Tag: romance

Love and Muddy Puddles

I don’t quite relate to Coco Franks’s quest to be popular, but I totally get what it’s like to have your parents tell you you’re moving away from the life you know, and your feelings about it don’t matter.

Of course, my parents never moved me anywhere quite so remote or primitive. We always (always!) had running water.

I never before realized how lucky I was.

This is a fun book, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I cringe every time Coco makes more trouble for herself, but in my heart, I get it. Sometimes life is grossly unfair and lashing out feels like the only way to get people to pay attention to what you’re feeling. Even if the only person that hurts is yourself.

Link to the book here, if you’re interested: https://smile.amazon.com/Muddy-Puddles-Charlie-Franks-novel-ebook/dp/B00HOCA7D2/

Fledgling

I enjoyed this story about a young woman with a serious medical problem and the young man who befriends her at her new school even though it could have used a better copy edit.  It also leaned a bit too heavily on Twilight for my taste.

Still, a fun read with some interesting characters.

The Finishing Touches

K. gave me this one for a birthday a couple of years ago. As I understand it, she picked it up off some bargain table to fit it into her budget, so I had some qualms starting it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a well-written, sweet-yet-modern romance (real world, fairly modern problems, but it’s PG at the most). I love returning to this book when I’m stressed out and want something hopeful and not too straining on the brain, and I keep looking for sequels. Alas, nothing new so far as I can tell.

Independent Miss

I discovered BookBub a few weeks ago, and have been picking up free (or occasionally cheap) copies of books that look interesting–trying to keep to a number I might actually read.  A few have been disappointing, but this one, by Becca St. John was a fun, well-written read.

The woman in this historical love-story feels a bit too modern to me (one of my pet peeves with historicals), but the medical/scientific side of things was both plausible and interesting, and the problems that arise from them make for unique, believable conflict, a rare combination in romance.  As someone who tends to skip over the smutty bits of romances, I also appreciated the relatively clean love scenes in this book.

On the whole, I found this a delightful way to spend a lazy afternoon, and I think I might be willing to pay something for my next book by this author.

Joan Johnston’s Comanche Woman

I love RMFW’s Colorado Gold conference–and one of the many good things about it is the stack of books (free & purchased) that I always bring home from it. Comanche Woman is the first I’ve read of the ones I picked up last weekend. I enjoyed it–enough that I’ve put the sequel on hold at the library.  I most appreciated the way it handled the interaction of multiple cultures, showing strengths without excusing atrocious behavior. I’d recommend this book for people who like historical or western romances–and who don’t mind the sex scenes.