Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anne Elliott

Hi ya’ll. I just finished reading, today, a book called: Georgiana Darcy’s Diary by Anna Elliott. And, basically what it does is it…takes the story of Pride and Prejudice and continues it. And I guess there’s, she has a whole series of, uh, books, so I’m definitely planning on checking those out. Umm…So Georgiana Darcy’s Diary is obviously Darcy’s sister, Georgiana. And it’s written in diary format, which is really interesting. Umm, it allows the voice to be that of the speaker in a really interesting way and it’s her…umm… life at Pemberly with, uh, Darcy and Elizabeth and, umm, sort of, it’s her chance at romance finally, cause those of us who are fans of the book, um, know that she was….umm…tsk, taken advantage of when she was younger. So it’s nice to see her get her, umm, chance, uh, at romance, so it’s a really neat…umm…storyline. And it’s really well written. I was actually really impressed with how close to Jane Austen’s writing style, umm, Anne Elliott was able to get. So…it’s still, it takes you back into that world without being… extra, umm, difficult. So you can sort of jump right in and follow along and it’s a really neat…umm…neatly written book. So, I definitely recommend it. I will probably check out some more of her books, umm, to see where else she takes these characters post, uh, Pride and Prejudice. And, umm, yeah, that’s all I have to say, so, we’ll see you next time.

"Tamed By You" by Kate Perry

Transcript of Video

All right, so I just finished reading a book called Tamed by Love by Kate Perry, which is the 7th book in her “Laurel Heights” series. This is a book series set in the Laurel Heights neighborhood in San Francisco, CA. It is a…upper class? Upper, middle class? Uh, neighborhood that is full of small little boutique shops, and so the series takes place around the umm, very…independent, and, umm, strong women, who…run those, uh,…businesses that are, uh, in that neighborhood. 

So this book is based on a character by the name of Valentine, who is a matchmaker. And she’s trying to find her way, because she’s not a very good matchmaker. And she’s realizing that that’s the case, that she’s not very good at it. But she is really good at, um, computer science and developing, umm, computer applications, and phone applications and things like that. And she’s trying to decide how to break the news to her mother who she inherited the matchmaking business from, to tell her that she’s really not a good matchmaker. And she falls in love with a very quiet, uh, former prizefighter named Ethan, and we’ve seen him a little bit in previous books, cause you know you always do in these series romantic fictions. And she’s friends with other characters that we’ve seen in the books before, and it’s very fun to, umm, get a chance to follow up with those characters as always, and to see how they, umm, relate to each other throughout the book. 

And, umm, the neat thing about Kate Perry’s series is that there’s always 2 story lines. Umm, sometimes they’re connected, and sometimes they’re not. This one doesn’t really connect until the very end of the book. Which is really nice, so it’s, ummm. Characters that we’ve seen in other books, which doesn’t always happen, But it’s nice because in this book you’re following 2 story lines of characters that you’ve already connected with. Umm, and that other story line is, uh, Tony or Anthony, and Sophie Martinou who is an actress who has come to the San Francisco area to stay at Tony’s house, umm, she’s kind of squatting in his house, which is kind of funny. That creates a whole dynamic that is hilarious. And, they’re, umm, circling around each other for a lot of the book. And, so you get to follow both of these…uh, great story lines and see two very different, umm, love stories develop. 

And that’s the neat thing about these books is that, umm, the story lines are very similar, umm, the love…romantic relationships are…similar. The relationships…umm…as I repeat myself, sorry, … they umm, while the circumstances are different, cause the, the four characters are, are very different people. Their…uh, status of , uh, where they are in their…love path is similar. So they’re facing, umm, they’re concept of where they are romantically is very similar. So you’re watching them go through these romantic relationships, umm, and, and fight it in the same… way, or fight it differently, but they’re both kind of on the same path to finding this, you know, their new romantic relationship. That you as a reader are clearly like “you need to get together”.  And, uh, they’re fighting it. And it’s very fun to read these two story lines. And you fall equally in love with all 4 characters, which is nice, umm. And you, she writes very well, Kate Perry does. Umm, Is very good at…uh…filling out all, both stories, so you’re able to follow along with both of them equally well. So it’s not, she doesn’t spend…more time on, umm, uh, obviously she spends more time on the A story, which is the, for this book is Valentine and Ethan, but you get enough of the B story, umm…that you are satisfied…with it. So that’s, it’s very nice. You, you get sort of 2 stories in one with these and it’s very exciting and, and you have a lot of fun with it. Umm, it’s a great series, it’s umm, it’s light, and, and fun, and, there’s, there’s you know, there’s enough back-story, and, and enough story to it that it’s, you sink your teeth into it. But it’s not so much that, uh, it’s a light, fluffy read. You don’t have to think to hard about it. You can kind of just, uh easy, breezy run through it, and, and you get it going and, and through it and it’s fun. It’s a fun read. Easy to get through. Umm, but not so empty, that it’s just fluff, there’s a lot of heart to the story as well. So, umm, if you’re looking for a fun, easy read that gives you just enough crunch to get, get through the day then I would check it out. The “Laurel Heights” series, Kate Perry, number 7, Tamed by You. Enjoy!

