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Laurie G. (beachgal) - Reviews

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Awakening the Virgin 2: More True Tales of Seduction
Awakening the Virgin 2: More True Tales of Seduction
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 11/29/2009
Helpful Score: 2


This book is really intriguing--though all the main characters are women-loving-women, these tales, unlike Awakening the Virgin 1, are not all about a woman's first time making love with another woman. They are all about "firsts"--and some are even sexier, in my opinion, than the first book--but these can vary from a kiss to the first time someone tried S/M. It's a good read!


Behind the Pine Curtain
Behind the Pine Curtain
Author: Gerri Hill
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 37
Review Date: 6/2/2013


I thought this wasn't going to be as tight and well-plotted as it turned out to be. The beginning was a little loose and unfocused, but I ended up very impressed with Hill's ability to create tension out of very simple situations. Her characters have depth without being overbearing, and I came to care deeply about what happened to Jackie and Kay. A good read!


The Book of the Seven Delights (Library of Alexandria, Bk 1)
The Book of the Seven Delights (Library of Alexandria, Bk 1)
Author: Betina Krahn
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 63
Review Date: 9/7/2006
Helpful Score: 3


Krahn is such fun to read! Spicy, but with lots of emotional connection between the characters. This story has tons of great historical seasoning...the main character is in search of the Great Library of Alexandria after she finds a text that gives her clues while working in the basement of the British Museum. Though she's a great scholar, she's put down there because she's a woman. One of the texts she finds during the course of the story (the aforementioned title of the book) has a list of seven ways couples can enhance their love for each other, sexually (hence, the spice...) and she finds lots of ways to explore them! Great read!


By the Rivers of Babylon
By the Rivers of Babylon
Author: Nelson DeMille
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 122
Review Date: 9/7/2006
Helpful Score: 3


Nelson DeMille is an incredible writer! This book of suspense is not only well written and a major page-turner, but I was surprised to find myself learning so much about ancient cultures (like Babylonia) while reading it! The book is about two jets that take off from Isreal for a U.N. Conference to bring about peace in the Middle East. The planes are both loaded with bombs, unbeknownest to the passengers. They are forced to crashland in the middle of the desert and then try to defend their lives against the terrorists that come to get them. Amazing suspense!


The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend (A Nancy Clue Mystery)
The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend (A Nancy Clue Mystery)
Author: Mabel Maney
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 2/2/2013
Helpful Score: 2


I devoured Nancy Drew books when I was a kid. A friend suggested I try the Nancy Clue books, and I'm so glad she did: they are hilarious and engaging! They satirize both the Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames books, and do it incredibly well. So many of the things that I associated with Nancy Drew, from her unshakeable nature, ability to stay perfectly coiffed during any mishap, old-fashioned language, and incredible outfits, are here. I'd never read any Cherry Ames books, but a friend lent me a couple, and I can say that the parody of them is spot-on, too. The stories in these books are intriguing, but what makes them the most fun is the parody and seeing these characters in a more modern way. This book is the second in the series, and I really enjoyed seeing how the relationships evolved and grew.


Dawn Of Change
Dawn Of Change
Author: Gerri Hill
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 24
Review Date: 12/4/2012
Helpful Score: 2


This is a beautifully written and engaging story about the friendship--and eventual attraction--between two women. I had a hard time putting it down; although this story seems like one that would easily be full of cliches, Hill writes it in a very fresh, honest, and tight way that keeps you turning pages. I highly recommend it!


A Family For Tory (Love Inspired)
A Family For Tory (Love Inspired)
Author: Margaret Daley
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 29
Review Date: 3/11/2007
Helpful Score: 1


I *loved* this book! The characters are well rounded and fully developed, yet expressively human. Tory, who runs a riding stable for people in need, feels that she's never going to have her lifelong dream of having a family. Slade Donaldson, who lost his wife to the car accident that injured his daughter, feels that God has abandoned him. Slade's daughter, Mindy, who is 8, suffered epilepsy from the injury and had brain surgery to correct it. She had to relearn everything after the surgery and the only way she would go willingly to her physical therapy was if she also got the chance to spend time with the horses at Tory's stable. The romance between Tory and Slade is wonderful; watching two wounded people find love again is always enjoyable, but the way they both love Minday and the ways in which their relationship helps Slade begin a relationship anew with God, are especially poignant. This is a wonderful read!


