Review: Dream Lake

Review: Dream LakeDream Lake (Friday Harbor, #3) by Lisa Kleypas
Series: Friday Harbor #3
Published by Piatkus Books on August 7th 2012
Genres: Contemporary, Paranormal
Pages: 336
Goodreads
three-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: I struggled and struggled with how to rate this book because I loved the couple, but ultimately felt that the story didn’t do them justice. I would read parts of it again because some interactions were amazing, but it didn’t work for me as well as a whole.

THE STORY: Alex Nolan is the youngest son of a pair of alcoholic parents and that has made him cynical and jaded and on his way to following in his parents’ footsteps. After his divorce, Alex recognizes that he will be alone. And then he is not alone when he finds that a ghost searching for his identity and his past attaches himself to Alex. Zoe Hoffman is gentle and sweet and everything that Alex knows he will destroy if the two get involved. Zoe, however, sees something good in Alex that calls to her even as her own life has challenges dealing with her elderly grandmother.

OPINION: Some books are challenging to read and some are challenging to decide what I think of them. This book started out really slow for me and I thought it might be worse than the second book in the series which was okay but not fantastic.

But when we got into Alex’s struggle with his drinking and his relationship with Zoe begins to develop, I just fell in love with these characters and their relationship. The gentle way that Zoe overcomes Alex (who doesn’t recognize or want to acknowledge that he longs for commitment and love) was just magical. I loved their interactions which felt real and frank and some really amazing character development.

That middle third to half of the book was amazing.

But the resolution was too quick and too contrived for me. Zoe and Alex deserved something better. I just didn’t buy it. And that might have something to do with the ghost story which didn’t work that well for me.

This book was a mixed bag for me, but the characters are ones that I will continue to think about and those middle pages are ones that I will re-read. But ultimately, the whole of the book meant that I couldn’t give it more stars. I liked the book, but while the characters were amazing, the overall story was only okay.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book takes place at the same time as the second book in the series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: DREAM LAKE is the third book in the Friday Harbor series. It is not really necessary to read the other books in the series to enjoy this one although the overlapping characters and timeline make this book better after reading the other two.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3.5 stars.

three-half-stars

Review: Rainshadow Road

Review: Rainshadow RoadRainshadow Road (Friday Harbor, #2) by Lisa Kleypas
Series: Friday Harbor #2
Published by Piatkus Books on February 28th 2012
Genres: Contemporary, Paranormal
Pages: 308
Goodreads
three-stars

FINAL DECISION: This was a fine story and parts were really good, but I thought the first half was better than the conclusion and nothing about it was really memorable.

THE STORY: Lucy Marinn discovers that her live-in boyfriend of two years has dumped her for her younger sister. Lucy asks herself why she keeps getting involved with the wrong kind of man. When she meets Sam Nolan, owner of a local vineyard, she knows she bad man streak continues. Sam is a nice man but he is upfront that he never intends to marry and any relationship with him can only be physical. The two cannot seem to avoid one another, however, as accidents, matchmaking and coincidences keep bringing them together.

OPINION: I wanted to really love this book, but I only ended up liking it and that was primarily because of the characters. In some ways this felt like a book made up of jumbled genres. Contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and paranormal just didn’t work together in this book.

I loved the characters and wish this was more like a true contemporary romance. Instead, this book has a women’s fiction feel where the story is more about Lucy’s personal growth than the romance. We don’t get enough about Sam and Lucy together. In fact, much of their story ends up taking place in the space of a couple of paragraphs noting that they spent months together as a couple.

I liked the characters and the story, but I thought the romance ended up a bit disconnected even though it had great potential.

The book also has paranormal elements that seemed to have no real purpose in the story. They were weirdly placed and didn’t really contribute to the story. They were neither fully integrated into the characters nor significant enough to the story to make their placement worth breaking the contemporary romance rules.

Parts of the book were really good. I loved the parts where the deep emotions between Lucy and Sam are allowed to be the focus, but those moments were only enough to make the overall book likable.

The book feels like an experiment that I didn’t find entirely successful.

WORTH MENTIONING: I think the blurb for this book doesn’t really describe the story in this book as it suggests that Sam and Lucy get together because of her ex’s interference. That is just not true.

CONNECTED BOOKS: RAINSHADOW ROAD is the second book in the Friday Harbor series. It can be read as a standalone although there are overlapping characters.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.

three-stars

Review: Secrets in Death

Review: Secrets in DeathSecrets in Death (In Death, #45) by J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #45
Published by Piatkus Books on September 5th 2017
Genres: Futuristic, Mystery
Pages: 400
Goodreads
four-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: In a series that balances the story of Eve and the mystery of the day, this one is better for me on the Eve side. It fills in some gaps from previous books and focuses on relationships.

THE STORY:  Eve is present at a murder when one of New York’s biggest gossip reporters walks into the hot nightspot where Eve is having a meeting and dies. Annoyed that someone has committed a murder right under her nose, Eve begins her investigation and discovers that the victim was doing more than gathering gossip for her show and that she had secrets of her own. Eve’s investigation also uncovers secrets that those around her have been keeping — including Eve herself.

OPINION: I prefer the In Death books that focus on Eve and her relationship with Roake and her friends. To me the mystery is secondary. For me, this book was a success.  In a book about a gossip reporter who uses the secrets of others, this book goes about uncovering the secrets that those around Eve are keeping.  Are they huge secrets? Not really, but it does allow some loose ends and questions about the series to be answered.

For fans of the series, this book ticks all the boxes that you might expect. I place it in the middle of the series books. Not part of the superlative books, but certainly fun and satisfying.

I’ve said this before, that I really enjoy seeing Eve discover herself. She is changing and her relationships are changing and for someone who has followed this series since the beginning, I enjoy seeing that she is finding some happiness.

WORTH MENTIONING: Still waiting for find out the identity of the candy thief.

CONNECTED BOOKS:  SECRETS IN DEATH is the forty-fifth book in the In Death series. This is a standalone mystery, but there are continuing character arcs that go throughout the series. At this point, I don’t know how a person could read these books without knowing the overarching storyline, but then again, I read the books for those arcs rather than the mystery element.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

four-half-stars