Book Review: Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef

Summary: 

Jane Austen’s popularity never seems to fade. She has hordes of devoted fans, and there have been numerous adaptations of her life and work. But who was Jane Austen? The writer herself has long remained a mystery. And despite the resonance her work continues to have for teens, there has never been a young adult trade biography on Austen.

Catherine Reef changes that with this highly readable account. She takes an intimate peek at Austen’s life and innermost feelings, interweaving her narrative with well-crafted digests of each of Austen’s published novels. The end result is a book that is almost as much fun to read as Jane’s own work—and truly a life revealed.

Release Date:  April 18, 2011

Publisher:  Clarion Books

Age Group:  Young Adult

Pages:  192

Source:  NetGalley

Review: 

I am no fan of non-fiction, especially biographies, but I love all things Jane Austen and decided to give this book a try.   I'm glad I did!  I knew I wanted to learn more about Austen when I found myself watching the "making of" documentary on my Pride and Prejudice DVD. 

This book moved quickly and gave interesting background information about Austen: her family members and family relationships, her different houses and cities of residence, and some insight into her love life.  Austen never married but had several suitors and was in love at least once. 

One neat feature of Jane Austen: A Life Revealed was the inclusion of the circumstances surrounding the writing of each of Austen's novels.  Each novel was introduced in the order they were written and the book includes descriptions of each of Austen's works.  I noticed how the characters in Austen's books related to people she knew in real life, and oftentimes the situations the characters find themselves in paralleled what was happening at the time in Austen's world.

I would recommend this book to fans of biographies and fans of Jane Austen.  It was a quick read that left me with further knowledge of one of my favorite writers.

Just One Gripe: 

This book would probably be best viewed as a hard copy.  Some of the illustrations and family trees were distorted in the e-book version.

The Best Thing About This Book: 
I loved the look at Jane Austen's daily life.  Her daily routines and habits were fascinating to me.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 
Yes

Score:

 

Book Review: Simple Secrets (Harmony #1) by Nancy Mehl

Summary: 

Can graphic designer Gracie Temple have it all: the big city life and a job at a successful advertising firm? Just when she feels life coming together she receives an unknown uncle’s inheritance in a quiet Kansas Mennonite community. The house comes with dark legacy and a cast of interesting neighbors, including farmer Sam Goodrich. Can Gracie shake off the dust of this town or will its secret charms pull her in to stay?

 

Release Date:  June 1, 2010

Publisher:  Barbour Books

Age Group:  Adult

Pages:  320
Source:  NetGalley

Review: 
This was a sweet story with a suprising end.  I did not realize I was reading Christian fiction until about a quarter of the way through when the main character, Gracie, started praying about her troubles.  I like my Christian fiction on the more subtle side---I hate for a book to preach to me.

Gracie is a successful graphic designer whose uncle dies and leaves her his house in a Mennonite community.  She goes out to the house to stay for a couple of weeks to try to sell the property and uncovers a long-buried secret.  In the process, she meets Sam, a neighbor and friend of her late uncle's, and they try to solve the mystery together.  The conclusion of the mystery surprised me, and I love it when that happens.

Simple Secrets had a nice balance of love, mystery, and faith.  I would recommend it to fans of Christian fiction and anyone wanting to try Christian fiction for the first time.

Just One Gripe: 
The tone of the book felt simple at times.

The Best Thing About This Book: 
The mystery had a nice surprise at the end.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 
Yes

Score: 

Characters: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Setting/Imagery: 4/5

Originality: 3/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score:  17/25

Book Review: Go Small or Go Home by Heather Wardell

Summary: 

When massage therapist and aspiring artist Tess begins treating stressed but attractive hockey star Forrest, her art career soars due to his gallery-owning mother, but her creativity plummets under the weight of rules and deadlines. Soon, she's lost the freedom and joy she'd always found in art. Is having her dream career worth losing doing her art her way, or can she somehow have both at once?


Release Date:  April 1, 2010 
Age Group:  Adult 
Source:  Author

Review: 

Heather Wardell is my favorite new author.  She takes the emotion of Anita Shreve, the relationship development of Jodi Piccoult, and the romance of Nicholas Sparks, and puts them all together to create books that are impossible to put down.  I really enjoyed Wardell's Planning to Live so I was looking forward to Go Small or Go Home.  

I liked Go Small or Go Home even better than Planning to Live!  I made the mistake of starting this book in the middle of the week and I dropped everything to finish it.  Wardell drew me in right from the start and I simply could not put this book down.  I don't think I talked to my husband hardly at all for the two days I spent reading this book.  I did manage to go to work, but all I could think about was, "When can I sit down and read more?" 

