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Review – Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes – Nancy Naigel

01 Sep

wedding cakesWedding Cake and Big Mistakes
Author: Nancy Naigel
Series: #3 in the Adams Grove series

Review Copy Provided by Author via Sisterhood of the Traveling Book

Description:
For years, Carolanne Baxter dreamed of a life beyond Adams Grove. Being the daughter of the town drunk was no picnic, so when college offered her a chance for escape, she took it. Now Carolanne has returned home, finally ready to make amends with her father, Ben, and to celebrate the wedding of her best friends Jill and Garrett. Of course, the fact that Connor Buckham, her sexy new law partner and Garrett’s best man, happens to be the same guy the town matchmaker named as Carolanne’s perfect match…well! That’s just icing on the cake.

But Carolanne’s hopes for a fresh start are dashed when a dead body surfaces during Jill and Garrett’s wedding reception…and Ben Baxter becomes the prime suspect. The murder throws the town into uproar, threatening to destroy the tentative peace between father and daughter–and to derail the budding romance between Carolanne and Connor. Has the matchmaker’s perfect streak come to end? Or will the truth finally bring Carolanne the happy ending she’s dreamed of for so long?

Review:
Its weird – I both liked this book in the series more than the previous ones and yet was disappointed with it. Weird, I know. I loved being back in Adam’s Grove and meeting up with the people from Sweet Tea and Secrets again – especially since the wedding between Jill and Garrett from the first book in the series was a key event in this one. And you got to meet Carolanne, the MC, who is a good friend of Jill and her law partner Conner. I think my biggest disappoint was that the book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be more romance, or more mystery.

From the description off the back, I was expecting more from Carolanne’s relationship/estangement from her father – but it was kind of a fizzle…i wanted more conflict/angst – because that is kind of what I was expecting based on the description, and the storyline of Ben being suspected of murder just seemed like a minor tack-on. While there was a mystery, it kind of felt under-developed. Whereas, in the previous 2 books in the series, the murder (or other mystery) took place early on in the story, in this case, nothing happened until almost 2/3 of the way through the book, and then was solved equally as quick.

But that being said, the story was well-written and engaging – I finished it in just over 2 metro rides (so about 2.5 hours) – but i was sucked into the story. I definately like visiting Adams Grove, even if the mystery in this case, didn’t really work for me. Overall, I gave the book 3 stars.

 
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Posted by on September 1, 2013 in Book Review

 

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Review – Out of Focus – Nancy Naigel

14 Jun

out of focusOut of Focus
Author: Nancy Naigel
Series: #2 in the Adams Grove series

Review Copy Provided by Author

Description:
Kasey Phillips thought her biggest problem was deciding whether to photograph Cody Tuggle’s honky-tonkin’ tour, until an accident on Route 58 claims the life of her husband. Hurricane Ernesto threatens the region. In a desperate race against time they search for Kasey’s three-year-old son who is missing from the wreckage. The community and friends rally to help, but someone knows more than they are telling.

Review:
I have to admit that I wasn’t sure going into reading this book what i was going to think. I was rather ambivalent after reading the first book because while it was decently written, I wasn’t blown away by it. But I had the second book on the pile and decided to give it a shot. I’m glad to say that it was an improvement on the first book, but there were still some bits and pieces that irked me.

I found that I had to suspend reality even more so in this one than in the previous one, but I found the mystery to be stronger. One of my biggest gripes I think was that I felt kind of mis-lead by the description on the book jacket – when it mentioned Hurricane Ernesto – I was kind of expecting more from it – that Kasey was going to be battling the wind and rain to find her son and that just didn’t happen.

I also didn’t necessarily find her actions to be consistent with a woman who has had her son kidnapped – but since i’m not an expert in the field, maybe I’m wrong. It just didn’t feel right…I also had an inkling of the who done it early on – although, I do think that this one was slightly less obvious than the one in book 1, in that, at one stage, I think I had identified 2-3 people who were possibles, but the revelation wasn’t all that surprising…

I gave Out of Focus 3 stars, but it is on the lower end of that range.

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2013 in Book Review

 

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Review – Sweet Tea and Secrets – Nancy Naigel

04 Jun

sweet tea and secretsSweet Tea and Secrets
Author: Nancy Naigel
Series: #1 in the Adams Grove series

Review Copy Provided By Author

Description:
Adams Grove is mourning the loss of Pearl Clemmons, known for her award-winning chocolate pecan pie and the best unsolicited advice in the county.
When Jill returns to settle her grandmother’s estate, she’s greeted by a Clydesdale-sized guardian dog who doesn’t seem to be earning his stripes (although he drools on them pretty well), and Garrett Malloy, the ex-fiance she left behind a year ago.
Jill insists on staying at Pearl’s amidst a string of break-ins that have sleepy Adams Grove wide awake and locking its doors. Jill’s past with Garrett becomes the least of her worries when she learns that their lives are in danger. She is the only person standing between a desperate conman and a secret from Pearl’s past.
Will Pearl’s past kill any chance of Jill and Garrett’s future together?

Review:
Sometimes you just see the title of a book and want to read it – for me Sweet Tea and Secrets was one of those books. Although, I’ll readily admit that I’m not a iced tea drinker (whoops, I mean Tea drinker), either sweet or unsweet…I prefer my tea hot, a la British style. But the description of the book sounded intriguing – I love the going back to your roots kind of story and it was set in Virgina where I lived for several years (during college, and then for another four years after that).

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed it (and I gave it a 3 star rating), I didn’t love it like I hoped that I would. but I can’t really pinpoint why…I know that I had no issues with putting it down and taking a break (even for several days), but when I picked it up, I was back in the routine…its weird…maybe it was because I never really felt a connection between Jill and Garrett. Their romance, and second chance romance is a favorite trope of mine, just didn’t feel like it worked…I didn’t feel a connection and at least to me, the mystery was obvious. I knew who had done the deeds early on, while I didn’t necessarily know why/how, I knew who…which I think added to my lack of enjoyment. oh and one other thing, and its minor, when the characters did a drive by of Virginia Tech, I was REALLY hoping that some places I had haunted while a student there would be mentioned, but none were – in fact, the place that was mentioned, I don’t even recall, and I spent 4 of the best years of my life in Blacksburg…

But that being said, it was a easy read – not hard, nothing that really makes you think/scratch your head. I am intrigued by the recipes that are in the back and might have to try some of them out – i’m always a sucker for traditional home-cooking. Overall, I gave ST&S 3 stars.

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2013 in Book Review

 

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