February Minireviews

Sometimes I don’t feel like writing a full review for whatever reason, either because life is busy and I don’t have time, or because a book didn’t stir me enough.  Sometimes, it’s because a book was so good that I just don’t have anything to say beyond that I loved it!  Frequently, I’m just wayyy behind on reviews and am trying to catch up.  For whatever reason, these are books that only have a few paragraphs of thoughts from me.

I must be getting super lazy about reviews, because I am actually giving minireviews of entire series this month… those are like mini mini reviews!

Anyone But You series by Jennifer Shirk

• Fiance by Fate – 3*
• Wedding Date for Hire – 3.5*
• Wrong Brother, Right Match – 3.5*

This was my first foray into Shirk’s writing, but I don’t think it will be my last.  While ultimately forgettable, these books were lighthearted, funny, happy, and clean.  They were the perfect fluff bits for a stressful week.  Shirk does a good job of writing tropes in a way that makes them easy and fun to read.  I really appreciated that Shirk wrote happy, believable romances without having to insert a bunch of sexy-times.  There was tension between her characters that worked, but she didn’t have explicit sex, she didn’t have her characters spending absurd amounts of time sexually fantasizing about the other character (tip for writers: there’s a big difference between having someone be interested in someone/find them attractive and having someone go on and on and ON about how they would like to bang someone), she didn’t even leave me with a bunch of cut scenes implying that these characters were having loads of sex off-screen.  Instead, the story was about the romance between the characters.  Consequently, even though these stories were a bit silly and slightly absurd, I really did enjoy them and found myself rooting for the romances even if they were a little on the insta-side.

All in all, these were really fun little stories.  If you’re just looking for something low-stress, I totally recommend these.  Personally, I’ll definitely be checking out more of Shirk’s writing in the future.

Fields of Wrath by Mark Wheaton – 3.5*

This was another free Kindle book I’ve had forever.  There were a lot of things I liked about this story.  The main character is a Catholic priest named Luis Chavez living in a city in California (can’t remember which one).  Through a series of events, he’s drawn into a situation where he believes people are being trafficked from Mexico, so he goes undercover to see what he can find.  Although Luis is a rogue in the sense that he isn’t any kind of official law-enforcement, it never really felt like he was taking the law into his own hands.  Instead, he believes in the importance of justice and protecting the innocent, and is determined to make sure these things happen.  I really liked the way that Luis’s faith was central to his actions.  He actually reminded me a lot of another Catholic character I love – Brother Cadfael.  He had that same sort of earthy wisdom tempered with a strong faith.

However, the story was a bit disjointed.  There were several other (third person) perspectives going on, which made it difficult to remember which characters already knew what.  The body count was extremely high, yet I had a lot of trouble connecting emotionally with this story, so even when people I liked got knocked off, it didn’t really stir me to the depths.  Honestly, Wheaton killed off so many people that it almost felt more emotional when someone lived!

In the end, it was a book that I wanted to like more than I actually did.  Although there are two more books with Luis as their central character, I just wasn’t interested enough to read them.

A Damsel in Distress by P.G. Wodehouse – 4.5*

When in doubt, turn to Wodehouse.  He never fails to bring me joy.  Even when I feel like I’m not in the mood for a Wodehouse book, within a page or two, it’s the only thing I want to read.  This one was full of his usual capers and coincidences, and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.

Alaskan Bride Rush series by various authors (Love Inspired)

• Klondike Hero by Jillian Hart – 3*
• Treasure Creek Dad by Terri Reed – 3*
• Doctor Right by Janet Tronstad – 3*
• Yukon Cowboy by Debra Clopton – 3.5*
• Thanksgiving Groom by Brenda Minton – 3*
• The Lawman’s Christmas Gift by Linda Goodnight – 3.5*

Those of you who have been with me for a while may remember that quite a while back I inherited roughly half a billion romance paperbacks from my great-aunt, the overwhelming majority of which were “Love Inspired,” a Christian romance series that used to be a thing where you signed up and the mailed you a book every month, which is obviously what my great-aunt did for YEARS.  Originally I wanted to try to read them all, but the overwhelming mediocrity of the first few batches I plowed through made me realize that this wasn’t how I wanted to spend my life.  Instead, I packed them off to various book donation locations, except for a few where I actually had an entire series of them.

As you can tell from the series title, these weren’t exactly intensely serious, deep stories.  Instead, they’re just Hallmark movies in book form.  Honestly, they’re probably more like knock-off Hallmark movies in book form if I’m honest.  :-D  Like most of the Love Inspired books I’ve read, these were super relaxing, incredibly forgettable, very quick reads.  I always enjoy series like this where you get to know a place and background characters, and I was impressed at how well the different authors were able to build off of one another’s stories and characters.  Set in a remote Alaskan town, the stories begin because of an article in a woman’s magazine touting all the hunky single guys to be found in Treasure Creek.  The whole thing is a misunderstanding because the journalist who wrote the article was supposed to be from an outdoors magazine and was supposed to write about the wilderness tours in the area, but apparently she was more into the tour guides.  So women start trucking to Treasure Creek to see what they can find, and there you have one of the goofiest settings for a series of romance stories that you can imagine, yet it somehow mostly worked.

