Showing posts with label Women's Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women's Fiction. Show all posts
Austenland by Shannon Hale
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~*~Appetizer~*~
For the Jane Austen Fans out there.
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction with Romantic Elements
Heat Level: Mild - heavy kissing but no sex.

Austenland by Shannon Hale was a fun read. 

You follow Jane, a graphic artist whose love life sucks because she's stuck on the ideal of Mr. Darcy. Not just any Mr. Darcy but the one depicted by Colin Firth in BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. 

Thirty-three years old, still single with no boyfriend in sight, she's left a vacation by a great-aunt she barely knew to Regency-themed Penbrook Park, a place filled with actors helping their guests feel as though they are living in a Jane Austen novel.

Jane hopes that living at Penbrook for the next three weeks will help her kick her Mr. Darcy obsession forever. 

The problem is that part of being in a Jane Austen novel is the romance and so actors are hired to woo the women Regency-style - no touching - and give them a romance filled weekend. Lines start to blur and Jane isn't sure what's real and what's acting.

This was a really fun read. Nice and light and perfect for Jane Austen fans.

I started reading this book because I'd seen the movie and the book definitely gets more in-dept with the characters. I feel if you like Jane Austen, you'll like this book. I'm a real Pride and Prejudice fan myself and it had me not only wanting to reread the classic novel but watch Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.
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All Beautiful Things by Nicki Salcedo
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~*~Savory Selections~*~
Genre: This is a hard one. Women's Fiction with Strong Romantic Elements and Suspense, perhaps.
Heat Level: Mild

There are few books in my collection that I find where I am texting every reader in my phone telling them you need to read THIS. Doesn't matter the genre you prefer, doesn't matter if you are man or woman, I was texting. I only hope that they listen.

I opened All Beautiful Things by Nicki Salcedo knowing it was inspired by Beauty and the Beast with a twist. The heroine, Ava, is the beast. As you read on the back cover, she was attacked and left scared.

The Prologue starts out with a few letters from the hero to the heroine. She never writes back but he never stops writing. I think that in itself tells you the kind of man he is. From chapter one, you can see that Ava is detached. A ghost moving through life but unsure how to live it anymore. She goes through the motions, she knows what she wants - to be a normal person for her nieces, to take care of the men at her homeless shelter - but she's never been the same since her attack and now her presumed attacker is back on the streets and the man who has been writing her letters for the last seven years is suddenly standing in front of her, flesh and blood.

There are a lot of fairy tale references, some obvious, some a little hidden, that, of course, had me fan-girling a bit because I love fairy tales.

Every writer out there has a message to send. We all have those authors who designate with us. By the time I closed this book, my heart was warm and my eyes were watery.

I find myself having a difficult time doing this review without spoilers which is unusual for me but I'm just so eager to discuss it. I need those people I text to get reading.

For me, the overlaying message is that all of us have scars and sometimes we get so lost in our own pain we forget that bad things happen to other people too. Its not about saying my pain is worst than yours, its about just trying to find those people who can help us heal.

This is a book I think everyone needs to read. - And then write me so we can discuss it!

Remember, All Beautiful Things is our book of the month for Book Brunch. On February 28, we'll discuss this great story. So make sure you go and get it, read it and come back!

This savory delight was served up to you by Bryonna Nobles.
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