Sophia Kinsella: Remember Me?

Remember Me? : A
Lexi Smart


Shopaholicpowerhouse Kinsella delights again with her latest, a winning if unoriginal tale of amnesia striking an ambitious shrew and changing her life for the better. After taking a nasty bump on the head, Lexi Smart awakens in a hospital convinced that it's 2004 and that she's just missed her father's funeral. It's actually three years later, and she no longer has crooked teeth, frizzy hair and a loser boyfriend. Initially wowed by what she's become—a gorgeous, cut-throat businesswoman—Lexi soon finds herself attempting to figure out how it happened.

As her personality change and lost memory threaten her job, Lexi tries to dredge up some chemistry with her handsome albeit priggish husband, Eric, though the effort is unnecessary with Eric's colleague Jon, who tells Lexi that she was about to leave Eric for him. Amnesia tales may be old hat, but Kinsella keeps things fresh and frothy with workplace politicking, romantic intrigue and a vibrant (though sometimes caricatured) cast. Though the happy ending won't come as a surprise, readers will be rooting for Lexi all along.



This is my pick of the month!!
(Technically speaking, it would have been the pick of my month in September, but I read it late-September... and this is my blog so I'm allowed to cheat. Really.)

If you know me, you know I don't put up with cruddy heroines, even if I might allow a little BS from the heroes. So I wasn't surprised when I started to read the Shopaholic series and ...put it down after thirty pages (the heroine is completely not in control of herself.. though I'm sure that changes later on.... it's a beast to put up with in the beginning.)

So when I saw this little jewel staring at me on the library shelves, I ignored the sensible, rational part of me and checked the sucker out.

I have no regrets.
The book is good enough for me to want to almost-glom all of Kinsella's novels.
(Almost glom being that I don't know if I really want to read about the uncontrollable shopper just quite yet...)


Lexi Smart wakes up from her mild 3-day coma with her brain from three years ago: she is shocked at her changed appearance, her gorgeous husband, her no-longer-close best friends, and the high-status at her job.

What happened?
What happened?

That is the question she asks - and one that you will undoubtedly ask.

Slowly, but surely, old-Lexi finds the life that new-Lexi has created for herself and tries to continue living her life as the new-Lexi, only to find that the new-Lexi is radically different from the old.

She is no longer the awkward, easygoing girl.
She's a powerhorse: a beast at work, sharp dresser, always-shrewd.Off-tune karaoke singing has been replaced by glamorous parties with expensive wine. She has a personal assistant who shops for her. She drives a Mercedes Benz.

When she meets Jon, her gorgeous husband's architect, she feels chemistry and a thrill that she is unable to muster up for her husband. It can't be!, she thinks. I married Eric so I must love him!

Little by little, old-Lexi tries to right the wrongs... and in doing so, completes herself, something that new-Lexi had been unable to do.



I read this book at, like, 11:30pm, thinking, 'Oh, I'll read a couple of pages now and read little bits over the next couple of days' - a result of the disastrous exams that were sneaking up on me.

Oh, I was wrong!!
I remained GLUED to the book for the next four hours (read it in record time).
It was 4:30am when I finished and I wanted to kill myself for the tiredness I would feel from the lack of sleep. I also wanted to kick Kinsella: after all, she was the reason why I hadn't slept that night.

I laughed, shrieking sometimes.
I felt the chemistry between Jon and old-Lexi.
And, of course, I groaned at old-Lexi-trying-to-be-new-Lexi.

A fast, funny, delightfully entertaining read - I declare this a must read for chick-lit and non-chick-lit lovers alike.

Go! Now! Read it!

Linda Howard: Death Angel

Death Angel: B
Drea Rosseau


A striking beauty with a taste for diamonds and dangerous men, Drea Rousseau is more than content to be arm candy for Rafael Salinas, a notorious crime lord who deals with betrayal through quick and treacherous means: a bullet to the back of the head, a blade across the neck, an incendiary device beneath a car. Eager to break with Rafael, Drea makes a fateful decision and a desperate move, stealing a mountain of cash from the malicious killer. After all, an escape needs to be financed.

