Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo

I received a complementary copy of this book from Water Brook through their Blogging for Books program.  The main characters are fun, and the story is interesting.  The surrounding characters are very flat, and I felt like there were plot points that I was missing.  Charlotte has her heart set on getting an education and the working in her fathers business, but her father wants her to get married.  They come to an agreement wherein they are both satisfied.  Charlotte must marry Alex if she is to work for her father.  The two know and like each other, but both enter the marriage for business purposes. The story was a little far-fetched in that they obviously like each other quite a bit, but they don't want to be married, and are doing everything they can to avoid the marriage.  Overall it was a light, fun read.  I would give it 3/5 stars.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley

I received a complementary copy of this book from Multnomah through their Blogging for Books program.  I enjoyed this book.  The characters were interesting.  I was interesting to see inside of the religious group.  I felt that a lot of things were glossed over, that could have been better explored.  My heart was so sad for Miranda and all that she had gone through.  I found some parts of the story a little to convenient.  It seemed that Miranda would have put up more of a fight to some of the changes that Jack introduced into the family.  Also, I had a hard time understanding why Jack fell for Miranda.  It seemed to happen much to fast.  I would give the book 3/5 stars.

A Reluctant Queen by Joan Wolf

I received a complementary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through their BookSneeze program.  I enjoyed this story.  It is based on the biblical story of Esther.  It is fun to see how the author imagined the story.  There were some parts that seemed a little to contrived to me, but overall it was a fun read.  The author talks about the love between the king and queen, but I don't feel that she shows that love developing.  She just tells us that it is there.  The characters are enjoyable.  I would give it 3/5 stars.