Heaven Knows
Heaven Knows
Author: Jillian Hart
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 24
Review Date: 1/11/2007


This is an inspirational romance about a woman on the run from her abusive fiance, who finds solace and love with a widowed man and his daughter. It was sweet and good--the parts about faith weren't 'tacked on' or 'pushy,' just incorporated naturally within the story.


How Stella Got Her Groove Back
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Author: Terry McMillan
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 112
Review Date: 10/3/2006


This is one of the best books of all time for fun, feeling good about yourself, and believing that anything can and does happen! Stella is a single mother who is a success at her job and at motherhood, but is tired, feels rundown, lonely, and depressed. Suddenly she decides to go on a vacation, alone, to Jamaica, something totally out of character for her. It changes her life...she falls in love with a man much younger than her, she finds her 'groove' and what happens next will astound you! The book is much better, of course, but it was also made into a movie that was pretty good as well.


Lip Service
Lip Service
Author: Suzanne Simmons
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 25
Review Date: 9/7/2006


Fairly fun, easy read...romance, suspence, and good tension/chemistry between the main characters. Not the great American Novel, but definitely worth reading while on a beach vacation or just for a fun interlude between serious books! :)


Lost Yesterday (Time Passages Romance)
Lost Yesterday (Time Passages Romance)
Author: Jenny Lykins
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 19
Review Date: 9/7/2006


What a great genre...picked this up at a used book sale and have never found any others from this group of romances. The main character has decided to never love again (of course!) and works incessantly at a plantation in modern-day Memphis. One rainy night she has an accident in her car and wakes up in 1876, carried by a man she recognizes from photographs of the family at the plantation. It's a great romance!


Love Comes Softly (Love Comes Softly, No 1)
Love Comes Softly (Love Comes Softly, No 1)
Author: Janette Oke
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 151
Review Date: 9/7/2006


My cover looks different from this one, but it's the same book. This is a wonderful story, full of love, Christian growth, and dealing with hard circumstances by meeting them with faith. Not to mention the whole prairie-western thing! :) This book was made into the first of three Hallmark movies and is the first in a series of three books. It's wonderful!


Love's Long Journey (Love Comes Softly, No 3)
Love's Long Journey (Love Comes Softly, No 3)
Author: Janette Oke
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 140
Review Date: 3/11/2007
Helpful Score: 1


I've loved all three books in this series. Apparently, there are now more than 8 of them...but originally this was the last in a 3-book series. This, along with the first two, has been made into a movie and is available on DVD. Here's the back of the book: "In the heartwarming style of "Little House on the Prairie," Janette Oke takes us even further west than Marty travelled in the first story, LOVE COMES SOFTLY. In the second one, LOVE'S ENDURING PROMISE, daughter Missie and Willie LaHaye were married. Now we find them on the trail west in a covered wagon.

How did those pioneers face the hardships of the trail? The rain, the mud, the impassable river fordings--and even death. The inital elation of a new adventure soon wears thin, and Missie must learn how to live her faith as she faces homesickness, boredom, and deprivation."

Missie finds that she's to be left behind for a while as Willie travels to their new home and when she finally joins him there, she finds a big surprise.


Loving Constance (Sisters of the Heart, Bk 3) (Love Inspired, No 277)
Loving Constance (Sisters of the Heart, Bk 3) (Love Inspired, No 277)
Author: Lyn Cote
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 57
Review Date: 1/3/2007
Helpful Score: 2


This is the last book in the "Sisters of the Heart" series...so if you really want to know what happens to Grace and Patience, you'll want to read their books first, as they are often featured in this one and it may spoil your experiences reading their stories.

