Jane Eyre and Other Books

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is probably the third time I read this book, but I’ve never written a review for it until now. This book doesn’t need my review, its popularity that lived through the ages is enough to show how good it is. So this is only my humble opinion.
The writing style makes you live with Jane and feel her pain and suffering, from the very first paragraph you become invested in the life of this little girl, feel sorry for her and hate with vengeance those who mistreat and bully her. The orphanage era is a little better for her but not good, there we see the inside of a corrupt institution that starve children in the name of religion and the teaching of endurance.
The progress is smooth but there are a lot of poetic parts in between, I lose interest during these parts. Then we are rewarded by the introduction of Mr. Rochester, he should be a model for how a leading male character should be written in some romance books, every romance author should build their leading male characters on him. The romance between the two starts from their first meeting, and you can detect some of it with every encounter. It is not overdone nor it is lacking, you can feel it and fall in love and rejoice with these two. It’s so skillfully written that you’ll find yourself smiling with the sweet scenes and despair with the hopelessness of their situation. Religion was an important part here, but the author used it for a purpose, she didn’t preach, but the message was delivered nonetheless. The ending of the book is the best written ending of a romance story ever, for me at least, it took care of every little detail that was mentioned through out the book and was very satisfying, this is how every romance book should end.

Madam Love, Actually by Rich Amooi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved this book because the plot was something you don’t read every day in a romance book, it was really funny and romantic. The best thing about this book is that it’s a clean read, and the ending was really good. The only thing I struggled with was the lies, there was too much to forgive but I guess love prevails in the end.

Mr. Crotchety by Rich Amooi ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The humor in this book is one of a few that made me laugh out loud, and the romance was so sweet -except that tango tongue kiss- and the ending was perfect.

Bored of the Rings by Rich Amooi ⭐️⭐️⭐️
While I liked the plot and the humor was nice, I didn’t appreciate the dirty jokes. The author could’ve skipped those and he would still have a beautifully written romantic comedy.

Dead Love Has Chains by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ⭐️⭐️⭐️
You know the saying that you should not go shopping on an empty stomach, well you should not read a Mary Elizabeth Braddon when you’re depressed. This probably is the last book I read by this author, not because she’s not good, far from it, but her books plots are very depressingly good. This was no different, suffering and agony from the beginning of the book. And don’t expect a happy ending, you’re welcome.

Hot Shot By Denise Devine ⭐️⭐️
An okay fast read, clean but nothing else special about it.

The Duke’s Bride in Disguise by Claudia Stone ⭐️⭐️
This book is an example of how shallow language can ruin a good story, the plot and the characters are good but the romance wasn’t a romance. When it came to the two main characters, fantasizing about each other’s thighs and curves wasn’t romantic, every single “romantic” notion in this book was pure physical urges.

The duke’s governess in disguise by Claudia Stone ⭐️⭐️
The same physical attraction ‘not romance’ is present in this book, which is really disappointing because the plot was good. So, with the repeating of parts from the previous book, word by word, this became a two stars review. Some inspirations from Jane Eyre can also be detected here.

Blind Spot by Sariah Wilson ⭐️⭐️
Nice light read, even if it was predictable and focused on physical attraction rather than real emotional connection. It was funny and I liked Paulo, and the ending was nice too.

Abraham by Jennifer Beckstrand ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Abraham is a unique character in nowadays romance books, he’s not the usual combination of good looks and strong character, he’s insecure and shy. It’s a light, drama free book, the twins antics were mostly fun and the religion didn’t dominate the whole book -a huge plus for me- unfortunately neither did the romance.

The importance of being Eunice by Claudia Stone ⭐️
I really liked how this book started and had high hopes for it, until the first meeting of the two main characters, innuendo was unleashed like a wild animal. In fact, romance was absent from this story, until the very last scene, that was the only romantic scene in the whole book, which was described by the author as “wasn’t the most romantic of scenes”. I won’t be reading any more of this author’s books, the writing style is not good.

DiPrinanio’s Stand by Jim Caldwell ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The plot of this book is different from any romance story I’ve read before, the characters are written well, the dialogue is enjoyable to read and there was no cliches or typical moments in it. The ending was good but I needed more, there was a gap between two critical times in the end, it felt rushed and left out a lot of important moments.

katies first social by By Elanor Miller ⭐️⭐️
Very typical and very short Amish romance, with good writing style and a happy ending.

