HarperCollins

Thoughts on THE RIDE OF HER LIFE

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are fine. Some high winds knocked a couple of limbs off one of our trees, but otherwise things are okay. But enough of that. It’s the last Wednesday of May, so it’s book review time! Somehow, I ended up with a lesbian romance that promised a grumpy/sunshine trope. That’s probably how it lured me in. Anyway, The Ride of her Life by Jennifer Dugan was released yesterday (the 28th) from Avon Books (an imprint of HarperCollins). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

The Ride of her Life follows Molly whose life is stagnating. She works two jobs in an attempt to stave off crippling student loan debt, but neither of those jobs include event planning (what she actually went to school for), and she’s low-key miserable. When her estranged aunt leaves her a horse farm, Molly is all set to sell the place and start up her own business. Until she falls for the farrier who lives on the property. The farrier hates her, but when has that ever stopped love. Between non-stop misunderstandings and a mountain of debt, things seem impossible, but can everything work out?

It’s a romcom. The plot demands everything work out. That’s literally the only reason Molly and Shani get together. There are far too many forced misunderstandings that make them either the biggest idiots ever or prove they’re deliberately dense. It’s kind of like the author was told to never let the tension die and they took that advice to heart. But not all tension needs to be negative. Romantic tension is a thing that should be in this book, but it’s not really. The plot was very much a series of overused tropes with no twists. It all felt super forced and far too dramatic and ridiculously cookie-cutter. It doesn’t feel like something that would actually happen.

It doesn’t help that 99% of the characters are completely unlikable. Only Lochlin was remotely pleasant and he’s still a dipshit. Maybe I’m just bitter because I was promised grumpy/sunshine, but all I got was two whiny little children who could’ve sat down and had an honest conversation and been in a much better place. The mother came off as greedy and manipulative and all around gross. The bestie acted high and mighty, but she was unsupportive and also manipulative. Everyone in this book was basically a giant red flag. It was annoying. Also, it took them far too long to realize that a farm with barns and a couple of houses and riding trails and space for… I don’t know… events, would make a great event space for a new event planner! It was literally my first thought when she was left everything. Ugh.

As far as the writing goes, it was fine, but it felt like an ad for Taylor Swift. I’m not particularly into books that date themselves like that, but a lot of people are.

Ultimately, I was not a fan of The Ride of her Life. The false advertisement of grumpy/sunshine means I won’t grab another book by this author either.

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Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. Okay, one and a half. It was written and got published. That much work deserves that many stars. But, personally, I don’t recommend it. There are too many better romcoms to read out there.

Thoughts on THE CHRISTMAS DRESS

~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing today? Not much going on here. We got our Covid boosters on Thursday. Had some aches and pain the next day, but nothing some aspirin didn’t take care of. So, we’re good to sit in the house and avoid people for another six months! Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of the month, which means it’s book review time. This month, I decided to step completely outside of my comfort zone and into potential Hallmark Christmas movie territory. I wanted something happy and annoyingly cutesy, so I requested The Christmas Dress by Courtney Cole. It was released yesterday (October 26th) from William Morrow Paperbacks (an imprint of HarperCollins). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

Cute cover.

The Christmas Dress follows Meg Julliard who returns to her Chicago home after her father’s death. She leaves behind a bad ex as well as a budding fashion career in NYC to take care of a 1920s era apartment building filled with elderly residents and so many things that need to be fixed. With very little money and no idea what she’s doing, Meg thinks things are impossible. But with a little help from the residents, the hunky handyman, and a smidge of luck, things just might turn around.

Sounds sickeningly sweet, doesn’t it? It is. It has everything you could ask for in a Hallmark holiday movie. Quirky best friends and random new friends, manly dudes to lust after and fall in love with, and so much drama that you know will work out perfectly. Plotwise, there are plenty of twists and turns, but none of them are unexpected. Awkward moment with the ex witnessed by the new beau? Right on cue. Drama from the new beau’s manipulative ex? Ditto! I can honestly say I’ve only read like three books in this particular genre in my life and they all have the same basic plot points. That’s not bad. It’s a really popular structure. It just leaves little to be said that hasn’t already been said.

