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Darlene S. (dbs) - Reviews

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317 Beulah Street
317 Beulah Street
Author: Sandra Steffen
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 12
Review Date: 2/21/2007
Helpful Score: 1


Yawn. Just discovered Steffen and fortunately, I have read enough by her at this point or I wouldn't pick up another of her titles. Trite, inflated Harlequin romance----you've read this plot a million times. Gorgeous bad boy returns to small town where his reputation remains tainted. Romance starts with his brother's widow. Of course, deceased brother was PERFECT and adored by the town until (gasp) right after his death, it is discovered he did something terrible. Widow and brother set out to clear dead hubby/brother's name. Can they do it? Do they fall in love? What do you think? Actually, if plot was not so chaotic with subplots and minor characters, might have been better.


The Abandoned Bride (Signet Regency Romance)
The Abandoned Bride (Signet Regency Romance)
Author: Edith Layton
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
 6
Review Date: 3/18/2008


This is one of Layton's earlier regencies and is just as well written as the trades that came later. Her plots follow familiar formulas, but her writing is always crisp and empathetic and her characters are never anchronomic. (One of my PET PEEVES!) Pleasant read.


The Accidental Bride : A Romantic Comedy
The Accidental Bride : A Romantic Comedy
Author: Janice Harayda
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
 21
Review Date: 3/6/2007


Fun read.


Accused (Friends for Life, Bk 1) (Silhouette Intimate Moments, No 325)
Review Date: 3/18/2008
Helpful Score: 1


As far as I am concerned, Beverly Sommers was one of Sihlouette's unsung Talents! She wrote excellent, contemporary romances that might seem a little dated now clothes and technology wise, but the plots and characters rise above it. I just wish I knew what happened to her----if you know why she suddenly dropped off the radar or if she started publishing under another name, I'd LOVE to know! (Efforts to get info from Silhouette were hopeless.)


Ahead of the Game
Ahead of the Game
Author: Suzann Ledbetter
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 49
Review Date: 1/15/2007
Helpful Score: 4


I enjoyed all of Ledbetter's "Direction" mysteries, so I was looking forward to this book. This...not so much. I felt like it was written by someone with ADD, didn't much care for the protagonists, and finished it with a sigh of relief.


Almost French: Love And A New Life In Paris
Almost French: Love And A New Life In Paris
Author: Sarah Turnbull
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 115
Review Date: 1/30/2006
Helpful Score: 1


A bestseller in Turnbull's native Australia, this cute firsthand look at the hardships of settling into a city infamously chilly to outsiders gives a glimpse of the true nature of Parisians and daily life in their gorgeous city. Though Turnbull tells readers less about love than new life, it was in falling for a Frenchman that the journalist found herself moving to Paris, for a few months that stretched into years. The cultural relationship is challenging enough, leaving aside the more intimate personal story (though readers do learn enough about Turnbull's now husband to understand her decision to stay), and she writes of finding work, making friends, surviving dinner parties and adapting to the rhythms and pace of life with a Parisian boyfriend with humor and a developing sense of wisdom. Of the struggle to adapt to her new home in the mid-1990s, the author writes, "I've discovered a million details that matter to me-details that define me as non-French" no matter how much she tries to assimilate, while over time she grows to appreciate some perplexing aspects of French culture, as "[e]veryday incidences elevate into moments of clarity simply because they would never, ever happen in your old home," from developing her confrontational side enough to defend herself (in French) from rude remarks to receiving advice from "a terribly chic blonde who advises me to use eye-makeup remover on Maddie's [Turnbull's dog's] leaky eyes." This is an engaging, endearing view of the people and places of France. (Amazon)


The Alphabet Sisters
The Alphabet Sisters
Author: Monica McInerney
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 96
Review Date: 4/19/2007
Helpful Score: 6


Excellent read, I found the characters of Bett, Anna, and Carrie and wonderful Grandma Lola to be very real. This book made me laugh and empathize and fight down a lump in my throat. Very enjoyable.


Always the Bridesmaid
Always the Bridesmaid
Author: Sarah Webb
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 38
Review Date: 1/30/2006


It's bad enough when your love life is going nowhere fast -- it's worse when everyone else's is soaring!

That's the personal tragedy that appears to have befallen Amy O'Sullivan, as she careens toward the "Big Three-O" with what she laughingly refers to as a "career" at a dead end. Amy's little sister has come home with her "Golden Delicious" Australian fiancé in tow. Amy's girlfriend Beth is also planning on tying the knot with her own Mr. Right in the near future. And another "friend" has just slept with the man Amy figured she herself might end up marrying! So what's a perennial bridesmaid to do . . . after she's spent more than enough time and energy lying in bed, wallowing in self-pity? Why, move on, of course! She's needed (sort of) at the bookstore where, as "Story Princess," she's expected to enliven young lives, even as her own sinks deeper in the mire.

