Hello! It’s romance genre review time! Today I will be doing a review on Off the Page, written by mother-daughter duo, Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Delilah and Oliver shouldn’t be together. But they are together. And just as they’re getting used to the possibility that happily ever after may really, truly be theirs, the universe sends them a message they can’t ignore: they won’t be allowed to rewrite their story.
Delilah and Oliver must decide how much they’re willing to risk for love and what it takes to have a happy ending in a world where the greatest adventures happen off the page.
“Off the Page is just so sweet and magical. In high school, I would have given ANYTHING to crawl inside one of my favorite books to escape the real world. I wish!”—SARAH DESSEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Saint Anything
Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Small Great Things, Leaving Time, The Storyteller, and My Sister’s Keeper.
I am a fan of Jodi Picoult’s books– I have read several of her books including The Pact, Nineteen Minutes and The Storyteller. While most of her books are based on real life situations with touching moments, Off the Page is completely different. Off the Page is written by the mother-daughter duo, Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer and is a sequel to to their first book together, Between the Lines, though it is also considered as the stand alone book.
So in a nutshell, this book is about a girl, named Delilah, who falls in love with a British prince named Oliver in the fairy tale book she was reading. The story starts with Oliver swapping places with a teenage boy named Edgar who is the son of the author who wrote the infamous fairy tale book. He enters into the real life so he can be with the girl he loves–Delilah.
So I will start with the ones I like about the book.
I don’t read much YA books but this is a YA/tween book with illustrations in the chapters where the characters are in the fairy tale world. I thought it was cool to see those illustrations in the book.
Though the book was imaginative and unrealistic, I enjoyed reading the book.
The book was funny and witty, particularly about the part where Oliver is trying to get used to live in a real life world.
The book is told in the perspectives of three main characters–Oliver, Delilah and Edgar so the reader could actually see what each of those characters think about each other.
Many of the characters in the book are likable and this brought many memories about high school life.
The book is cheesy.
Now the things I don’t like about the book.
As this is a sequel to Between the Lines, I sometimes got confused as how Oliver and Delilah actually fell in love with each other though this is actually my fault of not reading the first book.
The first few chapters were boring but soon it got interesting.
Overall, for those who enjoy reading YA novels with a good laugh, I recommend this book! Four stars!
Hello all! I just finished with a thriller/suspense novel, Leave No Trace by Mindy Meijia and I can’t wait to share my insight about the book with you all!
There is a place in Minnesota with hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.
Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later…the son appeared. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative and sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with their high-profile patient. No matter how she tries, however, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life.
But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.
Mindy Mejia is an internationally acclaimed thriller writer, known for mixing compelling characters with page-turning suspense against the backdrop of the US Midwest. Her books have been chosen for People’s Best New Books Pick and listed in The Wall Street Journal’s Best New Mysteries. She lives and works in the Twin Cities. Learn more about Mindy at http://www.MindyMejia.com.
I have not read her first novel, Everything You Want Me to Be yet but this book, Leave No Trace is her second book. In a nutshell, the story is about a boy named Lucas Blackthorne who disappeared with his father while camping in Boundary Waters which is a remote mountainous place. A decade later, Lucas returns back, instantly becoming famous and due to his violent nature, the police put him into a psychiatric facility. While there, he meets a speech therapist, Maya Stark who is assigned to make him talk so the police could find his father. And Maya too is battling with her own demons.
So let’s begin with the good things
The story is told from the perspective of Maya Stark, who is actually the main protagonist in the story. So it is interesting to read into Maya’s thoughts, how she is battling with her guilt that her mother left because of her, her past that came back again, tormenting her, and her relationship with Lucas and Dr. Mehta and what she actually thinks about them.
I really like the author’s style of writing–using vivid descriptions and phrases and I liked her style of writing.
The story itself is interesting. Lucas Blackthorne with the intention of getting help for his father, who is apparently stuck in the forest. The reader is curious to know why both the father and son escaped into the wilderness and the author has dedicated some chapters to Josiah, Lucas’ father so we can actually find why Josiah escaped into the wilderness with Lucas. This thought, if Josiah had actually killed someone or not is keeping the reader on the edge
I enjoyed reading about the wilderness in Boundary Waters–the author does a good job, creating a mental image to the reader of what the place really is like. I felt as if I am in that part of world too!