Though Drea runs, Salinas knows she can’t hide–and he dispatches a cold-blooded assassin in hot pursuit, resulting in a tragic turn of events. Or does it?

Left for dead, Drea miraculously returns to the realm of the living a changed woman. She’s no longer shallow and selfish, no longer steals or cheats or sells herself short. Both humbled and thrilled with this unexpected second chance, Drea embraces her new life. But in order to feel safe and sound–and stop nervously looking over her shoulder–she will need to take down those who marked her for death.

Joining forces with the FBI, supplying vital inside information that only she can provide, Drea finds herself working with the most dangerous man she’s ever known. Yet the closer they get to danger, the more intense their feelings for each other become, and the more Drea realizes that the cost of her new life may be her life itself–as well as her heart.


This was a most interesting read.
Very interesting.

When I read it a month ago, I gave it an A-. Now I'm obliged to give it a substantially lower grade.

Drea is the girlfriend of really-bad-guy Rafael Salinas. Coming from an impoverished background, she's done whatever she could to provide for herself... and she's done pretty well for herself in terms of material wealth. However, Salinas doesn't give her the love and acceptance that she so yearns for in her heart.

When she meets Salinas' go-to man (aka assassin), they share an incredible experience and crazily, (seriously, crazily) she wants to turn to this man for comfort, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able, or willing to, care for her.

In realizing this and in realizing the shittiness of her situation with Salinas, she makes a run for it, taking $2mil of Salinas cash with her.

He, of course, finds out and is furious.
He dispatches the hit man to go after her and effectively take her off the radar.

She runs from everyone and through a car accident, dies. (it says left for dead - she actually dies) Miraculously (and ever-so-slightly touching the paranormal realm), shed is given another chance at life... and she is a changed woman.

When she and the hit man meet again, they try to put an end to the bad Salinas.



I don't mind paranormals, dying, and etc etc. However, I do mind relating to the hero and heroine. I understood and sympathized (somewhat) with Drea. But I could not relate to the hero.

Similar to Diaz from Cry No More, the hero is hard to read, closed, distant, cold-blooded, and... well... what you would expect hit-men and assassins to be.

However, unlike Diaz, our hero remains distant to the end of the novel. While he changes - albeit slightly- for Drea, I still couldn't understand how Drea could have possibly loved him. He was stoic. He didn't talk. He just.... he just... I don't know... just... was there. It was apparent that he cared for her, yet I felt something was missing.

As for Drea caring for hero - she kind-of fell into love with him the moment she met him, so she just... loved him. BUT, I can't relate to how she came to feel safe and wanted and cared-for in his arms, as Howard wrote.

It's this strange mesh of incomprehension that I'm left with, even at the end of the story.

I think that Ms. Howard might have taken her uber alpha hero a bit too far.
If you're going to have someone fall in love with a sniper/ assassin/ killer-dude, make him somewhat ...human?

Other than this, the story was interesting to read.

..so I'm not sure if I truly recommend this or not. I say GO FOR IT - but borrow from your local library before purchasing this baby.

Lauren Weisberger: Everyone Worth Knowing

Everyone Worth Knowing: A+
Bette Robinson & Sammy


When Bette Robinson quits her Manhattan banking job like the impulsive girl she's never been, she knows she won't miss the 80-hour workweeks, her claustrophobic cubicle, or her revolting boss. But soon the novelty of walking her four-pound dog around her unglamorous Murray Hill neighborhood wears as thin as the "What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?" phone calls from her parents.

Then Bette meets Kelly, head of Manhattan's hottest PR firm, and suddenly she has a brand-new job where the primary requirement is to see and be seen inside the VIP rooms of the city's most exclusive nightclubs. Bette learns not to blink at the famous faces, the black Amex cards, or the ruthless paparazzi. Soon she's dating an infamous playboy—and scaring off the one decent guy she meets. Still, how can she complain about a job that pays her to party? But when Bette begins appearing in a vicious new gossip column, she realizes that the line between her personal and professional life is . . . invisible.


