Recent Reads - with more to come

The Marcelli Bride – Susan Mallery

This one is alright. This is the fourth book in a series about four sisters and a brother whose family makes wine. This one is the brother’s story. Joe was put up for adoption when he was born. Years later, his parents, who remained together, tracked him down, wanting him to take his place in the family. He is less than enthused. His home is the navy. Darcy Jensen is the younger, less popular daughter of the president. When there is a kidnapping attempt on her, she is whisked away to the Marcelli home with Joe as her protector. There he is forced to deal with his family and their attempts to get him to join the family/

What I liked: I thought both Joe and Darcy were fairly good characters.

What I didn’t like: I don’t like books where the hero/heroine of fictional famous real people. When I first heard the outline of this one, I thought “daughter of the president of the United States – give me a break”. That position is much too well known for me to buy it. If it was a senator or something less well known, it would have worked better. It just took too much suspension of belief. I found the whole Marcelli family a bit annoying also.

Conclusion: I enjoyed her other recent book Delicious so much better than this one but this was the fourth in a series so I thought I’d read it. There is one more but since it’s about the youngest daughter and a prince, I’ll pass on the next one in this series and look forward to when Chapters finally gets Irresistible in stock. This is why I have a four book in a series and that’s it rule. I think Ms. Mallery is a good writer and I’ve enjoyed most of her single title releases, but this particular one didn’t work as well as others.
Grade: 3 out of 5


The Comeback Kiss – Diane Lani Rich

This one is very good. From Amazon - Tessa Scuderi's life changed on one night 10 years ago when her best friend, Finn, took off with her beloved VW bug and her heart. It was also the night her mother died while fleeing a fire in her craft shop. Now Finn is back. While he was gone, Tessa has been raising her little sister, Izzy, and worrying that any false move will put her sister into the state's hands. So she's not ready to welcome back Finn and his connection to her troublemaking teenage days. Sparks fly though--literally and figuratively. On Finn's first day in town, he saves a burning pet shop and shares a passionate kiss with Tessa, and that's only the beginning.

What I liked: I really enjoyed the snappy dialogue between Finn and Tessa. I love the childhood sweetheart storyline. As well as enjoying both Finn and Tessa, I really enjoyed the character of Izzy, Tessa’s younger sister. Even they mystery is a hoot.

What I didn’t like: Well, ther's not much I didn't like. This one is very good. About the only thing I might have changed is the hero’s hair colour. It’s red. I don’t mind any other hair colour for the hero, blond, black, brwon, anything – except red. So I just replaced it with Dark Mahoganny 421 (which just happens to be mine at the moment) whenever I read red.

Conclusion: I was part way through this book when I realized that Finn was a secondary character in another book. At that point I had to decide whether to stop reading The Comeback Kiss and start reading Maybe Baby, the previous book, or to keep going with this one. I was enjoying it so much I didn’t want to stop, so I figured I’d keep going, then read the first one, then go back and read this one again. Yeah! That works. Question for anyone who’s read it. Would it be considered chick-lit? Because if it is, then I’ve been reading and enjoying one without knowing it.
Grade 4 out of 5

More book opinions on their way.

'til later