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Title: Carolina Moon
Author: Nora Roberts
Well, I thought Carolina Moon was okay. I picked it up at the Salvation Army for two reasons: 1) It was Nora Roberts and I was in the mood for her work. 2) It was set in South Carolina, and being newly transferred to North Carolina, I thought it would be fun to read a book set near here.
Nora did me well with both her setting and with her mystery-romance. I enjoyed reading Carolina Moon. A few minor things that I was less than enthralled with, but a lot that I enjoyed. Here are the deets...
Abused and beaten by her father throughout her childhood, Tory escapes to NYC and makes a life for herself. But her life in the city is simply a shield from her past, and as she matures she realizes that to truly live for herself, she must go back to Progress, the her childhood home, and face her past. There's a lot more in Progress than memories of her cruel father though. Her girlhood friend, Hope, was raped and murded when the girls were merely eight years old.
Determined to face her past and find peace, Tory returns to Progress to set up a shop and live her life. Complications arise when her father returns to rough her up, and another rape and murder take place in the town. What began has a journey of self-restoration quickly becomes a hunt to find the killer(s) that haunt the town.
Liked: Tory. She was a tough little thing. She was easy to sympathize, empathize, and relate with. If you are in the mood for a "she rises above" story, you'll enjoy reading about Tory. She's strong and stubborn and adorably fierce.
Cade. Okay, who doesn't love a totally capable Southern organic-cotton farmer? Seriously. Smart, forward-thinking, and hello tan and muscled. (Confession: I honestly don't give two hoots about the physical description of these fictional guys. But I know most of you do. So I do these for you. All for you.) Cade is warm and patient and totally unwilling to let Tory back out on everything.
The supporting characters. The other POVs were a nice change of pace and I really loved getting to know Faith.
Didn't like as much: For a little while in the middle I wasn't pleased with the pacing of the romance. It felt too quick, and I had a hard time believing Cade was really THAT smitten with her and would have that much unwavering dedication to unlocking the mystery of Tory.
I had the type of ending pegged from the first quarter of the book. I knew exactly what twists she'd throw in. And she did. Kind of bummed about that. But I didn't know the exact details, so that was a plus.
All told, it was an enjoyable read.
4 out of 5 stars.
Divergent was super. I have read a lot of dystopians lately, since that's what the publishers are putting out (thanks to The Hunger Games' success) and I've been satisfied, but not entirely blown away by most. Divergent wasn't a THG copy cat, at least I didn't think so. Of course, everyone is going to compare new dystopians to THG, but this one didn't make me feel the need. It was it's own story.
Well of course it was fantastic. Ilona Andrews never has disappointed me. Kate and Curran are back to kick butt, take names, and sic the attack poodle Grendel on all those nasty things in post-apocolyptic Atalanta. Kate also learns a bit more about her past, whether she likes it or not.
Cute. Very cute, very sweet. The setting was possibly my favorite thing about the book. As you may guess, Anna and the French Kiss is set is Paris. Anna is sent to a boarding school in Paris for Americans.
A decent first installment to this series, but not quite up to par. The writing was great, the story was fine. I found it pretty predictable though. In fact, quite predictable. I was getting bored waiting for our dear MC to figure out what I'd known from the get-go. And sadly, she doesn't figure it out until nearly the end.
I read this one pretty quickly. It was fast paced and exciting and definitely the kind of book I like.
And here is where the series switches POV's. We get Paige here, which was great. I like her. :) Again, I read this one quickly. Armstrong's books just have to be read, they don't let you put them down for long.
Paige again. Loved the glimpse into the Cabals and all those sordid affairs.
Finally!! Eve's POV!! I loved getting to see Eve's thoughts and feelings and get an understanding of her. A little creepy, but very good. I had a bit of trouble during the first half, as it was a little slow. But of course, once it picked up it didn't slow down and I loved it.
I had forgotten how much I liked this series. Our poor broken druid, Connor Grey, is back at it again. Fighting the taint that was left from the giant magical mishap in Unquiet Dreams. And of course, fighting other things, but I shan't mention them, or else risk spoiling the book. ;-)
What an interesting book. A fantastical fairy tale, with monsters and gadgets and a lost little girl. Eva Nine is all alone in a strange and dangerous new world. Well, not so totally alone. She does manage to make a few friends along the way, and her adventures with them are truly spectacular.
Uh, what? Very strange premise, very strange book. Paisley and her brother Beau go off on a crazy road-trip to save their dad- in the car they stole from their evil, money-grubbing Aunt. Sounds kind of interesting, right? I guess... but it was weird. Paisley is nuts. She lights her Aunt's house on fire, she is incredibly destructive and rude and I just couldn't understand or relate to her. She claims to love her little brother, and we see some of that, but she treats him like her little slave. Beau lets his older sister push him around and convince him to steal and mooch and do all kinds of things, all in the name of finding their father. Who, might I add, has been in prison for the past however many years. In some ways it's a nice story... but not really. Paisley is irresponsible to the extreme. When they have some money (from stealing) they buy candy and stupid stuff. They rob candy stores and ice cream stores and the whole point of all of it is to get on TV so their dad will see them and know they're looking for him. Kind of far fetched. Not a great plan. Not a great book.
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