Smitten Book Club: A Review

 

When Heather finds an old book written by a long-ago Smitten resident, she has to share it with her book club. Hints of buried treasure in the book send the ladies on a chase to find the money that could save Molly's business, which is in trouble after her husband's death. What they find is more precious than gold--love.

 

The four novellas are held together by the common search for the treasure, but each novella is a stand-alone story of one woman's journey to love. As a fan of all four authors, I enjoy seeing their individual styles/voices, and the authors' friendship and familiarity with each other's styles makes the characters ring true throughout all four novellas.

 

Since I'm a librarian, I have to say my favorite was Kristin Billerbeck's story since it featured a librarian as the main character. I also enjoyed the final one as the mystery was finally solved.

 

Overall, this is a sweet collection of stories. It's sad to see the Smitten books end as I love the little community readers have gotten to know over the three books.

 

I was given this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts are my own.

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Secretly Smitten: A Review

 

 

In a follow-up to Smitten, author friends Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter offer another glimpse at the sweet town of Smitten. This time, three sisters are on a mission to solve the mystery of their grandmother's first love, who was thought to be dead many years before. Will they solve the mystery and find love along the way?

 

 

Love Between the Lines: Coble starts the book with Tess, who is determined to find clues about how her grandmother's old beau's dog tags ended up back in Smitten. The search leads her to Ryan's attic. It's a cute start with two people who like each other but think the other couldn't be interested. Cute food incidents too.

 

 

Make Me a Match: Billerbeck's character Zoe is a match-maker who is setting up her love connection business if pesky city manager William will just let her bend a few rules. Billerbeck showcases her talent for chick-lit with her novella, once again reminding fans she's the best at witty dialogue and fun characters.

 

Knit One, Love Two: Hunt shares the girls' mother's story despite her reluctant involvement in solving the dog tag mystery. When Anna expands her quilt store to raising her own sheep, she takes Michael up on his offer to help. This one is as cute as the others. I love that a range of age for romance that Hunt adds to the group.

 

Love Blooms: Hunter solves the mystery with the story of Clare, an independent yet scared landscaper. When new-to-town nomad Ethan starts helping at the nursery, Clare has to face her fears of starting her own business and about falling in love. I loved Clare's independence and Ethan was my favorite male character, which made this my favorite of the four novellas.

 

 

Secretly Smitten is a fun, fast read with sweet romances. Fans of Christian fiction will enjoy a trip back to this quaint town. 

Swimming to the Surface: A Review

Kelsey Mitchell gave up on happily ever after when her husband abandoned their family to follow his call to ministry in a foreign country. Now, she is working hard to support her two kids, but when her daughter gets sick, she meets Alex, a pastor who is different than the church that supported her abusive husband. Together, will they find faith they need to swim to the surface?

This book is a lot different from Kristin's normal chick lit, and I believe it's a story that needs to be told. Many Christians become boggled down in rules and traditions that they forget compassion and grace. Kelsey's battle from being a wallflower who put with abuse to a strong woman is compelling.

I loved the characters and felt they reflect the church, ranging from the pastor who is more concerned with numbers and offerings than people to the little old lady who knows everyone's business and loves them all. My favorite was Meagan, Kelsey's daughter who is feisty and full of the faith Kelsey lacks. 

This is a partial spoiler. Skip if you don't want to know pieces of the plot.

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The only thing I found odd was Todd's "friend" Simon. It's hinted that he and Todd may be gay, and then he shoots someone. It just didn't gel in my mind. It got the plot going a different way, more towards gay men (or women) marrying in an attempt to cover their sexuality and detracts from the real story---the church taking the side of an abusive husband in the name of scripture.

The Scent of Rain: A Review

Daphne Sweeten lost everything in one moment: her wedding day. She gave her dream job working with perfume in Paris to marry the man she loves, who stands her up at the altar and takes her job. As if it couldn’t get any worse, she loses her sense of smell the same day. Forced to move to Dayton, Ohio, where she and her fiancé had planned to live, Daphne will have to figure out a way to work without her sense of smell.