The story was intense and interesting as the reader is kept on the edge of the seat to know, what is going to happen to Maya and Lucas (I am not going to spoil you in here)
I also liked reading about Maya’s past life, the time when she was a trouble teenager so we could actually get to know about her past and her character.
Now let’s talk about the ones I didn’t like about the book.
I wondered if a therapist helping his/her patient to escape is actually a reality–I mean I know most psychiatric hospital, particularly in isolation ward is of high security so I was wondering if that scene was realistic (SPOILER ALERT)
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, it was a good, suspenseful and interesting. Recommend this book to anyone and I give a four star rating!
Hey all! It’s book review time!!! Today I will be doing a book review on romance genre novel, Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern!
The basis for the motion picture starring Lily Collins and Sam Claflin!
What happens when two people who are meant to be together can’t seem to get it right?
Rosie and Alex are destined for each other, and everyone seems to know it but them. Best friends since childhood, they are separated as teenagers when Alex and his family relocate from Dublin to Boston.
Like two ships always passing in the night, Rosie and Alex stay friends, and though years pass, the two remain firmly attached via emails and letters. Heartbroken, they learn to live without each other. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel o f several missed opportunities, Rosie and Alex learn that fate isn’t quite done with them yet.
After completing a degree in Journalism and Media Communications, Cecelia wrote her first novel at 21 years old. Her debut novel, PS I Love You was published in January 2004, and was followed by Where Rainbows End (aka Love, Rosie) in November 2004. Both novels were adapted to films; PS I Love You starred Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler, and Love, Rosie starred Lily Collins and Sam Claflin.
Cecelia has published a novel every year since then and to date has published 15 novels; If You Could See Me Now, A Place Called Here, Thanks for the Memories, The Gift, The Book of Tomorrow, The Time of My Life, One Hundred Names, How To Fall in Love, The Year I Met You, The Marble Collector, Flawed, Perfect and Lyrebird.
OK, So I haven’t watched the movie yet Love Rosie which is based on the book. The book talks about the friendship between Rosie and Alex, who had been friends since they were five years old. Due to Alex’s parents’job, Alex and his family move to Boston from Dublin and the story talks about their life and heart breaks.So I will simply summarize in a nutshellThings I like in the book.
Unlike the typical novels, this novel is written on the basis of using letters, chatting on IM, cards and email messages which is totally cool and new. This idea is really nice instead of writing a typical description and narrative.
The story has some comical things in it.
The ending was good, you would expect Rosie and Alex to get back together after twenty years.
Towards the middle and the ending, the story line got better
Things I did not like in the book.
I think the story could have done much better if it was written in two protagonists’views–i.e. Rosie’s and Alex’s view. I would have enjoyed it much more.
I am not much fan of a romantic novel so this novel didn’t appeal to me much.
Saturdays are non bookish time!!! So I am a huge fan of Korean dramas and I have some favorite Korean dramas which I loved watching and which I recommend to you all! Are any of you all a fan of K dramas like me???
So here’s a list of five favorite personal favorite of mine, K dramas!
My Girl
This is one of my favorite Korean dramas. Actually, this was the first Korean drama I watched and the first drama I fell in love with. Oh, I even had a crush on the actor, Lee Dong Wook for a long time!!! The story is funny and sad at the same time. In a nutshell, it’s about a tour guide who comes across a hotel billionaire who hires her to act as his long lost cousin. Yeah, so you can imagine the drama behind that!
2. Boys Over Flowers
I watched the Japanese version, Hana Yori Dango and I watched the Korean version too! So this is one of my favorite dramas as well. Based on the Japanese manga series, the story is about a poor girl, who comes across four super rich boys, who named themselves as F4 and how her life changes when she runs path with them. A must watch to those who haven’t watched this drama yet.
3. You’re Beautiful
This drama is so cute and funny!! I enjoyed watching this drama and would recommend this drama for those who haven’t watched it yet! So the story is about a girl, who is a nun and who is asked to pretend to be her twin brother (who is undergoing surgery). She then joins a boy band in which her twin brother is a part of and then it’s the drama.
