August | 2015 | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

LITTLE GIRLS by Ronald Malfi

August 16, 2015

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Laurie’s father has died and so, with her husband, Ted, and daughter, Susan, in tow, she has returned to the childhood home she left behind so many years ago to settle the estate and hopefully put the house on the market. Laurie has reservations about staying in the house, it’s never been a happy place for her and now there’s the added fact that her father didn’t just die there but actually committed suicide by jumping out of the belvedere window.

Ted and Susan are instantly smitten with the old place, though, and convince her otherwise. It’s only for a little while, after all, and it’ll mean time for Ted to work on his latest play. Susan has even found a friend in the girl next door. But the house holds bad memories for Laurie and the girl next door reminds her just a little too much of a girl who lived there when she was a child. A horrid girl who died on Laurie’s father’s property decades ago.

Even if Laurie and her family were a unified unit, which we soon learn they may not be, the house is enough to begin tearing away at them. Laurie is plagued by memories of her childhood, the girl next door is creepy as all get out, and there are clues around the house that maybe her father was suffering from more than just dementia. It all starts to make Laurie – and even Ted – wonder about her sanity.

Ronald Malfi’s latest is a pretty classic take on the haunted house tale: a creepy old house, inexplicable noises, a mysterious locked room… And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, Little Girls is a solid and scary tale with more than a few twists – some a little more expected than others. It’s utterly satisfying and maybe a little nightmare inducing as well.

8/15 Becky LeJeune

LITTLE GIRLS by Ronald Malfi. Kensington (June 30, 2015). ISBN 978-1617736063. 384p.

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MAD ABOUT THE MAJOR by Elizabeth Boyle

August 15, 2015

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This was the first book I’ve read by this author, and most probably the last.

I generally love Avon romances, but I wasn’t familiar with the “Impulse” line so after reading this I looked it up. It is a “digital first” imprint, meaning they publish books digitally before print. I’m guessing if it does well digitally then it may go to print. They accept manuscripts directly from writers instead of going through the agent process as almost all traditional publishers do. So basically a book that was rejected by HarperCollins or Avon can end up published by the Impulse line. (Bet you didn’t know you were going to get an education in HarperCollins publishing when you started reading this review!)

So, why am I rambling on about all this? I disliked this book so much that now I’ll be hesitant to read anything put out by the Avon Impulse line.

The story is simple; Lady Arabella is approached by a man at a ball, he mistakes her for a courtesan and almost ruins her. Her parents decide then and there to marry her off immediately so the next morning she skips out, determined to have one day of fun before the impending nuptials to someone she is sure is old and joyless.

She immediately runs into trouble, but is rescued by a gentleman passing by. He is the man from the ball and turns out he is in a similar position; he is a Duke and his reputation as a rake has made his parents decide to marry him off. These two obedient children (and they are childish, one of the myriad of reasons for my dislike of the book) end up spending the day together and fall in love.

They both use nicknames, neither admitting to the other who they really are. Eventually they go home to find out they are to be married. I didn’t even bother with a “spoiler alert” here because it couldn’t be more obvious throughout the book what was going to happen. I know every romance has a happy ending, but I want to see the struggle on the way there, and there simply wasn’t one. I found the plot silly and mundane, and the characters were clichés.

The romance genre has fairly specific rules. In its simplest iteration it goes boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back again. Happy ending, usually with a wedding, a marriage, a baby or all three. All of that was determined in the first few pages and the rest was just a waste of time.

I really hate writing negative reviews. But I even hated the cover – looking on Amazon, I don’t get it, it doesn’t look like a historical to me. Maybe in person it does, but I read an eGalley on my Kindle so I’m relying on pictures here.

In the interest of fairness, I will point out that this book has 4.5 stars on Amazon based on a lot of reviews, so this is definitely just my opinion. But I found it so off-putting that I didn’t want to read anything for a couple of days after finishing it.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

MAD ABOUT THE MAJOR by Elizabeth Boyle. Avon Impulse (July 21, 2015). ISBN 978-0062322913. 224p.

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LOVE IS RED by Sophie Jaff

August 14, 2015

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The Nightsong Trilogy (Book 1)

It’s summertime in New York and the city is plagued by more than just hot weather. The Sickle Man stalks the streets, killing women in their own homes. Though this does mean a certain extra level of caution, it doesn’t mean that Katherine Emerson has given up on the dating scene and finding Mr. Right. In fact, she’s recently met two men who could fit the bill.

