ShallowreaderBINGO! April Edition!

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It’s the end of April, Easter is upon us (Orthodox folks) and Valancy has won this month’s ShallowreaderBingo!!!! Hurrah! Hurrah! May there be rejoicing!

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Meanwhile, I continue to lose at my own game. But read, I did. Here are the squares I scored:

 

Lady Bridget's DiaryLady Bridget’s Diary

by Maya Rodale

Bingo Square: Dear Diary

This is the first of Rodale’s new Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series. The Cavendish family is from America. The brother has inherited some duke-ish title so the whole family has packed their bags and moved to the United Kingdom where they struggle to fit in. The duke’s sister Lady Bridget keeps a diary where she reveals all her feels for the Ton and especially horrible Lord Darcy who ends up being her lurve but not before her diary is stolen and a big, dark secret is at risk of being revealed. There are aspects of this book that I loved (one day I even found myself kissing the pages I had just read!) yet the overt Pride and Prejudice parallels annoyed me and the who Team USA brought love to the UK sentiment grated. It is hard being torn in two directions with the one read.

I borrowed this book from a public library in New South Wales.
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Zoe York: TBR Challenge

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It is SuperLibrarian Wendy’s TBR Challenge time! This month the theme is Contemporary. I was at home sick with a rather nasty bug yesterday, I was feeling all alone and palely loitering in my bedroom – too tired to read but I did not want to watch anything either so I put out a call to twitter for romance fiction audiobook recommendations. Of course, wonderful tweeps everywhere gave me some crackin’ recs including a couple of recommendations for an author I had not heard of called Zoe York. I gave up on working out the intricacies of my eaudio account and downloaded a couple of her ebooks to read from the Pine Harbour series:

 

Love in a Small Town (Book 1)

by Zoe York

 Six years. Two break ups. One divorce. They should be over each other.

Rafe Minelli knows better than to tell his wife no, particularly since they aren’t married anymore. She can’t hightail it out of town, though, not when they’ve finally broken through the post-divorce cold war status quo. 

Olivia Minelli needs to leave Pine Harbour. It’s just too hard to see Rafe moving on without her—even if he says he doesn’t want to. But when a new and exciting job falls into her lap, she needs to choose: protect her heart, or take the new job and risk getting emotionally entangled with her ex-husband. Again. 



This story is a marriage reconciliation story. Rafe and Olivia have been divorced for two years but she still serves him his daily coffee at the cafe where she works. The story kicks off where he brings his one-night stand in for a breakfast. Olivia is angered and horrified but later finds out that he had not slept with her and in actual fact had remained celibate for their two years apart as he had not really wanted to divorce Olivia. This was quite a sad story of two people who had a strong connection yet did not know how to work through disagreements. I really liked that a lot of the moments of connection for the two was when they were slow dancing (Bingo!) – there is such an intimacy to slow dancing that you don’t even realise that anyone else is there. Their reconciliation story acknowledges that good sex does not mean that problems can be overcome but knowing that they can get past a fight without breaking up and perhaps needing some guidance in achieving this is an important part of Rafe and Olivia’s story. I enjoyed how they slowly came to trust each other again and really liked their connection. Continue reading →

Listening to What Alice Forgot

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I had been looking out for a Liane Moriarty book to read for a long time as I had many people extolling her storytelling to me. As a reticent buyer of new to me authors, I was waiting for a library copy of any of her books. As testament to her popularity, the numerous library copies had long reservation lists which I could have chosen to join but I really dislike reading with the pressure of a library borrower waiting list breathing down my neck. Eventually, I saw an MP3 audiobook of Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot on the shelf and as it was a rare day that I had driven to work, I borrowed it and played it on my 45 minute drive home. My discussion of the book will be twofold. The first will be about the story and then about the excruciating experience of listening to the audiobook. But first, the blurb:

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, narrated by Caroline LeeWhat Alice Forgot

by Liane  Moriarty

(MP3 audiobook narrated by Caroline Lee)

‘She was floating, arms outspread, water lapping her body, breathing in a summery fragrance of salt and coconut. She had to squint through spangles of light to see her feet. Her toenails were each painted a different colour. Red. Gold. Purple. Funny.’ When Alice Love surfaces from a beautiful dream to find she’s been injured in a gym, she knows that something is very wrong – she hates exercise. Alice’s first concern is her baby – she’s pregnant with her first child, and she’s desperate to see her husband, Nick, who she knows will be worried about her.

