Category: book reviews

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: Love Bites

Posted on by sokorra

Title: Love Bites
Bookit #10
Author: Skye Turner & Amanda Lanclos
Release Date:  November 11 2017
Medium: Kindle E-book  (Kindle Unlimited)

When I spotted this book on the ‘You May Like’ list, I thought it sounded cute and decided to read it.  It sat in the not-read pile for awhile but I finally got down to reading it this month…and I was disappointed.

The book description warns you that it is a book for adult readers.  Normally this doesn’t bother me as I am an of age reader.  However, by the end of the book it was too much.  The book was almost all sex scenes, with very little plot.  What little plot there was wasn’t very good and the whole book comes out as a shallow story.  While I don’t mind the occasional love scene, I prefer it to compliment the story, not be the entire story.

The story at first seemed to have some merit, but it soon stopped being a story.  It jumps time with no warning, and most of the non-sex scenes are just a few paragraphs leading to a new sex scene.  And I didn’t think they were written all that well.

I don’t know if it was perhaps the 1st person narration (Done with two characters alternating) or the fact that it just seemed rushed and nothing holding it together.  Either way, this book gets a strong C-.  I feel it could do alot better if they had added more to the plot so it didn’t seem like out of nowhere at the end, and developed the characters a little more so I actually cared about what was going on.

I may give the authors another chance individually, but I don’t see myself continuing this series when they do continue it. The other reviewers on Goodreads apparently disagree with me, so perhaps it was just me.

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Movie Review: Jumanji 2: Welcome to the Jungle

Posted on by sokorra

Title: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Release Date: December 20 2017
Genre: Action/Adventure & Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Director: Steve Beck

I saw this via Amazon as it has just recently been put on DVD/Blu-ray & Digital.   Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a sequel to the 1995 film Jumanji starring Robin Williams.

This film has a great cast to draw you in.  I wanted to see it for Karen Gillan, who I know mostly from Doctor Who but who is also in the MCU as Gamora’s sister Nebula.  Dwayne Johnson leads the cast that includes comedy headliners Jack Black and Kevin Hart.  Nick Jonas makes an unexpected (for me anyway) appearance in the movie.  Also making a brief appearance is Colin Hanks, the son of one of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks.  He wasn’t in the film long enough to showcase if he has inherited the talent, but I’ve been seeing him on things a lot more, so it seems we will have the chance to see.

The two films are not very similar.  There is a jungle theme to the game, but outside a reference to Alan Parrish (RObin William’s character in the 1995 film) and the outside of the game packaging, the stories seem completely different.  In the sequel, the game has updated itself to be a video game to interact with 1996 Alex.  Later in modern days (possibly 2016 or 2017), four students in detention end up sucked into the game like Alan had been, and later Alex.

I have to admit there was a part of this that started to sound like someone was making a mash-up of the Breakfast Club and Jumanji rather than a true sequel.  Which I still had an impression of at the end of the story.  It was funny, and the movie wasn’t as horrible as I thought it could have been during the trailers.  I just feel like for a sequel it really has very little to do with its predecessor. There doesn’t seem to be enough connections.  That being said, when I looked up the novel that the movie was based on there was mention of an animated TV show based on the same idea, and it seems to have some of the same concepts.

I also learned that the children’s book Jumanji had a sequel called Zathura, which was also made into a movie and I plan on watching it sometime this year.

My final grade for Jumanji 2 is a B-.  I feel like it missed a few beats and should have had more continuity within the Jumanji universe.

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: Smooth Talking Stranger

Posted on by sokorra

Title: Smooth Talking Stranger (Travis series #3)
Bookit #9
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Release Date:  2010
Medium: Kindle E-book

Smooth Talking Stranger is the third of four books in the Travis series by Lisa Kleypas.  This story focuses on Ella, a woman who finds herself suddenly the guardian of her sister’s infant son.  Like the other books in this series, the main character has some dysfunctional relationships and issues they have to overcome to end up happily ever after.

I think this novel is not quite as good as the previous two, but still is better pacing wise and depth wise then the fourth novel, which apparently came out years after the rest of the series.  I don’t think the issues that Ella face are dealt with.  Dane, her boyfriend, is a bit too laid-back a character. Some of the other minor characters are rather two-dimensional and not memorable at all which was a let down, as other books had such memorable secondary characters.

I did have an issue with some of the macho-man stuff that has come across in this book.  It was in the other two, but perhaps because I read three books within 48 hours it just stood out more to be here.  It also reuses the love triangle plot line where the woman in question has to decide between her ex and her current interests and the guy insists that she not sleep with him simply because she is theirs.  The possessive part bothers me, especially when it’s followed by sex and then the guy ignoring his significant other after she meets up with the ex to determine where to go.

Perhaps its the formula-like of it within the series or it, or perhaps the questionable relationship if you can’t trust that your significant other would choose you.