Kristin Billerbeck is the queen of Christian chick lit, and this one won’t disappoint fans or be their favorite. Daphne is a little weaker than most of Billerbeck’s heroines, but the girl has had a lot of major drama piled on at one time, so I have to give her a break there. I like who she becomes though by the end of the novel as she finds her niche.  But, she’s not a standout character by any means.

Jesse, the hero, is wonderful. He is still grieving the loss of his wife. I love that he struggles between being a dad and doing well at his job. I think most men do struggle with long work hours and not enough quality time with their kids even when they have a wife, but in most books with a single dad, the father seems to juggle the job and kids perfectly. Kudos to Billerbeck for addressing it.

The minor characters are fabulous. I love the annoying Kensie and the sweet Anne. In fact, I would love for Kensie to have her own book as she still has a lot of story to tell.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. Because Daphne seemed a little bland for a chick lit novel, I can’t say this is a book I will reread. But, it’s a good lazy summer day read.

I was given this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Perfectly Ridiculous: A Review

In the third installment of the Universally Misunderstood series, Daisy finds herself in Argentina for what should have been a vacation with her wealthy best friend and a chance to see where things stand with Max. Instead, Daisy has to go help out at a mission for underprivileged kids in the slums of Argentina so that she can secure her scholarship to Pepperdine. At the mission, things go from bad to worse as Max dumps her and J.C., the cute guy working with her and future classmate at Pepperdine, is bitten by a scorpion and beaten up when he tries to help out an abused kid. Kicked out of the mission, Daisy is fearful of her scholarship and her feelings for Max and J.C. Will Daisy learn to embrace God’s Grace, or will she continue to fear His Rules?

This is my favorite of the three books in the series. I’ve long been a fan of Billerbeck’s adult books, and I felt a little disappointed with her YA books so far. In this book, she hits her stride and delivers a fun read full of funny encounters, sharp wit, and a little bit of food for thought.

In the first two books, Daisy got on my nerves with her back-and-forth feelings for Max, and I feared the third book would be more of the same…just a different country. Adding the character of J.C. mixed things up and brought out a stronger Daisy. I found I liked her a lot better when she was forced to think for herself and when she was around J.C. I also loved the change in her relationship with her overbearing parents, who truly love her despite their awkward dance routines and homemade clothes. Another pleasant surprise was Claire. For two books, she tried fad after fad, searching for a place to belong, and she found it in Argentina. I would love to read about her next adventure. (Hint, hint, K.B.)

Fans of the Daisy series will enjoy this third book, and I do recommend that new fans read them in order. I’m hoping there’s a fourth book so we can see what happens next.

Perfectly Invisible: A Review

Daisy is ready for graduation and finally finding her freedom from her over-bearing parents at college. But when she loses her job, her parents tell her she needs to go to community college, and her best friend makes her sell tacky senior rings and starts hanging out with the guy Daisy thought was into her, Daisy finds the last few months before graduation may be anything but fun.

After being disappointed with book one in this series, I was happy to find Kristin Billerbeck found her normal, quirky voice in this novel. The fast quips and funny characters are what I like best about Billerbeck, and these are all over the first half of the book--when suddenly we have about 20 pages of nothing but lectures. Daisy is lectured on what's wrong with her by just about everyone, including some guy wanting to hire her. It was tedious(and teens may find it enough to stop reading), but thankfully, after the lecture break, the story went back to a funny book about high school drama and a girl's journey to finding herself.

Fans of Kristin Billerbeck will enjoy this book and look forward to book three in the series.

Book Giveaway!

Congrats to Charity U for winning Here Burns my Candle. I just emailed you, so let me know your address so that I can ship the book.