What Katherine doesn’t know is that the Sickle Man already has her in his sights. In fact, he’s been looking for her for quite some time and now that he’s found her, her death is his ultimate goal.

Love is Red is a book that almost defies every attempt to sum it up in a nutshell. First, there’s the fear of giving too much away. Second, it’s truly standout and somewhat unconventional. It’s a cross-genre thriller, one that includes supernatural elements, romance elements, and mystery elements. As such, unless you really shy away from dark reads (because it is quite dark) there is something for just about every kind of reader here.

The story alternates between Katherine and The Sickle Man himself. Jaff plays with the style of the narrative quite a bit with The Sickle Man’s chapters told from a second person perspective and by adding in therapy Q&As, internal monologues, and other different aspects in Katherine’s narrative as well. This ratchets up the suspense quite a bit while also giving the reader a more unique experience.

Honestly, this is one of my absolute favorite reads of the year. It’s also the first in a trilogy and there is a pretty massive cliffhanger of an ending. Of course that means that I’m waiting, along with everyone else who’s so far enjoyed the book, with baited breath to see what will happen next.

8/15 Becky LeJeune

LOVE IS RED by Sophie Jaff. Harper (May 12, 2015). ISBN 978-0062346261. 384p.

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A GOOD DEBUTANTE’S GUIDE TO RUIN by Sophie Jordan

August 13, 2015

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The Debutante Files, Book 1

For probably the first time ever, I have started a series at the beginning! Of course this book is a year old, and I heard about it because the second book in the series, All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue, just came out. I haven’t seen it yet but after reading book 1, I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Rosalie Hughes has been abandoned at school by her mother for more than two years past her graduation, and finally the headmistress drops her off at her stepbrother’s home. He is Declan, the Duke of Banbary and they haven’t seen each other in more than ten years. He is not happy to see her, and calls his aunt and cousin to come stay for propriety’s sake while he figures out the quickest way to get rid of her.

His aunt is quite meddlesome and is delighted with this new project. She suggests the Duke sponsor Rosalie for the Season and marry her off. He agrees, bestows an enormous dowry on her and off they go. The Duke is a rake and has no desire to marry, but something is happening between him and Rosalie. She has had a crush on him since she was a little girl and he would rescue her when she’d climb trees and be afraid to come down. Now that they are living together those feelings have resurfaced, but he has no interest – or so they both think.

The first marriage proposal comes in a week later from an old titled man who gives Rosalie the creeps, but the Duke accepts without even asking her and Rosalie is furious. She tells her suitor thanks but no thanks, but it makes her realize that this will be her lot in life, to be married off to some old man with money and a title.

Meanwhile, the Duke’s cousin, Aurelia, and Rosalie have become friends. Aurelia confides she wants to have an adventure before they are married off, and manages to convince Rosalie to come with her to what is basically a sex club. Needless to say, things really start heating up after that.

This is an entertaining, fast paced historical novel with great characters, a fun plot and lots of hot sex; just the kind of romance I love. I will be looking for more from this author.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A GOOD DEBUTANTE’S GUIDE TO RUIN by Sophie Jordan. Avon (July 29, 2014). ISBN 978-0062222503. 384p.

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RUBBERNECKER by Belinda Bauer

August 12, 2015

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Patrick has Asperger’s Syndrome, and his mother handles it by drinking. While still very young, his father is killed by a hit and run driver, and Patrick becomes obsessed by death, bringing home dead animals for dissection, bound and determined to learn what happens after death.

He never does, but that doesn’t stop his trying; his disability gets him admission into a college anatomy class. There he works with a team of medical students dissecting Corpse 19; their task is to determine a cause of death, but Patrick soon realizes that this corpse was, in fact, murdered, but no one will listen to him.

In a concurrent story, life in the coma ward at a hospital takes a deadly turn when a doctor is witnessed murdering a patient by another coma patient who cannot talk.

Readers who loved “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon may find satisfaction here on a more gristly and adult level. I did.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

RUBBERNECKER by Belinda Bauer. Atlantic Monthly Press (August 4, 2015). ISBN 978-0802123961. 320p.