I'm sure everyone hear has read and/or seen The Devil Wears Prada, the debut novel written by Lauren Weisberger.

It was funny, I admit.

Weisberger's second novel, Everyone Worth Knowing, is even funnier.
I loved it.

It's about Bette, raised by hippy-organic-earth loving-vegan parents, who after quitting her fairly successful job at an investment banking firm, chooses to work for an event-planning public-relations firm.

While doing so, she becomes the newest girl-toy for Manhattan's hottest and most eligible bachelor, Phillip Weston.

She doesn't really know how it happens.

In what it seems like a mere second, her life becomes flipped upside-down; she's staying out late, going into expensive bars and the trendiest "it" places in town. Everything else that's not part of this rich-people-but-superficially-shallow world gets cast aside.

Strangely enough, it's in this atmosphere that she meets a cutey bouncer at one of the clubs. He sees Bette and realizes that she's different from all of the other party-going girls.. it's when they're put together to put on a huge party that they get to know each other.

(Ohmygosh, may I add in here that Sammy is adorably adorable???!)

This novel thrusts you into the glamour world and the craziness that is event-planning. From Manhattan to Poughkeepsie, New York to Istanbul, Turkey, this novel has it all: romance, laughs, friends, and shitty co-workers. A definite keeper on my shelf.

Julia Quinn: The Lost Duke of Wyndham

The Lost Duke of Wyndham: A
Grace Eversleigh & Jack Cavendish-Audley

I had a really good time reading this one, which, in all honesty, was surprising to me. After the eight Bridgerton novels which ranged from great to not-so-great with the majority being in the slightly-less-than-average range (two great and the rest, I don’t really recall), I expected this one to be equally as average.

Plus the real model (Ewa da Cruz) on the cover mildly freaks me out. (I said it before, but she looks like a raptor.)

To my great surprise, Ms. Quinn introduces a really unique storyline with intriguing characters.

Grace Eversleigh is the companion to the dowager Duchess of Wyndham, a very crusty, cranky, viciously mean and very proper old woman. She acts like she doesn’t have a heart… and it is speculated that she just might not be in the possession of one. But Grace hasn’t had a choice; when her parents passed away and her slimy cousin came to the possession of her home, she was given the option of either marrying the slimebag or dealing with the crusty dowager.

She chooses the dowager.

It is on the way home from a ball (not a wedding, thank the heavens) that their coach is pulled over by highway men – a really handsome (Grace thinks he’s handsome from the bottom half of his masked face) and witty highwayman. To her surprise, he kisses her. On the lips! (Oh, how scandalous!) And then the dowager recognizes – and insists – that the highwayman is her long-lost grandson… and quite possibly the next Duke of Wyndham. This is a problem given that the Duke of Wyndham already exists.

The highwayman Jack Audley is brought to the Wyndham castle to solve the very fascinating mystery of who the real Duke of Wyndham is.

While Jack stays with Grace and the dowager duchess, he falls more and more for the real Grace – the witty and slightly sarcastic woman who keeps herself carefully masked for the dowager’s pleasure.

Now, I am normally not fond of fall-in-love-within-two-weeks type stories, but for some reason, I really liked this one. Ms. Quinn made it work and it clicked with me!

Reaaaaaad it. It’s gooooood.

I’m superbly excited for its sequel: Mr. Cavendish, I Presume. I want it now! Now! Now!

Is it March yet?

I cracked and I read the preview of Lisa Kleypas's latest contemporary, Smooth Talking Stranger.

Aw, damn it!

I think this might be the second book - ever - that I plan on buying without reading. Well, maybe not, but if I don't read it the week it comes out, I'm off to my closest bookstore and getting my grubby little hands a copy!

Celeste Bradley: The Duke Next Door

The Duke Next Door: C+
Deirdre Cantor & Calder Marbrook, Marquis of Brookhaven (future Duke of Brookmoor) The Heiress Brides 2

Since this was the pick for August from my book club, I jumped right into the story. Apparently the ladies chose the first book of this series, Desperately Seeking a Duke, several months back and enjoyed it so they chose to select this one.

