Exciting News
***I have some exciting news!
This week the site will feature: The Week of Heather Gudenkauf
Heather is my favorite author. Her novels always pull me in and I don’t want to put them down. They are suspense/thrillers.
Beginning tomorrow, I will post a review of one of her five novels. This will continue all week then, on Saturday I will post an interview I was able to do with her. Shortly after I started this blog I decided to take a chance and ask her if I could interview her for my blog. I knew I would get one of two answers: “Yes” or “No”. To my surprise she said, “Yes”! Sometimes you have to take a chance and see what happens. You may just be surprised at the results!
I was beyond excited about this. This was like a dream come true for me. How often do you get to talk to your favorite author, let alone do an interview with her?!?!?!
Thank you for this opportunity Heather!
(Don’t ever miss a post: Click Follow on the bottom right corner and enter your email address. You will receive an email asking you to confirm that you want to receive emails. Once you confirm, you will then get an email whenever there is a post!)
A Second Look at “Still Missing”
Still Missing
Author: Chevy Stevens
Audiobook
Published: July 6, 2010
Dates Read: August 12-24, 2016
My Rating: 5 Stars
Book Summary from Amazon:
On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.
Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of a psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.
Still Missing is that rare debut find–a shocking, visceral, brutal and beautifully crafted debut novel.
My review:
I first listened to the audiobook in January 2013. When I was starting this blog, it was the first book I posted my short review for. Reading that review piqued my interest in rereading the book. Luckily, my local library had it! Here is a link to that short review:
Still Missing is not for everyone as it is graphic, shocking, intense, and very well written! It is also very hard to read. There is graphic language as well, so be prepared for that if you read it. Annie explains her use of the strong language: If you went through everything that she did, it would change you. She is an angry person now, trying to adjust to everything that has happened and to move on in her life. If you can not handle multiple graphic scenes dealing with sexual assault this is not the book for you.
I believe that audiobook is a very good medium for this book as Annie is talking to her shrink; it may have made the book easier to read that way.
You know that Annie does get away, since she is talking with her shrink. Annie’s description of that year is very graphic and she leaves nothing to the imagination, you can picture everything that happens to her.
I can’t go into many details without giving things away. There is a very unexpected twist in the book. You can’t help but find the twist hard to believe. And that last line…Wow.
After finishing the book I have to rate it 5 stars as it is so powerful and an amazing debut. It is highly recommended. I have read a few other books written by Chevy Stevens, but it has been a while since I read them. I will have to see if my local library offers any more of her novels on audiobook.
[Top]Now That It’s You
Author: Tawna Fenske
314 Pages in Kindle
Expected Publication Date: September 6, 2016
Dates Read: August 15-21, 2016
My Rating: 3 Stars
Book Summary from Amazon:
Talented chef Meg Delaney hasn’t spoken to her cheating ex-fiancé, Matt Midland, for two years. Ditching him at the altar after blurting out “I can’t” instead of “I do” would sour any relationship. But now, just as Meg is finally ready to bury the hatchet, she learns closure is permanently off the menu. And the kicker? Matt’s brother, Kyle, is back in her life, stirring up feelings that are equal parts guilt and lust.
Meg was the best thing that never happened to Kyle. He couldn’t make a move on his brother’s girlfriend—even if Matt didn’t value her nearly enough. The situation is even more complicated now that Meg’s bestselling aphrodisiac cookbook has spawned a legal battle with the Midlands. Maybe he should stay away. But love, like family, plays by its own rules. And the one woman he shouldn’t want might be the only one who’s perfect for him.
My Review
The premise caught my attention, so I wanted to read it. The books starts out really good. Two years after leaving her fiance at the alter by saying “I can’t”, Meg feels she can put everything aside and forgive Matt. She decides to visit him at the hospital after a minor surgery to have some closure. Then the bad news: Matt died in surgery. Here comes his brother Kyle into the picture. Kyle has been in love with Meg during her entire relationship with his brother. Then Meg’s self published cookbook all of a sudden becomes “the next 50 Shades” and a legal battle with Matt’s family begins.
Typical with “chick lit” Meg and Kyle start a relationship. Well, more like have really great sex. They are both conflicted the whole book with Matt being brought up CONSTANTLY. You have to almost think, “Would they even be together if Matt had not been around in the past”. For me, Matt was brought up way too much. He was a constant in their conversations. And their conflict on if they should be together or not because of Matt- For me it was “hurry up and make up your minds and stop talking about Matt so much!”
Another thing that was an annoyance was the constant referral to Matt’s mom as Meg’s “former-future-mother-in-law”. She was referred as this the whole novel. Did the author have a word quota she needed to reach? Why not just call Matt’s mom by his name or Mrs. Midland?
For me the best part of the novel was the cookbook and the legal battle that Meg faced. I enjoyed how all of a sudden the book became wildly popular and Meg trying to deal with the after effects of everything that entailed. That part seemed real to me.
Of course towards the end of the novel there is a surprising reveal on a secret Kyle kept. The way that Meg reacted about it and her ultimate decision at the end was not satisfying for me. She forgave him way to easily in my opinion. Books, even “chick-lit” books don’t always have to have a “Happily Ever After” ending.
The issue of grief is in the novel as well. Tawna Fenske did a good job portraying that. You could feel Matt’s family dealing with their grief in various ways.
Overall, I give this novel three stars. I don’t really recommend it. There are some humorous parts to the book. I enjoyed parts of it, but the issues I had keep me from recommending it.
**I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
[Top]