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Review: The Darlings by Cristina Alger
The economy is in a downward spiral and no one knows this better than those in the world of high finance. On Wall Street on of the leaders in the world of hedge funds and wealth is billionaire Carter Darling. The Darling family is well known in the powerful circles of New York City’s elite upper class….a world where a house in the Hamptons, offshore bank accounts, hedge funds, corporate corruption, tabloid gossip, and extra marital affairs are all a common part of the society. When attorney Paul Ross married Carter Darling’s daughter, Merrill, he knew what he was getting into but what he didn’t know was he would…
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Review: Quickies by Ollie Levy (Short Story Collection)
In this collection we meet a wide variety of people from all walks of life….some are married, single, engaged…..some have high flyer careers, and some are average Joe’s, but they all have one thing in common….they all love a good quickie. Why fuss with a marathon love making session when a quickie will get the job done? That’s the question that Ollie Levy explores in her series of short stories appropriately titled Quickies. What I loved about this collection was each randevú was short and sweet. There wasn’t a lot of back story and the characters literally got right down to business. It made for a fast and steamy read. It wasn’t overly graphic…
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Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Will Traynor has everything going for him–he’s rich, good looking, powerful, adventurous, cultured, vibrant, and successful. Until one day, a tragic accident takes all of that away leaving him with nothing but memories of a previous life. Will is now a quadriplegic who must rely on others to fulfill his basic needs. Naturally he is depressed and hates that his once fulfilling, active life is now nothing but a series of doctor appointments and catheter changes. He simply wants to die. After the accident, Will moved from his posh London residence to his parents house near Stortfold Castle in the English country side. He is miserable. Louisa “Lou” Clark has…
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Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This book takes fatal attraction to a whole new level. Nick and Amy Dunne have been married for five years when suddenly she’s gone…..no explanation, no note, nothing. She is simply gone. Nick does what any sane man would do when his wife ends up missing….he calls the police. When the police come out, they quickly notice that things aren’t adding up. There are signs of a struggle and there are holes in Nick’s story and timeline. Suddenly Nick finds himself as the prime suspect in Amy’s disappearance. The evidence is pretty damning and in the court of public opinion….he’s more than guilty of the disappearance if not murder. But…
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Review: Stabs at Happiness by Todd Grimson (Short Story Collection)
These are the stories of societies taboo outcasts. The characters that polite society would rather ignore. Degenerative and hopeless, these characters help set the tone and paint this collection of short stories the darkest black. Many of the characters in this collection are drug users/dealers, prostitutes, killers, and transvestites…..but they all have something in common, they are all looking for a little bit of happiness and hope in their own hopeless lives. Author Todd Grimson effortlessly blends powerful storytelling with gritty prose to create a new provocative approach to contemporary literature. Grimson’s style has been described as esoteric, and I would agree….I think his style would appeal to a limited audience, however it…
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Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Nerds around the world unite! This is your book! If you love video games, 70’s and 80′ pop culture, fantasy, cyberpunk, dystopian lit….then this is the book for you and even if you don’t love those things, you will still find something to love in this book. 18 year old Wade Watts live in the year 2044. The world is a wasteland. The earth’s resources are diminished and society is spiraling out of control, the only thing positive in this dismal world is the OASIS. The OASIS is the internet to the 10th power! It’s a virtual utopian world where you can be anyone or anything you want to be.…
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Review: Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1) by Jamie McGuire
You don’t know what power is until you hold someones future in the palm of your hand. Abby Abernathy knows that feeling. This sweet, good girl from Kansas controls every aspect of campus bad boy, Travis Maddox’s life without even knowing it. Abby meets Travis at a campus underground fight night. She knows his reputation and what everyone calls him….the walking one night stand. Man whore. Bad boy. There is no way she is ever going to fall for his antics….ever, she’s too smart for that. She is repulsed by him but yet oddly intrigued. Every girl on campus thinks they are going to be the one to tame Travis.…
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Review: On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
Is age really just a number? Does true love transcend all things? Even through extreme, desperate situations? Even through a large age gap? Does wanting different things or being in a different spot matter when love is involved? Thirty year old Anna is an English teach. She needs time to think about her life. She has been with her boyfriend of eight years and they still aren’t married. She feels like she is just waiting and waiting for a life that isn’t going t happen. So when the opportunity to get away comes….she takes it. TJ is a sixteen and recovering from cancer. His parents want to take a celebratory…
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Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
When you enter the ‘big top’, you enter into a world full of illusion and intrigue and here you will find a dark, gritty love story. Jacob Jankowski is grieving the loss of his parents when he jumps a train bound for anywhere that isn’t his current location. He has boarded a train full of freaks, drunkards, performers, sparkling costumes, and illusion–he has ran away with the circus–literally. Jacob is able to gain employment as the circus veterinarian where he works closely with the charismatic August, the menagerie superintendent/trainer. August’s wife, Marlene, works as a circus performer as well…..Jacob is infatuated with her the moment he sets eyes on her. August…
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Review: Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1) by E. L. James
I decided it was time to indulge to my inner curiosity about the wildly popular series Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. After all, what kind of book reviewer would I be if I didn’t at least glance at the best seller list once in a while? This book has been burning up the Amazon bestseller list and the NY Times….to mention I get asked a million times a week if I have read the book. From the other reviews I had read, it seems as though you either like the book or you hate it. There is no denying that writing a book like the controversial Fifty Shades…