In case you haven’t read the first novel or are new to the series, three young women have an inheritance that they will only receive if they marry a Duke. The first of the three to get hitched was Phoebe in Desperately Seeking a Duke;

SPOILER AHEAD

She apparently “leaves” Calder at the altar, or rather he gives Phoebe away, to marry his rakeish brother, Rafe.

END SPOILER

In seeing the situation, the stunningly beautiful but cold (cold from the first book) Deirdre makes up her mind to marry Calder. She swiftly proposes and he agrees. By the twenty-fifth page, Calder and Deirdre are married in a marriage of convenience.

She is surprised to discover that Calder has a daughter, one whom he ignores and doesn’t even look at because of her resemblance to his first wife, who died while she was running away with her lover. The daughter, Meggie, is introduced as a wretch – a completely spoiled brat (I’da smacked her.) but because of Deirdre’s horrible relationship with her evil stepmother, Tessa, she understands Meg and Meg’s desire to get her father’s attention and love.

They bond in a strange, kind-of unloving way.

Meanwhile, Calder, or the Beast in according to the ton, and Deirdre’s relationship is on the rocks. He demands that she listen to him, that she dress for dinner (like from the movie, Beauty and the Beast – the book is based relatively off that Grimm Fairy Tale), that she would be denied parties and nice clothes should she defy him.

Deirdre, angered, team with Meg to give Calder a taste of his own medicine… and in the process of everything happening, Deirdre and Calder start to fall in love.

However, when Stickley and Wolfe, Deirdre’s family’s solicitors, find that Deirdre is close to being a real duchess and that she will ask for the withdrawal of her inheritance, they start to panic. Apparently, they’ve been entrusted with taking care of the inheritance for so long that they have no other clients and want the retainer from doing business for Deirdre’s family. Wolfe, the more rakeish solicitor, decides to start trouble by creating unpleasant emotions in one of Deirdre’s very-devoted admirers.

The end is chaotic mix of kidnappings, a disguised pygmy, shootings, tough barroom men…and reconciliation.

A nice read… one that didn’t necessarily click with me, for some reason. I am inclined to say that Ms. Bradley’s writing style was choppy…? In showing the progression time, there were a lot of mental stops made in my mind. But most of the other book club ladies enjoyed it, so give it a try.

PS: I'm having a hell of a time trying to organize the format of my posts. Effing blogger!!!

Elizabeth Hoyt: To Taste Temptation

To Taste Temptation: A-

Lady Emeline Gordon & Samuel Hartley

The Legend of the Four Soldiers 1

After Ms. Hoyt’s very successful debut with the Prince series (The Raven Prince, The Leopard Prince, & The Serpent Prince), she follows up with the start of her new series: The Legend of the Four Soldiers.

The proper and beautiful Lady Emeline Gordon is a respectable widow with a young son. She is fashionable, highly admired, and moves among London’s elite social circles. When one wants to be properly chaperoned and introduced into the ton, she is the one to seek. She accepts offers from families from the utmost crème de la London; therefore, society (and she!) is shocked when she agrees to launch Rebecca Hartley, the younger sister of American soldier and Boston businessman Samuel Hartley. While she feels as though being around Samuel is a bad idea, she knows that he fought in the battle with her deceased brother.

In London, Samuel is branded as a coward, with most believing that he ran away from the battle where the British soldiers were ambushed and killed. No one knows the reason he returned to London is to investigate into what he thinks was a planned betrayal by one of his fellow soldiers.

Emeline, wanting to find out if there was indeed a traitor for the sake of her brother, chaperones Rebecca and is forced to be in Samuel’s presence. She hates it – and she hates the fact that she might so willingly fall in love with Samuel because of the pain she felt when her first husband passed away.

It is at a dinner party that they “hook up.” (LOL)

And it’s then that they venture into the land of looooooove.

A nice side mystery and hot romance with plenty of tension between the characters…I definitely recommend this.