4. Dong Yi
One of my favorite historical Korean dramas. It was aired on a TV here in Sri Lanka but I watched the Korean version anyway. I enjoyed watching this drama and for those you are skeptical about historical dramas, I recommend this drama since it’s actually enjoyable.
5. Sky Castle
I must say, this is one of the best Korean dramas I have watched. First of all, it’s not those typical cheesy romantic vibes you find normally in Korean dramas. This drama is a bit realistic, about pressures of getting into one of the top universities in Korea, the competition and stress the students are facing and the parents who would do anything to give their children the best. I recommend this drama to anyone who haven’t watched.
So I do have so many other favorite Korean dramas on my list but I will post them later! What are your favorite Korean dramas?
Hey all, today I will be doing a review on historical/romantic fiction, The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende!
1939: As the world goes to war, Alma Belasco’s Polish parents send her to live in safety with relatives in San Francisco. There she meets Ichimei Fukuda, the son of the family’s Japanese gardener, and between them a tender love blossoms. But following Pearl Harbor, Ichimei and his family are declared enemies by the US government and relocated to internment camps. Although Alma and Ichimei reunite again and again, theirs is a love they are forever forced to hide… Decades later, care worker Irina Bazili meets Alma and her grandson, Seth, at Lark House nursing home. As Irina and Seth forge a friendship, they become intrigued by a series of mysterious gifts and letters sent to Alma, and learn about Ichimei and this extraordinary secret passion that has endured for nearly seventy years.
Allende’s novels are often based upon her personal experience and historical events and pay homage to the lives of women, while weaving together elements of myth and realism. She has lectured and toured many American colleges to teach literature. Fluent in English as a second language, Allende was granted United States citizenship in 1993, having lived in California with her American husband since 1989. (courtesy of Wikipedia)
OK, I like Allende’s style of writing. I enjoyed her writing immensely. The story explores the lives of two women in two different eras–Alma Belasco who moves to live with her aunt in California from Poland who harbored romantic feelings towards her uncle’s gardner’s son Ichimei Fukuda, a Japanese-American boy. The story explores the life during WWII especially the time and fate of Japanese-Americans who were sent to internment camps on the outskirts of the city after the Pearl Harbor bombing. It also describes her special friendship with her cousin, Nathaniel and about her care free life in general though she still loves Ichimei. The second woman is Irina Bazili, a caretaker at the Lark House where now elderly Alma Belasco lives and who is struggling with her past when her stepfather made videos of her and distributed around the world as child pornography. Overall the story describes the struggles as a woman, the romance, struggles of romance and heartbreak and Allende carefully inter wine the lives of the two women. It was enjoyable to read.
Hey all! Today is Tuesdays so Tuesdays means it’s thriller review time!! Today I will be doing a book review called The Bad Mother by Amanda Brooke. I read this book last year and so I thought I will share some thoughts about this book!
That’s what he wants you to think…
A good mother doesn’t forget things.
A good mother isn’t a danger to herself.
A good mother isn’t a danger to her baby.
You want to be the good mother you dreamed you could be.
But you’re not. You’re the bad mother you were destined to become.
At least, that what he wants you to believe…
Print Length: 417 pages
Language: English
Publisher: HarperCollins (December 14, 2017)
Publication Date: December 14, 2017
Genre:- Psychological Thriller
Amanda Brooke lives in Liverpool and spends her days writing under the watchful gaze of her coworkers, Spider the cat and Mouse the dog. It was only when her young son was diagnosed with cancer that Amanda discovered the need to write, initially recording her family’s journey in a journal. When Nathan died in 2006 at just three years old, Amanda was determined that his legacy would be one of inspiration not devastation. Her debut novel Yesterday’s Sun was inspired by her experiences of motherhood and her understanding of how much a mother would be willing to sacrifice for the life of her child. She continues to write books with strong emotional themes.
So I will start with the ones I like about the book
The ending was good, though it was actually predictable.
Through the middle of the book, the story started to get interesting and couldn’t really wait to see if the main character, Lucy Robin is actually absent minded or if her husband, Adam is playing with her mind.