This is a really engaging book! Constance has been in love with her friend's husband, Troy, forever--she dated him first, and after he broke up with her in High School, he fell for her friend Annie and married her. Constance kept her feelings silent and moved away. She has now come back for a party to celebrate passing the bar exam and finds that Troy has dissapeared. Was he a victim of foul play? What happened? Detective Rand O'Neill, a widower who's afraid to love again, is the one put on the case. Annie works with him and before they know it, they're falling in love, but afraid to admit it. Great book with tons of suspense and twists and turns...believable and interesting characters and lots of grace and faith in God incorporated within the story rather that added on in a preachy way.


More and More (Mayfair Square, Bk 1)
More and More (Mayfair Square, Bk 1)
Author: Stella Cameron
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 43
Review Date: 9/7/2006
Helpful Score: 1


The main character is a spinster in 1820 and a collector of antique glass (i.e. she's rather smart, too...). Her brother is abducted and she decides to enlist the help of a very dangerous man who is also a highly eligible bachelor. Sparks fly...great suspense and romance!


My Point...And I Do Have One
My Point...And I Do Have One
Author: Ellen Degeneres
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 75
Review Date: 9/7/2006
Helpful Score: 1


I adore Ellen's show...and found a lot of the roots of her comedic monologues and stand up in this book. It's not her very best work, but it's really funny and a lot of fun to read.


Nerd Gone Wild (Nerds, Bk 3)
Nerd Gone Wild (Nerds, Bk 3)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 296
Review Date: 10/3/2006
Helpful Score: 1


By the author of "The Nerd who Loved Me," which was a 'Reading with Ripa Book Club' selection, this is a fun, fast read. Funny 'thriller' romance about an heiress who wants to be a wildlife photographer and a bodyguard/PI who is posing as the nerdy bookkeeper of her inheritance while trying to protect her from those who might kill her for her money. The sex in this book is way beyond the norm for romance novels with a very high 'kink factor' and no use of euphemisms--be warned if that makes you uncomfortable.


Nights in Rodanthe
Nights in Rodanthe
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 775
Review Date: 3/11/2007
Helpful Score: 2


"Reeling with heartache after her husband abandons her for a younger woman, Adrienne Willis flees to the small coastal town of Rodanthe, NC, to tend a friend's inn. Here she hopes to find the tranquility she so desperately needs to rethink her life. But almost as soon as she gets there, a major storm is forecast and a guest named Dr. Paul Flanner arrives. At fifty-four, Paul has just sold his medical practice and is trying to escape his own shattered past. Now, with a fierce nor'easter closing in, two wounded people will turn to each other for comfort--and in one weekend set in motion feelings that will resonate throughout the rest of their lives." (from the back cover)

I've read almost all of Nicholas Sparks' books and enjoyed them all, thoroughly. This one, though, is a bit different from the others in that the entire story is told in a flashback. This kind of spoiled it for me...I would have rather not known what happened at the end before hearing the beginning. The story is beautiful, though, true to his amazing ability to create romance, yearning, and heart-wrenching situations.


One Degree of Separation
One Degree of Separation
Author: Karin Kallmaker
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 26
Review Date: 11/10/2010
Helpful Score: 2


What a fabulous book! The characters in this novel about a small town in Iowa, while many, are well-defined and interesting without taking away from the main plot. Kallmaker really draws the reader in to the story of two women who have been scarred by relationships with the same ex. I especially appreciated the way Kallmaker made Marian (the librarian) so multi-faceted. She's neither butch nor femme, is well-balanced, friendly, but laid-back. I really enjoyed seeing the interplay between her and Liddy. If lesbian life in Iowa really is as wonderful as this, I can better understand how they happened to pass same-sex marriage before California! :)


Playing Games (Harlequin Flipside, No 32)
Playing Games (Harlequin Flipside, No 32)
Author: Dianne Drake
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
 12
Review Date: 9/7/2006
Helpful Score: 2


Very funny and witty, about a radio shrink who is frustrated by a caller that tries to get on her nerves nightly but makes her frustrated in other ways...

The shrink is totally different at home...she abandons her sassy ways and is rather interested in her neighbor, who's a handyman. She thinks up tons of reasons she needs his help in her apartment...each sillier than the last. Very fun, short read. :)


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