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Review – Long Way Home – Neve Cottrell

11 Nov

long way homeLong Way Home
Author: Neve Cottrell
Series: #1 in the Mangrove Island series
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆

Review Copy Provided by Author

Description:
Tyler Barnes can’t believe his eyes when Alexis MacAdams walks back into his life. His high school crush left Mangrove Island seventeen years ago and never looked back. He’s held on to the memory of her, even though she never gave him a second glance. Now Alexis is back for the holidays and Tyler is determined to make a lasting impression before she slips away again. He soon learns, however, that her broken heart needs to heal before he has a chance to win it. Can Tyler convince her to risk her heart for a second time?

Review:
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a sucker for childhood crush/reunited romance/second chance romance type stories (i’m throwing them all in together, because in general, at least 2of those elements are normally represented somehow). so when Ms Cottrell sent me an email requesting a review for her debut novel, I was intrigued. The cover immediately caught my eye, you could tell that time and effort had been put into the design and it looked suitable for a book set on an island with lots of beach scenes.

Unfortunately, after I started reading, I hit a bit of a snag – I don’t know what it was exactly, but I really struggled with the writing style for probably the first 20% or so. In fact, I actually debated putting it down and not finishing the book. But then, I got stuck on a bus in traffic with only my phone to keep me entertained for a couple of hours and I picked up Long Way Home and started reading again. And this time, it worked. I don’t know what it was when I first tried to read it, compared to the second time, but it just worked for me.

Overall, I thought the author did a good job of developing her characters – there were a few places where I felt like some of the actions of the characters were a bit disconnected with how I imagined them, based on previous descriptions. There were also a few places where the dialogue between the characters seemed overly formal, compared to how people really talk (like the use of contractions). But I think that is something that will develop more fully overtime.

I am interested to see where she goes next with the series, as there were many secondary characters in Long Way Home that I would like to see more of. Overall, I gave Long Way Home a solid 3 stars.

 
5 Comments

Posted by on November 11, 2014 in Book Review

 

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Review – Southern Fried Blues – Jamie Farrell

02 Oct

Southern Fried BluesSouthern Fried Blues
Author: Jamie Farrell

Review Copy provided by the Author

Description:
A Yankee Lady Stuck in the South
Divorced wasn’t a label Anna Martin ever wanted. Now she’s a thousand miles from home, underemployed, and lonely, but she’s squeezing this lemon life gave her and turning it into lemon meringue pie. Never again will she let any man—especially another military man—get in the way of her career.

A Southern Gentleman Military Officer
Jackson Davis believes in family, football, and Uncle Sam. He treats ladies right, takes his uniform seriously, and he loves his dog, but he doesn’t reckon he’s built for true love. After all, if a man good as his daddy couldn’t do it right, what chance does Jackson have?

One Undeniable Attraction
These two vulnerable souls are as different as cornbread and ketchup, but they fit together like sweet butter on hot biscuits. Short-term, they’re exactly what the other needs. But when their hearts get involved, they’re both gonna end up with a big ol’ case of Southern Fried Blues

Review:
oh where to begin (and don’t worry, this isn’t bad in the slightest). I probably never would have gotten my hot little hands on this book without seeing my former room-mate from college talking to the author on facebook (so I blame you Jen). But the description and the cover (because admit it, the cover is gorgeous!) caught my eye and even though I typically avoid military romances, since I find they rarely live up to my experiences, I figured with the author being a military wife, it would probably be as close to an accurate representation of military life as possible. And boy was I right…

As soon as I started reading, I felt like I was transported back to one of the many military functions that I attending over the years, either formal or informal. The raucous hilarity of the inside jokes that no one outside of the military would understand, made me feel like i had gone home (for lack of a better word). There are definately times when I miss my military service (even if I am doing the weekend warrior type thing).

And at the same time, while it was hilarious in places, I think Jamie also hit on an important issue that often comes up in military relationships, the inability of military spouses to at times finish education, or get into certain career fields because of the fact that they PCS (permanent change of station) every few years. It is a concern to me and something that I think the military and employers in general need to address – but right now, I just don’t have a good idea of how to address it.

I loved her characterizations, especially Jackson. whenever he spoke, I felt my insides melt – I mean what girl doesn’t want a southern gentleman taking care of them…I don’t know many for sure…and I also liked that Anna wasn’t a complete push-over. She could have let Jackson walk all over her, but she didn’t, she was sassy without being too annoying, even if she was a Yankee…lol. I would recommend Southern Fried Blues to anyone who likes sweet, quirky, southern contemporary romance, or who want an insight into real military life. A solid 4 stars and i can’t wait to see what the author comes up with in the future.

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2013 in Book Review

 

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