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WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner

August 11, 2015

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Two reviews…first up: Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

I have loved Jennifer Weiner since her first book, Good in Bed, and she has grown since then, graduating from smart chick-lit to smart women’s fiction, and this new one is a coming of age/contemporary romance at its best – and it’s still smart.

Rachel Blum is a sickly child, born with a heart condition that requires constant monitoring and many surgeries. During one hospitalization, she wanders into the ER, bored and looking for a story. She meets Andy Landis, a biracial young boy with a broken arm and a missing mother. She keeps him company, tells him a story and gives him a stuffed animal. Eventually his mother shows up and Rachel is sent back to her room.

Fast forward to college and Rachel is on a trip to Atlanta for a charitable organization. A good looking young man catches her eye, and yes, it is Andy. Thus begins a life-long love affair that survives different socio-economic classes, geographical separations, breakups, other relationships, a scandal, and so much more.

Weiner makes us wonder, is there such a thing as a one-and-only love? Can you meet your soulmate as a child and love them forever? Can a spoiled Jewish princess find happiness with an Olympic runner from the Philadelphia projects?

These characters are complex and real, and this is a beautiful coming of age story in addition to a sweeping romance. Best of all, the book is totally unputdownable – I couldn’t stop turning the pages and when I finished it, I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters, and that is the highest praise I can give. Don’t miss it.

From Becky LeJeune:

Eight-year-old Rachel Blum is recovering from her latest heart surgery when she meets Andy Landis. He’s brought into the emergency room with a broken arm, his mother nowhere to be found, so Rachel decides to keep him company.

As teens they cross paths again, this time on a volunteer trip to Atlanta. Andy remembers the girl who sat with him in the waiting room – Rachel Blum. Bloom like flower… For Rachel it’s love at first sight but for Andy, the trip marks the first time he really sees the differences that stand in their way.

For years, the two connect and part ways, date and break up, and fall in and out of love. Only time will tell, though, whether Rachel and Andy are truly meant for one another or if their fate lies elsewhere.

Weiner’s latest is a sweet but very realistic love story. Rachel and Andy grow and change as the years pass and face a lot of things most people never will – a life threatening heart condition, the pressure of being an Olympic athlete – but they also face a lot of things the average reader can relate to. They learn from one another, they make mistakes, and they piss each other off. Royally. It lends an air of believability and realism that I think most stories of this kind are missing. And it’s exactly this realism that ultimately pulls the reader in: Rachel and Andy could be your best friends, your sister, your brother, or even you… You’ll laugh with them, cry with them, and root for them all the way through the final pages.

WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner. Atria Books (August 11, 2015). ISBN 978-1451617818. 400p.

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8/15

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EVER AFTER by Jude Deveraux

August 10, 2015

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Nantucket Brides Trilogy, Book 3

According to her publisher, Jude Deveraux is the author of more than forty New York Times bestsellers and has more than sixty million copies of her books in print worldwide. And I’ve never read her. This book arrived at my front door and I loved the cover – that is one gorgeous dress – but it is the third book of a trilogy that I haven’t started. I contacted the publicist to see if the books stand alone or need to be read in order, and like most romances, she said go for it, you won’t even notice, and she was right.

This is a contemporary romance set mostly on Nantucket, but the setting is pretty much irrelevant to the story. Hallie Hartley lost her mother very young, and her father remarried, and when he and her stepmother die, Hallie is left to care for Shelly, her much younger stepsister. Shelly is gorgeous and spoiled, and Hallie has her hands full. She has just graduated as a physical therapist when things come to a boiling point.

Hallie inherits a house on Nantucket from a relative she’s never even heard of, and the house is seemingly haunted, which she learns after she gets there. She is offered the opportunity to work with just one patient, Jamie Taggert, who has severely injured his knee in a skiing accident. Hallie figures Jamie to be the ultimate rich playboy but a job is a job and she escapes to the island. There is an immediate attraction between them but Hallie is determined to keep things professional. She slowly realizes that there is more to this rich playboy than he or anyone from his enormous family is letting on.

The ghosts are amusing, not scary, and all the family drama adds complexity to this romance. I can see why Deveraux is so popular. Guess I’m going to have to go back and read the first two books in this trilogy.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

EVER AFTER by Jude Deveraux. Ballantine Books (June 23, 2015). ISBN 978-0345541857. 368p.

