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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Aug 20, 2022  
Author Margie Seaman shares a lovely scrapbook page for her clean romance/women's fiction novel SOMEDAY BELONGS TO US on my blog. Check it out, and enter the giveaway for a chance to win an autographed limited edition hardback of the book - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/08/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-someday.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
It’s never too late to find love on the high seas.

Kate Caldwell is a 72-year-old romance novelist writing under the nom de plume, Desiree Desire. With more than thirty bestsellers to her credit, Kate is considered an authority on romance. Her personal life, however, has been lacking in the love department for a long time, and she has all but given up hope of finding a true, romantic connection. Her latest series, about a rakish eighteenth-century pirate, has been a struggle. Her struggle with her own creative processes boils over on a stormy night, when Captain Edward Peregrine, a pirate of the Caribbean during the year 1721, begins appearing to her as she sleeps. Convinced that Edward is a figment of her imagination, Kate happily accepts his return visits, and the two collaborate on the first two books of the series. Then, Edward suddenly stops appearing, and Kate is frustrated with her publisher’s demands for the next book.

In desperation, she decides to take a two-week cruise with her granddaughter, Ellie, hoping the chance to relax and watch the waves breaking in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean will reset her creative process. Little did Kate know that troubled waters lay ahead or that she’s in for the adventure of her life, and possibly, true love at long last.
     
An Eccentric Engagement
An Eccentric Engagement
Donna Lea Simpson | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
3
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sweet romance (1 more)
Good commentary about social justice
Does more telling than showing (1 more)
Felt more like a lecture than a love story
A sweet regency romance
So this was a bit of a non-traditional romance as it takes place after the courtship. Sorrow and Bertram are engaged to be married and the two return to Sorrow’s country home for the wedding. The two are very clearly in the early stages of excitement over a new relationship, stealing kissing and admiring each other — the “puppy love” stage. Neither of the two truly love each other but are already prepared for marriage. The actual romance was more told than shown and it unfortunately just didn’t work for me. The romantic aspect seemed to take a back seat to the other two major plot lines: Sorrow’s altruistic family and Bert’s difficult relationship with his overbearing father.

Both of these plot lines are actually really good, but I felt that they both needed more time to be developed and would have been better in a full length novel. All of the conflict was resolved in a few pages with barely any resistance and the discussion felt more like a lecture that was repeated multiple times. Not that the message was bad, I appreciated the way they approach discussing the mentally ill and the elderly, and I actually liked the Marchand’s way of life, but I think it could have been delivered better.

It also didn’t help that Sorrow kind of annoyed me. When she talks to other people to try and explain her views it again turns into a mildly pretentious lecture. Her insistence on absolute harmony and willingness to throw everything out of the window if she didn’t get her way was also extremely grating. Creating needless drama for the sake of drama is not a good way of filling up pages.

Overall its not bad, it’s a cute and clean love story that will appeal to folks with a strong sense of social justice. It was a fluffy and pleasant way to pass the time, but I didn’t feel much of anything while reading it.
  
When Dimple Met Rishi
When Dimple Met Rishi
Sandhya Menon | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
10
7.4 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cute contemporaries might be my downfall this year - there are so many amazing ones, and I am on a contemporary spree of sorts. (I hopped back to fantasy, but I'll be back for more cute ones, contemporary!)

Sandhya Menon’s debut novel has got to be one of my favorite contemporaries - and that says a lot since I'm not exactly a contemporary person. If anything, I avoid the genre like the plague.

Sit back, grab some Pocky Sticks, and allow me to gently shove this wonderful book in your face.

<b>Four Reasons to Pick Up When Dimple Met Rishi</b>
Rishi and Dimple are the cutest beans together - After the early hiccup between the two of them, I loved seeing their interactions together. I'm pretty sure my heart eyes emoji went a little out of control. Also can I please adopt them?

Women in STEM - I'll admit it: we need more females in the STEM fields - in both reality and in the literature we read. Dimple has a passion for coding, and the book is set around Dimple’s aspirations to win Insomnia Con (where coders spend several weeks creating an app of their own) in addition to her developing romance with Rishi.

Dimple doesn't care for romance - Dimple cares more about other things (like coding), and I really loved Menon included this because I can definitely relate. I prefer no makeup, and I suppose if I were in Dimple’s place, my mother would say no boy would want to talk to me because I look like I'm going to bite a boy. (Good.)

Iced coffee being thrown - I don't care what some peeps think about Dimple throwing iced coffee at Rishi, but I think it was A+, and it is one of my favorite scenes in the book. I was looking forward for this scene to happen, and if this book becomes a movie, this scene has GOT to be in there.

If you’re looking for a cute romance, definitely give When Dimple Met Rishi a try! If not for the cute romance, at least for the iced coffee being thrown?

<a href="https://thenovelistics.blogspot.com/2017/09/when-dimple-met-rishi-by-sandhya-menon.html">This review is originally posted on The Novelistics</a>
  
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Rachel (48 KP) rated What Alice Forgot in Books

May 27, 2017  
What Alice Forgot
What Alice Forgot
Liane Moriarty | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.4 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
Surprisingly Surprising!
Usually if I see the word's 'romance' 'love' or 'moving' on a book I immediately think "Nope!" and find something else.

I got this book after reading 'A Husband's Secret', which is fantastic, and wanted to read more of Liane Moriarty's novels.
I'm so glad that I did as I enjoyed this story just as much as her latest work.

Yes - this novel does have romance in it and isn't as tense or fast paced as her latest work but it does have a lot of other things in common with it. Really fleshed out character's that act in a believable way, a whiff of mystery, the main narrative accompanied by a few other character's voices and the power to make you try to imagine just how you might cope with the problems that are experienced within the story.

If, like me, you are allergic to so called 'chick lit' then please don't be put off from reading any of Liane Moriarty's work. They really are thought provoking, gripping tales and I look forward to discovering more of her work. Perhaps I won't be so hasty to put a book down if any of those dreaded words are on the cover next time, I could well be missing out on a gem of a book
  
Oh, that’s okay, Miss Reid, I didn’t need my heart today or anything.

All joking aside, what a powerful book. It has been a long time since a book has taken a hold of me and not let go until I finished it. It has been even longer since I have read a book so well done, that I find myself skipping over passages, not because I am bored or distracted, but because I am so engrossed that my eyes cannot keep up with my brain. I was hungry for every page, devouring every word like I was starving.

Reid has literary prowess I dare not compare to others I have read before. I was so deep in her fictional world that it felt like I was losing my own mother. Ashley’s frustration ate me alive because it became my frustration. This novel had more soul than most humans I have encountered.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. Want a meaningful story? Read this book. Enjoy a good romance that is more than a romance? Read this book. Book hangover? Jaded? In a reading slump? Please read this damn book.

My only complaint is that I feel the author passed on a great opportunity by not calling it Beauty and the Beard. Honestly, I don’t remember her mentioning a mustache, but there were beard galore!