But Alice isn’t pregnant. And Nick isn’t worried. Alice is the mother of three children and her hostile husband is in the process of divorcing her. Alice has lost ten years of her life.

Alice’s sister Elisabeth, who seems uncharacteristically cold, drives her home from the hospital. And ‘home’ is totally unrecognisable, as is the rest of her life. Who is this ‘Gina’ that everyone is carefully trying not to mention? Why does her mother look like she’s wearing fancy dress? And what’s all this talk about a giant lemon meringue pie?

In the days that follow, small bubbles of the past rise to the surface, and Alice is forced to confront uncomfortable truths. It turns out forgetting might be the most memorable thing that’s ever happened to her.

 

*spoilers galore* 

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ShallowreaderBINGO! March edition!

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It’s March and Willaful won the ShallowreaderBingo!!!! Woooooot! Big shout out!

 

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To this, I say congratulations!

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Meanwhile, I didn’t even manage a straight line! However here are the squares that I did score:

Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 11.11.25 pmLeonetti’s Housekeeper Bride

by Lynne Graham

Bingo Square: It was a dark and stormy night

Oh Lynne Graham novel, how do I love thee! Let me count the ways:

  1. Poppy, the Goth M&B heroine!
  2.  Heroine Chin Swag (see Miss Bates)
  3. Lots of Genre Meta
  4. Lynne Graham Zingers!
  5. Fake Fiance!
  6. Childhood crush!
  7. Virgin!
  8. The phrase “a dark, stormy night”
  9. And of course, lurve!

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What I Love about you or The story of the romance who knew it was none of their business

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Firstly, I would like to point out that I have gone with a new look Shallowreader and I would love to know what you think. And secondly, I read Rachel Gibson’s What I love about you  and I have lots and lots of thoughts about it. I have loved many a Rachel Gibson book and I have liked many too. She is one of my favourite romance authors so I was quite excited to se that she had a new book out. So let’s start with the blurb:

Rachel Gibson's What I love about you

What I love about you

by Rachel Gibson

GIMMEE A B-R-E-A-K!

Ex high school cheerleader Natalie Cooper could once shake her pom-poms with the best of them. But she’s paid for all that popularity-her husband’s run off with what’s left of their money and a twenty-year-old bimbo named Tiffany. Leaving Natalie to manage a photo store (and having to see some pictures she, well, really shouldn’t!) and just trying to be a good mom.

GIMMEE A S-H-O-T

Then she comes toe-to-manly-chest with Blake Junger. Exiled to a remote cabin in Truly, Idaho, Blake wants nothing to do with anyone.Instead, he’s determined to struggle with his demons and win-all on his own. But he doesn’t count on a pint-sized five-year-old visitor-or on Natalie, the kid’s lusciously curved mother-to break down his barriers

GIMMEE Y-O-U-R H-E-A-R-T

So Blake (damaged military man) meets cute kid (Holly? I can’t remember and I can’t be bothered to look her name up or reach across to my bookshelf to check) and speaks to her in such an asshole way that straight away I knew that Gibson wanted him to be so awful that he needs to redeem himself both to the heroine and to the reader because that is the way that the hero trajectory goes in a contemporary romance. Natalie (mother of child with generic name – dammit if it was Vassiliki I would NOT have forgotten it within a day) considers him a creep because on top of swearing at the cute *ahem* kid he gives her a freeakin’ puppy that he desperately wants to offload (because that is what sentient adults do, right?) Continue reading →

On reading for wellbeing

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Earlier in the year, I thought that doing a PhD, working in 2 casual jobs as well as doing home-family things wasn’t enough so I enrolled my self in a 6 week MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) offered through Warwick University by FutureLearn called Literature and Mental Health: Reading for Wellbeing. The course was on how reading can be a balm, a salve for a variety of mental health problems. Each week addressed a different condition – stress, bereavement, trauma, heartbreak, depression and ageing. The hosts Jonathan Bates and Dr Paula Bates interviewed famous people like Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen as well as not-so famous people (well to me anyway – they might just be UK famous) and there were also set readings (which were not compulsory). Most of the readings were poetry or excerpts so these were easy to get through.  Continue reading →

Recommended reading and an ever growing library TBR

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It’s Wendy the SuperLibrarian’s Reading TBR Challenge time again and this month the theme is a book that has been recommended to you. Now most of my library loans tend to be the books I have sought out due to someone’s recommendation. I am loathe to spend money on a recommendation unless I have tried it first as I read way too much to purchase books without a thought. I am soooo far away from a One-Click reader but I do end up chasing library copies down constantly and this leaves me with reader anxiety.