Maid For Love and Fool For Love by Marie Force

Transcription of Video

Ok, so, I just finished reading, umm, the second of a book series by Marie Force. Umm, and I’m actually gonna to do a review of both the first and second books. So, this is, umm, Maid For Love, that’s M-A-I--D, and Fool For Love by Marie Force and these are the, uh, first two books in her series, “The McCarthy’s of Gansette Island”. They are, umm,  really, really good romance novels based on, umm, a family, uh, that owns a Inn in, on this island, umm, that, uh, is based on a place, I guess, that Marie Force has actually been. She used to spend summers there. Umm, and it’s uh, this great, uh, you know very, …umm…, what’s the word I’m looking for?…Internalized community? Ummm, so everyone knows everybody else, uh, even the summer people who come and stay every summer. Ummm, you’re not really a tourist because everybody knows you cause you’ve been there before. Umm, but, uh, you, uh, you’re known, everyone knows who you are. Umm, so everyone has a history, and everybody, umm, has,,,, uh…, knowledge, and, you’re, you know it’s hard to break out of those stereotypes that you’ve grown up in. So that’s kind of the basis behind the first book, umm Maid for Love. 

Umm, there’s something about… Marie Force’s writing that she… you know, romance novels are very…fluffy. There’s a lot of …fiction, clearly because romance novels are fictionalized. But, …you …get a lot of truth in the characters that Marie Force writes. While, they’re still very fluffy and there’s that, you know, clearly it’s gonna have a happy ending cause it’s a romance novel. Umm, there is a lot of, uh, …realism, I guess, to the way that she creates her characters. Umm, and that’s what I really like…about…her writing. There’s, umm, just…something…real, and, and she brings a heaviness, I guess, to the way that she writes. All of her characters have pain, and, uh, a past, and there’s, uh, something they have to overcome, that,  to be able to find love. That she just, she brings this real, sort of, down and dirty aspect to her writing. Umm, and, so it’s really, really neat, umm, to see in her writing. 

And, of course, umm, being a series of books, there’s, is really great, because, you know, clearly, there’s this family, that, you know, so, you’re gonna have all of these books about all of the people in this family. And so the first book is umm based of, on, the story of the oldest brother, Mac, who falls in love with a maid, ha ha Maid,in the, at the Inn. She’s one of the housekeepers. And, umm,…it’s, it’s a great story. She’s, you know, she’s a down on her luck, she’s been, umm, she’s had trouble since she was in high school, like there’s, she’s got a whole past. And she’s, she’s never gonna fall in love with this guy because he’s one of the McCarthy’s and blah da blah da blah. So there’s a whole lot of, uh…uh…bad blood between them? But they’re able to come together because he’s a great guy, and. He’s got his own issues, but they work together and they come together to, umm, fall in love and they just, it’s this great thing. Umm, it’s a really well written story, and has, you know, uh, some very good, hard hitting…moments. Ummm, just in the fact that, you know, there’s, uh, things that they both have to overcome and they do that really well. 