Wardell writes about women trying to balance a career, their personal dreams, and finding love.  Her female leads are strong women who are in the process of self-discovery.  Go Small or Go Home features a driven woman who has a hidden passion and who finds love unexpectedly.  Tess is a massage therapist who takes a job working for a hockey team.  She knows nothing about hockey and is unimpressed by the celebrity of the team's injured star player.  Tess dreams of having an art career and starts having trouble balancing her responsibilities to the team with her art.  

What made this book for me was the emotion.  It was a powerful read without being schmaltzy or preachy.  I felt for Tess and rooted for her the entire book.  I would recommend this book to anyone.  It is adult fiction, but it is not full of bedroom scenes like so many other adult books.  This book was outstanding, and I will definitely be reading more from Heather Wardell. 

Just One Gripe: 

I would have liked more physical descriptions.  I found myself wanting to go back and remind myself of what the characters looked like.

The Best Thing About This Book: 

The emotion and the way Wardell develops her relationships.  Not only is the relationship between the two main characters well-developed, the minor relationships are important too, and Wardell weaves them all together seamlessly as part of the bigger story.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

Probably not.  

Score: 

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Setting/Imagery: 5/5

Originality: 5/5

Ending: 5/5

Total Score:  25/25

 

We Are Grateful For YOU!

To all the sweet friends we have made through blogging... THANK YOU! We are grateful for each of our budding friendships and the laughs and giggles you give us daily!


Thank you to all the authors who share their sweet talents with us! We love every adventure, world, character, crisis, etc. you give us! We appreciate you!


We hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving has one of the best days of the year with your family and friends.  And for all of our sweet non-US bloggers have a BIG dinner tonight and think about all the goodness you have and how much we love you!

Book Review: Those That Wake by Jesse Karp

Summary: 

New York City's spirit has been crushed. People walk the streets with their heads down, withdrawing from each other and into the cold comfort of technology.

Teenagers Mal and Laura have grown up in this reality. They've never met. Seemingly, they never will. 

But on the same day Mal learns his brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have forgotten her. Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same truth: someone or something has wiped the teens from the memories of every person they have ever known. Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground as they attempt to reclaim their pasts.

Release Date:  March 20, 2011

Publisher:  Harcourt

Age Group:  Young Adult

Pages:  336

Source: NetGalley

Review: 

I enjoyed this dystopian novel.  I have read other reviews complaining of the dark and desolate tone, but I think that Karp meant for Those That Wake to be a cautionary tale to today's society.  At least, that's how I took it.  How often do we pull out our phones to text instead of talking to the people around us?  Think about how you'd feel if you couldn't have your cell phone or the Internet for several days.  That's the kind of thing that this book left me thinking about.

Those That Wake is set in New York in the near future.  People are consumed with their ever-present cell phones and never interact with each other or the world around them, choosing instead to interact with technology.  The subways are in a state of total disrepair and neglect, and money meant to repair the cars has instead gone towards huge HD screens installed along the subway car walls playing advertisements that people mindlessly watch.  The entire world is run by corporations trying to make money off of the hopeless unsuspecting public.  A huge explosion and two-week long power outage in New York,  called Big Black, has left a large area of destroyed land which is now covered by a dome that is a new part of the horizon.  People believe the dome to be full of toxic chemicals.  Big Black left people scared, and the corporations stepped in to capitalize on people's fear.

The characters in Those That Wake are drawn together by a series of unusual events: Mal is searching for his brother Tommy, Mike has found a door in his school's basement which disappears after he opens it, Laura has been forgotten by everyone she knows, and Remak is a secret agent trying to find the reason why people in Mike's neighborhood are committing suicide, murder, and theft.  The four are unexpectedly thrown together and have to work together to discover the reason behind these strange events.  

Those That Wake is a smart read: it will make you think and you have to pay close attention all the way through or you'll miss important plot devices.  I enjoyed this read and would recommend it to fans of YA and dystopia.

Just One Gripe: 

The ending felt confusing to me.  I felt like I needed to re-read parts in order to "get" it.  

The Best Thing About This Book: 

The world-building.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

Yes

Score: 

Characters: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Setting/Imagery:  3/5

Originality: 3/5

Ending: 3/5

Total Score:  15/25

Book Review: Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods #5) by Melissa de la Cruz

Summary: 

After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the five remaining gates that guard the earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silver Bloods.

