Review: When Morning Comes

Title: When Morning Comes
Author: Francis Ray
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Source: LibraryThings FirstLit
My Rating:
Synopsis (from Goodreads): In this unforgettable new novel, Francis Ray delivers an emotionally powerful tale about the families we build, the choices we make, and how we find love and family along the way.

My Thoughts: I have very conflicting thoughts on this book.  This novel is actually two different stories woven together through the two female protagonists being best friends. Other than that, and the very unrealistical ending, which tied everything up into a nice, neat, happy little package, they are almost completely separate. I'm not sure how I would normally feel about this arrangement but in this book it worked OK because I was really irritated by the secondary female lead character and it was nice to be able to separate the two in my mind.

Sabrina and Cade's story was one I would have really enjoyed.  There were two strong characters, engaging plot, very interesting subplot, and who doesn't love a happy ending?

Kara and Tristan's story was not at all enjoyable. Tristan was an awesome male lead, strong, supportive, rich, handsome, trustworthy, etc. Kara on the other hand drove me crazy. I understand what Ray was trying to do with her character but it just angered me. Kara was such the victim and continuously allowed it to happen. It was to the point where I didn't believe she deserved the guy. There was even a fairly substantial plot point that was never wrapped up.

Ray would have done well to keep the two stories separate.  Unfortunately she didn't. I give When Morning Comes as a whole 2 1/2 , Sabrina and Cade's story 3 1/2 . If you like chick-lit and romances I wouldn't say don't read it. Give it a try yourself. I think everyone will probably have a different reaction to this story. If you read it I would love to hear your opinions on it!

I will definitely read another book by Francis Ray if given the chance!

Review: Cloudland

Title: Cloudland
Author: Joseph Olshan
Length: 304 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
My Rating:
Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much praised author of Nightswimmer and Clara's Heart

Catherine Winslow, taking a walk during an early spring thaw, discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house in the Upper Valley of Vermont. From the corpse’s pink parka, Winslow recognizes it as the latest victim of a serial killer, a woman reported missing weeks before during a January blizzard. Once a major reporter for a national newspaper, now a household hints columnist, Catherine is disturbed and galvanized by her discovery and with the help of her neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist, as well as a local detective, starts to research the River Valley murders.

At the same time, her younger lover from an excruciating, failed love affair resurfaces after two years, trying to manuever his way back into her affections. As she delves into the murders, she realizes that certain friends and acquaintances may actually be suspects or even worse.

My Review: I'm not normally a huge fan of mysteries or thrillers. Occasionally one will come along that I really enjoy so I give them a try every now and then.  This one sounded interesting on Goodreads, I entered to win it and......I did!  When it arrived I settled down to read it.

Within the first few pages I began to wonder if this was going to be a book I had to force myself to read.  There was something about the writing style which was putting me off.  Luckily whatever it was either resolved itself soon after or I became too involved in the story to notice. After getting over that first hurdle I continued to have the problem that I just didn't like Catherine, the main character. She was inconsistent, and I often felt annoyed by her during her assessments of the investigation and of the other characters. Unfortunately a lot of the other characters weren't developed enough for me to put a lot of stock into their part in the story. The third problem was that the ending seemed a bit abrupt to me.

So after all that you may wonder why I gave it an "OK" or one smiley instead the unhappy face.  It was because at the end, no matter how I felt about the rest of the story I was on the edge of my seat, I was tense and anticipatory. The author obviously accomplished the lead-up well and the writing was enough to have me involved. I wouldn't read it again but I do not feel that my time was wasted with this book.

Review: Bed of Roses

Title: Bed of Roses
Author: Nora Roberts
Length: 335 pages
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Genre: Romance, Fiction, Series
Source: Purchased
My Rating:
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Love blooms in the second novel in Roberts's celebrated Bride Quartet series. Florist Emma Grant is enjoying career success at Vows, a wedding planning company. She hasn't found Mr. Right yet, but Jack Cooke is about to change that.

My Review: I found this book incredibly hard to get through. I think it took me three weeks of slowly plowing through every couples of nights to finish it. In theory this should be right up my alley as far as romances go.  I love the idea of wedding planning, I love strong female characters, I love the tough guy afraid of commitment, I love happy endings, and I love a good story backing the romance. The question then is, why didn't I love this? The first in the series, Vision in White, was also not a favorite but I enjoyed it more than this one. In Bed of Roses the writing style was not able to draw me in. I never felt connected to the characters. I also found the use of some crass language off-putting. I understand that it is often a part of real life and the author probably saw it as making her characters more real, but to me it didn't feel right. I wish I could be more specific but there really isn't one thing, it was an overall feeling. This just did nothing for me. I bought the Bridal Quartet series as a package and I'm not sure if I will be reading the last two at this point.