The writing was good and so kept the reader hooked into the story.
The book was tense, disturbing at times to read and also a little realistic as well. A good thriller book.
Now I will start with the ones I didn’t like about the book.
The book and the story itself was a little predictable, even the ending too.
I didn’t really much like the character–Lucy is so naive and stupid at times as she is trusting her husband too much and believes every single word that Adam is telling her. I mean as a reader, I could right through see that he is manipulating her but then maybe, in real life, women who are controlled by their husbands feel like that way.
It was a little boring in the beginning though the story got intense and interesting towards the end.
Maybe it’s just me but the reader would be curious as to why Adam would turn up to be a monster like he is in the book–what was his ulterior motive of behaving like that? No clue.
Though this is a psychological thriller, this is not a thriller to die hard for Gone Girl. I give the book a three star rating–good book but not brilliant.
Hey all! I decided to a list of books which are on my want to read list and which I hope to read the book someday, once I get my hands on the book.
So here are the few books that are released this month and am waiting to read!
Eight Perfect Murders – Peter Swanson
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne’s Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s A Secret History.
But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. There is killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape.
Released:- March 3rd 2020
2. The Grace Kelly Dress – Brenda Janowitz
Two years after Grace Kelly’s royal wedding, her iconic dress is still all the rage in Paris—and one replica, and the secrets it carries, will inspire three generations of women to forge their own paths in life and in love.
Paris, 1958: Rose, a seamstress at a fashionable atelier, has been entrusted with sewing a Grace Kelly—look-alike gown for a wealthy bride-to-be. But when, against better judgment, she finds herself falling in love with the bride’s handsome brother, Rose must make an impossible choice, one that could put all she’s worked for at risk: love, security and of course, the dress.
Sixty years later, tech CEO Rachel, who goes by the childhood nickname “Rocky,” has inherited the dress for her upcoming wedding in New York City. But there’s just one problem: Rocky doesn’t want to wear it. A family heirloom dating back to the 1950s, the dress just isn’t her. Rocky knows this admission will break her mother Joan’s heart. But what she doesn’t know is why Joan insists on the dress—or the heartbreaking secret that changed her mother’s life decades before, as she herself prepared to wear it.
As the lives of these three women come together in surprising ways, the revelation of the dress’s history collides with long-buried family heartaches. And in the lead-up to Rocky’s wedding, they’ll have to confront the past before they can embrace the beautiful possibilities of the future.
Released March 3rd 2020
3. You Are Not Alone – Greer Hendrikcs and Sarah Pekannen
You probably know someone like Shay Miller. She wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is so isolated.
You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters. They have an unbreakable circle of friends. They live the most glamorous life. They always get what they desire.
Shay thinks she wants their life. But what they really want is hers.
Released March 3rd 2020
4. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird- Josie Silver
Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade, and Lydia thought their love was indestructible.
But she was wrong. On her twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.
So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life–and perhaps even love–again.
But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.
Lydia is pulled again and again across the doorway of her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.
Written with Josie Silver’s trademark warmth and wit, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a powerful and thrilling love story about the what-ifs that arise at life’s crossroads, and what happens when one woman is given a miraculous chance to answer them.
Released March 3rd 2020
5. Only Mostly Devastated – Sophie Gonzales
Summer love…gone so fast.
Will Tavares is the dream summer fling―he’s fun, affectionate, kind―but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairytale ending, and to complicate the fairytale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realizes it’s the same school Will goes to…except Ollie finds that the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted―and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.
Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts “coincidentally” popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, and Ollie finds his resolve weakening. The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.
Right? Right.
Released – March 3rd 2020
6. The Winemaker’s Wife – Kristin Harmel
Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the Résistance. Inès fears they’ll be exposed, but for Céline, the French-Jewish wife of Chauveau’s chef de cave, the risk is even greater—rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate.
When Céline recklessly follows her heart in one desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love—and the vineyard that ties them together.
New York, 2019: Recently divorced, Liv Kent is at rock bottom when her feisty, eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive—and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.