Back in New York, Mimi has been elected Regent of a crumbling coven. Struggling with her heartache over the loss of Kingsley and with her overwhelming desire to destroy Jack, she must focus all of her energy on a perilous new threat. Vampires are being abducted and their captors are planning to burn them alive online…for all the world to see. Help arrives in the form of Deming Chen, a Venator from Shanghai, who must untangle the web of deceptions before the killers strike again.

As the young vampires struggle for the survival of the coven, they uncover a deadly secret, a truth first discovered by Schuyler’s mother during the Renaissance but kept buried for centuries. And as the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler to a terrible choice that will ultimately map the destiny of her heart.

 

Review: 

I think that Melissa de la Cruz has done a great job with the Blue Bloods series.  She has not confirmed how many books will be in the series, only that there will be several mini-trilogies within the series where certain things get resolved.  For the exact quote from her site, click here. 

While Misguided Angel was not my favorite Blue Bloods book (The Van Alen Legacy wins that honor) it was just as good as I've come to expect from this series.  The book is told in four parts, with Schuyler and Jack's story told primarily in the first quarter.  As a big Schuyler and Jack fan, this was disappointing; however the other parts highlighting Mimi, a new character called Deming Chan, and a fourth section with all the characters included made up for the lack of forbidden romance.

Misguided Angel did feel somewhat transitional to me.  I think that Melissa is taking the series in a new direction, and the events of this book, especially the inclusion of  Venator Deming Chen, set things up for at least three more books in the series, in my opinion.  Schuyler's legacy is to find the gates, and she did not even find the first gate in this book.  So, she has a lot of work to do yet to fulfill her legacy.

I have never been a fan of Mimi, but she really grew on me throughout the book.  Mimi experienced a lot of personal growth (which I felt she was in desperate need of).  I did miss reading about Bliss.  I have always really liked her.  I'm looking forward to hearing more from Bliss in the spin-off series, out April 2012.

The ending sets things up perfectly for the next book: people you thought were dead aren't, it looks like there will be a bonding in the near future, and will Mimi really kill Jack?  Many of the questions I had after reading The Van Alen Legacy went unanswered, but that's okay.  I'll definitely be back for more Blue Bloods drama!

Just One Gripe: 

This book was pretty short (about 270 pages).  I burned through it in less than three hours.  It felt like the thrill was over so fast after waiting for so long!

The Best Thing About This Book: 
I really like Melissa de la Cruz's complicated plots.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 
Yes

Score: 

Characters:  4/5

Plot: 4/5

Setting/Imagery: 4/5

Originality: 3/5

Ending: 3/5

Total Score:  18/25

Book Review: Torment (Fallen #2) by Lauren Kate

Summary: 

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for? In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean - and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future...and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened...what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else? 

Review: 

I just could not get into this book.  I was on a book tour via Good Golly Miss Holly and I felt pressured to read this book quickly even though I had other books I really wanted to read instead.  Book tours always make me feel that way, which was the deciding factor in my decision to stop signing up for book tours.   That may have been a factor in my overall feelings about Torment.  Because I found the 40 pages I did read to be pretty flat and uninteresting.  

I did not emphasize with Daniel and Luce's 18 days of separation.  Really, 18 days?  We're going to have major drama over being separated for 18 days?  My husband and I were separated for three YEARS while we were engaged and he was 12 hours away in law school.  So, the 18 day separation put me off from the beginning.  When I saw that each chapter encompassed one day, I was further dismayed and ended up deciding that there are too many books out there that I really want to read to force myself to read one I'm not excited about.  

I don't think fallen angels are for me.  I have not really enjoyed any angel book I've read, except for Cynthia Hand's Unearthly.  Hush, Hush, Angelfire, Covet, Fallen, and now Torment just did not do it for me, and I think I'm going to steer clear of the fallen angel premise for now.

Score: 

Did Not Finish
  

Book Blogger Meet Up

Attention fellow book bloggers!  

Several of our blogging friends are talking about a book blogger meet-up.  Please take the very short survey below so we can decide when and where to meet.  Thank you!

Click here for the survey.

