to the soap opera that was Henry VIII could have boasted that.
Review Date: 10/24/2016
The interesting premise was enough to reel me in, but the writing is sometimes reminiscent of a grade school assignment (e.g., "The sky is a canopy of clear blue, while sunlight glitters off snow-capped mountaintops.").
Also, here's a BIG WARNING for those anyone who unknowingly stumbles on to this book: THIS IS CHRISTIAN FICTION.
Also, here's a BIG WARNING for those anyone who unknowingly stumbles on to this book: THIS IS CHRISTIAN FICTION.
Review Date: 3/26/2009
If you love British humor and/or Hugh Laurie's performance as Dr. Gregory House, you'll love The Gun Seller. It was a great book, but my only nitpick is that it was really carefully written and requires -- deserves! -- careful reading so that you can catch all of the witty lines that would zing right by, unnoticed and unappreciated, with a more cursory reading.
Review Date: 12/5/2009
I love Lora Leigh's S.E.A.L. and Elite Ops series, but I really had to slog through this one. Part of it has to do with the huge ensemble of characters. I've found that authors often reach a tipping point between offering a supportive group of friends and an unmanageable mess that interferes with the main story (ahem, J.R. Ward). I'm afraid "Heat Seeker" has pushed the Elite Ops series into the latter category.
I realize there's a lot of cloak and dagger stuff going on in the black ops world, but we *just* had an I-thought-you-were-dead-but-you-came-back-as-someone-else-but-you'll-never-tell-me plot with "Wild Card," which was only two books ago. "Wild Card" really tore at your heart strings and was infinitely better than "Heat Seeker," which just feels like a retread -- only with even MORE characters and aliases for you to keep track of.
I realize there's a lot of cloak and dagger stuff going on in the black ops world, but we *just* had an I-thought-you-were-dead-but-you-came-back-as-someone-else-but-you'll-never-tell-me plot with "Wild Card," which was only two books ago. "Wild Card" really tore at your heart strings and was infinitely better than "Heat Seeker," which just feels like a retread -- only with even MORE characters and aliases for you to keep track of.
Review Date: 3/14/2009
Helpful Score: 3
As a writer, Cara Summers is capable of so much more, and the rest of the series -- "The P.I.," "The Cop," and "The Defender" -- is a testament to that. I was expecting this to be of the same quality as those three books, and it doesn't even come close. It's difficult to get past the shifting point of view (some segments were written from the heroine's perspective, while others used the usual third-person voice).
If you're thinking about getting this book, don't -- and make a beeline for "The P.I.," "The Cop," and "The Defender" instead. They're light years better than this.
If you're thinking about getting this book, don't -- and make a beeline for "The P.I.," "The Cop," and "The Defender" instead. They're light years better than this.
Review Date: 3/20/2008
I was really looking forward to reading about Tegan, who sounded like a really intriguing, wounded, cold warrior in the other books but comes off as being mildly irritated here.
The heroine has been a mourning widow for the past five years because she greatly missed her husband, the love of her life, and here, she talks about him -- and her former life -- as a duty. Sometimes she's an ice queen who is part of society's upper crust, and other times, she mocks and scorns that very society, but we don't know why. We don't even get the sense that she knows why.
It feels like the author is trying too hard to make awkward puzzle pieces fit together. "Kiss of Crimson," the second book, was much better.
The heroine has been a mourning widow for the past five years because she greatly missed her husband, the love of her life, and here, she talks about him -- and her former life -- as a duty. Sometimes she's an ice queen who is part of society's upper crust, and other times, she mocks and scorns that very society, but we don't know why. We don't even get the sense that she knows why.
It feels like the author is trying too hard to make awkward puzzle pieces fit together. "Kiss of Crimson," the second book, was much better.
Review Date: 3/9/2009
I like the "In Too Deep" series as a whole, but this is my least favorite book. I call this the "angry" book because the hero and heroine spend so much time being angry at one another, and at some point, this anger becomes love. It's very difficult to believe, and even though Jo Leigh is an excellent writer, she can't sell this premise.
Review Date: 7/1/2008
I still can't figure out what all of the fuss is about.
As a story, this is a failure because it tells you nothing. You ask questions -- what was the great big apocalypse, who did it, where is everyone, how did these people manage to survive -- but you don't get any answers.
As a testament of how strong parental love can be ... well, I had difficulty "getting" this from the story because the language was so sparse that any great acts of love came off as sounding hollow. More details may have gone against the book's style, but it would have rung truer and had more of an emotional impact.
Mercifully, it was a fast and simple, yet unsatisfying, read.
As a story, this is a failure because it tells you nothing. You ask questions -- what was the great big apocalypse, who did it, where is everyone, how did these people manage to survive -- but you don't get any answers.
As a testament of how strong parental love can be ... well, I had difficulty "getting" this from the story because the language was so sparse that any great acts of love came off as sounding hollow. More details may have gone against the book's style, but it would have rung truer and had more of an emotional impact.
Mercifully, it was a fast and simple, yet unsatisfying, read.
Review Date: 2/6/2009
Helpful Score: 10
I absolutely love Phantom of the Opera, and I've read my fair share of erotica, but this book must have been written on a dare. "How much sex can you fit into the Phantom of the Opera story?" The answer is, "a whole freaking lot!"
You're inundated with so many sex scenes that you get desensitized, and the relationship between Erik and Christine never gets developed. Those minor characters to whom who you've never given a second thought? They're having outrageous sex everywhere, and with everyone else.
Reading "Unmasqued" was such a waste of time.
You're inundated with so many sex scenes that you get desensitized, and the relationship between Erik and Christine never gets developed. Those minor characters to whom who you've never given a second thought? They're having outrageous sex everywhere, and with everyone else.
Reading "Unmasqued" was such a waste of time.
Review Date: 8/29/2009
I'm not sure if it's the setting, the thin premise for the family feud, the watering down of the story due to there being TWO romances in the book, or the fact that there are TOO many characters to keep track of -- but this story didn't "click." I found it difficult to care about the hero and heroine or their supposed plight, and after such a long, supposedly acrimonious feud, the ending was just too easy. This was a very "blah" read for me.
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