Will be released- March 17th 2020
7. The Happy Camper – Melody Carlson
Home is the place to heal, right? At least, that’s what Dillon Michaels is hoping as she leaves her disappointing career and nonstarter love life behind to help her grieving and aging grandfather on his small Oregon farm. The only problem? Her eccentric mother beat her there and has taken over Dillon’s old room. After a few nights sleeping on a sagging sofa, Dillon is ready to give up, until she receives an unlikely gift–her grandfather’s run-down vintage camp trailer, which she quickly resolves to restore with the help of Jordan Atwood, the handsome owner of the local hardware store.
But just when things are finally beginning to run smoothly, Dillon’s noncommittal ex-boyfriend shows up with roses . . . and a ring
8. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant – Kayte Nunn
A cache of unsent love letters from the 1950s is found in a suitcase on a remote island in this mysterious love story in the tradition of the novels by Kate Morton and Elizabeth Gilbert.
1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an isolated mental asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison but soon surprisingly becomes her refuge.
2018. Free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker embarks on a research posting in the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornish coast. When a violent storm forces her to take shelter on a far-flung island, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel determines to track down the intended recipient. But she has no idea of the far-reaching consequences her decision will bring.
Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother, a renowned mountaineer, write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.
With an arresting dual narrative that immediately captivates the reader, The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is an inspirational story of the sacrifices made for love.
Hello all! Welcome to the blog! I know I haven’t posted for three days but I am back today! So usually, I would post a book review based mainly on literary fiction but today, I decided to post a romantic genre. Going La La is a romantic comedy book written by Alexandra Potter and so I cannot wait to share my views about the book!
What do you when your boyfriend tells you he wants space?You give him six thousand miles of it…Frankie’s life is falling apart. In less than a week she’s gone from having everything – a great job, lovely flat and gorgeous Hugh – to having nothing at all.Devastated, dumped and on the dole, she packs her bags and flies to Los Angeles to stay with an old friend. Her goal? To sort out her life and get over Hugh. She does not, repeat not, go to LA to fall head over heels for an American photographer called Reilly and to run away to Las Vegas.But what happens when Hugh wants her back? Who will she choose? And is it really true that whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?Alexandra Potter’s deliciously funny romantic comedy is for every girl who has ever dreamt of running away to Hollywood… or just wished she could reach for the stars.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (February 1, 2012)
Language: English
Genre:- Romance/Women’s Fiction
Alexandra Potter is the best-selling author of ELEVEN novels that can be described as romantic comedies with a magical twist. Born in England, she has lived in London, Sydney, Australia and New York and LA, and can currently be found clocking up too many air miles travelling the globe researching ideas for her new book…
I have become fascinated with Alexandra Potter’s novels after reading Love Detective (which I will do a review soon) that I started reading her other novel, Going La La and this is her second novel that I am reading.
Like the Love Detective, the outline story is similar–the main protagonist in this case Frankie loses her boyfriend, Hugh who broke up with her because he needed space (even in the love detective, the main protagonist Ruby Miller was dumped by her fiance). But unlike Ruby Miller in Love Detective, Frankie not only loses her boyfriend but she also loses her job all happened on her birthday (yikes how do you feel when your boyfriend dumps you on your birthday?). And like Ruby Miller, Frankie jets off to Los Angeles to live with her best friend Rita until she sorts her life out ( In Love Detective, Ruby flies off to India to join her sister Amy). Her best friend Rita is an aspiring wannabe actress living in Hollywood and helps her friend to settle down in L.A. And while in L.A. she meets a photographer Reilley and falls in love with him (like Ruby who meets an American while in India and falls for him). So the story outline is a little similar compared to the Love Detective and Going La La but in Going La La, Hugh, Frankie’s ex boyfriend plays a minor role in the novel while in the Love Detective, Ruby’s ex fiance is extinct after the breakup.
Potter brings us into the glamorous world of L.A., living among Hollywood’s top celebrities and uses vivid and imaginative descriptions makes you feel like you are actually in L.A. As such, her writing is excellent and makes the reader feel glued to the story and be a part of the story. As usual, like in the Love Detective, her stories are all comical although for me still, Going La La is not as comical as the Love Detective.