Book Review: The Redhead Revealed (Redhead #2) by Alice Clayton

Summary: 

As their careers catch fire, Grace and Jack -- everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed, funny, and feisty couple -- find themselves on opposite coasts. Grace has landed in New York City, where she loves being onstage again, particularly because she’s playing a fabulous character in a musical written by her old college flame, Michael. Their rekindled friendship makes exploring the city that much more fun.
Wait, it’s just friendship, right?
Meanwhile, in L.A., Jack can scarcely keep up with the swirling throngs of women who track him everywhere he goes, the endless press appearances, and the ridiculous rules his manager, Holly, keeps concocting for him -- all part of the buildup to the release of Time, his steamy new film.
Thank goodness for phone sex.
But even when their schedules allow them to connect, Grace and Jack must keep their relationship off the radar and away from paparazzi cameras. Sure, the sex is sensational, but can this duo survive swirling rumors, the demands of their chosen professions, Grace’s raging internal battles, and a whopping nine-year age difference?
Tick-tock, the clock is ticking. Isn’t it?
Alice Clayton brings the second installment of a tale told with her magical mix of humor and heat, so cuddle up under the sheets and flip on the Golden Girls. Grace and Jack are at it again.

Release Date:  September 28, 2010
Publisher:  Omnific Publishing
Age Group:  Adult
Source:  Publisher

Review: 

The Redhead Revealed was another guilty pleasure by Alice Clayton.  I think The Unidentified Redhead was my favorite of the two books, just because I enjoy reading about the falling in love phase of a relationship.   

The Redhead Revealed takes us from Hollywood to New York City, and adds a new character: Michael, an old flame of Grace's.    Grace and Jack have to endure a long-distance relationship and the pressures of fame and career stress.  This book was not quite as funny as the first book in the series, just because Grace goes through some personal growth and lots of self-esteem issues in this installment.  

I would recommend this series to fans of romance, especially fans of contemporary romance.  If I was more of a romance fan, they most likely would have been five star books for me.  However, romance is not my favorite genre, and while I would definitely recommend these books, they were not all-time favorites for me personally.  

Just One Gripe: 

I am just not into the bedroom-scene laden feel of romance novels.  Escapism is fun every once in a while, but not on a regular basis.  

The Best Thing About This Book: 

The humor and the character growth.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

No

Score: 

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Setting/Imagery: 3/5

Originality: 4/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score:  18/25

Book Review: Butterflies in May by Karen Hart

Summary: 

Ali Parker, a high school senior, is in love for the first time in her seventeen-year life. Her Mr. Perfect boyfriend, Matt Ryan, is a talented artist who hopes to attend Pratt Institute in New York, and Ali plans to major in journalism at a prestigious college. Both Ali and Matt are outstanding students. Their future possibilities seem endless. Then the inconceivable happens-Ali becomes pregnant. Suddenly, her entire world shifts. Everything she was sure of changes. What should she do about this baby . . . about Matt . . . about her life? Ali is faced with the dilemma of responsibility and choice. She's supported by a fun, loyal best friend, Monica, but Ali knows that now, nothing will ever be the same again. She's abruptly and unwillingly forced into the world of adulthood as she faces the crisis of being a pregnant, unwed teenager. 

Release Date:  May 1, 2006

Publisher:  Bancroft Press

Age Group:  Adult (Coming of Age)

Pages:  202

Source:  NetGalley

  

Review: 

Butterflies in May, along with Neal Shusterman's Unwind, should be required reading for all teenagers.  I really thought that this was a YA book, but according to NetGalley it is adult fiction.  I think that it would be appropriate for teens though.  

I was drawn into the story from the beginning and I was hard pressed to put this book down!  I really enjoyed Ali's voice.  She stays true to herself and her feelings despite everyone else in her life urging her to make a different decision about her pregnancy.  Ali does a lot of growing up and self-discovery throughout the story.  She begins to reexamine her life decisions and her relationships as the book progresses.  

The account of Ali's pregnancy was unvarnished and refreshing.  She tells it like it is, which I could really relate to, being 18 weeks pregnant right now.  I especially identified with Ali's weight gain early on, since I also exceeded the weight gain guidelines due to my only relief from constant nausea coming from high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.  

The events at the end of the book left me in tears.  The ending was so sweet: filled with hope without being a traditional happily ever after.  I would recommend this book to anyone!

Just One Gripe: 

I wanted to pop Ali for putting up with some of Matt's ill treatment of her.

The Best Thing About This Book: 

Ali's honest voice.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

Yes

Score: 

Characters:  4/5

Plot: 4/5

Setting/Imagery:  4/5

Originality:  4/5

Ending: 5/5

Total Score:  21/25

 

Book Review: Glimmer (Zellie Wells #2) by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Summary: 

Zellie Wells’ life is changing. Her relationship with Avery is growing stronger every day, but their parents are still giving them ultimatums and trying to keep them apart. Her newly discovered powers have all but disappeared. Benjamin, another young Retroact, is back and has brought with him a painful shared vision and a troubled past. While working together to figure out what the vision means, Zellie discovers that Benjamin is a worthy friend and mentor. If only he could keep his hands off of her - if only she wanted him to... 