Sometimes you just want to read some stories that follow simple, predictable lines.  They’re the comfort food of books.  While I don’t ever see myself returning to Treasure Creek, they weren’t bad for a one-time read.  So if someone else wants these, you should let me know before I drop them off at Salvation Army next time I’m in town…

‘Love Inspired’ // Part 6 // Rocky Mountain Heirs

A while back my great-aunt passed away, and somehow my grandpa ended up with two boxes full of books.  Almost all of them are ‘inspirational’ romances published by Harlequin as ‘Love Inspired’.  At one point (not sure if you still can) you could subscribe and have a new book mailed to you every month.  Aunt Darby did just that, and now I’m in possession of somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 or so of these ‘Love Inspired’ titles.  Most of them are pretty cheesy but alright for a one-time fluff read.  I’m sure that I’ll binge through some of them periodically.  They’re perfect to grab out of the crate when I’m just looking for a quick, no-brainer book.  However, most of them will probably end up exiting this house after that one-time read, because they just aren’t worth the shelf space to me.  So if there’s one that sounds especially appealing to you… let me know, and I’ll be quite happy to mail you a gift!  ;-)

After my last batch of these, back in the spring, I realized that overall I just wasn’t really enjoying them that much and there was no way that I genuinely wanted to read the bajillion that I had left.  So I’ve been handing them off in goodwill shops and anywhere else that will take some books, and the pile is slowly whittling down.

However, I did have a few stacks that were actual entire series of books that all the books in that series had been in the original boxes that Grandpa gave me.  I decided that I would keep those because I can always read the first book and then get rid of all of them if it looks like the whole series is going to be lame.  And this is how I ended up reading the Rocky Mountain Heirs, a series of six books, each written by a different author.

• The Nanny’s Homecoming by Linda Goodnight – 3.5* – 2011
• The Sheriff’s Runaway Bride by Arlene James – 3.5* – 2011
• The Doctor’s Family by Lenora Worth – 3* – 2011
• The Cowboy’s Lady by Carolyne Aarsen – 3.5* – 2011
• The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish by Roxanne Rustand – 3.5* – 2011
• The Prodigal’s Christmas Reunion by Kathryn Springer – 4* – 2011

It’s kind of fun because these were originally published as part of the mail order deal, where you get a book each months, so they came out six months in a row, and each one was published/distributed in the month that it takes place.

So basically the whole story takes place in a small town in Colorado called Clayton.  The town was founded by a Clayton, but several decades ago there was a kerfluffle between two brothers, George and Samuel.  George ended up with money/property that may or may not have been gotten as an illegal gain from Samuel.  This has set off a feud that has lasted down through the next two generations, with Samuel’s family angry, bitter, and causing trouble with George’s family.

The first book starts when the family is coming together to listen to George’s will.  His six grandchildren (hint: that’s why there are six books) are stunned to find out that while they thought their grandpa was barely getting by, he was actually very, very rich.  He’s left all his money to his grandchildren… as long as they are willing to come back to Clayton and live for at least a full year.  Since all of them except one fled their hometown as soon as they were able to, none of them are sure that they want to make the commitment.  Of course they all end up doing it, and each book is about a different one of the grandchildren and their arrival/adjustment back into Clayton.  It will come to no shock to anyone to learn that each of them discovers love and contentment in the process.

These aren’t the kind of books that you read if you are looking for something exciting or unexpected.  Like a Hallmark movie, these books unfold exactly as you expect them to.  They are perfect if you are just looking for something mindlessly relaxing.  Honestly, there has been a lot of chaos in my life over the last few weeks, so these books were great.

All of these books were a bit melodramatic, and the villains could be a smidge over the top.  I also didn’t really like the way that the authors did just kind of write of Samuel’s descendants as troublemakers and there wasn’t a lot of resolution there.  Despite the fact that the books were each written by a different author, they flowed together well, and recurring characters seemed consistent.  Of course, these aren’t books with a great deal of depth, but still.

I will say that I don’t think these books would have made much sense unless you read them together.  There are a lot of strands that run strongly from one book into the next, so even though they are each independent stories, they still definitely make more sense read in order.

While the Rocky Mountain Heirs series isn’t going to win any awards for being groundbreaking literature, they are still peaceful and enjoyable stories with likable characters.  The Christian themes throughout are presented in a gentle and natural way, and I enjoyed seeing each of the grandchildren find their true love.