Then again, perhaps there are actual Prince Charmings out there in the real world. And a pitiful princess never knows what -- or who -- is going to come walking in the door holding the hand of an eager little girl . . . (Amazon)


Always the Bridesmaid (Cate Padgett, Bk 1)
Always the Bridesmaid (Cate Padgett, Bk 1)
Author: Whitney Lyles
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 103
Review Date: 1/30/2006


What do you do after you walk down the aisle in four weddings in a few months-none of them your own? What's left after you've donned the must-have-not dresses of the season, forked over your cash, and fake-smiled your way through countless photos? After you've dealt with the smashed guest, the smooshed cake, the dashed hopes, and the missed bouquets? That's what Cate Padgett is starting to wonder, as she embarks on stint after stint on the sidelines, watching friends swap bar-hopping for baby-naming...while her own love life goes nowhere fast. But is Cate unwilling to settle down-or just unwilling to settle? And can anyone really judge her if they haven't walked in her dyed-to-match shoes?

Wild, witty, and full of weddings to cry over, Always the Bridesmaid is an endearingly romantic comedy about standing out in the crowd even when everyone's wearing the same celery-green dress...and daring to make every day The Happiest Day of Your Life. (Amazon)


Amanda Bright@home
Amanda Bright@home
Author: Danielle Crittenden
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 28
Review Date: 1/15/2007
Helpful Score: 1


At first I was a little offended by this book, felt it was slapping at SAHMs, but then as it went on...enjoyed and recommend!


angels all over town
angels all over town
Author: luanne rice
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 3/2/2007


Not my favorite Rice, but it was okay.


Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
Author: Lorna Landvik
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 95
Review Date: 3/15/2007


My favorite Landvik book will always be "Patti Jane's House of Curl", but this one is a close second. The five women around whom the novel revolves win you over---you want to be part of the gang!


Any Place I Hang My Hat
Any Place I Hang My Hat
Author: Susan Isaacs
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 70
Review Date: 3/2/2007
Helpful Score: 2


Another winner by Susan Issacs. Amy is a quirky, smart thirty-something career girl with issues---an ex-con dad, an uncommitted boyfriend and a lost mother---not to mention the story she is working on. Susan Issacs takes all these plots and stirs them up in a sublime work of chick lit.


Anyone But You
Anyone But You
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 469
Review Date: 1/22/2007


This book is 75% dialogue---maybe more---and is a prime example about how witty, snappy, laugh-out-loud repartee can move a book along and reveal so much about the characters. At one point, the movie "My Gal Friday" is referenced---if you are familiar with it, you'll understand perhaps where Crusie learned to throw a line. Plus there was a lot of growth in the characters---and a lot of truth. This is a book I am happy to recommend!


Asking for Trouble
Asking for Trouble
Author: Elizabeth Young
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 242
Review Date: 4/27/2007
Helpful Score: 2


This was the second time I read this book: the first time was when it was (evidently a reissue for a movie tie-in) published as "The Wedding Date", which starred Debra Messing and the ever delectable Dermot Mulroney. I think the book is better than the movie, but isn't that usually the case? (Except for Dermot, of course!) Anyhow, I re-read it even though I realized I'd already done so in the past, and it still made me laugh and roll my eyes and "tsk" at some of the idiocy. Nothing like a few twit characters that make you feel superior! And so, I obviously enjoyed it. A good read, nothing madly thought-provoking, just a pleasant, screwball romance.


At the Edge: Dark Fire / Wildcat / Return to Sender
Review Date: 4/21/2008


Typical 80's romances...


Babe in Toyland
Babe in Toyland
Author: Eugenie Seifer Olson
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 32
Review Date: 1/22/2007


I really enjoyed this novel, once I got used to the author's writing style. I kind of saw what was coming with the plot twist, but only because I had something similar happen to me back in my high school days. This was a fun read.


Babes in Captivity
Babes in Captivity
Author: Pamela Redmond Satran
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 75
Review Date: 1/30/2006


Four women who met through a mother's group when their children were babies have been meeting once a month for years. Now that their children are in school, each woman is yearning for something that she feels is lacking in her life. Deirdre is married to a sweet, helpful, gangly doctor, but what she really desires is her old singing career with her old singing partner. Because Anne and her independent filmmaker husband are always financing his movies, she is the main breadwinner, but what she would really like to do is open her own restaurant. Juliette is a stay-at-home mom. Her son has emotional issues, but that doesn't stop her from wanting another child, even though her husband is against it. And Lisa is the least needy of the group. Her life and her children are as regimented as the army. She wants for nothing, but her orderly life will soon be topsy-turvy. Through her women characters, Satran tells realistic and intriguing stories that will enthrall and, ultimately, surprise readers.


The Baby Trail
The Baby Trail
Author: Sinead Moriarty
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 19
Review Date: 6/14/2006
Helpful Score: 2


For Emma and James Hamilton it seem the right time to have a baby. Emma thinks that it would be easy,but it not. Emma finds herself taking drugs. Making love becomes something that is done, but not enjoyed. After a while Emma begins to wonder if it worth it and will she get what she wants.


Babyville
Babyville
Author: Jane Green
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 371
Review Date: 1/30/2006


Bestselling author applies her golden touch to the next phase of a girl's life in this sparkling, sexy tale about the complexities of modern motherly love. By turns witty, rollicking, and tender, Babyville isn't really a story about babies---it's about three friends whose lives are suddenly turned upside down by that life changing event that hangs over the head of every single girl: motherhood.

Very good book!


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