That being said, it was an enjoyable read.

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: Blue-Eyed Devil

Posted on by sokorra

Title: Blue-Eyed Devil (Travis series #2)
Bookit #8
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Release Date:  2008
Medium: Kindle E-book

WARNING:  This novel covers topics that may cause triggering effects on those who suffered from physical or mental abuse.

Blue-eyed Devil is the second novel in the Travis Series by Liza Kleypas.  I was looking forward to this book, because Hardy had been one of my favorite characters in the first book I read, Brown-Eyed Girl, and he is the hero in this novel after being the one who lost in book 1, Sugar Daddy.

The main character in this novel is Haven Travis, the youngest sibling of the Travis Clan.  It starts soon after the closing of Sugar Daddy in that they are attending Liberty and Gage (the couple from book 1)’s wedding.  It is there she meets Hardy, and it leaves a lasting impression on her.

This book is a little different from romance novels that I have seen in the past, because it involves a couple who faced domestic abuse.  It also deals with the problems children who have faced domestic abuse might have as adults.  I was glad to see that for the most part Haven ends up saving herself, rather than her love interest.  Often times I have seen this written as a ploy to get the two main characters together, and in this novel it’s not.  She is also allowed to get help when she needs it, and not having it forced on her or denied her like some narratives are prone to do.

In fact, their romance, baring the moment at the wedding, doesn’t even start till after Haven removes herself from the abusive relationship.  It also doesn’t look down on therapy, and has really good sibling relationships.  One of the stronger themes in this series is the relationships between the main character (always female) and her siblings.  Book one was about Liberty and her sister Carrington.  This is about Haven and her relationship with her brothers.  Brown-Eyed Girl (book 4) is about Avery and her half-sister Sophia.

This series also has a good record in showing mixed families.  Not everyone’s family is perfect, and not every perfect family is a bad family.  There are single parents, distant parents, parents who were both there, and parents who realised they couldn’t care for their children so they gave them up for adoption.

I also found this relatable because I have dealt with people who are narcissistic in nature, and I have seen the problems they cause for the people around them. I’m not sure I believe the therapist in this story who says abusers are always narcissistic.

Overall, I give this a A, because it had good pacing, the main character manages to save herself half the time, and people deal with their issues instead of having instant cures. However, this book has references to domestic abuse, both physical and mental, as well as rape.  Therefore I suggest you avoid this one if any of those subjects might be triggering for you.

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: Sugar Daddy

Posted on by sokorra

​​Title: Sugar Daddy (Travis Series #1)
Bookit #7
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Release Date:  2007
Medium: Kindle E-book

A few weeks ago I reviewed a book called Brown Eyed Girl.  I found out later that the novel was in fact the last book in a four book series about the Travis Siblings.  The first book in the series was Sugar Daddy and was focused on Liberty Jones, a woman who grew up poor and ended up having to raise her baby sister.  She gets torn between her first love – Hardy Cates, and the man she has started falling for – Gage Travis.

I like this book better than Brown-Eyed Girl because it seems to have more details and more consistent pacing. Liberty’s story has a strong backstory.  I had to admit I found the fact that Gage didn’t show up till about 2/3 thorugh the story odd for a romance, but it put more emphasis on it being Liberty’s story.  She’s the narrator (and its in first person) and the story is more about her moving on.  Given the information in the ‘description’ I thought both Gage and Hardy would have showed up more then they did.

Reading this novel was helpful in improving my thoughts on Brown-Eyed Girl simply because some of the information I found lacking in that novel gets explained in this one (and the two others).  So while each book can stand its own, its a good idea to read the series in order to get the full story.

Final Grade:  B+

Posted in book reviews, bookit, Uncategorized

Bookit Review: Brown-Eyed Girl

Posted on by sokorra

Title: Brown Eyed-Girl
Bookit #6
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Release Date:  2015
Medium: Large Print Hardback

My grade: B

I found this book on a stroll through Ollies, a discount surplus store with a huge book section. I thought the summary on the back looked interesting and got it.  My first reaction was surprise at just how huge the large print was.  It seemed bigger than the usual large format I’ve seen in the past, but its been awhile so I could have been wrong.  I found it actually takes a bit to get used to the different size when you aren’t used to it.

This book apparently is the fourth book in a series about the Travis family.  I wasn’t aware of that before I read it, so that might have affected how I read the book.  There seemed to be bits that seemed rather shallow and under developed and that might just have been because the assumption was you’ve read the previous three books.   The book overall was not bad.  The story focuses on Avery, a fashion designer turned event planner who focuses on Weddings.  She is a bit guarded due to a really bad break-up and the memory of her father’s tendency to never stay committed.  Joe Travis wants to change her mind on relationships, but he can only do so much.  With Joe and Sophie (her sister)’s help she ends up finding more confidence in herself and allowing herself to open up and trust others.  It does have its clichéd moments, but then what romance novel doesn’t?