Fool for Love, the second book, is, umm, the youngest Mccarthy child actually, so the daughter Janey, and Joe, …uh…, who is actually Mac’s best friend, funnily enough, who has been in love with her since they were, you know, kids. But she was dating her high school sweetheart and they were gonna get married, and, umm. you know, Joe’s been suffering for her for a long time, and it’s very sweet. Umm, and of course, she, uh, he was, her fiance, was going to…school to be a doctor in Boston or some such place, and ends up cheating on her and she finds out and there’s this whole big fiasco, and, umm, of course she turns to Joe who has been this big brother like guy. And she doesn’t want to tell her family, so who could she go to, but Joe? And so then that sets up the story for how they fall in love. And it’s just this great, wonderful… coming together. But at the same time you get to see, umm, the continuing story of, of Mac and, and his, umm, loving wife, who I cannot remember her name of, clearly. But, or his soon-to-be wife, cause they get married in the second book. But, umm, so there’s all of this wonderful, you know, continuation of the story line. But, umm, Joe and Janey are …uh…very real, because you have this….uh….you don’t really know for sure if they’re gonna to end up, uh, together. I mean you do, because it’s a romance, again.  But…there, it’s very much a real, sort of, …umm….uh…not….what’s the word I’m looking…stop gap….but ummm, there is a real…roadblock to them getting together in that Janey doesn’t know if she actually loves Joe, or if she just…finds him convenient ,because he’s always been there. Which is a very serious problem for her. Umm, and, you know, and, I understand that. 

So…she, it’s so, it’s just great writing and it’s a great story. And you know when you’re looking for some fluff with a story behind it, it’s really great to read. And, you know, you get caught up in characters, and the family love that’s there, and then the friends, and the great, just, chemistry that she writes. And Marie Force does a great job, she’s fantastic, I love it. Umm, so yeah, so it’s a great series to pick up and read and then, and I’m looking forward to reading more of it. So hopefully I’ll get to review another one coming up here shortly. We’ll see how quickly I bust through the next one. So, yeah, if you’re looking for a good read…Check it out. Thanks. 

Brood of Bones by AE Marling

Transcript of Video

Hey everybody! So I know it’s been a while, but I just finished reading a book called Brood Of Bones by A.E. Marling. It was a really good book. Umm. The only thing that I had trouble with was that it was very wordy. So, it was,…umm….uh, trying to explain what I mean by that. It…took a long time to describe the things that were happening. Umm. Not so much that…it…was wordy in its descriptions, but just…it…there…was a lot happening. It had a, it had a really great story to tell and it had a lot of things involved. So there was the culture of the story that it was telling, and then there was all of the, the history and the story of the character. Umm, the main character Hiresha, who…was amazing, and I’m totally pronouncing her name wrong. But, umm…it, it was interesting, I mean all of it was very intricate and detailed, and incredibly interesting. But it took a long time for the story to move forward. So that was my only problem with it. Umm. Was that I, I really wanted to know what happened, and I wanted to see what, uh, the climax of the story was, and it just took forever to get there. So then, when the climax of the story happened… it felt…very anti-climatic. Because, uh, you took so long to get there…and then all of a sudden it happened…in a very short amount of time. So if felt a little…uh…disappointing? Is not really the word I wanna use, but that’s kind of…what it felt like. Umm, that’s the best word I can come up with off the top of my head. 

But, it was amazingly written. It had a great story, it was, uh, captivating. Umm. Especially once you got into it, and got past sort of…the intro and, and the description and the figuring out what was going on, and, and figuring out your culture that you were reading about, and all of those things. Umm. But, it was really good book and, and it’s definitely one that, umm, that I’m glad I picked up and decided to do something with. But, umm, I don’t know that I would necessarily choose to read more things by, uh, the author. Umm. Just because…it took a long time to read. It took very long to get through. Umm, and…it…uh…didn’t hold my interest as well as, as other books of the, of similar genres that I’ve read. Umm, but it was definitely interesting, it was really well written, and if it’s, umm, your type of book, uh, I would definitely recommend it. Umm, I don’t have, uh, anything horrible to say about the writing itself or the storyline, umm, because it was all very intriguing, and, and it had me hooked. But, umm, but yeah, it was, it was one of the harder books for me to get through, umm, and I hate to say that about anything, but, umm, unfortunately that’s, that’s what I have to say. So, hopefully I’ll get back to posting more often and, and I’ll see you all soon. Thanks!

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

Transcript Of Video

All right, so I just finished this book right here, which is: The Best Man by Kristan Higgins. It is a really good book. Umm, she’s an amazing author, first of all, let me just get that out of the way. Umm, so this book is the first book in the Blue Heron series, which is the name of the Holland family vineyard up in, um, the Finger Lakes region of New York. And, so, this book focuses on Faith Holland, who is the youngest child of the Holland Family, umm, proper. And, she comes back home after having, uh, kinda run away, uh, because of, uh,  her…fiancé telling her that she was gay, er, that he was gay, sorry, her fiancé telling her that HE was gay. Umm, at their wedding, so she had moved away, to San Francisco, uh, for like 3 years. And comes back home. And, uh, the best man, clearly, uh, was her fiancé’s best friend and he’s the one who outed him, or kind of, um convinced him to out himself. And, uh, she ends up falling in love with him, and, Levi Cooper is his name. And, they fall in love and blahda blahda blah. So that’s the storyline.