Echoes of Daniel A 5-minute romantic thriller by Bronwyn Parry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lovely five pages read, a shot of thrill and some romance with a happy ending.

#Awestruck Sariah Wilson ⭐️

Shallow, typical, predictable and filled with clichés from every romance book out there.

Old Disappointment and New Disappointments

Homegrown Dandelions by Judith Bronte ⭐️⭐️
The beginning was good, but as the story progressed I found many unpleasant things in this book. For example, the women folk here are written in a very weird way, slobbering after a man even fighting over him. And for a religious book, the innuendo was too much. The only thing I liked is the way the kids were written, especially Rayan.

The Day Will Come by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ⭐️⭐️
This book has a theme, and it’s not criminal. At first you’ll believe this book is a romance story with a whodunnit theme, but as you continue reading you realize that there’s a hidden message and it’s about elopement and the grim fate of its pursuers. Reading the first few chapters of the marital bliss for the newlyweds was a torture, because the blurb tells you how it will end. The mystery is not hard to solve, I figured out the identity of the murderer halfway through the first volume. And derailing from the main plot was very annoying and uninteresting, I really didn’t want to know the details of other unrelated characters, but as I said it was for the sake of a hidden message in this book. The ending was less than satisfying.

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I liked it, even if romance wasn’t the main theme and was very vague. The characters are very well written, even Bouncer the dog was a delight to read. I thought this will be a very gloomy book with murders and villains, but it wasn’t, I was surprised by the humor that was present from the beginning.

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a very gloomy read, there’s too much death and those who survive are doomed with a loss of sight or hearing or both. But it’s an eye opener, poverty is still present in our lives and starvation is not rare. The quotes and the old songs took a big part of the book, a few verses would’ve sufficed but it was too long for me. All in all, it’s a very sad read with a dash of romance and a satisfying ending.

This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the mother of all mysteries that I’ve read so far by Mary Stewart, and the romance was a big part of the plot. When I read a mystery book I usually solve the mystery before finishing the first half of the book, that wasn’t the case here, it was very cleverly written. As I was reading, one question was on my mind “how come no one write like this nowadays?”. I really enjoyed this book and the ending was mind blowing… pun intended😉.

The Child is Mine by Mildred Colvin ⭐️⭐️
The plot is interesting and I really liked the babies scenes, the romance was disappointing though. I didn’t like the protagonist at all, but Beth the mother was written nicely, Beth the heroine wasn’t. The last part of the book was written in a very typical Harlequin style, minus the physical and sexual interactions.

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Leave it to Tarkington to write a’Woman’. All of the female characters in this book are unlikeable and realistic. From the start you can see how the author magnifies the flaws in Alice, her mother and before them the nurse, and we even find ourselves sympathetic with the husband and the brother…i,e the ’Men’. This was not a fiction book, it’s very realistic and very unpleasant read.

A Brother’s Duty By Bill Sanderson ⭐️⭐️
The plot is good but the writing was amateurish. There is too much unnecessary filling and too much religion, with nice clean romance.

A Pine Island Christmas by Caroline Mickilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I liked the plot and the characters, but it was too fast to fall in love after seeing each other a couple of times, I would’ve liked it better if there was a longer time frame between meeting and falling in love.

The Wedding Chapel by Caroline Mickilson ⭐️⭐️
I liked the plot, the humor was nice and the mystery was good, but the romance wasn’t that good, there was that focus on body parts and physical attraction that could make any love story less enjoyable. And the two main characters were neither interesting nor realistic.

Storm on the Horizon by Kathi Macias ⭐️
Too preachy, the mystery and romance were almost nonexistent.

Witch Weigh by Caroline Mickilson ⭐️⭐️
I love magic and witches, so naturally the plot is good. What I don’t love is writing sexual and physical attraction as romance, the author seems to focus on that instead of actual romantic feelings and emotions. Other than that, I enjoyed the magic and the humor.

Her big fat foxy billionaire by Victorine E. Lieske ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The friendship between the two main characters was really enjoyable to read, but not the romance, there wasn’t anything special or unique about it. I did appreciated how the romance was portrayed, clean and not as physical attraction but as something deeper and meaningful.