The Paris Wife

This book kept me hooked and kept me reading and I loved the literary appeal but my god I hated all the characters. I've often read about what a dick Ernest Hemmingway was and this book really painted an unflattering portrait of him. I don't care how great his work is - what a jerk. I didn't know much about his personal life so this book was all fresh to me. Told through Hemmingway's wife, Hadley Richardson's, perspective - The Paris Wife showcases how she loved and supported him during his early career. She met him in Chicago and they had a whirlwind long distance romance and decided to marry and move to Paris where he could really work on becoming an author. It was pretty much all downhill from there. Hadley was a boring woman with hardly any interests whose full time job was to cater to her husband's needs. She seemed extremely boring and totally enabled Ernest whenever he made bad choices (and there were a lot). I was especially angry by the end. I would have given this book a 1.5 or a 2 but it was written well. I just hated every damn character so much. It's crazy that this was based off of a real relationship. 

The Rose and the Thistle

Slow moving historical romance between the daughter of a duke and a Scottish Laird. Lady Blythe is forced to go into hiding when her father is declared an enemy of the crown for supporting Jacobites. With nowhere to go - her father arranges for her to go to the estate of her godparents in Scotland. She arrives to find that her godfather has just died (her godmother years prior) and the eldest son is none to pleased to be harboring an English lass with questionable family ties. He decides to hide her in plain sight as a tutor for his youngest brother. Soon the two find themselves being thrown together and enjoying their verbal sparring. Could love be in the air? They must be careful though - for there are spies everywhere and if he is caught harboring an enemy of the state they could both lose their vast fortunes. Slow paced, but fans of inspirational romance will like this slow burn filled with historical intrigue.

Death in Paradise

I picked up this audiobook as a whim. My library didn't own the first two in the series - but what the hell. Gotta live a little. I will also admit I have never seen any of the movies based off this series so I really was going in cold!

The narrator really made this book for me. His accent was magnificent and I could listen to this man read a phonebook. In my mind he was Jesse Stone. Anyways, Jesse Stone is an alcoholic cop who was fired from his homicide detective job in California and ended up taking a police chief gig across the country in little old Paradise. Wherever his ex-wife goes he will follow; he is convinced someday they will get back together. Luckily for him - she still loves him... just not enough to settle back down with him. When a body of a young girl turns up, Stone must get creative to find the killer. Leisurely paced detective mystery with lots of talk of drinking, relationships, and baseball. I liked this a lot more than I anticipated and will check out the next book in the series!

Her Heart's Desire

This Amish romance was a nice change of pace as it took place on a beach! Most Amish books I read take place in either Ohio or Indiana so it was nice to see Pinecraft Florida take center stage. Mary Margaret Miller needs to get away from Trail, Ohio. She has been teased and bullied her whole life and has no friends. She has saved up for a solo trip to Pinecraft, Florida (an area that caters to Amish families) and she is looking forward to a chance to re-charge and re-invent herself. On the long bus ride down she meets two other Amish wallflowers who are doing the same thing as her. All three have been lonely and looked down on so they immediately latch onto each other and become the best of friends. A few days into their fun Mary learns that one of the girls who bullied her from her hometown is coming to Pinecraft and even staying in the same Inn! There goes her fun and relaxing vacation! Obviously there is a little romance thrown in as well. Lots of fun and I can't wait to read the next books in the series! 

White Horse

A little slow at first - but I quickly became invested in the story the creepier it got. When Kari James is gifted an old bracelet that belonged to her mother, shit starts to go sideways real fast. Though she is an indigenous woman- Kari would describe herself as an urban Indian - preferring sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the city to any other traditions. Her mother disappeared at two days old and her father was in an accident soon after that caused a serious brain injury - so Kari was essentially orphaned - only having her cousin Debby. But the bracelet is causing her to have visions of her mother - terrifying visions and Kari realizes that if she wants the visions to stop she is going to have to find out what happened to her mother. Dark and gritty - this was an exciting read. I hope this author writes more! 

Alone

This was a quick read but I did enjoy it. This would be perfect for kids or teens who are into dystopian fiction like Ashfall and Not a Drop to Drink. I also liked this teen novel a lot because it was in verse and had a female protagonist. Alone is the story of a 12 year old girl who tricks her parents into thinking she is staying some place she isn't for a sleepover and as a result gets left behind in a massive evacuation. When she awakes the next day there is no one left in the town. She saves the neighbors dog and together they learn what it will take to survive in Colorado with no electricity or fresh food. She's hopeful that her family will come back for her once they realize she was gone - but no one is coming back. What imminent threat was there? A good survival story.  

The Princess and the Scoundrel

Not quite what I was expecting. Based on the cover I was expecting some smutty Han and Leia fanfiction - but there wasn't really much romance in this book. The book opens with the two of them getting married and then going on their honeymoon. In true Leia fashion, she treats their honeymoon like a diplomatic mission and hopes to show the galaxy that the New Republic is thriving and doing well. Really though - they know that the Empire isn't really defeated - just because Darth Vader is dead doesn't mean the Empire has stopped functioning. Their honeymoon ends up turning into an adventure - nothing ever is what it seems. Meh - a little slow and not nearly enough romance for me!