Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (2422)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
    Hippie Lane

    Hippie Lane

    Food & Drink

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Hippie Lane: a recipe app designed to empower health-conscious people to make thoughtful recipe...

    All Vegan Recipes

    All Vegan Recipes

    Food & Drink and Lifestyle

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Looking for the best and most delicious vegan recipes? YOU'VE FOUND IT!! This incredible Vegan...

40x40

Debbiereadsbook (1519 KP) rated Her Reluctant Heart in Books

May 23, 2024  
Her Reluctant Heart
Her Reluctant Heart
S.H. Pratt | 2024 | Contemporary, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
bloody LOVED this book!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

What this is, my good book peeps, is the story of a woman, who has twice been burned, finding that sometimes, the third time really is a charm!

I LOVED this book! I have a minor niggle, but it really is a minor one, and I'll come back to that.

Sam is working hard to keep her family together. She struggles as a single parent to three exceptionally gifted children, without any help from their sperm donor (Eldest child's words, not mine!) or loser number two. Then Tony rail-roads himself into her life, and knocks things way off kilter.

What I especially loved about this, was the patience that Sam had with Tony, and vice versa, except maybe the spoiling thing. Sam is wary, and it takes time for her to fully open up to Tony about loser numbers one and two. Once he knows this, he tries, really REALLY hard to see things from Sam's point of view. He messes up, yes, but once Sam realises he only did that thing for HER and her children, with nothing wanted in return, she comes around.

I loved the kids: they really are amazing and they take to Tony wonderfully well. They warn him to look after their mum, and he takes that very VERY seriously.

I loved how Sam, once she found her feet, slotted into Tony's world. It was daunting, meeting all these Hollywood A-listers was difficult at best, but Tony's real friends, not the three dollar bills ones, took to Sam equally well. And the kids too!

It's deeply emotional, given what Sam has been through, and I felt her at some points, having been through some things like her myself. It's not overly smexy though, and I think for this book, it was a perfect amount of smexiness. It takes Sam time to let Tony get that close to her, and I loved that he was willing to wait for this amazing woman who couldn't see that she was!

I adored, I mean, it made me cry, what Tony did with Sam's house plans. That really was a wonderful way to show here that he was serious about her and the kids. Bawled my head off when she discovered the kitchen!

So, my niggle. And as I said, it really is just a niggle and me being greedy, but it's my review, and this is how I feel.

We don't get Tony. At all. And I desperately wanted to hear from him at some point along the way. Once I realised it was just Sam's point of view, I was resigned to not hearing from him. It would have just made this book, I think. Not that it takes away from this outstanding piece of work!

I wonder how much of the author I see in Sam. It's written in such a way that makes me think there is SOME author in Sam, and I loved that.

I loved this book, no Tony notwithstanding so it can only get. . . .

5 full and shiny stars.

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
40x40

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Sociable in Books

Mar 28, 2018  
Sociable
Sociable
Rebecca Harrington | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Awkward, failed attempt at satire?
After college, Elinor moves to New York with her journalism degree and dreams of writing pieces that mean something. She sees a future with her boyfriend, Mike, also a journalist. Instead, Elinor lives in a cramped apartment with no kitchen, sleeps on a foam pad, and nannies to two slightly whiny and obsessive children. She thinks her future is looking up when she's offered a position at Journalism.ly, a digital brand a la BuzzFeed. But soon Elinor learns that her sole function there is to produce pieces that go "viral" and then she and Mike break up, pushing her into a deeper depression. Is it even possible to have the creative and romantic life she dreamed of, Elinor wonders?

I won't lie; this was a strange book. Even the narration style is odd. While it's told mostly from Elinor's point of view, we get this peculiar device thrown in at times (e.g., "the reader should know"). You get used to it eventually, but still.

In fact, the whole novel can be very awkward at times and after a while, I lost the thread on whether it was because the book was well-done (she's so well-written!) or just awkward and painful. A lot of the book features much melodrama between the characters, most of whom always seemed to be having bad days. Really, was life so terrible? There is much angst, a lot of social media usage, lots of happy hours and supposed networking, and not a lot of people to care about.

For indeed, a lot of the characters are not likable, and I found myself vacillating in my feelings for Elinor. I didn't grow up in the social media world, like she, but am immersed in it enough now that I could empathize with her--to a point. At some stages, the novel really captured some painful situations. There were some funny points, and places where Elinor could be helpless yet sympathetic. At other points, Elinor was just hapless and unable to take charge of her life in any capacity and filled me with abject terror for the future of the nation.

I was honestly baffled at times on whether the book was satiric, or a commentary on social media and journalism, or taking itself too seriously. Elinor winds up working for Journalism.ly, which is said to be similar to BuzzFeed (and many other sites), and she's told to make things go viral, which, funnily enough, she has a bit of a knack for, despite her own inability to make friends or succeed in social situations (or life, in general). Whether all of this is ironic or not, I'll never quite know.

So, in the end, I'm at a loss with this one. I really don't know how I feel. Satire? A look at a generation? A bunch of hapless unlikable people prattling on? All three combined? I can say that this was a fast read--the author drew me in, as I read it in about a day. I was left with a weird feeling when I finished. I can't say I really recommend it, but it was an interesting read at times.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss in return for an unbiased review; more at https://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/.