And, it’s a great, uh, just a great story. It’s, there’s so many rich characters. The thing I love about Kristan Higgins’ books is that, she sucks you in, from the get go. The characters are so real and they’re so intriguing. And her writing style is so natural and so…..what’s the word? Natural and free-flowing and, and seductive that you, it pulls you in and won’t let you go. Umm, you, you just wanna jump in and, and read right through it. I mean I literally read the book in like a day and a half because I wanted to know what happens. You get so invested in her characters and in the storyline and in the people that… And not just the main characters. Not just the story, the characters that the story is about, but everybody else. All of their family members, the friends, the sub characters. I mean there’s the whole town of, that you get to find out about. Umm, you wanna know what’s gonna happen and you wanna know what’s around the corner and  you wanna see all of those things happen. 

Plus she has this great ability to write real chemistry. And that’s re, a really neat thing, um, that not a lot of ac, uh, authors have. Umm, her, her characters aren’t fake. They’re not, it’s not that typical A and B romance story. I mean it’s not boy meets girl, you fall in love,  you’re with,  harr, thrown an obstacle, and then they overcome the obstacle and they get together. Like, there’s, it’s, you no, you don’t really  know what’s going to happen. And I’ve read several of her books now and it’s, every single one is different. You never really know what the storyline’s gonna do. I mean, clearly, some, you know, eventually the characters are going to get together. But it’s always, you don’t how it’s gonna happen, and  you don’t know who’s gonna be involved, and you don’t know what twists and turns are gonna happen. So it’s really interesting to find out, you know, where the storyline is going to take you. Plus it’s just really fun to read about all of the other characters. Because each character has such a great history and they have, you know, these great wounds that they have to overcome. And, and, you know, everybody, everybody does, everybody has history, everybody needs to get through something to really open themselves up to a relationship and to really let somebody in. And she is so good at writing about that and really making it real. And, and helping those characters come together and solve those things for each other and…

This book is yet another great example. The Best Man is so fantastic. Both of the characters… have….just…they’re really rich and they’re very… At first I didn’t really know what to think of, of the character of Faith Holland. I loved Levi. I thought he was a great character, and he had this great depth and this insane compl…you know, and he was just a complex character that, that was so full and rich. And, Faith I wasn’t really sure about, I was like, “she’s not her normal female lead”. Umm, she was, seemed a little weaker and then, all of a sudden, like, she just totally fleshed her out. And all, I was like, “oh, there’s the twist, got it” and you fall in love with her, and are totally behind her. Umm, and, I mean it’s crazy, there’s so many, I don’t wanna give anything away because there’s just so much to it. But, it’s a great book, you should check it out, I think you’ll love it. Um, yeah, so I think that’s it, check it out. Kristan Higgins. The Best Man. You won’t be sorry. Enjoy!

Unauthorized Access by Andrew McAllister

Transcript of Video

Ok, So…I just finished reading Unauthorized Access by Andrew McAllister. Now this book is a thriller, or at least that’s how it’s classified. And, um, the thing that I really, really like about this book in particular is, um, the way that, uh, because it’s written in third person, uh, you’re able to get inside everybody’s head, like literally. The writer writes from, I think almost every character’s perspective. Which is really nice. Um, As an actor it’s very hard sometimes to understand the….motivation for characters that are the…bad guys, quote, unquote. And the neat thing about this book is that, um, you really get the chance to see the motivation of the …bad guy. So, that is something that I really appreciated about this book.

Umm, it’s a really interesting cyber attack book. I’m not really a huge, uh, cyber attack fan. Umm, Not that I’ve really read books, any books about cyber attacks, um, you know. But, um, this is really well written, there’s, umm, depth of character, there’s all kinds of interesting things going on. Umm, you don’t really know what’s going to happen, and that was the really, really neat part about the book. Umm, everybody, uh everything happens, uh, so fast, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and things, scenes jump from one to another. Umm But not in a way that’s confusing, but in a way that you never really know, umm, where it’s gonna go, or what’s gonna happen. Uh, which is the great thing about a thriller, it keeps you on your, on the edge of your seat and you want to know what’s going to happen next. Umm, so that was really, really well written and really intense and very, very cool. Umm, I would show you the book, but it’s uh, an e-book, so I, I can’t, I don’t have the book with me, it’s on my phone, but, umm. 