The characters are all sweet and endearing, except for the two exes. As it should be. Personally, I thought Meg was over the top dramatic, especially when it comes to Logan’s ex. Who in their right mind would decide to break up with their new boyfriend without even listening to his thoughts on drama that he had no idea was coming? And she puts her decision on him because she repeatedly says that he’s such a good guy that he’ll end up doing the “right thing” despite the fact that he’s flat out said he’s not going back to the ex for any reason. Meg’s whole value system is stuck in the 1920s along with the apartment building. It’s creepy. And she flat out refuses to listen to people who actually have experience with the manipulating so and so, which causes more drama. She only chills when her bestie does some light cyber stalking and says the bitch is crazy. That is so weird to me. Luckily, everyone else in this book is relatively sane.

As far as the writing goes, it flowed nicely and made for a quick read. There were some things that made me raise an eyebrow, but I have a feeling they’re pretty standard for the genre. Like, every time Logan shows up, Meg’s ovaries tingle. I don’t know what that means. I understand it’s code for him making her horny, but my ovaries have never been the bits that tingle. It’s an hilarious phrase to run across, though.

Ultimately, The Christmas Dress was exactly what I wanted it to be. Nothing more, nothing less. It was fun and corny and predictable. I won’t be looking for another one like it for a while.

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Overall, I gave it 4 out of five stars. Like I said, it was exactly what I wanted, but it didn’t offer anything new either. If Hallmark holiday movies are your thing, it’s definitely worth a read.

Thoughts on SEA WITCH

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Howdy, howdy!  Due to the random sicknesses of the past couple of months, I forgot to request a book from NetGalley for March.  Luckily, I had a book on my to-be-read list that I’ve been looking for an excuse to read ever since it came out in July of last year.  My love of mermaids automatically drew me towards Sea Witch by Sarah Henning.  The fact that it sounded like a new take on the Little Mermaid (my favorite fairy tale) sealed the deal.  I had to read it.  But that’s enough of why I chose it, let’s get to the review.

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I love the cover.

Sarah Henning’s Sea Witch tells the story Evie, a peasant and a witch, who not only has to hide her power, but also has to put up with the townsfolk accusing her of not knowing her place just because she’s best friends with the prince (Nik) and close to his cousin (Iker), another prince.  When her other best friend, Anna, was taken by the sea, Evie’s whole life fell apart until she thrust herself into studying magic.  Evie and Nik never stopped mourning Anna, but when a mysterious stranger who resembles their dead friend appears, Evie finds herself a purpose: keeping her new friend on land.  Unfortunately, Evie has no idea what kind of magic it will take, nor does she understand the repercussions until it’s too late.

This isn’t some Disney-ified version of the tale with replicas of Ariel and Ursula and Erik.  These characters are mostly well-developed and have a nice balance between light and dark within them.  However, I do admit that Iker and Nik could have used a bit more personality.  Nik was an ideal prince through and through.  I wanted him to be a little selfish and at least make his desires known.  Iker, on the other hand, is a stereotypical playboy prince who turns his back on Evie when he thinks she’s a threat to him and his family.

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For some reason, Iker reminded me of this.  “Love me Evie! … from afar.”

As far as the plot goes, I have some issues with the reasoning behind Annemette’s whole revenge thing.  I just don’t believe someone who was always best friends with these people would blame them like that.  But I’ll say it was because of her lack of a soul.  I’m sure that would corrupt people and make them do weird things.  But other than that, I have no real qualms with the book.  In fact, I’m really happy the story didn’t take the happy ending route where friendship conquers everything.  That would’ve been far too sappy a climax and not a fitting tribute to the original Little Mermaid.

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Because we’re talking about writing next.

The writing is mostly smooth and enjoyable.  Most of the romance between Evie and Iker comes off as corny and more funny than I think it was supposed to, but I got a good chuckle out of it.  I also admit that a couple of the past sections confused me.  At one point, I’m not entirely sure if Iker or Nik is the main character for one of those parts.  It’s easy enough to figure it out after the fact, but during it, I was super confuzzled.

Ultimately, I’m glad I found this book.  A friend actually pointed out that a second one is coming out this year.  I will definitely be picking it up to see what Evie is up to next.

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Overall, I gave Sea Witch four out of five stars.  If you love mermaids or witches or both, this book is a worthy addition to your library.  Bonus points if you’re into fairy tale retellings!