A fortnight ago I stood at my shelves looking at my library loans trying to decide what I was going to read next when I was overwhelmed by the number of books I had amassed. With 28 library books to choose from, I knew I had reached that moment of terror that so many avid readers experience – I was about to declare reading bankruptcy and return every single book to the library just to rid myself of the pressure of reading and reviewing each one. And then I realised – I am a shallowreader and I don’t need to engage with my books in a critical manner. I just need to read them. So I embarked on a book-a-day reading bonanza! As of today, my library loan TBR now stands at 18 items! Yay! Of the 10 books that I read recommendations came from that wonderful (and at times scary) space Twitter where I have met so many like-minded readers who have recommended these authors to me such as: Miss Bates and Roz and Anna Campbell and Rachel Bailey and SuperWendy herself as well as probably many other people. And I thank them all! And yes – I will quickly run through all 10 books that I read:

Molly O’Keefe

His Wife for One NightHis Wife for One Night

So this one had a mashup of my favourite tropes: friends-to-lovers, marriage-of-convenience, cowboys (well…cowgirls?). Jack had married his BFF Mia 5 years earlier but he is a bit thick and doesn’t pick up on her “I lurve you” vibes until she asks for a divorce and suddenly they are having hot sex. Mia walks out on him and there is a big bomb blast and lots of damaged characters and lots of healing to be had. It was an angsty read and despite some loose ends that I would have liked to have seen resolved, I enjoyed this book and I particularly liked its ending.

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Molly O’Keefe’s Indecent Proposal

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I have had many people tell me that Molly O’Keefe is a MUST read author that I would love. Though I Indecent Proposal over 18 months ago, I left it languishing in my TBR as I read other books. I finally managed to read it in February and it is so wonderful that I have proceeded to order in as many Molly O’Keefe books as I could find. But first, the blurb:

 

Screen Shot 2016-03-07 at 10.19.10 AMWith his chiseled jaw and thick blond hair, Harrison Montgomery was born to lead. Four generations of Montgomery men have served the state of Georgia, and now he’s next in line. Harrison, though, is driven to right wrongs: namely to clean up the political mess left by his father’s greed and corruption. But Harrison must first win his congressional bid, and nothing can get in his way—not even an angel who served him whiskey and gave him a shoulder to lean on and a body to love for a night. Problem is, she’s pregnant. Scandal is brewing, and there is only one solution: marriage.

Damage control? Ryan Kaminski can’t believe that a cold, calculating political animal now inhabits the body of the emotionally vulnerable stranger who gave her the most unforgettable night of her life. Really, she doesn’t want anything from Harrison, except to be left alone to have her baby in peace. But Ryan is broke, jobless, and essentially blackmailed by Harrison’s desperate family to accept this crazy marriage deal. For two years, she will have to act the role of caring, supportive wife. But what is Ryan supposed to do when she realizes that, deep in her heart, she’s falling in love?

 

This novel was ultra intense. Just like in category romances, the novel applies a microscopic focus on the events leading to two unlikely people coming together. Each pivotal scene changes their relationship trajectory is studied deeply and heavily. O’Keefe writes with such a depth of understanding her characters motivations that as the reader I felt engrossed in these two characters whose lives were led by lies that they had to perform either for themselves of for those around them.

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ShallowreaderBingo! March

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Here is the March card for Shallowreader Bingo! As her prize for winning, two of the boxes have been contributed by Sandra Antonelli. Can anyone guess which ones are hers? Thanks also go to my Huzbah John and my PhD buddy Chrisanthi Giotis who both helped me name some of the squares.

Remember that any reading goes – novels, letters, lyrics, news, captions, blogs – the lot!

And there is a BONUS shout out to anyone who scores on the Hatchback Hero!

Join in and play!

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