So, yeah, it was just a great book. Umm, The one thing that I didn’t like. There was…there, You know, there’s always a little bit negati, negative. But, uh, was the female character, the girlfriend, Lesley. While I could understand her motivation, cause you hear the, uh, back story, and her, her back story, and her life and all of that information. Um, So you understand where she’s coming from. I had a very hard time liking her? Umm. I couldn’t….uhhh, ooo, what’s the word that I’m looking for?…I couldn’t … Sympathize! … that’s, that’s what it is. I couldn’t sympathize, uh, with her lack of… belief in the main character. Umm, it was very, very hard, uh, to, to be sympathetic and to, to like her until the very end. Um, I, while I, you know enjoyed her character and there, she was a strong women and she was very, um, there was a lot to her. Umm, I just, I got mad at her and I didn’t, she frustrated me the whole book, up until the very end. So, um, that was just the one, the one negative thing about the book. 

But otherwise it was a fantastic story and there’s all kinds of intrigue and, and you know, just plot lines that intermingle. And, and I love getting into everybody’s head. And it was incredibly well written. So I will definitely check out other books by this author because, um, it was fascinating. So, yeah, that’s what I think and check it out!

These Tangled Threads, by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

Transcript of Video:

Ok! Book review #1. Here is.. Here is the first book. I’m gonna hold it up there. So this is These Tangled Threads, by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller. Umm, it’s actually the third book in a uh, trilogy of books called the Bells of Lowell Trilogy, uhh which is based off of a town in, I believe it’s Lowell, Massachusetts? I believe, I’m not sure that Massachusetts is the right one. But anyway, umm, so it’s the third book and I would have started with the first book, but, umm, this is the book I finished most recently so that’s where I’m starting.

Umm, I really, really, liked this book of the three. I think it was my favorite. Umm, Not only because we really got a chance to see all of the characters that you’ve met throughout the trilogies umm, flourish. Umm, but it was also the most, umm, comprehensive, of, of the society and of the the things that are happening at the time. Umm, I love history, umm, I was a history major, so these books umm, are such a great combination of, umm, historical fiction, uhh, historical romance, umm, there’s some great Christian fiction in there. Umm, but it’s, what I love about the, the religious aspect of these books is that umm, it doesn’t hit you over the head. It’s umm, it’s laced into these characters in a very real and very honest way. Umm, I think that all of these characters come to their belief in, in God and, and their expression of their religion umm,and their faith is, is very, very honest and very true. And even though all of the characters are very religious, they’re not, it’s not the main theme of the book. Umm, it’s sort of just a part of how they live their lives and how they come to the realizations that they do. 

Umm, I’d say that the only thing that I don’t like about this third book is that umm, they are romances, the three novels, they sort of each focus on, on the one heroine. Umm This one being the character Daughtie Winfield. Umm, they didn’t, uh, there was not a whole lot of, umm, what’s the word I’m looking for?… uhh you didn’t see the growth of Daughtie and Liam Donoghue’s relationship. Umm. There were pieces of it, but there was so much story to be told that umm, you didn’t get to see it flourish as much as we did the two previous relationships. Umm. And that I kind of was sad about, because it’s the most controversial of the three books. Umm, because there, it’s uh, an American girl, um and a man who is, umm, Irish, so it’s one of those things that, umm, doesn’t, uhh, it’s a very huge social, umm, it’s not accepted socially. The words aren’t coming to me. Umm, so it, umm, you know,  it, it would have been great to see that all come together in, in more of a umm, plotline through the story. Umm, So that sort of I felt cheated on.

But umm, the rest of it was, was fantastic. There’s such great, you see the rest of the characters, and you see where they’ve expanded to and those relationships have continued to grow. Umm, there’s some great social controversy, and, and umm they bring in uh, the concept of the ani-slavery movements at that time. And, umm, there’s just some beautiful…uh…examples of…sorry, examples of umm, society at the time and how, you know the society was controlled by men, but how women were able to influence umm, and sort of lend their opinion into how society was run. Umm, so it’s really, really interesting and it’s really well-written and just beautifully, beautifully done. So, if you get a chance to read the Bells of Lowell trilogy I would totally do it. But if you only want to read one of them, I would read the third one, because it’s definitely, umm, got the most meat to it, umm, and is, is fantastic, umm. So yeah, that’s all I have to say about that. And , and hopefully I’ll see you again soon. Thanks!