Book Review: Montana Sky by Nora Roberts

The breathtaking beauty of Montana, with its vibrant ranch life, makes the perfect setting that changed the lives of three sisters to the better.  The romantic tension, the suspenseful plots and the charming characters make this book a very exciting and entertaining read.  Thanks to Nora Robert's ability to engage the readers using the beautiful landscape and the ultra interesting ranch life, I felt as if I had spent a really refreshing vacation in beautiful Montana.  Country life is never sexier.

Book Review: After the Parade by Dorothy Garlock

This is a very comforting novel with romance, passion and suspense that kept me turning the pages.  This book is a follow-up of  the novel "With Heart" that I previously read.  This sequel is however more entertaining and has a faster pace than "With Heart".  The love between Kathleen and Johnny is admirable in a way that the years apart didn't drive them into other people's beds like the couples that I read about in other contemporary romance fictions.  This is why I like this novel.  There was setback in the marriage, yet there was always the unbreakable love and passion between Kathleen and Johnny that kept pushing them back together and that kept me cheering them along.  It's rare that I cheer for any heroine in a fiction, but I did when reading this book.  This book is an enjoyable read.

Book Review: True Betrayals - Nora Roberts

I feel as if I just had a memorable vacation somewhere in a horse farm in Virginia. I was very taken by the exciting world of thoroughbred racing, which this story was based on. There is no doubt that horse racing in real is a thrilling spectator sport / game. But Nora Roberts added more thrills to it with heart wrenching rivalries, ugly family secrets, steamy romance, and chilling suspense. This book is not the typical shallow cheesy romance with the limited world view of a teenager. This is a book that helps readers become more worldly. I had learnt so much about the inner workings of a horse farm and horse racing that I would not have known if not for this book. To me, it's eye opening and mentally stimulating to read all that technical details of thoroughbred breeding and racing in such an entertaining and fascinating way. This is a story about a young woman's breaking out of the mold to become who she really should be. It's a story about someone who lost a whole lot and ended up winning more. It's about one betrayal after another and the risks to uncover them all. This book is a page turner for me. I feel my time is well spent reading this book. (I recommend you not to read reviews on Amazon before you read this book yourself, because a lot of the reviews are true spoilers, they are like retelling the story in a short form. I don't know why people have to write reviews like that, as if they don't have feelings or opinion about what they read, but just copy synopsis from the back cover and worse, add the ending from the book....)

Book Review: Finishing Touches

I picked up this book brand new for $1 during Border's book sale. I was drawn to the modern chic design of the cover. I bought it without even reading the book title. That was 2 years ago when I was single. Two weeks ago when I was packing and moving to another apartment with my new husband, I found this somewhere in one of my cabinets, I then picked it up and started reading it while waiting for my movers to pack and move me, and then more waiting for my husband's movers to pack and move him. During all the waiting and standing by, I finished reading this entire novel in a weekend. This book is actually a pleasant surprise to me. I had very low expectation of it. It was just handy, it was just right there, it was just for me to kill time while waiting endlessly... But this turned out to be a great novel to read. It's not the predictable chick's lit / romance fiction with very predictable plot and very predictable ending. It's not one of those novels that are written under a formula. This novel is very different from others that I read. It's funny, witty, inspiring, uplifting, entertaining, tragic, and so very Los Angeles. I myself am very satisfied with the story's ending. In my opinion, it's a great ending that resolved all the issues and problems that the heroine had. It's an inspiring and uplifting ending. I like the fact that the story is very realistic and it shoves great lights on the modern day dynamics of friendship, relationships, careers and well, the modern day baggage that young people in America are carrying. The book has very funny dialogues that I found are just hilarious. It's really an interesting novel that is worth my time reading.

Book Review: Angels Everywhere by Debbie Macomber

This book is a Christmas series of two stories that follow three angels' quests to help six women in two metropolitans to find love. The stories are feel-good stories that are both heart warming and simple to read. If you enjoy reading some old fashioned romance that portraits strong family value, this is the book. Even though the stories are supposed to be set in the mid 90s, I myself find them sound a little too 1950s because the female characters in the stories didn't seem to have other goals besides getting married and having children. While one of the characters worked as a nurse and another worked as an inner city school teacher, I don't remember what successful careers the rest of the women were having. The book just doesn't talk much about what the women do for a living, it is rarely mentioned. When it is mentioned, it's either too vague or too general. It's the same thing with the cities where the characters reside. Sometimes, I feel the stories over simplify the two cities and the metropolitan lives. The book gives me a small town feel even though the setting is in two big cities. While I find the stories sometimes too superficial and too simple minded, I enjoyed reading them. I just like the morals and optimism they advocate.

Winner For Nora Robert's Dream Makers Book Giveaway

WINNER FOR THIS GIVEAWAY IS : HEIDI V

My Book Review: This book contains two of Nora Roberts' novels from back in the early 80s, "Untamed" and "Less of a Stranger". I like "Untamed" better because I find the setting of a circus more interesting. I'm very impressed by Nora Roberts' skill in describing the circus life because I felt like I was given a very good back-stage tour inside the workings of the "Big Top". The romantic chemistry and relationship dynamics between the two main characters in "Untamed" are more stimulating than "Less of a Stranger" which, I feel is more plain and lame. The only interesting element in "Less of a Stranger" is the artistic talent of the heorine, which gives me a little glimpse of how sculptors must feel when they are making their crafts. As we all remember in the movie "The Ghost" which came out much later than this story, the expression of love and sculpting can be so very romantic and sexy. I wonder if the screenplay writer in the movie "The Ghost" got inspired by Nora Roberts.....

This is the second book I read from Nora Roberts, it's not as good as the first one I read, but it's pleasant and romantic enough to give my mind the escape it so much needed after I read a mind blowing memoir for my last review.

Now that I am done reading this book, I'm giving it away to one of my blog's followers. On March 2, 2010, a winner will be randomly picked and will be announced here on this blog. To have a chance to win this book, please do the following:

1.Be a follower of my blog.
2.Have a U.S. mailing address
3.Post a comment on this post to express your desire to participate in this giveaway.

Hopefully, I will get rid of all my books pretty soon. I do have separation anxiety with all my books, but I've got to start parting with them, or I won't even have room to sleep in... So follow my blog to be informed of my lattest book giveaway.

Evenings at the Argentine Club

Reviewed by Readaholic:
Venturing to the US sounded like a perfect plan for the Torres family but instead they were met with a nightmare. Overworked and underpaid, Victor runs a restaurant and hopes for reaching financial security. Meanwhile, Jacqueline is spending all of her time with the children, until they become adults and go their own ways. They are not alone in this struggle to find a life of happiness. Living in an Argentine populated area, they meet people who are dealing with the same life problems and find solace in friendship with the Argentine Club. This delightful read proves that there is a fine line between family and friends and life is too short to not have any because relationships are what makes life manageable.