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DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas

August 9, 2015

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I often get romance suggestions from Barbara, one of my co-workers who is a huge romance reader. She was cleaning out the paperbacks at work when she came across this title and told me to try it. She said it is old but it is one of those books that she has read and re-read, so I gave it a try. And I’m glad I did.

Sara Fielding lives with her elderly parents in a small English town out in the country. She has been hoping that a local young man would propose, but after four years she is beginning to give up. Sara is also a novelist, writing under a pen name, and her most famous book is about a prostitute.

Sara has a curious nature and a soft spot for the downtrodden, and she tries to highlight the social issues of the day in her novels. She has decided to write a new book about the popular gambling hells, and takes herself off to London to do some research. The most famous and opulent gaming hell of all is Craven’s, and the owner is reported to be one of the richest men in England.

Derek Craven came from lowly beginnings and created an empire, not an easy thing to do then. He has never married, preferring to have affairs with married women, ending them the minute he feels they are getting too close. His childhood was brutal at best, so his rough and tumble demeanor is no surprise. What is a surprise is how taken he is with Sara and her innocence.

The innocent yet smart woman saving the damaged man is a standard in the romance genre, and this is an excellent example. I loved this book.

Note – this cover is actually an update, the book was reissued this summer and from what I can tell has been in print continuously since 2000. There are probably thousands of paperback romances that have gone out of print in that time so while that may not sound like a big deal, trust me, for a paperback romance to be in print for that long, especially to be reissued with a new cover 15 years later, is a very big deal. But having read it, I completely understand. If you like historical romance, please add this to your reading list, you will be very glad you did.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas. Avon; Reissue edition (June 30, 2015). ISBN 978-0380773527. 400p.

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HOSTAGE TAKER by Stefanie Pintoff

August 8, 2015

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Eve Rossi is an FBI hostage negotiator with a troubled past. Her last negotiation didn’t end well and then her stepfather, a retired CIA operative, passed away. She is on leave when she received orders to return to work; someone has taken several people hostage at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, a New York City landmark.

The hostage taker has wired explosives to his hostages and to every known entry of the building. The Church is panicking about losing even a pane of stained glass, but Eve is worried about the hostages, especially as they start to die.

She calls in her old team, Vidocq, a group of career criminals with unique skills. Each member of the team is introduced through FBI reports interspersed throughout the novel. News updates also break up the chapters and the tension as the story propels forward. The chief suspect is a cop on suspension, Eve establishes contact with him but his demands are puzzling – all he wants is for the FBI to round up five specific people to bear witness.

Eve’s team is working against a tight timetable to try and find these people and to determine what, if anything, they have in common with the hostage taker. Pintoff skillfully ratchets up the tension and throws more than one curveball into this twisty, exciting read.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HOSTAGE TAKER by Stefanie Pintoff. Bantam (August 18, 2015). ISBN 978-0345531407. 432p.

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TRUST NO ONE by Paul Cleave

August 7, 2015

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Cleave presents us with the most unusual and commanding book to come along in many years. His principal character is an author who has written extremely successful crime novels involving murder and dark retribution by characters in the books. Jerry Grey, writing under the pen name of Henry Cutter, has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the height of his career and Paul Cleave picks him up while confined to a nursing home.

Jerry’s memories flow in and out of reality and he believes that he has committed the crimes depicted in his books. He also believes that he has murdered his own wife with whom he is madly in love. Written in the first person, Cleave takes Jerry and his persona Henry Cutter in and out of his conceptions of which crimes he has committed. Very ably done, the novel has every ingredient of a first class description of a serial killer who seems to remember certain details of his crimes. He also loses his grip on these memories from time to time, and we do not know if he is indeed a mass murderer or innocent.

Medical staff at the nursing home he is confined to keep insisting that the crimes he recalls are memories of the situations and characters in his books and are not real. But Jerry finds more and more evidence in articles found, copies of his diary, and physical discoveries that lead him into thinking that he is a serial killer. The twists and turns in the plot make doubly sure that anyone reading the book will not be able to put it down until completed, and afterward enjoy a sigh of pleasure at finding such a novel to read.

8/15 Paul Lane

TRUST NO ONE by Paul Cleave. Atria Books (August 4, 2015). ISBN: 978-1476779171. 352p.

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