Review: 

Sometimes YA leaves me feeling unsatisfied. Some YA novels feel too young, too light, too teen-angsty, or too recycled.  Happily, none of that is the case with Stacey Wallace Benefiel's books!  She has created a world just like ours except for the addition of people with powers such as communicating with spirits, rewinding events to make them go another way, and seeing the future.  People with these powers have no other abnormalities and the rest of the population is left in the dark.  

Glimmer picks up where Glimpse left off.  Zellie and Avery are trying to be together despite warnings by their parents to stay apart to prevent Avery's death that Zellie glimpses every night.  Zellis learns more about her powers and has continued interaction with her grandmother and aunt, who are also gifted like Zellie. 


I found Glimmer to be faster paced than Glimpse.  The story moves along quickly until the surprising conclusion.  I actually gasped out loud twice---I love to be surprised like that!  One of my favorite things about Benefiel's writing are her well-developed minor characters.  They each have such well-defined personalities and add a lot to the story. 

I would recommend Glimpse and Glimmer to fans of paranormal fiction and YA.  They are such sweet books!

Just One Gripe: 

Christopher is a major character in the story.  He was introduced very briefly in book one, by his last name, which made his inclusion in Glimmer confusing for me until I figured out who he really was.   

The Best Thing About This Book: 

I just loved the sweet and tender love story.  The paranormal aspect was also very unique and well done. 

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

Yes

Score: 

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Setting/Imagery: 4/5

Originality: 4/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score:  20/25

 

Get Out Your Wands, It's Hogwarts Time!

It is just DAYS away until the US premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows! So get out your wands, Harry glasses, robes... well all things Harry Potter and get ready to celebrate! 

Yes, you actually could walk through the wall!

One of my very talented sister-in-laws (Laurie) has already started out with a bang, and I do mean she went all out. If you are planning a Hogwarts Celebration here are some ideas and photos from my nieces party (you can see all of them on our facebook page under photos).


                                   Happy Birthday Krista!

Book of Monsters



  Which house are you?

                                             
                         Potions Class        

Potions Class: Here is a sample of one of the potions, nice!

Mandrake Bubbles

Mad Eye Moody (this is funny on so many levels)

And it wouldn't be a Hogwarts extraveganza without a game of Quidditch! My brother-in-law made these for the party... I know, over the top!

So what are you planning for your epic Potter experience? I am sticking to my long time family tradition of watching it Thanksgiving Day with all my extended family! I plan to be completely stuffed with turkey, stuffing, pie, etc.  and then go to the theater and pretend we didn't just have a feast and get my popcorn with M&M's! So what say you!

Guest Post: Robin Spano (Dead Politician Society)

Today I'm thrilled to welcome Robin Spano, author of the Clare Vengel Undercover Novel Dead Politician Society.  Click here to read my review of Dead Politician Society.  Click here to visit Robin's website.  When I asked Robin if she would do a guest post or author interview, she chose a guest post about book reviews and book bloggers.  I was so interested to hear an author's perspective on book blogging!  Without further ado, here's Robin!

My goal is to make the Clare Vengel Undercover Novels a seriously exciting set of books. To get there, I need help – I need to know how Clare and her adventures are hitting readers – so I can make each book better than the one before it. So far, blog reviews have been my best resource for understanding my audience – and my secret weapon for writing growth.

Traditional vs. Blog Reviews
Traditional critics have reviewed Dead Politician Society, and they’ve given me some lovely quotes to stick up on my web site. But their reviews tend to be worded as judgments – this part’s good and that part’s bad – leaving the writer feeling patted on the head or kicked in the teeth (or both). Neither helps my writing get stronger.

Blog reviewers do something else: they evaluate. They share their reactions as a reader – their emotional connection to the characters, their sense of what worked and what didn’t. They talk about how they finished reading while brushing their teeth, how their children had to wait for dinner because they just wanted one more chapter, then one more . . . Reading blog reviews, I feel like I’m seeing Dead Politician Society through readers’ eyes. This is not only gratifying; it’s invaluable.

