3/31/12

Book Review: I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER by Sophie Kinsella

Book Summary:
Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier.  She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her "happily ever after" begins to fall apart.  Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill, but in the panic that follows her phone is stolen.  As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can.  Finders keepers!  Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring.  Perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn't agree.  He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages.  As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents...she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

Book Review:


Sophie Kinsella is my British chick-lit comfort author.  I know what I'm getting when I open one of her books:  a well-written, hilarious story that tries to impart some kind of life lesson in a gentle way.

Poppy Wyatt bursts off the page from the very beginning and sucks you into her world.  She's facing a situation that is familiar to most women:  a lost engagement ring and a fear of not being "good enough" for your future in-laws.  She's a woman who's found her path in life and is happy to be getting married to a nice guy.

It all starts to go awry for Poppy when her engagement ring goes missing and she's forced by circumstances and Sam to take a hard look at her life.  Sam gets her to see that it's okay to go after the things she wants and to not let anyone make her feel inferior.  Poppy helps Sam see that being so closed off to people isn't necessarily a good thing either.

As always, there is no true villain in the piece, just flawed individuals who make mistakes.  I truly loved the time I got to spend in Poppy and Sam's world!  I laughed, I cried and I laughed some more!

I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER is one of Ms. Kinsella's better works and is highly recommended for reading at any point in time!

4 stars out of 4
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Book Review: THE HUSBAND HUNT by Lynsay Sands

Book Summary:
Let the hunt begin...
Lisa Madison wants a husband, and she has just the candidate in mind:  Robert Langley.  Trouble is, the infuriating man insists on seeing her as the impish girl she once was--even as every other gentleman in London has taken notice of her womanly...charms.  When her beauty lands her in danger it's Robert who comes to the rescue, only to announce his affections are not of the romantic kind!

Robert saw enough sorrow in his parents' union to know he wants nothing to do with marriage, which is exactly what he'll be trapped into if he acts on his desire for the irksome siren.  And then Lisa does what Robert least expects:  gives up on him!  As feigned indifference gives way, blistering passion burns at last.  But just before the pair can succumb to hard-won bliss, an enemy with unfinished business lurks, threatening to destroy them both.

Book Review:


THE HUSBAND HUNT is by no means a bad book, but it's nothing new either.  Lisa comes across at times as a too-stupid-to-live heroine (she's very worldly one moment, extremely naive the next), and Robert is just too dense sometimes.  His relationships with his parents and the effect their marriage had on him is not really explored all that much, despite it being the major reason as to why he just cannot commit to someone who is very obviously in love with him.  And don't get me started on the villain, who is very obvious the minute he steps on to the page.  Ms. Sands' writing is inviting, and the supporting characters are well drawn enough that I want to go back and read their stories, but she could have done a much better job on this.

I recommend it for a light beach read.

2.5 stars out of 4
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Book Review: A ROUGE BY ANY OTHER NAME by Sarah MacLean

Book Summary:
What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets...

 A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title.  Now a partner in London's most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance--including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury.

A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more.  How lucky that her new husband has access to an unexplored world of pleasures.
Bourne may be a prince of London's illicit underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness--a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them...even her heart.

Book Review:

 Sarah MacLean has yet another winner on her hands with Penelope and Bourne's romance!

Penelope Marbury is a delightful heroine whose journey is a sight to behold.  She loves her family deeply and is saddened that she has caused her family, especially her younger sisters, so much pain through her broken engagement and subsequent failures to find a suitable husband.  She is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her younger sister from having to make a marriage that is unfulfilling to her.

Penelope is stunned to be taken "hostage" by her childhood friend (and sweetheart), Michael Bourne at his family's old home, which is adjacent to the Marbury family land.  Michael has turned up again to marry Penelope, by any means necessary, because included in her dowry is his old ancestral home which he lost ten years ago in a bad gambling game.  Penelope marries Michael with the request that he introduce her two younger sisters to proper suitors with whom they may find happy marriages.  She also requests that he help her shed her respectable ways and introduce just a bit of "sin" into her life.  He agrees and their romance is off and soaring...

Through the use of old letters that Penelope and Michael sent to one another when they were younger, Ms. MacLean is able to establish for the reader that, had Michael not lost horribly in a bad bet set up by a nefarious guardian, the two probably would have fallen in love and married much sooner.  It also explains why Penelope has such faith that her bad boy husband can be redeemed through love.  It is wonderful to watch two characters deeply in love with one another help the other become a much better and fuller version of themselves.  Bravo, Ms. MacLean!

4 stars out of 4
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