If you’ve never been in the position our heroine finds herself in – 30, single, and at a family wedding being smothered by pitying glances and “it’ll be your turn someday”s – then her decision to make up a boyfriend might sound a little ridiculous to you. That’s alright; that’s reasonable. But let me just add in a couple of factors for you, see if they help clear things up a little. Not only is Grace Emerson single & semi-desperate, but her ex-fiance has just […]
They Should Have Jumped Off the Roof
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
Somehow I made it to the ripe old age of (age redacted) without knowing the details of this book. Written in 1979, this story of a family and it’s slow, painful, deconstruction has titillated audiences and will be return to the small screen soon via a Lifetime movie (of course). I was intrigued both because of that, and because they were reviewing it on my favorite Podcast, Literary Disco: their episode description is perfection. “It’s time to take on the book that you all read, […]
There’s $3.20 I’ll Never See Again
Amish melodrama set in 1880s Pennsylvania. Convinced by his beard twirling brother that Rachel, the love of his life, was going to marry him instead, Jacob abandoned his Amish family on the day of his mother’s funeral. He returns with twin children to rebuild his life and re-enter the insular farming community. His evil brother, Simon, succeeded in his nefarious plan and is married to Jacob’s childhood love and doing his best to break her spirit. Rachel is a barren and heartbroken bundle of perfection. […]
The one where I vow to not read “New Adult” anymore, at least till next time…
I’ve written before about “New Adult” and what crap it is, but I keep reading it because I never learn. I want it to be the equivalent of hangover watching Dirty Dancing on TBS while waiting for your roommate’s boyfriend to come back with hangover McDonald’s with a big fat hangover diet Coke, but it’s not. It’s not at all. It’s like discovering that Dirty Dancing has been replaced with, I don’t know, sports or something, and your roommate’s boyfriend got you a regular Coke […]
Misfits in Love
One of the comforting things about reading romance novels is knowing that they’re going to have a happy ending. The Heiress Effect was interesting because for a while there, I honestly wasn’t sure whether Jane and Oliver would actually be able to put aside their differences long enough to find their “happily ever after” together.
The one where I want Jamie Fraser to call me Sassenach…
I first read Outlander about fifteen years or so ago. My mom gave it to me, saying, “I know you don’t like time travel, but just get over that, and read this book.” Rarely does my mom do that, but when she does, she hits the mark. In fact, she gave me Harry Potter in much the same way, about four months before it exploded, saying, “Stick with it. Trust me.” After hearing about the upcoming series on Starz, and discovering it was only $1.99 for […]