‘Love Inspired’ // Part 3

A while back my great-aunt passed away, and somehow my grandpa ended up with two boxes full of books.  Almost all of them are ‘inspirational’ romances published by Harlequin as ‘Love Inspired’.  At one point (not sure if you still can) you could subscribe and have a new book mailed to you every month.  Aunt Darby did just that, and now I’m in possession of somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 or so of these ‘Love Inspired’ titles.  Most of them are pretty cheesy but alright for a one-time fluff read.  I’m sure that I’ll binge through some of them periodically.  They’re perfect to grab out of the crate when I’m just looking for a quick, no-brainer book.  However, most of them will probably end up exiting this house after that one-time read, because they just aren’t worth the shelf space to me.  So if there’s one that sounds especially appealing to you… let me know, and I’ll be quite happy to mail you a gift!  ;-)

Here is the next round of five for this project – a slightly better outing this time around!

A Time to Heal by Linda Goodnight

//published 2008//

I actually enjoyed this story, where ER doctor Kat returns to her hometown, completely burned out from her work in a big-city hospital.  She’s determined to give up her career and try something new.  Of course, she runs into her old flame, Seth, and the inevitable sparks fly.

There was a bit more grit to this story than these books sometimes have, as Kat and Seth were pregnant back before Kat left.  I think that this book would have read better if Kat had gotten an abortion back then instead of having a miscarriage, as her level of guilt didn’t really seem to fit something that wasn’t actually her fault, although I could still follow the “I really wished this baby was dead and then it was dead and now I feel horrible” logic to some extent.  It also felt really obvious that Kat should continue being a doctor, she just shouldn’t be an ER doctor in the middle of a city, so I appreciated that the author addressed that early on by explaining that opening a small-town clinic was just too cost-prohibitive.

Overall, while the story had its weaknesses, I still found it to be a fairly enjoyable read, although not enjoyable enough to keep on my shelves for another time.  :-D  3.5/5.

Safe in His Arms by Dana Corbit

//published 2011//

Six months ago, Lindsay and her sister were in a terrible car accident.  Lindsay’s sister died, and Lindsay is still recovering from her injuries.  On top of all of that, Lindsay has also inherited her sister’s daughter, who is just a toddler.  (Later we find out the sister was a widow, so the niece is now an orphan.)  When our story begins, Lindsay is seeking out the state trooper who was first on the scene, Joe, to ask him for more details about the accident, as she can’t remember the event.

I actually liked this story, and liked both Joe and Lindsay.  Joe is struggling with a lot of guilt because he was only able to save Lindsay and not both women – the car burst into flames before he could return for the sister.  Parts of the story felt a little weak on logic, and Lindsay’s parents are just so obnoxious, but overall a decent 3/5 read.

The Cinderella List by Judy Baer

//published 2010//

This book was actually a lot of fun.  Marlo is a caterer, and at a big event, she meets Jake, who is super rich.  But Jake also happens to fit a lot of Marlo’s husband requirements – a list that she and her sister started a long time ago.  While Marlo isn’t sure that she can really fit into Jake’s life, she of course does.

I really liked how Marlo was an adult living with severe dyslexia – I feel like these types of problems are only found/discussed in children’s books and YA, but they aren’t things that you outgrow.  It doesn’t define Marlo, but it’s a big part of her life that felt natural in this story.  Another part of the book is Jake trying to set up a program on his horse farm to help children with physical and mental disabilities, which also tied in with Marlo’s nephew, who was oxygen-deprived at birth.  There were just a lot of threads going on in this story, and they actually came together well and mostly made sense.

Things got a bit melodramatic, but were readable on the whole, and this was another 3.5/5.

Deadly Safari by Lisa Harris

//published 2014//

As a bonus, some of the “Love Inspired” titles are actually “Love Inspired SUSPENSE,” although this is the first one I’ve come across in my little project.  Meghan makes wildlife documentaries for a living, and is on assignment at a wildlife refuge in South Africa following the life of some young lion cubs.  Her father is a diplomat, and has been receiving threats made to Meghan if he doesn’t do something-or-other.  Meghan always blows this sort of thing off, so her dad hires Alex to come be her bodyguard without Meghan knowing it.  Of course, there are tons of near-misses that bring the couple together.

A lot of this story was fun, but it was really short in the logic department, so I couldn’t fully enjoy it.  (Like the whole point of the documentary is they are waiting for the big moment when the mother lioness introduces the cubs to the rest of the pride, and it could happen any minute, but they seem to spend an incredibly minimal amount of time actually watching the lions.)  But Meghan and Alex were overall likable and the suspense part did add a spark of interest to the story overall.  My actual notes say that this book was ridiculous but fun, and that’s a pretty good sum-up.  3.5/5.

Montana Hearts by Charlotte Carter

//published 2010//

Sarah Barkley was the recent recipient of a heart transplant, necessary because her heart was so weakened by childhood cancer treatments.  Of course, these are always anonymous, but Sarah has done some research and believes that she has found the family of her donor.  She’s traveled from her home in Seattle to a small town in Montana, with a vague idea that she might be able to find some way to anonymously give back to the family who gave her another chance at life.

But a series of events means that she starts working as a housekeeper for Kurt and his two children, and guess what two people fall in love with each other?!?!  Despite its predictability, I still enjoyed this story that actually dealt well with some difficult subjects.  While some things were tidied up a little too easily in the end, it was still a pleasant, 3.5/5 read.