Today is the Romantic Genre Book Review day and so I chose The Apartment by Danielle Steel. So here is my book review about the book.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This vibrant, tender, and moving tale pulses with the excitement of New York City, as Danielle Steel explores twists of fate, and the way that sometimes, in special places, friends can be the family we need most.
They come together by chance in the heart of New York City, four young women at turning points in their lives. Claire Kelly finds the walk-up apartment—a spacious loft in Hell’s Kitchen. But the aspiring shoe designer needs at least one roommate to manage it. She meets Abby Williams, a writer trying to make it on her own, far away from her successful family in L.A. Four years later, Morgan Shelby joins them. She’s ambitious, with a serious finance job on Wall Street. Then Sasha Hartman, a medical student whose identical twin sister is a headline-grabbing supermodel. And so the sprawling space, with its exposed brick and rich natural light, becomes a home to friends about to embark on new, exhilarating adventures.
Frustrated by her ultra-conservative boss, Claire soon faces a career crisis as a designer. Abby is under the spell of an older man, an off-off-Broadway producer who exploits her and detours her from her true talent as a novelist, while destroying her self-confidence. Morgan is happily in love with a successful restaurateur who supplies her roommates with fine food. At her office, she begins to suspect something is off about her boss, a legendary investment manager whom she’s always admired. But does she even know him? And Sasha begins an all-work-no-play residency as an OB/GYN, as her glamorous jet-set sister makes increasingly risky decisions.
Their shared life in the apartment grounds them as they bring one another comfort and become a family of beloved friends. Unexpected opportunities alter the course of each of their lives, and as they meet the challenges, they face the bittersweet reality that in time, they will inevitably move away from the place where their dreams began.
No of Pages :- 432 pages
Publisher :- Dell (Published on January 17th 2017)
Language :- English
Categories :- General Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Family Saga, Contemporary Women
Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Property of a Noblewoman, Blue, Precious Gifts, Undercover, Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus,A Perfect Life, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.
OK, to put it this way, I hardly read contemporary fiction or even women fiction or romantic fiction but I have read Zoya, a book written by Danielle Steel and I truly enjoyed reading the book. So I decided to give it another go plus the book cover looks interesting and so I decided to buy this book. However, even though I manage to read the book, I have mixed feelings about this book.
So I will divide into positive and negative comments.
POSITIVE
Overall, this book paints a picture of what friendship really looks like, the bond that these girls/roommates shared with each other and how they are able to help each other out while one is in trouble. My favorite moment was when Claire Kelly, one of the main characters in the book is having issues with her old fashioned boss and aim to work in a leading shoe designing company as well as when her wealthy boyfriend dumps her unexpectedly that all her roommates started being there for her. Truthfully, this actually teaches us girls to be with each other and help each other out when one is in trouble.
The other positive thing about this book is the sheer determination, women power that highlights in the book without depending on the men. Morgan Shelby, another character in the book is a good example of this as she clearly is a professional working woman and even Claire Kelly also shares the same determination that she manages to open her own shoe line thanks to her mother and her help. Danielle Steele has done a good job, outlining these characters into bold, professional and strong willed and able minded women that clearly sets a good example to us women.
NEGATIVE
OK, here are the negative points that I had to outline
Writing–overall, I didn’t really like the style of writing. Some parts of the book, I felt like a fifth grader had written the book or something. There were too many unnecessary parts, not relevant to the story line
Unnecessary characters–OK so I felt Danielle has written so much cliche stuff about the character, Sasha’s identical twin sister Valentina. Valentina is portrayed as a glamorous supermodel unlike her nerdy gynecologist twin doctor and had lived in a life of luxury dating wealthy and dangerous men. Sasha is one of the important characters and in some parts, I felt Valentina was given more attention and that story line sounded cliche
There were repetitive parts in the book that I thought it was odd.
Overall, I liked the book as it kind of teaches us women to never give up our dreams and hope. If Danielle Steele could improve her writing style more and that if there were no cliche stuff, I would have truly given this book a four star!
All right so that’s all the review, so what do you guys think? Do you disagree with me or agree? Feel free to give a comment below!
Tropical Girl Reads 