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.
CrysVio 