Why Bloggers Rock
When a blog reviewer has something negative to say, they don’t say “Spano failed to communicate x,” they say “I was confused by this part; I would have liked more clarity.” Sure, technically this is the same message – part of the story is unclear. But read the blogger’s version again – they gave me a suggestion instead of a criticism. I can’t change the first book, but I can use that kind of feedback – and I have – for future writing.

When a blogger has something nice to say, they say it with warmth. I would much rather hear that Clare is “kick-ass awesome” than “certainly strong enough to take the lead.” (No offence, Booklist.) Clare is alive to me – I love when she feels alive to readers, too.

How Blog Reviews Have Helped, Specifically

• They’ve helped me see what I’m doing right, so I can keep doing it. Going forward, I’ll keep the pace fast, the same number of clues/suspects, and the short chapters. I’ll also keep Clare – I love how people are reacting to her. 
• They’ve shown me how to fix what doesn’t work – I have to introduce characters more slowly at the beginning, then move into the breakneck pace once readers are on the same page as I am. I also have to slow down the ending, to increase the impact of the reveal. 
• They’ve helped me feel connected to my readers. As I work on Death Plays Poker, I feel like Clare has friends on her journey – readers who care what happens to her. That is magic.

Isn't it great to hear an author's perspective on book blogs and book reviews?  Thank you again, Robin, and we look forward to your next book!

2011 Challenges

Our friend The Book Vixen is hosting two great reading challenges for 2011!  Click the buttons to sign up.

The first one is an Outdo Yourself challenge where you commit to reading more books than you read in 2010.  So far this year I have read 199 books! 

Since I am having a baby in April, I am going to lower my expectations and commit to reading 1-5 more books this year, although realistically I may be happy to just read anything at all.  :)

The second challenge is a Nicholas Sparks reading challenge.  I have read all of Nicholas Sparks' books, so I am going to commit to re-reading 1-4 of my Sparks favorites.

I need help convincing Natalie the reluctant reader to sign up for these challenges too!  

Book Review: Indefensible by Pamela Callow

Summary: 

When Elise Vanderzell plummets from her bedroom balcony one gorgeous summer night, her children awaken to a nightmare.

THEIR MOTHER IS DEAD. THEIR FATHER IS CHARGED WITH HER MURDER.

Lawyer Kate Lange knows all about nightmares. She’s survived the darkest period of her troubled life and the wounds are still raw. Now she’s been handed a case that seems utterly unwinnable: defending her boss, high-profile lawyer Randall Barrett. A prosecutor’s dream suspect, Randall is a man who was cuckolded by his ex-wife. A man who could not control his temper. A man who had argued bitterly with the victim the previous day in full view of the children.

With limited criminal law experience, Kate finds herself enmeshed in a family fractured by doubt. Randall’s teenage son is intent on killing him. His daughter wants only to feel safe again. And the entire legal community would like nothing better than to see Randall receive a public comeuppance. As Kate races to stay a step ahead of the prosecution, a silent predator is waiting for the perfect time to deal the final blow. 

Release Date:  December 1, 2010

Publisher:  Harlequin

Age Group:  Adult

Pages:  400

Source:  NetGalley

Review: 

I am a big fan of mysteries and legal thrillers.  In fact, for about ten years I read those two genres almost exclusively.   David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, John Grisham, John Lescroart, Brad Meltzer, Jeffrey Archer, they were my favorite authors for quite some time.  That was before I rediscovered YA as an adult.  

Anyway, I became kind of picky about mysteries and legal thrillers after having read so many excellent books by those bestselling authors.  I decided to try Indefensible when I saw it on NetGalley, and I'm so glad I did.  It was just as good as any of my favorite thrillers.  The plot was exciting, the book moved at a good pace, and the identity of the killer was a surprise.  The story grabbed me from the first page, and I found myself reading when I should have been doing other things, just because I couldn't wait to see how the story ended. 

I liked Kate's character a lot, and even though I did not read the first Kate Lange book, there were enough flashbacks to book one to keep me from getting confused.  There was excellent character development in this book.  The characters grow throughout the book, especially Kate and Nick.  I love to read about character growth!  

I would recommend Pamela Callow's work to fans of mysteries, legal thrillers, and anyone wanting a fast-paced story. 

Just One Gripe: 

The ending was not super concrete with regards to the love story.  This makes sense as the book is part of a character-driven series.

The Best Thing About This Book:

The pacing and character development.

Appropriate for a younger audience: 

Possibly.  Parents, read it first and then decide. 

Score: 

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Setting/Imagery: 4/5

Originality: 4/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score:  20/25