Today, I am giving away an ADVANCED copy of Smitten, written by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter. I got this book from Denise Hunter for the purpose of reviewing and promoting the book. Because the book doesn't come out until December, I want to keep the reviewing and promoting thing going. It's a great book.

To enter to win, leave a comment with your blog link and your email address. I want to make sure I give the book to someone who will review the book and let other people know about it. :)
I can only ship to the US.
I'll pick a winner next Tuesday.

Smitten!

When the mill in the small town of Smitten closes, the townspeople are nervous that they will lose their beloved city. Four friends, Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese, decide to save their town by making Smitten the go-to spot for honeymooners and couples in love. Now, they just need to convince the men in the town that their idea will work. Will they be able to convince the men in their lives to take a chance on love and on Smitten?

For years, I have been reading the blog that Kristin, Colleen, Denise, and Diann have together. Their friendship and love for one another is evident in each post. The four women in Smitten are based on the authors themselves, and I think that’s one reason this book flows smoothly. Many times when you read a book that has two or three novellas that contain the same characters, the characters are different in each book, which is annoying for a reader. Because these authors know each other so well, the characters remain true to themselves throughout all four stories, creating one continuous novel. The characters are as vibrant and as real as the women who created the tale, and their friendship is authentic and comfortable. The element of faith in Jesus is presented as each woman struggles in her spiritual walk, but the book is never preachy, which is a plus in my book.

After reading this, I want to visit Smitten. Fans of these four authors will love this book and feel like they know the authors a little more after reading it.

Check out the authors at their blog: http://www.girlswriteout.blogspot.com/

A Billion Reasons Why by Kristin Billerbeck

     Eight years ago, Katie McKenna proposed to the man she loved passionately only to be turned down. Fleeing to California to escape her humiliation, Katie strives to become what she feels is expected of her: working with special needs children, attending church faithfully, following the “church” rules, and settling for a life with a man she doesn’t love. Then Luc DeForges, the man who broke her heart, walks back into her life, determined to convince Katie to come back to New Orleans under the pretense of performing at his brother’s wedding. Behind his ruse is a plan to make Katie fall in love with him again. Will Katie settle for a life that makes sense on paper or follow her heart even if it means risking everything?

     Being from Louisiana, I like the setting of New Orleans. It’s the perfect place to have characters who love the 40’s (even though I knew very few of the movie and music references that filled the pages) and who are full of passion for dancing and singing. Katie is a likeable character, but it was hard to root for Luc when it took him eight years to chase down the woman he loved. Overall, their story is a fun read even if they won’t go down as my favorite characters. (I’m a character-driven reader, so if I don’t love the characters, I usually don’t love the book.)

     A Billion Reasons Why delves into a topic that I think more Christians need to think about: living by rules or living by love. Following Christ doesn’t mean not embracing fun and romance. Marrying Dexter, the solid guy who sends weekly flowers, would be sensible but boring. Marrying Luc would mean risking her heart, but she would feel alive again. The book gave me things to think about without being preachy, which is one reason I love Kristin Billerbeck’s books.



Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck

In Kristin Billerbeck's first YA book, she shares the story of Daisy, a sheltered teen, who just wants a prom date. I was very excited about this book since I have been a fan of Kristin's for several years and since YA books are my favorite (teaching middle school does that to you). I was slightly disappointed. The plot line of a sheltered young girl wanting to fit in is a great start, but the book didn't have much spark. It took me a few weeks to finish because I just wasn't that interested in the characters or what would happen to them.
The qualities that make Kristin such a great writer (unique voice and colorful characters) aren't in this book. Daisy isn't well-developed, and the high school private school is unrealistic (at least compared to my private high school experience).
Another reason Kristin is one of my favorite authors is that she doesn't "preach" in her books, but this book felt like there was an agenda, which is annoying, especially to teens.
Overall, the book is pretty good. Writing adult chick lit is different from writing YA books, and I think Kristin's second YA book will be much better!