I think I may try to read the earlier books and see if it changes my mind on the book.   Till then its a good light read.

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Bookit Review: My Hero

Posted on by sokorra

Title: My Hero
Bookit #5
Author: Debbie Macomber
Release Date: 2018 (current copy, originally printed by itself in 1992)
Medium: Paperback

My grade: D

In the second novel published together in Looking for a Hero,  we have novice novel writer Bailey who decides to essentially stalk someone to get inspiration for her main character.  Somehow the main guy, Parker, finds this intriguing rather than not and decides to go along with it and ends up taking her on dates disguised as ‘research’.   I found the main character paradoxically likeable and not.  She had many similarities with me, at least writer wise, and we even share a cat with the same name.  But other than that I find the whole thing just odd.

Who goes from “Why are you following me?”  to “Will you marry me?”  in just a few months? We learn so much about Bailey, whose the point of view character, but Parker remains hardly there except to fall in love with Bailey.  Like with its partner novel, Marriage Wanted, I feel like we are getting the first draft, with missing bits.  I feel this story misses a lot by doing a single point of view, and I find myself just not getting the characters or the situation.

Both novels were alright – I could finish them without throwing the book.  They helped me get through a very boring day of waiting in an office.  However, I was disappointed that this came from an author I have seen do better in the past.

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Bookit Review: Marriage Wanted

Posted on by sokorra

Title:  Marriage Wanted
Bookit #4
Author: Debbie Macomber
Release Date: 2018
Medium: Paperback

My grade: D

I was actually fairly disappointed in this book.  I usually like Debbie Macomber, finding her books light and easy reads for days when I really could use light and fluffy.  This book however was not up to her usual fair, and has the signs of being a “well, I need to write something” type of story.

The premise of Marriage Wanted (part one of the duo in the paperback I bought) was that Savannah was a wedding planner who felt that Marriage was the thing to achieve, while Nash (a divorce) lawyer thought it was simply an outdated institution and nothing good came out of it.  He challenges her to marry him and test the theory out.

Or at least that is what the back of the book states.  It feels like a rough draft of a longer novel.  The pacing is awkward.  It’s slow at first, building up the characters (except at the same time taking jumps of time to not really understand their inter-character relationships at all). The second half of the book rushes everything, from the wedding, to the falling in love bit.  Issues that develop to give drama to the story are brushed over towards the end as if she was in a rush to get this story over with.

This is not the worst thing I have read, but as a story it needed more.

Posted in American History, book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: The Wedding Dress

Posted on by sokorra

Title:  The Wedding Dress
Bookit #3
Author: Rachel Hauck
Release Date: 2012
Medium: Paperback

My grade: A-

I really enjoyed this book, which is actually the first in the series.  However, none of the books appear to be interconnected other than a few minor things.  The third book, which I’m not reading at this time might have some more connections, however.  Basically, you can read this book and The Wedding Chapel in any order and not be out-of-place. Continue reading “Bookit Review: The Wedding Dress” →

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Bookit Review: The Wedding Chapel

Posted on by sokorra

Title: The Wedding Chapel (book 2 of the Wedding series)
Bookit #2
Author: Rachel Hauck
Release Date:
Medium: Paperback

My grade: A

I picked this book up at a discount item store the other day, not realising it was the second book in a series.  However it seems that the books are connected by theme rather than storyline so I think I’ve done alright.

This book has four point of views (done third person) including Collette, Taylor, Jimmy and Jack.  It is about a family and finding out some hard truths.  At the start of the book, we are introduced to Jimmy, who is an 83-year-old football coach who built a wedding chapel for his girlfriend back in the 50s.  It ended up not working out and he’s finally deciding to sell after interest spikes in the property.

Taylor is a photographer sent by a magazine that heard about the chapel and wanted to photograph it.  She happened to grow up in the same home town as Couch Jimmy, and is amazed by the chapel.  She later finds out the chapel was made for her Great-Aunt Collette.  So Taylor stays around to find out what is going to happen to the chapel as well as deal with her grandmother’s belongings.  It brings out a lot of secrets the family has kept for decades.

In the end, the two couples in the story – Jimmy & Collette;  Jack & Taylor – have to figure out how to get over what has happened to them in the past and make new beginnings.

I enjoyed the story, although sometimes the timeline was hard to follow.  It took place mainly in 2015, with flashbacks to when Jimmy & Collette were younger.  I do admit I wish that Peg had been a point of view, but that might have given away the ending too soon.    I also liked the references to other novels that Rachel Hauck has written, although I only knew they were references because I saw a list of her books one day when searching for the publishing info on this novel.

I’m reading the first book in the series now, called The Wedding Dress.  Its most likely going to be the next book in my book reviews.